Chapter 281 - Charging into the Enemies’ Ranks
The experts that Traversing Four Seas was referring to were of course not just the men of Young Master’s Elite, and many other mercenaries were summoned to the front as well. Traversing Four Seas intended to form a team of elites to break through the monsters’ ranks and observe how the monsters would react after.
Young Master’s Elite soon arrived to the front of the expedition. Once Oathless Sword spotted the experts of every mercenary group arrive, he happily told them, “We’ll be relying on you esteemed experts this time around.”
“Exactly as expected…” Young Master Han stated dryly on the mercenary channel.
“Mmm. Tasking the mercenaries with this, they clearly intend to use us as cannon fodders!” Brother Assist could also read between the lines.
“It can’t be helped; we have to do it, anyhow,” Sword Demon calmly commented.
Indeed, the mercenaries could do nothing about this. Although they knew that they were being treated as no more than cannon fodders, they had no choice but to charge into the fray.
“Everyone, my skill can only last for twenty-five seconds, so please use the time wisely and fight hard!” Silver Moon was the one who spoke this time, informing those present of his party-wide skill. Young Master’s Elite had never expected that a day would come where they would have the chance to experience Silver Moon’s skill, and each of them sighed at how ever-changing life was. “But! If there is someone assisting me, this skill duration can last a bit longer,” Silver Moon continued. Everyone did not know why he had said this. Even Oathless Sword bewilderedly asked, “Silver Moon bro, what do you mean by that?”
Gu Fei followed Silver Moon’s gaze and realized that the latter was looking at Sakurazaka Moony’s group; Vast Lushness was currently in it. Is he talking about her? Gu Fei thought to himself. This was when he saw Vast Lushness turn her head to Silver Moon. She obviously heard his words, yet she merely raised a hand to flip him off with a face devoid of any expression.
Gu Fei chuckled at this. Turning his head to look at Silver Moon, he heard the latter say, “Nothing. I’m just afraid of my skill getting interrupted before its duration expires as a result of my death.”
“Oh. You don’t have to worry about that.” Oathless Sword called two Priests over and pointed to Silver Moon, “You two are assigned to Silver Moon bro.” Assigning two Priests to a lone man clearly showed the importance Traversing Four Seas put on Silver Moon during this group fight.
“Melee job classes, please prepare yourselves. Archers and Mages, lend assistance at your discretion. Please be careful, though and try not to injure your allies,” the commander-in-chief, Youthful Reflection, ordered.
Following this, Warriors, Thieves, and Fighters came forward and formed a party together; Knights began to bestow blessings on them while some Priests mixed within. Mages and Archers, meanwhile, retreated to the back of the formation and waited. Due to how narrow the mountain path was, their strategic retreat placed them far from the upcoming fight and essentially out of sight from the battlefield ahead.
“What blessing do you want?” Brother Assist asked Gu Fei with a smile. Gu Fei drove his sword into the ground as he grandly stood within the ranks of the melee job classes. The surrounding players gazed at him in awe as they whispered to one another, “Is he really the Close Combat Mage?”
Luo Luo approached him with her staff held aloft, grinning cheekily, “You want a Priest all to yourself?” With that, Heal wafted on Gu Fei.
“Stop wasting your mana…” Gu Fei said weakly, adding, “You should focus your attention on the ladies, instead.”
“I don’t think they need my help at all…” Luo Luo giggled. Turning his gaze over, Gu Fei saw a crowd of Priests attentively attending to Svelte Dancer, July, Will-low, Lie Lie, June’s Rain, and the other ladies who were going to participate in the fight.
“It’s up to you, then!” Gu Fei had nothing more to say and merely focused his attention on the fight ahead. Meters ahead, a group of Mountain Bandits was blocking the mountain path. If they were to break through the monsters’ ranks here, the terrain would open up into a wide plain ahead, which would let them spread out accordingly and confront the level 30 monsters fearlessly.
“Isn’t a Boss supposed to be in command here? Where is he?” Gu Fei asked.
“Isn’t that the one?” Luo Luo pointed to somewhere in front.
Gu Fei looked at where she was pointing and spotted a Mountain Bandit standing distinctively from its kind. Upon closer examination, Gu Fei made a shocking discovery. “Isn’t that Sooto? Man, he sure looks different with his clothes on!”
The players around him gave him a furtive glance. Just what sort of unspeakable relationship did this man have with the Mountain Bandit Leader Sooto?
Time waited for no man. Their trek through the Oolong Mountain Range had cost them considerable time, especially if they included the series of crevasses that they had crossed; plenty of players were already anxious to log off by this time. After making the necessary preparations, Youthful Reflection informed them of the fighting stratagem, “Charge in from their flanks, but don’t immediately engage their Boss.”
The players rubbed their fists in anticipation as Youthful Reflection raised his arm out, “Archers of Traversing Four Seas, get ready! It’s time to serve the enemies some appetizers… FIRE!”
With that command, an entire wave of arrows from behind sailed over the heads of the mercenaries and toward the group of Mountain Bandits ahead.
“CHARGE!” the melee job classes roared in unison. Waving their weapons at hand, they ran after the hail of arrows and dove straight to the monsters.
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Silver Moon raised his King’s Blade and was about to activate King’s Command when two figures – red and black – flitted out from the team and toward the Mountain Bandits ahead of everyone else.
Youthful Reflection slapped his thigh in anger. This ragtag army of players really would not do; there was not even an ounce of discipline in them! “Don’t charge in alone! Stay in your formation!” As he yelled this out, the two figures exchanged looks before shouting back in unison, “Keep up, then!”
How were they going to keep up, though? With so many low-Agility Warriors in the melee team, keeping up with Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer was hardly possible even if they doped themselves! Players like the speedster Sword Demon had the ability to keep up, but they understood the importance of matching their speed to the main attacking force.
It was not that Gu Fei did not understand this concept as well; he had originally not intended to rush out like this, yet Svelte Dancer mad dash forward had strongly reminded him of their days fighting in the guild versus guild tournament for Amethyst Rebirth, and before he knew it, he had dashed forward as well in a burst of adrenaline.
The Archers’ arrows had rained upon the enemies’ ranks by now. The Mountain Bandits that were attacked would naturally retaliate accordingly. With a wave of Sooto’s saber, the Mountain Bandits’ battlecry rang through the fighting field as they charged forward. These monsters appeared before Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer in a short while.
“Twin Incineration! Incinerate!” This chanting was accompanied by the pivoting of Gu Fei’s whole body as he advanced forward. Once he was within the Mountain Bandits’ ranks, he quickly brandished his sword about, causing a circle of flames to emerge and leaving all the players watching tongue-tied. Was this Twin Incineration or Cyclone?
Svelte Dancer was naturally no slouch. With just basic attacks, she efficiently took down the nearby Mountain Bandits. When Gu Fei’s Twin Incineration ended, Svelte Dancer was already plunging her dagger into a Mountain Bandit beside him as she happily said, “He he! I bet your skill is on cooldown!”
Everyone was dumbfounded by their display of indomitable strength; even Youthful Reflection slapped his thigh raw, “D*mn! How can these two seamlessly coordinate with each other despite being so ill-disciplined?!”
Gu Fei was still a force to be reckoned with despite his lack of any ready spells, and his sword elegantly slashed the Mountain Bandits around him until they were bloodied. He held half of the charging monsters by himself while Svelte Dancer took care of the other half.
His skill cooldown soon ended.
“Excuse me!” Gu Fei said. Svelte Dancer then wordlessly brought her massacre to the other side as Gu Fei cleared up another group of Mountain Bandits around him with a spell.
Youthful Reflection slapped his thigh once more as he roared at the two players, “FLANK THEM! FLANK THEM!”
The other players returned to their senses and began engaging the Mountain Bandits earnestly as well. They were infected by Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer’s bloodlust and fought the monsters with equal ferociousness. The level 30 monsters appeared insignificant in the face of these experts.
The Mountain Bandit Leader Sooto grandly wielded his saber and the monsters started retreating. All the players were elated. That was really easy! Was there even a need to surround them? Everyone should just butcher them right here and right now!
Just as the players thought that they could force their way within the Mountain Bandits’ ranks and begin the slaughter, Sooto suddenly raised his saber. Following this, his underlings immediately became invigorated, thundered their battlecry, and threw themselves at the players.
The players suddenly found themselves under attack from all sides. When they calmed themselves enough to assess the situation that they were in, they could only utter one word: “F*CK!”
“It’s a pocket formation!” Youthful Reflection slapped his thigh for who knew how many times. Those Mountain Bandits quickly retreated once they could no longer bear the players’ assault. This forced the players to push inward, creating a situation that allowed the Mountain Bandits to encircle them from all sides. This tactic that allowed the enemies to attack them in an isolated pocket was very similar to the one that Traversing Four Seas had previously used to deal with the Mountain Bandits in Oolong Cave. Currently, it was entirely unknown if the formation was intentionally employed by the monsters.
At any rate, the players that were presently surrounded from all sides were in trouble. Silver Moon’s King’s Command eventually ended and the players’ initially fearsome push got taken down a notch. Silver Moon was consuming fruit within their ranks, and everyone fervently hoped for him to immediately replenish his mana so that he could use the party-wide skill once more. However, Silver Moon could only laugh to himself bitterly; even if his mana was replenished, he would have to wait for his skill’s ten-minute cooldown to end still! Could this fight even last for ten minutes?
When a row of Bandits fell, another row would immediately replace it, sealing the players within the monsters’ isolated pocket with no escape in sight. Youthful Reflection anxiously ordered the players to charge out of the enemies’ encirclement. While he knew that the players were capable of contending with the enemies, their current situation would certainly force them into a battle of attrition.
These monsters had no fear of death, so it was easy for them to endlessly replenish their frontline as long as there were still Mountain Bandits alive. In contrast, the players could not use such a sacrificial method. As such, those who ran out of mana could only retreat and be replaced by new players to prevent their defense line from collapsing. The crux of the problem soon became apparent: this narrow mountain road did not give the players enough space to rotate effectively – this was precisely why Youthful Reflection had ordered the players to break through the Mountain Bandits’ encirclement.
At the moment, only Gu Fei and Svelte Dancer seemed to possess the ability to force their way out of the enemies’ encirclement. The two’s efficiency at clearing the Mountain Bandits was exceptionally high. Whenever Gu Fei cleared out a swath of the monsters with his Twin Incineration, everyone could advance by a huge step every time. Noticing the opportunity that the two presented for them to break through the enemies’ encirclement, the players immediately focused their support in the two’s direction.
Youthful Reflection was elated that everyone had located a possible point to break through, but before he could even express his happiness, he saw Gu Fei stop pushing forward and retreat among the players with an apple in his mouth.
Youthful Reflection was now enraged, “What are you doing at this crucial point?!”
“Can’t be helped; he’s out of mana!” said the Archer Royal God Call. He was not a part of the team that had charged in and was currently hugging his bow near Youthful Reflection.
Youthful Reflection felt like crying, but no tears would come out! Just this retreat of Gu Fei to replenish his mana was enough to affect the state of the entire battle itself.