MMORPG: The Elementalist

Currently, most resources of the Angel Faction which had been generated by the hundred cities were dominated by the ten newly established Leagues. Thus far, more than 500,000 players had registered under the new Ten Great Leagues. The young blood composed of Black Emperor, Robot Corps, and Golden Blood Lions had risen to power after the previous Five Great Leagues shifted their attention to the Underworld.

Thus, the current attack launched against the Fallen Angels was not considered a reckless decision.

They were also well aware that despite their supremacy in the Angel Faction, the long reputable Five Great Leagues was not something they could easily tear apart just like that. Nevertheless, it still baffled them on how the Fallen Angels were able to retaliate so effectively.

In this attack, the Ten Great Leagues had deployed their best troops selected from all fifty Clans under them. At least three to four thousand players had been placed at each ambush point. Among them, were at least sixty Demigod Champions and more than 500 winged players.

The enemy was caught off guard by their sudden ambush. Even so, none of the three assaults ended with success. To make matters worse, after the Fallen Angels had regrouped, more than 10,000 of their comrades were captured and killed. Only very few had managed to escape the onslaught.

This was a hard pill to swallow.

When the news reached the ten League Masters who had gathered in a meeting room, they were all stunned and rendered speechless.

After a while, the Leader of J. Corp finally broke the sullen silence and addressed those sitting at the head of the table, “Leader Dark Emperor, don’t you think it’s time to put down your glass and talk us through the matter? Don’t forget, it was you who suggested to bring down Fallen Angels.”

Being the weakest and the newest League among the ten, he was apparently the most reluctant to go up against an organization as powerful as the Fallen Angels. However, he had no other choice because opting out would only result in his League getting boycotted by the other new Leagues, which was much worse.

Hence, he was most discontented and reacted the soonest as soon as the bad news struck them. He felt it essential for them to make amends as soon as possible so that the situation would not spiral to a point of no return.

The comment from J. Corp was immediately backed by the two other Leagues.

“Please don’t worry,” Black Emperor finally spoke up.

He raised his hands and slightly elevated his chin, displaying his unfriendly face. “We have studied the entire process in detail… Apparently, there is a small miscalculation in our otherwise perfect plan… The Great Resurrection! This is a skill belonged only to the Leagues that had formed a settlement in the Underworld. We did not foresee that more than ten Priests from the Fallen Angels had also acquired this skill. Due to this, their Demigod Champions were able to retaliate and diffuse our otherwise perfect attack.”

“Dark Emperor is right. I am also to be blamed. Actually, I’ve learned that a few Priests with Great Resurrection have emerged in the Demon Faction yesterday. Unfortunately, I failed to connect this discovery to the Fallen Angels. Also, beyond our expectation was the Great Resurrection turning the tables entirely against us.”

Terminator from Robot Corp paused and looked at the other League Masters around the table. He gulped and continued, “But then again, this skill requires one hour of cooldown and cannot be used frequently. Therefore, it would not possibly affect our grand scheme in its entirety. You should all stop worrying about it!”

Though the other League Masters were still not buying it, it could be seen that they were a little calmer after hearing the reassuring explanation.

As it happened, a cold voice suddenly interrupted Golden Blood Lion, who had cleared his throat and prepared to speak.

“Hmph! The grand scheme? If I remember correctly, you guys promised that the attack will not fail no matter what! You, however, have never told us anything about a backup plan right?”

This interruption originated from the only female player among them—Winterfall Swallow. The League Master of Scarlet Mask was a typical cold beauty. She was now glaring at Dark Emperor, Terminator, and Golden Blood Lion with an obvious distastefulness.

“Ahem.” Terminator and Dark Emperor gave each other a quick glance. ‘This bitch is clearly hard to please.’

Dark Emperor looked at the grumpy Winterfall Swallow carefully and said,

“We were unable to discuss this matter with you guys previously due to its secret nature. We were about to bring this up to ask your opinion,”

The latter, still with her emotionless face, replied bitterly, “Luckily, the three of you still bothered to mention it, lest I would have thought that I am a subordinate rather than your comrade.”

“Hey! Please don’t misunderstand. The reason we had a closed discussion is because the three of us happened to be responsible for the battle near the Black Flame Valley. The discussion took place right after the battle ended. We have never intended to keep it a secret from you all.”

“Zip it. Don’t waste our time by explaining yourself. Blurt out your plan quickly. I can’t wait to see how you plan to lure the Fallen Angels out after this ambush fails.”

“…”

The three of them smiled helplessly. ‘If we don’t explain ourselves, I bet you are going to talk everybody out of this collaboration.’

Nevertheless, her concerns were understandable. They had never once thought that their seemingly flawless plan would have failed so miserably.

Their objective to provoke the Fallen Angels had gone awry. A group of vengeful Fallen Angels was essential for their plan to progress. Thus, continuously dragging the Fallen Angels into muddy wars had now become the most pressing question that lingered in every League Master’s mind.

“At the moment, we can confirm that the Fallen Angels are not going to easily give up the three spawning points, including Black Flame Valley. Besides, they are certainly going to guard the dead. This is to force our fallen comrades to respawn in town and drop a level. This is why I think our plan is still going to work out. However, this time, we will bring the war to these resource points.”

Dark Emperor’s explanation baffled the other League Masters.

According to their original plan, the Ten Great Leagues would set up another ambush at the nearest cities to assault their unprepared reinforcement team after their first ambush had succeeded and provoked the Fallen Angels.

This would lure more Fallen Angel members to the battlefield and snowball the scale of the conflict into an all-out battle. This would eventually drag in other allies of the Fallen Angels and eventually lead to a massive war between the new and old Leagues.

Their confidence was based solely on the sheer amount of members that would outnumber and overwhelm the incoming opponents by several fold.

But now, Dark Emperor had provisionally moved the battlefield back to the three high tier spawning points…

This would mean that a lot of their comrades would also lose levels in such a chaotic war! This was due to the fact that they needed about 50-70 minutes to reach the high tier zones from the nearest city. The effective time for a player to be resurrected by a Priest after death is one hour. In other words, if one were to die in the war, it would be wishful thinking to have a Radiant Priest coming to one’s aid. It was simply too far from the safezone, and Radiant Priests were usually the first of the classes to be eliminated from a messy war.

When someone brought up the elephant in the room, Terminator explained, “Since we are heading into an impromptu fight, a few sacrifices are inevitable. We need to recognize the fact that the enemy is going to lose out more than us. You should also remember that among the 30,000 Fallen Angels on the wanted list, more than 10,000 of them are Level 58 and above. Compared to us, the Fallen Angels definitely bear a greater risk!”

After that, Terminator and Golden Blood Lion continued to convince a few League Masters who were still in doubt. After some time, they finally managed to persuade everyone and once again, quickly gathered all available Demigod Champions. Winged players and members with flying Pets were recruited first as they were able to reach the regions in a mere 30 minutes, through the air, thereby saving their fallen comrades in time.

The ten League Masters personally led the massive troops. They had officially declared war against the Fallen Angels. However, they voted against an official League War as the great difference in terms of player numbers would further reduce the Honor Points owned by the Fallen Angels.

***

Just as the Ten Great Leagues from the Angel Faction hurriedly recruited their army and sent out batches of players to the Dark Flame Valley, Blackscale Canyon, and Chimera Nest, the battles at these three regions were coming to a close. Only a few skirmishes persisted at the outer perimeter of the zones.

“What’s the outcome?” Listening to the seemingly cavalier voice, Dinosaurcerer rolled his eyes and shouted, “Everything is FINE!”

“That’s great!” Qin Ruo sensed Dinosaurcerer’s unhappiness in his voice. He laughed and said, “Get ready. Someone seems really mad after his disastrous ambush. More than 20,000 players have left the town not long ago and coming at your way.”

“What?” Dinosaurcerer was stunned.

‘The failed ambush and mountain of bodies were not enough to stop these morons? They must have mistaken a tiger as a harmless plushie!’

Dinosaurcerer replied with a somber expression, “We only need another few minutes to resurrect all our members. But… If they are sending in so many people, should we also strengthen our forces appropriately?”

Twenty thousand players against a mere two thousand. They were at an overwhelming disadvantage.

***

“Why the lack of confidence?”

After he heard Dinosaurcerer deny the accusation in embarrassment, Qin Ruo grinned.

“I will be worried if the war breaks out right outside the city. They have a few hundred thousand members after all. But since they are coming to our turf, isn’t it in our convenience to strike them along the way?”

Dinosaurcerer’s eyes brightened up.

“We are going in first?”

“Yes!”

At the time, Qin Ruo was entering a noisy Mercenary Guild disguised as a normal Warrior. He ignored the commotion and continued to talk to Dinosaurcerer, “Inform Fatale and others, you guys are allowed to do as you please this time. But remember, for those who are Tier 6 and above, only target the airborne enemies. Don’t waste your valuable Honor Points on unimportant personnel.”

“Haha! Roger that!”

Hearing that they were allowed to kill as they pleased, Dinosaurcerer got really excited. He had long run out of ideas on what to do with his abundant Honor Points!

He gathered more than forty Demigod Champions including Homme Fatale and relayed Qin Ruo’s message to them. After making the necessary arrangements, they ascended to the sky like birds out of a cage and flew directly toward the opponents who were approaching Black Flame Valley.

On their way there, a series of system notifications continuously pounded the eardrums of every member of the Fallen Angels.

The Fallen Angels League has declared war against Dark Emperor League. Hostile State for two hours.

Fallen Angels League has declared war against Robot Corps League. Hostile State for two hours.

Fallen Angels League has declared war against Golden Blood Lion League. Hostile State for two hours.

…

The ten consecutive notifications startled every member of the eleven Leagues involved in the war. Any player who received news would also be deeply astounded!

***

The moment Qin Ruo left the Mercenary Guild, he could feel the breaking news boiling over the entire city he was currently at.