Chapter 142 Provocation
Izroth kept a part of his attention on the arrival of Zhang Jie and the large group of players who followed him. That group moved together in such an organized manner that they were definitely not just another batch of messy small guild alliances, but rather one of the other top guilds.
Judging from the way Minus reacted, Izroth determined that his mood had worsened since the appearance of the new group of players. Also, who else would dare to bring over one hundred players directly into one of the other top guild's sectors? There were many big guilds who were bold, but they were not foolish and knew their current limits.
This was an act of aggression, even Izroth who understood nothing of what was going on behind the scenes at this moment could perceive that part clearly. There seemed to be a tense atmosphere building up between the present members of Blue Oasis and the new arrivals.
Zi Yi frowned when she noticed the new set of faces who showed up on the battlefield. "That person in silver armor at the head of the group is Zhang Jie, one of Cross Haven's Five Great Generals. What is he thinking?"
Zi Yi released two arrows towards the Brooding Behemoth Basbus as they disappeared into the void and reappeared at the forehead of the boss monster. The arrows pierced into its head with ease, however, its huge size made it seem like two toothpicks sticking out of its head. However, the power behind her arrows should not be underestimated because of that.
«Critical Hit»
-1,200
«Critical Hit»
-1,200
"Do they have some sort of bad blood or rivalry going on?" Valentine asked as he cast the skill Zarkox First Sequence: Release.
Since the Brooding Behemoth Basbus was so incredibly slow, Valentine did not even need to use the Encompassing Mana String to lock its movements in place. There was no way its large body could maneuver in time to avoid the magic attack.
-631
...
-631
"No, that should not be the case. Cross Haven and Blue Oasis have always been on neutral terms with one another. There have not been any hints of something that would cause them to take such an obvious overly aggressive action. In fact, it's illogical for Cross Haven to deploy a large force because of their limited number of members." Zi Yi explained.
'Oh?'
Izroth believed that it was just an intense rivalry or as Valentine put it, bad blood, between the two top guilds. However, if there existed no history of hostility between the two guilds that would make them take such an action, then it was possible that something recent caused the change in their attitude.
Izroth was not interested in the two guilds themselves, but rather if something similar occurred to them as it did with Silent Step. It was possible that the Shadahi did not only have things set up to interfere with the goal inside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm but also for this event as well.
The Brooding Behemoth Basbus used its bulky gorilla-like arm to smash down towards Halls. However, Halls placed his shield before his body and as soon as that massive arm made contact with his shield which formed a transparent barrier around it, the entire body of the boss monster shook.
«Blocked»
-2,208
+1,522
4,820/6,756 HP Remaining! (Halls)
Although the body of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus was not knocked back due to Halls' Rebound skill, its movements were brought to an abrupt halt for around one full second.
Halls was a bit disappointed that the body of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus did not go flying back and soaring through the air with the effect of his Rebound skill. How cool would that have been to send a huge monster flying away from one of his own skills?
Luna cast Heal on Halls to bring his HP back above the 70% mark. At the moment, the only true threat were the boulders floating above the battlefield. However, a rare event boss was bound to have more than one trick up its sleeves and so they had to remain prepared.
"Isn't that Zhang Jie from Cross Haven? So many players came with him, the rumors must be true." One of the nearby players who spoke to his friends said.
That player's friend released a long sigh with a helpless expression on his face. He was the leader of a small guild who joined the alliance of other small guilds and casual players in order to compete in the later waves.
However, with one of the Five Great Generals from Cross Haven showing up, along with the already present Blue Oasis guild members, this rare event boss was now far beyond their means of obtaining. It was already a long shot with just Blue Oasis here, but now another top guild had arrived on the scene.
Although the two players spoke amongst themselves, as soon as Zi Yi who was not too far away from them picked up the keywords Zhang Jie and rumors, she focused on the conversation going on between the two players. It did not take long for them to mention what the rumor was all about.
When Zi Yi received that information, she was shocked. That would be more than enough to explain why Cross Haven deployed a large force into the Blue Oasis sector! If all that was said was true, or even a portion of it, then there was a good chance that they may be caught in between a war of the top guilds.
Zi Yi informed Izroth and her other party members of her recent findings to shed some light on the situation.
"I see, so that's what happened." Luna could feel the tense atmosphere. It was so thick that one could cut through it with a knife.
"If so, then their reason for being here is justified. However, their appearance does not change our original goal." Izroth responded. To him, it was just an extra helping hand. But, he would still remain vigilant due to his other concerns.
As Izroth and his party were talking, Guan Yu had returned from his fight against the four players from Blue Oasis. At first, he was a bit frustrated that the two remaining players used such a cowardly tactic. But, he was not even thinking about those two anymore after the appearance of Zhang Jie.
There was a rare serious expression on Guan Yu's face. One was unable to tell what he was thinking at that exact moment.
When Izroth noticed Guan Yu's strange behavior, he felt that something was off. Guan Yu would not be so serious over two players who managed to escape, therefore, something else must have happened.
However, Guan Yu quickly reverted back to his old ways just moments after his arrival. If it was a subject that he did not wish to bring up, Izroth would not pursue it.
"Ahahaha, those guys were way too weak! Tch, but two of them managed to run away. Just a bunch of cowards!" Guan Yu said with a hint of disdain in his voice. They wanted to start a fight but when things did not go their way, they ran away with their tails tucked between their legs.
Guan Yu would have had some respect for them if they chose to stay and fight until the end, but now he had an even worse impression of Minus and the members of Blue Oasis.
"What do you expect when the only way they are confident in winning is to launch a sneak attack?" Halls said with a grin on his face.
Guan Yu joined back in the fight against the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. As Izroth and his party battled, Izroth saw that Minus had pulled away from the boss. He was headed in Zhang Jie's direction. Not too long after Minus moved away, Zhang Jie held his hand up as if he were signaling for the other members of his guild to remain put for now.
A few moments later, he stepped forward and walked towards the area he had agreed to speak with MInus at. Platic was uncomfortable with letting Zhang Jie go in alone, but there was not a single ounce of worry written on Zhang Jie's face as he entered deeper into the Blue Oasis sector by himself.
It did not take long for Zhang Jie and Minus to come face-to-face with one another.
Zhang Jie had a very calm and collected appearance. While on the outside it may seem like his attitude was nonchalant, he was on full alert mode.
Minus, on the other hand, had an unwelcoming facial expression as he walked way over. However, he quickly straightened it out to one that was neutral and with little to no emotion visible.
"I'm glad you could meet with me, General Zhang Jie. It is an honor." Minus' last few words was just a superficial greeting. It was obvious that he did not welcome Zhang Jie's presence here.
"But, of course, I am honored as well to meet one with such great power and reputation as yourself, Captain Minus." Zhang Jie responded in a similarly superficial manner.
"Now that the formalities are out of the way, I hope that General Zhang Jie minds explaining himself and his intentions." Minus said with an observant look in his eyes. He knew that whatever words were spoken to him by Zhang Jie would most likely be lies or half-truths. The only true way to determine anything was to judge Zhang Jie's body language.
"Explain? You are overthinking things. I simply wish to participate in securing this event boss. Since it is a rare boss, I brought along some extra help. After all, the agreement was that all boss monsters would be up for grabs, no matter which sector it spawned in." Zhang Jie replied.
Minus frowned, "Since when does Cross Haven need such a large force to secure one event boss?" Even he only needed twenty-three players, along with himself, to secure the boss. The reinforcements were simply a protocol set in place by Asgard.
However, Zhang Jie saying Cross Haven needed more than one hundred players to secure an event boss, even if it was rare, was just a ridiculous excuse. Did Zhang Jie take him for a fool?
"I've said all that needs to be said. Captain Minus, do you have any other matters you wish to discuss with me?" Zhang Jie said as he avoided the question.
Minus stared at Zhang Jie for a moment and after finding out that he would not receive anything else, he gave up on the matter. Just as he thought it would be, this had turned out to be a waste of time. But, that was all he needed, was to waste time.
"Yes, in fact, I do. You see-" Minua was promptly interrupted by Zhang Jie.
"Alright, if there's nothing else then you'll have to excuse me for being rude, but I have a task to accomplish." Zhang Jie lifted the spear placed upon his back high up into the air.
Minus glared at Zhang Jie who did not even bother to listen to his words. Even if he was just trying to stall for time, he should have been shown a bit more face due to his position. "What do you intend to do?" Minus said as he saw Zhang Jie lift his spear into the air.
"Of course, I intend to do what I was sent here for, to secure the boss." Zhang Jie pointed the magnificent spear towards the sky and just a couple of seconds later, one could see the wave of Cross Haven players moving quickly in an organized manner towards the Brooding Behemoth Basbus.
Zhang Jie rested the pole of the spear on his shoulder as he walked right past Minus without sparing him a single glance.
The way Zhang Jie simply brushed him off infuriated Minus. However, Zhang Jie was not just some nobody he could lay a hand on as he pleased. Doing so would have too many consequences, especially with the recent turn of events.
"Where are the reinforcements?" Minus asked one of the nearby scouts. However, that scout was completely clueless about the delay as the reinforcements should have arrived by now.
"Find out what's causing the delay!" Minus snapped which frightened the scout as he immediately scurried off to do as ordered. It was as if all of the scouts within his sector were small children who needed their hands held for every little thing.
Even though this was the first time their scout system had been implemented within RML, such major complications should not exist.
But, one thing was clear to Minus by this point. This had turned into a provocation by Cross Haven.