Chapter 2230 – Violent Suppression
When Aqua Rose and the others stepped forward, they unleashed the auras they had kept contained. Although each of their auras was not as powerful as Fire Dance and Gentle Snow's, the combined pressure easily surpa.s.sed their two comrades'.
Startled Wind and his team were stunned.
Aqua Rose and the others hadn't seriously joined the battle yet, so Fire Dance and Gentle Snow's brilliance had easily overshadowed their performances. As a result, Startled Wind and his companions hadn't been able to get a clear estimation of their strength. However, as Aqua Rose's group revealed their true selves, Startled Wind and Starlink's other Domain Realm experts recognized how powerful these players were.
“Are you kidding me?!”
“How can a Guild like Zero Wing have so many experts with such incredible Attributes?!”
Aqua Rose and her comrades no longer felt like current players. The weakest among them likely had Basic Attributes that could even rival Ink Rain and Brilliant Python. Aqua Rose, Violet Cloud, Cola, and Zhao Yueru were only slightly weaker than Fire Dance and Gentle Snow.
When the Mad Beast Legion members felt this combined aura, they couldn't help their instinct to retreat. None of them dared to approach Aqua Rose's group. Only the legion's peak experts withstood the powerful aura, although they were still afraid.
The Mad Beast Legion felt as if they stood before over 20 Great Lords. How could they possible face such a powerful force?
“Have they already reached Tier 3?” Brilliant Python muttered in shock.
Brilliant Python was his battle array's core, and the boost was even great enough that he could contend with a Tier 3 player of the same level, yet Aqua Rose and the others' auras were no weaker than his own. He couldn't think of any possibility other than the fact that they must have reached Tier 3.
“No, that's not possible. Players can't take the Tier 3 Promotion Quest until they've reached Level 100. No matter how incredible their leveling speed is, it's not possible to reach Level 100 at this stage of the game. Even if they have reached that level, they'd still have to complete their Promotion Quests. They can't even challenge the quest until they've met the minimum equipment standards, not to mention complete it,” Ink Rain said, shaking her head.
Ink Rain refused to believe that Aqua Rose and the others had reached Tier 3 already. Just from their Life Ratings, she could tell they hadn't. There was, after all, a significant difference between a Tier 2 player's Life Rating and that of a Tier 3 player. Ink Rain didn't feel the pressure that would result from such a difference in Life Ratings.
However, even if Aqua Rose and the others weren't Tier 3, they weren't any weaker than an actual Tier 3 player of the same level.
“Calm down, everyone! These people might have very high Attributes, but their combat standards are subpar. Our Refinement Realm experts easily outnumber theirs by several times! Avoid direct fights! Split up, and keep them distracted! Follow-up units, attack with Combination Spells! Evil Blade, you'll work with me to distract Black Flame! I want everyone else to work with the Combination Spells to keep Zero Wing's vanguard busy! Once we've annihilated the rest of Zero Wing's army, we'll take out time whittling these players down!” After taking a moment to calm down, Startled Wind commanded the Mad Beast Legion's Refinement Realm experts.
It was impressive that Zero Wing had 20-plus players with the combat power to rival Tier 3 players, but the difference between experts wasn't limited to Basic Attributes. Combat standards also played a ma.s.sive role.
After all was said and done, Zero Wing did not even have 100 Refinement Realm experts. Even if Zero Wing's Refinement Realm experts had higher Basic Attributes, they couldn't one-shot other players. They could simply split up and tackle these Refinement Realm experts using Boss raiding methods.
With Startled Wind's orders, realization dawned on Starlink's members. Aqua Rose and the others were quite powerful, but the fact remained that Starlink had more Refinement Realm experts.
Starlink's forces then took action.
The Refinement Realm experts that had stood with the main army began to cast their Tier 2 Combination Spells, targeting Zero Wing's vanguard. These Tier 2 Combination Spells were even stronger than single-target Tier 3 Spells, and could even cause a significant amount of damage against Grand Lords. Moreover, these Refinement Realm experts' aim was incredibly accurate.
In the meantime, the Four Shadow Demons, Cloudy Mountain, and Three Kills made their way toward Aqua Rose's group. Their Basic Attributes might not be as high, but they had higher combat standards. With a single glance, they found plenty of weak points in the vanguard's defenses. If they coordinated their attacks with the Combination Spells, killing Aqua Rose and the others would not be difficult.
But the instant Starlink's members reached their targets, they discovered that they had been mistaken-outrageously mistaken.
Naturally, Aqua Rose, Violet Cloud, and Zhao Yueru didn't hold back.
Facing several dozen incoming Combination Spells, Aqua Rose lightly waved her Sea Dragon Staff and cast Aqua Precinct. Twelve water serpents immediate appeared around Aqua Rose, radiating an aura no weaker than that of a Level 75 Grand Lord. Under Aqua Rose's control, the serpents blocked most of Starlink's Combination Spells.
Meanwhile, Violet Cloud activated her Death's Sigh's Shadow Rage, summoning a total of 300 shadow blades. Every shadow blade effortlessly struck down a Combination Spell, and in the end, Aqua Rose shattered the remaining incoming attacks in an instant. In the end, it took only an instant for Aqua Rose to shatter the remaining Combination Spells.
Zhao Yueru took a more direct approach than her companions. Her Frostflame's Wrath was already capable of upgrading her Spells by one tier, so they were currently Tier 3 Spells. With her extraordinary Basic Attributes and physique, she'd have no issues defeating an actual Tier 3 Great Mage, much less a bunch of Tier 2 magical cla.s.s players.
After casting the Tier 2 Spell Flame Sanctions, over 30 crimson magic arrays appeared around Zhao Yueru. Each released a fiery spear, which was powerful enough on its own to warp the s.p.a.ce around it. These spears were easily more powerful than Starlink's Tier 2 Combination Spells, and Zhao Yueru used them to bombard the Mad Beast Legion members.
The Mad Beast Legion members responded in time and blocked the incoming spears, but they still stumbled back seven or eight steps, their arms trembling from the impact and their HPs plummeting. Zhao Yueru's attacks made her just as powerful as a humanoid Defense Turret.
As long as magical cla.s.s players had enough time to cast their Spells, they'd wreak even more havoc on an open battlefield than their melee counterparts. A magical cla.s.s player with a special Legacy and a Fragmented Legendary Weapon would be no more than a natural disaster.
Although the Four Shadow Demons and their companions wanted to stop the three women, Cola, Shadow Sword, Alluring Summer, Yi Luofei, Flying Shadow, and Yan Tianxing halted their advance. Despite having higher combat standards, the Four Shadow Demons' party struggled against Cola's due to the huge level gaps.
Yan Tianxing, in particular, could suppress Sword Demon on his own. Meanwhile, Yi Luofei kept Three Kills, who was only second to Sword Demon's strength, busy.
Fire Dance and Gentle Snow continued to push back Ink Rain and Brilliant Python, who fared far worse than Sword Demon and Three Kills.
Elsewhere on the battlefield, the more Startled Wind and Evil Blade fought s.h.i.+ Feng, the more afraid they became of the Swordsman's prowess. Not only could s.h.i.+ Feng incorporate a combat technique in every move, but he also used his horrifying speed and Strength to increase the lethality of his attacks. The two Domain Realm experts couldn't get close to him, forced to dodge or use Skills to defend themselves. Even so, their HPs continued to decrease. If not for the rear line healers' support, they would've likely died already.
However, even though Zero Wing had the advantage, Starlink simply had too many Refinement Realm experts. Although Zero Wing's Refinement Realm experts could face five opponents by themselves, it wasn't enough to compensate for Starlink's numerical advantage. Unfortunately, most of Zero Wing's Refinement Realm experts weren't quite that strong.
After several minutes, Zero Wing's vanguard had lost over 100 players, including over a dozen Refinement Realm experts. In contrast, Starlink had only lost around 300 players.
As both Guilds' main armies clashed, Zero Wing's losses were more severe. It wasn't just because of the quality difference between their experts, but the defensive barriers that protected Starlink's members.
“Black Flame, Zero Wing's story ends here. If it were merely a 1,000-man-battle, you might've had a chance of victory. Unfortunately, this is a 10,000-versus-10,000 battle. You, alone, aren't enough to influence the outcome!” Startled Wind snarled, breathing a sigh of relief once he saw that this battle's outcome was a.s.sured.
Zero Wing had already suffered more than 2,000 casualties on the main battlefield, while Starlink had only sustained around 500.
As long as they could hold out until Zero Wing's main army fell, the rest of Starlink's players could wear s.h.i.+ Feng and his companions down, even if Starlink's Domain Realm experts were annihilated. In such a high-speed battle, experts of their caliber were no trivial matter. Fighting at their peak consumed a lot of Stamina and Concentration, and executing one Advanced Combat Technique after another would increase their consumption.
Startled Wind only had around half of his Stamina remaining, and with s.h.i.+ Feng facing two Domain Realm experts at the same time, he shouldn't fare any better.
Startled Wind wasn't the only one to consider the issue. Everyone was aware of it. Aqua Rose and Zero Wing's other magical cla.s.s experts had already blown through more than half of their Mana. Even if Zero Wing's vanguard team eliminated Starlink's 700-plus Refinement Realm experts before its main army fell, the surviving vanguard members wouldn't be useful combat power. How exactly did Zero Wing plan to defeat Starlink's forces?
“You're not wrong. I can't turn the tide of this battle by myself, but what happens if I'm not alone?” s.h.i.+ Feng asked, flas.h.i.+ng a grin at Startled Wind and Evil Blade.
s.h.i.+ Feng's question made them realize something, and they stared at him with grim expressions.
The moment s.h.i.+ Feng finished his question, he activated Twilight's Shadow and Twilight of the G.o.ds. The Swordsman then split into eight identical clones, each looking straight at Startled Wind and Evil Blade.
“c.r.a.p!”
Many of the watching players gasped when they saw s.h.i.+ Feng split into eight copies of himself. Some even cursed aloud in surprise.
Startled Wind and his comrades, who shared a battlefield with s.h.i.+ Feng, felt as if someone had dumped a bucket of cold water over their heads.
