"Hall of Immortality is coming at us full force!"

Li Chengfeng stabbed his long sword into the ground as he wiped the sweat from his forehead and laughed. "It seems like we won’t be able to hold off this wave. The main and subguilds of Hall of Immortality have joined forces and are about a hundred thousand men strong. They have 25 times more people than us, which also means that each and every one of us will have to kill 25 enemies to emerge victorious."

Xu Yang chuckled. "A few of us may be able to pull that feat off, but that’s gonna be a tall order for most of our players. Besides, Hall of Immortality also has an expert who can take on 25 players at one go. I’ve heard that the Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch is an extremely powerful fighter whose mechanical control and equipment are top-notch. Furthermore, Hall of Immortality has always been able to go head to head with Stranger of Three Lifetimes’ guild, Blazing Hot Lips."

I lowered my Cyan Netherworld Sword and laughed. "Who cares? As you can see, we have successfully stopped the several hundred thousand players which make up the forces of Hall of Immortality, Throne Seeker, and Rose of the Holy Domain, from entering our territory. We absolutely can’t afford to retreat before Gui Guzi and his riders return to Dark Moon City. The moment they enter the valley, they will have a clear path of Dark Moon City, and I’m afraid that we won’t be able to hold them off if that happens."

Chaos Moon gave a heavy nod of her head. "Yeah, Lu Chen is right! If we can stall them for two to four hours by sacrificing the 7000 players here, it will be a huge win for us. We definitely can’t lose Dark Moon City, no matter what! Otherwise, we will lose our dominant position in Sky City and even idiotic guilds like Warsky Alliance, Gods of Destruction, and Hegemon Palace will be able to laugh at us!"

"Get ready! Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch is charging toward us! We’re about to clash against the main force of Hall of Immortality!"

……

Battle cries rang in the air as the players of Hall of Immortality started to surge toward us like a swarm of locusts. The entrance to the valley could normally only hold a few hundred players, but now, nearly ten thousand players had squeezed themselves into this tight space. The enemy vanguard brandished their weapons as they charged toward us in heated excitement. They yelled, "Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls has looked down on Hall of Immortality and Vanished God City time and time again! Let’s give them a taste of Vanished God City’s strongest guild today!"

"Rubbish!"

Li Chengfeng spat on the ground in disgust as he pulled his Tempest Sword out from the ground. He laughed heartily and shouted, "Brothers and sisters, prepare for battle! Let’s show this bunch of idiots who the real kings of the battlefield are!"

"Attack!"

Everyone pulled out their weapons, their blades glittering in the sunlight and their capes fluttering in the wind. Our elite fighters stood at the very front of our formation with grim looks on their faces. We were going to make our last stand here, and the only thing we could do was to sell our lives as dearly as possible! Killing one enemy was breaking even, killing two was doubling your money, and the more we killed the better!

"Far Shot!"

Since we had the geographical advantage, Beiming Xue and her archers could draw first blood. As they sent a storm of arrows raining down on Hall of Immortality, the fighters at the front of their formation tumbled to the ground as if they had been pierced by venomous spikes. After that, they were mercilessly trampled on by their comrades behind them.

Moonlight Stone and her mages waved their staves in the air as they started casting their huge AoE spells. Galaxy Storms soon exploded inside the enemy formation, tearing armor and flesh alike into shreds. The enemy hadn’t drawn close enough for us melee combatants to engage them, but our long-range players had already struck them a terrible blow.

"Charge!"

A Level 136 warrior dressed in golden battle armor charged in like a raging gale. A Spirit Monkey pet ran in behind him as he darted forward and sent a slash toward Li Chengfeng’s left shoulder.

Clang!

7893!

Li Chengfeng had been battling against another magic knight so he was caught off-guard by this attack. The slash took a chunk out of his HP, causing him to growl in anger. He quickly shifted to the side and swung his sword toward the brazen warrior. He activated Barrier Break mid-swing and sent the swirling energy crashing into the warrior’s chest.

14909!

That warrior was actually a guild leader of a subguild. He grinned evilly before he laughed out loud. "Heh, that’s all there is to the Legendary Brave?! Brothers, get rid of him!"

However, he was already swiftly retreating even as he yelled those impudent words out. It was clear that he knew that he wasn’t Li Chengfeng’s match and his attack had been a mere show of bravado to encourage his players.

Li Chengfeng clenched his teeth furiously and growled, "You actually think you can escape?"

The dragon warrior’s calves bulged before he exploded forward like a bolt of furious lightning. His superior speed allowed him to instantly catch up to that guild leader. As he appeared in front of the hapless warrior, he drove a heavy uppercut into his opponent’s jaw. After that, he instantly crouched down into a classic Battōdō stance and performed a quick-draw strike, hitting the poor warrior with a Dragonbone Flurry + Cyan Dragon Horn right in the chest.

A string of damage numbers popped up above the warrior’s head as he fell to the ground with a dull cry. He probably hadn’t expected the dragon warrior to be this powerful. Coming here may have been easy, but returning home wouldn’t be!

At this exact moment, Li Chengfeng’s body suddenly shook violently. He had been stunned by a Level 134 archer! Even though it only lasted for a short two seconds, even that amount of time was fatal on the battlefield!

"Focus your attacks on the dragon warrior!"

No one saw who shouted that command, but it instantly caused a group of mages and archers to press forward and launch their attacks at him. Arrows and spells fell down toward Li Chengfeng like rain!

I immediately exclaimed in great shock, "Priests, heal Li Chengfeng! Chaos Moon, come with me! We’re gonna go rescue him!"

Li Chengfeng’s HP rapidly dropped below 20% right before our eyes. Luckily, Moon Dew’s instant healing spells managed to keep him on his feet. Otherwise, he might have already been killed a few times.

Boom!

Chaos Moon’s Rock Crush exploded inside the crowd of people! Her Bone Scythe set was extremely powerful, so a single attack from her was enough to send shudders down most people’s spines. This was especially true, however, for archers and mages. Her Rock Crush ignored defensive skills, and Magic Shield of mages was no exception!

However, Chaos Moon wouldn’t be enough to save Li Chengfeng, who had gotten himself into a real pickle this time.

Wooosh!

I activated Thunderous Charge and streaked forward like a bolt of lightning, planting myself exactly ten yards in front of Li Chengfeng. My Cyan Netherworld Sword glowed brilliantly as I stomped my foot violently on the ground, light exploding up from under it. My War Crush instantly caused the surrounding archers and mages to fall to the ground in heaps. But I wasn’t done yet! I immediately hurled my sword toward a row of archers in the distance, the Cyan Netherworld Sword quickly transforming into a spinning buzzsaw of death. As my Sword Boomerang tore through flesh and bone, a chorus of misery rang out in its wake.

Thud!

I firmly caught the handle of the Cyan Netherworld Sword as it returned to my grasp and immediately unleashed a Thousand Ice Slash. Even though it didn’t hit anyone, this attack immediately froze Hall of Immortality players approaching us in their tracks. Not a single one of them dared to take even a step forward.

Li Chengfeng had just managed to survive the onslaught. He let out a hearty laugh as he said, "Thanks for saving me, Lu Chen! Retreat quickly! I’ll cover you!"

"Alright!"

Our intervention had allowed Li Chengfeng to get his second wind and recover nearly all of his HP. Meanwhile, my HP had dropped to less than 70%. Damn, the levels of these Hall of Immortality players were especially high and all of them possessed good gear. Their attacks were even powerful enough to penetrate my incredible defenses.

I retreated quickly as Li Chengfeng’s Reverse Scale Slash exploded inside a crowd of players. His AoE attack was so devastating that it caused Hall of Immortality players to reel backward in shock. It was at this moment that they finally started to realize just what kind of opponent they were dealing with.

Pchht! Pchht! Pchht!

The players from Hall of Immortality had finally managed to reach our formation. As players from both sides started to rush forward to meet their opponents, swirling spirals of fiery energy suddenly appeared around the weapons of a few dozen members from Hall of Immortality. To our shock and dismay, they actually had quite a number of players who could use Barrier Break! However, more than four hundred of our players immediately responded with Barrier Breaks of their own, causing cries of misery to echo throughout the enemy’s formation!

"What the fuck!" A Level 132 warrior from Hall of Immortality turned pale with fright as he shouted angrily, "Who was the bastard that said that the elite fighters of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls weren’t here! Fucking hell! How are we supposed to fight when so many of them have Barrier Break…"

Hall of Immortality’s vanguard was being slaughtered mercilessly. However experts like Li Chengfeng, Xu Yang, Chaos Moon, High Fighting Spirits and I didn’t dare stand out too much either. After all, we didn’t want to be marked as targets for the enemy. Instead, we blended in together with the rest of the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players as we ripped through the enemy as best as we could.

Skills like Thousand Ice Slash, Burning Blade Slash, Rock Crush, Reverse Scale Slash, Mountain Stagger Slash, and Xiezhi Howl tore into Hall of Immortality’s fighters with impunity, sending them reeling back in shock and despair.

However, the overwhelming gap in numbers could not be closed by the presence of a few ace fighters. Our enemy had the absolute advantage in terms of firepower and healing, and they had at least two to five times the number of archers and mages we had. Though Beiming Xue and our archer contingent were very strong, there seemed to be an endless horde of enemy players for them to kill.

……

Our men started to fall one after another as they were enveloped by heavy fire. This was especially true for our archers and mages, who were being targeted by the enemy.

Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch stared at the battlefield from a distance with a stern expression on his face as he stood on top of a large cyan boulder. He lifted his sword high in the air before he let out a hearty laugh and yelled, "Keep attacking! Don’t even give them a chance to catch their breaths!"

"Dammit…" Xu Yang glared at the distant Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch and shouted angrily, "Hall of Immortality’s guild leader is a damn coward! He just sits there even as his comrades are selling their lives on the battlefield!"

I nodded my head in agreement before I said, "That’s true. But we won’t have the chance to cut the head from the snake if he doesn’t engage us in battle…"

Li Chengfeng asked, "Should I form a headhunting squad to assassinate him?"

I rolled my eyes at him and said, "Assassinate my ass! Before you get a mount, don’t even dream of rushing through an army to take the head of its general! Given our current HP and speed, we’d be blown off the face of the earth by the enemy’s Spiraling Arrow Blades and Galaxy Storms before we could even make it halfway there!"

Li Chengfeng shrugged his shoulders and replied, "Damn, even though what you said is the damn truth, it’s really annoying to hear you put it that way…"

That was simply the harsh reality of things. When engaged in a battle of this scale, only a troop of charging riders would be able to accomplish what Li Chengfeng had just suggested. One or two warriors simply wouldn’t be able to do it, especially if their target was being as tightly protected as Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch.

……

My Cyan Netherworld Sword glowed brightly as it summoned the Cyan Netherworld Divine Dragon. The image of a divine dragon erupted from my sword and wreaked havoc in the enemy’s midst, instantly taking the lives of nearly a hundred enemies around me. Less than six seconds later, my Silver Dragon Ring glowed brilliantly and a Silver Dragon Storm ripped into a bunch of enemy players, instantly carving out a clear space in front of me.

However, the players from Hall of Immortality had already been overcome by their bloodlust. They threw all caution to the wind as they surged forward in neverending waves. There seemed to be no end to our enemies as one player instantly stepped up to replace the next.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Beiming Xue’s Evil Spirit Volley exploded amidst the crowd and took the lives of more than a dozen enemy fighters . She quickly followed that up with a Spiraling Arrow Blade that one-shot a few more fighters. The dark archer was absolutely dominating the battlefield right now! She was a sniper who casually picked off her targets from afar while suffering no retaliation. The only things her enemies could do was grit their teeth in anger as they helplessly watched their comrades die.

Boom!

Chaos Moon’s Rock Crush sent cyan rocks flying at her enemies as she laughed. "Sigh, even if we died here, it would totally be worth it. We just started fighting but I’ve already earned so many guild contribution points…"

I burst out into laughter hearing the innocent remark. But she was right. Before the battle started we declared this a guild activity and turned on the guild contribution point system. During this period, killing players or monsters would yield points. The higher the enemy’s level, the higher the reward!

That was also the reason why I would love to kill Bloodthirsty Battle Monarch! I would definitely earn a lot of contribution points if I managed to pull it off and in the future, I could use these contribution points to get any boss drops I wanted when the guild went boss hunting again. Ah, what a beautiful thing that would be...

……

"Arghhhh…"

Five Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls fighters near me cried out in misery as they collapsed to the ground. Unfortunately for us, most of them were experts who had learned Barrier Break. Damn it all to hell, no one will be able to endure this continuous "baptism" of Spiraling Arrow Blades and Galaxy Storms for much longer!

The number of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players who remained on the battlefield dwindled rapidly as nearly a thousand of our players died in the short span of ten minutes! When Li Chengfeng and I counted our casualties, our hearts sank into despair. We exchanged glances and saw the worry reflecting in each other’s eyes. We would never be able to hold on for another three hours if we continued to lose players at this rate.