MMORPG: The Elementalist

Although the Bowmaster managed to use some trick to dodge a direct hit from the Compressed Frost Bullet, the powerful Chill that it radiated affected both clones of the Bowmaster, and as one of them was hit by the incoming Frost Bullet, the laughter died off suddenly, replaced by a yelp of shock!

Boom!

A great explosion went off behind the Bowmaster, and before he could react, a flurry of Ice Blades sliced through the air, whistling sharply and leaving behind a cloud of misty fog as they flew in all directions!

Sudden Explosion!

Though the Bowmaster’s unexpected technique had allowed him to side-step the Compressed Frost Bullet, there was no way he could have predicted this custom variation on the skill.

With no chance to react in time, countless Ice Blades raked over him, leaving a criss-crossing web of fine gashes, oozing blood, across any bit of skin not covered by armor. Even his armor was suddenly covered all over with snowy white trails, as this unexpected flurry of attacks forced the Bowmaster into the Chilled condition!

Suddenly, the laughter was silenced!

“The hell are you doing?”

“Stop that!”

The anxious cries of a man and a woman were suddenly heard close by. Their voices sounded somewhat familiar…

As he sent two Frostramparts towards the Bowmaster, he glanced quickly towards the valley’s entrance, where two figures had appeared, clad all in gold. His heart leapt—it was them!

Ron and his mistress—the Ron Couple!

In that instant, Qin Ruo fully understood the reason behind everything that had happened today!

So that was what it was all about…

Thinking back to what Slayer’s Heart told him about, the day before, and looking upon the Bowmaster before him, Qin Ruo no longer had any doubts holding him back. Ignoring the pleas from the Ron Couple, he detonated the two Frostramparts with a great explosion that wholly consumed the Bowmaster.

This threw up a blizzard, hiding Qin Ruo from sight.

If Holy Clan was involved, there was no reason to hold anything back—if there had to be a fight, then let it be a fight to the death!

For your unprovoked murder of player ‘Grieving Arrow,’ you have lost one Honor Point.

***

“Damn!”

Having received the system notification about Grieving Arrow’s death, Ron and his mistress both swore in unison. Yet neither dared to charge recklessly into the blinding snowstorm.

Initially they had sent Grieving Arrow just to keep Qin Ruo and Xiaoxiao occupied while they snuck into position, and then when the moment was right, use their combat abilities to disable Qin Ruo, which would have given them a decisive advantage.

More than simply revenge for their previous loss of Gold equipment, it was also an opportunity to make trouble for Qin Ruo and weaken him just two days before the “Graveyard of the Gods” event, by stripping him of some equipment and a level, thereby preventing him from finding much success during the event.

But nothing had gone as they had planned.

Having watched the previous waves of assassins fall, Grieving Arrow had a clear idea of Qin Ruo’s skill and power in magic, so in that moment when Qin Ruo had been preparing to take his leave, he’d instead turned his arrow on Xiaoxiao nearby.

It had to be said that Grieving Arrow’s cunning was terrifying indeed.

In that case, even if Qin Ruo swore vengeance on him, he was confident that with the help of the Ron Couple, he’d be able to bring down the clan’s enforcers to deal with Qin Ruo.

What the three of them had never expected was that Qin Ruo would actually attack somebody from a league!

Even worse, what had looked like a typical Frost Bullet had somehow managed to defeat his secret skill Flicker. Once he had been Chilled, his defeat was assured.

And the thing that infuriated them the most was that although the odds of losing equipment after a deliberate Player Kill were extremely low, that scoundrel Grieving Arrow had run afoul of fortune this time—and of all the equipment he could have lost, it had to be that Gold longbow.

From the Resurrection Gallery, they could hear Grieving Arrow’s anguished wailing. The Ron Couple dashed in either direction, activating their Combat Auras as they skirted round the raging blizzard, rushing towards where Qin Ruo was probably hiding, on the far side.

Yet no matter how they looked, they could not make out Qin Ruo’s form within.

While one of them continued to peer intently into the drifting snow, the other drew the Inferno Blade.

There, within the flying snow! A strange, startling flash of red!

“Found him!”

The blade lit up with flame, and the Ron Couple gleefully pointed towards a shadow appearing within the rapidly dissipating snowstorm.

***

Ever since he saw Ron and his mistress rushing into Killer Bee Valley, Qin Ruo had been feeling a deep sense of unease. All the events that had taken place in Killer Bee Valley today, it had all been part of their schemes!

The opening attacks using regular players on contract, sending them haplessly to their deaths, was probably just for the sake of feeling things out—maybe something to do with Slayer’s Heart and his connection to the Bauhinia League, or maybe it had been just to see how Qin Ruo would respond.

Whatever the reason, he was certain that the Ron Couple had already reserved the attention of their Holy Clan, and had been keeping a close watch on him, waiting for the chance to strike.

Qin Ruo wasn’t sure why it had to be today… but if the Ron Couple had actually shown themselves, it had to mean that all preparations were in place, and they were ready to put an end to him.

Having slain Grieving Arrow of the Holy Clan, Qin Ruo immediately took cover within the whirling blizzard. He had not forgotten what Ron’s Mistress could do: a secret skill which could blind everyone within thirty meters for six seconds.

He was shocked to discover that even as he hid within the snowstorm, Ron’s Mistress could use that skill to ascertain his approximate location.

Unprovoked attack from Ron’s Mistress!

Attack ineffective!

Hearing the system notification about Ron’s Mistress failing in her attack against him, he could not take any comfort from it, because his Elemental Perception, which had just been triggered to activate a moment ago, was now fading away once more.

The column of snow was rapidly evaporated by a fierce wave of heat, so that it could no longer conceal him! Qin Ruo could clearly sense the murderous gazes from both Ron and his mistress, zeroing in on him. But Qin Ruo was no longer the inexperienced novice he used to be.

Since fleeing into the snowstorm, he had been on a knife’s edge of anxiety, and his ability to control water magic was raised to a level like never before!

He threw a Frostrampart behind himself, obstructing himself from the vision of his enemies once more…

… while at the same time, using his Aquamorph technique!

And then he noticed the Gold longbow, lying beside the fallen form of Grieving Arrow.

***

Ron and his mistress had always been elite players. Their gameplay sense, speed, and judgment were on a different level from that of the average player. Once they had marked a target for the kill, they struck with lightning-fast brutality!

But Qin Ruo had been quick with his Frostrampart, and by luck he had happened to throw one out and break their line-of-sight on him, just as they had been about to launch their attack.

The pair had incredibly quick reflexes, and a level of teamwork far beyond most partnerships. Ron’s attack was the first to be ready, and he unleashed it without a moment’s pause—but his target had switched from Qin Ruo to the Frostrampart!

The Umbra Swordsman’s special long-ranged skill, Souldrinker, inflicted a powerful Curse and Corruption effect. When it hit the Frostrampart, black veins instantly snaked across its whole surface, and then it shattered into a million little pieces of black ice, which soon melted away into nothing.

The Frostrampart was out of the way, but Ron’s Mistress was no longer able to perform her own attack, and the eager flames that danced along her blade died down. There was no one there anymore—Qin Ruo had disappeared from their sight once again, and so had Grieving Arrow’s Golden longbow.

Ron and his mistress wore grim expressions. That Tier 4 Aquamancer they had never really thought much of—to think that he had improved to such an extent.

Though his dual defenses were fully intact, he chose not to fight, and instead used some mysterious magic to hide, causing their follow-up attack to be wasted.

Furthermore, if he had managed to kill off Grieving Arrow, there was always the chance that he could triumph against them as well!

What a fearsome fellow… hadn’t it only been a few days since he advanced to Tier 4?

Of course, neither of them could possibly have known that even if Grieving Arrow was still on the field, he wouldn’t have any idea how to deal with Qin Ruo, either—even a Bowmaster’s heightened senses could not defeat the invisibility of Aquamorph.

However, just because they had lost sight of Qin Ruo at the moment did not mean that the Ron Couple had been beaten.

Losing the Fire Elf’s Helmet had caused Ron’s Mistress to suffer a significant decrease in power, and the both of them had been consumed with bitter resentment. Still simmering from that affront, they had been biding their time all this while, waiting for Qin Ruo to go up in level and pick up a few Gold items… and surely they had made all sorts of arrangements!

A few words muttered under their breath and then, from the direction of the valley’s entrance, there immediately came a great deal of noise, the boom of spells going off with explosive effect!

By slaying Grieving Arrow, Qin Ruo felt he had avenged Xiaoxiao’s death sufficiently, and had been on a flat-out sprint to leave the valley—he wasn’t so arrogant to believe that he could go toe-to-toe with the Ron Couple, especially when he realized that they must have carefully planned out this entire scenario, so they would surely still have more up their sleeves.

Qin Ruo had intended to make a tactical retreat for the time being, and consider the circumstances more carefully before deciding what to do. He had never imagined what would appear at the entrance to the valley: a force of nearly a hundred Bowmasters, Elementalists, and warriors! Every one of them attacking non-stop, raining devastation ahead of them as they advanced into the valley, bearing down upon him!

Behind this phenomenal assembly of players, several dozen more stood guard at the mouth of Killer Bee Valley.

Seeing this black tide of people surging towards him, wielding area-effect spells and all manner of skills, Qin Ruo found it hard to draw breath, his heart sinking into the pit of his stomach.

It was the Pharaoh Clan!