MMORPG: The Elementalist

Qin Ruo’s plans had been ruined by the appearance of a hundred Pharaoh Clan members.

As he had fled for the exit out of Killer Bee Valley, Qin Ruo had sent a message to Xiaoxiao, instructing her not to rush her own resurrection, and instead to wait in the Resurrection Gallery for someone to come bring her back.

Although regaining a lost level at Tier 3 was easy enough, Qin Ruo did not want this experience to become a trauma for her, leaving her always fearful of running into Clans and Leagues.

Besides that, Qin Ruo himself would also rather avoid such a dark memory, at any point throughout his time in this game!

Although he still did not feel ready to face off against the Ron Couple, it was better that they turn their attention to him, rather than continue to make an innocent victim of Xiaoxiao.

And so, as he fled, he’d already planned out the next few steps: After escaping Killer Bee Valley, immediately send word to Violet Orchid and Slayer’s Heart (they should have logged on by now) to help with Xiaoxiao’s resurrection.

Even if Ron and his mistress had formerly been Field Commanders for Holy Clan, Slayer’s Heart himself had also once held the same position within the top Clan of Bauhinia League. There was no way they’d be willing to get into trouble with Slayer’s Heart, just for the sake of picking on an unrelated Tier 3 Aquamancer.

However, it was at least a fifteen-minute journey between Bailey Town and Killer Bee Valley. With a hundred Pharaoh Clan members blocking the exit and combing the area in search parties, it would not take them long to sweep the entire valley.

In this situation, Qin Ruo could not come out of his Aquamorph form, which meant that he technically could not leave combat in order to use a Return Scroll or log out of the game.

Cold sweat was beading upon Qin Ruo’s brow.

The Ron Couple were indeed resourceful, to be able to bring over so many Tier 4 players to fight in their name, all for the sake of bringing down a lowly Tier 4 Aquamancer like him.

Was this really worth so much fuss and bother? Even if they managed to kill him, at most it would irritate him a bit, and it wasn’t even guaranteed that he would lose any equipment upon dying. They must have been scheming this for a long time now… how could they be so stupid?

Of course, Qin Ruo would not know that the Ron Couple had assumed all along that, after obtaining their Fire Elf’s Helmet, along with those Dark Gold gauntlets, he would definitely exchange them for some Gold Aquamancer equipment of equal value. That was why they had chosen to wait—it was not enough just to kill him, they also wanted to get back what they had lost.

When they saw that Qin Ruo was wearing more and more Gold equipment, they knew that it was time to set their revenge in motion—and if they ganked Qin Ruo just before the “Entrance to the Graveyard of the Gods” event, it would also strangle his chances of getting anything out of it.

If only the Ron Couple knew that most of Qin Ruo’s Gold equipment was actually nothing that amazing, while their Fire Elf’s Helmet had already been sold off for real money… perhaps they might regret their actions that day.

***

For now, the only thing Qin Ruo knew was that if he did not escape from Killer Bee Valley soon, the Pharaoh Clan would eventually smoke him out, and then that would be the end.

Although there was not a high chance of losing equipment from being murdered by other players, who could say that he would not end up losing his most valuable item anyway—the way Grieving Arrow had lost his Frostsoul Necklace?

Besides, no one said the Ron Couple would be satisfied just by killing him once.

Therefore, he had to get out of Killer Bee Valley in one piece no matter what. He could not let the Ron Couple succeed now, or else he and Xiaoxiao would never be able to enjoy themselves in the game again, always fearing that the Ron Couple or Holy Clan might rear their ugly heads again.

Resolved to break out of the blockade, Qin Ruo surveyed the rapidly advancing Pharaoh Clan members, trying to come up with some way to get past them.

The truth was that the hundred or so Pharaoh Clan members were extremely displeased about having to do this—wasting so much time and effort just to pin down a single player—especially so close to the “Entrance to the Graveyard of the Gods” event.

At a time like this, nearly all the players were working hard at raising their levels, hunting for loot, and finding better equipment for themselves, in order to improve their chances at doing well in the Graveyard of the Gods.

Meanwhile, they had been dragged out here to waste their time on such a pointless endeavor.

But these were the orders from up high, and they had no choice but to obey.

For the most part, they were not very enthusiastic about the task.

Suddenly, several Pharaoh Clan members noticed an odd movement ahead of them, and immediately made out some translucent form shaped a lot like a person.

“He’s here, he’s over here!” they shouted excitedly.

“Found him! Over there! Hurry up and surround him!”

In moments, the neatly advancing formations gave way to a growing tide of people, charging over at full speed toward the see-through human figure.

Hearing the shouts of the players in the distance, the Ron Couple cried out in unison:

“Get back!”

“Don’t fall for his tricks, damn it!”

They had clearly been too late to say this—nearby, two dozen players had already broken from their formations to move in on the translucent figure, apparently paying no heed to the Ron Couple.

The Ron Couple unleashed a blistering tirade of scoldings. Just moments before, they’d discovered that Qin Ruo’s invisibility technique could elude even a Bowmaster’s senses, so when they heard the other players shouting about being able to see him, they immediately figured that it must be some kind of trick—those people couldn’t possibly have spotted him, nor would Qin Ruo have been so careless!

But they were still too late to counter the ploy. Even as they watched, a massive gap had formed amidst the search parties. Caught in a frightful panic, they turned and hissed urgently at the two Pharaoh Clan Field Commanders beside them, instructing them to send word to the teams holding the exit: go on high alert, and don’t allow Qin Ruo the chance to break out of the blockade.

Even if the other players didn’t recognize the authority of the Ron Couple, the Pharaoh Clan Field Commanders held them in the highest regard—they were secretly the agents of Holy Clan, and knew that the Ron Couple’s abilities were far beyond the other players present. Even the Clan Leader of the Pharaoh Clan had to defer to them.

Without a moment to lose, they passed along these orders from the Ron Couple right away.

However, the Ron Couple were still uneasy, so they led the two Field Commanders from the Pharaoh Clan in a sprint for the mouth of the valley, hoping fervently that the people stationed there were taking the job seriously.

But as they neared the passageway that led out of the area, they heard the screams and cries of the players holding the exit, followed by a cascade of explosions! Riding a blast of frigid wind, a great torrent of snow came rushing up to greet them.

The Ron Couple was the first to arrive on the scene. The color drained out of their faces!

They watched as six Frostramparts were detonated over the heads of a group of Pharaoh Clan members, instantly filling the cramped corridor with roaring snow that engulfed the several dozen players who had been stationed there.

… It had not been fifteen seconds since they had run here from the valley interior!

The two Pharaoh Clan Field Commanders, shocked by the speed and brutality of this strike, stood frozen in their steps, paralyzed with mortal terror!

What sort of person were they dealing with? The guy back at the Black Market… what connection did he have with this angel of death? There were forty people stationed here at the valley’s exit! Without a moment’s hesitation, he’d instantly slaughtered them all to a man!

To provoke such a god-like figure, simply because the Ron Couple had asked them to, was this really worth it? Their lips twitched, their hearts moaning.

Not a single person walked out from the howling blizzard. The Clan Channel had erupted into utter chaos, as more than forty players scrambled to describe the horror that had just befallen them.

Their opponent must have been somewhere nearby, but they could not see him. Aquaramparts began to appear one after another at a terrifying rate. Their Bowmasters squinted hard in all directions, wondering if they had gone blind, for they couldn’t find the culprit at all.

Once there were half a dozen Aquaramparts in place, all six of them froze instantly, and then exploded overhead!

All forty of them had been innocently clustered together in the same spot, never expecting that their enemy might use an AoE spell like Frostburst—nor had they expected that their enemy would actually attack them so mercilessly.

Next moment, all forty of them were reporting to the Resurrection Gallery, still wondering what had just happened!

***

Back in the world of the living, it was a simple matter to wait for Ron’s Mistress to use a Heat Wave to boil away the lingering snow and fog, so that all four of them could immediately spot the blood-red figure, eighty meters beyond the exit!

A group of Pharaoh Clan members, rushing over from the valley interior, sucked in a sharp breath.

“Gosh!”

“He’s a Devil now!”

“He’d better run!”

Every one of them longed to attack, but the sudden death of dozens of their number, and that terrifying crimson visage awaiting them beyond the valley… it seemed to carry the monumental weight of mountains, threatening to crush them underfoot, and not one of them dared to take a single step forward.

The Ron Couple were delighted to see that Qin Ruo had finally accrued a red tag, but their joy was followed swiftly by horror.

Qin Ruo’s eyes, glowing with the cold light of murder, shone through the red haze that now surrounded him. Full of taunting mockery, his gaze was directed squarely at them, a disdainful smile curling the edges of his lips.

Their hearts had suddenly gone as cold as stone.

He’d already managed to escape their blockade, their carefully designed trap, simply by cutting his way out! There was no longer any point in giving chase any further—all he’d have to do was use that mysterious invisibility skill again, and there’d be no hope of catching him anymore.

To fight or to flee, it was out of their hands—the initiative now belonged entirely to Qin Ruo. At this thought, Ron’s usually stoic expression turned grim.

After a long moment of thought, Ron finally decided not to order the Pharaoh Clan members to move out from Killer Bee Valley. Biting back the shame of his defeat, he returned to the site of their own battle with Qin Ruo earlier to order the resurrection of Grieving Arrow.

He would regain the initiative once more!