MMORPG: The Elementalist

The Summoner named Beastmaster, the first of the Demon Faction players to get within reach of Qin Ruo, had run out of luck despite being the second most powerful among the eight ambushers.

He owned an extremely rare Pet: it was a Storm Leopard, a Level 45 Boss monster which he had been lucky enough to find as loot on the very first day that the Pet system was introduced in the game. He had successfully adopted it right away.

In the hopes that it would help him do well in the Graveyard of the Gods, Beastmaster had resisted the urge to dive in right away. Instead, he spent two sleepless nights in a row training up his Pet elsewhere.

At the end of those two days, the Pet had reached Level 35!

With the Tier 4 Storm Leopard at Level 35, its combat ability was already rather substantial. Under a player’s direct control, it completely surpassed the average Tier 4 player.

By fusing with his Pet, Beastmaster gained the Storm Leopard’s high-speed mobility, close-combat prowess, and high HP. Combined with other monsters he could summon, he had a good chance of victory even against Field Commander-level players!

Throughout his time in the Graveyard of the Gods, he had been relying on this unusual combat style to deal defeat after defeat to Angel Faction players. He had cut his way through to the fourth level, where he teamed up with Black Mask and the others to brave the fifth level!

Yet, standing against Qin Ruo now, everything had turned upside-down for Beastmaster.

Although the swift defeat of their two Elementalists had demonstrated Qin Ruo’s phenomenal power and speed, Beastmaster possessed his own advantages from his Beastform Fusion. With HP exceeding 2,500 (the average between the Pet and the Summoner’s Maximum HP!), there was simply no way he could be killed off with one shot like they had been.

Knowing this, he boldly continued his advance, intent on giving Qin Ruo some payback and avenging his fallen comrades.

He prepared to perform the Storm Leopard’s Charge, which would carry him straight through whatever attacks Qin Ruo or the Amethyst Orc may use.

To his surprise, the Amethyst Orc instead performed an area-effect attack.

Amethyst Burst!

Ka-pow!

Two massive fists slammed into the ground like pile-drivers, splitting the very earth beneath them!

Black Mask, Beastmaster, and another Demon Faction Swordmaster had been charging in for the kill, so all three were caught by this attack.

Within an area of 10 m across, the ground fractured and split open, while enormous boulders rose, rumbling out from below. All three of them were assaulted by violent shockwaves and violet lightning, with no hope of retaliation.

Even if they used Charge now, it was already too late for them to evade the Amethyst Orc’s area-effect attack.

The three of them were caught in the Amethyst Burst!

Over 350 Physical Damage and some additional effects from the lightning—none of this was a big deal to Black Mask and the Swordmaster, but it meant grievous harm to the comparatively fragile Summoner.

Although the Storm Leopard lent him quite a bit of Physical Resistance, it was only Level 35 after all, and after averaging it out with Beastmaster’s own Physical Resistance, it was not that much of an increase, so he ended up taking nearly 400 damage instead.

“Blast!” At least the Beastform Fusion protected him from being Paralyzed by the lightning. Paying no heed to the damage he had taken, Beastmaster roared and leaped high into the air through the clouds of dust as well as falling debris!

He flew straight at the Aquamancer, who was still perched comfortably on the shoulder of the Amethyst Orc.

Although the Amethyst Orc remained the greatest threat, as long as the Aquamancer could be taken out, the Amethyst Orc would be removed from play as well. In dealing with the Aquamancer, the best move should first be to knock him off the Amethyst Orc.

Once he was on the ground, things would be much simpler. Their Bandit was already in position, not far behind Qin Ruo. The moment he could be brought down to ground level, his dual defenses would immediately be torn apart. Then, he would be helpless against a combined assault from their Bowmasters and warriors.

It had to be said that Beastmaster possessed a knack for battlefield awareness and combat tactics. However, what he had not noticed was, just before they sprang their ambush, a shadow had flitted away from the Amethyst Orc, faster than the naked eye could see. With the Amethyst Orc’s huge body obstructing their view, not even the Bowmasters managed to spot it.

During the commotion caused by the Amethyst Burst, the shadow had quietly snuck up behind the Demon Faction Bandit, who remained unaware of the tiny ball of water magic that was following him around overhead.

Whoosh!

Poochie appeared like a phantom on Qin Ruo’s shoulder and shot forth like a bolt of lightning, striking down Beastmaster in mid-air.

Bang!

Beastmaster was just about to knock Qin Ruo off of his perch, but it was as if he had blindly collided into the ceiling instead. He ended up going down faster than when he was going up.

Beastmaster lay on the ground, unmoving. He had been Stunned for three seconds.

This sudden development came as a nasty shock to Black Mask and the Swordmaster, also pushing their way through the Amethyst Burst.

A Pet!

Not only did this Level 41 Aquamancer command a summoned Tier 5 Miniboss, but he also had a Pet!

For crying out loud!

No wonder he dared to take on all seven of them at once—he had it all figured out already.

This only enraged Black Mask even more. Howling, he threw himself into his Charge, picking up speed!

His broadsword left a crimson red trail through the air as it slashed across the Amethyst Orc’s arm.

Clang! It was a sound one would not expect to hear upon striking flesh!

Attack has no effect!

Seeing how the Amethyst Shield had blocked Black Mask’s fierce attack, Qin Ruo felt a cold smile twitch at the corner of his lips. He finished preparing another two rounds of the Lycan Barrage, and they appeared soundlessly behind the two Bowmasters, who were still frantically preparing to activate their own skills.

“Game over!”

The Lycan Barrages struck their targets squarely from behind.

Even as Qin Ruo took down the two enemy Bowmasters, two sudden streaks of light formed a downwards V in the air for a brief moment.

Before the Demon Faction Bandit could make his move against Qin Ruo or the Amethyst Orc, Fateless stabbed him in the back. Disbelief and shock were clearly written all over his face. The Bandit’s lifeless body then toppled over and hit the brook with a splash.

That was five enemies down.

***

The eight-man party had lost five members in a heartbeat!

Of the remaining three, one was still Stunned, which left the leader Black Mask and the Zephyr Swordmaster named “Innocent Lamb”, who had just activated his Tempest Aura.

Morale was low. Though they had underestimated him at first, they came to realize that this Level 41 Aquamancer before them may have already known their positions and devised a perfect strategy ahead of time.

What fools they were to assume that he was just some weakling who had the gall to come up to the fifth level of the Graveyard of the Gods with nothing but a Tier 5 Miniboss. They were never going to live this down!

The remainder of the battle was no longer worth any suspense.

Between Qin Ruo, the Amethyst Orc, Poochie, and Fateless, it was two humans and two monsters against Black Mask and Innocent Lamb.

After its Amethyst Shield had foiled Black Mask’s incoming assault, the Amethyst Orc dismissed it and immediately dealt three devastating strokes of its Amethyst Slash, which forced a despairing Black Mask back a couple of steps. Meanwhile, Qin Ruo conjured another Lycan Barrage in the distance, and it now came hurtling in.

Meanwhile, Poochie abandoned the helplessly Stunned Beastmaster for the moment and switched over to attack Innocent Lamb.

“What’s going on?” asked Innocent Lamb. “I’ve done nothing!”

Hailing from Taiwan, Innocent Lamb was the weakest member of the party, and had always been half a step behind everyone else.

First, they lost their two Elementalists. Then, the two Bowmasters were killed off right after, and their Bandit was backstabbed by an Angel Faction Bandit while in the middle of attempting a backstab himself… It was too much—he just could not keep up with everything!

He had no idea what was happening, and he had no idea what to do. He was as innocent as a lamb!

And that was why he could not even react to Poochie’s incoming strike, and could only be sent flying haplessly through the air.

Black Mask was in a frightful temper.

‘Worthless! Even in such a crisis, you’re still daydreaming! Are we about to be wiped out here?’

As he thought of this, the Amethyst Orc bore down on him. Black Mask was about to join the ranks of a fortunate few players who had witnessed the Amethyst Orc’s Successive Strikes firsthand.

Of course, in terms of close combat, Qin Ruo was nowhere close to a Field Commander-level specialist like Black Mask. However, with skills like his Elemental Perception and Lycan Barrage, that hardly mattered anyway.

(Translator’s Note: There’s a sentence I’ve left out here, about something rolling off the Amethyst Orc’s shoulders. Maybe Qin Ruo dismounted at this point, but it doesn’t seem that way.)

The Amethyst Orc now attacked Black Mask in earnest, the strikes raining down in a ceaseless cascade so that all Black Mask knew was hopeless misery.

‘Argh, what sort of Boss is this? It can even perform successive strikes for goodness’ sake!’

Although the Amethyst Orc’s Successive Strikes were still crude and clumsy, every time he thought he saw an opening to break through and attack Qin Ruo, he would get hit by two strikes of a Lycan Barrage out of nowhere. They crashed heavily into him, and the Amethyst Orc would press the attack. As a result, Black Mask would be even worse off in the fight, struggling to regain his balance and defend himself.

Even with a Physical Resistance of nearly 300, Black Mask could not stand up to such a punishing onslaught. Howling in frustration, he eventually fell before the unfair combination of man and beast.

Meanwhile, after Poochie had rendered Innocent Lamb helpless and vulnerable, he was swiftly dispatched with a sudden visit from Fateless.

By the time the lucky last survivor of the Demon Faction party came back to his senses and pulled himself up from the ground, the battle had basically ended. The Amethyst Orc, Qin Ruo with his dual defenses up, Poochie, and Fateless all closed in on him.

Beastmaster’s heart was heavy with mournful lamentation, and he curled up into a ball on the ground.