MMORPG: The Elementalist

Aricus Underground Ruins, Level 2.

A swell of hostility was felt in the air, circulating around the Executors, Fallen Angels, Bauhinia Clan, and Violent Army Clan.

The Clan Leader of the Executors, Remorseless Warrior was no fool. He had already sensed a glimmer of murderous intent within the words that came from Qin Ruo, the Winter Demon.

He had always been like that whether it was the time he faced the Demon Faction, took on Netherspirit’s Claw, or faced off with other players in the Angel Faction. Qin Ruo was never one to pull his punches. That was how so many Tier 5 Champions fell before him and also where his moniker, “the Winter Demon” came from.

Although Remorseless Warrior did not consider Qin Ruo to be his biggest foe at the moment, Qin Ruo was indeed leading a Party that comprised of thirteen Tier 5 Champions—two of which were a Tier 5 Radiant Priest and Tier 5 veteran Champion, Homme Fatale.

The strengths of those two were formidable and not to be underestimated…

Besides, Qin Ruo and Black Rock both possessed full sets of Legendary Grade Equipment. Their Party was entirely stronger than what the Executors had in their ranks.

Remorseless Warrior was not so stupid to challenge the three Clans head-on, and he did not really intend to make them his enemies…

“All right, I’ll stop beating around the bush. You’ve killed one of our brethren and I’ve got a proposal to resolve that.” Remorseless then leered at Qin Ruo’s Party members, who were smirking disdainfully, before he continued.

“I believe everyone here is after the Gorefiend Spider Demon and the Buried City… But, if we contest for the Spider Demon’s components in its seven spawn locations, no one will be able to assemble a complete map… So, I propose a duel before it spawns! The ones who lose shall willingly forfeit access to the Buried City and assist the winning side to acquire the Gorefiend Spider Demon’s components as well as the key to Level 3 of the Ruins.”

Qin Ruo was intrigued when he heard that; Remorseless Warrior’s proposal was quite a good one.

According to Fateless and Permanent Lock, the Executors had over three hundred Tier 4 elite players; they only had one less Tier 5 Champion than them. If they competed with them at full force, or even pulled all their resources to half of the spawn locations, it would be difficult for both sides to assemble a complete map.

“How do we go about this duel?” Qin Ruo asked.

Remorseless Warrior knew Qin Ruo would agree to his proposal. He smiled and pointed at his men.

“How many Tier 5 players do you have on your side?”

“They’re all Tier 5,” Qin Ruo replied indifferently.

A slight twitch could be seen on Remorseless Warrior’s brow as he looked behind at Shadow Summoner Dinosaurcerer and also Aquamancer Xiaoxiao in surprise.

“All eleven of you?”

“Thirteen.”

A speechless Remorseless Warrior was surprised yet again. Then, he remembered that the Fallen Angels had two more Tier 5 Bandits—Fateless and Permanent Lock.

The former was a highly skilled super bandit.

The latter was a new MVP player who could move in sync with his Pet, which was also quite a killer.

“Damn.”

Remorseless Warrior could not help but curse silently. However, he immediately came up with a plan.

“In that case, how about this? I have twelve Tier 5 players. So, you should also pick twelve members for the duel. The side that wins the most battles will be the victor.”

“Twelve?”

Qin Ruo looked at his team members who stood at the back. Most of them, with the exception of Dinosaurcerer and Xiaoxiao who lacked experience, were highly skilled members whom he had faith in.

“Sis Violet, what do you think? Do you think they have some trickery schemed behind our backs?” Exercising caution, Qin Ruo turned to Violet Orchid for advice.

Violet Orchid quickly stepped out, locked her eyes on Remorseless Warrior, and asked, “(Text missing. Translation Note: From Remorseless Warrior’s response later, it would seem that she pointed out how twelve duels would drag on too long, and the Gorefiend Spider Demon could spawn during their duels. She could also be pointing out that during the duel, the Executors would also not be able to hold the line at the spawn locations, thus resulting in a lose-lose situation)”

Remorseless Warrior pondered quietly. “That’s true indeed. Now that I’ve brought my men here, there isn’t enough manpower left to completely cover the spawn areas… How would you propose to resolve this problem?”

“Cut the number of duels. We should decrease the number to only five battles so that we can dispatch the rest of the seven members from each of our teams to secure the spawn locations,” Violet Orchid suggested a solution that would tip the duel in her favor.

If it was twelve battles, their chances of winning were actually not great, especially when engaging in combat with players was not Fateless, Lizard Bandit, Xiaoxiao, and Dinosaurcerer’s strong suit. Besides, Snowleaf was only a half-support and half-offense type of player; if she were to face another player one-on-one, she would not stand much of a chance. To make matters worse, they had no clue what the Executors’ twelve Champions were capable of. If there was a hiccup along the way and the Executors were able to get three more players on their side, it would be utterly humiliating.

However, if it was a five-battle duel…

Sending Qin Ruo, Homme Fatale, Black Rock, and Subjugator would net them a ninety-percent winning chance. Winning four battles would be a stroll in the park.

The suggestion, however, was rejected by Remorseless Warrior.

“No, the number of battles shouldn’t be decreased.” He was, of course, wary of Homme Fatale, Qin Ruo and, Black Rock. And if they included that Ignis Swordmaster, who owned a full set of Gold Equipment and a Legendary Fire-type sword, in the roster… they would have a hard time winning the duels.

Remorseless Warrior proposed again.

“Okay, how about this? Let’s make the duels end quickly! Each battle will have a three-minute time limit. It’s still dawn right, so there should still be some time before the Gorefiend Spider Demon spawns… We’ll take turns to send out challengers preemptively… If the duel drags over the time limit, it’s considered a draw, and the next duel will begin.”

That was actually a great idea.

Violet Orchid and Qin Ruo looked at each other, then nodded.

Even if there were some members who were not combat-oriented and had lower chances of winning, they could still have them drag the battle for three minutes. As for gaining the necessary wins, that would be the job of the main contenders.

“Good! It’s settled then. Hey, summon the others!” After they agreed on the duel, the Summoner who stood behind Remorseless Warrior suddenly beckoned a ten-meter-wide Warp Portal from the ground…

Shoou! Shoou Shoou!

As a white glaring light flashed before their eyes, a few silhouettes appeared from the Warp Portal out of thin air. The rest of the Tier 5 Executors had arrived on the scene. Including Remorseless Warrior, they now had all twelve members!

“What is this…”

Qin Ruo and his teammates looked confused.

Snowleaf, an experienced Summoner, explained, “Ally Summon. It’s a type of summoning magic that allows members of your Party to teleport immediately to your side.”

“You know about this skill?” Qin Ruo was stunned to hear that.

Dinosaurcerer, who stood behind him, explained, “Yes, there is indeed such a skill. It’s one of the skills that you can acquire after you clear Skill Missions. However, this particular mission is really though—you’ll need to kill a Tier 5 Megaboss alone in an extra-dimensional space. I just recently ranked up so I haven’t gotten the time to look into it yet. I believe it’s the same for Snowleaf too.”

Snowleaf nodded and looked anxiously at their opponent’s Summoner.

“That person… is strong.”

Everyone could not help but express grim concern, starting from the moment Dinosaurcerer explained how difficult the Summoner Skill Mission was.

That Tier 5 Summoner could take on a Tier 5 Megaboss alone. It would be a lie to say that the Summoner was not a formidable foe.

“We’ll need to be extra vigilant in this duel. Be careful not to tarnish the Fallen Angels’ name.”

“Understood. Clan Leader, I’ll be the first!”

Black Rock eagerly stepped out into the arena.

Qin Ruo nodded. Black Rock possessed the Galbis Despair Set and a Dark Gold Ring that could dish AoE petrifying attacks. On top of that, he was also a winged Champion. He was a great candidate to break the ice.

Violet Orchid and the others did not object to it too. Then, everyone set their eyes on the opposite side, on the Executors.

***

“It’s a Tier 5 Terramancer. He’s a winged Champion… Strength unknown… Pet unknown… He could be really strong… Thor, you’re up.”

Remorseless Warrior did not intend to pull any punches. When he saw Qin Ruo dispatch his Terramancer, he immediately sent out his Strike Force Leader, Thor. Thor, who was an Electromancer, may have lacked speed in Mana charging but he was strong in all other departments. His attack speed and magic attacks were superb enough to face a flexibly-skilled Terramancer.

When Thor stepped out from their lineup, Remorseless Warrior whispered in his ear.

“Finish him quickly.”

Thor nodded.

***

Remorseless Warrior’s whisper to Thor was heard by Fateless, who was hiding among them stealthily. He quickly reported it to Qin Ruo.

‘Finish him quickly?’

With a serious look, Qin Ruo calmly sent a private voice message to Black Rock. He was already in the arena.

“Show him everything you’ve got. If you lose, you can kiss your Galbis Despair Set goodbye…” As soon as he finished his words, everyone could clearly see a shiver run down Black Rock’s back.

***

“Show him everything I’ve got, huh?”

‘Then, let’s do exactly that…’

The battle began. Black Rock clearly did not look as carefree as before. He had seemingly gathered his concentration and started to gradually charge up his Mana.

Dual Defense Magic!

After activating their defenses, both of them stood still, forty meters away from one another.

Several seconds passed, and Thor, who was supposedly the one with the slower Mana-charging speed, had completed casting his first magic strike. It was a series of consecutive Tier 5 magic assaults!

As for Black Rock, he just kept charging and charging his Mana… Then, a wave of Elements started to expand…

A Tier 5 AoE Magic Attack?

Was this guy nuts?

Black Rock’s first magic strike was AoE Magic… Tier 5 AoE Magic had huge attack range and was very effective against wings. Additionally, it could also disrupt Elemental Perception. However, it was not suitable to be used in land-based battle.

Did he not know that his consecutive magic assault could nullify his magic barrier and shield?

Thor did not understand what Black Rock was up to but Tier 5 AoE Magic Attacks would require more time to charge up compared with other Tier 5 magic. Thor was not going to give up the golden opportunity!

Right after his Mana was completely charged, he dashed towards Black Rock at full speed…

Yet, Black Rock remained still.

As Thor approached, about thirty-five meters away from him, a pair of gorgeous Angelic Wings spread out from Black Rock’s back and sent him flying backward.

Even though he was flying backward, his speed was still that of a Tier 5 Champion’s…

There was, after all, a real difference between players with wings and without wings!

Even though they were both Elementalists, owning a pair of wings granted Black Rock the advantage!

Thor realized that something was off and gave chase. However, the distance between the two Elementalists remained the same. Finally, the casting of Black Rock’s Tier 5 AoE Magic Attack near its completion…

Thor realized that the situation was grim, thus he immediately let go of the magic he was casting and activated another skill. Suddenly, a splinter of lightning dropped down from the sky!

Boooom!!

Under the guise of the huge lightning, Thor disappeared from Black Rock’s and everyone’s line of sight.