MMORPG: The Elementalist

The appearance of Netherclaw, Snowmelt and Dark Dragon, the “Three Great Evils” of Netherspirit’s Claw spooked Homme Fatale. Dinosaurcerer and his gang were also shocked as they saw who stood before them—to them, Netherclaw was equivalent to what Winter Demon was to the Netherspirit’s Claw’s members. Having Netherclaw showing up with his other two strongest members appearing all together totally stunned everyone at the scene.

Luckily, Homme Fatale was experienced in situations like these…

Slowly flapping his Angelic Wings, he flew to the front of Dinosaurcerer and coldly said, “Netherspirit’s Claw is only passing by? And you’d just barge in like this while ignoring my Clan Leader’s warning? The other clans might be afraid of you, Netherspirit’s Claw. However, we are not pushovers.”

Homme Fatale was speaking cold and slow, buying time for his brethren behind. This had also allowed more time for the other members in the scene to devise a plan to handle the Netherspirit’s Claw’s visit.

Nonetheless, the “passing by because they needed to head to the Centipede Cavern” was surely a lame excuse.

“Homme Fatale… My brother…” Netherclaw smiled as he walked to Homme Fatale. “I’m sorry for intruding like this but we don’t have ill intent. We don’t even have any intent to belittle anyone here. It was indeed an emergency that had led us here. Besides, you’ve even blocked off the entire valley just for one Boss. How else should we head to our destination? Please be reasonable.”

Before Homme Fatale could respond, Netherclaw took a step further saying, “On top of that, we’ve known each other for a long time. I’ve met Qin Ruo a few times too… come on, we’re just passing through. Can’t I ask for this small favor, Homme Fatale? Even Qin Ruo was more reasonable than you in Galbis’ Lair!” As he finished his words, Netherclaw suddenly rose to the sky and then flew toward Homme Fatale!

Everyone on Dinosaurcerer’s side, including Homme Fatale, were affected by Netherclaw’s calm and menacing tone as he was trying to persuade Homme Fatale. It was as though the air around them had started to freeze up. However, Dinosaurcerer knew that Netherclaw was not only implying pressure in his words, he was also trying to take a peek behind them to have a better look at the battle with the Mutated Lich.

“What a load of bull!”

Dinosaurcerer pulled his feet in anger and started to draw a hexagram on the ground.

“Summon!”

As a huge glare of light flashed before everyone, a few silhouettes walked out of the warp portal Dinosaurcerer drew.

Two Bowmasters from Netherspirit’s Claw had keen eyes. They whispered the names of the players who were walking out of the warp portal…

“Fateless! Judge!”

“Snowleaf!”

“Wandering Soul!”

“Sharp Blade! Muted Landmine!”

“…”

And then suddenly!

The two Bowmaster saw one person from the warp portal. After double checking the information of the player’s gamer tags, they were astonished!

Their jaws fell to the ground as they struggled to speak, “… How could it be him?”

“It’s him!”

“It’s impossible! Impossible!”

“Who’s ‘him’?”

Noticing the two Bowmaster’s reactions, Snowmelt and Dark Dragon looked at the direction that they were staring at… And then they saw “him” too. The light from the warp portal was still in effect, and thus “his” face was still not yet visible. And yet, that silhouette… it looked so familiar. In fact, it felt as though they had seen him several times before.

“Who’s it?” Two of them frowned as they looked at the Bowmasters.

“That’s…”

“Qin Ruo!”

Netherclaw roared “his” name out, like a dozen megatons of dynamites exploding, spooking everyone from the Netherspirit’s Claw. Snowmelt and Dark Dragon were also shocked and confused!

Qin Ruo?! ***

Netherclaw was not worried at all when Dinosaurcerer executed his “Ally Summon”. In fact, he was amused. Homme Fatale and Netherspirit’sMenace were both in the Death Valley. Who else could he summon from outside the valley?

So, Netherclaw paid attention to the people who walked out of Dinosaurcerer’s portal. Then, he saw a familiar looking Elementalist wielding a legendary weapon standing next to Dinosaurcerer. At first, he did not recognize who that was.

However, that Dark Gold hood still looked familiar so, he paid extra attention in checking him out.

Then, this “Elementalist” started overlapping Qin Ruo’s image. Everything about the Elementalist reminded him of Qin Ruo. In that instant, Netherclaw barked out Qin Ruo’s name in surprise!

“Qin Ruo?! ‘How’s that possible?!’

As he shouted out Qin Ruo’s name, Netherclaw was still unsure if this was true. In fact, he was unwilling to believe this was true… He still held out hope that his Bowmasters would “rectify” the identity of that Elementalist reporting out a stranger’s name. Any name! Any name other than “Qin Ruo”.

Yet… this had all ended in disappointment.

The “Elementalist” spread out his Angelic Wings and elevated to the sky, facing Netherclaw. This somehow sent a rush of anxiety into the latter’s mind.

“Netherclaw.”

As Qin Ruo started speaking, Netherclaw, Snowmelt, and Dark Dragon felt as though the world was spinning.

***

“No…This is impossible. As far as I know, Summoners can’t summon anyone from the Underworld into the Mythical Continent! No… Don’t tell me that you’ve single-handedly found a way to return to Mythical Continent?” Netherclaw smiled bitterly as he looked at the Winter Demon.

Presently, Netherclaw had interest in whatever that was happening in the depths of Death Valley. To him, the Winter Demon was a Boss himself—one that was worse than a God-tier monster! He had to exercise a lot of caution. Besides, he now possessed the knowledge of traveling back and forth between the Underworld and Mythical Continent. This knowledge was much more crucial than the clans’ development and expansion.

However, to his utter disappointment, Qin Ruo did not seem interested to talk about it. Besides, it was the wrong time and place to discuss this, especially with Netherclaw.

Calmly, Qin Ruo scanned all the Netherspirit’s Claw members below, including Snowmelt and Dark Dragon and then, with a calm casual voice, Qin Ruo spoke to Netherclaw, “Why o’ why every time we meet, you Netherspirit’s Claw always leaves such a bad impression…”

“….” Netherclaw’s face turned grim, unsure of how to respond to this mocking question.

“Does messing with us, the Fallen Angels, grant you people some kind of sense of achievement or something?” Qin Ruo calmly spoke as he played with his new staff “Frost Witch’s Rage”, ignoring Netherclaw’s bitter face and his underlings’ anger from below.

As they were talking, the rest of the three clans slowly surrounded them… leaving their combat teams to continue handling the Mutated Lich. In an instant, Netherspirit’s Claw lost its advantage in its numbers.

Qin Ruo was not going to hold back though. Not only did he want to fend off the Netherspirit’s Claw but also to plant the seed of fear in them. Therefore, he was willing to reveal his secret—that only he could freely enter and leave the Underworld, and appear in front of Netherspirit’s Claw.

Qin Ruo was pissed… It was now impossible for him to end this peacefully!

As for three clans, their morale spiked the instant Qin Ruo appeared! When they saw him, everyone from Fallen Angels were shocked, even more so than Netherspirit’s Claw. The only difference was that their surprise was mixed with joy!

Everyone was eager to start battling Netherspirit’s Claw as Qin Ruo overwhelmed them with pressure. They only had twenty-nine Tier 5 Champions, including the three veteran champions. Yet, they were greater in number, and they also had three veteran champions on their side. They had Black Rock, Fateless, Permanent Lock, Dinosaurcerer, Judge, Subjugator and many more on their side. On top of that, Dark Dragon was someone who had lost to Netherspirit’s Menace before…

If they were to fight, the three clans could finish Netherclaw and his gang in an instant!

On the other hand, Netherspirit’s Claw had felt tremendous anxiety and pressure as they looked at the three clans’ heightened morale.

They thought they had the advantage when they intruded. They did not think the Winter Demon would return and surround them in sheer numbers.

How unlucky!

“Qin Ruo… Look… This is all just a misunderstanding… We’re…”

“Just zip it with your lame excuses. You can drop the facade in front of me.”

Qin Ruo replied in disgust, “You have been trying to shred Fallen Angels’ face off since day one. You know it. I know it… Today you decided to intrude the area where we are trying to complete a quest… Passing by… Heh! Who do you think we are? Three-year-olds? If you want to bully anyone, just know who you’re messing with. We, the Fallen Angels, are no pushovers!”

Qin Ruo then smiled coldly. “And now, I’ll have you know the consequences of messing with the Fallen Angels…”