MMORPG: The Elementalist

The Grand Auction ended with a wave of cheers and applause.

However, Qin Ruo and countless other Fallen Angels were too busy with their Project Pioneer that the auction felt like just a second grade festival that happened in a different world.

The Fallen Angels didn’t get to experience the crazy shopping wave that was happening in the Mythical Continent. They didn’t get to see the Legendary equipment, skill books, Pet Eggs… the extreme excitement that was flowing around at the end of the Grand Auction wasn’t felt at all.

Qin Ruo had, however, changed his mind in the final hour of the Grand Auction and bought all the equipment and items that he felt he needed, except the Violet Rattelyr Gauntlets—which was sold for over five billion gold coins.

The “Slime Manipulation Spell” was successfully bought by Qin Ruo with three billion and three hundred thousand gold coins. Other than the spell book, he had also bought seven Teleportation Scrolls, with three hundred thousand gold coins each.

Furthermore, Dinosaurcerer and Snowleaf had insisted that he bought several Tier 5 and Tier 6 Fire-type Mana Cores and some Fire-type and Solar-type Sealed Mana Cores.

Then, he also asked Little Arrow to buy twenty Shadowmesh Arrows from the Alchemist Guild and give them to their Tier 5 Bowmasters.

In just a few days, Qin Ruo had spent over twenty million gold coins!

Nonetheless, if he could defeat that Divine Specter with just twenty million gold coins, Qin Ruo would be so overjoyed–after all, he didn’t spend a dime for the commencement of Project Pioneer.

***

Wave after wave of Level grinding and treasure hunting had been kicked off right after the end of the Grand Auction.

This was all due to the launch of Currency Exchange System. This meant that countless players finally got to realize their dream–to earn a living as a full-time gamer in “Honor and Glory”.

Besides, after seeing the golden shining Demigod equipment, a sparkling vision of what kind of Champion they could be was shown to them.

After seeing all these, they were all overwhelmed by enthusiasm and motivation.

This, however, had led to the occurrence of something. Something that Qin Ruo feared would happen.

In just a few days, over hundreds of Tier 5 players had appeared inside Camp Edgar. They were all either from other Clans or solo players. Not only that, some of them were also from the Demon Faction too!

It must be quite shocking for these players though. After being beaten by the specters in the Underworld, they suddenly were resurrected inside a camp that was surrounded by thousands of people who weren’t from their own faction or clan. It felt almost like they had been brought straight to Ragnarok itself by the Valkyries.

It must have been quite a shocker to them. And this was even more so for the Demon Faction players.

After being resurrected, the first thing they saw were all the “red” names from the hostile faction. In an instant, all they saw were countless pairs of enemies glaring at them with their fierce prying eyes. The great despair they felt made them wish that they had stayed dead on the battlefield earlier.

The Underworld camps were safe zones, sure. Yet, they were quite small…

Right now, there were hostile players and specters everywhere around Camp Edgar in the sky and on land. They were literally being surrounded from all sides. If they were to take a step out of the safe zone, they would be obliterated in an instant! Indeed, they could choose to stay inside the camp but there was nothing they could do at all in the camp.

Fortunately, there were many other fellow Demon Faction players also trapped inside the camp so they didn’t feel too lonely. Still, to respawn and be trapped inside such a weird large-scale battlefield, the Demon Faction players wouldn’t consider themselves “fortunate” at all.

***

“Things ain’t getting any better, I see.”

Fateless and Permanent Lock were sitting on top of the brick walls of Camp Edgar, keeping an eye on the Demon Faction players inside the camp. In the meantime, they couldn’t help but feel sorry for the other strangers who had respawned inside the camp too.

“There are at least sixty-four people stuck here at the moment. At this rate, the camp is going to get so overcrowded that it’d explode…”

After hearing Permanent Lock’s playful jest, Fateless sighed and replied, “Indeed, we can’t allow this to go on any longer. Now, our operation is being live streamed on the internet too. As more and more people enter the Underworld, it’s only a matter of time before the Demon Faction gets a hold of this intel and come uninvited.”

“You mean… the Demon Faction would come and sabotage our city construction?”

“It’s quite possible! Our Clan Leader had given their entire faction a humiliating slap in the darn face in the Grand Tournament. They’re bound to show up for a payback.”

“And while all this is happening, what’s up with our Clan Leader? He’s been a no-show as of late. And Violet Orchid said she can’t do anything to these losers as long as they remain inside the darn camp.”

Permanent Lock felt quite uncomfortable with this situation as they were busy making preparation to face off against the Divine Specter. This Project Pioneer was such a rocky ride!

“As long as Edgar and his NPC gang isn’t moving, the camp is the best shelter for these rascals at the moment. There’s nothing our Clan Leader could do too if he shows up. Let it be. Besides, today’s the day we’re facing the Divine Specter. The Clan Leader will show up, you’ll see.”

As he finished his words, Fateless calmly looked at the Demon Faction players who were peeking through the camp walls.

“If they dare to do anything at all… I’ll have their heads!”

***

In the meantime, inside a huge room in Neversleep Restaurant, Savior, and Sinistress were looking at the other renowned players in the Demon Faction. Death Jesus, White Eyes… there were over fifty veterans gathered in the same room.

“I suppose everyone here knows why we all gather here today…” Sinistress was the first to speak.

Sinistress, the previous League Leader of the Maverick Vatican no more! She was now the League Leader of the Scorching Sun League–the sun that would melt the Winter Demon.

“Sinistress, if you’ve got any plan. Let’s hear it! My brethren and I have all been waiting for this day for a long time!”

“Yeah!”

“This Qin Ruo kid has humiliated all of us in the Grand Tournament. If he were to place his city in the Underworld too, this would add even more disgrace to us!”

Many players in the room were fired up as they spoke. The Fallen Angels’ Project Pioneer was going on smoothly. Sure, there were a few hiccups here and there but overall the operation was progressing well.

Their arch-enemy, the Fallen Angels, would soon acquire their city in the Underworld in just two days. These Demon Faction players couldn’t just sit by and allow this to happen.

“Since everyone is quite clear with our agenda, now let me get straight to the point…” Sinistress gave everyone a serious look and continued, “All of you are the pillars of our faction. And we all share the same goal and that is to sabotage the Fallen Angels’ Project Pioneer.”

“I’ve got a plan! A plan that Savior and I have devised together!”

“We’ve already got the preparations in place.”

Sinistress continued explaining.

“The defense around Camp Edgar is tight as a drum! They have over twenty thousand men surrounded the camp. They also have 300 Tier 5 players to oversee the insides of the camp. Some of them, in fact over dozens of them, are all Field Commanders who possess the strength of Veteran Champions.”

“However, we have successfully placed three Summoners in there…”

Then, she looked everyone in the eye and continued, “We’ll launch a surprise attack in three hours… at 2 am. This is the time when the human body is the most fatigued…”

“I need everyone to show up on time. We’ll complete the teleportation in fifteen seconds, sending 300 men right into Camp Edgar.”

“300 men?”

Someone finally responded doubtfully, “I’ve heard that the Fallen Angels has over thirty thousand men in that camp. And we’re just going to send in 300 men? How can we succeed with just 300 men?”

“We can’t send in too many people. There isn’t much space inside Camp Edgar. Besides, to execute a surprise attack in such a short time, the maximum number of strikers that we need is 300.”

Sensing doubts in her fellow Demon Faction brethren, she continued explaining.

“Don’t worry. We’re launching a surprise attack, not going into war with them. We’ll strike from behind the enemy lines, disintegrating the Fallen Angels’ defenses. And then, we’ll get the hell out.”

“Get the hell out how?”

This was the most important question. Everyone in the room was clad in a full set of Legendary gears. If they were to launch a surprise attack at thousands of enemies, they might lose their precious equipment if they were slain. If there wasn’t an effective way of retreating, they might be slaughtered together with the Fallen Angels by the Undead Horde.

Sinistress understood their concerns.

Dying once would mean losing a lot of Experience Points and some valuable gears. It was a huge sacrifice!

Sinistress resumed explaining, “After we’ve entered the camp, we’ll have our Summoners stand by in various areas in the Underworld. We’ll all focus our attack in one direction! For one full minute! After that one minute, we’ll all be teleported out by our Summoners, no matter if we succeed or not.”

The players in the room finally nodded in agreement.

Everyone in the room was the best of the best in the Demon Faction–so, if they were to pick the strongest three members from this roster to launch a pin-point surprise attack at Camp Edgar, it was not difficult to defeat two to three hundred guards in a short time.

According to Sinistress, the total length of the Fallen Angels’ defense lines was about a hundred meters. As long as they could ram through that one hundred meters in a short time, they could cause an immense chaos–creating a huge opening in the defense lines, allowing the Undead Horde to flood in!!

“If you’ve got any other idea, let’s hear it!”

Savior suddenly stood up from his seat, tidying his coat’s collar, and spoke calmly, “I’d like everyone here know… There’s one thing I disagree with Sinistress. Just one.”

“…”

As everyone focused their attention on the second most important hot shot in the Demon Faction–”Savior”–he looked at everyone in the eye and voiced out what he had in mind.

“I don’t expect to survive in this operation.”

“We’ve all decided to launch a surprise attack at Fallen Angels at this hour… I suppose… you all know what would befall us if we fail this operation…”

“…”

Savior’s words shook every player’s heart in the room.

“Brothers and sisters… I hope you’ll give it your all in this operation. Don’t expect to leave the battlefield unharmed…”

“This is all for the honor of the Demon Faction. We can’t allow the world to treat us like a laughing stock anymore!”