Chapter 2068 – Zero Wing's Protection
Storm Empire, Nether Mine:
The Storm Empire was located in a mountainous region, and various ore veins were common around the empire. As a result, the empire had become famous as an ore producer on the G.o.d's Domain continent. Meanwhile, the empire possessed the Nether Mine on one of its borders, which bathed in Nether Energy all-year-round. Because Nether Energy increased Player's Stamina consumption several-fold, and the mountains around the mine were home to Level 70 and above Demonic Beasts, players were rarely interested in grinding and leveling in the area.
However, several thousand players had gathered near one of the creeks between the two mountains. The lowest-leveled of these players was Level 62, and all of them would be considered experts.
Only, these several thousand experts were members of two groups, one with fewer than 400 players, and the other with nearly three thousand.
If the Storm Empire's players were present, they'd be shocked. The smaller group consisted of Twilight Echo's core members, the pillars that supported the Guild. Roughly 30 of them were top-ranked experts in the Storm Empire, and to ordinary players, they were unreachable. The strongest of these experts had to be Dark Wave, Twilight Echo's current Guild Leader and a player that ranked among the top ten within his cla.s.s.
Many powers operated in the Storm Empire, and its player population was even more frightening. Ranking among the top ten on one's cla.s.s ranking list was an impressive feat Dark Wave could easily rank among the top 20 or 30 in any kingdom's overall combat power ranking.
Such a group of experts shouldn't even fear an army of 10,000 elite players, but despite facing a legion of less than 3,000, Twilight Echo's core members wore grim expressions. Their eyes even held traces of fear.
“To think Nature Hall would send even you, Vice Guild Leader Owl, to greet us, your Guild must think highly of us,” Dark Wave commented to the robust, bear-like man carrying two Epic ranked one-handed axes, fear flas.h.i.+ng in his eyes.
Owl Life had only been an ordinary expert, but after joining G.o.d's Domain, he had repeatedly challenged the game's experts, growing stronger at a ridiculous rate. In the end, he had grown from an unknown player into one of the Storm Empire's famous experts. He then caught Nature Hall's attention, and the Guild recruited him. After joining Nature Hall, Owl Life's development speed skyrocketed, and he quickly became one of the Guild's capable generals.
When the super-first-rate Guild, Nine-star Family had operated in the Storm Empire, Owl Life had fought and defeated an army of its peak experts. He had even single-handedly killed five peak experts while leading a 5,000-man team to capture one of the super-first-rate Guild's towns. That battle had shaken the empire and made Owl Life famous. Eventually, Owl Life had become one of Nature Hall's Vice Guild Leaders.
Although Dark Wave ranked among the top ten in his own cla.s.s within the empire, Owl Life ranked among the top ten in the overall rankings. While the difference might not seem major, it was like the difference between a candle flame and a roaring bonfire.
If Owl Life wanted to, he could kill every Twilight Echo expert present.
“Guild Leader Dark Wave, I a.s.sume you know Nature Hall's stance on this since I've made the trip here. You people from Twilight Echo should stop deluding yourselves,” Owl Life said with a commanding tone, smiling at Dark Wave.
“Twilight Echo has already conceded every high-resource location available. We have even moved to this remote map to grind. We already intend to give up on developing in the Storm Empire. What more do you people want?” Dark Wave said as he tightened his grip on his saber, his expression darkening in frustration.
“The Guild Leader sent me to knock some sense into you,” Owl Life said, chuckling. “Either submit or we will remove you from G.o.d's Domain permanently. There is no third option. Don't think that we will let you continue to develop just because you've fled to this remote location.”
Dark Wave's frown deepened.
n.o.body could've expected the compet.i.tion between the various powers would become so intense after the Auction Arena's activation. To strengthen its hold on the Storm Empire, Nature Hall had begun an all-out war against the empire's powers, eradicating any that opposed it
“Guild Leader, why don't we just fight them?”
“That's right! If we have to go down, we'll take them with us!”
Twilight Echo's experts prepared themselves for a desperate battle in response to Nature Hall's determination to drive them into a corner.
“You want to suffer mutual destruction? Do you really think that you're capable of that?” Owl Life could not help but laugh when he heard Twilight Echo's members.
Owl Life's words incensed Twilight Echo's members further. Only Dark Wave remained silent He had nothing to offer in reb.u.t.tal. His silence wasn't due to a lack of courage, but because Owl Life spoke the truth.
No one in the Guild had a better idea than he of how powerful the players who ranked among the top ten on the empire's overall combat power rankings were. It was no exaggeration to consider these players humanoid monsters.
“We don't have any other choice! Once the battle begins, I'll try to pin down Owl Life for as long as I can! Everyone else, split up and run!” Dark Wave said. He then turned to Aqua Rose, who stood beside him, and said, “Aqua, you've seen it for yourself now. Your return can't solve this matter. You need to try to escape this. Don't let Twilight Echo ruin your future.”
As Aqua Rose's fourth uncle, he was grateful that his niece had returned to help the family's Guild. Unfortunately, she couldn't change anything. After seeing how Nature Hall treated Twilight Echo, he knew that if any other superpower interfered, Nature Hall would make his Guild suffer for it.
Dark Wave knew that Zero Wing, Aqua Rose's Guild, had been developing quite well recently and was now better off than Twilight Echo. Helping Twilight Echo wasn't worth Aqua Rose losing her opportunity in Zero Wing.
Aqua Rose bowed her head and gritted her teeth in frustration. She had never expected Nature Hall to be so intent on cornering Twilight Echo. If she hadn't returned most of her weapons and equipment to Zero Wing's Guild Warehouse before leaving, she might have been able to fight Owl Life and allow more of Twilight Echo's members to escape.
“You want to flee? Are you even strong enough for that?” Owl Life ridiculed, sneering at the serious expressions on Twilight Echo's members.
However, just before a fight broke out, 1,000 players ran into the valley. An elegant girl in beautiful mage robes, looking like a fairy, led the force, and many of the players in the valley couldn't help but stare.
Among the 1,000 new arrivals, the lowest-leveled player was 63, while most were Level 64. The weakest piece of equipment these players wore was Level 60 Secret-Silver rank. Many of these players even wore Level 60 Fine-Gold and Dark-Gold Equipment. Both Nature Hall and Twilight Echo's members watched these newcomers with envy.
However, the most noticeable aspect of these players was their sharp auras. They clearly weren't ordinary experts.
“Who are you? Can't you see that Nature Hall is busy here? If you don't want any trouble, leave immediately!” Owl Life warned the approaching 1,000-man legion.
Normally, he would've already commanded his subordinates to eliminate any intruders, but this 1,000-man legion clearly wasn't a normal force. Even his players would suffer if they attacked these new arrivals without care.
“Us? We're from Zero Wing,” Violet Cloud said with a faint smile.
“Zero Wing? Isn't that a Guild from Star-Moon Kingdom?” Owl Life faintly recalled such a Guild, and from what he could remember, Zero Wing had been developing excellently recently. He then asked, “Why have you come here?”
“We have orders from our Guild Leader to inform Nature Hall that Twilight Echo is under Zero Wing's protection,” Violet Cloud calmly replied.
