Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

The gazes of the people on both sides went straight to their respective bosses. This was when Dusky Cloud’s men followed the trajectory he was diving toward to and identified the recipient of his devoted attention. “F*ck! It’s Blue Ease!”

On the opposing party’s end, Blue Ease also recognized the Thief in Fleetfoot mode that was hurtling toward him and roared, “D*mn! It’s Dusky Cloud!”

However, the person who was the loudest in this location right now was Silver Moon. Raising the glowing golden sword in the air, Silver Moon activated the party-wide skill of King’s Command as he yelled, “Brothers, to arms!”

Both parties quickly entered melee engagement.

The fact that Dusky Cloud and his men had fallen for Silver Moon’s scheme again infuriated them so much. As such, their battlecry was more thunderous, promising pain on their foes as they strove to foil their ploy even if it meant their own ruin.

Blue Ease was on the warpath when he heard Silver Moon’s roar. Eyes turning red, Blue East wielded his weapon and launched a vigorous counterattack on Dusky Cloud.

Numerous white lights burst forth from the central plaza in this first clash. Dusky Cloud’s men had rich experience in group fights; naturally, Blue Ease was not too far off from them, being a former resident of the blood-soaked city of Yueye. All these players hailing from Yueye City were truly well-versed in concentrating their firepower to kill as many enemies as they could.

The number of casualties was a reflection of either side’s manpower, level of teamwork, choice of target, and so on. Simply put, this was a battle of efficiency. While the logic behind all this sounded simple, utilizing such a stratagem required a deep understanding of warfare. This sort of head-on clashes were taxing on the Priests, to say the least, as it needed them to possess superb healing skills and a strong grasp of tactics that could bring victory to their side. Therefore, those Priests with average skills would soon be revealed when they discover their comrades dying on them, unable to provide any significant assistance in the least.

Highly skilled Priests were truly few and far between, so it was hardly surprising that almost all the Priests on both sides were hard-pressed to accomplish their tasks. Since the Priests were barely up to par, the death toll on both sides quickly rose in just these two rounds of fighting.

Being a Mage, Blue Ease predictably did not rush to the forefront of this clash. Although Dusky Cloud was striving to pounce on him, Blue Ease was not foolish enough to be swayed by his action into duking it out with the commander of the opposing side.

Dusky Cloud did not forget his real objective for this assault, yelling to his men as he fought on, “Keep your eyes peeled for Silver Moon! Immediately strike if the opportunity presents itself!”

Dusky Cloud did not instruct his men to launch the first strike on to their target because he had seen Silver Moon unleash the King’s Command skill. In such fights where efficiency was the key, it was imperative to avoid initiating the attack on the enemies. Although they were here to kill Silver Moon, Dusky Cloud knew that attempting to attack the latter at this moment might very well cost him the lives of all his men and to fail the operation, instead.

Blue Ease was evidently stunned when he heard Dusky Cloud’s order and he hurriedly squeezed himself out from the Mages’ ranks, yelling, “Stop m*th*rf*ck*ng fighting! We’re here to kill Silver Moon, too!”

“What?!” Dusky Cloud was stunned by Blue Ease’s words, but since Silver Moon was known for his scheming nature, he was unsure of the veracity of Blue Ease’s claim. Fortunately, Blue Ease was decisive enough and immediately issued this command to his men, “Everyone, stop your attacks!”

Since Blue Ease decisively withdrew from the fight and had his men stand down, Dusky Cloud no longer held suspicion regarding his claim and quickly ordered his men to follow suit. Almost instantly, only the sounds of sporadic fights could be heard from the fighting field, and those soon stopped as well. Before either side could make sense of things further, Dusky Cloud slapped his forehead in realization, “M*th*rf*cker! Where is Silver Moon?!”

This one statement prompted everyone to search for their target, yet not one of them spotted even a lick of shadow of Silver Moon and his men.

“G*dd*mn! Did none of you see him?” Dusky Cloud and Blue Ease coincidentally bellowed the same thing at the same time.

Everyone looked at one another, nonplussed.

“M*TH*RF*CK*NG FIND HIM!” the two men shouted in unison again. Yelling the same thing twice had left an awkward aftertaste in the two men, causing them to eye each other rather discontentedly.

“We’ve lost them; no idea where they are right now!” The players who had run down the nearby streets in search of Silver Moon reported back.

“F*ck! That guy gave us the slip!” Blue Ease exhaled.

Dusky Cloud was no fool and he quickly realized why everything had gone south. Dusky Cloud and his men had assumed that Blue Ease and company were on Silver Moon’s side, but Blue Ease would not have thought that Dusky Cloud and his men were lending Silver Moon a hand.

However, this misunderstanding started after Silver Moon’s bellow of “Brother, to arms!”

That one shout had been extremely detrimental to either party. Dusky Cloud’s side completely assumed that Silver Moon was calling for Blue Ease and his men. Blue Ease’s side, meanwhile, did not actually think much of that shout, but when they saw Dusky Cloud and his men aggressively charging at them, they promptly assumed that Silver Moon and Dusky Cloud’s team had joined forces against him, leaving Blue Ease and his men with no choice but to ruthlessly counterattack.

Furthermore, the shrewd Silver Moon was familiar with how either party fought. He knew that both sides would employ blitzkrieg tactic to quickly wrap up the fight, which would naturally avoid directly engaging his teammates who were under the effect of King’s Command. Since both parties were enemies with Silver Moon, they had consciously given him a wide berth. Given how their battle tactics had them precisely targeting enemies which required their utmost concentration and how no one expected Silver Moon to flee, by the time both sides wised up to the fact that they had been had, Silver Moon had already made his successful getaway.

“You *ssh*l*s, what the actual f*ck?!” Dusky Cloud was glaring at Blue Ease, “You guys could’ve targeted Silver Moon any d*mn time; why would you choose to do so when we’re making our move as well?!”

“M*th*rf*ck*rs, why did you guys come here in Baishi City, anyway?! We’ve been keeping our eyes on that guy for the whole night; if we’re not gonna act now, when would we find another chance to do so?!” Blue Ease countered. He was once the second-in-command of the eradicated Past Deeds Guild; his enmity with Dusky Cloud and his men was at the same level as his hatred for Silver Moon and Vast Lushness, so what pleasantries could they say to one another? Both parties believed that it was the sudden appearance of the other team that had spoiled their plan. All the players in the central plaza had their weapons out, looking as though they would fight once more.

“Boss, we should hurry and chase after Silver Moon!” Some players were still level-headed.

“Chase, my *ss! How’s anyone gonna chase after the missing Silver Moon?” The two had once more said the same thing, causing them to glare at each other.

“Stop copying my words!” Dusky Cloud was the first to say this.

Blue Ease originally wanted to say the same thing, but since Dusky Cloud had been faster than him in saying it, he hastily changed his words, “Go to hell!”

“Since Silver Moon escaped, I’ll just slay you, instead!” Dusky Cloud was ready to attack.

“Not if you’re the first to go down!” Blue Ease did not back down, raising the magic staff in his hand.

At this moment, some players from either side were feebly asking, “Who’s that guy?”

This question effectively extinguished the very embers of war that were about to ignite. Plenty of players from either side were newer additions to their respective guilds; on Dusky Cloud’s side, the enemy often mentioned was either the arrogant Vast Lushness or the devious Silver Moon; Blue Ease was someone who had already been relegated to the mob that constituted Past Deeds as a whole. As for Blue Ease, his resentment was directed to the entire Ten Guild Alliance. Gu Fei would be Blue Ease and his men’s first choice for a person to target or to loathe; Dusky Cloud would not even be considered for that position. Above all, it was Silver Moon who had shirked his responsibility and abandoned Past Deeds during those turbulent times that hurt them the most. His name was often mentioned by them in disdain and was largely regarded as the person responsible for the collapse of Past Deeds.

The surrounding players’ innocuous question about the other party’s identity had caused Blue Ease and Dusky Cloud to come to their senses. The question floated in either man’s mind for quite a while, even as the hot blood pumping through them cooled.

The Past Deeds Guild was indeed as what its name suggested: It was already in the ‘past’.

Blue Ease and his men were now residents of Baishi City, and they hardly had any connection with Dusky Cloud and his men from Yueye City. If there was one thing connecting them, it would be their goal to hunt for Silver Moon. When the saying: ‘The enemy of my enemy is my friend’ flashed through the two men’s minds, both of them promptly turned their heads to the side and spat.

F*ck that saying! No way I’m gonna be friends with this hateful guy! Dusky Cloud scornfully glared at Blue Ease, as Blue Ease contemptuously stared back at Dusky Cloud.

The hot-bloodedness of the players hailing from Yueye City reared its ugly head once more. Just this stare either party shared almost caused a fight to erupt once more. The two were about to hurl insults at each other when some of their men feebly asked, “Are we not going to search for Silver Moon anymore?”

Blue Ease had been living in Baishi City long enough for the hot-blooded nature he had nurtured in Yueye City to erode quite a bit. Calming himself down, he glared at Dusky Cloud for a moment before saying, “I don’t have time to play with you guys right now; we’ll settle this matter once we are done taking care of Silver Moon.” With that, he led his men away from the central plaza as he arranged his men for their next move.

“Kill him! Kill him now!” Seeing the other party’s departing back, Celestial Pig somewhat grew anxious. During Past Deeds’ tyranny, Silver Moon was not the only one who had bullied him so much; Blue Ease had also killed him plenty of times back then.

Dusky Cloud eyeballed Celestial Pig. “Kill, your *ss. Let’s focus on the matter at hand. That b*st*rd Silver Moon has caused us quite the setback here as well as the lives of many of our men.” Dusky Cloud slapped his forehead after saying this and hurriedly shouted, “Quickly pass this message: All those players who have died should not rush over and return to their spawn points, instead!”

If Silver Moon intended to log off at any of these spawn points, would he actually be faster than those men who had died and respawned? Even if Dusky Cloud’s men failed to make it in time and ambush Silver Moon outside a spawn point, they could at least try again as long as they knew which log-off point Silver Moon had used to return to reality by leaving some men behind to keep watch.

With this thought in mind, Dusky Cloud checked if the players who had died in that last engagement were from the seven main job classes in Parallel World. He only sighed in relief once he received affirmation of this fact.

“Hang in there, everyone.” Dusky Cloud knew that all were exhausted after staying up the entire night, so he made it a point to encourage them. Following this, he roared: “Inform our guys in Yueye City to send some m*th*rf*ck*ng backups!”