Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Gu Fei quickly passed along Drifting’s idea to Sword Demon, and the man poked his head out and took a look at the surroundings before replying, “What? There’s such a position?” At the end of the day, Sword Demon’s job class meant he needed to get into melee range with his enemies. He did not really have such an in depth knowledge of matters when it came to such ranged sneak attack methods.

“We are currently in a state of deadlock right now, so why don’t we consider testing his idea out?” Gu Fei advocated.

“Okay, go and gather your manpower for this!” Sword Demon said.

“How many people can we have hiding here?” Gu Fei asked Drifting.

The Mage thought about it for a mere moment before replying, “If we squeeze, we can get 6, no problem.”

“Just so few?” Gu Fei was quite surprised. He thought they could hold over a dozen men, given the size of the roof.

“6 players are able to take up the most optimal position. Any more and we would just expose ourselves instead, or maybe we might be required to take a step back. But doing it that way means our line of sight would be obstructed, and there’s no way for us to attack in that situation,” Drifting explained.

“Okay, tell me the coordinates and I’ll send the Mages immediately,” Gu Fei said.

“Remember to set up an ambush over at the Mage Academy,” Drifting said.

“Why?” Gu Fei recalled how Drifting had specially mentioned the ambush in the Mage Academy before, and he simply could not understand the reasoning behind doing this.

“Because the attacks from this position happen to include the area where their Mages are grouped up, so a good number of Mages would be sent over to the Mage Academy. Why wouldn’t we try and capitalize on this opportunity?” Drifting expounded.

“Oh, I get it!” Gu Fei replied to Drifting. He got Sword Demon to go arrange the ambush over at the Mage Academy, even as he began to gather the Mages needed for the assault. Naturally, those with high spell damage were picked first. Aside from Drifting and himself, Slyris of the Five Unyielding Experts was of course included as well. Flame Singed Clothes was once part of the Mages’ Ten Great Adepts, so his equipment was up to standard. Now that he had managed to level himself back up, he could also be considered as one of their stronger Mages among the two guilds. Then there was also Cirrus; even though he was not as outstanding a player as before, he was at least nowhere as average as Fireball. Fireball wanted to tag along as well, but Gu Fei immediately took his active participation card and directly benched him. Gu Fei knew too well just how strong Fireball really was, and in such a crucial juncture like this, it was better if they sought for excellence.

The five Mage still lacked their last player, and of course, the ladies from Amethyst Rebirth were not strong enough to step up to the task. In the end, they had no choice but to pick up the last Mage from the sea of Mages that newly joined them. All the Mages each reported their own spell damage and it all became clear, but the name of the player with the highest spell damage out of the rest left everyone feeling very discouraged. The Mage’s IGN was actually “Loser”.

“He’s the one then! I am curious, however. Just what sort of extraordinary person would actually come up with such an IGN?” Gu Fei said over the party channel for the Sneak attack squad.

“You can’t think like that, judging someone by their IGN is equally as unpleasant judging someone by their looks. Most IGNs are created like that because the person themselves thought it sounds funny and/or nice, looks nice or perhaps they are just memorable; there’s hardly any deeper meaning to the names, most of the time. Take Royal God Call for example. Can you explain the meaning behind such a name?” Drifting said.

“I swear. I’m gonna kill you!!” Royal God Call bellowed.

“Alright everyone, let’s welcome the Mage Loser into our squad,” Gu Fei said thusly. The Mage Loser had already entered the party channel, and the man was very polite. The first thing he did when he joined was to greet everyone with a “Hello everyone” and that gave everybody quite a good impression of him as a result.

Drifting then sent out the coordinates and the route to take to get there, and everyone made their way over. These people of course passed by Royal God Call’s ambush position, and the man was presently grinding his teeth in anger, endlessly cursing Drifting behind his back.

“Is everyone here?” Gu Fei was in the vicinity. He was in no rush considering how close he was to the rendezvous point, so he continued to harass the players from Colored Clouds, which could also be seen as him drawing their attention toward him. A party being led by Thousand Miles Drunk was indeed different. Were it any average gathering of players that numbered between 200-300, Gu Fei felt that he would be able to integrate both ranged and melee, harassing with sneak attacks. He would have been able to kill a handful of players, but after Young Master Han took command, this contingent of players he now faced would advance and retreat in an orderly fashion, and more importantly, the men were now very patient, not in the least bit greedy. They prioritized keeping themselves topped up in terms of their HP, evidently well aware of what was the key in this tug of war.

“Yes, they’re all here.” When Drifting messaged his reply, the five Mages were all already in position.

“Is there really a need for me to get up there?” Gu Fei asked. He felt that the firepower from these 5 Mages was already very strong. After all, they were all much better than Fireball, who was at the grade of the average player.

“Just in case, it’s better if you come over as well!” Drifting suggested.

“Alright, I’m coming right away.” Gu Fei was still engaged in his back and forth with the players from Colored Clouds. Ducking away at this moment, he turned a corner of the street that he was in and began heading in the direction of Dirfting’s coordinates. There was no doubt that Gu Fei had a faster movement speed than the Mages, and those places where most people were unable to climb up to, he was able to Blink right over. Thus, he barely took two minutes to reach his destination.

Gu Fei was acquainted with Drifting, Slyris, Flame Singed Clothes, and Cirrus, so he was able to identify the Mage who dared to call himself “Loser” straight away. The man looked exceptionally excited when Gu Fei came forth and stood with them all.

“Hello there,” this was the first time Gu Fei and Loser met, so the former took the initiative to greet him.

“So cool,” Loser was excited. “To think I would be able to be grouped together with the three great Mages of Parallel World. Why, why can’t this game let players take a photo?”

“Hahaha...” The three great Mages laughed dryly.

“Ahem, Now that everyone is here, we may begin. They might get suspicious if we take too long; how goes the preparation over by the Mage’s spawn point?” Drifting asked.

“No problems there,” Sword Demon was very quick when it came to how he handled affairs, and Southern Lone Blade had already brought his troops over to the Mage Academy and had the place completely surrounded.

“Alright, then get ready. Right in the 12 o’clock direction here, we’ll do an Overlapping Five Pointed Star, with Miles taking the center. I’ll take the top, Slyris top left point, Cirrus top right point, Flame Singed Clothes bottom left point and Loser on the bottom right point. Any questions?”

“Nope,” the four replied.

“What’s that you talked about?” Gu Fei asked.

The five gave him the side eye. Drifting once more could not hold back as he expressed his derision, “Are you even considered a Mage?”

“Sorry, I don’t think I’ve ever coordinated with Mages like this before,” Gu Fei said.

“You understand what I meant by 12 o’clock direction, right?”

“Yes,” Gu Fei hurriedly nodded.

“Good. That’s the direction we’ll be unleashing our attack. You know the respective radius of both Descending Wheel of Flames and Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno, right?” Drifting asked.

“Uh, have you guys measured it out?” Gu Fei asked.

They were all at a loss as to how to respond to him.

“Do you see that guy there wearing a blue wizard’s hat?” Drifting pointed out a player amidst the enemy crowd of Mages.

“I see him.”

“Good. Using him as the center of your spell, just toss out all your AoE spells,” Drifting instructed.

“Then what about that overlapping five stars and the points that you mentioned just now?” Gu Fei asked.

“When this is over, I’ll be sure to give you some remedial lessons. Let’s make our attack first. On the count of three. Miles will make his move when he hears one, the rest of us will do on two and three,” Drifting said.

“Why?” It was now Loser’s turn to be a little confused.

“You’ll know soon enough,” Drifting said to him.

Gu Fei was a little despondent, but he had no choice but to act in concert. Thus, Drifting shouted out his one, two and three. On one, Gu Fei began chanting his spell, while Drifting had grasped the timing between the two and three. This was the person who was actually the strongest Mage in Parallel World. He had already gotten a clear idea of just how long Gu Fei would take when casting his spells, and his count for two and three was perfectly measured as the other five chanted in unison. Even though there might be discrepancies between all their equipment or stats, their casting speed was still more or less the same. At the very least, none of them were grossly out of line like how Gu Fei would require an extra second to match up with everyone.

This was the first time that Gu Fei was working together with other Mages in a Mage Formation. Even though he was the first to begin casting, his spells were able to get in step with everyone else’s. Six flaming wheels appeared in the sky, and Gu Fei could immediately understand why it was called the Overlapping Five Pointed Star. The center of the five’s spells turned out to be cast out along the circumference of Gu Fei’s spell, forming the five points of an imaginary star. Given Gu Fei’s superior eyesight, he could instantly tell that the center of the five Mages’ spells were extremely accurately cast, which only highlighted how the skills of the five were mediocre in any degree. Had they brought Fireball along, there might have really been a huge mistake.

The six Descending Wheels of Flames came falling from the heavens, and Colored Clouds’ formation went into immediate disarray when this happened. The suddenness of this sneak attack caught everyone completely off guard, and everyone could only try their best to flee from the affected area as they cried out for Priests to save them as soon as possible. Once they finished chanting their Descending Wheels of Flames, it was now time for their Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno to be cast, and the rhythm remained the same; Gu Fei began his incantation for the spell a beat before the rest, while the rest did the same as they did before.

The Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno rose, drawing out a neat image of a firestorm on the ground. With how the five Mages were positioned in this spell distribution, the prowess of each Mage was keenly reflected by the results. Those that happened to be in the area where Slyris and Drifting had overlapped were cleanly insta-killed, with sparse few players left standing where Flame Singed Clothes’s spell had been, while Cirrus and Loser were just a grade worse. This was especially true for Cirrus, who actually performed a bit worse than Loser. The area that his spell covered had the most survivors, and Cirrus felt extremely embarrassed by it, feeling like he had failed to live up to the trust that the group had placed in him.

Ultimately, this one move of theirs did not achieve the effect that they had all anticipated. There were players who had survived and it was apparent that the Overlapping Five Pointed Star still had some gaps. Gu Fei was about to say something, but he already saw Drifting continue to wave his magic staff and shout, “Twin Lotus of Emerald Flames.”

“Oh, is that a new move?” Gu Fei was surprised. He watched as a wave of fire rolled out in the direction where Drifting pointed, exactly like his Blossoming Crimson Lotus, except this time the spell did not originate from himself. Furthermore, this spell of his unfolded twice, and the AoE was completely larger than Descending Wheel of Flames or Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno.

“Blizzard.””Palatial Balefire.” Slyris and Flame Singed Clothes respectively tossed out their signature spells as well. Blizzard was similarly a surging AoE spell, while Palatial Balefire broke a bunch of players’ retreat, trapping them all in that sea of flames.

Cirrus and Loser looked at each other, feeling particularly lonely. Neither men had their own signature move, and so all they could do was cast their Repeating Fireballs, so it did not seem like either one was idling by while the others got busy. At the same time, they saw how Gu Fei was standing by the side, not casting any spell, and they felt gratified. Look, it’s not just the two of us. Even the top Mage in Parallel World is lonely at this time as well.

But who would have guessed that just as this thought crossed their minds, they saw Gu Fei wave his sword and point, loudly shouting “Electric Wall”, creating a wall of electricity quite a distance away from Flame Singed Clothes’ Palatial Balefire, blocking off both the left and right retreat for the players of Colored Clouds. Cirrus and Loser were in tears together. Experts were experts at the end of the day, and we are just simply nowhere near them!

Flame Singed Clothes’s power had already recovered back to how he was back in the day, and he was able to consecutively cast his Palatial Balefire one after another, linking up with Gu Fei’s Electric Wall to form three walls. His Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno was even shorter in terms of his cooldown as well, so he was able to throw out another one by now, so another Inferno was set ablaze once more just as the one before extinguished.

The players of Colored Clouds were all boxed up facing obstructions on three fronts, and those who had low HP had already died. Those who were still alive depended on all the Priests’ support to hang on to their dear lives, leaving just a single path of escape. Almost immediately, these players scrambled toward that direction. This just so happened to be in the direction where Gu Fei and the others were situated, looking like a mob running right for them. But the problem was that the mob would soon run out of the six Mage’s line of sight if they ran any closer at this rate, meaning they would no longer be attackable.

Cirrus and Loser were both at their wits’ end now, and all they could hope was for the four great experts to have another ultimate move in reserve, so they could utterly annihilate the enemy from all sides.

An ultimate move did arrive, and it was Gu Fei charging out from their ambush spot. He took several swift steps forward and loudly yelled “Blink”, directly throwing himself out there.

Drifting and the others did not pay heed to Gu Fei’s action, continuing to conscientiously unleash their spells. Cirrus and Loser looked on in envy, even as they tried their best to prove their existence.

When Gu Fei landed on the ground, several players happened to be courageously dashing out from the three walls, believing that they were saved. Who would have thought they would end up coming face to face with the most indomitable damage among all the Mages in Parallel World: the double strikes from Gu Fei’s Twin Incineration.

Two circles of flames arced out, and that group of men was polished off. The other players that came charging out behind them were also casually cleaned up in his rotating motion. These players were already short on HP, so taking a Twin Incineration from Gu Fei was enough to send them over the edge.

“Left! Right!” Young Master Han was not even in the least bit flustered at this time, calmly commanding the players who were still alive to once more attempt to envelop Gu Fei in their pocket formation. The Archers had also begun their work at the same time, firing their arrows in the direction that Young Master Han had directed them. These arrows that flew out in an arc, and actually showed a semblance of Traversing Four Seas’ Arrow Formation’s magnificence. After all, the players from Colored Clouds had plenty of contact with Traversing Four Seas, and they were able to imitate this signature formation of Traversing Four Seas’ due to how often they would whip it out for no reason. Currently, following Young Master Han’s orders, the arrows flew in the air in the direction and angle that Young Master Han commanded them to fire at. Even though Drifting and the others had taken cover, the arrows were all falling down from the heavens, and even though the damage of these arrows was weak, it was effective enough to interrupt their spellcasting.

The players of Colored Clouds who should have been insta-killed had all been finished off, and the spell ambush stratagem that Drifting had come up with had already reaped great success. It was only Gu Fei, who tried to maximize the efficiency of this attack, throwing himself right into the fray, that found himself beset on all sides, unable to dash out.

A black blur came sprinting out!

Sword Demon was not one to simply admire the view. He had been searching for a chance to make his attack, and now that he spotted that Gu Fei trapped was within, he immediately dashed right over, eyeing a spot where the encirclement was the thinnest as he unleashed his Shadowmist Assault.

The first target got insta-killed, and the subsequent targets were all sent scattering in every direction. Gu Fei’s reaction was extremely quick as well, immediately darting over and lashing out with his Twin Incineration. He conveniently made quick work out of the players that were still standing after enduring Sword Demon’s damage. No matter how quick any of the Priests reacted, there was no way that they would be faster than Gu Fei’s dexterity.

Sword Demon had broken into a bout of cold sweat from shock; Gu Fei’s movement had been too quick, his sword already out when he darted over. The flaming glow that came from his sword shone like it was about to include him in the reaping as well. However, the tip of the sword passed his nose with millimeters to spare, and that was when Sword Demon realized the degree of precision that Gu Fei possessed in his attack. He reckoned it was at the realm where Gu Fei was well capable of cutting flies into half.

“Run, quick,” Sword Demon turned around and wanted to flee, but he had charged in too deep in his attempt to save Gu Fei this time, and the path he had carved out had already been sealed up, and a ring of high HP-ed Warriors were about to corner the two and squeeze them to death.

“You go,” Sword Demon suddenly offered his two hands, indicating for Gu Fei to step on it.

“I’ll go help Svelte Dancer,” Sword Demon smiled.

“Heh,” Gu Fei flashed a smirk back. He did not reject Sword Demon’s goodwill either, stepping on Sword Demon’s two hands as the man used what strength he had to heave Gu Fei upward. Gu Fei’s leg reached out and climbed up the wall next to them in one go. Sword Demon had instantaneously been swallowed by the sea of people below. After all, could the whole group of Colored Clouds players be feeling great after so many of them got insta-killed like that? Sword Demon tried his best to hold on for a few more seconds, but he ultimately succumbed to the masses and was sent straight to the Thieves’ Union.

Arrows were still flying at Gu Fei from behind, and Gu Fei scrambled to his feet as he made his way back to the ambush spot. He somersaulted and leaped in, the chattering of the five Mages unending at this point.

“Our wave of attack just now has at least eliminated 40 or so players, a good 30 from among them most likely Mages. It’s quite the success,” Slyris praised.

“Hmm, but it does not seem like we’ll have another shot,” Drifting lifted his head up into the sky as the arrows continue to rain down on them from high above. The six did not have another chance to step out from cover any longer.

“Could we change to a new spot?” Gu Fei asked.

“I don’t think we could get as good of a cover as what we got here from anywhere else nearby,” Drifting said.

“I feel we can now adjust our defenses and send some of the stronger players over to provide some direct cover for us. As long as there are people who could help block the Archers’ attack, we could act like a map weapon, allowing us to make a push for the enemy directly on the streets,” Cirrus suggested.

“Yes, that’s a pretty good idea,” Drifting agreed.

“Wait for the Mage Academy to finish!” Gu Fei said. Currently, they had a good portion of people occupied with the repeated killing of all the Mages that got sent there in this attack.

“How are you?” Gu Fei sent a message over to Sword Demon.

“Svelte Dancer’s being stingy, not even letting me have one to fight,” Sword Demon glumly responded.

“Snatch it from her. What’s the point of being courteous with her?” Gu Fei said.

“Would she end up killing me as well?” Sword Demon asked.

“Hmm, that is not an impossibility—”

“It’s no good, something unexpected is happening over by the Mage Academy!” Sword Demon suddenly blurted.

“What’s up?” Gu Fei hurriedly asked.

“Kamikaze; The players there are all Kamikazing themselves!!” Sword Demon answered.

Kamikaze! Gu Fei at least understood this term that Mages used; to envelop themselves in their own AoE spells, this had been referred to as Kamikaze. Gu Fei had often used this move as well, and considering the damage that he could inflict was insta-kill level, it was particularly frightening when he did it.

A huge pack of players from Amethyst Rebirth and Extremely Heaven Defying were there in the Mage Academy, and a huge amount of enemy Mages had been transported over. It was just that players were being respawned completely at random in the spawn point, so there was no way for Southern Lone Blade to be preemptively aware just where approximately 30 Mages would just appear within the designated spawn point, so all he could do was remind everyone to call out and attack the moment they spot a white flash of light.

Some people had already found themselves engulfed in spells the moment their white light first appeared, but there were still some who were just not that quick, and there was always one of the Mages that spawned that did not even say a thing, merely casting their own AoE spells right where they stood, not caring friend or foe as they got everyone in their AoE spells.

This was a development that they had not expected to transpire. Over thirty Mages were gathered all in the building, and they began to Kamikaze themselves in unison. These spells unintentionally overlapped with each other, and that covered a wide area which was impossible for players to take precautions against. Southern Lone Blade realized this was trouble as he quickly formed parties to pull out from the Mage Academy, not to force the enemy too harshly, at the same time secretly cursing how he had been too eager. Actually, ambushing Mages simply required a troop of Archers camping outside the Academy would do, but Southern Lone Blade had wanted to let everyone participate in this operation. How was he supposed to have guessed that this would turn out to be a self-defeating move, giving the chance for the enemy to actually end up Kamikazing themselves?

Meanwhile, the biggest flaw of this patchwork of troops from all sorts of background was also revealed at this point. When an unexpected development occurs, everyone would deal with the outcome as according to their own abilities. No one even thought to turn to their commander for further instruction, even going so far as to have forgotten about whose orders they were supposed to listen to.

The Mage Academy was in a state of chaotic struggle, and each of the Mages from Colored Clouds looked like each of them had the ability to die 250 times. Each of them was bold and intrepid, chasing after the players from Amethyst Rebirth and Extremely Heaven Defying as they proceeded with their Kamikaze.