Reign of the Hunters

Due to the sheer size of the map, and the many hidden mini dungeons scattered all over the mountain range, Ye Ci had accomplished nothing except leveling and finally reaching lvl75.

She had not even found the so-called origins of the Elves, and she had grown tired of traversing through the mountainous terrain. She immediately headed back to the Eastern Continent when she received the message from Bai Mo.

The journey from the Kira Mountain Range to Upwards Ho!’s fort would take six hours. And it six agonizing hours for Ye Ci as she made her way back to her home continent.

It meant nothing to Golden Era due to their wealth, but Upwards Ho! could not sustain itself in a prolonged battle.

Can they last for six hours? Ye Ci doubted it very much. She might be able to change the course of the battle, and no matter the outcome, she felt bad for not being there for her guild when they needed her the most.

The Kira Mountain Range was not very far away from the Eastern Continent’s borders. This meant that Ye Ci could immediately recall to Red Lake City and fly the rest of the way to the fort. Her journey would be reduced by at least three hours.

Ye Ci set Ol’ Six to autopilot when the Lesser Demon Sanctuary was almost in sight and contacted Bai Mo and the officers of the guild to have a good grasp of the situation.

“How is it going? Will we be able to hold?”

“Yes. But it’ll be hard.” the reply did not come from Bai Mo. It was Ideal Height 1.7m who answered the question, and her voice was not at all convincing.

“What is it?” Ye Ci frowned, “Did they bring a lot of siege engines? Is their firepower ”

“Our fortifications are tough, and they’re reinforced by shields powered by magical crystals. We’ll be able to hold them off even if they have a lot of firepower. Besides, they did not bring a lot of siege engines, but...”

Ideal Height 1.7m shouted out a command before she finished her sentence, “The enemy is airdropping twenty of their players in the western sector’s forges. Their classes are Warriors, Paladins, Sorcerers, and Warlocks! I want all Hunters, Rangers, Priests, and Rogues in the area to converge on their location!”

The frown on Ye Ci’s face deepened when she heard the command that was being issued, “Can somebody who is still free explain to me what is going on?” she asked in the guild’s Command Channel.

“I don’t know how they did it, but Golden Era somehow obtained a blueprint to some sort of flying machine and built two of them.” it was Fruit Jelly who replied to her question, “The machines themselves did not have great offensive capabilities, but they were able to drop thirty players at a time from the air into our fort. We could only react whenever their players were dropped.”

The frown on Ye Ci’s face grew even deeper when she received the response, but she was still able to calmly make her decisions, “How long will it take them to make their flying machine operational again?”

“Around ten minutes.”

“Can you take out the thirty players that were airdropped into the fort within ten minutes?”

“We should be able to.” responded Fruit Jelly after a short pause, but she did not sound entirely convinced.

“Are our forces spread out right now? Are we lacking ranged players to defend the wall?” Ye Ci was able to quickly analyze the situation from the information she gained from Fruit Jelly.

Yup.” the fatigue was clear in Fruit Jelly’s voice, “We tried shooting those machines down, but they’re simply too fast. Our magical cannon takes time to reload and they were able to slip past our defences.”

“Hang on, I’m almost there. I’ll take care of those flying machines.” Ye Ci accelerated towards the battlefield, “How many did Golden Era send?”

“Probably all their lvl60 and above players in the Eastern Continent. A rough estimate placed their number at a hundred thousand.” came the reply from Bai Mo, “Be careful, I have a feeling that the flying machine is not the only trouble you’ll be facing.”

“Why is that?”

“I’ve received intelligence from our players that a number of aerial steeds were spotted at the rear of Golden Era’s formation.” explained Bai Mo, “They’ve not joined the battle yet. It looks like they’re waiting for someone.”

“You mean they’re waiting for me?” said Ye Ci calmly. She was already in the Lesser Demon Sanctuary.

It did not take long for six silhouettes to soar out of the clouds towards her. She narrowed her eyes and was quick to identify them as players with aerial steed.

There were only two aerial steeds in the entire Upwards Ho!, namely Ye Ci’s Holy Dragon and A Golden Man’s Thunder Hawk. The players in front of her could only be from Golden Era.

“Gongzi You, I received news that Golden Era’s aerial steed had taken flight.” Bai Mo’s tone was grave, “Where are you? Be careful.”

“I see them. Don’t worry about me, I’ll take them out.” and Ye Ci shifted her attention to the players who were fast approaching.

The Golden Era players were equipped with Gryphons. They might not be as formidable as a Holy Dragon, and would definitely lose a fight against Ye Ci’s pet in a one on one battle. But Gryphons were pack animals, and when three Gryphons were in close proximity to one another, they would receive a skill called “Majesty” that would increase in strength when their numbers increased. Any living creature affected by “Majesty” would be frozen in place and left vulnerable to their attack.

And this was why guilds would tend to equip themselves with a squadron of Gryphons as a counter to high tier aerial steeds.

The players flying towards Ye Ci were of high level. It was a team complete with a healer, a tank, and DPS. It was apparent that Golden Era had come up with a strategy to deal with the threat posed by Ol’ Six.

The player leading the formation was a Warrior. He stopped six yards away from Ye Ci with the rest of his party and pulled off his mask, “Gongzi You!” he let out a hearty laugh, “I did not expect us to meet again under such circumstances.”

Ye Ci stared at the face, but she could not remember who it belonged to, “I’m sorry, but who are you again?”

“Ah, a person of distinction is always with a short memory.” the man was not angry at all, “You’ve taught me how to ride a Gryphon. I’ve never thought that I’ll be able to defeat you with the knowledge you have imparted upon me.”

Ye Ci was soon to realise who the man was, but it mattered not to her. What mattered to her at that moment was his arrogance, “Someone once told me that I should not dream of things that are still very far away, and that I should be living in the moment.” she pursed her lips, “You can’t defeat me with your words.” and with that, she sped towards the Golden Era party.

Lotus Supercenter did not panic. The players behind him immediately formed themselves into a semi circle, ready to envelope Ye Ci as she flew into their formation.

Of course, a player was not entirely helpless against the “Majesty” skill of the Gryphons. It was a test of their skills and of their equipment.

An aerial steed must be equipped with high tier equipment to nullify the crowd control effect of “Majesty”, and the player controlling the steed must be skillful enough to take out the opposing Gryphons so that the strength of their skill could be reduced.

It sounded fairly easy, but Ye Ci did not let her guard down even one bit. She and her pet were at lvl75, which was a level that her opponents could not hope to match. But what they lacked in level the Golden Era players made up in their numbers. There were six of them, and if they were able to work well with one another, Ol’ Six could easily be immobilized especially when it was still not yet equipped with any equipment that could nullify Majesty’s effect.

Victory in this fight belonged to the side with better luck.

Ye Ci smiled at her opponents. She had always believed that luck belonged to the side that was not afraid of death. And she... Was fearless