The Great Thief

Heart of War was at a loss, so he remained silent for the first few seconds.

The three Chariots broke down almost in an instant.

The sound of the Chariots slowly hitting the walls vanished into silence, and was instead replaced by the vicious cry of Ruling Sword players.

The two parties clashed. As soon as the Chariots were dealt with, Lu Li immediately turned his attention to the Magic classes and healers. He stared at a Druid who looked a whole lot like the legendary Old Man Power.

Old Man Power: …

“Focus on this one,” Lu Li said.

He was guaranteed to win one on one against a Druid, but since this Druid was also a competitor, it would take him a lot of time. As such, Lu Li shamelessly called for help.

The boss called, and there was no reason to disobey. Besides those who were preoccupied, 20-30 players changed their targets almost in an instant.

“Shameless!” Old Man Power roared as he died almost instantaneously.

It was no fault of Old Mand Power’s; anyone else would fare the same in this situation. Lu Li’s next target was Heart of War.

“Save me!”

Lu Li was unsure as to what Heart of War was thinking at that very moment; nothing could save him. Later down the track, he did in fact regret crying for help.

With the commander slain, the remaining crowd became nothing but scattered sand.

The Gangnam Royals were not weak. They were definitely good at PVP, but a single unit’s power was quite limited in this kind of battle. No matter how skilled you might be, if you were focused down, you would disappear in an instant.

They were killed one by one and their pieces of equipment were dropped on the floor as well.

“Don’t pick up the equipment yet. Take out these players first.”

Based on Lu Li’s previous plan, they were to try and kill as many as possible without chasing, all the while picking as much loot up as they possibly could.

This was so that they could kill people without breaking their formation. If their formation was to break apart, they might get taken down individually. The revival point of the Gangnam Royals wasn’t too far away. It was visible within sight and if they didn’t sort this out quickly, the situation would easily escalate into a real battle.

Lu Li wasn’t interested in battling things out with the Gangnam Royals; he was here for a slaughter.

Although there was a slight numbers difference between the two parties, Ruling Sword had the advantage since they were more synchronized. They also had the better commander, who was adept at directing a war on a smaller scale.

Heart of War was at a loss for words. A good portion of the players that he brought with him were mercenaries. These mercenaries only cared about profit and if they couldn’t complete the quest, it meant that they wouldn’t be able to obtain their entire reward. It wasn’t realistic anymore to ask them to put their lives on the line.

They gathered together at the revival point and after Heart of War confirmed that Lu Li hadn’t brought his men here, he let out a sigh of relief.

“What next?”

Watch from Last Year was the boss of these mercenaries. He took up the request of the Gangnam Royals and gathered this group of mercenaries himself.

Who would have thought that Ruling Sword, a guild that usually played cunningly, would purchase about thirty Chariots at once? They also used weapons that dealt damage on a large scale.

“Can’t give up, we can’t give up…We’re fighting them head-on…”

Heart of War had slowly started to realize the situation. He subconsciously refused to admit his defeat this time. He had promised the bosses before during the meeting that he would bring the victory home. He even threw in some investments himself. If he just gave up like this, he might not ever be in charge of the Gangnam Royals again.

The Gangnam Royals belonged to him; he always dreamed of having the guild to himself.

“Oh, if there’s a loss, who do we blame it on?” Watch from Last Year nearly laughed out loud.

“What do you mean? We hired you guys. Are you afraid of dying?”

Heart of War’s face darkened as a threatening tone began to creep up in his words.

“Hearty, this isn’t the first time we’ve made a deal with each other. When have I ever been scared of dying? But the situation right now is different. Your enemies are too shameless; we’ve got no chance anymore,” Watch from Last Year said, then lowered his voice and continued, “It’s not right to send these brothers out to die for nothing, right?”

Heart of War was the representative of the Gangnam Royals, and no matter how low the guild might have fallen, they were still a major guild with a high ranking. The Gangnam Royals weren’t an organization that these mercenaries wanted to cross.

“There’s still another hour to go; why should we give up? Talk about professional morals – you guys live off your reputation as well. How are you supposed to keep getting business if you ruin your reputation?” Heart of War asked coldly.

“Alright, we’ll charge once for you. If we can’t take down the main forces of Ruling Sword outside the wall, then don’t bother talking about anything else, no matter how much you may want to win. At most, we’ll just not take any rewards from this mission. You should ask yourself, who is truly responsible for this defeat? Brothers, let’s go.”

Watch from Last Year waved his hand and a group of players left Heart of War’s army formation.

They fought again with the main forces of Ruling Sword outside the walls.

Although Lu Li looked down on Heart of War, he wasn’t irrational enough to go and surround their revival point. There was no need for that. If they fought under the wall, they would be able to get reinforcements from above anytime.

Compared to the sneaky ambush at the start, the second encounter was more proper.

“Paladins, Mages, get ready. Berserkers, go take out the magic classes and healers, look after yourselves. Thieves, come with me to take out their important targets. The two players that are picking up loot, make sure you do your job. What we gain today will be up to you guys,” Lu Li said in a light tone.

They had already picked up a dozen equipment from the previous wave, and a certain portion of the loot was Legendary.

This was even better than fighting a Boss. Of course, they lost some equipment themselves too. It was almost impossible to win without any loss.

Plated Paladins were a barrier for the team. They would use Consecration with Flare from hunters to minimize the available free space for Thieves to wander around. Mages could also flash over to cast Frost Nova, effectively reducing the activity of close combat classes from the opponent. As for the Berserkers, they weren’t that great at defending, but all they really had to do was to charge into a group of magic classes and use Whirlwind. It would be a lovely harvest session for them.

Lu Li quickly discovered that the battle style in their second encounter had changed.

So far, the Gangnam Royals had displayed three different battle styles. The first was Heart of War and his poor directions. Then, it was the scattered formation, still directed by Heart of War. The last was this mercenary playstyle.

They usually came in groups of three and once they set eyes on a target, they would focus their target down. Upon a success, they would turn to their next target.

On the other hand, Lu Li’s side focused their battle around him. Both playstyles had their ups and downs, and the losses for both parties continued to rise.

But overall, it was Ruling Sword who had the upper hand.

The mercenaries’ playstyle would give them the definite advantage if they were fighting against someone weaker than they were. It was a bit like a pack of wolves fighting against a pack of sheep. However, they would occasionally run into a group of players that were equal to them, or possibly stronger than them.

Lu Li moved around the battlefield like a ghost, constantly finding his opportunities. Sometimes, he would also save his team members that were in trouble.

“Kill Lu Li!” Heart of War shouted.

His status was a little ridiculous right now. He had three players constantly around him, since he was worried that Lu Li would come and take him out.

But really, he was valuing himself too much. The mercenaries were not battling in their own style and Heart of War was nothing more than a display. Lu Li had zero interest in killing someone as useless as him.

It was still the same saying – a useless leader could only lead his team to defeat.

Watch from Last Year nearly swore out loud. He wanted to shout back, “Look around! What part of Lu Li looks like an easy target? Did you really think that all of us were weak like you and had no power to retaliate at all?”

The second encounter was a little more difficult than the first. But once again, Ruling Sword, led by Lu Li, still won the battle.

After leaving behind another dozen equips, the players from the Gangnam Royals retreated.

“Don’t chase. That’ll be about it for today.”

Lu Li was still quite familiar with mercenaries. Their equipment was decent, and some of them even had better equipment that competitors. However, it was hard for them to obtain equipment in the first place, and without a major guild to back them up, they wouldn’t fight at all.

As Lu Li had expected, no one else came back to try and take down the Stronghold.

The scout went out and quickly returned with news that the Gangnam Royals had already retreated from the map. After two hours was up, the system announced that Ruling Sword had successfully defended their Stronghold in Grey Valley.