MMORPG: The Elementalist

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

Skeleton Knight Patrols, Death Knight Patrols… Row after row, numbers as great as the stars in the sky, speeding their horses in the labyrinthine streets of the Buried City towards Qin Ruo and his team…

There were at least seventeen to eighteen teams of patrols traveling toward them…

Of course, there were many more in the distance!

It was way more difficult than they thought it would be, and now they were slowly being forced into a depressing impasse…

If it had not been for the idea to climb up to the roofs to ambush the melee-oriented Warrior-type Monsters, which he came up with on a whim, he would have never known that the three of them were in such a dangerous situation.

“Majestic Hero! Black God! The situation has changed! Take out the enemies at full power! And make it quick!”

Qin Ruo shouted and formed an Aquarampart while he dashed on top of the roofs towards the Death Knights that were coming their way…

Majestic Hero and Black God, who were on the streets, detected a sense of urgency and oddity in Qin Ruo’s voice. Something had indeed gone wrong; if not, Qin Ruo would not have asked them to go full force.

Thus, without questioning further, both of them hastened the accumulation of their Mana, took some Mana Scrolls out of their backpacks, and rushed towards the incoming Death Knight Patrols with their Pets.

***

Although earlier battles seemed easy and ended rather quickly, three of them had attempted to maintain their offensive output but also preserve their MP Potions as well as the MP of their pets. They also avoided using Magic Scrolls.

In other words, they were holding back…

Qin Ruo’s warning sent a sense of uneasiness down their spines. As such, the moment the Death Knights got close, the Pigasus, Big Hero dashed forward first and landed its strike!

Holy Purification!

A ray of holy light swept across the streets, hitting the lead knight and also several others behind it.

The attack ignored their Defense stats and struck with an added Damage Bonus. It was a critical hit!

Terrifying wails of agony were heard right away. The horses beneath them were also burned into dust, throwing the knights off their trusted steeds.

Immediately after, five blinding violet rays of lightning emerged from Majestic Hero’s hands; each streak of lightning splintered upon hitting the Death Knight leader.

Pigasus showered its Holy Magic attacks, coordinating with Majestic Hero’s lightning; within three seconds, all that was left of the Death Knight leader was just a pile of sizzling dust.

On the other hand, after Black God sent a wave of “Fatal Tangled Curse” ahead, he pulled out a Tier 5 AoE Magic Assault Scroll and cast the attack on his enemies. Then, a strong tide of AoE attack flooded out while his Dark Vajra acted as a tank on the frontline… It took less than ten seconds for the battle to be over.

Qin Ruo, however, was even faster!

As a team of Death Knights galloped past the roof Qin Ruo was on, a dozen Aquaramparts dropped from the skies…

Boom!

The Twelve Frostramparts Formation was activated!

A surge of wintry gale swept up and started to freeze the knights into ice statues; the heavily armored Skeleton Warhorses were covered in frost almost too quickly…

He did not wait until they were fully frozen though.

In just mere moments, the Twelve Frostramparts exploded above their heads!

This time, Qin Ruo gave it his all. He had carefully considered the Defense and HP of the Death Knights as well as their distance from one another. Then, he utilized the 500 MP he had at that time and cast eighteen Aquaramparts ahead…

Once the ones in front froze up, the others from the back also rushed to close in on the former.

In that instant, if he activated Frostburst on his frozen enemies, it would blow the entire squadron of Death Knights into smithereens in one go!

Now, all that was left was just a dash of snowy air and an entire street of frost… all pointing to the Death Knights’ ill fate!

Not one Death Knight escaped; right after Qin Ruo’s ambush, it was so clean that Poochie lost all of its targets too.

After the snow and frost cleared, seventeen Death Knight corpses lay there within the melted ice and water…

The battle on both sides ended almost at the same time.

Sensing the enormous tremors and chilly air behind them, Majestic Hero and Black God could not help but look at each other.

“That’s absolutely nuts. Who do you think, me or you, would be able to deliver more damage than his multiple Frostbursts?”

While Black God was being astounded, Majestic Hero had already dashed toward Qin Ruo and asked him in the Party Channel about the scene he saw earlier.

The moment Qin Ruo tried to explain the situation, both Majestic Hero and Black God already guessed the answer…

They could hear strong galloping noises racing towards them again from the direction that the previous wave of Death Knights came from. This time, the sound was much more concentrated and hasty!

“F*ck! It never ends!”

“Curses!”

Even Majestic Hero could not help but throw in a curse—he now understood why Qin Ruo wanted them to go all out and get it over with quickly.

If they had dragged on for just a few more seconds, it would have ended in disaster. They would never know if the Death Knight leader in the next wave could be easily killed like the last time too.

Plus, if there was the slightest mistake… all would have been for naught—they would probably drown in an ocean of monsters summoned by the patrol leaders, even dying in the Buried City!

“Black God! Disengage your Pet; I’ll pull you guys up to the roof!”

“Huh?”

Black God did not seem to realize how much of an emergency it was.

Qin Ruo urged, “Don’t you ‘huh’ me. Just do it! We don’t have much time! There are 20 more squadrons of knights coming!”

Majestic Hero and Black God’s faces turned pale…

“Goddamnit!”

Black God cursed loudly, but he did not let Qin Ruo pull him with his water-formed hands—he commanded the Dark Vajra to pull him and Majestic Hero up directly onto the roof, then summoned it back into its own dimension.

When they reached the roof, both of them saw more and more patrols coming out from the streets; it shocked them greatly.

That was close!

“What the hell’s happening here?” Black God wiped away the chilling sweat on his forehead and asked.

Majestic Hero’s face was grim; he wondered the same.

“Let’s save it for later… Something’s gone eerily wrong tonight. We can’t stay in the Buried City anymore. Let’s retreat, then find out what’s going on. It’s too dangerous to stay. Let’s go! The entrance is just nearby!”

Majestic Hero proposed purposefully after he scanned the area two hundred meters away—the patrols were already heading in their direction.

“Retreat?”

Black God seemed disgruntled.

Yet, the current situation did give him anything to object about…

There was nowhere to hide on the roof, and they could not morph for a long time like Qin Ruo to avoid detection.

“You’re coming with me. As for you, Qin Ruo… you can use Aquamorph to stay hidden from the enemies, so you should stay! Even if they still head towards you after we leave, you can still catch up to us with your Aqua Wings.”

As he finished his words, Majestic Hero and Black God spread their Angelic Wings at the same time and…

Whoosh!

Whoosh!

They did not waste a single minute and gained altitude quickly as they flew into the sky. Then they sped towards the house that they came from earlier!

Boom!

The instant they spread their Angelic Wings, an ocean of Underworld creatures stormed out of all the buildings within Qin Ruo’s sight of the Buried City. They chased after Majestic Hero and Black God.

After both of them departed, Qin Ruo managed to pull himself together and grovel quietly on the roof.

He quietly watched while Majestic Hero and Black God flew away, and carefully observed his surroundings with his Elemental Perception for any signs of patrolling Knights as well as underground creatures.

On the streets, there were Skeleton Warriors, Three-eyed Hellhounds, and patrolling Death Knights… Not one of them detected Qin Ruo.

Qin Ruo let out a sigh of relief and looked at the two silhouettes that had flown far away. Shortly after, he noticed a swarm of Skeleton Dragons whizz past his head, and also several other floating silhouettes above the city walls. He could not help but worry for his two friends.

Half a minute passed, and the Party Channel channel finally echoed with the voices of the two individuals, who reported that they had safely returned to the entrance. Furthermore, the endless tides of Underworld creatures were now starting to return to their original hiding places in the Buried City. Even the little silhouettes in the air far away were also beginning to retreat back to the walls. That helped ease Qin Ruo’s anxious mind a little more.

After a discussion with Majestic Hero and Black God, the trio could not help but be puzzled by their experience today. “This is quite unusual. Under normal circumstances, a phenomenon like this would not occur even if there was a party with more than three members… This is too spooky. Something must have happened. Qin Ruo, we’ll withdraw for now but you carry on. Is that alright with you?”

“Me? Alone?”

“Yes. If we continue, the patrols would still be alerted and chase after us—wasting too much of our time to succeed in the quest. However, you can use Aquamorph; this means that you can avoid detection while you cross the city through shortcuts. It’ll be much easier and safer for you to do it. And if you rendezvous with my brethren, you’ll be powerful enough to take on a Tier 6 Boss. If this Golden Key Quest ever succeeds, I’ll leave the rewards and loot all to you. And the next time, Black God and I will take turns to help the others complete this quest.” Majestic Hero’s reasoning was sound, so Qin Ruo could not object to his plan.

“All right, I’ll do my best.”

“Good. Now you take care while we go find out what exactly happened to the Buried City today.”

“Okay!”

After Qin Ruo confirmed some much needed info with Majestic Hero and Black God, he closed the Party Channel. After he locked on to the coordinates of the players in Hall of Heroes, he pressed on towards his destination.

***

In the meantime, on top of one of the Buried City’s Eternity Peaks… there were seven Tier 5 Angel Faction players happily surrounding a Demigod-level NPC. The leader—a Warrior—with great excitement and joy, handed over an old box as well as a severed claw to the NPC.

“Yes… Yes… this is that accursed bastard! Thank you. Thank you for avenging me, Remorseless Warrior.”

The Demigod NPC smiled coldly as he gripped the black claw tightly. “This is your reward.”

Then, under the passionate gazes of the dozen players, the NPC carefully place an expertly-crafted scarlet ring into the Tier 5 Warrior’s hand…

“Congratulations, Remorseless Warrior!”

Several players enviously eyed the Warrior who put the Dark Gold “Focker’s Ring of Vengeance” on his finger.

“Let’s form a Clan! With your strength and this Focker’s Ring of Vengeance… heh, there’s no one on the Mythical Battlefield who can rival you.”

“Exactly! We’ve spent the entire day in this Buried City. I’m done waiting!”

“Look at the Fallen Angels. Those motherf*ckers’ Honor Points are almost at 4,000 now! If we don’t hurry, they’ll take all the spotlight!”

“Hahahahahaha!”

“All right! Retreat!”

Remorseless Warrior was in a great mood. Wearing Focker’s Ring of Vengeance, a Legendary quality accessory, on his finger, he felt a surge of pride. “The Buried City will be in an uproar over the next few hours anyway. Let’s head out and complete our Clan Quest. Then we’ll return and continue to conquer the Buried City!”

After a round of applause and cheering, the Tier 5 players swiftly left the Buried City, leaving the Demigod NPC behind. He crushed the claw in his hand to dust before he hugged the old bloodied box and cuddled it repeatedly. His eyes were filled with sentimental and painful memories.

***

The news about Remorseless Warrior acquiring the Focker’s Ring of Vengeance inevitably spread at a fast pace. Majestic Hero and Black God sent their Clan members to investigate the Eternity Peaks in the Buried City, and they immediately realized that one of the revenge quests of the ten Eternity Peaks had been cleared.

Someone took out the Dark Knight Commander and acquired the Legendary quality Focker’s Ring of Vengeance before Majestic Hero’s team (the rewards for the Revenge Quests for all Ten Eternity Peaks were the same, except for the prefix of the Legendary accessories).

“F*ck! Someone beat us to it! ”

Black God got really worked up after he heard the news that someone took out the Dark Knight Commander.

Majestic Hero, on the other hand, was more concerned about the identity of the people who defeated the Dark Knight Commander and their method of accomplishing the feat…

After all, those people who completed the Legendary Quest were not famous Tier 5 players—they were not part of the top fifteen Clans in the faction.

It was really unthinkable too for anyone to complete the quest way before them…

Especially when the difficulty and threat they had to face was overly enormous!

There was one Tier 6 Boss and twelve Tier 5 Bosses—these were, to many Clans, formidable foes.

Even Majestic Hero himself did have enough confidence to take down the Dark Knight Commander. He needed more hands to help him.

Yet, that unknown Party did it…

Unbelievable… Since the first day the Buried City was found, each day, only one Party entered the area… How did they manage to find enough people to do it?

If they did not have enough Tier 5 players on their side, it would have been futile even if they were able to reach the Dark Knight Commander.

Majestic Hero was lost in thought.

It seemed that there was yet another powerful stranger rising within the ranks of the Angel Faction!