Chapter 523 - Mysterious Shadow Priest
Wind Serpents were a type of flying mount. At present, the flying mount leaderboard already had three entries. The Netherthunder Eagle was rank one, a White Maned Griffon was rank two, and the Wind Serpent was rank three. Among all flying mounts, Wind Serpents were a fairly weak species. Their physical attacks were rather lackluster. However, they had a powerful secret weapon, and that was their highly potent poison. They could shoot it to deal lethal damage. So, their combat strength was still fairly high.
That said, any flying mount was an invincible existence to ordinary players.
A Shadow Priest was riding on top of the Wind Serpent. He was wearing a black cloak which completely hid his appearance.
The entrance of the Wind Serpent was too sudden. Both Tang Yao and Crazy Magic were caught off guard. The Wind Serpent's rider clearly didn't belong to Alliance of Mages or Asskickers United!
Countless experts existed inside Conviction. Even Nie Yan didn't dare to claim he was unrivalled. After reincarnating, he had used the experiences of his past life to raise the strength of his guild as much as possible. A top player from Asskickers United could easily face off against three or more top players from Alliance of Mages or Divine Protectors. This was already extremely impressive. However, as for the number of hidden experts, or the number of players that didn't reveal their name on the level leaderboards, that was hard to say.
This Shadow Priest had popped out of nowhere. Any power that could obtain a flying mount at this stage of the game certainly wasn't ordinary.
「Hey, how strong are Wind Serpents?」Tang Yao whispered Nie Yan. Information related to various flying mounts was fairly limited online. Other than the name, he was clueless on Wind Serpents.
「You encountered a Wind Serpent?」Nie Yan asked in surprise.
「Yeah, why...?」
「If you've encountered a Wind Serpent, blast it with lightning, then get the hell away. Whatever you do, don't get hit by its poison!」Nie Yan warned. Even though Wind Serpents were fairly low rank flying mounts, their poison was extremely frightening. If the Netherthunder Eagle was hit, it would suffer at least moderate injuries.
Nie Yan had learned from Guo Huai that Asskickers United's forces hunting demon beasts around the Hilton Stronghold had suffered ambushes en masse. His heart was extremely anxious. He paused his levelling and hurriedly rushed to the battlefield of the main expedition team with Xie Yao. His Faulkner Warhorse had recently died, so he couldn't summon it right now. He could only go there by foot. At this moment, he all the more realized his need for a flying mount. He definitely had to hatch the Darkwing Dragon as soon as possible!
Ordinary flying mounts were trash compared to the Darkwing Dragon. Furthermore, his mobility would significantly increase, which made rescuing guildmates in trouble much more convenient.
After hearing Nie Yan's words, Tang Yao's heart trembled. Seeing the Wind Serpent chasing after him, he hurriedly had the Netherthunder Eagle fly to the side.
The Wind Serpent's actions were clearly hostile.
"Screeeh!" The Netherthunder Eagle shot lightning at the Wind Serpent.
The Shadow Priest immediately had the Wind Serpent perform a roll midair, dodging the lightning.
Seeing the Netherthunder Eagle take action against the Wind Serpent, Crazy Magic ecstatically cried out in the voice chat,「That Wind Serpent is our ally! Everyone, shoot the Netherthunder Eagle down! Thieves, throw your hatchets!」
Tang Yao was about to flee, when dozens of throwing hatchets came flying at him.
The hatchets were fast approaching. Seeing Tang Yao in a hard spot, the Shadow Priest had long since maneuvered the Wind Serpent to block off his escape path.
Tang Yao's expression sank. He was being pincered from the front and rear. It appeared there was no escaping this time.
Just as the hatchets were about to hit, Tang Yao hurriedly ascended. He managed to avoid most of the hatchets, but five still landed. The Netherthunder Eagle let out a miserable screech as its blood rained down from the sky.
Good opportunity! Seeing this, the Shadow Priest cracked a sinister smile. The Wind Serpent let out a hissing cry, then shot out a glob of green poison.
If the Netherthunder Eagle was hit by the poison, it would suffer greatly. However, it was already impossible to dodge at this distance. Tang Yao steeled his resolve, then gave the Netherthunder Eagle an order.
"Screeh!" The Netherthunder Eagle completely enveloped itself in white lightning, then dived toward the Wind Serpent, taking the poison head-on.
The Shadow Priest paled in fright. He didn't expect Tang Yao to clap back so ruthlessly. This was clearly mutual destruction!
The Shadow Priest hesitated. If he had to sacrifice his Wind Serpent, the victory would be meaningless!
The Shadow Priest hurriedly ordered his Wind Serpent to pull back, planning to deal with the Netherthunder Eagle afterwards. At this moment, a giant lightning bolt split the sky and came striking down from overhead, stunning the Wind Serpent.
Countless electric currents crackled around the Wind Serpent as it fell from the sky. The Shadow Priest had already lost control.
In a battle, the Wind Serpent was still at a huge disadvantage. After all, the Netherthunder Eagle was of a higher rank.
"Tsk, he didn't die," Tang Yao muttered. He was disappointed the lightning bolt didn't hit the Shadow Priest, or else it would've been an instant kill.
After being afflicted with the highly potent poison of the Wind Serpent and struck by so many throwing hatchets, the Netherthunder Eagle was heavily injured. Tang Yao didn't dare to dally and quickly made his escape.
The Netherthunder Eagle flew up into the air, escaping the range of the throwing hatchets.
"Shit, he got away!" Crazy Magic cursed. The Netherthunder Eagle was already nothing more than a small speck in the sky. Catching it was no longer possible.
With a loud crash, the Wind Serpent fell into the thickets below, toppling several large trees over when it hit the ground.
"Boss, should we go over and take a look?" a Thief asked.
Crazy Magic pondered for a moment. Did the Century Financial Group send this person to provide assistance? It seemed only they could dispatch such a powerful expert. Even though they hadn't established their own guild, Cao Xu still had many experts under him. The country's most mysterious gaming organisation, Direwolf, was rumoured to also be under his control. As for how strong this gaming organisation was, no one knew. However, it was believed they had many top experts under their wings. Unlike most professional players, this group didn't chase fame and reputation. Instead, they worked hard to earn the extremely generous salary the Century Financial Group paid them.
After operating in the virtual reality industry for many years, the Century Financial Group had at least this kind of card hidden up their sleeves.
The Shadow Priest had helped them. Crazy Magic naturally believed he was someone dispatched by the Century Financial Group.
"Let's go over," Crazy Magic said. He brought 20 Thieves along with him toward the Wind Serpent.
After a while, the Wind Serpent recovered from being stunned and wobbled back to its feet. The Shadow Priest looked up to the sky. The Netherthunder Eagle was already long gone. He could only give up.
Hearing rustling sounds in the distance, the Shadow Priest turned his head and saw Crazy Magic leading 20 Thieves towards him.
"Friend, are you from Direwolf?" Crazy Magic shouted while waving his hand.
With 20 Thieves by his side, Crazy Magic could put up a decent fight. However, seeing the size of the Wind Serpent, he couldn't help but feel intimidated.
The Wind Serpent was 10 meters long with a thick and powerful body. It was only a bit smaller than a wyvern. As its red tongue flickered in and out, it looked like it could swallow someone whole at any moment.
The Shadow Priest didn't respond. His face was hidden behind the cloak, so his expression couldn't be seen.
Crazy Magic furrowed his brows. Controlling his temper, he said, "Friend, if you're from Direwolf, come down and let's talk.
The Shadow Priest still didn't answer.
Crazy Magic was starting to get angry. Even if this fellow had a Wind Serpent, so what? He was still the leader of a guild! This other side was giving him no face at all!
The several Thieves were resisting the urge to curse out in anger. If it wasn't for Crazy Magic restraining them, they would've already let loose with all sorts of foul obscenities.
As The Shadow Priest stared at Crazy Magic's group, his eyes flashed with a cold glimmer. The previously calm Wind Serpent suddenly let out a loud hiss and spat a glob of poison their way.
Crazy Magic was shocked. Seeing the Wind Serpent attacking him, he blinked to safety 50 meters away. However, the Thieves he left behind weren't so lucky.
The poison was like a torrential downpour, hitting three of the Thieves. They let out miserable screams and collapsed to the ground.
Two nearby Thieves were also lightly splashed with the poison. They didn't make it more than 10 meters before collapsing to the ground. The Wind Serpent's poison was too potent.
"You son of a bitch. How dare you attack us!?"
"Fuck! Kill him!"
The Thieves had already used up their throwing hatchets to deal with the Netherthunder Eagle. They had no way to deal with the Wind Serpent. It instantly turned into a bloodbath. The 20 Thieves from Alliance of Mages were being crushed like ants. They had no way of putting up a fight. Some of the faster ones managed to escape. Before long, 16 corpses were on the ground.
The Wind Serpent was like a demon beast from hell. It was slaughtering them like livestock. Its bell shaped eyes shone with a crimson light.
Witnessing everything from afar, Crazy Magic knitted his brows. He didn't know why this person had come here. If he wasn't part of Direwolf, then whose side was he on?
The identity of the Shadow Priest was shrouded in mystery. No one could figure out who he was.
Perhaps he belonged to a third power, or was he just some random solo player?
At this moment, the Wind Serpent was an invincible existence. To avoid being killed, Crazy Magic quickly fled.