Chapter 386 - Prioritizing Personal Interest
With Flame Singed Clothes's death, while the Palatial Balefire continued to rage on with great intensity, the experts all knew it practically had no function any longer. In accordance to the rules of Parallel World, any spell unleashed would become useless the moment they lost the support of the caster's mana.
Thus, the six other experts who were still behind that Palatial Balefire confidently stepped through the wall of flames, and just as they had expected, not a single point of damage was dealt to them.
By now, Drifting's Blossoming Crimson Lotus had ended its pulse. Southern Lone Blade and that Priest were pressed behind his shield as they watched that wave of flames roil past them. Southern Lone Blade naturally knew it had ended when he saw his HP had stopped diminishing. These two men slowly stood up, their expressions ashen. It was clear they no longer had the means to resist.
"Why don't you tell us what your motive for following us now, South Blade bro?" Young Master Han asked suddenly.
"Motive? We're all MMO veterans, I'm sure you've already guessed what my motive is," Southern Lone Blade calmly replied.
"So, what thoughts do you have now?" Young Master Han asked.
"Gentlemen, when you make your trip back to Yunduan City, I believe you will all have to pass by Linshui City. You guys will need to be as careful as you are today when that day comes. Otherwise, it is highly likely you would all meet up with some mishap," Southern Lone Blade coldly replied.
"There's no need for you to worry for us. So do you intend to gamble this final hand, or quietly accept your fate?" Young Master Han asked.
"Heh!" Southern Lone Blade chuckled mirthlessly as he suddenly stowed that sword and shield back into his dimensional pocket. Not only that, he swiftly removed all of his equipment and fit it into his dimensional pocket, and the Priest did the same as well.
Everybody present was dumbfounded. They could all clearly tell his intentions from the action taken. The system's rules stated that items inside a player's dimensional pocket had a lower chance of dropping than the equipment a player had on. This action they took was nothing more than protecting their own equipment. These experts felt nothing but deep loathing when they saw someone who possessed the puissant title of a Five Unyielding Expert engage in such an unscrupulous practice.
Upon being acknowledged as an expert, face was an extremely precious commodity, aside from their level and equipment. In fact, there were even players out there that would value their face far more than levels and equipment. Admitting to death was one thing, but not even a noob would act so parsimoniously and intentionally strip off their own equipment and place it into their dimensional pocket for safekeeping.
Southern Lone Blade calmly laughed under their dumbfounded gazes.
The team of experts naturally did not show any compassion and spare them, attacking without saying another word. The two naked and high-leveled players did not have any sort of defense on them, and their HP instantly dropped to zero. These experts were not satisfied, even going so far as to hold their most contemptuous stares at where the two once stood.
"The two of you coordinate well with one another!" Young Master Han turned his head back, glancing at Drifting before shifting over to Royal God Call. The entire situation had been handily resolved by the efforts of these two rivals, and the wealth of experience and knowledge towards the Mage job class they demonstrated in their analysis from the beginning, to Royal God Call's Pierce Attack interrupting the enemy's spellcasting.
And that interrupt was undeniably crucial, for had that Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno continued to persist and result in everyone constantly taking damage, there would simply be no way for Drifting to chant his spell successfully. Thus, that single interrupt from Royal God Call had created a window of opportunity that bought much needed time for Drifting to cast his Icy Mirage, and make it through the flame wall unharmed.
Drifting followed it up with the unveiling of his Blossoming Crimson Lotus spell and killed off the Thief that was trying to sneak in, and Royal God Call once more decided the outcome of this battle when he headshot Flame Singed Clothes the moment he poked his head out and attempted to return fire.
As the other experts were melee job classes, the moment those two remaining enemies stripped off their equipment, the fact that they would need to close in for the kill meant it was once more the two ranged attackers, Royal God Call and Drifting, that eliminated the two with a single raise of their arms.
Drifting gave a noncommittal chuckle when he heard Young Master Han's comment, while Royal God Call exaggeratedly gagged in response, "Don't bring that up again. It makes me want to retch."
Brother Assist chose this moment to hurriedly gather more information, "Ahem, Brother Drifting. Are you able to choose which of the four images will be where your real body ends up with that Icy Mirage skill of yours?"Brother Assist had plenty of experience with MMOs, so he had already inferred this fact after watching Drifting's usage of that spell, and was only getting confirmation of this right now.
"That's right!" Drifting freely admitted to it. "Though the user has to pay twice the amount of mana needed when appearing in another place than where the real body originally resided."
"Oh!" Brother Assist resisted immediately pulling out that booklet of his to jot that down, as that would be far too ill-mannered.
"So technically speaking, that could be considered to be a instantaneous translocation?" Brother Assist continued to ask.
"Of course not!" Drifting immediately answered. "The unique feature of instantaneous translocation is the fact that it would be instant. My incantation still requires a bit of time, so it cannot be considered to be an instantaneous translocation spell, since it isn't instant."
Brother Assist recalled the scene from before and indeed, when Drifting stepped forward to chant the spell, Icy Mirage only activated after Royal God Call ridiculed him for casting said spell. While it was not slow to the point that anyone could realize what was happening, the difference between that and Gu Fei materializing in and out of thin air with a point of his finger was heaven and earth.
"So that's how it is!" Brother Assist answered. He actually had plenty of questions still going through his mind, but he was well aware deep down that others might not be willing to reveal anything further if he continued to probe, and would merely make things all the more awkward. Hence, he ended his line of inquiry at that point, retreating back behind the stocky figure of War Without Wounds to take out his booklet and begin making a note of things.
"That Southern Lone Blade, to think he would be so lacking moral integrity in the end!" War Without Wounds had begun to criticize their opponent at this time. As a fellow Warrior, he had the credentials to critique that man for his actions. "Had I been in his position, I would have activated my Charge and canceled it straight into Cyclone once I was in range; with a Priest behind giving support for at least the moment, I would at least be confident I could take down Drifting with me!"
Drifting thought back to the position between the two parties back then and considered the capabilities that an expert Warrior possessed, nodding calmly, "Yes, that would be difficult to evade."
"See? That's why I'm saying, that guy's such a disappointment!" War Without Wounds said disapprovingly. It was only natural War Without Wounds would not have too good of an opinion about that man; after all, he had always been known as the number one Warrior when it came to MMOs. To have his throne taken by this usurper in Parallel World, even though it was his own fault for having wasted quite a lot of time trying to flirt with the ladies, it made sense why he would choose to take out his discontent on this man whose level surpassed him!
Young Master Han rolled his eyes in and said, "That man completely prioritized his personal interest before everything else; that in itself is a talent."
"Hey, he don't even have the guts to take a risk at the very end, what sort of talent is that?" War Without Wounds continued to disparage Southern Lone Blade.
"It's not a matter of guts," Brother Assist stepped out from behind War Without Wounds after finishing making the notes from his conversation before. He sighed and continued, "It's not a matter of guts, nor is it because he did not have the ability to execute the sequence of moves War Without Wounds has described. It's because even if he had succeeded, there was no way for him to extricate himself from us, and he would earn a PK point instead, which meant he would drop an entire two levels and even increase the chance of dropping his equipment or items. That's the real reason why he would not do what War Without Wounds has said. Young Master Han was right in saying he's a benefit-focused individual."
That was when everybody remembered that Southern Lone Blade and Brother Assist were friends, so even though neither of them had shown any emotions towards this clash, they immediately dropped this discussion the moment they saw the expression Brother Assist wore and what he said.
"Ahem…" War Without Wounds was the one that began disparaging Southern Lone Blade, so he quickly changed the topic, "Uhmm… I wonder if they've finished escorting Todd."
"It should be soon…" Young Master Han said.
"Why did you tell them their location? Can they really not catch up to them?" War Without Wounds said.
"Of course not," Young Master Han laughed.
The coalition of Luori City mercenary groups and Eternal War mercenary group were both anxiously rushing over to the North Gate at the moment. The players from Yunduan City obviously could not just let them leave so easily, so they did their best to block and stall for time. But with how wide and expansive the terrain was, it was unrealistic for them to successfully intercept or block the lot of them. Many still managed to escape.
Anybody could already foresee just how rowdy the North Gate would get.
At this time, right outside the North gate of Luori City, a woman and two other men were quietly making their way into the city.
"We're almost there!" One of them revealed a look of elation and relief. It was an expression that came from the myriad feelings rising up now that victory was right before his eyes. Nevertheless, he made sure to utter these words in hushed tones.
"Yes!" the woman beside him nodded in agreement. Her eyes revealed the look of a seasoned veteran, vigilantly regarding every player they came across after passing the gates.
"This way!" The man who had been speaking was naturally the guild leader of Traversing Four Seas, Oathless Sword. After entering the city, he led the others and took a right turn. The street looked more and more secluded, but he felt a shudder of excitement when he saw the entrance towards the Prison laying right before him.
That lady continued to vigilantly sweep her surroundings, noting several players passing by in a rush. Thus, she slowly began to ease up, her face slowly turning placid.
"To think it would really be so easy," Oathless Sword said, raising his voice by a few decibels.
"Yeah!" The lady's stolid expression showed a slim smile.
"Please!" Oathless Sword was relaxed, and his habit of flaunting before ladies came over him once more, gentlemanly gesturing for that lady to proceed before him up the stone steps that led to the Prison entrance.
"What are you so 'please'd for; your journey ends here!" someone suddenly interrupted.
It was like Oathless Sword had suddenly been struck by lightning, not even looking to find out who said that line as he hurried to bolt towards the Prison entrance, only to find several players burst forth from the doors of the Prison, their bows at the ready, aimed at the three of them.
Oathless Sword had no choice, but to stop dead in his tracks. He had taken several steps up the stairs that led to the Prison entrance. Standing on this elevated ground, Oathless Sword turned back in the direction where the voice had came from and saw a man who had been lying up on a roof, now sitting upright and flashing a cheeky smile at Oathless Sword. "I've made it in time, fortunately."
"Deep Waters!" Oathless Sword cried out, his voice cracking.
"It's me! Did the big boss man think our competitive quest would end just because you left our Linyin City? Let me share something with you: A mission isn't over until the very last moment." Deep Waters was feeling exceptionally wonderful right now!