Although Izroth observed the four players moving in on Guan Yu's position, he did not immediately take action and kept his attacks concentrated on the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. Izroth knew that if he stepped in before Guan Yu even had a chance to fight, he would be looking down on Guan Yu's ability to take care of himself.
Of course, if he saw that Guan Yu was in any real trouble he would step in without hesitation. However, Guan Yu was no pushover. Izroth could tell that the four players sneaking towards Guan Yu were more skilled than the average player by their movements and coordination, but it should be within Guan Yu's tolerance range.
Izroth's gaze then shifted towards Minus who was near the body of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. The gloves on Minus' hands were shrouded in powerful red flame energy that emitted an intense level of heat.
It was unclear what class Minus chose since his flames appeared to be magic, but his fighting style matched that of a fighter rather than a mage. It was almost as if he was some kind of hybrid class. It was clear that Minus had a good understanding of his combat capabilities as the number of flaws in the way he executed his skills were minimal.
Izroth believed that if it were Minus personally facing off against Guan Yu, then the winner would not be so easily determined.
BOOOOOOOM!
Minus aimed his hands towards the ground and released a strong combustion that launched him into the air. As he soared through the air, he came before the head of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus.
Minus fist was engulfed in flames as it came crashing down on the forehead of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. The huge boss monster actually halted its steps for a brief moment from the impact of the blow.
One of the players spectating Minus could not help but sigh when he witnessed how strong Minus was. He shook his head helplessly as he said, "That's a captain of Blue Oasis for you. No matter what kind of MMORPG they play, the skill gap is always so huge."
"What else do you expect? If you want to be a captain of Blue Oasis, you can't just be a one trick pony. It may seem like a lofty position, but there are countless players vying to be one of the seven captains so there's a lot of pressure. If one is weak, then one can't even dream of obtaining such a rank." One of that player's friends responded.
"Tch... If not for my current lack of AOE skills, my rank on the event leaderboards would not be so far behind. However, if I can secure this boss then my ranking will soar!" Minus said with a look of determination in his eyes. This was one of the other reasons he did not bother to take direct action against Guan Yu. To him, placing high in this event was a bigger priority.
"Oh? That guy isn't half bad! Even though he talks a lot of nonsense, he has a bit of skill I suppose! Of course, he's still lacking compared to my brother!" Guan Yu said with a hint of arrogance in his voice as he watched Minus show off with his flashy skills.
"No need to even mention my brother, you four will not even be a proper warm-up for me alone!" Guan Yu said as he slammed his guandao into the ground in an intimidating manner. This frightened some of the casual players near him who thought that they were being attacked and they immediately retreated.
As for the four players approaching Guan Yu, they were shocked when they heard his words. How did he know that they were sneaking up on him when they were being so discreet? It's not like they were amateur players who did not know what they were doing.
However, how could they possibly know about Guan Yu's Soul Sense trait? Although his Soul Essence was not as nearly as powerful as Izroth's, as the four grew closer to him, he was able to perceive their hostile intent. It was as if their attention was focused solely on him like a wild beast silently observing its prey.
But, if they believed him to be just mere prey for them to do away with as they pleased, Guan Yu would prove them to be sorely mistaken.
When the others noticed that Guan Yu were in trouble, they were getting ready to break off and assist him, however, they were unexpectedly stopped.
"Do not interfere." Izroth said with a carefree expression on his face as he pressed forward with his attack on the Brooding Behemoth Basbus.'
Everyone was startled and a little confused when they heard Izroth's words, however, no one interfered just as he requested. Besides, they were positive that Izroth would not allow Guan Yu to come to any real harm. He must've had some reason for telling them not to help out.
However, when they saw that fierce and fearless look in Guan Yu's eyes with an expression that seemed as if his blood was boiling with excitement, they somewhat understood why Izroth chose not to intervene.
Izroth's Blade of Lightning flashed across the massive body of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus as he activated his First Sword Form: Converging Paths along with Phantom Strike. Not only that, but Izroth also infused thirteen points of Essence into the attack, making for a devastating combination.
«Critical Hit»
-606
«Critical Hit»
-1,212
«Critical Hit»
-1,818
With that attack, the HP of the Brooding Behemoth Basbus dropped down to around 75%.
Immediately after such a flawless execution of his attack, Izroth received an alert from the system.
〈System Alert: Your efficiency with the skill «First Sword Form: Converging Paths» has increased.〉
When Izroth checked the information for his First Sword Form: Converging Paths skill, he realized that not much had changed. Its skill level went up from one to two and the cooldown time decreased to one minute from one minute and thirty seconds. Besides that, there were no other changes to the skill itself.
'It may be necessary to master the skill entirely before its true potential can show.'
Even though Izroth's attack did not have any kind of crowd control effect attached to it, the attack still caused the Brooding Behemoth Basbus' body to move back slightly. It may have been due to Izroth infusing ten percent of his total Essence into the attack, but it created a more shocking scene than Minus' showy attack did just a few moments ago.
"So strong!" One of the players who saw how smooth and flawless Izroth's attack was commented. He could not believe his eyes already when Minus made the massive boss monster stop its movements momentarily. However, that mystery player was actually able to knock that huge creature back a bit. It was obvious which feat was more impressive.
"Also, it wasn't flashy at all! It's like watching a refined swordsman at work!" One of his friends said.
Minus glared coldly at Izroth for a brief moment before turning his attention back towards the Brooding Behemoth Basbus. He would not allow himself to be showed up so easily!
Meanwhile, Guan Yu was facing off against the four players who tried to ambush him just a while ago. Originally when they had been discovered, the four players were going to retreat. However, Guan Yu would not allow them to come and go as they pleased as he charged towards the nearest one to forcibly engage the battle.
The four players were dumbfounded at first that one player would attempt to charge over at them when he was in such an unfavorable situation. However, their feelings quickly turned into anger for being looked down upon by Guan Yu. They were not just some pushovers or low-ranked guild members of Blue Oasis, they were all skilled players in the upper-middle ranks of the guild.
"You're digging your own grave!" The player who Guan Yu attacked yelled out as he swiftly held his sword in a defensive way to parry the incoming guandao. However, he had grossly underestimated Guan Yu.
Guan Yu's guandao cut right through that player's sword and his entire body as if there was nothing blocking its path. Since the player expected to parry the blow, Guan Yu's guandao easily made contact with his head and cleared him away in one fell swoop!
It was Guan Yu's skill Arcing Armor Crusher which had invoked the fragmented effect. Not only this, but he also infused four points of his Essence into the attack.
The fragmented effect allowed Guan Yu's attack to not only bypass anything physical that blocked his guandao's path, but it also caused the affected target to take a percentage increase in all sources of damage for a set period of time. However, the second part of this effect was unnecessary as the player who was the target of the attack paid a heavy price for underestimating Guan Yu.
«Critical Hit»
-2,790
The player struck by the attack had been eliminated with a single blow! That player only had around 2,500 HP and so Guan Yu's attack was more than enough to finish him off.
When the other three players saw what happened to their guild member, they were shocked. One hit! It only took one hit to overcome someone who was around the same combat level of themselves.
"Come! That was just a warning shot." Guan Yu brandished his guandao as he seemed to turn into the beast and the three players were now his prey to do with as he wished.
"Don't underestimate him! We'll attack together!" One of the three players had a gloomy expression on his face. His name was I Throw Rocks, a player who had been following Minus for years ever since he became interested in the classic style MMORPGs. Of course, he followed him over to RML when it was released.
The other two players agreed with him as they surrounded Guan Yu from three different angles. This time, they maintained a high level of caution. For a plate user, the person before them was fast.
Guan Yu frowned when he saw that the three of them were playing in such a safe and cautious way. "Fine, if you won't come to me then I'll just come to you!" Guan Yu said as he gripped onto his guandao tightly and charged forward.
...
"I can see the boss from here. It might be the largest boss to appear within RML so far." The player who spoke was one of the Five Great Generals of the guild Cross Haven, Zhang Jie. He had been dispatched by Wang Qiang near the border area of Blue Oasis to take action at a moments notice.
One of the players by Zhang Jie's side whistled as he saw the giant boulders in the sky. "Wonder what those things in the air do. This oughta be fun."
"Why have we come all the way to the Blue Oasis sector with such a large force? Won't we end up drawing unnecessary attention to ourselves with this aggressive move?" One of the other players who stood by Zhang Jie's side called Platic said.
Although Platic managed Cross Haven's finances within RML and divided the resources, his position outside of that was being placed under the direct command of Zhang Jie.
"That's the point. Heh, I have no idea what that crazy bastard is up to, but it's sure to be entertaining. All we have to do is play our part, don't think too much about the details." Zhang Jie responded.
According to the scout from Blue Oasis' previous estimation, their reinforcements would arrive in five minutes and the neighboring guilds would not arrive for at least ten minutes. However, Zhang Jie from Cross Haven was actually the first to arrive on the scene!
"Now should be about the right time..." Zhang Jie muttered to himself. He then lifted his magnificent spear into the air before pointing it forward.
"Come, let us claim what is ours!" Zhang Jie shouted as a battle cry of more than one hundred players sounded off. They then started to make their way towards the Brooding Behemoth Basbus.
...
"Captain! A large force of at least one hundred members from Cross Haven led by one of their Five Great Generals Zhang Jie is headed this way! They are already closing in fast on our current position!" One of the scouts reported to Minus who was engaged in a battle against the Brooding Behemoth Basbus.
Minus was shocked. Cross Haven? How had they arrived so fast? Or better yet, how did the scouts let such a large force slip by right under their noses?!
"What are those useless scouts doing?!" Minus was furious. This area was under his command and he had been completely unaware of another top guild until they were already too close to even do anything about.