Exheart was one of the top core members of Mist Palace! If Ewan was not the guild leader of Cross Haven, how could she let him off so easily for his arrogant behavior?
The one thing Exheart failed to understand was why the guild leader of Cross Haven was willing to go so far as to offend her Mist Palace. She knew the guild leader of Cross Haven was not someone this reckless. Not to mention, she was no fool. There was only one explanation as to why Cross Haven would take things to this level - Whatever was inside that rainbow-colored coral, be it the raid or a great treasure, she knew that it was something Cross Haven did not want anyone else to know about even if it meant offending others. If that was the case, then wasn't the value of this thing astronomically high?
"Don't think that you'll be able to behave so arrogantly when our main forces get here. Let's go!" Exheart said as she stomped off angrily along with the group of players who accompanied her.
After seeing that even Mist Palace failed to gain entry, the others knew they had no chance. Mist Palace was one of the top ten guilds in RML and Cross Haven did not even budge a single step on the matter! Therefore, they knew that even if their guilds were above average when compared to other guilds, in the end, the two groups could not compare to the influence and power of a top guild like Mist Palace. This led to them walking away from the scene feeling dejected.
"You know, we're sure to become public enemy number one because of this." Zhang Jie stated with a grin as he witnessed the players falling back. They were not leaving the area altogether, but rather creating enough distance between themselves and the members of Cross Haven.
It was obvious that Mist Palace was waiting for their main force to show up. As for the other two big guilds, they were likely waiting for the same thing, except they seemed to hope to take advantage of the potential ensuing chaos to enter inside the rainbow-colored coral.
"This much is necessary. Besides, it will take a couple of hours for any guild to gather a force large enough to compete with us. It's not so easy to gather up your core members on short notice as it may interfere with other matters." Ewan responded as he turned his gaze towards the sky.
"Indeed, if we were not already prepared beforehand, then it would have taken us at least 20 minutes to gather our forces and 2-3 hours to travel out to this location at top speed. This is considering every member has their Returning Scroll off cooldown and we maximize our mobility after leaving from Amaharpe. The only guild close enough to be here in 1 hour or less with their main force is Hypers Symphony since they moved their main temporary guild headquarters to Proximus' magic capital city not long after the Protectors of Amaharpe event ended. However, this shouldn't be an issue considering our alliance." Wang Qiang explained.
Hypers Symphony was not the only top guild to leave Amaharpe after the end of the Protectors of Amaharpe event. At the moment, only five top guilds remained within Amaharpe. Cross Haven, Blue Oasis, Sleeping Gardenia, Mist Palace, and Sage Falls - Of course, Sage Falls could not be considered a top guild in its current state. After being struck by tragedy after tragedy and experiencing a series of misfortune, their present state was unknown. There had been no news whatsoever and they were extremely quiet as if they had just disappeared from RML overnight. As for the top guilds, they had all relocated their temporary guild headquarters to other places - Be it kingdoms, remote villages, or some hidden area.
But, even with this being the case, 2-3 hours was simply not enough time for Blue Oasis to complete a Hardcore raid. This was even more so since they would be doing a blind run and would have to depend solely upon group B's information as they proceeded to minimize or eliminate the number of party wipes.
If a skilled top guild made a serious attempt on the Normal difficulty raid, then it was likely that Blue Oasis would be overtaken and lose out. This is what Asgard and Niflheim feared the most. It was also why they were willing to compromise to this extent with Cross Haven.
"There's no use thinking too much about this. What's done is done. Now, all we can do is wait for the results." Ewan said in a calm tone.
…
BANG!
The large fists of the Relic Guardian slammed into the ground and sent a powerful vibration out forward in the shape of a cone.
"Melee attackers, stand behind the Relic Guardian when he uses Quaking Fists! Don't let the healer waste a single drop of mana on your incompetence! Ranged attackers, look for an opportunity to destroy that relic!" Niflheim roared as he stood his ground before the attack. Since Quaking Fists was a skill with sound-based qualities, he was unable to block it with his shield - At least this should have been the case.
"Shield Change: Sound Breaker Shield!" The moment those words left Niflheim's mouth, the shield in his hand underwent some changes as it turned transparent and emitted a high pitched frequency in the direction of the Relic Guardian. When the frequency met with the vibrations generated by the Quaking Fists, it matched with it before inverting itself and this resulted in the vibrations from the Quaking Fists being canceled out!
After Quaking Fists ended, Niflheim's shield took on its previous appearance. As for the damage caused by the Quaking Fists - There was none! Niflheim's shield just now effectively protected the raid party from that AOE attack. This was something that not many tanks were capable of doing when it came to sound-based attacks.
"Prepare for his next attack rotation!" Niflheim reminded the raid party as he charged forward.
"So this is a tank for a top guild." Halls thought to himself as he furrowed his brows when he saw Niflheim in action. Not only was he a competent tank, but he was able to take in the entire battlefield and even gave orders as he confronted the boss. His battle sense, decision making, and timing were all top-notch. Not to even mention the versatility of his class. One could tell that it was not the equipment alone that made him as strong as he was. In every sense, Niflheim was the ideal tank!
This left Halls feeling somewhat lacking in comparison. Whenever he acted as the tank, he would always leave the complicated things to the others. While he had good timing, his decision making and battle sense still left more to be desired. However, Halls was not discouraged by this, but instead, there was a fire burning inside of him. He wanted to be the kind of tank that everyone could depend on!
However, Halls was also realistic. He knew that his strong points were different from that of Niflheim's. Therefore, Halls understood that he had to find a way to minimize his weaknesses and maximize his strong points. It was only then that he could become the tank that he strives to be!
So far, the attacks on the relic had been unsuccessful. There was a thin barrier formed around the Relic of the Sea that needed to be broken before the actual relic itself could be destroyed. Whenever the thin barrier was attacked, its state of integrity would fall. At the beginning of the fight, it was at 100%, but now it had fallen to 84%! However, if it did not receive enough damage within a certain period of time, then the thin barrier would start to automatically regenerate. They had to learn that part the hard way.
Woosh!
-2,050
Izroth's Sword of The Storm swept across the back of the Relic Guardian. At the moment, he was relying mostly on his C-ranked skills and basic sword attacks to attack the Relic Guardian.
'My Fissuring Point should be able to ignore the barrier around the Relic of the Sea, however...'
Since Niflheim had already laid out a plan, then Izroth would not go around his decision. Besides, he was more interested in seeing how the members of Blue Oasis functioned as a group and he had to say that he wasn't entirely disappointed. Everyone was assigned a task and they performed that task to the best of their abilities - Be it crowd control, damage, or supporting. Compared to the members of Blue Oasis, normal parties would seem as if they were chickens running around with their heads cut off.
'Although using this method is on the slower side, it's safe and leaves some room for error. Attempting a blind run, one needs all the room for error that can be spared. This is not a bad choice.'
Though what truly stopped Izroth from taking action, as well as, what he was most interested in at the moment was one of his party members, Zi Yi. Or to be more precise, Zi Yi's current actions. He glanced over towards Zi Yi and noticed that the last few arrows she fired had been awkward and off from her usual precise accuracy. There were even a few times when she missed hitting the barrier surrounding the relic altogether! This was not like Zi Yi.
But, Izroth did not feel that Zi Yi was flustered or nervous. She was calm and level-headed after each attempt she made. When he saw the unwavering look in her eyes, Izroth realized that Zi Yi had something in mind. After all, she was not the type who would intentionally fail at things - It just wasn't in her to do so!
'What are you up to?'
Zi Yi's level of concentration was high as she fired off an arrow that entered into the void after flying a few meters forward. Izroth paid close attention to this arrow and the instant it left the void, it appeared right before the Relic of the Sea! However, at the last second, its position shifted ever so slightly to the right as it missed its mark.
When Izroth saw Zi Yi's arrow, the realization started to set in as he found out what she was attempting to do! However, was what she was thinking even possible?
'I see, so that's what she's up to. If she can pull it off, even at my current top speed, I'm not 100% confident in evading that kind of attack.'
If Zi Yi was trying to accomplish what Izroth believed it to be, then it was possible that Zi Yi would become a living nightmare, especially for magic casters and support classes.
However, some of the Blue Oasis members nearby who witnessed Zi Yi's "embarrassing" performance did not think like this. They were secretly mocking her and a few even spoke loud enough for her to hear their words.
"I thought that since her elder sister was so skilled, that she'd be pretty good too. Turns out, she only knows how to borrow the powers of others..."
"Is it even possible to miss a still target with the aiming assistance the system provides? That takes skill, but not the type of skill anyone wants..."
"She's just wasting a valuable party spot in the raid, if we lack damage, at least we'll know who to blame..."
"Just a little more..." Zi Yi thought to herself as she nocked her arrow. There was not the slightest bit of shaking and her body was completely still. As for the words of the Blue Oasis members who were mocking her? She simply tuned them out. Did one need to use words to prove themselves? All one needed... Was action!
Swoosh!
Zi Yi loosed the arrow as it sliced through the air while it traveled. There was something different about this arrow when compared to the others that she shot before. This arrow was perfectly still without anything to influence its flight. Soon after, it disappeared into the void just like the arrows before it. The only difference was that this time, it did not leave the void.
Those looking to further mock Zi Yi did not see the arrow go anywhere near the Relic of the Sea this time. It can't be that she overshot the arrow so badly that it failed to come close to striking its intended target?
"This is really too hard to watch... So embarrassing..." One of the Blue Oasis players sighed.
However, there was a smile and look of excitement that found its way onto Zi Yi's face. But, the second she realized this, she quickly regained herself. Though this did not dim the excitement she felt inwardly.
Crrrrrack...
All of a sudden, something unbelievable happened. The Relic of the Sea formed various cracks on its surface. A few seconds later, it shattered into countless pieces! The strangest thing about this was the fact that the state of integrity that the thin barrier possessed had not even reached the 50% mark! What just happened?!
Everyone was left dumbfounded. Did the Relic of the Sea just explode by itself?
However, there were a few players who noticed what actually happened during that moment. One of them was, of course, Izroth.
'What a frightening shot.'