...
"They stopped?" Untamed Image said when he noticed that the movements of Reilei's group had come to a sudden halt. His class specialized in tracking skills; therefore, he had been carefully monitoring the group from a distance and found it strange that they had stopped.
"Could they be preparing for a fight?" Tarpeak questioned.
"I'm not sure. But, if they are, we should hurry and get into position so that we can take advantage of the situation. Let's go." Untamed Image commanded as Tarpeak, and the other four members of Sage Falls increased their speed.
...
"There's another group that seems to be going after the same prey as us. What should we do?" Violence is Fire asked with a smirk on his face.
"Let's see what they indeed to do. We will let them play the role of the cicada. In the end, it is the one who takes upon the role of the oriole who walks away the winner." Dead Fire stated with a vicious grin on his face.
He then continued, "We'll keep a safe distance and move in when they least expect it."
...
A few moments later, Untamed Image and the players from Sage Falls arrived at a poorly lit narrow corridor. At the end of that corridor was an open room; however, unlike the other places, there did not appear to be any monsters guarding it.
Untamed Image led the group down the corridor, but a frown soon appeared on his face as he furrowed his brows. For some reason, something seemed off to him. But, before he could put his finger on it, Untamed Image felt the ground beneath his feet become somewhat slippery, which caused him to lose his balance. He managed to balance himself as he looked down to see what had almost caused him to fall. However, his eyes widened the instant he discovered what it was!
"Oil!" Untamed Image warned. But he was too late.
Swoosh!
A small dagger that was covered in flames flew towards the Sage Falls group. The second it came into contact with the oil on the ground, the entire corridor shook violently. It erupted into a sea of flames and smoke!
BOOM!
This caused the players from Sage Falls to become momentarily disoriented and obstructed their vision.
"I can't see!"
"It's a DOT! Hurry up and heal!"
"Don't panic! The path back is blocked too many flames! Run towards the opening up ahead!" Untamed Image ordered.
While the damage they received from the initial blast was not that high, the damage over time caused by the flames was not something they could sustain for an extended period of time. If they attempted to go back through the roaring sea of flames that had formed behind them, then even if one or two of them survived, those with lower health would not be able to make it. Therefore, they were left with nowhere to go but forward!
Untamed Image and his party sped forward as their healer tried to keep up with the damage generated as a result of the burning flames.
Untamed Image, Tarpeak, and the others from Sage Falls successfully made it to the open room without suffering a single loss. But, just as their healer stepped through the entrance, two shadows rushed out! It was an ambush!
Phhkt! Phhkt!
Two daggers ruthlessly pierced into the healer, who was already low on HP as their body turned to particles and flowed away. In the blink of an eye, the Sage Falls group had lost their healer!
Shuyi and Hidden Pulse quickly retreated just before two swords came crashing down at them. The moment left the range of attack, they returned to stealth mode and vanished from sight.
"E-" Untamed Image was about to give out orders when he found that his movements had been restricted! What was going on? Why couldn't he move?! Though he was not the only one who experienced this restriction. The others from Sage Falls had also been locked into place!
Shuyi's Trapworking skill had evolved to a higher level. He could now place and activate multiple traps remotely. This meant that as long as a player stepped within his vicinity, they would not be able to escape his traps!
"Good job, Shuyi, Hidden Pulse!" Two Tons said as he appeared out of nowhere as he activated his Weaken Battle Spirit skill. Not only did it reduce their movement speed, but it also lowered their overall defenses.
The members of Sage Falls were shocked when Two Tons made his appearance right next to them. From his appearance, they were sure that he was a tank. What kind of tank possessed a stealth skill?! Or, could it be some kind of item or potion? No, that should not be possible. Those items were not cheap, how could some random party they never heard of before afford them?
What the Sage Falls members did not know was that it was not Two Tons' skill that made him stealth. This was the work of one of Ayanellia's skills called Nature's Blending. As long as the player affected by Nature's Blending stayed still for a certain period of time, they would become virtually undetectable! However, if one moved during this period of time, the effects of the skill would break, and they would be revealed for all to see.
Not long after Two Tons broke his Nature's Blending, Reilei, Scarlet and Phoenix made their move.
"Raining Inferno." Scarlet chanted as a fire rained down from above, damaging the Sage Falls members and eliminating three of them in the process!
At the same time, Shuyi and Hidden Pulse used the skill Ambush as they appeared simultaneously at the front and back of Tarpeak. Their daggers slid across Tarpeak's neck as a look of disbelief appeared on his face. What was going on? Weren't the players in this area just casual players? How could they totally overwhelm the members of his Sage Falls? Although they were not top players, they could still be considered as lower elite players! This was not how this fight was supposed to happen!
Tarpeak turned into a swarm of particles as he was eliminated before he could even make a sound!
Now, the only one remaining of the Sage Falls group was Untamed Image. At the moment, he had an ugly and terrified expression on his face. It had not even been a full breath of time, yet all of his party members had been taken out!
"Xiao Liang!" Reilei called out.
"Wait! I'm a memb-" Untamed Image wanted to use his status as a member of Sage Falls to frighten Reilei's group. Unfortunately, they did not wait for him to finish his sentence.
Swoosh!
The instant after Reilei called out, a blurry flash purple and blue flash launched forward, leaving behind a trail of scorching flames wherever it passed. This blur slammed into Untamed Image, forcing him off his feet and caused him to fly backward and crash into the ground.
Bang!
The effect of the trap wore off, and Untamed Image finally regained his movement. He no longer had thoughts of trying to reason with these crazy players. Now, the only thing on his mind was to escape from this place of death! However, just as he was about to get up from the ground, he felt an overwhelming pressure crush his entire body that caused the earth beneath him to shatter and crack.
"Who gave you permission to stand before this venerable young master?" The purple and blue blurry figure cleared up and revealed Xiao Liang, whose foot pressed down against Untamed Image's face, making him unable to move.
Xiao Liang looked different than usual. One of his eyes lost its pupil and turned golden in color. There was a scaly purplish-blue tail growing from his lower back that was one meter long. Scales of the same color had appeared on the sides of his face, neck, arms, hands, and feet. His nails had become sharp to the point that they resembled claws, and a domineering aura surrounded him.
Xiao Liang applied greater pressure to his foot as he Untamed Image was ruthlessly crushed!
Untamed Image was shattered into countless particles. Just like the members of his party, he had met a swift and tragic end!
Two Tons smiled as he nodded his head at the results. Everything had gone even smoother than he originally anticipated. Having a strong mage as a member of their party was a huge help!
"Let's pick up the equipment they dropped. If there's nothing useful, we'll just sell it and split the gold. We should prepare for the next group that's coming this way." Two Tons stated.
Out of nowhere, Xiao Liang dashed forward at great speeds and grabbed out at the air!
"Heh, little thing. You think you can spy on this young master?" Xiao Liang said as he opened the palm of his hand to reveal a small butterfly.
Spy? Reilei's group was surprised by Xiao Liang's sudden movement when everyone was already taken care of; however, it seemed he had uncovered something.
Shuyi walked over and immediately frowned when he viewed the butterfly in Xiao Liang's palm.
"That's a low-level summon called Eyes of Another. If this was here since the fight began, then that means the other group is aware of everything that just took place. The same ambush won't work." Shuyi stated.
Xiao Liang clenched his fist and shattered the butterfly summon as he returned to his normal state.
Two Tons had a thoughtful expression on his face after he listened to Shuyi.
"Alright, for now, we will keep our guard up. We still have the event to worry about before the time limit is up. Besides, after seeing what just occurred, I won't be surprised if they already call off their attack." Two Tons commented.
Reilei and her party collected the loot that was dropped by the players who ambushed them and continued with their original plan to explore deeper into the Spirit Cave.
...
The moment the Eyes of Another was crushed, Love Swan flinched slightly as the viewing orb in her hand fragmented into numerous pieces.
"It looks like we still underestimated them. We'll need back-up to ensure our losses are minimal." Love Swan commented.
That fight was utterly one-sided! It was a good thing they let the other group go first; otherwise, that could have been their fate!
"Agreed. I will call for back-up. In the meantime, we will fall back, clear the event, and wait for reinforcements." Dead Fire stated with a troubled expression.
...
Meanwhile, somewhere in RML...
Izroth and Azalea reached the borders of the fifth kingdom Pzenium; however, they were not alone. There were two other individuals with them. One of these individuals was Luna, and the other was Mirage!