Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-197

Chapter 197 - Rekindling Old Grudges

“Leave them to me!” Gu Fei declared as he appeared in the middle of the skirmish.

Royal God Call and the others felt depressed. The remaining enemies were job classes that possessed higher physical defense compared to magic defense, especially the two Guardians who did not even feel a thing when Royal God Call was firing arrows at them, so Gu Fei with his high Spell Damage would definitely be able to deal with them better.

However, their pride as expert gamers would not allow them to just sit back and let Gu Fei deal with the enemies alone. Knowing that they would be lucky enough to get in an attack or two against the enemies if they tried, Sword Demon and War Without Wounds pounced on Silver Moon and his gang with the ferocity of starving tigers, while Royal God Call fired off arrows in the distance at an insane speed.

Silver Moon and his remaining men who suddenly found themselves being attacked by their opponents with such ferocity subconsciously began edging away from their crazed aggressors.

The sound of objects sailing through the air echoed about as Royal God Call’s arrows flew toward the enemies incessantly.

“Watch where you’re firing!” Gu Fei bellowed in frustration. Having dodged two arrows consecutively, he got this feeling that Royal God Call was treating him as a target as well.

Royal God Call merely continued shooting at his targets like a madman, spraying arrows all over the place. And for every ten arrows he fired off, almost half of them would fly toward Gu Fei.

“I’ll kill you!” Gu Fei could no longer bear it and charged toward Royal God Call.

The bratty Archer turned tail and ran, shouting, “Sword Demon and Wounds, I’ll leave the rest to you!”

Royal God Call knew that Gu Fei’s current limit was teleporting himself in a five-meter radius, so he made sure to be at least that far away from the latter, essentially rendering the skill useless. Gu Fei was left with no choice but to chase after him, knowing full well that he would only be harassed by the latter if he did not do so. Helpless, Gu Fei sought Young Master Han’s help, “Hey! Do something about this. We shan’t be fooling around during an important fight like this!”

Young Master Han nodded his head, “I originally did not plan to interfere, but since you asked…” Pausing for effect, he said sternly to Gu Fei, “You have been hogging all the fun all this while, you know? Go to a corner and rest up. Give everyone here some chance to enjoy themselves!”

“Ah…” Gu Fei was stunned into silence.

Sword Demon and War Without Wounds had already begun exchanging blows with the enemies.

War Without Wounds unleashed his ultimate move, Cyclone, from the get-go, and the Guardian facing him held the large shield to his front in response. The sound of clashing metal rang across the PvP field. This was the first time that someone had actually dared to face Cyclone forcefully. Sparks flew as War Without Wounds’ two claymores grinded against the large shield, making him seem like a welder who was hard at work.

As for Sword Demon, he did not manage to find an opportunity to attack the enemies after swiftly making his way around them. The enemies were obviously veterans at PvPing, and their current triangular formation with Silver Moon at its core was a testament to this fact, as it provided Sword Demon no exploitable gap to initiate a sneak attack on them.

A Thief like him could not clash head on with a Warrior, as he would just be courting death if he did so given his lower HP and defense. As such, Sword Demon settled for fighting a less risky opponent: the Guardian that had high defense but slightly weak offense. Fortunately for him, Silver Moon mercenary group’s lack of a Priest would make his opponent’s every drop of HP irrecoverable for the remainder of this PvP match.

Viciously plunging his Frost Memories toward the Guardian’s large shield, Sword Demon lucked out as his one stab procced the dagger’s Fatal Blow.

Fatal Blow was the bane to any high-defense and high-HP job class’s existence, as it ignored defense entirely and induced damage based off a percentage of the target’s HP. In other words, the larger the target’s HP pool, the greater the damage Fatal Blow would induce.

Sword Demon’s Frost Memories had a 30% chance of proccing Fatal Blow with a 30% Fatality rate. This rather frightening trait was precisely why Sword Demon continued to wield the dagger despite its Attack Power being meager by the current standards. In an instant, 30% of the Guardian’s HP was shaved off by that Fatal Blow, causing him to break out in cold sweat. Ever since he had started using Bulwark of Imprisonment, not one player had been able to inflict such a high damage on him at once. He knew that it was accomplished with Fatal Blow, but this was still the first time he had seen a 30% Fatality rate.

That one strike greatly drummed up Sword Demon’s morale, and his subsequent thrusts became even more ferocious.

Although Fatal Blow was terrifying, it could not actually cause death. With the damage being based off on the target’s current HP pool and the calculation being done in percentage, Fatal Blow would logically never see its recipient’s HP reach zero. However, Sword Demon could only depend on this 30% proc rate of Fatal Blow to deal damage on the Guardian, as his Frost Memories’ basic Attack Power could not penetrate the enemy’s high defense.

While they had their fair share of fun, Sword Demon and War Without Wounds grew suspicious when they noticed that the two Guardians were the only ones doing the defending while Silver Moon and the remaining Warrior did not even try to attack them. Something seemed wrong, so War Without Wounds conveyed to Sword Demon through eye-contact his intention to jointly attack the last remaining Warrior first, since the two Guardians and the Knight Silver Moon were probably defending this only Warrior for a purpose Sword Demon got his message, and both attempted to flank the sides of the enemies’ triangular formation. Their intention was easily seen through by their enemies, though, and the four men skillfully changed their positions in response to Sword Demon and War Without Wounds’ movement around them.

They continued to dance to this music until Silver Moon suddenly uttered something from within the formation while raising his King’s Blade. In the next moment, his three companions had received Blessing of Health.

Blessing of Health would regenerate a bit of its recipient’s HP every five seconds. While five seconds would usually be seen as a long time in a fast-paced fight, these Guardians would have no trouble lasting for five seconds with their high defense. Silver Moon’s muttering did not stop there, though, and pure white light soon fell on the two Guardians, looking similar to a Priest’s Heal.

Sword Demon and the rest felt stunned. Holy Healing. This was the first skill that a Knight who had chosen to be a Holy Knight during the Job Class Advancement would learn. Just like the Priest’s Heal, this skill could instantly recover a player’s HP.

Sword Demon and War Without Wounds felt very despondent. Silver Moon’s skill put a damper on their plan to kill the enemies by chipping off their HP bit by bit. At the end of the day, the two Guardians still had high physical defense.

Just as the two were helplessly thinking of a new way to deal with their opponents, their enemies suddenly turned their defense into offense, with the two Guardians activating Charge and slamming their shields into their respective targets.

The damage they inflicted was not substantial, but Charge had the chance of applying the Dizzy status effect. War Without Wounds was unluckily afflicted by this, rendering him temporarily immobile. The enemies promptly surrounded him. As for Sword Demon, although he fortunately did not get afflicted by that effect, he was nevertheless thrown off for quite a distance by that shield slam.

“Look,” Young Master Han said to Brother Assist, “They were staunchly defending just then so that Silver Moon could recover his mana. This just proves that that OP skill of his really depletes his mana as he channels it. He has actually used up all his mana a while ago.”

Brother Assist vigorously nodded his head as he yelled to War Without Wounds, “How much damage did that Charge inflict on you just now?”

“How much damage, my a*s! Come and help me already!” War Without Wounds howled as he was currently being surrounded by four men. The two Guardians did not have much Attack Power, but they effectively trapped War Without Wounds by pressing their shields firmly against War Without Wounds on his left and right sides. Meanwhile, Silver Moon and the other Warrior started stabbing him in a frenzy while standing on his front and back.

Brother Assist’s eyes shone brightly as he roared, “How much is that sword’s damage? Quickly write it down!” He intended to use this chance to find out the Attack Power of Silver Moon’s King’s Blade.

“What a bunch of degenerates!” War Without Wounds moaned to the sky in grief.

“Keep in mind that your death must not be in vain!” Brother Assist yelled, “Gather as much data as you can!”

Although Brother Assist said this, not one of them would actually let War Without Wounds die just like this. All stopped what they were doing as they scrambled to aid him. Young Master Han swiftly tossed Heal on to him, Brother Assist bolstered his defense with Blessing of Resilience, and Sword Demon activated Fleetfoot while holding a baton to get closer to those four encircling him. Even the squabbling Gu Fei and Royal God Call swung by to give him a helping hand; Royal God Call shot off arrows to the enemies, while Gu Fei tossed Fireball over.

“Just a little bit more, guys!” Silver Moon and his gang were gritting their teeth at the moment, hoping to kill off War Without Wounds before his assistance arrive. However, War Without Wounds’ defense was no joke either, and there was simply not enough time for them to kill him off when there were only two of them assaulting him. Seeing their inefficiency to quickly do the deed, Silver Moon hollered at his men, “DISPERSE!”

The men quickly separated without a complaint. The two Guardians retreated and Silver Moon sidestepped as he granted Blessing of Strength on the Warrior.

The Warrior growlingly lowered his claymore to his side, preparing to use Cyclone on War Without Wounds. The Cyclone skill was far more efficient than their basic attacks put together, so whether they could kill War Without Wounds depended on this entirely.

Everything happened so swiftly that War Without Wounds had no time to react. And right when these four hopeful men were hoping that they could score their first kill of the day, the space behind War Without Wounds suddenly distorted and shattered.

“F*ck!” Silver Moon thundered. He had seen this scene many times today, and it had given him a headache every time.

Gu Fei blinked himself right behind War Without Wounds, his sword already swinging with Twin Incineration and homing in on the Warrior’s body. He managed to insta-kill the Warrior before the latter could even begin the process for Cyclone.

This Warrior had evidently focused on a Strength build, so his HP was not particularly high. Given how the physical defense of Warriors did not protect them from spells, the Warrior immediately died with flame scorching his body.

“Miles! Now that’s what I call a real brother!” War Without Wounds choked with emotions.

“What nonsense are you talking about? I merely saved you because we won’t be attaining a ‘perfect’ score if you die, which in turn will decrease our earnings of gold coins and experience points by quite a lot,” Gu Fei bluntly said, putting emphasis on ‘gold coins’. Gu Fei was sorely in need of money right now. He had incurred a debt of 1800 gold coins, after all.

Seeing that War Without Wounds had been saved, Brother Assist quickly asked, “What’s the number? Did you write it down or not?!”

War Without Wounds was in tears right now, “Is there even anyone who cares for my well-being?!”

As he said that, Royal God Call’s voice came over, gazing on War Without Wounds wistfully, “Why didn’t you die? What a waste.”

Gu Fei inclined his head, “See? At least someone cares if you’re dead or alive.”

War Without Wounds bawled his eyes out.

Silver Moon mercenary group only had three men left. With the death of their sole offensive force, the remaining three were clueless on what they should do next. Meanwhile, the men of Young Master’s Elite had finally settled down after all those bickering. Both sides lined themselves up across one another, staring one another down.

Brother Assist was crestfallen upon learning that not one piece of data had been collected before. His situation was akin to a gamer who had fought a monster that dropped a top-grade equipment, only for him to fail at picking it up. With no one moving or saying a word, Brother Assist fearlessly taunted the two Guardians, “I dare you to charge at me!”

Silver Moon bewilderedly stared at him, thinking that he had gone mad. Even now, he still did not notice that Brother Assist and the lot were actually trying to discover the stats of his King’s Blade.

Silver Moon’s gaze only emboldened Brother Assist further, “What are you looking at? Come and slay me if you’ve got the balls!”

The calm and collected Sword Demon dragged Brother Assist to the side, “I’ve taken note of the damage from their Charge.”

Brother Assist was overjoyed, and he happily requested the damage output data from Sword Demon. This was the last figure he needed to complete his calculation regarding Silver Moon’s skill.

Noting down the figure in his little booklet, Brother Assist finally revealed a sated smile as he completed his calculations, “Looks like it bolsters their stats, such as speed and HP, by around 15% all at once. That’s OP, alright!”

“But the skill’s cool-down time is about ten minutes, and it can only be channeled for twenty-five seconds, so it can only provide a sudden burst in attack,” Young Master Han added.

“Why do I feel like it’s not just twenty-five seconds back in Yueye City? It seems longer then!” Royal God Call said.

The few of them continued to chat and discuss this matter, totally disregarding the three enemies before them as if they were just part of the scenery.

Silver Moon felt shocked upon learning that his opponents had managed to uncover every detail of his King’s Command skill. At this time, Gu Fei stepped forward with a smile on his lips, “Let them keep talking, and let’s continue where we left off!”

Silver Moon carefully gazed at the six men before him, smiling in returning, “No need. We’ve lost.” With that, he nodded toward his two men and the three of them disappeared in flashes of white light.

“What happened?” Gu Fei asked, baffled.

“They forfeited,” Young Master Han replied passively.

“What a pity!” Gu Fei sighed, “I’ve only managed to slice him once.”

“You will get your chance in the future,” Young Master Han said, “That look he gave us before disappearing is filled with hatred, so it’s only a matter of time before he settles the score with us for that grudge in Yueye City and for our action that ruined his plan today.”

“Oh, how I await that day, then,” Gu Fei said wistfully.