Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-287

Chapter 287 - The Convulsing Guardian

Fireball hurriedly looked around for Gu Fei’s figure, but he did not spot him at all. Instead, he saw their enemies appear from two different directions of the junctions, meeting at this alley’s entryway. Agonized groans could be heard from his comrades, “We’re surrounded again!”

The man next to Fireball cursed out loud, “Ugh! Stop your moaning; it’s not like you’re a woman; hearing a grown man cry out like that is just plain gross!”

“Enough prattling! Fire!” Sakurazaka Moony ordered aloud. Seeing that they could no longer escape, they decided to drag down as many enemies as they could into their graves.

A salvo of Archers’ arrows in an enclosed alley was extremely deadly, as they were nearly impossible to dodge in the cramped space; two enemy players by the alley entrance were shot several times by the first wave of arrows, so they died very quickly.

Yueye City’s players were made tougher by their constant PvPing, though, and despite suffering Sakurazaka Moony and company’s traps and arrow attacks, they remained unfazed. Several enemy Guardians held shields before them and came to the forefront as their teammates began to huddle behind the shields.

“Advance!” a voice commanded, and the enemies pushed forward while remaining hidden behind the shields. Sakurazaka Moony and company’s volley of arrows caused plenty of enemies to be engulfed in white lights; unfortunately, those white lights were not the result of the enemies dying but rather the enemy Priests tirelessly bestowing Heal on their comrades.

“Fireball, what are you doing?!” Sakurazaka Moony demanded. Most Guardians possessed high physical defense and low magic defense, so while the Archers’ attacks could only deal minimal damage to them, the Mages’ spells could deal substantial damage to them. Fireball was the only Mage in Sakurazaka Moony’s team right now, yet he was actually looking around them instead of attacking the enemies accordingly.

“What can I do by myself, anyway?!” Fireball grimaced. He cast Burning Tree of a Thousand Inferno on the enemies, and just as he had thought, the damage dealt by his spell was hardly significant. The enemy Priests merely continued bestowing Heal through the damage as they advanced toward them.

“Concentrate your firepower on the person at the leftmost side!” Sakurazaka Moony commanded his men with a wave of his hand.

Actually, firing a steady stream of arrows to these enemies was futile. The enemies had already squeezed themselves into this dead-end alley, and the Guardians were only tanking their attacks so as to reduce their casualties. Sakurazaka Moony and gang would probably be annihilated even if their enemies rushed toward them butt naked.

“Forget it. Death it is, then. I’m so exhausted that death now means being able to log off and get some sleep to me.” One of Sakurazaka Moony’s teammates yawned, lazily firing off another arrow.

“Useless!” Sakurazaka Moony eyed the person with disdain.

Fireball tossed two more spells, yet they were as good as nothing. Seeing the enemies closing in on them, he could only sigh to the heavens, “Drunk bro, didn’t you say you are nearby?! Where the heck are you?!”

“Over here!” Gu Fei’s voice came from above, followed by a streak of lightning that weaved itself into an electric web, which entangled the Guardians’ shields protecting the Ten Guild Alliance’s men that were gleefully rushing forward.

A thunderous sound followed!

The row of Guardians sizzled like raw steak on a teppanyaki grill and smoke visibly rose from within their armor while they were relentlessly getting electrocuted. The sight of the Guardians wreathing in blue and yellow bolts of electricity until their lips quivered and convulsed frightened those following behind them. Someone attempted to pull the affected players out, yet another player with common sense swatted his hand away, saying, “Don’t! It’s electricity!”

“What do we do now?”

“We need to use an insulator!” Being a Thief and all, the man was able to pull out an item that every Thief had: a wooden baton for executing the Bludgeon skill. This person then found purchase in the shield arm of the Guardian before him.

The man looked over, his lips violently quivering the words: “F – F*ck off!”

“What’s going on?” Everyone was at a loss. They were afraid of getting electrocuted as well if they pulled the people off the web of electricity with their hands, yet they also knew that using an insulated wooden baton could not save the Guardians at all. This was the hardship that came along with researching unknown skills and spells.

“There’s a time limit for every spell, so perhaps we can wait this one out!” someone suggested.

The whole row of twitching Guardians looked backward in unison and cursed the man through trembling lips, “Mo – M*th*rf*ck*r!”

“Where did this spell come from, anyway?” Someone proposed looking for the spell-caster to punish the Mage accordingly.

Everyone looked around, with some gazing upward. Those that looked up spotted Gu Fei on a rooftop, wielding a purple sword, with a piece of cloth tied over his face, wearing a black mage robe….

Why does this person’s getup and demeanor seem awfully familiar? Some of those who had participated in the guild war back then between Past Deeds Eradication Army and Past Deeds Guild could not help but have this thought.

As they were feeling uncertain, one of them suddenly felt heat rise from beneath his feet... “Is it Burning Tree of a Thousand Inferno again? Priests!”

It was indeed Burning Tree of a Thousand Inferno!

However, this time, Fireball was not the one that had cast it but Gu Fei.

The man who had called for a Priest died the moment the flames rose. The part of the alley where the Ten Guild Alliance’s players were occupying suddenly turned into a burning hive that rapidly took their lives even as it grew in intensity in the spaces vacated by the insta-killed players.

“Ah!” someone screamed.

Although this Burning Tree of a Thousand Inferno did not eliminate players the way Descending Wheel of Flames had had outside the Mage Academy of Yueye City back then, quite a lot of the present players were reminded of that memorable scene.

Yueye City was filled with skilled PvPers, yet none of them had seen another Mage that could insta-kill players ever since that event back then as they grinded their way from level 30 to 40, leaving a deep impression on everyone.

Fireball took this chaotic moment to literally fan the flames by casting his Blazing Tree of a Thousand Inferno right before Gu Fei’s spell duration ended.

Although the difference in the two’s Magic Attack Power was like day and night, those players that were on the brink of death after surviving Gu Fei’s spell were still eliminated by Fireball’s spell.

“Retreat!” someone hollered. Burning Tree of a Thousand Inferno was still burning, and the danger it posed was something that these men could not ignore.

These men retreated, leaving behind the row of Guardians that was still convulsing inside the Electric Wall. Gu Fei glanced at the time; Electric Wall could last up to twenty seconds; this lot had been convulsing for six seconds so far.

In retrospect, when Gu Fei had cast this spell on a street in Yunduan City, a few players that had touched its surface were able to retract their fingers upon contact, and none of them was held in place. Why was it that these Guardians….

Is this the result of their increased surface contact? Gu Fei ruminated. These Guardians had their entire shields stuck within the Electric Wall – the surface area that came into contact with the electricity was significantly larger than mere fingers.

However, Electric Wall’s damage output was truly insignificant. These Guardians were being electrocuted by the wall of electricity all this while, but not one of them died from it yet. Gu Fei lamented this fact, even as his mana started recovering just like what had happened during his fight with the Mountain Bandits yesterday. Looking down the street, he expectedly spotted Vast Lushness with her raised holy staff pointing toward him!

The Ten Guild Alliance’s men were already out of Burning Tree of a Thousand Inferno’s AOE; the enemy Priests were rushing to rescue their comrades from death, while the Mages and Archers began hurtling attacks toward Gu Fei.

Gu Fei sprinted away, dodging the balls of fire of Repeating Fireball as he batted arrows with Homing Projectile away. With a quick lift of his finger, he disappeared from his current spot.

These players from Yueye City were naturally unaware of Gu Fei possessing the advance mage spell, Translocation: Blink, so each of them felt stunned when they witnessed his sudden disappearance before their eyes. Gu Fei had already reappeared right before them, yet these men were still looking for traces of him on the rooftop. Gu Fei slashed around him with Twin Incineration, and a circle of enemies fell.

Electric Wall’s duration finally ended, and when the row of Guardians stopped convulsing, silence descended on them. Several men deeply sighed in relief, wanting to bawl their eyes out after such a harrowing experience. Sakurazaka Moony ordered his men to begin their assault once he saw that the enemy Guardians had survived Electric Wall.

Although these battle-hardened players were being thoroughly electrocuted moments ago, they also realized that their targets were near them and were mainly made up of Archers. These men knew that although they were just Guardians, they were more than capable of taking these Archers down as long as they got into melee range. With such a thought in mind, these Guardians raised their shields – and since they no longer had anyone behind them to protect – hunched their backs, and leaned forward, getting in position to activate their Charge skill and dive right into the enemies’ formation.

However, these Guardians only managed to raise their posterior and were not able to charge forward. Puzzled, they checked their status window and cursed aloud in unison, “F*ck! We’re paralyzed!”

Arrows rained on them and struck their shields, causing the sound of clashing metal to reverberate. Fireball even made a grand show of casting spell on them.

Without any Priests to support them and being unable to use Charge to close in on the Archers, these Guardians did not dare to creep forward like what they had done before as they quickly backed to beat a hasty retreat. They only managed to take a few steps back when they heard crackling sound behind them. Turning to look, they trembled in terror. Another Electric Wall was erected right behind them.

Gu Fei disappeared with a swish from within the enemies’ formation. Before these Guardians could react, fiery flames blazed on them—Gu Fei had appeared behind them and gifted them a sword slash powered by Twin Incineration.

No matter how much armor these Guardian equipped, there was still a limit to the amount of HP they possessed. They had survived all the accumulated damage dealt to them throughout this fight, but Gu Fei’s Twin Incineration, which held unsurpassable power that could easily insta-kill players, was the straw that broke the camel’s back. They were unable to withstand his final assault and died with tears flooding their eyes.

“Are you guys alright?” Gu Fei turned to address Sakurazaka Moony and company after killing the enemy men.

“We’re fine; what could that handful of players do to us, anyway?” Sakurazaka Moony boasted, downplaying Gu Fei’s timely aid.

“Drunk bro, the enemies look like they’re about to run away; quickly show them your indomitable prowess!” Fireball said.

The enemies were indeed dispersing, yet Gu Fei merely shook his head, “Let them leave; I’m currently outta mana.” With that, he addressed Vast Lushness next, “Seems like I didn’t recover as much mana as yesterday!”

She replied helplessly, “You left my casting range when you charged far ahead.”

“Oh…” Gu Fei felt dejected for a bit. He then asked, “What’s this skill called?”

“Mana Sacrifice. It gifted my mana for you to use,” Vast Lushness answered.

“Oh…” Gu Fei hummed in acknowledgement. Carefully looking at her eyes, he commented, “You seem to be in quite a good mood.”