Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
chapter-91

Chapter 91 - The Past Deeds’ Meatball

“They’re here!”

“They’re HERE!”

“THEY’RE HERE!”

Their hearts thumped loudly as the Past Deeds’ army drew closer.

The Past Deeds Eradication Army had about three hundred players of different job classes, whereas the Past Deeds’ army had about two hundred players consisted mostly of Warriors, Knights, and Priests.

The side with numerical superiority in this battle was apparent.

However, Past Deeds currently had an army that pushed the concept of ‘meat shield’ to the extreme. With all these meat shields banding together into a group, it was no longer a ‘meat shield’ but a ‘meatball’ instead – a large meatball that could roll over everything on its path.

The Past Deeds’ meatball did not avoid this clash by using alternative routes; instead, the meatball confidently took the widest street leading to the plaza and continued its fear-inducing march onward.

“Archers, ready up!” Dusky Cloud sent this message to every channel, not caring if the players in his friends list were actually Archers or not.

The Past Deeds’ meatball arrived at their army’s vanguard at this moment. The Archers atop the roofs furtively searched for Silver Moon’s figure among the crowd. Sword Demon, Dusky Cloud, and the others who were standing at the very front of the defensive line saw clearly their opponents’ battle formation.

“F*ck!” everyone cursed in unison.

“Silver Moon, you low-life! You’re far too despicable and shameless!” Dusky Cloud ridiculed loudly.

“You’ve ruined the fight of the century with your cowardice!” Celestial Pig hollered as well.

“What a cheap move! Cheap!”

The meatball marching down the street wore masks.

With their looks hidden, how could anyone locate Silver Moon among this sea of soldiers? It was not just Silver Moon; even differentiating the Knights and the Warriors would be very difficult. After all, in-game Knights that had focused on adding points to Strength would be able to equip heavy armor as well.

Upon reaching a charging distance, the Past Deeds’ meatball suddenly got enveloped by a golden glow. Everyone was bathed in this light that was dispersing about, making the Past Deeds’ meatball strongly resemble a real golden fried meatball.

“The heart of that light. The one holding that glowing sword must be Silver Moon!” Broken Cloud quickly told them upon hearing that the main force was unable to identify Silver Moon among the mass of meat.

However, there was a problem. No in-game rule stated that a weapon must be raised in the air to activate a skill. Players who did so merely wanted to make the skill execution look grander and themselves to appear more dashing to onlookers. Would Silver Moon feel the need to show off with his face covered right now? That sword should have been named as a King’s Private Blade since Silver Moon currently had it hanging down his body. If he could, he would probably stuff it inside his pants just to make it more ludicrous. This was why King’s Command had not descended from above the players’ heads but had slowly enveloped them from below instead. After all, the light was originating from a sword below.

How could they find the golden sword that was hanging down between Silver Moon’s pants among these people clad in golden light?

Nonetheless, the Archers would be wasting their effort of climbing up the rooftops if they gave up with just that. They, therefore, chose to take advantage of the fact that their opponents were lacking long-range attackers by hailing arrows at their midst.

This saying held some truth: “There are a thousand Hamlets in a thousand people’s eyes.”

In this case, dozens of Archers had dozens of Silver Moon in their eyes.

The arrows rained down upon the Past Deeds, but the meatball turned a blind eye to those.

The squad of Priests tried their best to bestow Heal on the wounded; anyone who got hit by the arrows immediately received Heal. The Archers’ deadly arrows on Snipe, which could usually insta-kill the targets, were proven ineffective when faced with this meatball under the combined effects of Silver Moon’s King’s Command, Knights’ Blessing of Health, and Priests’ Heal. All the Archers were heartbroken.

The speed boost the King’s Command provided the meatball was evident; a cloud of dust rose off the ground and temporarily fogged up the surroundings as the meatball agilely rolled out of the Archers’ shooting range.

“M*th*rf*ck*rs! Ready yourselves!” Dusky Cloud bellowed as he twirled his dagger before him.

However, the dagger was so small that Dusky Cloud only looked as if he was flailing an empty hand before thrusting it forward from afar. He very much resembled a person throwing a piece of rock at the moment.

Celestial Pig, at least, looked more ferocious as he raised his huge axe toward the sky, hollering, “EVERYONE, GET READY!”

Everyone roared in unison, yet no one moved.

Their battle strategy had already been set. Thus, the vanguard, made up of the melee job classes, stood their ground firmly to maintain the battle formation and left the attacking to the Mages behind them; the Mages, for their part, raised their staves, casted Descending Wheel of Flames, and waited for the plaza in front of the Mage Academy to be engulfed by the raging inferno.

As for the Past Deeds’ Mages still inside the Mage Academy, with how Sword Demon and the rest had already lost three of the spawn points to the enemies, they would naturally did not leave any holes in their defenses and garrisoned enough Archers to restrict the Mages within. Those Mages only had to take a step out of the safe zone and they would be shot to death apathetically.

Both armies finally clashed.

“DESCEND!” dozens of Mages bellowed and countless flame wheels rolled down the sky, setting the entire plaza ablaze.

The Past Deeds’ meatball stood upon the scorched earth. The Priests casted Heal nonstop, unmindful of others except for their teammates.

With the light protecting the Past Deeds’ army, the meatball managed to maintain its crispy golden sheen and avoided getting barbecued black by the burning land.

Although death loomed before Past Deeds, with a few actually dying, the meatball still braved the hellish fire and continued to press onward. Whenever a row of Past Deeds’ vanguard would fall, the subsequent rows would follow up quickly by advancing a few more steps than the previous row. While many might criticize the Past Deeds’ tactic, which was heavily reliant on the constant replenishment of its vanguard without caring about their losses, it was undeniable that the meatball was currently unleashing an explosive fighting strength.

Actually, Past Deeds was more than capable of employing such tactic, as its overall strength was already above Sword Demon and the gang’s. If Past Deeds managed to engage Sword Demon’s group in melee, the Past Deeds Eradication Army would have no way of battling them.

Upon finally penetrating the Past Deeds Eradication Army’s first line of defense, some meatball immediately formed an evenly spaced row and growled in unison. Cyclone! It was a neat row of Cyclone!

This was the Past Deeds’ elite squad, which was composed of the members that that had accompanied Silver Moon from the start. There were only twenty or so of them, yet none had dropped a level despite participating in several skirmishes before this. They had left their Rage points untouched since the beginning of this guild war by not unleashing Cyclone even once. At present, each of them had a bar full of Rage points. Not only did their joint execution of Cyclone just now propel their bodies to rotate fast, it also extinguished the raging fire in their surroundings. With Past Deeds now engaging the vanguard of Sword Demon’s group in a melee, the Past Deeds Eradication Army’s Mages could no longer cast Descending Wheel of Flames from behind. After all, Parallel World did not grant players immunity from friendly fire.

The Past Deeds Eradication Army’s battle formation was instantly smashed, as none of them could withstand the joint Cyclone attack of the opposing Warriors. Some Warriors on Sword Demon’s side activated Cyclone as well, intending to meet Past Deeds’ Cyclone with force. However, the qualitative difference between them and the Past Deeds’ players, who were currently under the King’s Command’s buffs, only made them suffer a faster death.

“Retreat! Full retreat!” Sword Demon directed his men to move backward. As long as they increased their distance from their attackers, the Mages would be able to cast spells and salvage the situation.

However, the Past Deeds’ players did not give them the chance to do so. The Warriors promptly deactivated Cyclone upon seeing their opponents retreating and advanced on them step by step. These Warriors immediately closed in the distance with their opponents once more. The Mages of the Past Deeds Eradication Army had no choice but to cancel their casting. The advantage that Sword Demon’s group held was instantly demolished by Past Deeds.

“F*ck it! Let’s just go all out!” Dusky Cloud yelled. Seeing the opposing Warriors before him deactivating Cyclone, he immediately dashed forward to engage them in a fight. Dusky Cloud willingly gambled his life for this sliver of chance. After all, they were still suppressing Past Deeds in terms of number. The opposing side’s formation of about a hundred men lost about two thirds of their members while trying to break through the Past Deeds Eradication Army’s first line of defense. As for the Past Deeds Eradication Army, only those shredded by Cyclone just now were sent packing. Hence, their numerical superiority increased further instead of diminishing. Although they could not rely on their Mages any longer, they still had a chance of overcoming Past Deeds.

Could Sword Demon and the bunch win by going all out?

It would be extremely difficult!

That was what Sword Demon felt as he crossed blades with the Warrior in front of him.

Warriors under the King’s Command were terrifying, indeed. Sword Demon’s attacks were virtually ineffective against the boosted HP and defense of the Warrior he was facing. The situation was made even worse by the fact that behind every Warrior stood a Priest. Some even had two Priests. When the Past Deeds’ troops were storming into the fray, their Priests were closely following behind them. By staying hidden behind their own vanguard, these Priests suffered little damage from the Mages’ spells, so their casualties were minimal.

Behind every successful man was a woman.

Behind every successful meat shield was a Priest.

The Thieves, who were inherently weak against the Warrior job class, naturally stood no chance against these Warriors paired with Priests. Sword Demon was of course not an exception to this, as the attacks he dealt to the Warrior were easily healed by one or two Priests. In contrast, Sword Demon would not receive any healing if he was the one to suffer the opponent’s two consecutive attacks. Even the level 0 Warrior skill Slam could deal high damage to a low-HP Thief due to the Warrior’s buffs. Moreover, there was the level 18 skill Charge. Besides dealing high damage, it could apply the Dizzy effect on the target. None of Past Deeds had performed Charge yet; they were probably wary of the Past Deeds Eradication Army surrounding them if they charged in arbitrarily.

The Past Deeds’ Warriors were facing two or three opponents at once. However, under the support of various skills and buffs, they fearlessly dove deeper into their opponents’ ranks. The purpose of ‘meat shield’ was expressed to the extreme by these players – or at least that was the case for these around level 30 players.

On a rooftop by the side of the plaza, a few players were gesticulating at the battlefield before them.

“I think that one is Silver Moon!” One of them pointed at a masked man in the center of the battlefield, “I’ve been watching him for a while now and he has yet to do anything besides move about. I reckon he has to keep moving for that skill of his to work.”

“Shoot him,” another said.

“Now? I doubt I can insta-kill him, though,” the Archer in the group said hesitantly.

“Maybe attacking him will interrupt the skill?” someone guessed.

“That makes sense!” The Archer promptly nocked an arrow and aimed it at the suspected-to-be-Silver-Moon individual.

The arrow on Snipe whistled through the air and struck the said person. Just as the Archer had expected, the person did not get insta-killed. Additionally, the sudden attack did not elicit surprise from the person. All it made him do was turn his head toward the attack’s origin, as several Priests beside the person hurriedly bestowed Heal on him.

“That’s him, alright! Let’s find a few more Archers and insta-kill him!”