Chapter 1 A Three-Way Ambush

In the center of the battlefield, several guilds maintained a delicate balance. They were full of hostility towards each other, but no one dared to attack first. Firstly, the Ghost Princess Ai Na was still alive, and fighting each other would benefit no one. Secondly, their strengths were evenly matched, and a fight would result in heavy losses for all.

The guild leader of Dark Winter was an elemental mage named Bingfeng Tianxia. He appeared to be in his thirties, with a thin build and extremely ordinary looks. He was the kind of person who would disappear in a crowd. However, his bright blue mage robe was quite eye-catching. He had a total of three Sub Legendary-grade equipment pieces, and the rest were Dark Gold. This was quite a bit better than the other guild leaders.

"All warriors, switch to defensive stance! Just keep the Ghost Princess from coming our way!" Bingfeng Tianxia shouted in a hoarse voice in the guild chat.

The warriors of Dark Winter put down their greatshields and adopted a defensive posture.

It was clear that Bingfeng Tianxia's training of his subordinates was quite good.

Bingfeng Tianxia opened a private chat and sent a message to the leaders of Death's Descent, Death's Breath, and Sky Net's Gate, Tianluo Diwang.

"Tianluo, Death's Breath, have you considered it? Do you want to do it or not? Just give me a straight answer," Bingfeng Tianxia said.

Death's Breath gritted his teeth and said, "Let's do it. Send me a message later."

"Good, that's the spirit. We've all suffered losses at the hands of Glorious Sanctuary. Last time, my guild members found two mines, and they were taken by Glorious Sanctuary. You've probably experienced the same thing. I remember Glorious Sanctuary wiped out two hundred-man teams from Sky Net's Gate last time. Glorious Sanctuary has a little bit of cooperation with the Ni Ren Tribe (lit. Mad Rogue Tribe), but that's because Glorious Sanctuary's strength is still pretty good. Once Glorious Sanctuary's strength is damaged, I estimate the Ni Ren Tribe will discard them like old shoes. Tianluo, what's your decision?" Bingfeng Tianxia waited for Tianluo's reply.

"Alright. I agree too," Tianluo considered for a moment, and finally made up his mind.

What Starshine didn't know was that while they were focusing all their efforts on dealing with the Ghost Princess Ai Na and preparing to snatch the equipment, the other three stronger forces had already reached a tacit understanding.

"I can still find people from Bloodlust to help us. If thirty top-tier thieves attack together, none of Glorious Sanctuary's priests will be left," Bingfeng Tianxia said with a slight smile.

"How did you manage to get Bloodlust's people to help?" Death's Breath was stunned. The Bloodlust organization was well-known, and guilds like theirs couldn't afford to hire them because Bloodlust's prices were too high.

Second-rate guilds had limited income. Apart from guild members' dues, they only earned money occasionally by forming groups to fight bosses, clear monsters, or reserve mining areas. Because their strength was limited, they could only reserve areas in low-level maps, and their income was pitiful. Without large financial groups willing to invest, and with the guild leaders unwilling to keep taking out money to subsidize the guild, second-rate guilds had very tight operating budgets.

"I just found a sugar daddy who's willing to invest in Dark Winter. Bloodlust was also hired by him. With funding, we can finally continue to recruit people," Bingfeng Tianxia said with a hint of pride.

"Which second-rate guild would someone be willing to invest in? You must be joking," Death's Breath said with a bitter smile. He found the current situation rather frustrating.

"I think so too, unless some financial group goes blind and invests in our small, unpromising guild for no reason," Tianluo agreed with Death's Breath's view.

"Then you're wrong. In Carol City, the Ni Ren Tribe is indeed the only superpower, but that's not absolute. Apart from the Ni Ren Tribe and their affiliated guilds, there are as many as twenty or thirty second-rate guilds, and at least thirty or forty third-rate guilds, plus many unranked guilds with over ten thousand members. If so many people gather together, what a powerful force that would be! The number of people is definitely five or six times that of the Ni Ren Tribe," Bingfeng Tianxia said.

"That's true, but so many guilds are like a plate of loose sand. Who can gather them together? Competing with the Ni Ren Tribe in Carol City is a joke. Not only Carol City, but the entire Greenland Empire probably doesn't have a guild that can defeat the Ni Ren Tribe," Death's Breath didn't quite agree with Bingfeng Tianxia's words.

Seeing that he couldn't convince Death's Breath and Tianluo, Bingfeng Tianxia continued, "Whether you believe it or not, you'll know in a while. Some time ago, the Century Consortium reached an agreement with another financial group. All of the Century Consortium's assets in the Greenland Empire were transferred to that financial group. I won't say what that financial group is called. Their actions are currently confidential. The elites from the disbanded Triumph Empire, Mage Alliance, Blood Crazed Battle Blades, and other guilds have all been gathered by them, as well as Holy Guardian, Sword of Godslaying, Light and Darkness Empire, and fifty or so other guilds, large and small. Dark Winter is one of them. I estimate it won't be long before someone comes to talk to you about cooperation," Bingfeng Tianxia said. He knew the news earlier than Death's Breath and Tianluo, and he naturally felt a sense of superiority. Dark Winter Guild's future position in the alliance would also be higher than Death's Descent and Sky Net's Gate.

Bingfeng Tianxia's words were like a thunderclap to Death's Breath and Tianluo.

"Damn, what financial group has such a grand plan!" Death's Breath exclaimed. The news was too shocking. If what Bingfeng Tianxia said was true, the entire structure of the Greenland Empire would change from now on.

"The Century Consortium has abandoned the Mage Alliance and Holy Guardian? Why didn't we get any news?" Tianluo said in shock.

"It would be strange if you got the news. Just wait, in a few months, Carol City won't be the Ni Ren Tribe's world anymore," Bingfeng Tianxia said firmly.

Was that really the case? Death's Breath and Tianluo were somewhat doubtful. If there really was a financial group that could gather such a large force, the Ni Ren Tribe's position would really be hard to say. Why hadn't there been any signs of it yet? They hadn't received any clues either. Was Bingfeng Tianxia just bluffing them?

Ming and Lie of Bloodlust were chatting idly, carefully dodging the Ghost Princess Ai Na's attacks.

"The Ghost Princess doesn't have much health left, get ready to snatch the treasure!" Ming said from the side. Among the five, he was the oldest and had more authority.

"Watch out for people in the back using area-of-effect magic," Lie said.

"It's okay, I have Holy Protection, which can block magic. I'll be the one to snatch the treasure," Ming said. In his skill bar, he had an advanced skill that could grant magic immunity for five seconds. Five seconds was enough to snatch the equipment on the ground and run away safely.

Everything was arranged, and they could act as soon as the Ghost Princess Ai Na died.

Ming suddenly received a message. He turned to Lie, Feng, and the others and said, "Dark Winter is going to attack Glorious Sanctuary."

"What did the boss say?"

"The boss agreed."

Lie, Feng, and the others thought about it. Since the boss agreed, they could only do as they were told.

An operation against Glorious Sanctuary began.

Nie Yan slowly approached Ming and the others. These five thieves were inseparable, with no more than two yards between each of them, giving no chance for a sneak attack. His eyes swept over the other guilds, and he noticed that the Dark Winter and other guilds' teams were gradually approaching Glorious Sanctuary. He immediately sensed something was wrong.

"Everyone, work harder! The Ghost Princess only has 2% health left. Little Demon, pay attention to snatching the equipment. We'll cover you," Starshine said in the team chat.

"Boss, the people from Dark Winter are attacking us!"

"Boss, the people from Death's Descent are attacking us!"

"Boss, the people from Sky Net's Gate are approaching. Should we fight back?"

Starshine suddenly received messages from the players behind him, and was taken aback. He looked back and saw clouds of red gathering in the sky, and waves of flames bombarded down. The players of Glorious Sanctuary were immediately swept away.

Dozens of thieves charged into the magic-user ranks, launching a one-sided pursuit and massacre of Glorious Sanctuary's priests.

"Boss, their thieves are so powerful. We've already lost thirty priests."

"Damn you Bingfeng Tianxia, Death's Breath, Tianluo, you guys remember this. I'll settle this debt sooner or later!" Seeing his subordinates being slaughtered, Starshine's eyes were bloodshot.

"Boss, what do we do?"

"Abandon the Ghost Princess, retreat! Damn it, fight them! Warriors, follow me!" Starshine roared and led dozens of warriors towards the people of Dark Winter.

Glorious Sanctuary was caught off guard by the sudden attack and suffered heavy casualties. A large number of people were killed. Five or six hundred people were instantly swept away from the two thousand-plus. They were on the verge of a major defeat.

Dark Winter, Death's Descent, and Sky Net's Gate had colluded with each other. They outnumbered Glorious Sanctuary by more than two to one, and they had the advantage of a surprise attack. In addition, Bloodlust and their people were chasing and killing the priests of Glorious Sanctuary, and the healing couldn't keep up. The casualties were high.

"Son of a bitch," Starshine cursed. The usually mild-mannered Starshine was now so angry that he was cursing. If they hadn't been ambushed, Glorious Sanctuary's combat power would definitely not have lost so badly.

Starshine led dozens of warriors into Dark Winter's ranks, and they charged forward with difficulty. With the healers unable to keep up, they were obviously at a disadvantage against Dark Winter's warriors, who were covered in holy light.

Seeing this scene, Nie Yan frowned. He and Starshine were on good terms. Glorious Sanctuary had always cooperated with the Ni Ren Tribe. Seeing Glorious Sanctuary suffer, he couldn't just stand by and do nothing.

After pondering for a moment, the Golden Earth Dragon was too conspicuous. He should just hire the Holy Knight Leves.

Thinking of this, Nie Yan opened the Holy Hire interface.

System: Are you sure you want to hire the Holy Knight Leves?

Yes!

A white light flashed, and the tall Holy Knight Leves appeared on the battlefield.