Chapter 1 The Tide of Battle

The players of the Mage Alliance surged towards Niuren Tribe like a tidal wave. Hundreds of thousands of people charged, creating a scene of overwhelming force. Warriors clad in various metal armors advanced at the front, an unstoppable torrent of steel.

Shuise Yantou gauged the distance to the Mage Alliance players, watching them close in. When they were only about a thousand yards away, Shuise Yantou barked, "Fire!"

Upon the command, the players operating the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets sprang into action. With a series of thuds, the levers at the center of the machines snapped up, sending countless solid iron projectiles screaming towards the Mage Alliance's lines.

Boom, boom, boom! The iron balls rained down, instantly sweeping a hundred-yard radius around each impact point, erupting in showers of ice shards. The ground became coated in a thick layer of frost, sending men and horses tumbling.

A single volley from the thirty-seven Frost Ironclad Trebuchets wiped out eighty or ninety percent of the two thousand warriors who had been charging forward. Only a few lucky individuals survived, and the terrifying power of the attack sent shivers down the spines of the survivors.

The remaining warriors of the Mage Alliance exchanged bewildered glances. Just moments ago, they had been surrounded by comrades, but now, only corpses littered the desolate landscape.

Charge? Or retreat?

The Frost Ironclad Trebuchets continued their relentless barrage, each volley obliterating anyone who dared to advance. Of the seventy or eighty thousand troops that had poured out of Aedon Fortress, over thirty thousand had already fallen. The Mage Alliance soldiers wailed in despair under the relentless bombardment.

Witnessing this scene, the players of Niuren Tribe experienced a surge of morale. With the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets as their bulwark, what did they have to fear? After a few rounds of cannon fire, only one in ten enemies remained, making the task of finishing off the stragglers an easy one.

"Move five Frost Ironclad Trebuchets to the west to support the Holy Roman Empire!" Cuican Daoguang ordered. The battlefield had become a chaotic melee in all directions, as the front lines of the two sides had met, signaling the start of a full-scale war. The landscape was crawling with bodies.

Five Frost Ironclad Trebuchets slowly lumbered into motion, heading towards the western battlefield.

Cuican Daoguang quickly coordinated the overall strategy, deploying the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets to various sectors of the battlefield to continue their slaughter.

As the battle commenced, casualties on both sides mounted rapidly. The combined losses of the various guilds on Niuren Tribe's side exceeded six thousand, while the Mage Alliance was in a far more dire situation, having already lost over forty-five thousand troops.

In large-scale battles like this, war machines such as the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets were at their most devastating. The six Ballista Trebuchets were no longer targeting the city walls. They adjusted their angles, bombarding the most densely populated areas. With their long range, there were plenty of targets.

Boulders rained down from the sky, crushing everything in their path. Countless Mage Alliance players were pulverized into bloody paste, leaving deep trenches in the ground, as if it had been plowed.

The Mage Alliance players were being subjected to a brutal massacre. Exposed to the trebuchets' relentless barrage, even the strongest defenses and the thickest health bars proved pathetically vulnerable.

On the western front, the Holy Roman Empire was struggling under the relentless pressure of Holy Guardian's forces. Holy Guardian possessed a larger number of elites, causing the Holy Roman Empire's lines to steadily retreat amidst a flurry of magical attacks.

One after another, players from the Holy Roman Empire were sent flying.

"Boss, we can't hold on any longer," several Holy Roman Empire players said anxiously to Banxing de Hu Li, who was clad in black armor in the center of the formation.

"Boss, take your men and retreat first. We'll hold them off."

"Holy Guardian's men are about to break through!"

Banxing de Hu Li spat on the ground. "Even if you can't hold on, you have to! So many of our brother guilds are kicking ass and taking names; we can't let the Holy Roman Empire be the ones to lose face. Goddamn it, anyone with area-of-effect magic, let it rip!"

"We'll hit our own warriors in front," someone protested.

"Unleash the area-of-effect magic! Enough with the chatter. I, Banxing de Hu Li, will compensate any brother who gets taken down by our own magic double their losses. All warriors, charge and cover the mages!" Banxing de Hu Li shouted into the guild chat.

"Boss, why say all this? Just give the word, and we brothers will risk it all," a chorus of warriors responded in the guild chat.

Charge! Charge!

The warriors at the front of the Holy Roman Empire launched a counter-charge against Holy Guardian, recklessly plunging into their lines without any regard for their own safety. One after another, warriors from the Holy Roman Empire fell on the path of the charge.

The fierce counter-charge caught Holy Guardian off guard, slowing their advance by a fraction.

"Damn it, these guys are crazy!"

Magical energy surged intensely in the air.

"Crap, area-of-effect magic! Everyone, fall back!"

"What are the Holy Roman Empire guys doing? Are they not afraid of hitting their own people!"

Ignoring the incoming area-of-effect spells, the Holy Roman Empire players remained locked in fierce combat with Holy Guardian.

Area-of-effect spells rained down, unleashing frost, lightning, and flames. The players caught in the center of the maelstrom were instantly wiped out, regardless of their allegiance. Anyone struck by the area-of-effect attacks was doomed.

This was a suicidal strategy!

The Holy Roman Empire's ferocity stunned Holy Guardian. To them, the Holy Roman Empire was just a small guild. The Holy Roman Empire controlled five fortresses and had a total of one hundred and sixty thousand members, while Holy Guardian controlled thirty fortresses and had a total of six hundred and seventy thousand members. The two were completely mismatched. Furthermore, the troops Holy Guardian had sent to Moonlight City were all elites handpicked from the guild, making them far stronger than the Holy Roman Empire. Yet, despite this disparity, the casualties on both sides were nearly equal.

Some of Holy Guardian's leaders realized that Holy Guardian lacked a certain spirit compared to the Holy Roman Empire—the ruthlessness to risk everything and fight to the death.

Holy Guardian was pushed back again. Once the area-of-effect spells subsided, the warriors of the Holy Roman Empire charged once more, pressing the attack. Holy Guardian’s men, however, had grown wary.

Just then, someone shouted, "The trebuchets are here! Holy Roman Empire brothers, charge!"

Five massive Frost Ironclad Trebuchets appeared in their sights. Immediately following, more than twenty black iron projectiles soared through the air, plummeting into Holy Guardian's ranks. Boom, boom, boom! The players of Holy Guardian fell like harvested wheat.

The relentless bombardment shattered Holy Guardian's lines, scattering the survivors. As the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets advanced, continuing their onslaught, the players of the Holy Roman Empire, filled with renewed vigor, charged forward with savage intensity.

Holy Guardian began to rout. Small groups tried to charge in various directions, trying to take out the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets from Niuren Tribe, but the players from the Holy Roman Empire stubbornly withstood the attacks, refusing to yield. As the battle turned into a stalemate, the continuous output from the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets caused Holy Guardian's casualties to rise sharply.

They had received strict orders not to retreat, forcing them to continue the fight. If they retreated, Aedon Fortress would be lost, and the Mage Alliance's defeat would be inevitable. With the fall of one, the other would also collapse. Holy Guardian could not escape the consequences.

However, the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets were far too powerful. For every Niuren Tribe player they managed to kill, the Mage Alliance and Holy Guardian had to pay a price of at least five or six lives. If this attrition continued, the battle would turn against them.

Kuangfa was in a state of desperate anxiety. He was frantically trying to contact Cao Xu, hoping to rely on his patron for help.

Cao Xu did not respond for a long time.

Kuangfa still hoped that the Century Financial Group would not abandon them so easily.

On the main battlefield against Niuren Tribe, the Mage Alliance had been devastated after several rounds of bombardment from the Frost Ironclad Trebuchets.

The Frost Ironclad Trebuchets ceased their fire and moved to support other battlefields.

"It's our time to shine. We're charging into Aedon Fortress!" Shabusi de Huaidan declared, eager to join the fray. He turned to Shuise Yantou in the distance, seeking his approval.

Shuise Yantou nodded with a smile.

"Brothers, charge!"

A deafening war cry erupted from Niuren Tribe as a group of elites took the lead, followed by the rest of the players. Like a sharp blade, they plunged into the Mage Alliance's flank.

Hei Bai, Wufeng, and others spearheaded the attack, wielding their greatswords and cutting a path through the enemy. The players of the Mage Alliance were sent flying.

"Mage Alliance brats, taste grandpa's latest magic!" Shabusi de Huaidan shouted, activating a magical state and charging into the Mage Alliance's ranks.

"Take out that mage!"

"Damn it, a mage is charging!"

The players of the Mage Alliance cursed as they saw Shabusi de Huaidan approach. Five or six of them charged toward him.

As they neared within thirty yards of Shabusi de Huaidan, they immediately felt a wave of scorching heat wash over them. Red flames appeared in the sky.

What was happening?

Before they could understand what was happening, fireballs rained down from the sky, pelting them like a storm. Wherever they ran, the fireballs followed, like homing missiles. These fireballs did not inflict much damage individually, but they were incredibly dense. Typically, five or six hits were enough to take down even a tank-class warrior.

The warriors were quickly blasted to the ground. As Shabusi de Huaidan advanced into the Mage Alliance's ranks, screams of agony filled the air. The ground was littered with corpses. The concentrated fireballs scorched the earth, turning it into a wasteland.

The more enemies there were, the more devastating his magic became.

Several players who were about to pounce on Shabusi de Huaidan were blasted away by his spells.

Xia Chongyubing and others also unleashed small-scale area-of-effect spells, sweeping away those nearby. They controlled their spells with great precision, ensuring they never harmed their own allies.

The strongest of the magic users were undoubtedly Tang Yao and Xie Yao. Few players could withstand a single strike from either of them. Several so-called top elites from the Mage Alliance charged forward, only to be knocked down by a single spell from either Tang Yao or Xie Yao. This was the difference in skill!