Chapter 1 The Battlefield

In the center of the battlefield, several guilds maintained a delicate balance, filled with hostility, but no one attacked first. Firstly, the Wandering Princess Eina was still alive, and fighting each other would benefit no one. Secondly, their strengths were comparable, and once a fight broke out, they would suffer heavy losses.

The president of Dark Winter was an elemental mage named Bingfeng Tianxia, about thirty years old, thin, and extremely ordinary-looking, the kind of person you couldn't pick out in a crowd. However, his bright blue mage robe stood out, and he had a total of three sub-legendary equipment pieces and the rest were Dark Gold, which was better than the presidents of the other guilds.

"All warriors, switch to defensive stance, just make sure the Wandering Princess doesn't come our way!" Bingfeng Tianxia shouted in a hoarse voice in the guild chat.

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

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

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

"Tianluo, Death, have you thought about it? Do you want to do it? Be straightforward and just answer with one sentence." Bingfeng Tianxia said.

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

"Good, that's the spirit. We've all suffered losses at the hands of Splendid Temple. The last time my guild members discovered two mines, they were snatched away by Splendid Temple. You've encountered the same thing, right? I remember Splendid Temple wiped out two hundred-man teams from Heaven's Gate last time. Splendid Temple has a bit of a cooperative relationship with the Bullshorn Tribe because Splendid Temple's strength is still decent. Once Splendid Temple's strength is damaged, I estimate the Bullshorn Tribe will discard them like worn-out shoes. Tianluo, what's your decision?" Bingfeng Tianxia waited for Tianluo's reply.

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

What Star Brilliance didn't know was that while they were fully focused on dealing with the Wandering Princess Eina and preparing to snatch the equipment, the other three relatively strong forces had already reached a tacit understanding.

"I can also find people from Bloodlust to help us. If thirty top-notch thieves attack together, none of Splendid Temple's priests will be left." Bingfeng Tianxia smiled slightly.

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

Second-tier guilds have limited income. Apart from guild members' dues, they only occasionally earn some money by forming groups to fight bosses outside, clearing monsters, or mining. Because of their limited strength, they can only take over low-level maps, and their income is pitiful. Without major consortia willing to invest, and the guild presidents unwilling to keep taking money out of their own pockets to subsidize the guild, second-tier guilds' operating expenses are quite tight.

"I just found a rich patron who is willing to invest in Dark Winter. Bloodlust was also hired by him. With operating funds, we can finally continue recruiting people." Bingfeng Tianxia revealed a hint of complacency and said.

"Which of us second-tier guilds would someone be willing to invest in? You must be joking." Death smiled wryly, feeling helpless at the current situation.

"I think so too, unless a consortium is blind and has money to burn, they wouldn't invest in a small guild like ours that has no future." Tianluo agreed with Death's view.

"Then you're wrong. In Kalore City, the Bullshorn Tribe does have a monopoly, but it's not absolute. Apart from the Bullshorn Tribe and their subordinate guilds, there are at least twenty or thirty second-tier guilds, at least thirty or forty third-tier guilds, and many more unranked guilds with over ten thousand members. If so many people gather together, what a powerful force would that be? Their numbers are definitely five or six times that of the Bullshorn Tribe." Bingfeng Tianxia said.

"That's true, but so many guilds are like a plate of loose sand. Who can gather them together? It's a joke to compete with the Bullshorn Tribe in Kalore City. Not only in Kalore City, but probably in the entire Greenland Empire, there is no guild that can defeat the Bullshorn Tribe." Death didn't quite agree with Bingfeng Tianxia's words.

Seeing that he couldn't convince Death and Tianluo, Bingfeng Tianxia continued, "Whether you believe it or not, you'll know in a while. Some time ago, Century Consortium and another consortium reached an agreement. Century Consortium transferred all its assets in the Greenland Empire to that consortium. I won't say what that consortium is called. Their actions are currently confidential. The elites of the disbanded Triumphant Empire, Mage Alliance, and Warblade Bloodlust guilds have all been recruited by them. In addition, there are Holy Guardian, Godslayer Sword, Light and Darkness Empire, and fifty or so other guilds, big and small. Dark Winter is one of them. I estimate that it won't be long before someone comes to talk to you about cooperation." Bingfeng Tianxia said. He knew the news before Death and Tianluo, so 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 Heaven's Gate.

Bingfeng Tianxia's words were undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Death and Tianluo.

"Damn, what consortium has such a big hand!" Death exclaimed. This news was too shocking. If what Bingfeng Tianxia said was true, the entire structure of the Greenland Empire would change from now on.

"Century Consortium has given up on the Mage Alliance and Holy Guardian? How did we not get the news?" Tianluo said in shock.

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

Was that really the case? Death and Tianluo were a little doubtful. If a consortium could really gather such a large force, the Bullshorn Tribe's position would really be difficult to maintain. Why were there no signs of it yet? They hadn't received any clues either? Was Bingfeng Tianxia just bluffing them?

Bloodlust's Ming, Lie and others were chatting idly, carefully avoiding the attacks of the Wandering Princess Eina.

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

"Watch out for people behind us using group attack magic," Lie said.

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

Everything had been arranged. They could take action as soon as the Wandering Princess Eina died.

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

"What does the boss say?"

"The boss agreed."

Lie, Feng and the others thought for a while. Since the boss agreed, they could only follow orders.

An operation against Splendid Temple began.

Nie Yan slowly approached Ming and the others. These five thieves were inseparable, each only two yards apart from the others, giving no one a chance to sneak attack. His eyes scanned the other guilds and found that the teams from Dark Winter and other guilds were gradually approaching Splendid Temple. He immediately sensed that something was wrong.

"Everyone, work harder, the Wandering Princess only has 2% health left. Xiao Yao, pay attention to snatching the equipment. We'll cover you." Star Brilliance 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 Heaven's Gate are approaching us. Should we fight back?"

Star Brilliance suddenly received messages from players behind him and was shocked. He looked back and saw red clouds gathering in the sky, and patches of fire rained down, instantly sweeping away a large number of Splendid Temple players.

Dozens of thieves charged into the mage ranks and launched a one-sided massacre of Splendid Temple's priests.

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

"Damn you, Bingfeng Tianxia, Death, Tianluo, remember this! We'll settle this debt sooner or later!" Seeing his subordinates being frantically slaughtered, Star Brilliance's eyes were bloodshot.

"Boss, what should we do?"

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

Splendid Temple suffered a sudden attack and suffered heavy casualties. A large number of them were killed. Two thousand people were instantly swept away by five or six hundred, and they were about to fall into a major rout.

The three guilds of Dark Winter, Death's Descent, and Heaven's Gate colluded with each other, outnumbering Splendid Temple by more than two to one, and had the inherent advantage of a sneak attack. In addition, Bloodlust and his gang were chasing and killing Splendid Temple's priests everywhere, so healing couldn't keep up for a while, and the casualties were heavy.

"Son of a bitch," Star Brilliance cursed. He, who was usually very kind, was now so angry that he was cursing. If they hadn't been ambushed, Splendid Temple's combat power would never have lost so miserably.

Star Brilliance led dozens of warriors into Dark Winter's formation, and they fought hard. The healing couldn't keep up behind them, and fighting Dark Winter's warriors who were topped with Holy Light was obviously extremely disadvantageous.

Seeing this scene, Nie Yan frowned. He and Star Brilliance had a bit of a relationship. Splendid Temple and Bullshorn Tribe had always been cooperative, and he couldn't just stand by and watch Splendid Temple suffer.

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

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

System: Do you want to hire the Holy Knight Leves?

Yes!

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