Chapter 1 The Gloomwood Forest

When the sun sets, the Gloomwood Forest is shrouded in heavy twilight. A large number of Level 80 Specters appear in the jungle, virtually invincible at the moment. Therefore, no one dares to enter the Gloomwood Forest at dusk, hence its name.

The Gloomwood Forest at dusk is extremely terrifying, but it is safe during the day, only spawning Level 25 monsters.

A group of more than five hundred Azure Skies guild members were in the area, grinding monsters. Most of them were around Level 25, so most could be considered elites of the Azure Skies guild. About a hundred or so of the stronger ones belonged to the Azure Skies Studio. Logically speaking, such a large team of players grinding monsters outside would be absolutely safe. Smaller guilds couldn't swallow them in one bite.

When the five hundred players from Fallen Leaf Studio arrived, they learned what slaughter meant. The Fallen Leaf Studio players, decked out in full gold gear, were like steel behemoths, charging into the Azure Skies players and devouring over a hundred in one bite with overwhelming force. Then, they began to slaughter the rest of the Azure Skies guild members at will.

The remaining four hundred or so, mainly from the Azure Skies Studio, began to resist the onslaught of Shui Se Yan Tou and the others. Casualties mounted on both sides, but the Azure Skies losses outnumbered those of Fallen Leaf Studio by more than tenfold.

The Fallen Leaf Studio players displayed excellent coordination. A group of Thieves snuck around to the back, risking their lives to kill the Priests. Then the Warriors at the front launched a powerful charge. Bathed in holy light, each one was as imposing as a rainbow, driving the Azure Skies guild members back step by step.

Shui Se Yan Tou's plan was to devour these five or six hundred Azure Skies players in one bite, then quickly retreat from the Gloomwood Forest to find a place to grind off his red name, and then find an opportunity to deal with Azure Skies.

They had already devoured more than two hundred of the Azure Skies players, and were about to succeed, when some unexpected events occurred.

Azure Skies' leader, Hao Tian, received the news and quickly called for players leveling nearby to come to their aid. Coincidentally, more than a thousand Azure Skies players were leveling in the vicinity.

These teams were scattered everywhere, some in groups of five or six, some in groups of a dozen. When the Fallen Leaf Studio scouted the area, they hadn't noticed these scattered players. They couldn't possibly search every corner of the map. However, when all the people from the surrounding maps gathered, the number was quite considerable, reaching over a thousand. More and more Azure Skies people gathered, so Shui Se Yan Tou and the others were held up.

Time passed by, and more and more Azure Skies people arrived. Shui Se Yan Tou became a little anxious.

"Boss, there are more and more of them! We've killed more than five hundred of them, but more than fifty of our brothers have also fallen!" Leng Feng Jue Jian said from the side, delivering a gorgeous Grand Cleave to an Azure Skies Berserker charging towards him, sending the Berserker flying.

Shui Se Yan Tou calculated the time. If they didn't retreat, the Azure Skies people would arrive. Although each of them was incredibly strong, they couldn't withstand the attrition of thousands of Azure Skies players.

"We're breaking through, everyone follow me!" Shui Se Yan Tou said in a deep voice. He used a Charge to knock two Azure Skies Studio Warriors away, then pulled out another two-handed greatsword from his backpack and cast a Berserk Strength skill on himself, wielding a two-handed greatsword in each hand.

Whirlwind!

Shui Se Yan Tou swung his two greatswords horizontally, and damage numbers of over five hundred floated above the heads of the seven or eight Berserkers and Shield Warriors around him.

The terrifying damage chilled them to the bone!

Shui Se Yan Tou's tall figure, clad in magnificent full-body armor covered with sharp edges, was like a steel giant. Even more terrifying were the two two-handed greatswords in his hands. The giant two-handed greatswords were swung like one-handed swords. With one swing, a Warrior was sent flying.

The Berserk Strength skill instantly amplified Shui Se Yan Tou's strength several times. This was a skill attached to his War God's Faith set. He had gone down into the Level 30 Dark God's Temple with five hundred people, and only he survived to crawl out, finally obtaining the War God's Faith set. This set could be worn at Level 25, and the attribute bonus was astonishing, especially the Berserk Strength skill, which could greatly increase Shui Se Yan Tou's strength and allow him to wield two-handed greatswords in one hand, greatly reducing skill cooldown time, but reducing defense and health by 30% for a duration of five minutes. The skill cooldown time was two real-world days.

The effect of this skill was obviously extremely amazing. The attack of a two-handed greatsword was often 60% higher than a one-handed sword of the same level. As a Warrior, when using a two-handed sword, he could add 50% of the off-hand weapon's attack to the main hand.

When wielding two two-handed greatswords, the attack of the main hand weapon was already very high, plus the off-hand was also a two-handed weapon with super-high attack, adding 50% to the main hand, the attack was frighteningly high. No one could withstand such fierce attacks!

Another Whirlwind, and the fierce sword light swept across, seven or eight Berserkers and Shield Warriors fell to the ground at the same time.

There were no more Priests in the back of the Azure Skies formation. The few scattered Priests were of no use at all.

Shui Se Yan Tou killed the Azure Skies Warriors in front of him, like a huge meat grinder, charging into the Azure Skies Mage ranks. He was truly brave and invincible.

Countless spells landed densely on Shui Se Yan Tou's body, exploding on him. Shui Se Yan Tou's defense was very low, and his health rapidly approached the bottom line, but soon, rays of white light fell on Shui Se Yan Tou's body. Shui Se Yan Tou's health fluctuated up and down, several times approaching the brink of death, but he was still saved by the Priests behind him.

"Kill!" Shui Se Yan Tou roared, charging all the way, and Mages fell to the ground in droves.

Even Berserkers and Shield Warriors couldn't withstand two attacks from Shui Se Yan Tou, so these Mages were naturally instantly killed.

A mountain of corpses piled up along the way, and blood flowed like a river.

Shui Se Yan Tou's red name was chilling. Wherever he went, the Azure Skies players were so frightened that they scattered like birds and beasts.

Swinging his sword horizontally, who could stand against him?

Leng Feng Jue Jian and Mu En followed closely behind, like three sharp knives. Wherever they went, the Azure Skies magic players fell to the ground.

"Boss, there are more and more of them! There are many people rushing over from the east and south!"

"We're breaking out to the north!" Shui Se Yan Tou said, looking at the guild list. Dozens more members had fallen, and his heart was filled with pain. These were all elites from Fallen Leaf Studio! He had been impulsive, ignoring the warnings of the studio负责人 (fùzé rén - person in charge) and leading people to kill them. He didn't know if it was right or wrong.

Indeed, the purpose of the studio was only to make money, not to make enemies. But those who were killed by Azure Skies outside the Man Niu (Wild Bull) Prairie were all brothers who spent day and night with him! Those brothers were surrounded and killed by Azure Skies, and had their performance docked because they were not careful enough. These brothers all had families to support. Shui Se Yan Tou couldn't swallow this breath.

"Today's events were my own decision, causing everyone to be trapped. All losses of the brothers will be borne by Shui Se Yan Tou alone!" Shui Se Yan Tou shouted in the studio chat channel. His savings over the years were enough to compensate these brothers for their losses.

"Boss, we followed you willingly. You don't need to feel guilty. Falling is not your fault."

"At worst, we'll have our bonuses deducted, levels dropped, and equipment dropped!"

The fallen members said one after another in the studio group chat.

"Even if only one person is left alive, we must escort the boss out. His War God's Faith set must not be dropped!" Leng Feng Jue Jian shouted in a deep voice, sending a Berserker flying with a Wild Dance.

The equipment on their bodies was also obtained after much effort.

If they were killed with a red name, all the equipment on their bodies would be dropped, equivalent to wasting all their hard work for so long. Without equipment, their future income would definitely be very low.

Shui Se Yan Tou regretted his impulsiveness a little, not thinking clearly enough. He never expected that there would be so many Azure Skies people leveling nearby.

"Boss, Azure Skies has eight or nine thousand people heading towards you, you guys get out of there quickly!" A Fallen Leaf Studio member who had been killed and returned shouted in the group chat.

Shui Se Yan Tou's heart trembled. He didn't expect the Azure Skies people to gather so quickly, which showed that Hao Tian's leadership of the guild was very good.

"Brothers, let's break out, move fast!"

Shui Se Yan Tou waved his greatsword, slashing away several Azure Skies Mages, and looked towards the end of the jungle in the distance. A team of Azure Skies people in bright armor were surrounding them, completely blocking their way!

The leader was none other than Hao Tian, the guild leader of Azure Skies!

Hao Tian was tall, not inferior to Shui Se Yan Tou. He was a Paladin, with silver-white armor shining with a faint light. Seeing Shui Se Yan Tou, a trace of sinister flashed between his brows.

The feud between Hao Tian and Shui Se Yan Tou had been going on for a long time.

Shui Se Yan Tou was one of the founders of the Azure Skies Studio, owning about 30% of the shares. Later, something happened, and the two parted ways. Shui Se Yan Tou led a large group of people out of the Azure Skies Studio, created the Fallen Leaf Studio, and accepted investment from the Tuoba family.

Later, the two studios had increasingly deep feuds in various games due to competition.

Enemies meeting were bound to be extremely jealous.

The appearance of Hao Tian and the others caused the momentum of Fallen Leaf Studio to stagnate.

"Damn, it's Hao Tian!" Shui Se Yan Tou stared at Hao Tian, gripping the greatsword in his hand tightly, the veins on his arms bulging, his pupils filled with bright red blood, like an enraged lion.

"Boss, our way out is blocked, and the few Priests are running out of mana!" The Priest in charge of healing, Lun Hui Zhi Zhu (Lord of Reincarnation), shouted. More Azure Skies guild members were pouring in from all directions.

In a little while, eight or nine thousand Azure Skies people would arrive. At that time, it would be a disaster for Fallen Leaf Studio!