Chapter 190: Siege Battle
Translated by Karai of Exiled Rebels Scanlations
Editor: Addis
“45 minutes past! With 15 minutes left before the siege battle begins, both factions have finalized their preparations. Last week’s battle points saw the Eclipse faction occupying the Summer and Autumn points, while the Abyss faction held the Spring and Winter points,” said Miaoshou Kongkong in a lively tone during the pre-match broadcast. “Both sides have now assembled in front of their points and are entering the preparation phase. NightBurningHead, as a regular commander for the Eclipse faction, where do you think the Abyss faction will focus their efforts first in this siege battle?”
“Summer and Autumn will probably still be the main points of contention,” replied NightBurningHead. “From the Abyss faction’s player profession system, obtaining attack buffs is more beneficial for their outdoor activities than defense buffs. Although the Abyss faction used the advantage of buffs to pull off a trick in this week’s resource battle, defense teams have many more vulnerabilities. This week, they managed to catch Eclipse off guard, but next week, if Eclipse comes prepared, it will be much harder to execute surprise attacks and delays. If I were BrokenOracle, I would likely continue to focus on the Summer and Autumn points as breakthrough points.”
During this time, the live chat was active, and both factions had completed their team formations.
In the Abyss faction command channel, around twenty people stood ready, with the commanders bewildered by momo’s strategy and the latest team arrangements.
One of the commanders leading the main force, Strawberry, asked, “Mo-ge, should we ambush first or go straight for the attack?”
The command channel was silent for a moment before the summoner’s calm voice came through.
He said, “Quick battle, quick resolution. I’m not staying up late.”
As the time approached seven o’clock, both factions’ players had assembled. In the public view of the live stream, the confirmation interface showed that all 1000vs1000 players were confirmed, and soon after, it displayed that all personnel had assembled, with both factions’ players entering the faction siege battle map.
The live stream interface changed, displaying the player lists of both factions. At the top of the Abyss faction’s list, the ID next to the chief commander’s mark read [momo].
[!!!] [Eclipse is CloudTraveller, and Abyss is momo!] [Abyss is playing big this time! Has momo played a siege battle before? Is BrokenOracle really trusting him with this?] [Maybe he’s played before? Not sure, but I’m really looking forward to seeing momo now.]
“Both factions’ commanders are Eclipse’s CloudTraveller and Abyss’s momo. We can now see the binding respawn points for both factions. Eclipse has chosen the Summer point, while Abyss faction has chosen the Winter point.” Miao Shou Kong Kong was surprised to see that Abyss faction hadn’t chosen the Spring point as their respawn location.
In the siege battle, besides choosing a nearby respawn point, there is also an option called a long-distance respawn point.
A nearby respawn point needs the faction commander to activate certain area respawn points by consuming resources. This respawn point is temporary and will disappear after a certain period. However, a long-distance respawn point is different; it does not consume any resources. The commander can default-bind an occupied point as the respawn point for all players in the faction, and respawning at this point clears all cooldowns, restoring red and blue to full, and bringing players back to full state.
The long-distance respawn point becomes effective when players move more than 1000 meters away from their faction, making it suitable for respawn of large attacking groups without affecting the defending team.
Generally, this binding respawn point is chosen closer to the large group, allowing a small number of deceased players to respawn and reunite with the main group.
Eclipse faction’s choice of the Summer point made sense because they intended to defend it, and binding to the Summer point allowed for the quickest regrouping. However, Abyss faction’s choice seemed illogical. If they aimed to capture the Summer point, it would have been better to bind to the Spring point, which was closer, rather than the farthest Winter point.
Shen Ye Tang Tou said, “Binding to the Winter point means they are likely targeting the Autumn point.”
Could Abyss faction really be giving up on the Summer point from the start?
Wen Ding Tian Xia continued, “Let’s look at the distribution of the large groups. Eclipse faction has 20 groups in total. Currently, 8 are stationed at the Summer point, 4 at the Autumn point, 4 attacking the Winter point, and 4 at the Spring point.”
“A very balanced distribution. It seems Eclipse’s main goal is to defend the Summer point and attempt to attack the Spring and Winter points.” Miao Shou Kong Kong added, “This differs from Eclipse’s usual distribution. Given this week’s resource battle and the defensive teams, CloudTraveller clearly doesn’t want Abyss to gain the Healing and Defense double buffs.”
[I’d rather give up the Autumn point than let them get Healing.] [If you haven’t played, you wouldn’t know. If you have, you’d be thoroughly disgusted.] [CloudTraveller did well.] [Wait a minute, what’s up with Abyss’s team arrangement!?]
In the live broadcast, the audience assessed the positions of the large groups based on the faction leaders’ markers and the number of players in each area.
Wen Ding Tian Xia looked at the distribution of Eclipse’s faction and then at Abyss’s team placement, and his expression immediately turned somewhat strange.
Abyss faction’s team distribution was chaotic. Compared to the orderly distribution of Eclipse faction, Abyss’s 20 groups were scattered haphazardly. Instead of following a standard distribution, they were divided into smaller squads.
Wen Ding Tian Xia had to rely on the faction leader markers to interpret the situation. “The numbers are too disordered. We mainly look at the positions of their faction leaders. There are 4 groups at the Spring point, 9 groups at the Summer point, 4 groups at the Autumn point, and… 3 groups at the Winter point?”
The earlier points could be assessed based on their movement patterns, but the Winter point was too strange.
Generally, defensive teams would remain inside the point, but the 3 groups at the Winter point were not entirely stationed inside. They were scattered around the Winter point, with only 1.5 groups actually positioned inside.
[I just checked the Abyss faction’s player list and discovered they had 50 clerics this time!]
[That’s strange… Why bring so many clerics? Have they reduced the number of healers?]
[Something doesn’t add up… Their revival point is Winter, so why are only a few groups attacking the Autumn point?]
[Abyss must be aiming for the Summer point, but their choice of revival point is really odd…]
As the livestream chat continued to be puzzled by Abyss’s inscrutable strategy, on the battlefield map, both factions had begun to move quickly. The previously scattered Winter point showed signs of consolidation. Miao Shou Kong Kong commented, “It seems that Abyss faction is now reorganizing their troops. Their previously scattered groups have regrouped, and nearly three groups are now concentrated in the Cave Vicinity.”
Wen Ding Tian Xia added, “Eclipse faction has also arrived. Their main force is heading towards the Winter point, about 4 groups. With 4 groups against 3, Eclipse has a slight advantage. They’re likely to be locked in a stalemate for a while.”
The first conflict erupted at the Autumn point, where 4 groups from each side clashed fiercely. The battle was intense and closely contested. Following that, the Summer point saw a clash between Abyss’s 9 groups and Eclipse’s 8 groups, with fighting occurring in the difficult-to-defend mountainous forest surrounding the Summer point.
…
In the Eclipse faction’s command channel, CloudTraveller was listening to reports from players responsible for assessing numbers.
They couldn’t rely on the livestream for information. To assess the number of players on both sides, they had to judge visually and by the items in use. They couldn’t immediately know where the opponent’s revival points were, and exchanging intelligence took time.
“The Summer and Autumn points are likely to be stalemated for a while. We need to find a way to break through one of these defensive points.”
After hearing the personnel estimates for the Summer and Autumn points, CloudTraveller said, “They’ve concentrated their main force on the Summer point. The two defensive points must have some weak spots. Let’s first assess their numbers and then choose our approach.”
“ChatMasterWu, have your groups arrived at the Winter point?”
ChatMasterWu confirmed that they had indeed reached the Winter point. The faction capture battle had four distinct maps, with some elements borrowed from the Soul Dungeon’s Four Symbols. The Winter map was a snowy, icy landscape, with the point boss located in a cave within the ice-covered mountains.
Among all the maps, the Spring point was the hardest to defend. The Summer and Autumn points, due to their terrain and obstacles, were easier to defend but harder to attack. The Winter point was the most unpredictable. Because it involved a cave and snowfield, players were very visible in the Winter map. Non-stealth units were easily seen. For Eclipse faction to capture the Winter point, they needed to traverse the snowfield to reach the cave where the boss was located. Getting through was basically a single route. Whether it was easy or difficult depended largely on the number of players on both factions.
If the other points could be contested with tactics and maneuvering, then the Winter point was the simplest: if they could push in, they would, and if not, there was no way around it.
ChatMasterWu led his main group to the snowy plains of the Winter point. The first thing they needed to do was assess the opponent’s numbers. “Change into white outfits to avoid being too conspicuous.”
He told CloudTraveller, “We’ll advance in first. If their numbers are low, we have a chance to push through. In that case, activate a nearby revival point for us.”
CloudTraveller replied, “Alright, stay alert.”
ChatMasterWu thought that being alert didn’t require much effort, as the opposing side couldn’t possibly be all meat shields.
Defenders found it challenging to capture the boss. In resource battles, having a larger number could use a blocking strategy, but in capture battles, with fewer people, even the best defense couldn’t hold off the attacking four main groups. The defending side needed strong DPS to prevent their attack on the boss.
They could kill the boss, while the defenders could only protect it. The defense was static, but the boss was active. As long as they used taunts to draw the Winter point boss away and used a kiting strategy to attack it, no matter how flexible the opponent’s defense was, it wouldn’t withstand their relentless attacks. If the defenders couldn’t kill them, there was no need to attack the defense team; as long as they could push in and kill the boss, victory would be theirs.
ChatMasterWu was very confident, certain that the opposing side wouldn’t deploy a defense team. But when he and his main group reached the outside of the Winter point boss’s cave and saw about ten high-defense Abyss warriors in the front lines, with clerics in the back…
To be honest, these were familiar faces. Over the past couple of days, he had encountered them countless times, and seeing them now constantly reminded him of the nightmares he’d experienced recently.
ChatMasterWu staggered, “Damn it…”
“What’s wrong?” CloudTraveller asked.
ChatMasterWu said, “I take back what I said. momo is a lunatic.”
“The Winter point perimeter is full of warriors and clerics. There are also summoners and assassins. From the two guild leader markers, there should be two groups here.” ChatMasterWu reported to CloudTraveller, “Is momo really planning to use a defense team to guard the Winter point!?”
CloudTraveller responded, “Just push in. Don’t worry about the defense team.”
He added, “Good luck. Just push through.”
ChatMasterWu was speechless.
He wasn’t particularly eager to press on!
The vice-captain asked, “ChatMasterWu, should we charge?”
He thought that there weren’t many enemies, but he didn’t understand what their captain was afraid of.
ChatMasterWu locked onto Bitter Melon and saw that Bitter Melon was also targeting him. He was at a loss for words and didn’t know where to direct his curse. At this point, there was no way to avoid the fight; he had to grit his teeth and press on.
He clenched his teeth and said, “Charge in. Ignore the tanks; take out the fragile ones and push forward.”
The battle outside the Winter point was on the verge of erupting. ChatMasterWu reassured himself that it was a capture battle, so if he didn’t engage the tanks, he could just push forward! But his plan was immediately shattered the moment they stormed into the cave. Archers rained down arrows from above, hitting him and revealing his hidden position among the crowd. He then noticed that behind the warriors and clerics, there were also a number of assassins and marksmen. It seemed they had coordinated, all aiming arrows at the entrance.
“Fuck! It’s not a defense team; their assassin team is here!”
The defense at the Winter point was a complete team: the front lines were occupied by high-defense warriors, with a large number of clerics behind them. There were also around ten marksmen stationed in fixed positions, intercepting assassins. The rest of the team comprised summoners, assassins, and others.
He had just breached the front line defense when he was startled by the dense cluster of red names inside. He never expected that behind the defense team, there would be an entire team of assassins waiting to pressure them once they entered!
Was there anything more infuriating than having a front line of tanks and a back line of assassins and marksmen?
Although the enemy tanks moved slowly, the assassins wove through the crowd, evading attacks, while the warriors methodically protected the assassins’ output. momo had clearly abandoned any flashy tactics and instead presented an overwhelmingly effective combination of offense and defense.
As soon as ChatMasterWu charged in, he felt the immense pressure of the enemy numbers.
He instantly understood why the enemy had included clerics. The clerics’ summons provided healing and also served as natural cover for the assassins. Several times his view shifted and he couldn’t lock onto the assassins but instead locked onto summons or warriors.
The Winter point was the easiest to pressure, but if the enemy had a large number of players, it became incredibly difficult. Faced with the overwhelming number of red names, the Eclipse players who had just broken through the warriors’ encirclement were intimidated by the scene. As they tried to find and eliminate the fragile professions among the countless red names, they were pushed back by returning warriors.
They hadn’t even made it ten meters into the Winter point before being driven back by the Abyss faction’s players.
“They’ve messed up our formation!”
“There are so many assassins inside! I got taken out instantly.”
“Damn, there are too many summons!”
“More warriors.”
“We can’t get in; we get killed if we go in alone.”
CloudTraveller, hearing the situation at the Winter point, furrowed his brow and asked, “ChatMasterWu, what’s going on?!”
“It’s not a defensive team; I can’t even count their numbers. I saw three guild leader markers, but I think there might be more!” ChatMasterWu had to fall back, “The numbers are too overwhelming; we can’t break through.”
CloudTraveller frowned, “Go to the cave perimeter and deploy reconnaissance items. Find out exactly how many people they have inside.”
The enemy’s main force was assassins, with support from marksmen and summoners, and the clerics were not just healers but also provided enhanced support capabilities. This combination of healing and damage made it nearly impossible to push through when they had the numerical advantage. Even if they managed to get a few people inside, they were quickly cleared out by the enemy’s assassins.
In the past, Abyss had always used assassins as mobile units and rarely used them for defense.
The Abyss faction members were very aggressive; not only did they push back the Eclipse faction, but they also advanced with great momentum to the cave’s perimeter, driving the Eclipse faction back by dozens of meters. Seeing the large number of enemies, the Eclipse faction could only continue retreating. However, the Abyss faction didn’t become reckless; after driving the Eclipse faction back, they quickly returned to defend the cave entrance and stayed there.
The Eclipse faction, observing their retreat, eventually followed suit and returned as well. This time, they did not advance recklessly but instead kept a safe distance, gazing at the Abyss faction from afar.
ChatMasterWu had no choice but to send people to place reconnaissance items on the cave’s outer wall. These reconnaissance items, originally created by momo to detect skill effects, had a limited visibility range on the mini-map. By placing them around the cave’s perimeter, they could detect the skill traces inside and thus estimate the extent of the enemy’s skill presence and get a preliminary idea of the enemy player’s positions.
When his team returned from placing the reconnaissance items, ChatMasterWu saw a sea of red skill traces on the display and couldn’t help but curse, “The skill traces almost reached inside the cave. They probably have close to 5 teams defending here.”
From the traces and distance, it appeared that the enemy had 4 to nearly 5 teams. They had 4 teams, while the enemy had 5. With so many warriors and clerics, it was impossible to break through. Initially, it seemed like only 2 to 3 teams were visible, but the actual defense was much stronger. It was clear that the enemy was trying to lure their forces in to attack, essentially tricking them into a trap.
Death also consumed resources, and they had fewer resources than the enemy this time. There was no need to waste excessive resources on an unassailable point.
Upon hearing ChatMasterWu’s report, CloudTraveller hesitated, feeling that something was off about the numbers. “Did they all fall back?”
“They fell back. They didn’t press forward, instead they returned to defend the cave entrance,” ChatMasterWu replied. “The outermost positions are held by warriors and clerics, while the assassins are protected inside. It’s very hard to kill them.”
“Keep an eye on the cave entrance. Have the marksmen pay extra attention to the assassins,” CloudTraveller instructed. “Withdraw some people to help with the spring point. I’ll send more marksmen to assist you in keeping watch. Focus on attacking the spring point, but keep a portion to hold the winter point. Face off with the enemy, but don’t charge in or let them escape.”
ChatMasterWu asked, “Is the winter point being abandoned?”
“Not abandoned,” CloudTraveller said. “Keep watching them. Having the assassin team there is advantageous for us.”
Five teams defending the winter point was standard practice for Abyss. With so many assassins present, it worked to their advantage, and they needed to find a way to keep the assassin team occupied there.
ChatMasterWu listened to CloudTraveller’s instructions, observing the teams at the entrance of the cave not far away. The front-line warrior, Bitter Melon, continued to lock onto him.
Previously, he could only target the tank. Now, he was forced to do so. While he had accepted facing a defensive team before, facing a team where all he could see were tanks was infuriating! Were the assassins really so cowardly? If they had the guts, they should come out and fight him one-on-one!
The deputy commander asked, “Should we push in?”
“No, don’t push. Dying and respawning wastes resources. Let’s hold our position at the entrance and try to keep their few teams here,” ChatMasterWu replied. “Pay attention to the reconnaissance items. We won’t push now; we’ll look for an opportunity to advance later.”
As soon as he finished speaking, he saw several high-defense warriors from the winter point move a few meters outward. Their actions seemed casual, and they were taunting them over the current voice chat, continuously provoking them.
The deputy commander remarked, “They’re so arrogant.”
ChatMasterWu, watching as FireworksAndLanterns remained unperturbed and made a mocking gesture, managed to calm down. “Don’t be impulsive. We won’t push.”
They were trying to bait him into attacking the tanks. There was no chance of getting through the door.
The livestream had just witnessed the first wave of confrontation at the Winter God Point.
“Given the numerical advantage, why didn’t Eclipse faction manage to push into the cave?” asked Miaoshou Kongkong. “Their lineup seemed reasonable; they shouldn’t have been repelled at the cave entrance.”
“What we saw was actually an assassin team from Abyss,” replied someone. “Abyss had a large number of assassins this time, with two full assassin teams.”
Shen Ye Tangtou immediately began analyzing the situation. “Abyss faction had a lot of frontline players and their lineup was heavily tanked. Such a setup easily splits the battlefield. So, as you saw, even with a numerical advantage, when the two sides clashed, the number of Eclipse players who could break through the warrior and healer lines to enter the cave was insufficient. They were easily ambushed by the assassins stationed in the back.”
[In simple terms, they used tanks to break through their formation, and then the assassins picked off the vulnerable targets?]
[Exactly. And since there were so many clerics, the field was cluttered with their summons, making it look chaotic.]
[Isn’t that an advantage then? Three teams against four?]
Wending Tianxia replied, “It’s too early to say there’s an advantage. With 1,000 players, placing the assassins here does indeed allow them to pick off opponents one by one. However, this also means that the attacking power in other areas is weakened. Using assassin teams for defense is overkill; they’re better suited for mobility rather than holding positions.”
Shen Ye Tangtou agreed, “Yes, since the assassin teams are here, CloudTraveller will try to keep them occupied. If they can hold the Winter God Point, then rotating teams will become difficult, effectively trapping the assassins here.”
The livestream’s focus was on Eclipse faction at the Winter God Point. As expected, viewers saw that Eclipse faction had moved two teams and added some marksmen. Instead of a strong push, they chose to guard outside the Winter God Point, just as Shen Ye Tangtou had explained—blocking the entrance.
Getting into the cave was relatively easy, but blocking the entrance was also quite straightforward. With only one route, sealing off the entrance and having marksmen on guard made it difficult for the assassins inside to come out. The Winter God Point was stalemated, and CloudTraveller shifted the attack focus to the Spring Point. Everyone understood this, but when the livestream’s perspective switched, something seemed off.
[Wait!? I only focused on the minimap earlier, but did the number of people at the Winter God Point decrease!?]
[Did I see that wrong?]
[No, you didn’t. I even adjusted the view to check, and there were definitely fewer people in the cave.]
[Wasn’t everyone supposed to go support? Where did those people go?]
[Strange, didn’t Eclipse faction notice?]
The livestream switched to a broader view. The number of people at the cave entrance remained the same, but the number of people in the current area had changed. Eclipse faction still had around four teams, but Abyss faction’s numbers had decreased from the initial three teams.
Wen Ding Tian Xia was momentarily stunned. “Wait, weren’t they blocked?”
Miao Shou Kong Kong asked, “Did they use a temporary respawn point to leave?”
Wen Ding Tian Xia thought for a moment. “A temporary respawn would still require someone to die first, so it’s more likely they used a temporary teleportation.”
Temporary teleportation involved using resources to open a teleportation point, which consumed more resources than a respawn point. Normally, faction commanders would use respawn points for movement because spending resources on temporary teleportation would be less efficient compared to buying more buffs.
Shen Ye Tangtou didn’t think Abyss faction would use it. “Temporary teleportation wastes a lot of resources. Abyss faction wouldn’t need to do that. If they were going to handle it this way, they wouldn’t have used the assassin teams in the first place. It’s pointless to waste resources like that.”
He added, “CloudTraveller isn’t a fool. He would definitely have someone monitoring the teleportation points. With so many people teleporting, how could CloudTraveller not notice?”
The director quickly switched the view to the teleportation point near the Winter God Point, but no relevant personnel were observed.
[System malfunctioned!?]
[It can’t be a malfunction.]
[If people are missing, how did CloudTraveller not notice??]
[Yeah, if the number decreased, they could just push in and take the Winter Point, right?]
Shen Ye Tangtou was also baffled. During the battle, he had seen ChatMasterWu send people to place the detection items, so the number judgment couldn’t be wrong. Both sides were currently at a standoff at the cave entrance Vicinity, and it was clear that Eclipse faction was wary of the enemy’s numbers and wanted to avoid unnecessary casualties by blocking the entrance…
But if the numbers really were down to 75, Eclipse’s advantage with 4 teams would surely give them an edge to push in.
“The detection item’s judgment should be correct,” Shen Ye Tangtou said. “And they can also see the red dots on the small map within the battle range, so they should have some idea of the enemy’s numbers.”
Wen Ding Tian Xia asked, “Could it be that the System’s display is really malfunctioning?”
“Please switch the view to inside the cave,” Miao Shou Kong Kong suggested.
The live stream quickly switched to the interior of the cave. As soon as the view changed, the stream revealed a densely packed group of people and summonings.
The people were actually the shadow clones of assassins. The summons were creatures released by clerics and summoners.
[Oh no…]
[Fuck!!!]
[What!?]
[It’s over. If it weren’t for the System showing 75 people, I wouldn’t have been able to tell how many were actually here…]
“I suddenly remembered that in the hostile unit red dot detection… both assassin’s shadow clones and summoner’s cleric summons are counted as red dots,” Wen Ding Tian Xia said. “So there weren’t actually that many people in the cave. Eclipse faction’s first wave failed to break through, so they thought there were many more inside.”
Shen Ye Tangtou was stunned for a moment. “It’s a feigned retreat…”
Using deception and pressure to make the opponent believe there were many people inside the cave.
And to execute such a tactic, it required careful planning and team composition. Therefore, Abyss faction’s team configuration included a large number of clerics and assassins, along with several control-heavy summoners and marksmen responsible for blocking scouts.
The warriors and clerics were used to disrupt and obstruct the enemy’s formation. They could both push against the opponent’s lines and protect the movements of the assassins. Only a few marksmen were needed because there was only one path into the cave. As long as they completely blocked the entrance and used the marksmen’s Dispelling Cloak mechanism, Eclipse faction would be unable to send assassins inside to scout the situation—entering meant certain death.
If they tried to use assassins to scout? The marksmen would block them.
If they tried to observe from the outside? It was futile because the warriors and clerics were guarding it, creating a solid defense.
Thus, the remaining points of judgment were the mini-map red dots and the detection items.
For this to work, the enemy’s command had to believe that there were indeed many people inside the cave. CloudTraveller would inevitably suspect a feint. To make the ruse believable, the first thing that had to be true was that CloudTraveller had to be convinced.
So initially, there were indeed three full teams inside the cave, and these three teams managed to suppress Eclipse faction.
However, after that wave of confrontation, Abyss faction had, almost imperceptibly, reduced the number of players from three full teams to one and a half.
[What the hell… How did they do this?] [The illusion created by clerics and assassins was too strong.] [Really, if you don’t push into the interior, you won’t know the situation inside at all.] [But Eclipse isn’t pushing! They’re just holding the outside!]
The Eclipse faction’s goal was to keep the assassin team occupied, so they only wanted to confront the Abyss faction while minimizing resource expenditure and casualties. If Abyss faction’s players tried to push out, they would push back. They also had marksmen with Dispelling Cloaks now, so they weren’t worried about assassins escaping while invisible.
If the Abyss faction used teleportation to leave, that was fine too; their four teams would immediately push in and kill the boss.
The Eclipse faction had planned their moves well. If the opponents didn’t retreat, they would continue to stall. If the opponents did retreat, they would seize the opportunity to enter the cave and capture the point.
But this plan played right into the Abyss faction’s hands. The Abyss faction was more than happy to have the Eclipse faction waste time and resources by continuously engaging with one and a half teams while they maintained their advantage with four teams.
[Damn, if only Eclipse had pushed in!!] [Wait a minute, where did the missing one and a half teams from Abyss go?]
The map within the area only showed the number of players around the boss at the Wintergod point. To see the distribution of players in other non-boss areas, the audience had to rely on the live stream’s perspective. So, when the number of Abyss faction players at the Wintergod point Vicinity dropped to 75, all the viewers in the live stream were astonished.
The Abyss faction originally had around 150 players. Where had the remaining half gone?!
Had they vanished into thin air?!
***
Outside the Wintergod point, Bitter Melon sent an expression to ChatMasterWu and then turned to ask, “Why isn’t ChatMasterWu coming over?”
FireworksAndLanterns replied, “I’ll send a summoned beast to play with him.”
After saying that, he summoned a Solitary Wolf to charge at the enemy crowd. The summoned beast was immediately killed by ChatMasterWu. Afterward, ChatMasterWu stood there, completely ignoring FireworksAndLanterns’ provocation.
ScarletFruit, seeing this blatant provocation, thought to himself, “How could they expect the opponent to come over with such an obvious trick?!” He said, “You’re not doing it right; there’s a skill to seduction.”
FireworksAndLanterns, seeking advice, asked, “Oh?”
“Do you know about ‘playing hard to get’? We need to lure him, but not by provoking them to come over with their whole team.” ScarletFruit cleared his throat and began to teach, “It’s all about acting; you need to consider the situation and technique…”
Under the guidance of the performance master ScarletFruit, one and a half teams at the Wintergod point suddenly began their acting lesson.
Bitter Melon switched channels and told the team in the command channel, “They shouldn’t be pressing now. CloudTraveller told them to hold their position. Even if we taunt them, we can only kill them at the door, not get inside.”
“Then keep up the act and don’t let the opponent notice. I’ll give you two resource buffs; use them wisely and don’t waste them,” momo instructed from the top command post. He allocated two high-attack resource buffs to the Wintergod point and then looked toward the Autumngod point.
Yu Zhen said, “The illusion won’t last too long. If we delay and don’t attack, CloudTraveller will figure out the issue.”
“Understood. We need to attack the Autumngod point quickly,” Su Mo said, constantly monitoring the map interface. “We need to do it before he discovers the problem.”
BrokenOracle asked, “Watermelon, have you brought the team out?”
Watermelon replied, “Yes, we’re on our way to the Autumngod point now.”
The Wintergod point was quietly holding its ground. The missing Abyss faction members hadn’t disappeared into thin air. Instead, they had already planned their route and had used the chaos earlier to slip away. The Winter map was clear to see, so most of the attention was on the large teams. The escaping one and a half teams were all assassins, wearing white costumes, and had hidden themselves behind the large team.
Originally, Abyss faction had only three teams at the Wintergod point. After the recent round of clashes, commander momo quickly and silently moved some of his people out of the Wintergod point.
During the first wave of the attack, when Bitter Melon and his team pushed the attacking Eclipse faction back by about ten meters, they took advantage of the crowd for cover, using stealth to quickly move away from the cave’s range along the mountainside. When they first entered the Winter map, these people had already planned their escape routes, avoiding the Wintergod point Vicinity’s resurrection and teleportation points, waiting for the team’s counter-attack to create chaos before slipping away.
Of course, they didn’t rush to leave all at once. Instead, they had remained hidden in the cave Vicinity for a while. After assisting the point-defending team in repelling the Eclipse faction and confirming that Eclipse had decided to hold the gate as momo had predicted, they used their assassins’ mobility and stealth advantages to quietly exit the battlefield and swiftly head to the Autumngod point, which was closer to the Wintergod point.
At that time, when Eclipse faction tried to come back and block the gate, they chose the wrong timing. The assassins were already no longer inside the cave. Instead, they had avoided the mini-map’s visibility range and were dispersed behind the snowy mountains where the cave was located, hiding in the vast expanse of snow.
The commanders in the channel were initially baffled by this. The Wintergod point was traditionally defended by sheer numbers; the more people, the greater the advantage. When Abyss faction only had two points, they would allocate at least four teams to defend the Wintergod point. So, when they saw that momo had only reserved one and a half teams for defense, they were quite surprised.
The main defending team was composed primarily of warriors and clerics, totaling 38 people. Among them, only 12 players were exceptions: 8 marksmen and 4 summoners. This made up the main defensive team, with the remaining half team of 25 assassins. This meant that only 75 people were stationed at the Wintergod point, a stark reduction from the usual 200. It wasn’t until the real battle began that they realized the careful arrangement by momo.
It was a game within a game, ultimately designed to use a smaller force to hold back the Eclipse faction. Warriors who could split the battlefield were essential, as were assassins to act as bait and deliver strong offensive output, and clerics to provide cover and attack support. The goal was to buy time and create an opportunity for their team to counter-attack at the Autumn point.
“Watermelon, are your people coming?” Su Mo asked again.
Watermelon replied, “They’re on their way. Climbing the mountain isn’t easy!”
They weren’t allowed to use lightness skills and had to stick close to the mountain while taking a long detour to reach the Autumngod point. Did they not need time for this? Avoiding detection took time too!
Watermelon and the one and a half teams of assassins finally made it from the Winter map to the Autumn map. The assassins in his team were still in high spirits, having worked hard and run for so long.
“Hey, I think we’re the key players again today.”
“Of course, the Autumn point is our turf. The air raid troops from last week were really something.”
“I wasn’t here last week. You guys can show me the ropes this week.”
“No problem, we’re experienced drivers. It’s a shame our Yellowfish brother isn’t here this week.”
Watermelon was speechless.
Forget about it, your Yellowfish brother wasn’t coming.
At the Winter point, Eclipse faction remained immovable, steadfast in their goal of guarding the gate and not letting a single assassin escape from the cave. FireworksAndLanterns looked at the situation outside and said to those around him, “Are we not acting well enough? ChatMasterWu is so steady, and I’m a bit unaccustomed to it.”
Kugua replied, “Steadiness is the emblem of a mature man.”
ScarletFruit remarked, “They moved so many marksmen over; they must really hate dealing with assassins.” He looked outside and said to another connected assassin team, “Watermelon, it’s a good thing you left. They brought marksmen, all focusing on us.”
In a small channel, Watermelon asked, “How many went over?”
ScarletFruit responded, “Quite a few.”
Watermelon’s tone showed his delight, “That’s great, the more that go, the better. It would be ideal if they sent all their marksmen over.”
Seeing the main route leading into the Autumn point, Watermelon cut off the connection with the Winter point team and coordinated with BrokenOracle, who was leading the Autumn point team.
“We arrived, at the ambush point,” Watermelon said.
BrokenOracle replied, “We’re all here now. We’ll wait for a bit and restore our status.”
Watermelon was aware of the situation and, while moving and adjusting positions, told the assassins in his team, “We’ll stay here and wait until they start their attack over there…”
Before he could finish his sentence, he suddenly noticed a red dot appearing not far away.
“Dammit, a red dot on the minimap!”
“Stay invisible, don’t panic!”
“It should be someone respawning.”
Watermelon remained calm and said, “Don’t panic, we need to avoid alarming them!”
He shifted his view and locked onto the red name in the distance.
As luck would have it, it was a marksman.
Watermelon exclaimed, “Damn it!”
The whole team of assassins was speechless.
Thanks for the chapter!