Sevrance grinned behind his black mask. In such a chaotic fight ambushing the enemy's leader was child's play for a seasoned assassin like him. He was confident. Only one more attack and Cyclone would die under his blade. It didn't matter what would happen to the guild war. But if he could take down Dream Avenue's guild leader, it would be an immense boost to his reputation.
Just as this thought raced through Sevrance's mind and he already went for his next attack, he suddenly felt a great threat. Another thief appeared right next to him with four brightly shining daggers floating behind his back.
Sevrance was shocked. He never expected a thief could hide so close to him.
On the other side, Bloody Edge was feeling something similar though. His job had been to protect Cyclone. That someone still managed to ambush his friend was actually a failure. He should have been able to spot the stealthed thief. But not everything was lost yet! He could still save Cyclone!
Sevrance felt the daggers quickly shooting towards him. For a moment he was caught in a conflict between attacking and escaping. He was only delayed for a tiny bit, but it was enough for Cyclone to finish her flash step and disappear.
Sevrance cursed inwardly but his reaction was instantaneous. He abandoned his plan and activated another skill. His body split into multiple black shadows which dispersed in all directions, impossible to track. Bloody Edge only hit the empty air. He frowned and entered stealth again, determined to prevent Sevrance from attacking again.
"Who dares to attack me?!"
Cyclone reappeared in a flash of sparks and turned around, staring at the roof she had just left. Question marks rose in her eyes as the place was empty.
"Hmpf! Cowardly thief. Perhaps you can escape, but don't think I don't know how to take revenge! You want to target guild leaders? Then let's see how you can cope with this!"
A few other mages heard the indignant tone as Cyclone talked to herself. They looked towards the guild leader, curious about how she planned to take revenge. To them it looked like Cyclone didn't do anything, but two avaricious magic circles suddenly appeared in the sky.
Cyclone indeed didn't do much herself. She only signalled Lekraxc, calling upon the old troll shaman. The latter showed a serious expression for the first time during the whole war as he unleashed one of his strongest spells.
On the other side Age of Frost was happily casting various spells when he suddenly felt the blood freeze in his veins. His instincts screamed at him to escape. He realized that death was targeting him, but the mage was not afraid. Instead, he even smiled lightly. He had already planned to bait out Dream Avenue's strong spells and it seemed that he was successful.
Age of Frost didn't dare to hesitate. He retrieved a scroll from his inventory. Instantly the surrounding mana stopped moving chaotically and began to drift towards the scroll like subjects greeting their king. Age of Frost was amazed by the feeling. He unfurled the scroll and activated it.
Suddenly a majestic roar covered the world, drowning out all other sounds for a moment. Out of thin air the illusionary image of a large, two-winged creature appeared, its scaled body radiating immense might.
"A dragon?!"
"My god, what is a dragon doing here?"
"Can we take it down?"
The players from both sides were shocked. But quickly a few dismissive voices spread.
"Hmpf. What are you jumping around for? It's just a wyvern."
"Just a wyvern?! That's still a mini-dragon, alright? How could we not be cautious?"
At this point the players could only argue because they noticed that the wyvern wasn't a real being. It didn't attack anyone. Instead, it came to Age of Frost, who was flying in the sky through some inexplicable force. The wyvern wrapped its body around the mage, its red scales producing an impenetrable defence, highly resistant against magic.
A second later, Lekraxc's spell had successfully formed. Two jets of water like mighty dragons soared out of the magic circles, intervening together, advancing with unstoppable might. Immediately the two forces met in mid-air. It was like a clash of giants and an explosion of magic. A shockwave spread through the entire battlefield, pressuring the hearts of the players. The mana particles grew chaotic, colliding with each other, spontaneously creating tiny spells.
The curled-up wyvern was anchored to the sky, immovable like a solid rock. The water dragons crashed against it again and again with incredible might. For a moment all players stopped fighting, watching the spectacle with awe.
"That's it! That's the might of Galaxy! Even such a spell can't overcome our shield!"
"Don't be happy too early! Our skill is not over yet!"
Arguments broke out in a few places. Everyone hoped that their side could win the clash. Suddenly a sound could be heard. It was inconspicuous but somehow echoed through the battlefield. It was the sound of something breaking. Immediately Cyclone's anxiousness was replaced by a brought grin. As she observed the clash in the sky, she could clearly see an illusionary, red scale falling from the wyvern's body.
If this was a real wyvern her defence wouldn't have faltered suddenly. But in the end, it was a spell. Spells had limits, and clearly the wyvern reached its limits before the water dragons. Or one could also say a spell scroll couldn't overcome an old troll shaman.
As the first scale fell, it was the beginning of the end. It signified that the defence had been overcome. The water dragon tore on the wyvern's body and it didn't take long for it to fall apart. The illusion dissipated and Age of Frost stood in the sky, quickly drowned by the incoming water dragon.
When Dream Avenue gained two hundred points at once, Cyclone knew that the enemy had been defeated.
[Cyclone: Haha, we got their guild leader! Go, go, go! This victory is ours!]
[Callida: 125 points left. Everyone, kill them!]
While Galaxy was frozen in shock, Dream Avenue was in high spirits. They commenced their attacks, easily pushing back the enemies. Cherry Blossom, Phoenix Feather's sister, took the chance to unleash one of her newest skills, a real ace card. It could borrow power from other mages, essentially borrowing their mana, to create multiple frost giants.
Dream Avenue, Nest of Flames, and Force of Nature had cooperated well throughout the war, forging an initial connection. Many mages agreed to lend Cherry Blossom their mana. Thus, more than ten frost giants soon rampaged through the enemy ranks.
Under the onslaught from Dream Avenue, Galaxy was pushed back more and more. Everyone could tell that the western side was lost. Meanwhile the eastern side remained more or less even. People began to lose hope. Galaxy had 8191 out of the necessary 10.000 points. If they could conquer both cores, they would immediately win the war. But with the situation at the western core this dream seemed more and more unreachable.
Shorty was still racking his brain, micro-managing troops, seeking for any possible advantage. But it was clearly too late. Even before the western side was completely eliminated, C's voice rang through the battlefield.
"Guilds! This is the end of your territory challenge."
The players were still caught up in the fervour. But when their swords hit their enemies, the damage number was astonishingly a big fat zero. Many players had to clear their confusion before they realized what was going on. Gradually the fighting evereywhere came to an end. C was like a teacher waiting for her students to grow quiet before she continued:
"Dream Avenue! Galaxy! The territory war: Greypine Town has found a winner! Please, congratulate…. Dream Avenue!!!"
"YEES!"
"We did it!"
"Dream Avenue! Dream Avenue!"
Cheers and chants instantly spread through the battlefield. Dream Avenue's players were exhilarated. Force of Nature and Nest of Flames celebrated with them, sharing some of the joy.
On the other side Galaxy, TwinThieves and The Only Way were obviously feeling completely opposite emotions. Many of Galaxy's players were boiling with anger. They attacked the surrounding houses in an attempt to vent, causing quite some damage. Seeing this, some of Dream Avenue's people were indignant at first but Cyclone's message calmed them down and they watched with gloating faces.
[Cyclone: No need to get angry at them. They will have to compensate for it anyway!]
[Balm: Diabolical… I like it.]
[Callida: Ask them to cause some more damage!]
[Silent Acacia: I wonder if they know that. Haha.]
[Quickstep: That bill won't be easy to swallow, even for Galaxy.]
Obviously, the core members were in a great mood as well. They joked around in the chat, growing much closer. It was a great first battle for their alliance.
But every good thing comes to an end. Blinding light fell on the territory. All of Dream Avenue's players were teleported to the territory's centre while Galaxy was placed outside the town. They all watched, fascinated, as the light rolled through the territory. Wherever it touched, all the broken buildings, the breached wall, the overturned earth, were miraculously repaired and brought back to the state before the war.