"It's… Wave of Bones."
Cyclone momentarily forgot that no one could hear her as she stared at the team opposite theirs with a grave expression. It was led by man with pale skin and red hair. On Falva Star his fame was only overshadowed by Hotpot. He and his guild had a lot of achievements specific to the chaos faction under their belt. First to clear a dungeon on normal and hard difficulty. First to gather an entire equipment set. They even accomplished an achievement which Dream Avenue didn't have: First to kill a world boss. It was obvious why he and his guild were seen as the strongest among the chaos faction.
[Wave of Bones: Surprisingly we ran into Hotpot!]
[Rayray: Awesome! Haven't we been waiting for this chance?]
[Maimed: It's indeed a good chance. We have just recharged our amulets. The advantage lies with us!]
Wave of Bones had a light smile on his lips but one could see the seriousness in his eyes. He wouldn't underestimate the number one team. Yet his friends were not wrong. They were in an advantageous position. Even Liam and his friends could see it.
[Balm: It's Graveyard of Heroes. Should we search elsewhere? Even if we win it would waste a lot of time.]
[Fortune: But we have already searched for a while. There aren't that many cores left.]
[Silent Acacia: Furthermore, there are three cores here. We need to fight!]
[Balm: You just want to face Wave of Bones…]
Liam and his friends discussed it quickly. However, Silent Acacia had a point. There were actually three cores right next to each other, protected by Graveyard of Heroes. They had to give it a try. Thus, the team briefly discussed a plan before they sprang into action. The mages including Cyclone and Fortune instantly began their casts.
[Rayray: They are attacking! Haha, let's go!]
Among Wave of Bones's team most were eager for a fight. Instantly they sprang into action. A tall warrior in entirely black armor took the lead. He didn't even have a weapon, only a massive, black shield. The shield emitted a pulse and shot towards the enemy like a black cannonball, dragging its wielder behind itself almost as if it was alive.
Liam's team hastily dispersed but not everyone was fast enough. When the shield reached its target, it created a wave of black magic which drew aggro and weakened the enemies' STR attribute. Other tanks also made their moves. Silver Blade, Radiant Shield, Swirling Waves and Gnetic displayed their skills to attract as much aggro as possible.
Meanwhile Liam was about to rush towards his chosen enemy when he suddenly found three people including a tank come at him, blocking his way. The tank was surprisingly a human from one of the kingdoms secretly favouring the chaos faction. He activated a skill, producing a thundering shout which covered a large area, forcing Liam to escape with a flash step.
With so much attention on Liam the others had some room to move. Three people including Bloody Edge entered stealth, trying to find a way around the enemy and to the void cores. They didn't forget their actual goal for coming here.
However, Graveyard of Heroes wouldn't go easy on their enemies. Wave of Bones had finished his cast. A small portal opened and four rattling skeletons in shabby armours steaming with deathly air fell out, landing on their feet. The green flames burning in their eyes flickered as Wave of Bones gave them a command. The skeletons didn't rush towards the enemies and instead served as additional protection for the three void cores.
"Hmpf. Useless…"
Cyclone's mouth moved again without any sound coming out. She waved her wand and unleashed her spell. Dream Avenue didn't play around. Now that it was close to the final battle there was no need to hold back. The first skill Cyclone used was directly her ultimate skill [Raining Thunder]. Thick thunder clouds gathered above the three cores and began to strike with fearsome lightning bolts.
[Kaleido: They are focusing on the cores!]
[DemonSaber: No sh*t! They are going all out. No need to hold back.]
[Wave of Bones: Yes. Use whatever you got!]
The fight had just started and instantly entered its peak. Graveyard of Heroes didn't dare to lag behind and activated their strongest skills. One of the warriors grew thrice as tall, swinging a massive great sword in a large arc. One assassin covered the battlefield in darkness, granting him short distance teleportation within. Wave of Bones summoned a skeleton general. With various buffs from skills and equipment it was not much weaker than a top warrior of the same level. Even someone like Earthquake might struggle in a one versus one.
Of course, Dream Avenue retaliated just as fiercely. Fortune conjured massive magical arms which tried to shatter the void cores between them, forcing her opponents to use various defensive skills. Another mage in the team conjured thick, green vines which broke out of the ground, randomly striking all enemies in the surroundings. Liam had long since activated his [Holy Tempest], dodging powerful skills before counterattacking and forcefully killing one of the warriors targeting him.
Amidst explosions of darkness and light the battle was extremely violent for the next few seconds before calming down again. When the dust lifted the aftermath could be seen. In this exchange Dream Avenue had suffered nine deaths while Graveyard of Heroes only lost four players. However, this was the result after Dream Avenue mainly focused the void cores, managing to destroy one of them.
Yet the faces of Dream Avenue didn't look good. Sacrificing nine players for a single core was not quite worth it.
[Cyclone: Hey, where is Acacia? Did he die?]
[Silent Acacia: Over here!]
Cyclone looked around in confusion before suddenly freezing in surprise.
At this moment Wave of Bones also felt something. He glanced over his shoulder, towards the back of his team. To his shock a person had silently appeared there. He knew that Silent Acacia was not capable of stealth. So how did he arrive behind their team?
[Wave of Bones: Stop him!]
Wave of Bones tried to alert his team, but it was already too late. Anticipating the chaos, Silent Acacia had covertly brought out Korn, directing the swift little tiger to circle around the enemy. After Korn reached a perfect position Silent Acacia activated his newest skill which he received as reward for the Federation Tournament - [Tactical Repositioning]. The skill allowed him to swap places with his pet, setting almost all his cooldowns to zero and increasing his damage slightly.
With a grin on his lips Silent Acacia rapidly moved his arm. Multiple arrows were shot instantly, a mix of skills and normal attacks. They all crashed into an already damaged void core, shattering it into pieces.
[RayRay: F*ck! Two cores! Guys, we need to take them out or we can't show our face in front of the chaos faction in the future!]
[DemonSaber: Yes, go, go, go! They can't have much more time left in the void! We can kill them all!]
Not only his teammates, but even Wave of Bones was quite displeased after falling for such an easy trick. Just when all the big moves had been used and even shields were on cooldown did Silent Acacia attack, catching them off guard. This was a tactical mistake on Wave of Bones's part. Now, if they could at least make Dream Avenue stay here they would regain some face.
[Wave of Bones: Let's go! Focus on blocking their paths!]
With this command Graveyard of Heroes immediately swarmed out. But of course, Dream Avenue wouldn't stand there and let the enemy surround them. They attempted to shake off their opponents and gain some distance. Silent Acacia watched the movements of both teams and his eyes lit up. If his friends could lure the enemy away it was not impossible for him to destroy the last core.
Unfortunately, Graveyard of Heroes wouldn't make such a mistake. As they had the advantage in numbers it was no problem to leave three people behind to defend the core.
[Cyclone: They are all using dash! They are adamant on keeping us!]
[Balm: We have been in the void for a while. Our protection is about to run out…]
Even Liam had a light frown on his face. The situation was not good. Earlier, in order to survive the bombardment, they not only used their defensive skills but also a lot of stance. Meanwhile their own attacks were mostly targeting the cores. Thus, Graveyard of Heroes on average had more stance left.
Just as Liam was about to make the heavy decision to have everyone escape by themselves, there was a change in the situation. A bunch of figures appeared in the fog up ahead. A burly orc with a bright grin on his face, a woman in silver armor carrying a spear. They were Earthquake and Callida! And behind them more than twenty members of Force of Nature!
[Cyclone: We're saved!]
Earthquake watched the bedraggled figures in front of him. He wanted to say something along the lines of 'Well, you have had better days, need some help?', but unfortunately no sound came from his mouth. Annoyed, he could only bring his men to charge at the enemy.