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However, no matter what the players said, the other side simply gave no response. Those assigned to guard continued guarding, and those chatting kept chatting as if nothing were happening.

Were there ordinary players bold enough to launch an attack against them? Of course there were. But the price was turning red-named, followed immediately by being focus-fired and killed in seconds. With a bit of bad luck, they might even drop several pieces of equipment on the spot.

Without organization or numbers, ordinary players simply had no way to shake a behemoth like Cloud Edge.

“Judging by the situation, if no one steps up, we definitely won’t be able to get in,” Endless Sea observed after watching for a while.
“Then what do we do? Did we come here for nothing?” DumbCitrus asked.
“Don’t worry. This kind of stalemate won’t last long. Someone will break the deadlock soon enough.”

Sure enough, less than ten minutes later, Drake arrived leading a ranged force of more than a hundred players. Their equipment was uneven. Even the best-equipped among them was Drake himself, wearing just a single Epic item mixed with several pieces of Rare gear.

He would have liked to gather a full set of Epic equipment, but everyone understood that such items were quietly reserved for internal distribution. Since Rainflower had been knocked out early during yesterday’s city defense raid, they hadn’t gained much profit and had even lost a level. It was a loss that could hardly have been worse.

FleetingDream stood silently at Drake’s side, his expression solemn as he looked toward the players guarding the cave. He took a deep breath. The difference in equipment quality between the two sides was simply too great.

“Make way, brothers! Everyone clear a path!” Spark shouted loudly. “Cloud Edge is nothing but a bunch of homeless strays! They couldn’t even defend their own main city, yet they’ve come to Wynwater City to covet our resources! Rainflower will never tolerate such behavior. Everyone step aside so you don’t get caught in the crossfire later!”

To be fair, the speech was quite clever. In a few sentences, he stripped Cloud Edge of any claim to Wynwater City while stirring up resentment among ordinary players toward this outsider faction.

The players blocking the road quickly stepped aside. Even if they wanted to watch the excitement, they still needed to keep their lives first. Now that someone was willing to start a fight, it was exactly what everyone had been waiting for.

Looking at the players guarding the path, Drake snorted coldly. “Tell your guildmaster to come out.”

“…”

“Who is he talking to?”
“No idea. Maybe he’s just talking to himself.”
“He’s at least the leader of a third-rate guild, right? Should we pass the message along?”
“No need. If the boss gets angry, we’ll all be in deep trouble.”
“That’s true…”

“….” Drake’s face turned stiff. He hadn’t expected these people to ignore him so completely. “Damn it. Prepare Flameburst. Watch my mark and show these arrogant b̲a̲s̲t̲a̲r̲d̲s̲ what happens when they push their luck!”

Behind him, the mages raised their hands unevenly as clusters of Flameburst began forming in the air.

“Wait!”

Drake froze when he heard the voice and barked, “Stop!”

But about half the mages failed to halt their spells in time. The Flameburst spells flew out anyway, and more than eighty percent missed their targets entirely, exploding harmlessly in midair.

The remaining attacks dealt small bursts of damage, each showing numbers just over 300. Not a single enemy was killed, and a few of them even gained the PvP status because of it.

“Hahaha!” Skypride burst into laughter. “Ryan Lin, and this is the trash you brought to start trouble with?”

Drake’s expression changed immediately when he heard that name. “How do you know—”

“Did you really think your father’s assets are enough for you to squander like this?” Skypride said in a low, cold voice. “You have thirty seconds. Take your men and get out of here. Otherwise… your family’s business this year… no, not just this year, but for many years to come… might not go very well.”

“You…!”

“Boss… what should we do?” Spark asked quietly.

“….” Drake’s face shifted between pale and flushed as he hesitated, unable to decide.

Before he could make up his mind, another group of players arrived. The surrounding players instinctively stepped aside, and Cloudsworn walked at the front, clapping his hands with a hearty laugh. “What an impressive number one guild. Winning without even fighting, huh?”

“Hmph. Small fry like them aren’t worth mentioning.”

Members of the Brotherhood formed up behind Cloudsworn. As a guild known for its chivalrous martial spirit, most of its members were melee classes. Support and ranged damage dealers were pitifully few. However, in close-quarters combat, their techniques were far more refined.

Cloudsworn laughed openly. “I wonder if the Brotherhood is worthy enough to catch your attention?”

“A martial guild, huh… I wonder if you’ll look as impressive once the fighting starts.”

“You’ll find out soon enough. Just don’t start crying and begging for mercy later,” he shot back sharply. Then he turned around. “Brothers! A late-arriving guild dares to run wild in Wynwater City. Let’s give them a proper welcome!”

“Ooooh!” the crowd roared in response.

“Charge!” Cloudsworn led the way, a layer of white light flashing across his body as some kind of defensive special skill activated. At the same time, Guardian Shield reinforced his defense. Raising his shield high, he continued forward without slowing down. “Forward!!”

Behind him, the Brotherhood members drew their weapons. Their assortment was chaotic, swords, blades, hammers, spears, and even assassins rushing forward alongside them.

In this kind of positional battle, assassins usually had little to contribute. Facing knights head-on was like scratching an itch. Yet perhaps caught up in the atmosphere, the members of this guild showed almost no fear.

“These idiots!” Skypride cursed angrily. Charging headlong with a group of melee classes, were they insane? “Lay down Pyrestorm! I want to see how many of them can actually make it through!”

At a single command, more than ten mages spread Pyrestorm across the open ground ahead. Layer upon layer of flames overlapped, turning the area into a blazing sea of fire. Anyone who stepped into it immediately began losing HP at a frightening rate. In the blink of an eye, several low-HP players were burned to death, while those who had been the first to step into the fiery death zone were already left on the brink of collapse.

“So ruthless!?” Cloudsworn was startled. He hadn’t expected the enemy’s magic damage to be this outrageous. Even his special defensive skill was close to giving out.

“Damn it, no more holding back!” With a pained expression, he pulled out an earthen-yellow scroll from his chest and tore it apart in one swift motion.

The fragments of the scroll fluttered upward into the sky. Instantly, every member of the Brotherhood was enveloped in a rocky shield, a layer of hardened stone forming around their bodies and protecting them from every direction.

The flames of Pyrestorm scorched against the shields, repeatedly triggering floating “Resisted” indicators. The rock shield possessed remarkable durability. Even as Cloudsworn charged toward the enemy’s front line, the shield had only been reduced by about fifty percent.

“Worth every bit of that S-rank quest reward! Even if the Dark Faction’s king himself showed up today, he still wouldn’t be able to stop me!” he roared with arrogant laughter.

In the next moment, countless flashes of skill effects erupted across the battlefield. Heavy Slash, Pulse Fist, Venom Dagger, along with various equipment special effects, detonated all at once. Even elite-tier gear couldn’t withstand such a brutal onslaught.

Several of Cloud Edge’s front-line knights and swordsmen were instantly focus-fired and killed before they even had time to react.

“Break through in my direction! Take down the fragile targets first!” Cloudsworn clearly understood that their current advantage was only temporary. Once the enemy filled the breach again, the gap in their skill cooldowns would trap them outside the formation, leaving them to be slowly worn down by ranged attacks.

The players behind him surged forward like a pack spotting something irresistible, rushing into the opening in a chaotic wave. No one could stop them.

And it didn’t end there. After the Brotherhood broke through and created an opening, Duskwraith’s eyes widened in shock. “Holy crap, is this what a real man looks like!?” He immediately waved his hand and shouted, “Nether Dawn can’t fall behind either! Follow them and charge in!”

Within the crowd, the scattered members of Nether Dawn quickly gathered together. It turned out he had already sent some of his members ahead earlier. They had simply been dispersed among the ordinary players, blending into the crowd and avoiding attention.

Now the situation completely exploded. It was as if someone had fired a signal flare. Not only Nether Dawn, but several other small guilds also surged forward. Even some independent players found the courage to join the charge.

The gap in Cloud Edge’s defense widened further and further as countless players poured into the Frostcrystal Mine. Seeing this scene, Endless Sea grew so excited that he rushed forward along with the tidal wave of players.

Shiu pressed a hand to his forehead and sighed with a headache. “We’d better follow him too.”