Chapter 82: Annihilation

Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio

"Qing Wu!"

Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star just raised his alloy shield and used Shield Bash on a one-meter Grasshopper, pushing it into a tree and turning it into bloody mush. He did not expect that when he turned around to look at his girlfriend, he would see her once again being sniped.

"Sniper, I'll f*ck you up!" Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star could not contain his hot-headedness and cursed. After that, he shouted at the top of his lungs, "Everyone, attack! They don't have many people. They are definitely weaker than us!"

However, not many people responded to his words. For one, most players were busy with the oncoming Grasshopper horde. Secondly, Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star did not have absolute authority in this party because this party did not belong to him.

"Captain Ruinous Star, we have to retreat..." The Light Armor Warrior who had spoken before shouted at him.

In the sky above them, a reddish-black cloud that looked like it was burning was forming, which was a sign of energy condensation caused by the ultimate skill of Fire Manipulators: Meteor Rain.

Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star turned around and shouted at the Light Armor Warrior, "Retreat, my ass! We have more than 20 people, and we're going to just tuck our tails behind between our legs and run? If you're scared, get out of here yourself!"

The Light Armor Warrior could not abide being scolded, and he shouted back, "Are you really planning to send us to our deaths? How can we make it through that horde of grasshoppers!?"

He had never been part of Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star's party, and he was the subordinate of another newer member who had a competitive relationship with Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star. He had only been called up in the base and was assigned to follow Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star, so he dared to argue with him.

"You..." Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star restrained himself from shouting the profanities that he wanted to say. He was not stupid. He had just lost his cool for a while due to the scene with Lonely Qing Wu. After taking a deep breath, and with some difficulty, he finally shouted the word, "Retreat!"

But they could not retreat because the Meteor Rain in the sky had already been completed. More than 10 fiery fireballs emitting black smoke came falling from the sky. Before they even hit the ground, the air had already begun burning, and it became so hot that it was hard to breathe. However, the good thing was that although Meteor Rain dealt area-of-effect damage, apart from being hit directly by the fireballs, the other damage wasn't that high.

This group of players were the elites of the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group. Their levels and equipment were good, so it was impossible for this area-of-effect skill to destroy them in one go. There was still time to retreat if they were to do it then. Including the two Doctors and two Heavy Armor Warriors, they had already lost a total of seven people due to the grasshopper horde and the accurate sniping of the enemy sniper. However, Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star's thoughts showed his overconfidence.

The Meteor Rain being cast in the sky was not cast by just any average player. The caster was a person called "Red Queen."

This name that was certain to ring loudly later in War had finally exposed her conquering, queen-like area-of-effect damage in this battle. An entire set of Rare equipment. Expert Level skills. Added to that was all the positive effect buffs received from White Crescent, paired with her talent bonus, which added 100 percent burning damage. The stacking damage could not be calculated using normal logic!

Boom!

The first fireball landed on the ground and hit the ground in front of a Level-45 Scout. The Scout failed to avoid it and was burned by the trailing flames that spread after the fireball hit the ground. Immediately after, a high damage value of around 1,400 appeared overtop of his head. Following that, continuous burning damage of −140 kept appearing.

The Scout's HP had already dropped to a dangerous level after getting hit by the Grasshopper horde. After getting swept up by the flame, it only took two seconds before he knelt on the ground with a heavy injury. After another two seconds passed, he turned into white light.

In this sort of situation, the results were not limited to the players from the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group. After the fireballs reached the ground, the area became a sea of damage values.

Your teammate killed Mutant Grasshopper (Level 20, Normal), obtained nine party experience.

Your teammate killed Mutant Grasshopper (Level 30, Normal), obtained 15 party experience.

Your teammate killed Mutant Grasshopper (Level 42, Normal), obtained 26 party experience.

Feng Luo saw the experience notifications that kept appearing in the corner of his eyes, he could not help but lament that in terms of leveling, no other profession could compare to Fire Manipulators. With just one skill, their experience filled up quickly.

As Red Queen cast her skill, she not only killed the players from the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group; she also killed a large number of Mutant Grasshoppers at the same time. It was clear that although the attacks of these Grasshoppers were odd and they looked disgusting, their defense and HP were not really that high. Plus, they had also received attacks from people from the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group, so many of them were also in a low-HP status.

As a result, Red Queen's Meteor Rain killed a large number of Mutant Grasshoppers and players from the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group within the skill's range. Complementing that with Feng Luo and Black Panther's continuous sniping, after half a minute, among the over 20 people from the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group initially giving chase, only five players—including Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star—were left to run away flustered and with dangerously low HP.

Feng Luo and his group, on the other hand, wanted to utilize the range of the sniper rifles to get rid of two more people from behind. However, among the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group members left alive, there was an Earth Manipulator. After casting the skill Earth Wall, a wall of earth around two meters tall and five meters wide appeared from the ground and blocked the line of sight of both Feng Luo and Black Panther.

As such, in the end, the five of them did not die there.

******

What Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star did not expect was that before they had even run 100 meters, they would be attacked again.

"Chain Fireball!" rang out a murderous voice through the air.

Five head-sized fireballs appeared from a bush at the side and flew at the Earth Manipulator.

The Earth Manipulator's shield had already been destroyed in the previous battle, and the skill was currently on cooldown. As such, he was caught off guard and was hit directly by the five fireballs. A total of over 1,800 damage depleted all his remaining HP.

"Thunder Leap Slash!"

At almost the same time, the shadow of a Light Armor Warrior leaped into the air, and when it landed, it cast a Level-35 Devastating Slash and a Level-40 Hurricane Slash—two high-damage skills that could easily take out a Light Armor Warrior—consecutively.

Bang!

−2460

However, before he killed the enemy, an armor-piercing bullet had already come from a tree on the side and penetrated the throat of the low-HP Light Armor Warrior.

Ta, ta, ta!

There was also the sound of submachine gunfire increasingly closing in. Only half of the 30-bullet magazine hit, but it was enough to turn the Fire Manipulator and the shield that had just been put up into white light.

In the blink of an eye, of the five Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group survivors with low-HP who had gotten away, only Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star was left, standing alone in place.

A tall and thin figure walked out from the bushes on the side. "Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star. You sure look wretched!"

Looking at Dan Hen, who held the silver-colored Death Messenger submachine gun in his hand while looking at him with a smile, Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star gritted his teeth. "It's you!"

There was nothing more painful or annoying than to let your oldest rival see you in your most wretched and pathetic state! Moreover, at that time, his communicator suddenly rang. After that, Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star glanced at the message he received, and his expression became even worse.

"All right... All right..." he said. "Your Veterans Tribe sure is conniving. You've actually sent someone to destroy our mission. Wait till we return. It will be time for the war between us to really start!"

Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star clearly misunderstood and thought that Red Queen and Dan Hen were in cahoots, so his tone turned hysterical as he spoke to Dan Hen.

"Destroy your mission?" Dan Hen was a little stunned, but he maintained the expression on his face as he spoke calmly. "Eh, I'm truly sorry. It's just that I'm not sure, my brother, why you guys are so weak. Initially, we were supposed to outflank you, who knew...?"

"You..." Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star's face turned dark, and suddenly, his body lunged forward as he extended his arms to try and take hold of Dan Hen.

He had already put away his shield in his backpack running away and was empty-handed right now, so he was not slow.

However, Dan Hen only sighed.

"Why?"

With a side step to the right, he evaded Roaring Dragon Invincible's tackle, and at the same time, he pulled out his military stiletto with his right hand and skillfully twirled it past his throat.

−1340

The Bloodtooth Knife itself had a rare damage attribute. Paired with the melee bonus of the Scout profession, this slash to the throat instantly removed half of Roaring Dragon Invincible's HP, which had only recovered to one-fourth of its original.

Bang!

−1288

After that, Skynet fired another shot and depleted Roaring Dragon Invincible's remaining over 1,000 HP.

"He was seeking death intentionally!" said Ion Flame calmly as he looked at Roaring Dragon Invincible's corpse, which had dropped two crystals on the ground.

"He knew that we would never let him go, so he wanted a more respectable death," said Dan Hen with a laugh. "The only thing is that by the time he returns this time, his position in the Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group ought to be pretty shaky."

"F*ck. I thought he still had the balls to jump right now!" Skynet walked out from behind the tree with his sniper rifle raised.

Frozen Red Giant used his head to indicate Feng Luo and company's direction with a silver alloy sword that was around half a foot wide in his hand. "Boss Dan Hen, are we going to the center of the island next? Or..."

"They fought against the people in Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group, so they must not be enemies," said Dan Hen. "Moreover, from what Roaring Dragon Ruinous Star said, they might have destroyed Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group's mission..."

"Then doesn't this mean that we have nothing left to do?" Skynet exclaimed with delight.

"Not necessarily," said Dan Hen, analyzing the situation. "If such an important mission were destroyed, with these people completely annihilated, the large party of Roaring Dragon Mercenary Group will definitely make a move. So they ought to be rushing here right now."

"Then we should leave immediately!" Ion Flame nodded in agreement.

"Yes. But before we leave, we should at least notify them," said Dan Hen as he looked toward Feng Luo and company's direction.