197 Alone

"Even if he is a bit hotheaded, in the end, he can still be pretty meticulous when it comes to something he wants done. If I were you, I wouldn't underestimate him so much, Haishe. Just a friendly reminder. Ahahaha!" Savage said as he roared with laughter. "Hmph." Haishe glanced at Savage and gave a simple harumph in response. He never should have allowed Silent Steps to drag him to this place. However, since Silent Steps was still the current leader of Fatal Touch and held the power of authority he had no choice but to follow along. In truth, this was Silent Steps way of keeping a close eye on Haishe. After all, there was no way for him to communicate with anyone while inside of the Chaotic Dogma Realm and he knew that Haishe was secretly plotting behind his back. He wanted to make sure that Haishe was not up to anything now that he was back. Haishe was aware of Silent Steps distrust of him and remained unbothered by it. But in his mind, it was still only a matter of not if, but rather when it would be his time. The events had already been long since set in motion. Even if Silent Steps want to stop him, it was far too late. "Look at you, Owl. You're a mess, your group is all but dead. And for what? Pathetic!" Haishe scoffed as he reached the location near Owl, Du Cheng, and their one remaining party member. At the moment the three of them were struggling to stay alive and were now completely surrounded by the plant monsters. There was a look of disdain in Haishe's eyes as he looked upon them. "You'll never make any friends that way, Haishe. Ahahaha! Go ahead and lend them a hand. Haishe and I will go and keep the others company." Savage ordered. Four of the players looked over in Haishe's direction. Haishe gave a small nod in return before following Savage's instructions to assist Owl's group along with the three other players. "Well, it looks like there's nothing left to do but to sit back and enjoy the show. Look on the bright side Haishe, it'll all be over after this." Savage said as he continued to walk towards Silent Steps and Luna's party. "Don't spread too far out. Everyone, I apologize about getting you caught up in my personal affairs, sorry." Luna said as she released a deep sigh. She had no idea that Silent Steps was willing to go so far just because of the small exchange they had in the Chaotic Dogma Realm. There were nearly fifty enemy players present in total that were after them. The original group of ten, the twelve that Silent Steps was a part of, and now the twenty plus players charging towards them from just about every angle available. "I have to admit, this has actually been kind of fun. Definitely not our average session, Luna. Therefore, we'll call it even." Su Cui said with a smile on her face as she prepared to face the incoming players head on. "You don't have to apologize Nana! If these guys want to bully you then they have to go through us first!" Jia said without the slightest bit of anger towards Luna present in her voice. So what if they died here? It was already a miracle that they had managed to make it this far against all odds. Therefore, she would not be upset or feel ashamed of losing this battle. In the end, they put up a good. Yu Lan had already begun casting a spell. As for Starry, she held her shield out in front of her. Her legs were shaky as the sight of being stampeded by a group of players did not exactly help with her already terrible nerves. However, she did not take a single step back in retreat even with how frightened she was. Silent Steps had a look of satisfaction in his eyes as he watched Luna and her party face a hopeless situation. Ever since his run-in with Luna in the Chaotic Dogma Realm, he had never stopped thinking about this moment. He wanted everyone to be reminded of what happens when someone looks down on him. All that would await them is an unfortunate ending. "Don't worry, this is only the beginning. You shouldn't even think about staying in RML. No matter where you run off to, you will be found and the same thing will happen again. However, you should feel honored. You will become the primary form of reference so that the same mistake doesn't happen again." Silent Steps said with no hint of mercy present in his voice. Woosh! Woosh! Around seven arrows flew towards Luna's party, however, none of them were aimed directly at Luna herself. After all, no one wanted to be the one to disobey Silent Steps and get on his bad side. At the same time, a few of the melee classes approached the group. "Su Cui!" Luna held her staff towards Su Cui. A few moments later, a faint yellow protective aura appeared around Su Cui's body. She had already started to cast the skill Protective Barrier once the first player made their move. Since Silents Steps insisted on keeping her alive for the moment, she would make sure that he regretted his decision to do so. Skill Name: Protective Barrier Skill Level: 1/4 Skill Rank: A Mana Cost: 275 Cast Time: 2.6 seconds Active: Creates a protective barrier of mana around the caster or a nearby ally equal to 300% of the user's magic +7% of the target's maximum HP that absorbs all incoming damage for up to 20 seconds. Cooldown: 3 minutes Yu Lan waved her wand in an upward arc. As she did so, a wave of ice spikes shot up from beneath the ground and towards two of the charging melee players. The ice spikes landed a direct hit against them and reduced their speed by more than half. "I got it!" Su Cui said as she slammed her fist together. Her fist became engulfed in a blue flame that was strangely calm and controlled. Unlike the normal fire that formed around her fist before, this fire seemed more gentle an docile in nature. However, one would be mistaken if they believed that it meant the blue flames were weak. Su Cui charged ahead and left a trail of blue mist in her wake. "Heh, what do you plan on doing with that weak little attack?" One of the melee players said with a smug look on his face. He was also a fighter class, except, he wore bulky gauntlets instead of the usual fighter style gloves. He dashed towards Su Cui and wanted to meet her attack head-on with his own fist. Clink! Su Cui's fist collided with the player's gauntlet and something bizarre happened. The moment her fist touched the gauntlet, the blue trail that was left behind seemed to rush forward all at once and converge near her elbow. Then, a powerful burst of energy seemed to explode from that same spot and the previously peaceful blue flames now roared without restraint and effortlessly knocked the gauntlet, as well as, the player wielding it back more than five meters. She went onward and did not hesitate to dive into the crowd of players. Su Cui was currently using one of her class' final resort skills known as Burning Spirit. During this state, Su Cui gained a temporary burst of great power and became immune to all forms of crowd control for a short period of time. However, her HP would be rapidly drained in return as she stayed in that state. To makes matters worse, she was also immune to all forms of healing while Burning Spirit was active. That was the reason why Luna cast the Protective Barrier on her. After the skill ended, and even during the skill, she would be incredibly vulnerable to attacks. But, the amount of power gained in return for that short period of time was definitely worth the price. At the moment, Su Cui had already managed to eliminate two enemy players! Though, in the end, the price was still too heavy against so many players. Just as she killed a third player, the effects of Burning Spirit wore off. She looked to be completely exhausted. It was another side effect of Burning Spirit. Just like the name implies, it burns through one's fighting spirit, but in this case, one enters a fatigued state for about five seconds. But, that five seconds might as well be an eternity given Su Cui's current situation. Jia had already begun to make her move, however, she was not having much luck. She was locked in a one on one battle with another rogue type player and was unable to gain an upper hand. In the end, she had practically no PVP experience and so it was a miracle that she was able to hold on for so long. In fact, the only two members of their party with any kind of PVP experience were Luna and Su Cui. As for the rest of them, they had always focused more on the PVE aspects of things. But, Jia, Starry, and Yu Lan were beginning to regret that fact. If they had more experience, maybe things would have turned out a bit differently. Maybe they would have been able to face the group of ten players from the start instead of having to run away with their tails tucked in between their legs. That's why they all promised themselves that they would definitely improve on their PVP skills after this so that nothing like this would ever happen again. However, if it did, then they would be ready for it! Woosh! Woosh! Two arrows shot out towards Yu Lan. She was unable to avoid them as the first arrow shattered her basic Mana Barrier and the second arrow pierced right into her lower torso area and interrupted her spell casting. Luna cast quick Healing Essence on Yu Lan the moment she received damage. At the same time, she was focusing on trying to keep Jia alive. As for Starry, Luna understood just how frightened she was and that she would not last long in a confrontation. Therefore, she simply told Starry to stay near her and protect her so that she could heal the others. "Don't think I'll go down without a fight!" Su Cui roared as she weakly swung her fist at one of the nearby players, however, that player simply laughed at her pathetic attempt. "You-!" Su Cui was infuriated at being toyed with like some kind of source of entertainment. However, she did not have to worry about such a thing for long. All of a sudden, she felt her body jerk slightly as something pierced directly through the middle of her chest. When she looked down, she saw that a sword was now sticking out of her body. At first, Luna's Protective Barrier was still able to hold and she did not receive any actual damage, but soon that sword was followed by one... two... five other swords as they all impaled Su Cui. Su Cui had a fierce look in her eyes and she was determined not to give up as she swung her fist forward without any power behind, but before it could even strike a target she turned into countless particles. She had finally joined Xun Guiying and had been eliminated. At the same time, the other melee players had completely overwhelmed Luna's group. Soon enough, Yu Lan followed in Su Cui's footsteps. Then, Starry was the next to be eliminated. Now, there was only Luna and Jia left to face the large group of players. Silent Steps laughed as he clapped his hands and said, "Your little party has lasted longer than I expected. However, you're nearly all alone now. Your current pathetic state suits you well." "Nana, he talks too much. It's super effective... It must be at least an S-ranked skill because it makes me want to save them the trouble and get rid of myself before I'm bored to death." Jia said as she gave a weak laugh as she struggled against the incoming attacks. A few moments later, a flaming projectile flew directly towards Jia and instantly turned her into nothing but particles. Luna tried her best to keep everyone alive with her heals, but it was simply impossible for her to out heal so much damage at once. She glared at Silent Steps and if looks could kill then he would have died a thousand times over already. But now, there was no one else remaining as she was surrounded from all sides. Luna was now alone. "Now that we've gotten rid of all of the minor characters, shall we enjoy our rematch? Though I believe this time, you'll find me much more capable." Silent Steps said as he walked step by step towards Luna while the surrounding players simply laughed and chuckled as they made a circle and cleared a path for him to walk. However, no one was aware of the phantom-like apparition that had just zoomed right into the crowd of players. A simple strand of long flowing black hair could faintly be seen just as it entered into the crowd.