Chapter 667: Streams in the Shadows

“We’ve defeated Netherclaw earlier. This is the gauntlet that he has dropped. I suppose he wouldn’t be returning to the battlefield in the next few minutes… Bruvver, I suggest we make use of this opportunity to completely defeat all Netherspirit’s Claw’s forces and end this quickly.” Dark Dragon, handing over Netherclaw’s equipment to Bruvver, suggested with a heavy heart.

There was no doubt that Netherspirit’s Claw would end up being defeated in this war…

Dark Dragon and Netherclaw had been long-time partners. Therefore, it pained him to see Netherclaw suffering more humiliation by drawing out and prolonging this war. In the meantime, there were many friends and acquaintances on the opposite side of the war, making every single fight unpleasant to him.

Now, he only wanted to end this war as quickly as he could.

Yet…

After hearing Dark Dragon’s suggestion, Bruvver smirked at him coldly. “You’re no longer one of Netherspirit’s Claw. There’s no need to care for any of these losers… you ought to move on and cut off these unnecessary sentiments.”

“This war… is our, the Hall of the Exalted’s, first war. Even though Netherspirit’s Claw is nothing but a stepping stone, we must give it our all. After today’s war, there will be bad blood between Netherspirit’s Claw and us. They will be our enemies. So, how are you expecting me to give Netherclaw any chance to rise up again?”

“Hmph! I, Bruvver, will not give him any chance at all… tell him to come out and fight! He will know the taste of hopelessness and despair only after going through defeat after defeat. I want them to know, just how weak they are compared to us! I want Netherclaw and everyone in the Netherspirit’s Claw to taste great despair!”

Dark Dragon felt deeply disheartened after hearing Bruvver’s cold and heartless replies.

Completely wipe out Netherspirit’s Claw?

Pushing Netherclaw into deep despair?

There was no way Dark Dragon could bring himself to do that…

Looking at Dark Dragon’s sour face, Bruvver gave him another belittling glance.

“Look, doing this is going to be beneficial to both you and Snowmelt too. After forcing Netherspirit’s Claw to disband, they would no longer exist. Hence, you’re no longer a ‘traitor of Netherspirit’s Claw’ again. After we become the Number One League in the Angel Faction, I will bestow the posts of Field Commanders upon both of you. By then, no one would question your past ever again. This is for your own good too.”

“…”

Dark Dragon finally sighed defeatedly. Bruvver was right… he now had no other choice but go on with this heartless plan…

“Oh, right.”

Bruvver suddenly glanced at Moonrise City and frowned.

“I’ve heard Qin Ruo, Majestic Hero, Scarlet Bauhinia, and Black God are all here?”

Hearing Qin Ruo’s name, Dark Dragon’s eyes suddenly shone with excitement. He quickly nodded and replied, “Yes, they’re all sitting on the city walls.”

“So these big shots came all this way just to sit and watch?” Bruvver suddenly started inquiring with a serious tone.

“Tell me. Does Netherclaw get along with these four League Leaders?”

“Netherclaw isn’t really having a close relationship with both Scarlet Bauhinia and Majestic Hero. As for Qin Ruo and Black God… let’s say he and they aren’t on the best of terms. However, during the construction of Winter Demesne, every League did show up and lend them a hand in the Underworld. So… seeing Netherclaw’s in trouble, I suppose the Fallen Angels wouldn’t just sit idly and watch him suffer…”

Then, Dark Dragon suddenly remembered something important and continued, “Yet, we, the Hall of the Exalted, have expanded far bigger than Scarlet Bauhinia, Hall of Heroes, and Black Prison… so they aren’t a threat. As for the Fallen Angels, even if they do clash with us… they would endure a lot of damage. If I were Qin Ruo, I wouldn’t risk my hide saving Netherclaw… after all, Netherspirit’s Claw is now not a strong League, so saving it wouldn’t grant them a formidable ally.”

“…”

Then, Bruvver started to ponder.

“So, you’re saying that… even you don’t know if they’ll lend Netherclaw a hand?”

In fact, Bruvver did hope to make as much ruckus as he could through this war–not just to make a name for the Hall of the Exalted by taking out Netherspirit’s Claw but also to spook the other four Leagues, putting them in their places.

Yet, there was something else that he was worried about that Dark Dragon didn’t know…

Other than the Netherspirit’s Claw, Bruvver had also tried to recruit Champions that were from the four Leagues too. Although he didn’t acquire as many people as he would like from these Leagues, if they were to catch wind of this, there was a chance that they would retaliate.

Not knowing these, Dark Dragon replied with a confused look, “Well, that’s based on what I know about them… Majestic Hero and Scarlet Bauhinia wouldn’t simply barge into others’ business. The former is an old-school good-hearted sage who has too many rules; the latter is a more practical man. He has nothing to gain from clashing with Hall of the Exalted to save a weak Netherspirit’s Claw. As for Black God, he had always hated our League Lead… Oh, I mean Netherclaw. And finally, Qin Ruo… it’s even less of a chance for him to aid Netherclaw.”

After hearing Dark Dragon’s analysis, Bruvver didn’t feel relieved at all. Dark Dragon didn’t know about his dirty tactics of recruiting champions from other Leagues. This was a secret operation that only a few in the Hall of the Exalted knew.

If one were to include this variable in the equation, the result would be much different from what Dark Dragon had analyzed earlier…

“Fine, let’s proceed with the plan. We’ll force Netherclaw to come out of the city!”

“And you! Yes, all of you! Tell everyone in your Clan that no one should cause problems with players that are not from Netherspirit’s Claw. At least not today!” Bruvver quickly ordered the other Clan Leaders in his League to be vigilant in the diplomacy between the other Leagues. Hearing this, Dark Dragon finally realized there was something else going on in the shadows.

***

As a raging war was burning outside of Moonrise City, a huge flow of people was also moving about in Winter Demesne. Many people were moving in and out of the Warp Portal and the city’s base.

Uno, the Base Portal Handler, was busy slamming his mighty staff on the ground, again and again, sending waves after waves of Fallen Angels into the city’s base.

There were also many players from the other four Leagues appearing on the Warp Portal. However, they were there to use the Warp Portal to teleport out of the Underworld and back to the Mythical Continent.

Although no one in the Four Leagues had talked to one another, they all knew just what was going on in this huge drastic stream of people.

Something big was about to happen!

***

“Wandering Soul, what’s going on? You’ve been asking everyone to hurry back to the base since an hour ago.”

“Even the ones from the Violent Army Clan and Scarlet Clan are here. Heh, now now… perhaps our Boss has found another Divine Specter, eh?”

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Inside the Fallen Angels’ base was a huge crowd of people gathered around, discussing and speculating happily.

Wandering Soul and Black Rock didn’t have any answer for them, though.

All they were doing was just gathering the members of the Fallen Angels in the base as Qin Ruo asked.

So, they were not able to give them any direct answer as to why they were summoned.

As a result, this lingering sense of mystery had further ignited everyone’s imagination and curiosity.

Many people thought they were going to fight another Divine Specter. Some players who thought this was about the Hall of the Exalted.

In just minutes, there were crowds of players from the three Clans, Fallen Angels, Violent Army Clan, and Scarlet Clan, in the base. In an instant, there were already over 6,000 people gathering about.

After catching wind of this, many Executors and Ascendant Sabers felt quite disheartened about this. Just what was going on? There seemed to be something huge going on in the League, and no one ever thought of inviting them too? Weren’t they a part of the League?

After knowing this, Remorseless Warrior quickly abandoned his plan to grind for levels and flew back to the base. He was shocked after hearing what Black Rock had to say.

“The heck? You don’t know why everyone’s gathered too?”

According to Black Rock, Qin Ruo didn’t tell them the objective and destination of this new operation at all. Remorseless Warrior was so puzzled after hearing this. And he couldn’t really demand Qin Ruo tell him why he was excluded from this operation too. So, he could only approach Xiaoxiao to inquire about what was going on.

Sure, Black Rock might not know anything at all… but Xiaoxiao knew.

From the moment the three Clans’ Monster Cavalry Troops were all called back to the base, Xiaoxiao already knew what was about to happen.

This time… the enemies were players.

And it was most likely going to be the Hall of the Exalted.

The Executors and Ascendant Sabers were family; so, Xiaoxiao didn’t feel the need to keep this a secret from them. After asking for opinions from Qin Ruo and Violet Orchid, Xiaoxiao then told Remorseless Warrior and Slash everything about the Monster Cavalry.

“…”

Remorseless Warrior and Slash were so stunned that they couldn’t say anything at all.

So… the three Clans were seen busy with something peculiar during the Grand Tournament… that was to make preparations for training these Monster Cavalries?!

Qin Ruo…

Just what on Earth was he doing? Training some actual proper army? Like, an actual army?!

As he was pondering as to why he was not included in this operation, Remorseless Warrior finally received news about the detailed plan from Moonrise City.

“…”

“This is nuts!”

“If we’re going to do this, those snobs at Hall of the Exalted would be so pissed!”

Remorseless Warrior and Ascendant Saber looked at one another with a puzzled look.

***

Back at Moonrise City.

After Netherclaw was defeated, the Hall of the Exalted had now regained their momentum and proceeded to purge everything that wasn’t on their faction on the battlefield.

Five elite squads were quickly seeking out and eliminating any enemy they found while a group of players guarding the city gates fiercely. The Winged Champions took control of the airspace, giving air superiority to Hall of the Exalted. As the minutes went by, the winning chance for Netherspirit’s Claw was becoming slimmer.

In an instant, the Clans that joined Netherclaw in this war had mostly lost their will to fight and had left the battlefield.

As for Netherspirit’s Claw, their men were also being gradually eliminated…

As more and more people were blocked in the city, no one was able to leave to rejoin the battle.

Besides that, they were also constantly bombarded with insults by the members of the Hall of the Exalted. Many prideful Netherspirit’s Claw members couldn’t handle the humiliation and had rushed out to face their conceited foes… and were quickly killed before crawling out of the Resurrection Portal.

Thus…

Even if there were players who could fly out of the city, they were gradually unwilling to leave the city.

The forces outside of the city, on the other hand, had mostly been eliminated.

There were only a few players left on the Netherspirit’s Claw’s camp that could face off the Hall of the Exalted.

This war… the result was quite evident.

Still, Netherclaw was not giving up yet.

Flapping his Angelic Wings, Netherclaw was hovering in the air with his remaining dozens of Winged Champions, facing off hundreds and hundreds of Winged Champions from the Hall of the Exalted.

There were many people on the Netherspirit’s Claw’s camp, including Netherclaw himself, were filled with rage. All they had in mind at the moment was to obliterate these snobbish enemies on the other side.

Meanwhile, Bruvver was grinning arrogantly at his foes, alongside with the silent Snowmelt and Dark Dragon. There were over thousands more Hall of the Exalted members on the ground, waiting for their commanders to order them to strike.

“Netherclaw!”

“Can you see that? Three hours are almost up. And most of your men were defeated and chased off too… now, perhaps it’s time for you to admit defeat, eh?”