Chapter 863: Beginning Act

The players from Angel Corps latched onto the faintest hope, their number advantage, only to be met with cruel reality.

Blood curdling cries rang out as a one-sided massacre took place in the air.

「What’s going on? Do you need backup?」

「We encountered Nirvana Flame! Stay far away! Don’t come!」Skyscraper shouted anxiously.

「What’s your situation?」

「Quickly, reply!」

A Seawind Mistbird spewed out a black fog, which quickly spread out into the surroundings, creating a smoke screen that greatly reduced visibility.

「Boss, I can’t see anything!」Undying Scoundrel cried out.

「Be careful guys. Don’t accidentally hurt our own!」

Eyes of Truth!

Nie Yan locked onto several fleeing flying mounts and pounced after them.

The battle in the sky lasted for 10 minutes before the smokescreen finally dissipated. Only the players from Asskickers United remained.

“What’s the battle report?” Nie Yan asked, his eyes on a distant place. Several black dots were flying farther and farther away.

“We killed 36 enemy flying mounts. The rest ran away. Zero casualties on our side.”

“If it weren’t for that smoke screen, none of them would’ve escaped!”

“What a shame!”

Undying Scoundrel, Lustboy, and several others were annoyed. Given their strength, they could easily wipe out the enemy.

“Anyone recognize that flying mount with the fog skill? That smoke screen covered a pretty large area,” Smoke Stub asked.

“It’s a Seawind Mistbird. Our guild has them too. They’re not much in direct combat, but with their supportive abilities they can be quite effective in the right team. The smokescreen, for example, can cover up to a 300-meter wide area,” Undying Scoundrel replied.

“Let’s watch out the next time we meet one,” Nie Yan replied. Most flying mounts had their own unique skills. It was best to be wary of them.

“Let’s go down and collect the Life Cores. Don’t let others snatch it away from us!”

The team members descended to the ground to collect the spoils of battle.

Nie Yan tossed a Darkness Life Core from his bag to the Darkwing Dragon. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! It happily swallowed the Life Core.

Looking at the Darkwing Dragon’s status page, it had only just reached Rank 8, still a far cry from Rank 9. These Darkness Life Cores were like green peas, far from satisfying.

Experience told Nie Yan that feeding Dragon Cores to his Darkwing Dragon right now wouldn’t have any effect. He would keep feeding it Darkness Life Cores until it reached the peak of Rank 8, then he would feed it Dragon Cores!

Nie Yan tossed another Darkness Life Core to the Darkwing Dragon.

“Are all the Life Cores collected?”

“Yep!”

“If there are any surplus Darkness Life Cores, give them to me,” Nie Yan said. The Darkwing Dragon practically had a bottomless stomach. Where most flying mounts required up to two weeks to digest a couple of Life Cores, it could eat them to no end.

“Boss, what are we going to do next?”

“We split up and clear the air space around Okoron of any enemy flying mounts!” Nie Yan declared. Since battle could break out at any moment, it was important to take control of the skies.

“Understood! Let’s get to work!”

“We’ll split into pairs. Yao Yao, you come with me,” Nie Yan said. All of the guild’s other flying mounts were fighting on the frontline. So, it was up to them to secure Okoron’s air space.

After splitting up into pairs, Nie Yan glanced over at an anxious looking Bladelight. “What’s the matter? Something wrong?”

“None of our forces have discovered Angel Corps’ main aerial force yet, and we only encountered these small fry near Okoron. Don’t you find it strange?” Bladelight asked.

Nie Yan chuckled. “I can understand why you’re worried, but this is Okoron, our home territory. If anything happens, we’ll just retreat within the range of the city’s anti-air defenses.”

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“I’m just afraid we’ll meet some problems since our forces are spread so thin,” Bladelight said.

“You’re overthinking things. It’s fine. We’re in Okoron. Come one, ten, or a hundred, we’ll slaughter them all!” Undying Scoundrel said confidently.

Everyone was in high spirits. Bladelight didn’t want to ruin the mood. He sent a whisper to Nie Yan,「I’m just warning you. Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group have invested far more into flying mounts than we have. Not to mention you haven’t summoned the Darkwing Dragon in a long time. Their aerial forces probably aren’t any weaker than ours.」

Nie Yan nodded.「I understand. But since some of their aerial forces have already arrived in Okoron, we should at least give them a welcome!」

Guo Huai’s brain unit sent over a report. There were seven Angel Corps wings in the vicinity of Okoron, totalling over 700 flying mounts. Their ranks weren’t that high. So, clearing them would be easy and also greatly reduce the pressure on the troops on the ground.

After Magic Bombs became prevalent, air bombings from the sky became a prime tactic for sieging strongholds. As a result, control over the skies became more and more important. In order to prevent Angel Corps’ forces from launching a surprise bombing, they had to be cleared away first.

Nie Yan gazed down from atop his Darkwing Dragon. Below was an ocean of players from Angel Corps. Suddenly, a red flare shot up into the sky, reaching a height of 100 meters before exploding.

This was a signal for the start of a battle!

“Boss, they’re about to take action!”

“We don’t have much time. Let’s go!” Nie Yan said.

Nie Yan and the others split up to search for Angel Corps’ wings. Before long, fighting broke out in the skies again, with flying mounts plummeting to the ground from time to time.

On the ground, high rank trebuchets started bombarding Okoron’s walls, with the cannons on the walls returning fire.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Shells exploded left and right. Players on both sides were dying in droves.

The siege weapons would be exchanging fire for a good hour before the ground troops actually clashed.

On the side of Angel Corps, Shamans and Paladins started chanting and setting up anti-magic domains. This would protect their Warriors. While they were within the influence of the anti-magic domains, they wouldn’t have to worry about enemy magic attacks. However, their range was pretty small, each one only covering a three-meter diameter. Not to mention they could only shield against magic attacks and not physical projectiles.

Nie Yan could see the entire battlefield clearly. The trebuchets and cannons were in an intense firefight. Anywhere the shells landed, a fiery explosion would rock the ground.

「Guo Huai, what’s the latest battle report?」Nie Yan asked.

「We’ve lost just over 50 magic cannons and 10 catapults, and we’ve destroyed about 20 enemy trebuchets!」

In terms of production costs, magic cannons couldn’t be compared to trebuchets. The latter was one of the most expensive siege weapons to build. When comparing in production costs, the losses on both sides were roughly even.

In the middle of the intense shelling, under the protection of the Shamans and Paladins, tens of thousands of Warriors charged toward the walls of Okoron like a surging tide. They were pushing and towing mobile siege towers.

「All Mages, cast your AoE Magic! Everyone else, use the siege crossbows to aim for the Paladins and Shamans!」Nie Yan ordered.

Countless bolts rained down on the players charging towards the walls. Those hit were instantly skewered. Even if they weren’t dead, they were still at the bolt’s mercy.

Even someone like Nie Yan was wary of the might of these siege crossbows, to say nothing of these mostly ordinary players.

The bolts were aimed at the Shamans and Paladins. Following their deaths, the anti-magic domains came undone, and the Warriors became susceptible to magic again. A shower of spells rained down the walls, blasting them into oblivion. Less than a tenth of the Warriors actually reached the walls.

As the siege towers rammed into the walls, Warriors started ascending them.

「Mages, use your fire AoE magic! Release the hot oil and burning logs!」Nie Yan commanded.

Flames rained down from the sky. Within the raging inferno, the siege towers collapsed one after another. Giant flaming logs came falling down from atop the walls, crushing the players in their path.

Angel Corps’ first wave of attacks was repelled. The fighting stopped for the time being. Likely, the second wave would start soon. Forbidden Magic had yet to be cast. They were still on the beginning act. The real battle would happen later.

Angel Corps appeared to be waiting for something. Since they dared to attack Okoron, they definitely had something up their sleeve.

Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and the others had already engaged in battle. In terms of flying mounts, they had the absolute advantage. Combined with their exceptional teamwork, they had the enemy riders fleeing for their lives.

Everything was proceeding smoothly.

“Nie Yan, over there!” Xie Yao anxiously cried out.

Nie Yan looked over and spotted a wing of over 100 flying mounts. They were people from Angel Corps!

“Follow me, we’ll kill them together!” Nie Yan said. With the Rank 8 Darkwing Dragon’s strength, it could completely ignore ordinary Rank 5 and Rank 6 flying mounts. They would all be cannon fodder, let alone when he had the help of Xie Yao’s phoenix.

“Mhm!” Xie Yao nodded.

Likely because they had noticed Nie Yan and Xie Yao, this wing started fleeing toward the north. The Darkwing Dragon’s giant frame was too noticeable. As soon as they saw it, they lost all will to fight.

Nie Yan urged the Darkwing Dragon forward as it shot toward those enemy flying mounts.