Chapter 867: Stalemate

“What’s going on?”

“W-what the hell is happening?”

Suddenly attacked by the shadows of their fallen comrades, panic spread through the ranks of Angel Corps. They beat a hasty retreat.

The shadow army grew rapidly in size.

Nie Yan summoned his shadow clone, even further increasing his killing speed.

Hundreds of shadows joined Nie Yan’s army. Those they killed would be instantly brought back and assimilated into their ranks.

“It’s the boss!” a player from Asskickers United cried out in elation.

“What kind of skill is that? It’s so badass!”

“The boss knows necromancy? Isn’t that a skill from the Evil Faction?”

“It looks way stronger than any Necromancer skill I know of!”

The players from Asskickers United discussed excitedly. Their morale skyrocketed the instant Nie Yan had appeared. They rushed forward like a surging tide and beat the forces from Angel Corps back.

Asskickers United succesfully repelled this wave of attacks. The players erupted into cheers.

Bladelight and the other Masters also returned at this moment. With their help, Okoron’s defenses were immediately bolstered.

“Boss, an enemy Mage is casting Forbidden Magic!”

“Activate the city’s anti-magic domain! Blast him to oblivion with the magic cannons!” Nie Yan ordered. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! A volley of cannon shells streaked through the sky.

Thunder rumbled and lightning flashed as ominous, black clouds gathered in the sky. Just as the Forbidden Magic was about to descend, an enormous membrane of light enveloped all of Okoron. This was an advantage of being on the defending side of a siege, a large-scale anti-magic domain. It could withstand the bombardment of at least six Forbidden Magic without any issue.

Suddenly, the thunder and lightning in the sky disappeared.

“Haha! The guy casting the Forbidden Magic got offed by one of the cannons!”

“Dang! That’s some crazy aim!”

“Oh my god! Haha. Who did it? Let me buy them a drink!”

“Reward whoever hit that Magister with 50,000 merit points. Triple the merit points for all other cannon operators!” Nie Yan ordered.

One of the cannon operators was dumbstruck. 50,000 merit point just for hitting someone with my cannon? Sweet!

Hearing they could earn merit points simply by doing their job, the players manning the cannons got pumped up.

Explosions sounded everywhere, no one was safe. The players from Angel Corps didn’t know what happened, but the cannon fire suddenly seemed fiercer than before. The bombardment left them frantically scrambling for cover.

“W-what the fuck! Did someone put them on steroids!?”

“S-shit! Retreat!”

…

The frontline of Angel Corps had no choice but to pull back out of the range of the cannons, leaving behind piles of corpses. Another wave of attacks met with failure. They set up camp more than a thousand meters away.

They wouldn’t give up so quickly!

「Any new movements from Angel Corps?」Nie Yan asked Guo Huai.

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「According to our latest reports, they’re bringing in 200 more catapults and trebuchets,」Guo Huai replied. Angel Corps had lost many of their siege weapons in the first wave of attacks on Okoron.

「They’ve prepared well it seems.」

「Honestly, we shouldn’t be losing out to them in number of siege weapons. But we lost so many in the previous war against the Monet Financial Group and the fight with Phantom Princess Ina,」Guo Huai grumbled. Angel Corps hadn’t had to face countless trials and tribulations like Asskickers United. Yet they had only amassed this little strength. He didn’t think much of them.

「Apart from the catapults, is there anything else?」

「We got some reports on a secret weapon. Apparently it’s an enormous war machine. Luckily, they can only produce a single one every two months. We’ll only have to face three of them.」

Nie Yan furrowed his brows. What could this war machine be? As he searched his memories, his face paled. Could it be the Megacannon? If that were the case, they were in for a world of pain. His knowledge of the Megacannon was limited. It had only once appeared in a war between Angel Corps, who were invading the Viridian Empire, and Victorious Return. The Megacannon single handedly destroyed 20 strongholds! Only after steeling their hearts and sending over 300,000 players to their deaths, did Victorious Return finally take it down. That war had dealt a heavy blow to Victorious Return. Fortunately, they also had their own trump card and beat Angel Corps back to the Satreen Empire. After that war, the two great powers never fought again.

Fate worked in mysterious ways. There were also two great powers fighting for supremacy in this timeline, though Victorious Return and Asskickers United were not to be compared. Nie Yan wasn’t willing to let things fizzle out. Fighting to a draw was nothing to be happy about.

「Send Sun and King of the World over to investigate what that secret weapon actually is. Also, have Bladelight lead a 1,000-man force and see if they can destroy the enemy’s catapults and trebuchets enroute. Be careful. If it looks impossible, have them retreat immediately,」Nie Yan said. If something happened, he and Xie Yao could rush over to help within minutes.

The battle in Okoron entered a stalemate. Angel Corps was waiting for reinforcements, and Asskickers United was more than happy to wait behind the safety of their walls.

Over in the Satreen Empire, as the army of the Asskickers United alliance marched forward, smoke was rising everywhere. Angel Corps had already lost six strongholds. They’d tried to surround Asskickers United’s forces, only to be intercepted by Fallen Angel. Fallen Angel fought with Pantheon in the underworld, yet still had the spare manpower to send 600,000 troops to the surface to hinder Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group.

Asskickers United didn’t rush their advance, taking it one step at a time. Every time they sieged down a stronghold, they’d stop to consolidate their new territory and even recruit local players to form a new army. The new players and territory were all handed to Heaven Song.

Defeating Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group by razing a few strongholds was impossible. So, Asskickers United approached this as a war of attrition.

Angel Corps had no idea how to respond. Most of their army was concentrated in the Abernathy Great Grasslands. The ones left behind in the Satreen Empire couldn’t put up much of a fight.

Over the next few days, Angel Corps’ army didn’t move from their spot outside of Okoron. All of their movements were within the grasp of Asskickers United’s intelligence. Nie Yan felt his worries dwindle.

Guo Huai started paying out compensation to the players who died in battle. Those who distinguished themselves were also properly rewarded. Like this, over 3,000,000 gold was paid out. The guild members could use this money to replace their lost equipment and prepare themselves for the next battle.

The daily cost of the war was astonishing. Thankfully, Asskickers United had the support of the Starry Night Potion Shop.

During these past few days, news of the Darkwing Dragon’s death at the hands of Angel Corps quickly spread. Footage of the Darkwing Dragon being trapped by the five Vermillion Garudas filled the forums. After going through intense scrutiny, it was confirmed to be authentic.

The Darkwing Dragon was the sole Rank 8 flying mount in the game. It fully deserved to be called the ruler of the skies. However, an existence like that still died. Those who staunchly believed in Nie Yan’s undefeated streak felt their hearts waver. After all, Nie Yan was only one person. Even though he was viewed as a god by man, in this kind of large scale war, a single person wouldn’t change the outcome. Just like the Darkwing Dragon, in a one-on-one, it was no doubt unrivalled, but it was still rendered helpless by those five Vermillion Garudas.

Those who hadn’t taken this war too seriously, started to pay attention. It appeared Angel Corps had a plan to deal with Asskickers United.

After news of the death of the Darkwing Dragon spread, Angel Corps’ fame and reputation skyrocketed.

The forums were filled with discussion related to this matter. Everyone was waiting for Nie Yan to give his comments. However, it appeared he didn’t care about it at all, neither giving an explanation nor confirming the authenticity of the news.

With the Darkwing Dragon gone from the flying mount leaderboards, there was a vacancy at the top. This was quickly filled by another flying mount from Asskickers United. Yao Yao’s Immortal Phoenix! People were shocked to find it had already broken through to Rank 8.

Asskickers United had another Rank 8 flying mount. Everyone wondered how strong the Rank 8 Immortal Phoenix was. The discussion in the forums gradually shifted to flying mounts. Many players didn’t have much confidence in Xie Yao’s phoenix. If even the Darkwing Dragon could fall, the Immortal Phoenix wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Angel Corps had the absolute advantage in the skies. After several encounters, they had killed over 200 of Asskickers United’s flying mounts. Whenever Asskickers United’s high rank flying mounts discovered the Vermillion Garudas, they would have no choice but to retreat. They had no way of dealing with the flame net skill. So, in order to avoid being killed by the enemy, they could only temporarily concede.

Nie Yan and Xie Yao teleported to Calore and headed for the pet shop.

“Nie Yan, the forums are filled with talk about the Darkwing Dragon’s death. Are you sure you don’t want to say anything?” Xie Yao asked. As long as Nie Yan explained the Darkwing Dragon could still be revived, the comments doubting him would instantly disappear. However, Nie Yan remained radio silent.

“Explaining anything won’t help. It’s better to speak with actions. Let’s revive the Darkwing Dragon first. Everything will be fine,” Nie Yan said. He was the type who didn’t particularly like talking much in the first place.

“Alright.” Xie Yao nodded.

After passing through several streets, they were almost at the pet shop.

“We’re almost there.” Nie Yan glanced at the Darkwing Dragon’s corpse in his pet space. “It won’t be long now. We’ll be flying through the sky together again.”