After passing through a narrow, elongated cave, Nie Yan entered a vast karst cavern. The space was immense, with a ceiling rising fifty to sixty yards overhead. Streams of scorching magma flowed across the ground. Within Nie Yan’s field of view appeared two towering lava creatures. Each stood five to six yards tall, their entire bodies composed of molten magma. Their forms were thick and bulky, with occasional droplets of lava dripping off them with plops and splatters.
These creatures resembled scaled-down versions of lava titans. Lava-type creatures were immune to fire magic and possessed high physical resistance. Players typically used ice-based magic to deal effective damage. The lava creatures’ attacks were of the lava type, neither purely magical nor physical, and carried fire damage, making them particularly troublesome.
Blazing Lava Creature: Level 80 elite, HP 120000/120000.
They were level 80 elites with substantial health. Nie Yan knew it was impossible to defeat both of them directly, so he decided to bypass them first.
Surveying the terrain, he noticed deep fissures filled with flowing magma. These two lava creatures blocked his path entirely, moving back and forth. Wherever they walked, they left behind a trail of burning lava, flames continuing to burn for a long time without extinguishing.
Nie Yan glanced at the cave wall. The ceiling was also covered with molten magma, with sparks flying about. Fortunately, large amounts of yellow crystals had solidified along the edges of the cave walls, suggesting a viable path.
He activated his stealth ability and carefully moved toward the wall. With a leap, he crossed the flowing magma, using the skill from his Ring of the Crawler to adhere his body to the cave wall. Slowly climbing along it, he maneuvered around the two blazing lava creatures.
Nie Yan’s stealth skill was high, and the two lava creatures failed to detect his presence, continuing to wander aimlessly.
Suddenly, the lava creature nearest to Nie Yan paused and turned its gaze toward him.
Nie Yan quickly pressed himself tightly against the wall, activating several status-enhancing skills to boost his stealth.
The lava creature stared in Nie Yan’s direction for a while before swinging its right arm, hurling a stream of molten magma toward him.
Nie Yan’s heart tightened. Had he been discovered?
He quickly realized the magma stream was off-target. He remained tightly pressed against the wall when the molten rock struck about three yards from him, causing the wall to crack extensively. He nearly fell from the impact.
The lava creature’s attack was indeed terrifying.
Finding nothing amiss, it turned away and resumed its wandering.
Nie Yan continued climbing forward. Some cracked sections of the cave wall were more difficult to cling to than before. As he moved forward a short distance, a piece of rock on the wall suddenly broke off, plummeting to the ground with a thud and shattering into dust.
Oh no! Nie Yan thought in dismay. He looked toward the two lava creatures and saw that they had indeed been alerted by the sound, charging toward his location.
Nie Yan could no longer hold back. He launched himself forward, leaping and landing steadily before sprinting rapidly into the distance.
The two lava creatures began attacking Nie Yan, hurling streams of magma into the air, which rained down on his location with a cacophony of noise and scattered sparks, igniting bursts of flame.
As he saw a stream of magma about to strike him, Nie Yan activated a gust step to dodge, then resumed sprinting.
The two lava creatures quickly gave chase, swinging their fists from different directions toward Nie Yan.
As Nie Yan seemed about to be hit, he extended his left hand, firing a strand of spider silk that adhered to the rock wall ahead. With a sharp tug, his body flew upward. Taking advantage of the lingering effect of the Ring of the Crawler, he rapidly climbed along the wall before leaping forward.
The two lava creatures missed their strikes, their massive bodies colliding with a thunderous boom. The impact sent them reeling backward, causing them to stumble and fall to the ground.
Nie Yan seized the opportunity to move far away, successfully evading both lava creatures.
This map was also being explored for the first time, so elite creatures were abundant. Nie Yan proceeded with extreme caution, fearing any mishap.
After traversing the cave for about an hour and bypassing numerous lava creatures, Nie Yan couldn’t help but marvel at the cavern’s vastness.
Checking the time, he still had about five hours before meeting Kuang Ao Zhan Qiang. His progress was somewhat slow, as he hadn’t even found his objective yet. Nie Yan still had no idea where Bennett’s spirit was leading him.
Passing through a rugged, narrow passage, he emerged into an open area approximately 1000 yards by 1000 yards. The ceiling was about twenty yards high, covered with magma. About twenty to thirty lava creatures wandered within this region.
In the center of the area stood a platform about thirteen to fourteen yards high, isolated and flat on top, seemingly holding something.
It would be difficult to bypass this group of lava creatures, as they patrolled near the platform, guarding it fiercely. Any approaching creature would provoke a collective attack. Normally, Nie Yan might consider descending from the cave ceiling. Unfortunately, the ceiling was filled with flames, making it impossible to climb or adhere to with spider silk. Reaching the platform would prove quite challenging.
As Nie Yan pondered his options, he suddenly received a message from Guo Huai. The War Blade Bloodthirsty guild had dispatched a force of about fifty thousand players heading toward the Bull Man Tribe’s Blackstone Fortress. The Bull Man Tribe had four fortresses in total: one intermediate fortress, Krips, and three basic ones. Among the basic fortresses, the weakest in defense was Blackstone Fortress. Although it had built arrow towers, it employed very few NPC archers and lacked large-scale city defense crossbows. Its walls were slightly inferior to those of other fortresses, and its commercial district had not fully developed.
Although losing Blackstone Fortress wouldn’t critically harm the Bull Man Tribe, it was still a fortress. If War Blade Bloodthirsty captured Blackstone Fortress, they would likely escalate their attacks on other Bull Man Tribe fortresses. Blackstone was merely their first target.
“How did War Blade Bloodthirsty get there?” Nie Yan whispered to Guo Huai.
“Most of them are riding horses, about fifty thousand strong, and have been on the move for five hours. A few thousand of them used teleportation. I’ve had the Jialan Temple and the Holy Roman Empire contain those who teleported to Carol City, preventing them from leaving the city easily,” Guo Huai explained. His handling of the situation was timely and effective.
Riding horses would take a long time but was the most cost-effective method. If all fifty thousand had teleported to Carol City, they would have been trapped inside the city by the Bull Man Tribe.
War Blade Bloodthirsty’s decision to launch an inter-city attack against the Bull Man Tribe’s fortress indicated some confidence in their strategy.
“What about the Mage Alliance and Sacred Guardians? Have they taken any action?” Nie Yan asked. He was most concerned about these two guilds. In previous conflicts, the Mage Alliance and Sacred Guardians had sustained no losses and had developed well. If they joined the conflict, the Bull Man Tribe would face significant challenges.
“They’ve each sent about a thousand elite players to join the battle. Angel Empire has also sent around five hundred to join the fray,” Guo Huai said with concern.
Upon hearing this, Nie Yan became instantly anxious. On the battlefield, numbers alone wouldn’t decide the outcome. Twenty elite players working in perfect coordination with area-of-effect magic could overwhelm even a thousand ordinary players. With Angel Empire, Mage Alliance, and Sacred Guardians sending elite players, the situation had become more complicated.
“Any other news?” Nie Yan asked, pausing for a moment. It seemed this war was unavoidable. If the Bull Man Tribe lost, it would suffer a major setback. If War Blade Bloodthirsty lost, it might face guild dissolution.
Neither guild could afford to lose, so both sides would fight fiercely.
“This is a video recorded by our people. Take a look,” Guo Huai said, sending Nie Yan a video.
Nie Yan found a secluded spot and opened the video.
The video was recorded by a rogue, who had been observing from outside the War Blade Bloodthirsty ranks. A series of War Blade Bloodthirsty players passed not far from him. After a while, a massive mechanical device rolled across the plains. This enormous machine was made of wood, covered with a hard iron shell. At its center was a long thick wooden beam, with a scoop-like top capable of holding stones and other projectiles. It was exquisitely crafted.
Seeing this massive machine, Nie Yan’s expression changed in shock. In his previous life, he hadn’t participated in siege warfare, but he had seen these machines on several occasions while passing through battlefields. This formidable device was known as an Ironclad Catapult!
Catapults came in many types, including ballistic catapults and Ironclad Catapults. Ballistic catapults had longer ranges and were commonly used in sieges. Ironclad Catapults had shorter ranges, typically over five or six hundred yards, but could launch five or six burning iron balls simultaneously. They were quite effective in sieges. During battles between two armies, these Ironclad Catapults were veritable killing machines, capable of sweeping away entire groups of players with a single volley.
In his previous life, Nie Yan had once witnessed the awe-inspiring sight of hundreds of Ironclad Catapults firing in unison. Two volleys were enough to bring down half of a reinforced level-six city wall.
“What are those big things?” Guo Huai asked. His knowledge was limited, but from the machine’s structure, he could guess it was a catapult, though he was unsure of its power.
“Ironclad Catapults. How many of these Ironclad Catapults do they have?” Nie Yan asked with a furrowed brow.
“We don’t know yet, probably not many.”
“Have the hundred rogue team investigate and determine exactly how many Ironclad Catapults they have!” Nie Yan emphasized. This was a critical issue that needed clarification.
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