Chapter 600: Pincer Movement

In the center of the battlefield, several guilds maintained a delicate balance, filled with hostility toward each other, yet none dared to strike first. There were two main reasons for this restraint. First, the Lich Princess Aina was still alive, and any premature conflict among them would benefit no one. Second, their forces were evenly matched, and any battle would result in heavy losses for all involved.

The leader of Dark Winter was an elemental mage named Bingfeng Tianxia (Icebound Sky). He appeared to be in his early thirties, with a thin frame and an unremarkable appearance—exactly the type who would blend into a crowd. However, his brilliant blue mage’s robe stood out vividly. He wore three sub-legendary grade items and the rest were all rare dark-blue quality gear, clearly superior to the equipment of the other guild leaders.

“All warriors, switch to defensive stance! Just make sure the Lich Princess doesn’t come our way!” Bingfeng Tianxia shouted in a hoarse voice through the guild chat channel.

The warriors of Dark Winter lowered their great shields and simultaneously assumed defensive postures. It was evident that Bingfeng Tianxia had trained his subordinates well.

Bingfeng Tianxia opened a private chat and sent messages to Shenshen Huxi (Death’s Breath), the leader of Death’s Descent, and Tianlu Diwang (Heavenly Trap), the leader of Tianlu Gate.

“Tianlu, Death, what’s your decision? Are we doing it or not? Just give a quick answer,” Bingfeng Tianxia said.

Death gritted his teeth and replied, “Let’s do it. Send me the signal when the time comes.”

“Good, that’s decisive enough. We’ve all suffered at the hands of Radiant Sanctum before. Last time, they stole two mines my guild discovered. You’ve had similar experiences too, right? I remember they wiped out two hundred-man teams from Tianlu Gate. Radiant Sanctum has a bit of a cooperative relationship with the Bullman Tribe because of their strength. But once their strength diminishes, the Bullman Tribe will discard them like worn-out shoes. So, Tianlu, what’s your decision?” Bingfeng Tianxia waited for Tianlu’s response.

“Alright, I agree too.” After a moment of thought, Tianlu finally made up his mind.

Unknown to Star Radiant, while they were fully focused on confronting the Lich Princess Aina and preparing to seize her gear, three other powerful factions had already reached a silent agreement.

“I can also bring in Bloodshade members to help us. If more than thirty top-tier rogues strike together, not a single priest from Radiant Sanctum will survive,” Bingfeng Tianxia said with a slight smile.

“How could you get Bloodshade involved?” Death asked in surprise. The Bloodshade Organization was well known for their exorbitant fees, making them practically unattainable for second-tier guilds like theirs.

Second-tier guilds had limited income. Apart from membership fees, their only sources of revenue were occasional boss raids, monster clearing sessions, and mining operations. Due to their limited strength, they could only operate in low-level maps, earning pitifully small returns. Without investment from major financial backers and unwillingness from guild leaders to subsidize the guilds themselves, second-tier guilds suffered from severe financial constraints.

“I just found a wealthy patron who’s willing to invest in Dark Winter. Bloodshade was hired by him. With the funding, we can finally recruit more members,” Bingfeng Tianxia said with a hint of pride.

“In our situation as second-tier guilds, who would be willing to invest in us? You must be joking,” Death replied with a bitter smile, frustrated by the reality.

“I think so too. Unless some financial group is blind and has nothing better to do, they wouldn’t invest in a small guild like ours with no future,” Tianlu agreed with Death’s view.

“You’re both mistaken then. In Carol City, it’s true that the Bullman Tribe dominates, but it’s not absolute. Besides the Bullman Tribe and their affiliated guilds, there are about twenty to thirty second-tier guilds and at least thirty to forty third-tier ones, not to mention numerous other guilds with over ten thousand members each. Imagine the power if all these people united—it would be five to six times the strength of the Bullman Tribe!” Bingfeng Tianxia explained.

“That may be true, but uniting all these guilds is like herding cats. Who could possibly bring them together? Challenging the Bullman Tribe in Carol City is a joke. In fact, there might not be a single guild in the entire Granland Empire capable of defeating the Bullman Tribe,” Death said, unconvinced by Bingfeng Tianxia’s argument.

Realizing he hadn’t yet convinced Death and Tianlu, Bingfeng Tianxia continued, “Believe it or not, you’ll see soon enough. Recently, Century Capital and another financial group reached an agreement. Century Capital transferred all its assets in Granland Empire to this other group, though I won’t mention their name yet, as their actions are still confidential. They’ve gathered the elites from the disbanded guilds like Triumph Empire, Mage Alliance, and Warblade Bloodthirst. Additionally, they’ve recruited members from Sacred Guardian, Divine Sword, Light and Shadow Empire, and more than fifty other guilds, both large and small. Dark Winter is one of them. I expect it won’t be long before someone approaches you to discuss cooperation.”

Bingfeng Tianxia felt a natural sense of superiority knowing this information before Death and Tianlu. He foresaw that Dark Winter would hold a higher status than Death’s Descent and Tianlu Gate within the upcoming alliance.

Bingfeng Tianxia’s words were like thunderclaps to Death and Tianlu.

“Damn, what financial group has such massive resources!” Death exclaimed. This news was shocking—if Bingfeng Tianxia’s claims were true, the entire power structure of Granland Empire would change dramatically.

“Century Capital has abandoned the Mage Alliance and Sacred Guardian? We haven’t heard anything about this!” Tianlu said in astonishment.

“You wouldn’t have heard anything yet. Wait and see, Carol City won’t be the Bullman Tribe’s domain much longer,” Bingfeng Tianxia said confidently.

But was it really true? Death and Tianlu both felt doubts. If a financial group could indeed gather such a massive force, the Bullman Tribe’s dominance would indeed be uncertain. Yet why was there no sign of this yet? They hadn’t received any clues at all. Could Bingfeng Tianxia be bluffing them?

Meanwhile, Bloodshade members Ming, Lie, and others were chatting casually while carefully avoiding attacks from the Lich Princess Aina.

“The Lich Princess’s health is nearly gone. Get ready to loot!” Ming said. Among the five, he was the oldest and spoke with more authority.

“Watch out for area-of-effect spells from behind,” Lie warned.

“No problem, I have Holy Defense which grants magic immunity. I’ll handle the loot,” Ming replied. He had a high-level skill in his skill set that could grant magic immunity for five seconds—more than enough time to grab the gear and escape safely.

Everything was already arranged. They just needed to wait for the Lich Princess Aina to fall.

Suddenly, Ming received a message. He turned to Lie, Feng, and the others and said, “Dark Winter is going after Radiant Sanctum.”

“What did the boss say?”

“The boss agreed.”

Lie, Feng, and the others thought for a moment. Since the boss had agreed, they had no choice but to comply.

An operation targeting Radiant Sanctum was about to begin.

Nian Yan slowly approached Ming and his group. These five rogues were inseparable, staying no more than two yards apart, leaving no room for surprise attacks. He glanced at other guilds and noticed that Dark Winter and other factions were gradually approaching Radiant Sanctum. Immediately, he sensed something was wrong.

“Everyone, push harder. The Lich Princess has only 2% health left. Xiao Yao, get ready to loot. We’ll cover you,” Star Radiant said in the team chat.

“Boss, Dark Winter is attacking us!”

“Boss, Death’s Descent is attacking us!”

“Boss, Tianlu Gate is approaching. Should we fight back?”

Star Radiant suddenly received messages from players behind him, and he was shocked. Looking back, he saw red clouds gathering in the sky as waves of fire rained down, instantly felling many players from Radiant Sanctum.

Dozens of rogues rushed into the caster ranks, launching a one-sided massacre against Radiant Sanctum’s priests.

“Boss, their rogues are too strong. We’ve already lost more than thirty priests.”

“Damn you, Bingfeng Tianxia, Death, Tianlu! Remember this! I’ll settle this score sooner or later!” Seeing his comrades being slaughtered mercilessly, Star Radiant’s eyes turned blood-red with fury.

“Boss, what should we do?”

“Abandon the Lich Princess and retreat! Dammit, let’s fight them! Warriors, follow me!” Star Radiant roared, charging forward with dozens of warriors toward Dark Winter’s forces.

Radiant Sanctum suffered heavy casualties from the sudden attack, losing hundreds of members in an instant, and was on the verge of total collapse.

The collusion of Dark Winter, Death’s Descent, and Tianlu Gate gave them more than double the numbers of Radiant Sanctum, and their surprise attack provided a significant advantage. Coupled with Bloodshade’s relentless pursuit of Radiant Sanctum’s priests, the lack of healing support led to even greater losses.

“F***ing bastards,” Star Radiant cursed. Normally a mild-mannered person, he was now so enraged he couldn’t help but curse. If not for the surprise attack, Radiant Sanctum would never have suffered such a devastating defeat.

Star Radiant charged into Dark Winter’s ranks with dozens of warriors, struggling through the melee. Without healing support from behind and facing Dark Winter’s warriors protected by Holy Light, they were at a severe disadvantage.

Observing the scene, Nian Yan frowned slightly. He still had some rapport with Star Radiant, and Radiant Sanctum had always maintained a cooperative relationship with the Bullman Tribe. Seeing Radiant Sanctum suffer like this, he couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

After a moment’s thought, he decided the Gold Earth Dragon was too conspicuous. He’d better summon out the paladin Raivis instead.

With that thought, Nian Yan opened the Sacred Hire interface.

System: Do you wish to hire the paladin Raivis?

Yes!

A flash of white light appeared, and the tall paladin Raivis materialized on the battlefield.