Nie Yan wouldn’t be foolish enough to let the Tribe of Bulls confront the Mage Alliance head-on. If they did fight openly, Nie Yan had no idea how many underhanded tactics the Mage Alliance might employ. Additionally, the death penalty—losing five levels and three pieces of equipment—was extremely severe. Nie Yan wanted to protect his elite members as much as possible. These people were the backbone of the Tribe of Bulls. If they suffered heavy losses, the Tribe of Bulls would be in serious trouble. Therefore, minimizing losses was crucial.
To achieve minimal casualties, Nie Yan could only resort to such tactics.
And he would stop at nothing!
Even if it meant bearing any kind of infamy!
Nie Yan had some thieves re-set the traps that had been triggered earlier. This time, they were different—equally deadly chain traps, but more densely placed, as the Mage Alliance’s forces were getting closer and closer to the castle.
During their advance, Nie Yan and his team ambushed the Mage Alliance once again. This time, however, the Mage Alliance was prepared. Nie Yan’s group managed to kill only over a hundred players and nearly fell into an ambush set by the Wild Wolf Studio and Blood Demon. However, they managed to escape using random teleport scrolls.
Kuang Fa was furious enough to explode. Nie Yan’s group was simply relentless.
They arrived outside the castle and set up camp on an open field about two thousand yards away.
Kuang Fa dared not advance further, as he knew that the path ahead was littered with numerous traps. If they marched straight ahead, they might not even get to see any Tribe of Bulls players!
Yet staying put wasn’t viable either. The Tribe of Bulls wasn’t in a hurry, but he was. If they didn’t resolve the battle soon, the Tribe of Bulls’ ironclad catapults would soon be at the gates of the Mage Alliance’s main fortress.
Kuang Fa still had a trump card—the flying mounts. They had six flying mounts in total, some purchased at a high price from Angel Dominion, some belonging to the Wild Wolf Studio, and one belonging to Blood Demon. Nie Yan’s group had a heavily injured Shadow Thunder Roc, a Void Demon with a Canglan Wingbird, whose strength was unknown, and there was also the Darkwing Dragon, whose ownership by the Tribe of Bulls had yet to be confirmed. Sending six flying mounts against so many Tribe of Bulls players without ground support would obviously be challenging, so he couldn’t reveal his trump card yet!
Kuang Fa thought for a moment. If there was no other way, he would go all-in and fight the Tribe of Bulls to the bitter end!
“Thief Squad Five, move out!” Kuang Fa commanded coldly, determined to crush the Tribe of Bulls.
A squad of ten thieves stepped out of the formation, heading toward the Tribe of Bulls’ direction with a sense of tragic resolve.
Kuang Fa looked toward the castle. As these thieves entered the area within a thousand yards of the castle, one explosion after another erupted, flames rising into the sky. Soon, he received news that all ten thieves had been killed. However, his decision remained unchanged. In the guild chat channel, he roared, “Thief Squad Six, move out!”
Another squad of ten thieves stepped forward. Occasionally, they might get lucky and detect or disarm some traps, but generally, they still fell victim, stepping into the traps with no survivors.
Ten full squads of thieves were wiped out, carving a path through with their flesh and blood.
Standing on the watchtower, Nie Yan watched Kuang Fa send squad after squad of thieves to clear the path, sighing inwardly. He and Kuang Fa were still somewhat different. Strictly speaking, he wasn’t a qualified guild leader. He couldn’t be as ruthless as Kuang Fa, sending his subordinates to certain death knowingly into a trap-filled path.
Watching the Mage Alliance gradually clearing the path, Nie Yan’s lips curled into a faint smile. The previous traps were passively triggered. Now it was time for something new.
Nie Yan assigned Sun, Wangzhetianxia, and eight others to set up the traps. These ten were trustworthy. They would bypass the regular Tribe of Bulls players to lay some actively triggered traps.
For example, Frost Spikes. Frost Spike traps consisted of two parts: the trap body, composed of five scrolls, and the activation rune. The five scrolls were buried in specific locations. When players passed by, they wouldn’t trigger the trap. However, if a mage chanted the rune’s incantation, it would immediately activate the Frost Spike trap, causing hundreds of ice spikes to erupt from the ground. High-defense warriors might survive, but mages would suffer greatly, as the ice spikes could easily pierce their robes.
Nie Yan only had three such actively triggered traps, accumulated over time by the Tribe of Bulls, which were extremely rare. There were two Frost Spike traps and one Sea of Flames. The Sea of Flames was obtained by Cui Can Daoguang and others during an expert-level dungeon raid. The two Frost Spike traps were purchased from a mysterious shop at 100,000 gold each, refreshing every ten days.
Nie Yan had Guo Huai keep these three items hidden until now, finally putting them to use.
Sun, Wangzhetianxia, and others laid the Frost Spike and Sea of Flames traps, everything ready.
On the watchtower, Nie Yan distributed the three activation runes to Yuwang Ranqingchun, Tang Yao, and Xie Yao, saying, “Wait for my command. Once I give the order, immediately trigger the traps!”
Although these three active traps wouldn’t cause massive casualties, they could still instantly kill hundreds. This would bring the Mage Alliance’s losses to over a thousand. With three thousand versus two thousand, if the Tribe of Bulls still couldn’t win, Nie Yan would really consider slamming his head into a wall.
Kuang Fa saw the thieves clearing the path ahead, his eyes already bloodshot.
He didn’t command the thieves from the Invincible Holy Guardians, let alone the hired ones. Therefore, the ones sent to step on the traps were his loyalists and trusted men. Yet these hundreds of people were all wiped out, each losing five levels. How could Kuang Fa not feel heartache!
However, one general’s glory is built on countless sacrifices. Their deaths were worth it for the Mage Alliance’s victory!
“Brothers of the Mage Alliance, we’ve fought our way here. That despicable guy Kuang Zhenieyan used underhanded tactics to ambush us, killing so many of our brothers. We must settle this debt in blood! Today, let this place become the Tribe of Bulls’ graveyard! Brothers from the Mage Alliance, Holy Guardians, and various studios who came to support us, I Kuang Fa swear here: if we defeat the Tribe of Bulls this time, all rewards will be doubled! Attack!” Kuang Fa shouted.
Whether Kuang Zhenieyan was truly despicable or his tactics truly underhanded was no longer questioned. What everyone clearly remembered was the promise of doubled rewards. To motivate these people to enter this death zone, the Mage Alliance had promised many benefits, already quite generous. Doubling the rewards made it irresistibly tempting!
As Kuang Fa finished speaking, a giant wind serpent, a venomous dragonfly, and a butterfly demon appeared in the sky—these were the Mage Alliance’s flying mounts. Kuang Fa looked at the Wild Wolf Studio and Blood Demon members, who hesitated briefly before summoning their respective flying mounts.
A white-headed griffin, a wind serpent, and a flamingo—six giant flying mounts soared into the air, hovering mid-sky.
The ground forces were stunned.
“So many flying mounts!”
“This time, we’re unstoppable!”
“If the Tribe of Bulls doesn’t have any killer moves, they’re doomed!”
The Mage Alliance’s morale soared, erupting into deafening cheers. Six flying mounts were an incredibly powerful force. Could the Tribe of Bulls withstand this thunderous strike!
Kuang Fa looked up at the six flying mounts overhead, his previous frustration vanishing instantly. Come on, Tribe of Bulls, let’s settle this once and for all. Let’s see what tricks you still have up your sleeve!
The Tribe of Bulls’ players assembled their forces, preparing to fight. Seeing the six flying mounts hovering in the distance, they exchanged fearful glances, speechless. The Mage Alliance actually managed to gather six flying mounts! They had experienced the power of flying mounts, like Tang Yao’s Shadow Thunder Roc, which was virtually unbeatable! But Tang Yao’s Shadow Thunder Roc was heavily injured, while the opposing side had six such mounts!
Six flying mounts were enough to massacre their three thousand players!
Fighting against these flying mounts, they had little confidence of victory. Killing even one flying mount was extremely difficult, let alone six!
The leader of the Void Demon faction from the Tribe of Bulls was said to possess a Canglan Wingbird, yet a single Canglan Wingbird appeared inadequate to reverse the situation.
Was the Tribe of Bulls about to lose? They had never considered this possibility before, but now, they had to face it.
Just as they were confused, a sudden low, deep dragon roar, like rolling thunder, echoed across the sky. A massive black dragon appeared above the castle. Its entire body was pitch black, gleaming with a dazzling sheen. Its strong, powerful wings slowly flapped, casting a vast shadow over the ground. This black dragon’s size was more than three times that of any flying mount present.
“It’s the Darkwing Dragon!”
Low exclamations of surprise arose from both sides. They immediately recognized the black dragon hovering in the sky as the legendary Darkwing Dragon! It was indeed Kuang Zhenieyan’s! Although many had previously doubted and hoped self-deceptively that the Darkwing Dragon wasn’t Kuang Zhenieyan’s, they were now disappointed.
Kuang Zhenieyan stood on the Darkwing Dragon’s head, like a celestial deity, imposing without needing to show anger.
The dragon’s roar rolled like thunder, shaking the earth. The six flying mounts hovering above the Mage Alliance forces instinctively trembled at the sound, overwhelmed by an innate fear they couldn’t resist!
There was a strict hierarchy even among creatures. Dragons were undoubtedly at the top of the food chain. At any time, dragons were predators, hunters, while other species were their prey!
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