"Don't let him get away with that!"
D3ath shouted angrily at his teammates while dark magic gathered around his weighty, black great sword. He swung it at Liam, attempting to retaliate with his own skill.
Meanwhile Liam remained calm. Without even looking he used [Grip of the Dark] on one of the opposing healers while directing Reen to take a step to the side. The basilisk moved gracefully as if it were part of Liam's body.
Even the enemies were amazed. They had made the conscious decision not to summon their mounts because of the limited space between the trees. However, Liam showed them how skilled a mount could move. Reen even pulled in his tail so it wouldn't get stuck on a tree.
D3ath snorted as his skill missed. Three clusters of dark magic in the form of a great sword flew out. While one of them crashed into a tree and the second didn't hit anything, the third aimed straight at Quickstep.
"Haha, let's not leave all the fun to Liam!"
Quickstep sounded excited as she dodged the attack. She was just about to rush towards the enemy when multiple shouts reached her ears.
"Careful!"
"Behind you!"
The female warrior moved on instinct. She dodged hastily, causing her mount Tango to collide with a tree. But at least she barely managed to escape the attack as D3ath's dark magic made a 180-degree turn, returning to the chaos faction player.
After the quick opener, movement came into both groups as they choose similar tactics. The ranged classes sought cover behind the trees while the melees rushed towards each other. Aggro-drawing skills were used and even Liam didn't manage to dodge as they were outnumbered two to one.
For a while the fight was in a standstill. The melee fighters exchanged skills doing some damage but thanks to shields and heals there were no serious injuries. However, this was a bad sign for the chaos faction players. Despite having more people, they didn't get the upper hand.
Skills like [Aura of the Sloth] dominated the battlefield, annoying the enemies greatly. But the chaos faction players were not without their own means. They had many curses to debuff their enemies in all aspects.
The situation changed soon though as the mages finished their casts. Cyclone and Fortune didn't immediately unleash their ultimate skills, first trying to bait out the possible countermeasures. Instead, they started with [Arcane Bolt] and [Bindings of Lightning], which dealt continuous damage.
The enemy mages went for similar tactics. Both sides tried to use up the cooldowns of the opposing support players. Thus, it was important for Hotpot to dodge attacks, abusing the advantage brought by being on their mounts. Yet none of the others could match up to Liam in this aspect. They took varying amounts of damage, even to the point where Fortune took a health potion, so Balm didn't need to heal her.
However, just as the enemies saw some hope the situation exploded.
[Quickstep: I have enough storm!]
[Bleary Mirage: Let's go!]
Suddenly Hotpot made their moves. Radiant Shield directed his basilisk to use her war cry skill, improving everyone's strength. Liam activated his [Grip of the Dark], changing places with the shadow figure, suddenly appearing behind the enemies' healer.
"Ha! Too easy!"
Suddenly two ghosts appeared to the left and the right of the healer, protecting her with their bodies. Obviously, the enemies had already expected something like this to happen. But Liam didn't care, instantly switching targets. Using [Dash] he weaved between the trees, reaching one of the mages. His swords cut down in a flash. The mage's body turned ethereal, escaping one attack but Liam was not done yet.
Simultaneously to the left of the battlefield. Another chaos mage was hiding behind a tree, casting a spell. Suddenly he felt something. A shiver ran down his spine as his instincts sent fierce warnings.
A figure appeared next to the mage. It was Bloody Edge, although he was without a mount as it would be difficult to remain undetected otherwise. The thief didn't say anything as four gleaming daggers shining with holy light appeared, stabbing towards the mage.
"No!"
The latter tried to use a flash step, but he was just a moment too late. The daggers reached him in time, nailing him in place.
[-4626!]
[-2119!]
The mage froze in shock as a single attack took more than half of his HP away. Before anyone could come to his help, Bloody Edge's daggers flashed again, and the mage died on the spot. The chaos faction players began to feel some fear as one of their own died with such ease.
However, this was the expected result if a mage met a thief. Especially since the mage was one of the weakest players present, being a full five level lower than Bloody Edge.
On the other hand, Liam didn't manage to take out his target quickly as the enemies had put more priority on defending against him.
Meanwhile there was a lot of pressure on Hotpot's other melee players. While Silver Blade and Radiant Shield had to make sure that none of the enemies made it past them, it was Quickstep's and Watchful Eye's job to deal all the damage.
Having saved up enough storm, Quickstep was prepared to unleash terror upon her enemies. She began with her newest skill [Storm's Aid]. Fierce winds filled the battlefield, containing sharp blades which moved in sync with Quickstep.
Next, she activated [Aspect of Storm], lifting her limits on attack speed and movement speed. With that she began to rush around the enemy melee fighters like a violent storm, attacking fiercely from all sides. Her swords flashed and wind blades followed immediately. A [Whirlwind Slash] crashed right into D3ath's back.
[-705!]
[-705!]
However, the chaos faction players would not take things lying down. Fortune was just about to start the cast of another skill when her ears twitched. She perceived the rustling of some dry leaves. She instantly realized that she was about to be attacked. With a thought she switched skills, activating [Arcane Tremors]. This was the skill she received as a reward after winning the tournament together with Hotpot. It was perfect for PvP fights.
Without the need to cast, Fortune swung her staff. The mana surrounding her suddenly became chaotic. It twisted and turned, shaking up the trees, even breaking off some branches. Everything around her received continuous damage.
"What?!"
"We've been discovered!"
Two thieves suddenly lost their stealth, appearing close to Fortune.
[-721!]
[-783!]
"Get her!"
Despite losing the advantage of a surprise attack the two thieves gritted their teeth and threw their bodies at Fortune. But the mage had more tricks up her sleeves. She instantly began the cast for [Arcane Sphere].
Seeing this, the thieves expected Fortune to receive a shield. But now it was too late to change their movements. They raised their daggers, attacking fiercely with their own skills. However, when they reached Fortune there was still nothing protecting the mage.
"Haha, take her down!"
One of the thieves was almost ecstatic, eager to take down one of the famous members of Hotpot. His daggers stabbed forward and… phased right through Fortune's body.
The thieves were shocked as their attacks dealt no damage. They had also watched the tournament, but never seen Fortune pull off such a move. Yet this was only natural as Fortune had used her mount's skill, granting her an ethereal body for three seconds, immune to any attacks.
As the thieves were figuring out how to react, Fortune's [Arcane Tremors] skill continued to hurt the thieves. After two more ticks the situation suddenly changed. [Arcane Tremors] had an additional effect after dealing damage equal to forty times Fortune's level.
Suddenly the chaotic mana in the surroundings turned even fiercer for a moment. Low explosions happened right in front of the thieves' bodies. Not given any time to react the two attackers were suddenly flung backwards, landing some distance away from Fortune, one of them even crashing into a tree.
"F*ck! What was that?!"
The thieves cursed out loud but at that moment they noticed Fortune pointing her staff at them with a grin.
"Dodge!"
The two thieves were frightened. There was no doubt in their minds that Fortune would try to take them out. She had been casting for about three seconds, and her skill was obviously ready to be unleashed.
Instantly escape skills were activated. The thieves turned into shadows and did their best to get away.
Seeing this, Fortune couldn't help but laugh brightly. She made use of her passive to prolong her cast a little bit and turned around, aiming at the melee players before unleashing her skill at them. When a large sphere of mana shot thorough the battlefield, the thieves realized they had been tricked, cursing angrily.
Fortune's [Arcane Sphere] shot out, aiming for the place where the densest crowd of players stood. It unleashed strikes of pure mana at all the enemies it came across, dealing terrifying damage. Together with Quickstep and Watchful Eye the chaos faction players were in a lot of trouble in a short time.