"Wait!"
Liam tried to warn Bloody Edge, but it was too late. The thief's daggers were about to pierce Meneace's back. Yet at the very last moment Vavel made his move. The illusionary giant surrounding him flickered and split into two. The second image overlapped with Menace's body, protecting her from harm.
Bloody Edge gritted his teeth. It was too late to stop now. His ultimate skill was already activated, the bloody mark hanging threateningly above the head of Menace. His dagger struck the protective image, causing it to fluctuate heavily. Bloody Edge could tell that after splitting, the skill had been weakened. But it was still able to block the thief for a few seconds.
And those few seconds were all that Menace needed. Knowing that her teammates had her back, the mage could fully focus on her cast, finishing it without delay. Finally, it was completed. Her ultimate skill was revealed to the world.
"Rise, my sun!"
Menace was excited, almost trembling. It was her time to shine. She would win the first victory for her team. She raised her wand high towards the sky. A gorgeous orange jewel was held in her left hand, suddenly rotating wildly, sending a special force towards the tip of the mage's wand.
The jewel held a simple but potent effect. After Menace casted her ultimate skill, all allied magic and elemental damage would receive a boost. This was perfectly in line with GalanTen's strategy for this battle.
The mage's wand voraciously gathered the surrounding mana. A blinding light erupted from its tip. It turned into a burning sun which slowly rose towards the blue sky. The almost tropical heat increased by a few more degrees. And during its rise the bright sun randomly unleashed scorching beams of light, almost like lasers, aimed at Hotpot's players.
The first beam of light struck at Quickstep. The warrior felt an immense sense of danger and jumped to the right. Immediately CUwUty's eyes lit up. She almost couldn't believe her luck. She pointed her finger and next to Quickstep small saplings sprouted from the ground.
Quickstep's expression was icy. She recognised these saplings from CUwUty's battle with Liam. She couldn't step into them. However, just as she wanted to move away, a chill ran down her spine. Everyone's attention was still on Menace. And at this moment, a figure clad in black suddenly emerged from behind Quickstep, her daggers bursting with lightning.
"Quickstep is in danger!"
From one moment to the next the pressure on Hotpot left them suffocated. GalanTen seemed to have everything planned out. They were determined to win this first battle. Radiant Shield realised what was going on and bestowed a [Sacred Barrier] upon Quickstep.
"Thanks!"
The female warrior finally felt a sense of security. Her priorities shifted. She had to build up some Storm. If the enemy's attacks hit her in the process, it didn't matter. [Sacred Barrier] would shield her.
Changes happened within seconds. For the moment everyone had their target. Henragon and Vavel bore the brunt of Hotpot's attacks. Silver Blade was freed up and tried to tie down the enemy. Her [Aura of the Sloth] radiated out, but Henragon instantly retaliated with the same skill.
Suddenly a low explosion shook GalanTen's backline. The illusionary image protecting Menace exploded under Bloody Edge's attacks. It did its job, tanking most of his skills. But Bloody Edge was not disheartened. His mind moved and one of his newer skills, [Bloody Mist] was activated. It was as if a small bomb erupted. Red mist carrying the iron smell of blood filled a certain area around the thief. Players caught within it were restricted, allowing only the use of [Stealth] and ultimate skills.
Bloody Edge grinned. His daggers flashed and cut at Menace's back. The mage shivered. For a moment she had to adjust, realizing that her prepared flash step failed. She had no choice but to endure some hits from Bloody Edge while escaping physically. Fortunately, skills coming from outside weren't blocked. Menace received some healing, and her life wasn't in danger for the moment.
As the battle was raging around him and Liam's attention was focused onto Greenhorn, he didn't forget to observe the situation. Currently it didn't look well for Hotpot. Although the battle seemed to be in a balanced state, the sun hanging above their heads caused quite some trouble. Its burning rays had to be dodged. Therefore, the friends were using up their stance faster than their opponents. If this continued it would eventually spiral out of control.
However, Liam wasn't anxious. Hotpot was clear about their strategy. The fist battle could be lost as long as they gathered enough information. Just from watching, Liam was able to analyse a lot. However, there were some players who hadn't revealed anything yet. Most remarkably the warrior named Greenhorn and the mage named Hero of Realms.
Liam narrowed his eyes, staring at the warrior in front of him. Greenhorn fought with a single, long sword. If Liam had to describe his style in one word it would be: stable. The warrior's every step was well planned, never showing any fluster. Despite not being a tank Greenhorn was like a pillar of support which every team would want to have.
Although Liam applied pressure, Greenhorn didn't cave in. He never used a skill. Even if he took damage, his expression remained calm. Of course, this was also because most of Liam's skills were on cooldown and he had to pay attention to the sun looming over his head at the same time. Thus, Liam was unable to force Greenhorn into a desperate situation.
However, this was about to change now. Silver Blade reached the backline of GalanTen and suddenly received all their attention. While Vavel and Occulus were already trying their best to keep Menace safe from Bloody Edge, the addition of the tank left them unable to care about anything else.
Thus, Cyclone, Fortune, and Silent Acacia abruptly turned around, piling their attacks onto Greenhorn. The warrior was instantly under enormous pressure. He couldn't hold back anymore. He stomped his feet, and a layer of dark magic suddenly surrounded him.
Murmurs ran through the audience ranks. From Grenhorn's appearance no one would have guessed that he was a user of dark magic. He was not a nephilim and naturally no player of the chaos faction. Where did the dark magic come from?
"Can we use dark magic in the order faction?"
"What does it do?"
"Look, Liam seems to be slowing down. Everyone attacking Greenhorn must be getting debuffed!"
Hotpot made the same observations. Liam could feel eerie energy run through his body, slowing both his movement and attack speed. His mind was instantly racing, shifting through various possibilities. But to confirm Greenhorn's class he still needed more information.
[Bleary Mirage: Keep attacking!]
Liam's friends acknowledged the instructions, but GalanTen wouldn't make their life easy. At this moment BlackHorizon and SpireX, who had been entangled with Radiant Shield, suddenly managed to break away. SpireX's eyes blazed with bloody light as he actually threw both of his axes. The terrifying black blades spun in a wide arc, threatening to cut Cyclone, Fortune, and Silent Acacia apart.
The three ranged players moved abruptly. Fortune and Cyclone, still in the process of casting skills, performed quick flash steps. Gasps of awe ran through the audience as both mages managed to complete the evasive manoveur without interrupting the cast of their skills.
However, dodging a single attack was not enough. Radiant Shield frowned. He wanted to stop the enemy warriors, but he was running out of skills. His aggro drawing skills have already been used. All that was left was [Sacred Protection], which increased Radiant Shield's defence. Of course, he could use his ultimate skill, but this didn't align with Hotpot's strategy.
Cyclone recognized the situation. She saw SpireX and BlackHorizon rushing towards her. Especially the latter. A flaming cape appeared behind his back, causing his bare upper body to shine, seemingly boosting his speed. Cyclone was pondering. GalanTen had suspiciously many members wielding fire damage. Was this also a part of their strategy? Do they have more tricks up their sleeves?
The train of thought was cut short. BlackHorizon appeared in front of him, swinging his heavy axe in a wide arc. It left a trail of flames, which followed like a rope bound to the axe, delivering an additional attack. Cyclone gritted her teeth. A decision was made in an instant. She tensed her body, putting all her concentration on the skill she was casting.
Boom!
A flaming axe crashed into Cyclone's body. The mage trembled. Crazy damage was piled up. The axe, supported by multiple instances of fire damage, took more than 15.000HP from Cyclone. Sparks erupted from her robe, retaliating against the attacker, freezing him for a moment.
Cyclone knew that this was her only chance. She completed her spell, pointing her wand at Greenhorn. A crackling cage of lightning appeared around the warrior, enclosing him within.