"As an assassin, never jump to conclusions before your target is dead."
Orson spoke calmly, his eyes gazing upwards at the storm that had begun to gather in the sky. It was obvious to the naked eye that this next move would be a death sentence if taken head-on. However, NPCs were different from players—the more powerful their area-of-effect magic, the longer their casting time. During this wind-up period, if the spellcasting was interrupted, the spell could backfire, causing damage to the caster.
Immediately, Orson commanded the Crimson Lizard King to retreat.
"At all costs, stop that summoned beast!" Demon Emperor barked, seeing through Orson's plan to use his summon as a shield.
Slaughter Spree, who had just resurrected, spoke in a deep voice: "All the Earth Riders, listen to my command! Form a shield wall and push the summoned beast away!"
More than twenty Earth Riders rushed forward, raising their shields in unison to encircle the Crimson Lizard King, forming an impenetrable wall of defense.
The battle aura around them lit up, their movements synchronized. The shield wall held firm against the force of Crimson Lizard King's tail swipe, and with a grunt, the Earth Riders pushed back with all their might.
"Whoa!" "Whoa! Whoa!"
Everyone exerted themselves to the maximum, and waves of magical runes rippled across the shields. Despite the enormous size of the Crimson Lizard King, it was slowly being pushed away from Orson and his team.
"Impressive command ability," Orson murmured to himself. [Shield Wall Counterattack] was just a D-grade skill for the Earth Riders, which normally wouldn't have enough power to move such a large boss. But with more than twenty Earth Riders working together, even a boss was being pushed back.
Crazy Handsome: "Damn it, let me through!" Nameless Void: "We're screwed! The NPC guards are charging in from the outside, we're being surrounded!"
Crazy Handsome and his team attempted to rescue Orson and the others, but they were blocked by Slaughter Guild members. They didn't rush in recklessly but instead waited for the NPC guards to encircle them completely.
Blank suddenly reappeared, trying to sneak up from behind. Orson glanced slightly to the side, whispering, "The Flame Dragon!"
With a loud explosion, the Flame Dragon shot toward Blank.
"I knew you'd try that move. I know your skills like the back of my hand!" Blank sneered confidently, her body suddenly becoming ghostly, like a fog floating around Orson.
In an instant, Blank's afterimages surrounded Orson, making it nearly impossible to track her real position. Her killing intent surged as she moved to strike at Orson's heart.
Blank's face beneath her mask twisted in surprise. She and the Dragon Rider, Drunken Dream, both took a few steps back. Her attack was perfectly blocked by Drunken Dream's dragon spear.
Blank stared at him, shocked, and muttered, "How can you see through my attack even in a blind state?!"
Orson was also stunned. Drunken Dream's combat instincts were terrifying! This guy was blocking attacks with his eyes closed!
Despite being blinded by the holy warhammer's light, losing all vision, Drunken Dream was still able to block a B-grade assassination skill?
Not only that, but when faced with a furious attack from the Earth Knight, Drunken Dream's shield was nearly destroyed. Without flinching, he threw the shield with incredible precision, embedding it deep into the Earth Knight's chest.
Though the damage wasn't particularly high, it infuriated the Earth Knight, as it was a sign of humiliation. He ripped the shield off his chest and roared at Drunken Dream, "You won't get the chance to win!"
Drunken Dream squinted his eyes, barely regaining some of his vision. Turning to Orson, he said calmly, "Don't look at me like that. In real life, I'm blind. It's easy for me to fight based on sound."
Orson and Blank both spat blood in disbelief.
No wonder this guy's combat intuition was so freakishly accurate. He could anticipate an attack's trajectory before it even happened. After all, normal people rely on their sight, but Drunken Dream was using sound, which was much faster.
"A successful Chaos Mage should be able to have a Dragon Rider as a bodyguard, right?" Orson thought to himself.
Drunken Dream: "You break the spellcasting! I'll hold off the Earth Knight. I can last for at least ten seconds."
Orson shook his head, saying, "No, I think you can solo him."
"...Fire Mage, you really are joking," Drunken Dream said, his cold sweat trickling down. His shield had been destroyed, and facing an intelligent NPC lord, even a Dragon Rider would be killed in a one-on-one fight.
Orson simply said: "Trust me."
Then, his staff rose, and with a swift motion, he cast, "Earthquake!"
Two stone dragons roared as they tore through the banquet hall floor and charged toward the wind mage.
"Barbarian Whirlwind Slash!"
Demon Emperor snorted coldly and transformed his sturdy body into a tornado, spinning rapidly to land a powerful strike that shattered one of the stone serpents.
Slaughter Spree was not to be outdone. With a shield in hand, he stabbed repeatedly with his battle spear: "Mad Demon Killing Spree!"
The remaining stone serpent was destroyed.
Demon Emperor snarled, "No matter who you are, once you're in my grip, death is the only thing waiting for you!"
Orson didn't have time to respond to his boasting. He smiled lightly and cast, "Ice Prison Ring—Full Power!"
A hexagram appeared in front of Orson, radiating death. Time seemed to freeze as icy mist rapidly spread, freezing everything in its path!
Demon Emperor didn't miss a beat. His hand quickly became covered in frost, and he immediately drank another ice resistance potion.
The hundreds of enemy players had already prepared, quickly dispelling the effects before they were completely frozen.
However, all the NPCs in the banquet hall and the approaching Earth Soldiers were turned into statues of ice.
Just as the Wind Mage was about to be frozen, the Earth Knight stepped forward, using his body to block the icy mist and immediately activating his forceful dispel.
"Sorrow Song!" "Die!"
The chant of magic finished, and seven terrifying tornadoes descended. The roof of the banquet hall was blown away as shattered debris was whipped into the air.
Frenzied War: "Damn it, I'm done! I knew I shouldn't have trusted you guys, you damned mage, you damned dragon rider..."
A series of damage numbers flashed as Frenzied War and his team were all lifted into the air and torn apart instantly.
Orson and Drunken Dream also suffered the same ruthless assault. As the tornadoes began to close in, they were left with no escape.
Drunken Dream, unwilling to give up, threw his "fragile shield" behind him, trying to break through. But he was quickly knocked back by the Earth Knight's warhammer.
He looked up at the approaching storm and sighed, "Sigh... we lost."
"I told you, trust me."
A voice rang out, and Drunken Dream looked at Orson, incredulity filling his gaze. Orson's eyes were soft, his face showing no signs of panic.
Orson slightly tilted his head, raised his staff, and calmly said, "Stormblade."
A water-blue glow emanated from his staff. Seeing this, the enemy mages stared in disbelief.
"What is he doing? Using a C-grade magic to directly challenge A-grade Wind God's Sorrow? Is he crazy?"
Slaughter Spree: "This clown still hasn't given up. Let's go to the revival point and wait for him to drop a dragon egg!"
I Feared No One: "Wait a second, that staff he's holding... it seems familiar... doesn't it resemble the one at the top of the weapon leaderboard?"
The group paused in confusion, but the temptation of the dragon egg made them push aside any second thoughts.
Double Spellcasting Effect Triggered!
Orson's eyes lit up as a 20% chance finally triggered at the most critical moment!
A single raindrop slowly fell. Blank instinctively reached up to wipe it away, her eyes narrowing in suspicion. "This...?"
She hesitated as she realized the water had turned icy cold, and within a split second, it froze into a brilliant blue frost.
"Ha! He panicked! Haha, the skill is actually aimed at the tornado!" A player laughed out loud.
Three six-pointed stars appeared above the tornado, and Demon Emperor's smile stiffened as he sensed something wasn't quite right.
"Stormblade—Trio!" Orson announced proudly.
Countless raindrops poured down onto the tornado, turning the originally gray whirlwind into a swirling mass of blue.
The tornado let out an ominous roar as large amounts of water elements reacted within it.
The Wind God's Sorrow began to slow down, the tornado's spin decelerating.
The Wind Mage's face was drenched in sweat, realizing that his magic was no longer under control.
Seeing this, a strong sense of impending danger spread across the hearts of Demon Emperor, Blank, and the others.
"Run! Everyone, get out of here now!" Demon Emperor shouted.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh—
Suddenly, countless raindrops were ejected from the tornado, flying like bullets toward the group.
"What is this... this detail operation? Enhancing our own attack by using the enemy's magic?"
Drunken Dream stared in shock and awe, his gaze towards Orson now filled with reverence.
"Do you like drinking magic resistance potions? You can dispel control, but can you dispel pure mixed damage?" Orson smiled coldly.
This wasn't the end. A massive rainstorm of blades continued to pour from the tornado.
And then, they were frozen once again by the Ice Prison Ring, turning into millions of crystal-clear ice blades!
The number of ice blades was in the millions!