Zayn received a report from his attendant. The young NPC was agitated, and drenched in sweat, the report's urgency apparent.
“The Wavers Guild hired a group of mercenaries called Bloodhounds after their Guildmaster was killed in a bout with Erik, Storm Monarch, and the others?” Zayn asked, his eyes narrowed to slits. Most details of the battle were missing, but the Guildmaster of the Wavers Guild was a big shot in the real world. A tycoon. The same man who’d turned the White Clover’s life in Forgotten Lands into a living hell.
The corner of Zayn’s lips curled upward as he reached the end of the report.
“Bloodhound has hundreds of members…and they’re all coming for Erik in Mistwood?” He asked his attendant, who nodded slowly.
“That’s perfect,” Zayn exclaimed, his eyes glimmering brightly, “I have been waiting for some free Armaments!”
**
“Oh shit! How many of these fuckers are there?!” Elveriun shouted over his back a moment before dissipating into a nearby wall's shadows.
The Golden Age members didn’t know how many mercenaries managed to breach Mistwood’s walls, but there had to be hundreds of them. That was too much even for Elveriun, Erik, Storm Monarch, and the other Golden Age members. Their gross numerical disadvantage worsened as a few newer members died from stray inferno bolts and spike prisons.
Some mercenaries were stronger than the rest, but they had one thing in common. The Bloodhounds were all coated in a crimson hue, which enhanced their combat prowess the longer they engaged in combat. That didn’t seem like a big issue when the fierce battle began, but it became much more troublesome as the battle was drawn out.
Erik cleaved through the armor of one mercenary, his sword cutting deep into the man’s chest, only for three mercenaries to replace their fallen comrade.
No matter how they looked at the situation, it was dire.
Evleriun emerged from the shadow, his daggers piercing a Caster’s neck. He twisted the blade in the Caster’s neck and ripped it out right before disappearing once again. Blood spurted in all directions, but the Bloodhound mercenaries didn’t pay their dying mate much attention. Erik and the others would have felt pity for the Caster if he wasn’t their enemy. They were busy enough fighting desperately to survive a little longer. There was no time to show pity.
“Should we retreat?” Storm Monarch asked, summoning a typhoon to block a barrage of arrows. He hurled a few semi-translucent blades of compressed wind at the incoming men and women, but his attacks were repelled. Storm Monarch clicked his tongue and stepped back, his attention pulling toward Erik. It was time to make a decision.
“We cannot use the Return Tokens, but we might be able to–...” Erik’s eyes pulled to the sky, and his expression changed. His deep frown was replaced by a smile while his worry dispersed, “Nevermind. Attack as hard as possible. We will kill them all.”
Storm Monarch stared at Erik as if he lost his sanity but followed the man’s gaze. A smile blossomed on his lips as well. His battle spirit was ignited again, and he retrieved a few potions.
“The Guildmaster has come. Kill!!” Storm Monarch exclaimed right before a meteorite shot down from the sky. It crashed heavily into the back rows of the mercenaries, killing a handful of them instantaneously.
A moment later, a horrifying screech reverberated through the surroundings, and a massive eagle shot back into the sky, several Players caught in its talons. Shimmering in a bright golden hue, the massive eagle hurled the mercenaries through the air before diving down again to claw more mercenaries with its talon and peeking through their armors and skulls with its beak.
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“Thanks for your patronage, you ugly brickheads!” Zayn’s voice reverberated through the surroundings, his voice overshadowing the cacophony of chaos and destruction.
The mercenaries’ screams and the carnage caused by the Eagle Spirit were background sounds to the Golden Age members as Zayn’s words rang through the surroundings. Their Guildmaster emerged from the wall of rubble and debris the dive into the masses of enemies had caused.
He smiled at his people and gave them a thumbs-up before turning around and summoning his Spirit Souls. Some things changed over the last few weeks, though it wasn’t too much. He merely upgraded…a few Spirit Souls.
Spirit Soul — Magma Goblin Champion – 1501/1824 (Expand)
Spirit Soul – Miniature Roc — 1753/2419 (Expand)
Spirit Soul — Magma Goblin Shaman – 1694/2069 (Expand)
Spirit Soul – Colossus Pyro Slime – 1601/1941 (Expand)
Spirit Soul – Woodwaker Deer – 1509/1555 (Expand)
The Shaman Spirit and the Champion Spirit emerged next to him. Champion glanced at him, waiting to retrieve his Ranked Weapon before kicking the ground and charging into the masses of enemies. On the other hand, the Shaman Spirit manifested several Energy Bolts, which it released into the back row of Casters, Supporters, and Healers. It didn’t kill many mercenaries with the first few volleys of energy bolts, but a few unprepared souls fell victim to the Shaman Spirit’s attacks.
However, even more mercenaries fell victim to the carnage caused by the Miniature Roc and the gigantic golden…slime emerging before Zayn. Miniature Roc and the Colossus Pyro Slime were Tier-2 Regional Bosses, which Zayn had killed before summoning their Spirit. The Slime was a little bit more complicated to resurrect via Soul Link, but it worked out perfectly fine in the end.
In the meantime, the fifth Spirit Soul in Zayn’s team didn’t engage in battle right away. A three-meter-tall Deer with wooden-shaped antlers emerged next to Zayn. It bleaked aloud and released a golden hue into the surroundings, recuperating the used-up Soul Power of the other Spirit Souls while simultaneously tending to the injuries of all allies in its range of effect.
It was Tier-2 Regional Boss as well, though the weakest among the three Regional Bosses he’d picked to become his Spirit Souls. It was weaker than the Champion Spirit and possessed powers aligned with nature and light. Zayn picked the Woodwaker Deer because it was the best at healing his Spirit Souls and his allies, but also because its alignment with nature also helped his Card combo.
Zayn didn’t even think of holding back. He allowed his Spirit Souls to wreak havoc and spread in all directions while accessing the surrounding plant life using Nature’s Little Wrath and Florakinesis. The Woodwaker Deer Spirit amplified the efficiency of his nature-attributed Cards, resulting in a broader range of effects.
Countless roots shot out of the ground all around the battlefield. They coiled around the ankles and legs of the nearest mercenaries and restrained them, but Zayn was not yet done. He was just getting started. He unleashed Thorn Attachment to grow thorns all over the roots coiling around the mercenaries’ legs. Simultaneously, he added Draining Touch to the thorns and Reinforce to the thorns and the roots, reinforcing them to a certain degree.
As if that wasn’t enough, Zayn unleashed a series of Power Up on his Spirit Souls and the Golden Age members, augmenting their overall strength drastically.
Next, Zayn retrieved the Verdant Saber and applied Double Impact, Draining Touch, Sharpness, Poison Augment, Reinforce, and Armor Penetration. He then unleashed Lifeforce Conversion, consuming more than three-quarters of his lifeforce to transform it into raw, yet temporary, power.
His lifeforce recuperated fast as Draining Touch, attached to the thorns, was triggered, refilling his used-up energy and lifeforce. Zayn evaded a series of incoming projectiles by using Blink. He teleported away and joined the fierce battle. He did not need to stay back and let the others jump into melee combat alone. Zayn had been a close combat fighter for years. Even though most of his Cards transformed him into a combatant, focusing on controlling the battlefield and his minions, Zayn never considered staying in the back rows.
He beheaded one mercenary with a swift slash, poisoned another mercenary with a stab in his stomach, and restrained him with several reinforced roots before ending his life. After that, Zayn searched for stronger enemies while always focusing on his Spirit Souls and the network of roots that stretched further as the battle dragged on. More energy and lifeforce filled his body, trickling into him more and more by the second.
Notifications popped up before him, but Zayn dismissed them for now. The bloody fight before him was all that mattered. The Bloodhounds would be the ones bleeding this time. They were his treasure trove and what he needed after weeks of research and office work.