Xiao Hua hid for a long time, pondering several possible contingency plans. Two hours later, the main force of the Oak Forest Guild finally emerged from the left passage.
A team of around two hundred people had already been arranged. Upon entering the stretch of road free of monster spawns, this team promptly separated from the main group and moved forward in perfect formation. They were not worried about being killed because, even if their team of two hundred were wiped out within a hundred meters, the healers from the main group would have enough time to revive them.
Red Maple Leaf, standing at the forefront of the main group, wore a look of anxiety as she watched the advancing team of two hundred people.
Beside Red Maple Leaf stood several players of different classes. One of them, a male archer with a fair complexion, calm demeanor, and a somewhat heroic presence, noticed her unease and asked with concern, "Maple Leaf, what’s wrong?"
"There’s something I find strange. If the enemy truly set up a trap ahead, why didn’t they wait until the scouts passed through before setting it? The scouts were two hours ahead of us. On this stretch of road without monsters, regular traps would surely have enough time to be set up. Yet, they risked exposing themselves by killing all the scouts. This suggests that if there is a trap, it must take more than two hours to set up, necessitating the elimination of the scouts!" Red Maple Leaf expressed her doubts after observing the long stretch of flat road ahead.
The archer was actually the guild master of the Oak Forest Guild, Quercus. Hearing Red Maple Leaf’s concerns, he was alarmed. Indeed, if there was a trap that required several hours to set up, it would be devastating!
"Main force, halt! Once the advance team reaches the ambush point of the scouts, if there is no attack, detach a squad of twenty to proceed further. The rest will follow at a hundred-meter distance!" Quercus immediately adjusted the strategy, willing to delay the mission by over ten minutes to ensure safety.
With nearly three thousand people stopped in place, everyone began chatting amongst themselves. Xiao Hua took this opportunity to blend into the rear of the main group.
"No ambush detected!" came the message from the advance team shortly after.
"Detach a squad and continue forward!" Quercus furrowed his brow, preferring an ambush over this uncertainty.
From the ambush site of Xiao Hua and his team, a small unit of twenty advanced cautiously from the two-hundred-person team.
"Emergency healers and guards, mount up and prepare to rescue!" Quercus called out a group of over a hundred healers. Of course, healers alone could not operate independently, so a team of guards from various classes also mounted up.
Another two to three hundred people moved forward from the main group. Suddenly, a scorching bright white light erupted from the front, blinding the two thousand plus people momentarily. As everyone was trying to understand what had happened, a massive column of black light shot up into the sky!
The black light rose over twenty to thirty meters into the air, forming a gigantic circular black pattern. Even from a distance, the menacing aura of the black pattern, resembling lightning, was palpable.
"A magic array? So huge?" Xiao Hua recognized the massive black pattern in the sky as a giant magic array. Seeing it continue to expand, he felt a sense of dread and instinctively took a few steps back.
Quercus gazed at the sky with a changed expression. The black magic array was enormous, stretching over three hundred meters in diameter and stopping just fifty meters short of the main group. Had it not been for Red Maple Leaf’s caution, half the group might have been engulfed by the black magic array!
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The loss of over half the members would be devastating, as resurrection spells had long cooldowns and could not revive everyone immediately.
The massive black magic array formed rapidly, and within moments, countless bolts of black lightning descended from the sky, roaring down with tremendous force.
Thousands of black lightning bolts rained down from the magic array, plunging the area into darkness and causing the ground to tremble. The deafening sounds echoed continuously.
Watching this apocalyptic scene, Xiao Hua’s face turned ashen. If hit by the black lightning, even with Anti-Magic Shell, he would not survive.
Players outside the magic array were already terrified by the sight of thousands of lightning bolts, but those within the array felt an overwhelming sense of despair, surrounded by bucket-sized bolts of lightning.
The black magic array did not last long, dissipating in less than thirty seconds. The sky cleared, but the faces of those present remained grim, still reeling from the shock.
"Healers, move forward and rescue! Quickly!" As the guild master, Quercus promptly issued rescue orders. The guild members snapped out of their stupor and sprang into action.
"What the hell, where did those guys come from? When did players in Second World start using such monstrous things?" Xiao Hua, observing the commotion, became curious about the identities of the black-clothed players. Considering he had accepted a main quest from the Free faction, it was possible that some players had joined the Dark faction and were tasked with hindering the Light faction’s progress.
"Time is short, remaining teams, maintain formation and move forward!" Quercus gave the order to advance, despite lingering concerns about additional ambushes. However, he believed that such devastating traps would not reappear, as Second World maintained a semblance of balance. If the enemy could endlessly deploy such traps, completing the quest would be impossible. Time was running out, and any further delays could jeopardize their mission.
A group of healers led the way, and the main force resumed its advance.
After the chaos, the formations were somewhat disrupted, but with new members joining the Oak Forest Guild recently, Xiao Hua, wearing the guild emblem, blended in without arousing suspicion. Most players were preoccupied with the shocking magic array, and Xiao Hua’s concerns did not materialize.
The Oak Forest Guild pushed forward like a bulldozer, clearing monsters along the way. Without scouts, they had to proceed cautiously, but fortunately, the subsequent monsters, while numerous, were not as formidable as boss-level creatures. The front-line assault teams handled them effectively, allowing the main group to advance steadily without encountering any significant ambushes. Progress became much quicker.
The only issue was the rapid respawn rate of some monsters. After clearing an area, monsters would often respawn behind the group, causing confusion. However, the Oak Forest Guild was prepared for this, with mid-to-rear teams configured in standard squads. Although the number of respawns was high, the squads managed them without significant casualties.
Xiao Hua, following behind, encountered such situations several times but rarely needed to intervene, as the sheer number of players made short work of the enhanced monsters.
The main force of the Oak Forest Guild continued advancing amid tension and minor chaos, suffering minimal losses. Seven hours later, Xiao Hua squinted and noticed the terrain ahead suddenly opening up. Throughout the journey, the surroundings consisted mainly of giant oak trees and monsters, but now, a vast expanse of cracked black soil stretched before them, devoid of any oak trees. It felt as though they had entered a different world from the ancient oak forest.
"Finally, we’re nearing the quest location!" Stepping onto the black soil, Quercus sighed with relief. Despite the seemingly calm journey since the ambush, the risks had been significant, and he, as the guild master, had borne the brunt of the stress. The front-line assault teams had used a tremendous amount of potions to ensure a smooth progression.
Strangely, the black soil contained no monsters. The main group proceeded unhindered for half an hour before Quercus sent another detachment of twenty to scout ahead.
As the group traversed the black land, the deeper they ventured, the more layers of gray mist appeared in the distance.
"What an eerie place," Xiao Hua mused, stepping on the slightly elastic black soil and gazing at the layers of gray mist in the sky.
Lifting his head, Xiao Hua looked ahead once more. In the distance, beyond the gray mist, a vague silhouette of a towering tree emerged.