Chapter 244: Battle Commences!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
‘Ding! You will be marked with a special symbol because you hold a [Territory Command Order]!’
‘Ding! You cannot leave Thunderstorm Castle, otherwise the [Territory Command Order] will automatically drop!’
‘Ding! If you are killed, [Territory Command Order] will have a 100% chance of dropping!’
Suddenly, a huge green command order light appeared on the top of Zhang Yang’s head, the light beamed straight into the clouds, even ignoring buildings and obstacles. Players far away from Zhang Yang would definitely see the beacon. He was so exposed that he was practically naked!
"Ha ha ha!" Wei Yan Er could not help but laughed nonstop, out of breath and said, "Noob tank, you look like one of those death row inmates from the past, with a sign on your head and round your neck!"
Han Ying Xue and rest burst out in laughter once they heard Wei Yan Er.
"This is more like a price tag for Zhang Yang to sell his body! Hey ladies, are you all interested to bid for Little Yang? The minimum price is one gold coin!" Fatty Han patted Zhang Yang’s shoulder and said.
"Too expensive! That’s too expensive!" Wei Yan Er shook her head continuously and said, "If the price is one copper coin, I’ll pay on behalf of my cousin!"
"Damn it, cut the bullsh*t, back to your positions!" Zhang Yang shouted, forcing a straight-face, as he tried to reassert his dominance as guild leader!
The Battle for Terra Nulius has started!
Even though many guilds were still rushing over to Thunderstorm Castle from their respective locations, those guilds who already guessed Zhang Yang as the person who held [Territory Command Order] were already formed up outside Thunderstorm Castle. They would have rushed into the castle before everything else, but were repelled! This was because was an invisible barrier outside the gate of Thunderstorm Castle.
Now, who is going to step up to make the first move?
The name of Lone Desert Smoke had spread all over the world as Zhang Yang and his guild, Lone Desert Smoke, had recently broke through all the players in the China server. Even the players in the other seven regions also knew this legendary guild which also tore through new dungeons, with a fierce PvP reputation to boot!
Nobody was willing to step up!
Tick tock, tick tock, the time slowly passed by!
"Kill!" finally there was a guild who could not help but initiate the first attack!
Instantly, like setting off a warehouse of dynamite, more than 10 guilds worked together and started attacking Thunderstorm Castle.
"Boss, why don’t we attack?" Traveling Piglet looked at Humbly Gentleman and asked. He probably hated Lone Desert Smoke as much as his leader. Their guild was almost disbanded by Lone Desert Smoke, it made the people of The Dominators extremely furious.
Humbly Gentleman looked at the huge command order light floated on top of Thunderstorm Castle, and although he could not see Zhang Yang, he could clearly see Zhang Yang’s location. He sneered and replied, "What’s the point of going now? Battle for Terra Nulius lasts for three hours, let the others wear themselves out first! This is not a competition of ‘whosoever holds the [Territory Command Order] for the longest time wins’. There is a saying, that coming in time is better than coming early!"
"Then, when should we attack?"
"Hmph, let most of the defenders die off before we take advantage of them!"
Humbly Gentleman’s idea sounded good, but he was underestimating the integrity of the defense! The entrance of Thunderstorm Castle was narrow, it was easily defensible, and difficult to fight in, besides, the ranged attackers of four guilds were positioned at the top of castle, while melee attackers were positioned at the entrance. Moreover, many AoE skills were being used at the entrance, killing off the players who had generously bunched themselves up!
The defending side could also use the castle walls as firing cover, simply crouching down when under fire and allowing the healers behind them to recover their HP. The only way of attack the defending side was to have several ranged attackers focus fire on one target at a time, hoping to kill the target off before they could dodge or recover!
Hundreds and thousands of players passed the drawbridge. Even with millions on their side, their numbers would dwindle down to match the number of the defenders. This was not a battle that would be won solely with numbers.
The attacking side had limited options. The more they dallied or tried to form up outside the castle walls, the more fire they took from the defenders. They could only rush forward! As time slowly passed by, more and more guilds gathered and worked together. In such a large scale battle, the power of an individual player was extremely negligible, even the strongest would fall in no time. Every second, deaths occurred, signified by the flashing white lights as players were sent back to their main cities to be resurrected.
Zhang Yang traded, passing the [Territory Command Order] to Fatty Han and said, "Hold on to this, I’m going to do some killing!"
"Damn, I also want to kill people!" Fatty Han groaned.
Zhang Yang laughed out loud and went away with his Whitey.
‘Server Announcement: Player Slim and Handsome has obtained [Territory Command Order]!’
"F*ck, I don’t want this gigolo’s price tag!" Fatty Han looked at the green command order light floating over his head in dismay.
Zhang Yang came to the entrance of castle and quickly whirled his axe.
The defenders in front of him slowly died off, and finally Zhang Yang was at the fore. He swung his axe and used {Horizontal Sweep}, and instantly, a bunch of high damage text floated above the players’ heads. Some critical strikes instantly brought death to some of them.
‘{Blast Wave}!’
A conical shock wave blasted out and his targets were stunned. Zhang Yang and his people took the chance to finish them off, pushing the defense line forwards by four meters!
"That’s Lone Desert Smoke’s guild master, quickly kill him!"
"The one who is riding a bear is Zhan Yu!"
"F*ck, he’s powerful! Focus your fire on him!"
Zhang Yang laughed out loud as Spellcasters were ill-suited for fast paced assaults as Spellcasters needed to be stationary in order to cast their spells. The players behind them would constantly push them forwards interrupting their casting progress. Thus, they could only use instant casting spells, making them rather useless.
Therefore, those who were at the forefront were Warriors, Knights and Thieves, melee attackers! Faced with physical damage attackers, Zhang Yang had nothing to fear. With his high defense, anyone managing to inflict more than 1,000 damage on him in a single hit would already be a powerful foe!
However, Zhang Yang had 40,000 HP. He could hack and slash at leisure. He also had the backing of four healers, including Han Ying Xue!
Like an ultimate God of war, Zhang Yang stood at the entrance of the castle, completely halting the progress of the attackers! Zhang Yang was just like the Zhang Fei1 of the past, single-handedly blocking an entire passageway!
"Hurry up, Spellcasters come forward. Kill that Zhan Yu!"
Various guild masters ushered their spellcasters forward. When facing a tank with such high defense, it was pointless to send melee attackers to attack Zhang Yang!
The front line of attacking side was changed to Spellcasters instead of melee attackers. However, Zhang Yang was not stupid, he simply fell back when he saw them approaching. The ranged attackers above his castle ramparts took the opportunity to cast AoE skills, wiping out the Spellcasters!
Defenders had the advantage of engaging with melee attacks on ground level, while assaulting the enemy with ranged attackers on a higher level. It resulted in a multi-layered attack that was devastating to the attackers. Such firepower was almost double or triple that of the attackers!
Zhang Yang could not help but feel relieved that this was not a Level 100 Battle for Terra Nulius! Level 100 players could use flying mounts, totally bypassing any obstacle at ground level!
The entrance of Thunderstorm Castle was like a meat grinder that claimed the lives of several players within the first hour! However, the number of attackers still greatly outnumbered the defenders. The attacking side took out a defender for every 10 to 40 casualty, relentless assaulting the defenders. They finally broke through the entrance of Thunderstorm Castle!
"Retreat!" Zhang Yang raised his axe, and they fell back to the courtyard, taking advantage of the narrow drawbridge that could be used as a bottleneck against the attackers! However, without the high ground for the defenders to launch attacks from above, they had lost considerable firepower!
Luckily, the purpose of defending side was not to kill all enemies but to hold on for three hours!
Looking at the army that was pouring in like ants, Zhang Yang thought of Princess Serena. If only he could invite Princess Serena and use {Sword of Life and Death}, they would be eliminated!
"Retreat and fighting in groups, try to use the castle’s terrain!" Zhang Yang was standing at the back. There were seven routes that could lead to the top of castle, where Fatty Han was. Fatty Han was holding [Territory Command Order] and the green command order light served as a lighthouse for the attackers!
It was an all-out brawl on the streets now!
Fortified with the HP of his mount, he went wild. {Shared Life} increased his HP up to more than 40,000, he had strong damage resistance and four to five healers constantly followed him around, he was a force to be reckoned with!
However, with his power alone, he could not block all enemies as seven routes led to Fatty Han’s location and one of the routes’ defense lines had already collapsed. Fatty Han was now at risk, and the tide of battle could be changed in an instant!
Hundred Shots in the thick of it all, managing the defense of several routes. He would constantly divide the manpower between them all, reinforcing those that needed help, taking away those who had nothing to do.
Here’s to victory!
Lone Desert Smoke and the rest of the guilds had been set on lasting for 3 hours, rather than killing off all their attackers. That goal was simply too unrealistic! Currently, they only needed to hold on for another 1 hour 52 minutes 37 seconds!
"Zhan Yu, I never thought that we’d meet again so soon!" One Sword Stroke tore through a mass of defenders, atop his blood-red dire wolf, his eyes focused on Zhang Yang.
Zhang Yang laughed and said, "Cut the bullsh*t, aren’t you here to grab [Territory Command Order]? Don’t pretend to be so noble, let’s fight and I will defeat you once again!"
Wei Yan Er clapped her hands, laughed and yelled, "Noob tank, straightforward huh!"
"Hmph!" One Sword Stroke snorted angrily, patted his mount and dashed towards Zhang Yang.
"Looks like you can’t wait to die!" Zhang Yang coldly said, swung his battle axe and dashed towards One Sword Stroke as well.
‘{Destructive Smash}!’
In this chaotic battle, maneuverability became irrelevant, they could only rely on firepower and healing effects, therefore, Zhang Yang had to take the full force of One Sword Stroke’s {Destructive Smash}, incurring a debuff that reduced healing effects on him by 75%!
Let’s not forget that before Zhang Yang’s rebirth, One Sword Stroke was the only Warrior in China server, who completed the Level 30 class quest in S difficulty!
"Focus fire on Zhan Yu, his healing effects have been debuffed by three quarters, he’ll have a hard time recovering!" One Sword Stroke yelled loudly.
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ED Note:
1. Romance of the Three Kingdoms - In the battle of Chang Ban, Zhang Fei, one of Liu Bei’s generals held back the entire army of Cao Cao back momentarily, buying time for his charge to escape. He held a river and broke bridges down; looking fiercely and shaking his spear, shouting, "I am Zhang Fei. Come and battle me to the death!" None of Cao Cao's men dared to go near him.