Chapter 203 – Unrivalled Titan
Before the five to six hundred players camping outside the entrance of the lava caverns could understand what was going on, they were swept up by the surging tide of lava, letting out blood-curdling screams as they transformed into rays of light.
Lava flowed out rapidly like a ferocious fiery beast engulfing everything in its path. If it was allowed to continue flowing unimpeded, all of Kiln Fire Woods would be transformed into a sea of flames in just a few hours.
The seven entrances to the caverns spewed out tons of lava into air, resembling a volcanic eruption. The molten chunks of rock flew for several hundred meters before raining down on the map like a meteor shower.「BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!」They carved out giant craters into the earth, igniting the immediate vicinity on fire and creating a red glow in the sky.
Over two thousand players from Victorious Return and Unhindered died in an instant during the first few moments of the eruption. The lava flow was spreading too quickly. Most people didn’t even get a chance to react before they were consumed in a fiery inferno. A few perceptive individuals noticed early, but even that couldn’t save them. The lava had already gotten too close. It was too late to run, let alone use a Return Scroll.
「Return Scrolls! Everybody, use your Return Scrolls!」some players who were escaping the lava frantically called out in their guild chats.
Many players didn’t understand what was going on. When they tried to get an answer out of the people panicking in the guild chat, they found that the other side had suddenly gone silent.
The lava rapidly merged together to form a forty to fifty-meter tall giant. It was sturdy, resembling a small mountain. Even the Guardian of Order that Nie Yan had awakened after grabbing the Chapter of Courage was dwarfed by the Lava Titan.
The Lava Titan was a Level 200 Lord-class monster with almost three million health! It possessed a few notable skills: Lava Field, Lava Breaker, and Lava Roar.
Lava Field transformed all the earth in a 500-meter radius around the Lava Titan into a sea of lava. Any player with under 120 Fire Resistance would be instantly burnt into a crisp. Those with 120 Fire Resistance or higher would constantly lose health every second.
Lava Breaker sent out a massive wave of lava that would bury every creature in the vicinity of the Lava Titan.
The most terrifying was Lava Roar! If the magical energy in Kiln Fire Woods fluctuated too violently, the skill could silence all Mages as well as prevent the activation of any magical item for a short period of time. Even teleportation scrolls weren’t exempt from this. It was the same as a silencing field. In the entirety of Kiln Fire Woods, the Lava Titan reigned supreme!
In the previous timeline, players discovered the existence of the Lava Titan when they were only around Level 40–50. However, it wasn’t until later when many players surpassed Level 100 did any group dare to challenge the Lava Titan. Even then, it still required the cooperation of several thousand players to make an attempt. At that time, very few Fighters could endure the attacks of the Lava Titan. Resplendent Bladelight was one of them. Aside from him, there were two other such Fighters known to the public. One was in Holy Empire, and the other was in Radiant Sacred Flame. Many guilds fought over the Lava Titan because of some information released on the official forums. The Lava Titan was related to the Grimmar Set, and it was the key to removing the seal on the Grimmar Soul Staff. It would also drop some highly sought after materials such as Fire Essence which could be used to craft Legendary items.
There were many bosses that had already been discovered and even more that yet to be discovered in the Atlanta continent. Each one was incredibly difficult to deal with. The Lava Titan was no exception. No matter how great the force, it wasn’t an existence that could be touched by players under Level 100.
Nie Yan was sprinting through Kiln Fire Woods at top speed.
The enraged Lava Titan moved in the direction that Nie Yan had fled. It wanted to retrieve Countess Alicia’s Grimmar Soul Staff.
「Guo Huai, can you tell me where the players from Victorious Return and Unhindered are the most densely concentrated? Hurry up, it’s urgent. 」Nie Yan sent a message to Guo Huai who was back at the guild headquarters.
「Alright, give me ten seconds.」Guo Huai hastily began gathering the information after receiving Nie Yan’s request.
Nie Yan madly dashed across the map. Wherever he passed, the surrounding players would discover the Lava Titan trailing after him shortly, and they would scatter in all directions. There wasn’t enough time to use a Return Scroll. Some foolish people would madly flee in the direction of the several other entrances of the map, only to be met with a surging tide of lava.
After a brief moment, Guo Huai replied with the information Nie Yan wanted.「328, 108, and 028, several thousand people are gathered at those coordinates. The guild leader of Unhindered, Hei Zhuo, is at 2385.225.132. He’s together with a high-ranking member of Victorious Return. I think they’re called Yu Long.」
Hei Zhuo, huh….? Nie Yan remarked before sprinting toward where Hei Zhuo and Yu Long were located. He would arrive there in two to three minutes at most.
Yu Long and Hei Zhuo were currently chatting while surrounded by over a thousand Mages. The Mages were gathered in groups of three or four. Like the stars cupped around the moon, the Mages crowded around the two leaders to protect them. Almost all the Warriors and Paladins were escorting the Priests as they searched for signs of Nie Yan’s group. Only two to three hundred Warriors remained behind to guard the area around the Mages.
The earthquakes a moment ago calmed down after just a short while. Although Yu Long’s heart was a little uneasy, it wasn’t enough to give rise to any alarm.
Mere seconds later, however, the guild chat was flooded with frantic messages.
「Boss! There’s Lava!」
「What are you talking about? Speak clearly.」Yu Long knitted his brows.
「The lava beneath Kiln Fire Woods is erupting onto the surface. Several hundred of our brothers have already died!」The player explained what happened to Yu Long, but what he saw was only a small slice of the bigger situation. In fact, the number of Unhindered and Victorious Return players who died had already surpassed three thousand.
Soon, Yu Long received information other locations of the map—two to three hundred people dead over here, five to six hundred dead over there… Adding them together, the number of casualties was already at two to three thousand.
「I want all Victorious Return troops to withdraw!」Yu Long realized that the people from Asskickers United were probably responsible for this mayhem. The situation right now was anything but reassuring. He hastily told all his subordinates to withdraw. Afterwards, he turned to Hei Zhuo. “Quickly tell your forces to return to Calore!”
“Why?” Hei Zhuo asked. He had yet t to receive any information from his subordinates.
“Don’t ask why! Just do as I say!” Yu Long told Hei Zhuo in a practically snarling tone. He was feeling incredibly anxious.
Hei Zhuo was angered at the sudden outburst. However, seeing how restless Yu long seemed, he soon realized that situation might have taken a turn for the worse. He quickly messaged his subordinates.
Teleportation circles began activating across Kiln Fire Woods one after another. Swaths of players numbering in the thousands were using them. It was quite spectacular to behold. Numerous flashes lit up the sky. Many Victorious Return players were the first to go back.
The magical energy in the atmosphere began fluctuating violently, almost as if some grand, forbidden magic was being cast.
At this moment, an earth-shaking roar echoed out from the depths of Kiln Fire Woods. A shock wave of energy swept out across the entire map at an unbelievable speed.
It was declaring ownership of this territory. All the natural laws that governed this region were under its rule.
Countless teleportation circles that had just lit up were interrupted. The crowd of players gathered around the teleportation circles all took several hundred damage from the shock wave as a blanket of damage values rose up into the sky. The players who were a bit closer to the source of the roar were wiped out in an instant.
The number of fatal casualties on the side of Victorious Return and Unhindered instantly skyrocketed. Everywhere in Kiln Fire Woods was littered with the corpses of their players.
Hei Zuo’s teleportation circle was interrupted, and he was knocked flying back by the shock wave. −378 A terrifyingly high damage value floated up above his head. He was badly frightened. “What the hell was that!?” He hastily chugged down a Junior Health Potion and an Intermediate Recovery Potion.
Yu Long’s teleportation was also interrupted, and he suffered similarly. His face instantly turned unsightly. The furious roar just now seemed to come from the depths of hell, proclaiming the advent of their destruction. Of the thousand plus Mages around him, five to six hundred of them dropped dead on the ground. He didn’t know how many casualties the other locations suffered, but it definitely wouldn’t be anything small.
“Everyone, quickly get out of here!” Yu Long shouted. They had to leave this place as soon as possible, lest they face utter annihilation.
Nie Yan was darting toward Yu Long and Hei Zhuo’s location as a shock wave of energy hit him. He almost lost balance but made a quick recovery. −105 A damage value floated up above his head. He was slightly surprised. He didn’t expect a Lava Roar to emerge so soon.
If some special condition wasn’t triggered, the Lava Titan wouldn’t activate Lava Roar.
Even though the Lava Roar of the Lava Titan only dealt a little over a hundred damage to him, an ordinary player from Victorious Return would probably be instantly killed. He wondered how many people Victorious Return had lost this time.
As Nie Yan moved toward Yu Long and Hei Zhuo, he saw corpses littering the ground. It was an amazing sight. The players that survived were almost all tanky classes with high health and defense like Warriors and Paladins. The Mages suffered disastrous casualties, and practically all the Priests died. He never stopped recording.
Nie Yan finally reached his destination, appearing at the top of a slope. His eyes scanned over the crowd of players below him before finally locking onto Hei Zhuo and the Paladin beside him. The two of them were clearly calling the shots.
“It’s that Thief!” Before Nie Yan could stealth, a sharp-eyed Warrior discovered him at the top of the slope.
In a split second, all eyes collectively moved toward the top of the slope and locked onto Nie Yan.
So I’ve been noticed, huh. Nie Yan remarked. He calmly stood at the top of the hill. Under the scrutiny of eight hundred players from Victorious Return and Unhindered, he pointed his dagger at Hei Zhuo. With his free hand, he made the cutthroat gesture using his thumb, then revealed a cruel smile on his face.
Not only was Nie Yan blatantly provoking Hei Zhuo and the crowd, he was also expressing the contempt Asskickers United had for them and declaring war!
Bladelight, I’ll be getting some revenge on your behalf. Nie Yan thought. If he succeeded in taking out Hei Zhuo, Resplendent Bladelight, a top three Fighter in the previous timeline, would be completely loyal to him!
“Fuck! Kill him!” Hei Zhuo turned livid with rage from Nie Yan’s taunting. His expression was warped.
Yu Long stared at Nie Yan’s smiling expression. He didn’t know why, but he felt a slight chill run down his spine. Despite being grossly outnumbered, Nie Yan declared Hei Zhuo’s death. Under the gazes of almost eight hundred pairs of eyes, could he really kill Hei Zhuo?
Yu Long shook his head. It was impossible!
Yu Long raised his greatsword. Clad in silver-white armour, he resembled an iron tower standing beside Hei Zhuo. A Thief, huh? Come and try! Let’s see if you can get through a mountain pass like me!
The players from Victorious Return and Unhindered moved to surround Nie Yan. However, in a blink of an eye, they discovered that the top of the slope was empty without a single trace of Nie Yan!
Nie Yan had vanished into thin air. With all the Priests dead, the only people remaining who could deal with him were the elite Paladins who learned Eyes of the Divine.
“Protect the guild leader!” a player shouted. Many players started to gather around Hei Zhuo.