City of Mist, Blackwind Ridge.
"Quick! Coordinates (345, 899)! A dark figure just flashed past! He's moving incredibly fast—it has to be Ghost Shadow!" a scout shouted himself hoarse over the team channel.
"Everyone, surround him! Team Three, cut off his retreat from the left! Team Two, advance head-on! Mages, get your area slows ready!"
A hundred-player elite squad from the Iron Blood Alliance surged toward the scout's marker like sharks driven wild by the scent of blood.
Their eyes were bloodshot, their breathing hot and heavy.
A Divinity Shard!
A guaranteed drop!
Those few words had become a more powerful stimulant than any rallying cry, enough to rob even the most levelheaded players of their judgment.
"I see him! He's behind that rock!"
Iron Blood War Song charged ahead of the rest, his battle-axe gleaming with enchantment as he slammed toward the boulder.
"Ghost Shadow! Hand over the shard, and I'll leave your corpse in one piece!"
He roared and raised his axe high, ready for a brutal fight.
But when he rounded the huge rock, the assassin's counterattack never came.
There was no one behind it.
Oh no! It's a trap! The thought had barely crossed Iron Blood War Song's mind.
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—
A dense volley hissed through the air from every direction. Countless crossbow bolts tipped with deadly poison flew out of the forest shadows they had overlooked.
"Shields up! Healers, heal!" Iron Blood War Song bellowed.
But it was too late.
Their formation had stretched thin during the charge, leaving the mages and healers at the rear completely exposed to the rain of bolts.
Screams rang out one after another.
Flashes of white light lit up the Iron Blood Alliance's ranks as players died.
"It's Night Owl! Fuck! Those bastards only know how to hide