Chapter 327 Turning the Tides
Thousands of players were gathered together in single files standing under the blazing sun and the scorching sand. In front of them were thousands of other NPCs riding on war-horses. They were the Qin army that was raiding the south. They had already overrun several oases and were now going to gobble up another one.
Players had no hope in this fight. They were ordered, however, to stand their ground, even if it meant their death and the loss of levels. They were forced to stand there, facing a known faith that was death.
The Heaven Dawn Still had several high-level players, but these players alone could not fend off the assault of the Qin army alone mainly because the majority of their High-Level force had died in the Wilds when they attempted to raid the east. The dead players were still stuck in the Limbo. They needed to clear some quests before they could be sent again to the world of Conquest.
This was the main reason why the players were unable to defend their territories properly. Yet every few minutes, one of the high-level players that were in limbo would leave after achieving success in their tasks and would get sent out, only to receive direct orders to reinforce the front.
The warriors of Qin announced the start of the battle via a war-horn. The riders charged toward the players that stood like a wall.
"Fire!" a caster shouted, with his word. Hundreds of spells and arrows shot out from the player ranks toward the eastern warriors of Qin. The attacks toppled the riders down to the sand and broke parts in their charging formation, yet this wasn't enough to entirely stop the assault.
The mounted warriors gained more momentum as they ran, and the thundering sound of their war-mounts made the players feel like the horses were stomping on their hearts.
"Tanks! Guardians! Hold the line!" A player by the name Ryu-Dan shouted. He was the highest level player present. A level 420 swordmaster.
Hundreds of tank players used self-buffs and put their shields forward to hold the attack. Yet this effort seemed useless as the charge of the warhorses broke through the ranks as if they were made of paper. It was only natural due to the increase in momentum that gave the mounts [Knock-Back] effects. To which the players were poorly matched.
The Qin army bore through the ranks of the players and began a slaughter.
Many players began shouting and asking for assistance. Jin-Ryu-Dan was unable to give minute commands to the players, and his ranks were begging to fall. The players were having a hard time in this battle, and it was clear and apparent that this oasis was going to be lost to the Qin warriors.
"Ryu-Dan! The enemy is flanking us from the right!" A priest shouted toward the leader.
Ryu-Dan's face turned pale white. He was about to lose it. The army of Qin didn't even need to flank them as they were already destroying them. But perhaps this was a strategy to prevent players from escaping.
Ryu-Dan looked to the right and saw the incoming force. Yet, for some reason, the flanking force was composed of just a few monsters. They looked similar to the Sand Scorpions, but these ones had armor.
For a moment, Ryu-Dan was at a loss. He had seen such creatures before. Then all clicked when he saw an undead riding on one of these creatures.
"It's Skelly!" Ryu-Dan shouted.
Just as Ryu-Dan finished his words, he saw Dave waving his hand. A gigantic wave of black fog burst out from within him. The clear sky of the desert instantly changed to pitch black. The sun was entirely covered by these pitch-black clouds. Then hundreds of undead emerged out of nowhere. Skelly was constantly summoning undead in the desert.
His iconic undead showed up first. The headless warrior, the giant ghoul, the flame undead, the berserker High-Orc, and the strange flying masked creature. These were Dave's strongest Death Knights, and they were leading the charge of the undead.
Hundreds of dunlords suddenly emerged out of nowhere into the player ranks. They clashed against the Qin warriors in a furious battle. Though the dunlords were weaker and lower level, they had the home-field advantage.
The dunlords would grab at the warhorse's ankles, either snapping them with their powerful pincers, or they would drag the horses down the sand, smothering them under thousands of tons of weight.
The undead followed after; they were like an unstoppable stampede of swords and death. They charged at the Qin warriors, outnumbering them ten to one. And killing them with utmost ease.
Skelly joined the fight, his tower shield, and sword in hand, smashing, crushing and cutting the Qin warriors with blistering glee. A wicked smile never left his face as he looked like a demon relishing in slaughter.
His black and green armor was soon painted red. But his culling of life never stopped for a moment.
Ryu-Dan felt thankful for the arrival of this undead and his force. The presence of Skelly rekindled the lost hope of the players. They grabbed their weapons with more strength and joined the undead in this slaughter. They aided them and assisted them in the fight and turned the table on the Qin warriors.
The battle was completely different, and now the players regained the upper hand and began pushing back the warriors of Qin. It only took ten minutes since the undead had appeared, and in these ten minutes, the Qin warriors were defeated and forced to retreat.
The players couldn't believe it, but they had actually won the battle.
Skelly stood in the middle of a massacre. He was huffing and puffing, but his eyes never stopped wandering and looking for more prey. Almost as if the fight was not satisfying him.
Ryu-Dan approached the undead and said, "Thanks for the help man, you saved our ass here."
Dave turned to look at the swordmaster and said, "Where is the Tuka Oasis?"
"It's in the north. But I wouldn't recommend you go there. It has already been occupied by the Qin warriors."
"Occupied? Not on my watch!" The doom knight turned back to his army. He raised his bloodied sword and shouted at the top of his lungs
"LEGIONNAIRES! TO THE NORTH WE MARCH!"
All the undead following Dave shouted at once!
"HORAAAAAA!"
Dave jumped atop a dunlord and rode past the players to the north. All of his undead followed behind him picking up a rooster tail of dust and sand in their wake.
The players were left astounded at sight. The undead army had come, liberated them and rode to another location to fight some more. While the players were exhausted from this fight, the undead showed the epitome of their slogan. Never Tier!
A player approached Ryu-Dan and said, "I'd like to follow after them."
Ryu-Dan was at a loss of words. Some players were actually itching to join the fight.
"Aren't you guys tired? I mean you might die, Tuka has been captured and is almost impossible to relieve."
"But skelly's going, I think he can do it," Another player said.
"But we need to wait for the order from the upper echelon. We might get assigned somewhere else."
"Fuck the upper echelon. Man, Skelly's racking all the badassery. I wanna be a part of that!" Another player said. and to his words, many other players agreed and shouted.
"Follow Skelly!"
"After Skelly!"
"After Skelly!"
More and more players declared their intentions. They wanted to be a part of Skelly's raid, and it appeared as Ryu-Dan was not going to be able to stop them.
"W-wait!" Ryu-Dan tried to talk some sense into the players, but when the first player moved toward the north, everyone ignored the leader and ran after Skelly.
The formally exhausted players had gained a second breath that they used to follow after Skelly's raid. They sprinted under the heat of the sun like madmen, willing to trade their guild position for the honor of being a part of Skelly's assault.
***
"So tell me, Lone, why are we doing this?" Dave asked lone as they rode toward Tuka. Another oasis he heard that was captured by the Qin army.
"As I said before, I don't know. It was my uncle's suggestion. He said that you would need to increase your reputation as much as possible. And I can't think of anything better than to assist players in this raid."
Dave shrugged and said, "Welp, doesn't matter anyway. If it's what the Demon Barrister is saying, then I'd better do it. Legionnaires! RIDE ON!"