Liam rolled his eyes as his guild leader fought a verbal battle with the other leaders. On top of that the second guild leader stood next to her, cheering her on.
Thus, Liam commanded the players, focusing attacks on the newly emerged boss while making sure that the other zombies didn't get too close to the stronghold. Eventually he led the melee players in a swift strike to push the zombies back again, enduring the fiery rain for less than a minute before retreating.
Under the combined efforts of so many players it didn't take long for the zombie boss to fall. It wasn't like during the territory war where bosses could only be attacked by a few people. No, if more than a hundred spells rained down on it, what could it do?
However, to the shock of many this wasn't all there was to the spell. As the zombie boss fell, a red light shot out of its body, falling onto another zombie which just emerged from below the hill.
"It creates more than one boss?"
"Damn, Infinito is really willing to spend in order to slow us down."
"Tsk. It only shows that they have no confidence in winning against us without these tricks!"
"Well, this is a valid part of the game..."
As the fiery rain slowly subsided, the players' anger shifted towards Infinito who cast the spell elevating common zombies to bosses. Calls rose gradually asking Cyclone to retaliate against Mountain Lord's guild.
However, Dream Avenue didn't have enough points right now to use some really potent spells. Although they, due to having the highest average level, had the most points earned in total, Dream Avenue had spent too much on repairing and fortifying their defences.
At the moment TwinThieves had the most points stocked up, with Infinito being a close second. Beast Den and Dream Avenue were sharing third place. And this was despite Beast Den winning the first challenge, which got them the highest reward of 150 points.
Since it wasn't worth it to retaliate, Dream Avenue could only continue to honestly cut down the zombies. Most players stuck to normal attacks, saving their mana for more important moments and yet the zombie hordes didn't manage to reach the stronghold.
This situation lasted for a few minutes until it was time for the second challenge to begin. Beast Den was currently in the lead, and thus they were the first to receive the notification about the second challenge. On the dusty floor of their arena a team of five NPCs of various races appeared. Fat Tiger decided swiftly, sending four players to confront them.
Seeing what was happening on Beast Den's side, Cyclone and Balm were somewhat anxious but also excited. Finally, the challenge was a simple fight, which was greatly beneficial for Dream Avenue.
Cyclone was nervously hopping in place. She watched as Beast Den's team already engaged in a battle before the challenge started on TwinThieves's side as well. Another twenty seconds passed and finally C sent a notification to Cyclone and Balm.
The guilds not in the lead had a small advantage as they were able to see what their enemies were doing and could thus prepare for the challenge beforehand. Therefore, Cyclone and Balm didn't need to think for even a second and instantly selected the four candidates who had to face up against the NPCs.
A small team consisting of two warriors, one mage, and one healer was sent to the the arena. They stemmed from a ten-man team within Dream Avenue calling themselves FieryLaw. This team had formed to raid the level 35 dungeons, gaining some renown within the guild.
If Hotpot was the undisputed first-rate team within the guild and the teams at the level of the one formed by Final Fend and Braag was second-rate, then FieryLaw could be considered third-rate. However, this didn't mean they were weak. Other guilds would be glad to have a team of that level as their top team.
Cyclone and Balm naturally decided to send FieryLaw in order to save their even stronger players for the more difficult challenges. If FieryLaw could win the guild a few seconds, the guild leaders were already satisfied.
And FieryLaw didn't disappoint. They fought valiantly and achieved victory in the fastest time. Dream Avenue finished the quickest and right behind them was Infinito. Next came TwinThieves, and Beast Den took the longest time.
Thus, the standings changed. Beast Den was still first place, but Dream Avenue had overtaken TwinThieves. Infinito remained last place but the difference were only a few seconds.
Suddenly a notification flashed in front of all the gild leaders, causing Cyclone's and Balm's eyes to light up brightly.
[Second challenge: The five mercs – results:]
[First place: Dream Avenue – 04:12:62 – reward: 175 points]
[Second place: Infinito – 04:19:02 – reward: 125 points]
[Third place: TwinThieves – 04:23:91 – reward: 75 points]
[Fourth place: Beast Den – 04:31:15 – reward: 25 points]
Cyclone relayed the news to her guild members, eliciting a wave of cheers. A moment later a light flashed and the four members of FieryLaw appeared within the stronghold, receiving praise from all sides. But quickly a few players discovered something, shouting in surprise:
"Huh, who is this?"
"Why did some NPCs suddenly appear here?"
"Wait, aren't they the mercenaries FieryLaw just fought?"
"You're right… what's up with them?"
As the commotion spread it quickly reached the ears of Cyclone and Balm. Cyclone was occupied with slaughtering zombies, but Balm didn't have much to do, turning around to observe the mercenaries in red armours.
In Balm's view the situation was somewhat different. She saw a number hanging above the heads of the mercenaries. Balm was confused for a moment, but she quickly asked C for an explanation, learning that the number was the cost for hiring the mercenaries to fight for them.
However, Balms still harboured some doubts, sharing them with her friends.
[Balm: I just realized that we can hire those mercenaries.]
[Silent Acacia: Oh? Well, perhaps we should save them for emergencies.]
[Balm: I don't know. They only cost 100 points. That's barely at the level of the weakest spell we can buy. I don't think they can be of any real help at that cost.]
[Cyclone: It really doesn't spark confidence. Maybe we should hire them to harass our enemies a bit.]
[Silver Blade: Hmm, aren't you forgetting something?]
[Balm: What?]
[Silver Blade: Scholar Feng?]
[Balm: Ohhhh you're thinking of the reduced cost for hiring neutral forces? But how much can that be?]
[Cyclone: I looked it up! It's 80%!!!]
[Balm: Wow! That means the mercenaries are usually priced at 500 points?]
Cyclone and Balm looked at each other for a moment, each seeing the pleasant surprise in the other's eyes. Suddenly an idea brewed in their minds.
[Cyclone: Should we hire the mercenaries and send them to one of the other guilds? Right now, the others should find it impossible to come up with 500 points. Not only can't they afford the mercenaries, but even scrolls to defend against them will be too pricey.]
[Balm: Yes!]
[Quickstep: I agree.]
[Bleary Mirage: Your call.]
[Silver Blade: I think that's too risky. We need to consider the possibility that the other guilds will all send their mercenaries to us. We should stay true to our initial strategy.]
[Radiant Shield: Silver got a good point.]
[Balm: Well…]
Cyclone and Balm were conflicted. Although they wanted to retaliate, they eventually decided against it. Thus, they continued farming zombies, remaining passive so they could react should others attack them.
However, until the third challenge started the other guilds laid low as well. Quickly information about the next challenge reached the guild leaders one by one with only a few seconds in between.
The premise of the third challenge was quite simple. It was to deal at least 3000 points of damage against a level 40 dummy within 3 seconds. Each guild sent a sufficiently strong thief and cleared the challenge easily. There was no change in the rankings, but TwinThieves received first place by a few hundredth of a second with Dream Avenue being the close second.
It was quite vexing to lose 50 points due to such a small margin but there was nothing they could do. Cyclone wouldn't send the likes of Bloody Edge for such a challenge.
But blessed with the extra points TwinThieves pulled a surprising move. They bought a spell which delayed the fourth challenge for all the other guilds by 30 if they didn't pay 200 points to block the effect.
Dream Avenue's core members were surprised such a spell existed and discussed for more than a minute. In the end they didn't pay the price, remaining confident in their own strength. They were only waiting for a challenge containing a boss fight to send Hotpot, confident that the number one team in the federation could win a lot of time for the guild.
Thus, after a few minutes passed the fifth challenge started. Water screens appeared and Cyclone narrowed her eyes. Obviously, Beast Den and Infinito had both decided to pay the price. Now, Dream Avenue was suddenly lagging behind. And from the content of the fifth challenge Cyclone judged that he situation would not improve on the short term.