The fight had just begun and TwinThieves's team was down one combatant while the other two were aggroed on Lenn. The situation for the team of assassins was precarious. Luckily Silent Acacia had not enough Fury to unleash more skills on the other assassins. He could only perform one normal attack before the two assassins used escape skills, hiding in stealth.
The seconds ticked by as silence fell on the arena. The assassins planned to wait until their aggro got reset. Silent Acacia figured his opponents had two options. They either stuck close to Lenn, which would cause the aggro to run out faster but would put them at risk of being discovered. Or they stayed far away from Lenn, which would have the opposite effect.
Not knowing what they would choose Silent Acacia and Settler came up with a quick strategy. While the hunter randomly fired arrows at their immediate vicinity, the mage cancelled his skill. Breaking out of his ice prison Settler instantly started casting his ultimate skill. A few seconds later a large part of the arena was covered in a raging blizzard.
The enemies were too late to escape. Hit by the blizzard their stealth failed, and they were instantly targeted by Dream Avenue's trio. One assassin, now without an escape skill, quickly died under the barrage of attacks from Silent Acacia and Settler. The other managed to flee into the distance but being alone he couldn't do much and was soon taken out as well.
"Dream Avenue!"
"Dream Avenue!"
Cheers spread back at the guild stronghold. The players vented their emotions after falling to last place for a while. Now it was as if some shackles fell off and Dream Avenue could finally show their might.
After taking care of TwinThieves's assassins, the next opponents came from Beast Den. They were two strong warriors and a mage. Although they fought well, they stood no chance against Silent Acacia's team. Right at the begging Lenn secured the aggro and with his level difference he was too tanky for the enemies to overcome.
The fight lasted a bit longer but in the end Dream Avenue took a relatively one-sided victory.
While Beast Den's players were disheartened seeing this, Fat Tiger and Glorious Sunrise remained impassive. Inwardly they had already given up on the guild war. They couldn't wait to go back to Crunaboul and make use of all the information Glorious Sunrise gathered from the library. Plans already formed in their minds considering which world boss to kill and which treasure to collect.
The only one who had some hope left to take back first place was Mountain Lord. Thus, he didn't hold back and generously bought various boosts for the team he sent to face off against Dream Avenue.
However, in hindsight this wasn't a wise move. The level difference was simply too oppressive. No matter how much boosts Mountain Lord gave his candidates, it wouldn't be enough to overcome Dream Avenue's trio. Perhaps if Infinito's team had vastly superior skills they would be able to create a miracle but against Silent Acacia this was wishful thinking.
Thus, it didn't take long until Dream Avenue's team returned to the stronghold, receiving congratulations from all sides.
[Quickstep: Awesome, babe!]
[Cyclone: Acacia is getting better and better.]
[Radiant Shield: Your new skill will be a major headache for your future enemies.]
[Fortune: How about we let Quickstep and Silent Acacia hold a few duels. That would make a great video!]
[Silent Acacia: Haha, thanks guys. But I don't think there is a need to duel against Quickstep. I would rather fight together with her. Pity that it didn't work out this time.]
[Quickstep: Sounds like a plan. Let's hit the arena later.]
The mood among the friends was great and this was also mirrored among the other guild members. Everyone fought without much pressure, constantly culling zombies to amass points. Now that the guild war was coming to an end the guilds began to save their points for the shop at the end.
Cyclone and Balm were confident that they could keep most of their points. Thanks to Liam they had such a solid lead that there was no need to spend points to stay ahead. And soon their lead would increase even more as two minutes later it was Infinito's turn to start the twelfth challenge.
Their team was sent to the arena and immediately had to face the team sent by Dream Avenue. Although Cyclone and Balm selected their candidates more or less at random, they shockingly managed to defeat Infinito's fighters. Although Mountain Lord didn't send his top players, this was still a big surprise to him. As a consequence, the team sent by Mountain Lord was kicked out of the guild war and Dream Avenue's team remained in the arena.
However, Dream Avenue's team received some debuffs to not make the challenge impossible. Thus, the next trio sent by Mountain Lord managed to overcome the obstacle. Dream Avenue's team came back to the stronghold and received the praise of their comrades.
Meanwhile, Infinito quickly defeated Beast Den and TwinThieves, finally also getting passed the challenge. Yet as Infinito just beat the twelfth challenge, and Bloody Edge and TwinThieves were still waiting for the start of the twelfth challenge, Dream Avenue already welcomed challenge number thirteen.
The snowball that was Dream Avenue's lead has started rolling and was getting bigger and bigger. Challenge number thirteen was another battle challenge. A team of ten people faced off against ten elite monsters, but their equipment was replaced for some standard equipment of magic quality.
The fight wasn't easy, but Dream Avenue's players were eager to show off their skills. Right now, as Dream Avenue's top players had an advantage in level over the other guilds, their only weakness was a weaker average equipment. Their skills were absolutely up to par. With so many people vying to be recruited into the guild, Cyclone and Balm naturally chose the best.
Thus, this challenge which equalled everyone's equipment was once again in Dream Avenue's favour. They got rid of the ten elite enemies after a valiant battle. Watching their fight the other guilds gradually realized that they wouldn't be able to catch up without some major stroke of luck.
But challenge number fourteen left them disappointed as well. Although the challenge wasn't about fighting and instead tested one's alchemy skills, Dream Avenue was not lacking in that aspect.
Flirting Fairy was sent to the arena. As an intermediate alchemist the challenge wasn't difficult for her. She concocted all the requested potions in a calm and steady manner. Her concentrated expression and fluid, skilled movements captured the hearts of many men, leaving her image in their minds even after the challenge had already passed.
"Fourteen challenges completed, one more to go…"
"Let's go! First place is ours! Look, Beast Den has just finished the twelfth challenge. They will never catch up to us!"
"You're right."
Cyclone and Balm encouraged each other. The guild leaders emitted a strong confidence, which also affected the players around them. No one doubted that Dream Avenue would emerge victorious. But as the seconds ticked by the players suddenly noticed something strange.
"Hey, is it just me or are there more zombies now?"
"Now that you say it…"
"Look at that one over there! It's taller than the others."
"It's an elite. Why are they suddenly spawning?"
"Puh, that wind is freezing…"
Gradually the atmosphere on Dream Avenue's side began to change. After the fourteenth challenge more zombies began to spawn. At first the guild was glad that they could farm more points but soon the zombies placed an increasing pressure on the players.
At the same time the rotting smell in the air increased. Some players had to place a cloth in front of their faces as they couldn't handle it otherwise. The clouds in the sky got denser, allowing even less light to reach the ground. The wind picked up, spreading an uncomfortable coldness. Many players shivered unconsciously.
"I feel like something bad is about to happen…"
Just as someone said that a wail sounded through the battlefield as if countless ghosts cried our simultaneously. Suddenly all light vanished. For a second everyone was plunged into darkness. Startled cries rang out, mixing together with the unpleasant sounds of the zombies.
When the light returned, a crackling laughter reached everyone's ears, piercing like a hundred tiny needles. The players searched for its origin before Watchful Eye alerted them.
[Watchful Eye: In the sky!]
Instantly everyone craned their necks. They realized that at some point an enemy had appeared, standing high up in the skies. Its figure was barely discernible as it wore a long, tattered, black robe which looked a bit like a black bridal dress, loosely hanging from the figure's body and billowing in the wind. A hood covered the figure's head, which barely revealed its skeletal head and eyes burning with blue flames.
"Damn, what is this?"
"Where did it come from?"
"Seems like the end boss has arrived. Quick, check its status!"
"Venuoav, the Dark Bride. Level 47 world boss. 635.000HP."
"A world boss? Not bad! Nice move from C!"