Chapter 680: Inferno’s Crushing Defeat

Watching the imposing knight standing before her, so dashing and proud, so powerful and fierce, Lydia felt her heart begin to race. An unfamiliar feeling spread through her chest, one she had never experienced before and couldn’t quite put into words. It was as though she were looking at a legendary hero who had stepped straight out of a dream.

Before she knew it, she had fallen into step behind the formidable knight known as Stonehaven, following him without a second thought. His eyes were captivating, his features sharp and striking, and the faintest hint of a smile only made him more alluring. His face was as delicate as peach blossoms, yet there was nothing delicate about the strength and confidence he exuded. Just looking at him was enough to make her heart beat faster.

Unfortunately, the battlefield was in utter chaos. Every player was caught up in the frenzied melee, their attention fixed on the fight, and not a single person noticed the breathtaking beauty quietly following Stonehaven.

"Ah!"

"The Blood Clan Bosses!"

Suddenly, screams erupted from Inferno’s rear ranks. Level 50 High Clerics and Level 40 Clerics were shouting in terror as their formation descended into chaos.

Soulfire’s plan had worked. Marcus glanced toward the commotion, where the two Blood Clan Bosses that had been wandering nearby had charged straight into Inferno’s backline, unleashing a barrage of devastating area-of-effect magic attacks. Whoosh, whoosh! Their spells tore through the air like falling meteors, followed by a succession of earth-shaking explosions that engulfed Inferno’s rear ranks.

Soulfire’s initial charge had succeeded largely because SoulfireBlade’s victory over InfernoRider001 had sent their morale soaring while catching Inferno completely off guard. Even so, the numerical disadvantage remained substantial. Inferno still had a thousand more members than Soulfire, and if the battle dragged on without a decisive turning point, Soulfire would eventually be overwhelmed.

When Inferno had teleported into the area, they had seen that Soulfire had only around a thousand members and confidently assumed they could crush the smaller guild without much trouble. To prevent Soulfire from concentrating its forces, they had deliberately divided the battlefield, cutting off SoulfireBlade’s arriving troops from the three hundred men Milo had led to locate the Blood Clan Bosses. Their intention had been to keep the two groups separated and force Soulfire’s members to die one after another, helpless to support their comrades.

What Inferno hadn’t anticipated was that this very strategy would create an opportunity for Soulfire.

During the life-and-death duel between SoulfireBlade and InfernoRider001, SoulSync had already begun coordinating the counterattack through the guild system, having anticipated how the duel would likely end. Although Soulfire was outnumbered, he had never intended to simply stall for time and hope for the best.

His decision to order a desperate charge served two purposes: to capitalize on the surge in morale following SoulfireBlade’s victory and, more importantly, to draw Inferno’s attention away from its rear ranks. That was where the Blood Clan Bosses came in.

The moment SoulSync issued the order to attack, Milo, who had already received his instructions, put the plan into motion. Leading the three hundred Soulfire members trapped near the Blood Clan Bosses, he divided them into two groups. One group fought to clear a path through the surrounding enemies, while the other darted back and forth, deliberately provoking the two wandering bosses and drawing their attention.

Then, with the monsters hot on their heels, they led them straight into Inferno’s formation.

Inferno had never imagined that InfernoRider001 would lose his duel, much less that Soulfire would seize the initiative and launch a full-scale attack. By the time they realized what was happening, Milo’s men had already succeeded in dragging the two Blood Clan Bosses into their rear ranks.

Inferno’s backyard was on fire.

Clerics, High Clerics, Mages, and Archers screamed in terror as the two monstrous bosses unleashed one devastating magical attack after another. Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! Explosions ripped through the backline, killing players in droves. Equipment scattered across the ground with a chorus of metallic chimes as the Blood Clan Bosses tore through their ranks.

The Clerics and High Clerics were in no position to save anyone, let alone revive the dead. They were too busy desperately trying to survive themselves, and every moment they spent fleeing was another moment their comrades went without support.

The ferocity of the two Blood Clan Bosses was no exaggeration.

The Blood Clan and Savage Tribe were formidable forces, and even their lower-level bosses were terrifying opponents. Milo had tested their strength earlier while leading his men toward them, and the results had left little room for doubt. Their HP could not be scouted, but both were magic-type monster bosses with powerful ranged spells and devastating area-of-effect attacks.

Even an ordinary Level 50 Knight could withstand only a few hits, and even Level 50 Blood Bull Knights struggled to endure their onslaught. With that in mind, it was hardly surprising that Inferno’s vulnerable rear ranks stood no chance. How could a group of Clerics, High Clerics, Archers, and Mages possibly hold off two monsters capable of tearing through heavily armored Knights?

Crash!

Like a landslide sweeping through a mountainside, the sudden disaster in their rear completely shattered Inferno’s formation. The guild had only just begun to stabilize its ranks and prepare a counterattack when the Blood Clan Bosses struck. Caught between Soulfire’s advancing forces and the monsters tearing through their backline, Inferno’s members fell in droves, their bodies hitting the ground one after another.

Soulfire, meanwhile, fought with renewed ferocity. Their members surged forward, their morale higher than ever, each player eager to press the advantage and turn their hard-won momentum into a decisive victory.

Unfortunately for Marcus, just as he was preparing to close the distance to his old ’friend’ Ash001, who had changed class to become a Level 50 Light Knight, the man suddenly made his move.

"Follow me!"

Ash001 barked the command, leading the three hundred men under his control straight toward the Blood Clan Bosses. Rather than continue fighting the other Soulfire members, his group allowed them to pass and charged toward the monsters wreaking havoc in Inferno’s rear.

"Damn it!"

Marcus watched his old friend disappear into the chaos, immediately putting more distance between them. He had been hoping to catch up with Ash001, but the man had gone in the opposite direction at precisely the wrong moment.

"Hell!"

Frustrated, Marcus unleashed Hundred Phantom Light Strike, sending a devastating area attack sweeping through the surrounding enemies. Boom, boom, boom! A succession of critical hits rang out as every Inferno member within six meters was killed in a single strike, their bodies disappearing beneath a flurry of damage effects.

"Ah!"

A startled cry came from behind him. Marcus turned and found Lydia following close behind, along with several nearby Inferno members who had witnessed his attack. He had acted on instinct, momentarily forgetting that he was supposed to be holding back. Meeting Lydia’s startled gaze, he could only give her an awkward smile before obediently returning to his usual method of cutting down enemies one at a time.

Unfortunately, Ash001 had already vanished into the crowd. Unless Marcus was willing to reveal more of his true strength, catching up with him would be difficult. With Lydia watching him so closely, however, he had little choice but to restrain himself.

The outcome of the battle was becoming increasingly clear. Trapped between Soulfire’s assault and the two Blood Clan Bosses, Inferno’s rear ranks suffered catastrophic losses. Milo’s three hundred men only made matters worse, relentlessly harassing the already disorganized Clerics, Archers, and Mages.

Their losses crippled Inferno’s main attacking force, while the deaths of so many support players made it nearly impossible to revive fallen comrades and restore the formation. In less than five minutes, Inferno was completely routed. Corpses littered the battlefield, and equipment lay scattered across the ground. Their once formidable formation had collapsed into disarray, leaving the survivors struggling simply to escape with their lives.

With more and more Soulfire members arriving to reinforce the attack, Inferno had no realistic chance of turning the battle around. If they stayed any longer, even their remaining forces would be wiped out.

"Retreat!"

InfernoFiend001 had always dreamed of turning Inferno into the number one guild in Dominion, a guild that would dominate every battlefield and emerge victorious from every war. Giving the order to retreat was therefore a bitter pill to swallow, but he understood that pride was meaningless if it cost him the entire guild.

He issued the retreat order through the guild system, then signaled two trusted subordinates to seize the furious, nearly unhinged InfernoRider001 and drag him away from the battlefield.

"Damn it!"

InfernoRider001 fought against their grip, unwilling to accept what had happened. His eyes remained fixed on SoulfireBlade and SoulSync, who were still fighting fiercely amid the chaos. Hatred burned in his gaze, and if he could have reached them, he would gladly have torn them apart with his bare hands.

He had already been killed once by SoulfireBlade, but a High Cleric had revived him during the battle. In Dominion, being revived by a High Cleric could reduce the experience penalty associated with death, with the exact amount depending on the quality of the revival skill.

For example, a player who would normally lose two levels upon death might instead lose only one level and sixty percent of the experience needed for the next level. With a sufficiently advanced revival skill, the player might not even lose a level at all.

Unfortunately, the same protection did not extend to equipment dropped upon death. Unless a player possessed an automatic revival skill that prevented such losses, any equipment dropped on death remained on the ground, regardless of whether the player was subsequently revived.

And the High Clerics available at this stage of the game simply weren’t skilled enough to offer much protection against the penalty.

Poor InfernoRider001 had not only lost equipment but also dropped one level and seventy percent of his experience. His name had fallen off the US Region’s Level Leaderboard, and the World Level Leaderboard was now even further beyond his reach.

Defeated, just like that.

The bitterest part was that he had entered the battlefield with twenty-three hundred men, while SoulfireBlade had fewer than fifteen hundred. By every reasonable calculation, Inferno should have won. Instead, what should have been a straightforward victory had turned into a humiliating defeat that would haunt the guild for a long time.

"SoulfireBlade!"

InfernoRider001 ground his teeth at the name, hatred and disbelief twisting together inside him. More than anything, he couldn’t stop thinking about that strange golden shield. When had SoulfireBlade acquired such a piece of equipment? He had never heard of it, much less seen anything like it, and then there was that blue hoe.

It was ridiculous. SoulfireBlade’s strength had suddenly become so monstrous that InfernoRider001 could scarcely believe the man was the same opponent he had expected to crush.

’Why did this happen?’

He was still unwilling to accept the truth, but the battlefield offered him no opportunity to change it. Inferno now had fewer than five hundred members remaining, while Soulfire still had nearly a thousand. Soulfire’s Clerics and High Clerics were already reviving their fallen comrades, and fresh reinforcements continued to arrive.

There was no point in throwing away more lives. InfernoRider001 could only grit his teeth and retreat with the rest of his men. If they continued fighting and dying here, Inferno would lose any chance of recovering from the defeat. The guild needed to preserve what remained of its forces, regroup, and find a way to recover its losses.

Once they were far enough from the fighting to leave combat, the surviving Inferno members immediately used Town Portal Scrolls to return to town.

"Inferno, you impotent bastards!"

"InfernoRider001, you coward! Running away with your tail between your legs!"

Unable to catch up with their retreating enemies, Soulfire’s members could only hurl insults after them. Their voices carried a mixture of frustration and exhilaration. They had won, but after such an intense battle, watching Inferno escape still left many of them itching for another chance to fight.

Even so, they couldn’t afford to waste time celebrating. The two Blood Clan Bosses were still alive, and dealing with them had to take priority.

Following the guild’s established rules, some players immediately began collecting the equipment Inferno had dropped, while everyone else turned their attention toward the two monstrous bosses.

Watching the battlefield settle into a new phase, Marcus couldn’t help sighing inwardly. ’The battle was insane,’ he thought. The fight had been so chaotic that by the time he managed to locate the Furious Three, they had already been killed while trying to hold off the Blood Clan Bosses.

He hadn’t even managed to find out whether the guild teleport scroll had dropped, and now what was happening before him was almost unbelievable. Despite the ferocity of the two Blood Clan Bosses, Soulfire had thrown more than a thousand members into the fight. Under their concentrated assault, both monsters were defeated in less than a minute, at the cost of more than fifty player deaths.

Marcus hadn’t even had the chance to join in, and could only watch as the monsters went down, leaving him with no share of the fight and no opportunity to contribute.

Ding, ding...

A series of pleasant notification sounds rang out as the two Blood Clan Bosses dropped their loot. Two Mythic Artifacts, six pieces of Golden equipment, more than a dozen pieces of Blue equipment, and a large assortment of other items appeared on the ground.

"Hell!"

Marcus was practically green with envy. As expected of Blood Clan Bosses carrying such valuable treasures, their drop rates were absurdly generous.

Looking at the mountain of loot, Marcus made a mental note that from now on, whenever he encountered the Blood Clan or the Savage Tribe, he absolutely could not afford to let them get away.

Soulfire had struck the jackpot.

Between the loot dropped by the two Blood Clan Bosses and the more than a thousand pieces of equipment scattered across the battlefield by fallen Soulfire members, the guild had amassed an enormous haul. Yet the material rewards were only part of the victory. Their triumph over Inferno, achieved despite their numerical disadvantage, would soon spread throughout the entire US Region, bringing Soulfire fame, prestige, and a flood of new recruits.

Damn, what a jackpot.

SoulfireBlade walked casually toward the corpses of the two Blood Clan Bosses and collected their drops. Once he had finished, the members of Soulfire gathered neatly beside him, their earlier exhaustion giving way to unrestrained excitement.

Then, as if acting on a single impulse, they raised their voices and shouted in unison.

"Soulfire forever! Soulfire invincible!"

"Boss invincible!"

Their thunderous cheers carried across the battlefield, astonishing the ordinary players who had arrived too late to witness the entire fight. Many of them immediately began recording the scene, capturing the victorious guild standing together amid the spoils of battle. Before long, the footage was uploaded to the forums, where news of Soulfire’s stunning victory began spreading like wildfire.

Soulfire was on fire. Absolutely on fire.

When the victorious guild returned to its territory, the teleportation point was soon flashing with a steady stream of arrivals. Players continued teleporting in, eager to see the guild that had defeated the mighty Inferno despite having fewer members. For a guild that had just accomplished something so remarkable, there was no shortage of curious onlookers.

"What was that golden shield? It actually blocked an attack from a Mythic weapon! Could it be a Divine Artifact?"

"And what about that blue hoe? Is that a Divine Artifact, too? It actually fired a blue ice dragon!"

Questions flew from every direction as curious players swarmed around Soulfire’s members, desperate to learn more about the equipment that had helped turn the battle around.

"Soulfire bro, let me join! You guys are too strong, too united, too dominant, too fierce! I want in!"

"I want to join Soulfire for one reason: I admire Boss SoulfireBlade!"

Of course, those were only two of the many voices clamoring to join. After witnessing Soulfire’s victory with their own eyes, countless players wanted to become part of the guild. Its strength had been impressive enough before, but defeating a larger opponent in such a spectacular fashion had made it even more attractive.

Meanwhile, far from the noisy crowds gathering outside, Marcus, SoulfireBlade, and SoulSync were sitting together at Lydia’s Willow Garden Gourmet House, raising their glasses in celebration.

"Stone, we owe this one to you. It’s been so long since I’ve felt that kind of rush on the battlefield. Let’s drink to you, brother!"

The three men were the only ones at the table. Lydia, the persistent little vixen, had insisted on going into the kitchen to prepare their meal personally, leaving them free to talk without interruption. Meanwhile, SoulfireBlade’s elite subordinates had already begun distributing the rewards for the victory according to the guild’s rules, while the rest of Soulfire’s territory remained immersed in the excitement of their hard-won triumph.

"Stone, without you, we wouldn’t have walked away with anything close to this. Forget about the loot. We might have suffered disastrous losses and ended up being the ones retreating if you hadn’t stepped in."

SoulfireBlade’s gratitude was sincere. He knew better than anyone how easily the battle could have ended in Inferno’s favor, and he wasn’t about to pretend that Soulfire could have achieved the same result without Marcus’s help.

As he spoke, he returned Marcus’s Adamant Shield, Ice Hoe, and Bone Barrage. He then took out a gold card and a necklace radiating a faint black glow, placing both in front of Marcus.