City Of Trickery

Different from what Mays initially thought, the third presumed village was actually a city. Black towering wall surrounding the area was perfectly barbed with spiky wires to prevent invaders from all side. This city, was a city Mays and Ria knew quite well.

City Of Trickery.

One of the twenty-five's man raid dungeon instance in HeavensTale. It was a city full of vampires governed by the ranked ninth insane boss himself, Vampire Lord Kokakola. The difficulty of defeating this boss was no small task for sure. Even Zaramoth who was the strongest silver ranked insane boss paled in comparison.

There were only a total of twenty one twenty-five's man raid dungeon in HeavensTale. Seven of them at level fifty, another seven at level seventy five and the last seven were at level one hundred. For every level cap increase starting level fifty, there were always six twenty-five man raid dungeon with one insane boss and one twenty-five man raid dungeon with three insane boss in it.

"Master! Mira's meteor strike got repelled by the city's barrier. Mira don't think we can destroy it easily."

"Yeah I saw that. It's okay, I'll think of something."

Mira who just casted a meteor strike reported the unexpected outcome of her attack. She obviously didn't know that a powerful barrier was shielding the city. Mays on the other hand was indifferent. The reason why he asked Mira to launch that pre attentive strike was to prove his assumption. He was right. There was a strong barrier surrounding the whole city indeed.

This barrier was not the same as those barrier erected by healer class in HeavensTale. The scale was way different. From the color of light reflected by the barrier during the meteor impact previously, Mays concluded that this barrier was a protective barrier erected by a barrier crystal. The same type of barrier surrounding cities during territory war back in HeavensTale.

"No wonder those bunch from EmpireKnight got wiped out. Not only this city is guarded by Kokakola, it even have a barrier crystal in it."

"Served them right haha. They boasted so much but their actual skills were just so so."

Ria replied to Mays idle chatter in her usual cheerful manner. She was beside Mays all these time. From the look of it, she already come to term with what happened earlier. It was also true that if she wanted to travel with Mays, those kind of things would happen frequently considering that the demon continent was the home for those demonic beings.

"They only got numbers, quantity over quality. That's how EmpireKnight managed to barely hold their ranking as the third strongest guild in HeavensTale."

"Damn right hahaha."

Truth be told, both Mays and Ria knew that this barrier crystal was not a problem for those people from EmpireKnight. They just wanted to talk bad about them. Their relationship with those bunch was just that bad.

Mira who was still nearby didn't say anything else after Ria started talking. It felt awkward for her to interrupt when both Ria and Mays conversed. She reluctantly walked away toward Aloha and the rest with a wry smile on her face.

The dark and gloomy forest made all the people inside it lost their sense of time. It had been hours since Mays and the rest entered this forest, meaning that it would already be night time outside.

The siege on the city had not started yet. With how sturdy the city wall was, even Mays would have trouble breaching it. Scaling it over would also be a hard task with those strong looking wire garb spiraling all over the wall. Air raid was out of the question thanks to the existence of the barrier.

"Well then. If they plan to turtle up in their cosy little city, let's do something to smoke them out."

"Eh?"

Unlike Ria who stood beside him looking for a weak spot they could attack, Mays was thinking of something totally different. Even Ria was shocked when she heard what Mays planned to do. Baiting those vampires out of their town was something that never been done in HeavensTale.

"Can we even do that?"

"I don't know hahaha. It won't hurt to try though."

Apparently, the rules of instance dungeon was the same even in this world. Mays couldn't even summon his archive cube inside this zone. His initial plan of attacking with dragons was discarded right away.

Leisurely answering, Mays chuckled as his gaze stopped at a tree nearby, the tallest tree around the area. That tree picked his interest because of its height. Most of the trees inside this Demonfall Forest were extremely large and tall to begin with but this one tree outshone the rest. It was at least one half taller than the other trees.

"That tree. Let's make it out headquarters. Syaitona, Alicia. Lead the rest and set up traps around the perimeter of that tree."

"Yes sir!"

"Yes master!"

The spirits didn't waste any time as they started setting up traps all over the tall tree appointed by Mays.

"Why that tree?"

Ria was obviously clueless about Mays's choice.

"Do you know that the Germans used a fake tree during a war once?"

"Of course I don't. Meanie!"

"Hahhaha figured."

Rather than an answer, she was questioned by Mays instead. She pouted at Mays's who was teasing her. Even then, Mays didn't tell her why he had chosen that tree as their headquarters either.

The one currently in charge of the city defense was a gold ranked intermediate boss named Azazan. He was a veteran vampire who had lived for centuries under the command of Kokakola.

"Azazan! We should inform Lord Kokakola about those attacker!"

"Nope. I am enough to handle them. There is no need to trouble the lord for this kind of things. Just do whatever you're told, Agebon."

Agebon was the other gold ranked intermediate boss in charge. The two of them were Kokakola's direct subordinates. Unlike Azazan who was confident in his own power, Agebon who was insecure always seek their lord for further instruction.

There were no other gold ranked bosses inside the city. Under them were less than ten silver ranked intermediate boss while the rest were just normal vampires. At the moment, Vampire Lord Kokakola was in deep slumber in the deepest part of the city. He seldom came out from his chamber unless there were urgent matters which needed his attention.

"Looks like they have no plan on attacking tonight."

"At least their brains are functioning. We vampires are stronger at night than during the day."

"I don't think that they have the power to break the barrier during the day either."

"Hahaha that's right. The barrier crystal absorbed sunlight to recover its vitality. It was harder to be destroyed during the day. The combination of us vampires with this crystal barrier is just too perfect."

Azazan happily boasted about their exceptional traits as he justify the reason why their enemy would not attack them. Agebon on the other hand was looking at the clear night sky with a heart full of doubt. He didn't know why but he felt that something bad was about to happen.

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The sky turned darker as time passed. It was now midnight in Demonfall Mountain where the tension inside City of Trickery was as stiff as previously. Guards were on high alert ever since the first meteor strike was repelled by the city's barrier.

"Those people outside, will they attack for real?"

"Not sure. But they most probably will wait till morning before they attack."

"But the barrier is way stronger during the day. With just the few of them, it is hard to break it."

"For sure. That's why this city is impregnable. We vampires just compliments the crystal barrier way too well."

Several guards who were currently off duty chatted leisurely in their resting quarters. All of them were vampire soldiers of the city. None of them were boss class but they were all gold ranked fighter nonetheless. Since they were in a dungeon instance, their fighting prowess were enhanced considerably making them on par with silver ranked intermediate boss.

"Uh, its midnight now. I need to go and switch with the current guard."

"Me too. Let's go."

Two of them stood up and walked out from the quarters. It was their turn to guard the walls now. Just before they walked out from the door, the building itself shook heavily as the barrier surroundings the city was bombarded nonstop from the outside.

"Ktang! Klooong! Ktang!"

"ENEMY ATTACK! ENEMY ATTACK!"

"Alert! Alert! Enemy attack!"

The soldiers who were on guard duty were shouting nonstop to alarm the other soldiers. The barrier which surrounded the city had been shining nonstop, blocking and deflecting every attack landed on it. It seemed like the attack would not stop anytime soon.

"Destroy that barrier!" "Chaos meteor!"

"Chaos meteor!" "Chaos meteor!" "Arcane Burst!"

"Sky Bombard!" "Rain of Arrow!" "Spread Shot!"

Together with Ria's commanding shout, countless high level attack rained down the city's barrier. Every long range spirits were using their AOE skill with the most damage output to deplete the barrier's vitality.

Ria brought with her a total of fifteen spirits. Four of them were magic caster which were all her second tier spirits. Six were range damage dealer consisting of hunters, archers and rangers while another five were support type which were a cleric, illusionist, enchanter, shaman and monk respectively.

At the moment, Mays was not there at their headquarters. He had long ago moved somewhere else leaving everything to Ria. Since there was nothing much for Ria to do except breaking the barrier and lure out the vampires within the city, Mays barely explained his plan to Ria. Apart from Mays, there was also one of his spirits who was not present at their headquarters. That spirit was Erocci the assassin.

"Syaitona. We just need to keep attacking even after the barrier breaks right?"

"Yes Lady Ria. We need to defend this place until master finished his part though."

Confirming their plan with Syaitona, Ria smiled at the simple command Mays gave her. Mays even told her to ask Syaitona anything in case she had a question about something.

"Heh, leave that to me. If I am defending something, nothing could dream of destroying it."

"Erm."

Syaitona nodded with a smile on her face. She knew that this person who stood in front of her was the strongest knight in HeavensTale. She might not be within top three if the eight hidden class player were to fight against each other but in term of defense and resistance she was without a doubt second to none.

"Azazan! Their attack power is too high. Our dark priest is working their hardest just to recover some of the barrier's vitality. The barrier will break soon if we didn't do anything to prevent it."

"I know. These people have more range attacker than those who attacked us last year. That is the main reason why our barrier can't hold on."

The last time when this city was under attack by humans, the attacker had a fully balanced party. They had less magicians and range attacker hence they couldn't afford to launch a crazy bombardment like Mays's current party.

It couldn't be blamed on them though. Not every guild had monstrous tank and melee attacker like Ria and Mays. With the two of them in the same party, they didn't even need a second tank or additional melee attacker. The two of them were already a perfect melee combination. Ria as the tank who never fall and Mays the insane damage dealer who never scored second in damage percentage of every raid.

The only reason why Damia and Erocci were also with them was because they were Mays's spirits. If not, Mays would use the additional slots for more range damage dealer for sure. That was what he often did back in HeavensTale. It was a well-known fact in most MMORPG where range classes had higher damage output compared to melee class in return for their lower HP after all.

Under normal circumstances, players would always choose to focus fire on the city gate. It was in fact the most vulnerable part of the city. It was not made by the black stone wall and it was also not protected by the barrier.

However, the current attacker did something really unexpected. They launched an air raid and bombarded the barriers with their monstrous attack. This was really the first time these vampires inside the city experienced this kind of unproductive attack. If that focus fire was aimed at the city gate, it would undoubtedly fell in just five minutes.

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Border of Kedama Kingdom, Almeran Coral Hills.

The current headquarters of Aqua Trinity. Since the portal gate was located not too far from this coral area, they decided to make this place their headquarters. After all, the lizard kin and merman need to have fresh air once in a while unlike the nagas who could spent eternity underwater.

"Orders from higher up. We need to pull back all our forces."

"Why? Aren't we doing well hanging on so far?"

"Something unexpected happened. Winged Associates Vanguard Force got wiped out."

"What did you say?!"

Several deep sea creature were discussing the problem at hand. They were the group in charge of Aqua Trinity attack force. The news of what happened to Winged Associates was just delivered to them by their superior.

"Maybe we really should pull back. I don't want the same fate befall us too."

A bluish green elderly male Naga voiced out his opinion. He was the leader of all the Naga present. He had this wise look on his face making him the focus of attention every time he spoke.

"I second that. Nobody can tell when the godkins we are facing will ask for reinforcement."

This time, a veteran looking merman with a face full of scars replied. He also didn't plan to send their clan member to their death.

"If the two of you have the same opinion, then let's just wrap up everything here and leave. I don't have a hobby to commit suicide either."

A middle aged lizard man concluded the meeting with his word. His name was Durhaka. He was the leader of this vanguard force, the same position as Babila of Winged Associates. Every other member of the meeting nodded in agreement after Durhaka made his decision.

"Well then, please inform your men as soon as possible so we can depart by midnight today."

"Yes."

"Right away."

Right after the meeting concluded, they all left the meeting room with a stern look on their face. They spent years fighting in this continent and now they were ordered to give up and come back. There were several with unwillingness showed on their face but they still followed the order nonetheless.

It was then when suddenly the building where the meeting took place shook immensely. None of them had walked out of the building yet. At the same time, several explosion echoed all over, inducing chaos to the perimeter.

"We are under attack! Everyone take cover!"

The first thing Durhaka did was to shout as hard as he could, alerting all their allies. He then scanned his surrounding to identify their attackers. His face immediately darken when he realized how bad their situation right now.

At the moment, there were several flood dragons flying above their headquarters, seven flood dragons in exact. Riding on top of them were at least one hundred godkins and their spirits, readied for battle. There was also a single winged serpent not too far from them, obviously a part of that force.

"Looks like it is our fate to die here at this place."

Durhaka sighed. Their fate was sealed the moment this huge army of godkins set their eyes on them. If only they were informed about the destruction of Winged Associates sooner, they might still be able to retreat before it was too late.

Miserable shriek resounded throughout the entire headquarters. These flood dragons were attacking without discrimination. The godkins and their spirits were also joining the fight, slaughtering the member of Aqua Trinity on sight.

"Yo! You look kinda strong. Are you their leader perhaps?"

The man riding the winged serpent asked a question to Durhaka as he jumped down. He landed in front of Durhaka who was still in a shocked state. Since he jumped while he was still quite a distance from the land, a crater was formed under his feet and the beach sand flew all over him.

"Yes I am. And you godkin, which forces sent you here?"

"No, no. I'm not with any force. Not The Alliance, not The Sentinel either. We are just a group of mercenary who is paid to deal with you people."

Brushing off the scattered sand all over his clothes, the man who just landed replied nonchalantly. From the look of it, he was without a doubt someone with a high rank in this group of people.

A bulky middle aged man with a haggard face and bright blonde hair. On closer look, one would notice that this man had an artificial arm. His left arm was a mechanical arm which looked really cool and intimidating.

"I am Durhaka, the leader of Aqua Trinity's vanguard force."

"I know."

"And who might you be?"

"Blue Mist Obelisk. For now, I go by that name."

Blue Mist Obelisk. Another legendary figure alongside Red Wargod and Pink Demon. He was also one of the eight hidden class players in HeavensTale. His class was the Phantom Templar, the strongest healer class there was.

He lose his hand in the Great War five years ago. After the war, he disappeared along with all his guild members. The HiddenMercenary was just a small guild with less than thirty members and most of them were not hard core gamers. Even Obelisk himself happened to unlock the hidden class by chance which unexpectedly made him one of the legendary figure in HeavensTale.

"Now that you already know who I am, don't forget to report the name of your killer to King Yama."

Obelisk jumped toward Durhaka right after he declared so. Both his hand gripped the handle of his great hammer tightly as he swung it forward with a grin on his face.

"Heh, bring it on!"