The searing sun hung high in the sky as more than a hundred thousand people gathered in an arena floating above the Northern Desert.
"What bad luck, why did Dream Avenue's first fight have to be in the Norther Desert?"
"Should we go back and fetch some water?"
"No way I'm spending my hard-earned copper on water. What a scam! Listen, bro, that's all just in your head. As long as you don't lose HP, the heat isn't really affecting you."
"Ice palace! Ice palace! Ice palace!"
"See, that guy gets it!"
"Hmpf. All of you are too soft! So what if we need to endure a bit of heat to watch Dream Avenue?"
"Dream Avenue!"
"Dream Avenue!"
The audience was greatly excited as the seconds ticked down. They were overwhelmingly supporting Dream Avenue with only a few people trying to hold against it by shouting Unity of Life's name.
Just then a light flashed and the caster for the match appeared. It was a middle-aged man proudly showing off his chiselled body. He wasn't exactly famous but with his looks he surely could make a career as a model.
The man smiled brightly seeing the large audience. He knew he had lucked out by casting a match of a highly anticipated guild like Dream Avenue.
"Ladies and gentlemen, welcome in arena number 25513! My name is Fenchgal! I am honed to cast this upcoming fight for you on this third day of the tournament!
Let us welcome our combatants for this guild contest. Give a warm applause for Dreeeaam Avenue and Unity of Liiiife!"
Loud cheers erupted as two large groups suddenly appeared on the arena floor.
Cyclone smiled brightly, waving at the many fans who came to support them, noticing that new ones arrived continuously.
Meanwhile Liam was already completely focused on the battle. He scanned the surroundings, noticing that the arena had transformed into a rocky landscape without any major obstacles.
Liam's eyes quickly fell on the enemy guild. They had a hundred people just like Dream Avenue. According to some information he gathered beforehand Unity of Life won their matches in tier 3, which allowed them to advance by one tier and now face Dream Avenue in tier 2.
By all rights this fight should be an easy one for Dream Avenue. But one should never underestimate their enemies. Liam surely wouldn't make such a low mistake.
Fenchgal made a few more introductions, which confirmed Liam's thoughts.
Finally, he came to an end:
"Dream Avenue! Unity of Life! Get ready! You battle starts in 3, 2, 1... NOW!"
Dream Avenue immediately took on standard positions. The thieves turned invisible, and the ranged fighters stayed at the back.
Since they could only choose one hundred people for the fight, they had sixteen tanks building a front line while four stayed behind as backup.
[Bleary Mirage: We will start to probe them. Don't use your big skills just yet! Tanks, move forward!]
Under Liam's orders Dream Avenue moved as one without any confusion. They advanced towards the enemy at a measured pace.
Quickly the two guilds entered each other's firing range. Arrows and magic shot through the air, promoting the respective tanks to block.
Cyclone stood at the back of her guild, proudly overlooking the fight. Fighting together with everyone felt extremely special after what happened over the last two days.
"Haha, guys! Show everyone why we are the best guild!"
"Have you heard the guild leader?"
"Guys, give it your all!"
"Whoever dies today will be punished!"
"Punishment? Are you the guild leader now?"
"Come on, focus!"
Cyclone grinned brightly, swinging her wand for a normal attack, aiming at a heavy armoured woman standing at the front of the enemy guild.
[-1136!]
Cyclone nearly couldn't believe her own eyes. The difference between fighting against players or NPC bosses was really too big.
"The guild leader is mighty!"
"Nice damage!"
The people around Cyclone cheered happily. It didn't matter even if they weren't able to follow Cyclone's attack amidst the chaotic attacks from multiple sources.
On the other side. The person whom Cyclone had attacked was the guild leader of Unity of Life, Benevolent Moon. She frowned faintly, noticing the severe damage. With so many attacks arriving almost simultaneously she tried to block those which looked more dangerous, but she failed to block Cyclone's.
Benevolent Moon was already prepared for a fierce battle. She took a deep breath as Dream Avenue quickly closed the distance.
"Dream Avenue, I look forward to fighting you! But don't think we will make it easy for you!"
Silver Blade grinned hearing these words from the enemy tank.
"Haha, we never expected you to!"
At that moment the two sides collided. While the players responsible for damage tried to break through and reach the fragile backlines, the tanks did their best to prevent it.
Benevolent Moon, as the most powerful player of her guild, focused her eyes on Liam. A blue thorn shot out from her sword, aiming for her target. It was pretty small, barely perceptible on the battlefield.
But Liam's instincts didn't let him down. He turned his upper body to the right. A blue thorn shot past him, hitting the person behind him.
[Stance -16]
"What?!"
Liam grinned at Benevolent Moon as she let out a startled shout. With a nimble move he slipped through the line of tanks and appeared in front of a few warriors with weaker armor.
Liam's swords flashed in a large arc, hitting multiple enemies, putting mountainous pressure on the enemies.
[-2316!]
[Stance -26]
[-2281!]
[Stance -29]
"What?!"
"How can this be?"
"This is too much!"
The players surrounding Liam froze in horror. They couldn't comprehend the vast damage. How could it be this much even after they received various buffs from their supportive players?
While everyone was shocked Liam thought it was only logical. He was a tier two character of a higher level. The enemies naturally stood no chance.
Benevolent Moon's eyes opened wide as she noticed what was happening. She quickly turned around trying to contain Liam.
Unfortunately, two other tanks had the same idea. Targeted by three people and with limited space not even Liam could escape.
He was hit by the tanks, which drew his aggro, preventing him from dealing damage to anyone else.
However, as Liam drew the attention of three tanks, a huge hole appeared in Unity of Life's frontline. Naturally Dream Avenue made use of it. Their warriors made it past the tanks, clashing with the enemies.
As Dream Avenue was on average better equipped than Unity of Life, they immediately pushed back the enemy guild.
In the initial clash multiple members of Unity of Life were brought to the brink of death. Just then, however, something strange happened.
A white light like a surging wave washed over a large area. All the members of Unity of Life who got hit were temporarily protected from dying.
Instantly a plethora of healing spells arrived and saved the players who were partly down to a single HP.
Liam's eyes lit up in surprise.
"You actually have Billows of Life! Such a rare skill. Not bad."
"You recognize our skill at a glance?", asked Benevolent Moon with shock. But Liam only answered with a grin. Despite being surrounded he had the leisure to look around.
He constantly used his normal attacks to stack two holy marks before triggering them with his skills. Thanks to his ultimate skill his stance only reduced slowly.
But naturally even he couldn't be so confident if it weren't for his trust in his teammates. Other members of Dream Avenue were about to arrive any moment, which would divert the attention of those surrounding him.
Even during the fight Liam perceived all of this and even more. Observing the fiercely fighting frontline he quickly got a good guess about the enemy's tactics.
[Bleary Mirage: It seems they rely heavily on their support players. With so many healers it is difficult for us to kill the tanks quickly.]
[Cyclone: So, should we target the healers?]
[Bleary Mirage: Correct!]
[Cyclone: Hehe, watch me!]
While he informed the guild, Liam spotted an attack from the corner of his eyes. A spear with a strangely gleaming tip was aiming for his waist. Liam didn't hesitate to dodge with a jump, which brought him close to Benevolent Moon, using the tank as his own shield.
"Despicable!"
"Damn!"
Suddenly Liam's chest plate shone with a sinister dark glow. A tiny, black spear shot at the warrior who had attacked him. It was too swift for the man to dodge.
[-646!]
Liam was pleasantly surprised as his chest plate's effect triggered for the first time, unleashing a [Cursed Spear]. The difficult to withstand dark damage was rather powerful for something which was basically a free attack.
However, the dark damage triggered another effect of his chest plate. An eerie cackle came from above his head as a sinister ghostly scull appeared, floating above him.
This was devil's curse, which for now only had the effect of lowering Liam's defence.