Chapter 1424: Chapter 1424: Move Like Thunder

Compared to the calm in front of defense line nine at corridor number ninety-one, the majority of the others were in a fierce state of contention.

The teams participating in the competition were simply too numerous. Unlike the nine defense lines in the comprehensive mode, there were only six in war and adventure modes.

It’s the same objective: occupy the designated stronghold, then guard it for three hours to open the passage.

One can imagine the extreme level of combat, especially when some formidable teams congregated in front of the passage, the intensity was unprecedented.

Tricks and schemes were endless. In the struggle for the passage, teams would stop at nothing, and even alliances among guilds were fraught with tension. The race for the first kill was far too important, especially in a qualification contest where yielding an inch could result in giving up the first kill.

Hence, every team was incredibly aggressive. Until now, except for very few strong teams that by chance ended up in weaker passages without serious competition, no one had made it through.

Out of one hundred and eighty comprehensive passages, only three lucky individuals were in such a position.

They were essentially in a league of their own; while other teams were struggling at the sixth or seventh defense line, these teams could withstand the duration and were incredibly fortunate by the time the others reached the eighth.

While there were quite a few strong teams on Starfire’s side, the number was not exceedingly high, so things were relatively standard.

Thus, except for the area around Starfire’s corridor, all other areas were engaged in manic melee combat.

Practically no team could hold out for three hours – not an easy feat.

Especially for teams with many strong competitors, every rival they eliminated cost them significant troop strength. In the end, even the powerful ones would be crippled and ultimately destroyed by other strong teams.

Players below level fifty were in for a visual feast, witnessing once again the methods and techniques of the top-tier players. Of course, the main attraction was the variety of rare troop types.

As players became more rational, no longer obsessed with the size of their armies, the streamlined troops saw a notable improvement in quality, particularly since this was a race for the first kill. Even if it wasn’t their final trump card, it couldn’t be much less.

Various rare troop types emerged one after another, and with many thrilling battles happening simultaneously, many spectators didn’t know which team’s combat footage to watch.

With the brutality of the contest, there even appeared armies composed of elements, Abyss, Hell, including Demons and Demons that were uncommon troop types.

It can be said that the war mode has entered an era of professionalism and flourishing diversity, just like the player’s careers.

In the half-hour of calm, Li Yao constantly controlled his Fire Eagle to fly rapidly back and forth. Unable to watch the live broadcast, he could only check the situation in other areas by himself. Li Yao wasn’t too anxious about some lucky ones who had entered the passages early.

This time, the strategy for conquering the dungeon wasn’t about sheer speed, but about stability and steady progress. Even if you were running fast and moving forward, the first kill wasn’t guaranteed until the final moment.

After all, if your team was wiped out, you’d have to return to the first checkpoint and compete for the passage again.

Therefore, the most important thing for the first kill this time was survival, only by living until the end could you achieve the final first kill.

Half an hour later, one of the vice-presidents said with a wry smile, “Time’s up, can we start attacking now?”

Li Yao nodded and waved his hand, and the Starfire Legion adjusted its formation neither swiftly nor slowly, leisurely pressing towards the city walls.

Seeing Starfire initiate the attack, the other two guilds also dispatched their legions to assault.

The battle for the final defense line at Passage 91 began.

Atop the fortifications, the president of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods Guild smiled coldly: “How foolish. If they attacked us while we were still unsteady, we might not have been able to hold our ground. But by giving us two hours to prepare, we’ve bolstered our defenses without them realizing we’ve adjusted our formation. I really overestimated Starfire. I thought they would be our greatest enemy in Passage 91, but it seems that’s not the case.”

The members of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods Guild burst into laughter. They had already occupied the passage for a little over two hours, with their progress bar already beyond two-thirds. They didn’t need to eliminate the assaulting teams; they just needed to hold out for one more hour.

Moreover, with limited space on the wall, there was a limit to the number of troops that could attack simultaneously. In their view, holding out for three hours wasn’t easy, but with less than an hour left, they were certain they had ample forces.

“Let the demon bats take flight. As long as we restrain their Steel Gryphons, victory will be ours.”

Following the command of the Seventy-Two Demon Gods Guild president, thousands of gigantic blood-red bats enveloped in black mist ascended. The visible sonic fluctuations in the sky made everyone’s hearts flutter with agitation.

At the same time, all the cannons on the wall were set up, ready to deliver a fierce onslaught on any attacking guild at a moment’s notice.

The elite troops directly dispatched by the two guilds made a frenzied charge towards the walls, knowing all too well that there was little time to spare.

Yet, Starfire’s legion remained leisurely and slow, leaving countless onlookers speechless. “Is this supposed to be a siege?” they thought. “They’re not even charging, but moving slower than a typical march–as if on a spring outing.”

While the vanguard of the other two guilds had already commenced battle, Starfire was still outside the range of enemy cannons, inducing a sense of helplessness among the onlookers.

Just when everyone thought Starfire was giving up on achieving the first kill, a dazzling earthen-yellow pillar of light burst forth from the rear of Starfire’s formation.

The golden pillar shot into the skies, scattering the low-hanging black clouds, as a beam of sunlight poured through.

Under everyone’s puzzled gazes, numerous gnoll mage wands began to levitate, ascending along with the pillar of light.

Then, the wands exploded like yellow fireworks. The voices of five thousand Divine Guard Magicians chanting in unison filled the battlefield, while their complicated incantations formed golden sonic waves. The blood-red bats in the sky fell like raindrops as the sonic waves struck them.

“Near-Forbidden Spell–Ground Collapse.”

With the final incantation complete, the near-forbidden spell that typically required a hundred thousand people to cast for two hours was unleashed, thanks to the half-hour conjuring of five thousand powerful mages and the sacrifice of tens of thousands of gnoll wands.

Crack, crack, crack…

The light vanished, but thunderous sounds reverberated in the eardrums. Even the fighting teams afar were involuntarily stunned into halting by the magnitude of the noise.

The spectators watching Starfire’s battle witnessed a shocking scene–the portion of the wall beyond Starfire’s cannon range shook violently and then suddenly collapsed with a roar.

Beneath the wall, as if a massive golden maw had opened, the ground split apart, swallowing the segment of the wall, while the Seventy-Two Demon Gods Guild’s army atop and beside the wall, along with a few players of the guild, were instantaneously consumed.

The tremors only lasted for three seconds, but after those three seconds, it was as if that section of wall had never existed–no trace of collapse, as if there was never a wall there at all.

While the wall, the army, and the defense mechanisms all vanished without a trace, only a few bewildered wisps of white light drifted from the ground to mid-air, proving that everything that had just transpired was, indeed, real…