THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 5 - Season 8 Episode 26

Ever since Stone Forest Town had fallen under Zero Wing’s control, the town developed faster by the day.

Due to the Stoneclaw Mountains, Stone Forest Town had already become a haunt for elite players.

Various facilities constantly emerged within the town, the town undergoing endless changes and improvements. At this point, the town had six smithies. There were over 20 hotels. Even though more players had gathered than before, there were no longer the long queues there had been when the town had first fallen into Zero Wing’s clutches. They no longer needed to wait several hours to repair equipment.

However, ever since Zero Wing had given up on developing the Stoneclaw Mountains itself and shifted its focus towards conquering Team Dungeons and leveling up elsewhere, Stone Forest Town’s atmosphere had grown extraordinarily intense. It felt as if a war would break out between the Guilds at any time.

Although Zero Wing had given up on developing the Stoneclaw Mountains, the number of Guilds replenishing their supplies in Stone Forest Town had never diminished. On the contrary, more Guilds arrived each day. This allowed Zero Wing’s income of Magic Crystals to remain steady. The various large Guilds were extremely envious, and they all hungered to replace Zero Wing as Stone Forest Town’s manager.

—

Inside the Secret Pavilion’s Guild Residence:

“Uncle Yuan, you called us here so suddenly; did something major happened?” a young man asked.

This youth wore silver scale armor and carried a heavy greatsword on his back. His expression was indifferent, and he wore his red hair in a spiky style. The youth radiated a suffocating bloodthirst that prevented anyone from approaching him casually. Moreover, this youth’s Level was very high. He was a Level 34 Berserker. He could rank at the very top of Star-Moon Kingdom’s Ranking List.

Aside from this youth, there were also quite a few young men and women waiting in the Guild Hall. These men and women also had very high Levels, with the lowest among them being Level 33. The weakest piece of equipment they wore was Level 30 Fine-Gold rank. Even in first-rate Guilds, such high-leveled and well-equipped individuals were extremely rare. However, almost one hundred of such players stood in the Secret Pavilion’s Guild Hall.

“Of course, something good has happened. Cold Autumn, don’t tell me you’ve forgotten why the Guild Leader told you to come here?” Yuan Tiexin, who had already reached Level 35 and currently wore a set of long, black robes, said, chuckling.

Every major power would nurture their own experts. Meanwhile, Cold Autumn was the most outstanding individual among the new generation of the Secret Pavilion. He was also a genius, recognized by many of the Guild’s Elders and Founding Members.

“Huh? Has the Flower of Seven Sins finally started to take action?” Cold Autumn asked excitedly.

To let them, the Guild’s new generation, learn the strength of the Flower of Seven Sins, their Guild Leader had sent them on a trip to Stone Forest Town. This would show them of the difference between their power and the organization’s. At the very least, they would not remain ignorant like frogs at the bottom of a well.

Although the Secret Pavilion was a powerful force in the virtual gaming world, compared to the incomparably mysterious Flower of Seven Sins, the Pavilion was almost nothing. After all, the Flower of Seven Sins was an organization that struck fear even in the hearts of Super Guilds.

“However, I’ve heard that after sustaining several attacks from the Flower of Seven Sins, Zero Wing’s members have become more cautious and have kept a low profile. Both the Guild’s main force and the Dark God’s Legion either held themselves up in the Divine Colosseum or went out to complete quests after disguising themselves. They have stopped forming teams to level up in the fields. Even the Flower of Seven Sins could not find an opportunity to attack. How could the organization have found a chance to make a move now? Could they be planning to trade their lives, ignoring their safety to kill their targets?” Cold Autumn asked, wondering aloud.

They had seen a few battles between Zero Wing and the Flower of Seven Sins’ assassins. However, Zero Wing’s members had been defenseless. Before the organization’s assassins could exert their full strength, the players from Zero Wing had died.

However, Cold Autumn had to admit that there were some powerful experts among Zero Wing.

In the last secret battle between the two organizations, Zero Wing had ten members on their side. On the other hand, the Flower of Seven Sins had sent a party of six to ambush Zero Wing. During that battle, the Assassin named Fire Dance had performed magnificently. She had fought the assassins’ party leader to a standstill. In the end, she had activated a Berserk Skill, killing one of the assassins and escaping with her life.

However, at the end of that battle, Zero Wing had suffered nine deaths, while one from the Flower of Seven Sins had died. Even so, this had been an amazing outcome as, during the previous exchanges between the two, Zero Wing had always suffered complete while the Flower of Seven Sins came out unharmed.

These battles were not due to Zero Wing having weak members. Rather, it was because the Flower of Seven Sins was simply too strong.

Cold Autumn had pondered his capabilities in such a situation. At best, he was confident in fighting toe-to-toe with an ordinary member from the Flower of Seven Sins. If neither side had the class advantage, his chances of emerging victorious would be roughly 50%. As for facing a party leader, the difference in strength was too vast. He would not even have the chance to survive or flee.

This time, the Flower of Seven Sins had dispatched less than 50 members. Meanwhile, those capable of becoming a party leader in the organization would be, at least, a Flowing Water Realm expert. Cold Autumn himself was merely a Half-step Refinement Realm expert. Without much of a difference in terms of Basic Attributes, he had zero chances of winning against a Flowing Water Realm expert.

Not to mention, his equipment was inferior to the Flower of Seven Sins’ party leaders.

Not only could their equipment rank at the very top of God’s Domain, but the party leaders had also learned many rare Skills. Every one of them possessed powerful Berserk Skills and were all inhumanely strong.

Hence, Cold Autumn admired Fire Dance. The fact that Fire Dance could contend with a party leader and had even killed a party member before escaping showed that she was far stronger than he was. However, part of the reason that Fire Dance could achieve this feat was due to her Attributes surpassing the Flower of Seven Sins’ party leader. She even had a Berserk Skill with a lengthy duration of ten minutes. Without these advantages, she, too, would have shared the same fate as her team members.

“It’s not the Flower of Seven Sins. It is the Star Alliance,” Yuan Tiexin said, shaking his head.

“Hasn’t the Star Alliance been focusing on developing the Stoneclaw Mountains? Why would they suddenly want to conquer Stone Forest Town?” Cold Autumn did not believe that any power in God’s Domain was capable of occupying Stone Forest Town.

Against current players, Level 150 NPC guards only needed one hit to finish the fight. Plenty of high-tiered NPC guards also protected the town.

“You’ll understand once you see the official forums,” Yuan Tiexin said.

Cold Autumn immediately opened Star-Moon Kingdom’s forums.

Sure enough, at the very top of the front page, massive letters attracted attention to a specific post. Moreover, the post had been created by none other than the Star Alliance’s Guild Leader, Galaxy Past.

The Star Alliance officially issues a challenge to Zero Wing. We will wait in the Stoneclaw Mountains. Do you dare accept?

If Zero Wing does not have the courage to accept this challenge, you can hide in Stone Forest Town for the rest of your lives.

Although the post had just been issued, the Star Alliance’s many members had constantly upvoted it. They had also disparaged Zero Wing in the comments.

“Isn’t Zero Wing supposed to be impressive? Do you guys dare accept our challenge?”

“Black Flame, aren’t you Star-Moon Kingdom’s number one expert?! If you’re strong enough, stop hiding and fight me! Let’s show the world how I beat you up into a pulp!”

“Sure enough, Zero Wing’s members are all cowards. The only thing they know how to do is to hide in the Safe Zone.”

…

“So, this is the case.” Cold Autumn immediately understood what was going on. “It seems that the Star Alliance is not doing too well right now, either.”

“Without the supplies that Stone Forest Town offers, even with funding, the Star Alliance’s development in the Stoneclaw Mountains has lagged behind the other Guilds. Naturally, the Guild cannot allow this to continue. Now that the Flower of Seven Sins is dealing with Zero Wing’s experts, it is the perfect chance for the Alliance to deal a massive blow to the Guild. If the Alliance succeeds, once Stone Forest Town’s protection period has ended, it will be a lot easier for the Alliance to take over,” Yuan Tiexin explained. “Hence, I have called you all here to prepare.”

“I understand. I’ll have everyone get ready. Hopefully, Zero Wing won’t try to dodge this battle.” Cold Autumn felt that Zero Wing’s Guild Leader, Black Flame, was not so foolish as to get taken in by such a pitiful provocation. However, it was a different matter when it came to the Guild. If Zero Wing wanted to retain its reputation, it would have no choice but to accept the Star Alliance’s challenge.