THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 7 - Season 11 Episode 61

“Hm? Why is he here?!”

Yuan Tiexin’s expression froze when his eyes fell upon a middle-aged man standing with the Red Jade Legion. The middle-aged man’s appearance depicted strength, and he carried a bow of bones across his back.

Noticing Yuan Tiexin’s suddenly stern expression, Purple Jade, immediately followed his gaze from her seat beside him. However, she did not discover anything unusual. Yuan Tiexin didn’t seem to be looking at anyone noteworthy.

Suddenly, as if she had thought of something, Purple Jade asked, “Uncle Yuan, could there be someone from the Dark Blade among those people…?”

Even a Super Guild like Pantheon had its secrets. Hence, the Guild had established a secret department called the Dark Blade. The Dark Blade specialized in tasks that others who walked in the light didn’t want such as assassinations and banditry. This department’s members would also assassinate other Guilds’ upper echelons, disguising the deed as another Guild’s work and causing strife between other Guilds for their profit.

However, these tasks were secondary.

The Dark Blade’s true purpose was to assassinate enemy commanders during Guild wars.

To achieve this, when Pantheon nurtured these players, the selection of Skills, weapons, equipment, tools, and Attribute allocation were specially catered towards killing individual players. Although this was an extreme method of combat, it was suitable to deal with players who sought balance. In a one-on-one battle where both sides had equal combat standards and similar quality of weapons and equipment, the Dark Blade’s members could trample such players.

Of course, with such an extreme combat method, the members of the Dark Blade fared poorly against monsters in the field or a Dungeon. This, in turn, greatly impacted their leveling speed. Hence, they needed other players to power-level them.

“That’s right. I’m familiar with the man wielding the massive bone bow. He is the vice commander of Dark Blade, Divine Hand Nine Kills!” Yuan Tiexin said, rage filling his gaze as he watched the distant, bow-carrying player.

The bow-carrying man’s name was Nine Kills, while Divine Hand was a title he had been given by others in the industry.

In a past large-scale virtual reality game, due to Nine Kills successfully assassinating the Secret Pavilion’s third Vice Guild Leader at the time, the Pavilion had lost a major war against Pantheon. Yuan Tiexin had been one of the guards protecting the third Vice Guild Leader. In the end, however, Nine Kills had pulled off the assassination attempt.

Due to that loss, the Secret Pavilion had been forced to withdraw from that virtual reality game.

That incident had become one of Yuan Tiexin’s lifelong embarrassments, and he had hungered for revenge. However, the trail of Pantheon’s Dark Blade members was too difficult to track.

Yuan Tiexin had not expected to encounter the man here.

Although Nine Kills had modified his appearance somewhat, Yuan Tiexin recognized him.

“So, he is the rumored Divine Hand,” Purple Jade carefully observed Nine Kills as well.

However, no matter how much she watched Nine Kills, she could not sense anything special from the man. He looked like any other expert in the Red Jade Legion.

“Since Nine Kills is making a move, the other members of the Dark Blade should be hidden among the legion as well. Zero Wing has no chance of victory,” Yuan Tiexin said, sighing.

Setting aside the army of high-intelligence monsters, just the presence of Dark Blade could ruin Stone Forest Town.

If the town didn’t have any commanders, it would be a piece of cake for Blackwater to raid the town.

Although he believed that Shi Feng was quite strong, the Dark Blade’s members, who had undergone special training to kill other players, were no trifling opponents. The Secret Pavilion’s Vice Guild Leaders were not just figureheads. Without sufficient strength and talent, it was impossible to achieve this position, not to mention becoming the third Vice Guild Leader.

Yet, even with three guards by his side, the third Vice Guild Leader had been killed. Although the three guards had eventually killed the Dark Blade member, their victory had held no meaning.

…

Outside of Saimu Town’s entrance, a large number of elite members belonging to both Blackwater and Heaven’s Burial waited for their orders. These players were all Level 37 or above. The independent players watching from afar were shocked by this scene.

“There should be at least 100,000 players, right?”

“A hundred thousand? Aren’t you underestimating Blackwater and Heaven’s Burial too much? Both Guild recruited that alone during their last two recruitment campaigns. Not to mention, Blackwater annexed Ouroboros.”

“Eh? Many of the experts I know are now wearing Blackwater’s emblem. What’s going on?”

“The Blackwater Corporation is supporting Blackwater. The Guild isn’t hurting for money at all. Moreover, the Blackwater Corporation is prepared to invest into God’s Domain fully. If one joins the Guild and obtains a good position, their future could be limitless. The income of the Guild’s core members already rivals the Blackwater Dojo’s newly-hired instructors. Do you know how many people are vying to become an instructor in the Blackwater Dojo each year? It’s a pity that only a handful of people get chosen.”

“I guess you’re right. It’s a pity that I’m not strong enough right now. Otherwise, I would try to join Blackwater.”

“I know, right? I have heard that, since Blackwater established its Guild, several thousand of Star-Moon Kingdom’s independent players have joined. However, they only received the treatment of elite members. It is extremely difficult to become a core member. This war is a good opportunity for them to display their skills. If they perform well, they might even be promoted to a core member. At that time, they could afford to live without worrying about basic necessities. I have also heard that the team leaders and vice team leaders among Blackwater’s core members received incomes that rival the Blackwater Dojo’s basic and intermediate instructors. If one manages to reach those positions, they wouldn’t have to worry about money for the rest of their lives.”

…

Just as the players in Saimu Town discussed the current atmosphere, a row of players atop high-ranking Mounts began to lead the elite army towards Stone Forest Town.

Even the most inferior among these Mounts was Bronze rank, while the two people in the lead rode Mysterious-Iron Mounts.

“Miss Muyun, I have truly underestimated your Blackwater Guild. I had never thought that you would dispatch so many elite members. I believe that even Zero Wing will be surprised,” Singular Burial, who rode a black cheetah, commented, laughing.

Previously, Singular Burial had thought that Blackwater could dispatch at most 100,000 elite members. After all, the Guild still faced many management issues after annexing Ouroboros. The Guild still needed some elite members to maintain order in the towns and cities it ruled over. However, contrary to expectations, Blackwater had dispatched 200,000 elite members…

It was very hard to imagine that Blackwater already possessed such strength, despite establishing only a short time ago.

In terms of the number of elite members, even the Star Alliance was no match for Blackwater. Blackwater also had plenty of experts. If the Guild were already this strong after recently joining God’s Domain, it was hard to imagine how powerful it would become in the future.

“Whether Zero Wing is shocked or not is no concern to Blackwater. In any case, ours won’t be the main force raiding the town. We are simply here to pick up the pieces,” Qin Muyun said indifferently. “If Zero Wing uses everything it has against us, excellent. As for hindering Zero Wing’s reinforcements, I’ll leave that to Guild Leader Burial.”

“Please, rest assured. Heaven’s Burial will prevent Zero Wing’s army from setting foot in Stone Forest Town,” Heaven’s Burial confidently declared.

Although Blackwater had dispatched an army of elite members, Heaven’s Burial had dispatched quite a few of its own.

With a total of 120,000 elite members in addition to their terrain advantage, the town would have new owners before Zero Wing’s army reached it. After that, Heaven’s Burial simply needed to work with Blackwater to encircle and annihilate Zero Wing’s army.

“Guild Leader, a report just came in. Several cloaked players riding Mounts have been sighted leaving Saimu Town. By the looks of it, they seem to be heading towards Stone Forest Town!” Daybreak Fog, who stood to a side, suddenly announced. “They should be Zero Wing’s upper echelons. Should we dispatch some of our experts to get rid of them?”