THE STRONGEST THUNDER SWORD, VOLUME 8 - Season 14 Episode 36

The sudden command to retreat confused the members of Zero Wing.

Only eight one-horned humanoid monsters stood before them. Although their levels were a little high, all above Level 50, even the strongest among them was only a Lord. They also had less HP than monsters of the same rank and level. Taking these monsters on wouldn’t be impossible for this team from Zero Wing.

Even so, everyone listened to their team leader and immediately retreated.

“Do you actually think you can escape?” A cloaked figure suddenly emerged from the stone house. This cloaked man’s entire body had been wrapped in bandages. Sneering, the man said, “Just stay here and sacrifice yourselves!”

Although the cloaked man hadn’t been particularly loud, everyone had heard him clearly, and they shuddered involuntarily.

The team’s rangers were more shocked than their companions. They had kept Eagle Eyes active, which allowed them to perceive all players and monsters within a certain range, yet they had failed to detect the one-horned monsters and the cloaked man even as he stood before them.

Before the team could put some distance between themselves and these new enemies, the humanoid monsters smiled sinisterly as they dashed forward. They were so fast that they left afterimages in their wake.

With just a few steps, the Evil Beasts had crossed 30 yards and caught up with the retreating Zero Wing members.

“So fast!”

“Do you really think we’re afraid of you?!”

Realizing that they couldn’t outrun these Evil Beasts, three Level 40 Shield Warriors and one Level 41 Guardian Knight turned to stop the monsters’ approach.

Voice of Anger!

Justice Roar!

With their AOE Taunt Skills activate, the eight Evil Beasts couldn’t attack other players for a short time.

“Foolish!” the cloaked man sneered.

In the next moment, the Evil Beasts’ claws emitted a faint, gray fog. The Evil Beasts then launched a barrage of attacks against the Shield Warriors and Guardian Knight.

The instant the Evil Beasts’ claws collided with the four MTs’ shields, the sharp claws passed through them as if they didn’t exist and slashed the MTs helmets.

These MTs instantly lost over 13,000 Hp, a large fraction of their totals, after a single attack. Before the healers in the rear could react, these MTs took several more hits.

In the blink of an eye, four MTs, each with nearly 40,000 HP, died…

Their companions were stunned.

However, several calm Elementalists and Rangers had reacted quickly and responded with attacks of their own.

Immediately, dozens of arrows and Spells flew towards the eight Evil Beasts. However, like agile Assassins, the Evil Beasts dodged most of the attacks and blocked the rest. As a result, they survived the volley, remaining unharmed.

Most surprisingly, the distance between these monsters and the team had shortened.

Suddenly, a Level 54, Lord ranked Evil Beast jumped into the crowd of players. It brandished its claws at the nearby healers, the gray fog extending and transforming into sharp blades.

A gray arch, extending to 15 yards, tore through Zero Wing’s rear line.

With a single attack, the cloth armor classes with low Defense, aside from a few Elementalists that had responded quickly and used Blink to escape, died instantly. In the blink of an eye, nearly half of the team of 50 had died. The Level 54 Lord’s strength made the surviving Zero Wing members tremble.

“Run! Scatter and run!” the Ranger serving as the team’s leader shouted in the team chat.

Hearing this, these players gritted their teeth as they split up and ran. With this, the eight Evil Beasts wouldn’t be able to catch them.

However, the Evil Beasts were incredibly fast. Despite splitting up, most of the team died. Only a few Assassins and players with Instantaneous Movement Magic Scrolls escaped death.

“Brother Wave, are you just going to let them get away?” Flame Blood, wearing a Black Cloak and wielding a blackwood staff, approached from the nearby forest. Glancing at the fleeing Zero Wing members, he could not help but ask, “If you let them get away, they will warn Zero Wing. Capturing Stone Forest Town will become more troublesome.”

“That’s exactly what I want,” Abandoned Wave, who was covered in bandages, said, sneering. “I want Zero Wing to amass its combat power in Stone Forest Town. Only then will Stone Forest Town be worth destroying. Right, how are the preparations going?”

“The Evil Beast army has gathered. They are standing by not far from here,” Flame Blood said, smiling. “Is it really necessary to dispatch all of them? We’re talking about 500,000 Evil Beasts, and that’s not including the Evil Demon army under your control. With this army, we can annihilate two or three Stone Forest Towns simultaneously.”

Not many Evil Beasts had taken part in the prior battle for Stone Forest Town. However, this time was different. Not only were more Evil Beasts participating in the siege this time, but each one was also stronger than before. Even the weakest Evil Beast was a Level 60 Elite. Their army had nearly 40,000 Level 60-plus Chieftains, 3,000-plus Lords, 200-plus Great Lords, and 40-plus Grand Lords.

However, this wasn’t the most important factor.

To ensure Zero Wing’s destruction and avoid any mishaps, they had even dispatched five Level 70, Mythic ranked Evil Beasts.

In the face of such a force, Stone Forest Town’s defenses were a joke.

They also had the Evil Demon army, which Abandoned Wave and spent his time carefully nurturing. Although the army was not particularly large, with only 6,000 or so Evil Demons, the threat it posed could likely rival that of the 500,000 Evil Beast army.

“Good. We’ll make our way to Stone Forest Town and show Zero Wing’s people what despair tastes like,” Abandoned Wave said, laughing.

He had waited for this moment for a very long time.

Zero Wing was the reason his plan to take control of Star-Moon Kingdom had failed. This time, however, he wouldn’t give Zero Wing a chance. As long as he annihilated Stone Forest Town and proved his strength to the corporation, he could reclaim his position in the Blackwater Corporation.

…

Elsewhere, the sudden appearance of the Evil Beast army had attracted the attention of Star-Moon Kingdom’s various powers.

After all, the numbers and strength of this Evil Beast army were not to be taken lightly. The army could easily trample any Guild town. If players weren’t careful, they could get caught in the devastation.

This was especially true for the Guilds based in Star-Moon City. Although they had been aware of quite a few Evil Beasts operating near the city and had suffered many losses as a result, they had never imagined that the threat would be so great.

“What? You’re saying these Evil Beasts are marching towards Stone Forest Town?”

“This is interesting. Against so many monsters, even Zero Wing could fall.”

“Hahaha! Even the heavens are helping us now! If Zero Wing loses Stone Forest Town, their Guild Mounts will mean nothing.”

…

After the various powers investigated the Evil Beast army’s movements, they celebrated.

Now, the threat of Zero Wing would vanish.

…

Meanwhile, the players in Stone Forest Town were panicking.

“Why are these monsters heading hear?! Damn it! What should we do?! Our adventurer team just spent a ton of Gold to buy a house! Are we going to lose it, just like that?”

“Thank goodness! Zero Wing won’t start selling houses until tomorrow. If we had rushed it, buying a house would’ve been worthless.”

“What a pity. Such a good town is going to be destroyed, just like that.”

“I wonder if Zero Wing can protect the town against so many monsters?”

“I highly doubt it. You should’ve seen the monster army. Any player that it comes across will die. One of my Assassin friends tried to record the monster army’s march. In the end, however, the monsters discovered and killed him. They are ridiculously strong. Moreover, any player they kill can’t log into God’s Domain for some time. My Assassin friend is dying with regret.”

…

The town’s players discussed the situation heatedly. Many had already prepared to flee. There were also some that considered staying behind, and others who wanted to watch the upcoming battle. After all, monsters didn’t often siege a town.

…

The atmosphere in Zero Wing’s Residence in White River City was tense. The Guild’s upper echelons had gathered in the Residence’s meeting room to discuss the current situation, trying to figure out how to deal with the Evil Beast army.

There were simply too many monsters this time. Although Stone Forest Town had far more powerful static defenses than before, protecting the town against such a massive army would still be difficult. However, they were hesitant to mobilize the Guild’s members as any player those Evil Beasts killed would be barred from logging into God’s Domain for a short time.

Meanwhile, the Evil Beast army moved ever closer to Stone Forest Town. If they weren’t prepared, Stone Forest Town would be doomed.

Yet, their Guild Leader had instructed them to stay here. One could just imagine how anxious they were.

Suddenly, the doors to the solemn meeting room swung open, and Shi Feng slowly entered.