The Great Thief

Firstly, Lu Li used some elixirs to reach a certain level of DPS. To make sure that they had enough DPS, Lu Li didn’t bring many healers with him. One small squad was sufficient.

Therefore, the party would have to use their potions and elixirs sparingly. If they needed to, they should just drink them, because if they died, they would be revived back at the checkpoint. This meant that they would also have to run back to the battle, which was a long way.

Lu Li also hesitantly purchased an additional mobile checkpoint. It was definitely useful, as when the players died, they would revive at this checkpoint, instead of the original one. The checkpoint looked like an angel statue, and the price was 200 gold.

The chosen area was within the Nightsong Forest. It was approximately situated in the middle of the forest, where Silverwind Refuge and Splintertree met. It was next to the Faelan river and was in a good strategic position. If the Alliance took control of this area, then they would be able to travel to other areas using the Astranaar flight point. If it was the Horde, the Horde legions at Splintertree would be just as powerful.

In the earlier days of the game, the players’ Stronghold wouldn’t be a threat to the original inhabitants of the land. Lu Li also wasn’t worried about the Horde’s army from Splintertree invading this territory. The Nightsong Forest also held a huge abundance of medicinal herbs, so these would also be part of the income.

Lu Li painfully bought eight War Chariots and a Revival Point. Honestly, it wasn’t that risky without the statue, but Lu Li didn’t want to take the risk. Even as one who had been reborn, he wasn’t sure about the difficulty of the battle. If it was extremely difficult, then it would be rather unfavourable without the Revival Point. Comparing the price of 200 gold to the value of the Stronghold, it was worth it.

There was an officer in charge of the entrance to the battlefield. After the commander handed in the list of combatants, everyone would be teleported to the Revival Point at the Stronghold. The place was like a green meadow and was extremely inviting to rest at. A stone statue stood there, witnessing the beginning to the end of the Nightsong Forest. However, the Nightsong Forest was cut down by the Horde legions.

Rain began to fall from the sky, while a few fire-based Mages were unleashing curses upon this area. “Azure Sea Breeze and World’s Best Friend, you and the rest of the defensive squad are responsible for pulling the Chariots. Have an Ice Mage ride with each one of you,” Lu Li instructed. “Make sure you aim before you fire at the Outposts. We have eight Chariots, so we’ll position four on each side. We’re only going to charge through the middle.” There was a path through the forest from the Revival Point to the Stronghold Crystal. These Chariots were basic with no motors, only manpower from the players. However, they were quite sturdy – a direct hit from the Outpost wouldn’t destroy one.

“Protect the Chariots!” Lu Li commanded.

Spiders suddenly emerged from the side of the path. Their targets were clear – the Chariots. They began to spew out acid at the Chariots as soon as they got close enough. The Chariots had both HP and Durability. If either of these ran out, they would be destroyed. Venomous acid from these spiders dealt damage to both HP and Durability.

The Paladins rushed at the group of spiders, used Consecration, and drew the attention of all the monsters. The Mages then fired their AoE skills, while the Priests and Warlocks forced away the monsters that were close to the Chariots. The Chariots stormed forwards under the protection of the Ruling Sword players.

The first Outpost finally entered their field of vision; there was a Bind Tower and an Exploding Tower. There were also many monsters guarding it further in.

“Spread out the Chariots and aim accurately at the Exploding Tower. Destroy that Tower first. Defensive Paladins, focus on pulling all the monsters. Don’t let any of them get close to the Chariots.”

Lu Li only stood and commanded. There was no way that he was going to the Tower and clearing the monsters there himself; it was too dangerous.

The Revival Point that was worth 200 gold was only usable once. Lu Li wasn’t planning on using here. He wanted to at least place the Revival Point at the entrance of the Stronghold.

As the shells from the Chariots’ cannons fired towards the Exploding Tower and its monsters, the Tower also fired their own cannons at the Chariots. There were also Satyr archers at the top of the Tower. Satyrs were Fallen Demons like the Naga; the first Satyr was a Dark Elf. However, other races began to join the Satyrs. They were crooked and evil and sought joy in killing and torture. Because they were Dark Elves, a large majority of their military strength came from their elite archers and stealth users in the Forest. Their features were mostly derived their Dark Elven roots, especially their facial and torso areas. However, what set them apart were their hooves joined to slender and hairy sheep-like legs, their long lion-like tail, as well as a taller abdomen, sharp claws and horns.

Thieves were the best at fighting against these archers. A few Thieves within the ranks entered Stealth and infiltrated the Exploding Tower. Each person focused on one archer to kill. The archers were extremely weak in melee combat, so they tended to back away until they had enough range to use their bows to attack. It was an extremely stupid tactic, because the Outpost had limited space. Therefore, these level 59 monsters were easily cleared. After the Thieves cleared out the group of archers, they quickly went to the second tower to clear out the other group.

The others were responsible for clearing out the remaining monsters. The Chariots continued to bombard the Exploding Tower, which looked like it was about to crumble after numerous shots. The Tower’s offensive power was actually quite impressive, but the players were prepared with a healing team. Furthermore, they also prepared potions and elixirs, so the damage taken wasn’t too heavy. There was only one death, which was an already low-HP player falling from the top of the Tower.

After the Exploding Tower was destroyed, they quickly moved onto the Bind Tower. The main purpose behind the Bind Tower was to slow down the players’ movement speed. Its damage wasn’t that high, so Lu Li didn’t give many instructions. He instead jumped down from the Chariot and joined the fray. This was their first attempt, and they managed to clear both Towers with relative ease and no casualties. Two of the eight Chariots suffered some damage, but that couldn’t be helped. After all, they decided to use the Chariots to fire at the Towers, so the Towers naturally fired back. After clearing the two Outposts, there was an obvious increase in monsters. However, these were around the same as before, so they weren’t too powerful.

The majority of the players here were level 59, so the monsters’ level was also only level 59. Even the most elite level 59 monsters were a piece of cake compared to the ones back in the Molten Core. At the very beginning of the battle, these monsters got close to the Chariots. However, after everyone had become accustomed to them, they were completely driven back.

The second pair of Outposts were also quickly taken down, so the third one was the next target. There were 30 Outposts outside of the Stronghold, with ten Outposts on each path, along with five Bind Towers and five Exploding Towers. These Towers were quickly taken down by Lu Li and his group. It might have seemed easy for them, but it wasn’t. They also suffered casualties, losing five or six players. The Chariots were also quite damaged, and two of them were nearly destroyed despite Lu Li telling them to distribute the damage between the Chariots and the players. Otherwise, they would have lost at least half of the Chariots by the time they arrived at the entrance of the Stronghold.