Assassinate Wonderwind [Book 1 Completed!]

“We should wait until the wall breaks,” I said.

“Agreed,” Veyra said. “We’ll sandwich them when they’re entering. That’s the perfect spot for our plan. Anything else to note?”

I thought for a second, eyeing the battlefield. We were still atop a cliff well outside the fray. Eon Covenant was the closest to us. For now, their approach was slow and calm as they protected the siege breaker slamming the walls. Another smash came, more cracks appearing.

Beyond them, the nametag of [Syntrix] Renlia was just visible. The third highest ranked player in all of Wonderwind—having reached the position as a support player, which was usually a class that fell behind the others in rankings. The tall woman wore a large black dress, almost fit for a ball gown, though I was too far to see details. She stood calmly between the catapults, still saving mana. Her presence alone would make Syntrix tenfold harder to deal with.

None of the guilds would be easy to assassinate. The Celestial Order had Annath, and this time, she wasn’t supported by just Miko and Pracer, but a whole guild of experts. Eon Covenant looked the easiest, but that was deceiving—because I knew we weren’t the only ones currently hiding in the shadows.

“It looks like they’re just leaving their backs open, doesn’t it?” Veyra said. “Nobody is paying attention behind.”

“No, they’re well protected,” I said. “VeilShot is missing.”

She raised an eyebrow. “So they’re trusting their backs to just him? One player?”

“Yeah, and I think that’s more than enough,” I said. “I fought VeilShot earlier today. He’s nuts. He’ll kill us if we don’t kill him first. Never underestimate him.”

“Hm,” Veyra said. “I see. So we need to get rid of him first?”

“He’ll have plenty of time to warn his guild even if we catch him. Not to mention, he could be hiding anywhere.”

We both wore troubled looks. This wouldn’t be an easy fight in the slightest. I knew VeilShot and Renlia would end up as the biggest problems, and that was notwithstanding Zenith Protocol members.

All of the game’s best players were here tonight, and that wasn’t an exaggeration. This could end up becoming the largest guild battle of the decade.

“It’s also safe to assume that Dragrath will be here,” I said. “He’s also competing for gear pieces.”

Veyra tapped her finger on her staff, a troubled look on her face. “So while I’m casting, I’m going to have to worry about the best ranger in the game, and the rank one assassin?”

I leaned against a tree, thinking. This wasn’t an issue we could just improvise our way out of. We'd be the ones getting assassinated if we rushed in now.

“What if you just DM Dragrath?” Veyra asked with a sudden smirk.

I raised an eyebrow. “Message him? To propose we work together?”

“Yeah. I mean, I doubt he can clear three top guilds alone. He can maybe assassinate one or two people, but not the whole guild. We could get a lot more done if we work with him.”

I spun my dagger idly. “I’m not sure if I like the idea.”

“We’re inviting him to betray us, sure,” Veyra said, “but we can prepare for that. Think about it. Dragrath can beat VeilShot if he knows the location, no?”

“I guess it could work. What are the chances he checks his DMs, though?”

“Send a message to his guildmates as well,” Veyra said. “Maybe he chats with them.”

I considered the plan, but wasn’t eager. The siege breaker pounded on the castle’s wall another time, probably about to break through within the next few minutes. I really couldn’t think of anything better. Finding VeilShot in the forest and assassinating him first would be impossible.

“Screw it, let’s try it,” I said and sent Dragrath the message.

Assassin: “Guild wipe at Shaltar’s castle. We need someone to assassinate VeilShot. Want to work with us?”

As expected, I didn’t get an immediate reply. The system didn’t tell me whether Dragrath was online or not, since he was not on my friends list. As Veyra suggested, also I sent messages to both SwordShiba and Hibana, saying,

Assassin: “I sent an urgent message to your boss. Please tell him to check his DMs, thank you!”

“What’s the back-up plan if he doesn’t read it?” I asked.

“I guess we’ll have to bait VeilShot somehow,” Veyra said. “Maybe I’ll go after the guilds alone, while you look for arrows. When he fires, we chase him instead. Can we do that?”

“Possible,” I said. “That’ll lose us the ambush, but I think we can catch VeilShot together.”

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That was when I received a notification. “Oh shit, he replied,” I said.

Dragrath: “Reveal his location. I will kill.”

Veyra and I read it, then stared at each other. I grinned. “No way we’re actually going to work with a literal god.”

She chuckled. “Well, that should be one problem gone.”

I sent him a reply.

Assassin: “We will step into the open soon. VeilShot will fire. When he does, can you catch him?”

Dragrath: “Yes”

“Well, that’s concise,” Veyra said with a laugh. “Can we trust him though?”

“I’d trust him to get rid of VeilShot,” I said. “But he’ll backstab us immediately after, 100%.”

“Better than nothing, I guess,” Veyra said. Her eyes drew to the battlefield below. The spot in the wall had a small opening now. A globe of demonic energy poked out through the wall, which forced Eon Covenant back.

I squinted my eyes. “Is that Henrift’s aura?”

That looked like [Ascension Of Death] for sure. With the wall open, Zenith Protocol positioned Henrift just outside for his life-drain aura to poke out through the hole. That was all they needed to defend.

Henrift’s ultimate only lasted for a minute with a long cooldown. Eon Covenant just had to wait it out. That was exactly what they did. The demonic globe died out, and the wall became clear again. They moved to regain control of the siege breaker.

“Oh no,” Veyra said, as if knowing what was about to happen.

[Warlock’s Territory] hit them first, cast by Dazzarth atop the wall. A runic spell circle of orange followed as a quick-casted and [Enkindled] [Funeral Sun] blew up like a geyser of violent flames.

One slash came as [Eon Covenant] Grimdank died. The others ran off at critical health, while their tank players, xDeke and DukeOfChaos blocked the entrance, healed by their support. The siege breaker burned to ashes.

Zenith Protocol members emerged from the hole in the wall. Henrift, Creator, and GodWall came first, the A and B teams combined together. GodWall’s shield ate CinderLight’s [Fire Bolt] like it was nothing. Green specks fluttered around them by the effects of [Emerald Aurora]. They pushed forward, creating space.

The legends of Zenith Protocol revealed themselves like the Avengers arriving to fuck shit up. Merami cast [Arcane Parry] to deflect a [Piercing Arrow] from Henrift’s chest plate. Aurinn provided heals as the second support. Griffin fired an arrow at CinderLight’s head, forcing him to cancel a spell and duck. FireBrand himself, shining like a fire elemental, stood a head taller than his back-line, as he dual cast [Enkindle] and [Infernal Blast] straight to Eon Covenant’s backline.

I shivered from the chills. Four of Zenith Protocol’s best members were right there with their warlock, Dazzarth, atop the battlements offering support. This same lineup utterly dominated last year’s Guild PvP tournament.

Did they really intend to push back three guilds at once?

FireBrand’s AoE forced Lrekk and the front line into a panicked retreat. xDeke, their tank, fell to 14% health. The final blow came, killing him, but not before black thorns grabbed his feet.

Syntrix and Renlia appeared, her staff pointed at xDeke. His eyes went black, health bar turning black. Suddenly, he charged straight head-first into Zenith Protocol’s front line.

“Oh god, that’ll be messy,” I said, knowing exactly what spell Renlia had cast. [Black Parasite], the ability of her mythic staff.

Renlia, despite being the rank 1 support mage, wasn’t really known for healing people. Apparently, her nickname within her guild was the “Wicked Witch.”

xDeke’s black health bar disintegrated rapidly as Zenith Protocol retreated behind GodWall. His black health bar dropped to zero. His chest blew open with violent dark magic, thorns shooting out and scraping GodWall’s shield, applying a black taint all over the battlefield.

His nametag disappeared, replaced by Black Parasite Summon (Level 358). He swung wildly at GodWall, knocking the tank back.

My eyes were transfixed there, until a grinding of gears echoed from the right. Syntrix’s catapult fired a large rock, flying straight at Zenith Protocol’s frontline.

GodWall remained firm. He shouted a battle cry and just as the boulder was about to crush him, he cast [Shield Bash].

Not enough, I thought. A simple bash couldn't block a literal boulder.

Except, [Arcane Parry] landed exactly at the correct timing. GodWall bashed the boulder to the side. The boulder slammed into xDeke, finishing him for good.

In that time, Eon Covenant’s formation was fixed with Syntrix joining them. Warfare of spells and swords started.

“So, are we ready to stop gawking?” Veyra asked next to me.

“Celestial Order is still ready to defend,” I said.

“Eh, should be fine,” Veyra said. “Can you protect me from an arrow if VeilShot fires?”

She looked ready, a determined expression on her face. I nodded. “If you’re ready, let’s go.”

“Be prepared for chaos.” Veyra dipped into a portal, disappearing into the trees, with Eon Covenant’s line directly in between her and the crack in the wall.

I hopped down the cliff, [Shadow Dashing] to avoid fall damage, and I paid extra attention to my surroundings for VeilShot.

Down below, CinderLight and FireBrand turned the field into chaos of fire. Zenith Protocol comboed attacks with [Warlock’s Territory] and slowing spells, while Cinder and his allies spammed as much damage to Zenith Protocol’s front line as they could.

To the side, SoulShadow tried to throw in ranged [Ghost Slices] which couldn’t be blocked, but Griffin focused his arrows straight there, preventing the old assassin god from participating. He was forced to dash back.

Zenith Protocol’s health bars hardly moved. Particles from healing effects filled the battlefield. Merami kept her perfect spell rotation up, supported by [Emerald Aurora]. She kept up with CinderLight’s AoE without issues. An assassin tried to throw in a [Fractured] dagger, but Merami parried that.

How is she not the rank one support? [Arcane Parry] was not supposed to be that overpowered. Merami was the only one who made use of the skill with such precision. Zenith Protocol’s entire formation relied on her to stop defense piercing effects, and she just didn’t slip.

But nobody was dying on the other end either. A network of thorn roses spread on the ground, connected from one player to another. Renlia flicked her staff to [Eon Covenant] DukeOfChaos, a tank player trying to retreat.

Instead of helping him, Relina spawned an [Elemental Barrier] behind his back, like spawning a solid wall to stop him from abandoning his position. His health bar fell to 11% as he desperately blocked, until Renlia cast, [Health Transfer]. DukeOfChaos swapped health bars with CinderLight, while the supports in the backline safely healed Cinder to full.

Renlia’s psychotic approach to supporting her team conserved a lot more mana. Her presence was the backbone of the formation. She used as few resources as possible to keep every part of her guild barely standing.

Slowly but surely, thanks to the numbers advantage, Zenith Protocol was being forced back. Syntrix and Eon Covenant were fully committed. They pushed closer to the wall.

A ritual hex lit the back-line in purple as a max-level [Frost Storm] spawned right under Renlia’s feet.