Chapitre 41: 040 Betrayed
It took no longer than 5 minutes for all of the members of Harbingers of Death to gather.
"I hope you are all ready for revenge!" Cain wanted to fire his brethren up.
"Yeah!" All 10 of his brothers cried out. They wanted blood!
"It is time to strike! Go search for Alexander, he will not be forgiving for his transgressions!" ordered Cain.
"Huh?" Horizon was confused, "Don't you mean Totem and his group?"
"First off, Alexander didn't give us all the information he knew. Our hit was against two or three people, not six. But the most important fact is that Blaise is James Rhodes. He ordered us to bite the hand that fed us for all of those years!"
The entire room was silent. The sound of a pin could have been heard. It took a few minutes for everyone to process the information that Cain dropped.
Mule wanted to verify that he heard correctly, "Blaise is James, the young crippled boy of John Rhodes?"
"Yes, you all have not seen James since he was just a young boy; even I had not seen him in person for 5 years before today. When I went to report in I walked past James in his capsule and what I saw verified that they are of the same person." confirmed Cain.
"That bastard!" someone called out.
Everyone was heated, they went to search for Alexander. They had never betrayed the family that made them who they are today. Alexander almost made them break their agreement with Sebastian and the former employer, John Rhodes.
Ten extremely dedicated assassins searched high and low for Alexander, they even went as far as going to information brokers, people who specialize in selling information, for the whereabouts of Alexander.
Someone called everyone back to the hideout, they had found Alexander's location.
"Alexander is with a platoon of his guild members who are camping in the Southern-Zone 29. They found a bronze tier boss monster and are waiting for reinforcements. They are forbidding anyone from approaching the boss." reported Mule.
A smile grew on Cain's face. "Excellent, they want to get some good PR and restore their reputation. They won't be leaving any time soon. We can ambush them during the fight. We will primarily focus on Alexander and Tempest. Look for other players who hold commanding positions. We will cut the head off the beast; they will fall to pieces without anyone giving directions."
"How badly do we want to embarrass Alexander?" Asked Lee.
"We want long lasting damage. If we have to camp them for days so they cannot get the kill on the boss, so be it." Cain was adamant on doing as much damage to Alexander and his group as possible.
"I'm sure RiotNews would love to record and compile a video of Solemn Sword falling to pieces and getting the assasination of their leaders on camera." said Lee.
"Isn't that the person who put together the remix of Scarlet and Oblivion getting wiped out by that other Boss?" asked Cain.
Lee was getting excited. "The very one. He would probably do it for free. He chose to be a rogue so that he can secretly record videos for his channel."
"Contact him and tell him to be ready ASAP if he wants the footage." Cain then commanded his team to move out. He had some business to take care of.
** Chat Group: Void - Alexander **
[- Void: Alexander, I have some news. -]
[- Alexander: You succeeded? -]
[- Void: Wrong, you made a dangerous enemy. The hit is canceled and you will not get a refund. Consider it a fee to replace our supplies. -]
[- Alexander: You're telling me you lost to two Mages? -]
[- Void: Don't offend me with your jokes, there were six members in the group you hired us to kill. Not two but six! -]
Alexander was surprised. [Did Scarlet not tell me all the information?] He was curious so he sent her a message.
** Chat Group: Alexander, Scarlet **
[- Alexander: Did your scout give you any more information about the meeting between Totem and Blaise? -]
[- Scarlet: Why should I tell you anything after you did me dirty last time? -]
[- Alexander: I will trade your information with some of my own. -]
[- Scarlet: How do I know if I can trust you this time? -]
[- Alexander: I hired Harbingers of Death as the hitmen group to hunt down and kill Totem and Blaise. I have more info if you answer my question.-]
[- Scarlet: Fine, my scout only saw Blaise and Totem. He tried to follow them but ended up dead. He said he sent me a video but I haven't had time to watch it. -]
[- Alexander: Hmm, a video? You may want to watch it. The Harbingers of Death failed. If it is anything good send it my way. -]
Alexander returned to his group chat with Cain.
** Chat Group: Void - Alexander **
[- Alexander: I double checked with my informant. They confirmed the only information they had was the meeting between Blaise and Totem. -]
[- Void: We don't trust any information you give to us; if your informant had someone watching over the two then they would have updated their report. That is unless they are not truly loyal to you."
[Damn that Scarlet, I was tricked. -] Alexander swore to himself that she won't get away with this.
[- Alexander: I will get to the bottom of this, is there anything I can do to clear up this understanding? -] He didn't want to make enemies with a faction of assassins. Not only that but they are a group from the underworld; a terrible foe to make.
[- Void: The name of your informant. Only then can we talk about forgiveness. -]
Alexander didn't have to think long about throwing Scarlet under the bus. Just like Cain said, if she had a scout following them for a while that person would have been making more reports as new information came in.
[- Alexander: Scarlet, one of her scouts reported it. -]
[- Void: Good -]
** Void left the chat **
[I hope that calms him down. Last thing anyone wants is to have bad blood with skilled assassins. I do wonder why they lost to Totem's group.] Alexander wondered.
** Scarlet has sent you a video **
** Chat Group: Alexander, Scarlet **
[- Scarlet: You right, I should have watched the video before. We should schedule a meeting with the large guilds. We have a problem brewing. -]
** Scarlet left the chat **
Alexander watched the video in full. It showed a fight between 11 assassins and 3, no 4 other players. While the original video was recorded a good distance away he was able to zoom in to get a closer look.
At first the assassins had a confident look and briefly talked to the 3 people in front of them. By the looks of the group it was Blaise, Reaper, and Totem. Somehow the group of three people were able to figure out where the assassins were hiding in their stealth.
The assassins lost their first member in less than 2 minutes. Reaper trapped him against a tree then Blaise used a large AOE Fire ability to nearly kill him. If it wasn't for the other 9 assassins he would have died right then and there. Just as the trapped assassin was freed a hidden 4th member of Blaise group appeared to finish the job.
The fight continued on in the video and it showed some disturbing things. During the whole span of the video the original 11 assassins turned into 8; Blaise had killed two assassins all by himself. It left a lasting impression on Alexander.
He continued to watch the video until it was cut short. The player recording was attacked by two people. The first knocked him off the tree and stabbed the falling player while the other one shot an arrow to finish the job.
Alexander was easily able to tell that Blaise was far more powerful then any of the top guilds could have imagined. Second, he became the leader of Mercury, Totem and then three other people he had yet to identify. They were all exceptional fighters and worked very well together. If this group was a permanent one it would spell trouble for everyone.
** Top Guild's Group Chat **
** Alexander posted a video **
[- Alexander: Originally from a scout from Oblivion, Scarlet passed it on to me. Long story short, I hired Harbingers of Death to kill Totem and Blaise happened to be there. They were wiped out; the video only shows the first 3 deaths of the fight. -]
[- Author: I know everyone is busy; we will have an emergency meeting in 7 day's time. -]
[- Rend: How did they know where they were in stealth? How high is their Perception to manage that? -]
[- Scarlet: Whatever it is, it is a problem for all of our rogue classes. -]
Several other members of the group chat also voiced their questions and potential concerns.
[- Author: Nothing we can do for now. Alexander, we all know you are preparing to kill a boss… Don't think you are the only group working on something big. -]
** Author left the chat **
Everyone else followed suit.
** Harbingers of Death Group Chat **
[- Void: New target acquired; Scarlet from Oblivion, she was Alexander's informant. -]
[- Yes Sir! -]
All 11 assassins were practically next to each other but didn't want to talk out loud. They were on their way to Alexander's position. They didn't want to risk giving up their element of surprise. They won't make the same mistake twice.
On their way to Southern-Zone 29 they had to go past 6 platoons of Solemn Sword members; they were heading in the same direction.
Their numbers didn't bother the Harbingers at all. Unlike James's group, they were there only to kill a small handful of players and not the entire group. A quick in and out.
They made a quick detour to pick someone up. They approached a small cave hidden in the forest. Void and Lee went into the cave and found RiotNews patiently waiting.
Riot jumped to his feet and quickly approached the duo. He rushed to Lee and grabbed his hand and started to shake it vigorously. He was excited to be there, "Thank you for this opportunity! You won't regret it! I will make sure I get everything on camera.!"
Void looked at Riot. He was a rouge with more than adequate gear. It was almost surprising. "You have some decent gear, did you farm for it yourself?"
"These? No, they were either donations from my subscribers or bought by coins I got from RWT. " Riot clarified.
Void didn't like this kind of player. There were several of his type; they made money the easy way and had no problem solving their problems by taking charity from others. This person for an example has over 10 million subscribers on YouTube with most of his videos having several million views. When he live streams he also has a few million viewers. He gets donations left and right so he can live a comfortable life. [I guess it is not too different from other players, including myself. We sell coins for real world money too; the only difference is the difficulty to obtain the gold…]
"I hope your gear helps with your stealth, we are going to need to get up close and personal to get these kills" Void commented.
Riot was confident, "Naturally! My viewers want the best possible footage so they send me gear with the highest stealth bonuses they can find! I dare say I can be within a few meters without being noticed."
Void turned around to leave, "Good, let's get going. Alexander's reinforcements are almost there."
Riot followed the group and arrived where Alexander and his platoons were at. All of his platoons had arrived and he was getting them in formation.
** Harbingers of Death Group Chat + 1 **
[- RiotNews: Let me know the plan and I will get in position. -]
[- Horizon: Should we attack now before they start? -]
[- Void: No, we will strike when the battle is happening. The video and the kill will be more impactful if we ruin the boss fight. -]
They waited for 20 minutes before Solemn Sword started their attack.
[- Horizon: Now? -]
[- Void: No, not yet. Riot you can however get into position. Alexander will be the first kill. Followed up by Tempest, Penny, Booj, Wayland, and finally Hilltop. Once those six people are dead the platoons should fall apart. Make that you get everything on camera. -]
[- Riot: Got'cha -]
Riot slowly got into position; he went to a tree closest to the high and climbed to a good height and started recording.
Void and his brothers were getting impatient, Solemn Sword didn't even get the boss's health points even 2% and they were fighting for an hour.
[- Void: I don't want to wait anymore. Slip into groups; three with me and then two groups of 3 for the other kills. I want three deaths per set. Quick in and out, no mercury. -]
Riot heard the news and focused intently so that he would get the perfect angles. He was ready to move if he needed to. He spent a pretty penny on a few speed potions that worked while in stealth. He also found a few Potions of Feather Falling. He wanted to be ready for anything.
The attack started.
Cain appeared directly behind Alexander and used Tendon Cutter so that Alexander would be a sitting duck. Horizon appeared next from the left, he swept the legs and sent Alexander falling to the ground.
Since Cain was already behind the falling Alexander he dropped to the ground and readied himself to kick Alexander's back to send him flying into the air.
Once Alexander was in the air two more assassins appeared out of nowhere. The first assassin was above Alexander and the second was below him. Both of their dagger's were glowing purple. One used Veiled Strike while the other used Serrated Blade.
The first attack was to do a substantial amount of damage while the second attack was to cause a heavy bleed.
The cripple effect from Cain's Tendon Cutter was about to wear off. Before it did, the assassin below Alexander latched onto him and rotated both of them so that their heads were pointed to the ground. As they were falling towards the ground the first assassin kicked the second's feet and accelerated the fall.
Alexander's head made contact with the ground and the assassin flipped off of him just before they crashed into the ground as well.
All of that happened within a few seconds, it had caught everyone off guard.
"We are under attack!"
"Defense Positions! Protect Alexander!"
It was unknown who announced the attack and had the defense order but it was too late.
Alexander was critically low on health and the fourth and final assassin, who had only make a supporting move, was ready to make his move. Horizon appeared out of stealth in an attack position close to the ground. His dagger was primed and ready, he lashed out while using Fatal Strike and fully depleted Alexander's health points.
Alexander desperately wanted to defend himself but the Harbingers came well prepared. Rather than having their daggers coated in poison they were covered in a paralyzing liquid. Alexander was already in a disadvantageous position because he was caught while he was attacking the boss. Since his weapon was a great sword it took a second to recover from the attack. It also made it almost impossible to fight while in the air. His second problem was the cripple effect; it had slowed down his already slow attack speed, then finally he became paralyzed for a second. It was a perfect storm; the Harbingers had done their research.
He was not the only one under attack, Tempest had already died due to being a Mage, who had lower health points and defenses then a Sword Master like Alexander. A final group of assassins had killed Booj, a Healing Mage class.
Once each of those three people died the assassins used smoke bombs to help their escape. Everyone was on high alert for further attacks. Penny, Wayland, and Hilltop were still giving commands. They had half of the platoons fighting the boss and the other half protecting the first half. They could not afford a party wipe.
It did not take long for the next rounds of attacks. The final three commanders died just as quickly as the first set. The remaining members of the guild were cleaned up by the boss.
Some of the members of Harbingers were not satisfied with the six deaths and targeted the healers and support classes before they headed out. They wanted to ensure that Solemn Sword would be wiped out by the boss.
They all retreated to a safe distance and watched Solemn Sword's world burn. They didn't last 10 minutes once their commanding players died; it didn't help that they lost quite a few of the support classes on top of everything else.
The city square of Glish was packed to the brim with members from Solemn Sword. Alexander, who was at the center of the square, had a deep red face. He was filled with anger and hatred. He couldn't help but to curse out loud.
"DAMN YOU VOID, JUST YOU WAIT!!"
État de l’alimentation hebdomadaire
-- Classement
Power Stone 
-- Power
stone