Chapter 225 – Soaring Killing Intent
Nie Yan normally didn’t have such a bad temper since it would negatively affect the way he dealt with affairs. But when something crossed his bottom line, he wasn’t willing to concede even a single step! And that was the people on his side should not be bullied! No exceptions!
「Tell the guild members to show their spirit! Show their might! If Azure Falling Sky kills ten of our own, then we’ll kill a hundred of them! If they kill a hundred of our own, we’ll massacre their entire guild!」Nie Yan declared as he brimmed with killing intent. He felt it was only proper for the people under him to show the guts of a bandit as well as a willingness to shed some blood. If they cowered at the smallest matters like a flock of timid sheep, then when trouble occurred for the guild or the guild leader, they would be the first to flee as soon as there were signs of something going wrong.
Not only that, but all the guild members were waiting on the answer of the executives. If Nie Yan abandoned Withered Leaf, leaving them to their fate, then who knows many players would decide to withdraw from the guild? Such a scenario would deal a huge blow to the morale of Asskickers United!
The executives of the guild could not cower back in fear!
Nie Yan had to show that the guild was willing to stick its neck out for its own; how else could he expect the guild members to give it their all in a time of crisis?
What was important? What was unimportant? It was a very easy choice to make.
So what if they offended Azure Falling Sky? By doing so, they could obtain the unwavering loyalty of Withered Leaf! It was definitely worth the trade-off!
「Although reason tells me that you’re being way too reckless, and that we can find a better way to settle this matter, I still fully support your decision. I’ll immediately start assembling our forces!」Guo Huai said before passing on Nie Yan’s words to the rest of the guild.
「Whoever attacks the members of our Asskickers United, no matter which guild, be it Azure Falling Sky, Radiant Sacred Flame, Victorious Return, or even our allies like Holy Empire, Sapphire Shrine, or Battle Crazed Alliance, we’ll retaliate in full force! Make no mistake! Show your spirit! Show your might! If Azure Falling Sky kills ten of our own, then we’ll kill a hundred of them. If they kill a hundred of our own, then we’ll massacre their entire guild!」
Nie Yan’s declaration immediately fired up the guild members. As though a single stone created a thousand waves, they erupted out into thunderous cheers. With a guild leader like this, even if they were killed back to Level 0, it would still be worth! No matter what the future had in store for them, even if it was outside the game, they could puff out their chests with their heads held high and tell everyone, “I belong to Asskickers United!”
「Long live the guild leader!」
「Screw those bastards! Let’s slaughter Azure Falling Sky!」
The guild chat exploded with a sense of camaraderie as morale grew to an all-time high. The guild members showed an unprecedented amount support for Nie Yan!
Guo Huai didn’t expect Nie Yan’s words to give rise to such a big reaction. He sensed the surging emotions of all the guild members. At this moment, these players were truly a part of the guild! Their hearts were completely swayed. From now on, they would share both the honour and the disgrace of Asskickers United!
Guo Huai clearly sensed the difference between before and after! He pondered over a question for a long time. Just what was he lacking compared to Nie Yan? And now he finally figured it out! It was precisely that unyielding attitude! Maybe only Nie Yan could be considered a genuine leader, since he was able to raise the morale of the entire guild!
If you were to liken Asskickers United to an army, then this army now had a mighty general to make up its soul!
As long as Nie Yan gave the word, these guild brothers would move mountains and create new seas! Wherever they pointed their spears, everything blocking their path would be swept clean!
They were linked together through the guild. They addressed each other as brother. They were all players of Asskickers United, and they grew even closer.
In this moment, Guo Huai felt that Nie Yan’s decision was correct! He started assembling the players under him and issuing out orders at a speed never seen before.
「Where are Aqua Smoke Stub and the rest of Withered Leaf right now?」Nie Yan asked. He needed to control the movements of Withered Leaf.
「They’re at Twilight Forest. Azure Falling Sky’s forces are there too. They’ve already killed over a hundred players from Azure Falling Sky. Both sides are still in the middle of a brawl. Almost 9,000 enemy players were spotted moving in their direction. I assume they want to wipe out Withered Leaf in one fell swoop,」Guo Huai informed. Azure Falling Sky had reacted faster than he imagined.
Nie Yan knitted his brows. Smoke Stub was probably being held up. He wasn’t foolish enough to wait for enemy reinforcements to arrive. If they were completely surrounded by Azure Falling Sky’s forces, they would no longer have the chance to escape!
「I’ll lead some people to Twilight Forest first. Gather up our forces as quickly as possible,」Nie Yan decided. Saving people was akin to putting out a fire. If they were late by even a single step, it would deal a huge blow to the morale of the rescuers.
All the Asskickers United players in the arena below gathered around Nie Yan in the spectator stands.
“Boss, what are we going to do?”
“Boss, let’s slaughter a path there!”
The players voiced their opinions one after another. All of them had been paying attention to the guild chat, so they knew what was going on. They too were impassioned by the sense of camaraderie.
Sleepy Fox evidently knew what had occurred in Asskickers United. He stared at Nie Yan with a complicated expression. Although large guilds like Holy Empire, Victorious Return, and Radiant Sacred Flame were enormous enough to inspire fear among the playerbase, how many of them possessed so many loyal players? How many of their members were just there to scrounge up some benefits, running away as soon as the going gets tough? These sorts of players comprised at least 90% of the large guilds!
Such circumstances weren’t at all rare for large guilds; you could even say they were extremely common. While with Asskickers United, to say the unity of their players was shocking would be an understatement. Nie Yan’s previous words suddenly had a profound impact on Sleepy Fox. Even down the road, Asskickers United won’t surpass 100,000 members!
If you equipped 100,000 players with the best gear, then you could move trek through the whole world unhindered!
There was a very appropriate saying, “A flock of sheep led by a lion can defeat a pride of lions led by a sheep!”
Only an unyielding general like Nie Yan could lead an army of invincible soldiers with heroic spirits that soared through the clouds!
“Do you want my help?” Sleepy Fox asked. Asskickers United and Holy Empire were already bound to the same ship. If one of them sank, so would the other.
“Yeah. If you can help me monitor the movements of Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame, it would be appreciated,” Nie Yan replied. He needed to guard against them taking advantage of the opportunity to come into play.
“No problem. You can leave it to me.” Sleepy Fox nodded.
Nie Yan’s eyes swept over the crowd of Asskickers United players. “Those of you who aren’t spineless cowards, follow me to Twilight Forest! We’re going to massacre Azure Falling Sky!”
“Massacre Azure Falling Sky!” the crowd roared together, their thundering voices ringing out across the entire arena.
This was only the thunder before the storm! This was their declaration of war on Azure Falling Sky!
The players from Holy Empire were flabbergasted by the sheer fighting spirit that erupted from Asskickers United, especially from Undying Scoundrel, Summer Bug, Blue Yarn Thread, and the others. They returned to the time when they were the very embodiment of the spirit of vengeance, when the nine of them followed Nie Yan out of the guild headquarters and painted the Kiln Fire Woods with the blood of every player in Unhindered. It was precisely during that battle that they proved the mettle of Asskickers United, and defeated both Unhindered and Victorious Return. They went through blood and fire together in that battle, watching each other’s backs, and sharing in the trials and tribulations.
A true sense of camaraderie that was forged through the heat of the battlefield!
Undying Scoundrel choked up as he stared at Nie Yan’s back, emotion overcoming him as he thought about Nie Yan’s declaration in the guild chat.
Over a hundred players from Asskickers United followed behind Nie Yan as he headed for the transfer area.
“Boss, what’s going on with them?” a Holy Empire player asked Sleepy Fox.
“There’s a bit of trouble over on their side. When Holy Empire goes through a crisis, I’ll be satisfied if you guys can even have half as much fighting spirit as them,” Sleepy Fox replied with a thoughtful expression. After thinking for a while, he decided that he also ought to find out for himself what allowed Nie Yan to receive such unwavering support from his guild members. Was it simply because of the name of the Mad Rogue? No, absolutely not!
“There’s some movement over on the side of Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame. What do we do?” Eternal Phoenix asked. He had just received a report from their spies.
Radiant Sacred Flame and Victorious Return planted moles in Asskickers United. After becoming aware that Asskickers United was planning to go to war with Azure Falling Sky, they immediately started gathering their troops. With such a perfect opportunity in front of them, they absolutely wouldn’t let go of it easily.
“Mobilize all players in Holy Empire Level 20 or higher. We’re going to play with Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame for a while!” Sleepy Fox’s eyes flashed with a cold light. If Holy Empire’s mettle wasn’t as formidable as Asskickers United’s, then from today onwards, that would slowly begin to change!
Eternal Phoenix discovered that Sleepy Fox had suddenly gone through a drastic change. After a long time, he earnestly nodded his head. “I’ll immediately start convening our brothers!”
Holy Empire was like a giant machine as it rapidly went into full gear.
Nie Yan and over a hundred players teleported to Link Town, then set out to Twilight Forest with their fastest speed. No one knew what the situation was like over on Smoke Stub’s side, or how much longer he could hold on for. However, the strength of Withered Leaf wasn’t to be underestimated. It wouldn’t be so simple for Azure Falling Sky to wipe them out in a short amount of time.
Countless Asskickers United players assembled from all directions to Link Town. From several thousand to tens of thousands, they were all led by Tang Yao. After withdrawing the Energized Crystal Fragments from the treasury, he had already resurrected his Arcane Fairy. Right now, he was even more full of spirit. He was hollering that they would massacre Azure Falling Sky until not even a single piece of the enemy’s equipment remained
Numerous groups of Asskickers United players clad in high-quality equipment emerged in Link Town. Afterwards, they assembled outside of the town, causing the bystanders to feel the tense atmosphere of an approaching war.
“What’s going on?”
“I heard some players from Asskickers United were killed by Azure Falling Sky, so Asskickers United is gathering and planning to massacre Azure Falling Sky in retaliation!”
“Azure Falling Sky is finished!”
Nearly all of the several major battles that occurred in Calore had to do with Asskickers United, from the battle that occurred outside of Black Flame Forest to the absolute massacre of Unhindered and Victorious Return in Kiln Fire Woods. No matter how strong Azure Falling Sky was, could they match Victorious Return? This time, they were very likely going to be wiped out by Asskickers United.
Asskickers United should not be provoked!