Chapter 559 - I know who they are.
Virtual World: Close Combat Mage
Translator: Exodus Tales Editor: Exodus Tales
âItâs no Mage weapon. Something that has physical and magic damage should theoretically be reserved for Knights to use, especially a Dark Knight,â Ye Xiaowu replied.
Reserved for Knights, especially a Dark Knight... These words caused Silver Moonâs heart to beat. There was no doubt that he was a Knight, and now that he was not even at level 40, he would be given another chance to choose his Job Class Advancement when he reached level 40 again. If he went with being a Dark Knight and got a hold of Thousand Miles Drunkâs Moonlit Nightfalls, just what sort of frightening power could he wield with his job class matching the weapon?
As Silver Moon let his imagination run wild on his end, No Smile did the same too, but since he was a Thief, his thoughts naturally went toward Svelte Dancerâs dagger, Dancing Dervish, instead. He did not know Svelte Dancer, but he had heard plenty of rumors about the woman, who was widely regarded as having the three key elements of looks, money, and damage. It turned out that it was thanks to that dagger of hers; thus, if he managed to get a hold of it for himself...
The two swallowed their saliva audibly, which caused Ye Xiaowu to regard them strangely. Realizing that they had let slip their façade, they quickly calmed themselves down.
âWhereâs the person whom you said is going to deal with Thousand Miles Drunk?â Ye Xiaowu asked Silver Moon.
Silver Moon look around, acting as if he was looking for someone. âI donât know! Maybe, those guys have already been killed by Thousand Miles Drunk.â
Ye Xiaowu knitted his brows. No Smile was far more straightforward and sent Silver Moon a private message. âHey. Just what are you up to?â Ever since they had teleported to Baishi City, No Smile began to feel that Silver Moon was acting all the more unnatural.
âD*mm*t. Itâs hard to explain everything right now. Iâll fill you in next time,â Silver Moon replied.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om
âWhat do we do now?â Silver Moonâs eyes darted over to Ye Xiaowu.
âWait and see, I guess!â Ye Xiaowu did not say much as well. If No Smile was able to see how unnatural Silver Moon was, he of course could do the same, too. The man had done his best to convince them to come over and deal with Thousand Miles Drunk, yet seeing the situation that they were now in, and adding the unwillingness Silver Moon was showing, these factors made it all the more difficult for Ye Xiaowu to guess what Silver Moon was planning. He knew that he would be unable to get a straight answer from Silver Moon if he asked him about it too, so he went with the option of waiting and seeing. At the end of the day, they were just a group of players that banded together for the sole purpose of using one another to better go up against Gu Fei. And given Silver Moonâs character, Ye Xiaowu simply had no wish to become any sort of friend of his.
Gu Fei and his group of six, who had just finished their final stroll, chose a rather spacious clearing to wait for the enemies to show up. Aside from Gu Fei, the rest of them were already rather annoyed by all this.
âDo those cowards even dare to show up?â Blue Ease asked. He felt that with how he had brought out all his comrades back then, it was enough to intimidate that bunch of ruffians, which caused them to completely give up on attacking Vast Lushness.
âIf they intend to rob her, thereâs no way that theyâll give up so easily,â Gu Fei said.
âYou sound as if youâve got a really good grasp of this sort of thing.â Blue Ease gave Gu Fei the side-eye. While he no longer treated Gu Fei as a nemesis, he was not about to treat him like a comrade so quickly, either.
âIâve had quite a few run-ins with these sorts of people.â Gu Fei nodded.
âOh. What do you think is the reason they have yet to make their move, then?â Blue Ease deliberately wanted to make a joke out of Gu Fei.
âItâs been so long, so if they are looking for us, thereâs really no reason for them not to locate us.â Gu Fei furrowed his brows thoughtfully. âThat means that they should already be watching us from somewhere out there.â
The others immediately looked all around them, immediately suspicious of anyone who met their gazes.
âNot making their move even after so long, I do believe that thereâs only one reason: They are waiting,â Gu Fei continued.
âWaiting for?â Blue Ease pressed.
âWaiting for her to be alone... It seems that theyâve decided not to clash with us and are now waiting for Vast Lushness to be left alone before attacking,â Gu Fei answered.
âThey arenât weak,â Vast Lushness said. âThe six enemies form a standard job-class team, and they are all skillful with practiced coordination. We held the advantage with our headcount the last time, but we were still no match for them. It wouldâve been terrible had Blue Ease not made it in time.â
âAfter that, the number superiority we held increased, yet that six-man team was still able to fully retreat. Itâs really impressive.â Sakurazaka Moony quickly interjected into the conversation. The fact that his men were no match for the robbers and had to be saved by Blue Ease made Sakurazaka Moony feel rather embarrassed, so he made sure to point out this particular part of the fight, first, to prove just how powerful their enemies were this time, and, second, to point out that Blue Ease and his men were not up to par, either; Despite his groupâs numbers, they were unable to hold those six men and would be in an equally terrible plight if they did not have so many players.
âF*ck! Didnât you see it?! That Mage unleashed a spell that sealed off the entire street, and two of my men that went chasing after them ended up dead. Would theyâve gotten away if it had not been for that skill?â Blue Ease could tell what Sakurazaka Moony was insinuating.
âTsk. In other words, your tactical positioning just wasnât good enough. Why didnât you block off their path of retreat beforehand?â Sakurazaka Moony taunted.
âF*ck, how would I know which way they would be retreating toward?!â Blue Ease retorted.
âWhich is why I say, itâs just not good enough.â Sakurazka Moony had no idea what he was being gleeful for.
âAll right. Stop your quarreling.â Gu Fei saw that Blue Ease was about to yell and quickly interrupted him. âThat spell the other Mage used to seal off the entire street, what sort of spell was it?â
âItâs a wall of flames,â Sakurazka Moony described.
âThere were two.â Blue Ease had a clearer view of it.
âActually, itâs a sea of flames,â Sakurazka Moony bickered.
âF*ck, you twerp!â Blue Ease could not stand it any longer and raised his hand to unleash a Thunderbolt right onto Sakurazka Moony. As a Lightning Mage himself, Gu Fei was of course familiar with the incantation, so his arm quickly shot out to stop him.
âI know who they are.â This statement from Gu Fei was enough to divert everyoneâs attention over to him.
âWho?â Sure enough, even Sakurazka Moony and Blue Ease instantly set aside their squabble as they turned to ask.
âSouthern Lone Blade,â Gu Fei replied.
The rest were momentarily stunned, for this was a name that needed no introduction.
âHow do you know that?â Blue Ease asked.
âThat wall of fire is a spell called Palatial Balefire, and itâs a signature move from the Mage whoâs a member of Southern Lone Bladeâs party, Flame Singed Clothes. Weâve crossed paths plenty of times, so Iâve seen him use it many times, too. Those guys are all professional larcenists, but from what I understand, they will only do business after receiving a commission, so I wonder who has eyes on your equipment.â Gu Fei pondered.
âMy staff?â Ever since Vast Lushness had fought her way to Yunduan City, she had been a largely average player in terms of her gear. Aside from the Utopian Magic Staff she had gotten a long time ago, she did not really own anything that would be worth hiring a professional larcenist to loot.
âLetâs worry about all that later!â Gu Fei said. âIf they are the ones doing the deed, I think I have an idea why they have yet to show their faces.â
âWhy?â It was Blue Ease asking him again.
âBecause of me,â Gu Fei said.
âWhat do you mean?â
âHmm. How should I put it...â The moment Gu Fei began contemplating if he should be a little modest with his words, Vast Lushness and the others already knew what he meant. Back when they were all in Linyin City, they had all helped Gu Fei track down the location of Southern Lone Blade and his team. Afterward, Gu Fei continued to hunt down Southern Lone Bladeâs party, while Vast Lushness and the others remained in Linyin City for a time to go about their own business. That was when Fireball, bearing a buttload of PK points, spent dozens of hours at the beachside taverns in Linshui City, which drew a bout of ridicules from his mercenary group.
âThey probably donât dare to attack because youâre around.â Vast Lushness laughed.
âDrunk bro, youâre seriously too d*mn OP!â Fireball idolized every inch of Gu Fei.
âIf itâs them, nothing we did before mattered, since they will only act after they see me leave,â Gu Fei said.
âThen, whatâre you dawdling about for? Quickly leave.â Svelte Dancer shooed Gu Fei.
âThey arenât easy to deal with.â Gu Fei had a serious expression about him. The members of Young Masterâs Elite often discussed about these men, and their general evaluation of them was admirably positive. To get that level of recognition from that bunch of first-rate experts only showed how outstanding Southern Lone Bladeâs seven-man team was.
âWhat are you hesitating for? If you can take them on, why canât I? Quickly get lost,â Svelte Dancer said again.
âAll right. Be careful...â Gu Fei could only agree and turn to leave.
âââââââââââ
âThousand Miles Drunkâs left!â Almost at the same time, Southern Lone Blade and Ye Xiaowu spread out this good news among their respective parties.
âFollow him!â The same command was given at the same time by the two parties. The difference was that Southern Lone Blade had only sent Glue to do this task, while Ye Xiaowu had all three of them go in the direction that Gu Fei had departed in.
âWe canât be careless. That guy might be leaving intentionally to draw us out to attack,â Southern Lone Blade said.
âHow did he know that weâve been watching him all this while?â Flame Singed Clothes asked.
âItâs possible if he has identified us,â Southern Lone Blade replied.
âAnd how would he know that?â
âYou used your Palatial Balefire before we retreated last time. If anyone mentions it, Thousand Miles Drunk will immediately realize itâs us,â Southern Lone Blade explained.
âIn other words, if he knows itâs us, Thousand Miles Drunk will surely be able to guess how we do things, and he knows that weâll be avoiding him, so his departure now can be his attempt at making us show ourselves. If thatâs the case, he might be faking it, and he might come back any time. Or perhaps, heâs thinking that the other five players left are enough to take on the six of us,â Southern Lone Blade analyzed.
âJust the five of them?â Blackwater and the others might not be back at level 40, but they still treated this to be like a joke.
âVast Lushness is a Dark Priest, so her Heals are weak. The specialty of Dark Priests is yet to be seen, so itâs simply a handicapped job class. The Archerâs a Hunter; what use will traps be in a combat in a city? thatâs yet another handicap. Then thereâs no need to mention that little Mage; heâs nothing special. And that other Mage that came to interfere, who looked to be a person of caliber, but that was simply because he had too many players with him back then. Now that heâs all alone, thereâs no way that he is as strong as Thousand Miles Drunk. Lastly, that female Thief...â The Priest Paddy Scent Pastures began to give a rundown of every opponent they would be facing in the remaining five.
âThat female Thief came along with Thousand Miles Drunk,â Glue said.
âA female Thief all dressed in red...â Southern Lone Bladeâs thoughts drifted to Parallel Worldâs most famous female Thief.
âCould she be Svelte Dancer?â Flame Singed Clothes announced the correct answer.
âHmph. That Thousand Miles Drunk may have underestimated us a little too much. If weâre so indecisive when facing off with any random expert, how in the world can we continue to subsist on our job at that rate?â Southern Lone Blade said thusly. But the fact remained that he was still slightly hesitant to take on Svelte Dancer, for he also knew that his fellow comrades had taken quite a blow from Gu Fei that their confidence was already on the brink of collapse. Now that they had once more run into Thousand Miles Drunk in their assignment this time, it was truly akin to adding fuel to the fire.
They had no choice but to avoid Gu Fei because everyone was clear that they were no match for him. However, when pitted against someone like Svelte Dancer, an enemy that they had yet to fight against, choosing to still avoid her would eventually make avoidance a habit for them. At the point, the confidence of his team would be really difficult to resurge once more.