At this stage, most players could easily defeat NPCs. Even when facing regular armies, battles only became prolonged because of numbers and positioning. However, when up against true elite forces, such as Ursus's Emperor's Blades, Yan's Imperial Guards, or Victoria's Steam Knights, players still found themselves dragged into long, difficult fights.
As for player-versus-player combat, that familiar mode had long since been mastered through countless hours of practice.
Yanfei dodged the sniper's red targeting line, rolled across the ground, and landed behind Xiyiye.
"They're just trying to pin us down here," she said quickly. "Stick to the original plan. We're the assassination team. Our job is to get into County Hillock."
"No problem, Captain."
977 paused for a split second, then raised the massive shield in her hand. A dazzling purple beam slammed into it, scattering brilliant fragments of light in every direction.
"I'll leave this part to you tanks."
Yanfei exchanged a glance with her best friend behind her, then pulled a smoke bomb from her pocket and threw it at her feet.
"Your opponent is me!"
977 and the other heavy-armored operators stepped forward, activating their taunt and positioning skills again and forcibly drawing the attention of every enemy player nearby. At the same time, the red sniper markers settled on their chests one after another.
Behind them, the medics silently drank blue potions.
Bringing this group down was going to take some effort.
This assassination mission was being carried out by the top professional players of their team, divided into groups of two or three. Their objective was to infiltrate County Hillock and seize the former city lord's mansion.
There was no city-core key to capture here, but there was a art array controlling the defensive shield over the entire city. Once that array was destroyed, the New Tara players fighting outside County Hillock against the Kingdom of Tara would finally be able to unleash their full firepower on the city without restraint.
Although County Hillock was an important stronghold, it would still be better to blow it to pieces and leave nothing behind than to allow the Kingdom of Tara to keep using it as a threat against New Tara.
Since the Kingdom of Tara had plunged into war, County Hillock, deep on the front line, had naturally been turned into a military stronghold. The residents had all been forcibly relocated to the rear.
As for Sir Bolton, the former lord of County Hillock, he never received the wealth and glory he dreamed of. Instead, he was handed a minor town with only a few thousand residents and sent away. County Hillock had once been a major city with a population of over a million, and the potential profits had been vastly greater. The contrast was unbearable to him. During the period when Terra was fighting the demons on all fronts, he had become one of the nobles who stirred up trouble behind the lines of the Kingdom of Tara. Afterwards, he was purged and thrown into the dungeon, where he died in despair.
The location of the city lord's mansion had been changed more than once. Yanfei was already too tired to complain about how they still had to use the sewers to infiltrate. The smell alone was enough to make her want to vomit.
Even inside County Hillock, the city was still being guarded by players.
In a battle on this scale, the NPCs on both sides were not truly at the front line anymore. From ordinary soldiers all the way up to field commanders, the real fighting force was made up almost entirely of players.
The vast majority of players who joined the Kingdom of Tara came from Europe and America. They liked Eblana's aggressive, warlike style of command and were more than willing to fight under her banner.
This time, the one in charge of defending the central district of County Hillock was Shroud, guild leader of the Rat Guild. He was a familiar name among the player base. He had once belonged to the Troll players, and after joining Tomorrow's Development, he had always gravitated toward PvP-oriented activities. This time, he had joined Eblana's forces without hesitation and was fighting for her cause.
"You're saying a fight broke out at the west gate?" Shroud asked. "I remember the Sunflower Team and the Warrior Team were both nearby. They should've been able to stop them, right?"
"No. The enemy numbers are just too high. All the nearby professional teams have gone over to reinforce."
"?"
Shroud immediately sensed that something was wrong.
"You mean all the nearby professional teams went there?"
The player nodded, then quickly added, "But Team T1 and Team Demon King have been patrolling inside the city the whole time. Team Cloud and Team Evil Genius are here too. Even if they try to infiltrate, the alarm should go off immediately—"
At that very moment, a shrill alarm suddenly blared outside the window.
Shroud instantly rose to his feet. Looking through the scope, he saw only thick smoke swirling across North Square not far away, making it impossible to see clearly.
"And what about Clever's reconnaissance?"
"The other side is carrying clever units too. The clever systems are interfering with each other, so our scans can't get a clean result."
"Use thermal imaging!"
Shroud shouted, "The enemy has infiltrated the city. Have all players near the city walls withdraw to the central square. At the same time, order all professional teams to gather at the city lord's mansion. The art circle Queen Eblana entrusted to us is still there. We absolutely cannot allow it to be destroyed."
"Yes!"
Shroud clicked his tongue as he watched the Cloud Team and the Evil Genius Team rush toward the smoke-filled area with weapons in hand. Soon after, the sounds of explosions and fierce battle roared through the air.
As Yanfei listened to the tremors rumbling beneath the ground, she gave a salute to Kumori, Dreamchaser, and the others, who were effectively heading off to die. It was a necessary sacrifice.
"Sister Yanfei, let's go straight for the enemy's heart."
"Qiu Muyu, have you located the art circle?"
"My presence was perfectly hidden, but it couldn't escape my robot dog's detection~"
Qiu Muyu pointed toward a corner of the sewer ahead. A mechanical dog stood there, tilting its head for a moment before vanishing again.
"This puppy can detect the existence of the art circle through Originium Arts and lock onto its location for us."
"That sounds incredibly strong in PvP, doesn't it?" one girl beside her muttered. "A Caster's Originium Arts formation can deal absurdly high damage."
"On the contrary, it's not that useful in the World Championship," Qiu Muyu complained.
In a world-level match, where would a team even find the time or manpower to carefully set up a art circle?
Everyone silently agreed. In actual competition, such mechanical creations rarely produced enough pressure on their own. In truth, what earned Qiu Muyu so much respect was not just that she had risen from an ordinary player to a core member of the Ice Rose Team within only a few years on Terra, but that she possessed the rare Mechanic profession.
During last year's Mid-Season Invitational, Qiu Muyu's clever use of her machines and engineering skills had made Ice Rose's opponents feel utterly miserable. Mechanical creations were part of the Mechanic class, and in battle they could always tilt the numbers in one's favor. Although Qiu Muyu's own blueprints were nowhere near as outrageous as the mechs of Rhine Lab, once she covered the ground with dozens of automated turrets, anyone facing her felt immediate despair.
The Mechanic class was notoriously expensive, and success depended heavily on luck as well, especially when it came to obtaining strong blueprints. Most teams either did not have a Mechanic worth developing, or their progress was far too slow. Few players were like Qiu Muyu, who had chosen Mechanic from the very start of version 1.0 and had spent years accumulating experience and designs.
"By the way, Qiu Muyu, where are your other machines?"
Qiu Muyu had never relied on only a single mechanical dog in competition. Hearing the question, she smiled.
"I gave them to the captain and the others."
Yanfei's expression became slightly complicated. She had originally assumed that Kumori and the others were staying behind purely to make a heroic sacrifice. She hadn't expected that they might actually beat those European and American players senseless.
After creeping through the underground passages for fifteen minutes, Qiu Muyu suddenly stopped. She made a silencing gesture to everyone behind her and pointed ahead.
Yanfei and the others looked into the darkness.
Not far away, many players were standing on both sides of the sewer. Every so often they would draw out their weapons to check them.
Clearly, this was a precaution arranged by Shroud: a warning team stationed in the sewers specifically to guard against ambushes.
"Sister Yanfei, what do we do now?"
Yanfei gritted her teeth, and a fierce gleam flashed through her beautiful peach-blossom eyes.
"Kill them. That's the only way through."
Boom!
Shroud felt the vibrations beneath his feet, but his expression did not change.
"So, we really did walk into a trap?"
"Shroud, heavy combat vibrations are coming from directly beneath the art circle. The infiltrator team has already engaged them."
Shroud nodded slowly.
"Then have the Seven Stars Team go down as well and finish them off. Last year at the Mid-Season Invitational, Seven Stars was humiliated over and over again by Blue Rain and Yanyu Pavilion. They hate those teams to the bone. Sending them will get twice the result with half the effort."
"Understood!"
Another player rushed in with fresh news.
"Shroud, the professional teams outside the west gate have been defeated."
"Are you joking?" Doubt flashed in Shroud's eyes. "Those were four professional teams, and you're telling me they couldn't even hold the line?"
"Th-that…"
The player hesitated.
The Warrior Team and Sunflower Team, who had gone out to meet the enemy, were not weak by any means. However, according to the scouts, the teams sent to reinforce them, Evil Genius and Cloud, had clearly been the ones dragging the whole fight down.
Shroud did not say it aloud, but inwardly he was cursing nonstop.
It was one thing to lose to North America in League of Legends. At least North America still had some pride left in games like CS. But why were they getting overshadowed by North America in Ark too?
"Where's Universe? Has he sent any news back?"
"He was pinned down by the enemy… and forced to self-destruct…"
Shroud's face darkened. He clenched his teeth and barked, "Have Team T1 and Team Demon King take the front! Also, send every other available player into the sewers to ambush them. I refuse to believe we can't take down those infiltrators!"
At that moment, an explosion erupted from the direction of North Square.
Shroud turned his head, his left eyebrow twitching uncontrollably. Scattered across the ground were turrets, firing wildly at every player in range without discrimination. Then he suddenly remembered something.
"Retreat! Those turrets can move! They can self-destruct!"
Under everyone's disbelieving gaze, the turrets sprouted tracks and began rushing across the ground. Their lower halves were small and compact, but their upper sections blazed with artillery fire. In an instant, the European and American players retreated dozens of steps, yet many were still badly wounded by the bombardment.
"Where's our Mechanic?"
"He's guarding the art circle!"
Just as the two were speaking, the ground beneath the city lord's mansion collapsed, and flames shot upward.
Yanfei grabbed Qiu Muyu and leaped into the air while the mechanical units continued to pursue them relentlessly.
Shroud spun around and screamed, "Fire! Fire!"
All the nearby players raised their guns and opened fire at the two women in midair. Casters cast their arts without hesitation.
But just before the attacks could hit them, Yanfei's hand flicked.
A large number of grenades and explosives poured out from her inventory.
She glanced at Qiu Muyu and grinned. "Qiu Muyu, have you ever died before?"
"Yeah. I started dying all the way back when I was leveling in version 1.0."
"Same here. Hahaha~"
Yanfei smiled sweetly as she grabbed Qiu Muyu's hand.
The next instant, their figures were swallowed by the explosion. The falling grenades and explosives detonated all at once, and a small mushroom cloud rose above the city lord's mansion.
"Hold the line! Hold the line!"
The heavy-armored players below raised their shields, trying desperately to protect the art circle.
It was useless.
The explosives, weighing who knew how many kilograms, erupted with a deafening roar. The shockwave sent the European and American players flying backward, and the art circle, glowing with purple light, shattered under the force of the blast.
"Damn it. Damn it."
As the city lord's mansion was blown apart, Shroud's vision went black.
Even with their advantage in numbers, they had still failed to stop New Tara's suicidal assault. Seriously, who could match that kind of madness? Who would blow themselves up so casually? Didn't they care about losing experience when they died?
Shroud's expression turned complicated.
It was over.
Everything was over.
County Hillock had fallen. Now the strongest natural barrier of the Kingdom of Tara was no longer secure. The kingdom could only continue to exist in the few territories it still held.
Could they still turn this around in time?
As the purple protective shield enveloping County Hillock slowly faded, the players outside the city raised their arms and shouted in unison,
"Blow it up!"
"Hahaha, Art is an explosion!"
Before the words had even fully fallen, the casters had already released the arts they had been preparing for a long time. In an instant, the city walls exploded into a riot of dazzling colors.
Although the walls had indeed stood there—
they still collapsed.
"Charge! Charge! Charge!"
The Kingdom of Tara continued to resist, choosing the most radical tactic possible: street fighting. They launched frenzied, suicidal counterattacks, trying to kill anyone who dared step into their territory.
For a time, the battle lines remained locked in bloody stalemate.
It was not until Eblana finally gave the order to retreat that the Western players reluctantly began pulling back, grumbling and cursing the whole time. They had begged to keep fighting in the streets, insisting that the result was still uncertain.
Before withdrawing, the Western players planted bombs across their territory, completely blowing apart half of County Hillock. At the very least, they had achieved one goal: preventing New Tara from taking full control of the city intact.
But that retreat also marked the collapse of the Kingdom of Tara's frontline.
Although the large number of European and American players still meant they could fight again later, the fall of County Hillock meant that players from Victoria or New Tara could now continuously push into the Kingdom of Tara, launching raids, harassment, and direct attacks without interruption.
The outcome had already been decided.