64. Coordinates of the Crystal Witch

[Deep Sea Zoo] ranked 8th with 1,509 points, making it one of the leading guilds.

It was a mere 300 points behind the 6th place. By maintaining this momentum, they could contend for either a direct advancement or a spot in the revival tournament.

Ambushing the Reality-Illusion Boundary was a spur-of-the-moment decision.

After laboriously eliminating a Nightmare Shadow, they happened to discover a Starlight Guide nearby.

Her attire was noticeably different from the other two guides they had previously encountered.

Amidst the darkness, her wide robes seemed to reflect a sky full of stars, with soft and enchanting starlight flowing across the fabric.

A hood concealed her face, though her voice revealed her to be a very young girl.

She leaned over a table displaying four items:
A crystal ball, a Rubik's cube, a pair of dice, and an astrolabe.

Aside from offering the standard services of a guide, she called herself the "Crystal Witch" and provided special services based on the items chosen by players.

Deep Sea Zoo chose the dice and spent 200 points to obtain an "Unknown Gift."

Before the purchase, the Crystal Witch warned them that the Unknown Gift could be either good or bad, and once purchased, they would bear the consequences alone.

They had hesitated over whether to sink their hard-earned points into such an unreliable lottery.

Yet, a mysterious force compelled them to take a gamble.

"Displays the guild closest to [Deep Sea Zoo] on the map. Duration: 3 hours."

This result left them dumbfounded. Opening the map, they indeed saw the glowing dots representing the members of the Reality-Illusion Boundary.

Except for Wowo’s name, which flickered on and off, the coordinates of everyone else were mercilessly exposed by the mysterious blessing obtained from the draw, rendering them entirely transparent from one side.

Deep Sea Zoo wanted to continue trying with more points, but the Crystal Witch refused.

"My destiny only smiles upon each person once."

The word "destiny" reminded everyone in Deep Sea Zoo of something. They carefully observed the movement trajectory of the Reality-Illusion Boundary and noticed that whenever the enemy engaged in combat, a "Nightmare Shadow" totem and text would flash briefly across the map...

A bold idea blossomed in their minds.

Take a risk, and upgrade a bicycle to a motorcycle.

The Reality-Illusion Boundary was sitting on a huge sum of points without spending them, and their combat power had not improved at all since the guild war began.

If they could wait at ease for the exhausted enemy and launch a sudden strike...

Opportunities are seized by oneself; if heaven offers a bounty and you do not take it, you will instead suffer the blame.

Deep Sea Zoo purchased a mobile soundproofing array and combat-enhancing potions, spending most of their points before initiating this surprise attack.

With a God’s-eye view, they could adjust their ambush locations at any time according to the movements of the Reality-Illusion Boundary.

The fleeting totems during close-quarters combat also allowed them to gauge the status of the Reality-Illusion Boundary from a distance.

It was normal that Wowo hadn't detected them, because before they even arrived, Deep Sea Zoo had already hidden in the shadows and prepared for the sneak attack.

Everything was prepared so perfectly. If the Reality-Illusion Boundary suffered heavy losses and direct casualties in the first round of the attack, annihilating this weary squad would be as easy as pie.

The long-accumulated fame of the Reality-Illusion Boundary would inevitably rub off on them—at the moment they made their decision, what they desired was far more than simply advancing past this round of the competition.

However, the story did not unfold the way Deep Sea Zoo had envisioned.

Remaining motionless naturally made detection difficult, but the moment they launched their attack, Jiang Heyi’s sharp instincts and the Four-Element Entities’ exquisite passive utilization revitalized what should have been a fatal crisis for the team.

Someone from the Reality-Illusion Boundary stepped up.

"Very strong..."

There was no shortage of seasoned gamers in the Deep Sea Zoo guild. Just from the on-the-spot reactions of Jiang Heyi and the others, they could sense the opponent's formidable strength.

Someone lowered their voice and suggested, "Let's fight. If we wait for them to recover any longer, our advantage won't be as significant."

The group appeared hesitant. A smooth-sailing fight where a sneak attack succeeds and is followed by an all-out charge is easy to win, but in a head-on collision like this, what were their odds of winning?

Amidst their hesitation, the Reality-Illusion Boundary made their move.

The [Shadow Hunter] in the team was the first to notice Wowo stepping across the shadow fissures to charge forward. At his signal, the four elemental mages in the team unleashed a volley of magic, attempting to intercept this reckless dark elf.

Instead, they saw Wowo shouting, "Woohoo, takeoff," as she sped right past, leaving all danger in her wake.

She was truly having a great time.

"Damn it! Stop casting spells randomly!"

The guild leader of Deep Sea Zoo cursed out loud. As the commander, he only froze for a second before realizing that was a hook designed to trick them into exposing their positions and composition!

Besides, elemental mage spells have pre-casting animations and intervals...

"You five really... what the hell..."

He couldn't even complain anymore. The moment the Shadow Hunter’s innate skill [Shadow Hunt] tore apart the shadow fissure of the stealth operative, Plain-flavored French Fries—who already had some understanding of this skill—called out the class name.

In an instant, five classes were exposed.

Four elemental mages—what an inflated legion of mages! Were they planning to utilize the amplification of passive skills to play remote carpet-bombing, or protect each other with elemental shields?

It no longer mattered what the remaining two classes were. Once such an extreme lineup revealed its hand, the only thing awaiting it was a mad-dog charge.

The Deep Sea Zoo guild leader raised his sword to engage Jiang Heyi, while another player rushed toward Plain-flavored French Fries, whose red pupils were spewing biting murderous intent.

As the only two melee combatants in the team, they had to hold the line!

The twin melee classes of Deep Sea Zoo were both [Berserkers]. Choosing the same class was also out of consideration for mutual communication and learning during the exploration process of the guild war.

Moreover, the mechanic of growing stronger the longer the fight lasted was truly alluring.

A longsword radiating crimson particles continuously clashed with Jiang Heyi’s short blades. He swung without reserving any stamina, forcing Jiang Heyi back step by step.

Great, the opponent was indeed exhausted. Both his strength and technique were superior!

As long as he waited for the elemental mage's next spell...

A flash of blood-red sword light, a light, nimble thrust aimed straight at Jiang Heyi’s heart.

The tip of the sword pierced through an afterimage, the remaining momentum carrying him stumbling forward.

At that moment, out of the corner of his eye, he saw three agile and cute sylphs appearing on both shoulders and above the head of Jiang Heyi’s afterimage.

The slight smiles on their lips seemed to mock his arrogance and ignorance.

A short blade stabbed into his waist from the rear right. With a vigorous twist, he could no longer muster any strength, and the longsword in his hand dropped.

[Spirit Summoning]: Orange Tea summoned entities even superior to the sylphs generated during her devotee phase.

Under the comprehensive enhancement, Jiang Heyi was as light as a swallow, strolling leisurely as he dodged the seemingly inescapable sword strike from the Deep Sea Zoo guild leader.

"I was waiting for my teammates' buffs. What were you waiting for?"

The Deep Sea Zoo guild leader, whose waist had just been stabbed, hadn't felt much at first, but hearing Jiang Heyi put it that way, and thinking of those eccentric teammates of his, he couldn't help but spit blood.

What was he waiting for?

Waiting to die, of course.

On the other side, the berserker who wanted to compete with Plain-flavored French Fries over who was more "berserk" suffered successive injuries. Yet even after triggering the enhancement of [Bloodthirsty Frenzy], his arm was severed by Plain-flavored French Fries, stripping him of his combat capability.

A naked, utter suppression.

With the defeat on the front lines sealed, the four elemental mages finally adjusted themselves and prepared to cast their spells.

One of them pulled out the potion bottle that had been tossed around earlier, gritting his teeth, determined to make the approaching Reality-Illusion Boundary pay the price.

"What a goodie, let me play with it."

He suddenly felt his palm go empty, and the heavy potion bottle vanished into thin air.

Raising his head, not far away, a dark elf curiously examined the bottle twice before breaking into a mischievous smile.

"No idea what its function is, I'll just test it on you guys."

With that, she casually tossed it...

An arc flew across in front of the four elemental mages, their expressions freezing ultimately into surprise with open mouths agape.

A wisp of flame ignited where the potion shattered, and then a pool of fire suddenly burst open, spreading like a river in all directions. Within two breaths, the mages caught in the middle turned into dancing human torches.

Wowo shrank her neck in fright: "That packs quite a punch..."

Pursued and closing in by the Shadow Hunter who had been walking her like a dog, Wowo hurriedly bolted.

"Ahey, your arrows are meaningless if you can't hit me~~~"

"So what if you broke my stealth? Can breaking the fog win you the team fight?"

"You're in such a rush, but being in a rush is useless. Your teammates lost the team fight, hey, I get to comfortably hitch a ride for points while you have nothing."

"Press 1 to become a disciple, press 1 to become a disciple!"

Pure, unadulterated exasperation. The Shadow Hunter’s [Shadow Hunt] skill was an ability combining reconnaissance and dispelling effects, which somewhat countered [Stealth Operatives].

Yet while it countered Wowo, he couldn't catch her. From time to time, she would even turn back to kick up sand with her feet, feeding him dirt.

Clearly possessing skills she didn't use, she deliberately resorted to petty tricks children use in fistfights—dealing no actual damage, yet carrying an extraordinarily high insult factor.

A class without a taunting skill, yet Wowo forcefully achieved a taunting effect through her practical actions.

This red-eyed game of tag was finally called to a halt by Jiang Heyi.

At this moment, the Shadow Hunter cast his gaze across the battlefield and abruptly discovered that he was the last man standing for Deep Sea Zoo.

Plain-flavored French Fries was in the rear, Jiang Heyi in front, with Wowo and the Four-Element Entities standing on either side.

Awaiting him was an imperial treatment no other guild member had received.

"As the last man of your guild, how about farming some points and surviving until the end?"

"The lottery chances after the guild war settlement are always better the more you have, wouldn't you say?"

Jiang Heyi’s words left the Shadow Hunter’s mind in utter chaos. It took him a good while to process the meaning.

"What do you want?"

"Information." Jiang Heyi cut straight to the point. "You guys looked like you knew we would appear here all along. How did you pull that off?"

After a brief silence, the Shadow Hunter asked, "Is doing this... breaking the rules?"

"Taking what we need from each other, I don't consider this cheating." Jiang Heyi emphasized, "You should trust the integrity of our Reality-Illusion Boundary."

With a long sigh of relief, the Shadow Hunter revealed the information about the "Crystal Witch" and projected the map coordinates for Jiang Heyi to mark himself.

"Inferior in skill, I gracefully concede."
"A narrow victory, a narrow victory." Jiang Heyi wore a smile at the corners of his mouth. "Carry the will of your guild's fallen comrades and go hitch a ride. Score a few more lottery chances, and they'll be calling you daddy."

Watching the Reality-Illusion Boundary depart, the Shadow Hunter was filled with emotion.

As expected of a T0 major guild...