Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 438 Dark Summoning

Ye Ci was not lying. She had no solution for the situation that she was facing. Even the discussion with Naga did not result in an official agreement. The only thing the NPC did was to transform her ring into its current state.

Can I win the battle with this ring? Thought Ye Ci. But she did not know what she could do with the ring.

Invisibility and Featherfall were definitely not the skills that could help in turning things around. Dark Summoning was the only one that might be of use to her. But there was barely anything in the skill description. Only the duration of the spell and its cooldown was listed down.

Fleeting Time noticed Ye Ci staring at her ring, and tossed her a pair of gloves. “Even I can tell that there’s something different about your ring. I think our enemies can guess that it’s your trump card as well.”

Ye Ci gave him a smile of gratitude before putting the gloves on, “I don’t even know how this thing works yet. Who knows if it’s an actual trump card, or something that will speed up my death.”

With that, she summoned Ol’ Six and mounted her steed, “But I’m really interested in finding out. You want to come along?” she grinned at Fleeting Time.

Warmth crept into Fleeting TIme’s heart as he saw her expression, “I’ll race you there.” he returned her smile.

“Let’s go!” Ye Ci shot up into the sky, followed closely by Fleeting Time.

The battle was still raging on the ground below. Latal was still advancing through the alliance’s ranks, but it was apparent that it had lost much of its momentum. It harvested the lives of countless players with each swing of its gigantic pincers, but many more surged forward to take the places of the fallen.

The players did not show fear in the face of death and their loss of EXP and equipment, and threw themselves at the rampaging beast.

“Why are they not retreating?” she asked in the party chat, “They must’ve noticed by now that Latal has the ‘EXP absorption’ trait. Why are the leaders of these guilds not pulling their men back? Is the taxes from Sodom really worth their losses?”

A smile appeared on Fleeting Time’s face, “Benefits are not the only thing that decide the flow of things in this world.”

Ye Ci had heard something like this far too many times. But it sounded different when it came from Fleeting Time. It managed to shake her to her core.

Fleeting Time stared at the horizon and sighed, “Ye Ci, there are moments when benefits are worth nothing more than dirt. The battle that is being fought today is not entirely to gain benefits, but for their pride and dignity.”

“Pride and dignity?” Ye Ci repeated the words.

“You’ve always been a practical person, but I know that you are someone filled with pride and dignity.” Fleeting Time’s smile was as bright as the sun, “They’re just the same. You refused to bow down before Golden Era, and don’t you think they share the same beliefs as well? Their initial intentions did not matter now. What they want is victory.” and Fleeting Time extended his arm towards Ye Ci, “Just like you.”

Ye Ci could feel the strongest wall the had built in a corner of her heart, and the belief that she used to hold so firmly, was cracking as she stared at Fleeting Time. The crack widened and widened again, until everything came crumbling down.

Tears were welling in her eyes as she took in a deep breath, and accepted Fleeting Time’s hand. He pulled her over, and she landed in his embrace, “I don’t know what you are going to do, but know that no matter what happens, I’ll be right beside you. Do what you must, and leave the rest to me.”

“Very well, I’ll take you up on your offer.” Ye Ci smiled at him.

The sky immediately darkened the moment Ye Ci activated her skill.

“You have spent 10,000 Souls and activated Dark Summoning.” a system notification chimed in her ears.

So this is what the 10,000 souls Naga gave me is for. Thought Ye Ci.

A screen appeared before Ye Ci. She read through the details displayed on the screen, and quickly realized that the skill ‘Dark Summoning’ allowed her to summon an army. She could then give orders to the soldiers through the interfaces on the screen.

There was a large variety of troops available for her selection including Dark Infantry, Dark Cavalry, Dark Archer, Dark Priest, Dark Sorcerer, and many more. And each of these troops came with its own unique skill.

The interface was arrayed just like a mini real time strategy game. Ye Ci could give out orders to her troops, which would fight and disappear after an hour.

She summoned a group of Dark Infantry, and 10,000 of them immediately appeared on the battlefield. They were armed with crude weapons and armor, but their bodies were big. With an order from Ye Ci, the Dark Infantries began charging at Latal.

Nobody was prepared for the sudden appearance of the large formation of NPCs. Confusion spread among the players. They could not decide if they should engage the Dark Infantries in battle, or continue their attacks against Latal.

But the alliance of guilds were quick to realize that the soldiers were not their enemies, and that they were summoned by a friendly player.

Nobody knew who summoned the soldiers and how they were summoned, but it was not their concern. The leaders of each guild, however, still gave out the order to investigate the source of their appearance.

As an ancient beast summoned from the void, Latal was indeed formidable. It was momentarily forced back by the sudden appearance of the Dark Infantry, but was soon able to regain its footing, and was even pushing the soldiers back, causing massed casualties in its wake.

A frown appeared on Ye Ci’s face as she took a look at Latal’s health bar, “What is this monster! The amount of HP is unreal! Can we even kill this thing?”

“Take your time.” Fleeting TIme patted Ye Ci on the shoulder and took off to the front lines on his Phoenix.

Well these things sure are not as tough as they look. Thought Ye Ci. With a sigh, she decided to summon some Dark Cavalries instead. But what she heard next sent tears streaming down her cheeks.