149 Battle of Wits Part 2 : The Gravity of the Situation

.....

Shunkai Forest is one of the most notorious maps around the Holy City.

Why? Because all of the monsters here are too high-leveled. Their levels are ranging from Level-120 as the weakest and Level-150 as the Highest.

The other high-level players addressed this place as the Forest of Death because a lot of players suffered a miserable death on here. Even the Rankers' groups are avoiding this place because of the strong monsters inhabiting on this map.

But now, all of the monsters of this place suddenly disappeared mysteriously and replaced by another group of 'monsters'.

And instead of avoiding this place all of the Rankers' groups are now flocking on this place like some sort of animal packs. It doesn't matter if they are official or unofficial ones, or if even they come from powerful guilds or not, all of these Rankers' groups have a single goal in mind, and that is to hunt the so-called 'monsters' of this place.

At first, they are quite positive about their goal as they are confident about their strengths. But when they finally encountered their targets, they realized how foolish are their wishful thinking. Rather than being the hunters, the Rankers' groups becomes the prey instead.

These targets are no monsters, they are the incarnation of death itself. They are coming in and going out as they please. They are arriving like a storm that is going to slaughter everything on its path, and departing as if nothing had happened while leaving nothing behind.

And that made the Higher-Ups of the First-Rate Guilds to have a massive headache. Everything is moving according to their plans, but a lot of their Rankers died in the process. Not only they lose some levels, but some their weapons are also been dropped when they died.

So with that, they were caught in a dilemma whether they are going to continue or not. Especially now that they have the full picture of their targets' area of movements.

But the problem is that they are also gotten to know the real strengths of these targets. They are all Titled Rankers at the very least. So the First-Rate Guilds knew that sending more of their Rankers will only hurt themselves further.

But they also can't give up easily because all of their sacrifices will be gone in vain. And the Powerhouse Guilds will be the only ones that will rip off the best benefits. Those guys are the only ones that can afford to send a group of official Rankers like they are some ordinary players after all.

....

And while the Higher-Ups of the First-Rate Guilds are racking their brains about what are they going to do, the Powerhouse Guilds are about to make their moves just like what they are afraid of.

And in the temporary residence of the Wing's Alliance, a group of ten players is currently having a meeting in the conference room.

She a very beautiful woman with an alluring perfectly-shaped body. She let her scarlet hair hanging on her back as any man that is going to look at her is going to become enchanted by her charm.

But the men sitting around the table of the conference room are not going to believe this facade. Because they knew that this woman is a true vixen inside and out, in Real World or not. This woman is too sly and manipulative.

And she is currently the officer-in-charge of the branch of the Wing's Alliance on the Saint Heaven Kingdom. She is known as the 'Alluring Goddess' by the ordinary people, while her name is 'Amanda'.

Amanda looks at the players sitting around the table before asking. "So what do you guys think about this special event?"

"Positive, very positive. I'm sure that we can have a Guild Residence in Holy City if we won this event." said by the WolfKin Master Hunter sitting on the right side of Amanda.

This guy is one of the strongest Titled Rankers of the Wing's Alliance. He is 'G.Romeo', the 'Hunting King'.

But the TigerKin Master Berserker that is sitting right across him raise his concern. "But we should be careful about our moves. Those guys are not as simple as they seem."

This TigerKin is the same guy that witnessed some of Shin's remarkable battle, S.Tigris. Others might just treat him as an unremarkable player since they don't hear much about him, but in fact, he is one of the best Ranker of the Wing's Alliance.

He is a Maverick Ranker that didn't join any kind of official events, but the members of the guild that knew about him address this guy as the 'Savage Demon'. It is because he slaughtered most of the Titled Rankers of their guild during the internal duel matches.

The 'Hunting King', D.Romeo, smirks at S.Tigris and said. "What? Are you afraid of them? They are only some lucky Titled Rankers that managed to trigger an event. And didn't we have our own Titled Rankers on our arsenal, like me, and we also have some Mavericks just like you."

S.Tigris shook his head and said. "That is not what I am saying. What I mean is we shouldn't rush things down."

"We still have a lot of time before the event come to an end. We should bid our time for as much as we can before making our move. We can also observe our targets more."

The other players around the table nodded their heads in agreement after hearing that. But D.Romeo rejected the idea. "What for? We don't need this kind of silly waiting if we can just end it in one go."

"We can even send a team that is composed of High Rankers and some Titled Rankers. Those guys should be more than enough, right?"

This time, the one who rebutted him is Black Hand who is silently standing behind S.Tigris since earlier. "You can't be sure about that."

All of the players turned their heads at his direction and looked at him skeptically as if they are saying. –"Aren't you overestimating those guys too much?"–

Well, aside from S.Tigris and Amanda. The former is mostly because he knows Black Hand very well while the latter is because she had heard of this guy from their Guild Leader.

This priest/bishop might be not as strong as the others inside the room, but Amanda can't ignore him because she can't forget the praises of their Guild Leader about this guy.

–"That Black Hand might not be the strongest guy you can meet, but he will surely be one of the most observant and smartest guys that you can encounter in your life."–

–"He can practically see the whole picture just by observing. And if you give him even a little bit of hint, then he can already give you an accurate answer, and come up with a solution for the given problem."–

–"If you asked me, I rather fight a monster-leveled player on the battlefield, than to go against this kind of people in a battle of wits, during a guild war."–

–"Because other than they can read your intentions, they can also come up with multiple ways to counter it. And before you know it, you are already dancing over his palms."–

Given all of that, Amanda let Black Hand to speak. "Go ahead, tell us your views about it."

Black Hand bow his head and said. "As we already knew those guys are Titled 'at the very least'."

Black Hand emphasized the last part of his words, making the other guys sitting around the table to frowned their brows.

D.Romeo smirks at Black Hand and said. "Heh, so are you saying the there might be a Godlike Player among them? What do you take Godlike Players are? Some kind of wild-grass that can grow everywhere?"

Then the others sitting around the table laugh out loud at Black Hand after hearing that.

But the Human Bishop didn't get agitated and continue. First he opened a virtual screen and shared its view to others. Then he played the video of a hooded player killing a group of players one-sidedly.

The video is familiar to all of the players present as they already watched it before. Then they frowned their brows while trying to figure out what is Black Hand.

Black Hand swept his gaze at them and asked. "What do you think of this guy?"

"We already study his battle style thoroughly and we come out of a conclusion that he is Monster-Leveled Player of «True Era» online of two years ago, without a doubt." said by a Human Sniper.

The others nodded their heads in agreement but they still have a confused look at their faces so a Dark Elf Elementalist asked. "But what is its relationship with what we are currently discussing."

Then Black Hand opened five more virtual screens and also shared their views to others before simultaneously playing the videos on the each of the screens.

And this time, the videos on each of the screens are about the battle of Shin and Lawless' group against the Rankers' groups that are hunting them.

Black Hand wait for the others to recognize who are the ones fighting on the battle videos before tapping three of the virtual screens, zooming in, and focus it to a single person. The fast hooded figure with twin daggers who is dashing on the other side's backline players.

Then Black Hand finally open his mouth. "Now, what do you think about this guy?"

This time, the whole conference room became silent. Because they can already picture out what Black Hand is implying. This guy that they thought an easy prey is actually a deadly monster instead.

Now that everything is clear for them, they need to reconsider D.Romeo's suggestions. And before D.Romeo managed to raise his point of view, Black Hand continue. "Now, that you have a good look at this one, then let's proceed to others."

Blank tapped the two virtual screens before zooming in and focusing on another players. One of the virtual screens shows the Elementalist that is covered with a pure-white cloak while the other one shows a Master Berserker with a double-headed battle-axes on each of his hands.

At first, the other guys in the conference room are frowning their brows while they are watching, but a moment later, they become shocked. Then their shock turns into anstonishment.

And when they finally got a good look at the battle styles of the two, they suddenly broke with a cold sweat. It is as if they dodged a deadly bullet.

Then Black Hand continue. "Now, I'm sure that you can understand our concerns. Those two are no way weaker than the assassin-related class guy."

"And with this group having three Monster-Leveled Players, or should I say Godlike Players, they are very strong players to be defeated easily. We might even need everyone present inside this room just to take them down."

"So what we are implying is we are just going to send our members to their own deaths if we let them charged at these guys blindly."

"What's more, we don't even have the idea of how strong the hidden healer and the long-range player of this group. So we better be careful about making our move. It is ideal if we wait for the other powerhouse guilds to make their own before having ours."

The other players sitting around the table become convinced at Black Hand and S.Tigris suggestions.

But there are always been someone that is bound to question your decisions no matter where you go. So D.Romoe still raise his question. "But how can we sure that our rivals will not do the same?"

S.Tigris mouth suddenly curved upwards after hearing that. Then looked at D.Romoe with amused expression on his face before replying. "You don't have to worry about that. Because even of we don't do anything, there is a single powerhouse guild that is bound to make their moves no matter what."

D.Romeo knitted his brows at first after hearing that, but he immediately came into a realization when he understood what S.Tigris have mean.

Then Amanda, the 'Alluring Goddess', finally opens her mouth. "Those muscle-heads of the HeadHunter Guild spent quite a massive effort just to hunt these guys. They have sent four of their Godlike Players just to make sure that everything will go smoothly."

"That is why if we make our moves now, those guys will just take advantage of us. So, why not we just do it to them instead? Let's just wait for them to clash before making our own moves. That way, we can be the best fisherman of this hunting game."

"Alright, that's all. You are dismissed for now, but make sure that you guys are on standby so that you can immediately respond when I summoned all of you."

After saying all of if that, Amanda immediately stood up from her seat and walked out of the conference room. The others also stood up one by one and followed Amanda's lead.

And while standing up, D.Romeo gave S.Tigris and Black Hand a cold gaze before walking out of the room together with his trusted aide.

"Captain, I guess we should be careful about to that guy. With that kind of look, I'm sure that he will make things difficult for us in the future." whispered by Black Hand to S.Tigris.

S.Tigris shook his head before replying. "I know, but that guy is not a threat for us for the time being. What I'm concerned about is the decision that Miss Amanda will make on this special event."

Black Hand knitted his brows and asked. "What are you talking about Captain?"

Then S.Tigris immediately said. "If you are going to asked me, then it is better if we side with the mysterious group instead of fighting them."

"Why?" asked Black Hand almost instantly.

S.Tigris stood up from his seat before walking towards the door while replying. "Because that is what my instincts are telling me. And with that, I have a very bad feeling on what's about to come."

Hearing his reply, Black Hand suddenly frozen in place. Because he also know his captain very well. If he, himself, is an intellectual person who only focuses what's in front of him to solve the problem, then this captain of his is an instinctive type of person who is always acts according his instincts.

And if an instinctive type of person felt that something bad is about to happen, then it is pretty much possible that that premonition will likely to happen.

And after regaining himself, Black Hand immediately chased after S.Tigris.

.....

And just like what the Wing's Alliance predicted, the other powerhouse guilds decided to do the same thing as them. They are also going to hold their horses down while waiting for what's going to happened next.

And naturally, the HeadHunter Guild people are also aware of that. That is why the five Godlike players on their arsenal are currently having a meeting about what they are going to do next.

And given all of that, some high-leveled players with sharp senses, that are present on the Shunkai Forest felt that a brewing storm is looming around the map so they immediately evacuated the place and wait for what's about to come.

.....