Asskickers United's 60,000 players completely overwhelmed Alliance of Mages, forcing them to retreat back into the Edgarton Stronghold. Behind the safety of the walls, they once again became practice targets for the trebuchets.
Before long, the walls shuddered and partially collapsed. Asskickers United's players came flooding in. A chaotic battle unfolded within the breach.
Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors were on the defensive at every front. Their main army was quickly shaved away. Under Asskickers United's all out assault, they started to lose ground quickly.
Crazy Magic and Divine Flame retreated with a group of players back into the heart of the Edgarton Stronghold. As they traded fire with Asskickers United, they felt stifled to the point of suffocation. It appeared the enemy was going to break their last line of defense at any moment.
A deep sadness welled up inside Crazy Magic's heart. It seemed like it was the end of the road for the guild he built from the ground up. There was no way to turn things around.
Just as Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors despaired, someone let out an excited shout, "Look, up in the air! Flying mounts!"
As everyone looked up at the sky, a squadron of 31 flying mounts came flying over.
This flying mount squadron was composed of Thunderhawks, Griffons, and Achlys Dragonflies. This could be considered the largest aerial force to date. Even if Nie Yan's Darkwing Dragon appeared, it would end up getting surrounded and killed.
"Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group! They didn't abandon us after all!" Crazy Magic cried out in elation. 31 flying mounts, perhaps such a force could turn the tide of battle around!
At this moment, Crazy Magic was like a drowning man who grabbed onto a life ring. Though the hope was distant, he refused to give up.
The Century Financial Group had mobilized all their resources to gather these 31 flying mounts, of which 20 belonged to Angel Corps while the other 11 came from elsewhere.
Bladelight was directing his troops when he looked up at the sky and saw the flying mounts. He quickly sent a message to Nie Yan,「Nie Yan, Alliance of Mages just received reinforcements, 31 flying mounts. What do we do?」
「Don't panic. Flying mounts might be powerful in the sky, but as soon as they dive down into a crowd of players, they'll become easy targets. Speaking truthfully, those flying mounts are only so-so. Gather all the Armoured Ice Catapults. As soon as they come down, fire away. A single round of bombardment should be enough to make them regret their actions dearly. Have our people recall their flying mounts. Don't fight in the sky. Only deal with the enemies when they come close to the ground,」Nie Yan said in a cold tone. If he brought the Darkwing Dragon over, he would only end up getting ganged up on.
Hearing Nie Yan's words, Bladelight firmly nodded.
Apart from gathering all the Armoured Ice Catapults together, Asskickers United would continue as they were and assault the Edgarton Stronghold!
The 31 flying mounts circled in the air. They were the rulers of the skies, looking down on everyone below. However, Asskickers United's forces didn't seem to be paying them the slightest bit of attention. The 37 Armoured Ice Catapults, all huddled up together and became the most eye-catching target. However, their frightening might was a powerful enough deterrent to prevent the flying mounts from approaching.
Crazy Magic's hope and elation quickly turned to disappointment. The flying mounts didn't dive down and carry out a massacre on Asskickers United's forces like he expected. They were hesitating.
"God dammit! Damn those cowards! By the time they come rescue us, my hair will already be grey!"
Crazy Magic understood one principle. In the end, you could only rely on yourself, not your patron, allies, or anyone else.
"Boss, let's leave! Asskickers United's forces are about to run us over!"
"Leave my ass! I'm going down with this ship!" Crazy Magic cursed madly.
At this moment, the last of the defensive troops near the breach were killed. Monochrome, Edgeless, and the others charged into the Edgarton Stronghold, leaving behind a trail of carnage. With the supporting fire from Tang Yao, Xie Yao, and the other Mages, Alliance of Mages' players were dropping like flies. Even more Asskickers United players were flooding in from the breach.
As for the battle on the outside, Alliance of Mages was also being slaughtered like mutts. Their elites were already wiped out by the Armoured Ice Catapults, not to mention their morale was at rock bottom after suffering setback after setback. Asskickers United was killing them without mercy. All around were the corpses of their comrades.
At this moment, the flying mount riders in the air were wondering if they should go down and help.
Sitting on top of a Royal Griffon was precisely Soaring Angel. In the end, Cao Xu had still asked him to provide assistance.
"Fuck! How can Alliance of Mages be this weak? How are we supposed to help in this situation!?" Rock Splitter cursed. He sat on top of a Thunderhawk. Originally, they believed if Asskickers United and Alliance of Mages were evenly matched, with their assistance, perhaps Alliance of Mages could achieve victory. But it wasn't evenly matched. Far from it, in fact. Alliance of Mages was suffering a crushing defeat. Not to mention after they appeared, the morale of Asskickers United's forces didn't seem to be affected at all.
Soaring Angel pondered for a moment. "Since we're already here, we can't go back empty handed, or we'll become laughingstocks. Let's destroy a few of those catapults."
"Right on, Boss! Just give us your orders!" Rock Splitter said. None of these flying mount riders voiced any objections.
They quickly arranged a plan of action. The 31 flying mounts simultaneously dived toward the ground. Their target was the 37 Armored Ice Catapults.
Seeing the flying mounts diving down, Smoke Stub became tense. "All catapults get ready! Squad #1, #2, #3, and #5, don't fire without my command! Squad #4 and #6, remain on standby. Wait for my signal!"
A golden feathered griffon rapidly closed in on one of the Armoured Ice Catapults.
This was Soaring Angel's Royal Griffon. Known for its speed and high evasive ability, it was much faster than the other flying mounts.
"#37, try and knock him from the sky," Smoke Stub commanded. This Royal Griffon was trying to bait them into an all-out attack. He snickered. Angel Corps was really underestimating them!
As Smoke Stub's words left his mouth, an Armoured Ice Catapult launched five shells toward the Royal Griffon.
The Royal Griffon did a barrel roll mid-air, evading the shells.
"#36, fire!"
"#35, fire!"
「Thung! Thung! Thung!」More shells were launched into the air, resembling blossoming fireworks.
The Royal Griffon suddenly halted mid-air in a hurry, did two rolls while dropping to the ground, then rapidly ascended back up again. One shell after another came whizzing past, but not a single one managed to land a hit. It was clear the rider was quite skilled.
Meanwhile, Asskickers United still had more shells to fire and ensured there would be enough time to reload. 25 Armoured Ice Catapults were still ready to launch. If they all fired at once, the danger they posed was substantial. Smoke Stub purposely held back from firing them.
Seeing Asskickers United still hadn't taken the bait and having nearly been hit several times, Soaring Angel glanced back at the riders behind him and dived down with the Royal Griffon. "Kill!"
Al 31 flying mounts swooped down from the sky at blistering speed.
Seeing so many flying mounts heading towards them, the players operating the Armoured Ice Catapults became nervous. They wanted to fire but were stopped by Smoke Stub.
"Hold your fire! Listen to my commands. Wait until they approach within 20 meters!" Smoke Stub shouted. If the distance was too great, it would be too easy to dodge. So, they had to fight their nerves and wait for the enemy to get closer! At 20 meters, no matter how quick their reaction speed was, it'd be useless. There would be no way to dodge the attacks of the Armoured Ice Catapults, not to mention their might would be even greater.
30 meters, 25 meters, 20 meters… Seeing the flying mounts had entered the optimal attack range, Smoke Stub hoarsely shouted, "Fire!"
「Thung! Thung! Thung!」A hail of shells flew into the air, whizzing towards the flying mounts. At 20 meters, they had no way of dodging. Blood splattered everywhere. Several flying mounts let out miserable shrieks and fell from the sky. Others had holes punched through their wings.
A few flying mounts braved through the storm of shells and swooped down onto the Armoured Ice Catapults with their claws outstretched, crushing them into pieces.
Seeing the Armoured Ice Catapults under attack, the surrounding Mages immediately ran over to provide support, bombarding the flying mounts with spells.
There was chaos everywhere. Many people couldn't even tell who the enemy was anymore. The casualties on both sides quickly rose.
Soaring Angel glanced at his squadron and grimaced. Six flying mounts had been killed. Of the survivors, more than a dozen had sustained medium to high injuries. He didn't expect their casualties to be this high. He had greatly underestimated the firepower of the Armoured Ice Catapults. Although they had destroyed six catapults and neutralized five, this kind of trade off definitely wasn't worth it.
"Everyone, retreat!" Soaring Angel ordered. The remaining flying mounts ascended into the sky.
This was the first confrontation between catapults and flying mounts, and Angel Corps had come out of it much worse off.
It was just as Nie Yan predicted.