Another ruthless wave of arrows and Blasts descended on Raine, forcing him to dive deeper into the throng of melee players. Those behind collapsed on his position, giving chase in the form of numerous weapons seeking his blood. Meanwhile, those in front launched suicidal attacks, whittling down his health.

  Allowing himself to be surrounded was a necessary evil, as his Resistance was less than half of his Defense; tanking the Blasts would have resulted in significantly more damage. The falling elements and arrows devastated the members of Righteous, who charged after him, filling the air with screams of all too real pain.

  It only took one debuff every four seconds to reset the cooldown on his reduced defenses. Considering how many casters were backing up the melees, that was a simple feat. Raine’s bloodlust was cranked to full power the entire time, but with morale so heavily stacked against him, it had no effect beyond reducing their attributes. Worse, his Celestial Power was below half, and he was taking so much damage that he wouldn’t survive long enough for the cooldown on Rupture to end.

  With no other choice, he tanked multiple stabs, slashes, and crushing blows while charging a Leap. After bounding into the air, he Lunged twice in rapid succession, sending himself hurtling through the open gates of the town. The players he left behind stared at where he’d been with slack jaws.

  “He jumped off thin air?!”

  “How is that possible?”

  “He escaped… General Marco’s going to kill us.”

  Raine growled, cursing his roulette’s choices of weapons. Frustration simmered in his chest after revealing the aerial Lunge. It was a trick anyone could use once they understood the principles behind it. However, they were unlikely to discover the secrets behind jumping off Connection, as utilizing that attribute was far from intuitive.

  Hopefully, they'll assume it was a special skill. They saw me changing weapons mid-fight, too. That's not normally possible. Well, at least I know who that general is now.

  In the past, Marco Salvatore was a star pupil of Master Torune and his last living relative. That didn’t last long, as the man died under mysterious circumstances shortly before Raine was swindled into joining CronGate. If not for Vaneese occasionally bragging behind closed doors that she had something to do with his death, Raine never would have remembered the man’s existence.

  Five players at the gates craned their necks as Raine flew over their heads. When he landed, they jumped him and were killed by the nearby guards in a heartbeat. The rest of the nearby players hesitated, giving Raine a chance to throw back a Celestial Restoration Potion. While tapping the dropped loot, he stored his weapon before spreading his arms invitingly.

  A man with the off-colored armband of a captain shouted, “Do it! Kill him! He can’t get us all bef—”

  His head promptly exploded when a spear-wielding guard appeared at his side with an outstretched arm. He moved so quickly that even Raine couldn’t follow the movement, “Stand down! We’ll not abide you Travelers causing a ruckus inside our walls!”

  The demonstration of overwhelming power had the right effect. Weapons were sheathed, and those closest to Raine took a step back. Satisfied he was safe for the moment, Raine flicked a silver to the guard, then sat in a lotus, eager to regenerate the rest of his resources. The members of Righteous shouting indignantly all around him was music to his ears, helping him enter the meditative state of mind all the faster.

  MeanyMouse

  As she swapped between live Vodcasts in an attempt to spot the hated, mysterious disciple, Vaneese noticed how dire the bandit threat was. They were more skilled in combat than any of her elites and dealt significantly more damage. At first, she thought there were only a few dozen of them and eradicating them would be a matter of time.

  Her horror mounted as five hundred level sevens chased a few bandits into the deep grass. As victory seemed imminent, the trap was sprung. Her people were surrounded by a force that doubled their number, then died in moments.

  I have to… Wait. The more involved I get, the worse it will be for me when master discovers how many levels were lost. Right now, this is Marco's problem.

  Thinking quickly, Vaneese linked and sent the Ncodes of all her commanding officers to Marco's secretary, giving him unilateral control of her forces. While an unreliable combatant, the secretary was an excellent administrator and would no doubt quickly relay whatever orders Marco came up with.

  A few swipes of her fingers created several additional holographic displays, allowing her to simultaneously view multiple angles of the unfolding battle. Steepling her fingers, she leaned back in her office's comfortable chair, wishing she had a bag of popcorn.

  Marco Salvatore

  “What do you mean they're all dead?! We’re talking about a thousand adepts and a few fucking bandits!” Marco's clenched fist creaked as metal ground against itself.

  The first two groups he sent to deal with the annoying threat had stopped responding, so Marco commanded an entire company to surround and wipe them out for good. Somehow, such overwhelming numbers met a similar fate.

  His secretary met his gaze without flinching, succinctly presenting the facts and nothing more, “I watched the recording Captain Bergis sent; they met an equal number of enemies in an open engagement but ended up pincered by another force of a thousand bandits. They must have been hiding their numbers in the terrain.”

  “You don't say…” Marco drawled, never having wanted to hit the worthless woman more than he did at that moment. He promised himself that she would pay later but now wasn't the time. “You said Vaneese’s commanders reached the area? Send them in from the back while the 2nd regiment spreads out to seal the net. We'll see how they like being pincered!”

  Her fingers were a blur, recording Marco's commands and issuing them live to over three hundred officers, “What about the cockroach?”

  “He's already scurried into town; nothing we can do about him now. The only way we can save face is to kill those bandits and get our gear back. With their strength, I'm betting they'll drop a hefty bit of loot.”

  Reading on Amazon or a pirate site? This novel is from Royal Road. Support the author by reading it there.

  “Understood. Your orders have been relayed.”

  “Good. Let's go join the hunt.”

  Raine KongRu

  The reason Raine was so particular when handing Rhino the bandit flag became known before his resources recovered.

  [Achievement for murdering (intended or otherwise) 1,000 Travelers: Bandit Lords Charm]

  [Bandit Lord’s Charm: (Common Grey - LVL 5) Further reduces light reflectivity while stealthed by 10%]

  Raine didn’t bother equipping the finger-bone-shaped charm; his Locket of Rendition, with its daily teleportation, was far superior. The moment Righteous's members stopped yelling at him and dashed out of town, Raine knew they had given up on him to focus on the more serious threat. Fortunately, their grasp of the bandits' capabilities was nowhere near thorough enough to avoid significant casualties.

  The Vaaterrans summoned by the flag excelled at stealth, so any typical attempt to pin them down was unlikely to succeed. If a leader was present, the bandits would also have a firm grasp of basic battlefield tactics, allowing them to scout, withdraw, and coordinate assaults on the weakest points of their enemy's formations. Combined with the low combat standards of players in this early stage of ZionLine, it was apparent the bandits would manage to quickly multiply.

  Raine imagined they numbered in the thousands by now, even though it had only been a few minutes since Rhino confirmed the activation of the flag. With his health and Celestial Power nearly topped off, Raine hopped to his feet and poked his head around the edge of the gate. Sure enough, the players were arranging five deep in a long line. They advanced slowly, allowing the scattered remnants to join the disorganized ranks.

  The only thing you’re giving time for is the bandits to grow stronger. Idiots probably think they'll get something good for killing them, too. As if ZL would be so kind with how good the flag already is.

  The purpose of the flag wasn’t to wipe out armies or turn low-level gear into free Superiority. The bandits weren’t hard to deal with when you knew what you were against. No, the item's true purpose became evident when the prices for low-level gear dropped below a certain threshold. Constantly training tens of thousands of fresh recruits was a considerable drain on a guild's resources. With the flag, a highly realistic and controllable combat simulation could be created for relatively little cost; it was an excellent final exam for recruits and budding officers alike.

  Originally, Raine intended to hold the gates, not allowing Righteous to retreat into the town while the bandits massacred them. Unfortunately for his enemies, he understood adaptability was a core tenent of victory on any battlefield.

  Raine left the town and Leaped into the air. A few aerial hops gained enough elevation to activate his drifter. It was too much to ask that nobody had seen him, but it hardly mattered with the drifter’s invisibility. Whoever later reviewed the VRVods would be scratching their heads trying to figure out what item he used to vanish.

  From his new vantage, it was clear the bandits wouldn’t last long if nothing changed. From the west, a mass of condensed troops were closing in while the long line from the east was merely acting as a net and bait. The bandits numbered well over two thousand, but they were surrounded by close to forty times that many players.

  Looks like the bandit leaders are hoping to bolster their numbers while fighting defensively. That would work if they were only outnumbered ten to one.

  Devising a plan, Raine flew over the eastern army and dropped beside the flag. Fifty bandits turned toward him with murder in their eyes. Upon realizing he was the flag's owner, they relaxed, wearing broken-toothed smiles.

  “Where did you come from? I thought you were going to hold position at the front of town?” Rhino greeted him with a suspicious glint in his eyes.

  Raine ignored his paranoid behavior, knowing they were short on time, “Couldn’t handle it alone, and I’m needed more here. Take a hundred level tens and stealth to the north, around their formation. Don’t get within fifty meters of the town, or the guards will attack. Spread out and wait there. Don’t let Righteous take the easy way out. If they want to flee, they’ll have to run all the way across the zone.”

  “You said there were over fifty thousand… You really think the bandits can kill so many before the flag expires? It’s only got forty-five minutes left.”

  “Not on their own,” Raine grinned. With a warbling whistle that sounded exactly like the zone’s native raptors, he gathered the attention of the seedy Vaaterrans.

  He spun a finger in the air twice, closed his fist tightly, then pointed southeast. They nodded in response, mimicking his silent command to those out of direct sight. Within seconds, the bandits were gathered and quietly moving in the indicated direction.

  Another signed command gave Rhino his hundred fighters. Then, a hundred elite level fifteen bandits hid the flag in freshly cut grass. They stealthed around it, waiting in ambush for any unlucky enough to stumble across it. The remaining eighteen hundred followed Raine at a rapid clip toward the south side of Righteous’s spread-out net.

  When they found the enemy minutes later, there were no complex strategies. Raine ordered a silent charge and led the bandits right down the players’ throats. Bursting from the tall grass at melee range, it was an absolute, one-sided slaughter. Rupture tore a hole through the middle of the five-deep line as his bandits wrapped around the end, attacking the rows of players from all sides.

  They ate their way deeper, screams filling the air. A shouted order was silenced halfway through as Raine Lunged at the commander. His roulette had pulled a low-level dagger, which promptly slid into the man’s throat. A follow-up stab to the heart finished him.

  Raine refused to complain about getting one of the weapons he needed earlier. Instead, he committed himself entirely to the melee. The familiar flow of life and death PVP pulled at his heartstrings. He was so close to leading his very own guild into battles just like this one that saliva overproduced, causing him to swallow incessantly.

  When the next Righteous commander tried to issue an order, he died in a wave of amber light from below as Great Divide erased ten meters of their formation.

  [Iron Dagger: Durability -2]

  With a whistle and wave of his fist, the bandits grabbed the loot and smoothly disengaged. They had no inventories, but they could easily carry three items apiece. They broke line of sight thanks to the tall grass, then entered stealth and booked it back to the flag, where their numbers swelled once more.

  A message from Rhino indicated his unit was already in position. With only minutes before the western wave of players found them, Raine called the two bandit leaders with glaives to his side. They were several centimeters taller than him, every millimeter of their bodies packed with rippling muscles protected by excellent-quality leather armor.

  They approached him confidently, one cracking his neck, the other his knuckles. Both wore smirks that were wiped off their faces when a burst of bloodlust washed over them. Eyes widening, they dropped to a knee, whispering, “Apologies for our disrespect, leader.”

  Raine’s voice was low and challenging, “Kill a hundred of our enemies each, and I’ll let it slide.”

  “A hundred? I’ll kill a thousand of these weaklings!” One boasted, earning him a nod from Raine.

  “That’s the spirit. The enemy is almost upon us. Due to our ruse, they should focus their strength to the south, expecting us to still be in the area. Instead, we’ll split our forces into three and head west. Their flanking force on course to find the flag will die before they get the chance. A hundred defenders will stay behind. Spread them out to intercept their scouts. The longer we delay them finding the flag, the better.”

  When they nodded their understanding, Raine continued, “I’ll lead the first group in a charge to break a path through. Your groups will be right behind me. Stay in stealth. Once we’re on the far side, their numerical advantage will vanish. When they manage to get another flank going, we’ll use the same formation to pierce their lines and return to the flag. That will give us enough numbers to crush them outright.”

  The two big bandits flashed fierce smirks. With another raptor cry, four thousand Vaaterran bandits slunk through the grass, weapons at the ready. It wasn’t until the screams started anew that Righteous began to realize how bottomless the pit of despair was that Raine had plunged them into.