The Great Thief

“What’d you drop?” Lu Li saw that the now revived Azure Sea Breeze only held his shield and his right hand was empty.

His heart dropped. Breezy wasn’t a bad guy, yet his best item dropped?

“It’s gone. It’s gone,” Azure Sea Breeze cried lifelessly. He seemed to be on the verge of tears.

“We’ll just make another one. Don’t worry.”

Lu Li could only comfort his old friend like this. After all, it was him who instructed them to do so, and he knew full well that there was a chance for it to drop.

Other people were also comforting Azure Sea Breeze. Some people said they would help him out, while another player said that he had two more Elementium Ores in his storage.

“Ahahahah! Got you!”

Suddenly, the longsword appeared in his hands.

“Was that a surprise? Did you guys get surprised?”

“%# you!” Lu Li swore.

Everyone else was also speechless. Even Moonlight suggested, “Let’s throw him down there again. Let’s see if the Sword will drop this time.”

“Don’t! I already dropped an item. What if it actually dropped this time?” Azure Sea Breeze cried out.

“What’d you drop?” Lu Li asked.

“Hehe...It was something from my bag. Since I have high Reputation and pretty much haven’t killed anyone before, the chances of an equipped item dropping are not high. Do you want me to rush again?” Azure Sea Breeze wasn’t a coward at all. He was just an actor who loved to act.

“We probably won’t need to rush them again. They wouldn’t be able to destroy the walls before the timer ended with five chariots anyway.” Lu Li shook his head.

At the bottom of the walls, the furious Glory Capital players began relentlessly attacking.

All the ladders were used up now, so they could only hope to turn the tables by taking control of the Stronghold gate.

Sorrowless had to admit that he had underestimated Ruling Sword. He knew, ahead of time, that Drizzle Court and Peerless City’s Strongholds were targeted by many big clubs, so he was sure that Ruling Sword wouldn’t have reinforcements.

After recruiting multiple experts from Gale Legion, the chances of losing were quite slim.

Furthermore, they even had the blueprint for making ladders. With the ladders, they were able to constantly send players up the walls, which created chances for their chariots to attack.

He didn’t know that Ruling Sword was this strong and this reckless now.

Every time Ruling Sword rushed at them, Sorrowless trembled with fear. They didn’t care about the price to be paid and defended the Stronghold with their all.

The worst thing was the distraction and mess that came with the opposition revealing that they had a Legendary item.

Commanders had to be adaptive. Naturally, this meant that whatever Lu Li thought of, Sorrowless had to pay attention to it.

There were two choices.

If they gave up now, then they would end up with more items than they lost. However, if they continued, then it was likely for them to lose more items.

If they continued fighting this battle, then they would be fighting for that sliver of hope.

“Let’s keep going. I’d rather die than give up.”

The usually calm and light White Westhill said the words that many resonated with.

They were not afraid of failure, since it wouldn’t be the first time that they lost to Ruling Sword. They also didn’t think themselves as less than the players in Ruling Sword.

What was the problem?

Although victory was right in front of them, Lu Li did not relax. He was someone who was extremely cautious. He was so cautious that some people thought that he had a mental problem. At the very least, he would give his all before the results of the battle were released.

Both sides fought fiercely in the remaining time of the battle. However, it was true that Glory Capital was a little stronger as a whole.

Ruling Sword wasn’t able to completely suppress them and prevent their advancement completely, but they were putting up a good fight. Fortunately, they had the height advantage, and their revival point was right on top of the wall. If it weren’t for these, Ruling Sword was unlikely to fend them off as well as they did.

“Boom!”

The wall finally fell. The five chariots had completed their objective.

However, with that, the Stronghold battle was also in its final moments.

Lu Li quickly slashed the neck of a Glory Capital player and looted the item that dropped without giving it a second glance. He eyed an opposing player, then jumped down in a backflip and landed on the ground without a hitch.

A slew of skills was immediately fired towards him, but before they made contact with his body, he immediately disappeared.

The battle was still continuing, but the System was already sounding out the final seconds.

“We won!” everyone in Ruling Sword cheered. This was a hard-fought battle, since they were up against the number one club. The pressure was simply immense.

Fortunately for them, the defensive side had a greater advantage than the offensive side. If it was Glory Capital who was defending, Ruling Sword probably wouldn’t have even touched the Stronghold walls.

Drizzle Court successfully defended their Stronghold, while Seventh Heaven also successfully defended Tanaris. Glory Capital’s main camp in the Barrenlands was also untouched.

Blood Red War Flag also successfully defended the Hillsbrad Foothills again, making it the second consecutive successful defence.

Wings of Dawn was powerful. Although they weren’t doing well in the early stages of the Stronghold battles, they also managed to successfully fend off powerful attackers twice in the Thousand Needles.

There were three changes that occurred.

The first one was Un’Goro Crater. Grand Hegemony had control of it as they defeated the previous owner in the last round, but they were defeated this time, so it was the Gangnam Royals who took possession of it.

Grand Hegemony was once the number two club. Now, they were like a cockroach, seemingly unwilling to die.

They still had one of their oldest veterans and an extremely promising player in their ranks. This wasn’t the end of their fight. It would be fair to assume that Grand Hegemony was going to rise again in the next Stronghold battle.

The second change broke the internet.

No one thought that Stranglethorn Vale, originally occupied by Glory Capital, would be taken away. The ones who accomplished the deed were Azure Guard, who had three pro players in their ranks – Magic Cry, Stellar Union Silver Radiant and Floral Paralysis. They were within the Top 10 clubs, but they were less prominent than the others.

The battle there was also extremely fierce and both sides paid a huge price.

However, the outcome was different to the outcome between Ruling Sword and Glory Capital. Azure Guard was the one who emerged victorious.

It didn’t matter whether or not they would be able to defend the Stronghold during the next battle. At the very least, they managed to take down the number one club in the gaming industry. This victory greatly propelled Azure Guard’s reputation.

Although it was a split-second, Azure Guard’s influence exceeded that of Ruling Sword, who had just successfully defended against Glory Capital.

Actually, Glory Capital didn’t lose as much as everyone thought they did. Although they did lose Stranglethorn Vale, they managed to take possession of the Stonetalon Mountains in Gale Legion’s name.

As such, Glory Capital still had two Strongholds.

Ruling Sword had two Strongholds as well. Drizzle Court, Seventh Heaven, Blood Red War Flag, Wings of Dawn, Gangnam Royals and Azure Guard each had one Stronghold.

Gale Legion no longer had a Stronghold.