Sword Among Us

Chapter 984: Settle for Second Best

Hundreds of Class One Hall members held their bows and arrows, but they were being pursued by an existence who was nearly invincible when it came to close-quarters combat.

How did that end for them?

A tragedy, that’s what.

The fierce sword glares surrounded by black flames increased in length until they were dozens of feet long. They swept through every direction, and in the blink of an eye, the group of archers died under Happy’s sword.

Aside from a few people who managed to run fast once they landed, which allowed them to fortunately escape death. Most of the others had their bodies cut into by multiple sword glares either before they landed or after they landed.

Hundreds of corpses were added within the walls of Sky Demon Branch.

Happy did not chase after them out of Sky Demon Branch. Instead, after he killed those people, he quickly returned to the branch foundation and executed continuous sword attacks to attack the foundation in frenzy.

Sealed in Heart and a group of Class One Hall elites could only gulp laboriously while they remained outside Sky Demon Branch.

At some unknown point of time, the five thousand members in Sky Demon Branch had been reduced by nearly one third of their original number.

There were around one thousand dead bodies strewn inside and outside Sky Demon Branch.

As he listened to the sounds that came out frequently from Sky Demon Branch and looked at the corpses around them as well as their friends’ baffled as well as bewildered gazes, Sealed in Heart suddenly had a frightening thought appear in his heart. ‘This guy might actually be able to destroy Sky Demon Branch…’

At that moment, a vice branch master brought over a letter with a dark look on his face.

“It’s a letter from the hall master!”

“What did she say?” Sealed in Heart wanted to take the letter, but after a moment of hesitation, he pulled his hand back and asked with a dry tone.

“The hall master asked us to give her a time frame stating how long it would take for us to kill Happy with an encirclement…”

Sealed in Heart fell silent.

After a moment’s pause, the vice branch master voiced the remaining half of the letter. “She also mentioned that if we need more people, we can mobilize the forces in the branches nearby to kill Happy.”

Sealed in Heart found himself speechless.

Kill Happy?

He had Wave-like Subtle Steps with him, and there was no way he would be afraid of numbers.

What happened just now was the best proof!

Happy went to the places with the most people.

If he truly mobilized more people over, unless a top-class elite like Blood Robes appeared, all of them would just die!

He pondered over this for a few seconds before Sealed in Heart ordered the person beside him to write a reply. His voice was desolate. “Tell the hall master that I, Sealed in Heart, will resign from my post as branch master of Sky Demon Branch. Please send someone else to handle the situation.”

“…Branch master…”

“Also, tell the hall master that Happy has Wave-like Subtle Steps. No matter how many people comes, they will be of no threat to him. Unless a top-class elite comes, we will not be able to defend Sky Demon Branch. If she wants to punish me, I will receive it.” He stopped talking for a moment before Sealed in Heart said with a pale countenance. “Also, tell the hall master what Happy told us previously. At the same time, remind her to make preparations beforehand. Happy’s revenge might not end so soon.”

The vice branch master said nothing. Once he recorded everything, he added his own name behind Sealed in Heart’s name.

He had also thought about it.

If the hall master truly decided to give someone else the authority to lead Sky Demon Branch, for example, to him, even he might not be able to protect Sky Demon Branch, much less kill Happy. Hence, instead of having the hall master wasting her time giving him the authority to the branch, it would be better if he removed himself from the situation and handed over his position as well.

*****

At that moment, the battle at Sky Demon Branch had already attracted quite a number of people’s attention.

This was because a large group of Class One Hall members had been revived at the Guanlin Temple near the city. Those who had even the slightest bit of intellect could tell that something must have happened to Sky Demon Branch when they saw this.

The different factions of power from the cities nearby were like sharks who scented blood. They gathered around Sky Demon Branch.

“My god…”

“Are my eyes deceiving me?!”

There were not many people who arrived initially, but they did see how the group of Class One Hall members whom Happy killed first immediately rush over to the branch once they were revived. Some of them were shocked by the black pigeons who filled the air.

Once they reached Sky Demon Branch, the situation turned out to be much worse than they thought it was!

When they looked over, they could see countless Class One Hall members’ corpses outside Sky Demon Branch. Those who remained alive surrounded the branch as if they were facing their mortal enemy, and they even stayed far away from the place.

“Is Wind Assault Tower finally thinking about attacking Class One Hall…?”

“Nonsense!”

There were quite a number of people from Wind Assault Tower in the crowd, and they immediately glared at the person who wanted to start this rumor until he fell silent.

The few people in the know could sense the tense atmosphere outside Sky Demon Branch while those Class One Hall members stood around as if they were facing a great enemy. They then decided to watch from the sidelines while they enjoyed Class One Hall’s misery. “Happy took the initiative to attack. This time, Class One Hall might be in real trouble.”

“But… I originally thought that Happy was just slightly stronger. By the looks of it now, it seems like he has been hiding his real strength. I can’t believe that even Class One Hall finds him difficult to deal with, and they seem to be unable to do anything against him.

*****

The matter of Blood Alliance losing hundreds of their people at Ghost’s Domain was only quickly known after the battle replay was uploaded to the official website, which led to more people paying attention to it.

But this time, Sky Demon Branch was attacked, and this accident instantly spread through all of Yangtze River.

The first people to learn of it were naturally the Class One Hall members.

The thousands of Class One Hall members who were so intimidated by Happy that they stayed outside Sky Demon Branch did not just hang around and watch. Many people called for their members in the branches nearby and told them of their situation so that they could alert the branches in the cities around the area.

Over the past two years, no one dared to attack Class One Hall in the slightest.

But today, more than one thousand Class One Hall members were slaughtered by Happy alone! Right now, Sky Demon Branch was in danger.

Class One Hall flew into rage.

Then, the second people to learn of this was Blood Alliance and the largest organization in the Chinese server—Wind Assault Tower.

Blood Alliance learned of this accident because their relationship with Class One Hall had always been good, and Blood Robes had also kept some informants in Class One Hall. Sky Demon Branch was an important area, and when such a major accident happened over there, it naturally would not be able to escape from his sight.

Blood Robes had already received the news at the moment Happy showed up in Sky Demon Branch.

In truth, Blood Robes had already been prepared for Happy’s revenge since he started attacking his friends.

Hunter Clan was killed twice, and it would be strange if they still did not notify Happy about it, unless, of course, they did not intend to continue playing in World of Martial Arts.

But what Blood Robes did not expect was that once he learned of Hunter Clan’s demise, Happy would actually be so rash as to charge straight to an important place for Class One Hall—Sky Demon Branch.

‘Since you’re already decided that your first target for revenge is not me, I get to have fewer things to deal with. I’ll just have Class One Hall fight against you.’ Blood Robes was not terrified by the news, but delighted. At the same time, he decided to bring out an appropriate amount of resources to compensate Class One Hall’s losses when the time came.

To him, Happy was basically rushing to his own death.

Even top-class elites, would not recklessly attack a giant like Class One Hall, trample on Class One Hall’s dignity, and shake Class One Hall’s foundation.

This was basically the same as giving Class One Hall a legitimate reason—to preserve their dignity—to kill Happy. He also gave Dream Clouds a respectable reason to stop people from talking about them fighting against Happy. Even if Wind Assault Tower wanted to protect Happy, they had to think about whether they wanted to become enemies with Class One Hall and Blood Alliance for Happy alone.

Blood Robes calmed down.

Even Wind Assault Tower’s Phantasmal Shadow wanted to hunt down Happy and hang him when she received the news.

Happy’s previous actions might have destroyed some of Blood Alliance and Class One Hall’s dignity, but during those times, Happy always kept to his limits and retained a cautious nature as well as his rationale. He never took the initiative to provoke those two giants.

Because of it, even if Blood Robes and Dream Clouds wanted to attack him, Phantasmal Shadow could interfere when Happy was in danger and take over the matter in the name of chivalry. No matter what, Wind Assault Tower could interfere in their fight at anytime they wanted.

But Happy had taken the initiative to attack an incredibly important branch of Class One Hall’s, Sky Demon Branch. This was basically the same as him punching Class One Hall where it hurt!

Right now, even if Phantasmal Shadow wanted to protect Happy, she had to consider things carefully. She must think about Blood Alliance and Class One Hall’s reactions as well as her tower members’ emotions.

‘How could Happy be so rash?! Could it be that the matter with Wild Wolves has caused his confidence to become bloated?

‘That shouldn’t be! Or is it because he now has two battle replays among the top ten battle replays in the pay-to-view battle replay system?’

Phantasmal Shadow lamented in her heart, but at the same time, she asked someone to pay even more attention to the incident at Sky Demon Branch, and they were to tell her the newest development at all times so that she would know whether there was any chance for her to save this relationship.

After all, not only was Happy currently a person One Emperor regarded favorably, he was also the most distinct ally Wandering Know-it-all had decided to make over the past year.

Of course, he was also a powerful fighter Phantasmal Shadow paid great attention to and wanted to draw to her side.

But Phantasmal Shadow did not think that Happy could settle this mess, and neither did she think that Happy could walk out of Sky Demon Branch alive.

*****

“What did you say?”

The newest information and data that came continuously from Sky Demon Branch delivered multiple shocks to Phantasmal Shadow, and while she was initially dumbfounded, right now, she found herself in disbelief, and she continuously asked for verification of the news.

Based on the reports of the people at the area, there were already more than one thousand and five hundred people who were sent back to Class One Hall.

One thousand five hundred, and it was still bright outside right now.

Thousands of Class One Hall members surrounded Sky Demon Branch, but they did dare to readily attack the branch.

What was going on?!

The greatest giant in the Chinese server longed to have wings fixed on her back so that she could personally fly to Sky Demon Branch and see what was going on.

*****

As Blood Alliance, Class One Hall, Wind Assault Tower, and other major factions of power came over to watch, more players surrounded Sky Demon Branch.

A few ten thousand people surrounded Sky Demon Branch in a manner that had never been seen before, and as various forces of power joined them the crowd, they began to advance slowly.

Even Class One Hall was unable to chase this group of people away when so many of them had come over to watch the fight. They could only set up their hitching posts once more, and they would be content as long as these people did not go overboard and enter the area where Sky Demon Branch was stationed.

However, the people who approached the area simply could not keep still.

Quite a number of people repeatedly used lightness skills to jump on the walls so that they could observe the situation inside Sky Demon Branch from above.

News that they did not expect came out repeatedly.

Someone kept attacking Sky Demon Branch’s foundation. There was not a single Class One Hall member remaining inside Sky Demon Branch. Only Happy alone was in Sky Demon Branch…

“Why is Class One Hall acting like a coward?”

“Are they thinking about handing Sky Demon Branch to Happy just like that? It’ll be hilarious if they did!”

There were people who did not dare believe what they saw, but there were also some who delighted in Class One Hall’s misery.

The sounds of discussion grew louder, and the Class One Hall members’ expressions turned as dark as thunderclouds.

Dream Clouds’ instructions finally reached Sealed in Heart’s hands.

[If Happy is as strong as you mentioned, then even if the people from the cities nearby went over, they might not be able to protect Sky Demon Branch.]

The strokes on the letter were rough and heavy, and it was a sign of just how complicated and grave Dream Clouds’ heart was when she moved her pen.

[But no matter what, you must not lose the resources in Sky Demon Branch!]

‘Resources!’

Fear flashed in Sealed in Heart’s eyes.

He had been vehemently denying the possibility that Sky Demon Branch might be destroyed just now, which was why he forgot such an important matter.

While Sky Demon Branch did not contain a large variety of resources, and they did not keep a lot of those resources with them, most of their Fire Qilin Scales and Fire Qilin Blood were kept in the storage.

This was an astonishing wealth.

Even if he sacrificed all the members in Sky Demon Branch, he could not lose this batch of resources at all.

“Mobilize a suicide squad and lure Happy out!” Sealed in Heart’s gaze was as cold as ice, and his words were resolute.