"Black Flame!"
Over a dozen elite players, having been pinned down, all turned their heads to look at the suddenly appearing Shi Feng. Their eyes widened sharply.
The name "Black Flame" had long since been seared into the minds of the higher-ups of every major guild.
His appearance was also exceptionally familiar.
He wore a black cloak, his entire form shrouded in darkness, with eyes like stars. At his waist hung an exquisite, jet-black longsword and a sword of jade-colored silver.
Just by standing there, he seemed to become the absolute center of the battlefield, causing their brains to constantly scream of extreme danger.
"Everyone, be careful! Do not engage him in close combat!" urged Baili Wuyin, a level 33 Ranger and captain of the elite corps. "Maintain your distance while fighting!"
Immediately, the remaining players nodded, their expressions grave.
Black Flame's fame was immense, even earning him the title of "One-Sword Shura." Even the top experts of the Divine Realm couldn't last more than a few moves against him.
His battle recordings had even been enshrined as classic training material for Swordsmen. His grasp of timing and application of skills surpassed other expert Swordsmen by several levels.
They hadn't harbored any illusions about defeating Black Flame in a one-on-one fight.
However, they hadn't realized how terrifying he truly was until they actually saw him.
Despite being merely a Swordsman, he had used a Concealment Scroll and an Invisibility Potion to get this close to them. His striking speed left them no time to react.
Not only had he hit them, but a single move had cost them nearly half their health. Even the Guardian Knights and Shield Warriors, who were tanky and had high HP, had lost close to 4000 HP. And that was just a restricting skill—its damage shouldn't have been high, yet it still stripped away a third of their health. If they were hit by a high-damage skill, the consequences were unimaginable.
"Qianshou and I will hold him off. The rest of you look for opportunities to attack. Don't worry if you hit us," said a level 34 Shield Warrior named Dunyu Tianxia, raising his spiky diamond shield and stepping forward with a stern expression. "Qianshou, as soon as Black Flame moves, activate all your defensive skills immediately. Don't hold anything back!"
"Understood," nodded Qianshou Xun, a Guardian Knight standing beside him, moving to the front of the team. Black Flame was not to be underestimated in the slightest. He knew that if they didn't unleash their full power from the very start of the battle, they could be killed by Black Flame in an instant.
"Leave him to us," the others charged towards the outermost edge of the sword domain.
They were quite confident in the abilities of Dunyu Tianxia and Qianshou Xun.
These two were well-known veterans of the virtual gaming world. Among all the main tanks in the Star Moon Kingdom, while they might not be on the level of hidden experts like Canglang Zhantian, they were still ranked near the top. They had been caught off guard earlier due to the ambush, but now, facing him head-on with their full strength to entangle him, even the kingdom's top-ranked experts couldn't easily break through.
"Seems you've done quite a bit of research on me," Shi Feng remarked, his gaze sweeping over the remaining twelve elites. He recognized quite a few of them.
Baili Wuyin from the second-tier guild, Blazing Fire. Dunyu Tianxia from the second-tier guild, Prideful Sight. Qianshou Xun from the second-tier guild, Phantom Shadow. ...
In his previous life, these were all experts he had looked up to. He hadn't expected to be fighting them now.
However, the dynamic between them had changed drastically.
Before, any one of them would have forced him to fight with everything he had, pushing his five senses to their absolute limit just to barely cope. Now, these same people, when facing him, had to push themselves to their limits just to keep up.
Although this was their first time coordinating, a single ambush from him had immediately spurred them into forming a defensive formation. They were using the most optimal combat tactics to counter him, demonstrating just how rich their battle experience was—the very quality Fire Dance and her team lacked the most.
Although Shi Feng had charged towards them right after using the Sword of Celestial Cycle, as soon as he stepped into the sword domain, Baili Wuyin loosed several arrows. They were incredibly fast and also sealed off Shi Feng's movement range, forcing him to confront the two tanks directly.
"Black Flame, let me have a go at you!" bellowed the towering Dunyu Tianxia. He activated his life-saving skills one after another, raising his diamond shield and standing proudly.
First-tier skill: Blood Boiling. Recovers 3% of HP per second for 10 seconds.