Chapter 626: A Name That Shakes the Region
Inside Raven Ruins.
A handsome young man in white robes was commanding his team to attack the Azureflame Raven King with full force.
This young Priest continuously wrote divine text in mid-air, casting healing spells one after another. These weren't ordinary healing spells, but first-tier healing magic that he used as quickly and easily as others used zero-tier spells. He performed them with such relaxed confidence and fluid mastery that tanks on the verge of death were instantly restored to full health.
This young man was none other than Kaleb, the main raid leader of Eternal Requiem.
"Just 3% health left, increase DPS!" Kaleb shouted loudly.
Of the fifty-person raid, less than half remained. Everyone was being scorched by azure flames, losing 1000 health points per second. Even Kaleb, one of the top ten rookies in virtual gaming, could only keep the main tank and himself alive at this point, with maybe a few instant-cast healing spells for the main DPS players, though those had weak effects.
Although everyone was frantically using their ultimate abilities, the Azureflame Raven King had transformed into a fire raven in its fourth phase and entered complete berserk mode. Not only had its attack speed increased, but its attack range had expanded as well. Any team member who couldn't dodge in time would be instantly killed, no questions asked.
Even though the Azureflame Raven King only had 3% health remaining, for those who survived, it was still an iron fortress they couldn't break through.
Actually, it wasn't just Eternal Requiem—Smile Over Ruins was in the same situation at that very moment.
However, Smile Over Ruins was doing slightly better. Facing the Azureflame Raven King at 4% health, they still had over forty members remaining. The few who had died were simply unlucky, failing to dodge the Azureflame Raven King's attack range.
"The first clear of a fifty-person raid really isn't that easy to get," GrayWolfSkyborne muttered while frantically dodging the Azureflame Raven King's attacks. With his extremely skilled Eye of Observation, though he couldn't dodge all the attacks, he could avoid about a third of them. This made things much easier for the healers, giving them extra capacity to heal others and maintain the raid's health.
If GrayWolfSkyborne weren't such a strong main tank, doing an excellent job of directing the Azureflame Raven King's attacks, this many people wouldn't have survived.
Even so, this was already Smile Over Ruins' third attempt at the Azureflame Raven King's fourth phase.
Watching the Azureflame Raven King's health slowly drop.
3%...
2%...
1%...
Silvercrest Dominion System Announcement: Congratulations to Aether Wing for becoming the first team in Silvervale City to clear Infernal-level Raven Ruins. All team players are awarded 2 million experience points and 50 silver coins, 80 Silvervale City reputation, and 20 Eldoria Kingdom reputation.
Eldoria Kingdom Regional System Announcement: Congratulations to Aether Wing for becoming the first team in Eldoria Kingdom to clear Infernal-level Raven Ruins. All team players are awarded 3 million experience points and three second-tier random attribute gems, 100 Silvervale City reputation, and 50 Eldoria Kingdom reputation.
Divine Realms: Legends Southern Continent System Announcement: Congratulations to Aether Wing for becoming the first team on the Southern Continent to clear Infernal-level Raven Ruins. All team players are awarded 5 million experience points and one third-tier random attribute gem, 80 Eldoria Kingdom reputation, and 5 Human Race reputation.
...
Three consecutive system announcements echoed in everyone's ears.
"How is this possible?"
Whether it was Smile Over Ruins or Eternal Requiem, members of both teams were utterly shocked.
Adversity-level Raven Ruins had already pushed them to their limits, and they were just short of clearing it, yet the Guild of Aether Wing had already cleared Infernal-level Raven Ruins first. How could this not be shocking?
But shock aside, no one stopped what they were doing, though they no longer had quite the same drive to kill the Azureflame Raven King.
Shortly after, the Azureflame Raven King fell at GrayWolfSkyborne's feet.
The system announcement rang out again.
Silvercrest Dominion System Announcement: Congratulations to Smile Over Ruins for becoming the first team in Silvervale City to clear Adversity-level Raven Ruins. All team players are awarded 1 million experience points and 20 silver coins, 30 Silvervale City reputation, and 10 Eldoria Kingdom reputation.
Eldoria Kingdom Regional System Announcement: Congratulations to Smile Over Ruins for becoming the first team in Eldoria Kingdom to clear Adversity-level Raven Ruins. All team players are awarded 2 million experience points and one second-tier random attribute gem, 50 Silvervale City reputation, and 20 Eldoria Kingdom reputation.
...
But compared to the previous announcements, this one was meaningless now.
Aether Wing had already cleared Infernal-level, while Smile Over Ruins had only cleared Adversity-level. Not only would this not bring glory, it would become a laughingstock. The comparison made the gap between the two guilds even more obvious.
It wasn't that Smile Over Ruins was too weak—it was that Aether Wing was too strong!
"In the end, we lost," GrayWolfSkyborne said with a bitter smile on his pale face.
He had already received word that BlackFlame had taken the Overlord elite team into Infernal-level Raven Ruins. While he thought the Guild of Aether Wing might clear Infernal-level difficulty, he never imagined they would clear Raven Ruins before his team.
On the other side, Eternal Requiem's main raid had just killed the Azureflame Raven King.
"Aether Wing truly deserves to be Silvervale City's top guild, but Eternal Requiem won't give up. We'll catch up sooner or later," Kaleb said, his eyes showing a trace of determined fighting spirit.
"We'll definitely catch up. I haven't met a worthy opponent in a long time. Looks like this BlackFlame really has some skills," said a clean-cut young Assassin with flowing hair standing nearby, full of interest but with a barely noticeable coldness in his eyes, as if he'd spotted exciting prey.
Kaleb smiled and teased the young Assassin, "Looks like BlackFlame is in trouble now, being targeted by the famous Ghost Shadow. This will make it much easier for Eternal Requiem to develop in Silvervale City."
"Though I want to meet him right now, my current strength isn't enough. Once I finish the task at hand, I can go test BlackFlame's abilities," Ghost Shadow shook his head, putting away his two pitch-black daggers and taking out a return scroll to start casting, showing no interest in the Azureflame Raven King's loot.
Compared to the shock of Eternal Requiem and Smile Over Ruins' main raid members, all of Silvervale City—or rather, all of Eldoria Kingdom—was in an uproar. It wasn't that no team had gotten the first clear of a fifty-person raid, but Infernal-level difficulty was definitely an achievement that none of the surrounding dozen kingdoms or several empires had accomplished.
And this glory had been claimed by a new guild, Aether Wing. It was simply incredible.
Aether Wing's reputation instantly rose to new heights.
When the Guild of Aether Wing had withstood Dragon and Phoenix Pavilion's offensive, it had already attracted attention from guilds in over a dozen other kingdoms and empires. However, Aether Wing had only defended itself, and relied on NPC guards at that, so it wasn't much of a concern. But now things were different.
A guild that could get the first clear of a fifty-person Infernal-level raid definitely had formidable overall strength.
"Aether Wing?" Elsie smiled faintly after hearing the system announcement. "I really underestimated BlackFlame's abilities. Xiang'er, get ready. We're going to Silvervale City."
"Miss, what are you going to Silvervale City for? The president of Pantheon is coming over soon," the pretty woman named Xiang'er asked in surprise.
"To meet that mysterious BlackFlame, of course," Elsie said with a light laugh.
"BlackFlame?" Xiang'er couldn't help but be curious.
Who was BlackFlame?
Could he compare to the president of the super guild Pantheon?