Virtual World: Close Combat Mage

Chapter 258 - The Useless Icy Mirage Skill

There were still errors in Young Master Han’s deduction. The opponents had indeed split their force unevenly, but they had not given up the rook just to save the king.

The reason behind his erroneous deduction was the lack of information about the enemies. Young Master Han naturally did not consider the possibility of the opposing mercenary group to have one of the Five Unyielding Experts. The Black Hand had specifically entrusted Drifting of guarding this mountain’s vantage point to directly challenge Young Master’s Elite for control. Indeed, had it not been for Gu Fei’s split-second realization and coincidental acquisition of Electric Wall before today’s match, he and Sword Demon might have become casualties of Drifting’s Blossoming Crimson Lotus.

Sword Demon could still feel the lingering fear in him. He and Gu Fei stood back to back as the four opponents encircled them in a diamond formation.

Blossoming Crimson Lotus’s fiery glow was too eye-catching and acted like a beacon to those in the distance. Be it The Black Hand or Young Master’s Elite, both sides could tell that something was currently happening on the mountaintop.

The Black Hand mercenary group seemed to have an accord, as the members unanimously stopped searching the forest and rushed back to the mountaintop like moths drawn to the flame.

The other members of Young Master’s Elite, which were situated by the foot of the mountain, also sprinted up the steep slope when they saw the flash of light that engulf the mountaintop.

“What was that just now?!” Brother Assist bewilderedly asked.

The fiery afterglow did not seem to be from the two known AOE spells of Mages in the current stage of the game. None of those present had any clue on what that was either, so they could only pose this question on the mercenary channel.

“It’s Drifting!” When it came to online messaging, Sword Demon was the most practiced and managed to reply almost instantly.

“Oh!” Royal God Call perked up. “I remember Miles telling me about Drifting’s crazy, overbearing spell that comes from his magic staff.”

“What spell is this?” everyone asked.

“Tsk! Why would I deign to remember the name of such garbage spell?!” Royal God Call disdainfully said, yet he thought inside, Blossoming Crimson Lotus... The spell sounds awfully powerful....

Both parties rushed up the mountain, with Young Master’s Elite naturally being faster since they were nearer. Meanwhile, back on the mountaintop, the fight was already in full swing.

Sword Demon intended to activate Stealth with Gu Fei giving him cover, yet Drifting swiftly reacted to this by lifting his hand, preparing to send a flame wheel crushing down the moment Sword Demon disappeared from view.

Gu Fei and Sword Demon were experienced PvPers by now, so evading the spell just as the Mage Drifting raised his hand to chant was easy.

When the fire began to take form above them, the two men darted out, one going to the left while the other heading forward. Sword Demon ran toward the Archer Right Hand of Cool, while Gu Fei dashed toward Parallel World’s top Mage Drifting.

Right Hand of Cool promptly distanced himself from Sword Demon; he was no fool to let a Thief get near him like this. Sword Demon’s Fleetfoot was on cooldown after just using it. Without the skill’s speed boost, a Thief’s movement speed was slightly slower than that of an Archer. Although Sword Demon had Windchaser’s Boots, their speed was not that too far off, making it impossible for him to promptly catch up to the Archer.

Sword Demon also saw through Right Hand of Cool’s intention, so he readily changed his target and dove straight toward Drifting as well. The two would appear to be playing some sort of game to anybody watching with Sword Demon trying to catch Right Hand of Cool and choosing to target Drifting, instead when he could not catch up to Right Hand of Cool.

While Sword Demon actions seemed whimsical, the Mage Drifting’s lack of protector at the moment made them sound. Gu Fei, for his part, felt that Drifting’s precarious situation was an oversight likely created due to him and Sword Demon unexpectedly escaping Blossoming Crimson Lotus’s AOE moments ago.

A weapon skill had two characteristics. First, it was not bound by proficiency. Unlike the player’s skill tree, the power of a weapon skill was not restricted by its familiarity or constant usage to become powerful. Second, it often had long cooldown. Gu Fei and Sword Demon believed that Blossoming Crimson Lotus was not likely to explode this soon once more, so they chose to rush to Drifting.

Drifting was unfazed by this. Placing the magic staff horizontally across his chest, he chanted, “Icy Mirage! Split!”

Yet another unknown spell! Gu Fei and Sword Demon mumbled to themselves, not feeling the least bit surprised. These experts clearly had far more prosperous lives than the members of Young Master’s Elite; many scrolls and several wondrous equipment were at their disposal. Gu Fei thought back to Brave Surge’s Frozen Ice Trail skill. Its icy path was pretty cool-looking.

Sword Demon was more cautious this time. With the unleashing of an unknown spell, he promptly stopped his advance. Meanwhile, Gu Fei continued his forward dash with a devil-may-care attitude; he intended to slice Drifting up with his sword no matter what appeared this time. After casting Electric Wall and Blink, his mana was only enough for Twin Incineration and either Fireball or Thunderbolt. Gu Fei might be unable to insta-kill Drifting if the latter had high magic defense, but he was confident that his sword could at least cut up the Mage to his death.

Gu Fei continued to charge forward while maintaining vigilance. He still needed to react appropriately to Drifting’s spell, after all.

Snow fell around Drifting for a moment, making his figure appear somewhat illusory as he finished his incantation. The snow soon dissipated and Drifting revealed an innocuous smile. Sword Demon felt quite aggrieved when the spell did not inflict any damage upon its appearance. He even wondered just what nonsense Drifting was up to.

Gu Fei was forced to stop in his tracks when he realized that they were surrounded – to be precise, he and Sword Demon were surrounded by several Driftings. An identical Drifting stood on each of the four corners.

“Arctic Whirlwind! Spin!” The four Driftings did the same motion, sounded the same, and unleashed a similar spell, Arctic Whirlwind, that whirled toward Gu Fei from four different directions.

This sort of body duplication skill was common in various MMOs. Whether the duplicates could inflict damage was dependent on the skill design itself. Nevertheless, the real Drifting was undoubtedly among the four Driftings that that had just unleashed Arctic Whirlwind before them.

While this sort of skill would be difficult to discern in a PvP setting, Drifting was unfortunately up against Gu Fei right now.

Using his infallible ability to detect killing intent, Gu Fei promptly learned who the real Drifting was among the four. Had Drifting gathered all his duplicates together in one spot after casting the spell, Gu Fei would have been unable to pinpoint him through killing intent alone, as the feeling would have come from the same general direction. Drifting’s desire to show off the spell’s oppressive might had him placing his duplicates on each corner of the target, which in turn allowed Gu Fei to determine the true Drifting.

“Translocation! Blink!” Gu Fei appeared right behind Drifting with a point of his finger, instantly striking the latter.

Drifting’s Icy Mirage spell was a sustained skill; his duplicates would not disappear just because he was under attack. Still, Drifting felt very shocked that Gu Fei had been able to identify the real him in an instant.

Even if he blindly guessed who the real Drifting was, there was only a 25% chance of success. And yet, Gu Fei teleported himself right behind the real Drifting and gave him a slash with utmost confidence!

Drifting looked backward in shock when the sword struck him. Gu Fei, meanwhile, was smiling at him innocuously, “This is no good!”

The weird effect of Icy Mirage was in full display to everyone present as well. When Drifting turned to look at Gu Fei, his three duplicates did the same as well, causing Left Hand of Love, Right Hand of Cool, and another member of The Black Hand to feel creep out.

“The duplicates would copy the exact movement of the original body! Icy Mirage, huh... Gotta remember this!” Sword Demon said as he watched the whole situation unfold on the sidelines. Evidently, he considered that as a possible flaw of Icy Mirage, and a severe one at that. If anyone was conscientious enough, it was possible to identify the real caster through this.

Gu Fei cleaved Drifting for the second time at this point. His mana was depleted with his use of Blink, so he could only slash at Drifting with basic attacks.

Had this been a duel, Drifting would have been in an utterly precarious state. Thankfully, he had his companions with him. Once they saw his dire situation, each of them strove to extend a helping hand. Right Hand of Cool fired off an arrow on Homing Projectile to Gu Fei, while Left Hand of Love went to engage Sword Demon. The remaining Thief bravely bounded toward Gu Fei as well.

Gu Fei wished to quickly dispose of Drifting, so he simply ignored Homing Projectile, which had a particularly weak Attack Power and could not be used to deal main damage, and continued to assault Drifting. Right Hand of Cool’s move was akin to the stratagem used to besiege Wei in an effort to rescue Zhao¹.

While Drifting remained alive even with the third slash, he could not escape Gu Fei’s fierce assault, either. Any attempt of his to cast spells was efficiently interrupted by Gu Fei as well. Although the Thief ran over as fast as he could, he was not faster than Gu Fei’s hail of attacks on Drifting. The man could no longer hope for salvation, yet he actually smiled at this dire moment. Following this, he uttered, “Blossoming Crimson—”

Blossoming Crimson Lotus’s cooldown was apparently not as long as they had assumed!

Still, what was the point of chanting the spell if it could be interrupted?

Gu Fei’s mind worked at an unparalleled speed. Instead of slashing at Drifting like usual, Gu Fei’s free hand reached out at lightning fast speed to forcefully cover Drifting’s mouth just as he said, “Lotus.”

Drifting wore a dumbfounded expression on his face, having not expected Gu Fei to use such a method to stop his chanting.

Gu Fei’s Strength might be weak against most players, but he was at an advantage when it came to his fellow Mage, Drifting. Thus, Gu Fei managed to pin him down to the ground in the next moment.

If I loosen my grip, will his shout of ‘Unfold’ make the spell work? Gu Fei did not have enough gaming knowledge to answer this question, so he dared not risk testing this out. While he felt rather vexed by his action, Drifting was even more aggrieved by it.

“Just what in the world is going on?” a new voice could be heard asking this. Young Master’s Elite that had finally arrived on the mountain felt very perplexed at the sight of the four Driftings. What baffled them even more was the sight of Gu Fei pinning one Drifting to the ground.