As the revelation of a sudden large pillar at the center of the city, nearly everyone temporarily paused their actions.
"What the hell is that?" Watcher Skye of the Runewatch exclaimed in disbelief.
"Is that a pillar?" Lanester's eyes widened in shock. "Where did that even come from?"
"That's not the point. Look at our status right now!" Kralos shouted and warned his fellow allies of the changes.
Sure enough, with Kralos' warning, everyone started to check on their status, and spotted numerous status ailments suddenly appearing on their screen.
"How was this possible?" The most alarmed person was none other than PotionHoarder, who quickly realized the drastic change.
"We need to destroy that pillar down immediately. If we continue to prolong the fight, then with these debuffs, we will lose the battle!" He announced loudly, urging his members and allies to advance quickly.
PotionHoarder was positive that most of the people were concealing their buff or skill, given he was doing the same. After all, who would want to reveal all their cards from the get-go?
Previously, their side was at the advantage and NPCs from Star Falls City were struggling to even deflect them.
However, with the appearance of the pillar, followed by the monsters being weakened tremendously, the tide of the battle had shifted in an instant.
The struggling NPCs seemed to have gained fervor and were actively charging ahead, going completely in the offense.
"Damn it, is this the trump card of Vanguard Guild?" PotionHoarder gnashed his teeth in frustration. It had only been a few minutes since the appearance of the Oppressive Pillar, but they already lost a whopping 3000 players.
Even the NPCs that were hired on their side, began to show signs of fatigue and struggle against the NPCs from Star Falls City.
Amidst the tension, PotionHoarder, along with other keen-eyed folks spotted a figure who ascended to the top of a building.
What caught their attention wasn't the mysterious figure who ascended, but rather the people behind them.
"L-Lunar Wraith?" PotionHoarder stuttered, and flashback of the scene in which he got pummeled and robbed to the extreme rush to his mind.
"This is bad. With the NPCs we hired all suffering from the debuff caused by that glooming pillar, she can totally wipe us out in due time!" Kralos was alarmed and wary.
Although they had taken into consideration that Carmen would definitely reveal herself sooner or later, they never anticipated they would be dealing with her in a debuffed status.
Just when the situation looked grim, they heard an unexpected announcement.
Carmen, who received instruction from Xu Feng's alternate persona, stepped forward and gazed at the people who were trying to ruin their city.
As she gazed around, she finally paused at one particular player.
'Oh, it's this hoarder. I remember him hoarding a lot of potions and stealing them to give to the Guild Leader.' Carmen recalled PotionHoarder, especially his stash of valuable potions.
Thanks to his contribution, it enabled Xu Feng who managed to deconstruct the potions and use it to craft Greater Experience Potion to be auctioned off.
Meanwhile, PotionHoarder, who was very far from Carmen, still felt a cold chill running down his spine.
'Is she staring at me?' PotionHoarder wondered silently, feeling somewhat afraid that his potions might be stolen again. Since it was definitely going to be a prolonged battle, he stocked up just enough.
A few seconds later, Carmen cleared her throat and declared loudly.
"For all you guilds who dared to attack our city. Prepare to face your worst nightmare! I hereby introduce our guild's mysterious boss, whom you all wanted to know but can't because of your lack of skill: Eclipse Nova!"
As soon as she finished, Carmen gestured her hand for Xu Feng to take the stage, still under the assumption of him being Eclipse Nova.
By the time the position was swapped, Xu Feng gazed down at the sea of people with an amused expression. It was just a shame that none could see his wicked grin which was covered by the mask.
Nevertheless, he couldn't be bothered if others could see his expression or not.
However, given the fact that both Lin Feng and Eclipse Nova wore a mask, it became hard for people to not put two and two together.
"Hah, what Eclipse Nova nonsense is this? Isn't he merely Guild Leader Lin Feng?" Watcher Skye sneered coldly.
"Indeed, the Vanguard Guild is still trying to be as mysterious as possible." Lanester chimed in and agreed with Watcher Skye's claim.
While these two refused to believe Eclipse Nova was another person, PotionHoarder and Kralos remained quiet. Clearly, they weren't the type to jump to conclusions.
After all, to attempt to deceive the public with a fake persona was equivalent to asking to be humiliated and ridiculed once exposed. Not to mention, they highly doubted an expert like Carmen would resort to such a shameless act.
Even back when she went on a massacre at Skyland City, Carmen never concealed her actions and proudly welcomed any challengers who wanted to stop her.
Why would someone like that resort to such petty tricks?
It simply made no sense whatsoever.
Amidst their skepticism and disbelief, Xu Feng didn't even bother with speaking.
Instead, he wielded his staff and commenced his skills. Action spoke louder than words after all. There was no need to clarify or defend themselves so long as he displayed an overwhelming power.
'I'll make you all regret ever going against me and my guild!' Xu Feng sneered inwardly and used Absolute Undoing on PotionHoarder.
With Absolute Undoing, all buffs, healing, and shields on PotionHoarder disappeared in an instant. As for why he was the chosen one… he was the leader of the opposition side.
"What the hell is this?" Almost immediately, PotionHoarder felt his body weight increase twofold with the disappearance of his buffs that had been countering with the debuff.
Due to the sudden cancellation of his buff, PotionHoarder went on his knees, his forehead filled with sweat as he struggled to resist.