At a particular tavern, the players that were patronizing the place all held gloomy or grim expressions.
"Guild Leader, I've just contacted Lanester offline and the situation isn't looking good." A member wearing the guild emblem that represented Riverbane reported.
"What did Lanester say?" A player that sat in the center of everyone questioned solemnly in response. He was none other than the branch guild leader responsible for the base operation at Red Forest City, Dusk Sky.
Dusk Sky was a level 32 Berserker, and in this siege alliance, he was expecting to be superior to his fellow peers. It was a gamble that was supposed to be surefire, but it all ended in naught.
He went all in and lost all his chips in a single bet.
"Lanester said the siege was a complete failure and he even lost a lot of life-saving items that were handed to him as a safeguard." The same member replied, relaying Lanester's words.
Losing Lanester and the items, Dusk Sky felt a pang in his heart. However, the bad news had yet to stop when another member who was focused on the Game Forum suddenly stood up and shouted in disbelief.
"What is it now, Blue Door?" Dusk Sky slammed his fist on the table and asked. He was already prepared for the bad news based on Blue Door's reaction, but not the severity of it.
"Guild Leader, this is bad. Just now, Vanguard Guild and Phoenix Guild announced a temporary alliance to eradicate us from Red Forest City!" Blue Door's face was rather pale when he reported the information.
Naturally, Dusk Sky felt as if his lifespan had been cut in half. The worst possible scenario actually occurred to him.
It would have been fine if it was just the Phoenix Guild, who had been vying for their spot a long time.
However, with the addition of Vanguard Guild, followed by their overwhelming victory despite all odds. Their branch guild was guaranteed to be doomed.
"Why did the Vanguard Guild choose to assist with the Phoenix Guild?" Dusk Sky furrowed his brows. He could have still convinced the main guild for assistance and support if he only had to deal with the Phoenix Guild.
After all, Riverbane did spend a lot of resources to make a foothold in Red Forest City. And they weren't small like the other lesser guilds who can't afford the funding.
Suddenly, as if he was enlightened by something, Dusk Sky asked, "Wait a second, did the Vanguard Guild allied with anyone else to eradicate the participant?"
The announcement of their alliance could just be a facade to the public. After all, the main culprit was still none other than MIST.
How could it be possible that the Vanguard Guild turned their spear at them and not the main culprit?
Thus, a glimmer of hope arose from within, awaiting for Blue Door to answer him.
Meanwhile, Blue Door's face couldn't be any paler when he was questioned like that. Without a doubt, Blue Door understood his guild leader's thought process since he had thought the same. And sometimes, knowing the truth would have been the worst solution.
There were instances that staying ignorant and being in the dark was the better decision.
"The Vanguard Guild didn't announce any alliance with others aside from the Phoenix Guild. According to the comments on the post, it appeared that this was Vanguard Guild repaying their favor for Commander Iceheart's previous action." Blue Door said.
"Hahaha, so it was because of Commander Iceheart— the well-known ice-cold beauty?" Laughing in despair, Dusk Sky wanted to smash something.
Who would have imagined the Vanguard Guild chose them as their main target because of Iceheart?
Although it was true that Iceheart's beauty was enchanting, she was also extremely cold and isolated from many. And yet this personality of hers somehow didn't go into effect when interacting with Guild Leader Lin Feng.
Dusk Sky plopped on his chair and looked at some data. Apparently, the lesser guilds had already been devoured by those lurking bastards who were waiting patiently for the result.
"So only Runewatch, Veilborn, and we are left on the chopping board huh. Those people sure move fast." Dusk Sky murmured in defeat. The lesser guilds were devoured quickly simply because their background and foundation were far too low.
As for Runewatch and Veilborn, these two weren't that easy to be swallowed and not many could afford to defend against their retaliation. The same could be said for Riverbane if it wasn't for the Vanguard Guild declaration.
Finally, MIST in Skyland City was still fine because no one targeted them, but that was just temporary.
The Vanguard Guild might not have stated their intention in retaliation.
However, anyone with some brain cells would know MIST was off-target and the prey for them to devour.
They might not care what others do to other guilds, but MIST and Riverbane were definitely off-limits to those lurking bastards.
And with Eclipse Nova's display of monstrous power, not a single individual would want to provoke them for no reason.
"Usually, it's others that wait for our knife to butcher them, but now we're the ones waiting for it." Dusk Sky understood the intention behind Vanguard Guild's post. Precisely so that he wanted to curse his brain sometimes.
Why did it have to function when it shouldn't?
Amidst the chaos and depression, the tavern door opened, and two people came in.
"Who!" Blue Door and the other members became alerted. This might have just been an NPC-owned tavern, but it was known to most in Red Forest City that this was their guild meeting place.
After all, they didn't have enough funds to construct a guild residence.
"What do you mean who? I, your grandfather, had come here to inform you a bunch of losers about your future!" One of the two people suddenly exclaimed.
Almost immediately, everyone in the tavern was enraged, with some of them even wanting to outright attack them.
However, Dusk Sky told his subordinates to stay put.
"Stand down!" He shouted, mainly because he recognized who this rude newcomer was. "He's Shadow Blade of Vanguard Guild, accompanied by Flame Bird of Phoenix Guild."