〈System Alert: The event «Protectors of Amaharpe» has officially begun!〉

When the system made the announcement, an invisible barrier was formed at the ends of Amaharpe's city walls. Players outside of that boundary would not gain any points for the event and could not interfere with what was taking place inside of the barrier.

However, players would still be able to pass be through the barrier to participate in the event.

Monsters would be unable to stray away past the barrier walls, but they were still capable of making their way into the city if they managed to overcome the players and guards.

At the moment, the Crimson Corps Guards stood guard by the main gates of Amaharpe. Their job was to ensure that no monster made its way into the city. The players would act as the first line of defense against the monsters.

As for the normal army of Amaharpe, they were positioned at various key points within the city itself just in case a breach took place. At least one thousand of the soldiers were stationed on the walls with a bow in hand. Mounted onto the city walls were numerous magic cannons.

However, the magic cannons were only a last resort measure. Although they were extremely powerful, they were also very costly to operate. Just one magic shell alone cost 1,000 gold coins. In total, there were twenty magic cannons. That meant that every volley would cost 20,000 gold coins!

That, however, was not the sole reason for the limited use of the magic cannons. The magic shells were difficult to create and Amaharpe simply did not have the materials needed to create more than a set amount of magic shells every year.

Even a capital city like Amaharpe could not afford to launch an endless barrage and have the magic cannons in constant use. But, if the city was threatened to be overrun then they would not hesitate to use every last magic shell.

A vast sea of players assembled in front of Amaharpe city walls. Many players that did not have a guild simply formed their own party with their friends or other solo players. For an event like this, it was best to team up to produce the best results.

After all, the rewards were not only given to individuals who performed well, but also to parties who displayed their strength.

Located near the middle section of Amaharpe's walls was the guild Cross Haven. They formed a clear perimeter around their location so that there was no discord or confusion amongst its members.

Ewan stood at the front of his guild as his party was the main vanguard for this event. Not too far away from Ewan were five other players. These five players were well known within the gaming community as the "Five Great Generals" of Cross Haven.

The Five Great Generals had at least two hundred players under their direct command. Those two hundred players all fought hard to join Cross Haven and could be considered as above average or veteran players.

While Cross Haven was not as large as the other top guilds number wise, it is still considered one of the strongest guilds thanks to their quality over quantity recruiting method.

"Leader, I don't trust Sage Falls and Hollow Tempo. It's suspicious that they refused to agree to such a perfect arrangement even after eight of the top ten guilds found it to be reasonable." The person who spoke was an averaged size male who wore full plated armor and the only visible feature was their face.

On his back was a shield at least 1 meter in size with magic symbols carved into it. At his side was a saber with a faint aura glowing around it, the trademark sign of a rare weapon.

He had hazel colored eyes and an above average appearance. At the moment, he had a serious expression on his face as he felt uneasy about the two huge unknown variables of this event.

Ewan set his gaze into the distance and what he saw was a legion of monsters stampeding over towards Amaharpe. Some of them were incredibly weak, while other monsters could be considered fairly tricky to deal with. However, their overall strength should not be a problem for the players present in front of Amaharpe.

"I also share your uncertainties, Wang Qiang. However, we cannot act without any proof of their ill intentions. In the end, taking action solely based on an assumption can lead us down a very dangerous path of no return." Ewan said.

Wang Qiang knew that Ewan was correct in this matter. If he were to ultimately pursue them and it turned out that he was wrong, he may end up causing war for Cross Haven against Sage Falls and Hollow Tempo. While they were not afraid of a fight, it would allow for other top guilds to pull ahead of them if they were to become too preoccupied with it.

Also, even though Hyper Symphony was their ally at this time, the same would not necessarily be the case if a guild war broke out. Most guilds would take a neutral stand and look for ways to gain benefits and pull further ahead of the other top guilds in that type of situation. This was something Ewan wanted to avoid at all cost.

"I understand. I shall no longer pursue the matter. I will return to my position." Wang Qiang respectfully cupped his fist before he turned to start walking back to his proper position.

"Wang Qiang." Ewan called out while keeping his focus on the monsters that were now less than 50 meters away from them.

Wang Qiang halted his steps and turned to face Ewan, "Leader?"

"I trust in your judgment. Arrange for an advanced watch team on the movements of Sage Falls and Hollow Tempo. If they are up to something then I would like it if we are not caught off-guard by it. If you turn out to be right, then we'll respond to their actions accordingly." Ewan said in a calm and steady manner.

Wang Qiang bowed respectfully, "Yes, leader!" He immediately went back to his position to execute his orders and make sure everything was in place.

Ewan did not choose just anyone to command a squad of Cross Haven members. He had learned from experience to trust in the instincts, experience, and abilities of those under his command.

The monsters closing in on Amaharpe was currently only twenty meters away from the walls. Some of the mages and archers had already started firing off attacks.

However, most of those attacks came from the smaller guilds or randomly formed parties. The top guilds had yet to make their move as if they were waiting for a precise moment.

The first wave of monsters that charged over was only between the levels of 14-16. There were a few elite monsters mixed in, but there were not that many of them. There were thousands upon thousands of monsters rushing forward.

The average level of RML players was around level 15. Of course, those were the more casual players. As for the elite players and those core members of the top guilds, they were in another league entirely.

"Eh? Why are they so weak?" Wess frowned as he observed the incoming wave of monsters. He was visibly disappointed by the low-level monsters.

"You're being impatient again, Wess." Ewan said with a slight smile on his face. "The first wave is simply a test of sorts. Normally, there would be no need for us to take action as there is nothing worth obtaining, however, the point system makes it so that we cannot afford to sit back and wait to strike."

Ewan reached to his back and removed a sword from its sheath that resembled an ancient qin jian. There was a faint aura around the sword and the blade itself was pure silver in color. The hilt was azure in color and had the head of a phoenix where the pommel was placed.

When he drew the sword from its sheath, the loud cry of a phoenix sounded throughout the entire section of the battlefield where Ewan was located. It caused some of the smaller guilds and solo players to become startled as they believed for a moment that it was the cry of a true phoenix.

How frightening would that be if an actual phoenix showed up during this event? There was no way a creature like that was anything less than legendary!

However, the cry was due to the unique nature and ability of Ewan's weapon. It was called the Glacial Phoenix Mimicry Sword.

Ewan charged forward, ahead of the rest of his guild as they all took a moment to stand back and watch their guild leader take the first action as they were awaiting his orders. The aura which encompassed Ewan's Glacial Phoenix Mimicry Sword grew brighter and stronger as he neared the wave of monsters.

When Ewan was exactly five meters away from the monster's front line, he gripped the hilt of his sword tightly as he uttered a single word in a low voice, "Resonate..."

At first, there was a strange and almost eerie silence in Ewan's surroundings. All of a sudden, there was a light screeching sound that was barely audible. The sound quickly escalated and became much more intense as the screeching became increasingly mighty.

It created a soundwave that carried with it a piercing cold bone-chilling energy. As the soundwave came in contact with the first group of monsters, the creatures stopped their movements.

The screeching sound resonated throughout Ewan's surroundings before slowly dying down. Once it died down, a small wound appeared on the five monsters Ewan's soundwave made contact with.

From those small wounds, a shard of ice suddenly erupted from it and encased the entire bodies of the monsters in a block of ice.

Ewan pointed the tip of his Glacial Phoenix Mimicry Sword in the direction of the group of monsters that were now frozen over. He then lightly tapped the silver blade of his sword using two of his fingers.

Once Ewan's fingers made contact with the blade, it vibrated and released a low frequency as the monsters who were encased in a block of ice instantly shattered into countless fragments. However, it did not stop there.

The fragments of ice shards flew out three meters from its host location and struck the nearby monsters within range. The ice shards sunk into their flesh and they too became trapped in a block of ice.

This repeated itself until there were no monsters remaining within three meters of the last creature that died. In less than a few seconds, Ewan had eliminated a total of 125 monsters!

All of the smaller guilds and randomly formed parties were dumbfounded. What was that skill?! It was able to completely clear out a large portion of monsters that was rushing over and left a huge empty patch in the battlefield with a single strike!

There was a chilly air lingering around that part of the battlefield which caused those who were near its location to shiver from the drop in temperature.

Ewan had earned a total of 62.5 points which immediately gave him a massive lead over other players.

"So that's the Resonating Glacial Paradise skill. I remember the leader saying it wasn't all that good for one on one fights. I thought he was just being humble and didn't want to show it, but now I understand." Wess was amazed by the chain reaction the skill had that could reach enemies so far away from Ewan himself.

"Although the damage on the skill probably isn't all that powerful compared to those single target attacks, it's perfect in situations like this when you face such a huge number of creatures. Weapon skills are no laughing matter." Dragus said as he laughed joyously.

"Cross Haven!" Ewan pointed the tip of his sword towards the heavens. "Leave nothing behind!" Ewan, at that moment, resembled a mighty general leading his troops to battle with overflowing charisma.

When the members of Cross Haven heard those words, they charged forward without hesitation and released a battle cry as they met head-on with the wave monsters.

However, no one at that time knew, that the real battle had yet to begin.

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