The Great Thief

 The main tanks spread out immediately and focused on containing the mobs while the healers recovered the tanks’ health. Players with strong AOE spells supported the tanks from the back by dealing area damage. The monsters in the Plaguelands might’ve gotten stronger, but even they wouldn’t be able to recover from the constant barrage of AOE. The waves of monsters that ran towards them would be movement restricted and then taken out by AOE players one wave at a time. Even if one or two monsters survived, the warriors would be able to finish them off easily; it was a classic military tactic.

Solomon realised he’d been underestimating them; the tacit understanding between players will always be stronger than an NPC army. First of all, an NPC army did not have voice command and only had a range of war cries and yells. The commander, transmitters, messengers and soldiers all yell deafening cries all over the battlefield which leads to no one knowing what the actual command was. Secondly, NPC soldiers only had one life since they could not respawn like players. In a team of players, the team members could always remain consistent which allowed them to form bonds between them. Finally, it came down to the mentality of the players. They knew neither fear nor death, which meant they followed the commander’s orders without question. Whilst even the most fearless of NPC soldiers would need to mentally prepare themselves before they willingly fought to their death. If the game settings made NPC soldiers have the same tacit understanding players had, that would be another story, but Dawn did not have that.

“For our master’s honour!” Anglish roared, but his soul-stirring war cry was undermined by the bleak situation. Sure, his Undead companions were able to subdue a few elites in Solomon’s army, but that did not resolve the fact that the Undead were being cornered, and him, a half-lich was about to be vanquished.

Why? Why was it that he was the first target of the enemy? If they considered his importance in the Scourge’s Camp in the Plaguelands, he wasn’t even in the top ten, no, he wouldn’t even be in the top twenty members. Why couldn’t he have more time to transform into a fully-fledged Lich? He could’ve been so much more than just a bestial idiot letting out dreary and helpless yells in battle. Even if the person that was conducting the ritual for Anglish would realise he had died in battle, and even if someone were to avenge him, it would not change the fact that he would’ve had already left the world.

He could not accept it!

“Careful of angering the Boss! Hunters, prepare your tranquilising shots,” Lu Li observed a strange change in the Boss and immediately readied his hunters. The upcoming outburst of fury was immediately suppressed. As Anglish attempted to use a new set of skills to turn the situation around, he saw the Undead diminish in front of him. Anglish’s rage died down; he could only feel despair.

And hatred!

He hated the people that was about to end his glorious life, and hated Kel’Thuzad, his new tutor, even more. Why did he send him to complete a lowly support mission? Why not just promote him straight to a Lich? As Anglish felt his lifeforce slowly draining away, his hatred reached its peak. A thunderous roar silenced the battlefield.

What was originally a body of bones was now dust. Then, a beam of white light shot straight into the sky and projected towards the Plaguelands.

“This isn’t good, the Half Lich’s master is about to arrive. We have to go,” Solomon hurried to his carriage, taking the boxes stored inside. When he saw everyone stuck in place, his eyes glowed red and snapped, “Hurry up and move these so we can get going! Do you want to be chased by the head Lich?”

“You’re saying someone’s about to come? The Lich King? Or Kel’Thuzad?”

“I don’t know, and I don’t have to know. All you need to know is that we have no chance of defeating whoever was conducting Anglish’s conversion ritual,” Solomon shuddered.

“Dammit. Why do these boxes all contain quest items?” Lu Li realised something was wrong. One cart only had eight boxes, and they were all full of quest items. How could he gain any loot if there wasn’t any loot for him to gain?

“This is not the time to worry about stuff like that! Just help me move it!” Solomon yelled.

“Screw you! If we can’t even loot some health potions, then why don’t we just work for you for free?” Lu Li snapped, “We loot first! I assure you that your things will be safely delivered back to the base,” Lu Li tried putting one of the boxes in his backpack and it worked; one box took up one slot. They had thirty-two boxes, even if there were ten times the number of boxes the five hundred of them could easily take them back to base.

“Fine, fine. I’ll give you guys your loot,” Solomon seemed intimidated by Lu Li’s moment of ferocity. He probably realised that if he were to skimp on Lu Li and his team, his fate would not be that different from the Half Lich. Lu Li was tempted to do so but only in the spur of the moment. There was no way he was going to kill an alliance soldier for some unknown potions.

However, the fact remained that the event had costed Lu Li too much— the cost of time to gather five hundred elites. Those five hundred players were not casual players, asking them to do even the smallest of things costed a generous amount of coins. Additionally, the cost of reducing the battle duration by having all five hundred players use potions during the fight. The potions for five hundred people was another enormous cost for Lu Li. Lu Li couldn’t say that this quest wasn’t profitable yet; He saw Remnant Dream looting armour in the distance and her expression revealed that she had acquired some decent items. He was only fierce with Solomon to avoid getting taken advantage of. A noble military chief like himself could easily give him great benefits. However, what shocked Lu Li the most was the box Solomon opened was full of bottles and cans, while Lu Li’s box had only quest items. The Gods must be playing a prank of him!

“My my, these are some good potions. This, well I can’t use this, this is fine. I suppose you might need this more than me. Oh, this is what I’ve been looking for! Hah, the Count will be pleased with this,” Solomon had long forgotten the fear of anticipating the arrival of the head Lich and indulged in the pleasures of looting. And by listening to Solomon talk to himself, Lu Li realised he was probably not the hack he thought him to be.