Chapter 596 Chapter569-A Patient Wait for a Better Opportunity
John acted with remarkable speed once the plan was set, utilizing the Book of the Astral Realm to launch his assault.
He chose not to employ his customary spells for this initial attack, keen on concealing his identity from the onset of the confrontation.
Instead, John opted for a wind-based god-tier spell, a tactic previously unutilized by him.
With the amplification provided by the Book of the Astral Realm, the god-tier wind spell was significantly empowered.
A fierce gale surged through the Dark Realm towards Styx town, an unprecedented phenomenon for its defenders.
The town's outer defensive arrays were swiftly demolished, and a majority of the demons assigned to guard were eradicated.
Witnessing the success of John's initial strike, Duke Arsena and Natasha commenced their own attacks.
Duke Arsena conjured a Holy Light barrier, which swiftly transformed into a golden beam of Holy Light that charged towards the gates of Styx town.
While Natasha's approach wasn't as headstrong as Duke Arsena's, she didn't hesitate to take action.
She unleashed a barrage of arrows, not with the aim of achieving victory on her own but to ensure the success of Duke Arsena's assault.
Given that both Natasha and Duke Arsena were high-ranking powerhouses from the Northern Myst Empire, coordination between them was crucial.
As the trio launched their attacks, Shatras remained in the shadows, biding his time for the opportune moment.
He was waiting for the demons within Styx town to counterattack, believing that only then could he effectively employ his mastery of potent oceanic spells to annihilate any demon daring enough to retaliate.
The counterattack from the demons of Styx town was swift.
After the outer defenses and their demonic guardians were decimated, mid-tier demons from within emerged to confront the assailants.
Naturally, their primary targets were Duke Arsena and Natasha.
Yet, Duke Arsena and Natasha were unfazed by the demonic onslaught, placing their trust in John and Shatras to neutralize the threat.
This trust was not misplaced; the formidable spells unleashed by John and Shatras decimated the counterattacking demons, affirming the strength and coordination of their alliance.
The seamless cooperation among the four quickly resulted in the annihilation of a large number of demons, significantly breaching the defenses of Styx town.
This turn of events sent the players who had sided with the Dark Faction into a state of panic.
They had assumed that with the aid of Devils, their defense would hold strong.
The effectiveness of John and his team's assault was beyond their expectations.
"What should we do now? Do we continue with our original plan? And if we do, are we still eligible for rewards?"
"What rewards are there left to claim? If the Devils themselves couldn't withstand these Order Faction powerhouses, how could we possibly hope to? Continuing this fight would only lead to greater losses!"
Some of the players aligned with the Dark Faction chose to flee, reasoning that as players, the consequences of their retreat wouldn't be severe.
They were merely abandoning an in-progress quest, after all, and the game mechanics typically allowed for such tactical withdrawals without imposing harsh penalties.
The demons of the Dark Faction were infuriated by the players' decision to flee, but they were clearly powerless to stop them, as their immediate concern had to be the onslaught from John and his team.
After breaching the outer defenses of Styx town, John moved into the heart of the town itself, where the defensive capabilities were not significantly different from those of Storm City.
At the center of Styx town was a potent dark magic array, continuously launching dark spells to hinder John and his allies.
John's primary objective was to dismantle this array completely.
However, John was cautious, fully expecting his actions to attract the attention of more formidable demons from the Dark Faction.
What he hadn't anticipated was the lack of high-tier demonic resistance; even as he reached the central area of Styx town, no such demons had confronted him.
This unexpected ease in progression slightly surpassed John's initial calculations, suggesting either a strategic oversight by the Dark Faction or perhaps a more sinister trap awaiting them.
John's inability to encounter any high-tier demons within Styx town heightened his vigilance.
He found it hard to believe that such a crucial stronghold of the Dark Faction would be left undefended by its elite demons.
Their absence suggested they might be biding their time, waiting for a more opportune moment to strike.
With this realization, John's caution intensified.
He began to employ Detection spells to survey his surroundings for any signs of ambush or deceit.
Despite his thorough scrutiny, no anomalies were detected, which only deepened his perplexity.
"Why can't I find any of the Dark Faction's formidable demons? Could they all have chosen to flee? Is it possible that even the Devils of the Dark Faction dare not confront me head-on?"
Questions swirled in John's mind, unanswered, as his companions were engaged in battles elsewhere, unable to provide any insight.
Unbeknownst to John, Flame Knight was not far off, making final preparations.
Flame Knight was well aware of John's movements and strategies.
However, he chose not to engage John directly, understanding that to challenge and hope to defeat John, he must wait for a perfect moment, leveraging strategy over brute force to turn the tide in his favor.
John's vigilance heightened in the absence of any high-level demons from the Dark Faction defending Styx town, suspecting it was a calculated move, with the demons biding their time for a more opportune moment to strike.
Despite his careful observation with Detection spells, John found no anomalies, leading him to wonder why no formidable demons had confronted him yet.
He speculated whether they had all chosen to flee or if even the Devils of the Dark Faction were hesitant to face him directly.
Unbeknownst to John, Flame Knight was nearby, making final preparations.
Flame Knight was well aware of John's movements but chose not to engage him directly, understanding that victory would require a more favorable moment.
The moment Flame Knight awaited was when the dark power of the Dark Realm began to wear down John and his allies.
Although they hadn't immediately felt the effects of the dark power upon entering the realm, it didn't mean they were unaffected.
From the moment they set foot in the Dark Realm, the dark power had been subtly attacking them, gradually deteriorating their condition.
This decline was slow, and initially imperceptible, but by the time John and his team realized it, it could be too late.
After a brief wait, Flame Knight deemed the timing right and summoned a teleportation array before him, through which he called forth numerous high-tier demons, including several demon generals.
He instructed them not to focus on defeating John, acknowledging their inability to do so, but rather to distract the others.
Flame Knight believed that if he could face John one-on-one, he could secure victory, attributing his previous defeat to suboptimal conditions rather than a lack of capability.
Thus, the demons summoned by Flame Knight launched their attack, aiming to distract Duke Arsena, Natasha, and Shatras.
Following their deployment, Flame Knight himself teleported directly to the heart of Styx town, where he encountered John.
Upon sighting John, Flame Knight wasted no time and summoned a wave of green flames, signaling the presence of a Devil with the emergence of the devil flame.
John, upon witnessing the devil flame, immediately activated his invisibility, fully aware that his priority was to dodge the Devil's initial assault.
His experience and caution dictated that evading the opening attack from such a formidable opponent was crucial for survival and strategizing his countermove.
John's swift move to invisibility temporarily thwarted Flame Knight's immediate plans.
However, Flame Knight, having anticipated such a scenario, remained patient and unfazed.
He launched a relentless assault with his devil flame towards the area where John was last seen, engulfing the central region of Styx town within the deadly embrace of the flames.
The indiscriminate attack not only obliterated lower-level demons caught in the crossfire but also instantly killed any players who were merely spectating the confrontation.
Despite the chaos, John remained largely unaffected by Flame Knight's onslaught.
Upon cloaking himself in invisibility, John had wisely deployed a defensive spell to shield himself from harm.
This precaution allowed him to evade the brunt of Flame Knight's attack successfully.
Now, hidden and protected, John was strategizing his counterattack, mindful of the fact that he had yet to pinpoint Flame Knight's exact location amidst the flames and destruction.
The challenge before John was not just surviving Flame Knight's powerful assaults but also finding an opening to strike back effectively against his formidable adversary.
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