Without a Leader

Like battle troops who had been trained for this war, players from Knights of Freedom set out to conquer a terrain they were too familiar with. On the other side of the arena, their opponents had split up into teams too. Both clans were intent on getting the buffs.

Three buffs were spread in the left side arena - Attack, Speed, and Health. Once obtained, players from the clan could all benefit from the effects of the buff for as long as the battle lasted. Lucas always led a team to snatch the buffs because his presence was enough to keep enemies at bay. Some players were simply stunned when they saw him approaching. They had watched him fight in clan wars and knew he could take out five players in matter of seconds without any help. If they fight, they die. Might as well run.

This time, a player by the name of Blue Elf from Knights of Freedom headed the team to get the buffs instead. He was a mage. Along with him were a healer, two swordsmen, and another mage.

[Public Chat Channel]

"The atmosphere's different without Ash, don't you think?"

"A game without the MVP is a little boring."

"Haha, poor Knights of Freedom got no fanfare without Ash Knight, boo."

"Please kill RavenX for me, he just attacked me for no reason today!"

Back in the arena, Snowman who remained at base for backup reminded his clan to stay focused through the voice chat.

"Don't get distracted by these comments. Those people were probably instigated by RavenX to create trouble. Just focus on winning."

Team C which was in charge of taking down the tower and killing opponents who tried to invade their side of the arena had engaged in battle. Team A was approaching the left side of the arena which contained the buffs, only a few more meters now. Their opponents were running towards the same area too. One of them, a swordsman by the name of MyThrone, was grinning. Blue Elf was agitated by his expression, he seemed to be saying "You guys are dead without Ash Knight."

"Wipe that smile off your face or I'll give you a hand!" he fired a spell at MyThrone who was trying to get the Attack buff. To obtain the buff, players simply had to stand in front of the specific buff they wanted for five seconds. If no one interrupted them, the buff would be theirs. Blue Elf's attack thwarted MyThrone's attempt. He was not gonna let anyone else get the buffs.

"Not good," Lucas muttered as he watched the fight unfold. He had found a secluded spot in one of the forests to watch the clan war. Was he the only one who noticed that RavenX, the most hated player in DOJ had not shown himself? His name was in the list of players so clearly, he was hiding somewhere inside the arena. For someone who loved the hoo-ha to be hiding only meant one thing - he had other intentions.

He took a closer look at the fights happening in the arena. There were five players from Dream Heroes trying to obtain the buffs. On the other side, there were about seventeen of them. The calculations didn't add up right. Why would the remaining eight players be doing nothing? RavenX had been desperate to win them each time and loved spouting nonsense. He was exceptionally quiet today. Lucas had to find a way to warn his clan about this.

[Public Chat Channel]

"The clan wars seem unusually quiet today."

He sent a message, hoping that one of them would realize the annoying RavenX was missing.

[Public Chat Channel]

"Oh yeah, where is that infamous RavenX who always entertained us with his nonsense?"

"Wow, both leaders of their clans are MIA today. What's happening?"

"Did they quit the game or something?"

Great, now his clan members had no way of missing out on this 'strange phenomenon'. PandaHero and Snowman both noticed it immediately when they saw the message.

"Hey, that's true. I hadn't seen that raven around," PandaHero who was part of Team C had been attacking players from Dream Heroes for a while. He was very sure he did not come across anyone by the name of RavenX or he would have cast his Ultimate skill on that irritating fellow immediately.

"And they seem to be holding back, this isn't their usual style. They liked to go all out on us." PandaHero continued. Several other members questioned if they should switch tactics or continue with the original plan.

Snowman tried to figure out the situation but he didn't have the analytical abilities of Ash Knight.

"Stick to the plan but be prepared to adapt."

Although most players in Knights of Heroes were veterans, they were followers rather than leaders. Lucas was their military advisor and without him, they were like headless flies.

Back in the arena, Blue Elf and his team stunned their enemies and pushed them back. They managed to collect the Attack Buff.

[Knights of Heroes has received the Attack buff and increased their damage by 20%!]

[Public Chat Channel]

"Guess victory is still on their side without Ash Knight."

"Wonder what RavenX is up to this time."

Comments continued to flood the chat channel. The audience was more eager than before to find out how the clans would fare without their leaders.

PandaHero was starting to feel weird. Their opponents deliberately used low level skills to attack them and kept a distance to avoid getting hit. It didn't feel like a serious fight. If they wanted to take their tower, they should be giving their best.

"Something's fishy here but I don't know what. The way they're fighting feels like they're trying to buy time?" he said to his clan members.

"Hmm, we just wipe them out and go for their tower. They're just being cowards."

"They suck at player vs player combat so they're probably just trying to waste time here."

"I agree, we just keep attacking and move towards their base. We have the Attack buff now!"

Other members were equally clueless. Unable to see through their enemies' ploy, they could only do as Snowman said, stick to the plan.

On the other side of the arena, Blue Elf's team was close to getting the Health Buff. Things went unbelievably smooth and they obtained it without any disruptions. Two down, one more to go. They dashed towards the Speed buff but a wave of attacks out of nowhere sent them flying into mid-air.

Regaining momentum, they found themselves surrounded by their enemies. Much more enemies than there were before.

"Eight..nine..what the?" Blue Elf was taking count when a voice interrupted him.

"Yoo-hoo, did someone say they missed me?" a voice blasted through the public voice chat channel, annoying the hell out of everyone. Everybody who knew this voice wished they didn't have to hear it again ever.

"All rise for the king!" grinning at Blue Elf and the others who were recovering from the attack, RavenX announced his arrival.