38: One person, surrounding the entire scene

The dead silence of Icewind Canyon lasted for less than half a minute.

When the team avatars of the five members of the Blazing Throne elite squad dimmed simultaneously in the guild channel, the entire Blazing Throne guild chat channel instantly exploded!

"What's the situation?! The first elite team of the Flame Shield was wiped out?!"

"How is that possible! Didn't they just establish a foothold in Icewind Canyon? Are the monsters there that strong?"

"No! Look at the system records, they were killed by a player! And... from the first person falling to the last, the interval was less than ten seconds!"

"Ten seconds?! Wiping out an elite pioneering team fully equipped and at Level 20?! Are you fucking kidding me?!"

At first, there was shock and disbelief. But when the captain's first-person death replay was forcibly retrieved by the guild high-ups and shared with the core management in encrypted form, the entire Blazing Throne command channel fell into a deathly silence.

The video wasn't long, only a short dozen seconds or so.

In the footage, the man wearing the Molten Magic-Patterned Breastplate descended like a god.

That grayish-white gaze enough to freeze the soul... that ghostly assault that instantly crossed the battlefield... those crisp and elegant finger snaps that sounded like the Grim Reaper's summons... and that Poison Burst chain that spread like a plague, completely unstoppable and incomprehensible!

Every frame was like a heavy hammer, smashing hard into the hearts of these top-tier guild experts, shattering their pride as elites into pieces!

"It's him... it really is him..."

The Guild Leader, Flame Mad Lion, a burly man known for his bravery and temper, now spoke with a hint of uncontrollable trembling in his voice.

"Lin Mo!"

This name was like a mountain, pressing down so hard that everyone found it difficult to breathe.

"Guild Leader! What do we do? This combat power isn't even in the same dimension! This is simply... a dimensional strike!" Vice Leader Flame Spear's voice was full of bitterness.

"What do we do?" After a brief moment of shock and fear, Flame Mad Lion's eyes were quickly replaced by a frenzied fire!

"No matter how strong he is, he's only one person! He killed people from our Blazing Throne; this matter cannot just be forgotten!"

"Pass down my orders!" Flame Mad Lion let out a roar, "All guild elite teams in the City of Glory, immediately! Right now! Move out to Icewind Canyon! Blockade all exits!"

"He thinks he can fight? Today, I'll let him know that two fists are no match for four hands! Even ants can bite an elephant to death!"

"Also, contact the Ba Tian Guild and the Oracle Guild immediately! Tell them Lin Mo is in Icewind Canyon! We, Blazing Throne, are willing to share all the profits from this kill with them! I have only one requirement—"

"Today, Lin Mo must be killed back to level zero!"

...Lin Mo knew nothing of the massive waves surging in the outside world, nor did he care.

He calmly pocketed the ice soul core and then, like the most seasoned hunter, continued walking toward the depths of the canyon.

His perception attribute, boosted by the queens eye, had reached a terrifyingly high value. Any movement within a hundred-meter radius could not escape his ears.

Soon, he discovered a second team.

This time, it was people from the Ba Tian Guild.

Perhaps having received a warning from Blazing Throne, this team appeared exceptionally cautious. The five of them were almost back-to-back, forming a circle as they advanced step by step, vigilantly observing every corner around them.

"Interesting."

Hidden behind a massive ice rock, a cold sneer curled at the corner of Lin Mo's mouth.

This kind of iron bucket formation was indeed very troublesome for conventional assassins because it was hard to find a perfect angle to enter and insta-kill their backline.

But for the current Lin Mo... convention had long since lost its meaning.

He didn't even hesitate, walking out from behind the ice rock in a completely open manner.

"Who's there?!"

The captain of the Ba Tian Guild, Hegemon Blade, discovered him immediately and issued a sharp warning.

But when he clearly saw the iconic molten heart breastplate on Lin Mo, his pupils suddenly contracted!

"It's Lin Mo! All units on alert!!"

Hegemon Blade let out a thunderous shout. The entire team instantly became like a wound-up machine: shields in front, mages chanting, archers drawing bows, and the Rogue entering Stealth. Everyone's target was dead-locked on Lin Mo!

They were clearly well-prepared!

However, Lin Mo just watched them quietly, as if enjoying a performance by a group of clowns.

He slowly raised his eyes.

It was that familiar, soul-chilling grayish-white light again!

"Not good! It's that control skill! Interrupt him, quick!" Hegemon Blade's reaction was undeniably fast. Almost the instant Lin Mo raised his eyes, he activated the warrior's Charge skill, intending to use forced displacement to interrupt Lin Mo's skill channeling.

But it was too late.

The 1.5-second channeling of Deadly Gaze was outrageously fast!

Moreover, Lin Mo's target from the beginning wasn't this thick-skinned Shield Warrior!

It was... the female mage at the back of their team who was chanting Polymorph in an attempt to control him!

Buzz—!

The invisible mental shock instantly crossed the distance of space!

The confident expression on the female mage's face froze instantly, and her body was turned into Petrification at a speed visible to the naked eye!

"Crap!" Hegemon Blade was horrified.

He knew the battle was already over.

Shadow Strike!

Lin Mo's figure turned into a bolt of black lightning once again, appearing precisely behind the mage "stone statue."

Backstab! Poison Blade!

A series of fluid operations instantly reduced the mage's health to critical levels.

"Forget the mage! Focus fire on Lin Mo!" Hegemon Blade let out a lung-bursting roar, his greatsword carrying a gale as it slashed fiercely toward Lin Mo's back.

However, a mocking smile appeared at the corner of Lin Mo's mouth.

Poison Shadow Shift!

An instant before the greatsword fell, his figure vanished eerily from the spot, perfectly evading all damage.

In the next second, he appeared ten meters away and gently snapped his fingers.

Poison Burst!

Boom—!

The female mage was instantly killed on the spot!

And those terrifying dark green venomous snakes hissed out again, precisely linking to the nearest archer and priest!

"Quick! Drink the detoxification potions!"

"It's useless! This is an instant 20 stacks! Potions can't keep up at all!"

"It's over..."

Amidst the despairing wails of the Ba Tian Guild members, Lin Mo, like an elegant conductor, strolled casually while snapping his fingers a second and third time.

Boom! Boom!

Two more dull explosions, and two more corpses fell limply.

In the end, only the captain Hegemon Blade, who had activated Shield Wall and was struggling to hold on, and the Rogue who had long since entered Stealth but dared not show himself out of fear, remained.

Lin Mo's gaze swept across a patch of empty snowy ground like a scanner.

"Still going to hide?"

His voice seemed to ring directly in the ear of the hidden Rogue.

The Rogue's psychological defenses instantly collapsed! He let out a scream, revealed himself from Stealth, and fled madly toward the canyon exit without looking back!

Lin Mo didn't even bother to look at him, simply turning his gaze back to the grief-stricken Hegemon Blade.

"Now, can you hand over the ice soul core?"

"Lin Mo... you..." Hegemon Blade was trembling with rage, "You are making an enemy of all our guilds!"

"Is that so?"

A playful arc curled at the corner of Lin Mo's mouth.

"Perhaps you've misunderstood one thing."

"It's not that I'm making an enemy of you."

"It's that I, alone, have surrounded all of you!"

The moment his voice fell, Lin Mo's figure disappeared again!

Stealth!

Hegemon Blade's pupils shrank to the size of needlepoints! He swung his greatsword frantically, attempting to force Lin Mo out with area-of-effect attacks.

But it was all in vain.

A touch of icy chill came from behind him.

Backstab!

-1350!

A terrifying damage number floated up from the head of this Shield Warrior!

Immediately following was the continuous toxin damage, which, like maggots on a bone, frantically ate away at his remaining health.

Finally, Hegemon Blade fell to the ground with a heart full of resentment and humiliation.

Lin Mo picked up the second ice soul core he dropped and glanced at the quest prompt.

[Quest Item: ice soul core (2/3)]

"One more to go."

He looked up toward the deeper parts of the canyon, his eyes as calm as if he had just crushed a few ants.

However, just as he was prepared to continue deeper, his footsteps suddenly stopped.

He slowly turned around and looked toward the direction he had come from—the entrance of Icewind Canyon.

In his perception, there were countless, dense red dots surging toward him like a tide!

That massive killing intent, gathered from hundreds of players, almost dyed the wind and snow in the canyon red!

Blazing Throne, Ba Tian Guild... he even saw several figures with particularly dangerous auras wearing the Oracle Guild emblems!

They had come after all.

And they arrived together with an unimaginably luxurious lineup!

They blockaded the only exit, forming an inescapable net—a death trap that, in their view, was enough to completely bury even a god!

The wind and snow grew even heavier.

Lin Mo stood quietly in the center of the canyon, letting the icy snowflakes fall onto his burning lava breastplate, making a series of "sizzling" sounds.

He slowly took out a deep purple potion emitting an ominous aura from his backpack and gently applied it to his dagger.

Poisoned Weapon!

Facing the encirclement of hundreds that would drive any player to despair, there was not a trace of fear on his face.

Instead, there was only a smile that grew colder and... more excited.

"Finally... some decent prey has arrived."