39: A One-Man War

Icewind Canyon, the wind and snow cut like knives.

The murderous atmosphere nearly froze the falling snowflakes mid-air.

At the entrance of the canyon, a dense crowd, like a dam forged of steel, completely sealed off the only path. Looking out, all one could see were surging heads and high-quality equipment flashing with various lights.

Blazing Throne, Ba Tian Guild, and Oracle Guild!

The top five guilds in the China server of the epoch had arrived together!

Over five hundred elite players, all level 18 or higher, formed a luxurious joint legion. The iron defense line composed of Shield Warriors was impenetrable, like massive shields; Archers and Mages lined up in the back, their weapons already glowing with dangerous magical halos, arrows notched, and spells ready; furthermore, dozens of top Assassins had activated Stealth, vanishing into the wind and snow like deadly vipers, turning the area into a hunting ground of absolute death.

"All units pay attention! The target is deep within the canyon, do not advance rashly!"

Flame Mad Lion stood in the center of the formation, his voice transmitted clearly to everyone through the team channel. His face was a mixture of fury and solemnity.

"Mage Corps prepare Blizzard and Firestorm for indiscriminate area coverage! Archers prepare Arrow Rain to seal off all possible blind spots! I refuse to believe that he, a mere Assassin, can survive our carpet bombing!"

"Friends from Ba Tian Guild, please have your Shield Warrior brothers hold the very front line, ensuring the formation is not broken!"

"Friends from Oracle Guild, your Assassins are the best in the entire server; the task of searching and assassination is entrusted to you!"

Command after command was issued methodically. The elites of the three major guilds displayed extremely high tactical proficiency, quickly constructing a three-dimensional encirclement net covering long, medium, and close range.

In their view, this was no longer a battle, but an execution.

They had mobilized a lavish lineup, enough to easily crush any 50-person team dungeon, just to deal with a single person.

This was the caution of a lion using its full strength to catch a rabbit, and more so, the unchallengeable prestige belonging to a top guild!

"Heh heh, they certainly think highly of me."

Deep inside the canyon, Lin Mo's figure appeared silently like a phantom atop a cliff. He looked down upon the iron-clad formation below, his eyes showing not a hint of tension, but rather a faint trace of mockery.

An encirclement? Before a true Assassin, a so-called cordon was merely a slightly larger hunting ground for him to move through freely.

His gaze, like a hawk's, swiftly swept across the entire enemy formation. He was searching.

Searching for the commander of this grand "execution," and searching for the crucial nodes within the formation.

Soon, his gaze locked onto the burly man with the loudest voice and the most forward position Flame Mad Lion.

To catch the bandit, first catch the ringleader. This principle is eternal.

"Well then... let's start with you."

A cold curve lifted the corner of Lin Mo's mouth. His figure flickered slightly, and he activated Stealth, completely merging into the wind, snow, and shadows, without a single trace remaining.

"Everyone, snap to attention!" Flame Mad Lion was still commanding hoarsely, "He is likely hiding behind a rock or in a blind spot! Do not spare your skills; plough this entire area for me!"

However, before he finished speaking, an extreme warning of danger, originating from the depths of his soul, suddenly exploded in his heart! Not good!

Flame Mad Lion's pupils contracted sharply, and relying almost entirely on the instinct of a top expert, he subconsciously raised the great axe in his hand to block.

But it was too late. A coldness that seemed capable of freezing the soul had silently appeared behind him.

Shadow Strike!

Lin Mo's figure, like the God of Death emerging from the Nine Netherworlds, traversed nearly a hundred meters right under the noses of hundreds of people, appearing directly behind the enemy's overall commander!

Fast! Extremely fast! So fast that no one could react!

Backstab!

-1380! (Critical Hit!)

A terrifying blood-red damage number, enough to instantly kill any squishy class, erupted violently above Flame Mad Lion's head!

"Enemy attack! Behind the Guild Master!" Only then did the surrounding guards finally react, letting out screams of utter horror.

Countless attacks poured towards Lin Mo like a torrential rain. Yet, Lin Mo's face remained utterly calm, like an ancient well.

Poison Shadow Shift!

0.1 seconds before all the attacks landed, his figure strangely transformed into a phantom, entering an invulnerable state lasting 1.5 seconds!

MISS!

MISS!

MISS!

A series of despair-inducing "miss" notifications floated above his head.

He was like a monarch strolling leisurely through a storm, allowing the torrent of skills capable of shredding steel to pass through him, yet remaining completely unharmed!

And his attacks did not pause for a moment! Poison Blade!

-950! (Poison -110!)

Another heavy blow! Flame Mad Lion's health, which was as high as four thousand, was instantly reduced by two-thirds! He was horrified and roared furiously, trying to turn and counterattack.

But would Lin Mo give him that chance? The answer was no.

The instant the invulnerability ended, the familiar gray-white light representing death suddenly flared in Lin Mo's eyes! Fatal Gaze!

Buzz—!!!

Flame Mad Lion's great axe, about to be swung, suddenly froze in mid-air. His body, starting from his feet, was rapidly covered by a layer of gray-white stone, instantly transforming him into a stone statue filled with anger and unwillingness!

The entire area fell into dead silence. Everyone was completely stunned by this unbelievable scene!

Stealth penetration, invulnerability evasion, hard control counter-kill... this set of fluid movements happened in a flash, so smooth it seemed rehearsed thousands of times, filled with the aesthetics of violence and death!

They couldn't even comprehend why someone could elevate combat to such an artistic level!

"Now, it's my turn." Lin Mo looked at the "stone statue" before him and gently snapped his fingers.

Poison Burst!

-2200!

A damage number that suffocated everyone shot into the sky! Flame Mad Lion's Petrification body was detonated by this destructive, internal Poison energy before it could even be dispelled!

Boom—!!!

Shattered stone flew everywhere! The Guild Master of Blazing Throne was instantly killed right in front of his hundreds of elite subordinates!

And this was only the beginning.

The moment Flame Mad Lion died, the dense, materialized dark green Poison cloud suddenly exploded! Three energy chains, like venomous snakes, instantly linked to the three closest members of the guard unit! Plague Link!

"No good! Scatter quickly!" "Get away from that green thing!"

Finally, someone in the crowd reacted and let out a terrified scream. But scattering in such a dense crowd? Easier said than done!

A death-like smile curled Lin Mo's lips. His gaze locked onto a Shield Warrior who had just been linked with 20 stacks of Poison, and once again, he gently snapped his fingers.

Poison Burst!

Boom—!!!

Another muffled explosion, and another body fell weakly! And the terrifying Plague Link, like a maggot attached to bone, triggered again!

This time, three spread to nine, and nine spread to twenty-seven! The dark green chains of death spread frantically through the dense crowd at an exponential, terrifying speed!

"Ahhh! My health!" "Save me! Healers, save me!!" "It's useless! This Poison drains health too fast! We can't dispel it!"

Panic, like a virus, spread wildly through the joint legion. Their proud iron-barrel formation had now become the perfect breeding ground for Plague Link!

Their numerical advantage had now become the catalyst accelerating their deaths!

Lin Mo's figure had long since retreated back into the shadows. He was like the most masterful conductor, with every appearance serving only to detonate a crucial "note."

He then quietly enjoyed the Symphony of Death composed jointly by countless Poison Bursts and screams!

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Continuous explosions echoed through the canyon. Swathes of white light flared among the crowd.

The joint legion's line had completely collapsed. They couldn't even touch the hem of Lin Mo's clothes, yet they were utterly routed by this unprecedented chain attack!

The supposed encirclement had turned into a complete joke. The supposed execution had become their own funeral!

"Devil... he is a devil!!" A Ba Tian Guild player, after witnessing his nearby squad instantly wiped out by the chain Poison Burst, completely broke down. He screamed, dropped his weapon, and fled frantically back the way he came without looking back.

His action was like pushing over the first domino. Running away is contagious.

When the first deserter appeared, the rout was already inevitable.

"No retreating! No one is allowed to retreat! Hold the line!" The few surviving guild executives were still desperately trying to salvage the situation.

However, the answer they received was a cold flash of blade light emerging from the shadows.

And that sound, like the snap of the God of Death's fingers...

Ten minutes later.

Icewind Canyon returned to silence. Only, this silence felt particularly eerie.

The previously dense crowd had now thinned out. Corpses and scattered equipment littered the ground, staining the white snow unevenly.

Fewer than a hundred players survived. They had long lost their previous arrogance, huddling near the canyon entrance like startled birds, staring intently into the depths of the canyon with eyes filled with extreme terror, as if a peerless primordial beast lurked there.

They didn't even dare to take another step into the canyon. Because they knew that man was still inside.

The Demon God who had crushed their five-hundred-man allied army single-handedly!

Deep within the canyon, Lin Mo slowly picked up the third ice soul core from the corpse of an Oracle Guild Assassin.

"Quest Item: ice soul core (3/3)." "Finally, they're all here."

He murmured softly, not bothering to spare a glance for the group of terrified "elites" outside.

He turned around and walked toward the deepest part of the canyon, where an ancient teleportation gate, covered in ice and snow, led to the Withered Snow Domain.

He embedded the three ice soul cores into the grooves. Buzz—!

Accompanied by a violent spatial fluctuation, a deep blue teleportation vortex, emanating endless cold air, slowly appeared.

Lin Mo did not hesitate, taking a step into it.

Just before his figure vanished, he seemed to remember something, turning his head toward the canyon entrance and leaving a faint remark.

The voice was not loud, but it clearly carried through the wind and snow to the ears of every survivor.

"Go back and tell your Guild Masters."

"This time was merely a warning."

"Next time, I will personally pay a visit..."

As his words fell, his figure completely disappeared into the light of the teleportation gate.

Only the shivering "elites" remained, their faces ashen in the biting cold wind.

They knew that starting today, the sky of the epoch was about to change completely.