The deathly silence of Icewind Canyon lasted for less than half a minute.
When the five members of the [Throne of Flames] elite team's team avatars all went dark in the guild channel at the same second, the entire [Throne of Flames] guild chat channel instantly erupted in chaos!
"What happened?! The elite team of the Flame Shield has been wiped out?!"
"How is that possible! Didn't they just establish themselves in Icewind Canyon? Are the monsters there really that strong?"
"No! Look at the system logs, they were killed by players! And... from the first person dying to the last, the interval was no more than ten seconds!"
"Ten seconds?! Wiping out an elite raiding team of all level 20 members with top-notch equipment?! Are you kidding me?!"
At first, there was shock and disbelief. But when the captain's first-person death replay was forcibly retrieved by the guild's higher-ups and shared with the core management in encrypted form, the entire command channel of [Throne of Flames] fell into a deathly silence.
The video is short, only a dozen seconds long.
In the scene, the man wearing a lava-patterned breastplate descends like a god.
That greyish-white gaze, powerful enough to freeze one's soul...
That ghostly raid that instantly traversed the battlefield...
Those crisp, elegant snaps of the fingers, each one like the Grim Reaper's call to arms...
And then there's the unstoppable and incomprehensible chain of [poison explosions] that spread like a plague!
Every scene was like a heavy hammer blow, slamming into the hearts of these top guild players and shattering their pride as elites!
"It's him...it really is him..."
Guild leader, Flaming Lion, a burly man known for his bravery and rage, had a voice that trembled slightly at this moment.
"Lin Mo!"
This name is like a mountain, pressing down on everyone and making it hard for them to breathe.
"Guild Leader! What do we do? This is not even a fighting force of the same dimensionality! This is simply... a dimensional reduction attack!" The voice of Vice Guild Leader Flame Spear was filled with bitterness.
"What should we do?" After a brief moment of shock and fear, the Flaming Lion's eyes were quickly replaced by a frenzied blaze!
"No matter how strong he is, he's only one person! He killed one of our [Throne of Flames] members; this matter cannot be left unresolved!"
"Pass on my order!" the Fiery Lion roared. "All elite guilds in the City of Glory, immediately! At once! Convey all forces to Icewind Canyon! Seal off all exits!"
"He thinks he's tough? I'll show him today that two fists can't beat four hands! Even an ant can kill an elephant!"
"Furthermore, immediately contact the [Overlord Guild] and the [Oracle Guild]! Tell them that Lin Mo is in Icewind Canyon! We, the [Throne of Flames], are willing to share all the spoils of this kill with them! I have only one request—"
"Today, Lin Mo must be sent back to level zero!"
...
Lin Mo was completely unaware of and utterly indifferent to the enormous uproar caused by the outside world.
He calmly pocketed the [Ice Soul Core], and then, like a seasoned hunter, continued walking deeper into the canyon.
With the enhancement of the Queen's Eye, his perception attribute had reached a terrifying level. No sound or movement within a hundred meters could escape his ears.
Soon, he discovered a second team.
This time, it's people from the [Overlord Guild].
Perhaps alerted by the [Throne of Flames], the team was unusually cautious. The five of them stood almost back to back, forming a circle, and advanced step by step, vigilantly observing every corner around them.
"That's interesting."
Lin Mo hid behind a huge ice rock, a cold smile playing on his lips.
This kind of impenetrable formation is indeed very troublesome for regular assassins, because it is difficult to find a perfect angle to cut in and kill their backline.
But for Lin Mo right now...
Conventions have long lost their meaning.
Without the slightest hesitation, he walked out from behind the ice rock in a very open and unreserved manner.
"Who goes there?!"
The captain of the [Overlord Guild], Overlord Blade, spotted him immediately and issued a stern warning.
But when he saw the iconic [Molten Heart Breastplate] on Lin Mo's body, his pupils suddenly contracted!
"It's Lin Mo! Everyone on high alert!!"
With a roar, the Tyrant Blade instantly put the entire team into action, like a wound-up machine. Shields were in front, mages chanted, archers drew their bows, and thieves stealthed. Everyone's target was locked onto Lin Mo!
They were clearly well prepared!
However, Lin Mo simply watched them quietly, as if admiring a group of clowns putting on a show.
He slowly raised his eyes.
It was that familiar, chilling gray-white light again!
"Not good! It's that control skill! Interrupt it quickly!" Tyrant Blade's reaction was incredibly fast. Almost the instant Lin Mo looked up, he activated the Warrior's Charge skill, trying to interrupt Lin Mo's skill channeling with forced displacement.
But it was too late.
The 1.5-second induction of the "Fatal Gaze" is outrageously fast!
Moreover, Lin Mo's target from the very beginning was not this tough shield warrior!
Instead... it was the female mage behind their team, chanting a Polymorph spell, attempting to control herself!
Buzz—!
An invisible spiritual impact instantly transcended spatial distance!
The confident expression on the female mage's face froze instantly, and her body was petrified at a speed visible to the naked eye!
"Oh no!" Tyrant Blade thought in alarm.
He knew the battle was over.
[Shadow Strike]!
Lin Mo's figure transformed into a black lightning bolt once again, appearing precisely behind the mage "stone sculpture".
Backstab! Poisoned Blade!
A series of fluid maneuvers instantly reduced the mage's health to near zero.
"Forget about the mage! Focus fire on Lin Mo!" Tyrant Blade roared hoarsely, his greatsword whipping through the wind as he slashed fiercely at Lin Mo's back.
However, a mocking smile appeared on Lin Mo's lips.
[Poison Shadow Transformation]!
His figure vanished mysteriously from his spot just before the giant sword fell, perfectly avoiding all damage.
The next second, he appeared ten meters away and gently snapped his fingers.
[Poison Explosion]!
boom--!
The female mage was instantly killed!
And the terrifying dark green venomous snake roared out once more, precisely linking to the nearest archer and priest!
"Quick! Drink the antidote!"
"It's no use! This is an instant cast of 20 stacks! Potions simply can't remove it!"
"It's over..."
Amidst the desperate wails of the Batian Guild members, Lin Mo, like an elegant conductor, leisurely snapped his fingers a second and a third time.
Boom! Boom!
Two more muffled explosions followed, and two more corpses fell limply to the ground.
In the end, only Captain Tyrant Blade, who had activated Shield Wall and was struggling to hold on, and the thief who had been stealthily hiding but dared not show himself out of fear, remained.
Lin Mo's gaze swept across the empty snowfield like a scanner.
"Are you still going to hide?"
His voice seemed to ring directly in the ear of the lurking thief.
The thief's mental defenses crumbled instantly! He screamed, emerged from stealth, and fled frantically towards the edge of the canyon without looking back!
Lin Mo didn't even bother to glance at him, instead turning his gaze back to the indignant and grief-stricken Ba Tian Zhi Ren.
"Now, can you hand over the [Ice Soul Core]?"
"Lin Mo...you..." Tyrant Blade trembled with rage, "You're making an enemy of all our guilds!"
"Yeah?"
A playful smile curved the corners of Lin Mo's lips.
"Perhaps you've misunderstood something."
"It's not that I'm at odds with you."
"But it was me alone who surrounded the entire audience!"
The moment the words left his mouth, Lin Mo's figure vanished once again!
[sneak]!
The Blade of Tyrants' pupils shrank to the size of pinpoints! He frantically swung his greatsword, attempting to force Lin Mo's figure out with an area-of-effect attack.
But it was all in vain.
A chilling sensation came from behind him.
Backstab!
-1350!
A terrifying damage number appeared above the head of this shield warrior!
Then came the relentless poison damage, like a leech clinging to his bones, frantically devouring his last remaining health.
In the end, the Overlord Blade, filled with resentment and humiliation, crashed to the ground.
Lin Mo picked up the second [Ice Soul Core] that he had dropped and glanced at the quest prompt.
[Quest Item: Ice Soul Core (2/3)]
"One more is needed."
He raised his head and looked deeper into the canyon, his eyes calm as if he had just crushed a few ants.
However, just as he was about to continue deeper, his steps suddenly stopped.
He slowly turned around and looked in the direction he had come from—the entrance to Icewind Canyon.
In his perception, there were countless, densely packed red dots, surging in like a tidal wave!
The immense killing intent emanating from hundreds of players nearly turned the wind and snow in the canyon red!
[Throne of Flames], [Overlord Guild]... He even saw several figures wearing the [Oracle Guild] emblem, exuding an exceptionally dangerous aura!
They finally came.
Moreover, they arrived with an unimaginable, truly luxurious lineup!
They sealed off the only exit, creating an inescapable trap, a deadly situation that, in their view, was enough to bury the capital city completely!
The wind and snow intensified.
Lin Mo stood quietly in the center of the canyon, letting the cold snowflakes fall on his scorching lava breastplate, making a series of "sizzling" sounds.
He slowly took out a bottle of dark purple potion that exuded an ominous aura from his backpack and gently applied it to his dagger.
[Highly Poisonous Weapon]!
Facing the encirclement of hundreds of people that would drive any player to despair, there was not a trace of fear on his face.
Yes, but it was a smile that grew colder and more...excited.
"Finally... some decent prey has arrived."