"We won!"
A gleam of wild joy flickered across Ryan's face.
The Tauren Dark Lord was now at his last gasp, no longer capable of causing any significant troubles.
He was about to deliver the final blow, spear at the ready, when a chilling gust came from behind.
Ryan swung his spear towards the source of the gust, immediately colliding with a longsword.
The collision's force made Ryan take a step back.
His gaze hardened as he looked at the newcomer - a tall treant who was watching him with amusement.
An army of Heroes emerged behind the treant, quickly surrounding them.
"What do you want?" Ryan asked with a darkened expression.
Zachary let out a cold chuckle, launching a surprise attack without warning.
His sword, swift as a shadow, unleashed a frigid flash, charging towards Ryan.
Reacting instinctively, Ryan retreated.
However, he quickly realized that he wasn't the real target.
After a feint that made Ryan step back, Zachary surged forward, decapitating the severely wounded Tauren Dark Lord with a single stroke.
As the body of the Tauren Dark Lord slowly fell, Zachary flicked the blood off his sword.
The realization hit Ryan - they were kill stealers! He was instantly inflamed with rage.
"Do you wish to make an enemy of Riverside, and my Black Rose Guild?" he thundered.
The name of the Black Rose Guild, led by Rose, was a formidable force in the Hero alliance, attracting a mass of Heroes and causing most of them to think twice about clashing with its members.
Zachary sneered at his words.
Unthreatened, he retorted scornfully, "Riverside? Black Rose Guild? Never heard of such trivialities. Do you know where you are? This is our territory of the East Sea. You come here, try to steal our hunt, and dare to question us?"
"And you, Riverside folks, did none of you have parents to teach you manners?"
"YOU!" Ryan's anger flared up.
He lifted his spear, aiming straight at Zachary. "Take back your words, or don't blame me for what happens next!"
"And if I don't?" Zachary snorted coldly, taking a step forward. His accompanying Heroes pulled out their weapons, surrounding Ryan and his group.
Having just finished an intense battle with the Tauren Dark Lord, Ryan's group was injured and exhausted, while Zachary's crew was well-rested and in full force.
Ryan's group was clearly at a disadvantage.
With a darkening expression, Ryan asked coldly, "Are you ready to risk everything?"
"That depends on what you're willing to do," Zachary replied nonchalantly, shrugging and gesturing towards the exit.
"Take your people, leave Tauren Hill immediately, and I can pretend this never happened, sparing your lives."
"If you're not planning to leave, then I'm afraid we'll have to leave you all here," Zachary said.
Ryan glanced at his companions, gritted his teeth and responded coldly, "Very well, Zachary. This grudge will not be forgotten."
"Let's move out, men!" He commanded.
His team of Heroes, though visibly upset, had no choice but to swallow their pride and leave.
Watching Ryan lead his team away, Zachary and his crew burst into mocking laughter.
"Remember this, Riverside cowards," they jeered.
"Next time you cross paths with us East Sea Heroes, make sure you remember your place!"
Ryan left in silence, his face dark with rage.
A few of his Heroes moved in closer, speaking in hushed tones, "Boss, are we just going to let those punks walk all over us?"
"We'll have our revenge," Ryan promised, his voice frosty.
"We'll return to Riverside for now... but I'll make sure those East Sea scum learn what happens when they mess with us."
After cleaning up the spoils of war at Tauren Hill, Zachary and his team quickly moved on to their next target.
This time they had disguised themselves as Riverside Heroes, and were ambushing East Sea Hero teams.
...
Back in Riverside, Rose was massaging her temples as she listened to reports from her subordinates.
The guild leaders of the major guilds in the city had all come to demand answers.
The East Sea Heroes had grown increasingly brazen, openly poaching monsters.
Several large guilds had suffered significant losses, and despite their attempts at retaliation, the East Sea Heroes continued to cause trouble.
The border between East Sea and Riverside had turned into a battlefield, where Heroes from both sides would fight on sight.
As the situation continued to escalate, various Hero guilds had approached Rose, hoping she would lay down some rules.
Holding the dual roles of City Master and Guild Leader, Rose was viewed as the leader of Riverside.
"Hmm..." Rose pondered for a moment.
Traditionally, the best way to resolve the situation would be to have each side elect a representative and negotiate boundaries...
However, given her unique position - not only a city master and Hero, but also Ethan's lover - she actually hoped for the Heroes on both sides to fight fiercely.
Rather than making a direct decision, Rose turned to her fellow Heroes and asked, "What are your thoughts? Feel free to speak your mind. Riverside is not a dictatorship. Even though I happened to become the City Master, I am essentially a Hero. I will stand with you all."
"One option is to negotiate. Our common enemy should be the Dark Lord faction. If we continue to fight amongst ourselves, the Dark Lord faction could seize the opportunity. It won't be good news for either side," one of the Heroes suggested. Several others nodded in agreement.
Ryan, however, was not pleased.
He had been holding a grudge and didn't want to back down now.
andasnovel.com He immediately objected, "I disagree. Those East Sea bastards have pretty much spat in our faces. Do we just negotiate and let them off the hook? What about our fallen comrades? If we don't seek vengeance, who will be willing to fight for us in the future?"
"Indeed, I agree with Ryan. If we just negotiate now, how will other Heroes, especially outsiders, view Riverside Heroes? Won't they think we've chickened out?"
"I also feel negotiation is not the solution. Many of my guild brothers died at the hands of those East Sea bastards. I understand and agree that our main enemy should be the Dark Lord, but currently, the ones who have killed us, the ones who bear grudges against us, are the East Sea Heroes!"
"I refuse to negotiate!"
"What then if you don't approve? Continue to fight like this? The Dark Lords around our two cities have suffered repeated blows recently, isn't this a great opportunity to wipe them out?" one of the Heroes argued.
"By continuing this internal strife, aren't we giving the Dark Lords a chance to develop? When these Dark Lords recover and we are left weakened by our infighting, facing those Dark Lords then, wouldn't more of us die?"
The room full of Heroes erupted into an uproar.
Rose rapped her knuckles on the table, signalling for everyone to calm down, then she spoke in a measured voice, "I understand all your opinions. First and foremost, the Dark Lord faction is our primary enemy. There's no doubt about that."
"If the Dark Lord faction gains the upper hand, we all die. As for those Heroes from East Sea, regardless of the conflicts that have arisen between us, if a war with the Dark Lord faction truly breaks out, we still need to grit our teeth and see them as allies."
"However, even if we are to negotiate, we cannot do so lightly. Others would perceive us, the Heroes of Riverside, as weak. If the external conflicts aren't resolved, our internal disputes will first lead to our collapse."
"I propose we can negotiate, but we must make East Sea request the negotiation. Before that, to avoid meaningless casualties, we need to deliver a fatal blow. With the smallest casualty cost, we hurt East Sea badly enough to have them actively take a seat at the negotiation table."
Rose looked around the room and coldly said, "The main force of East Sea in the battles against us is the Sea King Guild. Target the key culprit and take out the Sea King Guild. I think that should be enough to quell the anger in your hearts."
"By taking down the Sea King Guild, we could force East Sea to come to the negotiation table. What do you all think?"
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