NOVEL WEB Chapter 136: The Perfect Trap
Tyrant Solitude's 'retreating' force was actually lying in wait just beyond the canyon entrance, hidden in a nearby ravine. At the same time, Whispering Bamboo had arrived and joined up with him.
Skyblade relayed the update.
Meanwhile, Marcus Skeiner and his men had closed in—less than 500 meters from Ethan. From this distance, he could already see Ethan and Lyla backed up against the canyon wall.
Ethan's expression was one of sheer terror.
Marcus sneered. 'Finally caught you.'
He slowed his advance, stopping just shy of 100 meters from them.
"NotADruid? Ha! Let's see where you run this time!" he called out mockingly.
Hearing that, Ethan chuckled. His frightened look vanished instantly.
"Run? Who's running? I was just enjoying the view. Beautiful scenery, don't you think? Stopped here to rest for a bit, that's all."
The three guild leaders stiffened.
Why was he still so calm? Did he have a trick up his sleeve?
Nocturne, the Wasteland Dominion leader, was an older man in his fifties. He scanned the surroundings, his instincts on high alert. Could there be an ambush?
"Gentlemen, let's finish this quickly. The longer we wait, the greater the risk," he urged.
Frostbite scoffed. "Getting paranoid in your old age, Nocturne? I already had men scout the cliffs. There's no way up unless they can fly."
Hearing that, Marcus and Nocturne relaxed slightly.
Marcus raised his hand to signal his men.
"NotADruid, let's settle this. Old grudges, new grudges—"
Before he could finish, Ethan cut him off.
"Uh, yeah, I'm gonna have to pass on that. You guys take your time hashing it out. I'll be heading out now. Bye."
Ethan and Lyla exchanged a quick glance. Then, in a flash, Ethan pulled out a Grappling Launcher and fired it at the cliff behind him.
Bang!
A rope shot upward and latched onto the rock face.
"Shit! That's a Grappling Launcher! Those things cost 50 gold each, and they're actually using them?" Nocturne shouted.
Before anyone could react, Ethan and Lyla were already climbing fast—scaling 10 meters in seconds.
"Archers! Shoot them down!" Marcus bellowed.
"Boss, the ranged fighters are in the back! They're not in position!" one of his men yelled back.
In an instant, the melee players scrambled aside, clearing a narrow path for their ranged allies to advance.
Before they could even take aim—
BOOM!
A cannon shell crashed into the ground, exploding just 10 meters in front of Marcus.
"Damn it! Stop spamming skills if you're out of range! You're just wasting mana!" Marcus roared.
BOOM! WHOOSH!
Suddenly, waves of magical energy surged through the air. Arrows. Bullets. Cannon shells. Magic spells.
A rain of death poured down from above.
"This isn't us—it's coming from the cliffs!" a panicked player shouted, only to be obliterated by a barrage of attacks.
The three guild leaders finally looked up and saw dozens, no, hundreds of players standing atop the canyon walls. Hurling down spells like mana was free.
"It's over!" Nocturne stumbled, nearly falling.
"Switch formation! Rear team to the front! Break out!" Marcus Skeiner barked, somehow still the calmest among them.
"Boss! The entrance is blocked—it's Eternal Glory and Whispering Bamboo!"
"What?! Break through! Move, now!"
Above them, the sky was pure chaos. Explosions. Arrows. A rain of magic. The canyon became a massacre. What was supposed to be a three-guild assault turned into a perfect ambush orchestrated by Renegade Alliance.
It was over in ten minutes.
Blade Syndicate, Wasteland Dominion, and Unrivaled Honor—all 12,000 players who entered the gorge—were wiped out.
Renegade Alliance? Not a single casualty.
Their only expense was ten barrels of Grappling Launchers, costing a total of 500 gold. Each rope could last long enough for 20 players to climb. Each barrel contained 10 ropes.
Atop the cliffs, Renegade Alliance had 2,000 ranged players, all with powerful AoE skills.
Eternal Glory and Whispering Bamboo took heavier losses since they had to block the escape route head-on.
Each guild sent 4,000 players. By the time the dust settled, 2,000 of their own had fallen. But since their guildmates looted all the fallen gear, the only real loss was 20% experience.
When all was said and done, Renegade Alliance spent the most gold, but also gained the most loot. Of the 12,000 pieces of gear dropped in the canyon, Renegade Alliance claimed 70%.
Ethan earned far more than the other two guilds combined.
As for Blade Syndicate and its allies, they were left utterly broken. Wiped twice in a single day.
The aftermath? Total silence in all three guilds.
---
DING!
[System Announcement: Congratulations to player 'NotADruid' for successfully defending the Divine Ability Scroll: Teleportation!]
Teleportation (Divine):
Allows the player to set 20 teleportation points and freely teleport between them within a 100 km radius.
(Usable 5 minutes after exiting combat.)
The entire game world saw the message.
What should have been pure chaos in the Northern Frontier had instead been a flawless victory.
Ethan himself was a little surprised.
In his previous life, every single time a Divine Ability appeared, Ethereal would descend into madness.
His original plan was simple:
Since mounts hadn't been unlocked yet, he intended to run for 12 hours straight, relying on his superior speed.
But everything changed in Duskridge.
When he noticed Whispering Bamboo's guild leader, Misty Cloud, tailing him, he had an idea.
She was sharp.
So, he had Celia approach her, to see if an alliance was possible. He hadn't expected Misty Cloud to agree instantly.
Then, Eternal Glory also joined in, another unexpected twist.
As it turned out, Whispering Bamboo's second guild leader, Riverleaf, was an old classmate of Tyrant Solitude.
And Tyrant Solitude? He'd been in love with her for years. So when Riverleaf approached him, there was never any doubt. That led to the canyon ambush.
Tyrant Solitude pretended to ally with Marcus Skeiner…Only to lead them straight into the trap.
Then, right before the ambush was sprung, he broke ties with Marcus, withdrew from their sight, and hid in the ravine—waiting to strike.
Step by step, the plan unfolded. And while Ethan had proposed the possibilities…Celia, Riverleaf, and Misty Cloud had designed every detail.
Even the "cat-and-mouse chase" across the coastline was just an illusion—meant to trick Blade Syndicate into thinking Ethan was desperately running.