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Chapter 181: An Unforeseen Development
The ground shook from the marching of the Heavenly Dragon Guild’s army. They were a combination of forces from all of the Five Dragon Warlords. The full force would surpass ten thousand soldiers, but only five thousand had been dispatched today. All of the players in the army had been spending their time practicing and hunting monsters. They were eager to fight against human opponents, thinking of it as a rehearsal for the war event.
Once they were four hundred meters away from the gathering party, they came to a stop and rearranged their formation. The soldiers had already received the news that their commanders, the Five Dragon Warlords, were fighting separately in special dimensions, so they didn’t have a general to lead the army.
Regardless, their army was stronger and had a numerical advantage, so they didn’t care. Their opponents were players from all over who had temporarily teamed up. This battle was theirs even before it had started.
Meanwhile, Tiger was sending party invitations to everyone in the gathering party. Tiger’s party name was ‘Go Get ‘Em Tiger!”, which Tod had created long ago. He set it so that the members within the party could send the same party invitation to others.
Generally, players didn’t like joining a party with people they didn’t know since it would give away their personal information like level and rank. However, now wasn’t the proper time to nitpick. If they didn’t join forces now, their level would drop when they died under the hand of the Heavenly Dragon Guild.
“Everyone. Don’t focus on attacking too much, okay? Remember to charge only when I give you the signal,” Tiger shouted. He was among the players at the front since he was a tanker as well.
Tiger used the formation that he used against Sila in the mock battle, but with some modifications. Although the same weakness was still present, Tiger judged it should be fine this time since no opponent would come at the army from behind.
Normally, the general of the army was supposed to stay behind, or at least at the center of the army, to prevent themselves from dying and demoralizing the entire army. Nevertheless, there were some generals who liked to stay at the front in order to boost the morale of the army.
Tiger placed himself at the front not because he was brave. Rather, he was weak and currently putting himself at risk. However, this was his first time commanding such a large army. He judged he needed to be at the forefront in order to notice the subtle changes in the opposing army's movement. Moreover, the army under his command was formed suddenly and had never trained together nor formed signals. By being at the front and noticing the changes faster, Tiger would gain slightly more time to give suitable commands to others.
The army of the Five Dragon Warlords had finally arrived. They marched slowly but steadily. Since their main role was to wipe out the opposing players, most of them were damage dealers.
“Kill them all!!” The battle cry rang out, and the army of five thousand players aggressively charged at the hastily assembled forces. Lights from magic spells and skill activations flashed constantly.
“Open fire!!” shouted Tiger, and numerous arrows, magic spells, and area-of-effect spells were being fired without stopping.
However, their opponents had long predicted such a development. They had prepared using spells to enhance the entire army’s defensive power in advance.
Once both forces came near each other, the melee fights began. The opposing army relied on their numerical advantage to spread out, pressuring the people in the rear and forcing the combined forces to fight them head-on.
Everyone followed Tiger’s strategy, focusing on defense rather than offense. Even though their level was lower than the opponents, they depended on the terrain advantage and deployed two or three people to gang up on a single opponent. However, this wouldn’t last long. When the Five Dragons army successfully spread out, the numerical disadvantage of the combined forces would be exposed and they would inevitably die.
“Stick to each other!!” Tiger shouted as he noticed the combined forces being slowly spread out.
Even though there was no general among the enemy, their members weren’t stupid. They were trying to split the combined forces’ members from each other.
Tiger took a glance at Jundtrathep, who was waiting for his signal to use Land of Promises.
‘If Jund activates her skill now, we will gain the upper hand, but there is a great risk that comes with it.’ Even though Tiger wanted to let Jund use her skill, he couldn’t decide so easily.
As soon as the skill was activated, the opponents would undoubtedly pour their attacks on Jundtrathep. There was a big chance that they would succeed if the enemies were still close to each other and the concentrated attacks reached her. Tiger planned to use it when the enemy forces had spread out more.
“Damn it. I have no choice but to use it now. Aren’t there any miracles?” Tiger was concerned about the combined forces, which had already started showing signs of losing.
Heaven seemed to hear Tiger’s request. Well, it was more like a grim reaper heard him. Sebastian fiercely opened his eyes.
“I, Sebastian, the lowly slave under the great ruler of death, have nothing but a humble request to ask of the great thou, the child of complete darkness. Kindly descend down upon my lowly world and let it honor thy visit. Where thou reach shall be filled with regretful souls. Where thou stay shall become the deepest abyss. What thou stand on shall be the graves of arrogant heroes. Those who thou hast slain shall become a part of your flesh and blood...”
At the end of the incantation, Sebastian turned his head to Lomyok and whispered the last words into his ear.
Lomyok suddenly stood up. His skin had already returned to its usual pearly white tone.
“I, Lomyok, shall become the sacrifice! O, great Thanatos, please possess your loyal medium!! ...Hm? Did I just say ‘become the sacri—’?”
A mystifying phenomenon unfolded in Zhongsuyuan City. Freezing wind breezed through even though it was a tropical city and Lomyok’s body slowly floated up into the sky, releasing some kind of mysterious atmosphere. Even though his appearance stayed exactly the same, his eyes sent a chilling gaze and his signature flirtatious smile faded away, showing no expression as if he was an aesthetic ice sculpture.
“Huu... Just in time.” Sebastian released a sigh of relief.
Lomyok’s eyes fell on Sebastian as he voiced out his question. The voice still belonged to Lomyok’s, though it was now majestic and imposing.
“Did you call me over, Sebastian?”
Sebastian humbly replied, “Yes, my lord, I summoned you from the Monster Realm in order to help my master defeat his enemies.”
“Your master?”
Thanatos in Lomyok’s body took a side glance at the two armies for a brief moment. Both teams were stunned and their battle had seemed to stop for a while.
“You must be kidding me, surely? Your master is the sovereign of the Monster Realm. Even the combined armies of God and the Demon Lord weren’t his match. How can these puny humans amount to anything?”
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
“I’m referring to my new master, my lord. As for my previous master, he has gone missing. Even I don’t know where he is.”
“Is that so? Forty or fifty years ago, I heard a rumor saying he was last seen in the Monster Realm before he disappeared. I have always thought he came here.”
Sebastian was surprised at the valuable information he got by chance. However, a moment later, he frowned distressingly. The Monster Realm wasn’t somewhere he could easily visit. Furthermore, at Sila’s current strength, he wouldn’t survive even an hour in the Monster Realm.
Thanatos no longer paid attention to Sebastian. “In short, you want me to wipe out these insignificant humans, right?”
“Not quite, my lord. Only those with the dragon symbol. The rest are my master’s comrades.”
Thanatos nodded. The power he emitted was so majestic that just a fraction of it could overthrow people’s sense of balance. It was the power of a monster that had reached Emperor Rank.
Nevertheless, a frown soon appeared on Lomyok’s handsome face.
“What’s wrong, my lord?” Sebastian asked.
“My host is too weak. I can only exert a wisp of my power. More than that and this body will disintegrate.”
“That shouldn’t be a problem, my lord. A wisp of your power should be more than enough to those humans.”
“You are right. Even if I can’t use any of my power, I still have a way. Only, I will be needing something to be the medium of my power.”
Thanatos took out the foldable fan hanging at Lomyok’s waist and looked at it with admiration.
“Oh, this kid has something good. His naming sense sucks, but it’s made of a mineral from the Monster Realm. It will be able to handle my power.”
Thanatos unfolded the fan, sending a portion of his power into it. Soon, the fan changed its shape and became a silver Chinese sword. Engraved along the blade was a beautiful illustration.
It was undoubtedly a weapon, but when held, it looked more like an aesthetic accessory, truly a work of art.
Players looked blankly while feeling stunned. A weapon that could transform itself. They knew only a single mineral that could achieve such a feat.
“Orichalcum!!” Someone shouted.
Everyone was shocked to know Lomyok’s foldable fan was made of Orichalcum.
The Gorgeous Female Fan, Lomyok’s signature weapon, was made of Orichalcum he had gotten from Lost Grea City. The reason Lomyok received Orichalcum from Orpheus was because he had completed a certain special mission Orpheus had included in the list of missions for gaining points to enter Lost Grea City.
The mission wasn’t all that difficult but required great bravery and courage. Even the Android King, who came up with the mission himself, didn’t dare to attempt it. Orpheus found Lomyok, who completed the mission without even showing the tiniest ounce of shame, amusing. Therefore, Orichalcum fell into Lomyok’s hands, which he later brought to Zeref so he could request a weapon.
The Gorgeous Female Fan could transform into two shapes. The first one was a foldable fan that increased the user’s defense stat and maximum health points when wielding. As he had no vital points due to being a part of the undead race, Lomyok became one of the hardest men to kill in Monster Soul.
The other form of his weapon was the Elegant Male Chinese Sword, which enhanced his attack stat and speed. With a single swing of the sword, it would send ten sword waves in the same direction at no cost to the user. It was as if the user instantly attacked ten more times after the initial swing.
It wasn’t like Lomyok was trying to hide his true ability. It was just that most players didn’t like fighting against him (since he was an annoying opponent), and any monsters that saw the weapon’s ability didn’t live to tell anyone. More importantly, Lomyok had a habit of shouting ‘The ultimate move!’ before actually transforming his weapon, and he had to strike a cool pose too. He had to achieve both conditions, otherwise, he would redo it. Obviously, this bad habit often led to him dying before he could show the Elegant Male Chinese Sword.
For example, when he fought against Sila in Colossia City’s battle tournament, if Lomyok had unleashed the power of the Elegant Male Chinese Sword, Sila at that time might not have stood a chance. Sadly, he was a carefree, eccentric person, preferring to show off his handsomeness more than his ability. In addition, he chose to play this game in order to have fun to the fullest, so he didn’t mind losing (though he did mind if he lost in ‘the most handsome man ranking’).
“All right, this medium can’t tolerate my power for too long, so I will need to make this quick,” Thanatos said before injecting his power into the Elegant Male Chinese Sword and swinging it.
Thanatos’ psychic power fused with Lomyok’s qi, flying through the Chinese Sword in his hand, sending ten sword energy waves forward.
Ten explosions rang out at the same time, and a huge crater appeared at the rear lines of the Five Dragons army, as if a giant meteor had just crashed down.
Hundreds of players died, signified by the flashing lights, while another group of sword waves was fired.
BOOM—!
Ten explosions echoed simultaneously for a second time, sending around two hundred players from the Heavenly Dragon Guild to their graves.
“Scatter! Don’t stay close together. All the long-ranged attackers, aim your attacks at him. Do it quickly!!” Someone shouted, and the people scattered as they were told. They were rushing toward the combined forces in order to hinder Thanatos’ ability to launch attacks. The battlefield became even more chaotic.
As soon as Tiger saw a chance, he took it. As the opponents were scattering around like he had intended, he gave a signal to Jundtrathep, who was still surprised by the sudden turn of events. Once she regained her calm, she immediately activated her skill. Her body slightly floated up from the ground.
“Land of Promises.”
A white flash of light enveloped the bodies of the combined forces, before fading away.
“Advance!! Charge!! Now, everyone is blessed with the ability to revive instantly without any penalties when dying. Go purely offensive!” shouted Tiger.
Everybody listened to his words with disbelief. The skill sounded too fraudulent to be true. Nevertheless, the members of Tiger Team and Frenzy Sword and his comrades, who had experienced the power of the skill, immediately commenced an assault with no hesitation. They charged offensively, killing several opponents. Then, when they died from the counterattacks, their bodies glowed with soft golden light and they continued to attack as if nothing happened.
The rest hesitated at first, but gradually followed the lead.
The flow of battle totally changed. The soldiers from the Five Dragons army began to fall like leaves in autumn.
Upon seeing that the two sides were no longer separated, Thanatos stopped using big moves. He was one of the great beings who always stayed true to his words. Since he had promised he would only kill the enemies, his attacks were only aimed at them. Even if the ones on his side could revive after death, he still refused to kill them, as that would count as him going back on his words.
The Chinese sword in his hand exerted a different kind of offensive ability. Instead of using raw power, the sword waves scattered as if they were living beings and shot at opposing players one by one with precise accuracy like each of them had an eye.
Thanatos’ power resembled Orpheus’ punctilious attack, though it was natural since both of their ranks were similarly Emperor Rank.
Thanatos continued to kill opponents with complete ease, making it look as easy as picking up an orange from a box. Moreover, his movements were elegant and his appearance was handsome and overbearing, not spouting nonsense like usual. A lot of the female players were almost enchanted by his awesomeness.
When victory for the combined forces was almost assured, suddenly, the sound of an explosion echoed, even though there weren’t any explosions to be seen.
Sebastian spewed out a pool of blood, showing a pained expression for the first time. Soon, the two remaining gates began to dissolve.
“This power is...? Alas, to think that he appeared when his rate of emergence was the lowest... What horrible luck we have.”
Sebastian muttered as he fell on his knees. The level of a battle within the separated dimension was too much for him to contain. The power residing within was far beyond what anyone could achieve. There was only one being that possessed such a unique, transcendent qi.
The players inside the second gate reappeared simultaneously. All six of them were quite confused about why they suddenly got out of the separated dimension. Every one of them was heavily injured, especially one of the two Trick Masters who had a huge wound on his abdomen.
The other three players also got out from the last dissolving gate. Their bodies were bloody, showing fatal wounds. Zazae’s body was full of injuries. His clothing was tattered and his left hand was bent, completely broken. Cross had a hole in the middle of his chest, bleeding non-stop. Lastly, Lone Wolf’s body was full of burn marks. They all had patches of skin that were greenish purple, indicating bone fractures and internal injuries.
The three people’s eyes were fixated on the distorted gate, completely ignoring the battlefield.
Lone Wolf softly muttered, trying to crack a joke despite the situation, “...It’s just eight percent. What bad luck I have, haha.”
The gate completely dispersed, along with the emergence of a certain someone.
Sebastian and Thanatos in Lomyok’s body shot a look at the newcomer, as they felt great pressure coming from them. The one who was in front of them was absurdly strong. To think that this person made an appearance at such a bad timing...
A tall and handsome man who looked like an angel looked down on everyone present with contempt, as if those around him were nothing but trash. The upper half of his body was bare, showing his perfectly flawless muscles, the pinnacle of physique. The only clothing he wore was covering his lower body. His long hair was golden, and there were six black pairs of wings elegantly spread behind him.
The man absolutely refused to rely on any protective armor, weapons, or skills. His very existence symbolized pride, and no one would ever say that he was unworthy of such a description. The power he possessed was simply almighty and transcendent, to the point where even the other beings of the same Emperor Rank as him weren’t his match.
He was the absolute being who stood at the zenith of qi.
His glaring golden eyes glanced at Lomyok, before stopping at Sebastian.
“Thanatos... and Sebastian...”
“Lord Lucifer...” Sebastian muttered distressingly.
Sebastian quickly thought of a way to escape from the predicament. This development was unforeseen, even for him. Now, the large-scaled battle in front of him no longer important.
Because, if Lucifer decided to act, everyone in Zhongsuyuan City would instantly be obliterated, with no exceptions.