Why didn’t Zyrus want to change his equipment? It was due to the reason he had mentioned a long while ago,
Spirits.
Or rather, Artifact spirits.
Any equipment has a certain chance to give birth to a spirit. The difference between an item with and without an accompanying spirit was tremendous.
Take his Bone necklace for an example. It increased his mana by a pitiful 2. There were numerous items which were much better than that, but Zyrus didn’t swap with them.
Items also needed experience to rank up and give birth to spirits. Of course, suitable precious materials were the main requirement.
Even in the minuscule chance that he failed to upgrade his necklace, it would give birth to a spirit after hundreds of years. The time they spent with their owner and the battles they fought were the best nutrients for the items.
And even a common grade item with an artifact spirit was stronger than most unique grades.
‘Come to think of it, I should be able to upgrade the bloodspine spear as well,’
Epic-grade items were the highest-ranked items that were obtainable. And if all went according to his plans, then Zyrus would have one such item- a weapon at that, in the second ring.
*BUUUUUUUU*
The familiar bugle of the goblin riders pulled him back from his imagination. Zyrus walked to the bow of the dragon of war, and sure enough, he saw a majestic fleet that stretched across the horizon.
“Feels great, doesn’t it?”
“Yeah, and it’ll keep getting better,” Zyrus replied to Franken as he looked at the 100+ ships. Thousands of players were at his back and called after repeated summonings from the first ring.
‘With this, we might just win before the sunrise,’
It was about time they moved on from the shore regions and sailed to the true ocean…
…
*Craw*Craw*Craw*
Hundreds of ravens flew above the island. Lauren was using ‘Stargazer’ while the others stood guard around her. Zyrus also sent a few of his summons to scout the nearby forest.
This island wasn’t much different compared to the second one. The forest’s size and the trees were similar. However, there was one exception.
“There are a lot of…Monkey-like creatures. I guess close to a hundred thousand,”
“That’s quite the number. How about their strength?” Ria asked as she stood beside Lauren.
“Let me see…”
Zyrus let them chat on their own and summoned the rest of his abyssal region. He already knew about the monsters that inhabited this island.
‘Well, it’s good to let them practice,’
He gave out the equipment and explained the contribution system in the meantime. By the time he was done talking with the leaders, the sun had dipped halfway into the horizon.
“Phew…all done. They are about a meter tall with long hands and stubby feet. They can hover around like flying squirrels, but they are nowhere as cute.”
Lauren continued her report by stating their possible attacking methods and habitat. Long story short, they were small monkey-like monsters with sharp teeth and claws. Their biggest advantage was their mobility and large numbers.
“Do you have any plans?” Ria asked after she finished listening.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
“Just go with the standard tactics,”
“I thought so as well. This’ll be easy,” she replied to Zyrus and walked back to the command center to convey the orders.
Soon, thousands of players marched out in an organized manner. They were divided into smaller divisions which were further divided into squads.
Normally, Zyrus would group the same classes together to deploy synergistic formations like the one in the lair of Nidhogg, but there was no need to go that far. Rather than getting an effortless victory, his goal was to train the players.
Each squad of 100 had a scout who carried a rod-like object. First, a group of rogues and assassins would escort him to a safe region. Next, the rod was installed on the ground, and it would act as a monitoring device.
It used heat detection to survey a 100-meter radius and reported the findings to the squad captain. Ten such squad captains would relay the information to the division commander, and the division commanders would report to Ria at the backlines.
She, who had the power of Clairvoyance and items like the conductor’s tiara, was perfect to act as the brain of the whole army.
Ria distributed the troops according to enemy’s density within minutes. And thus, a one-sided slaughter commenced under the darkened sky.
Different squads were created with specific scenarios in mind. Some defense-oriented squads were made up of shield warriors and spearmen, whose sole task was to keep the enemies at bay while mages and arches took care of them.
A combination of swordsman and spearman who acted as the frontline fighters, a squad full of rogues and assassins who went around like specters to disrupt the enemy lines, a rescue squad made up of healers and shield warriors who escorted them, archer and mage squads which were sent out to bombard a faraway region….
Zyrus watched everything proceed atop a tall tree. He was more than satisfied with the leaders' performance. Kyle, Shi kun, Druv, Strongfist, and Lauren were doing their jobs without a hitch.
‘Even without me, they should be able to win by tomorrow evening,’
But since he was here, things would be different. He had taught the players how to survive against monsters who were much stronger than them, and from the current battle, it was apparent that they knew how to fight against opponents with similar strength as well.
There was one last thing left to teach them.
“Watch and learn, this is how you overpower your enemies.”
*ROOAR*
The drakes excited cries echoed around the forest. Be it the ally or the enemy, all were forced to pause their movements.
“We’re not savages who know nothing except slaughter and destruction. We’re conquerors. Always aim to subdue your enemy as long as the situation allows it.”
Zyrus’s red eyes swept over the entire battlefield as he continued,
“But how do you conquer them? The answer is simple- Strength. Exterminate everyone who dares to stand on your path. Break their spirits so they won’t dare to raise their arms against you ever again. Make them fear you, make them respect you, and finally, make them obey you.”
*Roooar*
Zyrus roared alongside the drakes and barged into the forest alongside his abyssal legion. It was as if someone had pressed the resume button as all of the fights went back on as before.
However, there was a clear difference compared to before. The monsters were no longer as ferocious.
“Surge,”
-500,-500,-500…
*Kiaaark*
Exp +350
Exp +350
.
.
Zyrus made cyan vortexes that uprooted the trees and the monsters alongside them. The drakes directly charged over like armored tanks and fell the remaining trees. The lucky monsters who survived were swept clean by the abyssal warriors who were riding on the drakes.
It was a pure one-sided suppression. All of the players had leveled up a few times which adjusted them with the rules of the second ring. There wasn’t that big of a level difference between the players and the monsters unlike the first island.
Not to mention that this time, it was the players who had a field boss like existence leading them- while the enemies were disorganized and leaderless.
True to Zyrus’s words, the monsters surrendered after a few hours of bitter struggle. The player’s casualties numbered in three digits while almost 80% of the monsters were wiped out.
It was a conquest in the truest sense of the word. This was the reason War was considered a lucrative venture, at least for the kings who sat at the top.
Just from this one battle, the number of Zyrus’s troops had doubled, not to mention the exp, loot, system’s rewards, and the resources they’d get from the island.
‘And by tomorrow morning, no one would give a crap about the dead except their friends and family,’
Zyrus sighed as he went to the command center. He was long since used to wars like these where thousands of lives were lost at his single gesture. This was the weight of the crown that he had to bear.
Whether he liked it or not, there was no choice but to fight. There were no such things as peace treaties and mutual coexistence in the sanctuary.
This was the survival of the fittest where you either rule over others or be crushed underfoot.
‘And I have no intentions to do the latter,’
It didn’t take long for him to accept the monsters into his ranks. Before the first ray of light descended on the island, a loud bell rang which marked their victory.
<{Congratulations! You have conquered one of the islands of Pisces archipelago}>
<{All stats +13 on conquered territory, no roaming monsters would attack the conquered territory}>
These were the same rewards compared to before. The second and the third islands had increased the stat buffs by +2 in total.
And this was just the beginning.
|---| You have conquered one of the three Zones of Pisces archipelago! |---|
|---|Additional Rewards will be given to the Brave Conquerors! |---|