Crack!

A Seven Star City magic knight gaped in shock as a flash of purple shattered his shield and cut his chest in half. His Guard was almost useless against the Purple Ying Sword because my Attack was too high, and I had aimed for his weak point.

While executing Reverse Scale Slash, Li Chengfeng yelled while laughing, "Kill to your heart’s content! With enough Kill Points, there is a not insignificant chance that you may become a Divine General, or even ascend to the Heavenly River Realm!"

Heaven’s Rain slashed a Seven Star City player across the neck before blinking. "Wow, big brother Lu Chen is already Top 20, and it hasn’t even been an hour since he joined. That’s crazy…"

Gui Guzi asked, "What is the Heavenly River Realm anyway? I’m Level 210 now. Does that mean I have a chance to ascend to this whatever realm too?"

"Of course! Just kill as many people as you can!"

"No problem! That is one of my expertises!"

……

We fought for 5 hours straight. The fight was so intense that a lot of players began suffering from weapon durability problems. Our feet were covered in layers and layers of bodies, potions and equipment, but no one bothered to pick them up. Of all the battles we had fought in, this was probably the one where we cared the least about loot.

Vienna’s Sorrow was an intelligent man, and he replied with ranged firepower to whittle away at our strength. I, on the other hand, employed a push-and-pull strategy where I made my forces punch deep holes in the enemy lines, pull back and repeat, all without disrupting the integrity of our formations. Five hours later, nearly every Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls player was drowning in blood and contribution points.

As for myself, I was now sitting at the top of the Nation War leaderboard. The reason I was able to surpass everyone despite my late arrival was because of my three super AoE skills, Rise of the Guardian Dragon, Myriad Swords Obliteration and Summon the Storm. I slaughtered so many Seven Star City players that even the normally coolheaded Vienna’s Sorrow was starting to lose his cool. "Just how many of ours did that motherfucker kill? Will he stop only when all our brothers and sisters are dead?"

Suddenly, a group of players led by Candlelight Shadow himself rode up to us. They were Zhang Chun, Indigo Collar, Warsky, Song of Ice and Fire and more executive-level players.

"Lu Chen!"

Candlelight Shadow said, "Our player count has dwindled to less than 4 million, and most of the NPC troops have been slain. We don’t think it’s possible to defend Wind City any longer, so we’ve decided to withdraw to Sky City. What do you say?"

I looked at Zhang Chun. "What is your opinion, uncle?"

He nodded. "I agree with Candlelight Shadow. Our reinforcements cannot punch through the enemy’s encirclement, and we lack the strength to continue guarding the gates. If we remain stubborn, we will all die at this place. The only way left is to abandon Wind City and defend our last remaining main city. I… sigh. We should’ve listened to your suggestion sooner and prepared a better defense."

I replied in an indifferent tone, "It’s fine. The enemy is simply too numerous and strong. No level of defense would’ve been enough to stop this assault. C’mon, let’s get away from this place already. My guild and I will lead the way, so don’t fall behind!"

"Yeah!"

……

I abruptly gave the Purple Ying Sword a swing and shouted, "All Dragonlight and Zephyr Cavalry, we will break through the enemy encirclement from the east and continue our defense at Sky Forest! Wind City is lost, but do not despair, for the war is not yet lost! Once we’ve regained our strength, we will retake them from the enemy!"

Everyone swung their blades and fought with everything they got. The fall of Wind City was a mark of shame on the entire China server. When the time was right, we would repay the enemy’s "favor" ten times over!

Since Gui Guzi had Knight God and Killer God Formation, he joined me as the vanguard of the Chinese army. I also pulled Lian Xin up my dragon because she was a fragile mage. Sky City still had a need for her services, and it wouldn’t do for her to die here.

However, Vienna’s Sorrow and an army of mounted players with blindingly shiny shields stepped out several hundred meters away from us. After their shield formation was set up, they cackled. "Come to us, Dragonlight Cavalry! You think you’re the unstoppable force? Today, we’ll show you the power of the immovable object!"

……

"Fuck!"

Enraged Gui Guzi charged toward them and hit a group of shielders with Ultimate Strength Break. However, he discovered shockingly that the shielders only lost 100k+ HP or so. Their Strength was so high that not even Gui Guzi with his ridiculous boosts could wipe the floor with them.

I rushed forward and used Myriad Swords Obliteration!

Bang bang bang...

The rain of swords fared better than Gui Guzi’s Ultimate Strength Break, but better still wasn’t enough to kill the shielders. Due to Holy Shield, they lost only half their HP before the priests healed them all to full with Holy Light. Vienna’s Sorrow cackled. "Far Shot, archers! Destroy these fools who think they can break through our defense!"

Everyone’s heart sank. Vienna’s Sorrow was obviously ready for this from the start. Although return scrolls were an option, it meant that we would have to abandon more than half our numbers behind. In a chaotic battle like this, there were only too many people who couldn’t escape combat state and use a return scroll.

……

"Allow me!"

Suddenly, Lian Xin jumped off my mount and charged toward the enemy’s shield formation. She waved her scepter and conjured a massive fire spell in midair before crying, "God Devil Break!"

The resulting damage numbers were absolute massive. She actually managed to one-shot an entire group of shielders—

369440!

349680!

391440!

……

To say that we were shocked would be an understatement. God Devil Break was basically the mage version of Ultimate Strength Break. It had an absolutely ridiculous radius of 50 yards, and it dealt damage equal to 40 times the Intelligence difference between the caster and the target. Technically speaking, the shielders were dumb oafs with barely any Intelligence in their bodies. Therefore, Lian Xin’s 10k+ Intelligence was absolutely lethal against them!

After Lian Xin cast God Devil Break, she dropped twelve force fields across the battlefield and disrupted the enemy’s shield formation completely. While she was doing this, Gui Guzi, Li Chengfeng, He Yi and everyone else pounced on the hole on the enemy’s formation and continued fighting toward the exit. Even High Fighting Spirits grew a brain for once and activated his Famous General Skill, Stamp, that granted his party armor penetration, allowing them to run over the shielders much easier than before.

Swhoosh!

Suddenly, a spinning blade struck Vienna’s Sorrow’s black dragon in the head and elicited a painful howl. It was me landing Coiling Dragon Revolution while the man wasn’t paying attention, of course. I was well aware that the only way we were going to break through this place was to defeat Vienna’s Sorrow, and I was the only one who could fight him on even ground.

"Tsk!"

However, like a true hero—and I mean it, a true hero would know when to fight and when not to—Vienna’s Sorrow disengaged and pulled away from me. Then, he flew to the horizon and left us to break through the encirclement. He knew full well that staying behind where the peak experts of China were gathered would only result in his death. After all, even Little Piglet could threaten him somewhat. The likes of Li Chengfeng and Candlelight Shadow would only be deadlier.

Hero Alliance’s defense line crumbled instantly after their leader escaped. However, a sea of mages and archers were waiting behind them to greet us. It made us feel like we were punching air, and that our devastating strength was locked behind chains and chains of steel. There would be no escape without suffering massive damage.

……

It took us over an hour, but we finally managed to escape Wind Canyon.

My Purple Ying Sword was an Ancient Divine Armament, but its blade was chipped everywhere, and its durability had dropped to just 45%. Things were only worse for Li Chengfeng, He Yi, Gui Guzi and everyone else, who were just a dozen or so swings away from losing their weapons completely. Ranged players didn’t have such problems though. Shooting arrows or casting spells didn’t cost weapon durability, so their weapons looked as good as new.

The Heaven-burning Armor was scarred and bloodied, and my cloak stuck to the Ancient Divine Dragon’s back like a piece of red, wet cloth. I shot a glance at the enemy players nipping at our heels and felt my mouth twitch. Everyone had given their all in this war, but the enemy was simply too numerous and too powerful. This was just impossible.

I looked at the Nation War contribution points leaderboard again. Looking at the total contribution points, China actually had 15% more contribution points than all the other countries. However, what did that matter when we had lost Wind City? The China server was just too dazzling. It had always been a matter of time before this happened.

……

Covered in wounds, Candlelight Shadow turned back to look at his home city. It was at this moment the entire city shuddered and ceded ownership to a different server. The royal palace was breached, and the last of the Chinese players still stuck inside Wind City had been destroyed. Vienna’s Sorrow was the one who took the city’s totem and gained ownership of it. From now on, Wind City belonged to the USA server.

Thud!

Tears flooded down Candlelight Shadow’s cheeks as he dropped to his knee. He roared in regret and self-blame, "If only we learned of their intent sooner, if only we were more aggressive in our approach! We could’ve saved Wind City. We failed our VR industry…"

Zhang Chun put a hand on his shoulder and said quietly, "Don’t be disheartened. Victory and defeat are commonplace on the battlefield, and this isn’t over yet!"

……

Suddenly, Stranger of Three Lifetimes shuddered and let out an exclamation of surprise, "Ah…"

"What’s wrong?" Eyes Like Water asked concernedly.

The guild leader breathed. "White Rose Fortress has fallen. Purple Grape City’s God’s Domain, Era of Strife, Asura Period and more are invading Sky City at full force…"

"WHAT!?"

Gui Guzi shouted with bloodshot eyes. "How… how the fuck did this happen? Didn’t White Rose Fortress have 4 million players defending it? How did they breach it so quickly?"

He Yi replied quietly, "It’s because 3 million+ of the original 5 million defenders belong to Dragons Run Wild, and two hours ago, Amber Pupil withdrew all his troops and left. Naturally, the remaining troops lacked the strength to hold God’s Domain at bay…"

Zhang Chun punched a birch next to him and roared, "What the fuck was that man thinking? How could he not realize the consequences of his action? Has he forgotten his promise to defend White Rose Fortress at all costs?"

Chaos Moon replied, "Well, the territory of Dragons Run Wild’s main guild was attacked, so…"

"That animal, animal!!"

Zhang Chun looked angry enough to tear Amber Pupil to bits with his bare hands.