1560

The stench of blood permeated the once silent forest. A beautiful woman landed on a forest clearing before shooting a small smirk at Vienna’s Sorrow and asking, "How’s the battle, Vienna?"

Thud!

A frowning Vienna’s Sorrow stabbed his black sword into the soil like it was an enemy before answering, "You saw the message, didn’t you? Shabby Castle was killed."

Tear Stain chuckled. "I thought he called himself the number one mage in the world? How did he get himself killed then? Hmph."

The Knight of Stars uttered, "Enough, Tear Stain! This is not the time to be pointing fingers and blaming each other. Shabby Castle was ganged up on by Beiming Xue, Lian Xing and Legendary Brave. His death was understandable."

"Speaking of which, where is Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand and his men?"

"They escaped."

"What are we waiting for then? Shouldn’t we give chase or something?" Tear Stain stared at Vienna’s Sorrow.

The warrior pointed at High Fighting Spirits’ body before replying, "We’ve killed a couple hundred Dragonlight Cavalrymen and taken out one of their corps commanders. This High Fighting Spirits carried an incredible amount of contribution points, so I reckoned that he killed plenty of our men. Also, we’ve killed almost 2 million Chinese players in Pharaoh Valley, so I’d say that we’ve achieved our strategic objective. All that said, I don’t think there is a need to chase them down. A cornered enemy is dangerous, and Candle Dragon and Snowy Cathaya are still sieging the city just ahead. There is no need to turn this into an all-out battle yet."

"What do we do now then?" Tear Stain asked.

Beside Vienna, the mage Death Wish replied with a smirk, "Easy. We’ll tell Breeze and Rain and God of War to continue reinforcing Swallow Ear Canton. While the Chinese army is busy, we’ll conquer Sky Ridge Fortress and march toward Sky City from there!"

"Mn!"

……

At another faraway forest.

Pitter patter…

A drizzle was falling from the sky. I felt like a storm had taken residence inside my heart as I stepped across wet grass toward our destination. Guilt and regret toward High Fighting Spirits had twisted my facial features into a permanent frown. I hadn’t imagined that the battle to save Warsky Alliance and Soul Battle Robes would be such a costly one until the worst happened.

"It’s not your fault, Lu Chen…" He Yi walked up to me and whispered.

Li Chengfeng also said, "Yes, Fighting Spirits’ death isn’t your fault. It was all to save Warsky Alliance and Soul Battle Robes from annihilation, and for the sake of this Nation War…"

I was still very upset, however. Fist clenched and blood sliding down my blade, I declared in a cool voice, "I’m absolutely going to cut Vienna’s head off, or I won’t have the face to meet Fighting Spirits!"

He Yi nodded. "Mn! So, what do we do now?"

"We meet up with Warsky Alliance and travel to Swallow Ear Canton. I need to see it destroyed with my own eyes!"

"Okay!"

……

Warsky Alliance was currently resting at a wide forest clearing. Their equipment looked warped and tattered because they had been battling for 5 hours straight. In fact, most of them were still at low health. It was because not many priests managed to escape the ambush. They could only rely on low-rank potions to heal themselves, and many of them didn’t even bother to drink one. It showed just how demoralized they were.

"They’ve come…" October Rain said while rising to her feet.

"Ugh…"

Warsky was sitting beneath a tree and resting. When he heard that we had come, he opened his eyes, rose to his feet and walked up to us with a smile on his face. "I didn’t think that the one to come to our rescue would be the opponent we had declared war against. Life truly is an unpredictable thing. Thank you very much for your help, Lu Chen!"

Thud!

Without a word, I darted up to Warsky and punched him with a fist fully charged with divine energy!

Bang!

Blood spilled out of Warsky’s lips as he slammed into a tree behind him. The tree trunk shook violently, and tree leaves fell in clumps. As I withdrew my fist, I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword and stabbed him through the chest, effectively nailing him to the tree trunk. While blood spilled out of his wound, I roared at him with bloodshot eyes, "Look what you’ve done, Warsky! Did you know how many brothers and sisters I lost because of your impulsiveness? Even High Fighting Spirits was killed by Vienna! If I could choose again, I would’ve left you for dead!"

"Hah… hah… hah…"

Warsky looked at me while panting heavily. "I’m sorry, brother… I’m truly… sorry…"

Not far away from me, Farewell Song immediately came to his guild leader’s rescue. However…

I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword, activated Profound Armor and slashed at him. "Get lost!"

"Ah?!"

Farewell Song tried to parry the attack with both daggers, but I turned my wrist at the last moment to execute a parry shatter. Not only that, I had activated Heavenly River Transformation to empower my attack. As a result, the attack went right through his daggers and sent him flying like a broken kite. He rolled across the grass for at least 30 meters before he finally came to a stop.

Thud…

Suddenly, a pale hand grabbed my sword hilt. It belonged to October Rain. She said, slowly, "Lu Chen, we are aware that Warsky Alliance really did Ancient Sword wrong this time. We thank you truly for saving us during our time of need. However, killing Warsky and Farewell Song won’t change things, and we still need them to fight the war, don’t we? Please stop here."

He Yi also pressed a hand on my arm and said, "Enough, Lu Chen…"

I sheathed my sword dejectedly and leaned against the rain-drenched tree. I then closed my eyes and said, "Over 10,000 elites including High Fighting Spirits had died at Pharaoh Valley… I just can’t stand it, I can’t stand my brothers and sisters being slaughtered like defenseless chickens… I just can’t stand this goddamned guilt and regret[1]…"

Li Chengfeng walked up to me and patted me once on the shoulder. "And yet we’ll never blame you for your decisions because you are our brother, and we are yours. I understand your feelings, Lu Chen. I feel guilty about Fighting Spirits’ death too, but this is war. Just like in real life, casualties are bound to happen eventually."

……

I raised my head and stared at the gloomy sky for a bit, "Battle report please, Chaos Moon…"

Chaos Moon nodded. "We were 2 parties of 8,000 men each when we departed. Party 1 only has 3,147 players left, and party 2, 4,459 players. We have lost 8,394 players in total including High Fighting Spirits, and everyone was a core player in Ancient Sword and an elite within the Dragonlight Cavalry!"

"Fuck!"

I punched the tree behind me as the pain in my heart spiked once more.

Beside me, Warsky said, "Lu Chen, I truly thank you for coming to our rescue. If you don’t mind, I would like to compensate your dead brothers and sisters."

I shot him a glance and said, "You will pay everyone who died 50k gold per person, and those who didn’t, 10k gold per person. Now."

Warsky nodded without thinking. "Mn. I’ll transfer 100 million gold to you right now. You can distribute the gold later."

I sucked in a deep breath before replying, "Okay."

……

The transaction was completed a short moment later. If nothing else, Warsky was a man of his word. He wasn’t done yet though. Walking to the center of the clearing and facing toward my players, he clasped his fists together and apologized deeply, "I am the one who has given the wrong order in this battle. It is all my fault, so please don’t blame my players for my mistake. I will carry this responsibility alone. Thank you all of you for coming to rescue us today. I, Warsky, swear that I will treat all Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players as my sworn brothers and sisters starting now. I will never betray you all for as long as I live!"

Warsky Alliance’s players looked shaken by their guild leader’s declaration. Lin Bing Dou Zhe even walked up and said, "Boss, you didn’t need to bear all the responsibility. In fact, we’re the ones who asked you to chase down Cyan Beast. You were just complying with our request. We…"

October Rain interrupted, "Lin Bing Dou Zhe, it’s okay. Let Warsky bear this alone. He is the guild leader. This is what he should do!"

Warsky nodded. "One should answer for one does. I have never been one to shift the responsibility, and I’m not about to start now. This mistake is all mine, and I will do my best to fix it. When this Nation War is over, I’ll compensate everyone for their loss as best I can."

……

It was at this moment a huge man carrying a warblade walked up to us. He was accompanied by a beautiful girl and several other players. They were all the executive-level players of Soul Battle Robes.

Song of Ice and Fire glanced back and forth between me and Song of Cloud and Water before saying quietly, "This battle has greatly changed my impression of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Lu Chen. I admit that we really should’ve become sworn allies with them, guild leader."

Song of Cloud and Water said with reddened eyes, "I have always liked Lu Chen since he became a pro. I like his perseverance, dedication, and unparalleled talent. That is why for the first time, I am going to make an important decision as the guild leader of Soul Battle Robes…"

She turned around to look at her subordinates and shot them a bright smile. "You can defy me and even reject me, but this is one time you won’t be able to change my mind."

Ringwraith looked surprised. "What are you planning, big miss?"

Song of Cloud and Water smiled and said, "I hereby declare that Soul Battle Robes will be joining Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls as their subguild. I wish to become a member of Ancient Sword. Only then will I be able to play this game happily…"

Song of Ice and Fire looked shocked. "Big miss… isn’t this decision a little… too…"

"Impulsive?" Song of Cloud and Water replied coolly. "Maybe, but I’ve made up my mind. Will you support me?"

Song of Ice and Fire clenched his fists tightly. "I… I will respect your decision, guild leader. I too am willing to join Ancient Sword and become one of them, although… we should probably ask if they’re willing to take us in first…"

……

To be honest, I, He Yi, Li Chengfeng and everyone else were bubbling with joy the moment we heard that Soul Battle Robes were hoping to join Ancient Sword. Everyone was aware of the strength of Soul Battle Robes and especially their best players, Song of Cloud and Water, God Bone and Ringwraith. Song of Ice and Fire especially was a super-tier player with the SS Rank Ancient Divine Skill, Gonggong’s Furious Strike. Who wouldn’t want an expert like him?

And so He Yi walked up to them with a smile as warm as a cool spring. "No problem! Ancient Sword is more than willing to accept you as our subguild! Our strongest subguild, Bloody Mercenaries, is an independent entity. If Soul Battle Robes joins us, you will enjoy the same independence as them. Is that fine?"

Song of Cloud and Water smiled. "Okay!"

1. E/N: That’s Lu Chen’s biggest flaw, apparent since the beginning of the game. He cares TOO MUCH about people around him. Candlelight Shadow was outgearing him for a while at the beginning because Lu Chen was giving out best pets and items, and it’s also why he’s been hiding for He Yi. His rationale is completely taken over by altruism sometimes. If anything, he’s consistent, but also annoying… ☜

The stench of blood permeated the once silent forest. A beautiful woman landed on a forest clearing before shooting a small smirk at Vienna’s Sorrow and asking, "How’s the battle, Vienna?"

Thud!

A frowning Vienna’s Sorrow stabbed his black sword into the soil like it was an enemy before answering, "You saw the message, didn’t you? Shabby Castle was killed."

Tear Stain chuckled. "I thought he called himself the number one mage in the world? How did he get himself killed then? Hmph."

The Knight of Stars uttered, "Enough, Tear Stain! This is not the time to be pointing fingers and blaming each other. Shabby Castle was ganged up on by Beiming Xue, Lian Xing and Legendary Brave. His death was understandable."

"Speaking of which, where is Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand and his men?"

"They escaped."

"What are we waiting for then? Shouldn’t we give chase or something?" Tear Stain stared at Vienna’s Sorrow.

The warrior pointed at High Fighting Spirits’ body before replying, "We’ve killed a couple hundred Dragonlight Cavalrymen and taken out one of their corps commanders. This High Fighting Spirits carried an incredible amount of contribution points, so I reckoned that he killed plenty of our men. Also, we’ve killed almost 2 million Chinese players in Pharaoh Valley, so I’d say that we’ve achieved our strategic objective. All that said, I don’t think there is a need to chase them down. A cornered enemy is dangerous, and Candle Dragon and Snowy Cathaya are still sieging the city just ahead. There is no need to turn this into an all-out battle yet."

"What do we do now then?" Tear Stain asked.

Beside Vienna, the mage Death Wish replied with a smirk, "Easy. We’ll tell Breeze and Rain and God of War to continue reinforcing Swallow Ear Canton. While the Chinese army is busy, we’ll conquer Sky Ridge Fortress and march toward Sky City from there!"

"Mn!"

……

At another faraway forest.

Pitter patter…

A drizzle was falling from the sky. I felt like a storm had taken residence inside my heart as I stepped across wet grass toward our destination. Guilt and regret toward High Fighting Spirits had twisted my facial features into a permanent frown. I hadn’t imagined that the battle to save Warsky Alliance and Soul Battle Robes would be such a costly one until the worst happened.

"It’s not your fault, Lu Chen…" He Yi walked up to me and whispered.

Li Chengfeng also said, "Yes, Fighting Spirits’ death isn’t your fault. It was all to save Warsky Alliance and Soul Battle Robes from annihilation, and for the sake of this Nation War…"

I was still very upset, however. Fist clenched and blood sliding down my blade, I declared in a cool voice, "I’m absolutely going to cut Vienna’s head off, or I won’t have the face to meet Fighting Spirits!"

He Yi nodded. "Mn! So, what do we do now?"

"We meet up with Warsky Alliance and travel to Swallow Ear Canton. I need to see it destroyed with my own eyes!"

"Okay!"

……

Warsky Alliance was currently resting at a wide forest clearing. Their equipment looked warped and tattered because they had been battling for 5 hours straight. In fact, most of them were still at low health. It was because not many priests managed to escape the ambush. They could only rely on low-rank potions to heal themselves, and many of them didn’t even bother to drink one. It showed just how demoralized they were.

"They’ve come…" October Rain said while rising to her feet.

"Ugh…"

Warsky was sitting beneath a tree and resting. When he heard that we had come, he opened his eyes, rose to his feet and walked up to us with a smile on his face. "I didn’t think that the one to come to our rescue would be the opponent we had declared war against. Life truly is an unpredictable thing. Thank you very much for your help, Lu Chen!"

Thud!

Without a word, I darted up to Warsky and punched him with a fist fully charged with divine energy!

Bang!

Blood spilled out of Warsky’s lips as he slammed into a tree behind him. The tree trunk shook violently, and tree leaves fell in clumps. As I withdrew my fist, I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword and stabbed him through the chest, effectively nailing him to the tree trunk. While blood spilled out of his wound, I roared at him with bloodshot eyes, "Look what you’ve done, Warsky! Did you know how many brothers and sisters I lost because of your impulsiveness? Even High Fighting Spirits was killed by Vienna! If I could choose again, I would’ve left you for dead!"

"Hah… hah… hah…"

Warsky looked at me while panting heavily. "I’m sorry, brother… I’m truly… sorry…"

Not far away from me, Farewell Song immediately came to his guild leader’s rescue. However…

I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword, activated Profound Armor and slashed at him. "Get lost!"

"Ah?!"

Farewell Song tried to parry the attack with both daggers, but I turned my wrist at the last moment to execute a parry shatter. Not only that, I had activated Heavenly River Transformation to empower my attack. As a result, the attack went right through his daggers and sent him flying like a broken kite. He rolled across the grass for at least 30 meters before he finally came to a stop.

Thud…

Suddenly, a pale hand grabbed my sword hilt. It belonged to October Rain. She said, slowly, "Lu Chen, we are aware that Warsky Alliance really did Ancient Sword wrong this time. We thank you truly for saving us during our time of need. However, killing Warsky and Farewell Song won’t change things, and we still need them to fight the war, don’t we? Please stop here."

He Yi also pressed a hand on my arm and said, "Enough, Lu Chen…"

I sheathed my sword dejectedly and leaned against the rain-drenched tree. I then closed my eyes and said, "Over 10,000 elites including High Fighting Spirits had died at Pharaoh Valley… I just can’t stand it, I can’t stand my brothers and sisters being slaughtered like defenseless chickens… I just can’t stand this goddamned guilt and regret[1]…"

Li Chengfeng walked up to me and patted me once on the shoulder. "And yet we’ll never blame you for your decisions because you are our brother, and we are yours. I understand your feelings, Lu Chen. I feel guilty about Fighting Spirits’ death too, but this is war. Just like in real life, casualties are bound to happen eventually."

……

I raised my head and stared at the gloomy sky for a bit, "Battle report please, Chaos Moon…"

Chaos Moon nodded. "We were 2 parties of 8,000 men each when we departed. Party 1 only has 3,147 players left, and party 2, 4,459 players. We have lost 8,394 players in total including High Fighting Spirits, and everyone was a core player in Ancient Sword and an elite within the Dragonlight Cavalry!"

"Fuck!"

I punched the tree behind me as the pain in my heart spiked once more.

Beside me, Warsky said, "Lu Chen, I truly thank you for coming to our rescue. If you don’t mind, I would like to compensate your dead brothers and sisters."

I shot him a glance and said, "You will pay everyone who died 50k gold per person, and those who didn’t, 10k gold per person. Now."

Warsky nodded without thinking. "Mn. I’ll transfer 100 million gold to you right now. You can distribute the gold later."

I sucked in a deep breath before replying, "Okay."

……

The transaction was completed a short moment later. If nothing else, Warsky was a man of his word. He wasn’t done yet though. Walking to the center of the clearing and facing toward my players, he clasped his fists together and apologized deeply, "I am the one who has given the wrong order in this battle. It is all my fault, so please don’t blame my players for my mistake. I will carry this responsibility alone. Thank you all of you for coming to rescue us today. I, Warsky, swear that I will treat all Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls players as my sworn brothers and sisters starting now. I will never betray you all for as long as I live!"

Warsky Alliance’s players looked shaken by their guild leader’s declaration. Lin Bing Dou Zhe even walked up and said, "Boss, you didn’t need to bear all the responsibility. In fact, we’re the ones who asked you to chase down Cyan Beast. You were just complying with our request. We…"

October Rain interrupted, "Lin Bing Dou Zhe, it’s okay. Let Warsky bear this alone. He is the guild leader. This is what he should do!"

Warsky nodded. "One should answer for one does. I have never been one to shift the responsibility, and I’m not about to start now. This mistake is all mine, and I will do my best to fix it. When this Nation War is over, I’ll compensate everyone for their loss as best I can."

……

It was at this moment a huge man carrying a warblade walked up to us. He was accompanied by a beautiful girl and several other players. They were all the executive-level players of Soul Battle Robes.

Song of Ice and Fire glanced back and forth between me and Song of Cloud and Water before saying quietly, "This battle has greatly changed my impression of Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and Lu Chen. I admit that we really should’ve become sworn allies with them, guild leader."

Song of Cloud and Water said with reddened eyes, "I have always liked Lu Chen since he became a pro. I like his perseverance, dedication, and unparalleled talent. That is why for the first time, I am going to make an important decision as the guild leader of Soul Battle Robes…"

She turned around to look at her subordinates and shot them a bright smile. "You can defy me and even reject me, but this is one time you won’t be able to change my mind."

Ringwraith looked surprised. "What are you planning, big miss?"

Song of Cloud and Water smiled and said, "I hereby declare that Soul Battle Robes will be joining Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls as their subguild. I wish to become a member of Ancient Sword. Only then will I be able to play this game happily…"

Song of Ice and Fire looked shocked. "Big miss… isn’t this decision a little… too…"

"Impulsive?" Song of Cloud and Water replied coolly. "Maybe, but I’ve made up my mind. Will you support me?"

Song of Ice and Fire clenched his fists tightly. "I… I will respect your decision, guild leader. I too am willing to join Ancient Sword and become one of them, although… we should probably ask if they’re willing to take us in first…"

……

To be honest, I, He Yi, Li Chengfeng and everyone else were bubbling with joy the moment we heard that Soul Battle Robes were hoping to join Ancient Sword. Everyone was aware of the strength of Soul Battle Robes and especially their best players, Song of Cloud and Water, God Bone and Ringwraith. Song of Ice and Fire especially was a super-tier player with the SS Rank Ancient Divine Skill, Gonggong’s Furious Strike. Who wouldn’t want an expert like him?

And so He Yi walked up to them with a smile as warm as a cool spring. "No problem! Ancient Sword is more than willing to accept you as our subguild! Our strongest subguild, Bloody Mercenaries, is an independent entity. If Soul Battle Robes joins us, you will enjoy the same independence as them. Is that fine?"

Song of Cloud and Water smiled. "Okay!"

1. E/N: That’s Lu Chen’s biggest flaw, apparent since the beginning of the game. He cares TOO MUCH about people around him. Candlelight Shadow was outgearing him for a while at the beginning because Lu Chen was giving out best pets and items, and it’s also why he’s been hiding for He Yi. His rationale is completely taken over by altruism sometimes. If anything, he’s consistent, but also annoying… ☜