1574

"Sky Barren City…" Li Chengfeng curled his lips. "Never heard about it…"

I stared at him. "The database is right there, dude!"

Li Chengfeng did as I said and exclaimed in surprise, "Fuck! Tear Stain sure is one underhanded bitch!"

"What’s wrong?" He Yi asked.

Li Chengfeng waved his hand and brought up Sky Barren City’s data—

Sky Barren City (City Lord: Tear Stain)

Gold Production: 312,000 per hour (+40%)

Wood Production: 322,000 per hour (+27%)

Stone Production: 287,000 per hour (+19%)

Crystal Production: 110,000 per hour (+14%)

Farmers: 103,200

Buildings: 32

Troops: 150,000 (40,000 Frost Archers, 40,000 Sacred Mages, 70,000 Sky Knights)

Wall Durability: 3,500 (+70%)

Teleportation Formations: 7

City Skills: Skill Proficiency, Iron Armor Art

Lord: Viscount Autumn Maple

……

"Fuck me!"

I had to rub my eyes to confirm that I wasn’t seeing things. "This Tear Stain is seriously crazy! She has 150k NPCs in a Rank 10 castle? Not even our Rank 11 Dark Moon City has more than 50k NPC troops. Is she plotting to defy the heavens or something??"

Chaos Moon chuckled. "It’s simple. The resources of nearly the entire Burning City were burned to satisfy the needs of Sky Barren City. As a result, it hit Rank 10 faster than even Beauty Lin’s Silver Fir City, and it is also the third player territory to reach Rank 10. Literally every other player territory within Burning City is only Rank 7."

He Yi asked, "What do we do now, Lu Chen? Do we attack Tear Stain’s player territory, or do we withdraw and continue focusing on Burning City?"

I thought for a moment before answering, "There are still 20 hours before the Nation War ends, so we have plenty of time. Soul Battle Robes is attacking Burning City, and Stranger of Three Lifetimes is coming over to reinforce us with her remaining 200k troops. So, no, I don’t think we’ll be turning back. Tear Stain wants us here anyway, so we may as well take it out and destroy her biggest and last trump card! We’ll make it so that she doesn’t even have the capital to fight the next Nation War!"

Li Chengfeng chuckled. "So ruthless. It’s because she’s Candlelight Shadow’s junior, isn’t it?"

I shrugged. "More like because I’m not close to her, so why the hell not?"

I then raised my sword and yelled, "Alright, we’re advancing to Sky Barren City next, people! This is also a good opportunity to wipe out Nation Guardian’s remnant troops! Chaos Moon, mobilize another 200k Ancient Sword players to join us, will you? I would like to occupy this territory in one go. Be careful though. A territory NPC can only move and attack within 1,000 yards of the territory[1], but that also means they’ll be aggroed the moment we enter within 1,000 yards. 150k high-level human NPCs, man. I’m sure we’ll get a good chunk of Nation War contribution points out of this!"

In the sky, Beiming Xue shot me a sweet smile and said, "It’s too bad territory troops can only operate around a territory. Otherwise, you would have simply needed to order the 1,000 Bone Dragons from Dark Moon City’s Dragon’s Lair to attack Sky Barren City, and it’d be turned into rubble in half an hour at most!"

I chuckled. "It’s okay. Territory troops are meant for defense only, and the Bone Dragons are why the Northern Alliance never dared to attack our territory even once. Anyway, let’s prepare for the attack. A territory’s fortress isn’t very tall, so we’re just going to scale the walls normally. Watch out for the NPCs’ attacks though. The Sky Knights are Rank 10 units and quite powerful!"

"Mn! Should we bring some of the catapults over to help with the siege?" He Yi asked.

I replied, "It’s fine. They’re needed at Burning City to maintain the pressure, and I’m sure we can do this ourselves!"

"Okay!"

……

Our 200k cavalry troops were already next to Sky Barren City by the time we finished our conversation. We stopped about 1,000 yards away from the territory, while Wild King and his remaining 100k players rode through the gate unimpeded. After he rode up the walls, he unsheathed his blade and challenged me, "Come attack us if you dare, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! I’ll be waiting for you right here!"

I narrowed my eyes. There were a ton of arrow towers and even catapults in Sky Barren City. If I wasn’t certain before, I now knew that this was definitely a trap Tear Stain had set up for us. I had no intentions of backing out, however. What kind of person would choose to return home empty-bellied when the host had invited them to a feast?

So, I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword and raised it high. "Probing attack! All units, enter within 500 yards of the city and form a shield formation! Holy Mages and Dragonlight Archers, prepare to attack any enemy that shows their faces! We’re going to draw out the NPCs from the city and kill them all first!"

Heaven’s Rain, Diamond Dust and more spurred their mounts into a gallop and advanced as one perfect line. The Dragonlight Archers were following right behind them, and even further back were tens of thousands of Holy Mages. Lian Xin and Beiming Xue were flying here and there in the sky as well. It was a show of force that was sure to put some invisible pressure on the enemy.

……

On the walls, Wild King said with a cold expression, "I cannot command the Sky Knights of Sky Barren City, so tell Tear Stain to teleport over already. Otherwise, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls will overcome this territory in an hour or so!"

Beside him, a Throne of the Wild corps commander nodded in agreement. "Don’t worry. The guild leader is coming right now!"

The teleportation formation inside the city sparkled with magic before he even finished speaking. It was Tear Stain and a large group of Throne of the Wild players teleporting over from Burning City. Tear Stain flew up the walls, landed lithely on the rampart, and stared at Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ troops with anger in her eyes. "Hmph, the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild is acting like they’re the king of the world. If not for the fact that they retained the strength to launch a counterattack when all the other top Chinese guilds such as Candle Dragon, Warsky Alliance, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and more were killed, I would say that it is undeserved!"

Wild King smiled at Tear Stain with undisguised lust in his eyes. "Stop dilly-dallying and give the order already, Yoon Pae Meng. Tell your NPC troops to enter the battlefield, and I will mobilize my own troops to catch Ancient Sword in a pincer. I have three more intact armies stationed outside the plains, and each one numbers around 200k players or so. It will be enough to annihilate Ancient Sword’s 300k men."

However, Tear Stain raised an eyebrow and said, "Since when did you have the authority to order me around, Wild King? How I fight my battles is my business. Also, who was the one whose 2-million-strong army was crushed by Ancient Sword’s exhausted players? Don’t you have any shame at all?"

Wild King looked surprised. "What, are you breaking your promise?"

"Promise?" Tear Stain smirked. "The promise was for you to defeat Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and defend Burning City successfully. Have you accomplished either of these objectives yet? No? Then why should I fulfill my side of the promise?’

Wild King’s tone grew urgent. "You must be joking! I have lost 1 million troops right under Burning City! You will not act like their sacrifices are for nothing[2]!"

Tear Stain looked discontented, but she decided that it would be unwise to tear into Wild King right now. Instead, she shot him a sweet smile and said, "Of course not. However, you will have to repel the enemy in front of us before we talk terms. There’s no way I will fulfill the promise if I lose my territory and main city!"

Wild King clenched his fists and declared spiritedly, "No problem! I’ll do my best!"

……

Meanwhile, Li Chengfeng and I were flying toward Sky Barren City when the former said with a laugh, "You are a devious woman, but no one can doubt your devotion toward your main city, Sister Yoon Pae Meng! Don’t worry, you are Candlelight Shadow’s junior sister, so we won’t allow you to besmirch your reputation even if you try! We promise to destroy Burning City and flatten Sky Barren City no matter what! Wild King will not get his dirty hands on you!"

I also laughed. "Yes, Yoon Pae Meng. The man you love is Candlelight Shadow, and Candlelight Shadow is our compatriot. We will ensure that your love is undamaged!"

"Huh…"

For a time Yoon Pae Meng simply stood there unblinkingly, unsure if she should be happy or angry at our taunts. Shoulders shivering and eyes swirling with complex emotions, she whispered, "Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls are Candlelight Shadow’s enemies, but… they can be cute when they want to, huh?"

Wild King shot her a confused look. "What did you say, Pae Meng?"

Yoon Pae Meng abruptly returned to earth and transformed into the queen of Burning City once more. She unsheathed her blade and cried imperiously, "I will dispatch 70k Sky Knights to attack the enemy in 3 minutes. While they are leading the attack, please hit the enemy from the flanks and surround them, friends from Nation Guardian! Also, please mobilize the troops on the plains now! We will encircle and crush Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls right here!"

Wild King brandished his weapon and declared, "Anything you say!"

……

Creak…

All four gates of Sky Barren City opened at nearly the same time as the Sky Knights rushed out into the open. The Sky Knights were cavalrymen that rode flying horses, and as their mounts might suggest they possessed the ability to fly. They could only fly for a short distance of a dozen or so meters, however. As the strongest troop type of the Human Castle, the unit naturally possessed an extraordinary amount of Attack and Defense. What was ridiculous was that Sky Barren City had 70k+ of them. To give an example, Lin Yixin’s Silver Fir City only had 10k+ Sky Knights. To say that Tear Stain had way too much money for her own good would be an understatement!

Throne of the Wild and Nation Guardian’s players were following right behind the Sky Knights. Behind us, the Nation Guardian troops we had scattered in the previous battle reformed themselves to launch a second assault. A centipede dies, but never falls down. Assuming that their morale remained high, they could come after us again and again until we killed all of them.

……

"Shields up! Hold!" Li Chengfeng shouted.

I contacted Stranger of Three Lifetimes with a frown, "Momo, have you and your people passed through Soaring Flame Desert yet?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes replied, "Yeah. What’s wrong?"

"Give me your current coordinates!"

"(128878, 90088)!"

"Mn." I took a moment to confirm her coordinates on the map screen before saying, "Momo, travel full speed toward the north right now. In 10 minutes, you should encounter an army of Nation Guardian players. Kick their butts hard while we bash their faces in from the front!"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes smiled. "Sure! I’ve cobbled together an army of 240k players or so. We’ll do our best to assist you!"

"Thanks!"

……

Battle cries filled the air, and Ancient Divine Skills poured across the frontline like crazy. Everyone was doing their best to stop the Sky Knights and the players attempting to attack us from all sides. Thankfully, the Dragonlight Cavalry and the Dragonlight Archers proved capable of holding back the dual army via sheer firepower. Also, I had ordered Warscar and Hickey to move to the back and engage the enemies attempting to hit our rear with their 100k+ players.

There was a rumbling noise, and dark clouds suddenly covered the sky. Soon, a downpour splashed against our armor and turned the ground into a literal ocean of watery blood!

Crack!

After cutting down a Dragonlight Cavalryman, Tear Stain backed away just in time to dodge a number of arrows from Beiming Xue. She swiftly flew back to her castle and ordered without hesitation, "Loose!"

Thud thud thud…

Shock Arrows struck impotently against Beiming Xue’s aura of Unusual Physique, but it was wiser not to tempt fate. Beiming Xue flew away and returned to the main battlefield, shooting a Skypiercer to kill a group of Nation Guardian cavalrymen.

……

I was tired. Everyone was tired. Even the players of Cyan Earth City[3] and Sky Barren City were tired. Even so, we gave it our all because we knew that the last man standing would become the final victor of this great Nation War!

We would write the new chapter of Eternal Moon and jot our names down in it with our own hands!

1. T/N: unless they’re gathering resources I guess? Man that was so long ago ☜

2. T/N: says the guy who sacrificed 1 million players and potentially his city to get some pussy ☜

3. T/N: no they’re not. Nation Guardian has been sitting on their asses all day ☜

"Sky Barren City…" Li Chengfeng curled his lips. "Never heard about it…"

I stared at him. "The database is right there, dude!"

Li Chengfeng did as I said and exclaimed in surprise, "Fuck! Tear Stain sure is one underhanded bitch!"

"What’s wrong?" He Yi asked.

Li Chengfeng waved his hand and brought up Sky Barren City’s data—

Sky Barren City (City Lord: Tear Stain)

Gold Production: 312,000 per hour (+40%)

Wood Production: 322,000 per hour (+27%)

Stone Production: 287,000 per hour (+19%)

Crystal Production: 110,000 per hour (+14%)

Farmers: 103,200

Buildings: 32

Troops: 150,000 (40,000 Frost Archers, 40,000 Sacred Mages, 70,000 Sky Knights)

Wall Durability: 3,500 (+70%)

Teleportation Formations: 7

City Skills: Skill Proficiency, Iron Armor Art

Lord: Viscount Autumn Maple

……

"Fuck me!"

I had to rub my eyes to confirm that I wasn’t seeing things. "This Tear Stain is seriously crazy! She has 150k NPCs in a Rank 10 castle? Not even our Rank 11 Dark Moon City has more than 50k NPC troops. Is she plotting to defy the heavens or something??"

Chaos Moon chuckled. "It’s simple. The resources of nearly the entire Burning City were burned to satisfy the needs of Sky Barren City. As a result, it hit Rank 10 faster than even Beauty Lin’s Silver Fir City, and it is also the third player territory to reach Rank 10. Literally every other player territory within Burning City is only Rank 7."

He Yi asked, "What do we do now, Lu Chen? Do we attack Tear Stain’s player territory, or do we withdraw and continue focusing on Burning City?"

I thought for a moment before answering, "There are still 20 hours before the Nation War ends, so we have plenty of time. Soul Battle Robes is attacking Burning City, and Stranger of Three Lifetimes is coming over to reinforce us with her remaining 200k troops. So, no, I don’t think we’ll be turning back. Tear Stain wants us here anyway, so we may as well take it out and destroy her biggest and last trump card! We’ll make it so that she doesn’t even have the capital to fight the next Nation War!"

Li Chengfeng chuckled. "So ruthless. It’s because she’s Candlelight Shadow’s junior, isn’t it?"

I shrugged. "More like because I’m not close to her, so why the hell not?"

I then raised my sword and yelled, "Alright, we’re advancing to Sky Barren City next, people! This is also a good opportunity to wipe out Nation Guardian’s remnant troops! Chaos Moon, mobilize another 200k Ancient Sword players to join us, will you? I would like to occupy this territory in one go. Be careful though. A territory NPC can only move and attack within 1,000 yards of the territory[1], but that also means they’ll be aggroed the moment we enter within 1,000 yards. 150k high-level human NPCs, man. I’m sure we’ll get a good chunk of Nation War contribution points out of this!"

In the sky, Beiming Xue shot me a sweet smile and said, "It’s too bad territory troops can only operate around a territory. Otherwise, you would have simply needed to order the 1,000 Bone Dragons from Dark Moon City’s Dragon’s Lair to attack Sky Barren City, and it’d be turned into rubble in half an hour at most!"

I chuckled. "It’s okay. Territory troops are meant for defense only, and the Bone Dragons are why the Northern Alliance never dared to attack our territory even once. Anyway, let’s prepare for the attack. A territory’s fortress isn’t very tall, so we’re just going to scale the walls normally. Watch out for the NPCs’ attacks though. The Sky Knights are Rank 10 units and quite powerful!"

"Mn! Should we bring some of the catapults over to help with the siege?" He Yi asked.

I replied, "It’s fine. They’re needed at Burning City to maintain the pressure, and I’m sure we can do this ourselves!"

"Okay!"

……

Our 200k cavalry troops were already next to Sky Barren City by the time we finished our conversation. We stopped about 1,000 yards away from the territory, while Wild King and his remaining 100k players rode through the gate unimpeded. After he rode up the walls, he unsheathed his blade and challenged me, "Come attack us if you dare, Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand! I’ll be waiting for you right here!"

I narrowed my eyes. There were a ton of arrow towers and even catapults in Sky Barren City. If I wasn’t certain before, I now knew that this was definitely a trap Tear Stain had set up for us. I had no intentions of backing out, however. What kind of person would choose to return home empty-bellied when the host had invited them to a feast?

So, I unsheathed the Xuanyuan Sword and raised it high. "Probing attack! All units, enter within 500 yards of the city and form a shield formation! Holy Mages and Dragonlight Archers, prepare to attack any enemy that shows their faces! We’re going to draw out the NPCs from the city and kill them all first!"

Heaven’s Rain, Diamond Dust and more spurred their mounts into a gallop and advanced as one perfect line. The Dragonlight Archers were following right behind them, and even further back were tens of thousands of Holy Mages. Lian Xin and Beiming Xue were flying here and there in the sky as well. It was a show of force that was sure to put some invisible pressure on the enemy.

……

On the walls, Wild King said with a cold expression, "I cannot command the Sky Knights of Sky Barren City, so tell Tear Stain to teleport over already. Otherwise, Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls will overcome this territory in an hour or so!"

Beside him, a Throne of the Wild corps commander nodded in agreement. "Don’t worry. The guild leader is coming right now!"

The teleportation formation inside the city sparkled with magic before he even finished speaking. It was Tear Stain and a large group of Throne of the Wild players teleporting over from Burning City. Tear Stain flew up the walls, landed lithely on the rampart, and stared at Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls’ troops with anger in her eyes. "Hmph, the Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls guild is acting like they’re the king of the world. If not for the fact that they retained the strength to launch a counterattack when all the other top Chinese guilds such as Candle Dragon, Warsky Alliance, Snowy Cathaya, Purple Lily and more were killed, I would say that it is undeserved!"

Wild King smiled at Tear Stain with undisguised lust in his eyes. "Stop dilly-dallying and give the order already, Yoon Pae Meng. Tell your NPC troops to enter the battlefield, and I will mobilize my own troops to catch Ancient Sword in a pincer. I have three more intact armies stationed outside the plains, and each one numbers around 200k players or so. It will be enough to annihilate Ancient Sword’s 300k men."

However, Tear Stain raised an eyebrow and said, "Since when did you have the authority to order me around, Wild King? How I fight my battles is my business. Also, who was the one whose 2-million-strong army was crushed by Ancient Sword’s exhausted players? Don’t you have any shame at all?"

Wild King looked surprised. "What, are you breaking your promise?"

"Promise?" Tear Stain smirked. "The promise was for you to defeat Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls and defend Burning City successfully. Have you accomplished either of these objectives yet? No? Then why should I fulfill my side of the promise?’

Wild King’s tone grew urgent. "You must be joking! I have lost 1 million troops right under Burning City! You will not act like their sacrifices are for nothing[2]!"

Tear Stain looked discontented, but she decided that it would be unwise to tear into Wild King right now. Instead, she shot him a sweet smile and said, "Of course not. However, you will have to repel the enemy in front of us before we talk terms. There’s no way I will fulfill the promise if I lose my territory and main city!"

Wild King clenched his fists and declared spiritedly, "No problem! I’ll do my best!"

……

Meanwhile, Li Chengfeng and I were flying toward Sky Barren City when the former said with a laugh, "You are a devious woman, but no one can doubt your devotion toward your main city, Sister Yoon Pae Meng! Don’t worry, you are Candlelight Shadow’s junior sister, so we won’t allow you to besmirch your reputation even if you try! We promise to destroy Burning City and flatten Sky Barren City no matter what! Wild King will not get his dirty hands on you!"

I also laughed. "Yes, Yoon Pae Meng. The man you love is Candlelight Shadow, and Candlelight Shadow is our compatriot. We will ensure that your love is undamaged!"

"Huh…"

For a time Yoon Pae Meng simply stood there unblinkingly, unsure if she should be happy or angry at our taunts. Shoulders shivering and eyes swirling with complex emotions, she whispered, "Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls are Candlelight Shadow’s enemies, but… they can be cute when they want to, huh?"

Wild King shot her a confused look. "What did you say, Pae Meng?"

Yoon Pae Meng abruptly returned to earth and transformed into the queen of Burning City once more. She unsheathed her blade and cried imperiously, "I will dispatch 70k Sky Knights to attack the enemy in 3 minutes. While they are leading the attack, please hit the enemy from the flanks and surround them, friends from Nation Guardian! Also, please mobilize the troops on the plains now! We will encircle and crush Ancient Sword Dreaming Souls right here!"

Wild King brandished his weapon and declared, "Anything you say!"

……

Creak…

All four gates of Sky Barren City opened at nearly the same time as the Sky Knights rushed out into the open. The Sky Knights were cavalrymen that rode flying horses, and as their mounts might suggest they possessed the ability to fly. They could only fly for a short distance of a dozen or so meters, however. As the strongest troop type of the Human Castle, the unit naturally possessed an extraordinary amount of Attack and Defense. What was ridiculous was that Sky Barren City had 70k+ of them. To give an example, Lin Yixin’s Silver Fir City only had 10k+ Sky Knights. To say that Tear Stain had way too much money for her own good would be an understatement!

Throne of the Wild and Nation Guardian’s players were following right behind the Sky Knights. Behind us, the Nation Guardian troops we had scattered in the previous battle reformed themselves to launch a second assault. A centipede dies, but never falls down. Assuming that their morale remained high, they could come after us again and again until we killed all of them.

……

"Shields up! Hold!" Li Chengfeng shouted.

I contacted Stranger of Three Lifetimes with a frown, "Momo, have you and your people passed through Soaring Flame Desert yet?"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes replied, "Yeah. What’s wrong?"

"Give me your current coordinates!"

"(128878, 90088)!"

"Mn." I took a moment to confirm her coordinates on the map screen before saying, "Momo, travel full speed toward the north right now. In 10 minutes, you should encounter an army of Nation Guardian players. Kick their butts hard while we bash their faces in from the front!"

Stranger of Three Lifetimes smiled. "Sure! I’ve cobbled together an army of 240k players or so. We’ll do our best to assist you!"

"Thanks!"

……

Battle cries filled the air, and Ancient Divine Skills poured across the frontline like crazy. Everyone was doing their best to stop the Sky Knights and the players attempting to attack us from all sides. Thankfully, the Dragonlight Cavalry and the Dragonlight Archers proved capable of holding back the dual army via sheer firepower. Also, I had ordered Warscar and Hickey to move to the back and engage the enemies attempting to hit our rear with their 100k+ players.

There was a rumbling noise, and dark clouds suddenly covered the sky. Soon, a downpour splashed against our armor and turned the ground into a literal ocean of watery blood!

Crack!

After cutting down a Dragonlight Cavalryman, Tear Stain backed away just in time to dodge a number of arrows from Beiming Xue. She swiftly flew back to her castle and ordered without hesitation, "Loose!"

Thud thud thud…

Shock Arrows struck impotently against Beiming Xue’s aura of Unusual Physique, but it was wiser not to tempt fate. Beiming Xue flew away and returned to the main battlefield, shooting a Skypiercer to kill a group of Nation Guardian cavalrymen.

……

I was tired. Everyone was tired. Even the players of Cyan Earth City[3] and Sky Barren City were tired. Even so, we gave it our all because we knew that the last man standing would become the final victor of this great Nation War!

We would write the new chapter of Eternal Moon and jot our names down in it with our own hands!

1. T/N: unless they’re gathering resources I guess? Man that was so long ago ☜

2. T/N: says the guy who sacrificed 1 million players and potentially his city to get some pussy ☜

3. T/N: no they’re not. Nation Guardian has been sitting on their asses all day ☜