On the top right corner, a single word was displayed in bold—"Thousand"—indicating whose point of view the viewers were watching.
In the middle of a void, Thousand floated, surrounded by hundreds of Alter Egos, all waiting in silence. After receiving the signal from Sora, Thousand cleared his throat and turned to face them.
"Our people are trapped. Our enemies are thriving in our absence. While humans are stuck at ho all over the world, they are growing stronger, taking our opportunities, our treasures."
With a wave of his hand, a projection materialized before them. On it, stretching as far as the eye could see, vast armies were locked in battle. But there was sothing unsettling about the terrain. Here and there, one could barely recognize remnants of a city. So things protruded from the ground: a section of a highway, the fra of a subway entrance, a few shattered steel beams.
Thousand focused on sothing, buried in rubble. A street sign leaned at an angle. The visible letters read:
"QUEEN ST WEST"
He spoke, "This is what is left of Toronto."
What was once a massive city had been razed to the ground and beca a battlefield.
On one side, the alliance of five different races moved in coordination, pressing against their enemy and surrounding them. To the North, thousands of Dwarf players, averaging level 230, fought in groups, inflicting as much damage as they could before retreating and making way for other groups. They heavily relied on their [Blood Essence] and familiars to fight. To the South, Demons had similar goals, numbers, and tactics. To the West and East, thousands of Werewolves and Dark Elves completely surrounded their common enemy. In the sky above the battlefield, a legion of Spirits floated. They did not attack and were visibly stationed there to block their enemies' retreat.
On the other side of the battlefield, two massive giants led high-level troops. A few words above their heads hinted at their levels and identities:
[PROTECTOR OF URUK][ENKIDU - Level ???][KING OF URUK][GILGASH - Level ???]
The first giant, Enkidu, was a living calamity. His hair was long enough to reach his shoulders, and his eyes were the eyes of a beast. He stood a hundred ters tall, wearing little aside from short clothes that exposed his thick muscles. His physical power was so imnse that each movent released shock waves, reducing the weakest of enemies to pulp.
Beside him, Gilgash was just as terrifying and stood like a warlord, wearing ancient golden armor. His blue eyes burned with arrogance, as if his enemies were nothing but insects. During the battle, he had yet to unsheathe his sword. He simply raised his hand, absorbing massive amounts of energy.
anwhile, Enkidu commanded tens of thousands of troops and reinforced them with unknown skills.
Thousand spoke again, "From our investigation, Toronto was razed when our enemies ca here to prepare for a raid. One of the Demons was bored during the preparations and took a few friends with him to have fun in the city. They committed so many atrocities that the humans were pushed to the edge and rebelled. This was what led to the end of Toronto."
"They spread videos of it in other cities and used that precedent to ensure other cities didn't rebel."
"Now, they're in the middle of a raid against the two titans below. I can't see their levels, but considering how the five races are struggling, they can't be below level 260."
"The raid seems to be against a force coming from a place called Uruk, whose king and protector are fighting side by side. From our understanding of their mythology, it was an ancient city whose walls were built by this legend, Gilgash."
"Now that you have a basic understanding of the situation, it's our ti to strike." Thousand concluded.
He turned to the Alter Egos floating in the void and spoke, "Switch to assassination mode. Focus on brother One Hundred-Sixteen's skillset."
Sixty, who had just joined the group, complained, "My Supernova build is more efficient than brother's assassin build… Even Twelve's fighting style, relying on Soul Power, is better."
Thousand frowned but answered, "I don't want to aggro Uruk's side. Maybe they're smart enough to fight alongside us. We'll adapt our strategy as we fight. For now, we need to make use of the elent of surprise and only strike our real enemies."
Unauthorized usage: this narrative is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.
He turned around and began focusing on his brother's understanding of the sword, shadows and mories.Once he was fully imrsed in mory, his understanding of the short sword, darkness, and shadows skyrocketed. Despite not having One Hundred-Sixteen's [Mythic Class], he had reached a level that allowed him to mimic most of his abilities.
Thousand raised his hand and signaled for his brothers to move. The broadcast turned dark as all Alter Egos disappeared from view, leaving only a void in their place. The stream settings changed, and the filming angle shifted to sowhere on the battlefield.
A group of ten Dark Elves fought with all their might, relying on perfect coordination to survive the might of the soldiers in front of them. Whenever a player was injured, a wave of healing would restore them almost instantly. Whenever a defender felt overwheld, another would step in to back them up, allowing them to retreat and recover.
The leader of the group was a young female standing in the back. She wielded a massive staff, distributing life force to her injured allies. She spoke, "Socca, kill the Uruk Archer on the left! He's low! The one that killed Arkit! Butcher that bastard!"
An assassin responded with a nod, disappearing from his position. He reappeared behind an unsuspecting archer who had just retreated, heaving a sigh of relief upon escaping the front line. Just as the assassin moved to stab the archer in the back, shadows engulfed his body, and he vanished… Because her eyes were locked onto the party's list of mbers to monitor their health, the Dark Elf healer quickly noticed the disappearance of the assassin.
She blurted out, "Did he leave the party to monopolize experience?" However, upon rembering the situation they were in, she shook her head. "He died?"
Before she could notify anyone else, a powerful force seized her, pulling her into a separate dinsion. She vanished from her position without a trace.
All over the battlefield, similar occurrences happened. High-level players were abducted mid-fight, disappearing the mont they showed even a hint of distraction.
--------------------------------------------
A tall Dark Elf stood a distance away from the battlefield. Anyone who looked at him would feel the regal aura he exuded. Next to him stood a woman of similar rank.
The woman spoke, "Norj, did we have to go this far? That kid is back, and he's out for blood."
Norj sighed. "To think he would attack our kingdom with hundreds of Alter Egos... And we couldn't catch a single one of them."
He remained silent for a mont before speaking again, "We knew it was a risk to oppose the [Prestige] skill holder… But it was a risk worth taking, considering who our allies were and the benefits this occupation would give us."
"[Soul Pearl Farms]... You call that a benefit? Why didn't you open a streaming channel like Abbott? Maybe it would have been better than relying on the [Soul Power] we're stealing from humans..." The woman shook her head and sighed.
"You know it's not the sa… We're not like Demons or Humans. Not many Dark Elves are left. Who would support us? Who would help us ascend? Despite their lack of brotherhood and cooperation, there are still enough Demons outside to support Abbott's growth. But the only Dark Elves left are us…" Norj's cold look softened upon noticing the sadness in the woman's eyes.
He added, "And you know how valuable the opportunity to take on [Mythic Bosses] is. Getting these World Bosses Cores would increase our powers and give our race another century to prepare, to co back stronger. We wouldn't have such an opportunity without the alliance."
The woman shook her head once more. "You don't even think we can win this war... How many wars are we supposed to wage before we have our own land? How much more can we afford to lose? Our daughter hates us. Our people fear us. And many even took their own lives when they learned that we were in cahoots with Demons."
Norj gritted his teeth. "I'm doing all of this for our race. We're too weak to win, and we can't afford complete elimination. We have to compromise to survive." Thinking of his daughter, he added, "Sarsha will calm down sooner or later. She knows what's best for her and her family. I have no idea how she beca so close to the [Ti-Bending] skill holder, but it doesn't matter. She needs to gain so maturity. She has too strong of a talent to go to waste. Simone, trust , our race will survive this. For once, we have powerful people backing us."
Noticing the surprise on his wife's expression, Norj held her shoulders and asked, "What's wrong?"
Simone pointed at the live feed she was watching and said, "Sora Hashino! He's here!!"
By joining, you'll get:
Early Access: Read 1 chapter before anyone else, exclusively for my Patrons!
More than 55 Advance Chapters: Dive into the future of the story with over 55 chapters ahead of everyone else. (Use code YEAR on Patreon for 30% off yearly support, or KARA for 10% off monthly)
Your support ans the world to and helps continue write chapters. Every little bit helps overco the hurdles of becoming an author, and together, we can make this journey even more exciting!
Thank you so much for your support! I can't wait to see you all tomorrow!
Patreon (spatreon/Mimou2006)
Reviews
All reviews (0)