Roderick walked slowly onto the city wall, each step steady and firm.
His return steadied the thousands of people on the wall, calming their nerves before the coming battle.
Every gaze turned to him, filled with fervor, reverence, and trust that ran bone-deep.
The sight of him wiping out Blackwater Company's elite squad in an instant had seared itself into everyone's memory.
"Boss, all the equipment's been handed out!" Kevin hurried over. "Dark Gold Sets across the board! The main force has finished changing gear, and we've still got some left over!"
Disbelief shone in his eyes. The quality and quantity of that equipment surpassed almost everything they had accumulated before.
It was a windfall from heaven!
Roderick gave a slight nod. His gaze passed over the crowded wall toward the eastern horizon, now stained dark green.
The ground trembled faintly.
A stench of rot and jealousy swept in on the wind.
"Monsters!" shouted a scout stationed by the battlements, his voice dry.
No one needed the warning. They could all see them.
At the far edge of the horizon, an endless green tide surged toward them with overwhelming force!
It was a terrifying army of monsters and players corrupted by the Jealousy Plague. Their bodies were twisted and deformed, and a mad urge to destroy everything burned in their eyes.
Creeeak—
Rooar—
The chaotic, grating noises merged into a sound that made their souls shudder as it battered the walls of Rust City.
The players who had been thrilled by their newly acquired gear moments ago lost most of the color in their faces when they saw the hellish sight for themselves.
"There are too many... I can't even count them!"
"My God, there must be hundreds of thousands!"
A warrior who had just put on a Dark Gold