This choice was not an impulsive decision on Rust Tablet's part. It had already felt uneasy during the earlier fighting.
The death penalty had not made these beings retreat or feel afraid. Instead, the players who had lost their God-Bestowed Talents fought ever more fiercely, without any reservations. They used themselves as bait or cannon fodder, marking the interconnected Ash Soldiers with their own bodies.
It no longer pinned its hopes on a war of attrition. It wanted every being here to die for good.
Even if the price was half its army.
A fog enveloped Abandoned Zone 1. Dead players could not return to their resurrection points, just as players who had lost their worlds could never return home.
Bodies fell from high above into the long river of order that lit up the night sky, making Star Sea truly a sea of stars.
The moment death became real, the atmosphere on the battlefield changed.
All the Leader Players did their best to shield the players who had already lost their ability to fight after dying repeatedly. But the Ash Soldiers carrying out Rust Tablet's orders now prioritized securing kills, rather than fighting particular opponents.
Although the number of Ash Soldiers on the battlefield had halved, most of those lost were Ashen Precepts. Of the ten thousand Ash Inspectors, fewer than a third were gone.
Now, every Leader Player had to face at least three Ash Inspectors and four or five Ashen Precepts at once, while still sparing strength to protect ordinary players.
At that moment, the players on the battlefield achieved an astonishing degree of coordination. Leader Players and Godly Players with strength to spare took on multiple Ash Inspectors, protecting ordinary players while making room for several Higher Deity players to rush over and find a way