Red Streaked with Black

Three fierce gusts of wind howled past Mo Tan's side, reaching their targets with lightning speed that was nearly impossible to catch with the naked eye—the backsides of the three Orc warriors who had just turned around to help their companion counterattack Ned...!

The heart-rending screams proved that Yinna had truly gone all out. With no interference, she had pushed this round of scattered shots almost to its limit. The force, speed, and accuracy were all the peak of her performance since the battle began.

"Shocked Bow, Drawn Feathers, Lightly Breaking the Air." Mo Tan's previously shattered state of mind had completely recovered. He even jokingly improvised, "Daisies dyed the sky red with blood~"

Yinna blinked at him in confusion. "What did you say?"

"Pfft!" Shuangye, who was standing nearby, couldn't help bursting out laughing. Then she slightly furrowed her brows and muttered, "Why do I feel like I've heard that awful poem somewhere before..."

Mo Tan immediately recalled how, back when he was Tan Mo, he had teased this girl in their messages. While inwardly cursing his carelessness, he gave an awkward laugh. "I saw it before. Let's not talk about that for now. Yinna, sorry for the trouble, but suppress those guys on the right! You don't have to be too accurate!"

Because Crab and Salazar had worked together under Mo Tan's guidance to knock away the enemy closest to the three of them, they had not only opened up a firing angle for Yinna but also reduced the interference she might face. Thus, for at least the next few seconds, the elven ranger who had been constantly harried by the enemy was temporarily freed.

"Got it!" Yinna had finally gotten the chance to attack without restraint. She immediately drew six feathered arrows from her quiver and nocked them, then smiled with pursed lips. "How did you manage that?"

Her slender fingers relaxed slightly, and a small-scale rain of arrows poured out, stopping the Orc soldiers who had been preparing to flank Salazar in their tracks.

The rhythm had changed at some point...

And it was all because of a few words from the little priest beside her!

Just a few simple instructions had given her, who had been constantly running herself ragged, a chance to breathe. They had created an environment where Ned, who had been taking the brunt of the assault, could fight the shield bearer one-on-one. They had also nearly relieved Salazar and Crab from their predicament of being attacked from both sides.

Yinna could hardly believe it, yet she had no choice but to believe it...

"Captain!" Mo Tan had no time to answer her question. He shouted toward Ned from a distance, "Can you finish off your current opponent in ten seconds?"

Ned happened to be flourishing his sword into a cross-shaped pattern. He followed it with one horizontal and one vertical slash that crashed into the bone shield before him. His answer was succinct. "Enough!"

What a joke. He could hold his own against three or four enemies at once. How could he possibly fail to deal with this slow-moving turtle shell in ten seconds?

Besides, the Orc warrior who had been holding up the heavy shield was already turning a little pale. The continuous attacks from a frost-enchanted weapon had begun to slow him down, while Ned's powerful slashes had nearly knocked the shield from his hands several times...

The shield warrior, who had originally been responsible for advancing under pressure and providing cover, was almost frozen into a sluggish warrior now. Yet he could do nothing about it. Normally, the teammates best positioned to come to his aid would have been lying on the ground, each with an arrow stuck in his butt and howling away. It looked painful even from here!

"Crab, find a way to hold out here for a bit. Salazar, move toward us!" Mo Tan spoke while casting Holy Word Shield on Crab. His casting rhythm had slowed since earlier. On one hand, the frequency with which his teammates were getting injured had begun to decrease. On the other, he had started consciously saving his mana and faith.

If they wanted to seize the best opportunity to break out, then the time they could continue standing still and enjoying the talent's effects was already running short...

Crab nodded forcefully and let out a roar. His already overbuilt body suddenly swelled another size. He slammed the weapon he had snatched from the enemy into the ground, and with a thunderous boom, he knocked down two enemies, one in front and one behind him.

Salazar took advantage of the opening to sweep down the Orc warrior wielding an iron spear before him, then immediately charged toward Mo Tan and the others.

"Hey!" Shuangye suddenly turned to ask Mo Tan, "What about me? What should I do now?"

"Recover your mana." Mo Tan glanced at her and spoke softly. "Your mana should already be depleted. You won't be of much use for the moment."

Shuangye pouted unhappily. "So you can open things up now?"

Although she said that, she had no objections to Mo Tan's decision.

Shuangye was very clever. Otherwise, she could never have been known alongside Mo Tan in the real world as the hackers' "Black Sun." But high intelligence did not mean she was proficient in everything. Although she had been able to create the artificial intelligence named Navi entirely on her own, that did not mean she could also excel at commanding battles. Forget excelling—even being able to converse normally with everyone despite her mild social anxiety already meant she was trying very hard.

Rather than a complaint directed at Mo Tan, what she had just said was better understood as her wanting an affirmative answer from him.

"I don't know." Mo Tan saw that Ned had already successfully cut down the... shield warrior who had been slowing down. He calmly raised both hands and cast Holy Touch on Crab...

"But I'll do my best!"

Salazar had reached the three of them and taken the empty spot Mo Tan had deliberately left open. With Yinna and Shuangye added in, the four of them had formed a diamond-shaped formation.

The Lizardfolk monk was at the front. Mo Tan and Shuangye stood on either side, while Yinna was at the rear with her back to everyone, drawing her bow to hold back the enemies attempting to approach.

Ned was the farthest away, but he also had the fewest enemies around him. Crab stood between Ned and the diamond formation formed by the others. He faced the greatest number of enemies and took the heaviest assault, but with Mo Tan providing full support during this brief stretch of time, he still had not completely fallen behind.

"Good!" Mo Tan stared intently at the enemies approaching Crab's back from the four-o'clock direction and murmured, "Just a little more..."

Another Fortitude Prayer strengthened Crab. At the same time, the effect of his Bloodlust Frenzy—which he had already used twice—once again reached its limit, and his body, which had been a full size larger than usual, instantly returned to its original size.

"Captain, fall back to Crab's side and give him a hand!" Mo Tan shouted. "Yinna, suppress those enemies in the back for a while."

Ned reversed his grip on his longsword and leaped toward Crab's side. Before landing, he spun sideways in midair and directly cut down an Orc warrior who had just been about to bring down his hammer.

Several bloody marks had been carved into Yinna's slender fingers by the bowstring, but those arrows fired at cunning angles still kept the enemies behind them from advancing even an inch.

The next second...

"Salazar! Charge to the very front and blast away the nearest idiot in that front row!"

Bang! The monk's characteristic explosive force allowed Salazar to drive his fist into the target's waist in less than a second. The airborne Orc warrior knocked down two companions beside him who had been trying to surround Crab, and the three muscle-bound brutes immediately rolled into a heap.

"Shuangye, move parallel to me. Use your instant-cast spells to stop those guys on the right who just got back up, the ones with their chrysanthemums in tatters!"

"OK!"

Mo Tan followed closely behind Salazar. Before his voice had even faded, several fireballs shot past his body and scattered in different directions. They traced several scorching arcs through the air before curving around and crashing behind the three enemies who had just covered their buttocks and gotten back up.

All right, it was still their butts...

"Yinna, don't worry about those guys in the back anymore!" Mo Tan cast the Holy Touch that had just come off cooldown on Yinna and shouted, "Hold off the guy to Shuangye's right. Don't let him get close."

Five seconds later, every member of Fenrir Squad had gathered together, while the originally dense encirclement around them—though not particularly rigorous—had been torn into complete disarray.

"Would you mind if I overstepped a little more?" Mo Tan smiled faintly at Ned.

Ned rolled his eyes. "Spit it out. Maybe we really can have you lead us out alive today!"

"No problem~" Beneath the setting sun, Mo Tan turned around on the spot. Pale golden holy radiance spread from his fingertips, and his expression was calm and gentle, his eyes carrying a smile. "With everyone here, I can do it!"

The talent effect, "Devotion," activated once again.

Of course I can do it~

"Crab! Fall back. You have less than a minute to rest!"

Even if I'm only an ordinary, lazy, unremarkable follower of the crowd, one of countless people...

"Captain, switch positions with Yinna. Don't charge out. Wait for them to come to us!"

An ordinary person!

"Shuangye, sweep the ground with Fireball! Don't use too much mana! All right, all right, I know you can calculate it perfectly..."

But it doesn't matter...

"Yinna, open up the attack angle! Shoot anyone who comes within five meters of the captain. Uh, stand on Crab's shoulder? Fine, if you insist..."

It's enough to be special, yet ordinary enough.

"Salazar! Protect Shuangye's right side! What? Why didn't I say southeast or northwest? Because I can't tell north from south!"

And that's pretty good too!

"Don't worry about that sneaky guy trying to circle around from behind. I noticed him long ago!"

I can do it!

"Let them in. Captain and Salazar will focus fire in a moment! Yes, I mean switch to the one in the back!"

Even this most ordinary version of me is fine!

"Shuangye, take two steps back and leave room for Crab. Those guys are already starting to panic!"

Or rather, there are some things...

"Charge through and cut them apart!"

Only I can do well!!

You have actively disconnected. Please choose whether to reconnect.

"Don't reconnect."

Execute the awakening procedure?

"Yes."

Acknowledged. The current time is 1:30 a.m. on January 3, 2049. You will awaken in one minute.

After waking, Mo Tan did not leave the game pod. Instead, he let out a satisfied sigh, then quickly closed his eyes again. It was not until ten minutes later that he regained consciousness once more.

An unexpected headache struck him, making him frown uncomfortably...

"This kind of pain really doesn't make anyone happy~" he hummed. Then he revealed a trace of delighted amusement. "But come to think of it, I'm pretty amazing..."

After stretching his body a little, he activated the game pod, which had just entered standby mode, once more. He changed into a more comfortable position, lay down, and murmured, "Perfect timing." Under the simulated system's influence, he entered a deep sleep state suitable for logging into the game.

Your mental connection has been detected. Synchronizing personal information...

Connection complete. Reading character information.

Welcome back, Tan Mo of Chaotic Neutral. Innocent World will load shortly. Good night.

After regaining consciousness, Mo Tan's vision was still pitch-black. However, he was not flustered in the slightest. He merely shifted his position slightly and inconspicuously, then saw a sliver of light.

The light came through a small hole in front of him. It originated from a magic crystal lamp capable of operating for a long time.

This was a reception room that was not particularly large, and Mo Tan was currently inside a wardrobe in one corner.

107 Sweet Orange Path, the wardrobe in Dave Sager's home.

"Looks like he hasn't come back yet." Mo Tan muttered softly, "I never thought my first experience of hiding in a wardrobe would be in a place like this, much less in the wardrobe of a single man. Life really is full of wonders and absurdity."

For the next five minutes, Mo Tan stayed bored in the wardrobe, occasionally peeking outside through the hole he had made before logging off, then muttering a few highly constructive remarks.

Until...

A creaking door-opening sound reached Mo Tan's ears...

The owner of the room had returned.

This was the first time Mo Tan had seen the "living" Dave. He wore a plain, long robe and had a rather pale complexion. Although he was not exactly handsome, his thick eyebrows and large eyes were enough to give others a good first impression. If one ignored the trace of wickedness that often flashed through his eyes when he was alone, his honest appearance alone would have been enough to earn Dave extra points in the knight examination...

A square face, thick eyebrows, and large eyes had always been the standard equipment of a knight. As for a Saint Seiya, that was more troublesome—they at least needed to come with their own background music...

Mo Tan had activated his Stealth skill the instant he came online, reducing his presence to a minimum. Since he was also hiding in a wardrobe in the corner, Dave naturally had no idea that an unwelcome guest had already appeared in his home.

A very... very... very troublesome unwelcome guest.

Thus, after locking the door, Dave immediately let himself go. Specifically, he tore off his clothes in one motion. Just as Mo Tan, having misunderstood the situation, was considering gouging out his own eyes...

Dave tore off the densely packed, bloodstained bandages covering his body.

Yes, nearly his entire body was wrapped in the things. When he had just taken off his clothes, he looked like a mummy...

From Mo Tan's angle, it was easy to see that although the bandages were covered in dark-red bloodstains, Dave's body itself did not bear a single wound.

Not only that, it was even fair with a flush of red...

Red, streaked with black...