Chapter 321
"Hahaha, the law of the jungle is Truth. Climbing over the corpses of your own kind, once you cross a certain threshold, it just gets faster and faster." Bradley laughed loudly, then lowered his voice:
"At your level, you should know that the Reincarnation Game doesn't bring together people from all realms to watch us fight each other for amusement, right?"
I know nothing.
Yuki his persona, it wasn't appropriate for him to ask questions. Fortunately, Hayasaka Ai was quick-witted and spoke up.
"You mean the game is still selecting players?"
"It's just my guess. Do you know why we're called 'War Orphans'?" Bradley tried to find a clue on Yuki's face, but he couldn't find anything. Even with his strongest eyes, he could only see a fog. So he simply answered his own question:
"Because war never ends, every player is an orphan of this war."
"Are you saying this because he guessed it himself, or is there some record of it within the camp?"
While the two were chatting, Yuki was having a real-time intelligence analysis meeting in his mind, while Hiyori, who appeared to be resting in the distance, had actually started 'Future Deduction' and 'Analytical Reading'.
Every micro-expression will be filtered, and every word will be traced back to its cause and effect.
"It's not just a wild guess; there must be some unique experience involved." Hiyori propped her head up, having already noticed Bradley's gaze. "Mr. Yuki, as a player of Monster IV, you normally experience more than 15 dungeons, so I'd like to get the answer from you."
Strength comes not only from ability, but also from experience, which is easy to understand.
"Then follow this lead and make friends with them." Yuki wasn't worried; this was a lead outside the instance, so he needed to focus on the present.
According to the plan, he has now obtained intelligence from the Alliance side.
As a 'collaborator', Hiyori has already distilled and filtered out the most essential clues from those myths and legends:
First, the Soulless Ones appear randomly on the Red Earth Continent and are called the 'cursed ones,' much like a genetic disease, so they cannot be eradicated.
Secondly, they are an organization whose goal is to destroy the Witch God. They infiltrate teams during each tower raid, hoping to reach the Witch God's Tower. Of course, as rats, this kind of smuggling is pointless, and players aren't stupid; they know they are enemies of the Witch God and will usually sell them to the Alliance.
Third, this organization has a mysterious structure and can corrupt some wizards to become collaborators. Due to the characteristics of the Soulless Ones, the Alliance cannot infiltrate them. All that is known is that they generally have two leaders, one responsible for infiltrating the Tower and the other responsible for maintaining the organization.
"Rita is telling the truth, but not the whole truth. They are far more capable than they seem to have when it comes to fighting the Witch God." Yuki very cautious. Now that they had obtained information about the Soulless Ones from the enemy, they could basically be trusted.
Peggy must be one of the collaborators; why would he betray his own identity? Rita must be one of the leaders; no wonder she can mobilize all the Soulless Ones.
Yuki didn't care about their Destiny; he only said that if they were useful, he should keep them in his hands to maximize his gains. Because of him, the Soulless Ones had a perfect start and didn't need to sneak in like rats.
"I understand. Just like the players, they are outcasts in the dungeon, untouched by the aura of the Witch God. Soon, a large number of Soulless Ones will enter the War Tower. You all should search for clues carefully."
Yuki there, time was limited, he only needed to know that the Soulless Ones were useful and could be trusted, the rest was up to Hiyori, so he quickly glanced at everyone's player panel.
The rewards from conquering the tower have accumulated to a sufficient level, and it's time for a phased upgrade.
Hayasaka Ai invested all her enhancement points into 'Gun-Kata', raising it to 'Master Level' and pushing her Monster I rating to the critical point.
Mai Sakurajima has a total of 10 enhancement points, including the ones she has saved. First, she will upgrade the ordinary skill 'Directed Demolition' into the Transcendental Grade skill 'Void Demolitionist', and then use the remaining points to upgrade it to the excellent level.
"It increases the power of explosives by 20%, which can damage spirits. Even if placed randomly, there is a certain probability of achieving a perfect explosion matrix. But this name sounds awful!" the senior student protested. How did she become a demolition criminal?
The reason why Transcendental Grade skills represent a qualitative leap is precisely because they transcend all knowledge and defy logic.
"It suits your senior perfectly. This Transcendental Grade skill depends on the quality of the explosives, but luckily we have enough supplies from the 'Global Insect Calamity'," Yuki comforted her with a smile. This part of the solution solves the biggest problem with explosives: against ghosts and the like, even a hydrogen bomb won't work.
"Let's use the remaining points to upgrade 'Singer's White Veil' to level 5; every bit of armor gained counts. I also have a Bloodline Object; I'll appraise it later and then decide who to give it to."
"Don't laugh!"
Yuki tried hard to control his expression. He noticed that Transcendental Grade players improved their ratings very quickly. A single Transcendental Grade skill or a high-level item could raise his senior to the level of Transcendental Grade IV.
As for Shiina Hiyori and Kaguya Shinomiya, it's even simpler; their paths have already been set, they just need to delve deeper.
After forging the Void Puppet three times, Hiyori improved its distance control and added the bloodline of Psychic Warrior, bringing its overall rating to Transcendental Grade II. However, since she is not a combatant, it would be best for her to save her points to exchange for credits and improve its traits.
Kaguya Shinomiya desperately needed power, so she used up all her points to upgrade the Deep-Sea Longbow to level 5 and the Ice Enchantment to Excellent.
"You're all nearing the critical point. Your main items and skills are stuck at level 5 and Master level. You'll need special conditions to climb any higher."
"Epic achievement? We're not in a rush. We can just focus all our points on traits. We're still a long way from Monster IV anyway." Hayasaka Ai shrugged lightly. A player has many paths to take. If a skill reaches Master, just switch to another. This bottleneck won't arrive until Monster IV.
Even with 100 Chaos Item and 100 Transcendental Grade Skills, there was no way to take another step forward. Yet, even Yuki hadn't reached this bottleneck.
"Yeah, you always want us to stand on our own, but you really don't want to do missions together?" Mai Sakurajima smiled, a dangerous smile.
"There's nothing I can do, didn't you hear what Bradley just said?"
They were unaware of this setting, but now that they know, they can go back and resolve many of their questions.
The maximum difficulty of a dungeon is determined by the faction's score. For example, if the maximum difficulty of a dungeon is 20 points, then the strongest faction would be around 10 points, which could be 10 players of the Transcendental Grade level or 1 player of the Monster IV level.
To prevent players from dying needlessly, there will be a threshold, such as 5 points being the minimum requirement to participate in the game.
The stronger Yuki is, the higher the entry barrier will be, even if he goes solo. If the maximum score for a dungeon is 40 points, a player with a score of 5 points is basically committing suicide. And don't forget, he also has the 'abnormal' condition.
"Don't worry, since I don't belong to any faction, the game will classify me as a solo player, and my score will be calculated alone."
"But your growth rate is too fast, and the dungeons will become increasingly dangerous." Mai Sakurajima shook her head slightly, without a trace of joy.
"Yes, so you have to try your best to catch up." Yuki, a plan forming in his mind as a privileged dog.
He wanted to push the concept of 'nothingness' to its Limit, so that while dealing with the problems of other factions, the senior students could continue to improve and refine the team's configuration.
The words were direct, but no one refuted them, especially since Kaguya and Hiyori were already struggling.
Overly specialized skills leave them lacking in self-defense capabilities. According to the setting that "the difficulty of the Reincarnation Game will be arranged according to the overall strength of the faction", once Yuuki advances to Yuki level, the dungeon score will be raised very high. Wouldn't even a small enemy be able to pose a threat?
You should know that in this 'Wizard's Tower', extraordinary-level players have disappeared. Thorny Rose's rating is very low, and Miss Violet even used the comment 'You guys are really unlucky'.
"Sorry, I shouldn't have said so much." Yuki noticed the change in atmosphere, crossed his arms, and said confidently, "Players improve their ratings through two paths: quantity and quality. Don't worry, this time, follow me, and I'll make sure you're well-fed."
Confidence is swelling, and as the Reincarnation Game deepens, the core reason for its increasing 'simplicity'—ignoring the messy clues—is singular:
Quantitative changes finally led to qualitative changes.
Chapter Sixteen is a hundred times greater!!
Yuki chose to open a back door, and that was a perfectly reasonable and logical choice.
The War Orphans were completely kept in the dark and had no intention of seizing control of the tower; they were foolishly acting as his accomplices. Fortunately, they weren't at a loss either, as the rewards were distributed based on participation—the more they killed, the more they earned.
Beyond the chessboard lies an endless battlefield.
Yuki stood in the air, before him an endless wasteland, littered with corpses, weapon fragments, and banners, and in the distance stood a massive army formation.
The steel-forged Witch Beasts held spears and shields, their protective magical shields densely packed together. Gargoyles darted through the air, while in the center of the formation stood a 'small' figure.
His body was covered by a grayish-brown rag; he was about the same height as a normal human, and his thin arms held a short sword.
The War Witch Spirit's true strength is incomparable to that of the Asura Witch Spirit; it seems more like an artist.
"Every Witch Beasts is its flesh and blood; it's intelligent and is specifically targeting me."
Yuki squinted. He had just tried a sneak attack and almost got trapped and couldn't get back. This was clearly a summary of the previous battle.
Don't you enjoy slaying generals and capturing flags? Then split yourself apart and make every Witch Beasts a Witch Spirit. Let's see how many times Yuki's domain can be used.
"We can't keep fighting it; the number of Witch Beasts is still increasing." Bradley pointed to the army formation, where corpses were constantly coming back to life.
They may have severed hands or be headless, but they can blend into the army and become identical shield bearers or archers.
"It's trying to stall for time, and rightly so. I can't stay here forever." Yuki didn't know how the 'Night Parade of One Hundred Demons' was going, but it certainly wasn't easy. He looked at it meaningfully.
"Mr. Bradley, this is the final step. Shouldn't we go all out?"
He hadn't yet seen the faction talents of the 'War Orphans'. Bradley met his gaze and didn't hide anything. "It comes at a high price. You want to save some effort, and so do we."
Yuki, too lazy to waste words, directly pulled out the 'Asura Blood Pool'.
"Each Witch Spirit will drop Bloodline Object. This is Bloodline Object from the Tower of Asura. The War Tower should be related to war, as expected. They want fame, you gain benefits, and I get convenience. It's fair."
The surrounding gazes changed instantly. Bloodline Object are precious in the Reincarnation Game, but not exactly rare. The key is that they must match one's bloodline skills; otherwise, spending a huge number of enhancement points will result in very little improvement, which would be a huge waste.
For example, if a ghost player obtains the Bloodline Object "Iron Bones," wouldn't that be contrary to the Heavenly Stems and Earthly Branches?
"Deal." Bradley nodded to the priest without further hesitation.
Andrew grinned, revealing a mouthful of white teeth, and walked to the front of the line. His trench coat billowed out, and the golden cross on his chest shone faintly.
With his sword and spear crossed, he chanted lengthy scriptures, his face full of piety.
"In the name of God, wage a holy war to eradicate all heretics and send them to the stake for judgment."
Amen!
War Memory: The Holy Relic Crusaders.
Space distorted, and a large number of warriors wearing white pointed robes and holding halberds emerged from behind. Fearless and undaunted, they surged toward the distant Witch Beasts as the priest raised his hand.
Not particularly strong, but with nearly a thousand of them, they are perfect cannon fodder, capable of wreaking havoc on the battlefield.
Yuki's eyes widened slightly as she realized that Father Andrew resembled her senior, belonging to the faction-based talent category. Moreover, this talent didn't seem like a trait, but rather a trump card.
That's interesting.
With military formations facing off, it finally felt like a real battle. From the sky, you could see the two formations gradually closing in.
They are fewer in number and weaker in quality than the Witch Beasts, so fighting against the Witch Spirit Witch Beasts be suicidal. However, the player has an Asura, whose individual strength surpasses everything else.
"I'll charge in. Hayasaka, Violet, and Bradley, follow me. Mai Sakurajima and Hiyori, provide cover. Kaguya, snipe any level two or higher Witch Beasts."
"Once the breach was opened, the Holy Relic Crusaders poured in, shattering the formation, and then the player squads hunted them down one by one."
"Everyone should maintain open communication and be ready to execute any ad-hoc orders."
Yuki took command, employing no art of war, only simple and brutal tactics. His soul crystals formed a wall behind him, and his body spun upside down in mid-air.
"Follow me, and we'll slaughter them until not a single one is left!"
Thump--
Before the words were even finished, the sonic boom had already spread through the air, and the blurry afterimages shot straight ahead, the dense military formation magnified in his pupils.
With infantry, archers, mages, and cavalry all in place, this is a team of thousands of extraordinary players who are fearless of death and work together seamlessly. They can exhaust people even if they just stand still.
The ferocious barrage of bullets can inflict heavy losses on the Holy Relic Crusaders before they even get close, and skillful teamwork can overwhelm and kill even Transcendental Grade or monster-level players.
But when the two are together, they seem somewhat lost.
The sword was already upon them, and enemies as large as mountains followed closely behind. The Witch Spirit had never had a similar memory before. After splitting itself, it no longer had any individual to stop the Yuki.
But if it doesn't split, who can stop this monster? Who can evade its all-pervasive Reconnaissance? Won't they all end up being pulled into this strange space anyway?
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The magical missiles and javelins finally bombarded Yuki, unfolding like a dark cloud before him, accompanied by the sniping attacks of special Witch Beasts, but the swordsman plunged headlong into them.
Attacks below the Transcendental Grade level simply cannot break through the defense. High-powered sniping is rare, and even if the defense is breached, there are always Regenerative Tail and Vitality Shift protect the defense.
Thump!!
When the comet landed, everything within a hundred meters was cleared out. Yuki couldn't kill that many enemies, but he could blast a large hole in the city wall like a battering ram, Hayasaka Ai and the others poured in through the gap.
Bang!
Death Knell tolled, a finely arranged small formation was instantly shattered. Violet, standing on a halberd and wielding two pistols, swept past, flanking Bradley, who had drawn his saber, and continuing to widen the breach.
Mai Sakurajima moved slightly away, using her psionic detection to find the invisible Witch Beasts that had taken advantage of the chaos to launch a sneak attack, while Kaguya Shinomiya hid at the farthest point, more than ten kilometers away, specifically targeting high-level Witch Beasts.
The Witch Spirit certainly had a countermeasure. It gathered the Witch Beasts of level two and above to form a special counter-attack team. However, as the arrows swept across the sky, the originally neat formation could not be maintained.
Some of the Witch Beasts were hit, either maimed by arrows or frozen in place by ice. When the clenched fist loosened, the weaker Witch Beasts were chopped off one by one like scattered fingers.
The two factions cooperated perfectly. Whoever was targeted was targeted by Hiyori seemed to have Future Sight and used the Sacrificial Chain in advance, making the Void Puppet next to her a scapegoat. The Witch Beasts missed its ultimate move and had no time to catch its breath before facing the sharp military blade.
The breach was widening, and normally one could use numbers to push them back and then use firepower to cut off their connection with the main force. But Witch Spirit couldn't do that; there was a sharp blade churning inside its belly, never stopping for a moment.
Behind them was the art of teamwork between players, with various Transcendental Grade skills and Chaos Item complementing each other's strengths and mitigating their weaknesses. But for Yuki, this war was simple, even simpler than the Tower of Asura.
Kill! Kill every monster that stands in your way!
Regardless of whether it's forged from steel or formed a complex formation, the burning twin blades mechanically slash, specifically targeting those Witch Beasts with ranged abilities.
The Witch Spirit fought back with all their might, concentrating their firepower and increasing their output, Yuki with arrows like a hedgehog. But it was no use; the swordsmen's blood pools were too thick, and they would only rush over and hack these specialized Witch Beasts to pieces.
As the Crusaders surged through the breach, spreading like a torrent and replacing the weakened players, the Witch Beasts' formation crumbled, dragged into a massive melee.
The whole was divided, the army was dismembered, and the Witch Spirit began to be overwhelmed.
It wanted to stop the rampaging Yuki, it wanted to command its subordinates to form precise small formations to crush those Crusaders whose fates were unknown, it wanted to surround and kill a few powerful players, and it also wanted to get rid of the despicable sniper.
Because there are too many targets to deal with, the Witch Spirit cannot handle any of them, the scales of war begin to tip, and the cards in its hand are rapidly dwindling.