Chapter 406

This order was not to be questioned. Before Yuki's ascension to Yuki, they would have simply chosen to sit back and watch the tigers fight, but now it was different. There was a tiger right beside them, a tiger in sheep's clothing.

"Remaining players: 55, 50, 47..."

Illya's clear voice kept counting. Before the battle, there were 57 remaining players, about 33 of whom came to pick up the lamps, and with the Nameless King, that made 34. In just half an hour, quite a few had fallen.

This was certainly not all players; some were over a thousand kilometers away and couldn't receive the message, but the terrifying commotion on the battlefield still attracted quite a few.

"How many retail players did the Night Watchers discover who came after hearing the news?"

"Roughly four factions, 10 people in total."

Hmm, 57 minus 34, then minus 10, there are still 13 players who haven't appeared yet, and some of them must be just not interested in joining in.

"What about the intelligence from the Inquisition? There are several in the Dark Night Tide, what's going on now?"

"There are four lights in total, one of which is extremely bright. They are chasing after them," Illya continued. The Night Watchers's radio could bypass the first warning, so the information was transmitted very quickly.

"Why is one missing?" Yuki raised an eyebrow. The Night Watchers' previous report mentioned that there were a total of 6 unusual lights in the Dark Night Tide. Subtracting the King of the Night, there should be 5 left.

That's absolutely true, because without light, you'll be dragged into darkness—that's both an advantage and a disadvantage.

"Klein said that a light went out a few hours ago, and it looked like a battle?"

Oh, they're probably fighting amongst themselves, which means there are still 4 teams of players in the Tide, and some of those teams definitely don't have just one person.

The 13 players who haven't shown up have to be subtracted quite a bit. Another key clue is that, based on team ratings, each faction or team can only have a maximum of one epic-level player.

The Valhalla was a joint effort by five factions before the dungeon, and they almost reached the highest rating. Before leveling up, they had a total of 3 Monster IV and 5 Monster III.

"So among the players who haven't shown up, there's at most one Epic Rank I. Regardless of whether they're part of a raiding party or not, eliminating the Nameless King will give me an advantage in overall combat power." Yuuki stroked his Yuki; this was the real reveal of his true intentions.

Either don't act at all, or act with all your might, completely reversing the balance of power.

"Wait, how can you be so sure there's another epic-level player in the night?" Emiya, somewhat puzzled.

"Because of the light, a powerful Soul Lamp cannot be stored in a storage space. The Nameless King only has a torch. Tell me, would you entrust such a precious item to someone weaker than yourself?"

The red-clad hero fell silent; it was always the weak who ran errands.

"Full speed ahead, prepare to join the battle."

"Uh, these lightning arcs have a detection function; we'll be discovered," Mona warned. She had already seen the future of being discovered using her Manas Consciousness, but she couldn't see the Nameless King's response.

"Let him see, Mona, have you forgotten what I said before?" Yuki adjusted his tricorn hat, toying with his musket. "I am a Special-Grade Night Watchers, and story characters cannot level up quickly, much less achieve Epic Metamorphosis, so there's nothing for him to fear."

Yuki, after his transformation, his energy control became even more precise. He controlled every bit of overflowing energy, making it difficult for even professional detection tools to judge his abilities without face-to-face combat.

The players inside the cabin looked at each other in bewilderment as all the mysteries were revealed simultaneously.

Why did the Night Watchers shrink back, isolating the players on the outside? Why did they let the players inside the tide quietly reap the benefits? Why did they use the strength of Monster IV to fight against Asura?

Here's the surprise!

Are the Night Watchers and Valhalla players here?

As Mona had predicted, the Nameless King reacted immediately when the airship entered the range of the lightning arc.

This is far stronger than Deldore's mental field; it covers an area of hundreds of kilometers in radius, allowing him to not only observe but also use it for attack.

A burst of lightning erupted in the distance, arcs of electricity gathering, blasting the airship to pieces and forcing the people inside to rush out.

Five players, one Night Watchers, all with Monster III or higher), trying to get a freebie?

Many players escaped the Battle of the Southern Plains, and information was naturally leaked. Emiya, Mona, Illya, Sekiro, and Homura Akemi were five well-known players, and their information was even collected in the "Book of a Hundred Eyes".

Neither weak nor strong, the Nameless King enveloped himself with twelve pillars of lightning to shatter the dense array of skills, while simultaneously focusing his attention on observing the Night Watchers.

He gripped the Soul Blunderbuss, unleashed his soul field, and charged forward under the cover of several players. His appearance didn't reveal anything, but he certainly didn't display any Transcendental Grade power beyond that of Night Watchers.

Just as the Sloth Bishop had said before, this Night Watchers had no reason to hold back, and judging from the Ashura Rhinoceros Beetle, this person's strength surpassed that of an ordinary Monster IV player.

"He is indeed stronger than the previous one, which is why he is called a Special-Class Night Watchers?"

The Nameless King tilted his head slightly. He personally dealt with a Level 1 Night Watchers had come to explore the tides. This man was also extremely fierce. When he was no match for him, he immediately self-destructed. If he had known there were any Special-Rank Night Watchers at that time, he would have tried his best to preserve his soul and read his memories.

The only suspicious point is that none of the captured Night Watchers knew they had a Special Night Watchers. Of course, there's a reasonable explanation for this: their rank was too low to have the authority to know this secret.

To get to the bottom of this, we need to read the memories of the Level 1 Night Watchers. However, there are only five of these high-ranking individuals, and they all hide in the Night Capital come out. If we forcibly capture them, it would violate our plan to 'remain bystanders and focus on the campaign'.

Night Capital the core of the safe zone. The arrival of the Nameless King will trigger a chain reaction. Epic players are like walking treasure troves, and the soul materials they drop are priceless.

He'll fight the Night Watchers's Watch to the death, while the remaining players will just watch, hoping to find an easy win. Who will be the one to reap the benefits?

Yuki guessed correctly; the Nameless King was indeed a Slayer. The entire plan was very sound. He intended to use the darkness to force most of the players who had accepted the hunting missions out of the game, and then finish them off while simultaneously breaking the illusion of darkness.

"The last powerful Soul Lamp is about to be acquired; it's time to wrap things up." The Nameless King raised his sword and spear, realizing this was a good opportunity.

Most of the remaining junglers are here, and the players on the Night Watchers' side have also joined in. The original plan was to either have both sides perish together or activate the Lighthouse, and then they would come out to finish them off. Now, with this rare opportunity, they can speed things up a bit.

That strange woman is annihilating the remaining players in the tide and collecting two more powerful Soul Lamp. Once I resolve this battlefield simultaneously, there will be no resistance in the entire instance. Although it will take some effort, I can return as soon as possible.

Every epic-level player is very busy, ruling over a faction, so they rarely perform missions.

At the current pace, it will take at least ten days for the tide to cover the continent and for all players in the safe zone to be wiped out. That's too slow; ten days is enough to complete a short but intense faction war.

After she dealt with the Tidehunter, and I dealt with this area, the remaining players posed no threat whatsoever, and the Night Watchers were nothing but ants. Oh, and one more thing.

The Nameless King saw Yuki approaching within a hundred miles. Since he was a top-tier Night Watchers, he must know where the 'Lighthouse' was, thus avoiding the need to slaughter millions of lives to find those cowards who had hidden themselves.

A true king is merciful only to the brave; exchanging that courage for the lives of millions of ants is perfectly fair.

A sudden burst of dazzling lightning, like a brilliant sun appearing in the sky, caused the players to close their eyes, each overloading their defensive skills, and then—

He vanished without a trace, leaving the remaining twenty players stunned but not overjoyed.

That's right, even ants can kill an elephant, let alone dozens of 'monsters' here, but everyone was exhausted and gradually got into a real fight.

Each faction had fallen to the Nameless King, and the survivors were also greatly weakened, yet no one dared to pick up the powerful Soul Lamp left on the ground.

This isn't about forging camaraderie through fighting side-by-side; it's about a cruel Truth:

Epic-level players can't handle so many monsters, but the monsters can't hold onto epic-level players either; they completely control the offensive.

The once fertile Central Plains have been transformed into the lunar surface, riddled with craters of varying sizes, jagged canyons, and scattered energy particles. Several volcanoes stand tall, spewing out molten lava.

There wasn't a single weed or insect here; the battle seemed to have transported the plain to another world. Perhaps there wouldn't be any signs of life here for a hundred years.

Centered on the powerful Soul Lamp, players are scattered within a radius of several kilometers, with the remains of summoned creatures or dismantled machinery everywhere.

Countless observation skills are concentrated on the Soul Lamp; anyone who dares to pick it up now will be targeted by everyone.

"Everyone be careful, that bastard definitely didn't leave."

"No one is allowed to steal the lamp. The Nameless King is surely watching, waiting for us to fight amongst ourselves."

Roars rose and fell, and flying machines shuttled back and forth. Nobody was a fool. The brief battle had taken a toll on the Nameless King, but it was far from enough to force him to leave.

Every player is working hard to recover, waiting for the battle to resume.

"Inexplicable, inexplicable, utterly inexplicable!"

The Sloth Bishop stood on Ishigami that had been split in two. He had sensed something was wrong and had not participated in the attack.

Dust brimming with death energy filled the air, making the already gloomy sky even darker, which ironically highlighted the brilliance of the powerful Soul Lamp.

He looked around, and the madness on his face suddenly turned calm.

"It's inexplicable, yet somehow makes sense."

Everyone's here for the game's airdrops, so a big battle like this is to be expected, since the airdrops themselves are Reincarnation Game's design that encourages infighting.

Nameless King wants it, he has to take it, because he is the most powerful and deserves to be 'taken care of' by all the players.

But I still feel like something's not quite right.

The bishop bit his fingers, tearing off his nails. The pain made his brain tremble, but the trembling brain made his thoughts even clearer.

I observed that at least eight players perished, and twelve were seriously injured. Well, after adjusting for errors, there are still a dozen or so players with combat power. The Nameless King also suffered considerable losses, as at least three skills hit him.

As an observer, the bishop actually had the clearest view of the battlefield.

The Nameless King no longer wants to engage in a head-on confrontation, so he chooses to retreat as a tactic? Hmph, even an idiot wouldn't fall for such an obvious scheme.

The two sides were stuck in a stalemate. The remaining players couldn't take the initiative to attack, and the Nameless King couldn't just sit idly by and watch the players recover their fighting strength. This Soul Lamp seemed very important to him, and he would never give it up. Whoever touched it would be tantamount to detonating the battlefield.

But a stalemate isn't a solution. Could it be that the Nameless King is waiting for reinforcements?

His heart stopped for a moment, but thankfully the bishop quickly regained his senses. The Nameless King hadn't left, and aside from the fact that communication between the inside and outside of the tides was impossible, even epic-level players wouldn't disobey the warnings. Even if he had companions, they wouldn't be able to get the news now.

"Hey, this stalemate is a good opportunity for me too." He suddenly had a bright idea. Didn't he want to be the one in charge? Now, the junglers were forced to unite under the intimidation of the Nameless King.

"Gather around me! This stalemate isn't going to work. Don't forget there are other players around. Anyone who tries to take the light now will trigger the explosive barrels!"

The roar pierced through the gray dust, silencing the Sloth Bishop who had just opened his mouth. He gritted his teeth, drawing blood.

The Flower Sword rushed ahead, trying to take control of the conversation. He could tolerate the others, but the lazy bishop absolutely could not stand this one.

It was this lazy fool who started the battle and ruined his own plans; this battle would never have even happened in the first place.

Someone stepped forward, and the players immediately responded. The reason why it was so difficult to fight the Nameless King was because they were a disorganized bunch with no coordination, and many of their skills hit their own teammates.

Many factions no longer care about powerful Soul Lamp. Some want to retreat calmly, unite, and figure out a way to escape, while others take the opportunity to slip away, hoping to gain some advantage.

No matter how you look at it, a stalemate is definitely not going to work. The players are too spread out, and the surrounding area is full of energy mist, so there is no sense of security at all.

The Slothful Bishop naturally did not respond; he remained standing on the Ishigami, staring blankly at the bright lights and golden arcs of electricity in the distance.

The overflowing energy particles are estimated to take several years to dissipate. This plain will become a forbidden zone for life, where anyone with a physical constitution below level 5 will die instantly. All detection capabilities are focused on the lights, and the biggest fear now is someone trying to take advantage of the chaos.

This battle will surely shock the continent and attract everyone's attention. Hidden players will also come, and who knows, someone might dare to steal it.

Wait, what about the other players?

The bishop's pupils constricted sharply, and goosebumps rose all over his body; this scene seemed all too familiar.

"Gather at me! Valhalla and the Night Watchers are coming!"

The roar startled every player. It wasn't that they were unaware of the danger, but facing an epic-level player, who could afford to be distracted?

The detection abilities focused on the powerful Soul Lamp diminished considerably. The scanner pierced through the dense fog, forcefully resisting energy attenuation, covering the battlefield for tens of kilometers, and the result was—

"They've come, and they're hiding in the fog!"

As the synthesized sound rang out, the torn-out T800 revealed its steel-like body. The electronic scanning was extremely accurate, and several energy sources were rapidly crossing the perimeter of the battlefield.

Swift, decisive, and clear – this was a pre-arranged battle plan.

Use powerful Soul Lamp to attract everyone's attention, and let the players' own power cover the battlefield before casting the large net.

Fortunately, we still have the strength, Nameless King is watching from the sidelines. Perhaps we can use them to break the stalemate and force our way out.

Logic is at work; the supercomputer calculates the most reasonable plan. Since the stalemate has been broken, and since all three parties want to use each other as pawns, it's better to quickly withdraw and leave the battlefield to the other two.

The computing power had reached its Limit. At this moment, the T800, with a ferocious expression, saw the man wearing a straw hat walk out. Holographic images were projected into its eyes, intending to simulate dozens of possibilities for the other party. However, the next moment...

Swish--

The man flashed through the light barrier, his movements so sudden and swift that even the computer couldn't react in time.

The black blade slashed into the Machine Intelligence's head, like a dark shadow, piercing through the super-alloy skull and cleaving the frantically computing CPU in two.

The scarlet electronic light flickered a few times, as if questioning the other party for a reason, but without uttering a word, it went out completely.

"Sorry, you're just a supporting character in this grand drama." The man adjusted his straw hat, revealing a rugged face, without a trace of Transcendental Grade energy leaking out. This was a game, a hunting game he had specially arranged, and the next participant was just a kilometer away, completely unaware of the situation here.

Shunsui Kyōraku drew his sword, looked at the thick fog filled with energy particles, and gave a bitter smile.

"Of course, I'm a supporting character too."

Chapter Sixteen: King of Storms VS Soul King

The best battlefield.

Yuki stood quietly in the gray fog. The Fool will launch wars without regard for anything, wise men will try to create advantages in terrain, but true cunning masters don't need to lift a finger; they can make their enemies create their own prisons.

The battle just now was too intense, and there were no fewer than ten types of energy particles in the air. They would take years to dissipate, so there was no need for Yuki to use the Ice Snow Goddess's Heart to interfere.

The Nameless King's response was exactly what he expected. Just as Tiger Vanguard would strive to learn math and science, an epic player may be arrogant, but he would never be foolish.

After forcefully breaking through and alerting the enemy, the Nameless King immediately retreated, leaving the battlefield to both sides while he hid on the sidelines to watch the show.

A king is very cautious; even in such a fierce battle, he will use his peripheral vision to observe his surroundings and make ample preparations.

If the newcomer is too reckless, he will use someone else to kill them. The remaining players are also difficult to deal with. He will then come out and take advantage of the situation when both sides are exhausted.