New Moment

A sound capable of shaking the earth, a formation of unparalleled uniformity—they wore silver armor and held razor-sharp longswords, looking like messengers of the gods about to deliver a final judgment upon others.

The disparity in morale, the disparity in strength; perhaps it should be said that this was the disparity in everything.

If there were a simulated sweating system, every player in the army would be drenched right now. If this were the real world, how many would be able to die on the battlefield?

The archers and crossbowmen had almost lost their original purpose, for the silver armor was their nightmare. Could such hard armor be pierced? No one knew; perhaps the answer would appear soon, though not many would live to know it.

The player army had prepared their defenses. Although their morale was not as low as one might imagine, it was not much better, and they would likely fail to withstand the first charge.

"First squad, charge!" The leader of the heavy cavalry issued the order. The sound, like the roar of a god, struck another blow to the morale of the player army.

"Infantry, prepare, shields up!" This was the voice of the Great Axe Leader. Perhaps the infantry commander had been frightened, but fortunately, the Great Axe Leader reacted in time, or they might not have even survived the first assault.

Perhaps this was a true stampede of ten thousand horses. With such momentum, even Heming began to doubt if they could survive this crisis. At this moment, Rie disappeared. Heming had only pondered for a brief second, and she was gone; there was no need to guess, she had certainly gone to assassinate the enemy leader.

Heming wanted to go too, but his class and equipment did not allow it; he would likely be trampled to death by the horses before he even got out.

The sounds of slaughter filled the air. The tower shields in the front effectively blocked some of the impact, and the iron cavalry's silver armor was not as impenetrable as imagined; every volley from the archers and crossbowmen managed to take down a few heavy cavalrymen!

"Withdraw shields, spearmen forward, target the enemy cavalry ahead!" With the Great Axe Leader's renewed command, the men in the front line no longer cared who was giving orders; they simply executed them the moment they heard them.

The spearmen and pikemen quickly moved behind the tower shield squad. With a swift rotation, the shield-bearers retreated behind them. Spears and pikes were indeed the nightmare of cavalry; even such powerful heavy cavalry appeared fragile when they collided with them.

Yellow lightning descended from the sky, shattering countless heavy cavalrymen into pieces. This was divine power; several men in the spear and pike squads had received the gods' favor in succession.

The power of the gods was naturally irresistible. The vanguard of the heavy cavalry began to retreat, but unfortunately, the lightning continued, and it seemed that those who fled were even more easily targeted by the bolts.

"All units! Charge!" The heavy cavalry leader actually issued such an order. Was he not afraid that his own troops would be struck dead by the lightning?

All the heavy cavalry began to move. The thundering of horses' hooves shook the earth, and the lightning slowly ceased. Although the vanguard had been almost completely wiped out, the remaining heavy cavalry seemed to outnumber the original force several times over.

"Tower shield squad, begin the blockade. Spearmen and pikemen, retreat behind the shield squad and engage at will. Archers, prepare, target the enemy cavalry helmets!" The Great Axe Leader commanded.

As the order was given, golden light suddenly erupted from the heavens, falling upon the player army below. Every player touched by the golden light was enveloped in a golden aura.

Was this also divine power? Could it be the Great Axe Leader's divine power? Had he chosen the God of War or the Father God? Perhaps only the Great Axe Leader himself knew.

"Warrior squad, prepare to break through from the right. Once through, target the enemy leader, Mofiru! Sword infantry, begin protecting the archer squad after the warriors break through. Execute immediately!"

The warrior squad was undoubtedly the group of two hundred or so including Heming. When they began their breakout from the right, the corpses of the heavy cavalry could already be used as defensive ramparts. Heming was near the front of this breakout, partly to search for Rie, and partly to kill the enemy.

Although the heavy cavalry had much higher defense and attack than light cavalry, their thick armor allowed Heming to easily leap onto their horses and strike. The cavalrymen in silver armor had no way to deal with him; Heming would leap onto the horse's back and stand behind the rider, who, due to the armor, could not turn around to counterattack.

Charging at the very front were naturally the Great Axe Leader and those greatsword and great-axe wielders. Despite the heavy cavalry's thick armor, they were cut down like vegetables when they met them. This was the greatest joy of the game for players: a flexible mind. The Great Axe Leader killed nearly two or three heavy cavalrymen with every strike, yet he was never hit once.

Another flash of golden light descended, this time bathing the breaking-out warrior squad. Everyone glowed with golden light. Heming finally experienced such divine power firsthand; this type of power undoubtedly boosted attack power significantly. Heming, who had initially needed to jump onto horses to attack, could now knock a man and his horse to the ground with a single punch. Meanwhile, the greatsword and great-axe wielders unleashed the "Whirlwind Slash" frequently seen in the game. The continuous, coordinated whirlwinds, combined with the immense divine power, quickly carved a path of corpses through the right flank.

Just then, a pitch-black giant hole suddenly appeared in the center, and the heavy cavalry above it all fell in. What was this?

Rie's figure moved rapidly around the black hole. Could this be Rie's divine power?

The black hole was merely a prelude; the true terror was the creature that emerged from it: the Dark Two-Headed Giant Snake. It was the offspring of the two-headed python that was once the beloved pet of Hades, the King of the Underworld, and it was now even more ferocious and terrifying than its parent.

It attacked everything around it, whether living or dead, moving or still. If it was an object, it would attack. Purple venom and blue flames were its methods of attack. The powerful heavy cavalry were like ants before it, trampled by a massive monster. Large groups of cavalry were corroded by venom, and countless others were melted by blue flames. This was the true dance of death.

Heming was speechless. He had yet to receive any divine power, so he began to kill on his own. With continuous punches, the heavy cavalry were either sent flying or pierced by the blades on his gauntlets. His agile movements ensured he was never hit once. He killed more and more, faster and faster, becoming more proficient with every strike.

A white light shone down from the sky; this was the divine power Heming had been waiting for. As the light bathed him, Heming's body began to grow larger. This was his divine power: Gigantification.

With a casual kick, Heming could flip dozens of heavy cavalrymen, and those he didn't kick were crushed beneath his feet.

Massive amounts of divine power began to manifest. The two-headed giant snake summoned by Rie's power had vanished, replaced by the most ferocious beast of antiquity: the Griffin. Dozens of griffins soared in the sky, each dive-bombing to snatch a heavy cavalryman from the ground, only to drop them from the heavens, creating a chain reaction of destruction.

A vast number of skeleton knights appeared in front of the tower shield squad, but they did not attack the shield-bearers; they charged the heavy cavalry. Heavy cavalry versus skeleton knights—this was undoubtedly the most sinister matchup. The skeleton knights could not be killed, and they charged frantically into the heavy cavalry ahead of the shield line.

Restoration divine power—this was naturally the favorite of the tower shield squad, as their physical fatigue and minor wounds were completely healed.

The heavy cavalry formation was essentially shattered. Their numbers were now at most no more than three thousand, while the player army likely still had over four thousand troops. At this moment, the Great Axe Leader issued an order!

"Phalanx, maintain formation, advance slowly!"

Heming's gigantification finally faded, and there were no more heavy cavalry left in his vicinity, only countless corpses. The warrior squad had already fought their way to Mofiru. Now, Mofiru was protected by only a few light and heavy cavalrymen; it was estimated that the warrior squad would take him down before long.

The phalanx advanced slowly, with the spearmen and pikemen having replaced the tower shield squad at the very front. The most relaxed were the sword infantry, who had not joined the battle at all.

The Great Axe Leader had charged to the front of Mofiru. The two stood in a standoff; the final battle was about to begin. The nearby heavy and light cavalry were unable to come to their leader's defense; they were facing the most valiant and battle-hardened warriors.

Rie and Heming also joined the fray near Mofiru, ensuring nothing could disturb the duel between the two leaders.

"Very well, human, you are strong. I am willing to fight you," Mofiru said to the Great Axe Leader. Then, his body began to burst, and his flesh began to reshape itself. A Cyclops—this was...

"Phalanx, disperse! Engage at will!" Seeing Mofiru's transformation, the Great Axe Leader issued a new order—perhaps her final one.

She threw her great axe in a straight line. The Cyclops leaped, dodging the flying weapon, but as it landed, the leader had already flown toward its eye. It was a perfect coordination. The Cyclops tried to grab the leader with its hand, but it was too late. The leader used all her strength to plunge her hand into the Cyclops's eye, ripping it out by force.

Heming watched the entire sequence. He was almost certain that this person was not an ordinary human, but a gifted individual like himself, and certainly much stronger than he was.

At this moment, the sword infantry began the cleanup work; it was finally their turn to shine.

"Congratulations to all players for successfully clearing this stage. The rewards for this stage are for all participating players. You may safely collect the prizes you are entitled to. This stage will not appear on the voting list again. Thank you for supporting the latest game from Pitch Black, Century Myth War. We look forward to your participation next time. Prizes will appear upon your next login..."

There was no personal data to view, nor did he know his kill count. The game's simulation of reality was indeed extremely high. Heming and Rie left the special operation pods and walked out of the gaming hall.

As the game ended, Heming received a notification from Qiming.

In the company office, Qiming sat in his boss's chair as usual, while Heming and Rie stood to his left.

"A new mission has come down, assigned by Kuo Ming. You two are to depart shortly for a new uninhabited zone in Africa. A new creature is about to appear there, and your mission is to capture it—capture it, mind you, don't accidentally kill it. Go collect a Demon Sealing Bead later; if any emergencies arise, seek help from the African branch office. Kuo Ming emphasized that it must be captured, no matter what it is. If you can't handle it, go to the branch office and call for others, but you must find it first and observe its habits for a period of time. Oh, right, when you go to pick up the Demon Sealing Bead, remember to grab a new Biological Data Scout as well. That's all, you two go ahead; the car is waiting at the entrance." Qiming was uncharacteristically straightforward in assigning the mission this time, not even providing any data to Heming. However, if the data was going to be the same as before, it didn't really matter whether he had it or not.

Heming collected the Demon Sealing Bead and the Biological Data Scout.

It turned out the Biological Data Scout was actually a quite impressive device. It contained data on every creature currently known in the world, including the Tentacle Polyp Monster that Heming had provided last time. The pity was that the data could not be viewed directly; one had to find the creature in question before its information could be accessed.

Heming and Rie took a private car and then boarded a private plane bound for Africa.

On the plane, Rie took out her Mana Control Trainer and began practicing her mana control. For Rie, practicing mana every day had become a habit, while Heming stuck to his old method, practicing the Pitch Black Heart Method.

What exactly was waiting for these two novices in Africa? Everything remained an unknown.