A New Moment

A voice loud enough to shake the earth rang out. The troops stood in perfect formation, clad in silver armor and wielding razor-sharp swords, like messengers of the gods about to pass final judgment...

The difference in morale, the difference in strength—perhaps it was better to say that everything was different...

If there were a simulated sweating system, every player on the army's side would be drenched by now. If this were the real world, how many would have the courage to die on the battlefield?

The archers had nearly lost their purpose. The silver armor was their nightmare. Could their arrows pierce such sturdy armor? No one knew. Perhaps they would find out soon, but not many would live to see the answer.

The player army had prepared to defend itself. Morale wasn't as low as one might have expected, but it wasn't much better. They probably wouldn't withstand even the first charge.

"First squad, charge!" the Iron Cavalry leader ordered. His voice rang out like a roar from the heavens, striking another blow to the player army's morale...

"Infantry, prepare! Shields up!" Giant Axe's voice rang out. Perhaps the infantry commander had been too frightened to react, but fortunately Giant Axe had responded in time. Otherwise, they might not have been able to withstand even the first assault.

Perhaps this was what it truly meant for ten thousand horses to thunder across the land. The sheer force of it made even Heming wonder if they could overcome this crisis. Rie had disappeared. Heming had only let his thoughts wander for a moment, and she was gone. There was no need to guess—she had surely gone to assassinate the enemy leader.

Heming wanted to go, too, but neither his class nor his equipment allowed it. He'd probably be trampled to death before he even made it out.

The sounds of battle rang out. The tower shields at the front successfully absorbed some of the impact, and the Iron Cavalry's silver armor wasn't as indestructible as they had imagined. Every volley from the archers brought down some of the Iron Cavalry!

"Lower the shields! Spearmen and pikemen, move up! Target the enemy cavalry ahead!" Giant Axe ordered again. The soldiers at the front no longer cared who was giving the commands. As long as they heard an order, they followed it.

The spearmen and pikemen quickly moved behind the tower-shield line. With a coordinated maneuver, the shield-bearers fell back behind them. Spears and pikes were the cavalry's nightmare, and even the powerful Iron Cavalry seemed fragile when faced with them.

Yellow lightning bolts rained down from the sky, reducing countless Iron Cavalry soldiers to fragments. This was divine power. Several members of the spearmen and pikemen had received blessings from the gods...

No one could resist the power of the gods. The Iron Cavalry vanguard had begun to retreat, but the lightning kept falling. It seemed the fleeing soldiers were even more likely to draw its attention.

"Everyone, charge!" The Iron Cavalry leader actually gave such an order. Wasn't he afraid his own troops would be struck down by lightning?

All the Iron Cavalry charged. The thunder of their horses' hooves shook the earth, and the lightning gradually ceased. The vanguard had been almost completely wiped out, but the remaining cavalry seemed to outnumber them several times over.

"Tower shields, hold the line! Spearmen and pikemen, fall back behind the shields and engage at will! Archers, prepare! Aim for the enemy cavalry's helmets!" Giant Axe shouted.

The order had barely been given when golden light suddenly filled the sky and fell over the player army at the front. Every player touched by the light was enveloped in a golden glow.

Was this divine power, too? Could it be Giant Axe's power? Had he chosen the God of War or the Father God? Only Giant Axe himself could know.

"Warriors, break through on the right, then target the enemy leader, Mofiru! Swordsmen, protect the archers as soon as the warriors break through! Move out!"

The warriors were undoubtedly Heming and the others—more than two hundred people. By the time they began breaking through on the right, the Iron Cavalry's corpses had piled up into makeshift barricades. Heming charged near the front, partly to find Rie and partly to kill the enemy.

The Iron Cavalry had much stronger defense and offense than light cavalry, but their heavy armor made it easy for Heming to leap onto their horses and attack. The silver-armored riders couldn't do a thing to him. Heming jumped onto a horse's back and stood behind its rider. The armor made it impossible for the rider to turn around and fight back.

At the very front were naturally Giant Axe and the greatsword and battle-axe warriors. The Iron Cavalry's armor might have been thick, but these warriors cut through it as easily as slicing vegetables. That was the players' greatest advantage: their nimble minds. Almost every one of Giant Axe's attacks killed two or three Iron Cavalry soldiers, yet he was never hit.

Golden light shone down again, this time upon the warriors breaking through. Everyone was wreathed in its glow. At last, Heming experienced this divine power for himself. It clearly boosted their attack power tremendously. At first, Heming had needed to jump onto horseback to attack, but now he could knock both rider and horse to the ground with a single punch. The greatsword and battle-axe warriors began using the spinning attacks so common in games. Their coordinated, continuous spinning strikes, combined with the immense divine power, soon carved a path of corpses through the enemy's right flank.

Just then, a huge black hole appeared in the middle of the battlefield. The Iron Cavalry above it all fell inside. What was that?

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

The black hole was only a prelude. The truly terrifying thing was the creature that emerged from it: the Dark Two-Headed Giant Snake, the son of Hades' beloved two-headed serpent. It was even more savage and terrifying than its father.

It attacked everything around it, living or dead, moving or still. If it was a thing, it attacked. Purple poison and blue flames were its weapons. The mighty Iron Cavalry were no more than ants before it, trampled beneath the massive beast. Entire groups of cavalry were corroded by its poison, and countless others were melted by its blue flames. This was a true dance of death...

Heming was speechless. He still hadn't received divine power. He began killing on his own, punching one after another. The Iron Cavalry were either sent flying or pierced by the blades on his gloves. His agility kept him from being hit even once. The more he killed, the faster he moved, and the faster he moved, the more skilled he became.

White light descended from the sky. This was the divine power Heming had been waiting for. It shone upon him, and his body slowly grew larger. This was Heming's divine power: gigantification...

Heming could knock dozens of Iron Cavalry soldiers over with a casual kick. Those who avoided the kick were crushed beneath his feet.

Divine powers began appearing in great numbers. The two-headed giant snake summoned by Rie's power had vanished, replaced by the most valiant beast of ancient times: the griffin. Dozens of griffins soared through the sky. Every time they swooped down, they carried an Iron Cavalry soldier away from the ground. The soldiers they carried into the air were soon dropped back down, creating a chain reaction.

A vast number of skeletal knights appeared in front of the tower-shield line. But they weren't attacking the shield-bearers. They were attacking the Iron Cavalry. The Iron Cavalry against skeletal knights—an undoubtedly sinister matchup. The skeletons simply couldn't be killed, and they charged wildly into the Iron Cavalry in front of the shields.

Restorative divine power was naturally the tower-shield line's favorite. It completely relieved their fatigue and healed their minor injuries.

The Iron Cavalry had been scattered. They now numbered no more than three thousand, while the player army still had over four thousand soldiers. Giant Axe gave an order!

"Form a square! Keep formation and advance slowly!"

Heming's gigantification finally wore off. There were no Iron Cavalry near him now, only countless corpses. The warriors had reached Mofiru. He was now protected by only a small number of light cavalry and Iron Cavalry. The warriors would probably take him down before long.

The square formation advanced slowly. The spearmen and pikemen had replaced the tower-shield line at the front, while the swordsmen had it easiest of all. They hadn't even joined the fight.

Giant Axe had charged up to Mofiru. The two stood facing each other. The decisive battle was about to begin. The Iron Cavalry and light cavalry protecting Mofiru could no longer reach their leader's side. They were facing the bravest and most battle-hardened warriors.

Rie and Heming joined the battle near Mofiru, leaving nothing to interrupt the duel between the two leaders.

"Very well, human. You're strong. I'm willing to fight you," Mofiru said to Giant Axe. Then his body began to rupture, and his flesh reshaped itself. A cyclops—what was this...?

"Break formation! Engage at will!" Giant Axe ordered upon seeing Mofiru transform. It might have been his final command.

She hurled her battle-axe straight at the cyclops. It leapt up and dodged the flying axe, but as it landed, the leader was already soaring toward its eye. Their coordination was flawless. The cyclops tried to grab the leader, but it was too late. The leader put all his strength into driving a hand into the cyclops's eye and ripped the eye out with his bare hand...

Heming had watched the whole thing. He was almost certain this man wasn't ordinary. He was an ability user like Heming, and probably much stronger...

The swordsmen began cleaning up the battlefield. At last, it was their turn to enter the fight.

"Congratulations to all players on winning this round! Every player who participated in the game will receive a reward. You may claim the prizes you've earned with confidence. This round will not appear among the choices in the next vote. Thank you for supporting Pitch Black's latest game, Century Myth War. We welcome you to join us again next time. Your prizes will be available the next time you log in..."

There was no personal information to view, and they didn't even know how many enemies they had killed. The game's simulation of reality was indeed remarkably convincing. Heming and Rie left their special action pods and walked out of the game hall.

When the game ended, Heming received a message from Qiming...

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

"A new mission has come in. Kuo Ming assigned it. You'll leave for a new uninhabited region in Africa in a little while. A new species is about to appear there, and your mission is to capture it. Capture it, got that? Don't accidentally kill it. Go pick up a Demon Sealing Bead. If anything unexpected happens, ask the African branch for help. Kuo Ming stressed that you have to capture it, no matter what it is. If you can't handle it, get people from the branch to help. But first, you have to find it and observe its habits for a while. Oh, and when you pick up the Demon Sealing Bead, remember to get a new Biological Data Scout, too. That's all. You can go now. The car's waiting outside." Qiming gave them the mission unusually promptly this time, and he hadn't even given Heming any information. But if the information was like before, it didn't really matter whether they got it or not.

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

The Biological Data Scout turned out to be quite a useful device. It contained information on every species in the world, including the Tentacle Polyp Monster Heming had encountered last time. Unfortunately, the information couldn't be viewed directly. They had to find a creature before they could see its data...

Heming and Rie took a company car to the airport, then boarded a private plane to Africa...

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

What awaited these two beginners in Africa? It was all still unknown.