Light Bulb

Facing a resounding victory.

On this side of Nine Provinces.

Players were naturally excited, even though it was just a faction victory and most people didn't really feel it.

But the benefits of previous victories were real—and the consecutive victories instilled an unprecedented sense of confidence in the players of the entire Nine Provinces faction.

[Haha, we've got two-thirds of Prison Rock! Awesome!]

[The arena battle had just begun when they came in all tough and arrogant, spouting trash talk. They seemed incredibly powerful, but they turned out to be nothing but weaklings! They were being chased around by the dungeon enemies!]

A direct confrontation was even more ridiculous; they actually accused me of cheating! I'll cut off my own hand! That's my power! As for the Loser's Obsession! That's a skill I acquired through countless deaths and resurrections in Sekiro! Why can't I use it? I envy myself for having a similar skill!

[Brothers, the team battle is about to begin! Charge! Let's take the last third of Prison Rock's territory!]

[----]

In contrast to the excitement on the Nine Provinces side...

On Prison Rock's side, a suffocatingly low-pressure atmosphere prevailed.

Royal Court.

The Prime Minister looked at the map and seemed to age ten years in an instant.

Although he was prepared, witnessing this scene firsthand still left him with a deep sense of anguish.

We lost.

We lost again.

Let's start with the arena battles.

Prison Rock has no advantage whatsoever.

The top players, who are so proud of their abilities, can only go back and forth with their opponents.

Mid- to low-level players suffered a crushing defeat.

They've lost the race now.

Habits are a terrible thing.

When one faction begins to get used to defeat.

Then the players' enthusiasm and confidence will quickly dissipate.

This is beyond human control.

The entire Royal Court was deathly silent.

The high-ranking members of Prison Rock kept their heads down, not daring to even breathe loudly.

"Well----"

After a long silence, the Prime Minister let out a weary sigh.

Prison Rock is now on the very edge of a precipice.

If we suffer another large-scale defeat in the next battle, and if we can't even hold onto the remaining third of the capital—then Prison Rock will truly be reduced to a homeless dog.

After all, once the consensus that "we can't win against Nine Provinces no matter what" is truly formed, it is absolutely impossible for any single individual to reverse it.

Thinking of this...

The Prime Minister dared not think any further.

As the person in charge, he cannot show despair.

Otherwise, it would really collapse.

"This is Prison Rock's last chance! Win at all costs!!"

"Yes!"

However, after issuing the order, the Prime Minister's gaze unconsciously drifted to the map, a deep sense of powerlessness flashing in his eyes.

Can a team truly win?

If you can't win in regular arena battles, are you guaranteed to beat those Nine Provinces players in team battles? And those Nine Provinces players who, according to intelligence, each have three stages?

I don't know.

But he had to prepare for the worst.

"Go----"

The Prime Minister beckoned his confidant closer, lowered his voice, and said with a hint of humiliation and resentment, "Take stock of all the current items, equipment, and available Survival Points."

Regardless of the outcome of the collective battle, the fact remains that two-thirds of the capital city of Prison Rock has been occupied.

If in the end it's still beyond repair.

Then we need to prepare the necessary resources to redeem those occupied areas, otherwise Prison Rock will truly be finished.

His confidant was taken aback.

Then, realizing what he meant, he nodded.

He knew this was preparation for subsequent negotiations to redeem the property.

At that moment, his confidant felt an indescribable surge of grief, indignation, and humiliation.

How did things turn out like this!

At the very beginning, Prison Rock was the one who held the absolute initiative.

More experienced!

Meanwhile, the opposite Nine Provinces is participating in such an event for the first time!

They didn't even dare to launch an attack!

At first, all the players in Nine Provinces seemed completely clueless!

At that time, throughout Prison Rock, from the Prime Minister to the lowest ranks, no one thought they would lose.

How could things have changed so drastically in just over ten days?!

Why did Prison Rock suddenly become like this?!

Because of the Architect on the other side—? Just because of the dungeon she built? And the rewards she gave from that dungeon?

His trusted aide was very frustrated.

The Prime Minister of Prison Rock seemed to think the same way. After giving his orders, he suddenly murmured, "Didn't they say—the other side has never participated in this kind of activity before? Aren't they all IV-level?"

"Just because of one Architect? Just because the other side has one more Architect? We've ended up in this mess today?"

His voice was filled with frustration.

The confidant heard this but didn't know what to say.

and.

The system didn't give them much time to lament or lick their wounds.

Just as Prime Minister Prison Rock was engulfed in immense grief and powerlessness, while Nine Provinces players were still celebrating on the forums...

Bite!

The system announcement sounded again.

[Announcement: Loot distribution for the speedrun phase is complete!]

[We believe all players are already fully familiar with the SSS-rank dungeon, Dark Souls!]

[The team battle will officially begin in twelve hours!]

[Rules of Team Battle:]

[1. Single-game match size increased to 1000 vs 1000! To accommodate this level of combat, the <Dark Souls> dungeon...]

The base map and standalone maps will undergo comprehensive adaptive expansion and seamless integration.

[Upon matchmaking, all two thousand players from both factions will be completely scattered and randomly placed at any location on the instance map. Each player will receive a 10-second invulnerability shield upon landing. Note: This phase is death-based; resurrection is not possible!]

2. The system will divide players into five matchmaking pools based on their [overall combat power] and [sequence level] (namely 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19...

Teams 2, 3, 4, and 5 are matched separately.

Team battles start every four hours, with each match lasting three hours. If no clear winner is determined when the countdown ends, the winner will be determined by the number and value of the Bonfire Bonfire by both sides!

Note: The weight of Bonfire varies from region to region. For example, the Bonfire in regions like [Oolacile] and [Painted World] are worth the same as fifty regular Bonfire (please see the details for a detailed weight table).

[3. Players from both sides will compete to capture and control the Bonfire. The faction that controls all the Bonfire on the map wins! Defeating all the bosses in the current instance also wins! Defeating all 1000 players from the opposing faction also wins!]

4. In team battles, for each victory in a single round, the winning side will directly seize ownership of the defeated side's territory! The first team to win will gain 10 territories, the second team 5, the third team 3, the fourth team 2, and the fifth team 1.

indivual.

Once a capital region is completely occupied, it will expand outwards, acquiring regions of other cities.

During this period, dungeons and Construction Space will be temporarily closed, while regular Recapture Battles will remain open as usual, without interference.

[5. Matchmaking for the five tiers will not be simultaneous. After a twelve-hour preparation period, the [First Tier] will be matched first! After a three-hour match, the system will take a one-hour break for adjustments and settlement, after which matchmaking for the [Second Tier] will immediately begin, and so on.]

[Special Clause: Considering that the raid instance <Dark Souls> belongs to the Nine Provinces faction, in order to balance the absolute information advantage, if the Architect enters the instance as a player, an undispellable exclusive negative buff will be forcibly applied.]

One [Creator]!

(BUFF effect: The Architect's coordinates will be broadcast to all opposing faction players every ten minutes; and all monsters and bosses in the instance will have their aggro on the Constructor locked at the highest level! Killing the Architect is equivalent to gaining five Core Bonfire.)

[6.----]

The rules for team battles are not simple; in fact, they can be described as tedious and lengthy.

But at this moment, neither the Nine Provinces players nor the Prison Rock players showed the slightest impatience.

Everyone read it carefully, word by word.

At the same time.

Having been kicked out of the Construction Space by the system and returned to reality, Lu Xiu was also checking things out.

She seemed to be enjoying reading the rules quite a bit.

Imagine seamlessly expanding the map of Dark Souls and randomly cramming two thousand people into a dungeon—just imagine the chaotic scene that would unfold.

She found it interesting.

until.

Her gaze fell upon that [special clause].

I'm a little annoyed.

Isn't this purely targeted?

Does building a dungeon mean you deserve to die?

She originally wanted to remain a nobody.

Now things are really messed up.

As long as she dares to descend with this [Creator] buff, forget about being invisible; the moment she lands, the surrounding dungeon enemies, plus a thousand envious Prison Rock players, will pounce on her like sharks smelling blood, their eyes red with rage.

"This is a game you can't afford to play!"

Just as Lu Xiu was getting a little gritted-teeth and mentally cursing the system.

The crisp notification sound rang out again.

Immediately afterwards, a pop-up window emitting a dark golden light appeared in front of her.

[Player: Lu Xiu]

[Overall combat strength, equipment rating, and skill sequence calculation in progress----]

[Matchmaking pool tiers have been established!]

[Your assigned tier is: Tier 1 (T1)]

[Note: In twelve hours, you will be forced to participate in the highest-level team battle as part of the starting lineup! Please be prepared!]

Lu Xiu stared at the pop-up window in front of her, slightly taken aback.

You got assigned to T1?

And this pop-up window just appeared.

Immediately afterwards.

A communication window also popped up.

It comes from Yan Fushou.

Yan Fushou Open Gate: "Lu Xiu, which echelon do you belong to?"

Lu Xiu thought for a moment and replied, "T1----"

Yan Fushou: "----"

"This is the system's evaluation; there's nothing I can do about it not matching."

Seeing the ellipsis in the message, Lu Xiu still explained, "That's basically it."

"No, that's not what I was thinking about. I was thinking about who should protect you—I just looked at the list of Core Bonfire, and there are only five in the entire Core Bonfire! Two in The Painted World, two in Oolacile, and for some reason, there's one under Firelink Shrine."

Yan Fushou immediately explained, "And you alone are equivalent to five Core Bonfire— "

"So the people of Prison Rock killed me, and then they won by holding onto one of the strongholds, right?"

"Right."

"Okay."

Lu Xiu hesitated for a moment, then replied, "Then you can decide based on the situation."

Yan Fushou did not reply.

He's probably having a headache.

Lu Xiu actually wanted to say that there was no need for protection, but considering that her death would affect the entire Nine Provinces, she didn't have the heart to say it.

never mind.

Let's take it one step at a time.

Having someone protect me is fine too; it'll allow me to assess the situation and then test out my newly acquired mythical skill, [Lord of Cinder].

Lu Xiu closed the communication window and then opened the forum.

really.

The forums are also buzzing with discussions about the upcoming team battle.

But the top-rated post was somewhat abstract—[By the way, why can't we kill Lu Xiu?]

Lu Xiu took a deep breath and then closed the forum.

Silly gamer.