The Easy War and the Terrifying Thunder

The boys and girls of the Black Rose Family were all petite and adorable, but their expressions, tone, words, and actions all revealed that the souls within them belonged to adults.

Meanwhile, the name Sword-Seeking Journey of Youth Under Heaven had already declared the makeup of their souls: they were mainly young students.

They were high-spirited and passionate, seeking the kind of camaraderie where one drank for a friend beneath high towers and drooping willows. Victory made them happy, and defeat was no great matter.

The people aboard the airship watched as the Asking Sword children laughed, joked, and gestured wildly with the members of Black Rose, utterly unconcerned.

Knight Spencer muttered to himself, "It's fine. Didn't I already know that anyone who could lose a city so inexplicably had to be unreliable?

If they have any objections, let them go back and find the king." Finally, he encouraged himself. "I'm here to clean up this mess. I'm here to fight. Nothing else has anything to do with me."

Falan quietly brought the airship to a stop five meters above the ground.

Part of the railing folded outward, transforming into a long metal staircase that reached the ground.

Falan stood at the stairway entrance with Adrian and Hill, offering him their blessing. "May wherever your blade points be utterly conquered!"

Sky Knight Spencer took a deep breath and descended the staircase with his attendants.

That Young Master from Asking Sword had already finished speaking with Baldy and was organizing the troops, preparing to welcome Knight Spencer.

Hill could tell that he was genuinely happy. If he had been a noble of this world, losing a city so foolishly would have left his entire family devastated.

But players were different. Perhaps what Young Master was thinking most right now was that he absolutely had to help the NPCs reclaim the city. That was still better than leaving it to Lu Huayu or Doomsday.

Knight Spencer could only stare in bafflement as the delighted Young Master and his companions gathered around to welcome him.

Though utterly confused, since this failed city lord had offered such an enthusiastic welcome, Knight Spencer set aside his worries and formally took over the temporary camp.

Falan returned to the hall with the other two. He glanced at Hill, who hurriedly and efficiently cleaned up the hall.

Adrian smiled at him and summoned the furniture back into the hall.

Falan leaned back against the sofa and let out a long breath.

Adrian sat beside him and said, "I thought things over here would already be collapsing into despair. I didn't expect everyone, from top to bottom, to act as though nothing had happened.

After Spencer reorganizes things for two days, he should be able to fight his way back, right?"

Hill sat quietly. To players, what they had lost was only face and money. They might feel depressed for a while, but they would never become sad or despairing over it.

Especially since Asking Sword had lost in such a gossip-worthy way. What a huge scoop they had handed the players!

Right now, the players' forums were probably not discussing Asking Sword's defeat, but how Young Master had buried the city for a woman, and how Lu Huayu had tried to send his sister over only to dig his own grave.

Whether it was choosing beauty over power, reaping what one sowed, or getting one's just deserts, such scenes only appeared in television dramas. Yet it had played out in real life. Hill felt the players might spread this story all the way to places like this world's Weibo.

Baldy had hit the key point, though. If they did not change the name, that glorious reputation would follow Young Master for the rest of his life.

Falan shook his head. "Though their way of thinking is hard to understand, if you remember that they are people from another world, then it becomes clear. No matter how badly they fail here, it cannot harm their foundations."

He looked at the two of them. "We brought Spencer here and took him to scout Alliance City. For the next few days, do not go in that direction. If three Legendary figures join forces, this ship may not be able to withstand them."

Adrian nodded. "All right, Teacher. We'll just keep the ship floating above these clouds!"

Falan looked at Hill. "No matter how curious you are, you are not allowed to go down. It must be chaos down there right now. I would not even feel at ease letting Adrian leave the airship."

Adrian smiled. "Stay put and behave with the cat in your arms. Do not spend too much time on the deck either."

Hill nodded helplessly. Alice had been shut in his room this whole time. He needed to let her out for some fresh air.

Spencer began the counterattack at dawn three days later.

Hill leaned against the window and watched the endless army advance, banners and drums stretching as far as the eye could see.

Though the knights' horses were more elegant and imposing, players of every class had mounts.

Adrian stared blankly, deeply puzzled. "Why do Mages ride horses?"

Hill could not answer him. Mounts could not possibly belong to only one class. Otherwise, the game might as well not exist.

Nor did players have the pride of Mages in this world, who flew high in the sky and looked down upon other classes confined to the ground.

Sky Knights could fly, but only hover in the air for short periods. Other classes could not fly until they became Legendary.

Only Mages, regardless of which element they specialized in, could use Levitation to fly once they reached the Mage stage.

Thus, Mages always flew wherever they went. Flight was the capital that let Mages look down upon all other classes.

But players did not feel that way.

Even those who had come as reinforcements had arrived after only half a day of flying as Mages, and that was because they were unfamiliar with the route.

Meanwhile, Knights, Swordsmen, and Priests who rode all the way there had only arrived yesterday.

Yet their Mages never possessed that sort of arrogant contempt for other classes.

At most, they shouted things like, "Mages are the best!"

But when it came to group actions like this, they still summoned their horses and moved with the formation.

Hill only warned Adrian, "Do not dwell on the reasons behind their actions. Things you can never understand may simply be the result of a momentary whim."

Adrian could only nod silently. "They are not very intelligent. They can only learn one or two schools of magic. Even with alchemy, once they learn Potion Alchemy, they cannot learn equipment alchemy.

The God of Space-Time has still placed many restrictions on them."

Hill nodded.

The airship slowly followed overhead. The army took three hours to cover a distance of one hundred kilometers.

Falan also came over. "Three hours, and hardly anyone fell behind. They kept up tightly. The Undead are very disciplined!"

But Hill keenly noticed that the spacing between these people was nearly identical throughout the march. There had to be some kind of follow function.

Otherwise, half of them would have gotten lost in those three hours.

Upon arriving beneath Alliance City, Spencer ordered them to eat and rest. The battle would begin punctually at one in the afternoon.

Hill saw several Alchemy Huts appear in Black Rose's camp. Some people hurried inside and never came back out.

They must have logged off for something. It seemed those huts were very useful to them.

Hill could make them too. He felt airships might see frequent use in the future. He planned to practice with Alchemy Huts once he returned and make one himself. It did not need to be this large; as long as it had good defenses and was fast, that would be enough.

He could sell Alchemy Huts to players in exchange for more Attribute-less Elemental Crystals, then travel the world himself.

Falan tapped the window. "Look at the city wall!"

From afar, Hill saw four Legendary figures standing atop the wall, seemingly preparing to make a move.

Hill tensed. Were they about to launch a surprise attack?

Adrian said doubtfully, "Spencer is not that foolish, is he? Why rest at all?"

Falan merely raised the ship higher and said in a low voice, "Watch!"

The saintess of the Love Temple floated into the air and erected a protective barrier.

Three Legendary Knights quickly flew into the sky and charged toward the camp. They seemed to have pinpointed Spencer's location and headed straight for him without hesitation.

Hill watched nervously.

Yet Spencer showed no intention of retreating.

Standing on tiptoe, Hill spotted the young Knight Order of Asking Sword. Their shields matched their size, half the size of normal tower shields, but still large enough to cover their entire bodies.

There were actually quite a lot of them, but perhaps because they were so tiny, their defensive strength looked insufficient.

The Legendary figures did not take them seriously and charged straight through.

Following Young Master's shrill cry of "Raise shields!", tens of thousands of small shields rose.

They were all Fire-Element Law Knights!

Flames coiled around the shields, forming a massive Thornfire Shield.

Even when three Legendary figures joined forces, only a little over a thousand people died. But Thorn-type shield skills all carried reflected damage.

The reflected damage from more than ten thousand Fire-Element Law users nearly shattered the protective shields around the three Legendary figures.

More than ten thousand Meteoric Firestorms instantly fell from the sky.

A gauzy curtain descended over the Legendary figures, blocking what would have been a fatal attack.

Adrian was utterly shocked. "Does the Love Temple not want the Divine Artifact anymore?"

Hill watched the expressionless woman atop the city wall pull back both the curtain and the Legendary figures. "She does not want to give it up either."

Spencer waved his hand, and the seemingly idle players charged madly toward the city walls.

Hill looked at the walls, which had been shattered by more than ten thousand Earthquakes. "The Noble Temple has no options left now, right?"

"They withdrew long ago," Falan said. "The tents in the city are still there, but there are not many people left. Those Legendary figures were kept behind for one final strike."

Sure enough, the Legendary figures immediately flew away without hesitation.

Spencer did not hesitate either. It seemed he had known all along.

He directed the players to rush straight into Alliance City.

Every person who remained in the city was killed by the players.

Hill frowned. "Why were there still people who had not left?"

Adrian sneered. "The smart ones saw the Noble Temple's own army withdraw and followed them long ago. These ones were too greedy. They thought the Legendary figures would not lose so quickly and wanted to grab more benefits.

Spencer did not stop the Undead, which means these people were either thieves or worthless fools no one wanted."

Hill silently nodded. These were merit points Spencer had left for the players charging at the front.

Hill could not say anything either. To players, they were merely Red Name monsters.

Suddenly, thunder boomed, resounding through the heavens.

Hill rushed out of the hall and looked westward, where Lightning and Thunder raged.

That was Keslote.

Falan and Adrian also came outside, staring toward the place where lightning flashed and thunder crashed.

"The Legendary figures have returned. Is Dionysio launching his final strike?" Adrian hesitated. "Should we go over later? This does not look like a Divine Artifact! Has there been a Divine Descent? It seems dangerous."

Falan furrowed his brows tightly. "Let's fly nearby first and see. Hopefully, nothing has happened."