Chapter 408 - A Nightmarish Encounter
The night fell upon the land, shrouding everything in darkness, as events of great consequence unfolded in a place known as the Ordnance Warehouse. Among its occupants were not only the storage of weapons but also a pair of jovial brothers, the Frost Fat Boys, and an unexpected guest - a demon. It was in this clandestine gathering that a handsome prince found himself consumed by delight. With the lifeless body of Silag at his feet, he had ambitious plans involving the enigmatic Dark Original Stone. His intention was to forge an army of demons within the pit where Silag met his demise.
The outcome, however, was far from what he expected.
A solemn "[Ding]" resounded through the air, punctuating the stillness of the night. In an instant, the world around him shifted as a series of ominous messages filled his mind:
[Ding: You killed Sidi's son, you were cursed by the devil, soul tracking]
[Ding: Sidi's favor with you is reduced by 20000 Points]
[Ding: The orc empire's favor with you has been reduced by 3000 Points]
[Ding: Legendary demon Lord Sidi will launch all available resources to hunt you down]
The prince's expression darkened as he absorbed the implications of these notifications.
"So it is…" he muttered, his voice heavy with realization. "No wonder the son of darkness only dared to beat him, but did not dare to kill him," he continued, his face now a mask of regret and understanding.
Without further ado, he hurriedly made his way out of the dragon's nest, his thoughts racing.
Beyond the Ordnance Warehouse, in the northern expanse of the Black Great Wall, orcs were already preparing for a race. On the eastern front, another group of orcs was likewise gearing up. Meanwhile, in the southern grottoes, a swarm of demons and orcs took to the skies, converging on a single location.
Even The Blue Frost Empire and the Elves, watching from a distance, were not oblivious to the mounting tension. They readied themselves, believing the enemy was gearing up for an imminent counterattack.
But Prince William remained oblivious to these movements.
Unbeknownst to him, the pursuers were closing in, forming an inescapable net. These were no ordinary adversaries; they were high-level masters, masters, and epic masters. Despite the gravity of his situation, the prince managed to keep his composure. He knew that, thanks to Sidi's hunting order, none of his fellow Dragon Blood Legion members would come to his aid. All of the enemy forces were now focused on him.
If he could endure this onslaught, the Dragon Blood Legion's ever-victorious army buff would eventually kick in. Once that happened, the tide of battle would turn in his favor.
William took a deep breath, steeling himself for what lay ahead. Then, as if on cue, he chanted a Spell.
"MD, Spell it," he muttered under his breath.
In response, thunderous giant hands, several tens of meters long, materialized in the air, their middle fingers raised provocatively.
"Tick, tick, tick!" The gesture was accompanied by a series of explosive sounds as demons, orcs, and epic masters were blown away. Dozens of epic masters were among those propelled into the fray.
With remarkable agility, Prince William turned and sprinted away. In less than two seconds, he vanished into the deepest recesses of an ice cave.
Moments later, a thunderous boom echoed through the region as several epic masters forcibly obliterated half of the snowy mountain, causing countless boulders and ice to disappear into thin air.
William, partially buried in the aftermath, lay there, breathless.
But his complacency had cost him precious time.
As he gazed around, he spotted the epic demon, ready to unleash his deadly power. Reacting swiftly, William retrieved his space wand from his left hand and executed a space jump. This allowed him to traverse distances of 0–100000 meters, with a 30–second window within the space tunnel and a cooldown of three minutes.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished before the eyes of the pursuing epic masters.
In the next instant, when they saw him reappear at the entrance of another dragon's nest, they followed suit.
The epic dragon, meanwhile, sensed the presence of others but chose to remain in blissful slumber.
The consequences of this decision became evident when the mountain quivered and rumbled.
"The earthquake is pulling the earthquake!" the epic dragon roared, roused from his sleep.
However, when he finally opened his eyes, he was met with an unexpected sight. The entire landscape had transformed. The once-enclosed space had become an open-air mansion, and the snowy mountain resembled a massive cake, sliced open from the side.
The Frost Fat Boy was incensed. His home had been destroyed, and he was not pleased. As he contemplated retaliating, he noticed a growing assembly of orcs, demons, and Epic Level beings standing at his doorstep, numbering thirty in total.
Something was amiss. Why were they gathered here in such numbers? Was it time for a group battle? But their attention was not on him.
And so, the plot thickened.
Enduring the circumstances with stoic resolve, the Frost Fat Boy tightly clenched his fists and opted to drift back into the realm of dreams. Perhaps sleep would provide solace amidst the chaos.
Meanwhile, an epic demon discussed the situation with his companions. "The boy is encased within the iceberg. If not for the Lord's soul sealing him, we'd never have located him."
One of the demon clan members raised an intriguing question, "What about your White Dragon? Do you plan to seize this opportunity?" He made a throat-slitting gesture, implying a sinister intent.
An epic demon, teeth gritted, responded, "Don't concern yourself with him. Lord Sidi is not seeking to incite conflict; he simply desires the boy's demise. If we eliminate the Dragon Family, they will not dare to oppose us."
Little did they know that the Legendary dragon had already taken notice of their presence. Bewildered by the sudden influx of experts from the Orc Empire, the dragon hesitated to act. The mere mention of the White Dragon's name sent shivers down their spines.
In the midst of this uncertainty, the relentless pursuit continued, with the pursuers methodically dismantling the mountain. William, on the other hand, continued his desperate digging. As a Grandmaster, his ability to excavate was nothing short of extraordinary, resembling a nuclear-powered excavator. Thunder God's left hand moved with astonishing speed, transforming into a blur as it delved into the frozen soil and ice, descending at a rate of ten meters per second.
Simultaneously, several Legendary powerhouses within the Orc Empire contemplated capitalizing on Sidi's bounty by capturing William. However, The Blue Frost Empire and the Elves had been closely monitoring the situation and decided to intervene, obstructing the orcs. Their message was clear: anyone who posed a threat to the enemy would face formidable opposition.
In a matter of moments, more than a dozen Legendary leaders took to the skies, cautious and unwilling to take reckless action. A full-scale battle between Legendary figures could easily ignite a devastating conflict.
Why hadn't William sought assistance, one might wonder? These cunning pursuers had effectively sealed him off, preventing him from using sound scrolls or calling for help. He had hoped that the Elves would piece together the truth and come to his aid, realizing that no one but him was responsible for this unfolding calamity.
William continued to dig, and the epic bosses persisted in dismantling the mountain behind him. Whenever he sensed that he could no longer hold out, he would employ a space transmission scroll, allowing him to traverse over ten kilometers. Before the pursuers could catch up, he would resume digging.
His primary objective was to prolong the chase as much as possible. William didn't possess many space scrolls; after depleting his supply in the far northern Frost Fat House, he had obtained thirteen more from Moses. He dared not venture east, fearing that space mages might trap him in a spatial tunnel. Thus, he only felt secure using the scrolls within the continuous glacier mountain range.
As thousands of frost dragons awoke and soared into the sky, they observed a group of epic giants tirelessly pursuing an invisible adversary. William's whereabouts shifted continuously, sometimes appearing in dragon's nests, but no matter where he surfaced, his pursuers promptly razed the area.
In the process, he managed to pilfer numerous treasures whenever his foes destroyed a dragon's nest. William had no intention of dawdling, yet he still managed to amass a considerable fortune, totaling seven or eight million Gold Coins. The epic dragons, it seemed, were remarkably affluent.
However, William dared not venture near the nest of the Legendary dragon, and they likewise refrained from straying too close to the epic dragon's habitat.
Four epic frost dragon nests were obliterated, and six giant dragon nests were uprooted. Icebergs vanished into thin air, and in less than half an hour, avalanches cascaded down glaciers and mountains, accompanied by the cacophony of crashing ice and snow. Despite all this, the Legendary dragon remained elusive, its existence shrouded in uncertainty.
Half an hour of relentless pursuit generated earth-shattering vibrations, resonating across hundreds of kilometers to the Dawn Fortress. This epic confrontation in the sky, with Legendary and epic beings engaged in combat, left spectators awestruck. Players discussed the spectacle with fervor, yearning to witness it firsthand, but the distance was a formidable deterrent, as the battle's aftermath could easily obliterate them.
The Snow Elf Queen, Bernice Frost, had long observed William's frantic escape. To her, traversing great distances was a simple matter of looking up. From her elevated vantage Point, she remarked with amusement, "There are myriad ways to flee. Thunder God's left hand is truly a marvel. I wonder if Thunder God himself would be delighted or dismayed by its use."
Bernice had already discerned the immense power that William had stirred. To her, it resembled godlike abilities, though there were subtle differences.
Over time, however, Bernice noted that William's escape tactics were faltering. It appeared that he was on the brink of capture by the epic bosses, prompting her to consider intervening.
With a swift motion, William activated a space blockade, temporarily sealing the area. In doing so, he inadvertently drew an unwitting Orc master into the enclosed space. The two found themselves mere inches apart, locked in a tense standoff. The Orc, sweating profusely and clutching his weapon, was visibly terrified. He dared not make a move against an individual who had brazenly provoked countless epic bosses.
To his surprise, William merely glanced at him, refraining from initiating hostilities. The space blockade was set to last for five minutes, during which William's space jump ability would remain inactive, forcing him to endure the wait.
As the minutes ticked away, the Orc master began to believe that William had no intention of engaging him in battle. Little did he know that the space blockade was nearing its end.
Five minutes elapsed, and the space began to contract, bringing the two adversaries within close proximity. In an instant, William delivered a powerful punch, reducing the Orc's head to a gruesome pulp.
However, William had overlooked a critical detail. While the space blockade had allowed him to create a temporary alternate space, his emergence Point remained unchanged. In other words, he had reappeared in the same location.
Unbeknownst to him, a group of epic giants was positioned to surround him.
In the blink of an eye, William produced dozens of Forbidden Spells in a desperate bid to escape using Sage Ray's incarnation.
However, as he emerged, he was met not by epic foes but by orcs, demons, and Demons. While they numbered in the thousands, none possessed Epic Level power.
Meanwhile, Bernice whispered a revelation into William's ear, "This mountain is your battleground. As long as you remain within, the Epic Level masters will not confront you. If you persist day and night, the Devil will no longer interfere in the ten-year Blood War."
With newfound understanding, William glanced at the information panel. It displayed an SS-level task: "Fight Alone."
He grasped the situation. Sidi aimed to kill him, while Bernice sought to protect him. Essentially, Bernice's intervention would eliminate Sidi's opportunity to act. To ensure that the demon army withdrew from the battlefield, Bernice had decided to challenge these pursuers for a full 24 hours.
In essence, William was inadvertently preventing further chaos
in the ten-year Blood War.
"In other words," William mused, a hint of satisfaction in his tone, "not only have I avoided trouble, but I've also indirectly influenced the course of the ten-year Blood War."
He couldn't help but notice the presence of several formidable masters in a saintly posture. Five, to be precise.