Chapter 136 – NPCs
“Big Brother Fatty, the guilds on the upper floors are charging down. My brother said to hurry,” Purple Bell hurriedly informed Fatty of the message she received.
Fatty nodded, his calm expression completely unruffled. He even pulled Purple Bell back one step.
Click Clack…
After galloping around the seventh-floor, Undead Marshal Lei Ting turned his horse back to the area before the coffin. His cloak hovered, and his low tone echoed around the hall.
“My children, my wolf pack, where have you been? Come and welcome your Marshal upon his return!”
“Hooooooo!”
Along with Lei Ting’s echoing words, a chilling gale started to pick up, filling the entire hall. Amidst the winds were flickering images that emitted constant ghostly wailing and screaming.
Suddenly, an illusionary figure manifested from the wind. He was a tall and st.u.r.dy knight sitting astride a skeletal horse. This person’s image urged his horse toward Undead Marshal Lei Ting. Then, he got off and knelt on one knee. His armor made clacking sounds when it hit the ground.
“Knight Commander Trevor greets you, Honorable Marshal. I am willing to follow your lead once again. Let us traverse the continent and wipe out those despicable dark creatures.”
Undead Marshal Lei Ting nodded without making another move, resuming his silent demeanor. The Knight Commander remained in his kneeling position with his forehead touching the ground, also keeping silent.
Whoos.h.!.+
Another figure appeared. This one was hugging a gla.s.s...o...b..and was wrapped in a light black mist. It was indeed the Soul Devour Sorcerer that Fatty and Purple Bell had slain earlier.
“Soul Devour Sorcerer Reged greets you, Honorable Marshal. I am willing to follow your lead and restore the glorious past of the Black Tortoise Corps.”
The Soul Devour Sorcerer also knelt on one knee and spoke out in his shrill voice. Undead Marshal Lei Ting nodded his head again. Reged seemed to be much stronger than the Knight Commander as he didn’t keep kneeling in wait, but quickly flew to Lei Ting’s left and stood there.
Whoosh. Whoosh.
Two more figures emerged and knelt before Lei Ting.
“Skeletal General Antony greets you, Honorable Marshal. I am willing to follow your lead. May our Black Tortoise Corps sweep through the continent, bringing with it peace and light.”
“Dark Sacrificer Haggis greets you, Honorable Marshal. I am willing to follow your lead to once again purify all spiteful spirits with your light, and provide this continent with warmth and tranquility.”
The two bosses appeared at the same time, but their treatment differed significantly. Skeletal General Antony kept kneeling like Knight Commander Trevor while Dark Sacrificer Haggis stood up and quickly settled to Lei Ting’s right.
Bang, bang.
A figure stumbled out.
“Skeletal Centurion greets you, Honorable Marshal.”
Shortly after the emergence of the Skeletal Centurion, the chilling gales gradually dispersed. Aside from the boss monsters, many normal mob monsters arrived as well. They knelt before Lei Ting in order according to their cla.s.s and race.
No matter who had appeared, Undead Marshal Lei Ting only waited as he remained seated accordingly in utter silence. It was just after the chilling wind was completely dispelled did he slowly raise his head.
“Where is Aguero? Why hasn’t he come to greet me?”
His voice was laced with a hint of anger. Except for those who were already kneeling, the standing Soul Devour Sorcerer and Dark Sacrificer fell to their knees. All of the monsters present trembled in fright.
“Oh, my lord Honorable Marshal. I, your faithful subordinate, Aguero the Phantom Messenger have come.”
As an indistinct, feeble voice rang out, a dark light ball suddenly appeared before Undead Marshal Lei Ting and gradually expanded into a portal. Stepping out from the portal was Phantom Messenger Aguero, who’d been blocking the six major guilds and causing them great casualties all by itself.
“Aguero, you know your sin?” Undead Marshal Lei Ting was like a high and mighty emperor condemning his citizen.
Fatty could see Phantom Messenger Aguero tremble for a brief moment before the latter straightened its neck and yelped, “This general begs my lord Marshal to clarify, what sin have I committed?”
“You stole the City Construction Token, making it impossible for this Marshal to establish a city. When the Demon forces arrived, our troops were left with nowhere to take shelter. Millions of our soldiers died harboring grief. Tell me, did you sin or did you not?” Lei Ting urged his stallion forward and shouted.
So that’s how the Phantom Messenger got his City Construction Token.
“I did not sin,” Phantom Messenger Aguero abruptly stood up. “Everything I’ve done has been to spread the glory of the G.o.d of Darkness throughout this continent, to make those foolish human accept the embrace of the G.o.d of Darkness. Therefore, I haven’t sinned.”
“So, you are a spy of the Demon Realm,” Lei Ting’s voice was restored to its usual calm. Under the golden mask, a strange light flashed across his pupils, indicating the existence of some unknown thought.
Lei Ting didn’t say another word, so Aguero didn’t dare make a fuss either. Even though it had the guts to raise its voice before Lei Ting, it was well aware that its strength was no match for the latter.
“Aguero, millions of soldiers lost their lives in the battlefield because of your greed. Countless souls refused to rest as they screamed every night. Tell me, how should I punish you?” Lei Ting finally said after a long silence.
“Lord Marshal, how is the taste of immortality?” Aguero suddenly asked back.
“If what you mean is this state of half human and half monster, then it’s indeed distasteful,” Lei Ting replied in a low tone.
“Half human and half monster? Heh, this is the supreme magic of the Demon Realm. The Ghost King cast it on you so you could become a General of the Demon Realm solely because he cherished your talent. Otherwise, how do you think you lot could have survived after being dead for thousands of years?” Aguero snorted coldly.
Lei Ting was silent. After a long time, he said, “Immortality has never been my wish. I only hope for the eternal peace of our continent, and happy lives for our citizens.”
“We can still fulfill your desires with the G.o.d of Darkness leading us. Why else do you think I chose to follow the Phantasm Ghost King? It is because only the great G.o.d of Darkness and his brilliance can rescue humanity,” seeing how Lei Ting’s resolve was wavering, Aguero took the chance to push him.
“Humph, feeble excuses!” Lei Ting waved his arm. Aguero let out a horrible scream as he flew backward and slammed into the wall.
“You two there. What did you come here for?” Lei Ting turned to Fatty and Purple Bell with a question.
——
“Kill! Kill the boss; get the drops!”
“It’s a Celestial boss! Hurry everyone!”
The inside of Ma.s.s Graves was currently a chaotic mess. Screams and shouts reached the Heavens as blood dyed every inch of the ground red. The players had gone berserk, they drew weapons and attacked whoever they saw, even if it was an acquaintance. Numerous players were slain and became a vengeful member of Ma.s.s Graves before they could even figure out what was happening.
Save for the fourth floor which was tightly guarded by the six major guilds, the floors above it were all overrun by players. There were so many players that they filled up the hall of each floor.
“d.a.m.n it! Which guild was guarding the entrance? How could you let them in?”
On the third floor, the guild masters of several dozens of guilds stomped their feet in rage.
“I’m sorry, it was our mistake to let some rogues sneak in. They all performed Reckless Blow and killed some of our guards to create an opening. After that, our defense just collapsed,” a guild master apologized nonstop. They were the one in charge of leading the five guilds to guard the entrance.
“Apologies are as useless as a fart! Learn from how they are guarding the entrance on the floor below. Forget any rogues, even a mosquito has to reveal itself when it flies inside.”
“Alright, alright. It’s useless to argue now. If people come in, we’ll make way for them. They are just a bunch of sheep without a shepherd. Do they think they can take advantage of us with just quant.i.ty alone?”
——
“Not good! All of the players above are coming down. They want to attack our defensive line.”
On the fourth floor, the guild masters’ face changed abruptly upon hearing the news.
“Step aside,” Fierce Dragon TheTalent demanded loudly.
“This…” the rest still hesitated.
“We can’t stop them. Moreover, we can’t turn Black Tortoise City into the enemy of the world.”
As soon as the six major guilds withdrew from the entrance, the players burst in from the fourth floor like a flood and stomped their way to the floors below.
——
“Such chaos.”
Alongside Grand Magus Jijilu, Drucker led his troop to the vicinity of Ma.s.s Graves. There, he heard the heaven-shaking screams and saw countless players embrace death with each pa.s.sing second.
“This should be within the City Lord’s expectations,” Jijilu contemplated.
“The City Lord will never be at ease until this matter is addressed. It’s best that nothing ill happens. If things start going in the worst way that we predicted, then, much to my dismay, we can only take down Senior Lei Ting,” Drucker said with resolve.
“When do we go in?” Jijilu asked.
“Let’s wait. We’ll head in when enough people are dying.”
——
“What? You want us to kill the Phantom Messenger?” Fatty’s face lost all color. Even the combined strength of six guilds couldn’t kill it. How would they beat that dude with only the two of them?
“That’s right. If you two kill it, I agree to fulfill a wish of yours,” Undead Marshal Lei Ting said in a low tone.
“Ha, haha. Why, my Honorable Marshal, why don’t you kill me yourself? Why send these two puny fish?” Aguero barely managed to scramble up. A trickle of thick red blood ran down from the corner of its mouth.
“It’s injured?” Fatty thought of something. He didn’t hesitate to use Appraisal and saw that Aguero had lost one-third of its health.
Fatty inhaled a deep breath in amazement. Lei Ting is too powerful. Just a slap from him took one-third of the HP from someone as strong as the Phantom Messenger. He truly lives up to the reputation of a Celestial boss.
“Kill it, or you two die,” Lei Ting icily stated, his words void of emotions.
“Haha,” Phantom Messenger Aguero turned its head to face the sky and laughed. “Lei Ting, do you feel the l.u.s.t running amok in your body? Do you feel that thirst for blood? Come with me underground. In that place, we have fresh blood and delicious human meat. Come away with me.”
Aguero’s laughter was resonating. While Lei Ting’s expression couldn’t be seen under his mask, the rest of the boss NPCs’ faces unexpectedly changed and their bodies began to tremble.
“You, you! What did you do to us?” the Soul Devour Sorcerer screeched as its finger pointed at Aguero.
“Haha, how could Lord Ghost King waste his magic power merely to keep you alive until now? Of course, he has something planned for you lot.”