Chapter 138 – Lei Ting’s Depravation
The fifth floor of Ma.s.s Graves had fallen into chaos. All of the players present were on their guards. They gripped their weapons and prepared their most potent skills. Everyone’s nerves were as taut as a drawn bowstring. A single tiny movement could make them snap and attack wildly without regard to their surroundings.
“I’ve said this already. If we don’t kill the Phantom Messenger, the entrance to the sixth floor won’t open.”
“Where is the Phantom Messenger? How come we can’t find it even with this many people?”
“I think we should just a.s.semble some earth mages and create a tunnel through the ground.”
In the sea of people, several guild masters stood at the major gathering spot at the center and discussed for a way to enter the sixth floor.
“Brother Fierce Dragon, this place looks lively, doesn’t it?” HeadofG.o.d and the rest stood in a corner and observed the center area with cold eyes.
“The Phantom Messenger truly lives up to its reputation as an advanced AI boss. It really… Huh? What’s that?” Fierce Dragon TheTalent didn’t finish his sentence. He abruptly looked to a far corner where a white halo slowly took shape.
“It’s the portal,” East Gate BlowingWind was sitting but immediately stood up.
“Everyone, let’s go in together!”
“Quick, quick.”
The members of the six major guilds stuck together and quickly made their way toward the newly formed entrance. The place was too crowded, and most people’s line of sight was obstructed, so many still didn’t notice that the opening had materialized.
“How did the portal appear? Could it be that the Phantom Messenger is dead?”
“Possibly. I wonder who killed that d.a.m.n b.a.s.t.a.r.d.”
The guild masters quickly conversed as they led their members toward the portal.
The players of the six major guilds went in one after another. The other players naturally took notice of such a significant movement. Very soon, the news of the entrance’s emergence spread throughout the fifth floor.
“The gate has appeared, enter quickly and kill the boss!”
An unknown player shouted. In an instant, the crowd pressed and pushed toward the portal. From time to time, someone would trip and would soon be stepped on by the pa.s.sing feet of the players rus.h.i.+ng forward behind them. Within just a distance of several hundred meters, roughly several hundred people had died from being trampled, which could be considered a new way of dying in-game.
——
Lei Ting’s condition seemed to take a turn for the worse after the Phantom Messenger’s death. The black air on his body was getting denser and denser, completely enshrouded him inside. The h.e.l.lfire Stallion grew more and more agitated and kept neighing loudly.
“Aguero was too foolish. It thought I couldn’t kill it just because the soul contract existed. Heh, I simply couldn’t kill it with my own hands, that’s all,” Lei Ting opened his mouth after he barely managed to restrain the black air.
Lei Ting never intended to take away Fatty’s equipment drops. Watching Fatty loot all of the items, he nodded slightly, “An honorary citizen of Black Tortoise City, your power barely makes the standard. Even so, you are still too weak to stop the Demon force.”
Fatty chuckled awkwardly. If it weren’t for the other bosses’ a.s.sistance, ten of me together still wouldn’t be enough to even serve as the Phantom Messenger’s plaything. It’s fine if I reveal my weak point to the mighty Captain of the Black Tortoise Corps, Lei Ting, anyway, nothing is embarra.s.sing about it.
“Hehe, I’ve made it big, let’s split up the rewards when we return,” Fatty whispered to Purple Bell. The latter smiled sweetly and remained silent.
“Aii, remember those years gone by, this Marshal led my wolf pack to dominate the battlefield. Such thrill, such jubilance! I never thought I’d wake up one day to see everyone in this half-human and half-monster state,” Lei Ting’s expression was entirely hidden behind his mask, with only the tremble in his voice betraying his emotions.
All of the bosses present stood motionlessly to two sides. They weren’t advanced AI bosses and only had a few plot lines, unlike the Phantom Messenger who could talk to Lei Ting like an actual person.
“Oh, such liveliness!” Lei Ting suddenly raised his head to look onward.
Fatty raised his head as well. At the door connecting the sixth and seventh floors, he saw a sudden incoming flood of players. Thunderous “tap tap” sounds followed right after, almost bursting Fatty’s eardrums and knocking him unconscious.
“The heck, why are there so many people?” Fatty hastily pulled Purple Bell and took shelter next to the coffin. He thought about it and immediately understood. The pa.s.sageway to the sixth floor must have opened since the Phantom Messenger was killed.
“Look, it’s the boss! It’s the boss!”
“Celestial tier boss, quick everyone, pounce!”
“Ahhh, there are so many bosses, we’ve struck gold!”
When the players flooded in, their eyes instantly shone upon the sight of the properly seated, golden-armored, majestic-looking Undead Marshal Lei Ting. They immediately dashed toward him directly.
“Stop them,” Lei Ting creased his brows and ordered indifferently.
Bang!
The previously motionless mobs swiftly took one step altogether. They stood in a battle formation in front of Lei Ting, blocking the players from reaching him. The sudden movement from the monsters frightened everyone. They stopped in shock and began a staring contest with the monster mobs.
“Attack, attack! Kill your way through! Kill the boss and get the Guild Construction Token!”
After a few seconds of struggle, an unknown player shouted noisily. The torrent of people aggressively charged on the signal, ramming heavily at the monsters’ defense line.
“Stupid creatures,” Lei Ting’s voice was ice cold, and his body slightly quivered. Even though he was transformed into a monster, his mind was still human. Seeing so many people trying to kill him with all their might, he was furious inside. The black mist on his body swirled violently, vaguely forming an image of a huge skeletal object.
“Blood… flesh…”
The mouth of this ma.s.sive skeletal object emitted a feeble sound. In an instant, the blood and gore of the dead monsters and players rose up and poured into the skeleton’s mouth like a waterfall.
“Attack, hurry and attack. The boss is gonna mutate!”
A high number of players shouted and disregarded their lives to rush toward Lei Ting.
Boom! A sky-shattering explosion echoed as both players and monsters rammed into each other. Countless skills soared across the air and landed on their targets.
Heart-wrenching screams rang out nonstop. Several hundreds of players were killed in the first wave of combat, signaling an intense battle.
“They… why are they doing this?” Hiding next to the coffin, Purple Bell was feeling very confused.
“Even they don’t know why,” Fatty sneered. “These people are but cannon fodders for the major guilds. The true battle has yet to begin.”
“Wasn’t Lei Ting the Captain of the Black Tortoise Corps who sacrificed himself to stop the Demon force? Even if he’s an NPC, we should respect such a person. Why do the players want to kill him?” Purple Bell still couldn’t figure it out.
“Greed has no boundaries,” Fatty could only gloss it over when facing such a subject.
The killing, or to be exact, the ma.s.sacre, was still taking place. The players running in may be powerful, but they were too disorganized to be a match for the monster formation. While the boss-tier monsters still hadn’t made their moves, the players were already failing to keep up and had to retreat constantly.
After the countless deaths of their colleagues, the hot-headed players finally cooled down. They started to feel fear and wanted to withdraw. However, there were even more players rus.h.i.+ng at them from the portal behind them. These players thoroughly sealed their escape route and forced them to charge forward.
n.o.body noticed that the blood falling from the players’ and mobs’ wounds didn’t fall to the ground. Instead, the blood creepily floated in mid-air and streamed toward the skeleton above Lei Ting’s head.
“Ahhhhh!”
The more blood that was absorbed, the denser the black fog around Lei Ting got as he let out one agonized scream after another. Finally, when the skeleton absorbed all the gore it needed, Lei Ting’s body began to inflate.
In the blink of an eye, the ma.s.sive skeleton shrank and fell onto Lei Ting, completely merging with him. At this moment, the sea of blood on the ground also streamed toward Lei Ting.
“Kill! Kill all of the existing humans, welcome the descent of the O’mighty G.o.d of Darkness!”
The voice came from Lei Ting who had already stopped screaming in pain. The golden mask on his face had turned black. With a roar, the h.e.l.lfire Stallion reared up before galloping off with a rumble.
“This is bad, Lei Ting has become depraved,” Fatty squinted his eyes at the scene. Then, he pulled Purple Bell to the other side to hide.
“KILL!”
Along with Lei Ting, the monsters in the entire hall roared. Countless skills blotted the sky as they headed for the players. The Soul Devour Sorcerer even transformed into a black mist. With a creepy “Keke” laughter, it enshrouded a whole bunch of players at once.
This entire battle was a slaughter. Lei Ting only truly fit the t.i.tle of Undead Marshal after he had been thoroughly corrupted. With a wave of his hand, numerous skeletal spears appeared and shot at the players.
Each skeletal lance skewered at least three to four players. Every single person who was impaled was insta-killed.
“This, this is too terrifying. So this is the true strength of a celestial boss?”
Fatty’s face was pale as he secretly appreciated his luck. It’s fortunate that Lei Ting only became depraved now. If he were corrupted from the start, I would have been dead already.
Blood and gore splattered all over the place, with any decapitated limbs dancing through the air. Facing a celestial boss, five to six standard bosses of varying ranks and the addition of several tens of thousands of mobs; the players running into the seventh floor were slaughtered like livestock. Those at the front wanted to withdraw, while those in the back wanted to rush forward. In the end, the players began to slaughter one another as well.
“Ahhhh!” One player finally had enough. They chose to go offline, leaving behind a motionless body forcefully.
Starting with this player, more and more players made the same choice. However, the more people who disconnected, the more who streamed down from above, adding more to the endless slaughter.
“Stupid humans, they really should stop being the rulers of this land.” On horseback, Undead Marshal Lei Ting’s voice was booming, “Kill them all, and tear down Black Tortoise City!”
“Follow the Lord Marshal, tear down Black Tortoise City!”
Behind Lei Ting, countless monsters screamed in madness and rushed forth with all their might. The players retreated one step after another until they were pushed to the vicinity of the entrance.
The heaven-shattering roar of the monsters could be heard from even the ground level of Ma.s.s Graves. Grand Magus Jijilu’s expression immediately changed.
Drucker, on the other hand, was indifferent, “Everyone, heed my command. Seal the entrance of Ma.s.s Graves and don’t let a single monster out.”