Chapter 289: The Final Battle Royale
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
The final battlefield looked like a combination of Isythre and Gouve. The earth was Isythre-like, but the sky was filled with floating isles. On each island, one would find a nerd’s complete compendium of cla.s.sic enemies — zombies, mummies, mutated bugs, aliens and more; however, that was not all. The local NPCs were there, but this time, they were incredibly hostile to the players. They seemed h.e.l.l-bent on lynching the players; it was as if co-existing with the players was not an option.
This seemed too similar to the way the mortals of the world perceived the Voidwalkers.
Not only that, all the bosses they had faced in the previous rounds were all present. The Voidwalkers were overwhelmed by the sheer amount of dangers they faced in this level; not only were they supposed to defend themselves against local NPCs, mobs, and powerful bosses, but they also had to fight the other teams to death.
The only thing good about this high-stakes finale, for Baiyi, was that it was taking place in one location, so the previous pressure and computing load he had to endure previously had subsided in spades. Because of this, the quality of the map and its monsters improved greatly. The NPCs were no longer entirely poorly designed; they now boasted the same quality as the bosses that the as the Walkers had faced previously.
The game’s stature leaped from a c.r.a.ppy freemium game — where one would pay cash for a Level 999 blade— to an AAA-grade big-budget game, at breakneck speed. The game now seemed fully capable of bringing out the most realistic and immersive visual, audio, and tactile experience to the players; something the best virtual reality gaming device hoped to achieve.
However, it was unfortunate that the remaining Voidwalkers were not at their best states after the last bloodbath. The extremely lucky Axis of Evil— which now consisted of only the Lich Walker and the Shadow Walker — sp.a.w.ned in the middle of a city, unfortunately. This time, the aboriginal NPCs did not waste any time surrounding the two.
Not only were the Lich Walker and Shadow Walker surrounded by local NPCs, mobs, and bosses, but their combined numbers was too much for both Voidwalkers to tackle, due to the unholy amount of time and energy they would need to overcome the mob; there was also the possibility of one of their opponents sneaking an attack on them while they were occupied! Thus, after a brief discussion, both Voidwalkers began to run away from the mob like embarra.s.sing, headless chickens.
As they fled, they managed to rescue the Charlatan from another mob. No one could understand their reason of doing so, but absolutely no one would believe that their heroics was for a humanitarian cause.
The Voidwalkers who sp.a.w.ned in the middle of nowhere were considered lucky. One such lucky team was the Connection Cronies. They sp.a.w.ned in the middle of nowhere, and without facing any a.s.sault from hostile NPCs, the team had the time to gather intelligence and formulate strategies. They also managed to save the Paladin and the Blacksmith, who were both fleeing from a boss that had donned a wide-brimmed witch hat.
Seeing as they were saved, the Paladin and the Blacksmith could not possibly defy the Connection Cronies. Hence, both of them had to pledge their allegiance to the Connection Cronies and suck up to them.
On the other hand, the members of Shonen Shoguns got reunited again. Their luck held even after that, and the entire team sp.a.w.ned in a barren wasteland, giving them ample time and zero distraction to plan their next move, such as acc.u.mulating as many resources they could.
Apparently, in an attempt to revive their fellow comrades, the two surviving members of the Shonen Shoguns, who made it through the third level, had offered all of their reward points and the points they had gathered by selling all of their tools…
Now that was the real will of fire that shonen heroes are famed for! They do not abandon hope and bravery, and they don’t abandon their comrades, either!
However, despite all four members of the Shonen Shoguns now being well and alive, the loss of weapons, gears, and other tools they had sacrificed, left them in a bind. If they were to meet an enemy at that moment, they may not survive…
Fortunately, Baiyi was so impressed with them, so he decided to lend them a hand in secret. As a result of this, they were able to obtain some basic weapons like cleavers, frying pans, and mysterious berries — which was enough to serve them for that moment. Baiyi even had a boss wait for them; it was a maiden who had with a long, pale blue hair and donned armor and a short skirt of the latest fas.h.i.+on.
The Shonen Shoguns proceeded to curb-stomp this gorgeous boss until she submitted, then she left a black obsidian armor and a large stash of gold coins before fleeing. With this loot, the Shonen Shoguns were finally able to regain some fighting power, enough to stand a chance in their upcoming battle…
As a result of various alliances, the players were moving in 3 groups, with each group containing members of more than 1 team. On their journey forward, these three groups defeated every monster they could find, kept every resource they could find, and completed smaller side-quests, which had been given to them by the aboriginal NPCs so that they could build up a name for themselves. They also strove to battle different bosses so that they could more equipment and gain the allegiance of NPCs, who would then act as their back-up.
The Connection Cronies gained the allegiance of one such NPC. They came across a young female dragon, who had a bear cub 1 striding by its side. After defeating the young dragon, the Cronies took the cub in for themselves. Wanting her child back, the dragon agreed to join their party.
Meanwhile, the Axis of Evil was able to earn the allegiance of one NPC to act as their back-up. This was only possible due to the Charlatan’s techniques, which fooled a Boss into working for them. This boss was a saintess wearing a kinky armor set. At the same time, while braving a skirmish in the wild, the Shonen Shoguns accidentally rescued a rich, young female NPC, who had the face of a loli and a very mountainous torso. In order to reward the Connection Cronies, the pink-haired rich NPC showered them with money and gifted them a sorcerer’s staff that had Saint Quartz embedded in it. Additionally, she even sent her maidpPosse to aid the team.
Since this was the final battle royale, everyone was very careful and reserved in their action and the route they took. This resulted in them not running into each other. They took their time to grind and gather intel.
“We should strike only after the other two factions have wasted each other. Before that happens, we should consider concealing our tracks,” the Scholar said as she cuddled the cub in her arms.
The Warrior Walker did not seem to share the Scholar’s fondness for the cub; she only threw a dirty glare at it. However, she nodded at the Scholar’s strategy in approval.
After that, the Warrior Walker joined the a.s.sa.s.sin Walker in bullying the young female dragon. The poor female dragon NPC had no idea why it was the subject of their ire 2 , so it could only whimper pitifully.
“Our biggest enemy is that sonuvab*tch — the Lich!” The Paladin Walker, who had just joined the Connection Cronies, gritted his teeth and added.
Surprisingly, even though the Connection Cronies contained three gorgeous belles, who were each flaunting different moe aspects, the Paladin Walker never once gave them any more than a pa.s.sing glance. His attention was fully focused on the battles— like an actual paladin would. Was it because he knew that if he dared hara.s.s the girls, his ending would be much harsher than getting ‘muted’ in the void?
“Here. This is an armor I just made. It is a little less st.u.r.dy than my usual work, but you can still use it. I added a special enchantment that increases the armor’s resistance to necromancy,” the Blacksmith said as he tossed a set of armor to the Paladin. Curiously, despite using all the materials he had gathered, thus far, the Blacksmith was only able to make one armor set, which he gave to the Paladin Walker. Although the Blacksmith defended this action by stating that the Paladin Walker would be the primary force against the Lich Walker, his intentional negligence of requests which the others made for similar armor sets suggested that he had some other motive…
The Lich Walker was not an idiot. Ever since the Charlatan joined them, the Lich Walker realized that his trust in the Shadow Walker was reducing. The two of them had, at least, trusted each other implicitly before the Charlatan came along, but now, the Lich Walker realized he had grown more suspicious of the Shadow Walker.
This was not good from any perspective. To make matters worse, the Shadow Walker shared the same distrust for the Lich Walker. Her mind nagged her that the Lich Walker would definitely look for a chance to devour her to order to gain her power and EXP, making him become the strongest player in the game.
Eventually, the Lich Walker discovered that the Charlatan had been brainwas.h.i.+ng the empty-headed Saintess Boss. In a fit of anger, the Lich Walker killed the conman and enslaved his soul.
“You idiotic, insignificant liar! I was originally planning to kill you last, yet you dared do something this foolish under my nose?”The Lich Walker said in a hoa.r.s.e and low voice.
“Suck it, you disgusting, contemptible bag of bones!” The Charlatan’s soul shrieked. “You murdered all of my teammates and killed the only few people who still believed in con artists like me! I am never going to ally myself with you!!”
Just like that, the Lich Walker had snuffed the Charlatan’s soul out of the game. The last candlelight of the Support Team was now gone completely.
However, the Lich Walker’s problems did not just go away with the death of the Charlatan. At this point, both he and the Shadow Walker no longer trusted each other at all, and the Saintess Boss, due to the conman’s death, rebelled against them. The two managed to subdue her, but the fight had cost them heavily.
With their acc.u.mulated supply running dry and their most useful technical support member, the Charlatan, gone — the Lich Walker and the Shadow Walker found themselves at the mercy of the local parishes and churches.
These DemiG.o.d-level Voidwalkers did not seem to be affected by the downhill turn of event, however. The Lich Walker just calmly muttered to himself, “Hmph hmph hmph. Now, this is the life a Lich should be accustomed to. Hee hee hee…”
The game continued with the three forces reinforcing their foundation. A casual glance at the time informed Baiyi that day was about to break, so he had to execute his masterstroke immediately, forcing the champions to reveal themselves sooner.
A system notice flashed before each player in the game; it said: “A top-tier boss will appear at the center of the map. The reward from maiming this boss will be weapons and tools powerful enough to tip the balance in your favor. All players are advised to hurry over there before the others.”
After the players did as told and arrived at the designated area, the boss — or rather, the bosses — had already sp.a.w.ned. One boss was a beautiful maiden who had a single golden-haired horsetail and wore a short skirt and white silky socks. Beside this boss was another boss — a loli sporting black twin-tails hair, who wore the same outfit as the Maiden boss.
Cooperating Bosses? Bosses like these were infamous for possessing too many techniques as well as being a general nuisance. No one — not even from a Random Guild, a G-rank Guild, or a Tagalong Guild — would be delighted to see two bosses at the same time.
Soon, a chaotic battle began. The players threw themselves forward, attacking the bosses as much as possible to gain EXP, and at the same time, attacking their opponents. It was an exciting battle of wits and mettle!
In a high-stakes battle royale like this, the Shonen Shogun’s boldness in fighting their hardest quickly became a tremendous advantage. Even though they possessed only they loot they picked from the maiden they defeated previously, they managed to hold their own against both the Connection Cronies and the Axis of Evil! Meanwhile, the Connection Cronies directed most of their attention to the bosses, and this caused them to be the primary target of attacks from the other two teams. The Cronies found themselves cornered…
At this critical moment, the Archmage awakened.
His lone figure braved the Knight Walker’s and the Hitman Walker’s relentless onslaughts by itself, all the while keeping a vigilant eye on the Shadow and her shady techniques. He was essentially battling three fighters by himself, yet he was more spirited than he ever was, even managing to pilfer a lot of time and s.p.a.ce for his teammates.
The old geezer may have been an embarra.s.sing noob in games, but when he started treating the games as though they were real life, he became a force that reminded everyone of his original ident.i.ty.
“Now that’s His Royal Highness, the Sage-Emperor of the Magi. Even without his opulent heavenly robe, whenever he gets serious, a terrifying opponent would be unleashed…” the Lich muttered quietly.
The Archmage’s sudden awakening rocked the battlefield’s atmosphere. His teammates, who were fully motivated by his powerful performance, became even more dedicated to their tasks. The HP of both bosses’ HP rapidly reduced amidst the chaos, almost getting lower than ⅓ of the original amount.
Was the night-long game finally coming to end… right before the sun rises, bringing about dawn?