LIGHTNOVELONLINE Two days (OtherWorld time) prior, Charlie Rex's declaration of war was delivered to the Bartalis residence.
This declaration, beyond formally challenging the Bartalises for the dominion of Indahl, came with an additional, considerate suggestion—
Should the Bartalises opt for surrender and peacefully cede Indahl, Charlie Rex assured a generous grace period for the Bartalises to liquidate their estates and depart with dignity, never to return.
Upon reading it, Adra III slammed the table in fury. How was this any different from exile in disguise?!
Offering time for asset liquidation without safeguarding from plunder was tantamount to inviting robbers right to his doorstep!
These terms weren't exactly unacceptable to Adra III. The incensed Viscount Bartalis commanded his steward, Gould, to hasten asset transfer while urgently convening the city's nobility, demanding a muster of private armies to face this external threat.
Despite raised eyebrows, the nobility didn't object to this final edict from Adra III; even the vacillating Viscount Darcy summoned his men from his estates…
Each noble, driven by their own agendas, was loath to fight for the Bartalises. Yet, they knew well the importance of demonstrating their might during Charlie Rex's ascension: to instill a wary respect in the ambitious upstart. After all, this was a man who dared to detain a count's nephew for ransom. To appear weak before such an unscrupulous character was to invite untold audacity.
Thus, the local nobles of Indahl busied themselves with uneasy preparations for two days until the undead legion of Weisshem arrive.
December 4, Wednesday, 7 p.m., Earth time.
After a frantic hour-and-a-half (game time) sprint… players of the vanguard, who had long separated from the NPC contingent accompanying them, saw Indahl's formidable west gate and seemingly endless walls in the distance.
"Whoa! We didn't get the chance to see previously, but was Indahl this grand?" Jia Lou, who managed to come online right in time for the pre-battle quest, grabbed her friend and exclaimed excitedly. "Look at those walls, aren't they something else!"
"Okay okay, spare me. I see it too." Tang Jia brushed off Jia Luo's enthusiastic tugging. "You've seen that metal fortress in the Monster Battlefield countless times and never got this worked up."
"It's different! That fortress is just a texture, but this city is part of the game's main world and accessible for exploration! Weisshem already had its share of NPCs and streets; who knows what an actual city looks like. Hey, do you think this game might recreate real cities just like Assassin's Creed? The scale of these walls is already so huge, I feel that it's quite a possibility!"
For those who ventured into Indahl during the "Weisshem's Financial Crisis" quest, stealth had been paramount to avoid detection, leaving participating players little opportunity to admire the city's architecture.
While players proficient in makeup skills like Blossoming Strokes managed a glimpse of the streets, Jia Luo, who lacked such skills, spent her time lurking in the sewers—a rather dire experience in comparison.
"Next thing you know, we'll find a Renmin Road and a Zhongshan Road here, maybe even stumble upon a Bishuiyuan Community or a Wanda Plaza," Unceasing Entropy made a cold joke.
"I'll raise you a Nanjing Road and a Guangzhou Alley!" Blossoming Strokes didn't know whether to laugh. "This is a fantasy game, after all; let's give its setting a little respect, shall we?"
"I'm only concerned about one thing," Qin Guan declared, his gaze piercing. "Once we take this city, will the game allow players to become mayor?"
The fellow players in the vanguard hummed and hawed in response, their eyes fixed on the distant, magnificent cityscape of this fantasy-styled metropolis.
"It'd be epic if we could actually rule over such a grand city! Imagine the amount of land that would be up for grabs," mused one player, caught up in the excitement.
"Ou Huang made a killing just by running a shop in Weisshem and dealing with NPCs. If we got our hands on some real estate here, we'd be rolling in cash!" another player speculated in glee.
"I doubt it," mused Blossoming Strokes. "Weisshem and Exile Town aside, it's improbable for a player to become the highest governing official of such a massive city."
Unceasing Entropy pondered for a moment and nodded. "I think so, too. The game seems to have an underlying rule which is that the more NPCs there are, the less freedom for players. Despite both being player mayors, the one in Weisshem has far less authority than in Exile Town."
Hearing this, the seasoned players of the vanguard cast sympathetic glances toward their fellow comrade and Exile Town's current mayor, Brother Lahong, who was present among them…
In the recent second round mayor election, Ji Tang soared to the top of the official player reputation leaderboard due to his governance in Weisshem earning him a vast amount of territory prestige.
Brother Lahong, on the other hand, had barely managed his domain, focusing instead on monopolizing the monster spawn points in the wilderness (via teleportation points at player-applied lands) to amass a significant stash of materials. This strategy left contenders like Qin Guan and whales among the new players trailing in his dust.
Brother Lahong chuckled, completely unabashed and audaciously declared, "My door is always open if there are any keen on joining us. Our blood alliance sincerely welcomes new blood. Once in, we'll set you up with a fixed team, and you can farm as many monsters in the depths of the Taranthan wastelands as you wish!"
Qin Guan rolled his eyes. Withholding land approval unless one joined his blood alliance was a shameless tactic, and he even had the gall to publicize it!
Ever since discovering the perks of being Exile Town mayor, Brother Lahong couldn't care less about the criticism his methods attracted. After all, it was their own people who discovered the bug that allowed players holding friendly reputation with the Undead Merchant Association to obtain teleportation points in the wilderness on land they applied for. So, why not monopolize it?
The game's design allowed the Exile Town mayor to approve lands, including those in the wilderness with monsters. Any complaints could be taken up with the developers!
Amid their casual banter, the group approached the Indahl's west gate.
It wasn't a market day, and the midday sun hung high, so the vicinity of the west gate was rather deserted.
But even so, there were still people coming and going.
Citizens carrying corn and wheat out of the city to the mobile mill, along with the soldiers guarding the gates, spotted the large group of undead approaching and stood rooted to the spot.
Situated in the southwestern part of the continent, Indahl enjoyed a shorter and later winter, with temperatures only beginning to drop after the 12th month. Although it was late autumn, the midday sun remained intense and glaring.
The sight of a large undead horde approaching rapidly under the bright autumn sun was indeed surreal.
An Indahl city defense force officer seeking shade under the city gate rubbed his eyes hard and did a double take. The undead were swift like horses, and after several blinks, the officer could clearly see the incessantly moving jaws of these skeletons.
"It's the undead! Ahhhhh!!!"
A citizen, regaining her senses, let out screams and bolted toward the safety of the city walls.
With one taking the lead, others snapped out of their daze and cried out in panic, scrambling to flee.
"Close the gates! Shut the gates!" The officer in charge of the gate sprang into action as if his life depended on it, bellowing at the top of his lungs.
Seeing the NPCs moving to close the gates, the players accelerated.
"Come on, is such a dramatic reaction necessary?!"
"Hurry, see if we can sneak into the city!"
"Don't shut the gates~ We are good!"
Fortunately, the gate guards were well-trained; before the undead reached the gate, the heavy, iron-clad doors were lowered and sealed off the entrance tightly.
"Come on! What's with the pettiness? They aren't even letting us peek inside!" Jia Luo kicked the city gate in frustration.
"Never mind, let's wait until the battle is over before going in to explore," Yang Ying uttered in disappointment. "I was hoping to get a glimpse of the city before the fight started as well. We didn't get to see anything but the sewers while grinding mobs the last time we were here."
"Are we just going to sit around waiting for those tortoise NPCs to reach? That's so boring," grumbled Qin Guan.
"Why don't we just off ourselves and farm elsewhere, then when the NPCs finally arrive, you can summon us back," jibed Give Me Medicine.
"And you guys leave me alone here waiting like a fool? Like hell I would!" Qin Guan flatly refused.
"Fine, let's just accompany Vanilla and wait," conceded Blossoming Strokes. "In any case, we get a duration reward for being online, so it isn't a loss."
"What do you mean accompany me? Everyone was supposed to wait, alright?!" Qin Guan retorted in annoyance.
The group of players grumbled as they moved away from the city gate, aimlessly wandering over to the deserted mule and horse market nearby.
"Why aren't there any friendly NPCs around here? They could at least give us some menial quest to kill time." Qin Guan surveyed the surroundings, more annoyed by the lack of any presence.
"This is enemy territory. Where would you find a friendly NPC to give you quests?" Brother Lahong took a jab at Qin Guan as he usually did.
Qin Guan was uninterested in engaging and turned away.
But as he did, he noticed something… Along another dirt road adjacent to the one they had arrived by, a group of about a dozen NPCs on horseback were heading toward the city gates.
As a seasoned player, Qin Guan's first instinct was to cast an "Identify."
"Haa… Yellow names." Seeing the "Indahl Citizen" tag above the NPCs head, Qin Guan turned away in boredom… Red names could be looted, green names could issue quests, but yellow name NPCs were utterly worthless.
As the group of horsemen drew nearer and saw the assembly of undead squatting in the mule and horse market square, they were visibly shocked and panicked, hastily turning their horses around.
Their sudden flight, however, drew the players' attention.
"Hey, hey… Why did those yellow names run away at the sight of us?"
"Could they be the enemy?"
"Let's go chase after them and see!"
The players, who weren't too keen on waiting around aimlessly, quickly agreed and sprang into action…