Game’s Dogma

Dakki looked rather confused while Drako Yau felt his chest tighten. He remembered that Chris had once told him about the story behind his Tattered Armour—the God-Slaying Demon Extermination Armour.

The god race allied with the human race to fend off the demon race, yet the demon race lured the prideful Michael into the Thousand Demonic Soul Formation. Chris’ explanation ended there. From the looks of it, what he had said was part of the game’s lore.

The elder paid no attention to them and continued on his own. “Back then, the god race fought the demon race and lost. The demons rampaged across the lands, turning the world into barren emptiness. Such was the natural habitat of the demon race, but for us, the god race, hardly anywhere was inhabitable.

“One after another our kin fell. A thousand years went by, and we were met with the crisis of extinction. Finally, a wise great elder poured his life into developing the White Spire.” The elder turned around to look at the towering building behind him, seemingly revering the genius from thousands of years ago. “The world became barren because of the Demonic Towers built by the demon race. Each Demonic Tower took years to construct, but once completed, the lands within tens of thousands of miles would turn barren. And that was just figuratively speaking. Each tower’s range far exceeded ten thousand miles. If it had been the case, our race would’ve found somewhere to reside and the demon race couldn’t have turned the entire world barren.

“However! The despicable demon race somehow developed the devious scheme of arranging their towers into a massive magic array, robbing the entire world of life and vitality!” The elder, who sounded so composed the entire time, shook as he spoke of the demon race’s deeds.

Towers were erected across the gorgeous world, draining the lands of their source of life, turning the skies grey, shrouding the sun, and concealing the moon. Everything lost its vitality and the world became the realm of the demons.

“What the genius great elder of our race had developed was a counter device.” The elder took out a smooth spherical crystal the size of a basketball from somewhere. “By installing this device onto Demonic Towers that turned the lands barren, the towers will be converted into White Spires to create a Holy Ground.”

Drako Yau turned his sights to the cross on the spire’s tip. It was sending a golden ripple through the sky, its holy aura resisting valiantly against the endless vicious energy.

Dakki finally asked, “With such a device, why didn’t the god race go on the counteroffensive and create more Holy Grounds?”

The elder sighed. “The demon race aren’t fools. After we developed the device, we quickly seized five towers and converted them into White Spires. However, the element of surprise was the only reason for our success. The god race is nowhere near its former glory after we lost the war, be it now or back then. Our strength is far from that of the demon race. Losing five towers in quick succession alerted the demons, and every tower has been heavily guarded ever since. We never succeeded in taking another tower. We tried, but to no avail. Our kin lost during those attempts could probably stack as tall as a tower…

“Guests from the human race, this may be an unreasonable request, but are you willing to rescue the god race from its impending demise?”

As expected, the quest was finally here after the elder’s lengthy rambling.

“Ding! Quest received: Expand the Holy Grounds.”

“Sneak into Demon Towers and complete the conversion ritual.”

“Quest reward: Become the owner of the Holy Ground. Owners can designate who may enter their territory.”

“Teleportation array can be installed. Resurrection altar can be installed…”

Drako Yau and Dakki exchanged a glance; the breakthrough they were looking for was finally before their eyes. By creating their Holy Grounds, they would be establishing a player city in the Warring Wastelands, and its benefits were quite obvious.

Having a resurrection altar in the Warring Wastelands meant the system restriction of no re-entry in twenty-four hours upon death was no longer valid. The teleportation array also guaranteed where the players would spawn instead of teleporting to the middle of nowhere. In other words, whoever established a Holy Ground earlier would get a head start.

At that moment, the two heard footsteps that belonged to more than just a single player approaching them from behind. Drako Yau turned around to find the familiar face of the man who always held a feather fan. He instantly accepted the quest and stowed away the counter device into his item bag, then dragged Dakki away with hurried steps.

“Alliance Master Mask, why the rush?” Chau Yu asked while secretly ordering his subordinates to talk with the elder via the squad channel.

Squads that attempted to enter the Warring Wastelands together from the cities were separated, but the squad system was functional as long as the squad was formed in the Warring Wastelands.

Noticing that a player was already engaged in dialogue with the elder, Drako Yau merely replied, “I come and go as I wish. Does it have anything to do with you?”

He then started running out of the Holy Ground with Dakki; it was a race against the clock from this moment onwards.

If the two guards spoke the truth, then he and Dakki would be the first players to have entered the Holy Ground. In other words, they were the first to accept the quest, and they had a head start over the others. While Chau Yu was right on their tail, it’d still take a while before Chau Yu could begin with the quest given how slowly the elder spoke.

“Your suggestion?”

“Dragon Alliance will grant all members of Allurers access to our Holy Ground.”

“Deal.”

Once they accepted the quest, the system labelled the Demonic Tower on their maps. It was so far away that it’d take another endless trek over there. Thankfully, the system wasn’t that brutal; a teleportation array that was linked to somewhere near the Demonic Tower was available outside the Holy Ground.

The two were now back at the barren wasteland. Having just left the heaven-like Holy Ground, they found the murky atmosphere felt rather uncomfortable. Still, they started approaching the Demonic Tower. Drako Yau had enough Agility Scrolls on him that he gave Dakki a bunch of them while Dakki also buffed their speed with a skill.

It didn’t take long before the Demonic Tower came into sight. Nothing much could be said about the tower as it was the direct opposite of the White Spire.

The White Spire was as pure as snow, giving off a holy aura in the defiled lands. The Demonic Tower was as dark as ink, creepy and sinister like a midnight shadow. Atop the black tower was a dark crescent moon that gave off ripples of darkness. Like an invincible ancient demon, the tower stood anchored to the barren ground, sucking it dry of every and anything.

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