Game’s Dogma

Even Drako Yau became talkative when it came to his field of interest.

“A fair contest took place at the other tower for the same reason. The system determined that the East wouldn’t be able to best those from the West in battle, so there was no need to give them any particular advantage. It’s fair in a sense. Thinking about seizing a Holy Ground is futile.”

Chau Yu was still feeling agitated by Hibiscus’ lack of concern for the overall situation. He asked, “Then what do you think we should do?”

“The most foolish method. Gather some companions and spread the coordinates of our Holy Ground on the Eastern Server through the alliance channels. We’ll call for as many players as possible. Without numbers, nothing will work.”

Drako Yau was strong and he was confident in his strength, but he wasn’t arrogant; there were limits to how much one person alone could influence a large-scale war.

“What are you trying to do?” Chau Yu asked, but it didn’t take long before he realised the answer himself. “You’re…”

Drako Yau stayed silent, his fiery red mask directed at the distant Holy Ground and his piercing gaze seemingly focusing on Hibiscus. 

Myriad Blooms didn’t await their doom either. After the first round of casualties, they no longer ventured out of the Holy Ground’s territory. Assaulting the Holy Ground directly wasn’t possible for now after all, and the best the West could do was to seal its entrances.

This time, they all gathered together for an all-out sally. The prideful bunch consisted of members from famous guilds such as the number one guild Traceless Floreal, Sky Dominion, Allurers, and others. All of them were notable names on the guild rankings. 

No battle plans nor pre-battle speeches were necessary. They merely joined hands against an outer enemy, and that was it. Once everyone arrived, they made a break towards the enemy lines. A total of 50,000 players from the East charged out of the Holy Ground.

The Western players were unfazed. While they were also players, they had to undergo periodic training so they could function as in-game soldiers. Grins and snickers were their response to the chaotic charge from the East.

Kalex, palace master of the Fire Palace, lifted his staff and commanded through a channel, “On my command, Rain of Fire! Maximum range!”

Like a rainstorm, droplets of flames poured down on the frontlines. Numerous flashes of white surged into the skies.

Players from the West were mostly assigned to the Five Palaces and Twelve Chambers. The Four Generals and Three Gods had no direct subordinates, but their status gave them authority to command the Five Palaces and Twelve Chambers, making their titles symbolic more than anything.

In simple terms, the Twelve Chambers and Five Palaces were individual armies. The Five Palaces took on the Five Elements of Metal, Wood, Water, Fire, and Earth, each holding a role of similar nature. The Metal Palace were melee-oriented and geared towards charges; the Wood Palace focused on support and healing; the Water Palace contained the enemy with their plethora of control skills; the Fire Palace were the ranged damage dealers; the Earth Palace took charge of defences.

The Twelve Chambers were named after the twelve zodiacs: Aries, Taurus, Gemini, Cancer, Leo, Virgo, Libra, Scorpio, Sagittarius, Capricorn, Aquarius, and Pisces. Unlike the Five Palaces, each chamber didn’t hold a particular role.

Musashi, the general assigned for this mission, brought the Fire Palace with him. It mainly consisted of mages and rangers with great ranged firepower. As one of the strongest armies of the West, the Fire Palace’s players had near-perfect chemistry and functioned as one.

In less than a second’s error, all mages had cast Rain of Fire as commanded, turning the low-level skill into Myriad Bloom’s nightmare. Although controlling the enemy was the Water Palace’s main duty, it didn’t mean the Fire Palace lacked dark and ice magic wielders. The tormentors in their lines cast all sorts of debuffs and control skills while the ice elementalists inflicted slowness and freezing, which made it extremely challenging for Eastern players to gain ground.

Players from three of the Twelve Chambers stood before those of the Fire Palace. Their task was simple—defend the damage dealers behind them. As long as the Eastern players couldn’t break through their lines and reach the Fire Palace members, this battle would be in their pockets.

Hibiscus naturally took part in the sally as well, but due to his aerial ability, he wasn’t part of the main force. His role was to disrupt and stun the enemy. However, surprise attacks were only surprises on the first run.

After the West took note of his aerial ability, they immediately came up with counters against him. Most paladins stayed in the rear next to the Fire Palace members. Whenever Hibiscus attempted to rain down attacks on the damage dealers, the paladins would step forth with their shields and protect their allies. Another squad of roughly a hundred rangers and mages was also on standby near the Holy Ground. They didn’t take part in the main battle as their only mission was to greet Hibiscus with their attacks whenever he showed up.

Flower Plucking Finger had amazing power and outstanding agility, but it wasn’t without its weakness. If one had to nitpick about it, range was an issue, especially when compared to typical ranged classes like rangers and mages.

The battle went on for half a day. Almost all players of Myriad Blooms fell in the battle, while the death tally for the West was only around 10,000. The casualty ratio of both sides was five to one, a rather extreme ratio.

Although the Twelve Chambers might not be as well organised as the Five Palaces, their advantage lay in their levels. Players of the West had a steady supply of items and gear and systematic levelling up schemes, so they could develop without having to worry about infighting.

From the start, Myriad Blooms had been caught in a despairing situation where they came up short in both numbers and levels.

“Sir,” Palace master Kalex greeted Musashi respectfully.

Those who gained the title of the Four Generals had stepped over countless players to reach where they were. The Three Gods were unreachable existences to ordinary players, and they felt closer to the Four Generals as the generals rose from the ordinary.

Musashi wasn’t the best commander of the four. However, the commander’s traits had a great influence on the performance of his or her army. Musashi was a wild person who took no one but a selected few seriously, so it aligned with the mass opinion among the Western players; why’d they have to be fearful of the East when the East was so weak? 

“Speak.” Musashi kept his eyes shut while he sat on the ground with his legs crossed and the two katanas resting on them, seemingly in a mediating position.

“The battle has gone on for almost half a day now. Some of our fellow players are feeling tired and would like to know the schedule for resting.”

“The enemy’s crippled. They won’t be able to come up with shenanigans anytime soon. The three chambers can rest in turns, six hours each. You can make arrangements for the Fire Palace yourself.”

“Yes sir.”

As Kalex knew the Fire Palace the best, Musashi didn’t interfere with his decisions.

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