Game’s Dogma

As Fong Sai Yuk’s opponent, Grumpyteen felt the brunt of his desire to fight. The teen was evolving as he fought. However, Grumpyteen wasn’t solely focused on their fight like he was.

Grumpyteen saw Musashi triumph over his enemy, but the battle was lost. The defeat was far worse than he had surmised despite expecting to lose from the get-go. Considering the West’s overall player strength, each player could likely bring down two enemies on average, putting a dent in the East’s battle forces despite losing.

The masked man had utterly ruined their plans. The most effective method to handle lone wolves like him was to intercept him with a lone wolf of theirs, but Tripurity kept Musashi occupied while Fong Sai Yuk got in the way of Grumpyteen.

Grumpyteen felt more ruffled the more he thought about it. He had this ID for a reason; his temper wasn’t the best, and he flared up quite easily, which was why his friends gave him the nickname “Grumpyteen”.

Grumpyteen decided to put his rage into motion and thrust out his palm. Fong Sai Yuk, having just experienced the cunning Concealed Palm Blade, wasn’t going to fall for it again. Pugilists were most adept at close-range melee. With a swift sidestep, he slid sideways using Inch Step and returned a punch of his own.

Despite having a palm aura endowed with Six Solar Palms of Mount Heaven travelling his way, Grumpyteen snickered. He swung his hand, scattering a handful of sand at his enemy’s eyes—Sand Toss, a Hooligan skill that inflicted temporary blindness.

Having blinded Fong Sai Yuk, he immediately followed up with another despicable skill—Hair Grab. It immobilised and increased all damage dealt to the target by fifty per cent for three seconds. He could’ve continued with his full combo, but he didn’t. His only goal was to immobilise this troublesome young man who kept getting in his way.

Grumpyteen ran towards Musashi as he shouted, “Sir Musashi! Please go!”

Musashi glanced at him and shook his head. “You should go, I won’t leave.”

Grumpyteen saw the horde of Eastern players headed towards them. He pleaded anxiously, “Sir Musashi! You stayed behind for our army, but this battle is already beyond saving! We’ve already done the best we could! You’re one of the Four Generals, an invaluable fighter of Olympus! Every level you lose is an irrecoverable loss!”

Musashi stayed silent, but his eyes turned into a squint.

“Live to fight another day! Please think twice, Sir Musashi!”

“Very well.” Musashi sighed.

Forcing someone of his personality to flee the battlefield was unimaginable, but he was no longer the Destroyer, no longer the wandering swordsman he used to be. Now, he was a general of Olympus; he had to bear responsibility for each and every move.

“Follow me tightly.” Musashi unsheathed his swords to clear a bloody way out of this mess.

Chau Yu’s sights landed on Musashi and the elite Western players who were making a break for their lives. Together, they formed a sharp blade. Now that the battle was already decided, there wasn’t a need to hunt them down at the cost of more casualties.

He was certain that the dual katana wielder held an important position in the West, but Mask, the only person capable of intercepting him, was miles away on the other end. Perhaps going the other direction was part of their plan to escape.

After moments of struggling, Chau Yu gave the order.

“Let them go.”

The top floor was cleared of all but three players. Others called them the Three Kings, though in private, they were close companions.

“Zeus, your decision this time is a bit strange.” The person who spoke was a middle-aged man with aquamarine hair in his thirties. While he was the eldest among them all, he was an easygoing person and had no problems being under Zeus.

“Oh?” Zeus smiled without explaining.

The other person who trailed behind Zeus like his shadow asked, “Sir, you are trying to help them, right?”

Seeing that Zeus merely smiled and did not intend on speaking, the shadow continued, “Your nemesis is in an awkward position on the Eastern server now. The Warring Wastelands is a cruel map which robs players of their city utilities unless they have access to a Holy Ground. It’ll be a huge disadvantage to be without channels for communication and teleportation in the upcoming war.” He glanced at Zeus. “I suppose you intend on letting Mask unite the Eastern server through this war. Am I wrong?”

The middle-aged man laughed wryly and said, “You’re a generous one, aren’t you? To give away Musashi, the Fire Palace, and three chambers to your enemy.”

Zeus remained seated on his throne. “We, Olympus, are strong, too strong that we’ve lost the thrill known as challenges. Have we experienced a sense of crisis ever since we’ve united the Western server?”

The other two pondered in silence. All resistances were lost along with the server’s unification. Their so-called fights were merely squabbles among companions that lacked any threat to their lives.

“Compared to sacrificing a hundred thousand players, I’m more worried about losing our sense of crisis. Peace and prosperity have numbed us for too long. We’ll only become arrogant and careless if this goes on.” Zeus’ eyes lit up as he stated, “This battle might have cost us thousands of levels, but it serves as an alarm for the entire server! Of course, giving Mask a chance is also part of it. He’s not qualified to play the game of chess with me if he can’t seize this opportunity.”

The last time Zeus felt he was in a crisis was during his fight with Drako Yau. Without the Dominator’s intervention, both of them would’ve died together already. His alarm had been ringing long ago.

He saw Drako Yau as a threat, a nemesis, but he didn’t wish to trample over him. What he desired was a fair war between them.

“Sir! Musashi requests an audience!” a player shouted from outside the doors.

“Let him in.”

With Musashi’s presence, the space now housed four people. Musashi stood confidently before the Three Gods. In fact, he ranked just beneath Butcherer; the disparity in strength between him and the Three Gods was present, but not unbridgeable.

“Zeus.”

“Thank you for your hard work. Did you lose a level?”

“No.”

It was the Three Gods’ turn to be surprised. The trio knew Musashi was an abandoned pawn in this situation. Musashi was a person who would rather fight to his death than flee. They expected him to die and lose a level, yet he returned alive.

“Tell us what you think.”

They all knew the outcome of the battle, but details of what occurred were lacking, as reflected by their ignorance of Musashi’s escape.

Musashi described to them the entire battle. After a while, he put on a serious expression and said, “Zeus, I believe the Eastern server is stronger than our estimations. That Tripurity… he’s on the level of the Four Generals. There’s also a teen who can shoot flames off his palms who is similarly strong. Although their average level is far beneath us, they have better potential, especially their elite players.”

His fight with Tripurity made him vigilant once again, waking up the bit of rationality within his wild self. It was an alarm, just like Zeus had said.

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