Reign of the Hunters

Chapter 78 Van der Loof’s Request

Fate is a large scale game. Different players have their own social circles. Even NPCs have their own social circles. The lord of Oasis City, Van der Loof, and the lord of Red Lake City, Sha’gar, were comrades that fought side by side in the Great War. They were very close to each other. However, because the distance between their cities was great, the two lords normally would communicate with each other through letters.

Despite the distance, the friendship of the two lords was as thick as blood. They treated each other’s citizens in a friendly manner as well. This was why Ye Ci was not punished for barging into the City Hall and was instead received as a visitor.

Of course, the only reason she had dared to barge into the City Hall was exactly because she had knowledge of the relationship between the two city lords. Had it not been the case, she would’ve been chased out of Oasis City by the sentries, and her prestige in the city would also drop.

The relationship between the NPCs of each continent was recorded in the public library. As long as players were willing to invest time in the library, they would discover a lot of secrets about Fate. But players were generally always busy leveling up, so who would actually think of going to the library? Ye Ci was no exception. In her last life, she was forced to hide in the library for 2 months to evade her foes. Out of boredom, she had read all the history of the continent during her stay, and was able to gain much knowledge from her experience.

“Your Honor.” Ye Ci bowed towards the mayor as she was led into his office, “I have something important to report.”

“And what would that be, our friend from Red Lake City?” The mayor was of course not the city lord, but simply a “butler” appointed by the lord. Their behavior varied, just like the behavior of any other human being. The mayor of Oasis City was apparently much more sincere than the mayor of Red Lake City.

“As I was going through the Green Ark, I saw a gigantic skeleton heading straight for Oasis City. Oasis City and Red Lake City have always maintained a good relationship. As a citizen of Red Lake City, how could I ignore this matter? This is why I made my way here as fast as I could to report my sightings to you, Your Honor.” Ye Ci looked at the the mayor with an expression full of sincerity, totally ignoring the fact that she had twisted the truth.

“What? A giant skeleton?” The mayor of Oasis City immediately stood up, alarmed. He was able to quickly hide his worried expression as he nodded at Ye Ci, “Dear friend, please rest here for a moment. I will send some of my soldiers to check it out.” He immediately gave out his orders.

Before long, a soldier returned, “Sir, a giant skeleton has breached through the city’s outer defensive shield and is now heading to our middle tier shield.”

The mayor was anxious. “Dear friend, thank you for bringing us this news, I thank you in my lord’s stead. I’m in a rush now, I have to inform the City Lord of this.” Said the mayor promptly as he rushed towards the City Lord’s castle.

The administration officer and the captain of the guard who were left in the office discussed the contingency plans against the giant skeleton, and none of them paid attention to Ye Ci. She stood in a corner and looked out of the office’s window, staring at the activity far away while reading the rants of players in the map chat channel.

The Nameless Zealot had become bigger. When he was at the secret chamber, Ye Ci noticed that the Nameless Zealot was only 3 times larger than her. But he had already grown to the point where he was even taller than the city wall of Oasis City. It was apparent that the Nameless Zealot was growing. Countless spells flew towards the Nameless Zealot and splashed across his bones. But when the Nameless Zealot swung his arm, countless white lights flickered, reaping the lives of an unknown amount of players.

Ye Ci suddenly heard a flurry of hasty but powerful footsteps heading towards the City Hall and she turned around just in time to see a blonde middle aged man walking towards her, his blue cape flowing behind him and a sword hanging on his hips. The handsome looking man was the Lord of Oasis City, Van der Loof.

“Ah, dear friend, thank you for bringing me this valuable information. Please forgive my inability to thank you properly, for I must now lead my troops into battle.” Van der Loof nodded at Ye Ci.

“Your Grace, please allow me to fight alongside you.” Ye Ci immediately proposed her request to Van der Loof. That was the reason she was waiting in the mayor’s office. Although she was not sure if her request would be accepted, Fate’s theme was “infinite possibilities”. Hence it was worth a try.

“Dearest friend, this is a very dangerous task. I cannot allow a friend to place herself in danger.” Van der Loof’s face showed a hint of surprise, but he shook his head.

It seemed that something was definitely up. Despite rejecting Ye Ci’s offer, Van der Loof sounded hesitant. Ye Ci decided to press the matter further, “Your Grace, as a friend, I can understand why you rejected my offer. But as a friend, I must fight.”

Van der Loof appeared very touched, “Dearest friend, you shall always be a friend of Oasis City.”

Right after he finished speaking, Ye Ci heard a system notification, “Your prestige in Oasis City has reached ‘Intimate.’” Eh? She managed to reach that level of prestige so fast? Ye Ci would need to complete at least 3 months worth of daily quests in order to have her prestige at “Intimate”. But a few words from her was able to achieve such a result. The old Chinese saying was right.

It’s easier to win over the heart.

Although Van der Loof had agreed to allow Ye Ci to take part in the defence of the city, she did not receive any special treatment. Riding in the midst of armor-clad soldiers on tall white horses, Ye Ci’s own little red steed was an unusual sight.

As a city lord, Van der Loof did not join the battle himself. General Bruce of the Oasis City was in charge of the city’s defence. He was a lvl 120 BOSS-class NPC. His tremendous amount of hitpoints was a testimony of how tough he was. He shouted in a loud voice, “Deploy the magical barrier!”

In the heart of every city laid an enchanted stone in a fountain. The fountain was usually guarded by groups of lvl 100 Elite Soldiers. It was nothing but mere decoration during peaceful times, but when faced with incidents where monsters attack the city, the enchanted stone could be used to deploy a ghostly blue barrier that cannot be breached around the city.

However, there was a time limit for the magical barrier; It would only last for 2 hours. If the enemy could not be defeated within that period of time, the barrier would be breached and the city could suffer destruction. If the situation was truly dire, the city might be turned into ruins.

A lvl 120 BOSS was totally different from the other BOSS. He himself did not even need to join the battle. He directed the musketeers, archers and sorcerers under his command to continuously attack the Nameless Zealot from the other side of the barrier. The NPCs were not the only one who had joined the battle. Players from different parts of the Eastern Continent had flocked to Oasis City. The already bustling city was instantly packed full of players.

Some of them were here to fight, some just for the fun, while some of them wanted a piece of the loot the monster might drop. In short, guilds with their separate aims from all over the Eastern Continent had gathered at Oasis City.

Lurking in the midst of the NPCs, Ye Ci saw members from Steel-Blooded Battle Spear, World Conqueror, Wolf Pack, Tang Dynasty, Street Assitance Guild, Blade of Abyss… All the renowned guilds of the Eastern Continent were on the scene, and even the smaller guilds had joined the battle.

The NPC army was tenacious, and they were aided by players, but the Nameless Zealot was ferocious as well. He consumed the life force of players who attempted to charge at him, using their lives to strengthen himself. He had grown larger and larger. Even though his hitpoints were dropping continuously, but…

“This is the power of Naga!” Van der Loof shouted out in a sorrowful tone.

Ye Ci glanced at the time. The magical barrier would only last for 20 more minutes, but the Nameless Zealot had at least half of his hitpoints left. It seemed that the battle was lost. But she had reached “Intimate” prestige with Oasis City, it was worth it.

“Dearest friend, I know this is hard, but can you help me with a very important task?” said Van der Loof to Ye Ci out of the blue, and a quest marker immediately appeared on top of his head.

Oh? A quest? Ye Ci was momentarily stunned. She then immediately dismounted and knelt in front of Van der Loof, “Your Grace, it is an honor to be of assistance.”

“I’m very touched.” Van der Loof sighed, and Ye Ci’s prestige in Oasis City increased by several hundred points, “I’ve sensed the power of Naga on this terrifying monster, but I shall never give up. I have here with me a shard from the gem in the God of Light’s shrine. Although it can’t defeat the Dark Lord Himself, it is enough to take out one of his minions. Can you stab this shard into the monster’s heart?”

Adjusting her gaze to where Van der Loof was pointing at, Ye Ci saw a beating heart in the Nameless Zealot’s chest that was previously empty. However… It was easier said than done. Ye Ci was lvl 27, but the Nameless Zealot was at least lvl 130. How would she be able to complete this quest?

“Your Grace, I would really like to help, but I’m weak. I don’t think I can make it.”

“Ah, all is well, I will protect you.” Van der Loof directly handed the shard to Ye Ci. Ye Ci stared at the shard and grit her teeth. He was forcing her to carry out the quest. If she refused, would she be beaten to death by the soldiers around her?

Fine, at most I’ll just drop a level. Ye Ci sighed. She took the gem shared and immediately noticed a Buff in her status.

Holy Light: You’re covered by the shard’s holy light. You are immune to all damage. Duration: 5 minutes.

Because Jimmi is a totally awesome person, and does not want his readers to get stuck by a cliff for too long, he had decided to post Chapter 78 early! Isn’t Jimmi a kind person? xDD

Anyways, hope y’all enjoyed the chapter! Last chapter of the month!

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Aaaaaand first in the comment type First Blood!