Chapter 2: New Century (Epilogue)
Hezi discovered that as long as he stayed more than five meters away from the spider monsters, his San Value would recover slowly, and this recovery speed would increase rapidly as the distance widened.
However, these spider monsters were also approaching endlessly, as if they could never be killed.
Fortunately, the spider monsters around level ten were not very fast. They could maintain their San Values from dropping to zero by using hit-and-run tactics.
“Stalling like this is not a solution. Let’s call for backup…”
Calling for backup meant the team mission would become a public mission, and the rewards would decrease slightly. However, Hezi felt it didn’t matter anymore. It would be impossible to find Bryant without completely clearing out these spider monsters.
Having made up his mind, Hezi placed the Temporary Resurrection Crystal on the ground.
“Hold on for thirty seconds, they’ll be here soon!”
At the same time, Xi Wei shielded the main resurrection crystal of Winter City. This way, when players died, they could freely choose from the existing resurrection points; otherwise, players close to the main city would only respawn nearby.
The system was actively working to resolve this issue.
The main idea was to split and decouple Malon’s divinity, making it spread out like the veins of a leaf, so that it would not be necessary to constantly shield the main city’s crystal.
[Detected player ID Hezi, Jie Kun, and others discovering Old Ones’ Retainers. Hidden Mission: Rescue Bryant has been upgraded to a World Mission. Rewards remain unchanged.]
[Mission Objective: Clear the pollution in Tantinger City, find Bryant, and check Bryant’s condition.]
[Mission Reward: King of Winter Ace Dog Food x6, Copper Coin x5, Experience Points 20,000, Contribution Points 5,000, Skill Inheritance Scroll x1, Mount Adoption Certificate x1, Weapon Lottery Ticket x20.]
[Hint: Try to avoid falling into a mutated state. Death in a mutated state will incur double death penalties.]
Although he couldn’t restrict the players, Xi Wei added this hint at the end.
The system could not recover the corpses of mutated players; it could only create a new body for the player, which naturally required more energy.
It wasn’t that Xi Wei was being stingy.
He just hoped that players would be cautious when facing the Old Ones’ Retainers and not resort to suicidal attacks, as that would only feed energy to the Old Ones.
An hour later.
The players, who had been crowding the entrance of Tantinger City, killed the last spider monster that rushed out.
Everyone let out a sigh of relief, still shaken.
At the entrance of Tantinger City, the corpses of spider monsters had piled up like mountains. A black mist swirled above the pile of corpses, and a strange smell filled the air, like rotten vegetables, a pungent odor of burnt protein mixed with sourness.
“Even in death, they emit pollution. Are these the Old Ones’ Retainers?”
(Player Name) (M), who had retreated from the area near the black mist, felt his San Value slowly rising.
The battle just now had been an easy slaughter for the players.
Especially for the mage players, a single three-ring spell could kill a whole bunch of them. Although there wasn’t much experience, the combat effect and sense of impact were top-notch.
When the fireballs exploded, these disgusting spider monsters would wail, be sent flying, and their bodies would be torn to shreds.
And they had difficulty getting back up from the ground.
Unlike the Undead, even after casting spells for a long time, the experience bar wouldn’t budge.
As long as the Undead Fire wasn’t completely extinguished, those skeletal frames would climb up from the ground again in no time.
“Three times the experience points are deducted for mutated deaths. Two players have already collapsed…”
Nobody Does Human Things (M) shrugged. The feeling was strange, as if you entered a new map where the monsters were weak and you could slaughter them, but if you were mobbed to death, well, tough luck, restart the game.
This feeling made the players very uncomfortable.
Plus, the experience points given by the spider monsters were pitifully low.
After a brief rest, the players changed direction and approached Tantinger City.
It was clear that the Old Ones inside the city had not been completely cleared out.
Those who rushed out were just cannon fodder.
Those with a little more brains were still lurking in the dark corners of the city.
From the dense red dots on the map, it was evident.
Moreover, there was a super large red dot in the center of Tantinger City.
Many players had already speculated that it was the long-lost Bryant.
Poor Blue Dragon.
He went out seeking revenge, was beaten up, and now he was in an even worse state, directly infected and mutated by the Old Ones.
After entering the town.
The situation indeed took a sharp turn for the worse.
The spider monsters still remaining in the city were not low in level. Although for now, they couldn’t directly threaten the first batch of players, they could kill the second and third batch of players. Most importantly, their Old Ones’ pollution could easily affect even high-level first batch players if they weren’t careful.
Players fought valiantly in Tantinger City, the roars of magic and the clash of swords and shields echoing incessantly.
Spider monster limbs were blown and scattered everywhere, and where the spattered blood landed, black smoke was left behind.
They would turn into pollution.
The players’ combat wasn’t particularly strenuous, but their San Values were difficult to raise again.
As the number of corpses around increased, there were few safe places for players to recover their San Values on the narrow city streets.
Xi Wei, in the Winter City’s office, narrowed his eyes. He didn’t think it was a good idea to let the players go deeper into Tantinger City. The death of a large number of mutated players would only bring him trouble.
So, he decided to directly resolve the matter of Tantinger City himself.
Xi Wei stood up and, with the system’s help, communicated with the King of Winter statue hanging at Hezi’s waist. He chose to descend in the form of an avatar.
As the space in front of the players twisted,
“BOOM—!”
He descended like a pillar of golden light from the sky.
The golden sacred fire that exploded upon landing ignited the surrounding area of over fifty meters, burning away all impurities.
However, it was regrettable that the sacred fire could only weaken the Old Ones’ pollution, not dispel it. The black mist in the air thinned considerably, and by staying close to Xi Wei, the players’ San Values began to recover gradually.
“Fortunately, the King of Winter arrived quickly. It would have been unimaginable if we had to wait any longer,”
Nobody Does Human Things (M) let out a sigh of relief, still shaken.
While the players enjoyed the exhilarating combat, they were also trapped. Retreating had become very difficult, with countless spider monsters attacking from all directions. Approaching rashly would only cause their San Values to drop faster.
“Clang—”
Xi Wei’s expression was stern and solemn. He drew the King of Winter’s Long Sword from behind, spread a pair of luminous wings from his back, and soared into the sky.
He had once split Dragonflame City in half with the help of the power of a joyful angel in Dragonflame City.
Now, he didn’t need anyone else’s power; he could do it all by himself.
As he flew higher and higher, the Sword of the Conqueror King held high in his hands shone brighter and brighter.
The players looked up, feeling as if another blazing sun had appeared in the sky. Compared to the real sun, the King of Winter’s radiance was more intense, and every inch of golden light carried a sharp momentum.
“Quick, start recording! White, King of Winter, Blazing Lamp is about to unleash his ultimate move!”
