Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation
Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Boom!
Meng Yang watched as a gnoll violently slammed a wooden stick against the head of a female player who was crouching on the floor in pain. In the next moment, the girl had dissipated into a green mist. He could not help but sigh.
“I should do some kind of screening next time. Players who have not experienced a proper battle or have a poor psyche cannot handle this kind of situation at all.”
At that moment, after just a few minutes had passed, among the fifty or so players beyond the wall, the twenty people who had fallen behind were already starting to give up. Other than a few players who had shown a sliver of resistance before they perished, most of the players were destroyed by the gnolls before they even had a chance to react.
At the front, the group was being led by the four players who had experienced the battle with the pig-headed monster. Moreover, this group of players was daring and vigilant, and could thoroughly enjoy the thrill of the kill. As such, they were causing quite some trouble for the gnolls.
Usually, one or two of the larger-sized players would be at the front, defending against the enemy with either their weapons or bodies. Meanwhile, the others would take the opportunity to draw their iron spears and swords.
One of the players, who was almost as large as Zhuang Dafa, was dragging two gnolls all by himself. Then, with brute force, he started swinging them around wildly like they were sandbags.
One of the gnolls was brutally beat up when it was caught by a few players, while another gnoll, who was standing unsteadily and had fallen over, was quick to receive kicks to its nether regions by four or five other players.
There was also a crippled player who had clung onto the torso of a gnoll like a monkey before he died, restricting the gnoll’s movements and allowing his companion to attack it.
There was even a player who seemed like a gentleman at first, but when he was bitten by a gnoll, he just bit it right back.
The degree of madness and brutality shocked some of the younger gnolls and made them overly-cautious.
The scene could be described as extremely chaotic. It was an alternate world after all, and it was not a game. At this point, it was futile to consider the chemistry of the groups which had been hastily put together. If they were willing to die fighting, then that was more than good enough.
However, even though this portion of front-running players were crazy and outrageous enough to cause significant harm to the gnolls, their numbers were dropping rapidly, and they were dying in all sorts of unusual ways.
The gnolls were slowly gaining control of the battlefield. Other than the players at the front who were following Xu Zhe, Zhuang Dafa, Sun Shuai, and Liu Chuanfeng, the group of which were exerting pressure against the gnolls and wandering jackals, the other players which had fallen behind into chaos could not muster any resistance at all, and they were considered free kills.
“Hurry, pull up the drawbridge!”
The players at the back were turning into green smoke one by one. Meng Yang stood on the wall, his expression suddenly becoming tense as he hurriedly shouted the order at the four elderlies who were in charge of the draw bridge’s pulley system.
Heavy breathing and roars sounded out. There were around 10 gnolls and three jackals in front of the wall that surrounded the fortress. After they had taken care of a portion of the players who were paralyzed by fear, they started to rush toward the camp walls.
The fortress’s draw bridge had been left open to make it more convenient for the reentry of the resurrected players. The gathered gnolls and jackals had seen this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and had thus rushed toward the fortress’s drawbridge in a frenzy. Now, three jackals with blood-covered snouts were moving fast.
“Boom!”
The sound of a bowstring’s vibration was suddenly heard.
Phoenix fired a shot from the wall and hit the neck of a jackal that was leaping swiftly through the air. Half of the arrow had buried itself into the jackal’s body and pinned it to the ground, but the two other jackals had already taken advantage of this rare opportunity and quickly leaped forward a few more steps.
At the same time, the ten gnolls that were behind the jackals were sprinting forward wildly as well. Their target was the draw bridge, and it was apparent that their goal was no longer to fight the crazed players outside but to take the opportunity to find weaker opponents.
In the Land of the Forgotten where there were many types of powerful beasts and monsters, the groups that had managed to survive had already developed their survival and hunting strategies.
The thick ropes began to creak as the draw bridge that was approximately five meters in length and three meters across was gradually pulled up. This bridge was the camp fortress’s main entrance, and it was made completely of big wooden logs held together with rivets and metal chains. It may have looked plain, but it was not light. Even if it were attacked head-on by giant beasts like the saw-toothed tiger, it could not be destroyed easily.
Just as the drawbridge was lifted around one meter off the ground, the two remaining jackals leaped forward and managed to jump onto the bridge, before quickly rushing into the fortress.
The arrow in Phoenix’s hand was raised into the bow notch once again. However, this time, she had no time to estimate the two jackals’ movements. On the draw bridge that was slowly being lifted, the jackal with a scar near the corner of its eye which had previously scouted the campgrounds, suddenly let out a roar. It leaped into the air and used both its paws to cling onto the edge of the draw bridge. With its powerful muscles in addition to its weight, it immediately stopped the cogs from turning, causing the rising draw bridge to grind to a halt.
Hu hu hu-
There was an earth-shattering sound.
The ax in the hands of the unusually tall and sturdy leader of gnolls who was standing at the back suddenly flew out, immediately severing the rope on one side of the draw bridge. The flying ax did not slow down, and after it had severed the rope, it struck and lodged itself in the wall by Meng Yang’s foot. The extreme force made the wall vibrate slightly.
“The gnoll leader is so strong!”
Meng Yang looked at the handle of the ax that was sticking out of the wall and his heart suddenly tightened. He could not help but feel a stab of fear.
He had seen the gnoll’s leader before, but at that time, he had only thought that it was just slightly bigger than the other gnolls. He did not think that it would possess such extraordinary strength.
“The draw bridge is done for!”
With one of its ropes severed, the draw bridge was now slanted, and there was no way to raise it again. It had lost its function as a defense mechanism.
Meng Yang grabbed a sword. He knew that the scene which he had least wanted to see had happened. Now, it was too late to regret the fact that he should have been more careful and pulled up the draw bridge. It was impossible to justify his decision.
He did not think that there would be so many gnolls. A large portion of the players seemed to have been annihilated in the first wave as well. Otherwise, almost fifty players would surely have been able to resist the gnolls’ attacks even with wave after wave of attacks.
Moreover, these gnolls were not the brainless monsters that were typically found in games. They possessed a certain degree of intelligence and knew how to hunt in packs and pick the most suitable targets.
“Roar!”
The gnolls’ leader let out another ear-piercing roar, its huge palm snatching an ax from the grasps of the gnoll before it. Then, its large figure rushed forward, knocking over and sending the gnolls blocking its path flying. With the ax in hand, it leaped forward before bringing down the weapon against the other rope of the draw bridge once more.
With a dull “bang”, the heavy draw bridge fell to the ground, sending up a cloud of dust flying.
“Boom!”
There was the sound of the bowstring vibrating again.
Phoenix, who was standing on the wall, had suddenly shot another arrow while the draw bridge was falling, aimed straight at the gnolls’ leader.
It seemed like the arrow would find its target, but to everyone’s shock, the gnolls’ leader had turned its head slightly, moving away from harm and catching the arrow between its teeth. Then, with a crack, he bit the arrow in half.
What was even more shocking was that after the gnolls’ leader had displayed such unusual abilities, one after the other, it became even more imposing. Its sturdy, almost two-meter-tall figure seemed to expand slightly, emanating an invisible pressure.
“I…D*mn, this is way too brutal!”
After seeing the gnolls’ leader’s performance, Meng Yang was in disbelief. He had always thought that the gnolls were unusual, but not only was the gnoll leader’s reaction speed extremely fast, it was also very strong. It even had an inexplicable, imposing aura.
At that moment, as Meng Yang watched the gnoll leader, he recalled the saw-tooth tiger’s attack on the camp, it felt like it had just happened last night. The brutality, the danger, there was a natural yet inexplicable feeling of intimidation.
“The gnoll leader is no ordinary gnoll. It has already evolved into an Extraordinary Creature!”
Phoenix’s willow-like brows turned downward, her expression becoming extremely solemn. She suddenly withdrew the longbow in her hand and jumped down from the top of the wall.
“Extraordinary Creature?”
When Meng Yang heard her woes, he was initially stunned. Despite this, when he looked at Phoenix again, he saw that she had already landed on the ground gracefully and was now facing the gnoll leader that stood on the other end of the draw bridge.