The discussion resumed after the leaders understood the meaning behind Zyrus’s words. Everyone shared their thoughts except for two: Jacob was listening with a bored face alongside Babi, the flying monkey who was also a leader of the beasts. His big baboon face made the expression of boredom even more evident. Unlike Maahes, Babi’s appearance and personality were in stark contrast. His big face and crooked wings were enough to lower the enemy’s will to fight. In a sense he was similar to the Nidhoggs who possessed an innate talent for causing fear in others’ hearts.
“You two have any opinions?” Zyrus asked the duo.
“Huh?”
“Ekk!”
“No? I have one. Why don’t you launch a frontal charge?”
Everyone looked at Zyrus with confusion. Wasn’t that the same as spreading their numbers thin? Nonetheless, their worries were unfounded.
“Kyle, team up with Maahes and attack another space. The rest will attack in a similar manner,” Zyrus pointed to them one by one and gave them their tasks. It looked like they were attacking 5 spaces separately, but when one considered the timing of the attack and the route they were supposed to take, it painted a different picture.
This deployment plan was born from Zyrus’s years of experience in the sanctuary, so its effectiveness didn’t have to be doubted.
He first divided his troops into 5 and ordered them to target different spaces. But instead of attacking all five spaces at once, he opted for a more proactive approach.
40,000 players would attack the first space. The numbers were enough to overwhelm the natives stationed at the base, so they would have to call reinforcements from the nearby villages.
The Vajeers would use this chance to send another 20,000 troops to one of the weakened villages and also send a detachment of 10,000 from the first space. In total the attacking force would number around 30,000. More than enough to capture another space.
And despite losing a fourth of their numbers, the players attacking the first space wouldn’t be at a disadvantage. The players to be dispatched would be the injured or those who had spent all their energy.
Rather than resting at the frontlines, it was better if they traveled to the other village and provided support when needed. The cycle would repeat and allow the players to always give their 100%.
“This is a brilliant idea.”
Zyrus chuckled at Shi kun’s wholehearted compliment and vanished from the camp. If they knew what he was really planning with this move, then brilliant was the last thing they’d call it.
Zyrus predicted that this game of shatar would end in the next three moves, much sooner than anyone would expect.
Thus, it was time to finish his preparations on Jindao island.
…
A week later, at the westernmost space of the island.
This was the location where Zyrus was staying from the start. Not a single player was left within miles of him. The war was going on with neither side giving an inch to the other. Still, the scales were in the players’ favor since they were learning about the runes at a rapid pace.
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Zyrus nodded in satisfaction as he looked at the finished scroll. This was the essence of his hard work over the past month. Countless complex runes were drawn on every inch of the scroll. No one except another arcanist could look at this without getting a headache.
While he was happy with his work, he also understood that the price paid for this wasn’t light. 7,538 players had died since the last time he checked the reports. The grim numbers would keep on increasing as long as the fight went on.
It was a situation where one side didn’t have any way to replenish their numbers while the other wouldn’t die no matter what.
Even if they won, the loss would be too much. At most 50,000 players would survive by the end of flag march.
That was, of course, if things proceeded as they were. The scroll in front of him was the key to their counterattack.
[Summon]
*Shattter*
Dozens of cracks formed in the peaceful sky. A total of one thousand ophidian warriors were summoned to his side.
This wasn’t the first time this scene occurred either. Compared to the one who performed the experiment on the natives, Zyrus had a better alternative. His summons were both physically and spiritually more suited for the runes.
“Draw them on your body.”
The ophidian warriors followed his words and used their nimble claws to do the task. One by one, silvery runes were inscribed on their scales and flesh. Even the minor traces of law were too much for their feeble bodies to handle, yet they endured. Death and pain had long since lost any meaning to those who dwelled in the abyss.
And now, the suffering borne by them was about to bear the sweet fruit of success.
-Fu-
Zyrus chanted in the native language and placed a metallic shard inside the ophidian warrior’s chest. Hundreds of other elemental seeds followed the trajectory of his mana and lodged themselves into the 999 ophidian warriors.
*Shiiiing*
It was as if a gigantic sword was unsheathed from the heavens. The sharp cry of metal resounded across the entire island, alongside the tolling bells of the system.
[Ding! You have found a new path of ascension]
[You have made a huge contribution to the sanctuary]
[Would you like to mark your name as the Creator of this path?]
Yes/No
Zyrus laughed out in exhilaration as he read the message. There were few things he hadn’t achieved in his past life, and this was definitely one of them. The ones who had created a subclass on their own could be counted in a single hand.
And today, he had joined their ranks.
Zyrus reined in his emotions and clicked on ‘No.’ The swords cry and the clinging bells dissipated as if someone had clicked a pause button.
“Tch…how anticlimactic.”
“Zorath, Kahl.”
“Zorath.”
“Zorath.”
.
.
.
The thousand ophidian warriors repeated the same word over and over. It didn’t make sense in any language, but it was apparent how excited they were after talking to Zyrus for the first time.
Zyrus too felt like a proud leader as he looked at his subordinates. Their simple thoughts conveyed to his mind were enough to uplift his mood to even greater heights. Not only had he improved the summons’ strength by a whole realm, he had also given them the sentience needed to evolve even further.
One had to know that apart from the abyssal legion, his summons were useless in the second ring. The biggest hurdle was that he hadn’t gone back to earth and sacrificed stronger aliens. This led to the current situation where the majority of his summons were around lv 20 by system’s standards. They didn’t even qualify to be cannon fodder on this stage.
100,000 points were nothing compared to solving this flaw. He was sure that a miser like Matope wouldn’t have thought of such a possibility.
The points were meant to be used on exp and elemental seeds. Every player would have sufficient points by the end of the flag march, enough to level up to 50 and buy a single elemental seed. And it wasn’t like the players could handle two seeds anyway.
So, the number of points needed for exp and seeds were fixed. Matope had ‘generously’ added additional points so that the ones who performed better could buy skill proficiency potions.
But Zyrus had found a loophole in this. According to the event, the rules of Shatar wouldn’t apply to the ‘dangerous areas’ on the sea. It was supposedly a restriction, but in Zyrus’s eyes; it was the best place to farm exp.
No matter the circumstances, the tougher monsters would give more exp when you killed them. Why would he use the precious points in buying exp then? It was much better to allow the players to convert their event points into faction contribution points so they could buy weapons and other things. It was a win-win scenario for everyone including Zyrus.
Even if some players used their points on skill potions, Zyrus was bound to secure enough seeds to improve his summons’ strength. His Balaur summoner class was akin to a cheat in this event. The natives weren’t the only ones who had undying pawns.
The enemy king also realized this fact, as they too were keeping an eye on Zyrus.
In no time at all he received distress calls from the Vajeers on the frontline. The main army of Jindao had made its appearance.
Chapter 193: Path of Ascension
8 min read