Game of the World Tree

He’s willing to forgo everything else, but if there’s one thing Meryer can’t live without, then it’s his barbecues.

Moreover… a certain chosen one provided him with more than seventy percent of his barbecue supplies solely from their own pockets!

Considering the enormous amount of food a juvenile Black Dragon needed for its growth period, Meryer doubted that any other Chosen Ones could accomplish such a feat.

Having grown accustomed to a lifestyle of nothing but eating and sleeping, along with having honey-roasted meat delivered whenever he was hungry, the Little Black Dragon didn’t want to return to the grim old days wherein he had to personally hunt for his own food.

However, just as Meryer was eagerly preparing to take off immediately, he suddenly halted in his tracks, before casting a somewhat puzzled gaze in the direction of the World Tree.

The black dragon fell silent for a moment, and said to HootyBird,

“I can help you guys, but only against enemies you cannot fight against.”

This was the recent mental instruction given by Evé to the black dragon.

The Black Dragon simply was just too powerful, with strength hovering on the verge of reaching the Golden ranks. If Meryer went all out, then the mercenaries would likely be annihilated long before the players even arrived.

In that case, Evé wouldn’t see the players’ growth.

Upon hearing the Black Dragon’s words, HootyBird hesitated for a moment but still nodded.

“Alright…”

So, after some negotiation, the Black Dragon finally joined the players’ raid.

Similarly, Demacia also managed to convinced the Divine Acolyte Aél to participate in this quest.

Within the next hour, almost all of the Iron-rank players currently online began to mobilize.

There are also some newcomers who have accepted the questline and have gathered with the rest of the participants at Black Dragon Castle, using the teleportation circle.

And beneath the hill where Black Dragon Castle is located, in a particular desolate area that used to be the Stronghold of the Caverock Tribe, a legion of over a thousand Chosen Ones is slowly gathering!

Players assembled themselves here.

Initially chaos ensued, but as Li Mu assumed leadership and skillfully organized and directed them through the voice chat channel, the crowd slowly began to regain a sense of order.

All the players who chose to participate in the quest joined the team created by Little Salty Cat, and after increasing the member cap, Little Salty Cat passed the role of team leader to Li Mu.

However, just as the team members grew exponentially in size, Li Mu paused for a moment and eventually made the decision to once again divide the entire team into several squads, this time based on the participants’ levels and pet familiars.

In particular, players who obtained Crypt Spider familiars were handpicked and relegated into their own dedicated “cavalry” unit, comprising more than a hundred members…

Time passed quickly and more and more people arrived just as the news further spread throughout the entire playerbase.

About one hour later, more than two thousand players had assembled on the open ground below the hill, a surprisingly high number of two and a half thousand people that even the top leaders of the four major guilds hadn’t anticipated!

Not only did the Iron-ranked players who accepted the quest arrive, but even some players from the third beta, who had reached Level 10 – a total of over five hundred individuals – chose to participate in the event.

After all, this was the first major questline event since the arrival of the third beta players, and according to the videos circulating on the internet, the most intriguing aspect of the Elven Kingdom was its main questlines!

Therefore, even those third batch of beta-players who hadn’t yet reached the minimum level requirements still wanted to participate.

Li Mu and the others naturally welcomed this.

Strength matters, regardless of how weak they were, is it not?

Of course, Level 10 was the bottom line…since accepting those below that level would essentially be sending them to their deaths.

The night had already descended into deeper darkness.

However, the elven race possesses innate and exceptional night vision, thus the players could still see everything around them clearly.

Gathering in numbers exceeding two and a half thousand, the players began to assemble, taking shape in various loosely coordinated squads that presented an inspiring spectacle.

Soon, the departure time had finally arrived.

Li Mu rode his unicorn and stood atop on a hill, before looking at the various player squad in front of him with excitement.

“Play the battle anthem!”

He ordered in the raid voice chat.

As soon as he spoke, the moderators of the VC played several epic background music tracks from Elven Kingdom.

These were the built-in system music tracks of the game, the very same ones Evé had played in the past to boost players’ morale during previous battles.

However, these music tracks had been recorded by the players themselves and were now being played in the VC as battle songs.

With the exhilarating and resounding tune, all the participating players couldn’t help but feel their hearts race within their chest.

Amidst the howling night wind, clad in sturdy armor, and wielding weapons that shimmered beneath the moonlight’s icy glow, the players, accompanied by an epic musical score, instinctively fell into a hushed silence.

Their breath quickened, and their hearts surged with fervor, as though they had transformed into heroes of yore, destined to rescue the world…

As the raid commander, Li Mu was also feeling extremely excited.

His heart stirred within him, and with a profound inhalation, Li Mu unsheathed a longsword adorned with a radiant “shimmering” enchantment. He then raised it skyward, and with a voice filled with passionate fervor, he exclaimed,

“The moment is upon us! Forward, my comrades! Our goal – vanquish the human mercenaries and rescue our brethren! Uraahh!”

His shout reached such a crescendo that his voice ascended an octave higher, resonating across the voice chat and echoing ceaselessly throughout the expansive valley…

The participants were also filled with inspiration and responded with an enthusiastic cheer of their own. They then drew their own weapons, before raised them toward the sky, and released a resounding chorus of shouts, exclaiming,

“URRRAAAHHH!”

The crisp and resonant voices of the crowd startled the birds slumbering within the vicinity, as their warcry send ripples of echoes through the hillside. Even the Black Dragon, whose silently observing the players’ actions from the sidelines, was momentarily astonished.

Li Mu exhaled slowly, then raised his sword yet again, before pointing it forward.

“Let’s go! Head north!”

Under his directive, the assembled army of players organized themselves into various disciplined formations. With a vanguard of over thirty Unicorn Knights and supported by a contingent of more than two hundred Crypt Spider Knights, the elven raid army surged forth like a powerful torrent toward the location of Little Salty Cat and the other captives.

“What a bunch of crazy folks…”

Watching the army of Chosen Ones slowly move northward, Meryer shook his head and flapped his wings before following suit.

With her monitoring of the raid voice chat, Evé secretly observed the players’ actions, while anticipating how they would handle the situation.

“After so many days of development… Let’s see just how much you’ve all grown now.”

In the northeast of the Dark Mountains, along the main road leading to the Maple Leaf Territory on the borderlands of the Holy Maniya Empire, Crocodile led his mercenary group forward…

Having successfully infiltrated the Black Dragon’s lair and captured numerous elves, the mercenaries were now very eager to return to the Count’s domain to sell their goods.

After hours of traveling in darkness and realizing that the Black Dragon still hadn’t pursued them, Crocodile breathed a sigh of relief.

“It seems we’ve successfully escaped.”

To avoid being detected by the Black Dragon in the sky, he ordered his men not to use any kind of light source and to navigate along the road under the cover of darkness.

Fortunately, the road had remained well-maintained over the years due to trade with the Kingdom of Aries, making it relatively easy for Crocodile’s mercenary group to pass through without significant challenges.

After marching rapidly for several hours nonstop, their group had covered more than ten kilometers overnight.

The sky was gradually brightening, and the night was soon coming to an end.

Despite most of the mercenaries under Crocodile being Iron-ranked practitioners, a night of nonstop marching had still left them somewhat fatigued.

“Let’s stop for a bit here and take a break.”

Crocodile ordered.

It was already almost daylight and continuous forced marching was really not advisable. A brief rest would allow them to pick up their marching speed yet again.

One more day of perseverance, and they would soon reach the Empire’s border.

Thinking of this, Crocodile felt somewhat uneasy.

He turned to his subordinates and asked,

“Are those captured elves okay?”

The mercenary he called responded quickly,

“They’re fine! They’re all tightly bound, unable to resist.”

“No one has harmed them, right?”

“No, not at all! We all understand that elves… in their original state, fetch a higher price!”

“Good… This time when we get back, everyone here will get rich together!”

Crocodile smiled as the mercenaries cheered out loud.

“Long live the captain! You’re the best!”

Listening to the mercenaries’ compliments, Crocodile nodded slightly and began calculating the profits of this journey in his mind.

“58 elves! Heh heh… if I handle this well, I can at least sell them for two hundred thousand gold coins!”

“Even after dividing the profits among the mercenaries, I can still keep at least fifty thousand!”

“Fifty thousand gold coins… that’s enough for me to buy a baron’s title in the Empire! With a title, I can finally leave my commoner status behind, establish my own domain, and become a true noble!”

“Heh heh, that’s not even counting the earnings I got from the earlier mission in the Kingdom of Aries and the goods we acquired back then. I can easily make a few thousand more if I can sell these smuggled goods!”

He thought contentedly.

However, just as the mercenaries momentarily stopped, set up camp, and relaxed their guard to take a break—

Twack!

Suddenly, dozens of arrows shot out from both sides of the forest!

These arrows, imbued with magical light, shot at incredible speed as it instantly transformed over ten mercenaries near the campsite into pincushions.

Then, the bodies of the slain mercenaries… under the disbelieving gaze of the other mercenaries, suddenly disintegrated turned into ashes!

At the same time, a series of thunderous shouts resounded from afar…

The dozens of mercenaries on the camp’s outskirts were still trying to comprehend the situation when they suddenly felt a powerful force striking them, resulting in fatal wounds as their bodies slowly fell to the ground.

“Not good! We have enemies!”

Crocodile’s expression immediately changed.

As he spoke, he saw over a hundred ominous silhouettes rushing out of the forest.

These silhouettes were then revealed to be humanoid-sized spiders, entirely covered in black metal-like carapaces.

However, what made the Crocodile’s pupils contract were the tall figures riding on the backs of these huge metallic spiders.

They donned magnificent armor and enchanted robes, while some wielded exquisite longbows, others gripped staffs crackling with arcane energy, and a few clutched swords while holding onto mysterious, heavy, smoke-emitting cylindrical devices.

Crocodile was absolutely stunned at seeing these familiar figures.

“E-Elves!?”

— —