Schemes

Countless wyverns and flame drakes swooped down from the high heavens, hurtling toward the Abyssal drakes with irresistible might. Resounding dragon roars carried boundless majesty, shaking the hearts and minds of the Abyssal drakes, stirring a primal fear buried deep within their bloodlines. Searing tongues of flame scorched the hides of the Abyssal drakes, while razor-sharp lances mercilessly impaled their bodies. In an instant, the once-ferocious Abyssal drakes were swallowed by the crimson deluge. After a single wave of charges, they tumbled from the sky one after another, while the imperial dragons craned their necks and roared to the heavens. "Boom!" The artillery roared with earthshaking thunder, drowning out the fiendish howling of the demons. Yet on the scorch-scarred main battlefield, the clash between tanks and demons raged on. Having suffered grievous casualties, the demons soon caught on to the weaknesses of the steam tanks. Employing quasits, vrocks, chasmes, and other fiends capable of nimble flight, they laid siege to these "iron lumps," endlessly vomiting highly corrosive acid across their tops. More Abyssal drakes descended from the sky, clawing open the seams of the tanks' armor plating and exhaling black fire into the hulls. *Buzzzz—* A dense crimson haze seemed to settle over the sky. Countless sickening, black, larva-like creatures fluttered through the air on tiny red wings, unleashing a dizzying, maddening drone. Their buzzing induced split-skull headaches and mental chaos, leaving their victims to collapse in agony and delirium, helpless fodder for the swarm. —The demon bee swarm: aggressive, cruel, and bloodthirsty fiends that devoured every living thing they encountered and laid waste to their habitats. And at this moment, the drone effortlessly penetrated the armor plating into the cockpits, bringing agonizing torment to the imperial soldiers inside. The demon bees scrambled and surged through the torn seams of the armor, flooding into the belly of the steam tank. *Zzzz—* The steam tank's emergency magitech system automatically triggered. A powerful electromagnetic pulse rippled across the tank's surface, causing countless demon bees to plummet from the air. Yet the swarm enveloping the tank was merely a fraction, negligible compared to the insect tide smothering the battlefield. The machine guns atop the steam tank spat tongues of flame, pouring out terrible firepower, but even until the barrels overheated, they failed to stem the onslaught of the demon bees. Soon, amid dense, scuttling scrapes, the frenzied bees gnawed an opening through the gaps in the armor plating and swarmed into the cockpit. "They're inside!" "No—!" "Fire! Fire!" *Bang! Bang! Bang!* Confronted by the swarm pouring into the cabin, the soldiers inside fired in panic, but it was utterly futile against the bees. "Damn it, bullets don't do a thing to them!" "No, stay back—!" They were swiftly engulfed by the maddened bees, reduced to bleached bones amid chilling sounds of chewing and gnawing. "Monsters..." "I'll take you down with me! For the Empire, for His Majesty Cassius! Behold the glory of the *Isdalia*!" The human tank commander's eyes were bloodshot. Pounding his chest heavily, he raised his arms and roared with near-maniacal fervor. At the very last moment before the swarm drowned him, his face twisted in a ferocious grimace as he shoved the control stick to the limit and slammed down on the red button marked "Emergency Self-Destruct Sequence." Like a maddened bull, the steam tank rammed headlong into the fiendish horde. Its blood-soaked metal ram ground countless demons into mince. Immediately after, sparks and steam erupted incessantly from its top whistle. Inside, the high-pressure boiler shrieked tempestuously until it ruptured completely. "Boom!" With an unprecedented, cataclysmic roar, the steam tank blasted apart. A colossal mushroom cloud and a blinding fireball rose from the ground. The terrible blast swallowed everything within a hundred meters, while churning steam and a searing shockwave swept across the entire battlefield. When the white smoke finally drifted away, the earth lay charred black, wisps of dark smoke curling upward, with jagged debris from the steam tank strewn everywhere. A magma-filled crater tens of meters wide cratered the ground. Inside lay the charred remnants of dretches, while the tens of millions of demon bees were utterly annihilated; even the demon bee queen haunting the area had been mercilessly swallowed by the earth-shattering blast. Yet the battle still raged. The annihilated bee swarm was merely a small detachment; distant buzzing soon echoed again as another bloated queen drifted slowly through the sky, surrounded by her retinue of worker bees... ... Third Theater Command Post. Duoluo stared at the distant, billowing mushroom cloud, his brow furrowed tight. The dragonblood hobgoblin gripped his greataxe, his sallow yellow eyes narrowing slightly. "How unexpected... Steam tank casualties have begun this early..." Behind him came a deep, resonant voice: "Duoluo, I told you long ago. "This demonic invasion is no minor skirmish like before, nor is it a game for you to earn military glory. "It is a trial... for the entire Cinder Empire." A massive, burly figure stepped slowly out of the shadows, casting a silhouette that nearly eclipsed Duoluo. The scepter carved with the Cinder emblem gleamed under the dim firelight. —It was none other than the Imperial Prime Minister, the first retainer to reach legendary status: Ogre Archmage Trump. Trump quietly cautioned, "Set aside all internal friction for now. "This demonic invasion requires every member of the Empire to face it together. Bear in mind that His Majesty has planned for this for years." "As Imperial Marshal, of course I know what takes priority, my dear *Lord* Trump." Duoluo nodded slightly, seemingly concurring with the ogre's point, yet he placed pointed emphasis on the word "Lord." Gazing nervously at the fiercely contested battlefield, he murmured, "Still, there are simply too many demons right now. "Bullets and artillery shells are being hurled away like dirt. The war's consumption has already far outstripped our projections." He lifted his head and stared coldly at Trump's ugly visage. "Trump, if this stalemate drags on... "In less than ten days, we'll run into supply shortages. "In less than half a month, the demons might very well breach your proud Imperial Wall and strike into the Empire's heartland." Trump also turned toward the magical projections of the various battlefields. Dretches still surged toward the defensive lines in wave after wave; retrievers scurried across the plains; goristros advanced with thunderous, heavy strides. In the sky, quasits, vrocks, and Abyssal drakes wheeled in chaotic flight, while swarms of demon bees spread like toxic smog. Compared to days prior, the Empire's firepower had weakened noticeably, no longer capable of the kind of saturation bombardment that paved the ground with explosive fire. They could only rely on the steam tanks and the flesh and blood of imperial soldiers to check the fiendish advance. Fortunately, the player population of the Cinder Empire had also grown significantly. Three million infinitely reviving players stood on equal footing with the seemingly endless fiendish legion. After a long pause, the corners of Trump's mouth curled slightly into a chilling smile. "You are right." The ogre archmage raised his staff. Countless spheres of light circled him, conjuring visions of Redscale Conquerors, dragon-blessed paladins, and many other retainers—representing the core pillars of the Empire's might. "Perhaps... it is time the true counterattack began. I believe His Majesty has been waiting for this moment as well." ... "Boom!" Lonely as Snow raised his greatshield, deflecting a descending glob of Abyssal fire from the high heavens, shielding several wizard teammates behind him. Black-red sparks still splattered across his face. Flames steeped in vile energy burned black blotches onto his skin, dealing considerable damage—but he had no time to worry about that. "Awoooo—!" Dretches and babaus shrieked and howled, charging madly toward the player lines and lunging at Lonely as Snow. "Damn it, is there no end to this?!" *Clang!* Lonely as Snow swept his greatshield in a vicious arc, then slammed it downward into the ground, cleanly crushing a dozen fiends into meat patties. Behind him, a babau raised a barbed spear, a sinister grin plastered across its gaunt red face as it thrust forward to ambush the human. Without even glancing back, the paladin seized the babau like a squawking chick, hurled it violently to the earth, and crushed it to pulp underfoot. Yet these low-ranking demons only multiplied. Over a hundred of them converged from every direction, threatening to drown him. "Hurry up, I can't hold out much longer!" Amid the brutal brawl, Lonely as Snow couldn't help venting, "These pieces of trash are everywhere, and killing them barely gives any EXP..." Charlotte hovered in midair, gripping his staff and chanting an incantation. "Chain Lightning!" Almost instantly, amidst sharp crackles, brilliant arcs of electricity leaped through the fiendish mob, crisping every dretch in their path to cinders. The demons wailed in agony, black smoke rising from their bodies as they collapsed in swaths. In a blink, the hundreds of demons before them were wiped clean. His face equally charred by the discharge, Lonely as Snow scrambled out from the pile of fiendish corpses and pointed toward a dark silhouette in the distance. "Quick, take down that goat-headed bastard! "The damn thing keeps slinging spells and summoning trash mobs—it's disgusting!" "I've got this!" Feitian Nüwu stepped forward. Under the expectant gazes of the party, she conjured a magnificent rainbow. *Whoosh—* The rainbow arched across the sky, exquisitely breathtaking, and accomplished precisely nothing else. "..." The entire group fell dead silent. In the distance, the so-called "goat-headed bastard" let loose a roar. Its skin was corpselike and pale, its fur coarse and pitch-black, and its hooves an infernal blood-red—it was in fact a bloodhoof demon, a monstrosity created by Orcus, the Prince of the Undead. The bloodhoof demon waved its skull-topped scepter. Instantly, toxic smog blanketed the battlefield, while dead fiends crawled back up from the ground one by one. "Look out! It's Cloudkill!" Charlotte raised his staff, calling forth howling gusts of wind that blew the noxious vapors away. Thankfully, Feitian Nüwu avoided triggering another Wild Magic Surge this time. She hurled blazing Fireballs one after another, incinerating the reanimated demons to ash. Meanwhile, Mingyue, vice president of Magic Coin, aimed her staff at the distant bloodhoof demon and rapidly incanted. "Lightning Bolt!" *Boom!* A glaring jolt of lightning erupted from the tip of her staff, piercing clean through the bloodhoof demon. The goat-headed fiend twitched several times on the ground before falling still. Lonely as Snow kicked aside a demon corpse at his feet and muttered, "Seriously, does this ever end..." He had been hacking through demons on the line for days now. Although massive amounts of EXP and faction contribution poured in every day, the relentless grinding had worn off any novelty. Suddenly, an immense shadow fell from the sky. "Look out!" his teammates shouted in warning. Lonely as Snow dodged on pure reflex. A massive, spear-like limb struck down like a pile driver, plunging deep into the stone. Lonely as Snow looked up, first seeing four pairs of spindly legs, followed by clusters of gleaming compound eyes. "What the f—" A grey ray flashed. Lonely as Snow took a direct hit, instantly stiffening into an immobile stone statue. Charlotte cried out in panic, "Get back! It's a retriever! "Don't let its magical rays hit you!" After several days of combat, the players had developed an understanding of the demons and classified their threat levels. The retriever was undoubtedly placed in the most dangerous tier. Without steam tanks, dragonscale monks, or similar heavy support, escaping the clutches of these spider-like monsters was nearly impossible. The gigantic arachnid construct lunged toward the wizards. Without hesitation, Charlotte raised his staff, the crystal at its tip gleaming with faint red light. *Hold Monster!* His luck held; the monstrous beast was locked frozen in place. "Now! Hit it!" The wizards hastily unleashed their full arsenal of offensive spells, showering the retriever in fire, frost, acid, and lightning as if magic were free. Yet beneath its hard, spell-resistant carapace, the retriever took barely any damage. "Damn it, it's way too tanky!" "No good, we need a meat shield first!" Using Misty Step, Charlotte flashed to Lonely as Snow's side and touched his petrified body. *Stone to Flesh!* The stone encrusting Lonely as Snow gradually receded, his face reverting first. Panting heavily, he cursed, "That damn retriever is disgusting. I didn't even have time to react..." Yet Charlotte spoke with blistering speed: "Sorry to impose, Lonely as Snow, but go block that spider before it breaks free!" With a flick of his staff, Lonely as Snow—whose lower body was still solid stone—flew into the air and slammed down right in front of the retriever. "Are you shitting me..." Lonely as Snow watched the frantically thrashing retriever, his mouth twitching. Was he truly doomed to never escape his destiny as a meat shield? Aside from the retriever before them, Lonely as Snow, Charlotte, and the others looked into the distance. Abyssal drakes wheeled in the sky, goristros strode across the earth, and bulezau charged forward with deafening bellows. Clearly, they had the rotten luck of running into a major demonic push. "Roar—!" Suddenly, a rasping dragon roar split the sky, accompanied by the dry tang of sand on the wind. "Boom!" A colossal thunderbolt plunged from the heavens, piercing straight through the retriever. "Reinforcements are here!" "Holy crap, that's insane!" Lonely as Snow looked up. High in the sky, massive blue dragons spread their wings, disgorging waterfalls of lightning and casting immense shadows across the earth. The blue dragons of the Faria clan! The female blue dragon at the front was somewhat slender, but the lightning she unleashed was no less fierce—it was her strike that had just run the retriever through. —This blue dragon was none other than Christina, the envoy dispatched by the Faria clan.