A White-Hot War

Crack! The dragonbeast's thick scales shattered instantly in a violent spray of fragments and shredded meat. Its grotesque head was cleaved straight down the middle, splashing scalding dragon blood all over Gangtie Kuangchao's face. Yet the blood only made Gangtie Kuangchao wilder. He wiped his face with careless abandon and roared at the top of his lungs, "Blood for the Blood God! Skulls for the Skull Throne!" Even the aggressively charging dragonbeasts were cowed by his ferocious momentum, halting in their tracks to eye him with sudden wariness. That momentary hesitation gave Gangtie Kuangchao the opening he needed for ranged fire. Raising a bolter with a comically oversized bore, he pulled the trigger with a manic laugh. Boom! A thunderous blast rang through the air, deafening in its intensity. The air shattered as smoke billowed outward. Before the pointed projectile even struck, it detonated into a storm of metal shards. The dragonbeast's scales and hide were ripped to shreds in an instant, and its innards were blown into gory ruin. With a pitiful shriek and a heavy thud, the unfortunate dragonbeast collapsed to the ground, dead. Behind Gangtie Kuangchao, free from the threat of flanking dragonbeasts, Adrian was finally able to cut loose and battle the adult green dragon without restraint. As the green dragon swooped down, Adrian glared with fury. The image of a slowly rotating sun manifested within his pupils, radiating brilliant light. Startled, the green dragon instinctively shut its eyes against the blinding glare and flailed its claws wildly toward Adrian. Adrian remained calm. Seizing his moment, he swung his rapier with crisp precision, tracing an exquisite arc through the air. *Shhh—* A crisp sound preceded a shriek of agony. A golden thread seemed to appear across the green dragon's wrist. The next instant, the massive claw severed cleanly along the thread and dropped. The cut was silky smooth, exposing crimson flesh and stark white bone. With a single sword strike, Adrian had severed the adult green dragon's right claw! The green dragon flapped its wings frantically, fleeing into the sky in sheer disbelief. "Human! How dare you—" Adrian paid it no mind. Leaping a hundred meters into the air, golden wings burst from his back like an angel descending upon the mortal realm. He raised his longsword with all his might, channeling the terrifying momentum of his dive straight toward the green dragon's chest. Radiant flames erupted from his blade, coalescing into a ten-meter-long sword of the Sun God in midair. "For the Lord of Eternal Radiance—!" Accompanied by a furious war cry, the golden blade impaled the green dragon's chest, pierced its heart, and burst out through the scales and hide on its back. The green dragon threw its head back in a gut-wrenching howl before plummeting from the sky. It crashed into a nearby knoll, pinned firmly to the earth by the golden sword of light. Drawing its dying breaths, the beast coughed up blood and struggled feebly to lift its head, wheezing, "Human... Her Majesty Tiamat... will never... let you..." "Pathetic monster," Adrian sneered. Just as he stepped forward to deliver the finishing blow himself, a dark silhouette burst out from the distance. *Whirrr—* A revving chainsword tore through the air, cleanly severing the green dragon's long neck. Gangtie Kuangchao excitedly looted the dragon's corpse, not forgetting to turn back toward Adrian with an expression of righteous indignation: "Lord Adrian, a beast like this is unworthy of your noble hands! Allow me to finish it off for you!" "Thank you." Adrian's mouth twitched slightly, utterly baffled by the display. For some reason, these immortals from the north possessed a bizarre obsession with killing, and they would even fight among themselves over the "priority rights to kill an enemy." Shaking his head, Adrian cast the oddity from his mind. He brandished his sword once more and threw himself back into the bloody fray. Watching Adrian depart, Gangtie Kuangchao glanced at the system log that had just refreshed with the words *You have slain an adult green dragon*. He beamed with unrestrained joy. "That's no NPC—that's my reborn god-father! Please accept my bow!" Gangtie Kuangchao muttered to himself before trailing behind Adrian without hesitation, ready to scoop up any more kills he left behind. Having weathered the sharp magical barrages from the Cult of the Dragon, the players had also rallied their forces and joined the front lines. *Rumble—* The blare of steam whistles and the thunder of treads grinding over the earth echoed from the rear. Over a hundred steam tanks charged forward amidst billowing plumes of white smoke, shaking the ground with an imposing presence that rivaled the draconic horde. "Wh-what is that? Beasts forged of iron?" "What terrifying power!" Duke Franz raised his greatsword and bellowed an order: "Make way! Those are our allies!" Hearing this, the human soldiers parted, clearing a wide thoroughfare for the steam tank corps to roar through. Farther out among the draconic horde, an evil dragon priest stood atop the towering spine of a forest landwyrm, his expression grim. "Damn it, those bizarre contraptions again..." He raised his scepter and rasped, "Crush them! They are nothing more than hollow shells fashioned by humans—fragile before the power of dragon blood!" The dragonbeasts roared and charged fearlessly at the cluster of steam tanks. The next instant, the screech of artillery fire drowned out the dragon roars and the priest's command. Thick gun barrels burst with flames and smoke almost simultaneously. Boom! Tremendous explosions ripped through the dragonbeasts, instantly obliterating several at the center of the blasts. The evil dragon priest was blasted into the air, reduced to a charred corpse. Even more dragonbeasts were caught in the concussive shockwaves or struck by shrapnel, left bloodied and teetering on the brink of death. The Empire's steam tanks seized the opening to charge, crashing into them and rolling straight over the line. No matter how strong the dragonbeasts were, they were still creatures of flesh and blood, hopelessly frail against armored steel hulls. As the steam tanks' treads ground past, they left behind only a trail of gore and severed limbs. Meanwhile, under the control of Machine Cult players, more than a dozen Arcane Armors strode forward from the rear, incessantly pounding the dragon beasts with energy cannons. When they swung their multi-meter-long power swords, they cleaved the thick-hided beasts clean in half. Yet the Cult of the Dragon was not entirely helpless. Hill-sized dragonblood colossi charged forward under the command of cultists, colliding head-on with steam tanks and Arcane Armors. They could also spew deadly acidic breath capable of corroding iron plates and killing the fragile pilots inside. Meanwhile, ordinary players fought the cultists and dragonbeasts in their own distinctive styles. "Kill!" "For the Empire!" "Long live the Cinder Empire!!" Fighters swung longswords as they charged the enemy ranks; wizards raised wands to chant spells; rogues lurked in the shadows to loose stealthy arrows; and some reckless newbies even strapped satchel charges to themselves, throwing their bodies into the cultists' positions as living bombs. Furthermore, the players possessed overwhelming numbers. Hundreds of thousands had accepted this war quest. Even more terrifyingly, they were immortal, requiring only a brief cooldown before respawning in Green Valley Town. No matter how frenzied the dragonbeasts were or how vastly they numbered, they were drowned in the sea of players. Unable to break the battle lines, they were instead treated as prized game to be fought over. Scenes like this played out repeatedly: a sturdy guard dragonbeast would be surrounded by over a hundred players, bristling with arrows until it resembled a porcupine. It would howl in agony before crashing to the ground, dead from blood loss. The players would then cheer and pounce upon the corpse, stripping it clean like starving wolves, not leaving behind a single bone. "Materials!" "Quit snatching! That dragon hide is mine!" Just like that, the human legions and player forces steadily slaughtered the dragonbeasts and advanced, soon pressing close to Forest Hawk City. High atop the distant battlements, Ulrichia looked on with a grim, twisted sneer: "Damn Imperials... We have to deal with those troublesome vermin." She slowly closed her eyes, only for her expression to warp in uncontrollable fury: "Why... why are the altars still falling? What on earth is that useless Grutar doing?!" *** Beneath Forest Hawk City, in the Dragon Breeding Ground. Singo stood before a smashed altar, holding a megaphone as he addressed more than a thousand ragged, armed civilians: "Take up your guns and survive!" His voice echoed through the dim cavern, reverberating again and again. "Survive!" The woman who had been rescued earlier stood at the very front with a rifle in hand, her tone resolute. Those simple words spread like wildfire. First the few people nearby, then hundreds, until nearly everyone present was shouting: "Survive! Survive!" *Roaaar—* A chorus of chaotic shrieks arose as dense swarms of pseudodragons and drakes beat their wings, surging out from the depths of the cavern in droves. Mantou shot down the lead pseudodragon with an arrow and yelled, "Don't be afraid! They're made of flesh and blood too—these dragonbeasts can be killed!" The people reloaded their weapons, aimed as Singo had instructed them, and pulled the triggers. Bang! Bang! Bang! Gunshots reverberated through the cavern. Though their handling was clumsy, the dense hail of bullets still knocked many dragonbeasts out of the air, sending them shrieking to the ground. Even so, several dragonbeasts breached the wall of lead and swooped into the crowd, inciting waves of terrified screams. Just then, a frail man among the civilians suddenly swelled in size. His ragged clothes shredded to pieces, transforming him in an instant into a six-meter-tall, muscle-bound bald monk. Leaping into the air, he unleashed a flurry of punches wrapped in fierce astral wind like pelting rain. Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! At the same time, he bellowed, "Audacious fiends, die!" Under this tempestuous barrage of heavy fists, blood sprayed everywhere as the dragonbeasts were pulverized into minced meat. Mantou's eyes went wide. He stammered, "Dawei Tianlong? How did he get in here too?" "And us!" With a series of crisp tearing sounds, more than a dozen other men in the crowd bulged in stature, their garments ripping away to reveal chiseled muscle. Their bald heads shone brightly, seemingly coated in a layer of gold dust. They were none other than the Shaolin Temple Guild's famous Eighteen Arhats. The eighteen monks charged into the dragonbeast swarm with a flurry of kicks and punches, battering the beasts until they bled profusely and scattered in disgrace. Mantou was even more astonished: "Holy crap, so many of you?" Singo remarked, "Plenty of players must have figured out a way to sneak into Forest Hawk City. There are probably quite a few players mixed in among these sacrifices." Sure enough, as the riot unfolded, more and more players revealed their true identities. There were fighters, wizards, rogues, and paladins, each having slipped in using their own unique abilities. Even Langlibaitiao had disguised himself as a refugee. Showing his cheeky grin, he said with mock righteousness, "Ah Lang, I'm here to avenge you!" Right then, a furious roar thundered from the distance: "Humans—how dare you desecrate Her Majesty Tiamat's altars! You shall suffer the cruellest divine punishment!" Everyone turned toward the sound. A colossal green dragon was beating its wings, sweeping in aggressively from afar alongside a blood-scented gale. It was Grutar, the mature adult green dragon. "Gods above..." "Fire! Fire!" The panicked civilians raised their rifles and pulled their triggers at the green dragon in the sky, sending bullets whistling through the air. Yet the mature dragon's scales were far too hard and thick. Common bullets could not breach his defense at all, leaving behind only faint white scratches. With a single blast of acid breath, the dragon dissolved more than a dozen people, leaving them screaming as they melted into mangled skeletons. Grutar closed in leisurely, sneering, "Is this what you rely on? Some crude little toys? How utterly pathetic! "Soon you will understand that before Tiamat's might, all your struggles are completely futile!!" The mature green dragon spread his wings and roared toward the ceiling, releasing a suffocating aura of dragon fear. Yet the very next moment, an arrow pierced his throat with an ear-splitting shriek, immediately detonating in a deafening blast. Boom! Grutar was left soot-stained and disheveled. Choking with rage and embarrassment, he glared toward the source of the arrow, only to find Singo holding a longbow, staring back at him without a shred of fear. "Recognize me?" "You're... the servant of the wretch who dared to deceive me! Run all you want—I will hunt every last one of you down and rip you to shreds!" Grutar's expression twisted into pure fury. A mature adult green dragon was an exceedingly formidable foe with a Challenge Rating around 15 to 16. It was a monster bordering on legendary, capable of easily leveling a small town. Yet to the players now, Grutar was hardly invincible. After all, the Machine Cult players had already blown an ancient green dragon to bits. Singo glanced around at the dozens of elite players who each held unique trump cards. He grinned coldly and said in a calm, steady voice, "Who's hunting whom—remains to be seen!"