Game’s Dogma

When Greenstone was giving his all to keep Zephyrwolf alive, a shadow sneaked past his back. It was Slyfox!

‘Watch out!’ Sasaki shouted as he drew his leg backwards and flashed his sword across the air, blocking Slyfox’s Shadowstrike.

‘Hmph!’ Slyfox grunted and vanished using Forced Lurk.

After Tripurity killed Hexen and King-Hit, their guild members all roared and swarmed towards Tripurity, hoping to avenge their fallen masters. However, Tripurity merely sniggered and retreated into the Empyreal Alliance crowd. They also hung mocking smiles on their faces; with such a massive difference in levels and overall strength, they could easily defeat the Yoda players, who were of a lower calibre.

Meanwhile, Moonless Night kept summoning his undead creatures, further tilting the tide of battle into their favour.

‘Aha!’ Even Drako Yau started laughing upon seeing the cliff.

It’s been three whole years! I’ve finally escaped!

Indeed, it was none other than the cliff in the Mines of Moria, which they had fallen into back then.

Gandalf and Val also joined in as they all chortled in excitement. However, Val started growling after the initial hype.

‘Grr…’

‘Mhm?’

The two spoke in a language incomprehensible to Gandalf. After a brief conversation, Drako Yau turned silent.

‘Alright, it’s understandable.’ He stood up and hugged Val’s arm. ‘Farewell, Val.’

‘Grrr…’ Val pondered for a moment before reaching for the back of its neck and plucked something off. A palm-sized scale appeared in its hand, which he then handed over to Drako Yau.

Drako Yau nodded and received the scale. ‘Val, take care.’

Val the Balrog growled once more. It then leapt from the frosty bird and landed on one of the cliffs. The frosty bird also landed on the other side of the cliff, beyond where the bridge that once connected both sides had broken.

The demon and human waved hands at one another for one last goodbye.

‘You received: Reverse Balrog Scale.

The most precious body part of a Balrog. Usage unknown.’

Drako Yau and Gandalf left the mine, resurfacing at a spacious plain.

Finally, daylight at long last! Drako Yau pulled himself together and put behind the emotions of parting ways with Val. He took in a deep breath, savouring the sweet scent of fresh air. He knew deep down that they’d meet again someday if he continued to stay true to himself—at least that was what he truly believed.

‘From today onwards, you’re a friend of this Gandalf. I’ve brought trouble upon you this time. If you require my aid in the future, don’t hold back.’ Gandalf smiled and reached his wrinkly palm at Drako Yau, conjuring a snowflake made of solid ice. ‘This contains a shard of my consciousness. Just shatter it when you seek my presence.

‘Until we meet again, my friend!’

The next moment, Drako Yau morphed into a lump of white light and disappeared.

When Drako Yau finally completed and left the Lord of the Rings encounter quest, Fatty the Castellan and Chris both widened their eyes.

‘That kiddo is back!’

‘Ha! He’s fated to live!’

Drako Yau’s companions all received the notification: ‘Dragonspear is now online.’

‘Yeah! I knew it! I fricking knew it!’ Zephyrwolf was overjoyed.

Among them, only Zephyrwolf, Greenstone, and Sasaki were still alive and kicking on the battlefield. The others were all gathering players at the resurrection altar.

Charging straight back to the battle was useless because Empyreon had now surrounded Yoda’s spawn point. They’d kill any lone players that emerged from the spawn, so the only way to break the encirclement was to rush in with large numbers.

Drako Yau found himself in the wilderness. The first thing that came to mind was: Hungry!

However, satisfying his stomach could wait after he contacted his companions. Before he could send out a message, Idyllic Poet had already called him.

‘You’re alright! You’re alright…’ She sniffed her nose and sobbed. ‘I’m so glad…’

Seeing that the usually feisty Pyrowitch was sobbing like a little girl, he immediately tried to soothe her and said, ‘Don’t cry, don’t you see that I’ve returned safely? Where are you all? At the base? I’ll go find you guys.’

Idyllic Poet wiped her tears and calmed herself down as much as she could. ‘No… When you were away, Empyreon…’ She then quickly debriefed him about the current situation.

Drako Yau’s face fell as he heard her report. ‘I’ll return immediately.’

Munching on some random food he plucked out from his item bag, he tore apart a Return-to-City Scroll while his brain operated at full speed.

I spent three years down there, but only three days have passed in reality.

Empyreal spire… Is it them again?

He put on his Mask of the Hidden Dragon; he had been missing its touch and sensation for a good long while. Perhaps now was a good time to vent all the pent up frustration during the past three years.

To Zephyrwolf and the others, the City War’s outcome no longer bothered them. Now that Mask had returned, the impact wouldn’t be as large even if they lost in the end.

But Drako Yau didn’t quite think so. There were twenty more minutes till the war ended, and the score was 71561: 28034.

He didn’t immediately rush to battle, or rather, he rushed back home. His original equipment had all broken in the endless fight versus Val, with Shooting Star being the only exception, so he quickly fixed the spear and put on his spare set.

When all was set, he took in a deep breath and sent a global message that stirred up the entire city of Yoda. The message read, ‘Yoda, follow me to battle.’

The sender was hidden by three question marks as it had always been, but those from Yoda knew who it represented. Still, some players thought the four major guilds were pulling a trick on them by hiding the sender upon first look. Their suspicion was quickly disproven when Mask, donned in his iconic mask and bloody cloak, appeared at the resurrection altar.

‘Lord Mask’s back!’

‘Oh gosh! For real?’

‘Quit levelling up and get your asses back here! Boss Mask’s back! We’ll slay those Empyreon bastards with him!’

Mask’s influence alone was worth tens of thousands of soldiers. Even players who had already given up on Yoda heeded his call and rushed back to the city.

Drako Yau’s words were a king’s battle horn. Right now, their king needed them!

It sounded unimaginable for a person to have such charisma and influence. However, Mask had earned his reputation not just because of his strength; everyone respected him because of his contribution in countless incidents.

Ever since The Siege event took place, Mask had been defending Yoda over and over again. Zephyrwolf and Hades both acknowledged that he had been the true commander of the event. He then faced Empyreon’s challenges bravely, won a hundred consecutive battles in the Arena, slain the Failed Rampaging Bear King, and fought spectacularly in the battle of Mount Soughslit.

One step at a time, the name ‘Mask’ gradually became equivalent to ‘invincible’. As long as Mask was there, the people of Yoda had nothing to fear!

Five thousand players from Empyreon were idling around on the battlefield. It had been five whole minutes since a player from Yoda emerged from the teleportation array.

The City War was ending in less than twenty minutes. While the outcome was already decided, many Empyreon players still joined the fray hoping to kill some noobs for fun. Just standing there without any action was way too boring.

Suddenly, the teleportation array flickered and came to life. The Empyreon players were electrified; someone was going to fight them at long last! Rather than fear, they were looking forward to destroying the enemy.

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