Game’s Dogma

Danting’s almost chaotic combat style gave Drako Yau headaches at times. In the end, his training for Danting consisted only of basic combat movements. It was similar to the old geezer’s harsh initial training regimen that forged Drako Yau’s fundamental techniques. Apart from that, he gave no advice or requests and allowed Danting to exhibit his unconventional techniques.

As the battle went on, Tong felt the pressure on him mounting. The young man was like a sponge that absorbed and assimilated his movements to come up with the best counter. He focused his eyes on Danting, only to find that the young man was an absolute idiot who lacked combat intelligence.

He’s doing all this out of instinct?!

As Tong fought, he also paid attention to the ongoing war around him. His squadmates’ names darkened one after another, indicating their demise. Much to his surprise, the sly Fiddlestick was the first to die; it was so shocking that he gave away an opening and was almost struck by Danting. The next ones to fall were the Peterpie and Allmighty brothers. A not-so-unacceptable outcome, considering their enemy was Mask.

Then came Hawk’s turn. As Danting kept Tong occupied, the enemy ranger slipped past him and closed in on Hawk. Caught in close-range combat, Hawk died without putting on much of a resistance.

I’m all alone. Tong put on a bitter smile and said, “Kid, maybe we’ll fight again someday.”

Tong then quickly retreated backwards. His character slowly turned transparent and faded out of existence.

“Hey! Where are you going!” screamed Danting, though he received no response from Tong.

This was a staged encounter quest. They participated in the quest because they were part of the story. Once they gave up on the quest, they’d naturally leave the map.

Tong was no warrior; he was a soldier to the bone. Personal interests came before anything else. While he wasn’t sure how many enemy players were alive, he estimated that they had at least two to three active combatants considering the deaths of his squadmates in quick succession. Add the young swordsman and the ranger who went for Hawk to the tally, and the enemy force was up to five players.

Tong might be confident in his strength, but he wasn’t conceited enough to believe he could fend off all five of them alone. Moreover, he was Level 44. It’d be foolish to lose a level to a battle of wills.

Drako Yau shot backwards like a cannonball. Sasaki quickly returned his katana into its sheath and reached out to catch his flying boss.

“Puk!”

Sasaki threw up a mouthful of blood the moment Drako Yau crashed into him. He felt like a car had hit him. A glance at his Health bar revealed that two-thirds of the bar was gone. If the subsequent crash dealt so much damage, how much force did Drako Yau have to withstand?

A person appeared behind the two suddenly. A muscular figure donned in a wavy white robe, Greenstone made his entry! He had a stern expression that made his defined facial features all the more pronounced, while a glow shrouded his palms.

A palm strike struck Sasaki’s back, but it lacked any substantial power behind it. Greenstone, with his palm glued onto Sasaki, slid backwards together with the two. Slap! Another palm strike, and Greenstone’s legs drew two even deeper troughs on the ground. The sight of two men flying backwards while a muscular man kept palm-striking their backs as he glided was peculiar, to say the least.

Nine strikes landed on Sasaki in the blink of an eye. Greenstone’s eyes lit up as he abruptly planted his legs on the ground and thrust his arms out. Two powerful palm strikes landed silently; rather than attacking, he was propping them.

The two’s flight came to a halt, but they still stumbled to the ground in sorry figures.

Things were better for Sasaki as nothing couldn’t be healed with several Health potions. Drako Yau, however, had to recover on his own due to his Maverick identity.

Places where Drako Yau’s armour failed to protect turned bright red. Greenstone pulled off his mask; as expected, his slim face was just as red. Greenstone frowned and placed two thick fingers on his wrist.

Drako Yau’s wrist gave off a sizzling sound the moment they came into contact. Greenstone felt that rather than a person, he was touching a red-hot metal block instead. However, he maintained his composure and didn’t retract his fingers. He continued to sense the changes occurring in Drako Yau’s body through his pulse.

The patterns he detected shook him. The last time he measured Drako Yau’s pulse was after the battle with Nin. Back then, he embedded the Ghost Flame Needles, forged from the Demon City’s Ghost Flames, into Drako Yau to buy time for him.

Today, Drako Yau was no longer the helpless young man who could do nothing to stop himself from exploding. Achieving initial accomplishment with the Cryoflame Style had built a world within him. Greenstone was no ordinary herbalist; by just measuring his pulse, he could sense the complete yin-yang symbol within him.

The ying-yang symbol startled Greenstone, but he continued his diagnosis right away. The current situation was no better than the previous crisis, if not worse. The ying-yang symbol sucked in rampaging forces and tamed them, yet a rogue force had emerged out of nowhere to resist the symbol’s pacification.

While the rogue force was insignificant compared to the yin-yang symbol, it took advantage of Drako Yau’s injuries to strengthen its foothold in his body. Once they took shape, the damage to his body might be irreversible.

Greenstone saw no time to waste. He immediately ordered, “Sasaki, clear the surroundings. Dumbgirl and Poet will follow Oda Nobunaga. Strider and Dan, meet up with the two girls.”

They glanced at one another. Drako Yau was usually the one giving out orders and having Greenstone, who rarely spoke, take on that role was quite unexpected, not to mention his orders were clear and concise.

“Get moving,” Greenstone made himself clear, his voice containing a tint of rage.

Everyone sprung into action at his words. This was the battlefield, a less than ideal place to undergo treatment, but Drako Yau’s situation left Greenstone with little choice. Fortunately, the blast had sent them flying several hundred metres back. They were out of Akechi territory, and the Oda soldiers knew better to stay out of their way.

Greenstone wriggled his meaty fingers, summoning three thin needles between them.

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