Game’s Dogma

‘This guy is trying to buy time’, Slyfox said in their squad channel, ‘Sorry Tripurity. The guild master’s order is more important.’

‘You!’ Tripurity yelled.

Drako Yau had long been prepared for this. He had been paying close attention to the other three killers surrounding him, and the moment Slyfox activated Invisibility, he had already reckoned that the sneaky assassin was a threat.

Focusing his gaze, he parried one of Tripurity’s swords then stabbed his spear into the ground. He launched himself into the air as if he was pole vaulting, though he kept a hold of his spear as he leapt.

Immediately after he left the ground, Slyfox re-appeared at where he had been standing moments ago along with a dagger which missed its target.

Slyfox was clearly dumbfounded. He dodged it? A Shadowstrike from behind in such a way?

As Slyfox stared at Mask who was now above him, even with the mask covering the man’s face, Slyfox sweated drops of cold sweat just from looking at him.

Drako Yau wasn’t going to sit and look at Slyfox while the assassin was startled. He reached for Slyfox during his fall—his bare-handed combat was just as good.

Boom!

A Repelling Shot smashed right onto Drako Yau, sending him flying together with his spear. 

‘Thanks, Hau Ngai.’ Slyfox thanked a cool-looking archer who stood nearby. That was the first time they had managed to damage Drako Yau; the four of them, handpicked by Tripurity, were all top elites in Empyreal Spire.

[Note: Hau Ngai is a mythical archer in Chinese folklore. In Chinese mythology, there were initially 10 suns. Hau Ngai shot down nine of them, sparing all but one as requested by his lord for humanity’s sake.]

Slyfox, Empyreal Spire’s number one assassin. Despite not having particularly outstanding technique, his sly and pesky personality really shone when his role was an assassin.

Hau Ngai, Empyreal Spire’s number one ranger. A player with extraordinary skill in shooting, he was recruited by Chau Yu with a king’s ransom.

‘Don’t be careless now. Repelling Shot is great for knocking back enemies, but its damage is quite low.’ Hau Ngai sent his gaze at the cloud of dust wafting around where Drako Yau crashed into.

The dust gradually dispersed, and… He’s gone!

‘Where?’

‘Hau Ngai! Behind you!’

By the time Hau Ngai turned around, the fiery red mask was already right up his face along with the glimmer of a spear.

A Trembling Slash cut at Drako Yau out of nowhere. Thinking that it was a real pity, he had no choice but to let the opportunity slide and hastily retreated. A muscular man then swung his greatsword and pressed on with his attacks.

Man-of-Steel, a berserker from Empyreal Spire.

Glaring at Drako Yau who took a large step back, he stabbed his greatsword into the ground and roared at him.

Growl, Level 20 berserker skill. Stuns enemies temporarily upon landing.

Needless to say, Drako Yau didn’t get hit by the berserker’s skill. With a thin layer of mist shrouding his legs, he dodged the Growl at a hair’s breadth.

Attacked from all sides by three elites, Drako Yau was stuck in a rough spot as wounds started to build up on his body, especially from Hau Ngai’s terrifying shooting. He wasn’t even sure if Soulsmith or Hau Ngai was stronger at this point. At the same time, he had to keep an eye out for Slyfox’s sneaky attacks.

In less than a minute, Drako Yau was already covered in wounds and was steadily losing ground.

‘Danting! Get moving!’ The three yelled at him together.

They didn’t dare to go overboard with Tripurity, but with Danting, it was a completely different story. Just look at his dozy look; it was clear why they all were very rough with him.

Tripurity’s face cramped from witnessing the battle. It really trampled his pride as a fighter to team up on someone in such an underhanded way.

The shouts targeted at Danting seemed to have awakened him from his daze.

‘Get moving… Right! Get moving!’

Danting made a battle cry and leapt like a gigantic crane as he unsheathed the greatsword from his back and hacked downwards.

Pzzzt…

A several-metre-long black arc poured out from his blade—it smashed towards the ground with indomitable momentum.

‘What’s that!’

Drako Yau wasn’t the only one surprised by it; even the Empyreal Spire members were dumbstruck by the sight. They had never seen Danting in action, so they subconsciously categorised him as an ordinary player who was just better at fighting and barely managed to get into their guild.

The only person who knew of his true strength was none other than Chau Yu: bearer of the hidden class Magic Swordsman, Danting!

The black gigantic sword aura plunged from the sky. Hau Ngai could feel a tremendous force ramming into his body, and the next moment, he was already shooting backwards in the air while blood sprayed from his wounds. Also, every elite player in the game had their pain sensitivity set to a high percentage.

‘Danting what the hell are you doing!’ Upon realising the target of Danting’s attack was Hau Ngai, they were even more dumbfounded than before.

‘What? You’re trying to kill my boss, of course I’m killing you all! Empyreal Spire? Who gives a damn!’ Danting shouted, all while making consecutive slashes with his greatsword. One after another, black sword auras bombarded Hau Ngai.

Danting who had always been looked down upon was now so scary. It almost felt like the sheep they had always bullied was actually a dragon in disguise; he was simply so overwhelming, so irrepressible right now.

Two wooden swords whizzed through the air towards Danting. After Danting’s betrayal, Tripurity couldn’t just look on anymore. He charged in with his sword to block Danting’s attacks.

‘Ha! Taoist? Let’s see if your Toaist or my Magic Swordsman class is better!’ Getting more and more into the mood, Danting pushed his left palm forward, conjuring a fiery red magic array before his palm. ‘Array of Pyroblast!’

At the same time, an identical red magic array appeared directly beneath Tripurity. A massive explosion ensued the next moment.

‘This crazy bastard!’ Tripurity was startled by the sudden explosion, but he still managed to evade it just in time and returned the favour immediately after. Like troublesome vipers, two flying swords tied Danting down with a barrage of attacks.

Slyfox had a quick look at the situation and said decisively, ‘Kill Mask first!’

Man-of-Steel nodded and charged at Drako Yau.

‘Ouuuu!’ A wolf’s howl resounded throughout the battlefield. ‘Who dares to kill my bro!’

‘Bro? Heh, Zephyrwolf, that’s quite impressive of you.’ Slyfox made a crafty grin and shot a venomous glare at Zephyrwolf.

Upon seeing Slyfox, Zephyrwolf was perturbed for a moment. ‘Slyfox?’

‘Oh, you remember me? Thanks for missing me so much, Sir Zephyrwolf.’ Nothing but hatred permeated from Slyfox’s gaze at Zephyrwolf; it was obvious that they had bad blood between them.

Man-of-Steel and Hau Ngai shot each other a look, then turned their attention to Mask. After being on the receiving end of their flurry of attacks for so long, Mask shouldn’t be far away from the doorsteps of death.

Now that Tripurity was keeping Danting occupied, Hau Ngai could take a breather from Danting’s storm of attacks and regain his rhythm. He readied his bow, notched an arrow which gave off a red glow, then let it loose.

Explosive Arrow, Level 20 ranger skill. Explodes upon hitting the target, dealing area-of-effect damage and fire elemental damage over time.

Man-of-Steel’s eyes turned bloodshot—he activated the Level 20 berserker skill, Berserk, then charged at Mask using Dash.

This was the iconic move of berserkers. By consuming their own Health, they were increasing their Attack. The lower their Health, the higher their Attack, which was clearly a double-edged sword. But Man-of-Steel wasn’t in a spot to worry about that when the enemy’s reinforcements were arriving.

However, a red shadow stood before Hau Ngai and Man-of-Steel.

Weaponmaster

Description: A class progression branch of the warrior class, it is the symbol of technique and elegance.

Skill type: Weaponmasters, unlike berserkers, are powerful fighters who tread on a different path from berserkers. Instead of tempering their physical bodies, Weaponmasters choose to raise their proficiency and improve their techniques on utilising weapons. As such, weaponmasters must know their weapon like their bodies and treat weapons like an extension of themselves, which require extraordinary technique and skill.

Skill tree: Sword and Katana Combatives, Battle Aura.

Weapon type: Longsword, katana.

Class progression: ???

For every 1000, then 2000, then another 2000 Likes on all chapters (1000 -> 3000 -> 5000), there will be bonus chapters! Register a Penana account and start Liking now for more chapters!