13 Under Attack

The sky gradually turned dark.

They entered the city walls, through the gate that was cracked in various places like some enormous beast squeezed its way in. Inside the mysteriously dark and wide gateway, many crisscrossing scars could be seen. Bones, both of humans and unknown beasts were everywhere. 

Upon entering the City of Desperation, the areas nearby the city entrance was in utter ruin. The city was practically falling apart at the seams. Only buildings that were shells of their former selves as far as the eye could see, their remains were scattered everywhere.

Meng Yang's heart sank as he walked in after Gustav. This city that had despair in its name indeed lived up to it. There was no sign of human life.

"Gustav, are there no living people here?"

Meng Yang looked at the wasteland. He felt the distinctive vibe of gloom permeating the place. Something like the feeling of pity that involuntarily surged in one's heart after a civilization had fallen.

"I don't know." Gustav looked glum. "I've already left for a period of time."

The city was huge. The two had only explored a corner of the city since passing its gates, but everything they saw was destroyed: dilapidated shops and houses, buildings that had once stood tall, and some worn out infrastructure. They also saw devices like catapults and cranes. Everything was in terrible condition.

Weeds had started to grow and blanket some areas, making it evident to the observer the long-term abandonment of this place.

"This city's so big. How many people lived here once?"

He had only set seen a small area of the city, but looking at the city's roads and buildings, Meng Yang could deduce that this city had been a central hub during its glory. 

The city walls, miles, and miles of them, proved that. Those walls, dozens of meters tall—Meng Yang found it hard to imagine how they were built relying solely on manpower, and also how they must have been relentlessly attacked and pillaged by hordes of massive beasts and monsters.

Such a strategically important place, destroyed just like that!

Meng Yang lamented its fate in his mind. He understood the overwhelming despair Gustav felt somehow.

Suddenly, in the quiet streets, there was a sound.

Meng Yang perked up instantly almost out of instinct. In front of him, Gustav raised his staff, expression solemn.

From the back of a collapsed building, a canine stuck out its head slowly, baring its teeth, fixing Meng Yang and Gustav under its intent gaze.

Then they heard a cacophony of low growls.

Meng Yang looked around, and soon he saw three more creatures jump out of different corners into the streets. They were almost as big as dogs in stature, smaller than wolves, and had short, round ears and short, stocky limbs. They were slowly surrounding the two men.

"What are those? Stray dogs?"

Meng Yang was slightly nervous looking at the creatures surrounding them from all sides. It was not because he was scared of dogs. Upon meeting their gazes, the cruelty and bloodlust in their eyes made him shiver.

"No, they're not! They're jackals, ferocious and agile creatures! They live with the jackal-headed men!"

Gustav rummaged in a pile of bones beside him and quickly picked up a rusted iron sword. He tossed it to Meng Yang. He then said cautiously, his gaze roaming around the area, "Some jackal-headed men are nearby!"

"Jackals?"

Meng Yang stood in shock for a moment upon hearing the name of those creatures. He then lifted the sword Gustav tossed to him carefully, while not knowing what to do with it. It weighed about a catty and resembled a Chinese sword. It was when he held the sword in his hands that he heard the latter part of what Gustav had said to him. He froze on the spot.

"Wait, you're saying that there are also jackal-headed men nearby?"

The jackals in front of him were already hard to deal with. If jackal-headed men similar to the pig-headed monster came as well, the situation would become even worse.

"Of course."

Gustav took a broken spear from a skeleton quickly and switched it from the staff he had used as a walking stick. He said to Meng Yang solemnly, "After the city fell, there is no safe haven in this land. I suggest that you unleash your creatures, or else—"

Gustav did not finish his sentence. Meng Yang said helplessly, "It can't be done now, I'm afraid!"

After kicking the five gamers he had summoned—under the ruse of a virtual MMO— out of the game, he announced that there was maintenance going on. Now the gamers were offline. When he was attacked by the spiders in the forest of skeletons, he had contacted the Summoning Pixie in his mind, but the five summoning slots were all grayed out. It was impossible to summon them out at this time.

"F*ck, I've done something really stupid! I should've set a protection mission. Even if they figure out that this is the real world instead of a game, it's better than dying here!"

Meng Yang was full of regret, but it was too late now!

"Be careful!"

Gustav, on the other hand, showed his unexpectedly resilient spirit. Raising his broken spear, he said in a tone completely unlike his resignation before the pig-headed monster, "As the remaining people of the City of Despair, it is our duty to battle those monsters!"

"Awoo!"

At this moment, the four jackals approaching them paused, raised their heads, and howled.

A silhouette leaped up from inside a building on the corner of the street and jumped toward the roof of an intact building all of a sudden. It landed and dashed toward the two men at lightning speed. 

Something crashed on the ground heavily.

In the middle of the four jackals, the silhouette stood up slowly from where he had landed on all fours. It was almost as tall as the average man.

This was a monster with the head of a canine and a quasi-human body. It was not as broad and lumpy as the pig-headed monster, but its physique looked strong. Dark gray fur grew all over its body, almost resembling the werewolves Meng Yang had seen on the screen. In the near distance, though, its sharp fangs and cruel gaze were terrifying.

"A gnoll?"

Meng Yang held the iron sword tightly at the sight of this monster. Even though he gained a little courage after his experience with the pig-headed monster, he still felt afraid at this moment! 

"Growl!"

The gnoll growled. It waved his hand, and two jackals dashed out from the sides and launched into a probing attack against Meng Yang and Gustav.

At the sight of those jackals bounding toward him, Meng Yang no longer had the time to regret not summoning those gamers. He slashed his sword outward mercilessly at a jackal as it pounced toward him. 

Although he had not practiced any sword skills before and the sword was awfully rusted, it was still a sharp weapon. He believed that the jackal would be heavily injured, if not die when his strike landed on the jackal.

The jackal was unexpectedly agile, though. At the moment Meng Yang's sword lashed out, it dodged and leaped to the other side. It clawed on the ground with all four of its limbs and leaped up, aiming to sink its teeth in Meng Yang's neck.