Chapter 50: Weak but Admirable Courage
The horse stumbled, and the Eastern Yi general, weighed down by his heavy armor, fell hard to the ground.
The horse struggled to get back up, but it was too injured by the spears and arrows and eventually failed.
The Eastern Yi general was finally knocked off his horse!
The players felt a surge of excitement and quickly rushed forward to surround him.
Previously, with his horse, the general's power and mobility far outmatched the players, causing them great trouble. But now, without his horse, it was finally the players' turn!
Meng Yuan, who had gotten back up, brushed the dust off himself and silently withdrew from the fight.
The players gave him admiring looks.
A true warrior!
Rest easy; we'll handle the rest from here!
Meng Yuan could have continued fighting, but he was currently pretending to be a regular player. The previous move was already lethal enough, so to avoid revealing his identity, he had to exit.
Fortunately, everything was going smoothly according to plan.
All the players on the battlefield were protected by the Order's power. Once they were deemed dead, the Order's special power would activate, neutralizing all damage and instantly transferring them to a parallel space, making further attacks ineffective.
Of course, this consumed the Order's power, which was why Meng Yuan limited each player to only one resurrection.
If the players were too weak and all got taken down easily by the Eastern Yi soldiers, Meng Yuan's limited Order power wouldn't be enough to sustain them.
Luckily, the players were holding their own.
As a genuine Order's agent, Meng Yuan was even safer. As long as he had the Order's power, he could recover indefinitely.
If Meng Yuan had only one life, he would've hidden instead of risking himself by joining the battle.
"The 'Luck on My Side' talent is really useful."
The players only had talents specific to their roles, but Meng Yuan was different. He possessed not only the talents of all four player classes but also three additional Order talents: "Luck on My Side," "Sword Mastery," and "Direct Hit Weakness."
His ability to dodge the general's attack and injure the horse's leg clearly owed a little to these talent skills.
Finally, the fierce battle was nearing its end.
The Eastern Yi general continued to resist with his cross spear, but without his horse, his heavy armor became a burden. The players began a "justice wheel" approach, retreating when injured to shoot arrows from a distance, doing whatever they could to contribute.
Meanwhile, Zhao Haiping's fight with one of the shadow warriors was getting intense.
Zhao Haiping's body was covered in wounds from the shadow warrior's blade, but his "Bravery of the Encampment" talent kept him going, unlocking more of his potential.
He had memorized most of the shadow warrior's moves, and throwing hidden weapons no longer worked. Zhao Haiping was just waiting for the perfect moment.
Seeing the general struggling, the remaining two shadow warriors grew anxious.
The one fighting Zhao Haiping was especially impatient, frustrated that the other warrior was occupied by three players while the general was besieged by nearly twenty.
In contrast, he was still locked in a stalemate with a mere warrior, which was hard to accept.
With a sudden thrust, Zhao Haiping's spear pierced the shadow warrior's abdomen.
Zhao was surprised. The shadow warrior had been agile, yet he managed to strike him so easily.
In the next instant, the shadow warrior ignored the pain, gripping his sword with both hands and swinging it at Zhao Haiping's chest from the unshielded side!
Zhao immediately realized that the shadow warrior was aiming for a mutual kill.
No, it wasn't mutual destruction—these demon-controlled soldiers were resilient enough to survive a spear wound. But if this sword hit, it would be fatal for Zhao.
The blade slashed across Zhao's chest, leaving a deep, bone-revealing wound that spurted blood.
But just as the shadow warrior thought he'd succeeded, he felt a chill at his throat.
Unbeknownst to him, Zhao had discarded his shield and, with a sword that seemed to appear from nowhere, slashed the shadow warrior's throat simultaneously!
The shadow warrior's eyes filled with anger, and he muttered in a guttural ancient Yi language, "Unfair…"
Why could they summon weapons out of thin air?
But it was too late. He fell backward, dead.
Zhao chuckled, amused at the monster AI's reaction. Complaining about fairness?
Who said this was a fair game?
They had stats far above the players', so why couldn't the players employ a few tricks?
His vision dimmed with a red tint, signaling his exit from the game.
An extreme one-for-one trade—worth it!
…
A few minutes later, with the Eastern Yi general's final furious roar, the battle ended.
The assassin players activated the "Wrath of the Lone Warrior" effect repeatedly, causing severe cumulative damage to the general.
A few blood-soaked warrior players drove their spears from different directions into the general's heavy armor, pinning him firmly to the ground.
Only when the general stopped moving entirely did the players sigh in relief.
Releasing their spears, they collapsed to the ground, exhausted.
This game was exhausting!
They hadn't felt it during the battle, but now that it was over, everyone felt drained, barely able to stand.
But as they surveyed the battlefield, the sense of accomplishment was overwhelming.
This MR game mode was intense! Far more thrilling than the trial instances!
The Eastern Yi general truly deserved his status as a field boss; it had taken so many players so long to finally bring him down.
It was a bit disappointing that the game didn't have equipment drops, so they couldn't enjoy that moment of colorful loot raining down. But the battle itself was more rewarding than any loot could be.
One warrior player went forward, wanting to take the general's cross spear.
Another player tried to strip the general's heavy armor.
The armor was imposing and majestic, especially the cross spear, which looked epic when the general wielded it against the players.
Seeing things about to get out of hand, Du Gang quickly called out, "Event over! All players, please gather here and remove your MR equipment!"
Reluctantly, the players made their way to the staff, unfastening their straps and removing their helmets.
Those who had already "died" earlier and were spectating, like Zhao Haiping, were also finally allowed to remove their helmets.
Upon regaining their normal vision, Zhao immediately looked at the battlefield.
But all the Eastern Yi corpses had vanished, along with any bloodstains.
As for their own gear, the warriors' armor had also disappeared, and they were back in their regular clothes.
Aside from feeling physically drained and sore, it was like everything they'd experienced was just a dream, leaving no trace.
The players marveled in amazement.
"Incredible! So this is 100% realistic MR gaming?"
"I wonder what we looked like in reality while we were fighting!"
"Are there any recordings? I'd love to see it!"
They turned to the staff, who replied with polite but firm smiles.
Du Gang had witnessed everything and understood the truth.
Reality?
The scene in reality was just like what they saw in the game.
Only, before they took off their helmets, all the bodies had disappeared as if by magic…
Having seen it all, Du Gang could hardly believe his eyes. He had to admit that Beichen from the game company had been truthful. Real demons did exist, and while the players thought they were gaming, they were actually battling real demons—and winning.
Du Gang felt it would take him and his colleagues a long time to truly process this.
But in any case, the situation was handled well. There were no casualties, and the risk was minimized.
Meng Yuan was also relieved. The event had gone smoothly without any slips.
While these in-person events were indeed thrilling, they should be avoided if possible. Compared to VR mode, these events were far riskier for exposure.
The priority was to conquer a historical fragment soon, moving the battlefront against demons from the real world to a historical timeline.
The players, still pumped with adrenaline, were arranging meetups and exchanging contacts.
Despite the Order's power enhancing their strength and speed beyond their real-world limits, the intense battle still took a toll, leaving them exhausted.
Several warrior players turned to Zhao Haiping: "Old Zhao, you were amazing! You're our role model!"
"Yeah, soloing the shadow warrior was epic!"
Chu Ge looked at Meng Yuan and said, "I think this guy is impressive too! His battle skills may not be extraordinary, but his courage is admirable!"
The others nodded, "Yeah, he reminds me of myself when I first started action games. Not much skill, but the fearless spirit and perseverance—that's the true quality of a gamer!"
They all praised each other generously.
Meng Yuan's feelings were mixed; he didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
His original goal was to blend in as an ordinary player. This was the largest intersection between history and reality, where demon power was strongest, so he had come to oversee it, observing the players and preventing any mishaps.
He needed to integrate naturally, concealing his unique identity.
So far, he had succeeded perfectly—