Chapter 12: Skirmish
Mo didn't answer the girl's question, nor did he immediately kill her as we had imagined. Although he had once massacred and destroyed a city the first time he logged into the game with this identity, he had calmed down considerably after years of suppressed emotions were finally released.
There are two types of people who want to destroy the world: the first type are those who rampage, scream hysterically, and constantly declare their desire to destroy the world; the second type are diligent and down-to-earth, dedicated to gradually overturning the planet beneath their feet.
The former are, in most cases, escorted to mental hospitals, and some become various BOSSes, serving as stepping stones for protagonists to gain experience and raise their prestige. Only a very small number, because they themselves are protagonists, manage to successfully overturn the entire world even with thoughtless brute force. Such blatant cheaters obviously cannot be used as a reference.
Yes, I'm talking about Kratos.
At this moment, Mo undoubtedly belonged to the latter. Perhaps he truly possessed extraordinary talent in this game, but if he wanted to follow Kratos’ unscientific and unmagical ‘Charge! Kill! Kill!’ idol-style route, he'd probably be dead within two days. Moreover…
“Misfortune: You should not exist. Do not give anyone else or this world any chance!”
Although the description of this talent was very vague, Mo had sufficient reason to believe that if he died in this world, there was at least a ninety percent chance he wouldn't be able to reset his account and revive like other players, but would simply experience Disappearance.
It was precisely because of this that he couldn't give anyone else or this world any chance, right?
The dark elf girl watched Mo with icy eyes, succinctly repeating what she had just said: “You killed my prey?”
Ji Xiaodao was in a very bad mood, primarily due to the faction she was forcibly assigned to. After all, from any perspective, this somewhat taciturn and indifferent girl couldn't be considered 'chaotic evil'. Moreover, her experience was too bizarre; while others initially had nine faction gates to attempt resonance with, Ji Xiaodao only had one half-open black-red gate standing there when she created her character, with nothing else around.
Even if she wasn't a particularly sociable person, such an incident happening to her still made her unhappy. Thus, Ji Xiaodao, who had been in a state of agitation since logging in, was unceremonious towards the seemingly troublesome individual in front of her.
Mo shrugged noncommittally, pointing at the charred bones on the ground and asking the girl, “Is that your prey?”
“That’s right.” Ji Xiaodao nodded. Her tutorial quest was to 【Kill a ‘Swamp Boar’】, which was the monster that had been burned to a pile of bones a few minutes ago after charging at Mo.
No sooner had she spoken than she saw the other party toss something towards her. Relying on the dark elf’s high initial agility, Ji Xiaodao deftly back-flipped, easily dodging the not-so-fast ‘sneak attack’.
“This is compensation.” Mo, however, brushed past her, leaving that sentence behind before walking away without looking back.
Ji Xiaodao paused slightly, then lowered her head to pull out the ‘compensation’ that was stuck in the ground. Her heart was a little surprised.
“Black Curse Rapier”
Weapon Type: One-Handed
Quality: Fine
Attack: Weak
Attributes: Agility +3, Strength +1, Constitution +1, very low chance to trigger ‘Blind’ status for 2 seconds.
Equipment Requirement: 6 Agility
“Note: This is a finely crafted noble rapier. The curses on it are exquisite and ornate; its ornamental value far exceeds its practical use.”
This was undoubtedly a powerful weapon in the early stages of the game. It had very low equipment requirements and a quite practical special effect. Even though she hadn't played for long, Ji Xiaodao, who would browse forums when bored, knew the value of this weapon in the early game.
However, this didn't make her very happy…
Jogging a few steps to catch up, Ji Xiaodao handed the rapier back to Mo, saying indifferently, “Give it back to you. I just wanted to know if you killed that thing, I don't need any compensation.”
Mo turned his head to look at her, then shook his head: “Then consider it a gift from me. My inventory is full, I want to free up some space.”
Inventory?
Ji Xiaodao paused slightly, then asked, “Are you a player?”
Mo nodded and continued walking.
“What’s your name?” Because there was only one path, Ji Xiaodao didn’t leave immediately but walked slowly beside Mo. After a long while, feeling the atmosphere somewhat oppressive, she casually asked.
Although she wasn't averse to this oppressive atmosphere and her personality was relatively unsociable, she wasn't averse to this level of interaction either.
“Mo.”
“Player: Ji Dao (chaotic evil) has requested to add you as a friend.”
A translucent window appeared in the corner of Mo’s vision. He stopped, and asked the girl walking beside him with her hands behind her back, “What do you mean?”
“Nothing.”
Ji Xiaodao’s answer was concise.
Mo shook his head, directly rejecting the friend request with a casual gesture, and glanced at her: “Boring.”
Ji Xiaodao was all too familiar with these two words. She said them several times a day, whether to her somewhat childish older sister or to some of her classmates. This rather indifferent girl would always respond to topics she wasn't interested in with — boring.
“Perhaps.”
The young girl was initially a bit annoyed, but upon realizing that her usual demeanor was similar, that trivial bit of indignation faded to almost nothing. So, she merely dropped that indifferent remark and said nothing more.
“Stay away from me.” Mo nodded slightly, and after a brief silence, he said calmly, “Otherwise, I’ll kill you.”
He was undoubtedly serious. The reason he hadn't killed Ji Xiaodao earlier wasn't because the girl had a good figure and was pretty; it was simply because he didn't want her to revive and spread word of his existence, which might interfere with some of Mo's plans. However, if this girl kept following him, he wouldn't mind killing her. Let alone a character in a game, even in reality, he would do it if necessary…
He didn't want to create complications, especially since, according to information he had gathered in that city earlier, things were about to get lively here.
“You can try.”
Ji Xiaodao, who had originally intended to quicken her steps and leave this guy, frowned and replied coldly.
Mo sighed, stopping once more. A constantly contracting dark-red energy flickered at his fingertips. He was about to stop the idle talk and deliver a killing blow, but unexpectedly…
The sound of hooves echoed as a dozen armored knights galloped from not far away. The leader, holding a golden lance, shouted from a distance at the two of them: “Who are you! Stop and submit to inspection!”
“Indeed…” Mo sighed, but a faint smile played on his lips. Then, as if shooing a fly, he waved his hand at Ji Xiaodao: “If you don’t want to die, stay far away.”
He then turned around, facing the rapidly approaching Knight Order squad head-on.
Mo didn't even need to guess; this group should be members of the Shavin Empire Knight Order. Calculating the time, it was about time they showed up.
Originally, everything was going according to plan, but unfortunately, due to a certain girl’s delay, an unexpected situation arose. One person became two…
“Who are they?” Ji Xiaodao walked slowly to Mo’s side, tilting her chin towards the menacing squad of knights.
“Living people.” Mo didn’t bother to shoo her away anymore, a slight smile appearing as he stared in the same direction: “But they’ll be dead soon.”
Just then, the leading human Knight had reined in his warhorse a few meters in front of them, drawing the massive two-handed sword from his back and demanding in a deep voice, “No sudden movements. Immediately put down your weapons and submit to inspection.”
Mo wasn't holding anything, but Ji Xiaodao was still gripping her weapon.
The latter twirled the newly acquired Black Curse Rapier in her hand, asking nonchalantly, “Need help?”
Although the person next to her had a very unlikable personality, given that the value of this equipment surely surpassed that of a tutorial quest monster, Ji Xiaodao didn't mind returning the favor here and settling the score. While she probably couldn't defeat those well-equipped knights, it didn't matter. If she died, she died; it was just a game after all.
However, Mo didn't respond to her. He simply took two steps forward, looked up at the tall and robust middle-aged Knight, and asked, “Are you the vanguard unit heading to Bansser City?”
Whoosh—
A gust of strong wind swept past, and the greatsword was already at Mo’s neck. Its owner, full of caution, asked, “Who are you? What do you know? What happened to Bansser City?”
“Heh heh~” Mo completely ignored the greatsword on his shoulder that could decapitate him with a slight movement. He lifted his head, revealing a crazed smile: “It was all destroyed, you know.”
Pfft!
A crimson light erupted from beneath the cloak, directly tearing through the neck of the Knight’s warhorse, then, its momentum undiminished, it struck the person on its back.
“Ah!!” Although he narrowly dodged a vital spot at the critical moment, the Knight’s sword-wielding forearm was still blown apart, and he fell awkwardly from the collapsing warhorse, letting out a heart-wrenching scream of pain.
“Blood Flash”
Active Skill
Mastery Requirement: Wisdom 30, Agility 45, possess the profession ‘Black Wizard’, have hands
Cost/Restriction: 5% - 30% of Health, 【Chaos】 Faction
Effect: Emit a flash of light from the index finger, generated by converting blood power, dealing extremely strong piercing damage to enemies in the directed path. Intensity depends on the total amount of blood converted. Can also cause a flesh explosion effect, damage depends on the target’s physical strength. Cooldown: Three seconds.
※Hidden Effect※
Due to the caster possessing the Dark Blood talent, damage bonus increased by 20%, cost reduced by 50%, very low chance to trigger ‘Flesh to Ash’ effect (burns target’s health equal to the percentage of target and spell cost).
“Note: A sorcery created by the heretic ‘Blood Fiend’ Stedergool from the Black Wizard Association. It pierces enemies at the cost of a portion of one’s own blood. As one of ‘Blood Fiend’s’ rare ranged combat methods throughout his life, Blood Flash does not appear frequently. It is mostly used to torture already dying prey.”
The Blood Flash, which Mo activated by sacrificing 15% of his health, immediately incapacitated the Knight Commander. Due to the hidden effect brought by the Dark Blood talent, this skill undoubtedly dealt full damage to the opponent and also triggered the ‘Flesh Explosion’ effect, blowing off half of the Knight Commander’s arm.
As a member of the temporary vanguard, this Knight Commander, serving as high-level cannon fodder, wasn't exceptionally strong, but he wasn't weak either. Under normal circumstances, even a player with around level 20 in their profession might not easily defeat him. At this point, on the second day after the server opened, he could almost be considered invincible compared to players. Yet, Mo, with his extremely powerful initial abilities, could still easily incapacitate him, and that was without even using his various trump cards…
It showed how many powerful skills and equipment he had acquired during his previous city massacre.
Ji Xiaodao was almost dumbfounded. Although she was confident that she would gain such combat power after some time, that was definitely not now. Let alone herself, even the bigshots from many large gaming studios or clubs could never achieve this!
“This guy… he’s cheating, right?”
This bizarre situation made Ji Xiaodao, who was usually incredibly calm in most situations, a little unsettled.
However, Mo didn't have time to care whether she was calm or not. At this moment, the subsequent dozen or so knights had arrived, quickly forming a triangular formation and charging towards the mysterious individual who had severely wounded their officer in a single encounter.
The best angle, the simplest formation, the most impactful group skill!
Knight Charge!
Although there were fewer than twenty people, the knights at this moment managed to exude the aura of a thousand armies, showing their solid fundamental skills.
But, it was useless…
The space vibrated with a subtle distortion, and a figure less than a meter tall suddenly appeared before the Knight squad’s iron hooves. Then, after letting out a shriek, it was instantly torn apart and flung into the air by several lances!
Then, the second!
A tiny figure, covered in flames, was swept down by the galloping warhorses before it could even scream, and was trampled into a puddle of flesh.
The third!
Pierced, then flung behind them…
The fourth!
Dead…
The fifth…
The sixth…
When the Knight squad finally closed within five meters of Mo, their previous surging, tempestuous momentum had completely vanished. Despite their best efforts to maintain speed and impact amidst the successive obstructions, there was a limit. When the ninth small monster was knocked flying by the two knights at the very front, they finally stopped…
The tenth small monster appeared in front of Mo. It had slender limbs, with thin scales covering its claws and lower legs, and was baring its fangs and claws at the knights, letting out a series of strange laughs!
“Oh? You stopped already?” Mo shrugged, then raised a hand and pointed forward: “Alright, go scratch them!”
“Summoning: Imp”
Active Skill
Mastery Requirement: Intelligence 6, possess the profession ‘Summoner’ / ‘Warlock’
Cost/Restriction: 25 Mana
Effect: Summon two imps capable of simple commands from a lesser plane to fight for you. Cooldown: 10 seconds.
“Note: You cannot expect them to understand overly complex things. The intelligence and combat power of these little destroyers won’t be much higher than two adult huskies combined.”
Under the influence of the 【Demon Lord】 talent, all of Mo’s skills had only thirty percent of their original cooldown. He had just used nine imps at a rate of two every three seconds to slow down the knights’ charge in a short amount of time, and the last one, under his command, bared its fangs and claws and pounced…
Then…
“Summoning: Explosion”
Active Skill
Mastery Requirement: Intelligence 10, possess the profession ‘Summoner’
Cost/Restriction: One obedient summoned creature
Effect: Command the summoned creature to self-destruct, dealing damage equal to three times the summoned creature’s health to enemies within a two-meter radius. Cooldown: 20 minutes.
“Note: Explode! On! The! Spot!!”
…
Chapter 10: End