My Players Are So Fierce

However, Brother Meow remained unfazed.

While raising the crimson spirit staff in his hand, he said:

“That’s an intelligent AI roleplaying as an NPC. It’s normal for her to learn how to speak, isn’t it? In fact, I think if it wasn’t for emphasizing the game’s sense of realism and immersion, the NPCs here should have spoken Mandarin from the start.

Now is not the time to be marveling at such things.

The minions have respawned, quick!

Open fire!”

A precise blast of natural fury spirit orb flew out from the tip of his staff, knocking down a “monster” that had crawled out from the constantly rotating sub-dimension rift behind Salrokdar, emerging from above the sacred blood pool.

That thing was completely blackish all over.

As if a distorted humanoid form was covered in a layer of “oil”, with its features indistinct but its wide-open mouth roaring at everyone visible.

It was as if a signal for battle.

In the next instant, even more blackish monsters crawled out from the rift!

They had no fixed form, with humanoid, bestial and even winged alien shapes all screeching as they charged towards the players’ formation.

Like Salrokdar, these beings were vessels for the chaotic will, like sources of pollution entering the physical world. As they approached, the mental strain the players were enduring instantly increased.

Little Ashina, who had just fired a shot blasting a monster’s head, clutched her own in pain, clearly failing a recent “SC check” which caused her “spirit sight” to spike.

Even with the protection of nature scrolls and arbitration auras, their impoverished minds and souls only barely reached the threshold value, with bad luck resulting in devastating strikes on the spiritual plane.

The good news was that the holy lance projection from Knight Lord Palanno brought a highly damaging aura of light, allowing the little players’ attacks to temporarily disperse the “darklings” into melting sludge if they hit their heads or hearts.

Although they would re-form in a few dozen seconds, at least they weren’t completely helpless in retaliation.

“Hold on! I’ll give you all a BUFF!”

The flustered Lumina opened the guitar case on her back and pulled out a golden trumpet. Seeing the battlefield white-hot from the moment combat started, she knew it was time for this newbie bard to take the stage.

The long-haired girl took a deep breath, shielded by Orchid and Sister Pomegranate with their heavy shields, before putting the mouthpiece between her lips.

In the next instant, the majestic main melody of ‘The Sacred War’, not the smoothest but still grand, rang out on the intense battlefield. Of course, this was not a song from this world, as Lumina the little player had not even left the “beginner’s map” yet, let alone collect music scores native to this realm.

However, the appreciation of music was likely universal across dimensions, and the bard’s skill of inspiring teammates through music did not hinge on which specific piece was used.

The emotions imbued in the music were what mattered most!

Hearing the BGM from their homeworld while fighting filled the little players with heroic vigor. As Lumina’s performance deepened, their character panels were simultaneously supplemented with short-duration but constantly refreshing positive BUFFs like【Soaring Courage】,【Battle Frenzy】and【Unstoppable Charge】for as long as the music played.

Though only basic Level I enhancements, in this wretched battleground requiring an SC check every second, solidifying one’s will undoubtedly played an immense role.

Not just them, even the witch hunters’ silent hunting became more valorous.

Clearly, Lumina’s song of courage and war was also a “battlefield effect”.

“Such beautiful yet bold music that pierces the soul, representing a pure maiden’s admiration for victory and warriors, I have felt this emotion, how could I disappoint the hopeful maiden?

Fallen abominations! Feel the power of this burning love!”

At this point, Lord Palanno, already locked in battle with the frenzied Salrokdar exchanging blows between his lance and heavy shield, was so emboldened by this rousing melody that he felt struck by lightning. As someone inherently romantic chasing all that is beautiful, he was swept up with even more bravado amidst this anthem, his overly dramatic shouts symbolizing a counterattack beginning.

The heavy shield engraved with the Blood Pact Knights’ crest blocked forward, parrying Salrokdar’s single-handed chaos-imbued sword.

Red spirit and dark spirit energies clashed, shattering the brick floor beneath before the crimson lance thrust forward with a ruthless, vicious piercing strike that forced the fallen Blood Vulture patriarch to retreat.

Simultaneously, the aged knight wielding the great oaken blade “The Watcher” invoked visions of woodland hunts, calling upon Avalon’s name as he brought down the burning greatsword in a mighty overhead cleave towards the vessel of chaos from the flank.

Knowing he could not evade this strike, Salrokdar dispersed his form into a swarm of fluttering dark bats that regrouped on the other side of the hall.

The old knight’s blow struck empty air.

But he felt no regret.

For the tactical goal had been achieved!

Seizing this opening from the two golden elites’ combined assault driving Salrokdar outside the blood pool’s sphere of influence, Murphy and the young lady instantly unfurled their blood wings, flying over the battlefield straight for the unguarded, bubbling blood pool.

Murphy took the lead, the young lady following behind.

As they neared the boiling blood pool, even more “darklings” crawled forth from the sub-dimension rifts, these incarnations even larger and with more detailed “humanoid” forms.

They even came equipped with blackbone-like weapons.

At a glance, they were elite monsters.

“I’ll go! You do your thing!”

Murphy spoke those words to the young lady.

In mid-air, he suddenly accelerated like an unsheathed night blade, descending into the midst of those chaotic elites crawling out of the rift. Upon landing, he unleashed the Blood Vulture Clan’s wing battle techniques in a wide sweeping arc, followed by a group death’s grasp.

Binding them in place with the icy death spirit energy like a noose, the Blade of the Desire Clan coated in vampire-killer sword oil swung down, cleanly decapitating one of them.

Murphy coldly observed that creature’s agonized screams as pale flames engulfed it, well aware these not-quite-human, not-quite-ghoul things were likely the “missing” members of the Blood Vulture Clan.

The Blood Vulture Clan had been rooted in Transia for four hundred years. Even with vampires’ difficult breeding process, through generational siring, by the time Murphy arrived in this world, the clan had already grown to nearly fifty thousand!

Even if most were peripheral family members scattered across Transia, and some were marginalized outcasts like himself, the number of core elites remaining in Kadman City should absolutely exceed fifteen thousand!

Admittedly, a portion of the unlucky ones were dragged into the Astral Realm when the rift opened over Kadman City, while the rest likely took shelter in the Blood Vulture Halls.

However, from the moment Murphy led the witch hunters and little players into this “instance” until now, including the mad vampires killed by the civil protection officers, the total number of vampires they’ve encountered could not possibly exceed six hundred.

In other words, nearly all the remaining clan elites had been sacrificed by Salrokdar to this burgeoning sub-dimension rift, transforming into these not-quite-human, not-quite-ghoul things before them!

That’s nearly ten thousand vampires!

The essence of their fresh blood combined would be enough to defile the entire clan’s sacred blood pool. No wonder even the patriarch’s personal guards like Jed would rather betray and escape from here than stay!

This was truly an ending more cruel than eternal oblivion.

Tris was adamant that Salrokdar intended to create a vampire “god” here. Perhaps this brutal, maddened mass sacrifice was part of the “deity creation” plan?

“Bang bang bang”

Murphy’s mechanical crossbow Miser fired three bolts in rapid succession, downing another tainted vampire before he turned away, his astral direwolf at his side as he engaged the other elite “darklings” endlessly pouring from the rift.

The melee players beside him naturally would not miss this opportunity.

Led by the veteran East River Lion’s Roar, they charged forward, stabbing wildly with their sword oil-coated weapons. Even the cheeky Don’t Need Hands to Show Off joined in, dual-wielding defleshing knives to plunge into the felled tainted vampires and tear out their hearts.

Though these vampires had been corrupted by chaos, as long as they were still vampires, this “heart-digging” tactic remained effective against them.

Such intense combat was a knife dance on the razor’s edge, allowing the little players’ skill experience to skyrocket, visibly driving up their character levels.

On Brother Meow side, he bound a serpentine “darkling” with vines before casting his pitiful Level 1 Thorn Spell on Murphy, excitedly shouting the moment the incantation ended:

“I hit Level 10, hahaha!”

“What’s there to get excited about? I was already Level 10 just now, it’s just a pity I didn’t trigger the Trial of Strength.”

Precipitation Niuniu scoffed disdainfully from the side, when it came to leveling skills, who was he afraid of?

“Swish”

The young lady did not let Murphy’s efforts to stall the enemies for her go to waste. Her black hair whipped around as she unhesitatingly dove straight into the bubbling sacred blood pool.

She originally had many questions to ask her father.

However, upon witnessing her father’s current state, the young lady felt utterly desperate yet utterly resolute. Her sole thought now was to let her father rest in peace.

No matter what this monster before her was, it could never be the person from her memories.

Let alone some ridiculous “deity creation” plan!

She was completely unaware of it!

Nor did she want any part in this mad scheme that required the extinction of the entire Blood Vulture Clan as the final price.

She did not want that!

The moment the young lady successfully entered the pool, Salrokdar seemed to sense an impending threat.

He began retreating back towards the sacred blood pool while under the pincer attack from Palanno and old Finoch.  But how could the two golden elites let him have his way?

The First Lord had already assumed a full defensive stance, the holy lance projection’s vessel acting as a wall by bracing behind his heavy shield, firmly barring the Blood Vulture patriarch’s path to the sacred pool. The White Oak Lord, freed to cut loose, was even more ferocious. Originally a paladin skilled in protection and spirit magic, he now fought like a frenzied red knight or barbarian.

His great oak sacred blade “The Watcher” carried two centuries of enmity with Salrokdar, unleashing its full might.

It would even replenish the old knight with more natural spirit energy, allowing him to physically sculpt a constraining ring of divine thorns in this place completely devoid of plants through sheer natural spirit force.

Though Salrokdar had already been captured by the sub-dimension will and descended into true madness, his combat instincts remained intact.

This battle was becoming increasingly stifling. Clearly, the enemy had come prepared, raining heavy blows targeting all his weaknesses, a sure sign there was a traitor among his ranks who sold his intelligence to these two.

And considering the patriarch had spent a millennium carefully concealing his vulnerabilities, Salrokdar could only think of one person capable of seeing through his strength so thoroughly.

“Tris!”

The Blood Vulture patriarch’s delirious and chaotic mind was filled with immense regret.

Leaving behind this ambitious, uncompromising lunatic descendant had been a mistake!

But he had a countermeasure!

Realizing he could not easily break free from the two holy relic wielders in a frontal confrontation, Salrokdar immediately decided to open up the flanks.

He began channeling the power of that sub-dimension rift floating above the sacred pool, allowing the permeating chaos aura to double in intensity over a dozen seconds.

The effect was immediate.

Though the golden elites were unaffected, the witch hunter elites soon could not withstand it.

Rapidly overwhelmed by the intensifying chaotic onslaught, several witch hunters had their mental defenses breached, undergoing the same sort of transformation Brother Meow experienced earlier.

Their willpower was crushed by the chaotic will, eyes now listless and vacant as they turned to attack their own comrades.

But with a few flashes of silver, those witch hunters subverted by chaos were slain on the spot, their blood spattering across the emotionless Huntress Captain Natalie as she flicked the crimson from her blades, long and short replicas of sacred blades.

Her eyes flickered with pain and resignation.

But she knew it was necessary.

They had to eliminate any polluted, subverted comrades, or face even worse consequences.

Directly facing a sub-dimension rift like this, the best outcome for those whose minds fell to the chaotic invasion was the same miserable half-life as the maddened vampires they’d killed, guided only by delusions and insanity.

For a warrior, that was worse than death.

And for witch hunters so accustomed to death, even their exit needed to be a dignified one!

“Ah! I’m red! I’m red!”

On the little players’ side, there was also an incident. The Heaven’s Chosen Grayman running around collecting heads with his musket suddenly screamed over the team channel:

“Four consecutive SC failures! Damn it! The system must be targeting me! Brothers, get clear! My SAN value is zero, about to enter ‘Madness’ and ‘Insanity’.

Quick!

See if there’s any way to save this dog’s life-”

He didn’t even finish before convulsing and disconnecting.

But instead of his character dispersing into motes of light after going offline, he was rapidly enveloped in a tainted glow, transforming into one of those “darklings”.

“Damn! Grayman’s been mind-controlled! Mages? Quick, get control!”

The nearby Brother Dump Truck shouted in a panic.

Brother Meow immediately flung a vine bind, thinking they could wait out this guy’s mind control duration. But in the midst of slaying elite “darklings”, Murphy turned and yelled:

“He’s a lost cause!”

“Bang”

Like an execution command!

The words had barely left his mouth before a crisp gunshot rang out through the crowd.

Howling like a savage beast while clutching his musket, the mind-controlled Grayman crumpled to the precise shot.

The little players’ eyes widened at the skilled kill.

Following the bullet’s trajectory, the innocent-faced Ashina holstered her still-smoking handgun, nervously muttering:

“Uh, when a teammate gets mind-controlled, doesn’t that mean PVP is truly underway? Isn’t that the essence of all MMORPGs?”

“You make an excellent point, I can’t refute that,” said Sister Pomegranate with a twitch of her lips, gazing at Grayman’s gruesome headshot corpse before her eyes swept over to a student player.

In an odd tone, she asked: “Little brother, you failed three SCs right? One more and you’ll probably disconnect. Want to go ahead and book ‘end-of-life services’?”

The student “Scholar Xiao Zhou” gulped, glancing at the precariously flickering icon on his character panel indicating his SAN value was nearly depleted.

Gritting his teeth with a tragic expression, the little brother dropped his weapon and grabbed two witch hunter alchemical bombs from his belt, shouting loudly:

“For the grand plan! For Murphy’s victory! Aroo!!!”

After one last burst of favor gain before his suicide run, the red-eyed Scholar Xiao Zhou charged out. The instant his fourth SC failed, the bombs detonated, dragging two unfortunate “darklings” with him to hell.

“Such bravery!”

The overly emotional First Lord Palanno was instantly inspired by the unwavering loyalty of Murphy’s warriors. Turning to the innocently clueless Salrokdar, he roared:

“See! This is the bitter fruit you have sowed! Such beautiful, solemn sacrifices, warriors’ blood wasted in vain, you! Your sins run deep!”