https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-219-The-Heart-of-the-Blue-Dragon-Skadi-Catch-Up-13-/12825247/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-221-The-Princess-Line-Rings-32-to-35/12825249/
Chapter 220: Xifan Must Die!
Chapter 220: Xifan Must Die!
The magic array quickly gathered 10,000 players, and Xifan didn’t waste any words. He initiated the Ritual of Madness once again.
As the ritual began, dark mist rapidly swirled within the array. The players, influenced by the mist, had bloodshot eyes and fell into an uncontrollable state of madness. They drew their weapons and attacked any nearby targets.
Fireball, Charge, Backstab, Hammer of Justice—the players unleashed their skills on those around them, continuing until they were either eliminated or their targets were destroyed.
The Ritual of Madness affected the players differently from the natives.
The players didn’t bleed, and there were no severed limbs. Some players had their health drained to zero by the frenzied attacks of nearby players and vanished in a flash of white light, while others lay on the ground, critically injured with just a sliver of health left.
However, both players and civilians alike attacked their surroundings with wild abandon.
The entire Ritual of Madness lasted about 10 minutes. After the last player fell, the ritual finally ended.
During this ritual, half of the players died, while the other half survived with only a sliver of health, all of them suffering from the Severe Wound debuff.
Severe Wound: All attributes reduced by 50%, movement speed decreased by 60%, lasts for 10 minutes.
But there was some good news.
After the ritual, Old Li, dragging his severely wounded body, emerged with a few teammates supporting each other. Despite his injuries, his face was relaxed.
Stepping out of the magic array, he loudly reassured the players outside, “It’s fine, everyone can enter without worry. The pain isn’t as intense as you might think.
At the beginning, you’ll feel some nausea and dizziness, but once you’re under the ritual’s control, you’ll lose all sensation.
When the ritual ends, the players who died won’t feel any pain, and those who are severely wounded will wake up feeling aches all over, but it’s like falling from a three-meter platform—completely within your tolerance.”
Hearing Old Li’s words, the players outside breathed a sigh of relief. Falling from a three-meter platform shouldn’t be that painful, right?
After speaking, Old Li turned to Su Yu, who was assigning tasks to the players. “Kexing, I heard there’s no limit to the number of times this task can be completed?”
Su Yu nodded. “That’s right, as long as you don’t die, you can keep entering the magic array.”
“Then I’ll go in one more time! Getting a skill scroll every ten minutes seems like a good deal.”
Old Li approached Su Yu, completed his task, and accepted the second one.
“Are you sure? You’re still in a Severe Wound state. Maybe you should rest a bit before going in again?” Su Yu was a bit concerned.
“No problem!” Old Li waved it off casually. “I want to test if entering the array in a Severe Wound state will increase the pain.”
“Alright, Old Li, be careful!”
“Will do.”
Including Old Li, another batch of 10,000 players entered the magic array.
Xifan glanced down and initiated the Ritual of Madness once more. The players, influenced by the ritual, began attacking each other again.
By now, all the players on the Imperial side were converging on Forest City. The situation at the magic array had been recorded and posted on the official forum.
Especially the video of Xifan’s brutal massacre of over 10,000 civilians in Forest City had gone viral.
Seeing the video, the forum erupted in outrage!
Witnessing the helpless struggles of the Forest City civilians in the magic array, players couldn’t help but draw parallels to the humans on Blue Star and the Skrulls in the real world.
The criticism of Xifan was overwhelming:
“Xifan is utterly heartless!”
“That’s 10,000 lives!”
“Xifan doesn’t treat civilians as human beings. His talk of ‘used civilians’ is truly cold-blooded!”
“Xifan must die!”
“Boss Ke, you have to help us get revenge!”
“Boss Ke, you need to show some strength!”
Su Yu kept a close eye on the official forum.
Seeing the players' fervent condemnation, he immediately pledged, "Don't worry, everyone. If I ever get a chance to kill Xivan, I'll do it no matter what it takes, to avenge you all!"
...
As the video spread far and wide, Xivan's actions sparked public outrage throughout the gaming community, uniting all players in their hatred.
While the Imperial players couldn't do much to Xivan, they did their best to treat the civilians who survived the Madness Ritual or joined the ritual themselves to reduce the frequency of Xivan using civilians.
As for the rebel players, they could also enter Forest City and participate in the Madness Ritual. After the ritual, they returned to Goldenthorn City, using their strength to hasten the rebel forces' advance toward Forest City. Every second the rebels arrived earlier meant fewer civilian deaths in Forest City.
Xivan's reckless advancement was bound to draw the ire of his opponents and foreign powers.
Six hours after the Madness Ritual began, a dense cluster of small black dots appeared in the northern sky.
The rebel high-ranking experts had arrived!
Duke Anzou Sev, Duke Lantilus, and all the rebels' experts of Fifth Rank and above gathered in the sky above Forest City.
The rebel side had five Seventh Rank experts, 43 Sixth Rank experts, and 387 Fifth Rank experts. This didn't include the reinforcements from the neighboring Lyon Empire—Seventh Rank Peak Holy Knight Turian and Sixth Rank Peak Mage Antonidas.
In terms of high-level combat power, the rebels even had the upper hand over the Empire.
Besides humans, the figures of Seventh Rank experts from the Elven, Dwarven, Dragon, and Beast races also appeared around Forest City. However, due to the Peace Agreement signed by the major races, they could not participate in the battle, only watch silently from the sidelines.
With Xivan at the forefront, the Imperial side was on high alert, with all experts of Fifth Rank and above ascending into the sky to surround Xivan. A large-scale battle was about to unfold.
Duke Lantilus flew at the forefront of the group, looking up at Xivan above the magic array, and loudly questioned him:
"Xivan! You've resorted to any means necessary to advance your rank, causing countless civilian deaths! Don't you feel ashamed?"
"Hmph! Such high-minded words," Xivan shot back coldly, "If you had the chance, would you let it slip?"
Duke Lantilus's face changed slightly, but he quickly retorted, "I would never do such a heartless thing! The Karate Coalition always prioritizes the safety of the people..."
"Really?" Xivan interrupted, "Six months ago, during the Blackwater City campaign, you forced untrained, unarmed farmers to charge ahead as cannon fodder for the regular army.
When Blackwater City couldn't be taken, you even had people throw plague-infested spore blankets into the city, causing countless innocent civilians to be infected."
Duke Lantilus's face fell. These were top secrets, and the soldiers involved had all been dealt with. How did Xivan know?
Duke Lantilus quickly addressed the experts behind him, "We can't keep bickering with Xivan. The longer we delay, the more fragments he'll gain from the Madness Ritual.
Sir Turian, your attributes are the most effective against Xivan. We'll rely on you this time!"
"Don't worry, leave it to me!" Turian drew a gleaming golden greatsword from his back and charged at Xivan like a golden lightning bolt.
All the rebel experts followed Turian, charging into the enemy's formation.
A cataclysmic battle began above Forest City.
(End of Chapter)
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