Game’s Dogma - Chapter 329: Musashi

Kalex had nothing to fear either. Despite being known as the weakest among the five palace masters, his commanding ability was unrivalled. He said without any remorse, “The Fire Palace will retreat first. Two of the three chambers will stay as rear guards to ensure a safe retreat.”

“How ruthless,” Musashi said with a frown. “We’ll do just that.”

“Thank you sir. Please, sir, retreat now.”

“I’m good.” Musashi turned to look at the waving banner. “I’m a warrior. Count me in as a rear guard.”

“Thank you, sir.” Kalex bowed.

Kalex disdained people who resolved problems with nothing but combat. That Hibiscus person was a great fighter, but what did he achieve? He was no better than a pebble tossed into a sea when up against an army of 100,000. Although he disdained such people, he still respected them; their mentality was the foundation of Olympus, a powerful asset that stirred intense emotions.

Under ordinary circumstances, ordering almost 60,000 players from the two chambers to stay as cannon fodder would undoubtedly cause an uproar. However, Musashi was staying behind even when he was one of the Four Generals. What more was there to complain about?

“As expected, the enemy is no amateur.” Chau Yu furrowed his brows.

The situation he was most worried about was taking place before his eyes. The enemy had a Holy Ground, so they could use Return-to-City Scrolls despite the one-minute restriction. What surprised him the most was the enemy’s decisiveness.

It was apparent that both sides knew this was a race against the clock. No matter how swift Chau Yu’s armies were, a minute was nowhere enough for them to reach the Western players and engage in melee combat. The only way left to interrupt their retreat was to force them into combat status.

This is a bit too hasty, but there’s no choice, he thought. He then gave the order.

The guild and alliance channels were sealed unless the players had access to a Holy Ground, while squad channels were still functional albeit with limitations. Forming a squad required players to meet up in the game, and once the squad was formed, ranged communication was possible.

Squads were limited to twenty-five players in the wilderness. Currently, the twenty-four other players in Chau Yu’s squad weren’t in the armies behind him. At his command, the twenty-four players relayed his message to the other twenty-four players of their respective squads. These five hundred or so players had a crucial duty on their shoulders.

Kalex was waiting for the countdown of his scroll to reach its end. When he was about to teleport, sounds of battle erupted from among his army.

A player rushed over and reported, “Palace Master, assassins and rangers have snuck in! They’re casting and using AOE skills and items to stop us from retreating with scrolls!”

“Mhm.” Kalex remained emotionless as he disappeared the next moment. Tens of thousands of his comrades were going to die, yet he unhesitatingly left for the Holy Ground.

The 500 players were annihilated moments after they infiltrated the Western army, but not before achieving their goal. At the cost of 500 lives, they kept almost 20,000 more enemies from retreating, including 2,000 elites from the Fire Palace. The other 8,000 retreated successfully along with 12,000 others from one of the chambers.

No greetings nor declarations were necessary—both sides had made their intentions obvious.

The West surrounded the East’s Holy Ground to inhibit their growth. The East’s Empyreal Alliance and Dragon Alliance gathered to liberate their entrapped brethren. The only way out of this situation was an all-out war; why would there be a need for conversations?

The gloomy players from Myriad Blooms naturally noticed the commotion happening beyond their walls. Without any need for orders, they sallied forth as they cried and yelled. The encirclement turned into a pincer attack in no time.

Musashi stared at the Eastern players charging towards them calmly while his comrades put on bitter faces. They all thought the East was occupied with internal power struggles and never expected reinforcements to arrive so soon.

Musashi spoke up. “Looks like this battle will end in a defeat.” Him stating the fact out only brought even more bitter frowns from his subordinates.

“However!” Musashi continued. “All of you are heroes. The Fire Palace is our main force, and every level lost would be a heavy loss. Now, almost all of them have retreated successfully. All because of your efforts! This battle might be lost, but even so, the enemy will only achieve a Pyrrhic victory. We will teach them that if we as cannon fodder burn, they shall burn with us!”

One of the Four Generals was calling himself cannon fodder. That alone was enough to prepare his army for the upcoming battle. The bitterness on their faces faded, replaced by determined faces full of battle intent.

Yes, they might be cannon fodder, but they were also from Olympus, the mightiest of all! Even as cannon fodder, they shall suffocate the enemy and bring them down.

“Slay them all.” Musashi unsheathed both his swords and led the charge.

Drako Yau focused his eyes on the silver-haired dual katana wielder at the enemy line’s forefront.

It is most inspiring to all soldiers to see their commander fight on the frontlines. That person must be their commander, right?

“Let me handle this,” Tripurity said with a smile next to Drako Yau.

After his duel with Danting, he changed a lot. His arrogance and pride were reduced to moderate modesty, and that allowed him to grow stronger once again. Only now did he realise how foolish he had been.

Buzz…

Thirty-six wooden swords vibrated and whizzed through the air towards Musashi, who merely frowned in response. He could guess who the masked man was the moment he saw the mask—the nemesis of Zeus. Crossing swords with the Divine King’s nemesis must be an intriguing experience, yet someone was getting in his way, and that displeased him greatly.

Musashi had a nickname on the Western server: Destroyer. He had once been a free player before joining Olympus. In a single day, he defeated forty-seven elites and caused a stir. He’d go around challenging different players without taking “no” as an answer. Someone tried to escape by entering a dungeon, only to find him waiting at its entrance six hours later. Others tried hiding in their guild bases, but he would wait for them right outside no matter what.

Even so, no one nor guild was shameless enough to gang up on him. He was always above board with his challenges, and denying him was sort of a disgrace in the first place, let alone killing him unfairly.

Everything came to an end when Musashi’s challenge was directed at Zeus. Musashi submitted to Zeus after their duel, but with the condition that Zeus had to accept his challenge once every month.

Such a bellicose person would naturally be in high spirits when given the opportunity to fight Drako Yau—and someone getting in his way now was extremely agitating.