Game’s Dogma - Chapter 336: An Old Score to be Settled

Drako Yau soon resumed his grind for levels.

Meanwhile, both servers were trying their utmost to suppress their aggression. Players from opposing servers would avoid one another when seen from afar. Skirmishes and brawls broke out from time to time, but they were minor squabbles at most.

Each server had its reasons for maintaining this equilibrium. For the East, they would rather focus on catching up in levels. Ever since everyone could access the Warring Wastelands, their levels had been increasing rapidly. The West was also levelling up diligently, but because their levels were higher to begin with, their levelling speed was slower, thus their level difference was slowly but surely diminishing.

On the other hand, the Western server was in a strange state. Perhaps it had been too long since they fought their last war. They almost doubted their ears when they heard that the army composed of the Fire Palace and three chambers were routed by the East. After confirming their defeat, the players were enraged and confused. They were at a loss—of what to do, and of the East’s true strength. Why did they lose to the East which had inferior levels?

As they were caught in an awkward situation, they didn’t dare to engage the enemy rashly. Spies and intel players sprung into action, attempting to gauge the East’s true strength, but their Eastern counterparts also did their part in sabotaging the West’s progress and protecting their server’s secrets.

This was the start of an intelligence war.

It had been a month since the peaceful period between both servers began.

During this period, Drako Yau had been indulging in clearing dungeons and killing monsters in the wilderness, bringing his level up to Level 39. He was just a step away from the Level 40 watershed.

All class-based skills were unlocked at Level 40. Afterwards, it was purely a matter of trade-offs between investing in which skill. Players had to decide which skills were worth levelling up; unsuitable skills could be skipped entirely, and others might be worth obtaining just in case. Regardless, everything was up to the player to decide.

Equipment was capped at Level 40 for now. In other words, the difference in strength between levels was less apparent after Level 40, which was why Drako Yau was so eager to reach that level, especially before Level 40 dungeons were available. If not, he couldn’t equip Level 40 epic items that dropped from those dungeons, and that only made it more difficult for him to fight players of higher levels.

Suddenly, he received a system notification.

“Prerequisite encounter quest initiated: An Old Score to be Settled.”

“The Oda clan is currently recruiting competent fighters for a final battle with the Akeshi clan. The Oda army will mobilise at noon tomorrow. When the final battle commences, players will be automatically teleported to the battlefield. Quest details will be available after teleportation. Please prepare for battle.”

“Boss? Yes, we received the notification also.”

“Yim Ho’s a bit mad because he didn’t receive it. Of course, Man Hing Yau didn’t as well.” Windstrider then glanced at the two sitting next to him.

After the Tea Party of Swords, Man Hing Yau joined Dragon Alliance along with Yim Ho. Even the blind could tell she was here for Yim Ho, but unfortunately, the musclehead was the only one oblivious to that.

Yim Ho returned a glare and grunted, “Hmph! You better watch out and don’t get annihilated!”

“Heh, I feel safe that you won’t be joining. We might really get annihilated if you do! Ahaha!” Zephyrwolf laughed.

Hearing Zephyrwolf’s taunt, Yim Ho stood up and declared, “A duel! Now!”

Others completely ignored them and focused on their tasks. Idyllic Poet was polishing her nails, while Dumbgirl was practising her punches seriously in a corner. This familiar scene occurred almost every day after all. Apart from the good-tempered Windstrider and Sasaki, Zephyrwolf was incompatible with most due to his boorish personality.

“Alright, that’s enough. We have an important job ahead of us. Give it your all,” Drako Yau said before hanging up.

The next day, Drako Yau felt he wasn’t in peak condition; he only had roughly four hours of sleep last night. Although his sworn brother Hagrid had reminded him that he could replace sleep with meditation and training, he still couldn’t completely shrug off the need for a good nap.

The participants of the Oda clan’s war gathered at Dragon Alliance’s conference room. Hiding his slightly worn-out look beneath his mask, Drako Yau threw a bunch of items onto the table and said, “Distribute them among yourselves.”

Those items were the reason for his lack of sleep. Drako Yau had made a bunch of Agility Scrolls, Smokescreen Scrolls, Purification Scrolls, and Berserk Scrolls for them.

Drako Yau was very serious about this quest for several reasons. Firstly, the system mentioned that it was a prerequisite encounter quest, suggesting that the subsequent quest was very likely a staged encounter quest. They provided the best rewards due to their immense difficulty.

The other reason was that he truly wanted to aid Oda Nobunaga. The man was both a villain and a hero; you might loathe his bloody means, but his achievements were more than worthy of recognition nonetheless. Oda Nobunaga was simply such a person. Furthermore, the Devil King’s Cloak had helped Drako Yau out of pinches many times, so he wanted to help Oda Nobunaga for personal reasons too.

Sensing their boss’ attitude, the group ceased their horseplay and diligently inspected their equipment and supplies. The eight participants were the ones who had visited the Oda clan mansion, namely Drako Yau, Greenstone, Idyllic Poet, Dumbgirl, Windstrider, Zephyrwolf, Sasaki, and Danting.

Noon was right around the corner. With not much time left till the quest began, Drako Yau said, “Yim Ho, Man Hing Yau, I’ll leave our home in your hands.”

Yim Ho patted his chest and replied confidently, “Just leave it to me!”

Man Hing Yau showed a slight smile without saying a word. Drako Yau walked towards her and gave her an item.

“This might be useful for you,” he said.

Man Hing Yau received it with a puzzled look. A notification followed the moment she took it.

“Gandalf’s Ice Crystal Brand: A brand Gandalf gave to his friend after awakening as Gandalf the White. Can be used to summon Gandalf unconditionally for one battle or receive Gandalf’s inheritance.

Inheritance requirement: Elementalist.”

Man Hing Yau’s face lit up in joy. “Thank you, boss.”

“Keep up the good work.” Drako Yau nodded at her and then checked the time. “It’s almost time, are you all ready?”

Everyone nodded. The clock’s hour hand pointed perfectly upwards, and the eight of them vanished in a white glow.

The eight of them landed on the ground. As Dumbgirl and Zephyrwolf received the kimono outfit despite not taking part in the Honno-ji Incident quest, all of them changed into their kimonos and surveyed their surroundings.

The time was supposed to be noon, yet the dark skies seemed to suggest otherwise. At closer inspection, they found themselves in an army camp. Countless tents of various sizes were erected across the place, with blazing campfires providing a slither of warmth in this cold place. Silent soldiers passed by them occasionally, but all they did was salute before leaving.

“Welcome, everyone.” A tender voice reached them from behind.

Drako Yau turned around and answered, “Thank you for having us.”

The lady’s kimono was doing a poor job at concealing her curvy physique. She was none other than Oda Nobunaga’s wife, Lady Noh.

“The pleasure is mine. Sir Oda awaits your presence,” she said.

Drako Yau nodded. “Please lead the way.”