Game’s Dogma

​​​​​​​The two let out a sigh together. That way, the pressure on them wasn’t as large.

As though he could read their minds, Drako Yau said with a serious look, ‘Don’t be negligent. Even if we can send others to finish it off, it has to be done quickly. The buffed monsters… they’ll at least be a tier or two stronger. It’s the penalty for losing the duel. I’m guessing we have to kill the boss within three minutes after the duel is lost. It’s just a guess of course, we better not gamble if we don’t have to.

‘Three minutes is the most we can afford. Three minutes is enough for the buffed monster army to entangle once again with our own army. Our line of defence will be in danger when that happens.’

In the blink of an eye, the players who had barely relaxed themselves could hear another announcement.

‘The second wave will commence in two minutes.’

Drako Yau and the rest had grave looks as they held their breaths in anticipation.

In the past two minutes, the players had been preparing themselves with the experience learnt from the first wave. The melee fighters stood guard outside the city, while the ranged players lined up before the opening on the battlements. Most players who were weaker and had not played an active role in the first wave also joined in after witnessing the inspiring battle.

That included a large group of clerics. Many of them now stood outside the city, but they were staying close to the walls. Under the protection of the ranged players, the clerics would be relatively safe. Most players who were assigned the Cleric class by the system were girls, and many of them were timid when it came to bloody fights. This instigated the protectiveness of male players who reassured the girls that they would not let the enemies close.

‘It’s here…’ Drako Yau murmured as he looked into the distance. A bright light flickered momentarily, respawning the monster army after the glow faded away.

Familiar enemies stood at the forefront—the beastmen. On both flanks stood wolves that were baring their fangs and were dripping saliva from the corners of their mouths. It was a terrifying sight.

Just when the players were shaken, Zephyrwolf stood on top of a battlement on the city walls and yelled, ‘These goddamn monsters want to destroy our city! We’ve kicked their asses once, there’s no reason we can’t do it a second, third, and fourth time!’

‘Yoda will never fall!

‘We will never fall!’

Zephyrwolf unsheathed Night’s Venator. ‘Kill them all!’

At his inspiring words, the now hot-blooded players roared and ran forwards to engage the monsters.

Strangely enough, only the beastmen army intercepted the players. The wolves stayed put on the flanks and simply howled. The players were different from their past selves after surviving the first wave. The warriors took the lead as they cried out loud, and several Level 15 players leapt forward together and cast Shockwave Slash one after another. The beastmen who were charging at the very front took the brunt of those attacks and were struck by the shockwaves.

‘Now!’ Several dozens of players who each held a shield and a sword took the frontlines and formed a shield wall. They then braced themselves and bashed their shields into the charging beastmen together.

‘Level 15 Cleric skill, Shield Bash. Causes knockback.’

After putting a dent in the beastmen’s initial charge twice in a row, the weaker players who had yet to reach Level 15 took advantage of the momentum and delved into the enemy lines to engage in melee combat.

Meanwhile, the three commanders stood silently on the city walls. Zephyrwolf was the only one who showed a tint of excitement. After the first wave, the players were starting to get used to the war. Indeed, it was not just a battle, but a war.

In wars, cooperation was far more important than individual prowess. The combination of Shockwave Slash and Shield Bash was a plan formulated by Zephyrwolf. By forcefully halting the beastmen’s charge, the lower level players would then break through the enemies and cause mayhem from within their lines.

However…

Drako Yau and Hades were furrowing their brows.

Hades was a veteran in gaming who had experienced countless wars and guild battles. Drako Yau, on the other hand, was different. His observations and analysis were conducted from the perspective of a game developer. To him, players and monsters were simply data that could move, which was why he could break down and analyse so many systems that existed in the game.

And right now…

Hades frowned and said, ‘Hey crazy bastard, something’s off.’

Drako Yau, having been referred to as a crazy bastard, simply kept his mouth shut and swept his gaze across the battlefield.

‘It seems… too deep…?’ Hades stuttered out of hesitation. Drako Yau widened his eyes and said, ‘We’re too deep behind their lines! No… the monster army planned for this to happen! They also have strategists among them!’

Right after Drako Yau finished his line, the beastmen that had been acting like cowards showed their true nature and revealed their razor-sharp teeth.

‘Hmm…’ Somewhere, a person was sitting on a luxurious chair, his face showing nothing but indolence. To be precise, while he had the silhouette of a human and had four limbs like humans did, he was glossy purple from head to toe. Despite his seemingly fragile body, it didn’t take a genius to realise he housed tremendous power in his flesh.

Standing behind him were two hills. One of them was the head of the beastmen clan, Hiller, and the other one was his younger brother, Heller. These two beastmen had terrifying auras surrounding them at all times. If a player were to inspect their levels, he would realise it was impossible to discern the information.

Level 40? Level 50? No one knew.

Yet, the two beastmen didn’t even dare to glimpse at the slim, fragile man in front of them. They simply stood there with their heads lowered while their bodies trembled.

‘I was just gonna fool around with a small city, but this is more interesting than I thought. The demon wolf tribe… For how many years have they gone missing?’ The purple monster talked to himself. He was saying things were ‘interesting’, but the lazy look on his face suggested otherwise. ‘It’s almost time, reel in the net.’

Just when the purplish monster, who sat thousands of kilometres away from Yoda, finished speaking, the retreating beastmen stood their ground and swarmed back at the players like a raging flood.

It was time for the wolves who had been sitting on the sidelines the entire time to make their entrance as well.

Both the monsters’ and players’ formations were rectangular in shape initially. Under the intense attack of the players, the beastmen’s formation concave inwards, shaping more like a bracket than a rectangle. A thousand players were currently fighting within the indented space.

The platoons of wolves lunged from the flanks, but not at the players who were already within the beastmen formation. Instead, the wolves charged past them and attacked the supporting players who were at the rear.

Most players who stood at the forefront were those who were confident in their levels and abilities, leaving behind the lower leveled players at the rear. Suddenly faced with the army of wolves, the weaker players’ formation immediately shattered, and things turned into pure chaos in the blink of an eye. The wolves would gang up on players, turning them into pillars of white light and sending them back to the resurrection altar in a matter of seconds.

The thousand players who were within the concave beastmen formation had it worse. Wherever they looked, there was nothing but monsters. Beastmen flooded them from the flanks and the front, while wolves surrounded them from the rear.