Zhan Long

"Pearl... Pearl..."

　　Crestfallen, I charged forward, holding up Pearl who had fallen off her horse. However, seeing that her face was ashen white, I frowned. Fresh blood flowed out from her chest and her lifeforce was slowing running out.

　　I turned around and looked toward Barry. I pointed the tip of my sword at him and hollered almost like a maniac, "Forward! Kill Barry and cut him into a thousand pieces!"

　　Xiao Lie, Long Xing, Xia Ye, and the other generals led the Royal Army to charge over. Li Mu and Wang Jian led the [Zhan Long] iron cavalry to charge into the enemy after healing up. My shoulders were constantly pounded by arrows. It was painful but it didn’t hurt as much as the pain in my heart. Pearl, who was in my embrace, was about to lose consciousness. Since the day I joined Tian Ling Empire's army, this gentle and weak girl had been protecting me. I couldn't do anything in this chaos, I could only watch her selflessly give up her life for the empire, taking a shot through her heart. Pearl was probably going to die.

　　...

　　I pressed heavily onto her wound, my heart felt really painful, "Pearl don't die, don't..."

　　Pearl slowly opened her eyes, what appeared within them were the scenes of soldiers fighting all over. She looked towards me and a smile appeared on her face as she said gently, "Li Xiao Yao, don't cry, don't be sad. We are all soldiers of the Empire, we can only bleed, not cry."

　　My voice trembled, "Don't die. If you die, I-I... what will happen to me..."

　　Maybe it was due to the pain, but her body shuddered and twitched. Her voice became hoarse, "I know... You are a great general, you will... be a godlike general in our history books... don't... don't give up, continue, you... you must represent my will... to use the war to end the chaos in this world. T-there be no wars only if the world is unified..."

　　As she said that, she twitched intensely, fresh blood splattering out from the corner of her lips. Her face turned even whiter. She reached out her arm and took out a bright transparent jade with golden lines on it. She tightly placed this jade into my hand and said, "Li Xiao Yao, this jade represents Tian Ling City... the highest power in the city. It is what Father gave to me before he died... If you feel that he isn't worth it as an emperor... you can replace him, you... you can also find a new one, you... you must not die..."

　　As she said that she looked at the generals around and continued, "Li Xiao Yao will take over my military powers. You must all... you must all listen to him..."

　　My body trembled, "I... I..."

　　When I looked at her once more, her beautiful eyes were already closed and her heart had stopped.

　　……

　　My nose felt sour as tears spun about in my eyes. I placed her corpse down and looked into the sky. Was this really just a game? If so, then why did NPCs die like this too?

　　I looked toward a guard by the side and shouted, "Take care of Her Highness' body!"

　　"Yes, General..."

　　At this moment, with Pearl's death, I became the most powerful Chief of Army.

　　I raised my sword and charged into the distance. I don't even remember what I did; I was only killing mechanically. Only when my Zhen Yue Blade struck down from the air and sliced off Barry's head did I finally come back to my senses. I looked around. Li Mu, Wang Jian, and Dong Cheng Yue were all haggard but this battle had finally come to an end.

　　Drunk Maple died in the chaos and Clear Black Eyes was killed by Lin Wan Er in the palace battle. Their top two players had already died twice so they probably wouldn't come online again, right?

　　"Shaha..."

　　I held Barry's head.

I stepped into the palace. The battle was already over, and a roughly thirty-year-old man's head was sliced off. On it was the crown of the Purple Flame Saint Ruler and the one holding it was Lin Wan Er. The deputy leader of [Zhan Long] had charged in first and had killed both Clear Black Eyes and the Purple Flame Saint Ruler.

　　Ye Lai stood on the Purple Flame Saint Ruler's throne, his axe slashing down. With a "peng", that glass throne instantly shattered into pieces. He looked at me and said, "Xiao Yao, you have the most credit so you decide what should we do to this city. Occupy, entrust it, or make it into my personal city?"

　　I laughed, "As long as you aren't afraid of everyone targeting you then go ahead."

　　"Haha, I am just joking. Quick, which mode?"

　　"Occupy it!"

　　"Alright, understood!"

　　……

　　In the next instant, a bell rang in the sky above...

　　"Ding!"

　　System Notification: Congratulations, player Ye Lai (China Region) has successfully destroyed the Flaming Cloud City (India Region) throne and has chosen the occupy mode. This main city is now under the control of China. The top three players will be rewarded - Player Xiao Yao Zi Zai has obtained the God General War Leg Guards (Deity Tier), Player Cang Yue has obtained the Streamer Bow (Deity Tier), and Player Q-Sword has obtained the God Ridge Cape (Demon Harvest Tier). Other players will also be granted their rewards at once!

　　Patches of golden light shone all over as many people leveled up. The reward from this was much better than the Fire Elephant City one. As the top player on the Flaming Cloud City leaderboards, I obtained a Deity Tier weapon!

　　I opened my beg, and a pair of leggings which gave off a deep red color was hiding in the corner. I took it out and touched it. The leggings were slightly warm, blistering, and majestic. When I looked at the stats, I knew why it was Deity Tier...

　　God General War Leg Guards (Deity Tier)

　　Type: Heavy Armor

　　Defense: 3050

　　Strength: +320

　　Stamina: +315

　　Agility: +312

　　Magic Attack: +300

　　Bonus: Raises users’ magical resistance by 115% and defense by 40%.

　　Bonus: Raises user's health by 24,000.

　　Bonus: Rage value increase — user's rage value increased by 80 points

　　Bonus: God General — raises users’ attack speed and attack power by 40%

　　Bonus: Ghost God's Dance — summon the power of the ancient martial god who will use his soul to protect you. You will be able to deal basic attack damage to people within twenty seconds, lasting up to fifteen seconds. You may use up to seventy rage points with no cooldown.

　　Level Requirement: 155

　　Charm Requirement: 400

　　……

　　This equipment was really strong, especially the Ghost God's Dance skill which could unleash within twenty yards and lasting fifteen seconds. As long as my rage value was enough, I could enter an invincible realm in just forty-five seconds.

　　I immediately equipped it and my stats rose greatly...

　　Xiao Yao Zi Zai (Country Protecting Dragon Rider)

　　Level: 156

　　Attack: 19,696-13,825

　　Defense: 14,225

　　Health: 138,495

　　Magic: 21,470

　　Charm/fame: 963

　　CBN Battlenet Ranking: 6

　　……

　　Before I had time to admire my stats, I caught the Purple Flame Saint Ruler's head from Lin Wan Er. I tossed that along with Barry's head into my bag and then turned around and walked out with the [Zhan Long] members. Purple Spirit Army General Xiahou Ren rode his horse up and cupped his fists, "General Li, Flaming Cloud City's remaining troops have fled to the small city in the east, should we chase?"

　　I shook my head, "There is no point. Purple Spirit Army, stay here to defend Flaming Cloud City. The rest, return back to Tian Ling City quickly. Our target is the Bridge of Fate. Full speed ahead!"

　　"Yes, General!"

　　Yue Qing Qian walked up to me and smiled, "Brother Xiao Yao, Clear Black Eyes and Drunk Maple have sent men to the east sub-city. They are probably afraid we will take down the remaining two sub-cities. Looks like they want to protect a bit of their country land."

　　"Yeah, let them. If we don't leave them a city, these fifty million Indian Players will go mad. What’s most important right now is to head to the War God River to see what is going on there."

　　"Okay!"

　　……

　　I left some Royal Army troops to bury the dead while the rest went full speed ahead. They also carried Princess Pearl's corpse. Pearl's teacher, Baili Ning, was extremely sad, hating himself for not blocking that arrow. I was filled with both hate and regret. If that arrow had hit me, I wouldn't have died. Now that Tian Ling Empire had lost Pearl, it was like the sky had collapsed.

　　The army swiftly passed Fire Elephant City. Fire Elephant City was the same as Flaming Cloud City — Tian Ling City flags were dancing on its walls. The city didn't have a throne set there yet so it couldn’t be reclaimed.

When the Royal Army vanguard forces entered the Flaming God Castle from afar, they could already see Moon City players. Who knew that their strength had already spread in so deeply?

　　When we reached the area where Xia Yu Army was amassing grain, this place was already in flames. A large patch of rice and grains were in ruins, and it was all engulfed by miles of smoke. Han Yuan held his injured arm up and gritted his teeth, "These damn Moon City dogs, they actually... they actually burnt our grain. Do they want to kill all of us?"

　　I smiled, "Continue forward, don't waste time!"

　　"Yes!"

　　I continued moving while asking, "How is the battle at the War God River?"

　　Li Mu replied, "The Moon City attacks are too strong and they also have more men than us. [Vanguard], [Bridge of Fate], and the [Appearance Alliance] have been forced back. Fang Ge Que said that if they can't fend them off, then they’ll just burn Bridge of Fate and give up the land west of the War God River. At least Moon City wouldn't be able to step onto our land."

　　I frantically said, "Contact [Vanguard] and the [House of Prestige] to tell them not to burn it. We will be able to reach the Bridge of Fate right away and flank them. We still have a chance of winning."

　　"Oh, okay!"

　　……

　　 We soon arrived at the Xia Yu Army camp. This place had already been burned up. In front of us was a dense patch of Moon City players. There were so many that one couldn't count them properly. Behind me, the NPCs and players only numbered around three million. However, just this was enough for us to fight!

　　"Long Xing, Xia Ye!" I shouted.

　　"Present! Sir, please give us your orders!"

　　"Immediately gather the Royal Army ships on the War God River. Tell them to head near the Bridge of Fate and strike the Moon City troops at the coast. Use our advantage such that they can only take hits."

　　"Yes!"