novelraw Chapter 363: The Hellish Game’s Backlash, Fight or Retreat?
Chapter 363: The Hellish Game’s Backlash, Fight or Retreat?
[After you nod and agree to the trial, the Librarian waves his hand and an ovoid deep-blue teleportation gate appears at the archive room entrance…]
[Beside you, Flanda is utterly shocked. In her view, you have been muttering to yourself in front of empty air by the lounge chair for quite some time, and then, not far behind her, at the archive room door, a deep-blue gateway suddenly appears.]
[She can clearly sense a miraculous power similar to transportation and teleportation contained within it.]
[Flanda cannot help asking you what is going on.]
[You claim that this is a trial granted to you by a god. Not by Firefly, but by a god who does not belong to this world.]
[You need Flanda and Kim’s strength to help you complete the trial, and the content of the trial is to take part in the front-line war and help Firefly defeat the Wet Nurse’s soldiers.]
[Flanda has no particular objection to going to war. As a follower of Firefly, this is a duty she ought to fulfill. She is only worried that the Wet Nurse is about to give birth and that you and she still have more important tasks. She wonders whether going to war at this time is somewhat inappropriate.]
Lin Xun remembered that the administrator had said the trial would not delay the normal game progression.
This sentence had two possible interpretations.
One was that this trial might be similar to the previous Night Parade of One Hundred Demons, an isolated instance where the flow of time was different from the outside world.Or, the administrator’s words were secretly reminding him that the Wet Nurse’s childbirth would not happen so soon. Even if he went to fight on the front lines, he would still be more than free enough in terms of time.
[You look toward the Librarian. He spreads his hands to indicate that, under normal procedure, he should simply teleport you away directly. Using a teleportation gate is already the result of him stretching his authority.]
[As for whether any story characters will voluntarily enter the teleportation gate and follow you into the trial, that is no longer something he can decide.]
[Under your persuasion, Flanda quickly agrees to help you. As for Kim, nothing more needs to be said. Wherever you and Flanda go, it goes…]
[You bid farewell to the Librarian, return to the archive entrance, and reach out to touch the deep-blue teleportation gate.]
[A powerful suction force surges forth. You feel the world spinning as you are dragged uncontrollably inside…]
[Teleporting…]
[…]
[…]
[Teleportation successful!]
[The thick stench of blood fills your nose. You feel stifling heat, humidity, and oppression, along with a quivering sensation similar to weightlessness.]
[Before you even open your eyes, a deep, resounding voice enters your ears.]
[…As members of the Scorpion Legion, your mission is to kill every enemy who dares defile our Lord!]
[The despicable outsiders have seized the Divine Kingdom’s land and stolen our Lord’s divine power. They have committed unforgivable sins.]
[Say it out loud. You have broken away from the main front-line forces, penetrated deep into enemy territory, and are pursuing enemies who flee for their lives like maggots… What is it all for?!]
[The shouts of many soldiers explode around you, reverberating through the cramped space!]
[Kill! Kill! Kill!]
[You slowly open your eyes. What comes into view is an abdominal wall similar to that of a Military Mole Cricket. The abdominal cavity is slightly smaller than a Military Mole Cricket’s and is shaped like a long tube.]
[Looking around, you see that among nearly one hundred seats, only seventy to eighty percent are occupied. Sitting in them are aberrant beings with jet-black carapaces.]
[Many aberrants are wounded, and the thick stench of blood refuses to disperse in the abdominal cavity.]
[Through the semi-transparent flesh membrane on both sides of the cavity, you can clearly see two pairs of huge membrane wings vibrating.]
[You are currently inside the abdomen of a Military Dragonfly, with a 32km drop beneath your feet.]
[Many aberrants notice you waking up and cheer loudly. The Legate is awake! The boss is awake!]
[…With the Legate leading us, we will definitely wipe out every last enemy!]
[…The boss is incredible. He was so badly wounded, slept for half a day, and is now fully recovered as if nothing ever happened.]
[…Exactly! Even gravely wounded, he still ordered us to break away and pursue the enemy. Truly worthy of the name Scorpion-Tail Thornflower!]
[…To break away with the boss and penetrate deep on a pursuit mission is an unimaginable supreme honor, even in our dreams!]
[We will follow the Legate unto death!]
[We will follow the Legate unto death!!]
[The noisy voices instantly engulf you…]
The corner of Lin Xun’s mouth twitched, his face full of dark lines.
What kind of role-playing instance was this?
Also, where were Flanda and Kim?
Where were his two top demi-god bodyguards?!
[You look around again. Everything in the abdominal cavity is in full view. There are only a little over sixty fervently shouting aberrant soldiers, and Flanda and Kim are nowhere to be seen.]
[A burly, towering aberrant comes before you and drops to one knee. His deep voice suppresses the surrounding clamor.]
[The Deputy Legate of the Aberrant Scorpion Legion loudly reports to you. Reporting to the Legate! While you were asleep recovering from your wounds, the Legion’s elite soldiers obeyed your orders, left the supplies and logistics with the main forces, lightened their load, and voluntarily penetrated deep to pursue the routed enemy.]
[The rest of the main Legion also obeyed your orders and are marching in pursuit, but they are far from here. At normal marching speed, they will need about half a day to arrive.]
[However, thanks to your wise command, the five hundred elite soldiers have achieved extraordinary results. They have killed a total of more than three thousand two hundred enemies so far, destroyed one hundred thirty-eight griffins, forty-two dragons, and eleven flying dragons…]
[The Legion elites have been cut down from five hundred to one hundred sixty-eight. There are still five Military Dragonflies remaining, twenty-six Bats, and three Undying Birds.]
[Legate, please issue your order. Shall we continue to pursue the enemy at full speed, or do we temporarily rest?]
[You rise and walk to the edge of the abdominal cavity, peering at the outside through the flesh membrane…]
[The Military Dragonfly you are in is flying high in the sky, with four other giant fliers similar to Giant Vein Dragonflies following behind. You can vaguely see aberrant soldiers inside their abdominal cavities as well.]
[Behind the Military Dragonflies are more than twenty flying monsters that resemble black manta rays. They flap their wings to follow closely behind.]
[Suddenly, a massive shadow falls over you. You look up and see three gigantic creatures soaring overhead. They are terrifying beings resembling trilobites. Their colossal bodies are made of hard, jet-black carapace. They have no wings, yet they can soar through the heavens.]
[You know that the creatures resembling manta rays are the so-called Bats, and the three giant trilobites overhead are likely the Undying Birds.]
[You turn and look down at the front. A grayish light of unknown origin illuminates the ground. An endless army of Ascended is surging ahead in front of you. Their pale carapaces are packed together as they march forward in madness, kicking up boundless clouds of dust.]
[The sight is like countless bloated white maggots writhing in a crazed frenzy.]
[Among the innumerable Ascended soldiers, you also spot the Divine Kingdom Dragons you have seen before. They sometimes burrow into the earth, then emerge again, advancing together with the dense mass of soldiers.]
[The enemy also has flying units in the sky. The griffins that look like moths and the flying dragons that resemble hornets, and there are hundreds of them.]
[They do not turn back to attack you, but instead keep their heads forward, advancing together with the Ascended army beneath them…]
[You notice that the Ascended army does not look like a routed army fleeing for their lives, but more like a force that is marching in haste according to a prearranged plan.]
[…]
[Seeing that you are observing the enemy and not responding, the Deputy Legate asks again.]
[Legate, please issue your order. Shall we continue to pursue the enemy at full speed, or do we temporarily rest?]
“…Why is there no option to retreat the entire army?”
Lin Xun felt a headache coming on.
What elite Scorpion Legion? They were clearly a bunch of glory-hungry death-sworn.
From the description, the enemy clearly had some scheme in play. They appeared to be fleeing for their lives, but they were actually trying to lure the enemy in.
He also had no idea what went wrong with the teleportation. Flanda and Kim had not been sent to the same place as him.
Kim was understandable. Its body was too large to fit in a Military Dragonfly, so that was reasonable.
But why was Flanda missing as well?
“Wait, no… Flanda might be in one of the other four Military Dragonflies.”
“If Flanda is here, no matter how many enemies there are, they are nothing more than chickens and dogs, rotten fish and stinking shrimp. There is nothing to worry about, unless there are also the Wet Nurse’s offspring in the enemy army…”
[You signal to the Deputy Legate that you will first inspect the other soldiers’ injuries before making a decision…]
[With that, you manipulate the Military Dragonfly to open its abdominal flesh membrane and a howling gale rushes in.]
[You beat the bone wings on your back once and instantly leave the abdominal cavity, flying toward the other Military Dragonflies behind you…]
The Military Dragonflies behind were also packed with wounded soldiers. Their numbers were even lower than the ones in the Dragonfly he was in, and he did not see the slightest sign of Flanda.
Under the pretext of caring about his soldiers’ injuries, Lin Xun finished inspecting the other fliers and could only return in disappointment.
“Could it be that the Librarian tricked me?”
“No, there is absolutely no need for that. If he did not want Flanda and Kim to follow me, he only needed to teleport me over directly as soon as I agreed to the trial.”
“There was no need to go to such trouble putting on such a clumsy act.”
“Most likely, this is the hellish game’s doing!”
In front of him, the enemy forces were vast in number, so dense that he could not see their edge and had no idea how many there were.
Right now, his Angel Holy Descent skill was still on cooldown, so he could not once again exert demi-god power.
If the enemy army was hiding a few angel warriors or one of the Wet Nurse’s offspring, the consequences would be unimaginable.
The safest choice for the moment was to rest in place and wait for the main forces to catch up.
Lin Xun suspected that if Flanda and Kim had been teleported to the front-line battlefield, there was a high chance they were with the subsequent main Legion.
[You announce loudly that, now that you have achieved great victory and won tremendous battle results, it is not suitable for the injured soldiers to continue pursuing and pressing deeper.]
[At your command, the entire army will rest.]
[The Deputy Legate responds loudly and announces your order to the soldiers behind you…]
[Very soon, the Military Dragonflies lower altitude and land straight down. The other flying units also obey your command and land together.]
[The abdominal flesh membranes open and the soldiers help one another out of the Military Dragonflies to rest in place…]
[You notice that the soldiers do not look as relieved as you imagined. Instead, they seem disappointed one after another, their heads drooping in dejection.]
[You even overhear some soldiers whispering among themselves and discussing whether the Legate only appears to have recovered when in fact he has not fully healed from his injuries, hence such an order.]
[Otherwise, with the Legate’s temperament, how could he possibly give up the pursuit?]
[The more than twenty Bats and the three colossal Undying Birds also land in succession under your orders.]
[The Deputy Legate harshly stops the soldiers’ chatter and orders them to treat their wounds, rest in place, and feed the flying units…]
[Suddenly, you feel something and look toward the front. You see the endless army of Ascended in the distance slowing their march. Before long, they stop their so-called escape.]
[With a loud and clear horn blast, the Ascended army begins to march again. They no longer flee forward, but instead change direction and charge straight toward where you have stopped!]
[Their charge is even faster than their earlier forced march. Dust billows into the sky, blocking your view. You can only sense the enemy’s chilling killing intent from the unstoppable trembling of the earth.]
[Facing this endless sea of monsters, you cannot help feeling a surge of fear. The sky-darkening dust storm is like a howling tidal wave. A light slap would be enough to drown you and your crippled wounded soldiers…]
[Will you order the army to take the initiative to engage, or will you order an immediate retreat?]
“You hellish game, you really know how to play!”
Lin Xun ground his teeth. He knew that even the slightest mistake in his decision would mean his death and the complete annihilation of the army.
[The Deputy Legate shows not the slightest hint of fear. He seems to know your worries and strides over to report to you…]
[Reporting to the Legate! At this time, it is better to fight than to retreat!]
[If we retreat now, the Bats and Undying Birds are combat units. They can only be driven individually and cannot carry multiple riders. The soldiers’ only way of leaving the battlefield is via the Military Dragonflies.]
[But the enemy has large numbers of griffins and flying dragons. If they attack the Military Dragonflies, which have no combat capabilities and are only able to carry soldiers, the inevitable result will be the complete annihilation of our forces.]
[Only by holding this position and fighting the enemy with all we have, while we wait for the main Legion to arrive, will there be a sliver of hope!]
[Legate, please issue your order. Will we fight or retreat?]
[You look at the hundred-plus elite soldiers around you. Like the Deputy Legate, not one of them shows a trace of fear. Their faces are full of fanaticism, as if they would unhesitatingly die for you the instant you wave your hand!]
[Each soldier gazes at you with eager expectation, awaiting your command to attack. They know full well that facing endless enemies and taking the initiative to engage is almost certain death, yet they would rather die in battle than flee in defeat…]
“Do I even have a choice left?”
Lin Xun knew that the current situation was most likely the backlash from colluding with the Librarian to cheat and being punished by the hellish game.
The front-line war was indeed a situation where the aberrants had the upper hand and the Ascended were at an absolute disadvantage.
However, the hellish game had used this lone deep-strike pursuit scenario to completely strip away his advantage.
It had even arranged for Flanda and Kim, these two powerful allies, to be separated away, leaving only his own strength to be tested.
If he wanted rich rewards, he first had to complete a trial whose difficulty matched those rewards!
Lin Xun let out a long sigh, then pulled himself together and selected ‘Yes.’
The entire army will attack!