Chapter 345: The Calm Before the Storm
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
With Angust down, Jiaojiao went to loot the corpse. Apart from a few guaranteed drops, there was also two green-colored equipment. She has quite the luck today.
With the increased party members, farming monsters was much quicker. They split into five teams to tackle the five-tunneled labyrinth and it was not long before they arrived before boss No. 2 Eukana.
Hell Mode was out of the question. To Li Yi and the rest, clearing the dungeon the soonest was the priority. As for Hell Mode… it was best to wait until their equipment were much better.
Onward, onward, onward…
Eukana was down. So was Medusa…
In the past three days, Li Yi and his party did nothing but clear Demoness’ Ruins again and again until they were out of Demoness’ Snake Hair.
The number of members clearing the dungeon were different in all the ten times they ran the dungeon. The only thing that remained the same was the core of the party. It has always been Li Yi leading, with Chen Yang, Fire Ice, and Jiaojiao tagging along.
The first hit on Medusa ended in a disastrous party annihilation. It was all due to Poisonous Blood Reaction. The bigger the party, the harder it was to move. Add that with the effects of a group Magic Burst Spell, it was too easy for two to bump into each other. It was only after they were annihilated more than ten times that they were able to grasp the mechanics behind it.
The party annihilation now was different than before. As long as they were able to find their corpse (On the condition that the corpse was not too near the boss) they would not lose any EXP. They used Resurrection Spell unreservedly. Hence, the most they lost in the long run was the durability of their equipment.
They also got ahold of many equipment — blue, green, gold and even five purple-colored equipment. However, Li Yi had no use for them, so he gave them to Chen Yang for distribution.
All of them had leveled up, including Li Yi. The ten times he rang the dungeon had leveled him from Level 71 to Level 73, thanks to the 2.5x buff and generous amount of EXP in Demoness’ Ruin.
Out of all of them, Jiaojiao was having the time of her life. In the short span of three days, she went from Level 40 to Level 59 despite 2.5x buff running out this week leaving her without the buff in the last two dungeon-clearing runs.
Li Yi brought them all back to Shattered Frost City. The first thing he did was make haste to Sea Island’s Trading Center to establish a buying card.
“Buying for 30 Gold Coins each. Unlimited purchase on Demoness’ Snake Hair!”
There were not many dungeons that enabled rapid level ups and Demoness’ Ruins was one of them. Li Yi was not lacking money but in EXP.
As time drew nearer and nearer to Throne-claiming, Three Major Guild Alliance, the other force of the Eastern Continent, began to stir trouble.
There was never a King in the Eastern Continent in the past life, not in the first year, neither was there one in the eighth year. Defiantly Tyrannical never gotten his wish despite his efforts then but could he just sit by while Li Yi takes the throne this time round?
Absolutely not!
Defiantly Tyrannical personally came to Shattered Frost City to meet with Li Yi. He stated his three conditions.
Number one: Upon enthronement, he was to pay a million Gold Coins to Three Major Guild Alliance every quarter.
Number two: They were to be appointed positions under the King. Defiantly Tyrannical was to be Great Lord Knight (Nation’s highest military official) while Fallen Star was to be Chief Executive (Nation’s highest civil official).
Number three: The National Mecca falls under Three Major Guild Alliance’s jurisdiction. Even the King was forbidden from interfering.
Li Yi was able to remain calm over the first two conditions but the moment he heard the third condition, he was fuming.
“Dark Wing, I know your Iron Alliance’s developing well but our Tyrannic Dynasty also has to ability to take the crown. If you agree to the conditions, we will not interfere with you in your throne-claiming. In fact, we will support you 100% and honor you as our king. If you don’t then, hehe, don’t blame us for getting our hands dirty.”
Defiantly Tyrannical smiled hypocritically, taking out a Contract for Li Yi to sign.
The Three Major Guild Alliance had more than five million members after a year of idling. Iron Alliance headed by Li Yi and Flower Underpants was focused partially on elites. Iron Alliance did not take in any Tom, Dick or, Harry. Players without potential nor morality were out. However, they would not dismiss those without technique if they were all about the code of brotherhood. Because of this, the population of the Iron Alliance has not grown much. All in all, they only numbered about a million.
There was a great disparity in numbers between them!
All the while, the two forces had been battling it out, from a few PKs to the battlefield of several thousand. This was a common sight. The animosity between both parties stretched too deep to be resolved. If it were not for scruples on each other’s abilities and collateral damage, they would have long ago waged war.
Taking the throne and Castellan title was two separate matters. A Castellan was only limited to a major city. With several hundreds of cities in the Eastern Continent, a Castellan’s influence was insignificant.
Becoming King was a whole different ball game. A King’s influence expanded throughout the entire continent and came with jaw-dropping authority. Take tax as an example, a King could choose to exempt a city from taxation. This, in turn, produced mass convenience to players who bought items in this city. The King could also double the taxes in a city. The entire players in this city would face the same wrath from this effect. In the course of time, this city would be completely destroyed without the aid of military or troops.
The authority of the King was incomparable. A claimant’s opposing force could turn a blind eye on their enemy achieving one First Kill after another as well as being promoted to Castellans but would never allow their enemy to be King.
Once the throne was claimed, it was time for several million’s heads to fly!
“Quite a lot of intel you have there. You even found out about Mecca.”
Defiantly Tyrannical coldly smirked as he slammed the Contract on the table, “So are you signing this Contract?”
“No!”
Li Yi did not even flinch as he answered.
Defiantly Tyrannical was dumbfounded for a moment before bursting into laughter, “Hahaha, sheer arrogance!”
Li Yi sneered. The three conditions mentioned by Defiantly Tyrannical were obnoxious. How could he possibly agree to them? Succumbing to him was basically giving the King’s authority away. He would only be a King in name only while he, Defiantly Tyrannical would be the actual King.
An Emperor in name, what was the point then?
Defiantly Tyrannical chuckled, “I’ll give you three days to think it over.”
“No need for that. I’m not wasting any time on this. I won’t even think about the three conditions you proposed!” Li Yi took an uncompromising stand.
“Hehe, young man, don’t be so dead set on your words. You will regret this.”
“A piece of advice in return. If you want your Three Major Guild Alliance to live on, then, don’t, you, dare, bother, me!”
Li Yi stuck his finger up Defiantly Tyrannical’s nose as he breathed each word out of his mouth.
Defiantly Tyrannical was shocked…
He has been in the gaming scene for almost twenty years now. It was the first time he was threatened while being pointed at the nose.
Defiantly Tyrannical left with a sunken face.
Li Yi issued a memo for all of Iron Alliance to be on the alert.
Defiantly Tyrannical was not going to give in. He would wreak vengeance at some point. Li Yi was sure about this.
The biggest war since the opening of King of Pantheon was about to begin!
Li Yi started to draw up a plan.
He took another trip to the Western Continent and spent two days executing something unimaginable.
Throne-claiming was no trivial matter. If it could not be accomplished in one go, it would be difficult to try again next time.
While Li Yi was on route to the Western Continent, the Three Major Guild Alliance with Defiantly Tyrannical as their leader, made their move.
All Three Major Guild Alliance members moved, killing members of Iron Alliance on sight. They even left a message, “Those who quit the guild will be spared!”
Flames of war began spreading out in the Eastern Continent, breaking the newly settled calm in the land.
However, what left the Three Major Guild Alliance puzzled, was Iron Alliance’s reaction. Those who could fight, fought. Those who could not, ran. Those who were camped, went offline. Iron Alliance never initiated any fights. The feeling was as though Iron Alliance had threw in the towel.
“Tyrannical, what do you think Dark Wing is up to?” Yang Xingchen grew uncertain.
Defiantly Tyrannical Shooting his head, “No idea.”
They were just taking the beating without putting up any meaningful resistance. What was Iron Alliance waiting for? Preserving their strength? What sort of perseverance was this? If Iron Alliance continued on this way, the group may as well disband.
“No matter. Just continue with the massacre. The lesser members Iron Alliance has, the more we have on our side. Hehe, just let that Dark Wing be, I don’t believe he can take down the throne on his own!”
Yang Xingchen shook his head, “Alright. We don’t have an idea of what he’s planning. Tyrannical, I have a bad feeling about this.”
“Baseless fears.” Defiantly Tyrannical coldly smirked.
Yang Xingchen continued, “I have gotten word that Dark Wing has gone to the Western Continent.”
“Do you really have that much spare time in your hands? Why did you even bother gathering intel about this?”
Yang Xingchen asked, “Do you know why he is there?”
“I don’t nor am I interested to find out. I only know that the Iron Alliance is running with their tails tucked between their legs. With their numbers going down, I can guarantee you that once Throne-claiming begins, their members will be halved!”
Yang Xingchen shook his head. “Dark Wing went to find Reigning the World’s Guild Master, Night Moon.”
“Night Moon? That ugly woman who announced Throne-claiming in the Western Continent?” Defiantly Tyrannical was flabbergasted.
“Uh huh.”
“You’re worried they’ll team up?”
“Yes!”
“Hahaha, easy does it! Let me call Brother Windcloud Nine now. Hehe, what’s that saying? The enemy of my enemy is my friend! This is a rare battle, how could we leave him out?”
In the first encounter between Three Major Guild Alliance and Iron Alliance, Three Major Guild Alliance won without a fuss!
The top said, “no resistance” and that had the Iron Alliance numbers drop. The leaders were not doing anything about it, how could the underlings fight back? It was better for them to quit the guild to save themselves from being killed.
With the numbers of those quitting the guild growing, many Iron Alliance members who could not comprehend the situation called for their leader to explain. However, no matter the resentment, the Iron Alliance’s heads retained their non-resistance stance.
Although the leaders maintained their motto, word started to spread out.
“Guild Master Dark Wing ordered everyone to endure a few more days. After the Throne-claiming war, we will vanquish them all!”
Li Yi’s words had many members who quit the guild returned. Although they were still killed and felt unhappy about it, they all knew one thing, trust in Dark Wing!
“Want to take the crown? You’re out of luck, Dark Wing. Do you dare to battle it out with me?”
Just as both parties were heated up, Defiantly Tyrannical threw the gauntlet at Li Yi!
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