I, the prince in distress, send money

Chapter 570 The Demon Who Wants to Go All In

Mooncrown City, at the edge of the plaza outside the royal palace.

Night had fallen, and unlike the panic and commotion in other parts of the city caused by the strange changes in the sky, the atmosphere here seemed somewhat... out of place in everyday life.

Little Knife Stabs Buttocks and his Tiger Crossing Squad members sped back from the dock area today, having completed their mission to observe the World Tree up close.

At this moment, they are taking advantage of this brief break to rest.

Although many of them were wounded and the sky was undergoing a tremendous change, they did not panic or cry out in despair.

These players, dressed in uniform military overcoats and carrying flintlock pistols, sat in twos and threes on the ground or leaned against the still intact walls and statue bases.

Some people were carefully wiping the gun barrels and checking the bayonet catches; others were taking out rations and water bottles from their bags and silently replenishing their strength.

Some people huddled together, whispering their experiences from the battle outside the elven holy land, discussing how to use muskets more effectively against demons.

They all bore the marks of battle to varying degrees... bloodstains, dust, damaged armor, and some even had makeshift bandages wrapped around their bodies.

But in their eyes, there was more of a sense of relief at having completed a task, and a... eagerness to see what might happen next?
It was as if the series of skirmishes that had occurred not long ago, enough to collapse a regular army, were just a slightly challenging dungeon raid for them.

Little Knife Stabbing Buttocks leaned against an abandoned carriage, his chainsaw sword casually resting beside him. He was looking down at a wooden-handled grenade hanging from his belt. His gas mask concealed his expression, but his focused posture contrasted sharply with the tense half-elves and elven guards around him, who were running around nervously and looking up at the sky.

In the shadow of the pillars not far away, several elves, led by Aethel, were silently watching this group of strangely behaving humans.

The elves' eyes held a complex mix of emotions.

They witnessed firsthand the almost savage and efficient killing these humans displayed in the Whispering Gardens and the Ritual Square, and also saw their unusual composure in the face of the crack in the sky.

At this moment, watching them rest and maintain their equipment like ordinary soldiers, an indescribable sense of alienation arises spontaneously.

These humans seem to lack the reverence they should have for the World Tree, and the fear they should have felt for the anomalies in the sky. Their discipline is frighteningly strict, and their fighting style is direct and brutal, yet there is an incomprehensible...programmed composure in the details.

Ethel's gaze was particularly profound.

He led this team through countless incredible events. They were focused and decisive, willing to crush any obstacle, whether demon or elf's misunderstanding, in order to reach the outer edge of the World Tree.

They are powerful, yet they lack basic respect for the elves' sacred objects and traditions. They have just helped repel a powerful demon, and then they can sit down and eat dry rations as if nothing happened.

"Who...are they?"

A young elven guard beside Aither couldn't help but ask in a low voice, his voice filled with confusion.

Aither didn't answer; he simply shook his head slightly. He didn't know the answer either.

He wondered to himself how the regent and elders in the palace would treat this group of... uninvited "reinforcements".
In the plaza, the brief respite of humans and the silent observation of elves created an eerie and tense scene, like a fleeting moment of intersection between two different worlds before a storm.

……

Little Knife had no idea that the elf beside him was so sentimental; he was just staring blankly at the game announcement that popped up in front of him.

+Server-wide Emergency Online Update Announcement - Version Number: Dawn of the End
To all our respected players:

The world main event "Cry of Blood in the Sky" has been detected and triggered. The game content and some mechanics will be adjusted and updated in real time as follows.

1. World State Change:
The "Fall of Eternal Gathering Island" incident has been confirmed. The World Tree "Eternal Light" has collapsed, causing a significant decrease in the stability of the World Crystal Wall and an increase in the global magical environment's disorder. Players can now possess magical power. Please explore the details of the update on your own.

The large-scale public event "Demon Invasion" has now begun. Fel meteors from the abyss will continue to fall across the world, establishing outposts and portals. Players are encouraged to actively participate in the resistance and defend the territories of the Order faction.

2. Enhancement of regional characteristics:
The "Demon-Free Zone" feature is in effect in Greece: All demon units active in Greece will be subject to a continuous environmental suppression effect, which can be temporarily offset by killing and corrupting the land.

The Kingdom of Bagnia is now under "National Mobilization" status, which increases the efficiency of all Bagnia faction players in acquiring merit points by 15% and reduces logistics supply costs by 10%.

3. New/Adjusted Content:

New World Quest Chain: [Guardians of the Tears of the Sky] (Acceptance conditions: Arrive at the outer area of ​​the World Tree "Tears of the Sky" and complete the reconnaissance. It has been triggered by the Overlords.)

New daily/weekly quests related to the Demon Invasion have been added, which can be accepted from the Quartermaster.

Demon unit loot update: Added materials such as Fel Skeleton and Abyssal Forging Stone (search carefully inside demon corpses), which can be used to exchange for new faction gear and special consumables.

The tearing effect of chainswords on shadow/void units has been optimized.

4. System prompt:

Please note that some NPC factions' perception and interaction patterns with "players" may change due to the severity of world events; please proceed with caution.

Maintain order, purify corruption, and have a pleasant gaming experience!
Sincerely, The Rise of Empires Operations Team
The announcement text slowly faded away.

Xiao Dao, with his buttocks raised, seemed to twitch slightly at the corner of his mouth beneath his gas mask. He glanced around and saw his teammates had just finished reading the announcement, exchanging glances. There were no gasps, only a knowing "I knew it" and even a hint of excitement, "The new version is out, time to get to work."

"Have you finished watching it?"

The sound of the knife came through the mask, carrying a metallic, grating quality.

"Finished reading, boss!"

The team members responded sparsely; some had already begun checking their ammunition reserves, while others pointed at the sky, seemingly assessing which "meteors" were more suitable as the next target.

"The world quest chain has been triggered. We are the first to kill... no, the first to touch."

One player chuckled.

"This is a good deal."

"Greece's continental environment has limitations, rendering the demons half-useless. The advantage lies with us... It seems the demons can't steal our homeland."

Another player analyzed the situation, speaking in an optimistic tone.

Xiao Daozai nodded, picked up the chainsaw sword leaning against the carriage again, and tightened his grip on the hilt of the sword even though the engine wasn't started.

"Rest period is over."

He gave a brief order.

"Check the equipment, replenish its status, and have the communications officer contact Lieutenant General Marlowe to see what tasks he has given us: whether to guard the big tree or go out to 'clean up' the ground."

……

Outside Mooncrown City, the area once known as "Crystal Song Grove" has now been twisted by dense fel energy into the ominous "Demon Grove".

The trees were gnarled and deformed, like limbs struggling in pain; their leaves had fallen off and were replaced by purplish-black nodules that oozed a viscous liquid.

The ground was soft and muddy, covered with a carpet of decaying matter, and the air was filled with sulfur and a cloyingly rotten smell.

In the center of this woodland, on a clearing that had been forcibly cleared, stood a simple altar constructed of bones, obsidian, and the still-pulsating flesh and blood of a demon.

On the altar, the demon lord Grossag sat on his Iron Throne, a look of unmistakable joy on his ugly and ferocious face.

Without needing the resonance of the will of the abyss, it only needed to look up at the huge wound in the sky to know that the World Tree "Eternal Light" of Eternal Gathering Island had fallen!

"Hehe... Hahahaha!"

An uncontrollable, low laugh, like the grinding of rocks, emanated from Grossag's chest, echoing through the corrupted woodland and causing the lesser demons standing around to cower in fear.

Amidst laughter, he stretched out his massive claws, covered in scales and bone spikes, as if trying to seize the pleasure brought by the collapse from afar.

"The crystal walls are becoming more fragile, the cracks are widening... The power of the abyss will surge into this wretched world like a tidal wave. What a... beautiful beginning to a symphony!"

However, this smug feeling didn't last long.

As its gaze swept over the surrounding woodland that it had forcibly eroded, and then looked at the distant outline of Mooncrown City, still faintly visible and protected by a layer of weak but stubborn natural aura, the flame in its eyes flickered, and joy was quickly replaced by a clear sense of frustration.

"But... I was too slow. Everything is too slow on this damn, barren land!"

It growled softly, its claws digging deep into the armrests of the throne, leaving deep dents.

According to the original plan, his vanguard should have relied on the impact of the falling meteor and the demons it carried to quickly establish several stable teleportation nodes around Mooncrown City, and then break through the elven capital in one fell swoop, exposing the "Tears of the Sky" to the tentacles of the abyss.

The reality is that, although the battle is going well so far, the number of demon casualties has exceeded expectations... Of course, the demon lord doesn't care about the casualties of his demons.

What angered the demon lord were those persistent individuals whose intrusion completely disrupted its plans.

“Those damn guys…”

Grossag spat angrily, the sulfurous saliva landing on the fungal carpet with a sizzling, corrosive sound.

The overall advantage brought by the collapse of the mother tree was enormous, but it fell behind. It did not get the credit for the first kill, which made the demon lord feel constipated, even though he was happy.

"Perhaps I should intensify my offensive..."

Grossage looked up at the sky.

"Throw in the last high-ranking demon I have on hand."

(End of this chapter)