68. An Encounter with the Lord of War? Not an Encounter!
Xiling felt as if he'd been thrust into an out-of-control rapids slide. Not the gentle plunging of a water slide, but the frantic whirl of a washing machine, then violently ejected and slammed to the ground.
Under the night.
In the grassland.
Xiling struggled to support himself with his hands, feeling the cool, tough grass. He struggled to raise his head, his vision blurring for a moment before finally coming into focus.
"Seniors, is there no feedback or complaint about this? This teleportation experience is too absurd..."
Xiling struggled to his feet and took a few deep breaths. The cold air rushed into his lungs, and the intense dizziness finally subsided.
After catching his breath, Xiling finally looked around.
Grass.
Endless grass.
As far as the eye could see, besides the patch of grass beneath his feet, there was more grass, stretching to the end of the field, meeting the dark sky. There were no rolling hills, no dense forests, not even a single tree.
The horizon was as flat as if drawn by a giant ruler; only this silent, vast grassland stretched silently under the moonlight, obliterating any sense of direction.
"What is this world... like?"
Xiling muttered to himself, trying to find any reference point to break the monotony.
But there was nothing but grass. It was barely above knee height, swaying gently in the wind. The sky was disconcertingly clear, and aside from the moon, even the stars were sparse, almost nonexistent.
"Is the altitude high? Or..."
Xiling was puzzled, but after all, this was a new world, so perhaps this was just the way it was.
"First... let's check the surroundings carefully."
Xiling raised his foot to take the first step.
"First... let's check the surroundings carefully." Xiling thought, and just as he took a step, a voice spoke beside him.
"Nice to meet you, brave hero~"
A brisk, slightly cunning voice suddenly echoed directly into Xiling's ear, as if the speaker were right next to him.
"And a friendly reminder: it's best not to wander around," the voice continued, its tone light, yet its content carried an undeniable warning, "unless... you're prepared~"
Xiling paused, frowning. A premonition told him to listen to the other person.
"Who are you?!"
Xiling remained silent, his mind following the traces of the voice, attempting to establish a connection.
"Wow~ As expected of a brave hero, you've actually connected with my thoughts on the first try. Impressive!"
The voice's owner seemed surprised, yet also teasingly impressed.
"Also, at last for now, I'm here to help you. If I hadn't been quick to pull you back, you'd have been torn to pieces the moment you landed~"
The voice drizzled, recounting the chilling truth.
"...What do you mean?"
Xiling's expression grew cautious.
Will we really be facing a blockade at the Novice Village this time?
"That's exactly what it says. The moment you landed, I hid you. Awesome, isn't it?"
"You're being too vague," Xi Ling concluded.
"There's something out there waiting to kill me, and you are... temporarily helping me. Is that what you mean? Anyway, thank you."
Whether true or not, in this strange environment, it's best to accept the situation and show some kindness, even if it's superficial.
"Hehe, you're welcome~ After all, you're shouldering the responsibility of saving this world."
The voice took on a strange solemnity.
"You seem to know... a lot?"
This mysterious being seemed to know not only his identity and the danger he was in, but also his purpose for coming here.
The information gap was enormous; it couldn't be a coincidence.
"It's okay, it's okay~" the voice regained its casual, relaxed tone.
"I just know what I know, and... what I can know."
Suddenly—
"Huh?!!"
The voice let out a short, startled scream, its relaxed tone instantly vanishing, leaving only disbelief and a hint of terror.
"Oh no! We've been discovered! Damn it... As expected of the Lord of War, his perception is ridiculously high! Okay, okay, there's no time! Hero, listen carefully!"
"This is the only crucial information I, your guide, can give you right now. No matter what you see, hear, or feel in this world, no matter how absurd, beautiful, or perfect it may be, remember this: this world is on the verge of shattering! Everything in existence—the earth, all living things, the laws of nature, even time itself—is being forcibly pulled by an invisible 'string'! And this string..."
"It's already stretched to its limit! And it could break at any moment!"
"Hero, please find the right way to save the world!"
"Only by finding the right way!"
"You have a chance of defeating the Demon King!"
"And one last thing—"
"Run!!!"
Almost as soon as the word "Run" was heard—
"Crack!"
It was as if the entire sky was being torn apart by a giant invisible claw! The night was violently torn apart like a rotting curtain!
The suffocatingly strong smell of blood and the cold, murderous aura of rusty metal instantly filled every inch of space, replacing the original scent of the grassland's vegetation.
The once cool moonlight was completely swallowed up by a more piercing, dark red glow.
A figure, replacing the enormous moon in the night sky, hung suspended in the broken part of the heavens.
Heavy!
Unimaginably heavy!
This is not a metaphor! The air truly solidified into substance, a hundred times the gravity crushing down without warning!
Xiling's expression grew extremely heavy, and the ground beneath his feet wailed as spiderweb-like cracks formed.
The entire grassland within his sight faded and distorted in an instant! The boundless dark green was dyed into charred black and rusty red in the blink of an eye!
Under his feet was no longer soil and grass, but a cold, scorched earth covered with dried blood and broken weapons! The sky was ablaze with dark red clouds! The sound of the wind was no longer heard in his ears; instead, the sound of faint, wailing cries of countless fallen souls on the battlefield was heard!
Night faded, the grasslands vanished. This was the final battlefield of iron and blood!
Xiling raised his head, gazing at the terrifying figure dominating the sky.
Hair was bloodshot, eyes pierced. It was a strikingly handsome man, a dark red spear in his hand.
The moment Xiling's eyes met the terrifying figure in the sky.
The red-haired man's voice rang out:
"You shouldn't have set foot here, hero."
Xiling took a deep breath and forced a smile.
"How come everyone knows who I am? I remember that we, the Hero Clan, never saved the same world."
"You don't need to know," the man said calmly.
"You only need to know one thing."
He raised the dark red spear slightly, its tip pointed at Xiling.
"Your journey ends here."
Ordinarily, by now Xiling might have offered a few words of mocking advice, but now he truly couldn't. He was suppressed.
Strength, will, and momentum—he was completely suppressed.
Xiling's will roared and rose, trying to break free from the restraints, but the feeling of the shackles on his body only grew stronger, as if the weight of the entire battlefield was placed on him alone! At that moment, that mysterious voice, like a pre-recorded tape, echoed again in Xiling's mind, carrying a hint of the urgency to escape.
"He is the ruler of war!"
"He is the collective will of countless armies!"
"He is the absolute unifier of the torrent of will of war!"
"His name is Phil!"
"Lord of War!"
"Remember! You are not fighting one man..."
"You are fighting an entire army forged from countless souls and their fighting spirit!"
"Introductions complete! Attack if you think you can! He's definitely noticed me! I'm running away!"
"...Fuck!"
Xiling's expression was solemn, but inside, he was screaming furiously, "This isn't some little boss blocking the door! This is the ultimate demon god of destruction at the end of the final level! Is this how the newbie orientation is designed?!"
However, the Lord of War didn't give him any time to complain or think about strategy.
While the echo of "I'm running away" still lingered in Xiling's mind—
His vision vanished. Hearing vanished.
His thoughts…froze.
Xiling saw only a dark red line of absolute death, seemingly piercing time and space. It disregarded all notions of distance and defense as it flashed across the world before his eyes.
There was no earth-shattering roar, no dazzling flash of energy.
Only a cold, sharp, and instantaneous sense of finality that pierced everything.
Xiling lowered his head to look at his chest—a fist-sized hole, its edges as smooth as a mirror, suddenly appeared there.
Through the hole, he could see the charred earth and dark red sky behind him.
No excruciating pain, for his nerves, along with his flesh, were instantly annihilated by the spear intent that embodied the rules of war.
Death? No… it was a piece of existence itself that had been erased.
But there was no time for Xiling to fantasize. He stared at his pierced body.
A single thought crossed his mind.
The chat group time travel system is activated!
Phil hovered in mid-air, his brow furrowing slightly, barely perceptible. He had merely destroyed the opponent's body; he couldn't possibly die like that.
If a hero could die like this, it would be a joke.
Was it a spatial shift? A time jump? Or some deeper concept of escape?
"Escaped?"
Phil whispered to himself, his tone devoid of anger or regret.
With his whisper, the terrifying pressure that enveloped the world dissipated as quickly as the tide.
The dark crimson sky, the charred earth, the pervasive smell of rust and blood, the wailing of the dead... all of this war-torn landscape began to violently distort, dissolve, and fade.
Like a pencil drawing erased by an eraser, the blood-soaked battlefield vanished in a matter of breaths.
Phil's figure appeared above a tranquil, seemingly ordinary forest.
The cool moonlight returned, illuminating the lush treetops and swaying shadows below. The devastating battlefield seemed like a nightmare. Phil's eyes slowly turned toward a point deep within the forest, his gaze piercing through the layers of branches, as if he could see directly into the folds of time and space.
"Time Witch, Vivian."
Phil's voice echoed through the silent night sky. It wasn't loud, but it carried a strange, piercing power, resonating clearly through the forest, full of warning.
"Don't get in the way."
The night wind rustled through the treetops, making a gentle rustling sound. There was no response. The forest remained slumbering, as if the warning imbued with the will to fight was just an empty hallucination.
He said nothing more, even expressing indifference to the hero Xiling's mysterious disappearance.
Phil turned and disappeared into the night.
...
My name is Xiling, and I'm a hero—the kind who truly wants to save the world from disaster! Sounds cool, right? Throughout my long career as a hero, I once believed that the bronze skeleton soldier who had guarded the Novice Village exit, blocking my path for two whole years, was my destined nemesis.
Two whole years! Over seven hundred days and nights! Even in my dreams, I gritted my teeth, imagining how to dismantle that creaking skeleton and use its skull as a chamber pot!
However, as I grew stronger, that skeleton soldier retreated without a fight.
I thought this ridiculous prologue was finally over, and my epic and magnificent hero journey was finally about to begin.
I never imagined! My hero's journey was almost forcibly brought to a bloody end on this very first page!
Brother Skeleton Soldier! I was too loud before! I was ignorant! I misunderstood you for being old! Now, looking back, you weren't a nemesis. You were clearly a humanoid, immortal gold medal during the Novice Protection Period! Thank you so much! Because of you, the four seasons are warm!
The Tarnished looked at Xiling, who had just left and was now posing strangely on the ground. He was puzzled at first, then poked someone with the tip of his staff, earning a fierce glare.
The Tarnished wasn't frightened by this sight, but instead asked, bewildered, "What's wrong with you?"
Xiling propped himself up with his arms and turned over, facing upward.
"I was sniped."
"Sniped?"
The Tarnished raised an eyebrow.
"Well, I had an encounter with the Lord of War, as powerful as a monster, invincible."
Xiling instinctively raised his hand and touched his chest, where his heart should be.
The clothing was intact, his skin smooth, his muscles firm, his heartbeat steady and strong.
The horrific penetrating wound inflicted by the blood-red spear thrust, which seemed to obliterate the very concept of existence, along with his instantly destroyed body, had been silently repaired by the Hero's almost cheat-level ability—"Indestructible Will, Never Die"—during the teleportation. Xi Ling didn't dwell on the injury he'd just suffered. He was simply thinking, seriously, what to do next?
Should he charge back immediately and fight to the death?
Xiling decided to forget it.
He had a feeling that something wasn't quite right with his hero's scenario.
The biggest question smacked him in the face: the two locals he'd met—the mysterious voice and the Lord of War—both knew he was a hero!
It was a bit outrageous.
Theoretically, each hero had arrived in response to a distress signal from a specific, endangered world.
These worlds were like isolated islands scattered in the endless void, cut off from each other, and it's also impossible to transmit information to other worlds.
This meant that the natives of this world should have no conceptual understanding of the alien identity of the hero and the mechanisms behind it, let alone the precise identification of them, such as a roll call.
But what was the result? The mysterious voice called him affectionately, and Phil pronounced his verdict directly! They seemed to have a deep understanding of the heroes.
There were so few clues! Aside from the strangeness of this reveal, the only thing left was the voice's final, riddle-like warning before fading: "Don't be deceived by illusions of the world."
Illusions? Was it the appearance of this seemingly peaceful world?
Or... was it something else?
Xiling stood up, ignoring the Tarnished beside him, and sat down at a nearby table.
The world is on the verge of shattering... The invisible strings are stretched to their limit... Only by finding true salvation can the Demon King be defeated...
Xiling repeated these words in his mind. Phil's words, "You shouldn't have set foot here, hero," came to mind again.
"I shouldn't have set foot here?"
Xiling muttered to himself, his fingers tapping rapidly and unconsciously on the tabletop, making a soft, clacking sound.
"Lord of War... Phil... the embodiment of war... what kind of world is this?!"
The Tarnished watched Xiling's brows twist into a knot, his fingers poised to dent the tabletop. He shrugged helplessly. He silently picked up the kettle, poured a glass of water, and gently pushed it towards Xiling's side; the water in the glass rippled with the vibration.
Then the Tarnished began to study the magic of the stars.
He hadn't yet mastered this magic of the stars.
What? How can I haven't yet mastered this magic, you say? Well, I haven't really studied it seriously yet.
However...
The Tarnished pinched his brows and rolled his eyes helplessly over the heavy tome. Listening to the clanking sound beside him, he sighed and put the book down.
"Hey," the Tarnished knocked on the table, a crisp sound was made, trying to get Xiling's attention.
"I say, you're just dwelling on it by yourself; it's useless to think too hard about it. How about you tell me in detail? Let's analyze it together?"
Xiling finally stopped and looked up blankly. He looked at the Tarnished, then out the window. Hmm, judging by the altitude, he guessed it was one or two in the morning, the time when night owls are most energetic.
So Xiling decisively entered what he experienced just now into the group chat.
As expected, a group of night owls was completely awake.
[I Don't Want to Be a Hero Anymore]: That's pretty much it.
[I'm the Savior]: I smell a storm brewing.
[Fire Moth Warrior]: This is clearly a trap.
[I'm Not a Foodie]: Hi, Xiling, are you okay with your injuries?
[I Don't Want to Be a Hero Anymore]: Don't worry, it was a minor incident, just a minor injury. It just hurt a little when I was exposed... well... it hurt a little.
[Wheelchair Sniper]: The core issue is the information asymmetry. The other party clearly has information about you, and even knows about the Hero mechanics themselves. And you know almost nothing about them. The information gap is so vast that any speculation at this point is groundless.
[Grand Magician Tarnished]: I agree.
[Grand Magician Tarnished]: You don't even know what these two people represent. There's no point in making wild guesses.
Tarnished looked at Xiling, who lay sprawled in the room.
"There's no further information at present, so stop speculating."
Xiling sighed deeply, like a deflated ball. That's true, but the suffocating feeling of being kept in the dark and then beaten up is truly depressing.
"You can't go back to your homeworld now. If you go back, you'll be right where you are. Is that okay?" the Tarnished asked with some concern.
Xiling raised his eyelids weakly and glanced at him.
"How would I know..." His voice trailed off, full of a "let it be" attitude.
Seeing Xiling's indifferent expression, the Tarnished almost gasped.
"You! Aren't you worried at all?!"
Xiling turned to look at the Tarnished with a puzzled look on his face.
"What are you worried about?"
The Tarnished said seriously, "Being surrounded! What if those guys are surrounding you there?"
"Then just fight your way out," Xiling said matter-of-factly.
Even though he had just been shot through the body, Xiling's tone was still as casual as if he were saying, "There's a rock at the door? Just move it."
The Tarnished was like a deflated ball.
"You've just been defeated. How can you be so confident you can pull it off?"
Xiling stretched out a finger and shook it.
"First, I wasn't defeated. I just got tricked. Second, how can I save the world without confidence? How can I be a good hero without confidence?"
Seeing Xiling's serious expression, the Tarnished shrugged.
"I'm not a hero. How would I know about it?"
The Tarnished picked up his magic book again.
Xiling looked at the Tarnished studying diligently, while he himself lay there like a salted fish.
"Tsk..." Xi Ling curled his lips and sat up with a somersault.
"Alright, alright, being a salted fish won't solve the problem."
Xiling waved casually, his tone as relaxed as if he were going for a walk:
"Tarnished, I'm leaving!"
The next second, he disappeared from the spot.
The Tarnished sighed heavily when he saw Xiling leave so directly. He also wanted to go over and help, but from Xiling's description, it wasn't a battlefield he could enter. If he went rashly, not only would he be of no help, but he would become a burden requiring protection.
"I hope nothing happens," the Tarnished prayed inwardly.
...
This wasn't a green grassland.
This wasn't a battlefield of blood and iron.
The soft earth beneath his feet, the scent of the forest lingered at his nose, a blend of earth, decaying wood, and fresh plants.
The tall trees cast swaying shadows in the moonlight.
Everything seemed... too normal, too quiet, too ordinary.
Xiling looked around. Aside from the rustling of leaves in the night wind and the faint chirping of unknown insects in the forest, there was no other sound. He looked up in confusion—
Above him, three moons of varying sizes, emitting a soft, clear glow, hung quietly in the deep sky.
"Just... gone? Without even a single person to look out for them?"
This now left Xiling even more bewildered. He'd been there for less than half an hour, and the other party had just shot him and vanished.
Xiling closed his eyes.
Buzz! A vast magical energy instantly surged out from him, spreading like a silent tide! Invisible tentacles spread rapidly, piercing the dense forest, skimming across streams, meticulously sensing every energy fluctuation and every breath of life within a radius of dozens of kilometers.
The feedback came back. No ambush, no hidden murderous intent. Instead, several faint human life signals were detected from the outskirts of the forest—like ordinary nightwalkers or travelers?
One of them, more perceptive, seemed to sense the sweeping magical energy, his aura noticeably fluctuating, and then... his footsteps suddenly quickened, moving quickly away from the center of his perception with a distinct sense of wariness and distance.
"So... are they really gone?"
Xiling opened his eyes, and the confusion on his face deepened instead of diminishing. This feeling of starting well but finishing poorly was even more painful than being surrounded and beaten.
Xiling pondered for two seconds before letting go of his hesitation. Then, he decisively took steps toward the people he had sensed.
"Now that we're here, we'll make the best of it. Intelligence blind spots are the worst... Let's go gather some intel where there are more people."