"I'd bet money I've seen that guy before."
Sister-in-law, spear resting on his shoulder, held his reins and squinted at the knight observing them from the opposite ridge.
"Sht, I'd recognize those bastards even if they were turned to ash!" No_Cilantro, sitting on his horse beside him, only needed one look.
He recognized the knight immediately—it was one of the savages who had camped his corpse earlier.
"Let's go. We need to warn the others!" Sister-in-law smacked his lips, reluctantly mounting his horse. He felt like his crotch was about to be ground into paste.
The two scouts didn't waste words. They whipped their horses and galloped back toward their main force.
---
"We found them!"
A flash of violence crossed the eyes of Scar, the young Dothraki.
"Scar" was originally his Captain's name—the leader who had brought them away from the Khalasar. He had inherited the name because he swore to avenge his Captain.
"Let's go. Let Mero, that idiot, rush in first," Scar said. He didn't lead his men to pursue immediately. Instead, he turned his horse and ordered a Dothraki subordinate, "Trail them!"
---
"I feel like you two are trouble magnets. It's only been a day! We just left the village! And we bumped into another group?"
Listening to Sister-in-law's report, Pineapple_Pizza_Lover regretted teaming up with these two jinxes. This was beyond bad luck.
"Damn, is the mob spawn mechanic this broken? Do they just spawn on top of us?" Storm_Dominator cursed.
"Alright, if it's fate, we can't dodge it. Besides, look at them."
Nebula_Breaker's words made the other two turn their heads. They saw the players sharpening their blades, eager to throw themselves at the "wild mobs."
True. The three of them were Guild Leaders, so they had to worry about logistics and strategy. But the average players? They came here for the thrill. They didn't care about the details.
As the saying goes: Two horizontal strokes, one vertical stroke—Just Do It! (The character 干, meaning 'Fight').
"Fck it! Why refuse meat when it's delivered to your mouth!" Pineapple_Pizza_Lover drew his longsword and turned to his guild brothers:
"Brothers! The Knights Templar will make heads roll today!"
"Make heads roll!"
"Make heads roll!"
Storm and Nebula sometimes admired Pineapple. With just a flapping of his lips, he could whip his players into a frenzy.
Little did they know, the members of the Knights Templar were all "bros" in real life.
"Brothers! Kill one, and I'll PayPal you 500 RMB right now!" Storm_Dominator donned his heavy helmet and shouted with a muffled voice.
"Brothers of Thunder Hall, listen up! I want everyone on the other side who's breathing dead! Leave no one alive! Kill one, and as your Guild Leader, I'll give you a Red Packet of 800 RMB!"
Nebula_Breaker, the rich kid who always had to one-up Storm, finished his speech with a provocative glance at his rival, completely forgetting how humble he had been when begging to join the alliance that morning.
"Boss is generous!"
"Boss is mighty!"
"Make the rivers run red with blood!"
It could be said that no army in this world had higher morale than this group of players right now. Not even the Unsullied—because, in the words of the slave masters, a small number of Unsullied "might learn bad habits."
But from the moment players are born, they are bad habits. They are chaos incarnate.
Rumble, rumble...
The sound of hooves reached the players' ears.
Before long, a squad of light cavalry slowly appeared on the horizon.
Immediately following them, a forest of spears and hundreds of men and horses came into view.
"Holy mother of God, that's a lot of people," a player exclaimed.
"Scared? I was worried there wouldn't be enough heads to go around! Kill one and you break even, kill two and your rent is paid for the month!"
"Form up!" The three Guild Leaders practically roared.
The players began to comply. After a burst of chaos, they barely managed to form two crooked lines.
"Spears up, brothers! Shields in front! Marquis! Youji! Keep your eyes peeled later—shoot the ones on horses!"
"Templar brothers, if you have a bow, group up! Don't worry about aiming, just loose the arrow and you're a hero!"
"Thunder Hall brothers! Throwing knives, axes, whatever junk you got from the chests—don't be stingy! If we win this, I'll buy coins to get you better gear from the Player Shop!"
---
"Look at this trash."
Mero, Commander of the Second Sons, sat on his horse with his warblade resting on his shoulder. He looked at the player formation with disdain, then lazily turned to the officer behind him, Uhan.
"Take Bakayo and Hammer. Lead a hundred men as the first wave. I want you to shatter this rabble's line!"
"Understood!" Uhan stepped forward.
"Commander, I'm going to keep a few handsome ones as prisoners. You won't mind, will you?"
Bakayo was a fearsome axeman in the Second Sons, and also openly gay.
Standing beside him was Hammer, a giant whose left arm was twice as thick as his right. He served as the company's weaponsmith and armorer. He looked at Bakayo with disgust and tossed his wineskin back to his apprentice, Nail.
"Do whatever you want, just break their line!" Mero was equally repulsed. No one liked having a massive man staring at their ass all day.
"Kill!"
Uhan didn't waste words. He selected a hundred elites for the first wave. This would be the Second Sons' most violent charge.
"Scar, I gave you a chance to redeem yourself. Do not disgrace the name of the Second Sons again. I want you and your squad to be the second wave. Once Uhan scatters their formation, charge in and expand the slaughter!"
Though Mero was infamous, he had skills. Scar respected his command. He nodded silently and went to prepare his men.
"I will command the rest as the third wave. Of course, I doubt you'll need me. This rabble will be wiped out before I even draw my sword!" Mero shouted.
The mercenaries of the Second Sons laughed loudly, a chaotic horde of demons straight out of hell.
"Charge!"
With a command from Uhan, the hastily assembled hundred elites waved their weapons and charged at the players.
"Here they come! Get ready!"
For the first time in a game, the three Guild Leaders felt their palms sweating.
The enemy, ferocious and screaming, was right in front of them. The pressure on the three commanders was immense. It was fine if normal players played badly, but if they, as Guild Leaders, failed to command the battle, how could they convince their brothers to follow them in the future?
"Little Li Guang is here!"
In the ranks, the player Little_Li_Guang drew his bow.
Thwip!
The arrow tore through the air like a meteor.
Bakayo, charging at the very front, dropped to the ground without a sound. Hammer, riding behind him, clearly saw the arrow protruding from the unlucky bastard's throat.
"Idiot!"
Hammer's eyes shifted from cloudy to deadly serious. He snatched a shield from a nearby mercenary to cover himself.
The arrows from the ordinary players were mostly sparse and inaccurate, just adding to the noise. After Little Li Guang and Yang Youji shot down seven or eight enemies, the opposing force had already crashed into their lines.
"Fck them up!" the players roared.
When brave men meet on a narrow path, the boldest wins!