Thanks to the system announcing Zhang Yang position every 10 minutes, Zhang Yang had no chance of covering his trail! His pursuers followed him all the way through the Frozen Sky Wasteland, over the Land of Deteriorating Bones, and into the Flatlands of the Passing. After dying repeatedly for two to three times, they were unable to revive any further and hovered in their soul states nearby their bodies until it was safe to revive again.
Are they still behind me? Oh shit. They’re still coming! Bloody persistent bastards!
Zhang Yang arrived at the Twilight Hills and turned around to observe his situation. All he saw was a swarm of players charging through the flatlands like a massive stampede!
"Hmph! I’ll let the monsters here give you a sweet kiss!" Zhang Yang swapped his mount back to the [Gold-Eared Bear King] and quietly wait for the players to approach. Until the nearest players had entered the 100 meter range, Zhang Yang ran into the Tomb of the Shadow Ash.
CRAKAKALAKALAKALA!
A large group of Skeletal Warriors chased after Zhang Yang as the rushed past them, sending chills of fear down spines! Some players managed to break through.
Since the tomb was considered to be an indoor instance, Zhang Yang’s mount was canceled the moment he stepped into the tomb. Once he got on his feet, Zhang Yang activated {Charge} and clashed to the closest monster. Without turning around, he quickly rushed deeper into the tomb.
The entrance of the tomb was not that big. It was big for one person, at most allowing four to five players to enter at one time. However, when a large number of monsters were clustered at the entrance, the pursuing players had no choice but to kill the monsters in order to get inside. Luckily, the monster were only normal tiered, not a huge problem for most players. It did not take long for the players to kill all the monsters outside the entrance.
However, now that they had solved the monster problem, the next annoying obstacle was the size of the entrance. It was a bottle-neck, they entered the tomb slowly like tiny drainage hole in a huge bath tub! How long would it take for all of the water to be drained?
Zhang Yang did not waste his time, as he ran into the tomb like the wind, activating all his skill to survive. {Shield Wall}, {Berserker’s Heal}, {Merlinda’s Shadow}, {Substitute}, and several other skills were used to make sure that the monsters do not kill him. Just as his HP was about to reach the bottom, he activated {Shadow of the Void} and ran in the alternate dimension, giving him a luxurious 20 seconds to move ahead unobstructed. When {Shadow of the Void} expired, Zhang Yang hides himself in a corner and ate recovery snacks. The chasing monsters that Zhang Yang had attracted had ran back to their original positions, like rumbling tides of waves!
His pursuers were not as lucky. The monsters were slaughtering them, leaving piles of dead players in their wake. The monsters inside the tomb were all elites, with attack power that were similar to players wearing a full set of Gray-Silver equipment. The sheer amount of monsters quickly picked off stragglers who strayed too far from formation.
Eventually, both sides had clogged up, fighting in the narrow pathway. Only five from each side could fight at a time, while the others waited behind, waving their weapons in anger. It was extremely slow progress.
Zhang Yang used {Rearm} and resetted all the skills’ cool down. He then proceeded to run deeper into the tomb, using {Shadow of the Void} again to find a safe space to recover when he was close to death. Thanks to the geographical landscape of the tomb, the players behind were stuck for a good duration! Zhang Yang rested for only a brief second and drew in a deep, long breath. He got up, steeled himself, and began to run again.
Sadly, he was just one man. No matter how strong he was as an individual player, he could not outpace a group of players who were working together. When the players had cleared all the monsters that were blocking their path, they quickly caught up. More and more players entered the tomb, all searching every nick and corner of the tomb for Zhang Yang.
Even when Zhang Yang had been using the {Shadow of the Void} every 10 minutes, the distance between him and the chasing players behind was dwindling! In less than 30 minutes, Zhang Yang could already hear the sound of rumbling footsteps behind him!
"Keep going! Just a little bit more!" One of the players cried. Even though Zhang Yang had hidden his profile, they could easily recognize Zhang Yang since they were given the Wanted Notice that had a screen shot of his face on it! Furthermore, it did not matter if he hid his face, the chasing players would not stop at killing a thousand innocent players in order to get to him. They had even killed every player with hidden profiles just for good measure!
"Zhan Yu! Your life ends here! Let’s see how long you can keep running!" seethed Floating Fire Ball through his teeth. Ever since his level had over taken by Fatty Han and the gang, Floating Fire Ball had a deep hatred for everyone from Lone Desert Smoke. Not long after, Zhang Yang had even KSed a boss and even killed him! He had to spend another large sum of gold coins to buy the equipment that had been dropped at his death! It’s safe to say that his hatred was to deep it was down to his bones! Now that the opportunity had arisen, he had ordered the entire guild of Pride to guard the dead bodies of Lone Desert Smoke members, and take every equipment that the fallen members of Lone Desert Smoke. At the same time, he had dispatched a large group to chase after Zhang Yang, led by a team himself.
The rewards for killing Zhang Yang was three level ups!
To gain one level after Level 50 is as hard as it would take at least seven days! If he could kill Zhang Yang, he could save at least 21 days of time grinding! To him, a player who valued level values above all else, Floating Fire Ball was completely keen on beheading Zhang Yang to obtain the reward!
As he ran, Zhang Yang turned his head around and spat, "Come and get me!"
He picked up his pace and ran deeper down the tomb. His fearless provocation was due to the fact that {Rearm} was almost ready to be used again!
Naturally, Floating Fire Ball went after him without second thought. Following closely behind him were many other members from Pride. Zhang Yang had a long trail of monsters that followed him closely. More than one of them were within striking range, slashing at his exposed back. The more monsters he kited, the lesser HP he would have left. Luckily, the monsters chasing after Zhang Yang effectively blocked Pride’s line of sight, preventing Zhang Yang from receiving any status effect skills from Floating Fire Ball and his merry gang.
3…2…1…Ready!
{Rearm}!
{Shadow of the Void}!
Zhang Yang entered the alternate dimension, disappearing from the physical realm and shaking off the aggro from all the chasing monsters. Losing their targets, at least 40 monsters turned around and started attacking the players from Pride!
"What the actual f*ck!?" Floating Fire Ball screamed. Just as victory was within grasp, Zhang Yang had slipped between his fingers!
Zhang Yang laughed as he ran away and entered the chamber of Princess Serene!
He quickly took out the Soul Container, placed it on Serena’s chest, took a step back, and waited for the original princess to rise.
A brilliant rainbow light blasted out of the container and illuminated the entire room. A shadowy image of Princess Serena emerged out of the box and merged together with the physical body of Princess Serena.
SHOOOM!
Another bright light blasted out, as blinding as the sun itself, forced Zhang Yang to shield his eyes. The shadow and the body began to merge as the soul seeped into the body.
"I am the rightful princess of White Jade Castle! I am Serene-Andelor-Martain-Holy-Sanchest!" Serene opened her eyes and started hovering above stone table. Radiant light of heroic royalty pulsated around her out as she levitated across the table. She thrust out her right arm and a large sword materialized in her palm. Divine incarnate itself, the embodiment of power and grandeur stood before him.
[Serena, Princess of the White Jade Castle] (Holy, Humanoid)
Level: ???
HP: ???
Defense: ???
The title on her head disappeared just as fast as it appeared. After that, the light faded, and Serena was just the same as Zhang Yang, with no name tag on their heads. He could not even select her to observe her properties. Zhang Yang thought to himself, perhaps she have not regained her own name. Everyone in the kingdom believed that the princess had already been killed by Zhang Yang! Perhaps, the only way for her to get her name back was to return to White Jade Castle and prove that she was the one and only princess!
‘Ding! You have completed the quest: Return the Soul. Obtained 1,000,000 Experience Points!’
Was that it?
It be nice if the system would grant him a little more reward than just experience points, especially his shop!
"Warrior! You saved my life!" said Serena as she bowed a little. At least there was a gesture of appreciation. She was, at the very least, still a princess. "Now, follow me back to White Jade Castle! I will reward you properly for your efforts!"
‘Ding! Serene has a quest for you: Return to White Jade Castle. Do you accept? This quest is linked to the main story quest. Complete the main story quest to obtain a luxurious reward!’
Now that the princess has shown her true self, it was time for Zhang Yang to clear his name! Zhang Yang accepted the quest hurriedly.
"Haha! Zhan Yu! It’s dead end for you! I’d like to see how you escape this time!" Floating Fire Ball had managed to break through all odds and had arrived. His members had barricaded the doors to prevent Zhang Yang from escaping. Now that he had Zhang Yang caught like a fish out of water, he cracked a smile and laughed manically.
Level +3! Yellow-Gold equipment! Army General! Mine! All mine! Hahahaha!
He was so certain that victory was now is his hands!
Serena turned around to face Zhang Yang and frowned. "Who are these people?" quipped Serena as she pointed at Floating Fire Ball with her finger nonchalantly.
"A bunch of low-lives. They have been trying to kill me and nearly prevented me from delivering the soul container!" said Zhang Yang as he quickly framed all of Pride members. Even though Serena had her name completely hidden, but she was a Holy tiered boss. If any Pride member attacked her…
Serena was infuriated. If her soul container had not made it here, she would have still have been imprisoned, possibly locked away for good. This was downright betrayal!
"Kill them both!" cried Floating Fire Ball. He did not think that Serena was an NPC since she couldn’t be identified. He had thought that she was just a player who had hidden her profile information. Without hesitation, he started attacking.
Pew pew! Boom boom! Shush shush!
In an instant, the light was blotted out by arrows, {Fireballs}, and {Frost Arrows}. They rained towards the Princess and Zhang Yang
"Such impudence!" Serena bellowed. She reached out her left arm and created a huge shield, protecting both Zhang Yang and her.
Pew pew pew!
All attacks landed on the shield, but they were completed absorbed without any trace.
"WTF? What is that skill!?"
"I remembered that a Priest’s shield skill can only protect one person!"
"Even if that was a Priest skill, there’s no way it could absorb that much damage!"
"Crap! Who the hell is this woman! She’s even stronger than Zhan Yu!"
Voices started to be raised across the room.
"Those who raise their sword against the crown shall face death!" Serena was downright furious and swung the sword in her right hand. "Holy Light, Cross Soul Slash!"
Suush! Suush!
Two beams of light formed out of the sword, forming a cross that blasted through the players! The light sliced through them like lasers, splitting their bodies into pieces!
Instant kill!
Mass instant kill!
‘Ding! You have committed a crime by attacking Princess Serena! You will be automatically teleported to the White Jade City Jail. You will be jailed for one day. After the prison sentence, you will be unable to perform any transaction with all NPCs in White Jade Castle for three days! All repairs, item purchase transaction fee will be increased by 200% for 10 days!’
Not only were they completed massacred by the Princess herself, they were not criminals. When the players that were killed by Princess Serena received the system notification, they flabbergasted, their jaws flapping wide open.
What on earth is happening? Didn’t Zhang Yang kill Princess Serena? Wasn’t that why they were tasked to kill Zhang Yang in the first place? Why did the system indicate that they had attacked Princess Serena? If that woman was the Princess Serena, then who was the "Princess" who was supposedly killed?
Confused, frustrated, the players who were teleported to the jail could not spread the news about "not touching the woman beside Zhan Yu!".
According to the game system, players inside the jail would not have access to any kind of communication channel. They could not even send private messages! Being jailed in this game was just like being jailed in real life! If a player logged out during a prison sentence, the duration of the sentencing will pause, only resuming when the said player relogs. Players could not just leave their character "resting" for a whole night to pass the time.
"Let’s go!" said Princess Serena boldly. She took the lead without waiting for Zhang Yang to respond. This was how a brave and heroic princess should behave, just like Princess Leia! She would not let her subordinates open the path for her. She would do it herself!
"It’s him! Zhan Yu!"
"Kill him!"
Just as Zhang Yang and the princess left the room, more players attacked them.
"Holy light, Cross Soul Slash!" Serena chanted two phrases, shooting two bright lights out, silencing the entire world!
The two of them proceeded on.
"There he is! Kill him!"
"Kill the f*cker!"
"Holy light, Cross Soul Slash!"
"Holy light, Cross Soul Slash!"
"Holy light…"
Walking casually behind Princess Serena, Zhang Yang could only hear nothing but her chanting and the screaming from the players. Anyone who dared to strike them was blasted to hell! Smiling contentedly, Zhang Yang was greatly pleased.
Hah! You guys were having fun trying to kill me huh! Have a taste of your own medicine!
Any players killed by Princess Serena would be automatically sent to the jail. As such, it had created where more and more clueless players charging ahead with equally clueless players following closely behind! All of them would eventually fall victim to Serena’s blade.
Serena progressed through the tomb rather fast. Even though there were many players and monsters alike, she cleared them all in just a flash of lights. They were practically moving, completely unhindered! By the time they had made it out of the tomb, they had only spent half an hour!
"Holy light, Cross Soul Slash!"
The blast of light slashed more players in half. After such a long time, the number of player who had managed to squeeze into the tomb were only slightly more than 10,000. There were even more players gathered outside of the tomb since they were shoving each other, trying to get in. With a swing of her sword, she forcefully blasted open a large pathway for them to proceed.
The players behind saw what happened and were stunned. Now that there was a chance for them to rush into the tomb, none of them dared to move a single step forward.
Zhang Yang and Serena finally walked out of the tomb.
"Zhan Yu! It’s him!"
"D*mn! How did he come out? What happened to the thousands of players who got inearlier? Did he kill them all?"
"Who is that woman there?"
"Don’t matter! Just kill the target and take his head for the reward!"
More than 100,000 players started to scream and yell, charging bravely towards Zhang Yang.
"You would seek to slay the hero of the crown?! Such insolence shall not be tolerated!" Serena raised her beautiful eye brows and her sword materialized in her hands.
"Hahaha! Who is this woman. Look at her, putting up a brave act and all. How will the two of them take on 100,000 of us?"
"What a looker! Check out her tits yo! Aw yeah! And that *ss! Hmm! Sh*t be perky as f*ck! That b*tch must be a sl*t! I’d tap that!"
"Eh? She looks western. Perhaps she’s a transfer student studying in china!
"Who cares! Just kill the two of them!"
In an instant, the sky was covered with projectiles consisting of {Frost Arrow}, {Fire Ball}, and other flying objects! The melee class players were all charging towards Zhang Yang, all yelling their battle cry as loudly as they could! Zhang Yang only had one head to offer! They would have to fight against each other if they wanted to claim the reward!
Zhang Yang stood calmly, facing the oncoming projectiles. He was completely at ease since Serena had her left hand up, casting a protective barrier to shield them. Her sword in her right arm had began to move!
"Kill them all! Sword of Life and Death!"
Suush! Suush! Millions of streams of light were sent out flying in all directions!
Instant kill! Instant kill! Instant kill! Instant kill! Instant kill! Instant kill!
Anywhere the light ray traveled, dead players lay on the ground!