Translator: Sean88888 Editor: Elkassar1
“What a large hole…”Seeing such a dangerous terrain being formed, even Sheyan could not help but feel powerless.
The enemy’s plan was truly an unorthodox one. They had done something that was seemingly impossible. With one move, they strengthened their own advantages and turned the enemy’s weakness into possible defeat!
If Sauron’s side had 70% confidence of achieving victory before the war started, it was now the other side’s turn to have 70% confidence. The table had turned in just half an hour! And this was only the first day of the war!
To put it bluntly, the responses of the Orc commander Gothmog from the beginning to the end were all anticipated by the enemy contestants, and through that, they gave him the most deadly blow.
Gothmog currently had a very difficult decision to make – not whether he should continue attacking the city, because to breach the city today was already unrealistic. The question was, should he save the troops left behind?
The Orcs were a race that had little to no talent for magic. The ‘Transmute Mud to Rock’ spells the Orc shamans used when they built the siege towers had nearly exhausted their magic power, so it was close to impossible to counter the opponent’s move with magic.
If Gothmog chose not to rescue the troops, the pitiful cries of the troops lying injured in the mud could possibly crush the army’s morale completely. The healthy Orc warriors would inevitably think that if they fought bravely and got hurt, they would be abandoned like that too.
But if Gothmog sent the rescue troops in, it would mean an unbelievable amount of casualties! And even then, the rescue operation might not even be successful!
Gothmog was in a complete dilemma. He felt like whichever choice he made, it would become a mistake the enemy would use against him!
Gothmog’s weakness as a commander in chief was once again exposed – he was not decisive enough.
At the moment, thousands of troops were exposed to the enemy’s long-range firepower. The morale of the Minas Tirith army was at an all-time high. The stones they launched from their trebuchets dropped like rain. The contestants, too, were attacking with full might. The most terrifying were the ignited boulders. The siege weapons they hit were instantly set ablaze.
At a time like this, every second the commander in chief hesitated meant the death of a large number of his soldiers. Regardless of whether he chose to bet everything on the rescue or to cut his losses, he must make a quick decision.
In truth, as soon as the trap was activated, Sheyan already knew what Gothmog was going to do, no matter how long it may take him to decide. Sheyan was sure that Gothmog would eventually send troops in for the rescue.
Why?
Because despite the Orc army’s terrifying number of 200,000, they only had less than 200 Trolls.
More than two-thirds of them were now trapped in the muddy area because they were pushing the heavy siege towers! These fat monsters that were used to living in high altitude areas were currently roaring and struggling in the mud. Some were even beating the mud around them madly. Unfortunately, all their efforts were in vain.
Gothmog could accept the loss of five thousand elite Orc troops in the first battle, but he could never accept the loss of two-thirds of his high-end combat force, the Trolls! The loss would simply be too heavy!
Therefore, the only choice he had was to send in reinforcements.
However, Sheyan had already predicted that he would come to this decision as early as five minutes and eleven seconds ago. More importantly, so had the think tank formed by the three joint forces of the Stockholm party, Silverwing party, and Moses Society. They had anticipated this before they had even entered this world!
***
MCDH’s mood was currently as calm as the lakes on the Tibetan plateau. His figure was as still as the snowy peaks amid the clouds.
It was with such calmness that he aimed at the monster through the scope of his sniper.
The monster was a Troll.
The monster’s skin was covered with thick, scabies-like tinea. Although it caused the Troll unbearable itch and pain, it also absorbed 10-13% of physical damage for the Troll. The Troll’s thick, solid arms could easily lift rocks that weighed hundreds of kilograms.
The Troll’s skin was rippling slightly due to the thick layer of fat underneath as it attacked the thigh-high mud around it. All of a sudden, multiple horizontal and vertical lines appeared on MCDH’s scope, and he could see a few red dots on the Troll’s body. The largest dot was on the Troll’s forehead, while the smallest one was on its crotch. At the same time, the Nightmare Imprint sent him a notification:
[ Your ability: ‘Let The Bullets Fly’ is ready! ]
(TL: Refer to chapter 458)
MCDH aimed at the smallest red dot on the Troll’s body, then pulled the trigger. The smaller the red dot, the harder it was to hit, but it also means a much higher damage when it successfully hit, perhaps enough to instantly kill the target.
This was not a baseless claim. In fact, up to this point, MCDH had already insta-killed three Trolls. His powerful ‘Let The Bullets Fly’ ability gave him a unique advantage against the formidable Trolls that had rough skin and thick flesh.
According to the latest statistics, the amount of Trolls killed by MCDH alone accounted for one fifth of the total number of Trolls killed so far!
The Troll MCDH targeted suddenly froze. It trembled violently, then fell to the ground despite looking completely unharmed. MCDH was the only one who saw what really happened. After the bullet was shot, it split into five pieces in mid-air before burrowing into the Troll’s eyes, mouth and lower body. That single shot reaped the life of the monster which still had more than half of its HP remaining.
MCDH reloaded his sniper rifle while he checked the string of notifications which popped up, as well as the generous amount of contribution points he received. Then, he closed one eye and put the other back onto the scope, searching for his next prey.
Suddenly, something as red as blood entered his sight. In fact, it filled his entire vision. He immediately raised his head and saw Knight standing in front of him with his usual crystal goblet. Knight’s every move was as elegant as ever.
“I think you should take a short rest, M. I admit, I underestimated you. If you keep killing them like this, the pig-headed fool will start thinking that the number of Trolls left isn’t worth rescuing.” Knight’s expression was relaxed, but his words were resolute and left no room for argument.
MCDH was defiant. He continued to take aim as he replied, “That’s none of my business… You should know, Knight, I hate to hear bullshit and lies.”
Knight’s eyes narrowed, and there was a hint of coldness in them, but he soon said with a wry smile, “Fine. The truth is, the other two party leaders have voiced their protests to me. They hope that you’ll stop killing so many Trolls and leave more Trolls for them for the good of the alliance. After all, the Trolls have a chance of dropping Middle Earth badges that can be used to trade for high-level equipment and creatures.”
MCDH sneered. “Are you joking? All their party members combined aren’t my match in damage output, so they’re resorting to political means to exert pressure on me? When I joined the Stockholm Party, no one told me this party has a tradition of holding their own members back for the sake of outsiders!”
Knight showed no reaction on his face, but some cracks had appeared on the crystal goblet in his hand. Of course he knew how damaging it would be to his reputation as a party leader by doing this, but he must keep his eye on the bigger picture. The depth of Knight’s mind was beyond anyone’s imagination. Don’t forget, Sheyan’s G-spot was originally snatched from the hands of his deputy!
Knight had a dominant character, but he had made a lot of concessions in order to maintain the stability of the alliance. Knight was the only one who could keep in mind at all times that even if none of them received a single bit of benefit, as long as they won the war, they would still win big!
Unfortunately, many people could not see this. Furthermore, it was currently a feast of contribution points, a great harvest. They had lost themselves in this favourable circumstance that they never expected would come so easily. Very few could still keep a clear head in such a situation. When Knight saw the greed and excitement in the eyes of the other two party leaders, he knew he would not be able to persuade them, but he also knew he could not let the alliance break apart at such a crucial time!
So the only choice left to Knight was to compromise.
To compromise at the cost of damaging his own reputation within his party!
However, Knight felt that everything was still under his control.
Almost every member of the Stockholm Party was now looking this way, attentively observing the development on this side. Knight leisurely raised his goblet and finished the last bit of the blood-red wine inside, then said unhurriedly, “I’m not trying to repress you, M. It’s just a personal request. You have the right to keep on shooting, or to do me a favour. It’s up to you.”
As he spoke, he held out his palm, upon which lay a necklace which shined dark gold. The eyes of the girl beside MCHD instantly lit up.
“Oh my god, is this ‘Venus’ Love’?”
“It is, Miss Rose, and it’s yours now,” answered Knight with a smile.
When MCDH saw Rose accepting the necklace, he could only retrieve his sniper rifle with a bit of frustration. Knight bowed at him elegantly, yet he was sneering in his mind; not towards MCDH, of course – the sharper the blade, the more magnanimous a person had to be to wield it – but towards the leaders of the Silverwing Party and Moses Society who were blinded by their greed. He promised himself that after the war ended, he would take back ten times what he had lost from these two parties!
***
“This is very clearly the strategy of encircling an enemy post to trounce the reinforcements coming to its aid.” After the battle had lasted for a certain period of time, the enemy’s purpose was now revealed. The troops that were rescued from the muddy area below the city were outnumbered by the reinforcements that died. That accursed zone had completely become a giant meat grinder.
At the moment, the Blue-ray Party was conducting an analysis with the help of a holographic projection.
“According to the latest data we received, our main rescue targets, the Trolls, had only suffered two deaths in the last five minutes. This is the lowest death rate ever since the ambush started! In the beginning, the death rate was a staggering 15 Trolls every 5 minutes!”
“Since we can obviously rule out the possibility of insufficient ammunition causing the enemy’s attack to weaken, the declining trend in Troll death rate must be something intentional. The enemy wishes to maintain a certain number of living Trolls so that they will still hold enough weight in that pig-headed commander’s mind, thus baiting him to continue sending in reinforcements – or rather, free contribution points. Therefore, the best thing we can do now in response to this situation is either to wait it out, or to go back to the camp and get some sleep.”
“F*ck off.” The two words came abruptly, making the face of the speaker from the Blue-ray Party flush with anger. He instantly glared at the direction the voice came from. A burly, desolate, cold-looking figure could be seen pushing the others out of his way as he walked away. He was carrying an old-fashioned World War II rifle on his back.
It was an M1 Garand semi-automatic rifle.
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1_Garand)
However, as the figure walked towards the distant battlefield, the rifle gradually emitted a silvery-white glow.
A legendary weapon??
A legendary gun!!
When the people who were gathered there saw the weapon on the man’s back, not only did the expression of Blue-ray Party’s spokesman turn grave, the mysterious leader of the Blue-ray Party, who was surrounded by the crowd a distance away, was also shocked. The man was entirely concealed in a blue, hooded, full-body cloak, and he wore a very weird mask on his face. The mask looked like a smiling Buddha!
Blue-ray Party’s leader suddenly turned to Zeus who was nearby and asked, “There aren’t many people who have legendary guns. Isn’t he the guy in your party, Aziz?”
Zeus did not look too happy right now, because Aziz was currently calling for Zeus in the party communication channel to come along with him and shield him!
But was it worth it being the early bird in this situation? They would be taking a huge risk without any potential return. Moreover, if he went over to help right now, it would mean completely souring their relationship with the Blue-ray Party. That was too much of a price to pay!
Therefore, Zeus chose to remain silent. But was Aziz the kind of person who would not dare to go without the protection of an MT?
He smirked coldly, then blended in with the Orc reinforcements.
Before long, a very disharmonious scene suddenly took place on the wall of the first layer of Minas Tirith. Amidst the defending soldiers who were attacking with glee, like the battle was one big carnival, a man suddenly fell from the wall!
Under the current circumstances where Sauron’s side was at an absolute disadvantage, there were not many chances for the Orc army to counter attack, but that was not to say there were no chances at all. For example, some of the furious Uruk-hai were throwing their weapons at the top of the city wall with all their might. Therefore, the defenders did not pay much attention to the incident. It did not matter if the man fell by accident or was somehow killed by the almost negligible counterattack, it was only a tiny splash in the vast ocean, and was quickly ignored.
But Aziz was not a man who could be ignored!
Even someone as strong as Sheyan who had the courage to face him head on would never dare to ignore him.
The enemies, and even forces, who dared to ignore Aziz had all paid a heavy price, without exception!
After a while, another man fell down the wall. The man’s limbs did not move at all while he was falling down; he had obviously lost his life before he fell. However, the man who died was only a storyline character, and a giant siege tower near him happened to be crumbling down at the same time, unable to resist the destruction by the smoke and fire any longer. The collapse of the siege tower was naturally loud and eye-catching, so the falling man was ignored once again.
Next, two more siege tower collapsed, and during the process, three more soldiers who were firing arrows at the Orcs died.
This finally caught the attention of the shooters on the wall.
They found the culprit almost right away. Yes, it was an Uruk-hai who was sneakily readying his bow. However, the Orcs’ “talent” in archery was as renowned as their brutality, so however did this Uruk-hai display such precise marksmanship?
The next second, the Uruk-hai’s head exploded, having been hit by three sniper shots.
But at the same time, two more people on the city wall was shot in the head, and one of them was even a contestant! His cry of panic before he died resounded far and wide. While all the people around him turned their eyes towards him, a silver bullet from far away shot into his open mouth and made his head burst in an explosion of blood!
A headshot!
A headshot in front of so many powerful figures, in front of thousands of defending contestants who currently had the absolute upper hand!
This was a provocation! A wild, arrogant provocation!!!
A vivid emotion immediately spread among the contestants on the city wall. It was anger! The teeth-gnashing anger of thousands of contestants combined could even be felt like a tidal wave.
But while those thousands of contestants on the wall were searching hard for the murderer, the murderer actually walked out by himself, staring at them with fierce, provocative, indifferent eyes!
With the M1 Garand in his hands, Aziz simply stood there, and his intense aura forced the Orcs around him away, creating a large open area around him. Then, in the direction of the wall, Aziz…raised his middle finger!!
This was definitely not something a normal person would do, but if Aziz was a normal person, he would not have challenged the most powerful country on Earth, the United States of America, when he was still an ordinary human.
In this instant, hundreds of people simultaneously aimed at Aziz, but when these hundreds of people locked on to him, an interesting expression crept onto all of their faces – a mix of anger and humiliation. That was because all of them had received a notification from their Nightmare Imprint:
[ The target is being protected by the immense power of a legendary weapon. The grade of your weapon is not high enough to cause the target effective damage!! ]
***
The true name of Aziz’s legendary M1 Garand rifle was ‘Ryan’s Courage’.
This weapon, together with the Walther PPK pistol used by Adolf Hitler to kill himself, the ‘Fuhrer’s Mourn’, and the single shot Philadelphia Deringer used to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln, the ‘President’s Doomsday’, were called the three great legendary guns.
(Walther PPK: https://nationalinterest.org/blog/buzz/meet-walther-ppk-gun-killed-adolf-hitler-44877 )
(Philadelphia Deringer: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derringer#Philadelphia_Derringer)
To acquire ‘Ryan’s Courage’ was no small feat. The requirements were, in the world of Saving Private Ryan, all eight people in the rescue squad must survive, and Ryan must also be successfully rescued. After doing that, the contestant would obtain the mission item to trigger the legendary gun’s mission series – similar to the metallic nut that Sheyan got from Drubal.
The contestant would only acquire the legendary weapon after completing the entire series of missions.
The ability Aziz was currently using was the ability on ‘Ryan’s Courage’, ‘We’re Here With You’!
[ We’re Here With You ]
[ Summon Ryan and the eight members of the rescue squad. Their fearless courage will sweep away all the enemies who dare to stand in your path. The summoning takes five seconds. During the summoning process, you will not be able to move, use abilities or use items, but at the same time, you will also be protected by ‘Ryan’s Courage’ and will be immune to all attacks from weapons lower than legendary grade! ]
Ryan and the eight members of the rescue squad soon appeared on the wall. This brave and powerful team that were glowing silver instantly displayed their formidable strength. With the standard equipment of the U.S. Army, they sparked a bloodbath atop the wall. They were also immune to damages from weapons that were lower than legendary grade, but they would only last for 60 seconds.
From this, it could be seen that even though Aziz was a madman, he was not a fool. He had evidently performed a careful and thorough investigation beforehand. Only after he had confirmed that the opponent had no legendary weapons did he dare to come out here to give the defending alliance on the Minas Tirith wall a big slap on the face!
However, the power of the individual could never match up against the power of the collective.
No matter how amazing Aziz was, he was only one man. He may be able to hold his own against a party, but there was absolutely no way he could fight against two parties or more by himself.
And right now, on the magnificent Minas Tirith walls, there were at least twenty parties.
The signature ability of his legendary weapon may be powerful, but it could only kill perhaps 10 people, 20 at most. Aziz’s actions could only make the contestants on Sauron’s side feel a little better. It could not tilt the scale of victory to their side, and could not change the fact that they were in a dire predicament.
***
“We can’t let that bastard escape alive!”
“Kill him!”
“That’s a legendary weapon! A LEGENDARY WEAPON!! Don’t you want it?”
“If he lives, it’ll be our disgrace!”
“That’s Aziz! If you don’t take this chance to kill him now, he may very well kill you in future battles!”
The contestants on the Minas Tirith wall shouted in a frenzy. If Aziz could still escape alive under such circumstances, it would be a humiliation they had to bear for the rest of their lives.
However, Aziz had chosen his spot very meticulously. He had revealed himself at a spot that was only about 20 metres away from the city wall, about 100 metres away from the left side of the wall. The moment he successfully summoned Ryan and the rescue squad, he immediately dashed towards the bottom of the city wall.
Aziz specialised in Agility, so he reached the bottom of the city wall in no time at all. The bullets shot by the surprised city defenders grazed past him and hit nothing but the ground. Reaching the bottom of the city wall means that he was out of the firing lines of nearly 80% of the contestants above the wall. After several rolls, he sprinted towards the left edge of the Minas Tirith city wall at full speed.
The city wall of Minas Tirith was curved, so once Aziz reached the edge of the wall and continued running along the mountainside, the pressure on him would lessen even further. However, while everything seemed to be going well, just as Aziz was about to reach the left edge of the wall, the vivid sound of a sniper shot was heard.
A sniper who could remain patient for so long was, without question, a top-class sniper!
“He has some sort of equipment which lowers the enemy’s hit rate. I missed.” A sniper with thick black eyebrows reported his failure in a matter-of-fact tone, as if missing out on a possible legendary weapon did not bother him too much.
Another sniper blew the smoke from the muzzle of his rifle in frustration. “He anticipated the timing of my shot… Damn it!”
“I hit him, but he’s two orders above me! But does Aziz really think that he can escape alive? He’s too naive! The three most powerful snipers on our side haven’t made their moves yet!” After the sniper spoke, he could not help turning his head toward the third wall of Minas Tirith. Based on the direction of Aziz’s run, he could still be intercepted from the top of the third wall. The few who were currently waiting on the third wall were the existences at the top of the pyramid in their alliance!
MCDH, the man who killed 11 Trolls by himself, was putting his eye to the scope!
***
Aziz felt a searing pain in his scapula, as if it was being torn apart. He could vividly feel the bullet penetrating into his body below the scapula and shattering inside. Several sharp fragments grated at the muscles and tissues near the wound as he breathed and ran.
But Aziz had long gotten used to such pain. He was more focused on the chill transmitting from the back of his head and body!
It was the chill of killing intent!
“So not all of them are useless.” There was a sinister expression on Aziz’s face. He was prepared to activate the teleportation item that he had long readied. Every time the item was used, the cost was unbelievably high, but it was better than having his head explode.
“Zeus, that bastard. If he’s willing to come here with me, I wouldn’t have been forced into such a dire situation.”
Aziz suddenly froze, because he saw a “corpse” not far away blink at himself! Eyesight was of utmost importance for a sniper, so although the “corpse” was wearing a very common, standardised, thick Orcish leather armour and had disheveled hair, Aziz recognised the man at first glance. While he was still hesitating, the “corpse” stretched out his hand towards himself. Amidst a shower of golden light, an illusionary giant palm wrapped its fingers around Aziz and instantly dragged him away.
‘Holy Grasp’!
The moment Aziz landed, the sounds of three sniper shots rang through the sky. All three carefully-planned, sure-kill shots landed on Aziz!!
This was the last chance for the Minas Tirith alliance to kill Aziz.
So all the attacks were the snipers’ most powerful strikes!
But the moment the attacks struck Aziz, a layer of translucent yellow light appeared around his body. Aziz was momentarily stunned, but he did not seem to be hurt in the slightest. He showed his middle finger to the wall, then leaped into the blind spot of the firing lines.
Each of the three powerful contestants who fired at him had a different expression on their faces. One of them took a deep breath before he said, “I received a notification telling me that my target is in a state of invincibility.”
“Same,” replied another man.
MCDH did not say a word, but his emotion was definitely not as calm as he looked on the surface, because he had recognised Reef, the MT who had fought alongside him in the world of Avatar! But the former comrade-in-arms had now become a mortal enemy! He could not help but sigh in his heart.
“As I thought, I’m going to have to go up against them… If Reef is here, where’s Seaman? That bastard can create miracles….”
***
Sheyan was currently not feeling very comfortable at all.
The cold mud had long soaked through the Orcish leather armour that he had put on in a hurry, spreading chill and humidity all over his body. What’s more, his nose had to constantly endure the pungent odour that made him want to vomit. It smelled like rotten corpses that were full of maggots. He could have been drinking coffee in a big tent right now.
To make matters worse, Sheyan currently could not move an inch at all, because he was playing the role of a corpse which was an important component of this temporary shelter. To put it bluntly, Sheyan was currently in a position where he could block more than 70% of the enemy attacks coming from the front!
Even though the number of enemies attacking them had not decreased, the Trolls were now more prepared for the attacks. They protected their heads with their hands and hunkered down with their butts raised high, like ostriches that buried their heads in the sand… Take the cunning Troll behind Sheyan, for example. It had been maintaining this position ever since it lost a leg, hoping to hang on and survive.
Fortunately, the contestants in the city had been merciful, and only the defending soldiers were still working hard, shooting waves after waves of arrows which covered the sky densely. However, these arrows that were lethal to ordinary humans were not very effective on Sheyan and the thick-skinned Trolls.
The only reason Sheyan had made an appearance here was because he was enticed by the ‘Hedgehog’ title. As soon as the pig-headed commander-in-chief gave the order to help the stranded army, Sheyan had immediately put on the armour of a common Orc warrior and charged in together with them.
Because Sheyan had no idea how strong the enemy attack would be, he was very cautious, taking every step with great care. In order to ensure that ‘Life-Link’ could be triggered in time and could persist longer, he held Reef back, asking him to play the role of a corpse and lay down somewhere nearby.
But all the hard work had been worth it. After a while of “performing”, the progress of his milestone had reached 822/5000! All this was thanks to the allure of the Trolls and the tireless shooting of the defending soldiers.
