Surviving The Fourth Calamity

38: Chapter 38: The Players Incomprehensible to the Natives 38: Chapter 38: The Players Incomprehensible to the Natives Every night when he returned to the Magic Tower, Hill would get in touch with Fran.

Besides finding out about the situation in the Capital and the South, Fran also hoped to hear that Hill hadn’t been driven mad by the players.

He genuinely felt that there was something off about the Undead Tribe’s nerves.

After getting to know the players a bit over time, Hill gradually pieced together their skill panels.

Even for Mages, it was only possible to cultivate skills from two elements at the same time, and the players seemed to prefer Fire Element combined with another.

Although they could only use up to 20 skills, the rich variety of combinations made their battles spectacular and fun.

The players only had two ways to fight each other, one was to kill indiscriminately, which seemed to lead to being marked red.

If this happened in Hill’s territory, they would be immediately shot down by arrow towers.

The other was to declare faction war, which allowed the system to set a specific area for them to battle it out.

Now, the most bustling and eye-catching event was the city siege of the Undead Tribe.

Not only did many Mages from Saral float in the air to watch, but also many people from Haifasardo’s side came over.

They even brought out Airships.

Although they didn’t dare to enter the defensive zone of the Border City of Saral, they reported on it daily.

In fact, Local Mages had now realized that the Undead used their skills in a rigid way, with long casting times, and many of the Undead were very willing to loudly announce the names of the skills they were about to use.

In a real fight, one Local Mage could take on ten members of the Undead Tribe.

But they were numerous.

With over a million Professionals, although only a little more than half participated in this city siege, the number was still staggering.

The Undead Tribe was also very fond of Fire Element Spells, and they would set entire cities ablaze without hesitation.

The people of Saral found the Fire Walls cast by tens of thousands to be terrifying, not to mention the people from Haifasardo.

Not to mention their Magisters who also took to the field directly, with thousands joining hands to cast Molten Meteor, tens of thousands of huge lava balls just slammed down on the heads of their own kind, scaring many people to madness.

Haifasardo certainly didn’t have as many Magisters to defend, and they couldn’t sustain a Magic Barrier strong enough to withstand the onslaught with just Elemental Crystals.

It required Magisters to directly input Magic Power.

If before the war, there were ordinary villagers near the player territories who were reluctant to leave, now within a thousand miles in that area, not even animals were left.

Perhaps because he knew the people from Black Rose and was close by, Fran sneaked over to watch several times.

Although it wasn’t as savage as next door, it was shocking enough for him.

The Swordsman of Black Rose formed a Dare to Die Squad that would periodically charge at the opposite camp to instantly kill Priests with their ultimate moves.

Fran returned with a wry smile, saying that one probably wouldn’t see that many Priests die at the same time in their lifetime.

This type of irreversible combat strategy could only be developed by a race unafraid of death; once a significant number of Priests were killed, the Mages on the walls would rain down Flame Spells, wiping out a large number of Knights and Swordsmen in one go.

Then the Knight Corps would charge out again to kill the remaining wounded Mages.

During the siege, with tens of thousands using Earthquake Technique and Molten Meteor at the same time, the defenders on the walls couldn’t always maintain their footing, and each time the protective barrier broke, it was extremely dangerous for the defenders.

But the Priest Corps of Black Rose stood at the very back, with thousands of Archbishops leading the Ten Thousand Troop, who could basically hold the line.

As long as they couldn’t wipe out the defenders on the walls in one go, the Magic Barrier would quickly be reactivated.

It sounded easy, but when everyone could resurrect, it turned into a war of attrition.

The Undead could fight from morning to the deep night with fiery enthusiasm; but the observing Locals were deeply affected.

Fran watched a few times and then stopped going; battles where Magisters became expendables deeply disturbed him.

But back in his own territory, he could see a portion of the Undead that loitered every day, playing with cats and dogs, completely indifferent to the life-and-death struggle of their kin elsewhere.

Fran truly felt that Hill’s previous decision for them to keep a distance from the Undead Tribe was extremely correct.

They could interact with this race, but it was better to not develop deeper bonds; too much contact would cause Fran to feel like he was going bald.

So now what worried him the most was his soft-hearted sibling, Hill.

So he made contact daily to make sure Hill wasn’t getting too chummy with the Undead.

Hill was frustrated but couldn’t complain; how could he possibly become close friends with people who treated him as an NPC?

Even a paper-thin character has his pride, alright!

But he understood Fran’s concerns.

After all, he was his only family, and the chaotic situation of the players was indeed something that could easily worry an elder, so he dutifully communicated with Fran every day.

Hill didn’t care about the players’ defense battle; to the Locals it looked intense, but a strife unrelated to life or death was just so-so to him.

Making the opponent suffer seemed more important than killing them in the sort of war that Fran and the rest could never understand.

Anyway, no matter how fierce the fight was it wouldn’t prevent them from facing the enemy together.

When the formal campaign started, even if they held each other back, they would first strike at the Noble Coalition.

It’s just that sometimes, in the tug of war, one city might be lost due to too much force being used.

But they had the numbers; retaking it wouldn’t be an issue.

It was William in the Capital, however, who really made a big move.

Angered Great Nobility joined forces and truly assembled at a large mine to stop William’s Army from entering.

William ordered the attack without hesitation, not leaving any room for negotiation.

This was despite the fact that among the united Nobles was the family of his maternal grandfather.

And after taking the mine, he moved straight on to the Noble’s castles, with the only concession being the banishment of the surrendered Nobles from the country.

The Spencer Family remained silent during this time; William had not withdrawn the Nobles’ subordinates from the Northern Border City.

He even dispersed several of his maternal uncles, who belonged to different branches of the family, to other Border Cities.

Lord Hill felt that the North border would become very chaotic in the future.

He hoped that the Nobles going out would be smart enough to stay as far away from Saral as possible.

However, these Nobles had not even gone to Haifasardo in the South, which showed they still had some spine.

When he mentioned this to Adrian, Adrian laughed loudly at his stupidity, “Fool!

With William defeated, they can naturally return, even though there aren’t many benefits, at least they don’t have to be taken advantage of by Haifasardo’s people in their time of weakness and sign unbearable contracts.

If William had won, going to Haifa would have meant being expelled together, and then who knows where they would be chased off to!”

Adrian’s family, although dealt with, was a bit far from the Capital.

The rebellious Nobles upfront had given them a profound lesson; they obediently accepted their punishment.

Even though they lost a large amount of money and all their slaves were taken away, from then on they could only live honestly on their lands, relying on the fields and merchant caravans for sustenance, but at least they still retained their titles and lands, not to mention their lives were also preserved.

No matter how many backups they had prepared, to be able to protect their family without regrets was worth celebrating.

Adrian sent back a large sum of money very happily and paid off the last bit of debt he owed to his family.

Adrian has been in such high spirits recently, Hill forgave him for calling him a fool, “Dear brother Adrian, are there any new potions for sale recently?”

“Don’t learn from those Undead!” Adrian snapped.

Initially, he thought he was very successful in engaging in small talk and was quite pleased with the feeling of being surrounded by coquettish girls.

But soon he realized that to those Undead female players, he was not as valuable as a newly made potion by a teacher.

Most likely, these bewitching and cute girls would call him ‘brother’ to his face, but in their hearts, they would be calling him a fool.

He no longer stayed in the Potion Shop now, but spent every day diligently training in the Magic Tower.

Hill really wanted to say that the Undead girls wouldn’t curse him in their hearts at all.

After all, they only thought this NPC was handsome and dashing, charming and easy to talk to.

But he chose to remain silent on this matter.

The attitude of players towards NPCs is actually quite strange.

Now the smarter folks in Saral keep their distance from the Undead, sensing the Undead’s aloof attitude, as if they could leave at any moment.

Most people follow William’s attitude towards the Undead, treating them as a mercenary force worthy of respect.

One should be friendly in their approach, speak peacefully.

If there is a need, offer more money; do not think of defaulting on debts.

And certainly, do not attempt to take the Undead under one’s wing.

Even William, who had called them over, never had such a grand idea.

Others should not challenge themselves.

If you can’t give up, you might as well see the tragic end of Great Nobility who have tried to buy off High-level Undead during this period.

They issued countless missions worth more than their asking prices to the Undead staying in their lands, gritting their teeth while forking over so many resources!

The Undead accepted it all, yet not one stood by these Nobles when William’s Knight Corps arrived.

The greatest conscience displayed was helping neither side, simply standing by and watching from the outskirts.

But the vast majority simply turned around to join William’s Faction before even wiping their mouths after feasting.

When angrily accused, they asked the Nobles in shock, “You paid, we took on the mission, didn’t we?

Does anyone really think we would betray our Main God for a little bit of money from you?”

No one knows if these Nobles died of fury, but from then on, probably no one would think the Undead are greedy or easy to sway with money.

Everyone understood that no matter the reasons for the Nobles’ attempts to seduce the Undead, as long as the God’s favor remained, the Undead would only serve William.

In fact, it’s rare for God-favored Races to be tempted by outsiders, but the usual behavior of the Undead always seemed to present an opportunity.

They loved money, indulged in passion, enjoyed watching the excitement, and had a temper so volatile, exposing so many weaknesses that many people were tempted to take a stab.

But the outcomes were always tragic.

After all the hustle and bustle, the people of Saral ended up concluding that even if the Undead seemed the least like a God-favored Race, the result was the same.

They were mocked mercilessly by those watching from the sidelines.

After hearing all this news, Hill just wanted to bury his head in his books.

Actually, he was certain that the Undead’s underwear could not be taken off, given that those foolish players always had some odd hobbies, like wanting to streak.

In front of Lord Hill’s Mansion, there were always players who lost bets, stripping down their gear and running in circles.

Thankfully, they were not foolish enough to run outside of the village.

When Olivia saw this scene for the first time, her face turned ashen, her body shivered, and amidst the thunderous laughter of the Undead, she barely managed to keep her composure as she walked quickly back to the church.

Since then, she made sure to keep away from the small square whenever she went out.

Luckily, the players did not want to lower her favorability, otherwise, they would undoubtedly try to make her feel uncomfortable in front of her.

Even Hill, who did not bat an eye when seeing naked Undead females, did not attract much teasing.

Some players deliberately asked in front of Hill, to which he simply responded with an expressionless face, saying he knew that the Undead’s gender might not be the same as their original.

Then the crowd dispersed without interest.