My surroundings turned dark after I stepped into Eternal Song Forest.

My Dark Wasp had incredible movement speed at Level 62, and it kept blitzing left and right like a lightning bolt. However, it was clearly lacking in discipline despite being a boss-tier pet—how dare it fly in front of its master!

“Ahem…”

The Dark Wasp instantly understood my meaning and returned to my side, flying behind me with a dejected look. Hmph hmph, you’re only allowed to take the lead when you’re acting as cannon fodder. Just like how the news anchor never announces the section chief before a bureau chief.

……

Suddenly, the Dark Wasp buzzed loudly. It seemed to be warning me about something!

Clang!

I pulled out my sword and observed my surroundings carefully. It seemed like we had entered into the inner section of the forest.

Pu!

A black figure burst out of the ground in front of me without warning. When the dust settled, I noticed that it was a high-level warrior clad in black metal armor and holding a sword. Glaring at me with its blood red pupils, the Night Creature with terrible breath shouted angrily, “How dare you intrude upon my territory, you filthy animal! Die!”

As I beat a hasty retreat, I quickly realized that I couldn’t see its stats.

Undead Swordsman of Eternal Song (Elite)

Level: 70

Attack: ???

Defense: ???

HP: ???

Skills: Slayer Slash, Enhanced Bones, Regeneration of the Undead

Introduction: A devil that lurks atop the ruins of the Violet Empire. Forever alert, these undead swordsmen hide beneath the ground to ambush any distant traveler that enters their territory. They forbid anyone from entering the ruins of the Violet Empire.

……

Fuck! This mob has the same class as me?

That being said, my skills seemed to be much stronger than his. One, Slayer Slash was a pretty shoddy offensive skill at my level. Two, the enemy undead swordsman didn’t have Ghost Deity Armor, a skill that greatly enhanced one’s Defense and could’ve given me a lot of trouble. Three, Regeneration of the Undead was a percentage-based regeneration skill. The higher one’s max HP, the more useful the skill became, so Regeneration of the Undead was most useful when a player’s max HP reached tens of thousands. Until then, its usefulness was situational at best, and nonexistent at worst!

I ordered the Dark Wasp to block the undead swordsman before putting 5 yards between me and the enemy. Then, I used Charge and unleashed Ice Ray and Slayer Slash while the mob was stunned!

Swhoosh!

789!

943!

The numbers weren’t bad at all. Enhanced Bones alone probably added 100 points to the enemy’s Defense, so the fact that I still managed to do over 800 damage per attack was a testament to my extraordinary strength.

A Level 70 elite mob had about 25% more stats than a common mob of the same type. Therefore, I should treat this battle with caution. It would be embarrassing if I died here because I was overconfident and careless.

As I thought, the enemy’s weapon suddenly glowed green right after the stun was over. It was the prelude to Slayer Slash!

Puchi!

The bone sword hit the Dark Wasp hard in the head and elicited a terrible screech from it.

985!

Tsk tsk, what amazing Attack!

I hurriedly ordered the Dark Wasp to back off a bit. Then, I took its place and attacked the undead swordsman with all I got. The moment 6 seconds were up, I unleashed my second attack combo, Pardon and Desperate Gambit! By now Desperate Gambit was Rank 6, meaning that my attack was boosted by a whopping 60%! It didn’t take a rich imagination to know how powerful the attack was going to be!

MISS!

2459!

Hell yeah! If I were to say that this elite undead swordsman had impressive Attack, then my own was straight off the charts!

That wasn’t to say that the elite mob wasn’t giving me any trouble, though. It hit me twice in a row and shaved over a thousand HP from my health bar, so I had no choice but to stick the Dark Wasp in its face again before continuing the murder!

The Level 70 mob had 14000 HP, so the fight actually lasted for almost a minute. A bit of excitement actually started creeping into my limbs as the mob grew weaker and weaker...

Crack!

Finally, my sword flew across the elite mob’s neck and took its life!

“Ah! I will come back to life and take revenge, you lowly worm!”

Fuck, I can’t believe this undead swordsman didn’t forget to trashtalk me even during its final moments!

Pop!

The undead swordsman dropped a Big Magic Stone and nothing else. The chances of an elite mob dropping an item were pretty high, but this one yielded nothing at all. I guess my luck is a bit cloudy today.

I opened my hand and executed Death Plunder, and a broken armor piece was all I got. Wow, what a useless piece of trash, literally and figuratively.

I moved on to absorb the elite mob’s undead soul spark, and strength suddenly filled the entirety of my chest. Now this was befitting of its elite status! Even ten sparks of Level 70 common mobs wouldn’t compare to this one elite’s Soul Spark of the Undead!

Right now I was a Bone General; just one stage away from the legendary Asura. I couldn’t even imagine how happy I would be once I became an Asura and my body was finally remade!

I worked harder and actively searched for the next elite undead to kill. Not only did they yield powerful soul sparks, the experience they gave was massive as well. My experience had risen visibly after the kill, and there was nothing more pleasurable than watching one’s experience bar increasing!

As I thought, it didn’t take long for me to run into another elite undead swordsman. I had already recovered to full health, and the Dark Wasp was almost fully recovered as well. It was the perfect time for a battle!

Looking at the time, I concluded that I could kill one elite undead swordsman every 3 minutes or so. From an EXP grinding perspective, this wasn’t slow at all!

……

Over half an hour later, I had taken out about a dozen of the elites. However, unable to hold back my curiosity any longer, I allowed my feet to bring me to the orange-red color region on the map. I had to check out the Blood Dance Alliance, or the itch in my heart wouldn’t go away!

I killed another two elite mobs on the way before I got extremely close to the orange-red region. I pulled apart the leaves that were blocking my vision, and suddenly I was looking at rows and rows of camps on a flat plains. The outer edge of the campsite was surrounded by tough-looking wooden fences, and it looked like daytime even from a distance because lamp fire was everywhere. Occasionally, a neigh or two would break out from somewhere inside the camp. Now this was what a powerful army should look like!

A short distance away, I could see a dozen or so sentries on the lookout for any signs of disturbance or danger. They all wore the same line of text above their heads: “Blood Dance Alliance Soldier”!

I knew it. This was a large camp of the Blood Dance Alliance!

I hurriedly ran up to the sentries. Man, it feels so good to be home! After killing my own trainer and wandering aimlessly for a while, I had finally found a new faction to join!

However, I didn’t make it too far before two Blood Dance Alliance Horsemen rode up to me, making sure to block me from the front and behind. They yelled, “Who are you?”

I pulled out the Ghost Ice Soul, my weapon glinting with cold, malicious intent. Ever since I was reborn, I swore that I would never allow anyone to bully me ever again, so how dare these motherfucking NPCs bark orders at me. They must be tired of living!

“Great warriors, I’m just passing by…” The words slipped out of my mouth before I could control myself. I had never resented my own cowardice more than that moment.

Suddenly, an imposing voice reached us from a distance.

“Wait. Who is this person? Bring him to me!”

……

A female NPC clad in blood-red armor and a fiery cloak walked out of the camp. She had blood-red pupils and lively long hair. Her sword at the ready, she approached us, her majestic and beautiful aura unable to be concealed. What really surprised me however, was the name floating above her head: “Blood Dance Magnificence Sophia”!

I rubbed my eyes and looked again, but there was no mistake. The beautiful female warrior standing in front of me was none other than the supreme commander of the Blood Dance Alliance, Blood Dance Magnificence Sophia!

One of the horsemen rode up to her before rolling off the saddle and kneeling on one knee. He said respectfully, “Your Majesty, an undead swordsman has appeared inside the camp. I suspect that he is a spy of the Night Creatures from Floating Ice City!”

Sophia waved off his suspicion and said indifferently, “You shouldn’t jump to conclusions before confirming the facts. Bring him to me!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

Still holding my sword, I was herded in front of Sophia by the NPC soldiers. I watched her calmly, but I couldn’t see her stats or her level; it must be way higher than mine.

“Speak, undead. Why have you come to this place?” Queen Sophia asked coolly.

I replied in a calm tone, “I am here because I wish to join the Blood Dance Alliance.”

“Oh? And why would you want to join us?”

“Because I have nowhere else to go.”

“And why is that?” Sophia didn’t let up in the slightest.

“I’m an undead, Your Majesty. The Holy Priests of the Silver Moon Alliance wouldn’t tolerate my existence. Besides that, I killed Undead Swordsman Suren who resided at Frost Mound, so I’m a traitor to the Night Creatures. That is why I have nowhere else to go, and why the Blood Dance Alliance is my only choice left.”

“I see…” Sophia suddenly stared at my eyes and asked, “You used to be a member of Frost Mound, weren’t you? Suren must be your trainer then. Why did you kill him?”

I clenched my fists involuntarily before replying in a cold tone, “I killed him because I wish to protect lives that shouldn’t be harmed. I don’t wish to see the killing spread any more than it already has!”

A hint of gladness immediately glinted Sophia’s eyes. She smiled at me and said, “In that case, welcome to Blood Dance Alliance, young undead. From here on, you are one of us!”

Sophia walked up to me and put her hand on my shoulder. Then, she said in a solemn tone, “Oh slumbering laws and powers, I, Sophia, Blood Dance Magnificence, am willing to bestow upon him the right to live and rise above all the slaughter, desires, power and abuse. For the World Tree’s revival, and for no more lives to be lost in this cruel world!”

Swoosh!

A golden light rushed to the air, and the dazzling emblem of the Blood Dance Alliance appeared on my shoulder. I was finally with a faction again, and since the Blood Dance Alliance was a neutral faction, it should no longer be too much of a problem for me to enter cities. If I was lucky, I might even be able to trade with some Night Creature NPCs! Anyway, an opportunist like me goes whichever way the winds of profit blow!

It was at this moment a beautiful figure leaped out of the forest and landed almost soundlessly inside the camp. It was clear that the unknown person was incredibly nimble. She was an archer with a longbow behind her back.

“Huh? It’s you?”

The newcomer looked very surprised to see me, and I could say the same to her myself. It was none other than the female NPC I rescued back at Violet Forest, Shadow Dancer Xue Wei!

Xue Wei looked pleasantly surprised to see me. Sophia couldn’t help but ask her, “Xue Wei, you know this person?”

“Yes, Your Majesty!” Xue Wei turned to face her liege with a smile. “Your Majesty, he is the Night Creature warrior I told you before, the one who helped me back at Violet Forest…”

“Heh, that’s great! In that case, I’ll leave him in your hands!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

…...

Xue Wei smiled at me. “Our camp is facing a huge problem right now, and we can use your help. Are you free right now?”

“Of course!”

I nodded happily. It hadn’t been a minute since I joined the alliance, and a quest had landed in my lap already!