Laughing At The Heavens raised his spear in the air as he yelled, "Brave warriors of Warsky Alliance, charge! We’ll show these grandsons from the Northern Alliance the might of the guild that’s ranked second in all of China! Defend the Windy Trail and stop them here! We won’t let them get past the northern part of the Dragonbone Mountain Range. Let’s tear their dreams of trampling over Wind City and Sky City into shreds!"

A group of Warsky Alliance fighters instantly raised their weapons in the air as they yelled, "We’ll contend with the heavens, war with men, and fight against destiny itself! The Warsky Alliance has never accepted the will of the heavens and we swear that we will fight these wretched invaders until our last breath! Charge!"

There were around 2000 players from Warsky Alliance, and all of them were Warsky’s crack troops. There were more than a few Level 150 sixth-promotion players here, but Warsky, Lin Bing Dou Zhe, and Hundred Battler weren’t among them. It looked like he hadn’t mobilized his crack troops yet, and that was hardly a surprise. No one would be willing to dispatch their ace units to battle when the Nation Wars had just started, because it was even possible that they wouldn’t be able to come online once they died. No one wanted to take that risk this early in the battle.

The 2000 elite riders followed behind Laughing At The Heavens as he dove into the Northern Alliance’s formation. All of them displayed the steely grit that Warsky himself was known for, as they welcomed the countless arrows and spells without flinching.

Tempest Shadow wasn’t lagging behind either. He was also leading a group of ragtag riders forward. As he waved his spear in the air, he yelled, "Charge! Defend the kingly dignity of Candle Dragon, the top guild in China! Let all the players in the China server witness the might of the people on the frontlines of our country! Candle Dragon! We are the indomitable scions of dragons! We are kings amongst men!"

The thunderous sound of hooves striking the ground filled the air as a few thousand riders under Candle Dragon’s banner started a fierce attack as well. They smashed into the Northern Alliance’s frontline with a resounding crash.

As he waited in a crowd of players, the Dawn Archer Frosty Night, one of the enemy’s Heroic Bannermen, grinned coldly. He yelled, "Fighters at the front, I want you to let them in! Let those riders from China enter our formation! Since they seem to be so anxious to see our power, let’s give them a good show!"

The players who were selected as Heroic Bannermen in the Northern Alliance were all famous and recognized players. As such, Frosty Night’s command elicited an instant reaction from the enemy forces. They instantly dispersed like the biblical Red Sea as they quickly allowed the five thousand riders from Warsky Alliance and Candle Dragon to pour into a small ravine that resembled the Windy Trail.

I cursed silently before I brandished my sword and yelled, "Laughing At The Heavens, Tempest Shadow, don’t fall for the enemy’s trap! They’re obviously trying to lure your forces into a confined area..."

Unfortunately, my words were too little, too late. Tempest Shadow urged his mount forward as he raised his sword high in the air. His intentions were as clear as day, he wanted to kill Frosty Night.

If he successfully killed this Heroic Bannerman, it would greatly raise the morale of our troops! However, this dumbass hadn’t realized that the opposite was also true! If he, a CGL Hall of Famer, got killed by the enemy, it would greatly impact the morale of our troops as well!

A large group of China players were following Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance’s lead. As they entered the "container" in the other ravine, Frosty Night immediately leapt on top of a boulder and raised his hand in the air as he yelled, "Attack! Kill them all! Wipe them off the face of the earth!"

A large group of Northern Alliance players instantly started attacking our riders. They obeyed Frosty Night’s command, regardless of their city or nationality. Countless balls of fire, spikes of earth, blades of wind, and arrows started falling on our troops. They had unwittingly pushed in too far, and they were now within the boundary of Vietnam’s Hot Sand City. A sea of red names greeted them as the area around them started to widen.

It was only then that the idiots who had charged into the enemy formation realized their fatal error. "Shit! We fell for it…"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Arrows exploded all over the battlefield as Galaxy Storms blasted players apart. It had only taken a single second for the enemy’s barrage of fire to kill more than a thousand of our players, and the scorched and bloodied battlefield was a terrible thing to behold. The enemy had at least ten times the number of players that we had, and our firepower simply couldn’t compare to theirs. Even the players from Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance weren’t faring much better. One of Candle Dragon’s cavalry units tried to brave that rain of fire, but even they lost huge chunks of their health bars in just a single instant.

……

"Fuck, we’ve been had!" Tempest Shadow’s face had gone completely ashen. This fellow had never been anything more than one of Candlelight Shadow’s best fighters. His tactical acumen wasn’t even a tenth of his glorious leader’s. He was competent enough to lead a charge, but he was completely outclassed by Frosty Night when it came to diversions, feints, and traps.

A player who was wearing a golden shield rushed out of the crowd of enemies. It was a Level 158 magic knight decked out in outstanding equipment. He had the features of a middle-aged man and South Korea’s flag was proudly swaying above his head. A mocking smile played across his lips as he said, "Melee fighters! Advance! Cut off their retreat! Kill them all! Don’t leave a single one of them alive!"

A blood-red flag was strapped to his back. Another Heroic Bannerman had appeared! This player’s ID was "Enlightened Heart" and he was another player from Korea.

Even as he shouted that command, Enlightened Heart flew forward, and a group of Korean fighters charged in along with him.

"Fuck! Do you think I’m scared of you dullards?" Tempest Shadow raged as he raised his spear high in the air. "Comrades! Heroes who share a common goal! Charge! Let’s teach these retards a lesson they’ll never forget! We’ll show them what Candle Dragon is made of!"

Tempest Shadow activated Resolute as he charged in with his men. Riders from both sides collided into each other, the sound of metal smashing into metal reverberating in the air. The telltale light of Barrier Break repeatedly shone in the air as players skewered each other willy-nilly. It was a reckless and crazy way of fighting and neither side gained any advantage from this exchange of blows.

Many players had been toppled off their mounts, but the Northern Alliance also had a huge army of long-range players supporting their frontline fighters, so they already had a natural advantage there. Things started to look grim as Candle Dragon and Warsky Alliance’s losses started to mount.

I rushed toward the battle as I used Tenacity of the Dead and Regeneration of the Undead to restore my health!

Bang!

As I rode by, I slashed my sword at a bunch of Northern Alliance warriors. Three of them got hit by the sword energy that shot out of my blade and were sent tumbling backward. The Phantom Wolf King soared in and tore into the three vulnerable warriors, every swipe of its claw taking a life. When I reached the other side of the map, I immediately received a system notice.

Ding~!

System Notice; You have entered a Nation War map—Hot Sand City (Vietnam)!

……

Fucking hell, this place is not only included in the territory of Vietnam’s main city, it is also very near Sunset City and Burning City. No wonder there are so many Vietnamese and Korean players here.

A brilliant explosion of light erupted close to me. The Korean magic knight, Enlightened Heart, had thrust his sword into Laughing At The Heavens’ chest! It was a showdown between a Heroic Bannerman and a CGL Hall of Famer!

17263!

Laughing At The Heavens had just eaten a Barrier Break, but he immediately struck back with a flurry attack! Unfortunately for him, those three strikes only elicited a cold smile from Enlightened Heart. Sparks flew in the air as Laughing At The Heavens’ spear struck his chest, but it dealt less than 20000 damage altogether. Furthermore, 20000 HP wasn’t even 10% of Enlightened Heart’s total health, meaning his health pool exceeded 200000!

"Huh?"

Laughing At The Heavens gasped in shock. He hurriedly retracted his spear, but Enlightened Heart was one step ahead of him. His hand shot out to grab the haft of the spear as he swiftly lashed out with his blade three times. The sound of metal screeching against metal rang in the air as Enlightened Heart’s blade landed on Laughing At The Heavens’ neck. It was only a simple flurry attack, but it had dealt nearly 50000 damage to the hapless magic knight!

"Damn it, I’m fucked!"

Laughing At The Heavens’ face went pale. He only had about 100000 HP altogether, so there was no way he could endure this kind of abuse. He immediately leaned forward and smashed an armored fist into Enlightened Heart’s chest. It was only then that he managed to wrest his spear free from the Korean magic knight’s grasp. He urgently wheeled his horse back after that, and he cut a very sorry figure as he turned tail and ran from his opponent.

It was at this moment that a beam of cold light exploded into Laughing At The Heaven’s chest. The Dawn Archer, Frosty Night, had finally made his move. He yelled, "Enlightened Heart, go in for the kill! Finish your headhunting mission! Let’s kill this CGL Hall of Famer and stick his head on a flagpole! We’ll parade it in front of all the Chinese players once the Nation War really begins!"

……

All color drained away from Laughing At The Heavens’ face. He finally realized just what sort of predicament he had gotten himself at this moment. This bunch of people were far stronger than he had imagined, and this was doubly true for these Heroic Bannermen of theirs. Their Attack, Defense, and HP were completely on par with the super experts in China!

"At The Heavens, hurry up and retreat! We’ll cover you!"

A high-level magic knight led a dozen fighters forward as they attempted to rescue Laughing At The Heavens. They cut in between Enlightened Heart and the dying knight, but three Galaxy Storms instantly engulfed them. This group of valiant riders had been killed in the very first exchange! The enemy mages were really uncommonly strong!

Thousands of our riders had died, and it hadn’t even been five minutes since our players charged into the enemy formation. There were less than a hundred survivors now and Laughing At The Heavens’ face had somehow managed to turn even paler. "We’re finished. How did this happen…"

He wildly galloped back toward our side of the map and his only goal right now was to escape with his life. He couldn’t let the enemy take his head as a war trophy! Laughing At The Heavens knew just how serious the situation was right now. It wasn’t that he was afraid to die, but he knew that the enemy would use the death of a CGL Hall of Famer to strike a huge blow against our players’ morale. Simply put, Laughing At The Heavens just couldn’t afford to die at this moment.

Pchht!

Bloody light flashed in the air, as something struck Laughing At The Heavens square in the back. The blow instantly caused him to stop moving. He had been stunned! An assassin wearing maroon leather armor suddenly appeared behind him. There was also a Heroic Banner strapped to his back. His dagger danced in the air three times as his Blade Vortex caused Laughing At The Heavens’ health to plummet!

"Die!"

Enlightened Heart flew forward, his sword splitting the air!

19902!

Laughing At The Heavens let out a loud wail as he sank to the ground. He really had become the first general to fall in the Nation Wars!

……

Tempest Shadow was being continuously pushed back on the other side of the battlefield. The enemy’s firepower was simply too fierce, and even a player as powerful as him had been pushed to under 20000 HP! The situation was growing more perilous by the second!

Enlightened Heart hadn’t even paused to gloat after he had killed Laughing At The Heavens. He immediately spurred his mount forward and attacked us from the rear. As he streaked toward Tempest Shadow, I realized that he attacked in a very unique manner. His sword slid in at an extremely weird angle as he shot a Barrier Break at Tempest Shadow’s back.

"Huh!?"

Tempest Shadow’s face went even paler but he only had enough time to turn around and take the blow on the chest. There was no way for him to block that strike.

Just as the sword was about to hit him, a cyan light suddenly struck it!

Clang!

After I parried Enlightened Heart’s attack with exquisite accuracy, I immediately positioned my horse in front of Tempest Shadow and yelled, "Hurry up and lead your people back into the Windy Trail. Stop trying to court death!"

"Alright!"

Even though Tempest Shadow was an arrogant and volatile man, he immediately gave his assent. This was because he was well aware that he simply wasn’t able to display any of his strengths on this battlefield right now. Without enough troops reinforcing him, there was no way for him to kill anyone.