"You think you can escape? Die!"

God of War roared and fired his Inferno Sixtuple Slash again.

I only had enough time to parry the first strike, but I exploited the powerful knockback force of the five remaining slashes to put some distance between myself and God of War. After I caught myself, I turned around and killed a group of people with Burning Blade Slash, restoring almost 80% of my HP in one go. As of now, there was no avoiding some amount of fighting.

Swhoosh!

A flash of light suddenly pricked my eyes amid the darkness. It was the assassin and Divine General, Shallow Sunlight, waving her daggers and executing her Divine General Skill, Disarm! I immediately moved away from her and flung the Purple Ying Sword at her. I was dead if she managed to Disarm me!

Bang!

Coiling Dragon Revolution easily pierced through Shallow Sunlight’s chest and killed her. Judging from the shock in her eyes, she must’ve found it difficult to believe that she didn’t even have the HP to survive one hit from me.

However, I had to neglect my back defense to kill Shallow Sunlight, and it turned out to be a fatal mistake. My heart turned cold when I saw Breeze and Rain dashing past me. Shit!

Swhoosh!

I wasn’t able to block or dodge his Soul Capture. After he successfully immobilized me, he immediately followed up with Blazing Slash + Moon Breaking Slash combo, shredding my chest and killing me where I stood.

I didn’t trigger Immortality, so I had no choice but to activate Resurrection Art and revive myself at the price of 1 level.

Pa pa pa! The second I came back to life, I dropped a dozen or so Ancient Seals around me, one-shot a ton of people and pushed Breeze and Rain back temporarily. Then, I continued running toward the north where Thunder Mountain Range lay. There was hope as long as I could reach it.

……

It wouldn’t be easy though. Horse hooves thundered behind me as God of War said, "Keep using Mountain Stagger Slashes and Mountain Stagger Arrows so he can’t get on his Ancient Divine Dragon. We will destroy the WEL MVP here and end his legend once and for all!"

A rain of arrows fell toward me, and a lot of them were Far Shot Skypiercers. Even with my movement speed, it was impossible to dodge all of them. The good news was dodging the attacks wasn’t my first priority. The Purple Ying Sword’s new 20% lifesteal had given me the power to tank a lot more hits than before!

Boom!

I killed a group of players with Thousand Ice Slash and pulled my HP past the 75% mark again. Then, I flung the Purple Ying Sword at God of War himself!

Chiang!

God of War managed to parry the skill, but both him and his mount were sent flying to the back. That was all I wanted. As long as a top-tier expert like God of War couldn’t approach me, I should be able to extend my life just a bit longer.

After I caught the returning Purple Ying Sword, I continued charging toward my destination while cutting down all the enemies standing in my way. While doing so, I checked my cooldowns and noted that Ancient Divine Dragon was just 3 minutes away from being mountable again.

Horse hooves thundered all around me, and Barrier Breaks kept thrusting toward me from every direction!

I ran and dodged and counterattacked with Burning Blade Slash, Thousand Ice Slash, War Crush, Coiling Dragon Revolution and more, leaving behind literal heaps of bodies along my path. One might even say that my path to freedom was literally paved by blood and corpses. Speaking of which, I had died twice to the enemy’s Barrier Breaks, but I was lucky enough to trigger Immortality both times and revive for free!

Soon, it was almost time for me to summon the Ancient Divine Dragon. Excitement began creeping into my limbs as I killed another group of enemies with Coiling Dragon Revolution.

Swhoosh!

Suddenly, a beautiful figure dashed toward me. She was none other than Flowing Cloud herself, and she looked furious. "You dare to deceive me?"

Her appearance distracted me for an instant, and that was all the time she needed to cut my neck, deal 132888 damage and cost me a level. Not only was I back to Level 207, the skill she used to kill me was called "Spirit Breaking Slash”. It was a skill that broke the target’s taming spirituality and prevented them from summoning any mount or pet for 3 minutes. What a terrible skill!

"Flowing Cloud!"

I roared as I smashed my sword into her own, knocking both her and her mount to the back. I glared at her with steely eyes and shouted, "I am a Chinese player, and that will never change! From the beginning, my goal was to take back the city map! If you think I lied to you, then I’ve repaid my debt to you with my earlier death! I will kill you if you come at me again!"

Flowing Cloud looked at me with sorrowful eyes. "Say whatever you want, Lu Chen. It will never change the fact that you’ve deceived someone who trusted you!"

I ignored her—I didn’t have the time to respond anyway since I was busy being knocked back by three magic knights—and fired Ancient Seal, stopping Flowing Cloud from approaching me. Now that I could focus on the magic knights in front of me, I proceeded to cut off their mounts’ legs and dropped them to their feet. I then killed them all with a follow-up strike.

Boom boom boom!

Galaxy Storms tore my surroundings. I continued to flee as the enemy pursued me.

All around me, the ridiculously powerful Beast King Cavalry and Divine Elephant Cavalry hit me with powerful skills again and again and dropped me to below 40%. Although I was able to drag myself away from death’s door again and again with the 20% lifesteal, there were just too many enemies and only one me. My HP kept hovering between 40% and 50%, and there was never a moment where I couldn’t die.

A bit of relief creeped into my heart when I looked up and finally saw the forest I was aiming for. As I rushed into the cover, God of War shouted from behind me, "All cavalry, dismount and give chase! Archers and mages, keep up with us!"

Boom boom boom...

The neverending Spiraling Arrow Blades crushed the vines and grass in the forest to bits and dealt much damage to me. I drank Saint Spirit Potion and kept running, but I was never able to escape combat state. Moreover, Flowing Cloud’s Spirit Breaking Slash was absolutely lethal in the sense that it delayed my mount summoning for at least another 180 seconds. That was 180 seconds too long considering the sheer quantity and quality of enemies who were chasing after me.

Rustle rustle...

Suddenly, an innumerable amount of red dots appeared in front of me and turned my heart as cold as ice. Fuck, it’s an ambush!

These Lightning Archers must’ve been lying in wait here since the very beginning. The trap was set from the moment I was led here and crowned the West King. If I truly joined the India server, then all was well. If I didn’t, then they were ready to shoot me to oblivion. In fact, I bet God of War wanted this to happen so he could kill me to Level 0 before kicking me out of the India server.

Twang twang twang! I desperately weaved and dodged between the lightning shots while cutting their numbers to size with Burning Blade Slash. However, the enemy was just too numerous, and it was only a matter of time before a tingling sensation erupted from my right arm and spread to my whole body. Shit! The lightning shots had paralyzed my body and drastically lowered my movement speed!

God of War arrived right on time to launch his Inferno Sixtuple Slash at me!

I gritted my teeth and allowed the skill to kill me. As I dropped another level, I grabbed the tip of his blade—enduring a searing pain while doing so—pulled him closer and retaliated with a devastating Burning Blade Slash + Barrier Break combo!

Pu pu pu...

It didn’t matter how good God of War’s equipment was, there was no surviving the full power of the four-hit combo. Just like that, the symbol of India let out a small groan and fell to the ground. There wasn’t a system announcement since this wasn’t a war, but it was still a psychological blow to anyone who saw their North King fall.

Normally, God of War would’ve put up a much better fight. His desire to kill me must’ve overridden his usual calm.

God of War wasn’t my only problem though. Breeze and Rain appeared behind his dead body and dashed past me. After hitting me with Soul Capture, he dropped me from full health to less than 10k HP with a Blazing Slash + Moon Breaking Slash combo.

Flowing Cloud appeared next and hit me with yet another Spirit Breaking Slash!

Swhoosh!

Thankfully, I triggered Immortality and revived again. I would’ve lost so many levels already if not for this skill.

……

The ice-cold Breeze and Rain moved away from me and vanished into a corner of the forest. He was a cruel and ruthless killer, and I had already died more than once by his hand. Just the same, Flowing Cloud had backed off and given me no chance to kill her after disabling my ability to mount. They were far stronger than any opponent that I had ever encountered up until this point.

Pa pa pa…

I dodged and waved in between the Lightning Archers even as I took their lives. At the same time, I had to watch out for Breeze and Rain’s assassination and Flowing Cloud’s Spirit Breaking Slash. Even Red Maple and Cyan Frost were following from a distance and waiting for an opportunity to hit me when I was down.

For a moment, I felt like I was one person fighting against the whole world.

My head was starting to feel a little dizzy. Pursuit battles like these where I was hunted were ridiculously exhausting. It hadn’t even been half an hour since the fight began, and I was already so tired that I could fall asleep on my feet.

……

Whoosh!

Eventually, I ran out of the forest and into a clearing. During this time, I had dropped to Level 205. If this continued, I would fall below level 200 for sure.

A troop of Divine Elephant Cavalry was already waiting for me at the front. Wild King unsheathed his great blade and shouted, "Divine Elephant Cavalry, charge! Destroy Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand!"

They charged toward me, but I met them without fear. Activating Great Earth Transformation, I slashed left and right and either killed or sent the Divine Elephant Cavalry flying. The next stretch of forest was just 200 meters away from me, and these weak cavalrymen didn’t possess the power to stop me.

Pa pa pa...

The battle was so fierce that my shoulder wound was still bleeding. Even after I revived with full health, blood continued to trickle down my shoulder and dripped on the grass beneath my feet. I welcomed it though. It was the only thing that made me feel like I was still alive, and that the tribulation I was going through now was worth it.

During the time I charged into the forest, Breeze and Rain killed me again, and Flowing Cloud landed yet another infuriating Spirit Breaking Slash. This girl wouldn’t stop until I was well and truly dead.

……

As I entered the forest, Dark Pupils informed me that the clearing beyond the forest was covered in red dots. There were so many of them that my heart felt as cold as ice. Just how many people had been sent after me? Have I truly become the enemy of the world?

Crack!

As I raced out of the forest though, what I saw confused me greatly. Everyone in front of me was a red name, but their banner was carrying a 5-star red flag. Wait a second, these are Chinese players!

The enemies behind me didn’t care that I was in a daze though. Breeze and Rain swung his sword at me while shouting, "Die!"

Chiang!

I was able to parry his attack, but I slid uncontrollably to the back until Yeye the Witch scored a hit on me and deleted my remaining HP. Just like that, I died yet again.

Wild King and Flowing Cloud dashed after me next. The storm of blades they weaved were both deadly and powerful!

Bang!

I blocked their attacks with the Dragon God Shield, but their combined strength was so much that I almost couldn’t stand on my feet. I abruptly dropped to one knee, rolled past their feet and deleted a huge chunk of mount tenacity in one go.

……

At the distance, Warsky abruptly unsheathed his blade and shouted, "Lu Chen, the traitor has become the West King of India. Kill him now and end his rebellion!"

On the other side, Gui Guzi abruptly raised his Spear of the Knight God and shouted just as loudly, "We Bloody Mercenaries are Broken Halberd Sinks Into Sand’s army! Touch a hair on his body, and I swear I’ll chase you to the ends of the world. I’ll kill you again and again until you’re Level 0. Just try me"!

Heaven and earth rumbled to a cacophony of horse hooves. The situation had spiraled completely out of control.