｢Purita – Sword

Rank: Divine

Durability: MAX

Effects:

Passive 1 – Extreme Finesse: The user is able to maximize their swordsmanship to an extremely high degree while in possession of the sword. The speed of attacks is raised by 120% while the critical rate is increased by 60% per strike.

Passive 2 – Sword Light: Every attack with this blade can summon the light of the blade, a wave that can extend for as far as 1 kilometer in any direction and can take any shape.

Active 1 – Condense: Concentrate all sword movements into one strike, unleashing every single sword-related skill or technique you have on a single target. The power of this skill depends on the number of sword skills/ techniques known by the user. Cooldown: 1 day.

Active 2 – Speed: This increases attack and movement speed by 300%. Duration: 10 minutes Cooldown: 7 days.

Description: This is the legendary sword Purita, a blade lost in the history of Boundless and one of the first 10 ever created at the hands of Great Blacksmith God, Hephaestus. It has the ability to grant the user full mastery over swordsmanship when wielded, and increase their speed greatly on demand.｣

Essence, Uno, Cobra, Boyd, and Kiran were left speechless when they looked at the details of the item. The five shared a look and suddenly felt sour in their hearts.

Why didn't we choose the sword as our weapon? Now, we have to watch as the item we fought for and discovered fairly would be taken away by someone else. It was a Divine Item! An actual Divine Item!

Apart from Draco and Eva, only Rina had one of those alright? And even that was gifted to her by Draco and Eva. This was the first item the core members of Umbra had found themselves with their own effort, and it left the five here feeling bittersweet.

"Well, now that we know none of us can enjoy this item… who do we give it to?" Cobra asked with a dry tone.

Uno and Boyd shared a look and shrugged. "Anyone who is worthy really."

Kiran was more thoughtful. "Our notable sword users are Slim Fatty, Deployed Soldier, and Rambunctious Buttlover."

Essence shook his head. "Slim Fatty already has skills that mimic those that this item gives, not to mention her swords are custom made by the Guildmaster to fit her class and abilities. Rambunctious also used the sword in passing, but hasn't learned any techniques. He just used it to slash at foes who have been stunned by his Bard skills."

Cobra then smiled. "As such, this only leaves our proud general, who I think still uses an Epic sword. Mm, not very fitting for the commander of our army, is it?"

The other four smiled as well, finally feeling that it wasn't so bad. After all, it was also the honor of Umbra and Vita to have their commander used a Divine item. Not only that, everyone trusted Deployed Soldier and his skills due to his personality and the fact that he was an actual soldier who was previously on duty.

If it wasn't for Akainu pulling some strings to get him brought back to the country, the fellow might still be on the battlefield risking his life in live warfare.

With that settled, Cobra, Uno, Boyd, and Kiran began executing the soldiers of the opposing army cruelly. Cobra would pierce different parts of their body and count down how long it took them to bleed to death as well as how painful it was.

He would then note these details down carefully, increasing his database of how to efficiently slaughter enemies. Uno simply tied his targets into a ball and used his bell hammer to hit them like golf balls, watching with anxiety whether they would strike the target he had drawn on the city walls.

Whether they hit the target or not, the outcome for these fellows was being turned into a bloody paste on the walls of their homeland, a great disgrace.

Boyd simply lined up to five men together and blindfolded them. He would then pause, breathe in deeply and center himself as he entered a zen state. Then, with two hands holding one large poleaxe, he would swing horizontally and cleave all five men at once.

When he did, he would roar with triumph. However, there were more than a few times when he would fail to get them all at once due to bad timing or improper technique, so the ones who had been cleaved partially would scream in agony at having half their body sliced open.

Boyd would then scratch his head and kill those fellows to end the pain before reflecting on his technique and trying again.

Kiran lay his targets on the ground and kneeled over them. He would then coat his finger with Noble Energy and press on certain acupoints of the body, sealing blood flow to that section.

Juno was currently teaching him where the various acupoints on the body lay and how they would affect a person in a battle or other situations. Neither mother nor son cared that their targets would thrash in utter agony when an acupoint was sealed, much less more, and died with their body exploding from stifled blood flow.

Juno had long been wanting to teach Kiran this, but monsters in the game did not have human acupoints, and targeting NPCs was difficult due to his status. She also didn't want her son to become a wanted criminal in the real world, so she rejoiced in the chance to use these fellows as a blackboard to teach her darling boy.

The various players who had come to assist Umbra in the war watched on with pale faces, their eyes filled with horror. No one dared to even record this scene, for they knew the implications of crossing Umbra.

Even if the World Council had implemented laws to protect NPCs, that only depended on whether people would report abuses to NPCs. Even then, people still did what they wanted for the most part.

Not to mention that this was war. Purita had been given a chance to surrender and refused it, now they couldn't even if they wanted to because all their leaders were largely dead.

Essence himself simply placed his halberd across his lap as he sat with his legs crossed and his eyes closed. He found the actions a bit too much for his taste, but he wouldn't berate his fellow core members.

After all, they were Draco's closest generals and they technically ranked above him, so there was no need to offend them.

Soon, a huge group of airships came over and the army made a landing zone for them. When the airships parked the survivors of the war boarded them and returned to the Rank 7 Barracks with the rest of the army.

The moment they left, they began cheering and celebrating, salivating at having their merits calculated and enjoying those sweet, sweet rewards from Umbra. The various massacres from before left their minds easily.

Who had time to focus on the past when there was loot in the future?!

At this time, Deployed Soldier and Sublime Notion who had been watching a livestream of the war within the Rank 7 Barracks were smiling.

"As expected, Mr. Davis, your tactics brought us an easy victory. I will now send delegates to the various defeated kingdoms to negotiate their terms of surrender as well as their acquisition." Sublime said with a giggle.

Deployed Soldier smiled calmly. "Miss Mary, it is only what I should do as commander. I leave everything from here in your capable hands."

The duo then left to accomplish their various tasks. Deployed Soldier had to calculate the various merits and handle dispensation of rewards, while Sublime had to handle the diplomatic outcomes of the war and follow proper political protocol.

Soon, the accumulated goodies Umbra had been holding onto but didn't know what to do with were slowly cleared out. This excited players and relieved Umbra, for they were not like those factions that hogged goods in treasuries for centuries.

They were only interested in the good stuff and cared less about lesser things. Common and Uncommon items were usually sold right away at the Intermediate Trade Center for funds for the guild, while Rare things were kept for those who had yet to acquire Epic items.

The total amount of survivors from the internal army were 99,920 of the 100,000 troops. However, their families were reassured that they would be resurrected once Lady Hikari returned from her trip, so there was no intense mourning.

As for the 22 million players, only about 2.3 million were left. The rest had long taken away what they could with their consolation merit points along with whatever they had earned in battle.

Once players saw that Umbra wasn't bluffing and actually allowed them to redeem this stuff, many dearly regretted no taking part. Even if they couldn't eat the meat, they could at least drink the soup, right?

As such, many eyes were on Umbra to see when they would hold the next war, but Umbra was planning to enter a period of development. They had to consolidate the land they had just acquired and expend properly.

You might think they had wasted a lot of stuff giving out to players, but it was all a devious long-term plan devised by Sublime. By giving players such items, she would be lifting Umbra's credibility and strengthening the player base.

In the next few months until the next call, these reward players would be able to kill more monsters, gaining more experience more loot, and more money with ease. Then, they would naturally come and spend it in the best Kingdom in the world, Vita.

Also, Vita could recoup any losses as long as they had more land. More land meant more plots, which meant more rent charges. Also meant more spaces for residences, where they could sell them out at horrific prices for others.

In fact, they had long topped taking raw platinum as the sea route brought in more than enough of that. Now, Sublime cleverly only accepted useful materials or items, which would be tossed in the treasury for situations like this.

Deployed Soldier soon handled all that, while around this time. Sublime had invited the delegates of four Kingdoms to her office in the Aether Castle. Coming here and feeling the benefits of Vita directly, these fellows were subdued and amazed, harboring thoughts of deserting their homeland to live here.

Sublime sat before them with a serene smile. She pushed her glasses up and signaled to Hera who was her assistant to bring some documents over. Seeing these two shorties who were barely the height of the average man's waist, the delegates were speechless.

Did Vita appoint two little girls as their leaders? Seriously?

Sublime smiled as if she could read their thoughts, but did not comment on them. Rather than that, she simply gazed at the four delegates, two of who were men and two were women.

The delegate from Farfrifa was a dark-skinned man who had a craggy beard, the delegate from Fortitudo was a tall Caucasian fellow with a buzz cut, while the delegate from Megane was a tall lady with round-rimmed glasses.

As for the final delegate, they were from Purita, a beautiful mature woman who silky silver hair and green eyes. She was the only one openly showing hostility and had her nose up in the air.

"Greetings, Mr. Dumelo, Mr. Cory, Miss Yuno, and Empress Dowager Lan Mei. Welcome to the land of Vita, the most desired destination in the entire world." Sublime greeted shamelessly.

While the other three delegates could only whine in their heats, Lan Mei only sneered. However, she didn't dare rebut because it was a simple truth. She just didn't like hearing it.

"Now, let's discuss the terms of your surrender. In order to make things fair, we have drafted uniform terms for all of you. Please take a look." Sublime stated as she handed them a document each.

While they looked through, the lolitician began explaining. "Firstly, you will pay 70% of your kingdom's total accrued wealth to Vita as reparations for the damages caused to us during this long and drawn-out war. We lost a grand total of 80 men and if we don't bury their families with money, how can they stop crying?"

"Secondly, all land within the Unity Area Zone becomes property including that in which your kingdoms reside. Here, you have two choices, either become vassal states of Vita with your autonomy mostly guaranteed, or migrate."

"Thirdly, all your accumulated knowledge in the form of techniques, legacies, and whatnot will be forever open to Umbra and Vita, even those you create later."

"Fourthly, every 10 years, your empires will pay 90% of your income as a tribute to Vita for allowing you to enjoy our boons. As you should have guessed, becoming vassal states means that your entire kingdom suddenly gets to enjoy what even top factions paid top dollar for."

"The rest of the terms are listed there, but are mostly petty things. I'll give you 5 minutes to make your decisions dear delegates, as my time is not endless." Sublime finished with a playful smile.

The four delegates shook, as it felt like they were holding not a piece of paper, but a burning flame in their hands. Their eyes became red as they read and re-read the horrifying terms listed within, their hearts falling to dead ashes.

Of course, their expression also changed when they heard what Sublime said. The female delegate from Megane hurriedly asked.

"Administrator Sublime, is what you said true? That the benefits of Vita would affect the entirety of our kingdoms if we become vassal states?"

The other gazed at Sublime with bated breaths. The Lolitician nodded with a bright smile that would warm the hearts of anyone who looked on. She was just too adorable like this.

However, the delegates of Farfrifa, Fortitudo, and Megane didn't have the mind to notice this. Instead, they were incomparably excited at the chance given them. Just as they were about to agree, they realized something.

With the kind of benefits Vita offered, forget their little kingdoms in some random Area Zone, even top Divine Empires might run over to beg. So why did Vita bother to launch a war on them?

It had to be known, when Sublime had sent the first missive that she was claiming the Area Zone, she had not mentioned any of this, so the kingdoms had rightfully assumed that they were being told to migrate.

But if they were going to make them choose like this, why not say so before?? The whole war could have been avoided without the need to lose so many troops.

The three delegates then looked at Sublime in confusion, wanting to verify their doubts through her, but they suddenly saw the lolitician smiling with her eyes narrowed. Immediately, the delegates felt their hearts chill as they understood.

The war was not necessary, both sides knew this, yet Vita had gone on with it because they had also been confident that it would be impossible for them to lose. In other words, they had merely used their kingdoms as foils to show off their brilliance, and the lives of all those soldiers had been used like decorations to place on themselves.

If they had come to make these kingdoms vassals, sure they would have accepted, but it would not have been the same. Without war, the kingdoms would have felt favored and slightly arrogant as well as less reverent of Vita itself.

They would boast and brag to others about how Vita had offered them to become vassals and how their kingdoms were flourishing under its benefits.

With the war though, the kingdoms had effectively lost a huge amount of wealth and military force, if not all. Not even factoring how the terms of surrender demanded all their current wealth and continuous payment of future income too…

However, when the minds of the delegates reached here, they made certain connections and their brains almost exploded. They now understood the true motive behind Vita's actions.

They were raising a farm!

They planned to turn their kingdoms into money farms for them to make income without putting in any effort. The income of any territory that benefits from boons like Vita would explode crazily, especially for goods and services, but there was only one Vita Kingdom at the end of the day.

They could expand their space, but it also costs money to expand in certain aspects not to mention it took great amounts of time to stabilize those areas. Making a kingdom migrate took a herculean amount of time and effort that would benefit no one.

So why not keep them there, remove their fangs and spirit, then turn them into willing and obedient money farms for eternity?

The delegates snapped out of their horror when Sublime began humming happily, gazing at them with bright hazel eyes that gleamed in the light of the sun. At this point, all the will and hopes of the three delegates bled away as they knew they had been so severely played that they had no hope of escaping from the start.

As such, what could they do other than agree?

However, the Empress Dowager of Purita who had been silent all this while put the document down and declared coldly. "Purita will migrate."

This shocked the other delegates, as they could understand why this woman would be so foolish. Their kingdom especially had been on the cusp of becoming an empire. With Vita's boons, they would have been able to enjoy this status sooner rather than later.

Sublime's eyes narrowed. "If that is your choice, stick with it. Vita will not help you in any way, but you will pay up the other terms stated regardless."

Lan Mei sneered. "That is my problem and not yours. Good day!"

With that, she stormed out of the place, the other three delegates also bowing to Sublime servilely before leaving. As Sublime was contemplating what to do next, a system announcement was made that shook the entire playerbase.

｢Boundless System-wide Announcement

The average skill level of the player base has increased far beyond the predicted margin calculated by the system. As such, the system has decided to perform three actions;

1. Open the Area, Continental, and World Leaderboard.

2. Open the Universal Rankings.

3. Begin the planned event, The First Inter-Player International Games of Boundless World.

Thank you all for playing so far!｣