Game’s Dogma

‘Moonless Night, that piece of trash!’ Chau Yu squeezed the handle on his seat, clearly enraged.

Below him sat two rows of Empyreal Spire members, each of which were elites among elites. Many wanted to join Empyreal Spire, but only one among thousands had the qualifications to join, leaving the guild with only thirty or so members.

Many of them dared not to make a sound. When the spire master wasn’t in a good mood, it wasn’t the best idea to infuriate him even further. Those who spoke up in such a situation were his closest of close aides.

Tripurity said calmly, ‘They’re still an unruly mob when gathered.’

Despite few in numbers, they had overwhelming quality and excelled at decapitation strikes. Their attempt might have failed, but things were no longer the same now. Tripurity had gotten a good grasp of Mask’s calibre during the Mount Soughslit incident. He was confident that as long as they send out at least ten members, Mask would end up as a dead man.

Chau Yu shook his head. ‘I couldn’t care less about Howl of the Tempest Wolves. Zephyrwolf’s just a puppet anyways, and everyone knows that too. The main issue at hand is Yoda.

‘I can look down on Howl of the Tempest Wolves, but I can’t ignore the city of Yoda. It’s the strength of an entire city we’re talking about.’

Clairaudiencer nodded as he flicked through the data he had. ‘Up until yesterday, the major guilds in all three cities were still divided. Especially for Empyreon, where there are many great guilds. It’s impossible to bring a city together.

‘Moonless Night played a major role. He was like an activator, triggering the fuse to a violent explosion. Angering the masses is dangerous, and he’s done just that. Every time Dark World kills a player from Howl of the Tempest Wolves, the angrier the ordinary players get, to the point which they turn violent. You simply can’t bully honest fellas too much.’

Chau Yu sighed and said, ‘And here I thought that idiot might be able to hinder Mask even by just a little, but I was completely wrong. Yeah, we succeeded in dragging their levels down, in exchange for a united Yoda.’

‘This might not be a bad thing,’ Slyfox spoke up. Sly in battle, he was also a cunning tactician. ‘Not a single guild from Yoda can go up against a first-rate guild, but the same went for us when guilds from Yoda bands together.

‘Putting everything but their numbers aside. The four guilds combined have over 10,000 players, not to mention the smaller guilds that suck up to them sooner or later. You can even call Yoda a single guild from now on.’ 

Chau Yu could guess what Slyfox was trying to point out. ‘Go on.’

Receiving Chau Yu’s approval, Slyfox brightened up and continued, ‘That’s why, the high and almighty first-rate guilds can no longer do as they please with Yoda. This might be Mask’s chance, but the same goes for us.

‘Individual guilds can no longer go up against the Yoda alliance. To fight an alliance, the only way is to form our own!’

Chau Yu smiled. This was why he formed Empyreal Spire in the first place. Still, hearing words of intelligence from the mouth of his guild member brought him great satisfaction. He disdained simpletons like Zephyrwolf who knew nothing but how to fight.

‘Good. I’ll leave matters regarding the alliance to you and Clairaudiencer.’

‘I shall meet your expectations!’ Slyfox’s eyes glimmered. Zephyrwolf, time to settle our score!

The incident was known as ‘Three Days of Crazed Wolves’. While Assassination Coalition was also feared for their insanity, Howl of the Tempest Wolves overtook their spot with sheer madness. For the sake of bringing doom upon their enemies, they even went as far as sacrificing seven levels. It was almost starting the game anew for some casual players, wasting months of their hard work.

Who dared triggering such a bunch of mad wolves? No one in their right mind would.

After the incident, Yoda as a city finally came together and proclaimed Mask as their leader. The four major guilds ignored his excuses and made him their leader, much to his annoyance though. The only one they admired was Mask.

Drako Yau also knew the incident had triggered something far more serious than it appeared. The fight was no longer between Howl of the Tempest Wolves and Dark World, but ordinary players against elite players.

For so long, elite players never really saw ordinary players as a threat. When they were toiling away on the Highlands of John, ordinary players were still struggling in the Demon City dungeon. By the time ordinary players reached the Highlands of John, elite players were already clearing the John’s Laboratory dungeon.

Empyreon gradually turned into a city exclusive to elite players—much like the First Eastern City in the actual world. Ordinary players simply couldn’t survive in Empyreon. Even if they made a small guild and recruited members, they couldn’t last more than three days before disbanding.

And now, Drako Yau, representing all ordinary players, achieved the unthinkable by forcing Dark World back to Empyreon. The news stirred everyone up; the ordinary awe-inspired, the elites shocked.

A week after the incident, Howl of the Tempest Wolves’ member count exceeded 4,000. The same went for the other three guilds that announced their alliance with Mask; Assassination Coalition, Hot-Blooded, and Corrupted Officials all saw a rapid rise in members. For a while, Yoda was all the rage.

While the four major guilds of Yoda were experiencing their player-boom, Empyreal Spire took the first kill of John’s Laboratory (Hell). Dark World, Raging Dragon Alliance, and Scenic Villa also announced their ‘Empyreal Alliance’, led by Empyreal Spire, as a response to Yoda’ rapid rise.

But what sort of place was Empyreon? Home to countless powerful first-rate guilds.

The alliance in Yoda went smoothly because they knew they were weak. The weak coming together to resist the strong was the natural choice. However, every guild in Empyreon was a powerful organisation, and each had their own pride. While Empyreal Alliance was definitely worth keeping an eye on, it was far from uniting Empyreon.

Forming alliances suddenly became a trend. Evergrand also announced that their guilds had all banded together under Hades and made him leader of the Evergrand alliance, putting him under a similar spotlight as Mask. However, those who did their research knew Mask were good friends with Hades as well. If the two cities joined hands… First-rate guilds trembled upon that thought.

Drako Yau was no more than an honorary figure; bluntly put, he simply let the four guilds to their own devices. But Hades was different—he was the true leader. Hades publicly posted on the forum to make it clear that Evergrand’s alliance wasn’t targeted at any person or organisation in particular.

Still, he added, ‘We do not have any plans of targeting any person or organisation in the future. However, if anyone plans to invade Evergrand, we suggest you consider it carefully.’

Such a bold statement it was.