Game’s Dogma

The Balrog glared at Drako Yau, then pounded its chest again.

‘Valaraukarir!’

‘What’s with that lengthy name!’

The Balrog flailed its arms around, but that only irked him even more.

Gosh… It’s not even a lengthy name in the Balrog language…

‘I’ll just call you Val then.’

The Balrog rolled its eyes then waved its arms casually.

‘I’m Drako Yau. Right, Val, are you born with such powers? Or did you gain them somehow?’

Drako Yau tried to strike up a conversation to cheer Val up while constantly observing their surroundings. Val replied with its sign language and replied, We Balrogs are born with innate combat techniques, passed down from generation to generation through our blood. All of us know how to wield the flaming sword while morphing the sword into a whip is a technique unique to my tribe.

Val the Balrog kept pounding its sturdy chest, seemingly proud of its lineage. At that moment, Drako Yau suddenly stood up and pulled out Shooting Star, followed by Val who also got onto its feet and formed a sword with its flames. After fighting for a year, battle between them had become an instinct. Val was ready for battle whenever it saw Drako Yau ready his weapon.

However, Drako Yau waved him off and said, ‘We’re not fighting. I told you, I won’t fight you anymore.’

He then struck the ground with an overhead strike—Flameblast! The ground caved in at where the spear landed. Kneeling on the ground, he carefully observed the crater as it slowly regenerated into its original form.

The way it regenerated was weird. Silverish sparks would emerge out of nowhere and flood into the damaged area until it was all healed up.

Drako Yau scratched his chin and swung Shooting Star once more. Another blast, another crater on the ground. Moments after, flames engulfed his spear, making Val twist subconsciously as it was rather wary of his flames; those were flames that could rival its Flames of the Abyss!

Buffed by Flame Form, Drako Yau lashed out with his spear again, creating another crater several metres away from the other one. He stood there in silence and observed the two craters; he even activated Frost Form to pick up every single detail he could.

After a year of constant battle, he had almost mastered both Frost Form and Flame Form. He could now circulate Flame Form throughout his body from its idle state within 1.5 seconds, and observing Val with Frost Form had also honed his analysing ability to its finest. The flow of energy, the surroundings, the movement of air around him all entered his mind as sets of numbers, which he’d then analyse to make the best move.

Drako Yau let out a long sigh, deactivating both Frost Form and Flame Form. He turned around and looked at Val in excitement as he said, ‘I’ve found the way to escape!’

Meanwhile in Empyreal Spire, Empyreon…

Clairaudiencer had his hands full. He was busy looking at a bunch of holographic interfaces projected from his phone, one of which was exclusive to members of Heavenly Handlers. It was used for gathering and exchanging intel by the group’s members.

He suddenly trembled as an unfathomable piece of information struck him. The next moment, he picked up his phone and called a number.

Chau Yu’s holographic projection appeared. He said, ‘What’s the matter?’

While Clairaudiencer’s level was extremely low, he was an important and special existence in the guild because he was in charge of gathering intel. As such, Clairaudiencer worked under no one but Chau Yu and was granted permission to call him directly.

‘I’ve received information from a mysterious source that Mask had fallen into the Abyss of Durin in the Lord of the Rings encounter quest. His current status is unknown, but it’s very likely that he’s trapped forever and has to delete his account and start from scratch!’

Chau Yu’s gaze turned sharp, but he showed no fluctuations in his tone. ‘How reliable is this intel?’

Sweat slowly glided down Clairaudiencer’s forehead. ‘I can’t say I’m absolutely certain when it comes to such crucial intel. Probably at least seventy per cent I’d say.’

Chau Yu nodded; seventy per cent was rather decent already. He also knew Clairaudiencer was a prudent person, so the intel was eighty per cent likely to be true if Clairaudiencer reported it as seventy per cent.

‘Tell me more about the Abyss of Durin.’

Clairaudiencer wiped his sweat away and said, ‘The Abyss of Durin, an ominous land in the Lord of the Rings encounter quest, is where the Balrog and Gandalf both fell into. From what I’ve heard, around a hundred players have fallen into the Abyss of Durin so far, and not a single one of them came out alive. Some gave up on the game, others deleted their accounts and created new ones instead, but the abyss remains a place of certain death as it stands. It’s the top five deadliest places in the entire game.’

‘How’s Howl of the Tempest Wolves faring so far?’

‘Hold on.’ Clairaudiencer quickly scrolled through the Heavenly Handlers interface, his hands typing and clicking something swiftly. Moments later, he opened up another interface and showed it to Chau Yu. ‘Their guild master Zephyrwolf has rarely assumed his duties properly, but he’s appearing frequently in public these days.’

Chau Yu laughed and said, ‘Then I’m almost certain your intel is right on the spot. They’re without their leader, so Zephyrwolf has no choice but to take on the role of their leader. It’s not a bad decision, but their clumsy way of doing things only confirms Mask’s absence.’

Clairaudiencer was electrified.

Lately, Yoda had taken the world by storm and remained a dominant force to be reckoned with. Apart from being the first city to form a city-wide coalition, they were also the most comprehensive and accessible commercial city in the game, at least for now. It’d take Evergrand at least two months to even come close to replicating Yoda’s success. After all, guilds in Evergrand formed their coalition because the times demanded it to happen, not because they admired Hades.

Plans and orders were carried out so deftly and with great precision in Yoda because Mask was reigning over the city with his charisma and strength. All forces in Yoda adhered to his orders willingly.

Such a structure was powerful yet fragile. Powerful because they had unconditional faith in Mask, meaning they’d execute his orders even if the orders may seem unreasonable. But it was just as fragile—once Mask disappeared or was defeated, the coalition would instantly crumble.

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