Volume 2, Chapter 96 – The Half-Beasts

Five days. The undead of the Graveyard had no idea that their fate had already been decided in a discussion among those five Throne-class beings.

For the undead of the Graveyard, the current world situation looked nothing short of favorable.

Though the Graveyard had drawn every NPC faction in the Main World into the vortex of war, facing the world’s attention was no longer something they cared about.

In the eyes of the people, the Graveyard was even stronger and more despair-inducing than the Inferno that had invaded the Main World over a hundred thousand years ago.

And to the players active in the Main World, the Graveyard’s strength was beyond doubt.

At least for now, in the players’ eyes, among the eight great NPC factions of the Main World, the Graveyard alone had crushed two factions. Not only that, while suppressing both the Kingdom and the Stronghold, it was also clashing head-on with the Nature and Sanctuary factions on the frontlines.

On the battlefield, the Academy’s unique arcanists began to appear, and weapons forged by the Fortress’s dwarves were now being used by the coalition to counter the Graveyard army.

Not only that, even the demons of the Inferno had begun to tempt the refugees wandering through Graveyard-occupied zones in the Main World, luring them to form resistance armies and causing endless sabotage and harassment within occupied territories.

In short, the Graveyard was now fighting all seven major factions by itself.

If things had only remained at a stalemate, it would have still been understandable.

But in truth, the Graveyard was completely dominating.

Relying on its endless tides of skeletons and the overwhelming number of bone dragons that made one’s scalp tingle, the Graveyard’s forces crushed the coalition on the frontlines, while internally, it still had enough strength to send out troops to ruthlessly suppress the constantly rebelling refugees.

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So, as things stood, the Graveyard wasn’t just single-handedly opposing the seven major factions, but it was overwhelming their alliance on every front.

At that moment, not only the players but even the native inhabitants of the Main World began to think that the Graveyard had become unstoppable.

Perhaps before long, the undead’s iron hooves would trample every corner of the Main World, and all the living would become mindless skeletons.

“The seven factions are doomed.”

Given the current situation, even “Pure White,” the world-renowned top-100 player famed as the God of Strategy for publishing detailed game guides, made a post on the forums, openly declaring that the seven factions’ defeat was inevitable.

Not just Pure White, other well-known players also began analyzing the world’s situation, and all reached the same conclusion: the rise of the undead was destined.

The only question remaining was how long the seven factions could struggle before the Graveyard’s inevitable victory.

But none of these players knew that the Graveyard’s fate had already been sealed in-game, by the Thrones of the great factions, without their knowledge.

In five days, the Graveyard would be destroyed.

Yet not only the players, even the NPC soldiers still struggling desperately against the Graveyard had no idea that in just five days, the Graveyard’s end would come.

In their eyes, all they could still see was an endless sea of undead.

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And as for the future, their hopes had become painfully dim…

……

Of course, for Tianyin at this very moment, none of that seemed to matter much.

Because, thanks to Xingyu Muxi’s massive financial support, the newly established Ninth Faction, 【Dawn】, had successfully upgraded its main city, 【Eden】, to Level 2.

Not only that, with the help of the special feature 【Refugee Attraction】, the very next day, this once-empty city, home only to Tianyin, Sharl, and a few hundred NPC soldiers, welcomed its first batch of native inhabitants.

Hearing Sharl’s report, Tianyin learned that the first group of refugees joining Eden all came from the Stronghold…

However, though they were refugees from the Stronghold, their race was not the Stronghold’s beastmen…

They were half-beasts.

At first, Tianyin thought the Stronghold only had beastmen, and never expected there to be half-beasts.

She had assumed “half-beasts” referred to a hybrid mix between humans and beastmen or something of that sort…

But when she arrived at the plaza, Tianyin realized that half-beasts were nothing like what she had imagined.

They were…

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Humanoid beings with fluffy ears and tails, but with bodies and facial features that leaned heavily toward the human race.

“Eh? Eh? Those are the so-called half-beasts?”

In the plaza, Tianyin, hiding in a corner and watching the half-beasts line up to register as new residents under the supervision of NPC soldiers, turned to Sharl, who was kneeling on one knee before her, with surprise.

“Yes, my lord. What you’re seeing are half-beasts. Although they’re called half-beasts, they actually have little to do with beastmen. In the Stronghold, half-beasts usually do the lowest, most menial work, the kind without any rights.”

“Hm? Is that so?”

Tianyin looked curious.

“So, you’re saying the half-beasts hold a rather low position among the beast races?”

“Yes, my lord. Only the half-beasts would be willing to leave the Stronghold to join our Dawn. As for the beastmen, given their nature, unless they were like Orgum and had been saved by you personally, they would rather die than leave the Stronghold.”

Sharl’s explanation was direct, clearly outlining the difference between half-beasts and beastmen.

Beside Tianyin, Little Mengyao was staring motionlessly at the half-beasts in the distance, her expression full of curiosity.

Meanwhile, Xingyu Muxi was looking at the half-beasts in silent thought.

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“So these are half-beasts? They don’t look much different from humans, except they have beast-like ears and tails. Why won’t the Kingdom’s humans accept them then?”

Watching the half-beasts from afar, Tianyin asked Sharl in confusion.

After all, compared to beastmen, the half-beasts’ appearance was much closer to that of humans. Since even the beastmen accepted half-beasts in the Stronghold, why did the Kingdom’s humans refuse to accept them?

“…My lord, that’s something I’m not too sure about either.”

“I see.”

Tianyin knew she was putting Sharl in a difficult spot with that question.

At that moment, Xingyu Muxi, who had been silently pondering, suddenly spoke up.

“Sharl, I want to ask, these half-beasts in the Stronghold, are they all engaged in the lowest, most basic types of labor?”

“Hmm… Ah, yes. In the eyes of the Stronghold’s beastmen, these half-beasts can do nothing but farm, herd, and produce food. In combat, they’re no match for the strong beastmen, and as for shamanic talent, they can’t communicate with the World Spirits at all. So the half-beasts’ status among the beastmen is extremely low.”

“I see. In other words, these half-beasts don’t feel much of a sense of belonging to the Stronghold, do they?”