Volume 1, Chapter 64 – The Prologue Begins

If Tianyin guessed correctly, this sword’s hilt and the Holy Sword she knew should be very similar.

That being said…

Tianyin suddenly recalled the names of the paladins who followed beside Fisiel.

Lancelot… Gawain…

Wait a second…

Tianyin looked at the knight girl before her with a rather strange expression.

Aren’t these the legendary Knights of the Round Table? Or wait… could it be that you’re actually King Arthur?

“What’s wrong, Xiaoyin… why are you looking at me with such a weird expression?”

“No… nothing…”

Tianyin shook her head, then lowered her gaze to the Victory Golden Sword in her hands.

How should she put it… this sword really was made of gold…

“Fisiel, I’m full.”

After swallowing the food in her mouth, Tianyin stood up.

“That’s it for our formal farewell. If I don’t come back, but Yivrea does, then I’ll have to trouble you to comfort her properly.”

This time, it really was a serious goodbye. To be honest, Tianyin never thought of Yivrea as just a data-based NPC… though now she herself was also an NPC.

“Don’t worry about that, Xiaoyin. But… should I have Lancelot and the others escort you for a bit?”

“No need. Those knight uncles all have their own duties, so I shouldn’t take up their time.”

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“Alright then.”

The knight girl smiled softly.

“Safe travels.”

“Thanks.”

After saying her goodbyes, Tianyin left decisively. On her way, she didn’t encounter Lancelot or the others, likely because they were out on business. After several turns left and right, Tianyin finally reunited with her loli disciple, Xiaomengyao.

“Master, Master… are we leaving now?”

Her loli disciple looked full of excitement, clearly eager about this long journey ahead.

“Yeah, did you pack everything properly?”

“I did! I brought all the daily necessities Master will need~”

“Daily necessities? What kind of things?”

“Daily necessities are just daily necessities! And since Master’s a girl, I also prepared a lot of the things girls need~”

“…”

The content of that statement was, without a doubt, utter nonsense to Tianyin.

“What kind of things do girls need, exactly?”

Driven by curiosity, Tianyin asked.

Xiaomengyao bit her finger, looking like she was recalling something.

“Let me think… like spare skirts for Master, underwear, a body pillow, and in case Master’s, um, thing comes during the trip, I even prepared…”

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“Stop, stop, stop… I get it, no need to go on. Let’s just get going.”

Feeling a headache coming on, Tianyin decided to stop her disciple before she could continue down that path.

“Alright… then Master, where are we heading after leaving the city?”

“Where, huh? I’ve already planned that out.”

As she answered, Tianyin recalled the route she had mapped out the previous night.

“After we exit the gates, we’ll be heading toward a place called Storm Fortress.”

“Hm? Storm Fortress? What’s that?”

Hearing the unfamiliar term, Xiaomengyao instinctively asked.

“Storm Fortress… it’s the largest fortress within the Empire Faction’s Storm Kingdom, and also the largest on the entire Main Plane. According to legend, the Storm Kingdom was developed from Storm Fortress itself, which is why it’s called that.”

“Pfft, then if it was called Rain Fortress, would it be called the Rain Kingdom instead?”

Xiaomengyao’s curiosity had clearly latched onto why the Storm Kingdom was named that way.

“Well… yeah, something like that. Anyway, our next destination is Storm Fortress. It’ll be a good chance to experience why it’s called the number one fortress on the Main Plane.”

“Mm-hmm! So, how far is it, Master?”

“It’s quite far. If we were to walk the whole way, it’d take at least three or four months to get there… but we can take a teleportation array. The nearest city that has one is about two weeks away~”

“I see.”

Xiaomengyao nodded thoughtfully.

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………………

At that moment, in the Graveyard Plane, forever shrouded in shadow and darkness, the massive skeletal Gate of Planes had finally been completed.

A headless Death Knight rode forward on a flaming skeletal horse. Though she had no head, she somehow gave the impression that she was staring directly at the skeletal gate before her.

Behind the Headless Knight stretched an ocean of skeletons.

“Go… tell the Grand Duke… the gate is complete.”

Though she had no head, a hoarse, dry voice came from her body.

The Death Knight behind her, upon hearing the voice, simply rode his skeletal horse backward in silence.

What the NPCs couldn’t see was that above that Death Knight’s head floated a line of text.

“Duansheng Tingyu”

If Tianyin or her loli disciple Xiaomengyao had been there, they would have immediately recognized who that Death Knight was…

…………

“Grand Duke… I heard Fischerna has already reported that the gate has been completed. Isn’t it about time we begin our invasion of the Main World?”

The speaker was a young girl with scarlet eyes, her delicate face framed by long hair, dressed in a blood-red, gothic lolita-style dress.

At first glance, she seemed like a frail little loli who couldn’t even lift a chicken… but in truth, she was the progenitor of all vampires, the one known as the True Ancestor of Vampires.

“You’ve lived for over a million years, and yet that impatient nature of yours still hasn’t changed, Lilith.”

The man in black armor leaned on his sword and spoke slowly.

His gaze swept over the gathered undead elites who were clearly itching to join Lilith in asking for orders.

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Among them were liches who had once been master necromancers, Death Knights who were once princes, massive Abominations who reveled in spreading plague, and gargoyles with bat-like wings.

There were countless such beings among the undead, but here, every high-ranking member of the Graveyard Faction, had gathered before the man.

“So… are you all here to pressure me?”

“We wouldn’t dare… Grand Duke, we wouldn’t dare offend you. We merely wish to unite and plead for you to give the order to attack.”

As the one who had followed the man from the very beginning, and as the True Ancestor of Vampires, Lilith was undoubtedly the oldest and most authoritative among the Graveyard’s leaders.

“Lilith, can’t you be patient for a little longer? I’m anxious too, but an invasion still requires a plan.”

“A plan… and what exactly is your plan, Grand Duke?”

After a moment of silence, the man finally spoke.

“Lilith, you know well that while our undead number in the hundreds of billions, the vast majority are mindless. They know nothing but how to charge forward and destroy.”

“So even if we start a war, we can only command a small portion of them…”

“This problem has always existed, but now, I’ve found a way to solve it.”

“A way?”

The man’s words immediately drew the attention of everyone present in the hall.

Under the focus of countless eyes, the man slowly began to speak.

“Have you ever heard of the existence… of outsiders (players)?”