Chapter 131: The Will of the Holy Light

Apart from the Blood Orb, the players who had followed the paladins here had originally intended to enjoy the spectacle and perhaps take advantage of the chaos. But the situation was now so bizarre that they could not even tell what was happening.

As for picking up any spoils, that was out of the question. They could not even watch the battle.

A few of the bolder players advanced a short distance toward the Blood Orb.

That, however, was as far as they got.

Mao Mao carried out his duty perfectly from above. Without exception, those overly curious fools were blasted into piles of ash. Mao Mao was too lazy even to absorb their attributes, which showed just how pitifully weak those players really were.

Wave after wave of powerful fluctuations continued to surge from within the Blood Orb. Even those who understood nothing about such things could clearly tell that something incredibly fierce was taking place inside.

Judging by the intensity of the fluctuations, the battle seemed to be nearing its end.

Some of the more shrewd players had already begun making preparations in secret. Whichever side of the battle ahead perished, the items they dropped would certainly be valuable.

After all, they were all level one hundred or higher. To these players, even a single item from their bodies would be worth a fortune.

The Blood Orb continued to tremble violently. At last, a beam of holy light suddenly pierced through that immense sphere of blood, rising from bottom to top and lingering without fading.

Every player outside revealed an expression of delight.

Compared with the vampires, having the paladins win was unquestionably the better outcome for them. If they tried to snatch something under the paladins' noses, at worst they would be thrown into confinement. That was still far better than trying to steal from those terrifying vampires and losing even their own possessions.

Seeing the situation before them, the players grew frantic and prepared to charge forward. Yet in the face of Mao Mao's overwhelming deterrence, none of them dared actually cross the line of warning.

Of course, that applied only to the players at the front. Those in the rear did not think the same way.

If they did not resort to unconventional methods, there was no way they would get any share of the items dropped ahead.

Driven by this thought, the players at the back began to jeer and shout, pressing against those in front and forcing them forward.

Mao Mao did not care why the players were moving ahead. So long as they crossed the line of warning in his mind, every one of them would face his full attack.

Unfortunately, the situation did not seem especially favorable for Mao Mao either.

Under the relentless pressure from the players in the rear, those at the front began to feel the strain. The consequence of everyone charging from all directions at once was naturally that a large number of them died, but a small portion still managed to break through.

Although Mao Mao killed them on the spot immediately afterward, they had crossed the line all the same, had they not?

Seeing this, the players felt a glimmer of hope.

Those at the front had originally seemed doomed to die, but now it appeared that if they charged forward with all their might, they might truly be able to carve out a path to survival.

The players at the front began throwing themselves forward desperately. Seeing them actually break through, those shouting from behind were naturally unwilling to fall behind and surged forward at even greater speed.

The result was that Mao Mao could no longer stop all the crazed players.

Once the defensive line was breached, they poured directly toward the Blood Orb.

As the holy light piercing through the Blood Orb grew ever stronger, anticipation filled the players' hearts. Ignoring Mao Mao's formidable threat, they prepared to claim the spoils they believed awaited them.

But their hopes were destined to end in failure. Their greed had given rise to a tremendous tragedy.

At last, the Blood Orb collapsed, transforming into countless scattered pools of blood.

The dazzling holy light finally vanished as well. Yet what appeared before the players waiting to seize the treasure was not the splendidly armored paladins.

It was the strange skeleton that had fought them in a fierce battle.

The entire group of paladins seemed to have vanished from this place. The only proof that they had ever existed was the armor scattered across the ground, still faintly glimmering with a pure white radiance.

Li Ren held a small golden cup in his hand. An incomparably dense sacred power surged within it.

Looking at the stunned players before him, he smiled at Lania, who stood beside him.

“Looks like this really was a great harvest.”

Lania returned his smile charmingly. The afterglow of the setting sun fell across her slightly pale face, lending a captivating gleam to her long eyelashes.

“Of course it was a great harvest.”

The vampire army, restored to its true forms, charged toward the players.

With their overwhelming advantage in level, and without the system-appointed guards serving as meat shields before them, these players were utterly incapable of resisting.

The slaughter began.

Li Ren held the Holy Light’s Wish in his hand as though the cup were filled with blood. Accompanied by the screams of the players around him, he looked every inch a duke of hell.

Far away, a figure watched the slaughtered players without expression. A trace of unhealthy color stained the figure’s slightly pale face.

“I wonder how much longer this body will need before it can fully adapt. If not for that—hmph!”

The figure gazed at the distant skeleton, white as jade, cold light flickering in their eyes.

Li Ren’s heart stirred. He turned his head toward the surrounding area, but all he saw was a vast grassland, its green expanse gilded by the light of the setting sun.

It was a beautiful scene, but Li Ren had no interest in admiring it. He stared suspiciously at the empty distance.

That faint chill had come from that direction just now. But perhaps it had only been his imagination.

Thinking this, he turned back toward the players being slaughtered before him.

“All right, we should head back. We didn’t manage to wait for Soron this time, but we still gained something. Let’s see what new changes appear in the players’ world after we return.”

Li Ren stored the Holy Light’s Wish inside the Ring of Ashes and spoke to Lania.

Lania nodded. Leading the remaining vampires, she followed Li Ren away from the bloodstained plain.

“Damn it! He even killed the chief paladin of Watch City. This is bound to affect my position in the Holy Temple. Hell, I really have no idea how he became so powerful.”

A player wearing unmistakable paladin armor complained to those around him.

“He is indeed rather powerful. But once our leader truly appears, will we still have any reason to fear him? For now, he is merely being allowed to act arrogantly for a little longer.”

Another player, dressed in gray robes, continued the thought.

Whenever they mentioned their leader, a look of worship—even fanaticism—appeared in their eyes. It was truly difficult to imagine what kind of relationship existed among them.

Considering that every one of these players was at least level ninety, there could be no doubt that the leader who, for the time being, was unable to appear was none other than—

Soron.