MTLNOVEL Chapter 952, Level 2 Task
Flames rose in the checkpoint, and the air was permeated with the stench of blood.
Aerygon sat astride a dragon, holding a lance high over his head, while the dragon swarm behind him let out roars of rage as they dove together.
Roar~!
The intense Dragon Breath swept through the checkpoint.
Sparks of blazing fire erupted, and the scent of charred flesh along with the struggling figures ablaze filled the checkpoint.
After the dragon swarm's pass, a large resistance army emerged from the dense woods in the distance.
They charged straight into the checkpoint, killing any remaining enemies.
For Aerygon, the world's second strongest, with troops mainly composed of dragons and Winged Dragons, this kind of battle posed no difficulty at all.
They easily breached the checkpoint.
The battle over, everyone began to clean up the battlefield.
"How much time has passed?" Aerygon asked as he dismounted from the dragon in the air.
"Over three hours now. If we go by the mission timeline, we still have plenty of time," answered Zhang Bin, after checking the mission time.
The two of them had been assigned to a mission scenario, which was somewhat fortunate.
Zhang Bin's main focus was sword and shield, and he wasn't particularly outstanding in terms of combat power, but being with Aerygon did speed up their mission progress.
"Hmm, let everyone rest a while, let the dragons catch their breath, then we'll head to the next checkpoint. We might even meet some other people," Aerygon said.
Zhang Bin nodded. "Yeah, gathering more troops is important, as are the points."
"We'll amass more points, aiming to get some better rewards this time."
Seeing Aerygon eager to try, Zhang Bin smiled and said, "If it keeps going this way, your points might even surpass the boss's!"
"You mean Mr. Fang Hao? My troops, how could they compare with his," Aerygon said, though he felt inside that it wasn't impossible.
He belonged to the Dragon Clan, which mostly consisted of dragons, Winged Dragons, and Pseudo-Dragons.
He might just surpass him after all.
Thinking this, his heart filled with excitement, and he said, "I'll take the dragon swarm and clear the way ahead; you follow with the troops from behind and collect any recruitment orders."
Zhang Bin was taken aback by his sudden urgency.
He had just said to let the dragons take a break.
But he still agreed, "Oh, okay, take care."
...
On an open mountain area, Dong Jiayue wielded a lance and hung a Longsword on her waist, with a few strands of hair sticking to her sweaty face along the edges of her helmet.
Standing on a big rock half-covered by earth, she looked down at the cluster of buildings and moving figures below.
Unlike the other few scattered checkpoints, hers was a large Fortress.
A simple fence made of wooden stakes surrounded the place, with dense rows of buildings resembling a mountain village.
"Jia Yue, everyone's pretty much ready," someone came over and whispered.
Dong Jiayue adjusted her helmet and said, "Prepare to fight."
As her words fell.
Rustle~!
Figures rose up from all around.
They densely filled the mountaintop.
"Charge, such that we may not stop until death!"
"Kill!"
Huff~Stomp stomp stomp!
The mass of figures began rushing down the mountain, braving the rain of arrows to crash into the Fortress and engage in close-quarters combat.
...
Gua Ze Fortress!
On the city walls, Ms. Savana sat in a soft chair, watching the relentless combat outside the city.
With her reputation, she easily became the commander here upon being assigned.
Her approach differed from others.
She better utilized the resistance army's dispersed forces and staggered arrival times.
She began to gather troops and took the initiative to attack and kill the squads emerging from the dense forest one by one.
This tactic was actually very risky; if these people died outside, there would not be enough people later for defending the city.
But the facts proved that her plan was the correct one.
Within the rebel camp, the number of remaining people had dwindled to but a few.
"Following Ms. Savana, we will surely win."
"Exactly, we're only halfway through the mission time, and it's almost over."
"After Fang Hao's death, Ms. Savana is undoubtedly the number one."
Originally smiling as she listened to everyone's flattery, Savana's smile suddenly vanished, replaced by a stern and somber expression.
The atmosphere around also became somewhat oppressive.
Sensing something amiss, someone immediately said: "Hey! Fang Hao just had an advantage at the start. Even if he didn't die, in the long run, he couldn't compare to Ms. Savana."
"Right, right, my mouth, I don't speak well. How could Fang Hao, who is just a white-faced man depending on the natives, compare to you..."
As his voice trailed off, the surroundings fell silent again.
Everyone was surprised, looking at him, not knowing if he was really inept at speaking or if it was intentional.
Fang Hao being called a white-faced man was a rumor, but Savana marrying the Elf Prince was public knowledge.
Before anyone else could say anything, Savana slowly stood up and said, "I heard Fang Hao's subordinates all chose the rebel side. We will certainly meet them later, and then, we can see who is stronger."
"Yes, you're right," they agreed.
Savana nodded, "Don't gather around here anymore. Tell your people to speed up and use the remaining time to earn more points."
"Sure!"
The crowd dispersed in a flurry, each attending to their own affairs.
...
The city gates were wide open; the four-armed skeleton commanders formed a tight shield formation and began to push forward along the streets.
Unlike the hectic, densely packed streets of the city, the task's fortress had few buildings and no overly complex roadways.
The shield formation progressed along the main road, and the Thunder Gunners, positioned behind the shields, began to ascend the city walls to provide air cover.
The battle was not particularly difficult, for neither the defending transmigrators nor the fortress soldiers.
Under the meat grinder of the shield formation, they turned into one cold corpse after another.
Soon, the battle gradually neared its end.
The enemy transmigrators and NPCs were driven to an open area in the central square.
From the sky, the Double-Headed Corpse Dragon dove down and with repeated sweeps of Dragon Breath, turned them all into ashes.
At the same time, system prompts appeared in the ears of every rebel transmigrator.
[Successfully captured the Misty Fortress, reward 1000 points.]
[Your team is on the offensive side, additional reward 500 points.]
[Your team is the first group to capture a stationary fortress, additional reward 300 points.]
Wow!
The moment the system prompt appeared, the transmigrators became noisy.
That's a generous amount of points.
And there are so many additional rewards.
Moreover, most of the transmigrators hadn't even drawn their bows, contributing very little to the fight.
The battle ended before they even had a chance to join, essentially getting 1800 points for doing nothing, plus additional rewards for assisting in the killing along the way, definitely more than those in the defense army.
"Fu Lei… Fu Lei..."
It is unclear who started it, but all the transmigrators followed, shouting Fu Lei's name excitedly.
And Fu Lei, who arrived with the army a bit late, squeezed into the crowd, listening to the shouts ringing in his ears.
With sweat on his forehead, he thought to himself: Boss, don't use my name, these people are too scary, like fanatic cultists.
[Congratulations Lord, for successfully completing the stage task.]
[Upon completing this stage, Lord, please enter the Level 2 scenario within the specified time. If you do not choose to enter within the time limit, it will be considered a forfeiture.]
[Mission countdown: 3 hours 27 minutes.]
As suspected, it was indeed a staged mission.
There is also a second stage.