noveltune The plot-driven death in the prologue of Chapter 15
The plot-driven death in the prologue of Chapter 15
The light curtain shattered, black mist enveloped the area, the dead ravaged the land, and the border town became like hell.
Corpses of decaying bones were everywhere, smashing through houses and devouring the townspeople who were powerless to resist. Dark beasts of all shapes and sizes occupied the sky and the earth, making it seem as if the end of the world had come.
The town did put up some resistance, but it was all in vain against the onslaught of the dark race.
The enormous mutated dark beasts rampaged through the town, easily destroying the catapults; hordes of flying dark beasts swept across the area, eliminating defensive nodes one by one; and swarms of ghosts successfully infiltrated and ambushed, nearly wiping out the town's officials.
Although the knight, who also served as the town's lord, led his soldiers in a desperate resistance, their efforts only slightly delayed the time it took for the dark race's BOSS to flatten the main tower.
Thus, the town was destroyed.
Everything that happens here is almost a carbon copy of the original game's plot, except that the "protagonists" are not involved.
This border town is not too far from Adela town.
Within the dark clouds that shrouded the sky, a pair of illusory pupils surveyed everything below. They watched the dark races storm the town, watched the BOSS successfully raze the town's main tower fortress, their eyes remaining utterly unmoved.
This outcome is exactly what should have been expected.
However, at that moment, the owner of the pupil seemed to sense something, and suddenly turned his eyes to look in another direction.
...Unexpectedly, something unexpected happened?
—Adra Town.
"BOOM!!"
A loud bang came from the direction of the town gate. You Che looked in that direction immediately and saw the heavy town gate, which was reinforced with magic, being blasted open from the front. A huge black figure stepped into the town with heavy steps.
The light screen above the town, which had been dilapidated but had been barely holding on, shattered completely at this moment.
The enormous black shadow that strode into the town with an incredibly savage manner had an alien body as tall as a small house. Its lower body was a four-legged beast covered in dark fur, while its upper body was sewn together with two huge demi-human torsos back to back, with two heads, four arms, and lizard-like heads.
He wielded a massive rock hammer and a heavy spear in each of his two thick arms, whipping them up with gusts of fierce wind.
The massive body was covered with hideous and terrifying ulcers and scars. At the front of the beast's body, there was a gaping maw that was slowly opening and closing, revealing the bloody remains of flesh that had not yet been swallowed.
The baron beside You Che was extremely grave: "This guy... is at least LV40! And he probably even has a unique ability!"
You Che said in a deep voice, "Don't panic. This guy's abilities are quite obvious; he's not that difficult to deal with—proceed according to plan!"
The baron looked at him: "Are you really sure?"
"Now that things have come to this, even if I say I'm not sure, you have no choice but to do as I say," You Che complained. "Stop dawdling and get ready; I should be leaving soon."
He went downstairs first, leaving the Baron frowning as he watched his retreating figure for a long time before finally leaving with a complicated expression.
As You Che rushed downstairs toward the BOSS, he had already put aside all distractions and was pondering the battle plan he had previously devised.
The guy who broke down the door was the commander and general of the dark army, and also the strongest attacker. His LV40 BOSS template was terrifyingly overwhelming.
Based solely on paper data, even if you were to tie everyone in the town together, including Baron Grammer, they wouldn't be a match for him in a direct confrontation.
This guy's attributes are not something early-game players can easily exploit. In the game, his appearance and battles actually belong to a dedicated story-driven level.
In the original storyline, the dark races besieged the city, and the players of the seven origins split into groups of two or three, each responsible for defeating the mid-boss of their own route, which were the enemies that Yuche had previously dealt with using targeted strategies.
During this process, in addition to the player-controlled character, other NPCs who are the protagonist's original characters will be controlled by AI to assist in the battle.
After defeating these mid-level bosses, the war behemoth of the dark race will break down the door and officially appear as the true boss.
At this point in the story, it really has nothing to do with the player's character anymore. In the game, what follows is a story mission where you control the NPC character, the Baron.
The Baron in the game is an advanced class, Holy Knight, level 30. Although he is the strongest fighter in town, he is still significantly weaker than the enemy boss.
In this world, Youche had already seen that Baron Grammer had the strength of LV34, which was slightly stronger than the game's setting, but still not enough.
While theoretically, if Yuche himself were to control the game manually, he could definitely win, this isn't a game. Even if Yuche could give instructions to the Baron, it would be difficult to reverse the situation.
Moreover, a story mission is still a story mission. This battle will be forcibly ended whether the player-controlled Baron is defeated or the BOSS's health drops to 40%.
When the Baron is defeated, a cutscene will play directly. When the BOSS is below half health, a second phase will begin, forcibly triggering a cutscene where the Baron is killed, followed by the cutscene of the Baron's defeat.
In short, this section is essentially a high-level knight experience level plus a scripted death, so even for a player of Yu Che's caliber, there's basically not much room for maneuver.
Therefore, if you want to win this story battle and change the original ending, you must break the game's path and choose a completely new tactic.
Yu Che has already made arrangements for this.
—On the street at the entrance of the town.
The war behemoth of the dark race roared with ferocity from its three gaping maws. With each swing of its hammer and spear, whether friend or foe, a mere graze resulted in injury or instant death.
Because of its immense destructive power, even though the light barrier surrounding the town had shattered, the dark army outside the town did not immediately rush in; they simply prepared at the blasted-open entrance.
Just like in the game, once the real boss appears, the minions immediately stop attacking.
While it might seem a bit forced from a God's-eye viewpoint, it's still plausible considering the background setting.
According to the setting, the Commander BOSS is the absolute core of this size of dark race army, while the lower and middle-level dark races are mostly not very intelligent. If they want to launch an attack in an orderly manner, they need the Commander to give orders.
As for the specific method, it requires the commander to rely on his own strength to connect every node in the army—just like the Corpse Corpse Army Formation.
Therefore, when commanding an army, BOSS units cannot move freely or exert their combat power, and vice versa. When the commander goes into battle, the lower-level dark races will temporarily stand by.
This is also the key that the town must grasp if it wants to win.
Killing the commander, who is the core of the army, would resolve most of the current crisis.
...But the difficulty involved goes without saying.
That's a level 40 boss unit!
At this moment, opposite the ferocious beast, the soldiers of the town guard and militia were fighting desperately with large shields and spears, but even so they could not leave a single scratch on its fur.
His casual counterattacks, or even just taking a step forward, could take the lives of several soldiers.
Faced with this absolutely irreparable disparity in combat strength, the captains of the town's guards were filled with despair, but had no room to retreat.
But just then, a holy light shone from the direction of the town center, illuminating the gloomy night sky.
Everyone looked in the direction of the light and saw a burly figure wearing iconic magical armor and holding a blessed, inherited sword striding towards them.
"It's the Baron!!"
A glimmer of hope finally ignited in the soldiers' eyes. Baron Grammer was the strongest man in town and their long-standing shield.
Some veteran soldiers had even witnessed firsthand the Baron's formidable power in slaying dozens of dark races with a single sword strike.
The burly figure was enveloped in holy light, a sign that the power of the armor and the sword of inheritance had been pushed to its limit.
He arrived at the street directly in front of the war behemoth, raised his longsword, and pointed it at the behemoth's head.
Although he didn't say anything, his attitude was clear.
Your opponent is me!
Even war behemoths have limited intelligence, but they can still understand this kind of provocation.
Moreover, in his mind, those who radiate holy light, like the person in front of him, and sting his skin, are always the top priority targets to be dealt with.
Then the giant beast let out a roar that was both excited and intimidating, and strode forward, smashing its rock hammer and spear heavily forward!
"Thump!!"
Dust flying everywhere!