-1000,-1000,-1000,-1000

-1000,-1000,-1000

Exp +2.5k

.

.

Dozens of players dropped dead like flies. It wasn’t enough to destroy their command center at once, but the time bought by it was enough for Zyrus to cast his skill.

[Shackles of Nihility]

How fatal was a hostile domain that descended in the middle of their core formation?

Dozens of black chains erupted from the ground and wrapped around the players. Blue shackles tied up their limbs and corroded their vitality. The pain inflicted upon them was enough to make them wish for death.

*Hisss*

The specter scorpions didn’t miss such a golden opportunity. They crawled out from the shadows and struck the players who had already lost their morale.

“Aaah-”

“S-save me!”

Only the lucky ones were able to let out their dying screams. The players here were strong, but their experience and reaction time were lacking. They allowed the scorpions to jump over them and use their tails.

They had a single chance to blast them off when they made their appearance. It was game over once they engaged in close combat.

“Now then, why don’t we have a nice little chat?”

“W-wha-”

“Let me make it easy for you. You serve me willingly, and hand over the troops.”

“Why you little-”

*Thrust*

-1000

“Kuk-”

“Did I talk to you?” Zyrus asked the muscular leader who had a spear lodged in his throat. He was going to use his crown’s ability, and Zyrus wasn’t stupid enough to allow that. This wasn’t even a fight in his eyes. Ever since he arrived in the city of ruin, there was but one target. One that he would exterminate at all costs.

Zyrus had 40 agility with his equipment’s bonus. It was twice as fast as a lv20 human who hadn’t invested any stats in agility.

And unfortunately, the dying man was one such example. Neither was he a lv20 player, nor did he invest any stats in agility. What would happen when someone with double your agility attacked you with a spear?

You die, obviously.

Exp +3k

“You see, I don’t really need more humans in my army. With this, I have the equivalent of 5 silver crowns,” Zyrus stated nonchalantly while fiddling with the silver crown. He didn’t seem to care about the head that was still attached to it.

“I-I see.”

“Good. Good. You give me some spearmen and magicians, and I let you keep your pitiful life and the silver crown, how about it? There’s no point in going to the spawn points, right?”

If it was any other time, then the scholarly man would rack his brains to find a way out of this. However, the sudden change of events and the gruesome death of his ally were too much for him.

“...Okay.”

With that, Zyrus obtained a batch of spearmen and magicians. Thanks to ‘Crown’s fealty’ he didn’t have to worry about their lack of loyalty.

“You really are evil,” Franken spoke as he kicked the scholarly man’s headless corpse.

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

“It’s that shit for brains' fault. Why the fuck would an authority like ‘Contract’ exist if others could be trusted so easily?”

No one was able to refute his words. Harsh as they may be, it was the reality. Thanks to his unconventional method there were a lot of ‘unaffiliated’ players left in the vicinity. Since their leader had removed them, they were no longer considered a part of his faction. As a result, Zyrus was able to get both the silver crown and the players in a separate manner. It took them another hour to subdue and assimilate them.

Few hours were left before the crown hunt would be over, and neither he nor the other crown holders had the time to placate the revived players. It didn’t matter whether they were willing or not; they had to fight for the new leaders.

“Are you sure it’ll be alright?” Ria asked as she looked over the new players. Since Zyrus had killed two crown leaders and snatched their crowns, he only needed 8,000 players under his command to get a golden crown. They already had 4,000 players, and from this fight, they had subdued another 3,000.

“Yeah. Just do as I say and we’ll be in the second ring before sunrise,” Zyrus replied and called over the other leaders.

Kyle, Lauren, Shi kun, Ria, Jacob, and the newly recruited Ogre and Troll kings.

“I have seen your performance. Some were with me since the start while others joined less than a day before. The way I will form my army is different from what the system does, but that is a topic for another day,” Zyrus raised his hand and opened the crown hunt tab.

[Would you like to re-distribute your troops?]

Yes/No

He had already keyed in the information, so all that was left was to click on ‘Yes’. 7,000 players and 7 leaders. It was exactly as he had planned.

*Ding*Ding*Ding*

Numerous bells chimed one after another. One after another, a total of seven crowns were bestowed upon his subordinates.

[Your Subordinate, Kyle, has obtained a Silver Crown]

[Your Subordinate, Lauren, has obtained a Silver Crown]

[Your Subordinate, Ria, has obtained a Silver Crown]

[Your Subordinate, Shi Kun, has obtained a Silver Crown]

.

.

.

[Your Subordinate, ???? , has obtained a Silver Crown]

“Ria, suggest them the authorities in case they didn’t have one before. Also, distribute these.”

“Got it.”

Zyrus handed her the stash of potions and a single scroll. He had his plan to get the golden crown before anyone else. He didn’t intend to rely on system to achieve his goals. He wanted to take the next step on his path to origin, right on this night.

Some may call it ‘a high-risk and high-reward method,’ however, Zyrus thought otherwise.

He didn’t need a miraculous breakthrough or luck to become the first. If he needed such things even with all his knowledge, then he'd be no better than the morons he had just killed.

…

An hour later, at the core of the central district.

There was a large square, large enough for thousands of players to fight. No one had announced that this was the place they were supposed to meet. The system only stated that they needed 10,000 players or 10 silver crowns to get a golden crown.

What was the second ring? How would they advance to the second ring? What were the rewards for being the first? No one knew the answer to these questions.

Why were they all here then? It was for two reasons.

All of the major roads led to this area. Just like the number of golden crowns, they were also 10. Spawn points and portals that connected to the four sectors were arranged in a calculated manner.

As long as one kept walking forward and won against everyone on the road, they would obtain a golden crown by the time they were here.

Well, if others didn’t hinder them that is.

6 of these roads were conquered already. At this time when only an hour remained before dawn, the 7th road had its victor as well.

Zyrus, along with his 7000 troops, walked to the edge of the road. In front of him was the empty square where no one dared to step on. It was apparent that whoever took the lead would be targeted by everyone else.

Of course, Zyrus walked straight ahead.

So what if they were eyeing the first place? So what if they came here first? In his eyes, these guys were unfortunate fools who had wasted their only chance at being the first.

‘I took my sweet time picking troops because I knew they’d do that.’

All of the faces were familiar to him. Their existence was bright enough to mark his thousand-year-old memories.

“Wanna die, newbie?”

“What a cocky bastard, ‘the fuck does he think he is?”

And the way they greeted him was the same as well. Zyrus ignored the orc and kobold leaders and focused on the others.

There were two humans, one troll, and a goblin leader apart from them.

“Long time no see, Sir. Sparklepants.”

“I see that you’ve become a monster. Also, I’d prefer if you didn’t call me that,” Hajin Choi didn’t recognize Zyrus at first, but Kyle and Lauren who were behind him were enough of an indication. It was surprisingly easy for Hajin to accept that the man he saw that day had become a monster.

Leaving the judgmental stares of others aside, Zyrus turned to the other human. It took all of his willpower to suppress the raging wrath that lay dormant in his heart.

“I heard you attacked my subordinates.”

“So what?” Aiden Martinez replied in a disinterested tone.

“Isn’t that obvious? I’ll kill you for that.”

“Hey, lizard, are you stupid like that goblin over there?”

“Do you have the guts to come over?” Zyrus ignored the orc as usual and addressed the golden-haired man. He was the key to him taking the next step. He wanted to burn bright enough to erase this bastard from existence.

“Hey, don’t ign-”

“We…neeed.. to break.. this.. stalemate.” The troll leader, Skarn, muttered in a sleepy voice. He stood out from the other trolls due to his brown skin and yellow eyes.

“Kikiki.. give me that armor you’re wearing, and I'll support you to be the first,” the goblin lord giggled as he eyed the troll's gray armor with greed.

“I agree.” Hajin Choi interrupted their bickering and pointed at the sky. Everyone knew what he meant. There wasn’t much time left before dawn. They couldn’t stop one another forever.