Chapter 4: The Land of LegendsThe sight of a lone knight rampaging through the enemy ranks quickly caught Helen’s attention. From the West Tower, her view was crystal clear—one figure in white wreaking havoc among the enemy troops.

  “That’s Henry!”“Show some respect! You should call him Sir Henry!

  The chat channel instantly erupted with comments.

  “Call him Sir Henry, bro.”“Sir Henry!”“Sir Henry is here!”“Wait, why do we call him ‘Sir’ though?”“Victory through Henry, defeat through Henry—win or lose, it’s all by his decree!”

  "Victory through Henry, defeat through Henry"— this had become a famous meme summarizing the pystyle of the Knights of Gale team. Henry was notorious as a reckless Padin, always the first to charge into battle. If Henry successfully disrupted the enemy’s formation, his team would achieve a crushing victory. If Henry got surrounded and killed, his team would suffer a devastating defeat. He was the dispenser of victory—the only question was, for which side?

  Helen wished she could just leap off the tower to capture a close-up of Henry’s charge. The observation post was 200 meters high—jumping down would mean instant death. She certainly couldn’t afford a Pegasus, either. She had debated completing the Dragon’s Eye quest to gain long-range vision, but the cost would be a significant reduction in movement speed, making her slow as a turtle.

  As a battlefield reporter, she couldn’t afford to trade mobility for zoom functionality.

  She cursed her stingy boss under her breath. Despite being one of the top three gaming magazines in North America, they refused to fund in-game upgrades for their staff.“Don’t use work as an excuse, you just want better gear to py, don’t you?”Damn that old bastard! The man had been a deputy editor at a traditional print newspaper, a relic from the old journalism world, and somehow ended up leading an online gaming magazine. What a disaster! In his eyes, game reporting was nothing more than pying around. Real journalism required field reporting, interviews, editing, and print issues—without that, it wasn’t true journalism.

  That was also why Helen could never get approval for a high-end ptop to work from home. Work-from-home was a joke to her old-school Vietnamese boss.“I’ll invest in a high-performance PC, but it must be set up at the office. If you want to work, you come in!”

  —“Steve, Steve!”

  Now was the time for her journalistic instincts to kick in. A year in Valia had earned her some useful connections. Stephen, currently in charge of defending the West Tower, was one such contact—though not exactly a close one. He was the one who allowed her access to the tower for reporting, albeit reluctantly.“Don’t move the camera around too much. If you reveal our defensive positions, I’ll get yelled at,” he had grumbled yesterday.

  Now, amidst the chaos of the siege, Helen hesitated to bother him, afraid of triggering his temper. But she had no choice.

  “Steve, lend me a Peg Knight.”

  She ran up to his character, worried that the battlefield noise would drown out her voice.

  “What?! Are you serious?!”

  As expected, he was annoyed.

  “A Pegasus Knight! I need to get down there and film Henry up close.”

  “I don’t have time for this! Damn it—archers, aim at coordinates 333,17. Mages, hold your fire! I said hold it! Wait for cooldowns, don’t shoot randomly! I’m swamped here, dy!”

  “Your team needs morale! Let me put Henry on stream—he’ll inspire all of Estapha!”

  “CC team, slow the left fnk! Cover the tanks below! Ugh, fine, fine—Mud, drop this woman down there. One-way trip only, though! Once she’s down, she’s on her own!”

  Helen sent him a flying kiss emoji.“Thanks, darling!”

  A loud neigh and the beating of wings followed.

  Neeeighhh! Fp! Fp!

  A white-winged horse descended gracefully. The Pegasus Knight css, known for aerial combat, specialized in mobility and agility. Like Knights and Padins, they had diverse skill and stat customization paths.

  Seated on the Pegasus was Mud. He guided the mount down low enough for Helen to mount up. In Valia, mounts allowed up to two riders. Helen wasn’t a combatant—she was a battlefield journalist, built for endurance rather than agility. Though her armor wasn’t as bulky as a heavy tank, it still weighed down the Pegasus.

  The steed neighed, picked up speed, and then took flight. Its movements were no longer as fluid, and its speed dropped by about 20%. Even through a computer screen, Helen felt dizzy from the height. The sound of rushing wind filled her headset, partially drowning out the cng of weapons and the whizzing of spells below.

  Despite her Press Banner marking her as neutral, stray projectiles were still a real danger. Luckily, Steve had already reyed her movement to Jin, who ordered the tower’s archers and mages to provide covering fire. This conveniently cleared a path for Helen.

  “This is as far as I go.”

  “Got it, thanks!”

  At 20 meters above the ground, Mud maneuvered the Pegasus into a glide, and Helen dismounted, executing a not-so-graceful nding. She lost 1/10 of her HP from fall damage, but it was worth it—she was now close enough.

  Positioned on a rocky outcrop about 600-700 meters from the Zephrania Summoner’s defensive line, she activated Focus Aim, a skill from the Precision skill tree. It wasn’t as powerful as Dragon’s Eye, but it allowed archers and gunners to snipe targets from up to 400 meters away. From 700 meters, it was perfect for filming.

  That’s when she saw Henry charge out of Void Lock, a divine figure on horseback.

  Boom! Boom!

  Crowd control skills failed to stop Henry. But in games, the strongest CC was always reducing your opponent’s HP to zero. The Summoner’s Guard had no intention of merely deying him—they unched a full-scale barrage.

  Fme Surge!Ice Spike!Psma Surge!Necrotic Wave!Corrosive Rain!Piercing Arrow!Power Shot!

  Of the 19 defenders, 9 were ranged DPS. They didn’t attack simultaneously but coordinated their skills in a well-practiced rhythm, covering every angle.

  Cng! Cng! Cng!

  Henry raised both his shields—one bck, one white—blocking nearly every attack.

  Narhual’s Holy Shield(Legendary +20) — +100 Physical Defense, +90 Magic Defense.Noctis Shield(Majestic +33) — +150 Magic Defense, +10 Physical Defense.This Dual Shield pystyle was Henry’s trademark, an art few could replicate.

  Even in professional tournaments, Henry’s Parry Rate had been recorded at 88%!

  But no matter how high his defense, he was still taking damage. Blocking skills didn’t nullify all damage, and the remaining 12% of attacks that got through added up fast—especially in a 1v9 situation.

  Except… Henry wasn’t alone.

  Right behind him was Lana—the Healing Knight, dubbed The Mounted Health Potion.

  She wasn’t a traditional healer, but her mobility allowed her to zip across the battlefield, constantly patching up Henry as he charged.

  “Here comes the Lightning Rod strategy!”“Sir Henry, absorbing all aggro like a pro.”“Sir Henry plugged his mouse!”

  Sir Henry plugged his mouse—yet another meme. Henry’s Dual Shield and Dual Sword pystyle required two mice, one in each hand. The left handed mouse was gaining popurity among gamers nowadays, since it provided the double wielding style, but not that everyone was skilled enough for it.

  “The rest of KOG is moving in! It’s now 6 versus 20!”

  “Summoner in danger! If they’re forced to recall Arcturus, that’s a massive win for KOG!”

  The chat exploded. KOG had taken a huge gamble, but it was paying off.

  And Henry?

  “Come to daddy, baby! One down! Two down! Three down!!!”

  His ugh echoed through the team’s London headquarters. No one compined.

  Whenever Henry got this hyped, it only meant one thing—KOG was winning big.

  Padin Henry rampaged through the battlefield as if there was no one around. In no time, he had cut down three mages. The defensive formation had been shattered, and the KOG team surged forward. Even Henry’s own teammates, who had initially doubted the possibility of a miracle, now felt as if they were just moments away from ciming the enemy commander’s head.

  Just a little more.

  The holy knight of Gale. The legendary pyer. The one the community often “affectionately” mocked as Sir Henry was about to lead them to victory.

  But—

  Valia was a nd that never cked legends.

  Just as Henry, brimming with unstoppable momentum, charged forward to take the Summoner’s head, a bzing crimson bde sshed through the air with pinpoint accuracy—severing the head of his warhorse, Copenhagen.

  Copenhagen’s health bar instantly dropped to zero, vanishing back to the city to await resurrection. Henry crashed to the ground, rolling over the dirt.

  A voice rang out, cool and unhurried.

  "You've strayed a bit too far, little Padin."

  The pne had nded.

  They stood up, preparing to disembark.

  At that moment, on Helen’s live stream, a figure appeared—a swordsman draped in a crimson cloak, his long hair flowing down his back, engulfed in roaring fmes. In his hands, a long, blood-red sword curved like a crescent moon.

  He froze. His fist clenched tightly, almost subconsciously.

  The Captain turned to gnce at him and offered a faint smile.

  "Let’s go. The day you cross paths with him isn’t far off."

  He cast one st look at that bzing figure before turning away and stepping forward.

  Ignis Fmma. The right hand of the Emperor of Zephrania. The legendary Adventurer of Valia.

  Just you wait. I’ll come for you, you bastard.