“Retreat! Retreat! We can’t hold them back any longer!”

  Players who still had the strength to run desperately fled the battlefield, abandoning their posts as the undead army closed in. Even though death in this game meant nothing more than waiting a day for the resurrection cooldown, lost meditation progress, and losing whatever equipment they were carrying, no one wanted to die for nothing.

  Despite that, Sean and his party were no cowards. Much like when bandits had chased them in the past, they would face this challenge head-on, even if the odds were stacked against them. They had too much pride to turn their tails. Still, the undead knight’s attack had taken its toll on them.

  Chicken and Butterfly bore the brunt of the fighting, their bodies covered in cuts and bruises. Scarlet had paid an even heavier price, losing her left hand in a desperate attempt to parry the undead knight’s strike. Patrick, though less injured, was visibly drained. Sean, too, was in no better shape, his chest punctured and bloodied from being thrown into a jagged boulder. If there were no in-game pain shielding, he would have been screaming and rolling on the ground.

  “KuroUsagi! You need to get your party out of here! Don’t you have a role to play?”

  Sean turned toward the voice, squinting through the dust and chaos. A group of players—about a dozen—emerged from the smoke, led by GiveMeTheNuclearCode.

  “Is that you, NuclearCode?” Sean asked, his voice hoarse.

  NuclearCode, in spite of his username, was actually a guild leader in the popular MMORPG, “Throne and Liberty.” He had started this game with a group of his lucky friends who gained access, and his numbers had been steadily increasing.

  “That’s right!” NuclearCode declared, grinning confidently. “My party and I will hold back this boss monster!”

  Sean weighed the decision in his mind. There was indeed something he should accomplish—a part of the plan required him to take action elsewhere. If he were to die here, everything would be for naught. He couldn’t afford to let that happen.

  “Everyone, let’s move!” Sean shouted, gesturing for his party to follow.

  “What?! Are we really just going to retreat and leave our comrades behind?!” Chicken complained, clearly not satisfied with Sean’s decision.

  “Idiot!” Butterfly smacked Chicken upside the head. “Weren’t you at the briefing? You should know we can’t afford to die here!”

  “Sorry, ma’am,” Chicken muttered, grudgingly falling into step behind Sean.

  As they retreated, Sean glanced over his shoulder at NuclearCode and his party. They stood their ground against the undead knight and the relentless tide of the undead creatures. One by one, they fell. With each devastating swing of the knight’s glowing greatsword, five or six players were cut down, their bodies split in half.

  Sean’s stomach churned. He hesitated for a moment, then called out, “NuclearCode! Do you have any last words?” He half-expected a cheesy, movie-inspired one-liner to look cool in his final moments.

  But what came next left Sean utterly speechless.

  NuclearCode extended a hand, not toward Sean, but in the direction of the academy, his face etched with longing. “Tell Lillie that I—”

  Before he could finish, the undead knight’s greatsword arced through the air, severing his head in one clean strike. The scene truly sent chills down Sean’s spine.

  ***

  Victor watched this dramatic scene unfold on the holographic screen before him. But, not unlike KuroUsagi, he found himself more startled by NuclearCode’s absurd final line than by the extraordinary display of power from the Death Knight. The absurdity of the situation was further underscored by Lizbeth, who was lying on her stomach laughing from atop his shoulder.

  “Did you see that, Master?” She laughed while tugging his collar. “Is this guy serious? Here I was expecting a cool line to end the scene, but what’s this? What do you want to tell Lillie anyway?”

  Victor creased his eyebrows. She was right. With each passing day, the players were growing more and more absurd and eccentric.

  Meanwhile, Lillie was seated in his office, completely unaware of the war raging outside the academy. She lounged on the sofa, engrossed in a storybook while humming a soft, unfamiliar tune. Her serene expression remained untouched by the violence raging behind the door—a stark contrast to the whole situation, but it gave Victor peace.

  Speaking of violence, the players were being steadily driven back by the relentless undead army. The total casualties had exceeded 150, and it wouldn’t be long before the entire player base was wiped out if this were to continue.

  This story originates from a different website. Ensure the author gets the support they deserve by reading it there.

  In truth, the players weren’t entirely fearless in the face of death. What emboldened them was their unshakable belief that this was all just a game and they could resurrect endlessly. Hence, for them, dying in battle wasn’t at all terrifying but rather considered an honor. This conviction fueled their reckless ferocity. However, their pragmatism prevented complete recklessness; when the battle became unwinnable, they would retreat, ready to fight another day.

  Victor glanced back at Lillie, whose curious, heterochromatic eyes shimmered as they followed the lines of text.

  Intrigued, Victor couldn’t resist asking, “What are you reading, Lillie?”

  She looked up excitedly. “Lillie’s reading the story of a brave little girl who faced a terrifying monster haunting her village.”

  Victor arched an eyebrow and leaned over his desk. “You seem to enjoy reading stories.”

  “Mm-hmm!” She nodded eagerly, her feet swinging lightly as she sat. “Lillie loves fairy tales!”

  “Oh?” Victor’s lips curled into a faint smile. “And which one is your favorite?”

  “The Tale of the Fallen Princess!” she declared, clutching the book close to her chest as if it were a treasured artifact.

  “The Tale of the Fallen Princess, huh?” Victor murmured. The story was not foreign to him; it wasn’t that he liked to read fairy tales like Lillie as a child, but it was because the story was grounded in reality. He had come across it during his research into the Magus inheritance that was the Steelrose Order, so he was quite familiar with it. In addition, his family, for an unknown reason, possessed a detailed record of the event.

  It told of a princess who lost her kingdom during the Dark Era. Forced to flee her castle, she lived among ordinary people. But rather than succumbing to despair, she decided to become stronger and help others. Through determination and unwavering effort, she became a hero who reclaimed her homeland and restored peace.

  However, this was not the true version of the story and merely a sanitized retelling fit for children. The real story was far darker. Rather than simply fleeing her castle and living among the populace, she was forced to watch her once beautiful kingdom burned to the ground and all her loved ones killed, powerless to stop it. Yet despite the devastation, she was not disheartened.

  Secretly, she was a prodigious dark Magus, a once-in-a-millennium genius in Necro and Umbra elements. She harnessed that brilliance to become a legendary necromancer, wielding her powers to extract vengeance against those responsible for reducing her kingdom to ash. After that, she vanished into obscurity, her ultimate fate unknown. Though many believed that her enemy had injured her to the brink of death, and she passed away not long after.

  But still, this part of the story gave the tale its name: The Tale of the Fallen Princess.

  What was her name again? Victor pondered, furrowing his brow. Val... something. I can’t quite recall, but it definitely started with that syllable.

  Pushing the thought aside, he returned his focus to Lillie and offered her a faint smile. “A tale of hope and redemption. I can see why it resonates with you.”

  Lillie smiled brightly, slightly blushing. “Lillie likes stories where people overcome curses or hardships and become something better.”

  Yup, exactly what you’d expect a girl her age to love. Or maybe because it’s quite similar to her situation…

  Suddenly, a melodious ding resonated inside Victor’s head, and a blue holographic screen popped up before his eyes.

  [Mission Accomplished!]

  [Congratulations on passing the mission. You have successfully upgraded the academy’s grade to level 4 and completed the war preparations.]

  [The reward (Instant progression to your sigil forming and insights into the understanding of your meditation technique) has been issued.]

  “Master, congratulations on the mission success!” Lizbeth exclaimed, drawing a curious glance from Lillie.

  “Hrm…” Despite the war against the undead army having raged on for a full day, the main mission “Prelude to Great War” was only finished now. That was because the final, decisive piece of Victor’s preparations had only just been completed. This delay was precisely why Victor had remained composed, even as the undead army pushed the players to their limits, because he believed that victory would be his to take.

  As for the mission’s reward, he had to head down to the Nexus Beacon in the basement to claim it. There was no way around it.

  That said, Victor opened the Headmaster’s Journal to check on the new mission that had appeared.

  —— [Headmaster’s Journal] ——

  Mission: Time to End This War

  Know the enemy and know yourself. Since you know what you’re facing and where they are at, it’s time for you to end this meaningless war once and for all. As the strongest combatant in the academy, you have to face the mastermind of this invasion and show your might, only then will they stop this and respect you.

  Type: Main mission

  Demonstrate Your Strength Against the Foreign Invader: 0/1

  Reward: 5,000 academy points and ???

  Huh, so it’s telling me to target their leader instead of engaging in a prolonged battle with the players? Although Victor had some doubts, the System’s missions had never steered him wrong before. If this was the recommended course of action, it likely offered the most efficient way to handle the undead invasion.

  But what was the “???” reward? There hadn’t been a single instance where it wasn’t explicitly stated before…

  Just then, his train of thought was interrupted by a soft yawn.

  “Mentor, Lillie’s sleepy,” she mumbled while rubbing her eyes.

  Victor glanced at Lizbeth, raising an eyebrow. “Liz.”

  “On it.” She fluttered toward Lillie with a gentle smile. But as she was about to guide the drowsy girl to her bedroom, she paused and looked back at Victor. “What about you? What’s your plan now? And what do we do about the Death Knight?”

  Victor’s gaze sharpened slightly as his thoughts churned. “First, I need to claim my mission reward—it’ll boost my chances of victory,” he replied. “As for the Death Knight, tell Roland to handle it.”

  Lizbeth tilted her head skeptically. “You’re sure he can manage?”

  He nodded. “His combat skills might fall slightly short compared to the Death Knight, but stalling for time should be well within his capabilities. I trust him.”

  “Okay!” Lizbeth nodded before vanishing down the hall with Lillie in tow, leaving Victor alone in his office to prepare.

  Meme