Compared to the dark and oppressive environment of the maze island in the first round, the stage of the second round was clearly much wider and brighter. Moreover, there were no maze walls or anything to divide the space, giving everyone a sense of freedom and liberation.
"Ah, the light! Ah, the water! " Marni exclaimed loudly in awe as he looked at the sight before him and the glistening sea nearby.
But soon, his aura withered visibly, and he pursed his lips in boredom with a faint disdain in his expression. "What? Isn't this fishmen island?"
"Fishmen island?" Gerald, who was in Marni's party for the time being repeated the name that sounded like a place in surprise. "You know this place, Mister Marni?"
"Yes. This is the hunting ground of us Players." Marni nodded somberly. "Even if I haven't been here many times, I have a deep impression of this land."
"Of course. No one is more familiar with this land than you." Ivan Narain, who was once the captain of Marni's caravan guard smiled mockingly, not giving his boss any face at all. "That's because every inch of this land is splattered with your blood, Boss."
"…" Gerald's gaze toward Marni turned complicated at those words.
Though he had yet to officially convert to the God of Games, his heart was already leaning toward the Church of Games after so many things happened and his worldview was shaken so greatly.
That was also why his yellow name above his head, a symbol of neutrality, had turned completely green not long ago, and he was now acknowledged as one of the Players.
Some secrets between the Players (such as resurrection) were no longer kept from him, which was why Ivan would joke about it in front of him.
After all, only the frogmen, believers of the God of Justice, a small portion of the wood elves, and the Long Ears who had recently defected would receive such treatment.
Incidentally, the names above the Players' heads were white.
At first, Xi Wei had intended to label the Players in green since the color gave off a sense of 'safety' and 'nature'. Still, after careful consideration, he decided that it was not a good sign for his believers to have a little green over their heads, which was why he changed it to white.
"Ivan, your bonus for this month is gone."
Marni shot Ivan a sidelong glance and smiled insincerely.
"Boss, I was wrong!" Ivan immediately admitted his mistake. "I still need to buy new equipment this month. Please forgive me."
"Since you're so sincere in admitting your mistake, I'll be merciful and forgive you … as long as you promise to protect me well in the tournament and don't let me die for no reason." Marni nodded in satisfaction, feeling that he was quite dignified.
Ivan thought hard for a long time with a bitter face, and finally shook his head in frustration. "Forget it, I don't want the bonus."
Marni:???
"Although I don't want to interrupt Mister Marni's lecture, something seems to be surrounding us."
As expected of the former personal guard of the mayor of Lancaster. Even if his ability was lacking compared to first-rate Players, his well-honed vigilance and acute senses were something most Players didn't have.
At his reminder, Ivan, who had been joking around with Marni promptly became serious and drew his twin swords — he was a Swordmaster who mainly focused on Flurry, supplemented by some Kengyoku skills. His dual-wielding skill was a passive skill in Flurry's skill tree that increased damage.
In fact, there were many excellent skills in the Berserker skill tree, but Ivan was a merchant's guard before he became a believer of the God of Games (he was the captain of the mercenary guards who protected Marni's caravan in the first place). As a guard who protected others, compared to a brief burst of power, he needed endurance that could last for a long time, as well as the ability to quickly recover his combat ability after some rest.
That being the case, a Berserker who mainly sold his health was naturally not a good fit for a guard.
Even if he said that he couldn't stop Marni's death, Ivan would still be on full alert when the time came to fight, ready to protect his employer.
Marni clearly understood that as well, which was why even though they often bickered, he would always think of Ivan first whenever he needed a guard, and it was only when Ivan wasn't free that he would settle for someone else.
"What danger could there be on fishmen island? Aren't they just fishmen?"
Marni appeared to be the most relaxed of them all. "Don't worry. Even I wouldn't be killed so easily by a few fishmen!"
It was true that while Marni gave off the impression that he would die at any moment due to his Taunt aura, he was a first-rate Player with incredible ability. He could definitely win against lower-level monsters with a heavy punch (he wouldn't have leveled up to such a high level otherwise), and it was only against Bosses that he would be instakilled.
And just as he expected, the ones who appeared on the beach and attempted to surround them were a group of normal fishmen.
"No spellcasters, priests, boss, or liege!" Ivan quickly made his judgment. "They're around Level 15 on average. We can fight them!"
But Gerald was faster than him, having already charged forward.
Gerald couldn't see the words over the fishmen's heads, but being a normal martial artist, he could determine the enemy's strength through their aura. It was a method that worked under most circumstances, although it would only fail against idiotic Players.
Having trained in swordsmanship since he was young, Gerald's fundamentals were solid. His swordsmanship was fast, vicious, and exquisite, and it was only against Players who practiced the Kengyoku path of parrying and deflecting that his rhythm would be disrupted and he would lose in a duel of swordsmanship, which meant that the fishmen could be killed with a single swing of his sword.
With Ivan and Marni in his Iron Man armor joining the fray, the murlocs that had encircled the trio and tried to hunt them down were instead forced to scatter and flee.
"Not bad. We'll soon have enough points at this rate."
Pulling off his helmet, Marni turned on his quest page and nodded in satisfaction as he watched the points enter his account. "Now, we just have to find the Night Tide Dragon and blow up its eggs."
Even as he spoke, he noticed that the scene had become a little quiet.
Turning off the System page, he looked up to find that Ivan and Gerald were staring at the sea behind him with widened eyes.
An ominous feeling shrouded Marni's mind.
He turned shakily to find a pair of golden eyes the size of lanterns.
"Ah …"
In the next split second, the Night Tide Dragon opened its bloody maw and bit down, directly tearing Marni in two and leaving the lower half of Marni's body on the beach before turning and diving back into the sea.
It was only then that Ivan exclaimed as if waking up from a dream. "Heavens, Mister Marni is dead again!"
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Chapter 294:
Your Blood Spilled Over the Earth
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