After the semifinals were over, the Prawn Pigheart Players who were searching for cultists in Lancaster had one more member.
"I can actually hear the hubbub from so far away, aren't the citizens of Lancaster a little too passionate …" Princess Leah shook her head after listening to the hubbub from the Western Suburbs, before asking the youth beside her curiously, "Are you really not going to watch the finals?"
"… I don't really want to see other Players in the meantime."
Edward, the Seven Seas Adventurer, said impassively after being defeated by Pink Flatfish and becoming a hot topic on the forums as he quietly closed the System page that kept refreshing messages.
"Still, it's quite surprising."
Marni, who was a fellow sufferer who couldn't even make it to the third round smiled kindly, softly patting the youth's shoulder, though there was no telling if it was gloating or consoling.
Then, he asked in confusion, "I don't really fight other Players, so I'm not sure about that. Be that as it may, wasn't Pink Flatfish … Mufasa considered the weakest Player half a year ago, with no party taking him in even the Living Dead Cellar dungeon? But not only did he make it to the third round, he even beat you, Edward. Could he have learned some powerful external skills? "
External skills were skills taught by believers of other churches, mages, or martial artists in this world, independent of the Players' skill tree.
Still, such skills cost a lot of skill points and were not guaranteed to be powerful, which was why few Players would learn them.
"No, Pink Flatfish … Mufasa was weak because the Swordmaster class is too difficult to master, especially Mufasa's Kengyoku path. Since he doesn't have any offensive skills in the early stages of his class-change, he simply can't compare to other classes."
Being a first-rate Player, Edward naturally understood such things better than Marni who was obsessed with earning money and had no heart for PvP. "Even after reaching Level 20, most of Kengyoku's skills are still useless …" he explained. "If you must put your finger on it, it's because Kengyoku's skills are too reliant on personal awareness and technique, even needing a certain level of swordsmanship to successfully use them."
"The most typical ones are 'Reflect' and 'Parry', as well as the moves derived from these two skills. As long as there was a slight mistake in timing when deflecting or parrying an enemy's attack, these two skills would not be able to be activated smoothly. It was equivalent to the Swordmaster taking an attack from the enemy without any defense. Moreover, the HP growth of a Swordmaster isn't high, and it's not a tank-type profession. Taking a direct hit is equivalent to being half-crippled … "
"Oh, come to think of it, I seem to have seen a lot of Swordmasters complaining about Kengyoku being useless on the forums, and how it's as if they're lacking a skill tree compared to other classes …" Marni clapped his hands in realization. "Those fellows probably won't complain after this tournament."
"That's right. In contrast to this high difficulty, these moves can bring great rewards. As long as one could perfectly grasp that 'timing', they would be able to defend against almost all attacks. Only a few wide-area skills would be able to deal damage to them. As everyone knows, wide-area skills either don't deal much damage or consume a lot of energy. As long as the enemy gets the chance to close in and ambush me, it's only a matter of time before I, a mage with weak melee skills like myself, lose. "
Though he was still brooding over his loss to the Pink Flatfish, Edward still acknowledged Mufasa's ability. "Mufasa must have gone through a long period of training to finally grasp the timing of Kengyoku's Kengyoku skill with that flawless fighting style."
"He's not discouraged even if he has fallen to the bottom, and through constant training, he finally captured the 'strongest' of the Players from the 'weakest' … with that kind of temperament, Mufasa might become an incredible person."
Marni stroked his stubble, already thinking about how he should rope him in. "I wonder if he could be my guard …"
"You're talking as if I'm useless, Uncle Marni. 'Strongest' or whatever is just a silly joke from the Players who don't know the truth. I was never a match for Eleena and that princess from the start." Edward complained, before flashing a mischievous smile and stabbing Marni in the back without hesitation. "Moreover, I think that aside from those few, no Players who recognize you would be your guard."
After all, aside from newbie Players, every other Player had come to a consensus: the Player with the highest death rate was Marni Wilf, and the second highest was Marni's guard, with the main cause of death being Marni's involvement in his death …
"Hmmm …" Marni had no answer to that, and could only stare dejectedly at the ceiling of the sewers.
"On the other hand, I think there's another reason why Mufasa improved so quickly." That was when Princess Leah, who had been walking ahead of them, turned around. She was noncommittal about Edward calling her the strongest, and simply said, "I sparred with Mufasa after winter ended, but he wasn't this strong then. If I must say, his rapid growth was after he adopted those three children from the slums."
"Being a father is the strongest, huh …"
Edward muttered thoughtfully.
"Your Highness!" But just as Edward was about to say something, Boris, who had been scouting ahead returned. "Our royal guardsmen have found traces of cultist activity at three locations. They must be of the same sect, judging from the sacrificial marks they left!"
"That many?"
This time, even Marni was a little unsettled. "And with the frequency of the sacrificial ceremonies, it seems that you were right, Your Highness. Those cultists are definitely trying to cause trouble while Lancaster's inner defenses are weak."
At this point, the three of them realized something.
The Twin City Cup was about to end.
In other words, the time when the city's defenses were weak would soon end with the Twin City Cup.
If the cultists were really trying to cause trouble while the city's defenses were weak, this was unquestionably their last chance!
"Mark the cultists' locations on the map!" With that thought, Leah no longer hesitated, and instructed Boris as she pulled up the System Map.
The latter obediently pointed out the three points on the map.
"If we connect the three points and the place Your Highness destroyed before, we could form an arc." Marni had also studied the locations of the cultists' strongholds.
Unlike Leah and Edward, the knowledgeable Marni quickly drew a circle along the arc. "Most sacrificial patterns and even magical circles are related to circles. If we draw a complete circle along this arc … that means the building in the circle is …"
"It's a courier station!" Princess Leah immediately recognized the location and guessed the cultists' intentions. "They want to assassinate the new emperor's envoy and start a war!"
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Chapter 302
The Cultists' Intentions
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