Black Online-Chapter 109: Looming War

With the evening looming nigh, Fang Raon was still fighting Ice Goblins in the forest that was ever-so growing darker.

With shield, he parried, and with sword, he stabbed the Ice Goblins till they breathed no more.

"Your stance is loose. Root your feet to the ground. Don’t lift your heels when you parry. It’ll throw off your balance.

"Be more aggressive. You’re quite passive even when you attack."

Rock said.

Fang Raon listened and sliced through the Ice Goblins—massacring them—and slowly, his percentage kept increasing.

[Next Level: 65%]

Crack!

"?!"

Rock’s ears perked up as he heard the sound of a twig cracking, and he turned around with a suspicious look.

"Wait a moment."

He suddenly said.

Fang Raon stopped moving as he finished off the remaining Ice Goblins and looked at Rock with a raised eyebrow.

’What’s going on?’

He wondered.

In that moment, from the forest, a party of players suddenly emerged, and they looked like they had finished a bloody raid, as some of them had some blood on their clothes.

’They are not Rose Records members.’

Fang Raon immediately thought.

"Monsieur Rascal..."

Rock whispered.

At that moment, the party of Monsieur Rascal also noticed them, and at the front of the party, a pale-faced man with a sly smile stepped forward.

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Master Rock, it is truly an honor to meet you. I don’t think we’ve met before."

The man said.

"...Shouldn’t you introduce yourself first?"

Rock asked.

"Of course, my apologies. Haha, my name is Qazza, it’s a pleasure to finally make your acquaintance."

The man said with a laugh.

’Qazza... I do know that name.’

Rock thought to himself, and he then nodded and looked at other Monsieur Rascal members, who didn’t look all that friendly.

A couple of them were even holding their weapons in a firm grip as if they were preparing to attack at any point.

"And who is this?"

Qazza looked at the shield- and sword-wielding young man.

"...Fang Raon, nice to meet you."

Fang Raon said.

"Ah.... The new team leader of Rose Records. Hard at training, I see. That is very good. The tower gets increasingly tougher from now on.

"It’s good to get stronger... Really good..."

Qazza said with a smile.

’They already know that I am team leader even though I just became one? Their intelligence network is indeed quite impressive.’

Fang Raon thought to himself.

"You were at a raid? It does look like your friends are quite tired and are in dire need of rest."

Rock said.

There were hidden meanings behind his words—"If you dare to attack us, I’ll make sure that I’ll take most of you down with me"—as they were already tired after the raid.

"I was just taking our new recruits to a hunting trip. It has indeed been a long day, so we better get going. It was nice seeing you, Rock, and... Fang Raon."

With a smile, Qazza walked off with the rest of his party, and they were soon out of view.

"That was intense."

Fang Raon said with a chuckle.

"...The tension between the three guilds is growing. Guild War might spark at any moment, and when it does, it’ll become bloody."

Rock said with a serious expression.

"..."

Fang Raon turned silent.

It was clear that this matter was not a joking matter as if they lost the Guild War, Rose Records would be no longer.

Most of them would definitely die, and they would have to start the tower from scratch, and most players in Rose Records would lose three years of hard work.

It was too much to lose.

"When Rose Records made their home on the 15th floor, it was peaceful for a couple of months, but then two more guilds started knocking on our doorsteps.

"Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascals.

"They tried taking Snowberry Village from Rose Records, but after they realized we weren’t pushovers, they backed off.

"Grinding Grief took over Hollyhatch Village, and Monsieur Rascal became the proud owner of Tinselbrook Village.

"However, they didn’t have nice mansions like Rose Record in those villages, so they decided to get rid of the locals that were occupying the houses over there.

"All locals were either exiled or killed in those two villages. Those were dark days. Most of those locals moved here to Snowberry Village.

"Meanwhile, members of Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascal moved in to live in the houses that they stole from locals."

Rock said with a serious look on his aging face.

Fang Raon was also silently listening to him.

"We have always known that one day... One of them will make a move on Snowberry Village... And we must prepare to defend it at all costs.

"These locals—even if you might think of them as nothing but the game’s code—are still part of the Rose Records family.

"If we lose the Guild War, these locals will also perish in the hands of either Grinding Grief or Monsieur Rascal."

Rock said.

A cold, chilly wind came from over the hill, and they both noticed that the sun was slowly setting behind the mountains.

"...I think we should get going." 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝔀𝓮𝒃𝙣𝓸𝒗𝒆𝒍.𝙘𝒐𝒎

Rock stood up, patted the head of his hound, and started walking back to Snowberry Village with Fang Raon.

"The war is really close, right?"

Fang Raon asked.

"In my opinion, the war is already here. Our intelligence network revealed to us that Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascal are planning to meet today.

"They’re discussing war plans."

Rock said.

"They will work together?"

Fang Raon asked with a stunned look.

There was no way Rose Records could handle both of those guilds at the same time.

"We don’t think so. Even if they hate us, they also hate each other, as Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascal have been fighting over territory for the past year.

"I am sure they only discuss ways to not get into each other’s way. This will be a three-way war, and while their main goal is to exterminate Rose Records, they cannot forget that they’re also fighting each other.

"Only one guild can take Snowberry Village for themselves, and after this war, only one guild will exist while the other two will be completely destroyed."

Rock said, and looked at the cold-looking sky with a dark look.

"For Rose Records to survive... We must destroy Grinding Grief and Monsieur Rascal."