“Don’t let them escape!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei led a massive group of Sky Treader Guild members in hot pursuit of Bai Yue Ling and Ying Ye.
She repeatedly drew her bow and fired, but most arrows were deflected by Bai Yue Ling’s Slime Cape.
Without looking back, Bai Yue Ling tossed a few Holy Light Orbs. Xue Zhongxun Mei, prepared this time, shouted,
“Those orbs hit hard—dodge around them!”
The slow-moving orbs were easily avoided, but the maneuver widened the gap between the pursuers and their targets, giving the duo a brief respite.
“Little White, what do we do?” Ying Ye panted heavily, sweat beading on her neck.
“There’s too many of them.”
“I figured we’d get spotted, but I didn’t expect nearly a hundred people…”
Bai Yue Ling clutched her bouncing chest. “At this point, I say we split up.”
Ying Ye nodded, understanding instantly.
With Sky Treader’s numbers, dividing their forces was their only shot at escape.
At a fork in the road, the two parted ways.
Xue Zhongxun Mei hesitated for a moment before barking,
“Send twenty people after Ying Ye. Everyone else, follow me to chase Priest Hero!”
Bai Yue Ling ran, gasping for breath, and glanced back to see the crowd hadn’t thinned.
“Do I really have that big a grudge with you guys?!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei snapped, “What do you think?! I skipped lunch just to catch you myself!”
Since it was early in the game, most players hadn’t allocated extra points, so everyone’s Stamina hovered around 10—roughly equal.
The chase through the village left everyone red-faced and panting, like a grueling 800-meter gym class test.
“Stop… stop running, Priest Hero… huff…”
“Then… huff… stop chasing me!”
Bai Yue Ling threw another Holy Light Orb behind her.
In the chaos, Sky Treader members shoved each other, and several were blown away by the blast.
[Your kill count has increased. Current kill count: 25.]
Ignoring the system prompt, Bai Yue Ling tried to cast again but realized she only had enough mana for one more orb.
Worse, she’d run into a dead end.
“Huff… huff… Got you now, Priest Hero!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei pushed through the crowd, cracking her knuckles.
“Finally, I get to torment you myself. You’ve caused me so much trouble!”
Panting too hard to speak, Bai Yue Ling stuck out her tongue and flipped the group the middle finger.
The threat of her Holy Light Orbs kept them at bay, but they weren’t all melee fighters.
Xue Zhongxun Mei raised her bow and shot an arrow at Bai Yue Ling.
Unable to dodge, Bai Yue Ling watched it chip away less than a tenth of her health.
She was starting to regret dumping all her points into Health.
“No one else move—I’ll handle this!” Xue Zhongxun Mei laughed maniacally.
“Watch how I make her suffer!”
In World of Fate, pain was about 20% of real life.
An arrow hit still stung slightly.
Xue Zhongxun Mei aimed each shot at Bai Yue Ling’s limbs, dealing minimal damage to maximize her torment.
“Heh, a bunch of brainless trash fish…”
Ignoring the incoming arrows, Bai Yue Ling turned away, secretly pulling a wild fruit from her pocket and nibbling it.
“Once my mana’s full, I’ll show you what a five-orb, no-blind-spot barrage looks like. Let’s see you dodge that.”
***
It was nearing evening, the sun setting.
Bai Yue Ling waited for her mana to recover, Xue Zhongxun Mei reveled in her revenge, and the Sky Treader crowd eagerly watched the show.
The scene resembled a group of delinquent students cornering a defenseless girl after school, bullying her mercilessly.
Normally, this was the moment for a hero to swoop in and save the day…
And so, an angry female voice thundered from above.
“This is unacceptable!”
Xue Zhongxun Mei flinched.
“Who’s that?”
Everyone looked up to see a female knight standing proudly atop a rooftop.
Her flowing golden hair shimmered in the sunset, her heavy silver armor and skirt glinting with resolute light.
She gripped a massive lance, her gaze firm and piercing, ready to charge at any moment.
“That’s… the village’s lady knight?”
“She’s an NPC…”
“Her name’s… Aiya, right?”
The Sky Treader members murmured, and Xue Zhongxun Mei grew impatient.
An NPC, here?
To her, no matter how impressive an NPC’s appearance or strength, they were just data—existing only to give quests and rewards, the lowest beings in the game.
In other MMOs, she’d often killed NPCs after completing their quests, looting their gear to sell for profit.
Some had condemned her for it, but she never cared—she didn’t see NPCs as people.
Xue Zhongxun Mei clicked her tongue and feigned politeness.
“Sorry, Miss Knight, Sky Treader Guild is handling private business…”
“I don’t know what Sky Treader Guild is,”
Paladin Aiya declared, raising her massive lance and aiming it at the group.
“But I’ve seen your bullying of the weak clear as day!”
Bullying… the weak?
You’re sure this priest who can one-shot people with a Holy Light Orb is weak?
Xue Zhongxun Mei glanced at Bai Yue Ling, who had somehow sat down on the ground, sobbing and trembling pitifully.
She’s way too good at acting!
Fuming, Xue Zhongxun Mei gritted her teeth.
“So, what’re you saying?”
“Apologize to this little priest and swear never to harm her again,” Aiya said righteously.
“Otherwise, I’ll judge your sins in the name of the Goddess!”
“You want us to apologize to her?”
Xue Zhongxun Mei sneered, as if she’d heard the biggest joke ever.
“Just a trash NPC from a beginner village, daring to talk to me like that… Let’s show her what we’re made of!”
At her command, the players raised their weapons and attacked the knight on the rooftop.
Arrows clanged against Aiya’s silver armor, but she stood unmoved, her gaze icy.
“Fools who court death… I, Paladin Aiya, will judge your sins!”
With her words, a dazzling beam of light descended from the sky, landing on Aiya’s head.
With a furious shout, her silver skirt-armor erupted in radiant gold.
Pure holy light rippled outward like a halo, its heat washing over the area like a tidal wave, as if the sun itself had descended.
The boundless light gathered at her lance’s tip.
In the shocked gazes of the Sky Treader members, Aiya raised her massive weapon, her golden hair billowing, and roared:
“Starstrike!”
She hurled the towering lance, piercing Seeking водичка Plum in Snow’s chest.
The boundless holy light exploded outward, engulfing half the village…
[Name: Aiya]
[Race: Human]
[Level: 30]
[Class: Paladin (Goddess of Judgment)]
[Description: A paladin loyal to the Goddess of Judgment, temporarily assigned by the Rose Kingdom’s third princess to Beginner Village 4443 to monitor otherworld travelers. She seems displeased with their behavior.]
[Note: “Those who worship the Goddess of Judgment are latent lunatics, the ones most in need of standing trial themselves.” — A certain Order Knight.]