Gamers of the Underworld (Web Novel)

Steamed Dumpling, who was wearing white armor and a red cloak, was riding on his strong Warhorse.

From his appearance, Steamed Dumpling looked like a Knight from a painting.

He looked on with satisfaction at the Stronghold that was flattened by his three Cannons. Previously, it was filled with many Victorians, but now, even the flesh was vaporized. Only their metal armor and weapons were left damaged on the ground. Steamed Dumpling was puzzled. Even if the firepower of the Cannons was enormous, shouldn’t there be some corpses left? Steamed Dumpling thought it was a new kind of a Cannon.

The Stronghold was destroyed, but he ordered his men to perform a search to see if there were any survivors.

Steamed Dumpling couldn’t afford to fire more Cannon volleys. After all, the Cannon shells were endowed with special Sacred Light. Normal Cannons shells weren’t that powerful.

After considering the strong willpower of the Victorians, Steamed Dumpling borrowed the three powerful Cannons to reduce his casualties.

It was a wise decision on his part.

The squires walked towards Victoria’s Stronghold, while the Knights stationed themselves on the high ground at the boundary of the Stronghold. They chatted happily as they looked down at the empty camp.

When they let down their guard and were about to return to the Duke’s Castle, they saw a strange Rune Mana Formation emitting magical brilliance. Then, many naked Humans, Elves, and Fairies walked out of the Rune Mana Formation.

They had green symbols above their heads and looked surprised at the squires. They then charged viciously at the squires empty-handed.

…

George stood on the parapet of the Duke’s Castle and observed the battle at the distant Stronghold.

Ever since the warriors of Victoria City arrived at the Duke’s Castle, he would stand on the parapet and observe them.

He was attacked and besieged by the warriors before. As an experienced Knight, he was unable to accept the fact that he was utterly defeated by these forest barbarians. He was contemplating the battle tactics of the Victorians.

He discovered with shock that the Victorians used tactics like sacrificing themselves, delaying battle, and reinforcements to achieve victory over his powerful Knights that had superior equipment.

The Victorians did a good job of attriting his 3,000 Knights.

He didn’t know the strength of the Counts’ army, but from his observation, there were at least 5,000 Knights.

Though the Counts had a sizable army, George didn’t think that they could defeat the terrifying Victorians.

The enemies were like endless fleas. No matter how he killed them, there would be new warriors to replace the dead. He had encountered that before.

The Counts had three Cannons that vaporized all of the Victorians. George was in awe of the powerful Cannons. When he saw all of the warriors of Victoria City vanishing in an instant, he thought that maybe the Counts could really defeat the Victorians after all.

Things turned out as George had expected.

Unlimited warriors of Victoria City emerged from the Rune Mana Formation in the Stronghold.

The Rune Mana Formation was a Teleport Portal that only a Great Magician could create.

George had gained new insights into the capabilities of the Victorians as more and more warriors emerged from the Teleport Portal.

They were unleashing their endless waves of warriors again!

George became grave. He knew what the ending would be.

…

The Duke was happily sipping red grape wine in his room. The grape wine was produced in the King’s hinterland, and its rich flavor pervaded his mouth.

The Duke of York felt he was on top of the world at this moment.

One thousand citizens of Victoria City had become his slave warriors. At the same time, the Counts had brought reinforcements and decimated the enemy Stronghold. There was no more threat to his rule.

After clearing the enemy Stronghold, he was going to train the 1,000 slaves in the prison. They didn’t have to participate in the Underground Slave Gladiator Fights. He wanted to use these 1,000 slaves to occupy Victoria City and enslave all of the residents. Then he could raise a slave army to attack the King and conquer the world!

The Duke imagined his future feats as he drank his red grape wine. He couldn’t resist humming a tune.

“Great Duke! Great Duke! Bad news!” a long-robed servant shouted in the corridor before he arrived at the door.

“What’s the matter? Why are you so nervous?”

The Duke stood up and walked to the door as he asked, “Are the Victorians attacking us again?”

The Duke of York thought of this possibility in fear. Every time he heard about Victoria City, he would feel terror. The warriors of Victoria City had defeated his best 3,000 Knights and arrived at lightning speed at his Castle. He didn’t know how they did that.

“No, Victoria’s Stronghold was destroyed, and they did not come back,” the servant said as he panted heavily.

“Why are you so nervous? Are there any other important things to report?”

The servant almost cried out as he said, “The Victorians in the prison started a rebellion!”

“What!”

The Duke almost jumped up. His vision turned black, and he fell to the ground.

…

In the prison of the Castle.

TakeASpearHit was half-naked. He wore the slave’s short pants and black leg fetters. The heavy fetters made his movements sluggish.

Many gamers were dashing out of the prison. They were excited and howled loudly as they pillaged anything that they saw. The most important items were the equipment of the prison wardens.

TakeASpearHit saw the gamers remove everything with haste. He regretted that he was late getting online.

He went online immediately upon reading the post on the discussion forum. When he opened his eyes, the valuable items in the prison were all pillaged by the gamers. Only the worthless items were left. Even the torture tools were missing.

The content of the post on the discussion forum was:

[I have stayed in prison for five days without any rewards. I am starting a rebellion.]

The post was about a gamer who stayed in the Castle prison for five days without obtaining any Strange Encounter Mission. He had to endure beatings and hunger. The meager food was only able to sustain him, and the resting place was extremely dirty. As a gamer of Victoria City, he didn’t have any special requirements for food and lodging.

What he couldn’t stand was wasting time. He had to endure beatings and sleeping. It was no longer fun. He was yearning for the expensive armor and sharp weapons of the prison wardens.

The prison wardens also had great food in front of the prisoners.

How could the gamers endure such temptation? They were getting impatient.

Few gamers could stand being locked up for five days. After being imprisoned for a few days without any rewards, the gamers broke down. Instead of waiting, they decided to rebel and pillage the Castle. Would that not be exhilarating? There were 1,000 of them in the prison, so not everyone could have a Strange Encounter Mission. It was better to pillage than to wait for the Strange Encounter Mission.

The gamers started pillaging immediately.

It was very easy for 1,000 gamers to rebel and flee. When they were dragged out to be beaten, they rushed towards the prison wardens and took over the prison.

They carried out their rebellion and pillage plans. When TakeASpearHit saw the news on the discussion forum and went online, it was already too late. The valuable items in the prison were removed by the gamers. It was alright, as the Castle was huge. There would be other guards outside the prison, and they had comparable equipment to the prison wardens. Perhaps the Duke would have a treasure vault too. TakeASpearHit had to hurry.

The 1,000 gamers ran amok in the Castle since there were no guards. There were only ordinary servants.

The gamers ran around and pillaged the Castle. The wealth accumulated by the Duke over the years had fallen prey to the gamers.

While the gamers were pillaging, the Duke of York, who was protected by a small number of guards, intended to escape via a secret tunnel.

How could he escape when 1,000 gamers were running around every corner of the Castle. He would be instantly discovered if he made a move.

The Duke had just left his room when he was captured by the pillaging gamers.

Though the gamers hadn’t seen the Duke before, they observed that he was protected by many guards. Moreover, he was wearing luxurious clothes and looked noble. He had to be the Duke.

Fortunately, the gamers who captured the Duke were from the Hoodlum Yoga Association and not unaffiliated gamers. Otherwise, the Duke would have been stabbed to death before being stripped of all items.

The Guild members informed other members that the Duke was captured. Hoodlum knew that the Duke was very wealthy. How could he kill him off that easily?

“It has been a long time since we met, Great Duke.”

Hoodlum rushed over and saw the Duke being tied up. The Duke of York recognized Hoodlum immediately. He felt fearful, as he knew how he ill-treated Hoodlum with daily beatings and inhumane training. Each Gladiator Fight almost took Hoodlum’s life. If Hoodlum was sane, he would be vengeful. Now that the Duke was in Hoodlum’s hands, he could imagine dying a painful death. It was something he had never thought about before.

“Please, Hoodlum, don’t kill me. I’ll give you everything,” the Duke begged Hoodlum, disregarding his noble status and ego. Survival was of utmost importance.

“Great Duke, don’t worry, I’m not going to kill you.” Hoodlum bent his body and walked to the Duke. He didn’t feel disdain or hatred as he said, “I’m grateful to the Duke for taking care of me. I tried to return to you, but I didn’t have the chance. Don’t worry, I’m finally back!”

Hoodlum spoke happily.

“Hoodlum, don’t joke with me. I’ll agree with all your requests,” the Duke said quickly.

Hoodlum held the Duke’s hand and said, “Great Duke, don’t say that. I was in your care!”

The fat body of the Duke trembled, and he was almost in tears. Since Hoodlum said that, he was certain that he was going to die.

The Duke was preparing his last words when he saw Hoodlum wave his hand and shout, “Brothers, we’ll break out of the Castle. If we can leave this dangerous place with the Duke, we might be able to join his faction. All the Strange Encounter Missions will only be available to the members of the Hoodlum Yoga Association!”

The gamers at the side cheered. They weren’t righteous gamers. As long as there were benefits, they were willing to do it. Humans were always practical.

However, the interests of other gamers were at risk. The other gamers also wanted to capture the Duke and reinstate Guinevere as the new Duke. Then they could obtain rewards from Guinevere.

The Hoodlum Yoga Association’s intention of fleeing with the Duke to join his faction was made known to other gamers.

The escape route of the Hoodlum Yoga Association was revealed on the discussion forum, and all of the other gamers moved towards the location.

Fortunately, the Hoodlum Yoga Association was strong and had a large number of members. Otherwise, it would have been decimated by the unaffiliated gamers and other Guild members.

However, the Hoodlum Yoga Association was unable to cope with losing its members. Every time its Guild members revived after being killed, they would be detained by the other gamers who accused the Hoodlum Yoga Association of looking after their own self-interest.

Other gamers had wanted to join the Hoodlum Yoga Association and help the Duke of York, but the Hoodlum Yoga Association’s capacity was full. The Guild couldn’t allow more gamers to join.

A small number of gamers confessed their intention to join the Duke of York’s faction, but they were a minority. Most of the gamers wanted to help Guinevere.

Lancelot was in disbelief that there were traitors amongst the gamers. He informed Queen Victoria immediately.

The Queen pondered for a while before letting him wait outside. Then Big Boss Hamster came out and said to Lancelot, “The citizens of Victoria City aren’t defecting, and they can’t defect. This is the Queen’s reply. Don’t worry, and don’t think too much.”

That was a simple reply from the Queen.

It was only a side distraction from attacking the York Territory. The Duke of York was unable to escape since many gamers were going to capture him.

The fate of the Duke was sealed, but the Counts were fighting frantically for their lives. They experienced the terrifying aspects of the Victorians and attempted to flee.