MMORPG: The Almighty Ring

Jiang Fei literally hit a dead end trying to figure out Fan Yao's enigmatic behavior as well as his invitation into the underground facility. After chilling at home for a while, Jiang Fei decided to visit Si Tuying and Shang Guanqi at the martial training center. They mingled with each other for a while. After that, the trio returned home, had dinner, and called it a night without doing anything else.

…

It had been a week since the war started and players of Shadow Faction had rose to Level 75 and above. The average level of Empyreal Dragon members were as high as Level 80.

As the gap between the two factions' average levels grew more prominent, the NPCs that were guarding the Light Faction grew stronger. At the start, they were much stronger since they were of higher levels than players, causing players to take more and deal less damage. However, with adjustments implemented to make them stronger, players of Shadow Faction were stronger than before. Although they could still be killed in just a few hits, the suppression system was no longer active since the level difference between the NPCs and the players shrunk. Shadow Faction players were almost breaking down the gates of the fortress.

Without the all-powerful magic cannons, the fortress would have been destroyed much earlier. The blast from the cannons were so powerful that it would only take one shot to instantly kill anything that it hits. However, if the NPC army were to lend a hand, they would be able to breach the gates.

When Jiang Fei came online, the flames of war were still raging violently. Although there were players of the Light Faction participating, the main fights were between the NPCs of the Light Faction and the players of the Shadow Faction.

"Verdure Glider, I suggest you to make your preparations. It is almost time for the final act!" said the Elder Prince. Concurrently, the Light Faction were still not calling for their reinforcements from the rear. Even so, Otis was determined to attack.

"Very well. I will infiltrate in as soon as possible," said Jiang Fei, before taking off.

Otis' intuition was accurate. By noon, someone in the Shadow Faction had been circulating the good news. The Light Faction was not going to last. They would now call in the rear forces to join the front in order to make their last stand.

"Heh. Looks like you've made a good call," said Jiang Fei.

"I've never doubt my judgment when it comes to war. Right, looks the plan now relies on you," said Otis, sending Jiang Fei off with his mission.

"I will do my best!"

Jiang Fei opened the Abyss Gate and went to the 10th floor of the Abyss with Akatziris by his side. There, a group of elite demon armies was waiting for him.

"Lord Verdure Glider, we have been waiting for your arrival," said the leader of the Demon Army.

"Very good. Have you prepared the materials?" Jiang Fei asked.

"Yes, my Lord," said the leader as he led Jiang Fei into a room filled with materials to build the teleportation circle.

Jiang Fei smirked. In no time at all, Jiang Fei deposited all of the materials presented into his inventory. Although the material itself took up too much space such that the room was filled to the brim, Jiang Fei was able to "squeeze" everything in into his virtual inventory bag that was no bigger than a small purse.

"Please inform the King to prepare his army. The real war will start when I finished setting up the teleportation circle!" said Jiang Fei.

"As you wish, my Lord!"

The entire elite force bowed down with respect and chanted, "We wish you good luck!"

"Mhm." Jiang Fei nodded and returned to the front lines with the same gate that had not been closed.

"You got them all?" Otis asked when Jiang Fei returned.

"Yeah. I have them all," Jiang Fei replied whilst tapping the small pouch hanging behind his waist.

"To facilitate my infiltration, I hope that you could lead your army to the front and maintain the assault," Jiang Fei asked.

"Relax. I will make sure that those reinforcements from the rear would be so occupied that they could never return to the rear!" said Otis, smirking proudly.

"Thanks," said Jiang Fei before leaving him alone.

Jiang Fei made a public announcement to all players in Shadow Faction and tweaked the quest rewards and conditions a little.

The previous configuration would reward players with experience points even if they did not attack. Now, he had adjusted the reward of the quest. Players needed to do more than just dying now. To earn experience points, which Jiang Fei had purposely inflated by a notch, players would need to deal as much damage as possible. With this change, players would not be mad at the completion requirement but encouraged greatly to inflict more damage. They would fight harder, better, and stronger, which would put more pressure on the Light Faction.

After the quest conditions had changed, Jiang Fei could hear more battlecries such as "follow me brothers!", or "let's earn more experience points!". Jiang Fei literally did nothing but tweak a few settings to bolster the faction's morale.

Naturally, Jiang Fei had set the quest reward to be more rewarding for his guild members. After that, he ordered Seven Star Warrior and Billy Boy to work side by side in order to help Otis and his army to push forward. Once everything was in place, Jiang Fei left the front lines and entered the Demon Dragon Fortress quietly with Akatziris.

Jiang Fei was able to sneak out undetected because he had never once made his appearance in the battlefield. He was always behind, standing together with Otis, observing and waiting.

The first person Jiang Fei sought was Nina, the ex-Saint of the Light.

"Nina, have you completed the map that I have asked for?" Jiang Fei asked.

"Yes!" said Nina, handing over a piece of well-drawn paper.

"Sir, I have taken the liberty to mark down possible infantry barracks. You might want to take note of that," said Hua Mulan at the side. She was once the Captain of the Saint Guards. Naturally, she would know about the military camps. Even though the defense position and encampments would had been changed after Nina was "stolen" away, most of the changes were more of the front lines instead of the rear.

The main center of the military base did not change much as it was too big to do so. In fact, there was no need for the Light Faction to do any major changes since the center of the faction was safe and they had been situated there for countless years. Not only would it cost a lot, it would also cause unwanted complications. The only change that was made in the Light Faction was the border guards—the security at the borders were made stricter to prevent any attacks from the Shadow Faction.

"Good job!" Jiang Fei said, smiling as he gave her a light shoulder touch. The small paper was the key to allow Jiang Fei to infiltrate the Light Faction and to lead the elite demon army directly behind enemy lines.

"Verdure Glider… Promise me one thing… I only wish that you would show mercy. Please do no kill unless it's necessary!" said Nina, conflicted at what she was doing. Although she was no longer part of the faction, she still had the heart of a Saint. She knew what would happen if the map were to fall into the hands of the Shadow Faction.