Chapter 93: The Event Begins; Rose Emblem, Rose King!
....
Old Twenty-Eight finished his explanation. Hearing the report, Seito's brow twitched with mock concern.
"What did their Guild Leader do exactly?"
"He was... very polite."
"Very what?"
"This..."
"Speak up!"
"He provoked us, Boss! He practically begged us to rob him!"
Hearing this, Seito nodded with immense satisfaction. "Excellent. Truly excellent. If they're going to be that 'polite' to the Fatui, it would be rude not to take everything they have, wouldn't it?"
The surrounding Executives: "..."
Everyone took it in stride. After all, this was vintage Seito. He waved a hand dismissively. "Give them a lesson they won't forget."
"Leave it to us, Boss!" Old Twenty-Eight grinned, straightened his suit, and gave a sharp hand signal to the elite members.
Instantly, a wave of black-suited players marched toward the source of the noise.
A few moments later...
"What the hell?! What are you doing?!"
"Wait! Why are you robbing us?!"
"Guild Leader, just give it to them! If we die now, we're out of the event. This is the Fatui we're talking about!"
"Fatui?! You bastards wait! This isn't over!!"
The shouting peaked and faded just as quickly. The black-suited members returned to Seito with professional smiles, already logging the spoils into the guild treasury.
"Boss, it's done," Old Twenty-Eight reported proudly. With the event about to start, the rival guild realized that being hunted back to Level 1 by the Fatui wasn't worth the pride, so they had handed over their gear in bitter silence.
"Not bad," Seito praised. "You've got a bright future, kid."
"Heh, I had a good teacher," Twenty-Eight smirked before stepping back into formation.
Nobody was worried about the "vengeance" promised by the other guild. In this game, power was the only currency, and the Fatui were the wealthiest players in the room.
Fifteen minutes later...
"Ooh~ It's finally starting!" Maple's expression shifted into a look of pure, starry-eyed excitement.
[The "War of Factions" Event has officially begun!]
[Players will be randomly teleported to any location outside the Safe Zones!]
[Event Duration: 4 hours!]
[Rankings are now LIVE!]
Whoosh! Whoosh!
A prompt appeared before every player.
[Please select your Faction Matching Method:]
[Direct Selection.]
[Random Match.]
Seito instantly clicked Direct Selection. A list of Fatui guild members appeared. He added Kanade's name first, then pulled in 9,900 regular guild members to fill the roster before hitting confirm.
Flash!
Ten thousand players vanished alongside Seito and Kanade. When the darkness faded, Seito found himself standing atop a jagged mountain peak. Beside him stood Kanade and his legion of ten thousand.
"No other players nearby?" Seito murmured. He checked the back of his right hand and found a glowing Rose Emblem. This was his faction's mark.
[Ding! Your Faction has been matched successfully. Please elect your King!]
Seito turned to his guild members and raised his voice. "Alright, brothers! You know what to do. Send those votes my way!"
Without a second thought, the guild members dumped their votes onto Seito. In a flash of golden light, the announcement rang out:
[Congratulations!]
[You have become the King of your Faction: "The Rose King"!]
[Rewards will be delivered directly to the King at the end of the event.]
[Now, go forth and conquer or eliminate other Factions!]
Seito rubbed his chin. The fact that rewards went directly to the King made this event brutal for solo players. Randomly matched strangers would likely tear each other apart fighting for the throne. But for a unified guild? It was the perfect system.
"Boss! There's a fight at the bottom of the mountain! It looks like several factions have already clashed!" a member shouted from the edge of a cliff.
"Oh?" Seito walked over. Looking down, he saw a chaotic display of elemental magic—bursts of fire, ice, and lightning illuminating the valley. Though he couldn't count them precisely, there were easily over 20,000 players involved.
"Seito-kun, should we head down?" Kanade asked, her face as calm as ever.
"Of course!" Seito grinned. He turned back to his men. "Get down there as fast as you can. Kanade and I will go ahead and introduce ourselves."
With that, Seito and Kanade stepped off the cliff and plummeted toward the battlefield.
"???"
The newer guild members who didn't know the duo could fly panicked. "What the—?! They just jumped?! Even if they survive, they'll be at 1 HP!"
"Relax," a veteran member said coolly, beginning the trek down the mountain path.
"Most of our Executives can fly. You'll get used to it."
Down in the Valley...
Three factions were locked in a fierce, three-way struggle. The three "Kings" were busy shouting orders at their troops.
"Forward! Crush them! If we take them out now, we'll secure the lead!"
"Don't let the Sword King or the Ice King push us back! Show them that the Chrysanthemum King is the true ruler!" the leader of the floral-emblem faction roared.
"Ruler my ass! Might makes right!" the Ice King barked back.
But as the three Kings prepared for a final clash, a discordant shout erupted from the ranks.
"Everyone, look up! Look at the sky!!"
...
Thank you for reading.