Foolish play of the gods

Chapter 5: The trial begins and the terror attacks · The other five hadn't wandered far, and it wasn't long before everyone returned to the initial landing point. · Cheng Shi looked at Chen Chong and noticed he had already converted his greatsword into a shield. · Warriors of Order were among the few classes renowned for defense, making them exceptionally well-suited for survival-type trials. · The Shield-Sword was a versatile weapon that could shift forms at will—an A-grade item that only dropped for those ranked 1600 or higher on the ladder. · Chen Chong had only just cleared the 1600 mark and already possessed a Shield-Sword; it seemed his luck was quite good. · "I’ve found today's Order Anchor. A bar was buried beneath the rubble, and I managed to dig through the debris to uncover one of its rules: Today, only fruit wine shall be consumed." · As he spoke, Chen Chong flicked his wrist and produced a bottle of fruit wine of an unknown brand. · This bottle clearly hadn't been scavenged from the ruins; it came from his storage space. · Every player possessed a personal storage space roughly the size of a locker to keep their most vital belongings. · Cheng Shi had one too, filled with all sorts of oddities, but he hadn't expected someone else to share his habit of keeping beverages in there. · The others looked even more bewildered than Cheng Shi. Noticing their stares, Chen Chong explained with a smile: · "The pressure is too much. I can’t sleep at night without a couple of drinks, so I always keep a few bottles on hand. Everyone take a sip; the radiance of Order will protect you. Don’t worry, the alcohol content is very low. it won’t affect the upcoming battle." · The Divine Decree Rite of Order involves seeking out order. Only those who follow a specific law or rule can receive a blessing. · Furthermore, those who wish to accept the protection of Order must adhere to the specific order that was discovered. · A simple rule anchor clearly boosted everyone's safety index, and the group was pleased. They took turns passing the bottle, each taking a small sip. · Only Cheng Shi, when it reached him, tipped it back and guzzled half the bottle. · Chen Chong’s brow twitched. He suddenly got the feeling that this Priest was a bit unreliable. · Nearby, Cao Sansui seemed to have had a successful Divine Decree Rite as well. He pulled out several golden pocket watches and began distributing them. · "I’ve anchored the time and calibrated all the watches. These will chime five minutes, three minutes, and one minute before the hour. Everyone, keep a close eye on your condition. A Time Walker can decide when a Time Battlefield begins and ends, but we cannot determine what state you'll be in once you're inside it." · Cheng Shi took the watch from Cao Sansui and examined it closely. · It was clearly made of pure gold, with hands that shimmered brilliantly; it looked incredibly expensive. · Unfortunately, in this current world, gold wasn't worth much of anything. · Trials requiring gold were often less difficult than those requiring food. · However, that didn't stop some players from still prizing gold to satisfy regrets from their previous lives. · Seeing everyone inspecting their watches, Cao Sansui added: · "In case anyone’s understanding of the Time Battlefield is unclear, I should remind you: · The Divine Decree Rite of Existence is precision and punctuality. · Once I deploy the Time Battlefield, we must activate it exactly on the hour and conclude the conflict by the next hour mark. · If we fail, we will be trapped in an eternal time loop until we succeed. · But each loop erodes our concept of time! · Too many loops, and we’ll be lost in the river of time. I believe I don’t need to elaborate on the outcome of that. · So, unless you're confident we can solve the problem in one go, do not trigger it. · Time reversal isn't a cure-all." · Having survived this long, the players had mostly encountered various combinations of classes and faiths. They were well-acquainted with these mechanics and nodded in understanding. · Following this, the other four, including Cheng Shi, confirmed their Divine Decree Rites had gone smoothly. · Seeing that everyone was prepared, Chen Chong nodded and suggested, "There are still some buildings to the east of these ruins that haven't been completely leveled. For safety's sake, let's head there and take cover until we encounter one side of the war or are forced into an engagement. Thoughts?" · "I have no objections," Xia Wan said, her tone as icy as ever. She continued, "I found the corpses of Bomedians beneath the rubble nearby. This is likely a small town on the Continent of Hope. In the Hunter channel logs, someone mentioned that the Continent of Hope was decimated by a skeletal army." · Cao Sansui picked up the thread. "Correct. Our position should be near Forest County. The Mage channel has a lot of people who research trial history. If we really are facing the counterattack on the Continent of Hope, then what we’re about to go up against is likely the right wing of the skeletal army." · Cheng Shi admired these people who researched trial history, mostly because he never did, nor did he have the patience for it. · In this twisted world, staying alive already took half his energy. · As for the other half, he had to save that for deceiving people. · Two weeks after the Faith Game began, some people noticed that players seemed to be transported into a world that once existed during every trial. · Many were curious about these worlds that only existed within the trials, so they began gathering background information and organizing it to share in the class and faith channels. · Unfortunately, Cheng Shi could never find any useful information in his faith channel. · Every fragment of history regarding trial backgrounds that he knew came from the class channels. · He really was a Priest. · Chen Chong clearly wasn't a history buff either. He frowned and asked, "And so?" · Xia Wan continued, "There’s very little information on the right-wing theater. If I remember correctly, the most recorded entity is..." · Before she could finish, a piercing shriek suddenly erupted from the distant sky. · The group started, snapping their heads around to look. · The distant sky had turned a dark, ink-like color at some point. A literal storm of flapping black wings was blotting out the sun as it approached. · "...Dreadfiends," Xia Wan muttered, her face darkening as she provided the answer. · Dreadfiends were winged demons from hell that fed on fear and specialized in sowing chaos. They were followers of Corruption and the mortal enemies of Nurturing. · Looking at the terrifying numbers, if they actually engaged, the six of them wouldn't even be enough to fill the gaps between the army's teeth. · "That's... way too many!" · Cheng Shi frowned and glanced at his watch. It was 9:01, just past the hour. It seemed they hadn't had the chance to open the Time Battlefield in time. · Cao Sansui’s expression also shifted. It was clear he hadn't expected the pace to be this fast, nor had he expected to run into an aerial legion right off the bat. · "Brother Cao, is this the scale of a 1900-rank match??" Chen Chong asked, shocked. · Cao Sansui felt a bitter pang in his heart. Bullshit, I've never seen this many either. · "Fall back! Fast! Get to cover before they spot us! They're on the march—we need to avoid a direct engagement. Move!" · Chen Chong barked the order, unstrapping the massive shield from his back. He muffled the glow on the shield's surface and led the group, staying low as they sprinted toward the east. · Song Yawen took the lead. As he sprinted and made contact with the shadows among the ruins, his entire body dissolved into a puff of light smoke, vanishing from everyone's sight. · The Assassin class skill: Shadow Shuttle. · Assassins walk through darkness and travel beneath shadows. Over short distances, they can use shadows to reposition and conceal themselves. · This concealment wasn't just physical hiding; it was a descent into the shadow plane, a literal disappearance. · Xia Wan’s speed was no less impressive; as a Hunter, agility was her middle name. · However, she didn't just put her head down and run like Cheng Shi and Nangong. Instead, she scattered something on the ground as she ran. · Cheng Shi stole a glance back and realized she was dropping Creation Grass Seeds. · These certainly weren't actual grass seeds; they were a blessing of Nurturing bestowed upon the Hunter class. · It was a life-based trap. Any living being that came into contact with the seeds would be influenced by the will of Nurturing, triggering an overwhelming urge to reproduce and rapidly gestating an independent entity within their body that was hostile to the host's consciousness. · Just like the pregnant woman Cheng Shi had dealt with earlier, who had been desperate to become a mother. · This method was the primary mode of attack for followers of Nurturing. · They never destroyed an enemy directly; they warped them, forcing them to walk toward their own destruction. · Although the deities of the Life path leaned toward the side of Order, a lawful will did not preclude physical mutation. In certain manifestations, the lawful "Good" gods weren't much better than the chaotic "Evil" ones. · In fact, they could be even worse. · "I need at least 57 minutes and 42 seconds to reset the Time Battlefield. During this time, I can only influence your individual time domains. Pray, friends—pray they haven't spotted us." · "Enough talk! Use it now! Give us a boost!" · Chen Chong growled, his forward momentum increasing by another thirty percent. · Time Walkers could manipulate time, which was incredibly useful during a race. · Cao Sansui didn't actually want to consume too much mental energy this early, but there was no better option. He gripped his pocket watch and shouted to his companions: · "Area Fast-Forward!" · The moment the words left his lips, the five of them seemed to be caught in a high-speed playback, covering nearly a hundred meters in the blink of an eye. · Conversely, in the area adjacent to the accelerated zone, the very air seemed to stagnate. That region looked as if someone had pressed the pause button; even the rising dust hung frozen mid-air. · The potential energy of time always remains balanced within a certain range. When one side speeds up, the other naturally slows down. · Cheng Shi felt like he had wind beneath his feet; it was an incredible sensation. Ground that would have taken minutes to cover was crossed in a dozen seconds. · Unfortunately, this acceleration only worked within a specific area. Once they exited that zone, their speed plummeted back to normal. · Despite his high rank and superior condition, accelerating such a large area left Cao Sansui visibly exhausted. Seeing him flagging, Chen Chong grabbed him, hauled him onto his back, and kept running. · "Assassin, go ahead! Clear the ruins and find a base!" · "Nangong, restore the Mage's mental energy! Progeny Priest, don't just wander around—it's not your turn to step up yet!" · "Creation Hunter, lay more traps! The Dreadfiend scouts won't stay in the air forever. Once they land, we need to stall them as long as possible!" · Chen Chong had excellent judgment and a calm command style; he had clearly earned his 1600 rank through merit. · But the current situation was so dire that he had no other choice. As he ran, he scrutinized the crumbling walls, searching for any structure large enough to hide all six of them, hoping they could evade disaster. · However, the battlefield shifted far faster than anticipated. · Before they could even reach the standing building ahead, the dense army of Dreadfiends began to dive toward the ruins. · Their scouts had spotted the players long ago. · "Ya—Sa—!" · A terrifying shriek echoed across the ruins. The excitement of the Dreadfiends was palpable; they had clearly found an unexpected prize on their march. · "Too late! The grass seeds have been triggered! Prepare for engagement!" · [END]