Chapter 176: Kaiser's Army

"And the award for the most successful rookie falls to Michu!" The announcer lady, Lil Karolin, smiled widely as she said and passed the award for Lil Monke!

She also made sure to take a few photos with him and have a nice chit-chat with the player she used to hype during the regional tournament.

Michu thanked brightly and stepped from the stage, "Thanks! Hehe!"

He was genuinely happy, and his trademark smile brought a wave of applause.

Some people, mainly The High Heaven Guild and their allies, didn't applaud and openly glared at Michu, which showed their stance toward him and heightened the tense atmosphere.

Alas, Michu didn't treat them seriously, and why would he?

He went to his table and spent time with his family and friends!

For such a big event, Michu managed to keep the friendly and family mood around him, which gathered some people's attention.

New ties were made and the old ones steady.

Some old ties became a little too close, however.

Nonetheless, no one really cared and enjoyed the mood without bringing or pointing a few things up!

However, one of the established pro players had reached out for Michu and The Sword Mistress, "I didn't expect you to end up with a harem. You, especially." A man snickered and pointed out Ruo's guild.

She glanced at him and dismissed him with a faint scoff, "Mind where you poke your nose."

The man shrugged and turned heels, leaving Michu with questions...

'Where are Zerze and Kaiser... Lazy Bum?'

Where were his male friends as people thought that everyone around him was in his harem!

But he had just Yumi and Momo, who was the NPC, and she obviously couldn't be here! One could argue with Illiana, but Michu didn't think deeply of her yet!

The award ceremony and after-party were pleasant, but Michu received a lot of ambiguous words and rhetorical questions.

The one that worried him the most was 'What would you do if your business failed?'

At first, he replied that he would try it again and work harder!

But people's reactions forced him to think again, and he thought about variables...

Of course, Michu kept it to himself, but Yumi read him later and answered his doubts, "We will snatch the quest from The Brotherhood and end them once for all."

"Yes."

-

[A few days later, after the award ceremony.]

The Brotherhood!

They were in the western region, and they had one city under their banner.

In this city, their guild house was in the middle, with many NPCs and players going in and out...

The leader of the brotherhood and Pyrobro were currently discussing the matter of their quest.

The quest was called - Perfect Weapon.

In the past, there was a blacksmith whose goal was to reproduce the legendary weapons. He forged replicas with his talent and hard work, then aimed to bring them one into an adaptable weapon that would reshape itself at wish.

The Perfect Weapon.

The perfect weapon would reach the same legendary status and hunt down the originals, further increasing its might.

Alas, the blacksmith failed as he got betrayed by the person who wielded the perfect weapon.

For this person, the strength of the perfect weapon was enough. He didn't want to pursue the impossible dream, and he cut ties.

Literally.

The blacksmith's grief brought the dungeon and the legendary quest!

The Legendary Quest!

The Brotherhood Guild was even behind the blacksmith as the replicas had been scattered across the first leaf, and no one could find them.

Of course, once one found the first weapon and read the blacksmith's will, one would be able to slowly find all legendary weapons.

But the world was wide, and many monsters hid beneath its recesses.

Then, some players slowly learned about the Brotherhood Guild's quests...

"At this rate, she will snatch the quest, and we will be left empty! Bruda! We must assault her with our full strength and utterly strip her from all her secrets and weapons!" Pyrobro seethed as he recalled all failed attempts against Venomous.

"It's fine... I got the help," The Brotherhood Guild Leader said.

His words surprised Pyrobro as he didn't expect the sudden help.

This was also a legendary quest, so another party would request more rewards and money to keep this matter silent... No, they would probably ask to be a part of this legendary quest...

That was why, Pyrobro looked down and clenched his hands tightly, "It's just that one woman and her party... We need the weapons back, and we will be able to step into the next stage... How did it end this way?"

If their opponent was the mythic class, then it would've probably already been in the next stage.

The brothers sat in silence, avoiding each other's eyes until one of the brothers barged into the office.

That would usually herald the guild master's rage, but the brother's pale and flustered countenance didn't forebode anything good.

The guild master asked, "What is going on?"

"The army... of black bugs and beasts is going to our city! It's not the quest, so it must be the player's doing! They are going at us!"

Both brothers immediately stood up!

After leaving their guild house, Pyrobro and his brother bypassed many scared NPCs and players, then stood at their city's main walls. Their eyes rested on the incoming army that clearly belonged to Kaiser.

The guild master asked, "Why would this guy attack us?"

"He has some close connection with Michu, doesn't he? It must be them! For sure!" Pyrobro replied, and his words sounded reasonable.

Without any doubt, behind this army, the snake and monkey patiently waited for this black army's first confrontation.

The guild master said, "Their goal is to take down our land skills. And I can't help but praise them for that. If they attacked on their own, then it would be our victory... But what kind of class does this man have? Epic? Gold? Or maybe even worse, and it's legendary? Anyway, we won't turn tails and escape!"

"Brother! Maybe we should send a few of our players away from the city and hide the legendary replicas?" Pyrobro carefully asked after assessing the army.

His brother's words also wrought him to say it.

The guild master shook his head, "Venomous is known as the smartass. If she requested aid from The Amazon Guild, then they have eyes all around us and our province."

This was not their worst problem, however.

The worst was that more than half of their players were outside their city. They were on the quests or in other cities doing their stuff... No one was forced to stay in the city in their free time to protect it!

Therefore, The Brotherhood wasn't their strongest here...

As the guild master looked at his city's info, his eyebrows knitted, "Fortunately, we have help in our city..." Strangely, many guild members were absent that day as if they got silent information about epic quests that could strengthen them all...

Alas, it was Venomous doing as she knew how to use people.

She also would never be stingy with her resources!

Pyrobro checked their city's land skills and used all of them, "It's set." The transparent formation spread around the city, then all players from The Brotherhood received the bonuses to their stats.

On this ground, they were stronger and invincible!

However, the Kaiser's army wasn't weak either.

The bugs hurtled against the transparent formation.

Although it was clear that they wouldn't utterly destroy it, their slamming forms had done more than everyone from the Brotherhood had anticipated.

In the blink of an eye, the transparent wall became black, as those were the liquids coming from the splashed bugs.

The black liquids drained off faster than the sweat transpiring on the guild master and Pyrobro's faces...

The formation couldn't be just the only thing protecting them!

"I wanted to assemble an army and shoot in tandem for the AoE Additional Damage Effect, but we have to just toss everything we have!" The Guild Leader explained, then took out his Warhammer.

He clenched it tightly, and then it flared up!

The weapon, appearance-wise, would do no shame to the fire god! It looked like it was the blessing of such a god, but the guild master was far from that!

Nonetheless, as the flames heightened and howled a little, the guild master spun around and became a little tornado that constantly spat flames!

Pyrobro didn't let his brother outshine him!

He used his flame spear and hurled flame stars at Kaiser's army!

But if the bugs weren't enough, the beasts could only fill the gap!

In a tandem, like the orderly and experienced army, the beasts rushed and used bugs as their shields to wear down the formation!

From afar, Yumi said to Kaiser, "You are better than I thought."

"Who do you think I am?" Kaiser sneered and increased the output as his beasts began to use their own skills!

Something that the bug army didn't really do...