C.3502 - 576 – Sanctuary’s Curse

Chapter 576 – Sanctuary’s Curse

Red Frost spoke without emotion, her indifferent voice adding a layer of frost to the room’s atmosphere. Despite having already become a one-star grandmaster, Shi Feng was still affected by this chilly atmosphere.

“Fifteen third-tier cities have declared war on us simultaneously! It’s been centuries since such a thing happened in our region!” Red Frost said with emphasis as she scrutinized Shi Feng. “The last time such a thing happened, Silver Frost City hadn’t even become a second-tier city yet. If not for the City Lord having a favorable view of you, do you know what kind of situation you would be facing right now?”

There might seem like a large number of third-tier mobile cities operating on the Starlight Continent, but they were, in reality, rather limited in numbers. Normally, a third-tier city would only come across another third-tier city after wandering about for several months. And unless a new energy vein was discovered, it was highly unlikely for multiple third-tier cities to be present in the same location at the same time.

Meanwhile, even a handful of third-tier cities competing over an energy vein would typically result in some of the involved cities losing a couple of the energy veins they originally owned. In severe cases, some of the involved cities might even be knocked back to their starting point and forced to survive with just one energy vein. In that state, they would be at risk of running out of energy at any moment and cease to be a city.

As for the current situation where fifteen third-tier cities were gathering to attack Star Lake City together, Red Frost couldn’t even begin to imagine what would become of Star Lake City if this situation wasn’t handled properly.

“I haven’t done anything as over the top as you might think,” Shi Feng said, chuckling as he looked at Red Frost’s solemn expression. “If there’s anything I’ve done, it’s simply disrespecting the son of Silver Frost City’s City Lord.”

As soon as Shi Feng finished speaking, Red Frost couldn’t help but reveal a look of astonishment.

“You’re saying you offended Xiao Quan? The son of the City Lord overseeing the second-tier mobile city of our region?” Red Frost couldn’t help but seek confirmation.

“That’s right. It’s him,” Shi Feng said, nodding.

“How audacious of you,” Red Frost commented before pursing her lips. “That fellow’s the most favored child of Silver Frost City’s City Lord. He’s slated to inherit the City Lord position in the future. If you have offended him, neither you nor Zero Wing can continue operating within Silver Frost City’s territory. Not even our City Lord can cover for you this time.”

Shi Feng wasn’t surprised by Red Frost’s words. Instead, he smiled and said, “The City Lord might not be able to cover for me now, but what if Star Lake City becomes a second-tier mobile city?”

This time, the situation differed from when the Paimon Conglomerate was applying pressure on Star Lake City. Star Lake City’s jurisdiction fell under the Galaxy Conglomerate, so the most the Paimon Conglomerate could do was tempt other third-tier cities into attacking Star Lake City. If it tried to do anything more, the Galaxy Conglomerate would no longer turn a blind eye to its actions.

As for the incident this time, all parties involved fell within the Galaxy Conglomerate’s jurisdiction. So, no matter how much the conflict escalated, the Galaxy Conglomerate would not intervene.

“A second-tier mobile city?” Red Frost laughed. “Do you think the Star Lake Legion has what it takes to win against fifteen city legions simultaneously?”

City battles in the real world differed from battles in God’s Domain. Not only would participants have their Physiques heavily suppressed, but even the weapons and equipment they could access highly depended on their mental strength standard. The stronger the weapons and equipment participants tried to manifest, the stronger their mental strength needed to be. So, one could say that a city battle was a mental strength competition.

However, city battles could only be regarded as competitions of mental strength only if they were one-on-one scenarios. In a situation where both sides were limited to only ten battle groups and two hundred participants, there were limited means each side could employ after they scattered their forces across different occupation points.

In a one-versus-many scenario, things would be different. It was especially so when one side consisted of fifteen cities. The side with fifteen cities could deploy 150 battle groups consisting of 3,000 participants. In such a situation, they would be more than capable of using various large-scale magic arrays.

For example, they could use large-scale magic barriers to suppress the enemy. They could also use large-scale offensive magic arrays powered by several hundred magical class players to launch attacks that players of the same tier could not resist. They could even deploy large-scale defensive magic arrays that could easily stop attacks from players of the same tier.

It was no exaggeration to say that one-versus-one simulation warfare and one-versus-many simulation warfare were two entirely different types of conflict. In the latter case, the impact that individual players could have on the battle would be diminished significantly.

“I cannot guarantee whether we can win.” Looking at Red Frost, Shi Feng contemplated for a moment before asking, “If you were to recover your peak strength, how likely are you to win the Tier 6 battle, Commander Red Frost?”

“Recover my peak strength?” Red Frost couldn’t help but look at Shi Feng curiously for a moment when she heard his question. Then, she laughed and said, “Do you have a way to let me recover? Do you even know what kind of injury I have suffered?”

“The source of your body’s mana has been damaged, and it has led to the severe weakening of your mana’s strength, right?” Shi Feng said, chuckling.

According to the rumors floating about in Star Lake City, Red Frost possessed astonishing talent. Yet, she plummeted from grace after suffering some kind of injury during her campaign in the Twelve Sanctuaries.

Meanwhile, based on his observations during the last city battle, Shi Feng found that, despite being at Tier 6, Red Frost’s mana was abnormally thin. He also noticed that she didn’t make use of any mana throughout the entire battle, relying only on her weapon, equipment, and techniques. This was a very bizarre way to fight for a pseudo-great grandmaster.

The only explanation Shi Feng could come up with to explain this situation was that Red Frost had suffered damage to her mana source, which, in turn, led to a drastic decrease in her mana’s strength.

This was a phenomenon he had heard of before, and it could be said to be a type of curse in the Twelve Sanctuaries. Without the proper means to resolve it, players would be stuck with it forever. The curse would follow them, even if they started a new account.

Originally, Shi Feng didn’t have any way of combating this curse. Unless Red Frost could kill the person who cursed her, her mana would be permanently weakened.

However, after learning about the Western Continent’s Mana Purification Techniques, he was confident he could resolve Red Frost’s problem with ease.

“Do you truly have a solution?” Red Frost shot up from her seat and stared intently at Shi Feng, the excitement in her eyes very apparent.

The Sanctuaries’ curse was something she had never mentioned to anyone. She would also never use mana, even during normal battles, and she would only fight while relying on her Basic Attributes. Even if others took notice of her strange behavior, they would only think that it was her style of combat; they wouldn’t suspect a problem with her mana.

“I wouldn’t have brought it up if I didn’t have a solution,” Shi Feng asserted. “So, once again, how confident are you in winning the Tier 6 battle if you can recover your peak strength, Commander Red Frost?”

“I’m sure you know that fighting multiple cities simultaneously is a completely different experience from fighting just one city. There are many more means our opponents can employ, so the battle isn’t something the individual player can influence easily.” After pondering for a moment, Red Frost answered, “If I can recover my peak strength, I would probably have a thirty to forty percent chance of winning the Tier 6 battle.”

“Up to 40%?” Shi Feng was a little surprised by Red Frost’s answer. Originally, he felt that, even if he looked at the situation optimistically, Red Frost would only have a 20% chance of victory. Moreover, this was built on the foundation that Red Frost was a pseudo-great grandmaster. “What if we add in a battle group that’s fully equipped with Legendary Weapons and Equipment?”