Chapter 2043 – A Battle with Two Options

Hearing Crimson Heart’s conclusion, Cleansed Rue couldn’t help but tense up.

Thus far, the Hundred Flowers Palace’s fights with Starlink had only been minor skirmishes. Even so, the small forces Starlink had dispatched had been enough to threaten the Palace.

If Starlink were truly taking this battle seriously, it wouldn’t end as easily as they had hoped.

While Crimson Heart and Cleansed Rue ordered their players to man specific sections of the town walls, the Starlink members in the distance finally made their move. Slowly, the army parted in organized areas, opening multiple, small paths.

Players began to push Large Ballistas down these paths. The scene was so unexpected that the two Palace Vice Guild Leaders froze in shock.

Every player from the Hundred Flowers Palace on the walls was stupefied by what they saw.

They weren’t simply surprised by the Large Ballistas themselves, but by the fact that Starlink’s forces had arrived with more than a hundred of the war weapons...

Even though they had never witnessed the power of Large Ballistas before, seeing them from afar was more than enough for them to understand that these weapons were extraordinarily powerful.

Aside from their massive size, the ballistas’ steel arrows were engraved with crimson magic runes, which attracted the ambient Mana. Seeing the flow of Mana around the weapons, the Hundred Flowers Palace’s members realized that those arrows carried power at the Tier 3 standard or stronger. In other words, each Large Ballista had as much firepower as a Defense Turret.

And Moon Creek Town only had 8 Defense Turrets.

If all of those 100-plus Large Ballistas fired together...

“So, this is why they’re not in a hurry to attack.” Crimson Heart’s expression darkened as she watched Starlink’s players push the Large Ballistas into position.

Initially, she had thought that the Hundred Flowers Palace had some ability to fend off a superpower, but after seeing the Large Ballistas, she found the idea laughable.

“This is Starlink?”

“Is this a joke?! How are we supposed to fight that?!’

The Palace’s players began to despair when they saw the massive war weapons, their fighting spirit vanishing.

Not only were they heavily outnumbered, but the difference between their war weapons was also massive. How were they supposed to fight such an enemy?

Surviving ten minutes against those Large Ballistas might not be possible, much less three hours.

At this point, the players in Moon Creek Town had gone into an uproar after witnessing Starlink’s forces. The various Guilds’ spies in the town frantically reported the situation to their superiors.

While a 300,000-strong army of elites was a powerful force, it wasn’t impossible to defeat. An army of 100,000 elites, with the defender’s advantage, should be more than enough to repel the force.

However, it was a different story if the enemy had 100-plus Large Ballistas. With the current defensive capabilities available to Guild Towns, fending off so many powerful war weapons would be impossible. Not even the various superpowers’ Guild Towns were an exception. As long as Starlink wanted to, it could eliminate any Guild Town it wished. Relying on a Guild Town’s defenses to deter Starlink and secure a foothold in the Dark Night Empire was no longer possible for the various Guilds.

The moment word of Starlink’s Large Ballistas got out, it caused a commotion among the empire’s various powers.

“How is this possible?” Unyielding Heart frowned as he read the report he had just received from a subordinate. “How did Starlink get its hands on so many Large Ballistas?”

Unyielding Soul had been keeping an eye on Starlink’s movements. Naturally, Starlink’s attempt to pacify the Hundred Flowers Palace hadn’t escaped the Guild’s notice.

Unyielding Soul had been preparing in secret to help the Hundred Flowers Palace and foil Starlink’s plans, but now, the Guild’s own towns might be at risk.

“This move is truly...” Shadow Flower gritted her teeth when she saw the numerous Large Ballistas in the recording before her. “How is this just an attempt to capture Moon Creek Town? Starlink is basically solidifying its position as the Dark Night Empire’s overlord!”

Starlink could’ve easily taken Moon Creek Town, yet it had taken its sweet time to set up blockades and use fanciful maneuvers. It was clear what Starlink’s true goal was-making an example of the Hundred Flowers Palace.

Starlink knew that the various major powers, including the two superpowers, were watching the situation in Moon Creek Town. So, it planned to use the Palace to prove its strength to the empire’s various major powers!

“Guild Leader, do we still plan to head to Moon Creek Town?” one of the Hundred Flowers Palace’s upper echelons could not help but ask.

“Notify Crimson and Rue! Tell them to abandon the town immediately and get as many people out of there as possible!” Shadow Flower commanded, frustrated, after giving the matter some thought.

“Understood!”

Silent Canyon, amidst Starlink’s army positioned outside of Moon Creek Town...

“Guild Leader, the Hundred Flowers Palace’s Crimson Heart has just contacted us to express the Palace’s willingness to hand Moon Creek Town over to us. In return, they have requested that we allow them to leave the town,” Dawn Web, who wore a set of luxurious mage robes and carried a crystalline staff, said, smiling at Lu Xingluo.

“They want to surrender now that they’ve realized how much stronger we are?” Lu Xingluo revealed a playful smile. “From what Three and Tiger have told me, Zero Wing’s members are participating in this war.”

“That is the case,” Dawn Web confirmed.

“Zero Wing has ruined my plans multiple times now. Since we’ve met again, I want them to pay interest for their previous insults. Tell the Hundred Flowers Palace that if it wants to leave the Silent Canyon, it must kill every Zero Wing player in the town within the next ten minutes! I’ll allow them to leave the canyon safely if they complete the task. If not, they should abandon any hope of leaving this place alive!” Lu Xingluo said, sneering.

“Understood! I’ll notify them right away!” Dawn Web replied before sending her subordinates to relay the message. Meanwhile, standing on Moon Creek Town’s walls...

“Big Sis Crimson, Starlink has sent a reply. Zero Wing or survival; we can only choose one,” Cleansed Rue said grimly as she read the message her subordinate had sent

“Starlink must really look down on our Guild,” Crimson Heart said frostily. “Notify everyone! We will fight the enemy to the death! Even if we are annihilated, we’ll take some of Starlink’s forces with us! Rue, organize an expert legion. Once the battle begins, escort Zero Wing’s members away from the battlefield. This is the Hundred Flowers Palace’s problem. Zero Wing has already helped us quite a bit. We cannot drag them any further into this mess.”

“I understand.” Cleansed Rue nodded.

Cleansed Rue left to follow Crimson Heart’s instructions. As for Crimson Heart, she began to gather her forces to prepare for combat.

Ten minutes passed quickly.

“Good! Very good!” When Lu Xingluo, who watched Moon Creek Town from a high vantage point, didn’t receive a reply from Crimson Heart, he commanded, “Since they want to die, I will grant their wish! Notify our members to begin the attack! I want every player from the Hundred Flowers Palace dead!”