Chapter 242
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[ THE SUMMONING ALTAR ]
The players inside Black Dragon Castle didn't have to wait for long.
In fact, about four to five hours after the initial wave of attacks, they noticed that the main Orc camp was stirring once more.
This time, the entire Orc army mobilized, and nearly thirty thousand of them surged forth in full force.
Black Dragon Castle soon found itself gradually encircled by a horde of Orcs, who were steadily tightening their siege. However despite being completely surrounded, the players inside the castle remained calm and unperturbed, thanks to the presence of the teleportation array.
On the contrary, they even watched the sea of Orcs with eager anticipation.
"Is the second wave finally starting?"
"Goodness! they're completely surrounding us this time.Could this be the final showdown?"
"I've been waiting for hours, it's driving me crazy!"
"Haha! Those players in the Raid Support force are still lurking somewhere in the wilderness and the Dark Mountains."
"When will they make their move? Aren't they joining the battle?"
"I'm not sure. They seem to have a separate task, probably waiting for us to have a tough time against the Orcs before launching a surprise attack."
"Dammit! Are they simply aiming to reap the rewards? They should work harder and eliminate more Orcs attacking the castle!"
"Pfft... I've been lying in wait all day, so its about time I have to drink some soup, right?"¹
"Dude, you just don't get it. We fought for hours this morning, and we've only taken down a bit over a thousand Orcs. Those players in the Raid Support? They're just chilling on their familiars, and they're likely gonna ambush the enemies off one by one. Last time, during the Mercenary battle, more than two hundred players with Spiders mounts made a fortune! Those lucky bastards are all getting rich!"
"Holy shit! No kidding?"
"Why would I lie to you?"
On the city walls, players watched the Orcs move like an endless swarm in the distance, chatting animatedly as though they weren't the ones under siege.
Simultaneously, deep within the main Orc camp, a different scene was unfolding...
In the heart of the Orc's main camp stood three imposing altars. The altars were adorned with intricate and mysterious patterns, weaving into a symbol of a curved bow and snowflakes.
In front of the altars, the Chief Shaman led a procession of thirty-six Orc Shamans, three among them bearing the prestigious Silver-rank.
They all knelt in a continuous series of prostrations before the altars.
Their faces bore tribal markings created with oil paint, with each shamans displaying utmost reverence.
Right at the forefront, the Chief Shaman holds an ancient book in her hands adorned with symbols of Winter and Hunting, as she prays with great devotion.
"Divine Father Uller, we offer our worship unto you!"
"Divine Father Uller, all the glory is yours!"
"You are the master of the hunt, the lord of winter, the one and only heavenly father of the Orcs..."
"We were once dust in the world, and you bestowed great power upon us. We were sinners, yet you never abandoned us, gracing us with your blessings..."
"May your faith purify us and banish the doubts from our hearts. May your radiant light envelop us, granting us boundless strength..."
The Chief Shaman utters these chants in a majestic and solemn tone, amplified by divine magic, as her words echo throughout the entire Orc camp.
Upon hearing these sacred words, every Orc couldn't resist kneeling in reverence, repeating the Chief Shaman's prayers with the same unwavering devotion.
In the blink of an eye, the surrounding Orcs all knelt down and prostrated themselves before the altar.
They mumbled to themselves, some with fear, some with piety, some with fanaticism, and some with confusion...
And with the Orcs' prayers, the three altars suddenly began to emit a radiant light.
It was already past noon, and the afternoon sun added a touch of warmth to the chilly late autumn. However, this warmth was soon dispelled by a sudden cold gust of wind.
"Achoo!"
On the walls of Black Dragon Castle, a player sneezed abruptly.
"Why do I suddenly feel cold?"
He tightened his armor and shivered before opening his in-game settings and deactivated his temperature sensitivity.
"You're right, it's gotten colder all of a sudden..."
Another player rubbed his reddened nose and chimed in.
"Hey guys, Look there! Up in the sky, to the south!"
A cry of astonishment arose from the castle wall as a player pointed southward, his expression filled with surprise.
In an instant, everyone turned to look in the direction he was pointing at...
A gathering of ominous dark clouds gradually formed in the sky above the Orc camp as these foreboding clouds steadily moved together and converged towards the center of the Orcs main camp.
Minutes passed by and the southern skies had already transformed into a rolling sea of dark, densely packed clouds...
Moreover, these dense clouds kept expanding and rolling as the temperature continuously drops lower and lower...
Feeling the terrifying energy contained within the dark clouds, the Saintess Alice's pupils slightly constricted.
"T-Those are clouds formed due to the high concentration of mana within the air!"
Hearing the Saintess explanation, the players exchanged bewildered looks amongst themselves.
"...Clouds formed by high concentration of mana?"
"My goodness... how much mana is gathering there?"
The players were taken aback.
Underneath the converging dark clouds, right at the center of the Orc camp, three silver-gray rays of light kept flashing continously.
As the light shimmered, the clouds in the sky rolled even more violently, and the surrounding temperature seemed to drop even further...
For a moment, the players on the city walls were all drawn towards the ominous light flickering at the enemy camp.
"What is that?"
"Wait, let me use [Eagle Eye] to take a look... Hmm? Those lights seems to be coming from an altar!"
"An altar? Geez, what are those Orcs up to now?"
And just as the players were left puzzled by the bizarre lightshow, suddenly, countless shimmering tiny particles began to drift down from the sky...
"Its... snowing?"
The players exchanged puzzled looks.
And just as the snowflakes kept falling, a sacred and majestic power suddenly burst out from the orc camp!
The three shining altars then bloomed with pillars of holy light as it expands upwards into the skies.
The pillars of light stirred the dark clouds in the sky, as the clouds began to rotate around the light pillars, forming what seemed like two twisters composed of clouds, ice, and snow.
The "twisters" spun vigorously, and then abruptly began to be drawn into the three altars situated on the ground.
At the same time, the dark clouds, the ice, and the snow, accompanied by a fierce wind, crazily poured into the altars as if being sucked into a bottomless black hole!
In just a matter of seconds, the previously dense dark clouds were entirely absorbed by the three altars, and the entire sky turned as clear as if nothing had happened...
However, this eerily calm lasted for less than a few seconds.
After absorbing the dark clouds with high concentration of mana, the three altars suddenly radiated brilliantly once more, as the pillars of light emanating from them rose into the sky.
Subsequently, the three pillars of light intertwined together, eventually coalescing into an enormous silver gate composed entirely of light!
¹ 喝汤 - Drinking soup is a chinese metaphor for getting credits. So what this sentence means is that the speaker have been waiting all day so its about time he gets some credits for it.
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