Chapter 735: The Knight's Oath

"Why haven't the guild's warriors logged on yet today?" Helen sat before her computer, idling maneuvering her character. "Didn't we agree to start progression raiding..."

"Something must have delayed them," another knight of the Golden Gryphon Knights remarked from beside her.

Helen frowned. In her memory, those warriors were usually quite cheerful and didn't seem the type to break a promise.

"Guild Leader..."

"I haven't been able to contact them either." Commander Evan seemed deep in thought.

"Miss Helen, do you want to play Warcraft? The boss made a new map called Storm, I heard it's incredibly fun!" Thera called out from across the room. "We just need one more person!"

On Thera's screen, the interface remained on the lobby screen, a few elves playing together with one slot left.

"Coming, coming!" Helen said, logging out of her game and addressing the others. "Since everyone isn't here anyway, I'll go play a round of Warcraft first."

"Mm..." Commander Evan nodded, but the atmosphere was not as relaxed as usual, as if a knot lay in his heart, impossible to untangle.

"Hmm? Why are you so distracted?" Thera had been playing the game with the elves for quite a while now. Before her desk in the My Space area, Helen clicked her mouse, acting like a sleepwalker.

"I don't know..." Helen moved her mouse aimlessly. "I just feel a bit uneasy... Do you think something happened?"

"..." Though she also felt something was amiss, Thera comforted her, "Don't worry. Didn't you say those warriors in your guild are mercenaries from the Mercenary Association of the Orc Kingdom? Maybe they just have a temporary mission."

"Yes!" Helen nodded vigorously. "Real-life matters are more important."

Because they had arrived early, they liked to sit close to the counter, which was also near the shop entrance. Suddenly, they seemed to notice something unusual behind them.

Turning around, they saw that on the bustling street outside the shop, pedestrians were streaming toward White Dove Square in a frantic rush.

"What happened!?" Helen was suddenly taken aback.

She had never seen the pedestrians on the street lose their composure like this. One had to know that although the location of Boss Fang's shop was not the true core area for the nobility, it was still a highly prosperous sector of Canglan City.

Even a minor noble, under the cultivation of their family, would usually be extremely mindful of etiquette. It was absolutely impossible for them to swarm together like this in a public setting.

"What on earth happened?" The doubt in her heart grew heavier.

"Should we go take a look too?" Thera suggested.

Before her words could fully land, they saw several mercenaries already sprinting out of the shop entrance first, running toward the direction where the crowd was gathering.

"Hurry, let's go see too!" The group quickly ran out of the shop. Immediately afterward, even the knights of the entire Golden Gryphon Knights, the mages of the Royal Mage Association, the mercenaries, and other players all seemed to realize something and ran outside the shop one after another.

On White Dove Square, a vast number of humans from Canglan City had already gathered, interspersed with dwarves and elves.

"We broadcast an emergency announcement." Within the magical projection stood a female mage dressed in a white formal gown, a badge of the Magical Communications Association pinned to her chest. "According to the latest frontline intelligence from the Military Intelligence Department, the Orc Kingdom and its surrounding human kingdoms have fallen. The enemy remains unknown for now."

Within the magical projection, the view was cast over the skies of the Orc Kingdom's cities via a Remote Projection spell. The once-prosperous cities were now reduced to nothing but blackened, scorched earth and cracked ground, presenting a scarred and shocking sight.

"Our nation will enter a state of emergency combat readiness. We request all citizens of our nation to prepare. War could descend at any moment! War could descend at any moment!"

"That's Rock City!" a sudden exclamation came from the crowd. "Someone in our guild once intro... duced it to us..."

The voice grew softer and softer, as if suddenly realizing something.

...Looking at this scene in the magical projection, the minds of the Golden Gryphon Knights and many players present suddenly went buzz, turning completely blank.

"How could this happen..."

A clamor of discussion erupted among the surrounding crowd.

"May the living survive, and the dead rest in peace..."

A noble lady murmured softly.

But they did not understand at all. They were merely a group of outsiders. Perhaps they truly did not understand what this meant for certain other people present.

Helen stood blankly on the square, feeling as though her entire body had gone numb. Her mind revolved entirely around the shadows of those few warriors from the guild. She still remembered how, after clearing their first raid dungeon, they had cheerfully treated every member of the guild to ale.

Perhaps some had never even met in reality, but... those countless nights of shouting and consecutive wipes had already turned these strangers into comrades to whom they could entrust their backs.

They had clearly promised so faithfully when they last logged off...

"Didn't we agree to start progression...?"

Tears splashed down, streaming out involuntarily.

Commander Evan, carrying a two-handed greatsword, stood at the back of the crowd. This steady, middle-aged man had never looked as bitter as he did at this moment.

As if unable to bear such a parting, his face turned slightly pale.

Together they had conquered one terrifying enemy after another, yet they had never imagined a day would come when these trustworthy teammates would fall in such a manner.

"Guild Leader..."

Looking at the helpless gazes cast by the other knights, and the blank, bewildered eyes of the other players looking around.

For some reason, certain oaths echoed in his heart like a revolving lantern.

"From this day forward, my heart turns to the Holy Light. I shall protect the weak with sword and shield, and dispel evil with the Holy Light. Humility, honesty, compassion, valor, justice, sacrifice, honor, spirituality. These are the eight virtues never to be forgotten. As long as someone needs protection, we shall not fall. The Holy Light fades not, and faith never dies."

That might have been just a casually uttered oath in a virtual world, one they once thought could not be taken seriously.

But only now did they realize that since they had chosen this profession and held fast to it, it was a form of acknowledgment within their hearts.

He slowly drew the two-handed greatsword from his back. The heavy sword, nearly the height of a man, sank into the stone ground before him like a knife through tofu.

"I, Evan, Commander of the Golden Gryphon Knights, swear here and now!"

"If you are still out there... staking a knight's honor, I will protect you until the end..."

"If..." He paused, as if still prepared for the worst.

"...No matter what kind of existence your enemy is, your enemy is my enemy!"

"I will take your place and fight to the very last!"

"Born in honor, die in glory. My heart is like my sword, rather broken than bent!"

In this instant, all the knights roared together with bloodshot eyes, "Born in honor, die in glory. My heart is like my sword, rather broken than bent!"