Real Mount and Blade Game

The cold wind, carrying the acrid smell of dust and ash, howled across the ruins at the entrance to the ancestral tomb.

The survivors leaned against their makeshift fortifications, numbly tending to their deep, bone-revealing wounds, and taking stock of their dwindling supplies and equipment. The Khergit scouts, their eyes sharp as eagles, were fixed on the "wound" that tore through space deep within the ancestral tomb—a hideous scar that pulsated and oozed a viscous aura of "end," a stark reminder of the purgatory they had just escaped.

Kalanzo… and those valiant Holy Tree Knights… their sacrifice is the only reason the survivors can stand in the cold winds of this main world. This weight presses on everyone's heart.

Shen Mu lay on the makeshift stretcher, his face ashen. His body was like shattered porcelain, his spiritual sea completely dried up, each weak breath tugging at his collapsing soul. Yet, in this near-death silence, a strange sense of connection began to grow deep within his consciousness. The ruins of the Molten Heart Domain… that annihilated tomb… an indescribable “connection” was being established, weak yet tenacious, as if he had become the anchor point of that broken and chaotic land.

Just then, the shadowy figure calling itself Yenogu spoke from within the churning black mist of the Annihilation Tomb's gate. Its voice didn't travel through the air, but resonated directly in the minds of everyone present, carrying a nauseating, blasphemous resonance, like the murmurs of countless souls at the depths of the abyss:
"Shen Mu... the ruler of the allied forces... the embodiment of will..."

The shadowy figure let out a low, hoarse laugh, a laugh filled with madness and endless exhaustion, yet also subtly revealing a hint of cunning.

“Behold…this glorious end…all former glory has turned to dust in annihilation. I, Yenogu, god of the gnolls! Once the ruler of the Howling Wilds, my claws tearing through the stars! Now…I am but a lingering echo before the gates of this ‘end’…”

Its form twisted and shifted in the black mist, sometimes solidifying into a jackal-like shape, and sometimes disintegrating into countless churning lines of resentment.

"The abyss... swallowed me... endless depravity... endless pain... but it also allowed me... to glimpse... a more fundamental power!" Its tone suddenly rose, carrying a hysterical fervor, "The abyss... is not only about corruption and destruction! It is the source of chaos, the end of all things returning to nothingness, and also... the furnace of transformation and reshaping!!"

As it spoke, the shadowy figure jolted violently. From the chaotic void surrounding the tomb, two distinct yet strangely intertwined torrents of power suddenly surged forth.

One was an abyss! A filthy, viscous, dark purple energy, brimming with malice and twisted life force, emanating insane whispers of madness and the stench of rotting flesh. Like boiling venom, it relentlessly eroded and dissolved any fragments of order it touched.

The other was the necromancy! Cold, desolate, carrying an eternal stillness and absolute end, it presented a grayish, phosphorescent, bluish-white hue. It spread silently, and wherever it passed, even nothingness seemed to freeze, losing all vitality, leaving only the most essential emptiness and deathly stillness.

"Look!" Yenogu's clone roared, the two forces flailing like its arms. Even more terrifying was that they were not clearly distinct, but rather, at the moment of contact, they began a forced fusion! The filthy flesh of the abyss touched the pale skeleton of the undead, and life and death were brutally woven together on the darkest level!
The dark purple abyssal energy enveloped the bluish-white necromantic power, like flesh and blood enveloping bones.

Filthy flesh sprouted wildly across the skeleton, while the skeleton coldly restrained the unlimited growth of flesh, giving it a twisted structure. Tentacles with bone spurs emerged from the flesh, while shadowy, writhing fascia covered the skeleton. Each fusion erupted with a teeth-grinding tearing and rebuilding sound, emanating a terrifying aura that transcended mere death, a desecration of the very essence of life!
The rules of the abyss necromancy! A forbidden, composite power that transcends any single rule!

"Can you feel it? Shen Mu!" Yenogu's voice was filled with seduction and madness. "The boundary between life and death is blurred here! The chaos of the abyss gives it endless possibilities for shaping, and the end of the undead gives it the sharpness to penetrate all defenses! This is... the prototype of annihilation! It is the shortcut to 'the end'!"

It manipulated a fusion of abyssal necromancy and slammed it into a huge floating tomb ruin next to it.

Without a sound, the tough, dark energy-filled boulder instantly turned into flesh and blood at the point of contact, then into bones, and finally completely annihilated into the finest gray powder. It was completely "terminated" before even having a chance to generate any energy fluctuations!
“What…wonderful power!” Yenogu roared in ecstasy, his shadow undulating violently like a volcano on the verge of eruption. “It could have been mine! If not for that damned will of the abyss that ultimately backfired…if not for your damned spear of judgment…!”

It suddenly fixed its gaze on Shen Mu, its eyes, composed of black light, blazing with a greedy and fiery light:

"But now... the opportunity has arrived! Shen Mu! You control the core of this 'Annihilation Tomb'! You are the chosen one of this 'End' land! And I... possess fragments of knowledge and authority to master this ultimate power—the rules of the Abyss Necromancer Fusion!"

Its voice suddenly lowered, carrying a nervous, seductive whisper, like a viper flicking its tongue:
Let's form an alliance!

"I bestow upon you this forbidden rule! You will use the 'Annihilation Tomb' as your foundation, drawing upon the power of the 'End,' and I will assist you in fusing it with the rules of the Abyss Necromancer! You will gain unprecedented power! Enough to... conquer the world you came from, that... Blue Star!"

The words "Blue Star" exploded in Shen Mu's heart like a thunderclap! This being from another world actually knew about his homeland!

"Chaos has descended, Shen Mu! The veil of the spirit realm is crumbling! Elves, orcs, dragons, elemental beings... those proud, greedy, and ancient races will flood into the material world like a tidal wave, and they will covet your weak yet rich homeland! Without absolute power, your world will only become a pasture for the gods, and the corpses of mortals will be piled up to form new divine thrones!" Yenogu's voice was full of incitement, depicting a terrifying future.

"With my rules, and the power of 'End' that you control... you will possess the sharpest spear and the strongest shield! The legions of the abyssal undead will tear apart all obstacles for you! The halo of 'End' will make even the gods fear! In the great chaos to come, you will... stand at the top of the food chain!"

It laughed wildly again, the dark shadow baring its fangs and claws in the churning force:
"Think about it, Shen Mu! Order? That's nothing but the shackles of the weak! True power is the power of life and death! It's the power to create and destroy! It's... the end we control! Accept it! Embrace it! Together we will... create a new era that belongs to the conquerors!"

Yenogu's arrogant words echoed in the chaotic space, filled with a destructive allure. The power displayed by the fusion rules of the Abyss Necromancer was indeed astonishing. It touched upon the taboo of the cycle of life and death, containing destructive power beyond ordinary rules. In the fight against the impending arrival of the various races of the Spirit Realm, this power was undoubtedly a tremendous asset. Yenogu accurately struck at Shen Mu's deepest concern—the safety of Blue Star, and the absolute power needed to protect himself and everything he cherished in the great tide of the future.

Shen Mu maintained a calm facade, yet even in the depths of his exhausted eyes, a flicker of temptation seemed to cross his mind. He breathed heavily, his voice low and weak, as if struggling against a tremendous allure.

“Yenog… Abyssal Necromancer… The End Times…” He uttered these words with difficulty, each one carrying a heavy weight. “You say… an alliance? How… how to form an alliance? How… will your 'knowledge' and 'fragments of authority'… be delivered?”

His tone carried a hint of inquiry and skepticism, perfectly demonstrating the caution appropriate in the face of enormous profits, as if he were weighing the pros and cons. This seemed to signal to Yenogu: he was tempted!

Yenogu's shadowy form twisted with excitement, his voice brimming with barely suppressed elation: "It's simple! Release your suppression of the core of this 'Annihilation Tomb,' allowing my remnant spirit to reside within it! I will use this as a medium to directly imprint the mysteries of the Abyss Necromancer's rules onto your 'Tallinn' network! Your will will wield the 'end' power of this tomb, while I will provide the blueprint for its operation! We will... coexist! prosper! share this supreme authority!"

Symbiosis? Shen Mu sneered inwardly. This was clearly the first step in possession! Releasing control over the core of the tomb and allowing this crazed remnant spirit to reside within it would be tantamount to planting a time bomb woven from the abyss and the dead deep within his own soul.

However, Shen Mu's hesitation deepened, and he even nodded slightly, as if seriously considering the "proposal." He remained silent, seemingly digesting the astonishing information Yenogu had presented, or perhaps making a difficult decision.

The allied soldiers in the rear, seeing their commander seemingly "negotiating" with the terrifying shadowy figure, and witnessing the figure display such eerie and powerful strength, were filled with unease and fear. The Khergit leader gripped his scimitar tightly, the Swadian heavy infantry instinctively adjusted the angle of their shields, and the Vegian archers' knuckles turned white from the force. They didn't know Shen Mu's intentions, but instinctively sensed immense danger. However, Shen Mu's previous order was to attack; they maintained their battle formation, only their nerves were tauter.

In the quiet interval of this "negotiation", Shen Mu's will, like the lava under a dormant volcano, surged and accumulated wildly in extreme weakness!
The embers of Tallinn: The mental network had long since overloaded and collapsed, but the remaining structure still existed. Shen Mu used his last vestige of mental energy not to connect with the soldiers, but like a spider, to subtly sense and link the last glimmers of "light of order" scattered in the hearts of the surviving Holy Tree Knights and the most resolute veterans—the spiritual imprints left from countless battles fought side-by-side, defending survival in despair. These glimmers also bore the marks of "rule-based conflict."

The pulse of the Primordial Ashes: The Primordial Ashes, which he kept close at hand and which originated from the purified Abyss Eye, were now resonating strangely with this "Annihilation Tomb" space. The tomb was the materialized remains of the "End," while the ashes were the remnants of the Abyss Core after its judgment. Shen Mu carefully guided the chaotic, newly born "End" aura from the core of the tomb's remains, slowly enveloping the grain of Primordial Ashes. The ashes themselves represented a purified "order," but now they were acting as a filter and stabilizer, attempting to tame the raging "End" power of the tomb's core, guiding it towards a purer, more controlled direction of destruction—directing it towards Yenogu!
The lingering echo of the "rules": This space itself was the battlefield where the clash of rules had been most intense, and the place where the final judgment had descended. Although the white light of the Mount & Blade rules had dissipated after the eruption, Shen Mu, as the executor of the judgment and the embodiment of order, still carried a strong imprint of the rules in his will. He was sensing the lingering echoes of the "Wedge of Order" driven into the core of the abyss, and the lance of order piercing the eye of the abyss—the lingering resonance of that "judgment." He was searching for that feeling, searching for that feeling of controlling the rules with absolute will and executing the final verdict! This feeling was being forcibly condensed and reshaped by him, serving as the cornerstone of his counterattack!

On the surface, Shen Mu was breathing weakly, looking at Yenogu with a "confused" gaze, as if making a final decision. His physical condition was indeed extremely bad; the pain from forcibly concentrating his will caused fine beads of sweat mixed with ashes to seep from his forehead.

However, deep within his seemingly empty eyes, a faint yet incredibly pure and resilient white light was quietly illuminating!
“Yenogu…” Shen Mu spoke again, his voice still weak, but seemingly with a hint of resolve, “Your power… is indeed… moving. For survival… for… the future…”

He paused for a moment, as if summoning immense courage:
“I…” Just as the word “I” left his lips, just as Yenogu’s shadow solidified with anticipation and was about to overflow with ecstasy—

boom! ! !
The faint glimmer of light in Shen Mu's eyes suddenly exploded!

That wasn't an explosion of energy, but the ultimate burning of will! He squeezed out the last bit of his soul potential, and with his severely injured and dying body, he forcibly communicated with the "destiny" of this space!
The light of order, anchored by survivors, ignited the spiritual imprints in the hearts of the veterans he secretly connected! Though faint, it carried the indomitable will of those who survived countless battles, gathering like sparks! They were not offensive forces, but rather coordinates, beacons of the spirit!
With primordial ash as its core and the power of the end as its blade: the primordial ash, enveloped by the "end" aura of the tomb's core, suddenly shone brightly! The pure core of order guided the raging power of the end, instantly traversing space and condensing before Shen Mu! It was no longer a barrier covering his entire body, nor a lance piercing through heaven and earth, but a short spear condensed to its extreme, radiating a destructive aura, with a gray annihilation light band wrapped around its tail! On the spear, one could vaguely see distorted and compressed runes of order intertwined with constantly collapsing chaotic patterns!

The lingering effects of the judgment materialized: the "judgment" mark, condensed from Shen Mu's own will, was branded onto the core of this "Spear of Ash Annihilation"! It locked not power, but the essence of Yenogu's existence—that broken true spirit forcibly bound together by the rules of the abyss and the undead, filled with madness and blasphemy!

All this happened in a flash!

"…reject!"

Shen Mu's weak voice suddenly became resolute, like ice shattering! He didn't even need to lift a finger; with a thought, the Ash Annihilation Spear, which embodied all the power he could muster at that moment—the power of the tomb's end, the core of the primordial ash order, the survivor's indomitable will, and his own judgmental will—transformed into a gray-white lightning bolt that tore through chaos, silent yet carrying the resolute determination to annihilate everything, shooting towards the core of the Yenogu shadow!

"Roar--!!!"

Yenogu's ecstasy instantly turned into unbelievable rage and terror! It never expected that this seemingly exhausted and seduced human could unleash such a pure and targeted destructive attack! The power level contained in this attack might not be as vast as the previous Order Lance, but the "end" aura it contained, the lock on its essence, and Shen Mu's will to self-destruct made it feel a fatal threat!

"You lowly insect! How dare you mock a true god!!" the shadowy figure roared madly, urging all the fused power of the abyssal undead!

The dark purple abyssal flesh and the bluish-white undead skeletons instantly intertwined in front, forming a massive, constantly writhing and regenerating blasphemous shield—the Abyssal Skeleton Barrier! On the shield's surface, countless vengeful spirits wailed, skeletons twisted and grew, and flesh filled the gaps, attempting to withstand this attack with the resilience and transformative properties of the fused rules.

puff!

There was no earth-shattering explosion, only a heart-palpitating muffled sound, like a red-hot iron piercing rotten wood!

The spear of annihilation, with its tip condensed with the combined power of "end" and "order judgment," displayed terrifying characteristics!
To the Abyss: The filthy flesh touched by the spear tip instantly "ended" its chaotic life force, losing its vitality and shattering and disintegrating like charred charcoal, even the transformation process was forcibly interrupted!

For the undead: The cold skeletons that form the shield are directly "annihilated" by the spearhead containing the will of "order and judgment" as the necromantic laws that sustain their existence. The skeletons are turned into meaningless dust and are even deprived of the right to return to death itself!

That seemingly indestructible barrier of abyssal skeletons was like a hot knife through butter before the Spear of Ash Annihilation! The spear cut through everything in its path, leaving a hole with ever-expanding annihilation ripples at its edge! The regeneration speed of the fused rules was far slower than the speed at which it was completely decomposed and annihilated by the "End"!

"No—!!!" Yenogu's roar of shock and rage echoed throughout the entire tomb space!

The grayish-white short spear pierced the core of the gnoll shadow outlined by the annihilating black light without any resistance!

Boom, boom! ! !

This time, it's a cataclysmic change!

Yenogu's shadow twisted and trembled violently, like water rippled by a stone thrown in! The very source of its existence—the power of the fusion of the abyss and the undead—began a violent implosion and mutual devouring under the impact of the "Final Judgment" power contained in the "Spear of Ash Annihilation"!

The madness of the abyss sought to devour everything, while the coldness of the undead sought to freeze everything. These two forces, which had been forcibly fused together, lost their fragile balance the moment their link was forcibly "annihilated" by the will of judgment! Filthy flesh and pale bones collided wildly within the shadows, tearing, devouring, and annihilating each other! The wails of countless gnoll souls, the roars of abyssal monsters, and the desperate curses of the remnant spirit of Yenogu merged into a destructive mental storm that swept outwards!

The entire "Annihilation Tomb" space seemed to have been hit by a bomb, and the already fragile spatial structure collapsed even faster! The tomb's gate shattered into dust amidst the clash of black light and gray-white annihilation energy!
After unleashing this final, powerful strike, Shen Mu's body could no longer hold on. He coughed up a mouthful of black blood mixed with fragments of internal organs, and collapsed backward like a puppet with broken strings, completely losing consciousness. He had succeeded, but at a terrible price; his soul teetered on the brink of collapse, like a candle flickering in the wind.

"Commander!" the Allied soldiers cried out in alarm.

At the tomb's entrance, the black shadow of Yenogu, pinned to the void by the spear of annihilation and twisting madly, let out a final, extremely venomous shriek:

"Shen Mu! ...Damn lackey of order! ...I curse you! ...The abyss...the undead...the end...will not let you go! ...The spirit world descends...you will...be doomed forever!!"

Before the words were finished, the shadowy figure, under the dual strangulation of its internal self-destruction and external annihilation power, suddenly collapsed inward, and then—

Bang!
Like a punctured, filthy boil bursting open!
There was no earth-shattering energy dissipation, only a silent shockwave, a mixture of deathly stillness, putrid stench, madness, and ultimate nothingness, swept by. The black light dissipated, and the hysterical afterimage of the gnoll god vanished completely, leaving only the ash-annihilation spear that had pierced it, which, having exhausted its power, disintegrated into countless tiny gray specks of light, slowly dissipating into the collapsing spatial turbulence.

The core area of ​​the tomb was temporarily plunged into an eerie silence. Only the piercing sound of the spatial structure tearing apart and the faint hissing of some newly formed, annihilated afterimages in the distance could be heard.

The Khujit leader was the first to react, roaring, "Protect the commander! Defensive formation! Get out of this hellhole!"

The surviving soldiers, as if waking from a dream, struggled against their physical and mental exhaustion, as well as the terror of witnessing the horrific scene, and quickly formed a defensive perimeter. Several strong Swadian heavy infantrymen rushed forward, carefully lifting Shen Mu's unconscious body as if handling a fragile treasure. Rhodok spearmen provided cover for the crossbowmen and the wounded, Vaegir archers vigilantly pointed into any dark corners that might pose a threat, while Khergit horse archers swiftly darted ahead to clear a path.

They retreated with difficulty toward the "wound" leading to the main world. A huge shadow hung over everyone's heart. Yenogu was gone, but its last hysterical curses, especially those concerning "the descent of the spirit world" and "the end of the abyss's undead," pierced deep into everyone's hearts like cold, poisonous thorns.

This breathtaking encounter, seemingly ending Yenogu's remnant spirit with Shen Mu's decisive strike, appears to have opened a more dangerous and unknown Pandora's box. The power and strangeness of the Abyss Necromancer's fusion rules, the prophecy of the impending arrival of the various races of the Spirit Realm, the choices Shen Mu may face to protect Blue Star and the world... everything is just beginning.

In the depths of Shen Mu's lingering consciousness as he remained in a deep coma, the image of the fused skeletons of the abyss displayed by Yenogu, and his seductive whispers… lingered like an indelible brand. Was this forbidden knowledge a calamity, or… some kind of dark revelation? No one knew.

The remnants of the allied forces, carrying their critically wounded and unconscious leader, once again embarked on a desperate escape towards a slim chance of survival. Behind them lay the rapidly collapsing annihilation tomb and the "wound" hanging like a sword of Damocles. The unknown future, like this chaotic space itself, was filled with an aura of destruction and madness. (End of Chapter)