Little Pink Starfish

The Light Council didn’t start off as powerful as it is now. Over the course of a thousand years, it had once come close to being destroyed. After several rises and falls, it finally learned its lessons. It had quietly developed on the land of the Duchy of Tulips for quite a long time. These zealots believed they had finally found the right path.

In the original timeline, they had indeed succeeded. They rose swiftly and became the most powerful faction on the continent of Arly in a very short time.

Because the journey had gone so smoothly, the convoy arrived near the Holy City earlier than planned. By now, there were almost no signs of the sallow, emaciated, dull-eyed commoners. The mountains and forests already showed signs of spring. From a distance, Pei Sen gazed at the radiant and bright city Eagle had described.

“Young Master, will the Council’s knight order show up?”
“There’ll probably be a few. But those who do come won’t be very strong,” said Eagle.
Pei Sen wasn’t surprised. “To avoid exposing their strength?”
Even though they didn’t know what the Council was planning, an army this close to the Holy City couldn’t possibly have good intentions.

“If they really have the strength I suspect they do,” Eagle added.

Pei Sen fell silent. He knew—the Council did have that kind of strength.

Not long after they finished speaking, the vanguard of the Frost Maple Knights reported sightings of the Council’s knights ahead.
Eagle, sitting in the carriage, immediately ordered an attack. “Let’s see what level these Light Council knights are at when they’re still hiding their strength.”

The Light Council’s knight order hadn’t truly fought in years. Even though the Council had dealings with nobles in various nations, they mostly sent priests and clerics. The knights remained in the Holy City, undergoing strict training. They only acted when the Council raided the Duchy of Tulips. Very few people on the continent of Arly had a true understanding of these knights’ capabilities.

Pei Sen looked outside the carriage. Behind them, the players were sprinting forward eagerly—they were finally allowed to fight, and they were desperate for it after being pent up for so long.
The Frost Maple Knights were also holding back anger. They hadn’t been part of the last war, and if the Bixian players stole all the credit this time too, they’d be too ashamed to remain in Frost Maple territory.

However, when it came to enthusiasm, no one in the world could rival the players!
While the Frost Maple Knights were still forming ranks, the players had already charged ahead with their weapons.

Generally, players didn’t get too emotionally attached or hostile toward NPCs because they understood the game was fictional. But in a highly immersive full-dive game like Bix Magic Cube, it was easy to get emotionally involved.

At this moment, the players felt nothing but disgust for the Light Council’s lackey knights.

Sharpblade, Scabbard, and Tianhe also jumped down from the carriage. But instead of rushing into battle, they looked toward the nearby city.
“There it is—the Holy City of the Light Council.”
Sharpblade Scabbard looked thoughtful. “So this is a real siege battle.”

The previous war with the Duchy of Balst could hardly be called a siege. Balst had only one true walled city, the capital, which they hadn’t even reached. Nobles hiding in castles meant little in a world of supernaturals; it wasn’t truly “sieging.”

Cities like the Esmian royal capital or Balst’s capital had more than just walls—they were protected by magical formations. Powerful ones like those of the Esmian capital were rare, which was why it was called the Eternal City.
Although they didn’t know what kind of defenses this Holy City had, it clearly relied on more than just stone walls.

That’s why Sharpblade Scabbard called this a real siege.

Tianhe laughed. “No rush—we’re not attacking just yet. The main quest starts with intel gathering. Plenty of players will handle that.”

If players concealed their identity, their appearance alone might not betray them as non-human. Bixians didn’t look bizarre like some “alien” races. They were relatively hard to identify.
So infiltration wouldn’t be an issue—players would definitely find a way in.

Meanwhile, the vanguard of players had already clashed with the Light Council’s knights. Just then, a plume of dust began approaching from the distance.

“Uh, what’s that now?”

Inside the carriage, Pei Sen also noticed the dust cloud behind the Council’s knights. It looked like more reinforcements were arriving. Could Eagle have been wrong? Was the Council really sending a larger force to wipe them out?

The dust cloud soon drew closer, accompanied by dramatic wails and cries.

“God, you’re finally here! I was about to give up!”
“This was like a survival horror jungle simulator! If not for my strategy guides, I’d have rage-quit ages ago!”
“Kill those Council dogs! Slay them all!”
“Little Earl! sob sob Fighting isn’t for me! I just wanna build houses!”
“I’ve been watching livestreams on the forum, and it’s been agony waiting this long.”
“This—this is what dreams coming true looks like!”
“……”

The ones arriving were the open beta players who had originally spawned in the so-called Holy City of the Light Council. When they picked spawn points, the Frost Maple and Ranno territories were already full. So they chose what seemed like a safe, decent “beginner village”—the Light Holy City.

They only realized later it was a massive trap.

Soon after, the Council labeled them “Abyssal Foreigners.” Once they found out the players couldn’t be permanently killed, they began capturing and experimenting on them, causing massive panic. Many players had to feign death and hide in forests, afraid to show themselves. From time to time, Council knights, priests, and clerics would raid to hunt them. If caught, the players would be subjected to gruesome horrors so vile the system had to censor them.

And this place dares call itself a “Holy City”!?

Hearing the wailing voices, Pei Sen quickly figured out what was going on and felt a bit speechless.
Eagle was initially stunned, then chuckled. “There are Bixians here too?”
“Yes, they were bullied pretty badly by the Council.”

These players had suffered too much. Now that backup had arrived, they charged at the knights with fury, regardless of whether they could win—they had plenty of powerful allies behind them. It was time to settle scores.

A tall knight at the front sneered at the ragged foreign-looking group. They had fought many of them before. To him, these “Abyssals” were weak and easily crushed—only their immortality was troublesome.

“By the will of God—cleanse these heretics!”
“Yes, sir!”

The Light Council’s knights were fully armed, clad in gleaming silver armor, wielding standardized broadswords. Unlike typical swordsmen, they also carried round shields and warhammers at their waists.
Compared to noble knights like the Frost Maple order, these knights were more disciplined and better equipped.
Each one was tall, strong, and in peak mental condition—a stark contrast to the commoners of the Duchy of Tulips.

To be fair, many of the knights were quite good-looking. The Council clearly had aesthetic preferences when selecting members. However, even the most lovestruck female players felt nothing for them now.
After all the horror they’d seen, these knights couldn’t possibly be “hot” enough to overcome that negative image.

The knights had no respect for these Abyssal Foreigners—until they clashed.
Then they realized these weren’t the same players who’d been hiding in the woods.

Initially, players struggled with the full-dive combat system, but the game had been live for a while now. Especially those brought by Pei Sen—most were from the first and second closed betas. They had seen a lot of combat.
Between quests and their own enthusiasm for fighting, they’d spent time in dungeons like the Wild Plains and Moon Tree Forest, all weekly reset zones they used as combat playgrounds.

From being wrecked by a jump-hare to now being able to group-kill tier 3-4 monsters, they had come a long way. Since Pei Sen unlocked magic-stone-based skill gambling, their power had soared.

Players had another advantage—their combat abilities were neatly packaged as “skills,” easy to study and replicate.
And once mastered, skills never failed in combat. They could execute moves flawlessly every time.
They also excelled at squad tactics. Their coordination was terrifying. Some even had the same skills and could use identical combos in sync—something utterly alien in Arly, where every swordsman prided themselves on uniqueness.

BraisedSpicySnack’s squad locked onto a Light Council knight team. Without needing to say much, the nimble “Lost Deer” sped ahead. She had maxed her agility at the cost of strength and constitution, relying purely on speed—possible only because of her elite reflexes and physical condition.

To the knight leader, she looked frail and easily crushed with one blow. So he smirked and raised his sword.

The knights, mounted, looked down on their enemies. But then, in perfect coordination, the first wave of players drew their swords—and cut the horses’ legs.

The beautiful white warhorses screamed and fell. Their legs, unarmored, couldn’t withstand the players’ force. The knights were thrown or forced to jump, immediately losing their mounted advantage.

“Despicable!” one knight shouted, swinging his sword in rage.
A player sneered. “Despicable? You haven’t seen anything yet.”
He was a swordsman using rogue tactics—cheap tricks, ambushes, zero honor.
Fighting was about winning. Honor was optional.

The knight targeting Lost Deer didn’t expect her ruthlessness. But he was strong and quickly recovered, slashing at her.
She twisted away, her dancer’s agility letting her dodge closely. She swapped her dagger for a thin rapier from her inventory and slashed his neck.
If she were stronger, it might’ve been fatal.

“Defense broken! We can take him!” she yelled. “We claimed this one. Hands off!”

BraisedSpicySnack’s squad was famous, especially the two female players: elegant, deadly, and not to be underestimated. When they and the rest—NaiNai, ZhanTian, MistyDream, and their tank Claude—surrounded the knight, nearby players wisely backed off.

The knight barely had time to react before being swarmed.

“They’re all mid-tier transcendents!”

Soon, all the Light Council knights realized the horrifying truth—the entire enemy group was mid-tier transcendents.
Even on the superpowered continent of Arly, mid-tier wasn’t common.
Even Esmia’s royal knights only started at level 4.
But this many mid-tier foreigners? Shocking.

They had assumed the main threat was the armored Frost Maple Knights.
Now it was clear they couldn’t even beat these “foreigners.” Not because of a skill gap—but because there were too many of them.

“Request reinforcements—now!” shouted the Light Council’s knight captain. He was a level 7 swordsman—a top-tier fighter—but he sensed dangerous auras from the distant carriage convoy.

Eagle sat inside, watching the battle. He shook his head. “These Frost Maple Knights… they’re not that great.”

Though Red Maple had built territory with their help, their strength was still slightly below that of the Light Knights.
If it weren’t for the Bixians, the Frost Maple Knights would probably have lost this fight.
And that’s with the Council holding back.

Eagle was sure—this group of 100 Light Knights wasn’t their best. Maybe not even their core force.
This was a test—maybe even a disposable probe.

On Pei Sen’s side, there was the sword saint Sadin, level 7 swordsman Ichabod, level 6 captain Josef of the Frost Maple Knights, plus high-level mage Pei Sen and Eagle himself with strong divine power.

But the Council sent these knights as if unaware of their enemies’ strength—faces still bearing arrogant pride.

It didn’t make sense. That’s why this wasn’t a defense force. It was bait.

And even this bait group was clearly superior to Frost Maple’s forces. That meant the Light Council was far stronger than anyone had imagined.

“They don’t know we’re setting up a teleportation array in this forest,” Pei Sen said calmly. “They probably think it’s a joke that we plan to attack the Holy City with this small force.”

After all, large-scale teleport arrays were nearly unheard of in Arly. They required immense magical skill and materials—most people thought using them in war was insane.

But Pei Sen had the magical ability, and Eagle had the money to support it.

The Council would never guess that.

That’s why they only sent 100 knights—as cannon fodder.
They sent these loyal knights to die, knowing full well they weren’t a match.

“In that case, we’ll gladly accept the lives they’ve offered us,” Eagle said with a smile.

On their side, even without Sadin, Ichabod, or Pei Sen fighting, the 100 knights would be wiped out. As for their plea for reinforcements—no one would answer.

Pei Sen looked toward the Holy City.
“No rush. It’ll be soon.”

The Age of Azure Souls had already begun—he didn’t have much time left.