Black Online-Chapter 116: Declaration of War

Tower of the Black, 15th floor, the Welcoming Lodge.

"...Ah!"

From one of the doors, an exhausted-looking player stepped out after a hard and long boss raid.

"We’re finally here!"

Nathan said excitedly.

He, and the rest of the party, which consisted of some of Rose Records’ newest recruits, finally arrived at the 15th floor.

They left the 6th floor a few days after Machary and Fang Raon left with their own party, but it took them much longer to get here.

The last couple raids on the 13th and 14th floors were very hard for them, and they almost failed them even!

"...Now, where is Rose Records located?"

"...It is quite late, so I hope it isn’t too cold, or we’ll freeze to death before we arrive there, but hopefully it isn’t too far away!"

The party members said.

"There is a map!"

Alexia pointed to the wall, where there was a map, and they saw three villagers there, and each one of them was some distance away.

"Snowberry Village... Hollyhatch Village... Tinselbrook Village... Where is Rose Records, though?"

Creak!

In that moment, the lodge’s door opened, and wearing thick winter clothing, an old man entered with a chilly look on his face.

When the door opened, they were able to see some really scary-looking snowstorm outside, and it also seemed to be really curious.

"Welcome~ Welcome~ This is my lodge, newcomers, but unfortunately y’all arrived at a bad time. A horrendous snowstorm is ravaging across the floor!"

"Hello, sir, we’re new recruits of Rose Records. A guild of players. Do you perhaps know where it is?"

Nathan asked.

He was acting as temporary team leader of the party since he already had some experience, and thus, everyone was following his lead.

"Ah, yes... Snowberry Village is what you’re looking for. They own a compound over there. It does look like Rose Records is recruiting hard since you’re already the second group of recruits that has come!"

The old man said with a laugh.

"Second group? Ah, the first one must be Machary and Fang Raon. They’re already at Snowberry Village?"

Nathan asked.

"Yes, they indeed are."

"Is it that far from here?"

Nathan asked.

"You cannot get to Snowberry Village currently on foot. You’ll go missing without a proper guide and die in the snowstorm!

"I can take you there on my sledge, if you want."

The old man said.

"That would be wonderful!"

Nathan said.

The other players also nodded and looked at the scary snowstorm outside, and some thought that maybe it was better to just log off for tonight and go there tomorrow morning.

However.

They were already late to arrive, as they were supposed to arrive three days ago, and they really didn’t want to disappoint their new guild by arriving even later.

They left the lodge, stepped into the snowstorm, and hopped onto the sledge, and the reindeer began to drag them through the heavy snowstorm.

"...What horrendous weather."

Nathan covered his face with a mask and felt his toes and fingers turn numb because of the ridiculous cold.

The sledge had some lanterns dangling from the sides, providing a dim light as they made their way through the blizzard.

There were even some small lights flickering from the ears of the reindeer pulling the sled.

"...How much longer..."

Kira asked as she was shuddering in the cold.

"Not much long—"

The old man was about to answer, but in that moment, an arrow pierced through the darkness and stabbed through his throat. 𝘧𝘳𝘦ℯ𝓌𝘦𝒷𝘯𝑜𝑣𝘦𝓁.𝒸𝘰𝓂

"Gurgle~ Cough... Gurgle—"

The old man’s eyes widened in shock, and he then fell off the sled and plopped into the snow, never to move again.

"..."

The party members looked at the now empty driver’s seat, and none of them managed to see what happened to the old man.

They only saw him fall off.

"What happened..."

Swoosh! Swoosh!

In that moment, a rain of arrows came falling down to the sled and stabbed through the screaming party members.

"Ahhhhhhhh!"

Couple arrows stabbed through the reindeer, killing them, and the sledge crashed into the reindeer and got flipped over.

The sledge fell to the side and got stuck in the heavy snow while the blizzard kept raging on.

"...What the hell?"

Nathan crawled on the snow with an arrow protruding from his thigh, and he then gritted his teeth and pulled it out.

"Hey... everyone?"

He turned around, and his eyes widened in shock.

All of his friends... party members... were lying dead around the sledge with their eyes still full of shock.

There were so many arrows sticking out of their bodies that there was no way they could survive that.

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

In that moment, the sound of the footsteps came from the dark forest, and a group of players surrounded the sledge.

They made sure that the players were dead by finishing them off with a few more stabs.

"...One survived."

A player said and approached Nathan, who was staring at them angrily.

"Do you know who you just attacked? We’re part of Rose Records, you moron!"

In that moment, the player stabbed his dagger through Nathan’s throat and silenced him entirely.

"I know you’re Rose Records. That is why we attacked you, fool. This is a declaration of war, after all."

Devon said with a smile.

’...War?’

Nathan’s eyes widened in shock, and then everything turned dark.

...

Buzz! Buzz! Buzz!

"...Mmhm?"

Della, snuggled under a warm blanket, opened her eyes as her phone didn’t stop buzzing as someone was trying to call her.

She reached her hand to the bedside table, moved the phone close to her, and then she answered the call.

"...What is it...?"

Della asked sleepily.

She didn’t even check who was calling her, as she thought it must be important no matter who it came from.

"Miss Della, all of our new recruits have just been killed!"

"...What?"

Della’s sleepiness slowly vanished, and she opened her eyes wider.

"I gave all the new recruits my phone number if they needed something, and I was suddenly bombarded with calls!

"They were ambushed and killed.

"Nathan told me that the player who killed him said it was a declaration of war!"

Miranda panicked on the other side of the call.

"...Call everyone. I’ll head to the game."

Della’s expression turned serious, and once she ended the call, she didn’t bother changing out of her pajamas and just entered the Virtual Reality Pod, and turned it on.

With that, the Guild War had officially started.