076 The Blood-Red Castle!

Stealth scouting was not something Morning Wind would attempt with his warrior character. Although warriors possessed the Stealth skill, its concealment effect was too poor. Instead, he used his Shapeshifter clone, which was the perfect class for reconnaissance.

The Blood Castle was not a special map. It was situated in a desolate area atop the Dark Mountains, where even the surrounding monsters reached level 40, and those inside the castle were level 50. Forcing one’s way in was virtually impossible. With a twenty-level gap, a group of monsters could easily wipe out a tank in seconds, making survival hopeless.

The Dark Mountains knew no sunlight, casting everything into perpetual gloom with visibility less than fifty meters. Sparse, withered trees dotted the ashen earth, occasionally hosting a few crows whose mournful cries made the place even more oppressive. Pale green specters, levels ranging from forty to fifty, drifted through the wastes.

At the center of this wasteland stood a castle built of blood-red stones, sprawling as large as four football fields. Specters circled the structure, and at the gates, level-50 elite ghost warriors stood guard, making entry no easy feat. Wind Stirring the Clouds had previously mentioned that their rogue could barely slip in, only to be discovered and killed shortly after.

Death within the Blood Castle meant no corpse run—one had to re-enter from the outside. To cooperate with a rogue, the guards at the gate would need to be distracted, but a single misstep could prove fatal. This was no instance; death here meant being kicked offline, with no chance of resurrection.

Morning Wind found himself doubting: players in foreign servers likely had similar quests—how did they manage to complete them? Already, players from over ten different regions had finished the Ring of Power quest, clearly demonstrating superior skill. Morning Wind considered himself a master of open-world PvP, but he hesitated to compare his abilities to those of foreign players. As for tackling high-difficulty quests, there was always some room for clever shortcuts, but Morning Wind wouldn’t dare claim mastery there. In terms of tanking, he felt somewhat lacking.

Had the Thunderclap Squad informed him of the quest details earlier, he might have completed it by now. Both his warrior and his Shapeshifter’s stealth were quite competent. Obviously, the Thunderclap Squad had hoped to conquer the quest themselves for greater certainty.

“We’ve scouted before! Without wearing the Ring of Power, you’ll be discovered within thirty seconds of entering. At least one member of the party must have the ring,” Wind Stirring the Clouds had previously sent in rogues twice, and each time, they were found within half a minute, no matter where they hid. Clearly, the quest required the ring, and their attempt at a first clear had ended in failure.

“I’ll go in and have a look,” Morning Wind said, having learned the quest location and not caring to involve himself further with them. Their objective was to rescue the Ring’s Elder, which he considered nearly impossible. If they wanted the quest’s reward, that was their business; Morning Wind cared only for the follow-up to the Ring of Power quest.

Disguised as a crow, Morning Wind could enter the Blood Castle with ease, especially since the ring protected him from detection. The others, even if they partied with him, faced the challenge of getting inside unnoticed. Morning Wind had no intention of foolishly drawing aggro to help them enter—if he died and they took the ring, it would spell disaster.

Their contract with Morning Wind specified they would not harm him nor ally with others to do so. But should he die and drop the Ring of Power, it would no longer be their concern. In truth, Morning Wind suspected Wind Stirring the Clouds wanted him dead inside the castle, so he could seize the ring for himself.

Now that he knew the task, Morning Wind paid them no further mind. He felt it was safer to act alone than in their company. Taking to the castle walls as a crow, he remained undetected, circling once to study the layout. On his return, he saw that Wind Stirring the Clouds and the others were still outside; except for the rogue, none could sneak in.

Elven players with access to the racial advancement scrolls were still a rarity. As he continued his observation, Morning Wind noticed another elven hunter had infiltrated—the very same Wind Stirring the Clouds. With a two-minute cooldown on Stealth, he could only move in short bursts, but with his mini-radar, he could easily monitor the surrounding monsters’ aggro range and avoid detection if he didn’t get too close.

“Have you spotted Morning Wind?” Wind Stirring the Clouds was eager to know his whereabouts. Initially, they’d hoped he would clear a path for them, but upon entering, he’d shut off all communications, clearly signaling he’d go his own way.

“He must’ve gone on ahead,” grumbled Lightning, the professional rogue, whose resentment toward Morning Wind was palpable. The Ring of Power should have been his, but now it was in someone else’s hands—a blow he attributed to being outwitted by the Divine War guild.

Lightning’s real name was Wu Hai, Thunderclap’s vice-captain, notorious among pro players for his unscrupulous methods, though he respected Wind Stirring the Clouds—no matter what he did, he couldn’t outplay him. Having lucked into the legendary Ring of Power quest, Wu Hai had felt destined for greatness, only to be undone by Divine War’s scheming.

Since then, Wu Hai had gone on a killing spree against Divine War, employing all manner of tricks so that many of their members no longer dared to leave the main city. Yet the guild still refused to apologize or help recover the ring. If not for Wind Stirring the Clouds’ plan to have Morning Wind fetch the reward and hopefully die in Blood Castle, Wu Hai would have given up hope of reclaiming the ring.

The Ring of Power! Wu Hai believed that, since starting the game, his greatest stroke of luck was receiving this quest. In his eyes, the ring was his, and no one could take it away.

Ordinary players might let such a grudge cloud their judgment and make mistakes, but as a professional, Wu Hai’s focus returned the moment he entered stealth. If not for the contract forbidding him to attack Morning Wind, he would have already tried to kill him en route.

A single Ring of Power could drive anyone mad, especially a pro like Wu Hai who stopped at nothing for victory. Were it not for the opportunity to kill Morning Wind in Blood Castle, he would have hunted him down long ago. Wind Stirring the Clouds knew Wu Hai well; if he tried to confront Morning Wind head-on, it would be suicide. Unless Wu Hai could kill him instantly, the moment Morning Wind struck back, it would be over—just as Li Sen had been swiftly defeated, proof of Morning Wind’s explosive power.

Soaring as a crow, Morning Wind was safe as long as he stayed out of range of ranged monsters. There were no flying creatures in this area, so as long as he avoided being forced out of his form, he was unassailable. He had no idea what the others were plotting, but if he discovered they meant to kill him, he could easily lead monsters toward them and send them packing.

Wind Stirring the Clouds was indeed skilled, able to sneak in as a hunter, but if faced with a horde, his fate would be grim. As for the shifty-looking rogue, Morning Wind simply didn’t trust him—elves were usually handsome, but this rogue looked every bit the schemer, which made Morning Wind suspect he was after the ring.

If you don’t move, neither will I.

Morning Wind would not risk scouting ahead alone; the Ring of Power was too precious to gamble for a single quest. If entry was required, he would let them go first. Only once they left would he feel at ease. With a time limit on the quest—tonight was the final deadline, and just over two hours remained—it was unlikely he’d get another chance.

Whoever moved first would be the first to die. Morning Wind wasn’t in a hurry; he was prepared to give up the quest if necessary. The Ring of Power quest was likely a legendary orange quest, but even having received it, completion would be difficult. Morning Wind, despite his gaming experience, had never undertaken a quest of this caliber and lacked confidence in completing it.

After waiting about twenty minutes with no action from the others, Morning Wind flew to the rear of the castle, suspecting they had deduced his position—that he was watching from the sidelines. Since none made a move, he suspected they either had no reward waiting or that the reward was in fact the Ring of Power itself—they hoped to reclaim it from him.

“Looks like I’ll have to go in after all.” Morning Wind was patient, but without knowing what their reward was, he felt he should at least try to enter—even if discovered, he had ways to escape. Even if it meant turning against them, he had means to deal with them.

Prisoners in a castle would surely be kept in the dungeons, so he first needed to locate the entrance and the key. Flying to a balcony, he peered inside, observing the room’s ancient décor—worn furniture, but no dust or cobwebs.

He flew inside and landed on the sofa beneath the wall. The room was dim, so it was hard to make out all its features at once. Roaming about, he finally noticed an old oil painting in a corner. The painting depicted numerous rings, each a different color. At the center were four particularly brilliant rings, each larger than the rest.

Were these all Rings of Power? A painting recording their existence? Morning Wind took a screenshot, thinking it might be useful later. What did it mean? Were there four even more powerful Rings of Power? He’d never heard of the Four Great Rings before.

He stared at the painting, lost in thought, trying to recall any details about the rings, but nothing came to mind. It seemed he would have to proceed with the quest to discover what those four rings truly signified.