A voice beckoned.
Who shouted in response, but the light enveloped her entirely, its blinding brilliance rendering her unable to open her eyes.
Once her vision adjusted, she slowly opened her eyes, her hands still shielding her face.
On the outskirts of the dark forest, she found herself emerged from its depths.
Bayou blinked in disbelief, realizing she had somehow traversed to the periphery of the dark forest, a location she recognized, even farther than where she had previously slain the spiders.
The sky had darkened.
Glancing behind her, she saw her undead companions had also emerged.
Without a moment's hesitation, Bayou resolved to leave this place and return to the castle.
This was utterly unfathomable.
Bayou felt a sense of disorientation.
Her mind momentarily in disarray.
Who had spoken just now? Was it that individual who had rescued her? She distinctly recalled the voice, surmising it belonged to a middle-aged man.
But why would a native human save an outsider such as herself? Moreover, Bayou vividly remembered the daylight upon her entry.
How could it be night now? Upon her departure from the dark forest, the dark forest harbored not only mysteries but also profound terrors.
Even upon her return to the castle, her heart raced uncontrollably, refusing to calm.
Shiaoing, do you know what lurks within the dark forest? Bayou inquired upon her return, hoping that this native dragon could provide some insight.
However, Shiao Bing<unk>s response left by you disheartened, for Shiao Bing had scarcely engaged in contemplation and merely stated, "The Dark Forest is a forbidden area.
Is the Dark Forest truly a forbidden place? Is not the Frosty Snow Mountain also a forbidden zone?" By was perplexed by the meaning behind Shiaoing<unk>s words, "The Frosty Snow Mountain earned its designation as a forbidden area solely due to the arrival of my mother, a distinction not shared by the Dark Forest.
Bayou wished to inquire further.
Yet it appeared that Shiao Bing<unk>s knowledge was limited to this.
At present, Bayou comprehended that the dark forest represents the true essence of a forbidden realm.
While the Frosty Snow Mountain seemingly lost its status as such following the demise of the frost giant dragon.
What does this mean for my development? Chapter 153.
Traitors and free men today.
Why you inadvertently venture deep into the heart of the dark forest? a misstep that left her quite alarmed.
The periphery could hardly be deemed a true dark forest.
The creature she encountered exhibited an exceedingly bizarre method of attack.
Capable of striking White U even when aimed at empty air, she had never before witnessed such a peculiar form of assault.
As the shower in the bathroom cascaded down, Whiteu took a cold shower, which brought a measure of tranquility to her troubled mind.
Perhaps it was best to focus on developing her strength in the White Rock Mountains instead.
Often the unknown holds the greatest terror, and Whiteu felt at least somewhat acquainted with dwarfs.
After drying off, she dawned a loose- fitting t-shirt and emerged.
By this time, the corpses outside had fully decomposed, and it was her duty to attend to them.
Upon disassembling the bodies, she acquired over 20 000 magic crystals along with 200 spirit cores.
While the surplus of ordinary grade equipment was casually discarded to Sun Shia Sha.
Curious about Sun Shia Xiao<unk>s progress.
White you check her information.
Territory lord Sun Shia Sha strength ordinary level seven territory level 9 initial castle.
Barack level seven beast crystal special building time chamber troop types seven varieties of beasts equipment cloud riding Doran's rod.
Oh, has the castle really upgraded to level 9 so swiftly? While the Barack's advancement was understandable given the wealth of equipment she had provided, the rapid upgrade of the castle was rather surprising.
However, she refrained from probing further.
Perhaps Sun Shia Sha had her own fortuitous circumstances.
White then inquired with Xiao Leian about the situation in the White Rock Mountains and felt reassured to hear that there were no unusual developments.
She decided to dispatch all the idle undead mages, including liches, specters, death knights, destroyers, and ghouls.
Any undead capable of utilizing the teleportation portal to Xiao Leian's side.
Since she could not develop her forces here, the undead could not remain idle either.
She could only assign them to the White Rock Mountains.
Even if they could not engage in combat, surely they could mine for resources.
What they can't? That remains to be seen.
They can always learn.
They cannot simply be idle.
Returning to her bedroom, Whiteu awaited the dawn in quiet anticipation, recalling that the leaderboard was due to refresh tomorrow.
She resolved to stay up late to witness the updates.
Seated in her room, she idly browsed the world chat, observing the discussions among various lords.
Surprisingly, it proved quite entertaining, making for an excellent way to pass the time.
Before she knew it, midnight arrived and the long- awaited announcement finally appeared.
Dear lords, the leaderboard has been refreshed.
Special announcement.
Some lords have chosen to betray and ally with other races in the magical continent, thereby designating them as traitors.
Simultaneously, this offers those lords disinterested in participating in the great struggle of the races an opportunity to transition into free men, relinquishing all lordly privileges.
While the indigenous races of the magical continent will no longer target you, the transition will remain open long-term and you will not lose certain basic system functions such as world chat, etc.
Aside from the profession of free man, all lords will become adversaries of the traitor.
The traitor may neither form alliances nor submit, and within a certain range, the lords will be able to sense your location.
The leaderboard for the hunt has been activated and will last for a week with final rewards distributed based on the number of kills each side achieves limited to the top 10 performers.
Lords exercise caution your choices and then fight with all your might to conquer.
What on earth you was taken back by the sudden influx of updates including the option to change professions.
She struggled to process this information.
The system had directly turned those lords who pledged allegiance to the magical continent into foes, inciting mutual slaughter among them.
The roles of traitor, free man, and lord seemed to reflect the concepts of evil, neutral, and lawful, respectively.
Becoming a traitor means foregoing alliances and submission, which essentially strips them of the ability to relocate.
Furthermore, the absence of submission indicates that the system does not grant these traitors a chance to plead for mercy.
It feels as if the system is targeting them specifically.
In contrast, the free man option appears to be more humane, relinquishing the confines of castles and units, thus enhancing the likelihood of survival without becoming a target of local races.
Bayou estimated that with this new profession option, more than half of the lords would choose to become free men.
Moreover, there is no time limit for this profession change, meaning everyone has ample time to consider their choices and can switch professions at any moment.
The rewards for the top 10 are undoubtedly far more generous than the previous rewards for the thousandth place.
The system is evidently investing heavily to deal with these traders by you open the leaderboard to inspect the rankings.
The previous five tiers remained, but a new column for the hunt rankings had been added.
The system specifically noted that green names represent lords, white names denote free men, and red names indicate traitors.
As for the deceased, they're marked in gray.
However, as a leaderboard had just refreshed, the lords who perished last week had been removed, and there were currently no gray names among the lords.
Curious about the hunt leaderboard, Bayou quickly clicked to investigate.
She discovered that her name was accompanied by a score of two, placing her in a tie for second with hundreds of other lords, including both red and greens.
The top rank boasted a score of six, held by a single lord who was also a traitor.
Bayou recalled that the large, plump trader she had slain in the Bayen Mountains must be the one contributing to this score.
Noticing that rankings could be tied, she pondered just how many individuals might occupy the top 10 slots.
Just as she considered criticizing the system for its lack of humanity, she spotted a small question mark next to her score.
Upon clicking it, she learned that killing a first tier trader grants five points, while a second tier trader yields four points, and so forth.
Additionally, points can be plundered, but only from the opponent.
With these conditions in place, the system appears to be compelling the lords to engage in fierce combat to grow stronger.
It seems that the lord Bayou had previously slain was part of the fourth tier, though she had not seen his units.
It stands to reason that the systems judgments would be accurate.
Bayou suddenly conceived a flaw in the system.
What if she subdued a traitor and compelled him to eliminate other lords? Wouldn't that expedite her points acquisition significantly? However, she soon realized her error.
This hunting event was specifically designed for traders and free individuals were excluded from participation.
Moreover, lords could transition to free individuals at any moment.
Thus, relying on traders to eliminate lords, ultimately reaping a final harvest proved feudal.
When the time came, they could simply shift to free status, rendering her efforts in vain.
For the sake of this reward, Bayou was determined to make a concerted effort.
She was not foolish enough to insist on claiming the top position.