Chapter 185: So I ask you, is this Arthur a man or a woman? (Mushrooms and Type-Moon are entirely to blame!)
[Instance import complete.]
[The Grand Duke Garibaldi of the Evil Roman Empire led his army in a brutal and full-scale invasion of the Kingdom of Britannia. To resist the invasion of the Evil Roman Empire's soldiers, the Archmage Merlin used the Sword in the Stone to select chosen ones named Arthur, tasking them with resisting the foreign enemy and finding the Holy Grail that could bring about peace.
The small village set ablaze by Roman soldiers intensified the conflict between Britannia and Rome. Witnessing his people's suffering, Arthur, accompanied by his two companions, Lancelot and Percival, and a host of Britannia's Knights of the Round Table, resolved to inflict a crippling blow upon Grand Duke Garibaldi. Thus, they chose to attack the border fortress occupied by Grand Duke Garibaldi's brother, Prince Allen.
And as Prince Allen's chief knight, the Twin-Bladed Knight Balford, was leading his army, entrenched on the only path the Knights of the Round Table could take to assault the fortress. Both armies, positioned on either side of the vast plain, had set up camps and were locked in a standoff, with a brutal, legion-level war potentially breaking out at any moment.]
[Instance Blueprint: Knights of the Round Table]
[Instance Entries: Faction Confrontation — Players from different factions are permitted to kill each other without being flagged 'red'; the drop rate of Bloody Chests is increased by one tier. Players within the same faction are generally not allowed to kill each other; killing will not drop Bloody Chests, and this action will affect one's faction standing.
Sword and Magic — The setting is medieval Europe, filled with elements of swords, armor, magic, and miracles; tech-based items will be subject to comprehensive usage restrictions. Some items with mixed elements will also have varying degrees of usage restrictions based on their technological proportion.
Universal Cutting Skill — All players entering the instance, regardless of their chosen faction, will receive the temporary skill 'Cutting Skill'. This skill can be used to cut certain valuable items and recovery items produced in the current instance. Cutting may cause items to appreciate or depreciate, or even disappear.
Holy Kingdom of Britannia and Evil Roman Empire — Regardless of which faction you are in, as foreign mercenaries, you have been drawn into this national war centered around 'invasion and resistance'. Although you fight for money, the credibility of a mercenary is more precious and important than imagined. Once you choose to betray your contract, your credibility will plummet, and it will be difficult for you to be accepted by other forces.
Merlin's Beard — Seemingly chosen ones, but actually manipulated. Both the pulling of the Sword in the Stone and the search for the Holy Grail are orchestrated behind the scenes by the Archmage Merlin. He observes the battlefield like a chess player, calmly and equally watching everyone, including the players who have descended from the sky.]
[Instance Difficulty: C]
[Main Quest: Sound the Horn of Counterattack — Team Quest. As foreign mercenaries hired by the Knights of the Round Table, your mission is to break through the defenses constructed by the army led by 'Twin-Bladed Knight Balford', storm the Silver Fortress, kill 'Silver Prince Allen', who is just as evil as his brother, and make 'Golden Grand Duke Garibaldi' feel the same pain as the poor people of Britannia he destroyed and killed!
Basic Reward: 12,000 Chosen Coins, 4 Free Attribute Points, 1 Free Skill Point.
Side Quests: To be triggered.]
[Achievement list has been opened, you can view it at any time.]
After reading all the spatial import information, the noisy sounds and pungent odors immediately drew Cheng Tian's attention.
Octagonal tents, primarily white and blue, with a strong medieval European style, entered Cheng Tian's field of vision. The pungent smell emanated from a clearly temporary stable near these tents.
Whether stimulated by the atmosphere or not, each horse seemed very irritable, making the soldiers leading them appear very troubled. The source of the smell was naturally the body odor of these beasts and the ubiquitous horse droppings.
As for the noisy sounds, they were mainly produced by the passersby coming and going.
However, just from their appearances, it was clear that the status gap among these people was greater than imagined.
The highest status clearly belonged to the fully armored Knights of the Round Table. One could even see some dirty-faced and dirty-bodied villagers, whose hands alone were clean, struggling to help the Knights of the Round Table don their armor in some open tents.
Although the armor styles were clearly about a thousand years too early, directly moving 14th and 15th-century armor to the 5th century of the Arthurian legend, this was just artistic license. Both enemy and friendly factions were like this; even Garibaldi's side would feature Viking barbarians and Japanese samurai. Don't pay too much attention to the details.
Besides this intersection of top and bottom, there were also some mid-level soldiers wearing simple leather protective gear busy at work.
Some were transporting military supplies, some were calming horses, and some were trying to maintain order, but overall, it was still chaotic, probably because the person in charge of managing the camp's construction was still in their novice phase.
From the style of the tents and the appearance of the people around him, Cheng Tian knew that he had been assigned to the Britannia faction, allied with the Knights of the Round Table, making him a partner for justice.
At this moment, Cheng Tian did not have any research apes with him; all servant units could wait in their private space when their master entered the instance. However, once the master summoned them, they could only follow out of the instance after completion. Crucially, if servants were not summoned into the instance, then even if the player completed the main quest, the servants would not be included in the settlement.
Cheng Tian did not rush to find his random teammates, who were refreshed in unknown locations. Instead, he tiptoed as if walking through a minefield, directly moving away from this lively but very smelly area.
Given the simple customs of this era, it was not surprising to find any kind of filth on the ground.
However, at this moment, a small soldier in chainmail happened to approach, his eyes lighting up when he saw Cheng Tian.
"I finally found you! The leader is gathering you foreign mercenaries, quickly follow me!"
The small soldier responsible for delivering messages beckoned to Cheng Tian and turned to leave.
Following the small soldier through twists and turns, they arrived at the center of the entire camp, in a tent that was noticeably larger and sturdier than the surrounding ones. In the center of the tent was a very exquisite strategic sand table, and quite a few people had already gathered inside.
"Ah—"
The moment Cheng Tian stepped into the tent, a short gasp caught his attention. Following the sound, Cheng Tian saw two somewhat familiar people.
Luo Meiling, who made no effort to hide her disgusted expression, and Xia Wa, who was half-hidden behind Luo Meiling, with a hint of resentment in her eyes.