Eternal Cultivation of Alchemy

Chapter 2474  A Little Humility

The War God remained far in the back, watching the battle unfold upon the hilltop. His crescent-shaped formation was beginning to converge toward the fighters they had come across and now looked closer to enveloping the entire group.

Like a slow clap, he was going to squash these men as though they were mosquitoes. At least, that was the hope.

A report came, telling him that his men had killed the enemy battle master, but the ongoing onslaught proved that to be false.

'He's learned to hide himself quite well,' the War God thought. 'These men are failing to figure out which of these shadows is the true master in control.'

The War God wasn't angry about this, but rather happy. The war this time around was going better than he had expected, so this could help him put on quite a show for the audience.

Still, there was one thing that kept him wondering.

He had believed from the start that Alex had sent his strongest men to fight first. That was the only reason why he had faced each battle with no discernible difference in their loss statistics. But if that were true, then Alex should only have had weaker fighters left behind.

Judging by how things were going before him, these men were anything but weak. They were perhaps even stronger than anyone else his men had fought before.

'How is this possible?' the War God wondered. It simply did not make sense that Alex's people would be this strong. Especially not when…

The War God paused as a thought crossed his mind. The possibility was quite low considering Alex's age, but it was still there.

He looked forward to the end.

The battle itself didn't have much impact visually, but within the thick of it, it was just as dangerous as it could ever be.

Alex didn't have a very strong cultivation base, so he had to remain on the sidelines, fighting merely with the few techniques he was given by the game. He wasn't himself in here.

He rushed toward the hilltop while commanding each side of the battle. He was as discreet as he could possibly be while doing so, but sooner or later, he would be discovered, so he had to make the best of the situation as he could.

He arrived at the top, right next to one of the 20 swords. He grabbed the sword but had to wait for a moment for it to bond with him. He had to rely on his men to hold the others back.

Several of his other men grabbed the weapons and armors too, while several from the War God's army did the same as well. Each side fought to protect the ones that were taking the treasures.

Alex pulled his sword out.

'Finally!'

A flicker of knowledge settled into his mind. The sword had an extra ability for him to use other than the simple attacks he could do. Anyone cut by the sword was dealt a mental attack as well.

'That's convenient,' Alex thought, as it was similar to his own technique on the outside. Only there, he didn't even have to cut people.

Alex moved again and began fighting properly. He dodged attacks, retaliating at the right moment with his sword. These shadows weren't real people, so while they were as realistic as they could be on the outside, they were but simple fighters in the end.

Against Alex, they were as good as puppets that were trained to fight back.

Alex went through his enemies one at a time. He made sure to only choose the ones that were weaker than him while slowly bringing his protectors toward him. He couldn't yet let the War God know who he was, but the way he was fighting, it would become apparent any time now.

Right as his protectors appeared next to him, someone teleported right into the middle of the group and attacked.

Alex reacted in time, swinging his sword toward the man. The two attacks clashed, and Alex was immediately thrown backward to the ground. Thankfully, he didn't die, so the game continued.

He was still hurt, so he knew that a few attacks—even weaker ones—would be enough to kill him soon.

The enemy was quickly killed, and Alex joined back with the team. At the same time, he called someone to get him a shield and armor. Two of his men handed them over to him, and Alex wore the two.

The shield had a barrier technique that was large enough to protect his entire group if need be. The armor could make him pass through anything physical for a few seconds.

Each ability was quite useful.

With all three treasures at hand, Alex returned to the battle.

With Alex taking charge and his men being as strong as their enemies, the battle quickly took a turn for the worse for the War God. His men were killed quickly, and his idea to destroy Alex's men with a V-shaped battle formation was completely outdone by Alex's Four-Ring battle formation.

The defense and ranged fighters in the first layer had taken out more of the War God's army than anyone could have imagined.

The War God still sat at the back, watching the entire thing unfold. Unlike Alex, he didn't join the battle and instead simply controlled the whole thing.

He was losing quite badly, and yet, all he had on his face was a smile.

He wondered: Were alchemists that good at fighting wars? Or was this one just an exception?

"Well, I can't let him get too confident in himself. One can't learn without a little humility."

The War God's army slowly began to grow stronger with each passing second. The same men Alex had been beating the whole time were now getting faster and stronger.

He couldn't tell what had changed.

All the men were the same as before, and yet they were so much stronger. Even with his treasures, Alex couldn't come close to defeating his enemy after a while and needed help to even get out of the situation.

One by one, his men were beginning to die against their enemies, while fewer of the enemy lost. Then, at some point, the overall loss dropped below 1,000, causing everyone's overall prowess to drop by an entire level.

With his men getting weaker and his enemies getting stronger, Alex could see no way he could win. He had lasted as long as he had in this war and had come so close to winning too, and yet, whatever had happened had happened.

The War God had snatched his victory from the jaws of defeat.

After a few moments, someone finally reached Alex and killed him.

The moment Alex died, the world zoomed out, and Alex was back atop the pedestal. He took a few seconds for himself and looked around. The world below was the final image before he had died. Most of it was destroyed now.

The world suddenly changed as each part began to turn to mist. The blue and green faded, leaving behind a bright white sphere of light.

The War God raised his hand, and the light shrank, turning back into the glass orb.

"That is enough war for today," the War God said. "We can stop now."