Ying Ping's figure stood like a demon god in the center of the battlefield, surrounded by mountains of fallen adventurers.
The defeated adventurers... already accounted for nearly half the total number!
Tiona and Tione stood back-to-back, breathing heavily.
The twin sisters' weapons already showed cracks.
Lefiya, the Thousand Elf, gripped her staff tightly, her white stockings covered in dust, and her elf ears trembled slightly from tension.
"This is as far as you go; you are no match for me."
Ying Ping said calmly, one hand re-inserted into his trench coat pocket.
"Don't... don't look down on us!"
Tiona gritted her teeth and charged forward, her double-headed greatsword cleaving down with a whoosh.
Ying Ping merely shifted slightly, and with a light chop of his right hand—
"Clang!"
The first-class greatsword snapped in two, and Tiona stumbled forward a few steps due to inertia.
"Ah!!"
Tione immediately brandished her twin daggers, thrusting them forward, but Ying Ping grabbed her wrists with both hands, then twisted them back—
"Ah!!"
Tione cried out in pain, her neck caught in Ying Ping's arm, and her twin daggers fell directly beside her bare feet.
"Sister!"
Tiona immediately cried out in concern.
"I won't hurt her."
Ying Ping released his grip at the opportune moment, allowing Tione to retreat to the side on her own.
"Triple Magic Arrows!"
Lefiya seized the opportunity to cast a spell, and three magic arrows whistled towards him.
Ying Ping simply narrowed his eyes, activating the Ruler's Authority, and the magic arrows mysteriously dissipated about half a meter from him.
"What?!"
Lefiya was completely stunned.
"You are Ms. Ais's friends, and I don't want to be too rough with you."
Ying Ping's tone was calm: "If you're interested, after the War Game ends, you can join our Hestia Familia with Ais."
He paused, his gaze profound: "I have a way to make you all stronger."
"...Is that so? We'll consider it. For now, we choose to surrender."
The Amazon sisters and Lefiya exchanged glances, then sighed and spoke.
Lefiya also lowered her head, softly saying, "...I, I give up too."
"A wise decision."
Ying Ping nodded, then turned and quickly left… Finn, Gareth, and Riveria stood in the center of the battlefield, their expressions solemn.
Less than half an hour had passed since the War Game began, and they hadn't found a single treasure.
The three leaders were forced to regroup.
If they didn't return, their teams would be progressively defeated by Ying Ping, one by one, and then no one would be able to continue the treasure hunt.
Scattering their forces was meaningless.
Because the area was limited, and Ying Ping moved incredibly fast.
"If you lay down your weapons and surrender now, I won't attack you."
Ying Ping shimmered with lightning, his eyes glowing crimson.
Finn gripped his spear, his eyes firm as he gritted his teeth: "As the captain of the Loki Familia, I cannot simply surrender like this. I must fight you until the very last moment!"
"We of the Loki Familia have no cowards who surrender without a fight!"
Gareth roared, his bulging muscles tensing as he held his battle-axe across his chest.
"Is that so?"
Ying Ping stopped, his sharp gaze quickly sweeping over the three, finally settling on Riveria.
Riveria's heart skipped a beat, but she still took a deep breath, raised her staff high, and began to chant—
"The harbinger of the end, the pristine white snow—"
Ying Ping sighed: "Then there's no helping it."
The next second, his figure instantly vanished!
"Bang!"
Finn's spear was shattered by a single punch, fragments scattering everywhere!
"Wh—?!"
Before he could react, Ying Ping had already appeared in front of Gareth, drawing back his right leg for a knee strike—
"Crack!"
The battle-axe broke in response, and Gareth grunted, staggering back several steps.
Riveria's chant continued, but Ying Ping did not attack her. Instead, he walked past her slowly, hands in his pockets.
"Both Kokkoro and I… are waiting for you."
His voice was soft, yet it brought Riveria's chant to an abrupt halt.
The highest-grade staff clattered to the ground.
She sank to her knees, her long green hair falling forward, obscuring the strong expression she usually wore.
"Finn, from the very beginning, you all had no chance of winning."
Ying Ping did not look back, simply continuing to walk forward.
When the scene of Ying Ping single-handedly defeating the three leaders of the Loki Familia was broadcast across all of Orario via magic screens, the entire city once again fell into a brief silence.
Then, various discussions erupted—
"As expected… Lord Ying Ping still won!"
"Although I anticipated it, seeing it with my own eyes is still shocking…"
"Those were the Hero and the Heavy Warrior of the Loki Familia! Their weapons were shattered in a single blow?!"
The citizens discussed animatedly, their tones a mix of astonishment and a sense of 'of course' relief.
After all, Ying Ping's previously displayed strength had already defied common sense, even shocking the gods.
Inside the Guild Hall.
The half-elf receptionist Eina stared intently at the magic screen, her hands unconsciously covering her mouth.
"Lady Riveria…"
She watched the once noble Elf Royal Family member kneel on the ground, disoriented, her staff lying beside her, and a pang of heartache arose in her chest.
But soon, her gaze shifted to the black figure standing like a demon god—Ying Ping.
"To think… the new adventurer Lord Hestia brought here has grown to such an extent…"
Eina's mind conjured an image of the first time she met Ying Ping—
A shy smile, polite to everyone.
At that time, Ying Ping was just a rookie who had just entered the Dungeon.
Who could have imagined that in such a short time, he would already stand at the pinnacle of Orario!
"It's over… it's all over now…"
Loki slumped in the spectator stands, her face pale, her fingers digging deep into the armrest.
She abruptly turned to Freya, her voice frantic: "Freya! We're going to lose completely now! Why don't you say something?!"
Freya gently swirled her red wine glass, a graceful smile on her lips: "Yes, we lost."
She tilted her head slightly and said to her confidante beside her: "Give the order to our Freya Familia warriors to launch a final fierce attack on the Loki Familia members."
"This War Game, we must ensure the Hestia Familia wins."
"Wh—?!"
Loki's eyes widened suddenly, suspecting she had misheard, and she stared at Freya in disbelief.
"Freya! You, what are you doing?! Are you crazy?!"
Freya finally couldn't help but laugh aloud, her purple eyes sparkling with pleasure: "Loki, actually, from the very beginning, you had no chance of winning this War Game."
She took a small sip of red wine, leisurely saying: "Because I was already on Hestia's… no, Ying Ping-kun's side."
"What…?!"
Loki's pupils contracted violently, her mind a blank.
Freya continued to smile: "I originally wanted to surrender at the beginning, but he wouldn't let me. He said he wanted to win against us honorably and then show off his strength."
"If he wanted to, he could even have ordered Hedin and the others to attack you before the War Game even started~"
Upon hearing this, Loki was completely stunned.
"You… you dared to betray me!!!"
After she came to her senses, Loki erupted in fury, leaping from her seat and pouncing on Freya, claws bared!
However, before she could get close, she was stopped by a single hand from a high-level adventurer beside Freya.
Freya had even anticipated Loki's reaction.
"Let me go! I'm going to kill this bitch!"
Loki struggled hysterically, spewing out vicious curses:
"You shameless whore!"
"Betraying an ally for a wild man!"
"I curse you to never have him!"
"And I curse you! Curse your Familia!!"
Freya, however, merely covered her mouth with a graceful chuckle: "Oh my, oh my~ The great Goddess of Mischief, now yelling like a shrew on the street, how unsightly~"
She turned to look at Ying Ping in the center of the battlefield, her eyes filled with infatuation: "But you're right, I did this for him~"
"Because…"
Freya's voice suddenly became yandere-like: "He said I was his type, so he's worth everything I give~"
Upon hearing this, Loki was so enraged she almost spat blood.
She struggled wildly but was unable to break free from the high-level adventurer's grip, eventually slumping powerlessly to the ground, wailing like an abandoned child.
Freya merely covered her lips with an elegant chuckle: "Oh my, no grace at all, truly the ugly wails of a defeated dog~"
She waved her hand: "Take Loki 987 away. Don't let her disturb my viewing."
"Yes, Lady Freya."
The high-level adventurer emotionlessly picked up Loki, dragging her away from the spectator stands like a ruffled Hachimi.
At this moment, the situation on the battlefield had become completely clear—
With the Freya Familia's defection, the Loki Familia's last resistance crumbled.
The Hestia Familia's victory was a foregone conclusion.
The Amazon sisters and Riveria were naturally shocked, never expecting things to suddenly turn out this way.
The adventurers who had been struggling to hold on all gave up resisting.
Some even dropped their weapons and raised their hands in surrender the moment they saw the murderous Freya Familia members.
"We surrender! Stop fighting!"
"What's happening? Why are the Freya Familia attacking us?!"
"Damn it! This is a trap! Freya tricked us all!"
Amidst the chaos, Ying Ping stood on high ground, overlooking the entire battlefield.
"It seems I no longer need to intervene."
He smiled slightly and turned to walk towards Hestia's position.
There, Kokkoro, Chisato, Takina, and Ilena had already collected over 30 treasures.
Hestia Familia—a complete victory!
The moment Ganesha announced the Hestia Familia's victory, the entire city erupted!
"A new strongest Familia has been born!"
"Lord Ying Ping is truly too strong! Ridiculously strong!"
"Who would have thought the Freya Familia would defect? Loki is completely finished now!"
"It turns out Freya was on the Hestia Familia's side from the beginning!"
In taverns, on the streets, adventurers excitedly discussed this War Game, which was sure to go down in Orario's history.
And in the underground altar of the Guild headquarters, Ouranos silently watched it all unfold.
That Ying Ping could achieve this situation was naturally a result he had tacitly approved.
Otherwise, the War Game would never have been sanctioned.
Uranus's deep gaze flashed with a meaningful light.
"Ying Ping-kun… Is this what you wanted?"
"I didn't expect even Freya to be on your side. How many more surprises can you bring to the lower world?"