So in terms of looks, which is a bonus stat, Richard and Ramollok are actually on par with each other. Add in Ramollok’s performance this morning and the "high-altitude chill" DEBUFF, and at first glance the number of supporters on both sides actually isn’t that different!
To be honest, things haven’t been easy for Richard. Not only did he get beaten half to death by Cordova some time ago, but after getting out of the hospital he then heard that the Black Vatican Priest who supposedly orchestrated that beating with his own hands was going to participate in the [Warfire League].
Heaven can testify, the reason Richard Ryan studied command was honestly just to make a name for himself as soon as possible. After all, just half a year ago the Church of the Dawn was still in that awkward state of being short on people and talent, and as long as Richard, who was doing advanced studies at the College of Divine Radiance, could graduate smoothly, at minimum he could start out inside the sect with the rank of Chief Priest. On that basis, as long as he could enter the War sequence and his luck wasn’t complete trash, with his strength he’d be able to work his way up to Archbishop in a few years, and become a high-ranking member of the Church of the Dawn before the age of forty, easy.
If everything went smoothly, the Church of the Dawn, which practically had no young representative figures, might even deliberately prop him up a bit—do a little star‑making project or something. In that case, Richard’s future really would have been a smooth road stretching out before him.
On top of that, Richard actually does have real talent in command. As early as two years ago he’d already gotten support from the academy, which often opened the back door for him so he could sit in on some fairly specialized lectures. Just the naval warfare seminars held by Mr. Richard, dean of the [Dan Slave Military Academy], he’d attended no fewer than ten times.
Compared to a certain someone who "doesn’t care to really understand doctrine" and whose "Divine Arts are a complete train wreck," Richard, who stepped into Half-step Epic early on, is definitely a talent‑type player. Even in his minor field of command, he’s been headhunted by quite a few academies that, while ranked below first‑tier military academies like [Danu] and [Mercury Gold], are still pretty strong.
All in all, if Motan and Yu Chen hadn’t shown up, you could almost say Richard was holding the main-character script on the Church of the Dawn’s side. After graduation he’d run into the gentle, water‑soft Half-Dragon Female Knight Yizou in the City of Light; then, while becoming a pillar of the sect, he’d also win the beauty’s hand. That kind of outcome was totally within the realm of possibility.
Except...
Looking at it now, that script is clearly not happening.
Never mind Yu Chen being chosen for Divine Favor and the Church of the Dawn happily scoring a new Saintess—that’s solid, tangible good news in itself. Some guy who popped out of nowhere, rumored to be the Forget Language Saintess’s boyfriend, also part of the Church of the Dawn and apparently decent at warfare, and even favored by Her Highness Xia Lian—this Black Vatican Priest basically came in and snatched away the future Richard had reserved for himself.
Even though he lives in Academy City, Richard isn’t clueless about this kind of thing. In fact, one of his closest friends has a father who is a Dawn Archbishop permanently stationed in the City of Light. He may not be a core figure, but he’s undoubtedly high‑level leadership, so Richard knows Motan’s early exploits like the back of his hand.
Key word: early exploits—that is, it doesn’t include the stuff over in Sumer that only a handful of people know about.
So it’s perfectly normal that Richard isn’t willing to accept this. In his view, with a Legendary Rank Saintess at your side—even if she’s a Legendary Rank Saintess whose Primordial Qi is seriously depleted—dealing with a county full of Low Rank monsters should absolutely be a piece of cake. All that overblown praise is, nine times out of ten, just Her Highness Xia Lian deliberately handing the credit over because she wants to look after the Forget Language Saintess’s boyfriend.
This is also a fairly popular theory within the Holy Church Union. Although it’s been somewhat tempered by the earnest myth‑busting from those who actually experienced the Battle of Misha County firsthand, no matter how much it gets tempered, it’s never going to temper its way to Richard.
And so, quite naturally, Richard ended up bearing a grudge against Motan.
Honestly, it’s not unreasonable. Put this on most people and they’d also feel suffocated: you’ve slogged away for so many years without even seeing a glimmer of light, only to get cut off by some guy who rose up on connections. If you can swallow that without complaint, you’re almost being too magnanimous.
In short, based on the one‑sided intel he had, Richard naturally developed hostility toward the Black Vatican Priest. Add in that heart‑throbbing, deer‑bumping‑around, fairy‑descending feeling Forget Language Highness gave him some time ago, and he became even more annoyed.
As that annoyance intensified, Richard’s rationality gradually eroded, which is why he did some things he normally would’ve disdained to do.
As mentioned earlier, Richard Laine might be a bit arrogant, but he’s not a bad person. So although he did indeed subject Yu Chen to some borderline clingy and undignified pestering, he never actually crossed any truly outrageous lines.
Hot-blooded youth is one thing, but Richard is still reasonable. If Yu Chen had outright said she was dumping the Black Vatican and dating him instead, this guy would probably have hesitated, seriously thought about whether he’d crossed some moral line, and then gone to collect "how horribly the Black Vatican Priest behaved" kind of dirt to justify himself.
Unfortunately, Richard might be reasonable, but Cordova sure isn’t.
And then... well, that was that—Richard and his little gang got beaten into pig‑headed balloons on the spot.
Of course, unlike those buddies who wouldn’t be getting out of bed for half a month, Half-step Epic Richard still managed to barely recover in time for the opening of the [Warfire League], for which he’d registered early.
Then when he got back to the academy and asked around—great, turns out that Black Vatican Priest was entering too, and as a Seed player at that.
Richard was seriously unconvinced, but on second thought, he also felt this was an opportunity.
If that Black Vatican Priest turned out to be a fraud, then his participation this season would let everyone see that Richard Ryan really was the stronger one.
If that Black Vatican Priest turned out to be a real big shot worthy of his reputation, then that would just mean he, Richard, deserved it—needed a beating—and had failed to recognize a giant when he saw one.
Anyway, he’d already been beaten up. What more could the guy do to him?
Richard took a deep breath and shook his head hard, refocusing on the red‑side sand table in front of him, forcing himself not to think about all that extra nonsense.
To be fair, the moment he learned the Black Vatican had been chosen as a Seed player, Richard already vaguely realized he’d probably misjudged things. After all, as long as the Warfire League didn’t want to trash its own brand, it wouldn’t pick a decorative pillow and slot him straight into the top thirty‑two.
Of course, he didn’t really regret anything either. He doesn’t think chasing the girl you like is shameful, and he doesn’t think there’s anything wrong with her boyfriend calling someone to beat you up.
"Hoo..."
After slapping his own cheeks twice, Richard picked up the shorthand feather quill in front of him and, right as prep time ended, pulled over two instruction cards. It took him only two minutes to fill them both out before shoving them into the hands of his sixth‑year buddy from [Mercury Gold Military Academy], who was serving as his Counselor for this match.
In this match, the goal for both sides was to hold their positions until their main forces achieved their strategic objectives. The roles the two players took on were also theater Commanders with certain levels of authority, and the scale was much larger than Ramollok’s simulation that morning.
And while they defended their positions, the opposing camp would keep up all kinds of actions, including but not limited to harassment, assault, sabotage, and behead operations. The pressure would be enormous, that much was obvious.
Given that both sides were under similar conditions and huge defensive pressure, winning in the end meant making as few mistakes as possible, constantly adjusting and redeploying according to the state of the battle. If you handled things too badly, forget the other player—just the enemy main force generated by the [Battle Six type] Main System would be enough to smash straight through both sides.
Having grasped the core of this simulation, Richard’s thinking was extremely clear. He didn’t factor Ramollok in as a variable at all, and directly chose a rather shameless Iron Wang Ba‑style opening: ordering all mobile units to pull back and, with great swagger, carving out an extra thirty percent of total resources to reinforce the defenses in all directions!
Ramollok, on the other hand... did absolutely nothing. He didn’t even write out a single instruction card.
It was like he’d just lain flat waiting to get beaten.
Chapter 1271: End
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