Infinity, The Arcade Age

Before the fight, Qin Ming had whispered a simple plan to the militia captain: coordinate a strategy for the battle.

What? A duel? You must be joking! Asking an adventurer to duel a boss one-on-one? Have you gone mad?

Why do you think the Nightmare Space gave the five adventurers the same exact task? Even from the perspective of the Nightmare Space, this Act 1 Boss, Scorn, wasn't something one person could defeat alone.

Qin Ming never intended to engage in a fair fight with Scorn. His plan was brutally simple: lure Scorn in and then take him down as quickly as possible with a joint effort. Once the leader was dead, the remaining soldiers would be nothing more than a disorganized mob, unlikely to fight to the death without someone commanding them.

The militia captain fully agreed with this direct and ruthless plan, knowing Scorn's behavior well from prior dealings with his troops. Scorn was not someone who honored promises. Even if Qin Ming managed to win a fair duel, Scorn wouldn't simply retreat. No, he'd bring his forces and beat you to death, driven by shame and anger. This man was a bloodthirsty lunatic who found joy in slaughter—expecting mercy from him was foolish.

There were only two ways to break this situation: either hold out until reinforcements arrived or find a way to kill Scorn. The captain wasn't about to gamble the village's fate on waiting for reinforcements, so he was willing to collaborate with Qin Ming to try and eliminate the enemy.

Although it was their first time working together, Qin Ming and the militia captain displayed remarkable coordination. Their primary goal was to create an opportunity for Qin Ming to get close enough for a point-blank shot aimed at a vital spot.

And now, that moment had finally come.

A gunshot rang out. Across the battlefield, soldiers who had been loudly cheering as their boss, Scorn, displayed his might—killing two enemies in the blink of an eye—suddenly fell silent, their eyes wide in shock.

On the battlefield, Qin Ming had taken advantage of the opening. He rushed forward and fired a shot point-blank at Scorn's face, instantly blinding the knight's left eye. As blood spurted wildly from the wound, Qin Ming didn't hesitate to pull the trigger again, ready to press his advantage.

But Scorn, as the first boss of the game, wasn't someone who could be easily taken down. A seasoned warrior, he reacted instantly, letting out a pained scream while using his helmet to shield his face from the revolver's barrel.

Several more gunshots echoed in the air. Some bullets ricocheted off the helmet, while others penetrated it, hitting Scorn's head.

In that moment of chaos, the now-enraged Scorn threw off the militia captain who had been clinging to him and slammed his shoulder into Qin Ming's chest, sending him flying.

Clutching his bleeding eye, Scorn wildly flailed his other arm, shrieking in agony. His remaining good eye locked onto Qin Ming, who was quickly reloading his revolver. Scorn's pupils shrank in fury.

Without warning, Scorn grabbed his glaive and hurled it at Qin Ming with all his strength, forcing Qin Ming to dive and roll out of the way. When he stopped rolling and knelt on one knee, ready to aim again, he realized that Scorn had already retreated.

Backing away while covering his bleeding eye, Scorn pointed directly at Qin Ming, screaming at the top of his lungs:

"Why are you all just standing there?! Kill him! Skin him alive!!!"

Upon hearing their leader's roar, the soldiers, who had been frozen in shock, finally snapped out of it. Brandishing their weapons, they charged at Qin Ming in a frenzy.

Seeing the sea of soldiers rushing toward him, Qin Ming's body trembled slightly. There was no way he could stay and fight them all. He immediately fired a few shots while retreating into the village.

But after taking a few steps, he suddenly turned back, grabbed the severely wounded and bloodied militia captain—who was barely able to stand—and dragged him toward the safety of the village.

As Qin Ming fled, the soldiers chased after them.

However, the moment the soldiers entered the village, they were met with a barrage of attacks. Villagers stationed on the rooftops rained down stones on the soldiers, cracking their heads open and forcing them to halt in their tracks.

This squad of sword-wielding soldiers, with no archers among them, had no effective way to counterattack. All they could do was scramble to climb the roofs, hoping to cut down the villagers at close range.

But by the time they clambered up, the villagers had already retreated, pulling away the wooden planks that connected the rooftops.

Enraged, some of the soldiers cursed as they jumped down to resume the chase, while others began picking up the stones on the rooftops, engaging in a makeshift stone-throwing battle with the villagers on neighboring houses.

With the villagers joining the fight, the entire village descended into chaos. Fires erupted everywhere as furious soldiers set buildings ablaze with torches. Thick smoke billowed into the sky, forming a dark column visible from miles away.

Meanwhile, far away in a forest, the rising smoke caught the attention of a resting group of soldiers.

This group, composed of over thirty swordsmen clad in simple armor and armed with broadswords, was led by a hulking blond man. His upper body was nearly bare, with only a single heavy shoulder guard strapped to his left shoulder. He wielded a short-handled giant axe.

Frowning deeply at the sight of the smoke, the man quickly pulled out a map to check the direction. Upon realizing that the smoke was coming from Parsy Village, his face darkened, and he sprang to his feet.

"Something's gone wrong in Parsy Village! Everyone, stop resting! We move at full speed!"

"Yes, sir!"

At their leader's command, the soldiers swiftly rose and began sprinting toward the rising smoke with all their might.

Leading the charge, the blond man wielding the giant axe was none other than Percival.

His name might not be familiar, but his legend certainly was. He was the Round Table Knight renowned for his purity and righteousness, the knight who found the Holy Grail, and the chosen guardian of the Grail itself.

He was also one of the three main protagonists of this Round Table Knights world, known for his ferocious strength—the mighty axeman!