Chapter 727: Consequences


    Chapter 727: Consequences


    (One Week Later, Briarhelm)


    Nine days after Leo killed the Emperor, the rebels seeded in fully unifying the Southern Duchy under their control.


    With relentless progress each day, it took them just over a week to eliminate the final holdout—an NPC viscount—securing absolute dominance over the Duchy.


    This victory had significant geographic implications, as now the rebels effectively cornered the Empire’s forces from two fronts, cutting them offpletely from the East and South.


    However, while the rebel victory in the south was concerning for many who resided in central and western regions, it was even worse for the righteous faction yers who were still stuck in the south, as they had been stripped away of all their rights and relegated to the status of prisoners of war.


    Many among them began to regret their choice to remain in the South and resist the rebels, as in hindsight, they realized their beliefs had been naive at best and delusional at worst.


    Raised on titudes like “Wars are not won by the number of soldiers fighting them” and “Courage can ovee any adversity,” they had clung to the hope that sheer determination and heart could halt the rebel advance. But the harsh reality proved them wrong.


    The rebel advance was unstoppable, and with higher numbers and greater physical strength, the rebels sweeped any battlefield they entered cleanly, with the righteous faction yers having no chance to effectively fight back. Once captured and defeated, the righteous faction yers in the South were presented with two stark choices by the system.


    The first option allowed them to surrender and pledge their allegiance to the rebels, effectively jumping ship and changing sides, but to do this, one had to pay a steep cost.


    Every yer wanting to take this route had to forfeit 50% of the items in their inventory, which included their hard-earned weapons, armor, rare items, and even in-game currency or other assets that many had spent years acquiring.


    The items were to drop randomly, with the victorious rebels who captured them being allowed to loot it freely.N?v(el)B\\jnn


    However, if one felt unsatisfied with this choice, the second one was even worse.


    The second option that the system offered was an outright 30 day gaming ban, which for many was too harsh of a penalty to ept.


    The second penalty was essentially a forced exile, severing one from the game’s progress andmunity, significantly reducing their chances for a promotion during the next evaluation.


    Hence, stuck between a rock and a hard ce, the majority chose to convert and endure the humiliation of surrender, rather than not ying the game at all.


    This meant that the defenders became the predators, with the rebels gaining hundreds of thousands of new members, all of whom were deployed straight into battle into the central regions, while the winners of the South looted their dropped spoils.


    Many of the rebels openly boasted about their newfound riches and mocked the righteous faction yers’ years of effort on the forums, and how their effort was now being reduced to nothing but loot.


    However, the humiliation didn’t stop at simply looting.


    Former righteous faction yers were paraded before their peers as symbols of the rebel victory, and public executions of NPCs loyal to the Empire were made before themon masses to serve as a grim warning against armed civil unrest.


    The rebel victory was not just a conquest ofnd but a brutal dismantling of morale, leaving the righteous faction yers broken, looted, and humiliated in its wake.


    “Years of grinding gone in minutes. I can’t believe this is how it ends,” one defeated yer muttered in despair on the forums, his post quickly gaining hundreds of likes from others who shared the sentiment.


    “I had two unique grade items—both now gone! This system is a joke. What kind of choice is this? Either lose everything or get banned. How is that fair?” Another added, his case being simr to that of many.


    “That’s what you get for standing in our way. Thanks for the loot—I’ve never been this rich before.” A rebel yer gloated, as hundreds others joined in the mockery, sharing photos of their new loot on the forums with one even gleefully posting, “Southern gear firesale, courtesy of the righteous losers. Come and get it!”


    Such gloating after months of online banter between the two sides only made the rivalry worse as the righteous faction yers felt like they were being subjected to unprecedented social oppression.


    “We need to hold strong in the central territories. The rebels are winning now, but they can’t maintain this momentum forever.” One righteous yer wrote, trying to rally support, however, others weren’t so optimistic.


    “What’s the point? They’ve got hundreds of thousands of our faction’s yers already switching sides. It’s over.”


    “Honestly, they deserve it. The righteous faction has been the more privileged side for years now. But it looks like it’s our turn to suffer.”


    “This isn’t justice; it’s cruelty. If the rebels win this way, they’re no better than the Empire they’re fighting against.”


    No longer did the righteous faction yers have the same brashness and arrogance about their texts as they did a month ago, as slowly but surely, their voices seemed more humbled.


    Among the chaos, a troll chimed in: “LMAO, righteous faction yers crying? Just take the ban and touch grass for 30 days. Problem solved.”


    The forums buzzed with posts debating the ethics of the rebels’ actions, the righteousness of their cause, and the hopelessness of those who had been caught in the crossfire.


    Mixed reactions painted a vivid picture of a yer base divided, each post revealing a different perspective, but Leo simply looked at all this mess unfolding with emotionless eyes.


    Having logged into the game a full 9 days after hisst adventure, Leo felt the online discussions ongoing on the forums to be utterly pointless, as to him, yapping andining when nothing positive was ever going toe from it seemed pointless.


    “Fools…” he muttered, closing the chat, as he finally made his way through the gates of Briarhelm, to finally return safely to his temporary base of operations.