Reincarnation of the Strongest Sword God - Side Stories Gentle Snow After Story 1

Gentle Snow After Story 1

TL: This is a two-chapter after story released after the conclusion of the side stories.

Greater God's Domain, Ancient River Kingdom, Ancient River City:

Rain drizzled over the ancient and prosperous streets of the royal capital. However, despite the dark clouds overcasting the sky, the players roaming the streets wore excited looks as they discussed the city's latest major event with one another.

"The Rookie Competition this time sure was exciting! I never expected the Twin Saints Alliance to have such a monstrous paragon!"

"Indeed, Saint Three is ridiculously strong. It's rumored that he joined the Twin Saints Alliance less than two years ago. On top of winning a fight against three Tier 4 experts capable of rivaling Tier 5 experts in strength, he even defeated the veteran Saint Nine to secure first place in the Rookie Competition. He can definitely compete with the Myriad Forest Empire's paragons now."

"Once Saint Three advances to Tier 6, the Twin Saints Alliance might instantly become Ancient River Kingdom's strongest hegemonic power."

"Comparisons are truly odious. I've spent over two decades honing myself, reaching the fourth-floor standard by Tier 4. I can even exhibit the standard of Silver Combat Techniques with my every move now. Yet, I couldn't even get into the top 50 of the latest Rookie Competition. How are these paragons even being trained?"

"The last thing an independent player like yourself shouldn't think of is competing with the Six Great Hegemonic Powers' paragons. Every noteworthy power in the Ancient River Kingdom has a collection of precious Legacies originating from either ancient ruins or Gods. Those are not Legacies individual players can hope to obtain by themselves. If you genuinely wish to develop your combat standards, you should join a major power for better efficiency."

Besides discussing the Rookie Competition, many independent players started setting their sights on the many new Guild Residences that had appeared in the royal capital.

There were over 10 billion active players in the Ancient River Kingdom, and this number was still increasing as more new God's Domains were connected to the kingdom's surroundings. As the Ancient River Kingdom's capital city, Ancient River City would see at least one new Guild attempting to settle in it every few days.

In the Ancient River Kingdom, independent players beneath Tier 6 had a tough time joining the Six Great Hegemonic Powers. However, if they joined these newly emerged Guilds, it was a different story. After all, the gap between the average God's Domain and the Greater God's Domain was massive, whether it was in player combat standards or available resources. If the Guilds of these newly connected God's Domains wanted to establish a foothold in the Greater God's Domain, the quickest way would be to recruit players from the Greater God's Domain.

Among the many newly constructed Guild Residences, one with a six-winged Guild Emblem attracted the attention of many passersby.

"Zero Wing? What the hell are these requirements?!" a young man exclaimed as he pointed at the recruitment notice outside Zero Wing's Residence. "All applicants must have conquered the World Tower's second floor at minimum?! Tier 4 players must have conquered the World Tower's third floor?! Does this Guild take itself for one of the Six Great Hegemonic Powers?!"

The young man was a Level 184, Tier 5 Berserker fully equipped with Epic Weapons and Equipment. At his exclamation, many passersby nodded in agreement.

There were countless powers of all sizes in the Ancient River Kingdom. However, only hegemonic powers that ruled over a dozen cities in the kingdom would dare to require applicants to conquer the World Tower's second floor at minimum. As for requiring Tier 4 players to conquer the World Tower's third floor, not even the Six Great Hegemonic Powers had such high requirements.

The difficulty of the World Tower increased exponentially with each floor. Anyone capable of conquering the second floor would be considered to have reached the third-floor standard, also known as the Domain Realm. Domain Realm experts had a significant chance of advancing to Tier 6, and the average God's Domain would only have several dozen Tier 6 experts. As for those who could conquer the World Tower's third floor, they were all generational geniuses of their respective God's Domains. They would be considered top-tier experts even when placed in the Greater God's Domain's various NPC Cities.

Zero Wing was merely a new Guild in Ancient River City. Even if it had normal recruitment requirements, it'd be fortunate to recruit enough members to establish a foothold in the royal capital. Yet, Zero Wing had set forth recruitment conditions that not even the Six Great Hegemonic Powers dared to set. Many passersby were irritated by this situation and wanted nothing more than to mock Zero Wing for its hubris. However, when they saw the two women hosting the recruitment at the entrance, none dared to act on their impulse.

Of the two women, one wore a bright red robe over her devilish and graceful figure, while the other wore silver holy armor and carried a greatsword on her back. Although the two women had icy temperaments that deterred others from meeting their gazes, their extraordinary beauty left everyone breathless.

However, compared to their beauty and temperament, what truly deterred the passersby from openly ridiculing Zero Wing's recruitment requirements was the two women's levels and tiers.

Both women were Level 210, Tier 6 experts. When standing in the presence of their Divine Might, players beneath Tier 6 couldn't even fathom going against them.

Although there were countless geniuses and paragons in the vast Greater God's Domain, players who could successfully advance to Tier 6 remained few and far between. Hence, any player who could advance to Tier 6 would enjoy lofty positions, even in the Ancient River Kingdom's Six Great Hegemonic Powers.

…

"Snow, don't you think the Guild Leader's recruitment requirements are a little too high this time?" Zhao Yueru, equipped with the Legendary Staff Frostflame's Wrath, said in exasperation as she glanced at the players queuing up for Zero Wing's assessment.

Although many players were gathered outside Zero Wing's Residence, few were here to apply for Zero Wing. Additionally, it had already been several days since they started holding this recruitment drive. Yet, Zero Wing hadn't even recruited 100 players thus far. These numbers weren't even enough to raid a 100-man Team Dungeon, let alone establish a foothold in Ancient River City.

Regarding Zhao Yueru's question, Gentle Snow, Zero Wing's Vice Guild Leader, remained silent and watched the players in line. Besides the recruitment, nothing else could arouse her interest.

"Fine. Ignore me." Zhao Yueru was used to Gentle Snow's taciturn nature. Rather than try to get an answer, she focused on the next batch of applicants.

Suddenly, the street outside Zero Wing's Residence grew noisy as Level 139, Tier 4 Swordsman quickly weaved through the crowd while being chased by over a dozen Level 150-plus, Tier 5 experts.

The Tier 4 Swordsman looked to be a girl in her teens. Before the girl could reach the other end of the street, another dozen or so Level 150-plus, Tier 5 experts appeared in her way. These Tier 5 experts were led by a Tier 6 Assassin radiating Divine Might.

This sudden development instantly attracted the attention of everyone on the street.

"What is the Twin Saints Alliance trying to do?"

"Isn't that Blazing Soul, the Swordsman who came in fourth place in the most recent Rookie Competition?"

Many bystanders revealed curious looks when they saw who the Twin Saints Alliance's experts were surrounding.

The Ancient River Kingdom held its Rookie Competition once a month. Although there would usually be standouts in the competition, the most recent iteration saw a massive spike in the quantity and quality of geniuses appearing. Among the geniuses to shine this time, the one who garnered the most attention was Blazing Soul, the Sea Splitter.

Despite being an independent player, Blazing Soul came in fourth in the Rookie Competition. She displayed talent much greater than any of the geniuses backed by the various powers.

While the crowd was wondering what was going on, the masked Assassin from the Twin Saints Alliance walked up to Blazing Soul. With every step the Assassin took, the Divine Might he radiated strengthened. When he stood within ten yards of Blazing Soul, her face turned pale, and her feet had trouble keeping her steady.

"Blazing Soul, you have two options. One, hand over the item you obtained from the Ancient River Secret Land, and the Twin Saints Alliance will ensure your safety within the Ancient River Kingdom. Two, die," the masked Assassin stated without reservation. "Don't think of trying to escape. You are already tracked, and you won't be able to go offline for the next 24 hours. Every one of us here can also kill you easily."

The bystanders went into an uproar when they heard the masked Assassin's words. Many wondered what Blazing Soul had obtained from the Ancient River Secret Land for the Twin Saints Alliance to take action against her in the royal capital. After all, this action went against the royal capital's unspoken rules. Once news of this matter spread, the other five of the Six Great Hegemonic Powers would undoubtedly make their wrath known to the Twin Saints Alliance.

As for whether the Twin Saints Alliance could kill Blazing Soul in the royal capital, nobody doubted it.

While Blazing Soul might be a paragon, she was still a Tier 4 player. She stood no chance against the Tier 5 players before her, much less the Tier 6 Assassin.

Despair and frustration flashed in Blazing Soul's eyes as she looked at the Tier 5 experts surrounding her. Unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about this situation. Although Ancient River City had powerful NPC guards, they needed time to reach the crime scene. If a Tier 5 or Tier 6 expert acted quickly, they could escape out of the city. At that time, all they had to do was wait out their Red Name status before they could freely enter the city again.

Just as Blazing Soul was falling into despair, she caught a glimpse of the two peerless beauties standing by the entrance of Zero Wing's Residence.

Tier 6 experts? When Blazing Soul saw Gentle Snow and Zhao Yueru, she made a snap decision to take a leap of faith.

The treasure Blazing Soul had painstakingly obtained from the Ancient River Secret Land was of extraordinary value. If its existence was publicized, even the Myriad Forest Empire's various powers would fight over it like hungry wolves, let alone the Ancient River Kingdom's various powers. Hence, she was extremely reluctant to hand it over to the Twin Saints Alliance.

Currently, the Twin Saints Alliance had only one Tier 6 expert on-site. Blazing Soul believed that if she offered the treasure to Zero Wing, Gentle Snow and Zhao Yueru would be more than willing to intervene. After all, her treasure could tempt even upper-ranking hegemonic powers.

Thinking up to this point, Blazing Soul turned to Gentle Snow and Zhao Yueru. Then, she took a deep breath and shouted, "Big sisters from Zero Wing, please help me! In exchange, I will share the treasure I obtained from the Ancient River Secret Land with you! I promise you won't regret it!"

"Blazing Soul, you're courting death!" The masked Assassin grew furious after hearing Blazing Soul's cry for help.

He was the only Tier 6 expert from the Twin Saints Alliance present. Although he had a few dozen Tier 5 experts backing him up, they would serve little purpose in a fight against two Tier 6 experts.

Just as the masked Assassin was about to attack Blazing Soul, Gentle Snow suddenly asked, "Do you want to join Zero Wing?"

Gentle Snow's voice was mechanically indifferent, and her question stunned Blazing Soul. She couldn't understand why Gentle Snow would ask such a question at this critical moment.

However, the masked Assassin laughed when he heard Gentle Snow's response. After glancing at Gentle Snow, he looked at Blazing Soul in delight, "Save your energy. Even the other five hegemonic powers will have to show consideration to the Twin Saints Alliance. You'd best hand over the treasure before we act. Otherwise, you'll lose more than just the treasure!"

At this time, the spectating players started looking at Blazing Soul sympathetically. Despite being a paragon-level genius, she remained insignificant before the Twin Saints Alliance, one of the Ancient River Kingdom's Six Great Hegemonic Powers. She couldn't hope to resist the Twin Saints Alliance whatsoever. As for getting other powers to offend the Twin Saints Alliance on her behalf, that would never happen unless the power in question no longer wanted to operate in the Ancient River Kingdom.

When Blazing Soul saw the masked Assassin's look of delight, she sighed deeply and resigned herself to surrendering her treasure. Without external intervention, this would be her best option.

However, just as Blazing Soul opened her bag space, a playful giggle sounded nearby.

"It seems you didn't get Snow's question. In that case, let me explain it to you. Zero Wing isn't interested in your treasure. If you want to live, apply to become a member of Zero Wing. If you pass our test, we will naturally ensure your safety. If you fail to become a member, we will wipe our hands clean of your matter."