87: Chapter 87 The Magician of Flowers
However, the carnival of the level 18 minimum guarantee was merely the beginning.
A few days later, as time progressed, all restriction clauses for the [Alaya-Vijnana · Pruning Protocol] were lifted.
The highest difficulty symbolizing the limit—[Level 33 Full Contract]—officially opened the gates of hell to all Masters.
When all the "freebie" clauses were removed, and all the hellish buffs like HP increase, ATK increase, cost reduction, and high-ground prohibition were fully stacked, it was no longer a problem that could be solved by "leaking mobs" or "single-core cheesing."
To conquer this mountain of despair known as level 33, White Night, A-K, and other top-tier players from the [Atlas Academy] entered a state of complete obsession. They locked themselves in voice channels, nitpicking damage frame by frame and timing retreat axes millisecond by millisecond, beginning an extreme calculation process that lasted for several sleepless nights.
As for the bystanders like PD and A-Dai...
The moment the level 33 contract was unlocked, PD, with his stubborn refusal to accept reality, maxed out all the hellish clauses and charged in.
As a result, less than half a minute into the start, as he watched his theoretically highest-stat, max-level, max-NP Scathach get bitten into fragments of light and exit the field by a basic "Berserk Hound" mob that rushed over, he silently took off his VR helmet.
"Excuse me, I am not worthy."
Facing this kind of dimensional strike where even a basic attack couldn't be withstood for a second, PD completely gave up struggling and let out a salty-fish-like wail in his livestream room:
"Copying the timing axis is so exhausting! Someone give me an official cheat to save this child! Is there any wheelchair-tier support that doesn't require timing axes and can just stand there and mindlessly provide healing and ATK buffs? I'd go bankrupt just to pull them to max!!!"
It was as if his tearful plea had been heard, or perhaps this was simply a precise harvest calculated long ago by some black-bellied producer.
The next morning, the official Chaldea account on C-Station suddenly released a PV teaser!
Clicking on the video, an ethereal, melodious BGM with a hint of Celtic flair slowly flowed out.
In the pitch-black frame, a soft pink-white petal drifted down leisurely, and the moment it touched the "water surface," it rippled out circles of gold.
Accompanied by the crisp sound of a staff tapping the ground, countless flowers bloomed in the void with a roar.
That magician with dreamy silver hair and snow-white robes stepped out of the shadows, walking through the rain of flowers.
"Do you want to see me? Master of Chaldea?" He blinked mischievously, and the wooden staff in his hand twirled in mid-air, creating an extremely gorgeous flourish.
"Then, let me help you all a little. Consider it... a token of thanks for witnessing your heroic posture."
[Limited-Time Gacha Preview: Traveler of Avalon—Flower Magician · Merlin, officially descending!]
"Pfft—what the hell?!" PD sprayed a mouthful of water all over the screen, his eyes widening in horror, "I just made a wish, and a new gacha banner is already here?! Did Old Thief Gu install a bug in my helmet?!"
Meanwhile, in various major forums and gathering places for lore enthusiasts, the moment they saw that face, countless players let out screams loud enough to blow the roof off!
"Ahhhhh! It's Merlin! The living Merlin!"
"That internet-scammer mage who ran on two legs from Avalon into the Underworld to save the day at the end of Chapter 7!"
"He's pullable?! Old Thief Gu, you finally acted like a human being!"
"I'm going to pull him even if it bankrupts me! He tricked me out of my tears in Chapter 7, and now I'm going to trick him back to Chaldea to work overtime with zero benefits every day!"
Just as the lore enthusiasts were frantically licking their screens over their idol's arrival, the PV scene suddenly shifted, entering the [Combat Skill Demonstration] segment that hardcore players cared about most.
"Come watch big brother's magic show!"
In the scene, Merlin stood in a high-ground position, waving his staff.
[Skill 1: Dreamlike Charisma]
Golden light poured down, and the effect description appeared prominently on the screen:
[Increases all allies' ATK (20%) and increases all allies' NP (Noble Phantasm charge) by 20%!]
"A 20% party charge and it also comes with a party ATK buff?"
White Night nodded in his livestream room, "Very decent numbers. As a high-star support, it qualifies."
Immediately after, Merlin in the scene faced the barrage of magical beast fire raining down and chuckled.
[Skill 2: Illusion]
Pink petals flew everywhere, transforming into an indestructible barrier.
[Grants all allies a temporary "Invincibility" status! Also increases the entire team's Critical Star drop rate and decreases the entire enemy team's Critical occurrence rate!]
"Wait... wait?!"
White Night and all the meta-gaming players' eyes instantly widened.
"Party-wide invincibility?! Put in a basic skill?!"
"Are you kidding me! Before this, only 'Jeanne dArc Alter's' Noble Phantasm in the entire game could barely achieve party-wide invincibility, and after using it, she would be hard-stunned!"
"But in the hands of this internet-scammer mage, not only did it become a basic skill that can be cast casually, but it also comes with party-wide star generation and enemy critical debuffs?! This damn thing is one skill outperforming someone else's entire Noble Phantasm!"
However, this was merely the beginning.
In the PV, Merlin pointed his staff at Jeanne dArc Alter standing at the very front, and vast, tangible magical energy engulfed Jeanne dArc Alter like a volcanic eruption!
[Skill 3: Hero Creation]
"Go on, go create a miracle!" Accompanied by Merlin's cheeky remark, a line of text slammed into all the players' eyes like a nuclear bomb:
[Grants one ally a massive "Buster Card Performance Up" (50%)! And 100% "Critical Damage Up"! Also increases Max HP limit!]
Watching Jeanne dArc Alter pierce through the sky with a red critical damage hit in the scene, the bullet comments fell into a collective silence that lasted for ten seconds.
"100% Crit Damage plus 50% Buster Performance... is this really the value given by a single skill?!"
"Did the programmer type an extra zero? With this buff applied, you could lead a dog around and it could cut Red Sword Brother in half!"
You have to understand, in the underlying logic of "VR Version FGO," to adapt to the rhythm of real-time combat, Gu Yi had carried out drastic simplifications and modifications to the complex command card system from the original turn-based version.
In the current tower defense mode, every Servant's basic attack, skill damage, and Noble Phantasm attribute are entirely determined by their original "Noble Phantasm card color"!
For example, since Gilgamesh's Noble Phantasm in the original FGO belongs to "Buster Card," all his basic attacks, skill damage (if any), and Noble Phantasm can fully utilize this 50% Buster Card Performance Up without any loss!
Finally, the PV reached its climax with the Noble Phantasm demonstration.
Merlin closed his eyes and tapped his staff on the ground; the entire tactical sandbox instantly shed all smoke and fire of war, transforming into a dreamlike, flower-filled Utopia!
"[Garden of Avalon]!"