Chapter 53
The earthquake lasted for 3 minutes; the intensity and magnitude were felt even in the forest of Rithakwood, which was in the upper north of the now-decimated city of Lúthien. The attack spell was focused and directed only toward the dragonoid's body; the nonstop bombardment of the Netherborn's fire and lightning-fused strikes was destroying the enemy's regeneration abilities until its mana core remained. Ward pierced the ground to obtain the dragonoid mana core secretly and absorb it to increase Dana's mana capacity to 19 thousand.
The points he gained were based on his contribution, but he knew accepting it would expose that he was a player after all, so he declined the acquisition of the kill and left it to the remaining players that survived the quest.
His plan was a bit harsh and somewhat heartless, but the penalty for interrupting the quest was something he himself wanted to avoid at all costs. The things he already gained were considered a cheat already, so he can't just dive into certain situations and get emotional. The letter that will soon be discovered after eliminating the evolved drake was the key in opening the quest toward Karion.
The quest to liberate the Empire of Graves has finally appeared. The remaining players from the guilds were stunned to see that their experience points increased. This means the Netherborn was not a player. They now thought the powerful being was part of the main storyline. This never happened before the scenario change a lot. They were all confused and could not understand what this scenario came to be when it didn't happen in the previous four quest attempts in the past.
The letter was the main reason for all their sacrifices: just drop on the crater the Netherborn created as it turned around and pointed at Bonnie Lazarus, who was the person nearest to the location as she was kneeling behind a sturdy but eroded stone pillar that was part of the city hall that got burned down.
"Young player behind the stone pillar, come out. Your enemy is now dead; you may get the item it dropped."
Bonnie slowly peeked out; her face filled with ash and dirt, and uttered the reaction.
"Huh! Are you speaking to me?"
"Why, young lady, is there another person beside you?"
"Aren't you a part of the Lazarus clan?"
Everybody heard the Netherborn words loud and clear; they were a bit surprised and confused by the mention of the Lazarus clan. Seabastian recalled what the Netherborn said earlier.
"I am the Netherborn, born from the womb of darkness. Those who stand in my way shall face my violence, and those who lay a hand on those who serve my will shall meet the same fate."
"Behold, sons and daughters of the Lazarus clan," he proclaimed, his eyes gleaming with a fierce determination. "The power of the Netherborn shall not be underestimated, for I am the harbinger of destruction and the protector of the chosen few."
Charlotte and Mary Kate looked at each other while Cody spoke, "Is the Netherborn related to our clan legacy?"
"One of the creators of the virtual game, from where the tower was copied and created from, was our uncle, right?!"
"The Netherborn might be a hidden NPC related to a secret scenario."
"I really have no idea, Cody. We need to ask the elders about this matter as of now. Bonnie needs to get the letter."
Sasha from the White Devil Guild wanted to get the letter first , as she took the risk knowing obtaining the letter was crucial for their guild's success. However, as she ran toward the crater to grab the letter, the Netherborn was still standing near the area and spoke.
"How disrespectful! You are not the person I asked to take the letter,"
"Greed is such an annoying quality in humans." Sasha froze in fear as the Netherborn's voice echoed around her, realizing she had made a grave mistake by trying to take the letter without permission. She quickly backed away, knowing she could have died on the spot. A heavy knight from the White Devil guild that regained some of his composure stepped forward to secure their stand as he voiced out his claim over the letter.
"I am Dimas Kirov, a player serving the White Devil guild. We have a rightful claim over the quest reward. Who are you to decide who should have the item?"
As the heavy knight walked toward the crater where the letter was, Netherborn stood just a few feet away and gave out a heavy sigh and answered Dimas Kiroc's question.
"Among the countless that died and gave away their lives to seek this item ,"
"That young lady to whom I asked was silently praying that the enemy finally be subdued so her teammate and fellow players would no longer die."
"She was more concerned about her teammates lives, while you are more concerned about the quest related to this letter."
"Haven't I already killed the enemy that killed your fellow members?"
"That is absurd! That has nothing to do with this quest; we have the right to have the letter."
"Ah, you mean the contract quest scroll your guild signed?"
"yes!"
"I call for Sylveth Melriel, or the Crescent Mage, to come and answer my summon!"
Those who were watching were utterly shocked seeing the great mage appear in front of the Netherborn in a kneeling posture. King Deryth Cererindu and all of the nobles and even the right Archmage serving the kingdom rose up with panic and awe as they witnessed the powerful mage respond to the summon. The Netherborn's request was about to be addressed with the presence of Sylveth Melriel, causing a stir among those in attendance.
The Right Archmage, who was the other head advisor of King Deryth Cererindu, was grinding his teeth seeing her kneel down to an unknown being. It was a disgraceful act seeing her action as she knew very well that the royals and nobles at the kingdom of Solnara Cererindur
The nobles were all outraged as the left head advisor mage has abandoned her loyalty to King Deryth Cererindu, but the king asked the nobles to calm down and told them to understand the situation first. He pointed out that the Netherborn is not an ordinary being.
The king, who reiterated, has seen many powerful mages and warriors when he was young, alongside his father, the former ruler , but among the numerous strong and powerful beings, the Netherborn is different. He further explained that it didn't come to show off his power.
He prove he was able to win by using his figthing skill
And the fact of his brutality and absolute control over the overwhelming, the outcome was undeniable. The king urged his advisors to approach the situation with caution and strategic planning, as confronting the Netherborn head-on would likely result in disastrous consequences for the kingdom.
"My left advisor, the holy Archmage Sylveth Melriel, has a reason for doing this,"
"But rest assured, if her reason is not enough to convince us, we must consider all possible outcomes before making a decision."
"As for now, let's just watch and wait."
At the same time , those who knew who apperaed before the Netherborn were shock once more, as she presented the contract and pointed the contract was created to have five participants , as signe by each three guild the East Lzarus Guild, the White Devil Guild and the High Strategy guild , there are two remaining open slot .
The left holy archmage, Sylveth Melriel, pointed out the lower corner has fine print. She spoke with a mild tone, and spoke" was written on the contract she created for the quest of the evolved drake.
"Listen, as I, Sylveth Melriel, left advisor of the current king of Solnara, Cererindur, stating on this fine print that the remaining two free slots can be used based on the unexpected situation that may arise during the course of the contract."
"This clause allows for flexibility in case additional participants are needed in the future, whether a player or tower resident."
Dimas Kirov raised his voice again, saying the contract was not fair. Sylveth Melriel suddenly felt an overwhelming killing intent from her back where Netherborn stood; she instantly reacted to subdue his anger and cast a paralysing spell toward Dimas Kirov and demanded they keep quiet and respect Netherborn's decision to let the player named Bonnie obtain the letter.
Natasha Sokolov approaches Sylveth Melriel and sincerely apologizes for what his member did, but they just wish to know the reason why they have to obey the being called Netherborn.
Sylveth Melriel smiled and walked toward Natasha and explained
" CERTAIN INFORMATION CANT BE GRANTED, BRANCH OF MAIN SCENARIO HAS BEEN ALTERED, AND WE MUST FOLLOW THE WILL OF NETHERBORN."
Natasha was shocked hearing this, and seeing Sylveth Melriel's glitching and mechanical, emotionless response, she realized that there was more to the situation than she initially thought; everybody heard and saw what just happened.
"The second most powerful Archmage reaction was like in the virtual game before,"
They call this phenomenon a glitch; it happens when a scenario gets altered along the way, and the tower system has to compensate and gain control. Sylveth Melriel's artificial words carried a weight that left everyone in the burning city pondering the implications of the Netherborn's will.
Soon an announcement was heard via mental transmission.
"ATTENTION. THE QUEST FOR THE EVOLVED DRAKE HAS BEEN CLEARED."
"REWARD HAS BEEN DISTRIBUTED BASED ON PARTICIPATION AND CONTRIBUTION."
"THANK YOU FOR YOUR EFFORTS."
Sylveth Melriel asked the young lady to pick up the letter as she walked toward the crater and walked past the Netherborn; she was holding her emotions and not showing her fear. She was about five feet away when she felt the thick and dense mana the Netherborn was emitting.
Each step was like fighting a force of a hurricane. Bonnie now knew why the holf Archmage Sylveth Melriel apperead ten feet away from where the he stood, she felt weights were added to her body she had to cast her skill on herself just to make her body much lighter,
Sylveth Melriel saw this and was now ssure whyththe Netherborn chose herbut actually Dane was just asking the nearist lazarus in the area nothing more nothing less
but those who were their a simple misunderstand can be a dangerous thing when dealing with powerful beings like the Netherborn. It was clear to Bonnie that she would need to tread carefully in order to navigate this situation successfully.
as she came near him, she was just two more steps from the crater when Netherborn spoke in a soft tone that only Bonnie could hear,
"Tell your elders, have fulfilled my promise!"
As soon as she turned her face, the Netherborn was gone, and the heavy feeling she felt had also disappeared. As she jumped into the crater and picked up the letter, another announcement was revealed.
"CONGRATULATIONS, THE HIGH STRATEGY GUILD HAS OOBTAINEDTHE LETTER FROM A CITIZEN FROM THE KARION EMPIRE,"
"THE QUEST FOR THE EMPIRE OF GRAVE IS NOW ACTIVE."
"THOSE WHO PARTICIPATED WITH THIS SCENARIO WILL GAIN ACCESS BASED ON THE CONTRIBUTION ."
"AS AN IRREPLACEABLE KNOWLEDGE AND REWARDS THAT WILL AID IN THE JOURNEY TO THE EMPIRE OF GRAVE HAS BEEN GIVEN. ,"
Those who were watching from afar all cheered and applauded, as well as all the individual and guild players on the first floor. The news about the evolved drake quest being cleared swept across the tower and outside as players who were not interested in going to the second floor were all given hope.,
The White Devil Guild that participated had to swallow their pride and silently back down as they saw the bigger picture , and knew why the vice leader had to accept the crimson Mage explanation, because even if they took the lead in enter the cursed swamp land of Karion , they currently have insufficient time regain more manpower as they lost more than eighty guild members. They have few much smaller branches in surrounding area, but all of of the White guild number combined would just around 230 guild personnel.
But unlike the four Lazarus guilds with a combined member count of seven hundred members, they can surely make a huge dent in the Empire of Graves quest. Natasha thought it would be better if the Lazarus clan enter first, so they can to trim down the enemies' number; clearing 4 million undead will be a tiresome task.
Meanwhile, Dane deactivated the formless armor and sat on a nearby hill while Miko created a similar illusion barrier to the one the Crimson Mage used while hiding and took a deep breath and lay down on the tall grass and informed the two he was taking a nap as he asked Miko if the acquired core from the dragonoid could help him gain access to the backdoor of the tower system. Miko was about to answer when Ward told his partner that Dane had already fallen asleep.
The two AIs continued with their task. Miko could now access the player association server again as the dragonoid core was created in a different variant, meaning it created by the main tower system as a solution in the sudden scenario change that just happened, the language that created the dragonoid was different, somewhat aliet but both of them were created to bypass any coded language barriers that may have been in place. This new development allowed Miko to quickly analyze the situation and strategize accordingly, ensuring they were prepared for any future unexpected events.
"The dragonoid is somewhat similar to a virus embedded inside the language."
"So the tower administrator is the one who made this happen?"
"I am not sure your ward, but it's not a simple virus; it's an incomplete program designed to infiltrate and manipulate systems undetected."
"This poses a significant threat to our own security measures."
"The timestamp and origin of the virus indicate that it may have been planted recently, possibly during the last system update."
"That's when Dane obtained the mana engine."
"Maybe, but we need to be sure."
"We should investigate further to determine if there is a connection between the virus and the acquisition of the mana engine by Dane." "It could be a strategic move to gain access to sensitive information or control over critical systems."
"With the added mana core having additional manpower serving our master, it will be a great help."
"I will scan the dragonoid mana core and see if I can extract its sentient code."
"We can use its code to make autonomous servants to gather more data."
"Combine the transfer language from Siglorr Bouldergrove, sack bag, so we can send them as far as Master Man could allow,"
"That's a great idea, Miko."
"I will also use the language the tower they used on the dragonoid."
"Please embed absolute loyalty toward our master."
"Indeed, we don't want them to turn against us in the future."
"Let's proceed with caution and ensure that our autonomous servants remain under our control at all times."
"In my calculation, if Master Dane reaches enough mana energy capacity of 30 thousand, we too can move freely,"
At the same time, Sylveth Melriel could finally breathe, and Natasha and the rest of the remaining White Devil all came up to him and politely apologized for how they reacted. Sebastian Lazarus and the rest of his cousins also wanted some answers, as they saw how her reaction was a bit stiff and cold. They were curious to know the reason behind her sudden change in demeanor and hoped for an explanation. She cast a sound barrier spell and even healed the wounds of the remaining 24 members of the three participating guilds.
She explained that she came to this location in hopes of learning who might be the being with such large mana; she was at first arrogant knowing her mana was higher; she was hoping it was somebody that could serve under her, a pupil, but personally encountering the Netherborn was a humbling experience that made her realize the true extent of power that existed beyond her own.
She explained the Netherborn was not a player and a resident of this realm; he was a being born in between. His power is based on chaos energy; only a few beings have this kind of power, but unlike those upper beings , the Netherborn breathes in mana and releases it as chaos energy effortlessly. She further explained, Imagine taking in mana energy as big as a grain of salt. The Netherborn processes it and turns it to raw chaos energy as big as her closed fist.st.
That amount of chaos energy can obliterate a continent, but he used it with absolute control without causing any harm. The Netherborn's mastery over chaos energy is both awe-inspiring and terrifying, as he wields power that few can comprehend. His ability to harness such immense power with precision and control sets him apart from any other being in existence.
"A demi-god maybe!"
"No, you are wrong. The Netherborn power is not divine; it's not order or structure. It's pure chaos, harnessed and controlled with unparalleled skill." The Netherborn's control over chaos energy is a force to be reckoned with, unmatched by any other being in the universe.
"The Old Gods are now going to have a real challenge on their hands with the Netherborn in play." The Netherborn's presence alone is enough to strike fear into the hearts of even the most powerful beings in existence. "
"Is he evil?"
"I don't think he is; he is the embodiment of chaos. I think he will just do anything he wants to achieve his own goals, regardless of the consequences." The Netherborn's motives may be unpredictable, but one thing is for certain: he will stop at nothing to achieve what he desires.
"Remember, chaos is formless matter supposed to have existed before the creation of the universe."
"Either way, I have stayed here long enough. Better prepare you to travel back home and organize your affairs before accepting the Empire of Grave quest."
Sylveth Melriel pointed a look at those small flying insects. Those things have been broadcasting all this throughout the east region and to those areas that have the capability to tap into the magic spell. Sylveth Melriel's pointed look indicated that the small flying insects were transmitting information throughout the eastern region to areas capable of tapping into magic spells. This suggested a potential connection between the chaos and creation of the universe mentioned earlier.
But don't worry; our conversation is strictly confidential, so there is no need to be concerned about any unwanted interference. Just make sure to keep a low profile and handle your business discreetly before diving into the Empire of Grave quest.
Sylveth Melriel cast a teleportation spell and vanished and emerged back at her secret hideout in the mountains near the Solnara Cererindur, near the kingdom, where she could safely plan her next move without fear of being discovered.
She know returning the king is no longer an option as she will be cast out and might even get killed, her image of a mature wrinkled woman has finally ended its use, the only way to have a new life was to create another look . But seeing how the Netherborn look and talk to her was a clear indication the Netherborn saw what she truly looked like and maybe that was for the best..
Pretending to an old woman was no longer necessary, and she could embrace her true 22 year old self without fear of rejection or harm. It was time for her to step into the unknown and start anew, leaving behind the façade she had worn for so long.