by EA Hooper
“It’s not perfect,” Juniper said, looking embarrassed. “There are micro-imperfections at the heart of both blades, unfortunately. That’s why you see a blue tint. I thought I could make these quickly like the tetraglass weapons I’ve crafted before, but it seems they require a lot more time and patience.”
“They’re still better than any blades I’ve made,” Vincent admitted, putting them in his inventory.
“And this is for Quinn,” Juniper said, giving him an item crystal.
Concentration Bracers – Material Rating: 400 | Orosteel bracers of incredible craftsmanship. | Focus Point – When channeling attacks through their arms or fists, the user may spend a low amount of mana to focus attacks into a more concentrated point.
“Jeanie usually wears bracers like those,” Juniper said. “Focus Point hugely increases the chance of Breaker effects. It raises the normal variant to ninety-nine percent, and Chaos Breaker to sixty, if I recall. With Quinn’s Gravity Fist, I suspect it’ll narrow the area of effect but increase the power. Not to mention, Jeanie’s Blitz Shield won’t push it away if they fight again.”
“Knowing Quinn, she’ll definitely want a rematch,” Vincent replied. “This’ll give her the upper-hand, assuming Jeanie uses the same set-up she had last time. Thank you so much, Juniper. I’ll get these to her right away.”
“Hang on,” Juniper said, raising a hand before Vincent could leave. “Before you go back to fighting, I have building contracts for you. I barely had to do any networking after word of your tome got around town. Everyone’s been talking about how you raised greystone walls in battle.”
“Can the contracts wait until we have downtime?” Vincent asked. “My friends are out there fighting.”
“This war has been raging for decades,” Juniper said. “That’s not going to change just because you’re there. Rebuilding the city is more important, especially with Jim and Isaac’s deal to bring in more trade and resources. If the Outer Sanctum is in ruins, all those resources will go to Ijiin Industries, the Boss Hunters, and the Forlorn Assassins. That’s exactly what we don’t want.”
“That’s true,” Vincent admitted. “How many contracts did you make? I’ll try to get through them quickly.”
“Fifty-seven,” Juniper replied. “Twenty-two of them offered bonuses if we complete them within a month. About half are to add new defenses at the edge of the city.”
Vincent’s eyes widened. “That’s a lot of work. Even with my tome, it might take weeks.” He sighed, knowing he had responsibilities to uphold. “Alright, I’ll get to work on those if you run the items to Xan and Quinn yourself.” He handed her Direglass and the bracers.
“Fair enough,” Juniper said, taking the items. “Just don’t work yourself to death. Xan warned me you get single-minded sometimes.”
Vincent smirked and headed for the door.
Chapter 21 | Year 93
Player: Noah the Relentless
Location: Elfry (World) | Sinners’ City (City) | Nightmare Castle (Region)
Class: Ranger
Subclass: Warden
Vitality*: Lv 325
Spirit: Lv 303
Resolve: Lv 295
Perception*: Lv 326
Agility: Lv 298
Strength: Lv 300
Noah blocked the Court Champion’s blade with his own, then carved through the enemy’s neck, finishing him off in record time. The Nightmare Court applauded his victory like always, and he picked up a new Devil’s Due.
It’d become something of a ritual to replace that sword every few years, whenever the old one got too chipped, or he died and lost it. On those rare occasions when he was killed in battle, Noah made it a point to find whoever took his old blade and break it in the next fight with Flatten. However, then he’d have to worry about players melting down the pieces to make into daggers and arrow-heads that they’d use against him. Sometimes Isaac helped him out by buying any hardened-basteel for a steep price, then give it to Noah to dispose of.
He took control of Xib and had the devil open a portal to one of the breeding lairs deep underground. Noah and the devil stepped through, finding themselves in a passage with long rows of pulsating organs with half-grown devils inside of them.
Hallway after hallway, Noah looked over the developing monsters. He pointed out a malformed-looking one, and guards flushed the organ of its contents through a waste pipe. Two devils breathed wisps of smoke, and their magic joined to form an inch-tall fetus inside the organ as it refilled with embryotic fluid.
Nothing stopped the devils from procreating the old-fashioned way, but most monsters had a method of speeding up reproduction whenever their population fell too low. Although the devil populace was near peak capacity at the moment, Noah knew even a few weeks of warring could cost him nearly ten percent of his forces. If everything went well with that development cycle, he would have a new generation of fully grown devils ready for combat in six months’ time.
After decades of trial and error, Noah had the process of repopulating and warring down to a science. He knew how many devils he could afford to lose per battle, and he also knew how far he could push the citizens of Risegard before they started to lose hope. During some of his early battles, he’d taken things too far, which had caused several well-known players to leave for the lower worlds. In recent years, most of them had returned with additional forces, and Noah was all too eager to push the newer challengers to their limits.
Once he completed his rounds through the breeding lair, he checked his game clock and realized he was almost late for his meeting. He made Xib open a portal to Isaac’s office and stepped through. Like always, the doors had been sealed over so no one would know about their meetings. Although Noah didn’t think it mattered, since the office floor had been mostly abandoned in recent years.
Noah unequipped his Demon Lord Helm and nodded at Jeanie, Ryker, Ned, and Devon.
“Ah, you’re here!” Isaac said, happy to see him. “Now we can begin our little villains’ meeting.”
“We’re not villains,” Ryker huffed. “At least, I don’t want to be.”
“You know he’s only kidding,” Devon said. “Isaac’s just playing the part, although he doesn’t do it nearly as well as Noah. You’re still holding an axe, my dude.”
Noah looked down at the axe in his hand, sighed, and unequipped it. “So, what’d you call this meeting for?” he asked, not wanting to waste time with Isaac’s usual theatrics.
“We’ve got a problem,” Ned said. “Crow-Foot Jim’s friends are here, and they’re stirring up all kinds of trouble.”
“By trouble, he means they’re helping way too much,” Jeanie explained. “That guy Vince has some kind of building tome, and he’s reconstructing the city faster than even you can destroy it.”
“We’ll see about that,” Noah said.
“His friends are tough too,” Jeanie added. “I beat one in a fight, but it was closer than I like to admit. Those negative energy attacks are no joke. That’s why we brought Jim to the Inner Sanctum, after all—so he’d stop one-shotting your best devils.”
“Just give his friends a free pass to move to the Inner Sanctum,” Ryker said.
“They only want to take Jim and leave,” Jeanie said. “If Isaac would just let Crow-Foot go, they’d move to the high-tier and wouldn’t be a problem for us.”
“It’s more complicated than that,” Isaac told them. “The Crickets were already gaining traction in the city even before Vincent arrived. Now, their party is set on helping Risegard in the war. If anything, forcing them to pay off Jim’s debt is slowing them down. Once I’m paid off, they’ll be able to funnel more gild into equipment and defenses for the city. I don’t think they’ll leave until they feel the Demon Lord isn’t as much of a threat.”
“Are you asking me to tone down the war?” Noah asked.
Isaac shook his head. “No, I don’t think that’ll work either. It’ll be impossible for them to get past the angel army defending Edgeli
ght, which means they’ll keep respawning at Crownkeep and always be a single jump away from returning. Now’s the time for escalation.”
“How’s Noah supposed to do that?” Jeanie asked. “If he pushes any harder, the devil population will fall too quickly. Not to mention, if there was a way for us to gather hell ants faster, then we already would’ve come up with it.”
“It’s pretty simple,” Isaac said. “We’re all going to have to play the role of the bad guys. Our guilds will play the oppressive force, and the Crickets can be the dashing heroes.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Ryker questioned. “I never wanted to oppress anyone. The whole point of this war was to inspire and push our people to new heights. You’re taking it a little far, Isaac.”
“I’m taking it as far as I need to,” Isaac replied. “If people have a choice, they’ll rely on Vincent and his crew. Humans naturally fall in line behind the strong. It’s only when pushed that they bare their teeth and find their sense of purpose. The war against Lucas was a great demonstration. As much as I despise that little twerp, he brought out the best in those that wanted to defeat him. It’s why Jim’s friends grew so strong. They found purpose in defeating Lucas. Our war is a hollow charade in comparison.”
“Because they fought for noble reasons,” Ryker said. “Even though my friend Fynn chose the wrong side of that war, he felt inspired by Vincent and his courage. It’s why he decided to return and fight this war once more.”
“Fynn saw what real purpose looks like,” Isaac said, smiling. “When humans have a goal with meaning, they don’t give up so easily, and they don’t back down. They fight onward against impossible odds. Vincent has that drive. Everyone in this room has it. The big question is how to raise other people to that level. We tried giving them an enemy that would push them, but even that hasn’t been enough. The next step is to take away their sense of choice. To oppress them and push them against the wall until they bare their teeth.”
“Take away their sense of choice?” Devon questioned. “That sounds a little too sinister, boss.”
“I like it,” Ned said, grinning. “Let’s ditch the act that any of us are the good guys. We started a war that’s lasted for decades, made people die in horrifying ways, and brought this city to ruins. If we can escalate this thing even further, then I’m all aboard.”
“I agree,” Jeanie said. “Fighting Quinn was the most fun I’ve had in years. We need to make this a real war. Let’s stop the make-believe.”
Devon glanced around with a worried expression. His eyes fell on Ryker, who looked just as hesitant. “Ryker, you’re against this, right? Talk some reason into them, because no one ever listens to me.”
“I don’t know,” Ryker said, hanging his head low. “We’ve already come this far, but it hasn’t been enough. We’re still not ready to fight an army of angels. Raising the stakes might be the right choice, even if it’s not the ideal solution.”
“Humans need to be challenged,” Isaac reassured. “I had a close friend that was the happiest person I ever knew, even though he struggled harder than anyone else to accomplish his dream. However, he passed away before that dream, ARKUS, was realized. That friend died happier than most, convinced his dream would save countless lives. It meant something to him because he struggled for it. It was a dream so big that others thought it unimaginable. That’s why choice is such a problematic thing for humans. Most people will decide on the easier path, even if it gives their lives less meaning. It’s why I’ve come to a conclusion: I think Noah should destroy the Jump Gates leading off Styxis.”
Everyone stared at Isaac.
“Woah, woah,” Devon said, shaking his hands to get everyone’s attention. “That’s definitely too far.”
“What will that even accomplish?” Ryker asked.
“It’ll allow us to escalate the war without giving people the option of escape,” Isaac said. “You’ll be able to use Risegard as your personal PvP hunting grounds.”
“I like the sound of that!” Ned said.
Jeanie smirked. “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t intrigued.”
“What happened to bringing resources and players to Risegard?” Devon asked.
“The best players in this game are already here,” Isaac said. “New resources will mostly get funneled into defenses. We need more fighting and less hiding behind walls.”
“People will just lose hope and kill themselves,” Devon said. “Look at what happened when Noah pushed Amelia too far!”
The mention of Noah’s wife caused his muscles to tighten. It’d been over twenty years since his last failed attempt to talk to her. Some part of him still hoped his wife would change her mind, but he hated to imagine her reaction if she ever found out about the Demon Lord.
“It pains me to give Lucas any more credit, but that little twerp had a brilliant idea of using restoration runes to prevent people from dying,” Isaac said. “For the last decade, I’ve had my factories producing those runes in mass quantities. Everywhere my drone knights have been working or building, I’ve had them secretly install unpowered runes. The Inner Sanctum has them hidden in almost every wall and under all those tiles you see. Even the Outer Sanctum has them built underneath the road tiles and many buildings. All the runes are designed to connect to the Foundry. At any point, I can relocate half the power I’m harvesting from this world to activate those runes.”
Ned gasped and squeezed his face with his hands. “It’ll be a PvP wonderland!”
“You really put a lot of thought into this,” Jeanie said, sounding amazed. “Isaac, you’ve outdone yourself. All we’d have to do is keep an army of devils to hunt down people that leave the city, and no one would be able to escape.”
“Come on, you all can’t think this is a good idea,” Devon said, turning to Ryker.
“Everyone’s level growth has slowed in the last few years,” Ryker said. “This would push us all to new heights, as much as I hate to admit it.”
“Seriously?” Devon said. “I’m the only one that hates this?”
“I hate it,” Noah said, causing everyone to turn to him. “You can’t do this, Isaac.”
“I know it sounds a little morally gray,” Isaac replied, “but this will produce powerful players capable of facing the angels. If you’re worried about everyone working together afterward, just look at how Lucas’s followers have reintegrated into the player population. I’ll take the fall for all of this, if I must. Then, everyone can join hands and march ahead to the angels. I don’t mind playing the bad guy if you don’t want to anymore.”
“I don’t care about that,” Noah said. “My problem is with you putting restoration runes everywhere. You didn’t even consider that would affect my wife.”
“I did consider it,” Isaac said. “I thought you’d be happy about it.”
“I’m not happy, I’m pissed,” Noah replied, aggressively stepping forward. “I don’t want to drag her into this.”
“Just hear me out,” Isaac said. “You can just tell her it’s my fault. I’ll be the bad guy in all this. Amelia doesn’t even have to know that you’re the Demon Lord. When the players here are finally strong enough, you can swoop in without your helm and defeat me. Your wife will be so happy and maybe keep play—”
Noah grabbed Isaac by the throat, silencing the man. “You’re not dragging her into this!” he shouted.
An incomprehensible voice whispered in Noah’s ear.
You have violated the condition of your Devil Quest (Demon of the World-Tree). As per the quest’s condition, a member of the Nightmare Court will possess your avatar until either your co-conspirators complete the quest, abandon it, or you’re killed.
Noah felt his hand release Isaac, although he hadn’t willed it to. He stepped away, chuckling as Isaac fell to the floor. Both Jeanie and Ned had equipped weapons, but they stared at him with confused looks.
Stop this! Noah thought, trying to regain control of his body. You can’t do this!
Noah heard himself laugh. “Don’t make deals you can’t keep,” his own voice said.
Isaac coughed as he rose to his feet. “Noah!” he shouted. “Have your eyes turned red?” He paused before glancing at the other guild leaders. “His player profile says he’s possessed.”
“Sorry, Noah can’t speak with you at the moment,” Noah’s voice replied. “I’ve commandeered his body for the remainder of this quest and oh my, what a body it is!” The devil made Noah clench his fists and flex his muscles.
Noah found he could still access his HUD, and he tried repeatedly to log out, hoping it would trigger the devil’s possession to end. His body froze in place, flickering all three times, but on the fourth attempt, nothing happened.
Unable to log out at this time.
Unable to log out at this time.
Unable to log out at this time.
You’ve attempted too many logouts, and there seems to be an issue. Please remove your headset manually.
“My god, Noah,” Isaac said. “You never told me you agreed to such a condition.”
Devon groaned, burying his face into his hands. “This is just getting even more out of hand.”
Noah tried opening a party chat or sending messages.
Unable to send or receive messages at this time.
Isaac’s face glazed over in contemplation. “If other players can see you’re possessed, this actually gives us a fantastic opportunity,” he said. “Is it possible for players to hand over their avatars willingly?”
The devil in Noah’s body reached out a palm. “It’s as simple as a handshake.”
“No, I didn’t mean for me,” Isaac said, looking at the other players. “All of you, give your bodies to the devils. Once the war is over, I’ll take the fall for everything. You’ll claim I trapped you all and forced you to agree under threat of torture. Everyone will believe me to be the villain, and no one outside of this room will ever know the truth. After I’m inevitably defeated and captured, you all can lead an army against the angels. Everyone will believe you mere victims of my evil plan.”