by Wolfe Locke
His split face and bloody contusions were already beginning to mend. Within a few moments, any sign of harm would be gone.
“Why did you do it? We tried to help you. We tried to save you. That’s all we ever did. And you murdered us for it. How many of my friends did you murder?”
He turned away and evaded of the question. It was a small mercy he could grant her. She didn’t need to know what he knew. She didn’t need to know about the experience farms. He would bear the sins of the elves.
Walking away to continue on his journey, he left her behind—content when he heard her feet behind him, following. He was hopeful to stay on track with a mission; they could deal with this later. A sharp pain in his back followed as her sword pierced him and came out through his chest.
Blood poured freely as he dropped to his knees, and she let go of the sword’s hilt, horrified at what she had done. Seraph reached behind him and pulled the sword out, tossing it away.
Even this wouldn’t be fatal he thought as he clutched his chest, waiting for the healing magic to kick in. He looked at her, his eyes full of accusation.
Shadows of darkness twirled around him as he answered, his voice amplified by power in his anger. "You elves killed us and robbed us. You stole from us. How do you think so many of your friends and peers leveled up when they were unwilling to renounce the immortality of the dungeon. They did it by killing humans. Your people were murderers, and I was judgment personified."
"We had to get stronger, we didn’t want you to kill us,” she replied through tears, turning her head away. An answer that he didn't fault. But not blaming the other side for their actions didn't change the fact that they had been enemies.
“Do you know how many friends I lost in those first few years before I initiated the war against your people? Hundreds. All of them," Seraph explained as cold fury seeped into his voice.
"All of them. Every person I lost. It wasn't just my father who died, it was every friend that I had. Everyone who had known me. It wasn't the dungeon. It was you or the monsters you summoned, because you needed the experience points." Seraph's anger was abating already, and with it, the power that had been surging through his body.
He was beginning to feel weak, even with the abyssal body the flow of blood had only slowed a little, something must have been hindering the healing process.
"Can you heal me? "Seraph asked, looking at the wound, realizing he was in danger of dying.
"I'm sorry, I can't. I don't have access to those spells anymore, and my inventory was cleared out except for my weapon and armor," she explained, an expression of fear and guilt across her face.
"It's all right; I forgive you," he said as he reached out a hand to activate his Touch of the Abyss ability, but when he looked at her, he stopped. The man who had killed millions hesitated and lowered his hand. Unable to bring himself to kill her to save himself.
“Help them if you can,” he muttered as his vision grew dark. Sadie screamed when she realized what was happening, that she in her moment of anger had misjudged the man he was, or the man he was becoming and doomed the future. “Now you choose to prove me wrong? Now?” But Seraph didn’t answer. Sadie with no other choice realizing what she had done grabbed his hand and offered herself, activating the Touch of the Abyss ability.
Seraph opened his eyes to find Sadie dead clutching his hand and whispered. “I never enjoyed killing people. I regret that fate made the choice for me. You know as well as I did how few options I had. Brutality was the one that most available to me. I’m so sorry.” By then she was already gone, a withered husk in his hands, desiccated after he taken from her everything to heal the fatal wound.
His heart heavy, Seraph grabbed her body, putting her things in his inventory. What remained was nearly weightless. He would carry her back to the surface. Her body didn't need to stay down here to be absorbed by the dungeon.
Chapter 33: Guild Formation - Prometheus Rising
* * *
The jagged wound in his chest from where she had stabbed him rapidly healed—as did the rest of the cuts and bruises on his body. Nearby, the ground began to shake as a tombstone pushed out of the earth, dirt falling off it with the vibrations. It was not lost on him that the grave marker had appeared where Sadie had died.
The tombstones all around were not random, and while many of the tombstones had the names marked off, not all of them did. Passing glances revealed names that he had known in his past—and in this one, if the fresher looking tombstone with the name Erin Lowry was an indicator.
In a sense, this was condemnation. Are these the people I’ve killed, or all the people who’ve been killed in the dungeon? he thought. He had not been entirely honest with Sadie. This was the first time he had been to this place, but the Gehena pits were not unique. They could be found throughout the World Dungeon, and within those, he had disposed of the bodies of his more powerful enemies to prevent respawn or resurrection.
“I didn’t ask to start the war between us,” Seraph muttered to himself as he looked down into the lifeless eyes of the one he carried. But the words seemed hollow even to him.
None of these thoughts sat well with him. With every death he had caused, and every person he had killed, a measure of reservation and duty had filled him. But this death, her death, he regretted most. He wished other options had been available to him. Seraph sighed, his eyes watering from the smoke all around and filled with guilt, but still, he knew he had a mission to do. The fate of the world was in his hands, and nothing could stand in the way of that—no matter how much Seraph wished otherwise.
With nothing left to do, he cradled her body in his arms and walked onward toward the source of the smoke.
Walking across the graveyard, his steps broke the ground, the dirt below him caked and dried from the constant heat of the burning fire. As he got closer, the heat began to burn and scorch his skin, and the irritation in his eyes from the smoke made it more difficult to see. From the pit he heard the screaming of anguished souls caught in permanent agony as they sobbed and begged for mercy that wasn’t coming as the fires spat up the flames that would burn for all of eternity.
Approaching the pit, he saw a suspension bridge that led up to a granite pillar that made a sort of island in the middle of the pit. A small stack of stones could be seen, and between the stones, a pole was raised—a white guild standard at the bottom. All he needed to do was raise the standard and the Halls of Rot would be his, and then he would finally be able to start his guild.
The body slung over his shoulder, he walked across the suspension bridge. The rope bindings and the wooden deck swayed as the heat stirred the air. Seraph was surprised to see the bridge had survived, but like many things in the dungeon, magic had its purpose.
Close to the standard pole, Seraph realized he would no longer be able to carry her body any farther until after the Guild Hall was his. Gently, he put her body down next to the stacked rocks, hoping that the World Dungeon wouldn’t absorb the body in the meantime.
Seraph grabbed the white guild standard and attached it to the flagpole ropes.
Notification: Event “To Start a Guild”
Details: To start a guild requires vision, rules, people, a name, and a standard.
Quarry - What will the image and name of your guild be?
Seraph thought on it. As much as he wanted to recreate Carrion Crow, revisiting the past like that would only lead to more issues. He needed to move forward, the dead woman near his feet a reminder of the scars he had inflicted on others. He needed to learn from mistakes. The echoes of that far off future, still haunted him. He needed to handle them.
For many he had been a villain, and he had played the part well. If he was going to save anyone, he would need to distance himself from that. His purpose remained the same: to save the world from what was going, to teach and show others how to survive, and to build up humanity to survive what was going.
“Like Prometheus in Greek mythology stealing fire to save
humanity and ending in misery,” Seraph muttered. “I’ll go with that, but unlike Prometheus, I don’t intend to suffer forever, doomed to repeat the same thing day after day.”
Seraph mentally answered the prompt. “I name the guild Prometheus Rising. The guild standard will be a flaming torch.”
The white standard underwent a transformation as the white turned to black, and in the middle an upward flame in solid red could be seen. This will have to do, he thought as he started to hoist the standard up the pole.
Notification: Event “To Start a Guild - Part 2”
Details: To start a guild requires vision, rules, people, a name and a standard.
Quarry - What is the vision you have for this guild?
This Seraph knew by heart, and he responded without needing to think it over further. “My vision for the guild is a safe haven for all who would join us. My vision is to promote strength, ability within reason, and the teaching of others on how to become stronger. My vision is the survival of humanity, and the guild will act as stewards of humanity.”
Notification: Event “To Start a Guild - Part 3”
Details: To start a guild requires vision, rules, people, a name and a standard.
Quarry - What will be the rules of the guild?
“The rules will be simple, with more added later,” Seraph replied. “No attacking and no killing others, unless the absence of those things would result in the loss of life, limb, eyesight, or freedom of a guild member. Guild members may not attack each other. Guild members have an obligation to assist each other, unless that assistance is likely to result in their own demise.” Thinking of Sadie, he added another, “And guild members are to avoid conflict with the elves.”
Notification: Event “To Start a Guild - Part 4”
Details: Do you wish to seize the location “Halls of Rot” and form the guild “Prometheus Rising”?
Quarry - Who will you add to your guild?
“Prometheus Rising will initially be an open guild, and all may join at the restricted rank of recruit. I name my ally, Jack, and father, Paul, as guild officers and bestow to them all powers reserved to me, except the ability to forfeit the guild, and the ability to disband the guild.” He could add more stipulations later, but with the influx of people, he knew an open system would gather him more followers first.
Notification: Event “To Start a Guild - Part 5”
Details: Do you wish to seize the location “Halls of Rot” and form the guild “Prometheus Rising”?
Make a selection - Yes/No
Seraph hadn’t come all this way only to quit now. “Yes,” he said as the prompt disappeared from in front of him and another replaced it.
Notification: Global Announcement “Guild Formation”
A new guild has been formed. “Prometheus Rising”. They have claimed the Halls of Rot for themselves and claimed the guild power of “Gangrenous Caress.”
Notification: Guild Selection “Halls of Rot”
Details: Only the first floor of the Halls of Rot will be accessible in the future. Currently, the first floor has (3) configurations. More can be unlocked as the guild gains in strength. Configurations may be changed once daily. All configurations share total space. Total space may be upgraded through the use of guild points, which are proportionally given to the guild as 10% of the experience earned by the players within the guild.
Configuration 1: The Forgotten Church (A defensive position, undead equal to the combined average level of the players within the guild will rise up to defend the guild should it be attacked.
Configuration 2: The Shelter (A supportive position, space is maximized to take in immediately a higher number of players and provide for their most basic of needs.)
Configuration 3: The Barracks (A training position, space is split between providing for the needs of guild members, the training of guild members, and the management of guild members.
“I choose configuration 2 for the guild,” Seraph said. He thought the guild would need to be in a position to help the sheer number of people coming into the World Dungeon. All around him, the world began to disappear, the lurching movement broadcasting a spell of teleportation. Quickly, before he vanished, he reached out and grabbed Sadie’s body off the ground, not wanting to leave her behind.
Chapter 34: Judgment
* * *
Seraph materialized with the body of the slain women in his hands in the middle of the central plaza. Already things had changed. Everywhere around him, Seraph could see hundreds of people huddled about, scared, uncertain, and worried. Families grouped together, trying to figure out just how they were going to survive.
From nearby, Seraph could hear the voice of the haughty elf Garen call over to him. “Hey, what happened? What’s wrong with her?”
Garen approached, his hand on his sword ready to fight, but Seraph only shook his head, saying the first thing that came to mind, speaking what he knew to be true. “She remembered.”
The hand that had been so ready to use the sword steadied. He knew what Seraph meant; it had always been a risk of them traveling together. There was a hard and steely look in his eye. “At least, you brought her body back. I’m guessing you didn’t want to do whatever you had to do.”
Seraph nodded. “If I could take this back I would, but she gave me no choice.”
“Give her to me,” Garen commanded, and Seraph complied, handing over the body of the woman he had been carrying.
“She should be buried somewhere nice. She didn’t deserve to rot down there,” Seraph explained. “What will you do with her body?”
Garen looked at him oddly and laughed—a short laugh. A real one, not the one he faked for the players to see. “She died in the dungeon. I’m going to take her to the boss, and he’s going to revive her like he always does. Little different than the respawn you’re used to, but it's not forever dead. It’s also why you’re still alive.”
From across the plaza, another voice yelled out, “That man, that demon, has killed another one of us.” Seraph turned and saw the elf man, George, but unlike before, he was wearing solid plate mail, polished heavily in silver and full of sheen. He was surrounded by other heavily armored figures, though they were not as impressively armored.
“Good luck,” said Garen as he walked away.
“Seize him!” George commanded. He thrust out his hands and a cage appeared around Seraph made of light, the brightness of it partially blinding him. Though he tried to escape, intense pain was felt on contact whenever he touched the bars. This was not something he was going to escape.
Seraph counted twelve people on the outside of his cage circling, recognition causing him to temporarily lose his composure as he saw that all twelve of them carried the sigil of a legendary class.
“How?” Seraph asked incredulously.
George approached, and on his chest, Seraph could see the emblem of the Hierophant, another legendary class. A sort of support-based class that focused on healing, light-based abilities, and movement restriction.
George answered, his voice calm and matter of fact, not an ounce of smugness or arrogance on him., “You were told that for the tutorial to be in effect, everyone must agree to forfeit their legendary classes. As the 1st Cohort, you and your companions forfeited unlocking yours. The 2nd and 3rd Cohorts did not and had their classes unlocked.”
Anger welled up in him as Seraph moved to push himself between the bars and scream at the man, only for the bars of light to recoil on him and send him sprawling into the ground, burn marks on his palms.
“Then how did you unlock yours?” Seraph asked in frustration. “Do you not realize what you’ve done? How many people you all have doomed? How could you?”
“Pretty easily,” admitted one of the men—a taller man that was double the size of the rest of the group that surrounded Seraph. “Do you know how good it feels to have this kind of power? To be a Titan? To have the power of a god?”
Seraph did know, but he wasn’t g
oing to say anything. “You, George, how did you unlock your legendary class then?”
The elf man turned his head slightly, his blind eye staring at Seraph in judgment before responding. “My name isn’t George anymore, it’s Barbados. And I earned it. The condition to unlock this class was to be in the party that seizes the Halls of Justice. I’m not a monster, though, and I’m not without mercy. I’ll only seek imprisonment and not your death—even considering what you did. The Halls of Justice does come with an interesting guild power: Judgment. I’m curious to see it used.”
Barbados began to speak as white light enveloped him, and the surrounding twelve began to shine. “Come forth. I invoke the might of the Halls of Righteousness, I cast this man into judgment for the sin of murder. Show us, show us all what he has done so we may condemn him.”
The light struck Seraph, going through his eyes and shifting through all of his memories as the images of what he had done were shown to everyone in Hometown, projected like a notification in front of each person.