by Dante Doom
"So why have you chosen the human race, then?" Van asked.
"Oh, that is because I have longed to get more of this kind of job done, but I have found it impossible to have creative directors from my own race," the Emperor said. "Without independence, a creator cannot truly create. Humans are fiercely independent and violent. So, I have been searching long and hard for the right ones to bring aboard my vessel. They must conform to a specific list of traits, however. They must be strong. They must be cunning and capable, able to adapt to any problems in front of them. And above all, they must be able to take the initiative. Of the list that I have, no one has been anywhere close to as qualified as you, Van."
"Me?" Van repeated as he shook his head. "No way. I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed by a longshot."
"Perhaps not," the dragon agreed, "but you are strong. You are cunning and, above all, you show your creative side time and time again. Even as you struggle in vain against the likes of my race, you have somehow managed to elude my forces at every level. We like to follow the rules, you know. I created a system to find the best, though, and here you stand."
"So what, you're just willing to hand me a job?"
"A job? Hahaha, no, sir. I am not asking you to work for a gas station or to be an accountant. I am offering you godhood. You see, Van, I am eying at least six other races right now, but our operation takes quite some time to engage. We can't be everywhere at once, and in fact, I can only be in one place at a time. I want to expand my reach. So, I want to offer you the power to be the creative director over a new world. I want to offer you the chance to become a god, like myself."
"How would that even work?" Van asked.
"Our systems are far more advanced than your own haptic systems. You will be able to inhabit the world 24/7. There is a time dilation system we have developed, courtesy of one of our garden races. It will allow for you to exist inside of the game for an infinite amount of time while you craft the world. It took me, I believe, a total of a calculated ten million years to shape this world we are in. The passage of real time was somewhat close to that of a week. I am offering you the power to create a world in which you will revel. And then, after you are finished with your task, you can sit back and run the entire show. You can move things around, or participate as an actual part of the game if you'd like. You'd of course need to learn the culture of the race, but you have time for that, as well."
Van wasn’t sure what to say to the alien. There was something of a temptation in him to take the offer seriously, but he knew that he could never do what was being suggested. Regardless of what Neil believed about him, he'd never sell out his own race just to enjoy the power of being in total control. Still, perhaps there was another way of defeating this dragon. It appeared that he and he alone was the sole controller of the Draco race. He was directing them, and they would obey whatever his demands were. Perhaps there was some way Van could get aboard the ship and unplug this guy. It was a somewhat insane idea, but with the way things were going, the Iron Dragons didn't have a chance to win an all-out fight.
"Your words are intriguing," Van said. "And when I am to get aboard this ship?"
"Ahahahaha," the dragon laughed. "Am I an infant? Do you believe that I was born yesterday? Friend, you and I both know that you have no pure intentions here. You inquire about getting on my ship so quickly. Do you think you can just find some way to kill me? I admire your defiance all the way to the end."
"Can you blame me for trying?" Van asked.
"No. Instead, I commend you for trying," the Emperor said. "Stay by my side for the evening, Van. For though you will try to kill me and fail miserably, I shall allow you to live. Once you have lost everything, there will then be no reason for you to refuse me."
"Why are you doing this at all?" Van asked. "What drives you to so mercilessly destroy worlds that have done nothing wrong? To kill countless innocent people?"
The dragon looked at him for a moment and its grin slowly began to fade. "You must understand something, Van. To reach the top, it was the greatest struggle of my life. To move so undetected in a culture, a world that despises who you are. To be different is to be worthy of death. When I got to the top, when I saw that as long as I spun my words the right way, they would do whatever I demanded, it was intoxicating. There was a feeling beyond anything else I could describe. The first conquest was just an excuse to escape. I felt that, if I convinced my people that we needed to go to another planet, I could slip away onto this new world and find a home. But then I arrived. I saw how much of a mess that planet was. They were divided, at war with one another, mercilessly fighting and allowing famine to overtake them. Without a leader, someone to see the big picture, they would be condemned to obliteration. So, I stepped in and took charge."
Van felt a shiver run down his spine as the creature continued to speak.
"And I realized something – once I had asserted dominance over that world. I realized that perhaps it was my destiny to go beyond simply fleeing my own people. That perhaps I had been placed in this universe for a reason. And that reason, my friend, is to lord and rule over all living things. We create these gardens so that I may rule the worlds with efficiency. Their lives improve and I… I grow in power."
"But how is that any different than your race killing its young because they were independent?" Van asked. "How are you any different from them?"
The words seemed to anger the Emperor a little. He shifted and growled, baring his fangs. For a moment, Van thought the beast was going to attack him, but instead the Emperor regained his composure.
"I suppose someone would think me cruel for my decisions," the Emperor said, "but I have been fair and sporting. I have allowed every race to prove themselves worthy to me. I have allowed them to fight tooth and nail to get to the top, just as I had to fight. And those who show me that they have the strength to live, who earn the right to be different from the rest of their race… they are the ones who inherit the world. They are the ones who are my children."
"You're a monster," Van said. "An absolute monster.'
"Am I?" the Emperor asked in return. "Or am I a god? You are watching me transcend even now. At midnight, the world will melt down to pieces and then will be rebuilt in my image. I will wave my hand and my chosen few will inherit this earth. And you? You can begin your own path to divinity if you so wish. Or you can fail to kill me, and perish with the billions of others who are unworthy of my radiance."
Van shook his head. He had no idea what to say back to this creature. It was clear that, while it had the independence which was missing from the Draco as a whole, it still had the same kind of unethical view of the universe. Still, this revelation was good news. This meant that they didn't need to kill all of Draco in order to stop the invasion – they really just needed to kill the Emperor. If he died, then the Draco collective would have no idea of how to move forward. But the question was… would it stop the imminent destruction that was to be unleashed on the world?
Sang stood before the large army of players who were shouting war cries. They were rowdy and excited, slamming their weapons together and asking Sang when they would be teleporting. She was standing on the western wall of one of their secret hideouts and overlooking the population. There were nearly 1,500 players who were willing to put it all on the line to save their planet from either aliens or terrorists. A lot of them believed the terrorist angle, but there were also others who were adamant that the real threat was Draco. Either way, they were ready for a fight, and she couldn't help but feel proud of Van. He had managed to put this entire army together by the skin of his teeth, and it was a fierce enough group that she genuinely believed they had a chance.
Sang glanced at her UI, but it read You have no messages. All she needed was a single message from Van. The message didn't even have to say anything; it just had to arrive in her Inbox.. Then she'd activate the ring and teleport the entire team to fight in a massive battle against Draco. The fighting itself would be safe enou
gh until she activated the failsafe system.
Standing by her side was Jet. He was perched on the wall and was watching the rest of the team prepare for battle.
"Are you ready for this?" Sang asked.
"My race does not die in battle," Jet said. "We are peaceful beings. I have never once faced the prospect of dying in a war, nor because of violence. I fear that perhaps I am unable to do this."
"Well, think about it like this," Sang replied, "you're the first of your race to learn what bravery is."
"And being brave will remove this fear?" Jet asked as he turned his head to look directly at her. Despite how large the dragon was, she could see that he was indeed afraid.
"Bravery doesn't remove the fear, my friend; bravery is what lets us act in spite of it," Sang said.
"I suppose so," Jet replied.
"So what's the plan?" Bidane asked as she walked up to Sang. "I managed to trick Capello into logging out, by the way."
"Good," Sang said. Of all the things to deal with, she didn't want to have to worry about Kylian's sacrifice being in vain. " We've got 14 minutes until we're past the signal time. We're just gonna blink in and go to town on the first Draco we see."
"That's the big strategy?" Bidane asked.
"We have the element of surprise," Sang said. "And it's going to be a huge surprise when our army arrives in the middle of a banquet – especially when we have a dragon with us."
"Yeah, I’m excited to let this guy loose," Bidane said. "He's gonna shred them."
"Please do not talk about me as if I were some base animal," Jet replied. "I am a living and intelligent being just like you."
"Sorry," Bidane said. "But that doesn't take away how cool it's gonna be a to ride a dragon into battle."
Sang glanced at her timekeeper. 14 minutes until the strike. When would Van message her?
Van scanned the crowd, desperate to see where his team was located. He couldn't see Fredlin or Sahara anywhere. The Dragon Emperor to his right had stopped talking to him a few minutes ago, but refused to let Van walk away. The dragon was rather fond of Van, it seemed. He doubted there was any way he could convince the creature to stop what it was doing, though. The dragon was far too entrenched in his thinking to change his mind now.
As Van looked out at the crowd, there was a loud shout from one of the players. He stood up from his seating and gasped, clutching his stomach. Van noticed the words Lethal Poisoning appearing over his head even as the character collapsed to the ground.
"Whoops," the Emperor said as he craned his neck forward. "What an odd thing to happen. Are you responsible for this?"
As if responding to the question, dozens of players began to fall over, gasping and holding their stomachs before dying from the poison. A few players drew their weapons and began to attack the remaining survivors, shouting things about saving earth.
"Interesting," the Emperor said. "Very interesting."
As Van watched the carnage begin to unfold, he noticed that Sahara was waving at him from a distance. She held up a small vial of purplish liquid. He realized that she must have poisoned some of the stronger players.
The tone of the room changed from joviality and mirth to that of an all-out brawl in a matter of seconds. The depressed players who Van had noticed earlier were flipping tables and smashing their foes with their weapons. The other players, confused and startled, responded to the fighting in turn. More were dropping from the poison, though, and to top it all off, a gigantic black cloud had formed high above them all. Flames were beginning to rain down from the cloud and burn the traitors to humanity. Van noticed that Fredlin was standing in the center of the melee, his hands raised high as he commanded this incredible fire spell. Now this was a good team.
"I sincerely hope that this was not your only strategy," the dragon said. "Turning the weaker of my recruits against each other and poisoning them? It's not a bad play, but I was expecting something more grand. Yet, I have yet to hear of your army breaching our outer walls. Perhaps they are invisible?"
Van smiled as he sent a message to Sang that said "Go." He chuckled a little and cracked his knuckles. "You want to know what my strategy was?" he asked.
"Indeed, I do," the Emperor replied.
The wall holding the red door exploded, causing thousands of red shards to fly everywhere. The rocks crashed to the ground and Jet emerged, his wings spread wide and his roar triumphant. Hundreds of the Iron Dragons came pouring out of the hole, armed to the teeth and ready for battle.
"My strategy was to cheat," Van said.
Chapter Thirteen
"Is that the Xevov?" the Emperor asked, his voice conveying a tone of true surprise. "Engaging in battle?"
Van drew his warhammer from his side and took a deep breath. "Yeah, yeah, it is!" And with that, he swung his hammer as hard as he could, smashing it into the side of the Emperor's leg. The words Insufficient Damage Rating hovered above the dragon, and Van could hear the beast laugh.
"Really, Van? You believe that you can damage me? Like I wouldn't have given myself the most powerful protection spells and abilities in the game? Do you take me for a fool?" the Emperor asked. "But if you insist on attacking me, then I suppose it would be fair to insist on attacking you!" He took a deep breath and began to spew flames at Van.
Van rushed out of the way of the fire, narrowly avoiding the stream of heat that would surely have vaporized him on contact. He heard the dragon behind him laughing heartily.
"I suppose that if you can even get one point of damage on me, it will be the most I will have ever suffered!" the dragon taunted him.
Van ran into the melee, where hundreds of his own soldiers were battling against the remaining players. As he ran, he noticed Sang in the middle of the fray, shooting arrow after arrow at her enemies.
"Sang!" Van yelled as he ran up to her. Before he could reach her, however, a large player wielding a spiked chain leapt in front of him.
"You think you can ruin a good thing?" the man said, his name showing up as Bruno as he spun his chain around. "Think again!" He whipped the chain at Van, but Van was able to raise his warhammer to block it. The chain wrapped around his weapon and the words Grapple: Successful floated in front of him. He saw a grapple meter hovering above him, but before he could pull back, his weapon was yanked out of his hand and thrown to the ground.
"You're really gonna sell out mankind?" Van asked as he leapt to the side, avoiding the chain as it came flying at his head.
"What's mankind ever done for me?" Bruno replied as he began to reel his chain back in. Before Van could attack the man, Jet leaned down and swallowed the thug whole.
"Oh man!" Van shouted as he patted Jet on the snout. "That was cool!"
"Van!" Sang called out as she rushed up to him and unloosed a swarm of arrows upon a few players who were rushing toward her. "What's up?"
"The Emperor is running the whole show!" Van said. "Everything is more or less done by his direction. He's the planner, the strategist, and the leader. If we kill him, it's all over for everyone. Draco won't be able to keep doing all of this to the other worlds."
"Did you figure out how to stop him from starting the meltdown?" Sang asked, her eyes wide and frantic. Behind them, the Emperor was laughing as he grabbed players and began to devour them.
"No, he wouldn't share that. But he's the one who gives the orders," Van said. "If we kill him, he won't be able to tell the rest of the people what to do."
"Very well," Jet said. "Leap atop me. We shall leave your army to handle the rabble."
Van nodded and scaled up over Jet's back, making sure to grab his warhammer before he climbed. Sang was soon sitting directly behind him, arrows at the ready. Jet let out a roar and unleashed a torrent of fire upon the few players who had jumped in front of him. They were burned to a crisp, eliciting a laugh from Van. Barring the end of the world worries, this was probably the coolest thing he had ever done.
The chambers were wide enough for Jet's wings to flap, and
the black dragon began to generate momentum as he flew toward the Emperor.
"Ahahahah, the humans taught a Xevov to be violent? What a testament to their power to cause strife wherever they go!" the Emperor shouted as he flew forward to meet Jet.
"Now!" Jet roared as Van scrambled atop the flying dragon's head and waited for the right moment. As the Emperor winged towards them, Van leapt off of Jet's head and went sailing through the air. Arrows flew past him as Sang fired shot after shot towards the monster. Van swung his warhammer hard as he activated his Fierce Rage power. Fierce Rage would last for 20 minutes, and made his attacks bypass any kind of damage reduction an enemy might have, but his defense rating was zero, meaning that he would be a sitting duck when attacked. Fortunately, the Fierce Rage was like an advanced version of the Berserk power, so he would be able to continue fighting no matter how low his hit points dropped.
As the magical power of the rage coursed through him, he swung his hammer down hard and cracked it against the dragon's skull. Momentum Bonus +50% 225 damage floated above the dragon's head, and Van could see the Emperor's health bar drop down from 6,000 to 5,775. That little a drop was extremely disheartening for him, though.
"Gahhh!" the Emperor roared. "You hit me! Haha, you actually did some damage to me. Not bad, Van."