Devil's Waltz

by Dante Sakurai

  He then noticed her state. She was in her lingerie underwear made from pure gold. Little to nothing was left to the imagination.

  Jonathan stepped forward in a wild heartbeat, already fumbling through his pouch. “M— My lady! Do y— you require a— a cloak?” His higher pitched voice couldn’t help but shake, for he was unworthy of such a beautiful creature. It was an injustice that he, Jonathan Bladestrider who had let down so many people, was seeing her almost in the nude. There was no other option for him than to rip his lecherous gaze from her body; he was not worthy and probably never would.

  Her distant eyes cut to him. “No, thank you.”

  No?! Such blasphemy!

  She smiled a heavenly smile. “Really, it’s fine.”

  Jonathan’s innards melted with such lovely warmth. She couldn’t be real! But she walked past, strutting, and he couldn’t stop his gaping mouth from inhaling her chocolate perfume. His leather-padded pants were suddenly taut at the waist.

  In the pavilion, everyone’s attention turned to the beauty’s direction for a moment, but a few stared for longer: a couple of young men close by, another further away, and both women. Lily and… Ayla Frost the Water Mage, Jonathan recalled. She was suppressing a glare, and worst of all, Dorian was leering at the beauty with an overt smile, looked her up and down, slowly, without any discretion. “Sienna! Sexy as always, but I prefer the more revealing glamour. Nice job with the assassination too.”

  How dare he! Such a comment was uninvited.

  Sienna laughed. Her voice was a lullaby. “Some people had complaints. You should’ve taken some screenshots if you miss it so much.”

  “Maybe I did. Many times. I’ll send them to you later.” Dorian’s eyes abruptly skipped to Jonathan. He approached with large strides. “There you are, Jonathan. I can’t say I’m sorry for my earlier outburst. You have to understand stakes are at an all-time high and that you are our—”

  Spinning around with heart-stopping grace, Sienna abruptly angered. “You’re Jonathan Bladestrider! I thought you are a grounds-keeping NPC!”

  What did I do to offend her? “I am Jonathan. Is something the matter?” He swallowed.

  She strutted back toward him. She was skewering him with those furious, squinting eyes. In the unfocused background, Dorian began silently laughing along with others. She stopped in front of him, inches away. “Do you have anything to say for what you did?”

  Ayla grimly added from the pavilion, “Three World Bosses are down for a day because of you.”

  Oh. They were mad about the raid. If this was how justice was to be delivered, then so be it. “No. It was my fault. My fault alone. I have nothing else to say. I shall bear any consequences, my lady.”

  She frowned. “Your fault alone?”

  “Indeed, my lady.” His body was sweating profusely under the low-level gear.

  “Why do you keep saying my lady like an NPC? You’re a role player?”

  “It—it is my role to bring true justice to Aeon.”

  Laughter chorused from the pavilion. She smiled, and the diamond gem on her right gold bracelet ignited into a foot-long blade of solid light. “Oh yeah? Then justice will mean an execution if it’s your fault alone, as you say.”

  The blade rose to Jonathan’s thudding neck, and he did not flinch from its heat. This was justice.

  “Any last words?”

  “None.”

  “Whoah!” a guy in dragonscale leather exclaimed, a sleek sheathed sword at his hip. He dashed to Sienna, a speeding blur, and caught her arm before she could deliver the killing slash. He was man-handling her very inappropriately, a hand on her belly far too close to her waist. “Easy there. The royals will get super pissed off if we bloody the gardens again.”

  Sienna scoffed though didn’t fight back. “This idiot got us wiped. It was mostly his fault.” Her blade-bracelet deactivated.

  Lance stepped forward. “Mine, really. The raid chat was a mess. I didn’t turn on officer-only.”

  “I’m a officer,” Jonathan said without thinking, for even thinking was difficult when Sienna stood so near. His face was still on fire. His damning eyes peeked at her chest. The open weave wasn’t fully covering what it should be.

  Sienna caught where his eyes had dipped to even though it only had been for a split-second. Her eyes rolled. “You made this nervous wreck an officer? He’s only level ninety-two as well.”

  “He earned it.”

  “Really? I bet the ladies in your guild walk all over him and get whatever they want from your storages.”

  Jonathan’s feet shifted uncomfortably. He could not recall if he had been walked over, and it mattered not if he had been. He was Jonathan Reborn. Jonathan the righteous.

  “He’s usually not this shy.” Lance shrugged.

  Lily approached with a springy gait, her darker hair fanning. “If you say so.” She put her hand on Sienna’s shoulder. “Maybe you should go easy on him. Switch your glamour before he wets his pants.” She giggled.

  Sienna smirked far too alluringly. “Jonathan, my officer.” She tapped his chest with a knuckle twice, then looped her bare arm around his back, pushed her side against his. Her chocolaty smell and warmth was something that had fallen from the heavens. “Will you be alright with me on the team?”

  “Uh—uh,” he stuttered.

  In a flaming swirl, Dorian blinked in front of Jonathan and yanked him away from Sienna. “Get a hold of yourself!” A spittle drop flew from his teeth. “You are our only player World Boss right now! Please act more like one! Wake up!” The yells set a time-freezing bomb off on the gathering, but only for a fleeting moment.

  First to recover, Lance apparently already knew. “Thank you, Dorian. I was about to bring that up.” He looked at Jonathan, gaze heavy. “Look behind you.” He pointed.

  “Hmm?” Jonathan’s muscles spasmed, neck twisting.

  A courier bird of golden mana was hovering a yard away. A rolled scroll sat its talons. The message was waiting for him, he somehow knew thanks to this world’s magic. He held out a palm, and the scroll was dropped. The bird disappeared in a wink of light. He read hastily.

  Jonathan, my best guards tell me your Dragon Stone has been ready to hatch for a while now. It’s at the north-west tower in the castle, top floor. -Adrian Silver.

  Ah, some good news at last.

  Jonathan let the papyrus crumble and heeled back around. He took Dorian’s rude criticisms to heart by not even thinking to look in Sienna’s direction. “My friends and allies, it is true. I have been given a Path of Tribulation by the Red Dragons—and a new class: Dragon Initiate, which is hidden for now. I shall be a World Boss upon my Dragon Stone’s hatching in moments. I must part from this righteous gathering, for the time of justice has come at last.” That earned him another round of awkward laughter and weird looks.

  Rain said, “Your levels were reset by the Path?”

  Jonathan grunted. “A shame, but I had to be reborn.”

  “You had to be reborn?” another officer asked slowly.

  “My personal burden to bare in front of the helpless many whom we must help and protect.” He was not at liberty to disclose Dorian’s secrets. Max was his brother.

  “That’s bullshit,” Ayla said, still lounging in the pavilion. “Rowan and Gabby didn’t have theirs reset, and she got a new class too.” She exhaled and stood. “This is a joke. You’re a goddamn joke. An idiot. We are screwed with a clown as a World Boss. At this rate, it’s not going to be a long war. I’m out, off to the bandit raid.” She disappeared in a misty cloud.

  How extremely rude, but Jonathan wasn’t phased like the others who were sharing worried looks and whispers. Behavior like that would be reprimanded under a just system, under a truly fair rule. He cleared his throat. “Any last topics of discussion before I take my leave?”

  Lance’s mouth opened. Dorian cut him off with a wave and looked at Sienna with a fierce expression. “You’re going with Jonathan. Stick with him and don’t
change your glamour unless he gets his shit together. Is that fine?”

  She glanced at Jonathan, slyly, for an extended moment. She flashed her brilliant smile, dazzling him. “Fine. I’ll stick with our World Boss.” She strutted over once more.

  “Good.” Dorian pointed at Jonathan. “Get a hold of yourself, because if you don’t, we might be shat on like nothing else you can imagine! Got it?!”

  Those words rang true. “Got it.”

  Lily’s posture straightened, her facing lighting up. She skipped to his side. “Does your dragon need raising?”

  “I believe so. Why?”

  “I can help with that. Maybe some of my Beastmaster skills can help. I always wanted to raise a dragon.”

  Jonathan nodded. “Very well. North-west tower. Top floor.” He offered a matching nod for Sienna. “My ladies, let us be off.” And off he went, ignoring yet another chorus of laughter including those of Sienna’s and Lily’s. He marched with renewed purpose and led the way like a real World Boss should as Dorian would say, though always careful to not let his eyes drift toward the beauty at his side.

  Fortunately, the power-walk to the castle was quick and proceeded with no interruptions or unneeded small-talk, the girls lagging a few steps behind while chatting in hushed tones. Only one man looked at Sienna disrespectfully. Jonathan warded him off with a menacing scowl, then stepped into the castle. His boot’s rubber squeaked on the polished tiled floor, and he made a bee-line for the north-west stairwell. He’d been here enough times to remember where it was hiding in this maze of paintings, marble carvings, and potted plants.

  The spiral stairwell came into view, and Sienna hopped ahead. “Ladies first,” she said slyly. She legged up onto the second step, skipping the first with her elven grace.

  He noticed an embarrassing problem with the climbing arrangement. Her gold lingerie really did leave nothing to the imagination from behind when she was climbing these tall steps. He looked away in an instant; he was unworthy of such a sight. “Sienna. Are you sure about that?”

  Already on the fourth step, she looked over her shoulder, twisting around. Her chocolate eyebrow arched, and she stood with her legs spread wider. “Why not?”

  A blush broke out on his cheeks. “Well… because…”

  “Because you can almost see a naughty little kitty?”

  Lily burst into hearty laughter. “Remember to take a screenshot of the slut for later!”

  “Just one? He clearly wants a full album.” Sienna played with a gold knot at her hip. “Maybe more.”

  Jonathan’s lips quivered as he broke into a stuttering mess, unable to comprehend the situation. The gods had always taught him to treat people, women especially, with dignity and high-regard, hammered in the point, and yet today, these two were barely treating themselves with dignity. He was at a total loss.

  Then it clicked. There was only one explanation, and he would bet his remaining few gold pieces that it was either Rowan Black and Gabby LeMort’s doing. Only they could pull something so vile, so degrading. So deplorable.

  Jonathan sucked in a head-clearing breath. “You’ve been hit with mind-bending curses!”

  Sienna’s face blanked, and Lily’s mirth only intensified.

  Jonathan’s arm flailed. It was worse than he thought. “We need to get back to Rain! He should’ve done a check-up back there.”

  Sienna’s gorgeous eyes enlarged to mini-saucers. “Holy shit. Ayla’s right. We are fucked. And not in the sexy way either.”

  Jonathan was already sprinting back to the elderly yew as fast as his legs could take him. Rowan was going to abhor the day of true justice. His final hour was looming.

  Chapter 26

  F Minor

  The tendons in Rowan’s calves stretched to a stinging limit after he came out of a Rime Blink, dodging a blitz-speed Detonating Arrow by less than a foot spared. The corrupting plume over his shoulder seeped a perilous gloomy feeling into the air—nothing he couldn’t handle. He’d felt far worse. He simply breathed. Hagged breaths slowly came one by one; his Stamina bar refilled at a crawl without Gabrielle’s support auras. The new set of level 180 Control-oriented gear, common rarity, helped little in that department.

  With a static buzz, Edward appeared in front of him again, another arrow already loaded into his ornate onyx bow, drawn. He released it, no emotions given, then disappeared with a second buzz. Blackish ice exploded in his wake.

  Rowan had blinked leftward, along the cliff, and thrown a Tainted Ice Blast the moment Edward had shown his bluish pearly face, but the blast’s swift missile was too slow to catch that Dexterity-aligned dark class. Seeing Dark Ranger in action up-close was a sight to behold. Impressive, even if this was just a spar.

  A narrow dart-like needle came from within the mist. It struck Rowan’s Mana Shield without noise, and he blinked to dodge a quarter-second later, a quarter-second too late.

  Damn.

  The icy shield rapidly weakened in a cancerous takeover of gray-black miasma, and through a narrow hole, the corruption spread to his left hand. The flesh was eaten to the bone. Dull pain hummed in his fingers for only a moment.

  “That’s enough,” Rowan called and pinged for Edward to halt, then pulled on the Undead Priest’s mental leash for a heal. It arrived in a twist of darkness, brought foul wind along with its decaying body, and waved a green-glowing staff. Flesh regrew, a disgusting sight, and his hand was back to normal in seconds. The sheer realism of the VR technology was ever-astounding. No detail had been missed.

  Edward approached with slow steps, bow at his back. His boots didn’t squeak once on the damp grass. “Snipe Shot usually one-hits level one-eighty casters—”

  “I’m not any usual caster.” A knee-jerk response.

  “Obviously. What I’m saying is you’re going to be piled on by hundreds of assassins and snipers once things really start to pick up. Look on the forums. Veterans are returning by the hour. It’s not looking good for you if mine alone can drill a hole through your shield. You’re too reliant on your minions. You need a Detection Ward at least.”

  Oh. “I’m working on it, and you have a dark class, remember.”

  Edward hummed for a long second. “Mine is about the same power level as Sharpshooter, actually. Second-tier Archer.”

  Rowan quickly checked his minion list. “I have an Undead one. Doesn’t seem very good. All it’s skills have been standardized. Do you know how many have the class? What’s their ultimates?”

  “Three players, as far as I know. I’ve battled them on many occasions. They’re basically light versions of Dark Ranger, same ultimates. Take a look.”

  Good to know. In the Social interface, Rowan scribbled down Edward’s two arrow-themed ultimates: Colossal Arrow and Arrow Rain. All the sticky notes were starting to clutter the screen. Maybe Gabrielle had an organization system to tame this mess. Rowan glossed over each to remind himself of his various goals, and an obvious question he should’ve researched long, long ago popped into his head when he eyed over the note about looking into Necromancer’s ascensions. “How do players get second-tier classes?”

  Edward frowned but answered nevertheless: “Light classes have to complete a long and incredibly difficult ascension quests granted at any Oculus. Same for dark classes, but we can also ask for one through a Divine Intervention.”

  “Why haven’t you?”

  “Ten thousand sacrifices for Dark Ranger. Twenty thousand for Ambiguous’ Chaos Mystic. We never had the manpower to round up that many before you came along. Before Gabby got her own ascension.”

  “I recall.” Rowan nodded. His curiosity wandered. “How long have you played?” And more to that… “How did you meet Gabby?”

  Edward’s blank face leaked a hint of consideration. “We won beta access through the lottery on the website. Four months ago. We’ve played around a year and a half of in-game time.” He took a breath. “SoSo was detected for dark mana at a starter town in North Elvenhome on our first day. It
wouldn’t of been too much a problem if she didn’t have a fit and kill a particularly annoying shopkeeper. Gabby and Ambiguous happened to be nearby, caught wind of what happened, and they rescued us very spectacularly.”

  Quite surprising. “They just rescued you? No deals or anything?”

  “Well… Gabby did make us promise our loyalty, that we’d be here for her whenever she calls. In exchange, she got us both our dark classes.” His head tilted. “Is it true you’ve only played for a couple days? You know her IRL?”