by Rick Scott
The backup core!
It could erase my memories but it’s all or nothing now. But beyond that I’m not even sure what it will do. Still, something deep inside tells me that it can help in some way. I bring up the device interface on my HUD and key the activation just as the laser cannon goes off.
Kurgan uses Aerial Barrage!
[Initiating Memory restore]
[Loading………..complete!]
Angela takes 13000(15000) plasma damage!
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
[Memory restored with zero error(s)]
Time slows to a crawl as my memories come flooding back. I feel like I’m being reborn as I relive my time within the glowing orb.
The Twins, Imperator Xuba, my father!
And then something else familiar spills onto my HUD as well.
[Awakened powers unlocked!]
Congratulations! You have gained a new non-class ability: Zenkai
Zenkai
Assume Kono-Zemsu form for 1:00 minute
Special Conditions: Must be near death or dying.
Cooldown: 100 hours
My heart soars with elation. It copied over! I can become Kono-Zemsu in the real world!
I cry out as I activate my new ability, bursting forth with a brilliant golden light. “ZEN-KAI!”
You use Zenkai!
You have gained the effect of Kono-Zemsu!
My meters peg to full as my level jumps to 99! Time slows even further as milliseconds become seconds, counting down to the second Aerial Barrage.
I immediately Charge Strike towards Angela as the second blue beam forms at her feet. The barrage goes off just as I shove into her and I take a double walloping from the cannon, tanking both her hit and mine.
You rescue Angela!
You take 7500(15000) plasma damage!
You take 7500(15000) plasma damage!
I barely feel a thing as the twin beams hit me, my HP dipping to just under 90%. The world returns to real time and I watch as Kurgan stares bewildered at the place where I’d just been. He then scans about for me and his single eye widens with what he sees before him.
“Shards, be damned…” His mouth hangs open. “…this power…How!?”
The crowd outside the arena stand to their feet—hushed murmurs of incomprehension flowing throughout.
“That barely scratched him!”
“Look! He’s level 99!”
“What happened? Did he teleport?”
“What did he do?”
“What class is that?”
In my prior desperation, I barely took note of them all, but now I realize the entire population of New London is gawking at me. Their questions mirror the perplexed look on Kurgan’s face and I feel a new sense of power as the control shifts in our 1v1.
“Let’s talk about how this is going to end for you now, Lord Kurgan,” I say as I stow my kunai. I check my inventory and equip the Level 99 Murakumo—the ten-foot-long, cobalt-blue blade materializing in my palm.
[1]
Special Effect: Reduce the cooldown of Zenkai by 25%
Special Effect: Extend the duration of Kono-Zemsu Form by 100%
I check the timer.
Kono-Zemsu Form: 0:52
Guess the duration won’t be affected by the sword’s buff until I can wield it at Level 99. Which means my time is limited. And as powerful as I am, it won’t last long.
“How is this possible?” Kurgan says, staring at me like I’ve just become a god. “What did you do to become like this?”
I charge at Kurgan with my blade, cutting through him while dashing past like a samurai.
You use Charge Strike!
You hit Kurgan for 4999(9999) damage!
Kurgan is Stunned!
The damage is much less than I recall doing before in the labyrinth, but more than enough to send Kurgan reeling as I take off over 10% of his health in a single blow. He screams with a battle cry as he pops a counter and then retaliates with his Zanbatō.
Kurgan uses Stun Blade!
I easily dodge the attack, striking back at him again.
You hit Kurgan for 4999(9999) damage!
He retreats with a Backflip and opens full-blast on me with his handgun.
Sprack! Sprack! Sprack!
It’s the same maneuver as before, normal shots mixed with AOEs. I weave through the normal rounds but the AOE impact me full bore.
Kurgan uses Gravitational Shot!
You take 1280 particle damage!
I take the hit, expecting sharp pain, but I barely feel it at all. I’m so stunned by the result, that I don’t do anything for a moment, not even dodge. How powerful have I just become? Kurgan continues his barrage, firing into me as I take the hits. Only when I see my health dipping into the yellow at 80% do I adjust and begin fighting back, slicing down his health, blow by blow as I cast Shadow Copy in between.
You hit Kurgan for 4999(9999) damage!
You cast Shadow Copy!
You hit Kurgan for 4999(9999) damage!
You gain the effect of Shadow Copy!
Kurgan uses Gravitational Shot!
Your shadow absorbs the attack!
I don’t see Shadow Copy II available for use, but it doesn’t matter. With my heightened regeneration and ever-renewing sheath of invincibility, I get him down to 5% in just a few seconds.
He backs away then, breathing heavily, his armor falling apart with sparks. He finally drops to his knees and I almost expect him to start begging for his life like Axel, but instead he looks up at me with a huge, wondrous smile. “I knew there was something special about you. Amazing… Absolutely amazing!”
I check my timer. Less than fifteen seconds left.
I need to make a decision soon. But with a psychopath like this, there’s really only one choice to make. And I finally have the true strength to make it.
“It’s a shame we both couldn’t trust each other enough to swear down our vengeance,” I say, flipping my Murakumo into a double-handed grip. “It means I have to kill you now. Nothing personal.”
Kurgan huffs out a laugh. “So true…Do what you must, boy. I’m just happy to have lived to see this day…”
I choke up on my blade and raise it high above my head.
“…to have finally met…”
I chop down with full force, aiming straight for his head.
“…a Kono-Zemsu.”
What?
You defeat Kurgan!
==True Kill Alert!==
==Kurgan’s body crashes into the dust! Slain by Reece!==
Chapter 55: Aftermath
I stare at the crumbling android body and wonder just how much Kurgan actually knew.
Maybe I killed him too quickly.
But no, I can’t be holding onto regrets like that.
He needed to go and he’s gone. Still… How did he know?
You absorb the corpse!
You find 14 Nanocubes!
You find a Zanbatō!
You find a Particle Beam Emitter!
I stow my new weapons as Queen Angela limps towards from behind me, holding her severed arm in her hand. She stares at Kurgan’s crumbling body with a grimace. “I’ll go raise the others.”
Surprisingly she goes to Rembrandt first and as soon as his head lifts off the ground with a gasp, she crushes him in an embrace. “Rembrandt, forgive me. I probably don’t deserve to live after what I’ve put you through.”
The cyberpunker responds as cool as ever, glancing at me from the side as he returns her embrace. “None of us do, love. But we just need to keep on going, yeah?”
I get a PM.
Rembrandt: I’m not sure what you did, Reece…but thanks all the same.
I smile at him.
Me: No worries, mate.
I look to Gilly next and kneel down beside her. For a moment I feel mournful, but then a rush of excitement courses through me as I remember somet
hing. I know now why I had that feeling of hope when Gilly mentioned Lexi still being alive!
“Angela!” I call.
The android finishes sharing a few hushed words with Rembrandt and then kneels down beside me and revives Gilly with a touch of her palm.
Angela uses Revive!
Gilly is Revived!
Her big green eyes open with a gasp and I grab her shoulders to shake her with excitement. “Gilly, you were right!”
She looks back at me, bewildered. “Reece? What happened?”
“We won, Kurgan’s dead,” I say quickly. “But that doesn’t matter right now. What matters is that you were right! I think we can save Lexi.”
She smiles back with a chuckle. “Of course we can. I told you that, silly. We just need to find a way—”
“No, you don’t understand. I think I’ve already found a way,” I say and think back to all those crystal pillars within that towering spire. “And not just for her... maybe for everyone.”
I still don’t know what that will even mean. Especially for people like Axel and Kurgan who I’ve just killed, but thinking back now, to how desperate Xulia was to spare her life, I can’t help but think she wasn’t lying and that there must be some way to bring all those people back somehow. I explain it all to Gilly as she casts Great Miracle and raises the rest of our team.
We have a quick reunion of sorts and everyone breathes a collective sigh of relief for still being alive. Maxis and Val Helena embrace with a kiss and I get a hug and kiss from Aiko as well. Gilly lifts everyone’s spirits by giving hugs all around and I marvel once again at how quickly she seems to have rebounded from Lexi’s death, even if initially it was more due to the self-delusion of Lexi still being alive.
But now we might actually have a chance to make that a reality.
In time.
“So how do we get there?” Gilly asks once I finish telling her about the image Xulia had shown me. “And what do we do?”
I shake my head. “I’m still not sure yet, but maybe it’s something you can research once we get back to the archives. Find it the same way you found Citadel, now that you know what to look for.”
“You’d better hold onto that thought,” Aiko says, stepping behind us. “Because it doesn’t look like we’re going anywhere.”
The elf then gestures to the shield that remains in place around the arena and the pandemonium brewing just outside of it. While we’ve been recovering and reuniting, the crowd has devolved into a raving mob. The three council members on the dais confer fervently in a huddle, looking over their shoulders at both us and the crowd, no doubt trying to figure out what to do.
“What’s going to happen now?” Val Helena asks.
Aiko releases a sigh. “Who the heck knows?”
“I’ll tell you what’s going to happen.” Angela steps forward. “Justice.”
She cups a hand to her mouth and shouts up at the dais with her augmented voice. “High Council! What is your verdict on the outcome?”
Najur looks back at her, distracted, but then the crowd begins to shout and moan, demanding the same thing.
“Oy! What’s the verdict!”
“What’s to become of the king slayer?!”
“What about the Royale?”
Najur finally acquiesces to the pressure and takes his position at the head of the dais. “The trial of Lord Rembrandt was interrupted and is thus incomplete. We shall select new proxies for the Great Houses and have a retrial. It will commence as soon as all non-participants exit the arena.”
You’ve got to be kidding me.
“Screw that noise!” Maxis shouts. “They’re all dead! He’s earned his freedom.”
Rembrandt huffs out a mirthless laugh. “Nice to know nothing’s changed. Wouldn’t expect anything less from this lot.”
“No,” Angela says, shaking her head. “I’m not standing for it. High Council, hear me now! This is ludicrous! I demand—”
“You be silent!” Najur points down at her with a scowl. “You have no right to demand anything! You’ve committed great transgressions, Queen Angela. A trial is also being prepared for you for your actions!”
I see the anger and indignation light in her face. If she still had her arm attached I’m sure she would have used her Laser Cannon to destroy the entire dais and the three Council members above.
“How can these people be so myopic?” Angela stares at them with contempt in her eyes. “Did they not see what just happened?” She then looks to me. “Did they not see what you just did?”
I see the awe within her gaze and realize it’s true. I just gained god-like abilities and not one of them seemed to even notice, or care. I look to my friends, faces marred with the same scowls of injustice and indignation.
It’s time I made them care. I need to beat them at their own game…
I look up to the dais and yell with a resounding shout, “What about the Battle Royale? Who won it?”
Najur looks back at me, his eyes squinting. “That’s not relevant—”
“Answer the question! Who won it?”
He must feel the fury in my gaze because he breaks eye contact. “You did.”
“And did I not defeat Lord Kurgan to do so?” I say, pressing him again.
Najur doesn’t answer, perhaps sensing where I’m going with this.
But I don’t need him to answer now. His silence has spoken for him.
“If Kurgan defeated the majority of the kings and I defeated him,” I say, “then what does that make me?”
Najur’s throat flexes in a swallow and I can tell I’ve just hit paydirt.
Angela confirms it with a smile. “Well done, Reece.”
She then shouts, “It’s true. By our laws, Reece has demonstrated martial dominance by slaying Lord Kurgan. It is now within his right to claim the position of High King. What say you, High Council? Are these not our laws? Answer us!”
Najur scowls for a moment before whipping back around to his cohorts. After a moment more of discussion, he then reemerges to takes the dais with a sheen of sweat on his brow. “What Queen Angela says…is correct. Reece of House Young Lords has indeed bested the best among us in combat and as such holds the right to lay claim to the ultimate throne of High King.” He then looks at me with a contemptuous glare. “Will you do so?”
My heart jumps a little as the crowd grows deathly quiet again, waiting for my answer. I glance at Queen Angela and she gives me a nod.
“Yes…” I say. “I will.”
Najur looks disgusted, resentment filling his eyes. “By the power vested in me as High Council, I proclaim the formation of a grand house, under the sole leadership of High King Reece. All hail the High King…”
The crowd remains in stunned silence for a moment but then from the bleachers behind me, a wall of sound explodes as cheers rise up from the minor houses. Queen Angela rests her hand on my shoulder, congratulating me before dropping down to one knee. “My King.”
Holy crap this is weird.
The remaining kings in the minor houses all fall to one knee as well, as does the High Council.
This is unreal…
I look out at the crowd as it settles down and sense they expect me to speak. Nerves creep into my stomach. I’ve never been on the spot like this in all my life. I glance behind me and see my brother looking at me in awe, Gilly smiles with excitement, and Val Helena claps for me like a proud mom. Even Aiko gives me a little wink while Becky nods and silently mouths for me to ‘say something’.
I guess I’m in for it now.
My mind blanks for a moment. What am I supposed to say? I look out at the crowd, all these players…gamers. Like Rembrandt and even Lexi had told me before…I’m not truly one of them. I don’t live for the game like they do. What could I possibly say to them to be able to relate? But if there is one thing that I can impart, then perhaps the best thing I can do, is to tell them the truth.
I finally step forward and clear my throat.
“
As your new High King I have something I’d like to say.” I look again at the thousands of people assembled around me and my heartbeat kicks into high gear. “I understand that many of you are here by choice, that this is your better world. But I come with a warning that there are dangers coming that you can’t imagine.” I think back to my time in the orb and my encounter with the powerful Ozoku named Xuba. From what he revealed, there is far more going on than even I know—and it’s possibly been going for centuries. “We face a crisis not only back in Citadel but possibly a threat from beyond the Shards.”
The crowd murmurs when I say it and people look to one another perplexed, no doubt only half comprehending what I’m telling them. But I go on anyway.
“You probably won’t understand this yet. And hopefully you’ll never have to. But the days of infighting between us must end. A new enemy is on the horizon and there will be no mercy when they arrive. The time for people like Lord Kurgan and King Axel are over. If we want any hope for a future, we need to band together, as people…as humans. Because there may soon come a day, when all we have to rely on…is each other.”
I don’t even know where the words come from, but they’re filled with conviction. I ignore the system message as Oratory skill increases spam across my HUD. But it means people are listening to me.
Understanding me.
“Which is why from this day forward, I as High King, declare a general amnesty for all of New London.” The minor houses burst into cheers again. I wait for them to settle down before I continue. “I also wish to issue my final decree as High King.”
A murmur of uncertainly then roils throughout the crowd and even my friends look at me strangely. “I hereby relinquish my throne as High King and name Queen Angela as my successor.”