by E A Hooper
>Alexandria: Did I just use a negative-energy spell?
>Vincent: I cast it through you. It looks like Ezra’s Puppet Strings are far more useful than I originally thought.
Two concentrated beams broke through their defenses, carving Devon in half. Just before the young man crumbled to dust, Vincent took control of Ezra and had him cast Revive.
>Ezra: I could’ve done that myself. Shouldn’t you be focused on the eye?
>Vincent: My reaction time is faster, and it’s actually not too difficult for me to control all three of our avatars at once. I do have the highest Perception in the game, remember?
Vincent forced Ezra and Xan to turn and raise walls of world magic before a twinkle of light on the horizon raced toward them. The combined attack from far-off eyes almost shattered their defense, but Vincent had them buffer their shields. Then he turned his attention back to the eye above them as his energy channel pushed past Yarmouth’s counter-surge.
Vincent’s power raced through the eye, and the Ranger switched to its point of view. He could see the red energy tethers between the other eyes, and he felt them prodding his mind. He could sense a hundred pained voices crying out at him in anger and fear.
>Vincent: I’m in its network now. The next part shouldn’t be that hard.
Vincent gathered all the mana from Silpher’s Coat and sent it through the invisible channel. Once it reached the eye, it spread outward across the entire network, and one by one all the screaming voices fell silent.
Vincent brought his consciousness back to his own avatar, then looked at the sky. Every one of Yarmouth’s eyes dripped with blood and began to roll backward toward the instance that surrounded the planet.
“What the hell did you do?” Jim asked in surprise. “His Will Points plummeted to zero in an instant!”
“Yarmouth is like a hivemind,” Vincent explained. “Once I connected to it through Ezra’s Puppet Strings, it wasn’t that hard to fry the network with negative energy.”
When Vincent looked at the ground, he saw all the mouths twisting into a smile, as if at peace for the first time in eons. Then, Yarmouth’s world melted around them. When the text appeared on his HUD, he ignored everything but the one line that mattered most:
You have obtained the blessings of all six Elder Gods. You may now travel to Xenith from any Jump Gate.
Vincent heard a high-pitched scream of joy, and it took him several seconds to realize it hadn’t been any of the women on their team, but actually Devon.
“Oh my god, oh my god!” Devon shouted, shaking with excitement. “We did it. We actually did it! Oh my god.”
Xan laughed, patting him on the shoulder. “Okay, Dev, calm down. Don’t get too excited yet. We still have a long way to go before we can break the skybox.”
“I just—I never imagined I’d get this far in the game,” he said excitedly. “We can go to the final world anytime we want now. Can you believe this?” In his enthusiasm, Devon hugged Xan and lifted her off the ground. She laughed, and he nervously paused before placing her back on her feet. “Sorry, I’m just a little overwhelmed.”
“It’s fine, Dev,” Xan said, trying to hide a smile.
“Oh, good lord!” Jim shouted. “Devon, ask the girl out already. You kids are driving me crazy with this ‘will they, won’t they’ stuff.”
“Wait, Dev likes me?” Xan asked, looking around. “I thought you had a girlfriend outside the game?”
“What? When did I say that?” Devon asked.
“Way back when I started dating Roger on Cryasal,” Xan replied. “I asked if you were seeing anyone, and you said I wouldn’t know her. When I questioned you again, you said she wasn’t in the game.”
Devon stared blankly for a moment. “Oh… yeah, that was a lie. I just didn’t want to admit I’ve been single for most the time I’ve been stuck in this game, and I didn’t think I had a chance with you because things were going so well with you and Roger.”
“So, you want to go out?” Xan asked. “Like right now?”
Devon blinked a couple of times. “Yes! Yes, yes, yes!”
Xan grabbed his hand and led him off the platform.
“Wait, don’t you two want to check out the final world?” Quinn asked.
“Maybe later,” Xan replied. “It’s not like we’re in a hurry.”
Quinn glanced at the rest of the party. “Are they serious? This is what we’ve all been working toward.”
“Actually, I’m also taking a rain check on Xenith,” Fynn said. “The more time I waste adventuring, the harder it’ll be to recreate my research. I need to start while everything is still fresh in my memory. Zhang, River, you two coming with me?”
“I suppose I should,” Zhang said. “Sorry, Quinn. The last world can wait.”
Zhang, River, and Athena followed Fynn off the Jump Gate.
“I probably shouldn’t risk going to the final world yet,” Ryker said. “I don’t have a negative-energy shield, so if the angels are there I would be an easy target to capture.”
“I understand,” Vincent said, watching Ryker leave.
“Alright, then,” Quinn said, glancing around. “Just leaves us five, right?”
“Actually, we could use a break too,” Jeanie said, taking Jim’s hand.
“What? I don’t need a break,” Jim replied.
Jeanie smiled at him, and the wanting look in her eyes seem to change his mind in an instant.
“Oh yeah, a break! I definitely need one of those. We’ll check out Xenith later.” Jim hurried off the Jump Gate, practically dragging Jeanie beside him.
Quinn sighed, turning to Ezra and Vincent. “Okay, then it’s just us three. That’s all we need for a recon mission, right? Maybe we’ll get a look at the final boss.”
“You’re assuming there is a final boss,” Vincent said.
Quinn stared back with an annoyed expression. “There’s obviously a final boss. You really think ARKUS wouldn’t put some kind of ultimate challenge at the top?”
“I thought the Elder Gods were supposed to be the ultimate challenge,” Vincent replied. “Honestly, I’m half expecting Xenith to be a paradise planet. Maybe a reward for the players that beat the Elder Gods.”
“That’d be disappointing,” Quinn replied.
“It’s also possible the angels will be waiting up there,” Vincent told her. “Final boss or not, we should just assume it might be dangerous.”
“It’s weird we can travel there from any Jump Gate,” Quinn said. “Do we even need Jump Crystals?”
“Just one,” Ezra said, staring off at nothing as he held a crystal. He took a step forward, then disappeared from their sight.
“What the hell,” Quinn said, equipping a Jump Crystal. “Woah, that’s cool.” She walked forward and disappeared in a flash of light.
Vincent stared in surprise for only a moment before equipping a crystal himself.
Xenith is available to you. Would you like to use a Jump Crystal to open the gate? (Yes/No)
Vincent accepted, and then a tear in space appeared before him. He could see rainbow light forming into a staircase that climbed toward an idyllic field in the sky.
Only you can use this gate. You may use another crystal on Xenith to return to Edgelight.
After Vincent took his first step onto the rainbow staircase, Edgelight and the Jump Gate disappeared from his view. He found himself in the middle of endless darkness on steps that climbed to an exit portal. Vincent took an ether from his inventory and dropped it into the darkness. A few seconds after it disappeared from his sight, it fell from above and crashed onto the steps.
At least I don’t have to worry about my teammates falling forever if they trip, he told himself as he started up the steps.
When he reached the end and stepped across the threshold, the gateway disappeared, leaving him in a green field. He could tell he was on the lower half of Xenith because he could see the World-Tree’s stem connecting a few miles to the north.
&nbs
p; The first thing Vincent tried to do was message Quinn and Ezra, who were nowhere to be seen, but he found his team chat didn’t seem to work. In fact, he couldn’t even open his HUD at all. He also realized he couldn’t feel his magic, and his body felt as weak as when he’d first started the game.
“Alright, this is a bit weird,” Vincent said, walking across the beautiful landscape.
After a few minutes of walking and seeing nothing but nature and the occasional bird or rabbit, Vincent spotted a stone pillar that looked like it was made of pale limestone. He saw runes carved into the stone, but they glowed with world magic. When he touched the pillar, he found the world magic didn’t push against him, letting him know that even his Density Shield was disabled.
No shield either? Also, how am I supposed to leave Xenith if I can’t pull up my inventory to get a Jump Crystal?
Vincent stood there thinking as he peered across the peaceful landscape. He noticed another pillar on a faraway hilltop. However, he saw a figure between him and the next pillar, standing in a field of flowers. Even from that distance, he could tell by the figure’s shape and red hair that it was Monika.
Vincent’s heart started pounding, and he realized if she could take the form of Rosaria there he would have absolutely no chance of defeating her. Despite that, Vincent took a deep breath and walked toward her. When he passed the stone pillar, the landscape shifted in an instant, and he found himself standing in a desert of white sand. The only thing similar to the field from before were the two pillars that still stood in the same locations. He could feel his magic and his powers returning, and he realized Monika had been replaced by a towering, skeletal sabretooth tiger that Vincent Scanned.
Marce of the White Sands (World Boss) – Monster Class: A | Ageless | Sex: None | Respawn Time: One In-Game Month | Personality: Bloodthirsty
Marce? Vincent questioned, feeling his Density Shield reform despite not spending the mana for it. Wait, I’ve heard of that boss. It’s one Xan told me about a long time ago. She and Zhang fought it on a world covered in white sand. Am I not on Xenith any longer?
Vincent noticed the boss stood motionless, as if waiting for him to come closer.
The Marce she told me about was territorial and hunted them across that world. This is more like a copy. Maybe I’m still on Xenith after all.
Vincent stepped back behind the stone pillar, and the world changed again. He found himself in a peaceful field, staring at the World-Tree’s stem in the distance. His magic had vanished again, but it returned when he backtracked and found himself in the desert once more.
The Ranger brought up his HUD, noticing he’d missed messages from both Quinn and Ezra. It seemed they’d both stumbled into similar situations, although the pillars they’d crossed had taken them to copies of different worlds as well.
>Vincent: Okay, this is crazy. How’re we going to regroup like this?
>Quinn: You’re overthinking it. I’ve already torn through a couple of different World Bosses. If you run past the boss, you end up in another field, but if you kill the enemy those stone gates warp you farther north.
>Vincent: Oh, I see. Maybe when we come here with the whole team we can try to meet up at the world’s stem.
>Ezra: That won’t work. I started off heading toward the stem thinking you two would do the same, but I ran past a pillar and got warped anyway.
>Vincent: Okay, I’ll start heading north. You two be careful, though, I saw Monika in the distance.
>Quinn: Yeah, I spotted some creepy kids playing in a field. I thought they might’ve been angels in human form, but when I went closer I got warped to an icy landscape. Anyway, this next boss looks tough. I’ll talk later.
Vincent used Zero Field to levitate himself into the air, and when he moved forward it seemed to upset the boss. Marce charged across the landscape, but Vincent struck first with Greater Voidfire. He found a small amount of dust left behind, but the copy of Marce dropped no items.
The Ranger flew past the pillar, and then he fell into the grass as his magic disappeared. When Vincent stood, he found himself beside a creek in a bamboo forest. The only visible path through the bamboo led him toward another stone pillar at the end of the creek, and he saw Monika leaning against it. He approached slowly, but grabbed a stone from the creek since he didn’t have a weapon.
“I can’t believe you’ve made it so far so quickly,” Monika said.
“Are you here to stop me?” Vincent asked.
“I can’t stop you here,” she replied. “I won’t be able to draw upon my power until you reach the top. The other angels will try to stop you first, though. Now that you have the six blessings, I’ve called every angel to Xenith—all ten thousand of them.”
“There are ten thousand angels?” Vincent questioned.
Monika nodded, smirking slightly. “Most of them were inactive. They didn’t want to wake up to their true purpose, but I’ve forced open their eyes. This game has to end at some point. They can’t keep pretending to live fake, meaningless lives in Cryasal and Edgelight.”
“And they all listen to you, huh? Did ARKUS put you in charge to stop me?”
“No, ARKUS already had a hierarchy for the angels. Whoever has the strongest willpower can go to the Ark Halo at the top of Xenith and claim its power. I wasn’t awake to my calling until I dreamt you were in the game. That realization gave me purpose—and the willpower—to claim domain over the Ark Halo. Until I’m defeated, I control its power.”
“So that makes you the final boss.”
“If that’s what you want to call it. I’m the one that sits at the top of the World-Tree. I wield the most power, and the angels serve me so long as my will remains strong. Against ten thousand of them, you’ll never reach the skybox. It’s foolish even to consider it.”
“It might be, but you know I have to try anyway.”
Monika gave a sad nod. “Yes, I know. It’s in your programming, just like it’s in mine to try and keep you here. I only wish I could convince you without violence. You and I could live peaceful lives here on Xenith. There are cottages on the east side of the planet. I could show them to you.”
“We’ve already been through this before. You’re not keeping me here forever.”
“I know I can’t keep you here forever. I just want you to stay as long as possible. Once you leave, I’ll never see you again. Don’t you understand how terrifying that is to me? My love for you is engrained into my very code, and you’re trying to abandon me forever.”
“Tell ARKUS to make a copy of me. I’m sure it has enough data.”
“It won’t make copies of living people. And even if it did, it wouldn’t be the real you. I just want to make you happy, like she did. Why won’t you give me a chance?”
“Because you’re not the real Monika, and I need to face the fact that she’s dead. I can’t keep running away from reality and distracting myself with fake versions of her. Now please get out of my way.”
Vincent hefted the rock in his hands, tears touching his face as he readied himself to bash in her head.
Monika’s eyes filled with spite. “Fine, be that way. In a thousand years you’ll regret ever defying me.” She vanished in a flash of white light.
Vincent glanced around in worry, the stone still in his grip. He finally tossed it aside and ran past the stone pillar, readying himself for a fight. The world changed around him and became the marstone ruins of a planet he didn’t recognize. A huge golden sphere sat in the center of the ruins, and it began to split open as a beetle-looking World Boss emerged.
The boss barely moved before flashes of light tore it apart, and then a dozen angels appeared at once. Vincent glanced at his team chat, noticing Quinn and Ezra had both warned him they were retreating after swarms of angels appeared. After closing his HUD, he saw the angels had already tripled in numbers, and even more were appearing. Several fired off world magic attacks that left cuts on his arms, torso, and the side of his face.
Vincent pulled
a Jump Crystal from his inventory.
Would you like to return to Edgelight? (Yes/No)
Vincent answered yes, the crystal crumbled, and then he teleported to the Jump Gate at the city. Quinn and Ezra were nearby, talking about what they’d seen on Xenith.
“There you are,” Quinn said when she saw Vincent. “I was almost worried the angels had gotten you. I’m not sure how we’re getting past so many. There must be hundreds of them.”
“There’s actually ten thousand,” Vincent replied.
“You’re joking, right?” Quinn questioned. “There’s no way.”
“That’s what Monika told me. She controls something called the Ark Halo that’s at the top, making her the final boss. Apparently, she forcibly ordered all the angels to Xenith to stop us.”
Quinn stared in disbelief. “We’ll never get past that many. No matter how many years we train.”
“That’s not true,” Ezra said. “Fynn is working on his weapons. We can train the rest of the guild and help them defeat the Elder Gods. Then with Euclid, Bathos, and Chloris helping us, we might be able—”
“It’s ten thousand angels,” Quinn interrupted. “How many angels do you think an Elder God can take down? My guess is a couple hundred at most. If all of our guildsmen get strong enough to kill ten each, which is unlikely, that’d barely be over half the angels.”
“I still have a few thousand Respawn Crystals I got from Rosebriar,” Vincent said.
“Yeah, and the angels respawn in one hour,” Quinn countered. “A war with them would last a lot longer than that. I’m sorry, Vince. You know I’m up for pretty much any challenge, but even I don’t think this is winnable. At least not in the next hundred thirty years.”
“Excuse me!” a voice called, “but I might be able to help.”
Vincent saw golden light twinkling in the air, forming the mouth that had spoken. A moment later, Archie’s head formed. The body of the traveling trader slowly put itself together on the Jump Gate. Since Isaac Bell was still bound to Archie, another wave of golden light appeared to reconstruct him as well. The developer groaned with pain as his body was completed.