67 (5)Messiah's path
After a too-short night of sleep, Apophis reconnected.
System: Welcome to the Galaxy of Horus! Your character evolution has completed.
Apophis was the first to return to the game. He took the opportunity to inspect his character menu.
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╟─╼ CHARACTER
║ ╰╼[Name] : Apophis
║ ╰╼[LvL] : 22
║ ╰╼[Tier] : C+ {Ascendant}
║ ╰╼[Class] : Esper
║ ╰╼[Biology] : Male Zetark Pureblood {Evolution Level: 3}
║ ╰╼[Guild] : Eclipse (Leader)
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╟─╼ SOUL
║ ╰╼[Host Soul] Enclabossa
║ ╰╼[Energy] : 3000 (+50%) x2 = 9000
║ ╰╼[Alignment] : -188 {Very Dark}
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╟─╼ STATS
║ ╰╼[Strength] 350 (+10%) x2 = 770 STR
║ ╰╼[Intelligence] 350 (+10%) x2 = 770 INT
║ ╰╼[Agility] 350 (+10%) x2 = 770 AGI
║ ╰╼[Dexterity] 350 (+10%) x2 = 770 DEX
║ ╰╼[Luck] 1 LUK
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╟─╼ BOOK SKILLS
║ ╰╼~Berserk (lvl 1)~
║ ╰╼~Cosmic Materialization (lvl 1)~
║ ╰╼~Dark Cosmic Meditation (lvl 2)~
║ ╰╼~Eternal Flame (lvl 3)~
║ ╰╼~Lord of Flames (lvl 1)~
║ ╰╼~Susanoo (lvl 1)~
║ ╰╼~Zooanthropy (lvl 1)~
╟─╼ TALENT TREE SKILLS
║ ╰╼~Energy Regeneration (15 pts)~
║ ╰╼~Firebending (50 pts)~
║ ╰╼~Telekinesis (10 pts)~
║ ╰╼~Waterbending (25 pts)~
╟─╼ PASSIVE SKILLS
║ ╰╼[ Archaeologist ]
║ ╰╼[ Genocidal ]
║ ╰╼[ Warrior-Esper ]
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╟─╼ EQUIPMENT
║ ╰╼[Galactic Coins] : 13,000 GC
║ ╰╼[Complete Zetark Battle Armor (Rare)]
║ ╰╼[God Tzeentch's Rings of Power (Legendary)]
║ ╰╼[Ring of the God-Emperor Apophis (Common)]
║ ╰╼[Zetark Nobility Uniform (Epic)]
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╟─╼ SUMMARY
Your power grows day by day. You will one day be a peerless fighter, but with every step, your soul darkens further. You are on the path to becoming an evil god.
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It seemed a minor update to the interface had happened, now displaying Apophis's status as a guild leader. What was much more impressive was his increase in overall power. These were truly exceptional stats for a character at LvL 22! He'd risen from the Rank C- to Rank C+ power tier in such a short time.
At this point, Apophis was, without a doubt, the most powerful player in the game. Nevertheless, he had to continue building his momentum if he wanted to keep this lead. This would be extremely complicated now that the SuperGuilds had access to the infinite resources of outer space. They would focus on cultivating and strengthening their elite players to the detriment of ordinary members, who were just there to be exploited.
It was a terrible arrangement for the regular members of these guilds… but, since they got paid for their efforts, these minions just accepted the situation while dreaming of becoming elite players themselves one day.
Only the smallest handful of them would ever rise to that level while the rest clung to their hopeless dreams forever.
As Apophis was lost in thought, Lotus reconnected and appeared on the wall where she'd previously vanished.
Apophis got up, rushed across the top of the wall towards Lotus, and kissed her savagely. To avoid drama, they'd hidden their relationship from the rest of Eclipse, so it had been almost five days since the two had exchanged a tender moment.
Lotus seemed quite happy to see him again, but after this exchange of kisses and hugs, she said, "Apophis, I have to tell you something that will be hard to hear."
She hesitated for a moment before continuing. "I… wish to leave the guild after this Dungeon. I only joined because you asked me to help you start the guild, but the playstyle is simply not for me. I did not start playing this game because I wanted to sit in a corner and attack a helpless enemy for hours and hours because someone else decided that it was the optimal strategy. I promise that I'm not resentful towards you in any way… Only, I don't want to depend on anyone. If I join a guild in the future, I think it must be as a leader."
Apophis was disappointed, but not surprised. Lotus had been extremely independent in his original life, after all. He was annoyed by her mention of farming the Naga Queen encounter, though. Apophis knew for a fact that Lotus was inclined to this sort of strategy herself. It seemed that she truly took issue with being commanded to act like a turret for hours instead of making the decision herself…
Then he had an idea.
"I understand perfectly," said Apophis. "Thank you for telling me. Actually, I have a solution that might satisfy us both! Take over from me as guild leader of Eclipse. I never really wanted to found a guild, and I'm not interested in the day-to-day business management stuff. I only started it because the benefits of a guild are so great. Well, what do you say?"
Lotus was astonished. "I… Wow. I'll think about it, I promise."
Then their conversation shifted to more ordinary topics. The two lovers spent a few minutes flirting, but then Hulk returned to the game, abruptly forcing them to separate.
Before long, everyone had returned, and Apophis addressed them all. "Look, I know we've all had very little sleep, but we need to stay focused on completing the Dungeon! Remember, death here means you lose your character forever. But also remember that we've been able to outsmart the Dungeon once so far! If we stay alert and use all our resources to their full potential, I know we can succeed."
The group descended the wooden stairs to the ground level and made their way to the gigantic door which the Naga Queen had guarded. The door was too huge to open through ordinary strength, but Apophis summoned his ~Susanoo~ and was finally able to shove it open.
Behind the door was a vast, sand-strewn graveyard that stretched as far as the eye could see! Of course, with all the fog, that wasn't exactly a great distance. In fact, once the party moved through the door, everyone noticed at once that the fog seemed even heavier than before. The atmosphere was terribly oppressive.
The group resumed their marching formation with Hulk at the front, then advanced through the graveyard.
As they walked, monumental figures became visible.
They were the infamous Specters, beings which appeared in every Dungeon of Nightmare difficulty and higher. At least, they were infamous in Apophis's first life. They were faceless, shadowed, motionless figures who observed those who intruded in these pockets of reality.
These ones stood by the side of the road, and Apophis realized that he'd never seen them so close! Nevertheless, they were not in the least aggressive, and let the party pass in wary peace.
As the group remained vigilant, a woman's voice called out not far down the road.
That was the same cry that they'd heard at the beginning of the Dungeon! It was much louder now, sounding as though it was very close by. The party readied themselves, preparing for a fight!
Yet, as they moved slowly forward, the group came upon not a wailing woman but a deep ravine. A suspension bridge stretched across it…
Guarded by a hovering grim reaper wielding a sinister scythe.
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╟─╼ BOSS MONSTER
║ ╰╼[Name]: Guardian of Truth
║ ╰╼[LvL]: 200
║ ╰╼[Rank]: S
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This was the second boss?! However, though it clearly noticed the party approaching, it made no move to attack them.
Since Hulk was the tank, he cautiously stepped in front of the boss and then tried to cross over onto the suspension bridge.
The Guardian of Truth tilted his scythe in one graceful gesture, laying it across Hulk's neck!
Hulk froze as the boss spoke in a gravelly voice. "Only those who have been chosen by the Prophet of Truth can pass," it said.
Hulk responded hesitantly, "What must I do to be chosen?"
"You must answer a question."
Relieved, Hulk said, "I'm listening!"
The boss's voice grew louder and more thunderous as it asked, "What are the teachings of the Prophet?!"
The Hulk thought for about ten seconds, then said, "You must always tell the truth?"
The boss barely moved, but only tilted its arm, pulling all the weight of its massive scythe across Hulk's throat.
The Boxer toppled to the ground, his head rolling silently into the chasm before him.
System: Party member "Hulk" has died. Player "Hulk" has left your guild "Eclipse." Player "Hulk" has left your friend list.
Everyone stared in shock at the decapitated corpse on the ground!
Hulk had died in a mere moment, and his character had been permanently deleted because they were in an IronMan Dungeon! How could they possibly win now?! Who ever heard of a bunch of ranged players beating a Dungeon without a tank?
Everyone still alive was thinking the same thing: there's no way we can beat this boss.
It was a real dead end.
