Beginning after the end ( 2 )

Nash and Esmeralda instantly left the Throne Room to the highest point in the Holy Castle Camelot.

Although the Camelot Holy Castle is a castle type dungeon, most of its structure appears above the ground, unlike other dungeons.

Holy Castle Camelot has a structure consisting of 5 floors, 3 floors are above ground level and two other floors are underground.

The ground floor is the Justice Floor, the floor inside which is located various kinds of facilities that can be used such as kitchens, dining rooms, NPC rooms and so on. Above it is the Floor of Honor, the place where the members of the Five Pillars of the World are live. And finally, the top floor, the floor where the Throne Room is, the Divinity Floor.

Meanwhile, the two floors underground, are the Judgment Floor which is just below the surface of the ground where the execution room is located. And finally, the lowest floor of the Camelot Holy Castle, the Dark Floor, the place of Camelot's hidden and secret things placed, like the Spawned NPCs who were from the beginning were the innate NPCs from the dungeon itself.

Each floor also has their respective rulers, Esmeralda in the Divinity Floor, Kirameki Man in the Honor Floor, JackLock77 in the Justice Floor, FireisHot in the Judgment Floor, and Nash George Faust in the Dark Floor.

In Yggdrasil there are 3 types of NPCs, the first is Spawned NPCs, this NPC type are entities that are produced by the guild base. In other words, they pop-up automatically from the dungeons. With a maximum level of 30, they have enough power to protect the stronghold. POPs don't need gold to summon, but have maintenance costs depending on their type. Holy Castle Camelot has this type of NPC which currently all gather at the lowest floor, the Dark Floor, and he protects the castle in the event of a sudden attack by both the Player or sudden invasion.

The second is Mercenary NPCs, this type are entities that players could buy out through use of YGGDRASIL gold. It could also be summoned by spending guild finances.

And the last is a custom NPC, if a guild has a castle level guild base, guilds that have will be allowed 700 levels to be distributed among the number of NPCs they want. Because the highest level in YGGDRASIL is 100, with that provision, the guild can make 5 level 100 NPCs and 4 level 50 NPCs, or any combination thereof. They can be customized freely, with their power level depending on the overall limit of NPC data provided by the dungeon or in other ways such as in-game cash. When designing an original NPC, one can use customization tools for AI, levels, weaponry, and other equipment. This includes clothing and appearance too. NPCs in this type have strengths that are above the 2 previous NPCs, therefore normally this NPC types are usually placed in key locations.

Knights of Round Table is an example of a Custom NPC. There are 5 of them who are LV 100 NPCs, and that five Knights serve each of the World Pillars.

The five knights are, the King of Luminous Victory, Arthur Pendragon who serves Esmeralda, made by herself. Knight of the Lake, Lancelot du Lac who serves Kirameki Man. The Holy Knights of the Sun, Gawain Serving JackLock77. The Camelot Great Magician, Merlin who serves FireisHot. And the Woundless Knight, Agravain who served Nash.

Actually, Agravain is not Nash's own NPC, it was a gift from Esmeralda for himself as a gift for modifying the Camelot structure to be more friendly and easier to use.

The Character settings were also changed to serve Nash, although the story of the background, appearance, etc. was all set directly by Esmeralda.

After reaching the top of the highest tower invCamelot Holy Castle, Nash and Esmeralda then sat on the edge of the foundation of the tower. The top of the tower was the place where a large Golden Bell was placed, which would sound loudly and alert the NPC Spawn during the Invasion of Camelot.

* Breeze *

The wind blows, Camelot's location in Yggdrasil is in the southern of one of the 9 Worlds, the world where humans live, Midgard. Actually, Midgard was not a friendly place for Nash, mainly because he was someone from the Heteromorphic or Mixed Race.

Heteromorphic Race in the early years of Yggdrasil being the target of PK-er from players who have Human and demi-human races, because they were targeting the rare and strong classes that could be obtained from killing the Heteromorphic Race .

They also did not get any penalty because in Yggdrasil, players with Heteromorphic Race like Nash were counted as Monsters.

Looking up at Midgard's evening sky, Nash thought in his mind.

'I spent half of my life on this game, and now everything will just end. How many years has it been, 9 years, no ... 10 years, that is quite a long time. '

As Nash was deep in thought, Esmeralda who stood behind him spoke.

"Come to think of it, it's been 5 years since the five of us met, right?"

"Hmm ... come to think of it, you are right, I still remember when you were at your lowest point when you and your guild attacked one of the biggest Dungeons in Yggdrasil in Helheim, the Great Tomb of Nazarick."

"Ah! I remember that bad memory, I admit, the difficulty level of that damn dungeon was Hardcore, I still remember, * sheesh * when I was the only one left and all the members who carried out the raid that day were killed, even though we just entered until to the Fourth Floor, we experienced a one-sided slaughter. My sword was broken, all the consumption items I carried were left with no trace, there was no hope at that time ... "

Esmeralda then continued what she said.

"... And when I was desperate, you appeared out of nowhere, like a hero with a glowing horse, you killed the Giant White Bat to save me, I still remember that, thanks Nash."

Hearing Esmeralda's words that made him sound like a good person, Nash only said in a bitter tone.

"You don't need to thank me, after all I was only aiming an EXP to raise my Job Class Level, and it wasn't something like the knight of justice who saved you or something."

"Well I know, you have mentioned it many times, but still that does not change the fact that you saved me from losing Levels and Items, because at that time my Guild was in critical condition."

"Even though you all finally broke up," Nash said in cruel and piercing words, though Esmeralda was not offended at all.

"You're right, that was my biggest mistake as a leader. I was incompetent in managing my members, I was too selfish and overconfident in my leadership even though it was just bullshit."

Nash shook his head in a stiff, systemic motion.

"It's not your own fault Esmeralda-san, Glorius Pendragon broke up because of their greediness, those jerks just want everything for themselves, I don't blame you for failing to lead bastards like them."

"But still ..."

Nash then stood up from his seat, glanced at Esmeralda and raised his hand.

"Rather than that, what if we return to the throne room, after all it's only 5 minutes left, before the server shutdown."

Nash glanced at the column at the top right of his screen that indicated the time.

[23: 54: 32]

Seeing that, Esmeralda took Nash's hand and as before, Nash used his Embodiment of Shadow to immediately move to the Throne Room.

After arriving, Esmeralda then looked back, towards the Guild Weapon. The greatness of Rhongomyniad or Ron can impress anyone, no exception, Esmeralda.

As a otaku of the Legend of King Arthur, stretched out her hand towards Ron who was floating in the air, and as if it was attracted by gravity, the Guild Weapons which was about 2 meters long moved towards Esmeralda's hand.

The large spear was like an impatient object as it headed towards its master, Rhongomyniad, a symbol of pride from Glorius Pendragon, no, the Five Pillars of the World, again held by his true master after so long displayed in the Camelot throne room.

* Tap *

Nash had also sat back in the place where he was supposed to sit, to round up the number of Knights of Round Table, to 32 Knights. Nash was also included in the structure of the holy knight.

And then, Esmeralda entered her usual "Queen Mode", she turned towards the Knights and pointed Rhongomyniad into the air.

"O Camelot knights, gather in front of me and show the attitude of a true warrior."

By giving orders to the NPCs, all NPCs including Nash stood up from their sitting positions in a uniform and synchronized manner. Even surprisingly, Nash did it like other NPCs. He was used to it, facing and meeting a chuunibyou like Esmeralda every day for many years. Make him familiar with his attitude as one of 32 Knights of the Round Table.

Then the 32 people started walking before stopping in front of the throne's stairs, they all knelt in unison even though no one was commanding. Except for Nash, he didn't kneel and instead teleported behind Esmeralda, right in the shadows of his throne.

5 Flags fluttering in the ceiling of the room, the five flags describe each of the weapon used by the Pillars of the world, silver flags with spear motifs symbolizing Esmeralda, blue flags with sword motifs symbolizing Kirameki Man, green flags with bow motifs symbolizing JackLock77, pink flags with a floral motif symbolizing FireisHot, and a black flag with a Twin Dagger motif symbolizing Nash.

The five flags are symbols of pride and honor from the 5 Pillars of the World.

"O Camelot knights, this world is nearing its end because every meeting there will be a farewell."

Seeing that, Nash felt like he was currently walking naked in public, seeing Esmeralda's act of giving a farewell speech make him want to bury his entire head in the ocean in shame.

'Esmeralda-san, isn't this embarrassing enough already !? Please stop, this is for your own good too ... '

Nash could not help but only sweat because he saw Esmeralda speaking as if the NPCs in front of her were living humans.

"For these few years, you have dedicated your body, mind, and soul to the glory of Camelot, therefore ... as the first and last ruler of the Holy Castle of Camelot, I thank you from the bottom of my heart."

"Thank you, all of you."

However, there is no answer as expected, after all they are only Artificial Intelligence that moves and talks according to the system.

[23: 57: 33]

Esmeralda then turned and began walking with graceful steps towards her throne. She then stroked her throne.

Esmeralda then sat on her throne, she was aware of Nash's presence behind her but she realized that in truth Nash was a shadow and darkness itself, so she ignored it.

"Arthur."

When Esmeralda said the word, one of the knights that knelt down, then stood up and climbed the stairs until he reached Esmeralda.

He is the leader of the Knights of the Round Table, in the original legend, he is the king of Camelot itself. The King of Luminous Victory, Arthur Pendragon.

His appearance was a handsome man in his early 20s, with short blond hair and sapphire blue eyes, his jaw firm and his body well-built. His attitude and appearance is a true knight and the definition of a perfect man.

Arthur wore a luxurious and elegant gold armor, even among LV 100 players it was a level item that was very rarely found. Items that are in manufacture require several conditions that are quite difficult to fulfill, Divine Class items.

Arthur is the strongest custom NPC in Camelot. Even he can face several LV 100 players at once.

It was not separated from the process and material used by Esmeralda to make Arthur. The specialty lies at the core of Arthur's NPC itself.

Esmeralda used an item, a world item, to make this masterpiece, Caloric Stone.

Caloric Stone is a unique ingredient and one of YGGDRasil's hidden World Items. This item can be obtained by collecting and storing large amounts of certain types of perismatic ore and then by removing a certain amount.

For this reason, Arthur's strength is not mere nonsense.

However, that is not striking from Arthur's appearance. But the sword is wrapped around his waist. It was one of the top-level Divine Items that were said to be able to rival the power of even World Items.

Swords made using very rare data crystals were obtained by Nash and others during a search.

The sword was later named by Esmeralda directly, Excalibur, the Sword of Victory. In accordance with the legend of King Arthur itself.

"Yes, my queen."

Arthur then knelt in front of Esmeralda. However, Esmeralda was silent while staring at the form of her idol and symbol of admiration, she only wanted to see her masterpiece for the last time before the world was 'destroyed'.

[23: 59: 01]

Nash, who stood at one with the shadows, was only silent counting the last seconds of the game that had accompanied his youth.

He then thought in his mind.

'Aah ~ ironic to think about it, what exactly am I spending my allowance on and part-time work for a game that will end like this ...

But I have no regret, at all. It might not be useful and seem futile but, all the memories that I feel here, both beautiful and bad memories, are all realities and bring a part of my life. '

[23: 59: 31]

'Ah, after all of this over, I will go to sleep because I have to get up early tomorrow, I must succeed with the job interview that I will do tomorrow, I hope this time it works. '

[23: 59: 40]

"Hopefully we can meet again in the real world, Esmeralda-san."

"I hope so, Nash."

[23: 59: 51]

And with 10 seconds left, Nash began to close his eyes and prepare to be forcibly ejected from the game.

[23: 59: 56]

[... 57]

[...: 58]

[...: 59]

'Goodbye, Yggdrasil'

And Nash thought that it was time to take off his helmet but-

[00: 00: 00]

[00: 00: 01]

[...: 02]

[... 03: 3]

Nash then opened his eyes and the sight he saw surprised him, he did not return to his room, and still stood behind the throne of the Camelot queen at Yggdrasil.

' Hah!? What happened? '

Nash confirmed the time and there was nothing wrong with that, everything was correct, it was past midnight and the scheduled closing time.

[00: 00: 24]

'Are the Server Shutdown is postponed? Or maybe they canceled the Shutdown? '

Then a woman's voice came, which belonged to Esmeralda in front of him.

"Nash, what happened?"

However, that voice, and the expression Nash saw on Esmeralda's face was no longer like the robot he used to see from behind the scenes of Yggdrasil. It was truly lively and expresive, and made Nash confused.

"I-i don't know."

However, their conversation was interrupted by the presence of a new voice they did not recognize. The voice carried a feeling of respect and obedience, the voice of a charismatic man.

"Is there a problem, my queen?"

And when they saw the source of the sound, both Nash and Esmeralda were speechless, their eyes widened in surprise.

That happened because, the owner of the voice was none other than the NPC who should only speak according to the system, that voice came from Arthur Pendragon.