World Declaration (pt.2)

Two weeks felt like eternity, if not for the end of the days then I would've been lost in this dayless, nightless struggle with one default setting of light constantly.

"Emily, eyes up!"

"!!??"

A giant black knight raised his shield to protect his Master. The Beast dug its claws into the shield, snarling and growling menacingly. The creature was familiar in its appearance, as it's no other than the Black Beast that the Demons have faced. Well, an image of it to be exact.

[Faleron, Stray Beast of the Forest]

[HP: 74,844/100,000]

It's Faleron, with the exact same Stats and Skills with the one beside Sora. This is the fourth room, the Unforgiving Forest, a simulation for the fourth floor's trials. It has four regions like the fourth floor, all in the same direction as well.

"What's the matter?"

"It's… nothing. I got your back!"

Emily Jenra, the one attempting the impossible trials by New World standard, was in deep and dull thoughts. However, her current situation didn't let her have that. So, she brightened up and began her offense against their current foe.

'It's fast… too fast for Aizar.'

The Beast was too fast, and was the unsurpassable wall that is stopping Emily's advance for a week now. After the Dummy Training with Rashar and saying goodbye to him along with her Mage Trainer, she advances to the next Training, which is a swimming course that's double as hide and seek. A giant ocean monster, a Leviathan, swims around while she's left defenseless, and naked as well.

Everywhere was water, so it wasn't like she's going to need clothes for the Training. She took 4 days to clear it, and after that was the third Training, navigating through the dark tunnels and while being chased by rock-like monsters.

Now, the fourth challenge. It's the 'prey versus predator' trope, using Faleron as the example.

"Grrahhh!!"

Faleron roared and leaped up into the air. Its fists suddenly sprouted three metal-like blades, its eyes gleamed a blood red color, and it bared its fangs in full view. Gravity eventually pulls it down and Faleron prepares to dice Emily into chunks.

'Not this time!'

"Shield!"

She deployed a blue shield around herself. The protection withstood the Beast's landing, but didn't stop the claws from penetrating through. Now up close, Faleron's size compared to Emily was like a child to an American adult with an above average height.

"Grah!"

Aizar jumps and ram Faleron away with him. The Beast lands precariously and rolls on the ground, while Aizar stands on two legs and on guard.

"Fire Blaze!"

Emily launches a multitude of flames into the air toward the faltered Beast. The volatile projectiles weren't really accurate, as they arc down at random. But, even if the spread was bad, the explosion more than made up for the inaccuracy.

"Gaaarhhh!!!"

Faleron screeched and howled in pain. Fire was obviously potent to his fur, and it seared and tingled his flesh uncomfortably. It rises up quickly, gazing at the wall that is Aizar and then to Emily in the back as it walks on all fours to the side. It circles slowly, the flames already put out and claws withdrawn. Its menacing eyes were serene, displaying a calculative and calm nature amidst the beastly instincts.

"Shield… annoying… flames… kill…"

It made audible noises and comprehensible words with its vocal cord, a deep and growly voice came out as the result. It once again stands on its two hindlegs, displaying yet again its massive towering height of 2m43.

"Eliminate, kill… flesh torn asunder, blood sprayed across the green serene ground, and lifeless body.''

Surprisingly more comprehensible and even formed sentences came out of its mouth. Then, it crouches, left hand put in front and right hand in the air ready to strike. Its claws dug into the earth below, and the right knuckles protruded its set of blades.

"Accelerate Speed, Lesser Strength."

A red and bloody aura envelopes Faleron, with an iron-like smell spread to the air. The eyes now dyed once again gleamed bloody red as instincts take over.

"Grrr…"

A low growl. Then, its hindlegs kicked off to the left. Aizar saw this a little late, but was still able to catch it to respond. He moved to intercept, but that was the wrong course of action as Faleron had anticipated it with whatever intelligence it had.

"Guahahaha!"

The Beast laughed, mocking Aizar of his mistake as it suddenly and abruptly shifted its direction to the right. It passed by Aizar's left, and the knight made one last ditch effort to sway Faleron away.

"Flow Boost, Empowered Slash!"

Aizar accelerates his speed, turns around with his sword glowing an orange hue, and slashes as quickly as he can to inflict damage preferably to Faleron's legs or thighs. Aizar's effort, however, was just a last ditch effort that brought no result or little fruition.

"Death!"

Faleron shouted as it rushed at Emily, who caught up slowly because of the different speed dilation caused by Agility.

"Shield!"

She refreshes her protection out of instinct seeing Faleron's fast approaching figure. He was like a bullet in Emily's view, and his blades impaled through the shield with ease. His mouth formed some kind of smile, as he tears through the shield like shredding paper.

"Freezing Protection!"

At this point, one would notice that she wasn't performing Magic, but rather Wild Magic because there's no Magic Eyes being formed.

{Emily Jenra}

[Level: 64/100 | EXP: 4799/6400]

[Status: Mortal]

[Race: Elven]

{Statistics}

Strength: 37

Dexterity: 54

Vitality: 30

Agility: 48

Attunement: 75

Intelligence: 56

Wisdom: 18

Survivor: 8

[Health Points: 60/60]

[Mana Points: 54/215]

{Title}

[Saintess Candidate] ; [Miraculous Survivor] ; [Awakened]

Anyway, her body gets encased within a massive amount of freezing ice that bites at anything that reaches near. But of course, this was just a temporary matter for Faleron.

"Failure…!!"

But, matters don't get resolved that easily. Faleron was then tackled by Aizar after having captured Emily. He was knocked away, but promptly stood upright again and disappear into the woods.

"Next… time."

Faleron's voice whispers clearly through the air as he disappears, leaving only Aizar's gaze to try and track him again to no avail.

'Looks like we're in the clear, for now.'

Aizar turns to the frozen prison holding Emily, who's closing her eyes tightly by the looks of it. He walks toward the block of ice and taps on it, making Emily move her eyelids which was surprising considering she's encapsulated in ice.

"You can come out now, the threat has retreated for now."

The ice broke after he said that. Out came Emily who's breathing heavily.

"Hahh… hahh… that was really scary."

"Indeed, that thing is scary."

Aizar spoke with a grim tone. As a frequent Shadow, he had seen his Lord, Saurosh Koravek Solomon, on the field multiple times with his own eyes. And every time, he would see massacre upon massacre, with most being from one of his Pets, Faleron that's dubbed as Black Death amongst the other Generals, Lords, and Kings.

'Swift, but sometimes gruesome and merciless. An effective killer sometimes as a beast or a schemer with a plan of attack as simple as a lone wolf's.'

Faleron's fame was infamous, and that fight just now, he could feel that Faleron was holding back a massive amount of his power.

'He's toying with us… from the very beginning.'

Aizar saw no chance with Emily being such a low level and him only being a Lord Shadow. At most, one would need 5 Kings in order to outmatch Faleron and overwhelm him.

'Shit… this might break her.'

Repeated failures are sometimes a good thing if one can see their goal approaching, but it can sometimes break one's spirit if they're put in the dark for so long. Emily has experienced no shortage of failures for a very long time. Two weeks might seem short but with the intensity it might as well have felt like a year, especially inside this place where there's no day or night indication.

'I must cheer her up, and help her as much as I can.'

Aizar was, by all means, helping with his utmost capability at the beginning of the fourth Training. But, it doesn't seem to be enough. So, he needs to take it up a notch.

'I'll need to unfold my Skills, not that it'll do much of anything against Black Death.'

Aizar winces at their current predicament. For they cannot leave the fourth Training until they have successfully slain Faleron, or force him to forfeit.

'Let's see where this'll go.'

.....

Eldan Furthif, a miracle being able to make it this far into the first floor as a level 87. For reference, only Players of level 190 and above, traveling in a group of 8-10 people may have any chance at surviving this floor's Stage Guardian. Because by then, they would've made some more solid foundation to their Build and gets supplemented further with other Players in teamwork.

Eldan, although weak now, is still a remarkable subject for surviving this far. His near deaths, fully countable on both hands now, is what stimulated his unnatural growth by New World standard. His determination, will, and dread kept him going. His greed to redeem himself motivates his mind to correct this predicament, acting like this is his punishment for his sins.

A mind, broken and fractured, may think of any comfort to soothe and stop the encroaching darkness.

'Ow ow ow!'

Right now, Eldan is getting patched up by Ghe, the only neutral NPC within the first floor. White powder heated up with hot fire hands. It solidifies and gives his injuries a relieving feeling. This was done to his right arm, left and right leg, and the entire front of his body. His injuries were given to him by his newest challenger, the Mini Boss Krager.

A human undead with a vengeance, weak against women though. He's a Paladin with an unorthodox Build of doing full on damage instead of increasing his defensive capabilities. He still has some tankiness from being a Paladin Build, but he's mostly into the damage spectrum. Picking Skills like Charge Smite, Enrage, Slay Evil, and Enforcing Justice for example. No Paladins build all of those in their kit, maybe afterwards but not when you're only level 230-ish.

'He's a tough opponent, doesn't move around much but has great area coverage. He's an engage-type upon getting 35 feet close, and a nuisance from all the way across the room in range. There's simply no way to counter him, so I'll have to avoid him for now.'

Eldan has been doing a lot, and emphasis on 'a lot', of exploring. He practically explored 70% of the entire first floor which only seasoned veterans who have a lot of time might try and do. But for only a level 87, this achievement alone is very talented.

'I'll explore some more, and when I feel I'm ready, I'll challenge the weakest out of all of them. At least for now, there's 6 more to find.'

For now, Eldan has only explored and discovered 16 out of 22 Mini Bosses in the first floor. Many of which are Humans, second is Beast and third is the Elf, Arachnae, and Minotaur that he only found one of each. Some still have flesh, albeit decayed, and some are just plain old bones.

'How did they get in here…'

Eldan's mind, now out of the gutter that is depression and thinking straight, begins to question this place's origin.

'It's in the Easternmost part of the forest, where practically nothing interesting dwells, yet there's this place. It's not of elvish origins, obviously, and since there's life here it doesn't make sense for it to be a ruin. Outside, sure but when inside, it's like a different world. Now, this place… where even is this place?'

He speculates, theorizes, but everything is just in the realm of imagination.

'No, there is an answer. The person that… knight king told me to find in order to resolve my sins, Saurosh something… he has the answer, most definitely.'

Eldan was now done being patched up, as Ghe pats him on the back.

"You're done, now get out there again. Your debt is increasing, so do your best to repay it back fully.''

"Yes, of course.''

Eldan puts away these thoughts for now, as duties call once again. He goes to the exit point, the softly glowing blue eyed skull. He put his hand in front of the skull and his mind expanded throughout the first floor. After a few times interacting with this skull, he found a neat gimmick to how it functions. Basically a waypoint, enabling him to go anywhere that he can remember.

'Let's resume.'

He gets dragged down and out from the room, only leaving Ghe to whatever she's doing next.

'Hopefully he makes it, I'm wasting precious bone frags for that dumbass.'

She grumbled and frowned, but inside she was a little glad to have a purpose again. Assisting others, instead of being in their way.

'Am I doing a good job, mom, dad?'

...

'I don't know why but every fight the entrance has just been left open for some reason.'

In his exploration, not once did the entryway get blocked up to trap him inside. It was very odd, and suspicious.

'What is causing this?'

Eldan continues on wandering the dark pathways with only his white flame torch lighting the way. He thinks of anything to occupy his mind, making it stray away from the negative things.

'Strategy… life… fuck, everything's shit.'

He can't, he just can't think of anything past his sins anymore. Not of his boring, shattered life filled with nothing but duty, not of his family who abandoned him and left him to rot, hopeful faces they had. Hate and confusion still lingers in his mind about those events, showing the inability to move on from that life. A dream, he jokingly thought this whole thing is.

'Damn…'

His eyes looked dull like drywall. But, his peaceful stroll stops here, as dangers lurk around everywhere in this place.

"Raaahh!"

"Out of my sight.''

In the past, he would've been on edge and jumped back, guard up and eyes sharp. But now, he just unsheathe his sword and slash apart the ambushing skeletons with precision and deadliness. Most of them got decapitated, while some got shattered to bits from the force he exerted.

He sheathes the blade back nonchalantly, and continues onward without a care about the event. He let out a sigh, and a loud sound reverberated that caught his attention.

'Shit, is that thing on the hunt?'

Even if he's powerful enough to handle most of the mobs, there's still those that he can't face quite just yet. These are special mobs, those that have evolved and became like Field Bosses. And this one with the intensifying sound was especially dangerous.

'Reaper…'

He quickly runs the opposite direction of the approaching sound, as confronting it would only prove to be fatal to him. He still feels inadequate, so he shies away from battling it just yet.

Reapers are an evolved form of a skeleton. It's an amalgamation of different skeletons and rare bone fragments, usually spawning quickly after and exiting a Mini Boss chamber. The Reaper that's on the hunt is from Cawojin's death, and this Reaper had a particular sense in tracking Eldan's movements across the first floor.

'Let's hurry, I need to cover more grounds.'

It's funny how he already knows every pathway, but yet he still explores the place. Gaining a map from Ghe is already a good thing, as that allows one to navigate the ever changing first floor.

The first floor Bone Mausoleum had a special feature that after about 5 hours of staying there, it shifts ever so slightly, unnoticeable even unless one's very sensitive to tremors or has photographic memory.

Ghe had to make new ones, or at least an accurate one with her special assortment of inks. Eldan looks at the map once again to assess where he is currently. After making detours, avoiding the Reaper especially, he made it to yet another Mini Boss chamber.

'Here it is… let's go inside.'

He takes his chances again to enter, hoping for a positive outcome maybe. He was hopeful, like last time, the time before that and so on. Nothing but hope to drown out a desperate feeling of maybe, just maybe, this will become his grave some day in the future, near future even.

'...No, I should be optimistic. C'mon now, don't be down in the big moments.'

Eldan talks himself up, motivation, excitement, hype. He tries to be optimistic and enters, a smile on his face.

'...'

Like usual, the room was pitch black. No light to illuminate it, and he had to walk toward the center in order to see the danger that he's about to face.

'Please be someone easy, please be someone easy…'

As he walks further in, and in, and in some more. He couldn't see the one he's about to face off against, and he reaches the other side of the room.

'What the…'

He turns around and walks back to where the entryway is, and it's still open. Then, he thought this was Cawojin's room.

'Must be…'

He gazes back at the room, and then decides why not tour the place again for old times sake. He saw that, after two weeks of not being here, the place recovered the slash marks on the ground and also the… bloodied spots where he lied and his arm used to be.

'It disappeared.'

He can't see the severed arm, no matter where he looks.

'Hahh… maybe I should've taken it with me? Wonder if Ghe could've reattached it for me if I did.'

Eldan's mind began to wander elsewhere. But, a singular sound wakes him up from that state.

'Shit, ringing!'

Eldan was at the far corner, and ran for the entryway fast. His breath was already bated, showing how nervous he is.

"Co…war…d…''

A screeching, almost piercing voice resounded and from around the corner, the Reaper made its appearance. A tall, lanky figure with a katana blade held in reverse in its left hand. A skull that's missing a portion of its right side, and its left eye shone a red orb faintly.

'Shit!'

The moment the Reaper saw him, it charged with blitzing speed that made it look like it teleported. The blade swung upward, preparing to separate him into two pieces diagonally.

'Kuh!'

Eldan blocks with a sword strike, but the opposition's force was too much for him to handle properly. He was knocked airborne, and his landing wasn't quite sticking.

"Kuack!"

He let out a gasp as his back hit the ground hard. He slowly got up, eyesight slightly disorientating.

"Hehehe… co…ward…"

The Reaper approaches yet again, but this time slower, like he's enjoying the moment.

But, with one sudden movement from Eldan which was a sword draw, the monster blitzed forward with its speed once more.

''Co…ward…"

"Grah!"

Eldan unleashes another, newly learned Skill from his multiple fights. He's able to shape his aura, which previously was his arrows, into arc projectiles with each charged swing or coat himself and empowering his base Stats.

Both Skills go by the names Soul Slash and Soul Power. They're part of a choice from the Classes of Sword Monk, Paladin, and Ethereal Warrior to name a few.

Anyway, Eldan shines in brilliant yellow mixed with red vibrant particles. He pushes the sword away successfully, but his nose bled in return, showing that his limit has been reached. He continues on the offense, slashing the Reaper apart bone by bone, fragment by fragment.

'I need… to escape.'

Even though the situation may look favorable, some could say downright advantageous, but truthfully the battle was a losing one.

"Sword… Massacre.''

Its blade lights up in an intense red. Then, it quickly maneuvers around to Eldan's backside, sword threatening to end the fight right then and there.

'Crap…!'

Eldan's leg muscles tightened up in response to a massive dose of adrenaline being forced and concentrated there, his Survival Stat responding to the impending doom.

''Kuh!"

He let out a squeal as the sword narrowly missed him. His pupils dilated and his whole entire body was now administered with adrenaline. He backs away to fully visualize his situation, and due to the situation his heart rate and vision hasten and slowed respectively.

"Gurahhh!"

The Reaper lash out aggressively, letting out frenzied roars and cries without a vocal cord. Intense killing intent fills the place, and Eldan can't leave because the Reaper just blocks the path before he could even take three steps toward it. So for now, his best options are to battle until the Reaper either gets too damaged and enters phase 2, or tries again and again to escape.

'Shit, too fast…'

'Crap! Too close!'

'To the left!'

And in desperate times, one must try both solutions to guarantee the most success… even if it's slim. He battles, he dodges, and most importantly, he sweats a lot. It was almost ridiculous the amount of bodily fluid that escaped his body, not mentioning the yellow colored one that was its own pile in a place.

"Soul Slash!"

Their battle rages on, but theirs is insignificant compared to what's about to unfold in the world.

...…..

"Everyone, you all are tasked with charging in and doing as much chaos as possible. Setting trees on fire and destroying the ground is a good example. However, the battle won't be smooth sailing. Elves will appear and try to kill you, so stay alive, stay with someone if possible. Take care, and good luck out there."

A hologram made from Mana disappears and the large metal gate in front of them opens up. From here onward marks the opening and beginning of the Conquest, hosted yearly and always filled with bloodshed from both sides. Those who survive get to earn a split amount of money based on the number of people, or if you're the only one who survives then you get to keep everything. The amount is 5,000 gold coins, enough for you to last at least 8 generations.

'...'

Amongst the participants, a young man with blonde hair stares at the virtual window with raised eyebrows.

[You have received a Quest]

{Invasion}

Quest Difficulty: ???

Quest Information: A mysterious presence has appeared to interrupt, survive the assault of the Sage, The Equal to Heaven

Quest Clear Condition: Survive

Quest Side Mission: Survive with at least 300 other people

Quest Clear Reward: Earn an Epic Tale to Legendary Tale at most

'This is… concerning.'

First of all, a recap of what happened a week prior to now. Aside from recruiting his former comrade, Ashlen Remora, he's been receiving these virtual windows that's in a never seen before language. He can write it, understand it even. Yet when he shows the writing to those he knows, they all say whatever he wrote was just a bunch of scribbles or that there's no language that they know of that uses his type of writing.

He fights and grows, preparing himself for what's to come from what little information he received from the one that he's contracted with. She speaks of his opponent, an insurmountable black wall that none can pass but him, because he was chosen, because he's special. He won't deny the last part, but ''chosen" is something he denied being.

Anyway, that was mostly what he did. He suffered injuries here and there from fighting recklessly, mostly from one on one fights, and he gained more enlightenment on how to activate his King form. It relies on how threatened he feels, or how dire the situation is. The longer the fight draws out, the more likely he can conjure up the power of his King form.

"Let's go!!"

"C'mon Farnim!''

The gate opened as Farnim was looking at the virtual window. The crowd was like an intense flowing river, pushing him along. He manages to catch hold of Ashlen before she drifts too far away from him.

"Stay with me, behind me if possible."

"I can protect myself, I trained for this day."

"Yeah, won only one fight and you're all up there in your imagination."

"Hey, I didn't even get scratched! That should mean something at least."

"..."

Farnim didn't say anything further and just followed outside with the crowd. He hugs Ashlen, his body acting as a fortress due to how hard it became.

[Unbeatable Might]

{Type: Rare Tale}

[Effect: Become invincible to Basic Attack hits from blunt objects below 60 damage]

[History: One that has undergone multiple, hard-hitting tribulations. Your skin has become a shell to protect you, all damage is negated and can be hardly felt when below a certain point]

He was like a stone amongst the running water. He waited until the stream of people thinned down and then he would proceed.

'Alright, let's get to a safe spot first.'

He intends to not fight, now that he has seen the virtual window. He believes it to be true from previous encounters, so it can't be wrong now.

'Whatever this Sage is… I'll just have to observe and judge him beforehand.'

He was somehow wary, cautious when he read that virtual window. He hides away with Ashlen, not saying a word to her. She didn't mind, as her safety is in his hands in their agreement.

As time passed by and as chaos reigned, so did the anxious elves watching in the distance. They gather as the woods howl and tremble with pain and fear. Their gazes, their silent pleas, all directed to their Queen who's unable to do anything, even though she is aware.

The massacre continues on, with the boredom of the invaders growing.

"Where are they?"

"You think they hid?"

"Maybe, those pointy ears are cowards fighting from afar anyway."

They set the place ablaze, uproot the trees, and cave in the ground. Nature, the Forest of the Moon, was wailing and howling.

"Goddamn, why are y'all so darn noisy?"

Then, out of nowhere once more, to save the day from being more grim and dark, the Demon King, the Sage, Equal to Heaven, and the Monarch Shadow of the God of Death.

"Huh?"

"The fuck?''

"So, this is what I have to deal with? A bunch of small fries? For fuck's sake, none of you can even withstand a single wave of my hand."

The hairy monkey-faced man dressed in strange robes in the eyes of the mercenaries suddenly made his entrance, surprising and shocking them when he made his statement.

"What did this monkey just say?"

"Oi, you dumb or something? You see this number?"

"Number games never work, even the whole Celestial Army numbering in the millions and billions of thousands can't match my wondrous Skills! Introductions first, since this looks like where I'll make my exclusive debut."

The mercs were already taken aback by his bizarre way of talking, and now they were lost by the nonsense he's spouting out nonstop.

"The name's Sun! Sun Wukong, the Great Sage Equalling Heaven itself! My Skills in combat are unmatched, and none have been able to beat me in single-hand combat! You can even try this fact, come!"

From him, an aura so profound, so fearsome, that it made all the hair on everyone's body, even those far away in Fort Alicurt, stand on edge. Everyone instinctively puts up their weapons, raises their spirits, and prepares themselves mentally out of pure fear.

"Great, great! Come! I'll take you all on!"

Sun was in a clearing of trees, in front was the burning wreckage that the invaders made. The mercenaries were all shaken when that frightening aura that they're feeling was suddenly coming towards them.

"Don't be afraid of a few broken bones and snapped necks! Let's all have fun!"

Sun Wukong, holding back much of his power, swings his bo staff diagonally upward. The strike was powerful enough to create an updraft, and the hit connects to the abdomen of the first mercenary who didn't respond properly and block it.

"Kuack!!"

A very audible snap, but one so voided out by the shock that no one even noticed, resounded through the air. And then, like a ragdoll, the body of the once intact human went flying through the air.

"Batter up!"

What followed was a blood fest of bone chilling sounds. None stood a single chance, a single swing from Sun's bo staff, the Ruyi Jingu Bang. Every swing was able to knock the bystanders nearby off their feet and into the air for a short second, and that enabled him to combo through the crowd quickly.

"C'mon, c'mon! Fight! This is too boring!"

Sun was bulldozing through the crowd of mercenaries without a care in the world. A rain of blood falling down wherever he went. The ground and people's faces dyed red, before they too suffered the same fate.

'...'

And in the distance, our hapless hero watches on in horror and despair. Is that what he's about to fight against, he thought. From the looks of it, the fight, even with a number so large like right now, was no problem for him it seems.

'Can my King form even survive him…?'

He was skeptical with even his strongest technique activated, can he survive a frontal assault and exchange blows with Sun Wukong, who's demonstrating a level of combat prowess that even he is unable to match.

'Well…'

But, he's unable to sit around idly while others are being massacred in the distance. There are others like him, hiding, watching, cowering, fearing for their puny little lives.

"Stay here, you can defend yourself with a sword, right?"

Farnim gave his sword to Ashlen, who stared at it with a sudden solemn gaze. She looked on in contemplation, then up at the walking back of Farnim, his golden hair now longer, waved in the violent winds.

'Ze…phyr.'

A forgotten name uttered by a forgotten love. But, maybe, this World will give birth to it, to what's forgotten, to what that's never been.

'...'

All it takes, is that one leap that she never took.

...

'Such strength.'

Back in the safe haven of the elves, their Queen, Svar'ritha, spectates the situation unfolding at the battleground in front of Fort Alicurt. Her breaths were sedated, her expression was that of shock, and then fear. She then sets her prying eyes on the man who summoned such a creature, the real one, Saurosh Koravek Solomon.

'What a mysterious man…'

She wonders, ponders, seeks glimpses of the man named Saurosh Koravek Solomon in the annals of the future, vague and many answers were given to her, but they were enough for her to piece together a somewhat good picture of his feats.

'Able to conquer this World…'

Amongst her search, she comes across terms spoken by old people of the continents, Gods most of them were. They speak of a myth, a legend. That one day, a darkness so vast, so big, so colossal that it'll cover and envelop every single inch of this World that they live in.

'And from such darkness, the Mother herself will speak once more.'

She was familiar with the Mother, a being that's referred to as the Maker of All, Goddess of Creation. Her feat that made her a Goddess was this World that they live in, and nothing else. She didn't interfere, she didn't speak a word except giving them one command that spanned on to become multiple iterations, 'Grow, Create, Live and Die'.

'The Mother… is she supposed to stop him?'

She couldn't get a clear answer amongst the many vague words and dialogue never yet spoken. But, it was what she would like to believe will happen. That this being, this God of Death, will be vanquished, locked, or sealed away by the one who created this World. A happy ending.

'...'

But until that happy ending, she must first mark a path towards that ending, with her Race's survival being the top priority.

'I found it.'

It's a problem from the inside. Underground, tucked away from the light, were the roots of the problem.

'To think that those daring Humans are able to accomplish this…'

Elaborate, deceitful, cowardly. To think that they would do such a thing with no honor.

'It is him…'

One of the Aspects of War. She remembers seeing a trace of one of them before her vision dimmed out. An aura drowned in blood, a metallic smell that wafed her nose for a brief moment, and then sudden darkness.

'He's late, always…'

Every vision, every time, the one she needed the most didn't come or have arrived far too late.

'...'

It was back to contemplating again for Svar'ritha. Her eyes strained themselves to reveal the annals of the future, unwritten texts and scripts reveal themselves to her and only her, the last High Elf.

...

'It's going smoothly over there it seems.'

I was watching through the eyes of my Messenger, a hum escaping my mouth.

It was finally time for the action to unfold. The times just idly around and collecting enough tribute to summon Demons seemed like it was a distant past.

'Wish I had something to eat while watching.'

Although I don't do that often, it's one of my pastime activities whenever I can do it. It just enhances the viewing experience in a way.

'Well, whatever.'

I kick back and relax. There's nothing to do other than to handle my side, while the summoned demons handle the Mages.

As the time passes, the screams continue their song of death and glory. It sings and hums into my ears. Combine it with the fact that I'm lying on a cool breezy meadow with my head lying on a good pillow, a Demonic Drake's underbelly, this was practically a vacation for me.

'Well, not so much since I still have to supervise my Palace.'

Ruin could happen at any moment, especially now when two of the most heated individuals clashed with each other.

'If only…'

Dwelling on such a thing won't help anymore. I disperse them and instead replace it with the following mapped out chain of events.

'About a few more hours from now, Fort Curtis will attack with their experimental magic. The Daemons and Hellspawns will take care of them, as well as spread my name so that I have somewhere to stand. Then, Elinor's warriors will come out in a small group or something. I need to at least attract one or two to my side as pawns.'

I make a plan of how things will go down, and how the end result should look like. If all goes well accordingly, then no headaches will occur to me. Though, I'm not hopeful. Life is unexpected, and sometimes calculations can go a bit wildly out of hand.

'Anyway, I'll check here and there for a little bit longer.'

...…

''Everyone, gathered all your scrolls and memorize the Activations yet?"

"Yes, professor!"

"Good, now, before they open the gate, I must warn you that this isn't a field trip. The outside, especially against the foes we're about to face, won't show any mercy to you. They'll kill you the moment you're open, and right now you're very much open. Keep up your Shield, if you can't then hide in someone else's. Go back with everyone alive, yeah? It'll cause me a lot less of a headache."

In front of the closed gate of Fort Curtis, a man in blue robes was lecturing a group of much younger people, all of which were wearing white coats with a hood on. In their hands, each held a book of varying thickness and size, with the old man holding the thickest and largest book.

Those are Arcanum Books, recorders to cast Spells and special kinds of Arcanes. It's a Conjure-type Item of the New World, and were some of the rarest of Magic Items to be found while exploring or pillaging in World Saga Online.

Some examples being the Codex Ecardia that contains Undead and Demonic Sigils from Saurosh, the Spell Collection book custom made and wrote by the leading and number 1 Mage Player Merlin Sorcerer Arcanum, and the Book of Revelation along with its counterpart that's never found also counts.

"Alright then, now if everyone is prepared mentally, set up your defenses!"

"Yes!"

The whites all flip through the pages of their Arcanum Book and perform the Shield Spell, a rudimentary and most basic of basic Defense Spells. The highest tier Defense Spell a Mage Player of the 100th Level can learn, if they're not aiming their Build to be full Defense, was Golden Barrier that provides 1,000 base Block value.

Anyway, a blue triangle patterned barrier envelopes the white coats in a bubble formation. It leaves no holes or slits, yet the density was thin and for some as thin as a piece of paper. This shows their varying capability in performing Magic, the Attunement value.

Intelligence and Attunement are both valuable for building any Magic Casting Build. However, they don't get an equal amount of love depending on what you might want.

For example, a Sage Build with a multitude of Spells at their disposal, one would need as much Intelligence and Wisdom as possible to study and memorize each and every Spell. You can cheese this by using Magic Items like those Arcanum Books, but that gives varying benefits and pluses. Maybe you want something destructive like an Elemental Bending Build, and for that you'll need as much Attunement and Mana as possible to spam one singular or sometimes two to three Arcanes and Spells.

Magic Casting has the most amount of flavors and depth, one just needs to be creative and maybe, the Build you're going for can become the meta for future Players to run.

"Open the gates!"

The old man shouted upward, and the gate opened outward with a very audible rumbling noise reverberating throughout the entire place. Sunlight from the other side shines through, bouncing off of the white coats as faint glimmers.

"Alright, this will be it. Say your prayers or whatever, you'll need them.''

The old man warned with a grim expression and tone. Truthfully, he was and is still the only man to survive this long. Everyone else died, and so it made him special.

Grufert Galion Von Elschar, one of three Supreme Sorcerers of Fort Curtis. He's the middle and oldest of the three, knowledgeable and experienced. The last is the youngest, yet with the most firepower. And the first is unknown, both in capability and appearance, but he is said to be only in his thirties while also looking like he's a teenager.

They embark forward, to the unknown of this year's Conquest, and for those who know of the truth, Death.

...

'So, this'll be the stage of action, huh?'

For a long time now, Elkiel, the 6th floor's Stage Guardian, has been watching the situation from an above view. He's stationed in his Holy Throne, an exclusive Skill of his that conjures up a majestic golden throne of Divine Power.

'Looks like it'll be fun… wonder what can I do to spice things up a notch.'

This was the variable that Saurosh, who has a great intellect for remembering things, forgot about because of what has happened in the Dark Celestial Palace. Most of the Stage Guardians are usually stationed in their respective floors, and he doesn't keep tabs on them around the clock unless they're new.

'Let's see if I can start something… new, fresh… spicy.'

Complications are brewing a storm on the horizon. What's happening to the World, only a few people know.