Dorian. Him again.
Paladins and Mages rushed through the gateway two by two.
Dorian’s furious gaze skipped from Rowan to Ayla, then frowned in what looked like a confused piggy face. "Ayla! Tell me right now if you’ve—"
The final Mortar Shell punched through the shield, the sound effect deafening as the dome cracked and shattered into a thousand jagged pieces. The ice detonated in the reinforcements’ midst, and only Dorian and two others were swift enough to react with blink skills while the rest ragdolled left and right. Mayhem and icy carnage galore.
But the gateway was still up, somehow.
The swarm collapsed on the pitiful castle without concern of ally units, Rowan sweeping every last ranged minion with an order to snuff out the group portal at all costs. An avalanche of tainted ice fell from the skies. Thousands upon thousands of Dragonflies buzzed into range and spat their bolts, Drakes hurled their bullet-sprays, and Redwing joined in with a hail of bone spikes. Now this was a true Undead apocalypse.
Rowan and the girls had to blink away from the blast zone, Ayla breaking character.
Close to fifty Harpies perished in the friendly-fire. The portal and spawnstone were no more, though the monolith survived, barely.
Maybe he overdid it, but the look of utter astonishment on Dorian’s face was worth it.
Chapter 31
Selfish Beasts
For now, the time of reprieve was upon Rowan.
Ayla’s thread had lapsed its hundredth page minutes earlier, and her performance culled any last doubtful voices. The enraged mob was coming, hundreds if not thousands of players porting into the humans’ capital and journeying southward through the farmlands and mountain pass. The lengths people would go to save a girl in duress were remarkable. If they truly cared about people, they should’ve been looking toward the slums just northward.
Rowan wasn’t going to protest when the plan was proceeding so, so well. At the Dark Temple’s entrance, a curt discussion was underway to settle the elite Dark Humans’ classes. They were more than ready for ascensions, levels all in the mid 120s thanks to the naval battle.
The two adults, Gregory and Amelia, both were to receive the only tank class—other than Death Knight—available from Ayla’s case of keystones: Void Blade, requiring just a dark mana type as per many lesser dark classes. According to one of Ambiguous’ tomes, VB was a dark version of Paladin, more powerful though trickier to handle and much more difficult to master. The wife and husband duo could handle it. They promised competency.
Out of the five children—Lucas, Adalie, Katarina, Olliver, and Melvin—only Katarina’s mana type matched one of the more exclusive keystones: dark-water. She was going to be a support, a Witch Doctor, while the others were free to pick whatever generic dark class they wished. It didn’t take long for their choices to be made: Void Mage for Adalie and Melvin, Dark Ranger for Olliver, and Defiler (assassin-mage hybrid) for Lucas.
As for Viola and her cousin Skylar—the two teens—the latter wished for a tank class. Fine. He could also be a Void Blade. However, Viola’s mana type, dark-light, matched one of the better keystones in Ayla’s case: Lunar Knight, a DPS-tank hybrid. On the dark-class power scale, it was a notch weaker than Witch Doctor. Not too bad.
Bad with names, Rowan jotted down each name-class pair in the Social interface, pinning the note to the top of the board. Gabrielle would have to take Katarina under her wing. Maybe she’d enjoy mentoring the younger girl. And good news all around, none of the rituals asked for a sacrifice or outside resources apart from Witch Doctor’s—brewing some draught. Ambiguous already had the ingredients in her pouch for Katarina. Excellent. Very excellent. Except—
Rowan’s eyes bounced left and right from one icy castle wall to the next. “Where’s Derek?”
Gregory softly cleared his throat. “He was less than… cooperative after what happened at the Divine Intervention. Oron had to sedate him and keep him in the town jail.”
Sad. The ex-mayor’s admin profession was useful. Rowan said, “Alright. I’ll think of something.” Maybe Derek would see the darkness after the second round of Dark Conversions.
Ayla said, “We don’t need him anyway. Admin profession tomes aren’t too rare in the higher-tier dungeons. One in seven hundred if I recall.”
One in seven hundred isn’t too rare? What is she smoking?
Rowan couldn’t be bothered with a petty argument over probabilities. “Good to know. Let’s get moving. Hand out the keystones.”
Ayla’s bitchy face emerged for a few seconds, but she obeyed the order nevertheless. “I was going to.” She held the thin case on a palm and tapped the gem lock a few times with a glowing index finger. It opened without sound or graphical effects. Over a dozen gems sat on the velvet, the lesser keystones not ornate as the ones for mana-exclusive classes.
Viola was at the front of the queue. She accepted the onyx and diamond square from Ayla, a mellow smile pulling her pale cheeks. “I was hoping for something more powerful…”
Yeah, we all wish for that, Rowan thought. I’d be a Demon Knight like Zaine if I could.
“Chin up, kid,” Ayla said, pointing to a paragraph in a lore tome. “It says here one of Lunar Knight’s second-tier classes is Fallen Angel.”
The kid perked up. “Isn’t that a pure damager dealer?”
“I said one of.”
Rowan nodded. “Like Gabby’s Occult Engineer. It’s one of Witch Doctor’s ascensions even though the two classes have diverging themes.”
A teetering moment fell away before the puzzle clicked into place for Viola. “Oh. I didn’t know it was a second-tier class.”
The humans’ education system wasn’t impressive in the slightest. Rowan smoothed out a scowl on his forehead. “Just what did they teach you in those schools?”
She murmured, “We worked on our chosen two professions, but most importantly, we learn how to survive. It’s a dangerous world, and we don’t respawn like you adventurers. Few train their character levels or even get a class. It’s too risky.”
For some reason, Rowan had to be reminded of that tidbit. For them, mimicries of life in a quantum supercomputer, this was the entirety of their reality. It wasn’t too unrelatable, actually. “You won’t have to worry about that once we get lot you some Divine Blessings.”
Every pair of crimson eyes snapped to him, silence clamping down on the group.
They didn’t know? “We’re getting some for the Nihils eventually anyway.” Rowan showed them the quest and was careful to not mention Gabrielle could build a Dark Oculus.
Quest: The Summoned Nihils
You either have the worst or best of luck. Your summoned minions are far from just minions. They demand a Divine Blessing each for their loyalty pledges.
Difficulty: ?
Length: ?
Success Conditions: Grant a Divine Blessing to each Nihil
Failure Conditions: The Nihils die or turn against you
Rewards: Three Nihil (Fallen Angels) followers, ?
The quest dialogue somehow didn’t calm their upstart reaction, the children most excited.
“Will the blessings make us stronger?” Lucas.
“I can’t wait to do high-rank dungeons!” Olliver.
“I had a dream of receiving a blessing when I was seven. It wasn’t anything like this.” Adalie.
“Meh. I kind of want this all to end and go to the divine realm.” Skylar.
Don’t we all. I’m starting to tire myself.
Viola grabbed him by the arm. “Don’t say that!”
“Does this mean we’ll be little forever?” Katarina.
Melvin was silent.
Rowan did not have an answer ready for Katarina’s question, but for once, they sounded and looked like regular children, leaked remnants of their past humanity. Or it could be insincere masks. You’d never know. They might be plotting something nefarious right now no matter how unlikely, for they had everything to lose and the w
orld to gain.
At the newly corrupted monolith, veined and webbed with onyx, Ambiguous chuckled. “Even with the blessing you will still grow up, but you won’t suffer the effects of aging. Those who are already old, however, will stay old. The outpost shield is ours now, by the way. An hour before it can reactivate.”
“That’s a relief. Both counts.” Viola.
“Very much.” Katarina.
The boys didn’t appear to care as much.
Amelia said, “Well, I’d love to be young and gorgeous forever. My husband sure would. ”
And… enough. Rowan did not need that mental image. Sighing cold air, he held up a palm. “Alright, everyone. We have to get moving. Their reinforcements are coming at us as we dawdle.“ He looked at Ayla. “Hand out the other keystones.” Then to Viola, “Let’s go. You’ll be the first.”
“Lucky me.” A hint of a smirk pulled her left cheek.
Hurrying forth, Rowan guided her into the Dark Temple and down the steps by the shoulder. He retrieved Gabrielle’s mana lamp from his pouch. A grayish-cyan flame ignited, flecked with ample black whiffs. The flame was cold, the lamp’s handle frosting up. His magic. Dark-ice.
As they descended, Viola asked, “Are you really going to kill all the humans? Why?” Her tone signaled curiosity rather than concern or condemnation.
Rowan found no reason to tell her of the greater plan. “Not just them. We’re going to create something truly great on this continent for people like us, and for that, the existing civilizations must go. The humans wouldn’t like that. They’d never understand, which is why they must be remade in our image. In your image.”
“But how do you know they won’t understand?”
“Them… and us darkies. We are fundamentally incompatible. You’ve seen how they are. They protect and feed the weak and let them breed to infinity in their squalor. They hide knowledge which they deem evil. Why? Because they pretend to be selfless and just when really all they want is to feel good about themselves—whether they know it or not. There is no true selflessness. Everyone is selfish, and they can’t accept that. You must accept and embrace it. You, me, Gabby. We’re but carnal beasts each possessing individual wants and needs, and ours are different to theirs, though slight.” Rowan downed a stale breath laced with a catty scent. He didn’t know where the speech came from. Perhaps from his heart. “Do you understand?”
"Hmmmm… What does carnal mean?"
Rowan coughed. His ears heated. "It means—"
"Just kidding. I know what it means very well."
His eyes rolled. "You little troll."
Her head tilted. "Are you calling me ugly?" Her eyes narrowed. Her irises glinted with dark mana.
"It’s an informal term from my world. Trolling means to joke around or mess with people." He sighed. "So, do you understand?"
She regarded him with a suspicious look, then nodded. “Yup. What you’re saying is they don’t like the truth… or are unable to see it. And when they hear something truthful which they don’t like they go berserk.”
Rowan’s brows jolted up for a heartbeat. “That’s a very good way of putting it.”
She giggled, hopping onto the bottom step. “Then do you want to know what I want, truthfully?”
“What?” Rowan opened the Social interface to take note for later.
“I’m about to get a good dark class, so the other things on my list are: my own glamour shop; a few beautiful, grand mansions like Ambiguous’; and a boyfriend like you, who is just as powerful, but fifty times hotter! ”
Rowan facepalmed and closed the interface, fingers and thumb rubbing tired eyes. He’d forgotten he was talking to a teenage girl. “Good to know. Talk to Gabby about it. Remember to tell the others what I said if they ask.”
“Fine, and I will.”
The guardian mimic, in its base panther form, rose from the floor. Its black fur had a unnatural sheen in the lamp’s light. “Powerful one. You return.”
That title truly fits now. It’s amazing how far I’ve come since yesterday.
“There are a dozen Dark Humans that needs to undergo rituals. Will this lesser temple be sufficient or will there be a queue?”
The mimic blinked twice. “It has a capacity of eight.”
Good enough—two or three hours to get everyone a class. “Viola. In you go. The ritual is simple, but hurry. Time runs slower in there. You just have to offer your blood and recite a long chant. The knowledge will come to you.”
Viola nodded, stepped to the gateway, and presented the keystone. Silver and gold engravings lit up, flush with dark-light mana. The impervious masonry split down the middle with a low rumble vibrating up Rowan’s feet. In the pocket dimension, on a checkered floor, stood two lines of angelic statues facing each other, wings folded. The line at the left was carved from pure onyx, the other from diamond. At the end towered a crescent moon altar amalgamated from both precious stones. Angels and the moon. What a interesting theme.
Viola entered without Rowan, and the gateway rumbled closed.
A purple flash came from up the stairs.
Ambiguous appeared in front of him a second later with another flash, leaving an afterburn on his retinas. Her face was stern. “Did you miss my ping? Nevermind. We’ve got company. Red Dragons. I think they’re here for Redwing.”
Now that wasn’t something he was expecting to hear.
Chapter 32
Dorian's Wrong
At the slums’ outskirts by a spring and waterfall, it was Gabby’s time to shine. Not literally like the two moons above the mountain peaks in the distance. Only figuratively, because the element of stealthiness was paramount for this operation. Operation Free Poison, OFP for brevity. The humans sure loved their free stuff. So why not free poison, which would also put them out of their poverty-stricken misery? It only made sense.
Gabrielle smiled delightfully and checked Ayla’s spectacular thread one last time. A few recent posts stood out in the ruckus. They were going to go insane once the truth comes out!
Sandy Fruit: We have to go back. I bet those deranged losers are violating her right now.
Ayani Veth: He said he was going to brutally rape her all night. Like wtf??? Did I hear him right?
Rand Gen: My guildie said he molested her in front of everyone then burned her arms.
Sandy Fruit: I saw! She was in so much pain!
Did that really happen? Row had promised he wasn’t actually going to come onto Ayla with his hands.
Who to trust? Them or Row? Hmmm. The choice was an easy one: Row. Gabrielle didn’t even need to flick him a private message to know the befuddled, angry monkeys were wildly exaggerating about his acting. Something something Chinese whispers played a part too.
Lance Rider: It’s worse than I thought. @Dorian Ambersworn sorry man, but I think you were wrong about this one. She did NOT betray us. Ayla, if you’re reading this, you have my apology.
He couldn’t be serious, but he was.
Doctor Strange: I’m not sure, but I think also Gabby might’ve been in invisible chains. She wasn’t moving.
Blinte Rancore: ^ you might be right. She was standing there as if she were his slave. We have to help her as well even if she’s a darkie.
Matt Viper: Agreed. It’s the right thing to do. No girl deserves such treatment.
Hehehehehehehehehehe.
Gabrielle couldn’t stop from tumbling into giggling hysterics, clutching her tummy. Though their guess was far from correct, it wasn’t all wrong either. For she, no one else, was Row’s rightful sex slave, and no number of sappy love confessions from either side would change it. If only he made good on the deal and his promise. Maybe all that desire would soon pop… then he’d have no choice but to jump out of a dark corner, chain her up, and drag her to his den. That counted as something special for sure!
Gabrielle’s body heated quite pleasurably, the fantasy appealing more than she would ever admit out loud. But bluish, slender fingers clicked in front of her
nose, shaking her loose from Row’s chains just when he was getting to the good part. Aww.
Edward said, “I think it’s time to make a move.”
“Same here,” SoSo added.
“Is the intervention shrine ready?”
Edward gave a nod. “Ready to activate any moment.” His hand dipped into his pouch, grabbing out a tiny obelisk. An orb at its tip held a mix of the three active ingredients. Five hours to craft just one of these cute little things with a speed booster, and the window to use it before decay was shorter than the obelisk itself.
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