Chapter 80

Warlord howled a victory cry as the draugr disappeared under the [God Fist] attack. Finally, the most hunted player in the entire game of Conquest, the key to the next expansion, to wild adventure and glory, had been slain.

How many players had tried to find and kill the slippery sack of bones, only to fail and die ignominiously, victims of his trickery?

But Warlord wasn’t one of the ‘many,’ he was a professional, a champion player, and the Guildmaster of the most powerful guild in the game.

Warlord turned away from the site of the draugr’s death, toward the Flag. It was the second prize of this momentous event, a victory just as satisfying as killing Skeletal was, though for different reasons.

It meant this entire Raid Zone would become Devastator territory, the guild’s sovereignty recognized by the system itself.

By right of Conquest, HA!

And the Devastators would decide who was allowed into the Underworld.

There would be land to conquer, fortunes to claim, and honor to be won. Not to mention EXP-farming in areas with higher levels than anywhere else in the known parts of Conquest. That alone would catapult his guild far ahead of their competitors.

Something was bugging him though, picking persistently at his thoughts. As if he had forgotten something significant and his brain was trying to remind him.

But what was it?!

Despite that nagging feeling, Warlord felt euphoric, like he was perfectly surfing a cresting wave, the power to decide the fate of most players in the game was a heady tonic. Soon, no one would be able to threaten or challenge the might of the Western Kingdom, the Devastator's empire.

But, Warlord still felt that vague unease. The whispering was still in his head, trying to tell him something.

Then it hit him. The kill notification! He didn’t get a kill notification when [God Fist] hit Skeletal!

What a newb mistake! How could he forget? More importantly: where the FUCK was the tricky, wormy, litt--

The back of his neck was prickling.

Turning, he glimpsed an enormous fang lined maw just as it slammed closed around him.

He received an absolutely absurd message:

You have died!

As his vision started graying out, the only thing he could see was a figure standing over his corpse.

The ancient mummified face of the draugr looked at him calmly, green eyes glowing eerily.

Then, even as Warlord was turning into motes of light, the draugr grinned widely and spoke.

“Git Gud, scrub.”

Warlord’s vision went dark.

You have died in the Underworld.

You cannot return to this event.

You are barred from accessing the full game for 72 hours.

…

“YEA! Win big or go home baby!” Dave even did a little dance, then looked around guiltily. That bit of footage would never be seen. Ever.

Dave’s parting quip at Warlord was an old meme. A sarcastic, condescending taunt at a defeated lower level or ability players, chiding them to improve and get good. To ‘git gud.’

Coming from a level 100 player just after completely pwning the Guildmaster of The Devastators, Dave’s taunting remark was even. Taking their relative circumstances and the context of the fight into consideration it was an Epic put-down, maybe even a Legendary one.

In any case, he had the video...

Dave’s victory and return from death was not a game glitch.

It was the result of two skills.

The first was:

Death’s Apostle

(Passive, Unique)

A skill befitting a favored follower of Death

10% increase in base Damage when wielding a sword

10% increase in all base Defensive Values when using a shield.

Deny the Reaper:

Upon reaching zero Health (0 HP), the soul of Death’s Apostle will be redirected to Limbo for five seconds (5 seconds). During those five seconds, Death’s Apostle can refuse Death by rejecting the Reaper.

Upon refusing Death, the Apostle will be returned to his original location with his HP, MP, and SP at half of their base maximums.

After refusing Death’s summons, the Apostle must Appease Death with the death of a foe of equal or greater level than the Apostle’s own. The Appeasement must be accomplished within three hours of refusing Death’s summons.

Warning: Failing to Appease Death may negatively impact the Apostle’s standing with Death and result in unpleasant repercussions.

Resurrection is Life’s domain, not Death’s.

Defy the Reaper is not a Resurrection, it is a refusal to die. Therefore, no consequences or Effects of death or dying will apply when [Deny the Reaper] is used.

Caveat 1: If the Apostle’s Health reaches zero (0 HP) within three hours of using [Deny the Reaper], the Apostle will be taken by Death as per usual, but will permanently lose 10% of his total character levels along with the increases associated with the levels.

Caveat 2: The Ferryman, Death’s Messenger does not appreciate crossing over for no reason. The Reaper must be paid, if not with a Soul to carry, then in gold or other loot. In addition to the Appeasing Death, the Apostle must pay the Dread Ferryman’s Wergild while in Limbo (5 seconds).

[Defy the Reaper] enabled him to ‘return’ from the dead, the potential drawback was the material cost and the risk of ten or so levels if he ‘died’ again.

Dave got the second Skill from a book he received as loot after helping Drahma slay the first Underworld Raid-boss, Dalmadoth.

Demon’s Call

Deals a flat 5% of the target’s own maximum base HP.

Disregards all passive defenses and multipliers.

10% chance of successfully working against NPCs and Boss-class Creatures.

Cooldown 24 hours

Rarity: Unique

And because Warlord was already at less than 5% of his HP, the [Demon’s Call] killed him instantly.

Flat Damage values apply even with a level difference multiplier, or else it wouldn’t be ‘flat’ damage. Obviously, a PvP oriented Skill, as it had little chance of working on anything other than players.

Dave could have just used [Demon’s Call] and hoped for the best. But it was his only shot, the only ace in his sleeve. If he used it and Warlord countered with a defensive Skill that nullified [Demon’s Call], it would have been ‘game over’ for Dave.

In Dave’s estimation, the course of action most likely to succeed was to get Warlord to drop his guard and attack with surprise on his side. The only way he could come up with that was reasonably sure to do that, was to make Warlord think he’d killed Dave, that he’d won everything.

His gamble had paid off. At least where Warlord was concerned.

The players were breaking through the undead formation. Once they made it through and into the Temple, he was a dead Undead draugr.

Server Announcement!

The time to allotted to seize the Raid Zone from the holding faction has elapsed. The Undead Faction’s claim to the Raid Zone is now recognized and confirmed by the Conquest system!

Stand fast, Legionnaires! The army of the Undead-King has come!

Outside the temple doors, a large disturbance formed in empty space, a travel gate. Death knights began leaping through in uniform ranks and marching forward.

Quickly, their numbers built until there were thousands, with more coming, their boot-steps shaking the pavement.

Dave released a pent breath in relief. He’d done it!

The reinforcing Death Knights split into two columns, one encircled the temple in defensive positions and the other proceeded toward the tunnel that leads to the bridge cavern.

In just minutes, the adventurers attacking the Temple were methodically slaughtered by impassive merciless Knights.

When the King’s Legion arrived in the cavern, the remainder of Delvina’s forces, left directionless after her death, were automatically taken into the chain of command. They regrouped and became an effective fighting force again.

These Undead reorganized themselves into the second arm of a pincer formation and pushed the enemy forces back upon themselves. The Undead from the Temple cavern and the bridge merged with their Undead brethren emerging from the gate and together attacked the players. The remaining enemies were overwhelmed by the Undead, like a village swept away by floodwaters from a broken dam.

You have successfully completed the

Special Quest!

Rank S

Condition met:

You survived while retaining control of the Zone Flag and defending the Zone until the legions of the Undead-King arrived to relieve you.

Rewards:

+5 Levels.

In addition, the system has granted the following reward for the actions you undertook during the quest.

Title obtained!

{Unyielding}

When HP reaches 1% receives 0 Damage from all sources for 5 seconds!

1-hour cooldown.

“Sweet!”

The sounds from the fighting ended, and Dave walked out among the undead.

Strangely, whenever he neared any of the undead, they stopped stood at attention and nodded to him.

A new Teleport Area has been added to your map

Undead Legion Underworld Frontier.

You can now use Teleport Scrolls and the Transporter /Gates to travel to and from the Undead Legion Underworld Frontier.

Dave went looking for Lone. He’d lost contact with her during the battle, in the midst of literal armies of Undead. He worried that if she had survived the battle, she would be killed and banished from the Raid-Zone by the victorious Undead.

After minutes of fruitless searching for Lone Arrow, Dave gave up and turned to make his way to the Temple to see what was going on.

I hope she’s just logged out. It would suck if she died and was ejected from the Underworld.

As he neared the Temple a blinking notification appeared.

You have been Summoned to the Bone Palace!

Time to Summoning activation: 3 seconds

“Huh?”

Dave’s character disappeared and his vision went dark. A moment later, a bright light assaulted his eyes.

When his sight returned he was looking down at his feet, blinking. The rug he was standing on was an exquisitely woven masterpiece depicting warriors and knights in desperate battle against a monstrous horde of demons.

Dave looked up, the rug covered the floor of an enormous hall. Marble columns supported arches converging into a vaulted ceiling high above. Magnificent dragons and majestic phoenixes had been carved into the marble, spiraling around the pillars toward the ceiling.

At the far end of the hall a truly imposing throne stood on a dais, overshadowing the entire hall. The throne was made entirely of shaped and carved bones from a variety of fel creatures; from the straight bones arrayed into a flat surface with space to seat three or four, to the branching bones forming the back, looming as high as a mature tree, then there were the extravagant armrests made all of skulls, the powerful looking chair legs were actual legs ending in claws grasping at the dais they rested on.

On the throne, a figure in dark armor sat with one hand at his chin, leaning against an armrest, his other hand on what was clearly a human skull.

Dave could only see the hazy blue light coming out from the figure’s helmet visor.

The Undead King

Level ???

Rank (King)

Tier (Unholy)

Danger Level: (???)

Skills (???)

Hp(???)

Defense(???)

Description:

The King of the Undead…

What the hell is up with the info screen? It didn’t give anything useful, where is the lore?

Dave’s thoughts were interrupted by the king.

“Childe, you have done me a great service. Speak thy desire, and I shall fulfill it.”

Sweet! more loot.

But before Dave could say anything, an item was yanked from his inventory, it appeared in front of him then flew to the Undead King’s hand.

Broken Undead-king’s Helmet.

After he spent a long moment staring down at the battered helmet, the King drew a deep regretful breath. He looked at Dave even more keenly than before.

“It seems our fates are bound together.

“Childe, I bestow upon you the name Kis’Shtingbrah and accept you as one of my own Children.

“Now I set you a Task as your Confirmation. You will search out the armor this helmet came from. When you have found it, seek a royal audience.

“Go forth with my blessing, Childe.”

Dave’s vision swam and faded.

When he could see again, he looked around and recognized the Bone Palace. He was back at the Dead-Realm spawn point.

Around him, were hundreds of thousands of Captain Tier Undead.

You have become a Named Monster!

Kis’Shtingbrah!

You have special dungeon rights!

A new mission option has been added to your Mission options.

Serve by Standing Watch as a Dungeon-Boss for 24 hours (The dungeon’s Level must correspond to yours).

New Questline available!

Game-Story Questline!

Rank (SSS)

Search for the Armor of the Undead King

This is a Game-Story quest, the actions you take throughout the mission will have a significant impact on the world of Conquest!

The first Task: Look for Andre the Forge Smith, to get information about the Undead King’s Armor.

Dave was numb from shock.

“A Game-Story quest,” he muttered, as the situation slowly dawned on him.

“Another one?! Crap!”

He already had one of those.

The first Game Story quest he had gotten was the geas put on him by Deadra that compelled him to kill the Undead-King.

Then there was the first task from his Legacy questline, to be promoted to Abyssal Knight within the Undead Legion. While he worked on that, he also had to complete an undefined number of Challenges from the Legacy, all set in high-level areas of course, while not dying even once.

Then, after he became an Abyssal Knight, he would be given one final mission by Death, the final Challenge in the Legacy questline.

And now, here was yet another Game Story quest. That he could not turn down. This one, from the Undead King no less, tasked him to go searching who-knew-where in all of Conquest, for a particular set of ratty old armor.

“So much to do,” he groaned. He shook his head, wondering how a bunch of game quests had managed to make him their bitch.

And as if on cue, another notification appeared.

Your Legacy Quest’s second Challenge is on standby.

Would you like to start?

Y/N?

Aww, to hell with it. Calgon, take me away.

“Yes!”

…

In one of the ‘real’ Manhattan’s tallest and most luxurious buildings, a girl with purple hair snickered as she uploaded more than 12 hours of video.

The title of the upload folder: ‘Mr. Skeletal vs The World’