Chapter 33

In the vast desert, a large intricately designed boat like vehicle traversed through the golden sands. Inside, a small group of the most influential individuals gathered.

“This is rather worrisome, it looks even worse than what you described it to be.”

A handsome youth with short blonde hear who wore a set of white noble’s attire spoke as he glanced out the window, in the distance was an enormous sandstorm that looked sinister as lightning flashed every now and again from its dark green depths.

“It grew stronger… Michael, it looks like I’m going to have to ask for your assistance in trying to solve this.”

A girl with amber colored eyes whose skin color was a tone darker as her head was full of raven black hair said in reply.

The youth glanced at her with warm eyes as he grasped her hands.

“What are you talking about? We’re married already, isn’t it only natural that I provide my help?”

“Michael…”

“Ahem!”

With a cough, the pink stained atmosphere was immediately withdrawn as a woman with golden eyes together with platinum blonde colored hair glanced at the two of them. She wore a set of light beige colored dress and if one looked closely, they will see that she has a pair of pointed ears.

“I would prefer it if you two keep private affairs… private.”

“My bad.”

The handsome youth then proceeded to scratch the back of his head.

“I sense a faint hint of envy in your tone Talia, missing Renya already?”

Hearing her reply made Talia roll her eyes before responding back with a pout.

“Oh my dear friend Diana, that guy doesn’t even know how to give a proper farewell. He’s as stiff as a brick! How could I miss such a guy.”

“Hehe, you’re not very good at being honest. Though I’m not wrong at assuming that you’re interested in him, am I?”

“No… I’m just curious about his background.”

“Really now? I see, I see. Then why don’t you try getting married to him then? That’s one way to know about his background.”

“!!!”

“I’ll leave you two girls to yourselves for now, I shall go out to get some fresh air.”

Silence immediately ensued.

“Ahem, I hope you don’t take offence to my word, I was just joking!... We’re still friends right?”

“Hahh…. I know, don’t push it too far! It gets a bit annoying.”

Grinding her teeth a bit, she breathe a soft sigh.

“Tell me honestly, as your dear friend, will you tell me something?”

“Alright, just don’t be unreasonable.”

She said with a glare.

“Hehe, well then Talia, are you hoping that you’d see him here?”

“…”

She did not speak for a while as she glanced downwards, before eventually giving a light nod. Seeing this, Diana’s grin bloomed even wider. Noticing her ears glow red, she ended up laughing.

“Oh my, it looks like our dear Talia might be in love.”

“!!!”

Outside the room, Michael can be seen leaning on the railing of the vehicle as he appreciated its intricacy.

“A fine beauty isn’t it?”

A dark skinned man spoke from behind him. His looks bare a close resemblance to Diana as his eyes are of the same color.

“Brother Reyner, this vehicle of yours are wonderful! I wonder how it runs, magic crystals? Monster cores? Or perhaps a magic engine that runs on a special fuel?”

His words flowed out like a broken faucet as his excitement could not be hidden.

“Haha! It seems that you’ve taken a great interest in this vessel of ours, but you’re mistaken if you believe that it is run by magic. As a prince, you should know that our country is not a magically inept.”

“Ahem, I got too excited. The airships in the capital simply cannot compare to the speed of this vessel! If possible-”

“Impossible my good brother, this thing can only work on sand and not soil. But we are making good progress on this field as well. Just that that damned storm is causing even more and more inconveniences.”

[The two thats are intentional]

He closed his eyes as he rubbed his forehead before continuing.

“We’ve lost contact to one of our major cities, the one nearest to your territory. Not only that, but nearly all of the trade routes have been disrupted in one way or another… All because of that damn storm.”

“This is a serious problem indeed. It looks like I’ll need to get as much help as I can from the capital.”

“Much appreciated brother, I-“

“No need, are we not family?”

Hearing his words, Reyner could not help but give him a manly bear hug, to which Michael nearly choked from.

••••

In front of Renya stood 6 figures: Brutus, a tall handsome Transcended whose height reached a towering length of 2.3 meters. His hair is black as he wore a set of bulky yet beautiful black armor whose designed screamed “Tank!” as it glowed a faint divine radiance.

Charlotte, a tall, breath taking beautiful woman when compared to others with golden brown hair and blue eyes. She wore a white elegant robe that’s littered with golden runes which glow the same divine radiance.

Laura, a woman taller than Charlotte whose beauty does not lose out in comparison whose hair is a color of silver which gradiates to black and wore a set of beautiful, slim, white armor. A complete contrast to Brutus’ set.

Lilith, a dark elf whose height and beauty, which cannot be hidden behind her veil, rivals that of Laura. Her hair is of a pure silver as she wore a set of black scale like armor which streamlines her body’s shape well to emphasize speed.

Amitiel, a demon with a dark skin color and ashen colored short hair and had horns protruding off the sides of his head that curved backwards. His eyes glow a sinister red as he wore an intricate black sleeveless set of clothes.

Finally, Prynn, a fairy, the shortest of the six. She has shoulder length platinum colored hair and wore a beautiful pure white dress. All their clothes and equipment giving out an ancient and oppressive aura.

As for their Individual auras, Nabila felt as if she was looking at a group of legends from the Ancient Era of long past.

“Father, this is?”

Charlotte asked Renya as she glanced at Nabila who hid behind him together with Little White. Seeing her anxious expression, he knelt down and caressed her head to calm her down.

“This is Nabila, treat her like a younger sister. She’s been through a lot, so don’t be harsh.”

He said as he glared at Amitiel.

“Ahem, M’lord, you should know my character is of a proper gentleman. You should know that I am only cruel to- Bah!“

Immediately, his actions prompted a smack on the head from Brutus.

“Amitiel, you’re already frightening the child.”

“No… It’s fine…”

“M’lord, you should know that I’m not the best at dealing with kids. Besides, I need to get back to the city. Although management has been rather easy thanks to how you’ve made it, I need to manage our intel gathering.”

“It’s fine. Combat isn’t your forte, you can return.”

“My thanks M’lord.”

With that, he disappeared from sight as he became a flash of light in the distance. Seeing him leave, Nabilla calmed down a lot better.

“Haha! Nabila right? He may look like so but he’s a good fellow.”

Brutus said as he kneeled on one knee to look at the child in front of him better. To his side was Prynn as her eyes, together with Charlotte, lit up.

“Hello!”

“Hello…”

“Ooooh! I can feel that you’ve reached a pretty high level, about to reach transcendence even?! Amazing! Ah!!! Little White’s taken a liking to you?! Unfair!!!”

Prynn exclaimed as she went around Nabila almost swallowing her whole with her curiosity.

“Prynn, you’re scaring her you know?”

“Ah! My bad hehe~”

With a smile she scratched her cheek. The two then began to ask Nabila questions as they showered her with affection. The scene immediately became warm, as if the three have been long lost siblings that have just now reunited.

The others looked at this scene in disbelief as they underestimated the ability of Prynn and Charlotte to socialize.

“Laura, how have you been?”

Renya asked the tall cool beauty.

“All has been fine M’lord. The strength of the soldiers have increased steadily. Some have begun attaining a higher class tiers even.”

“No no, I meant how have you yourself been.”

“Ah! Well, I’ve been fine. Brutus has accompanied me for a few spars over the days as to not let my skill deteriorate. But I’ve been meaning to have a match with M’lord.”

Her eyes shown a hint of expectation as she spoke, glancing at Renya with a longing look, causing him to cough.

“Alright, we’ll do so after this expedition.”

Hearing his words caused her nod in satisfaction.

“How about you Lilith?”

“Ah, well… I’ve been… fine?”

“Really?”

“Yes… My team have been somewhat idle however. B-but that does not mean our skill has degraded!!! We’ve been hunting every chance we get to increase our levels! Just that there hasn’t been any prey worth hunting….”

“That’s good to hear. I have a feeling that you’ll be one of the ones moving the most in the future.”

“It would be our hon-r!?”

Talking too quickly, she ended up biting her own tongue. Seeing her silly behavior caused Renya to smile warmly before patting her shoulder and giving her words of encouragement.

“Then Brutus, I feel that you’ve been well these days.”

“Of course! My men have slowly raised their levels! There have been no casualties so far as we’ve just began exploring more of the terrain around us, sadly we’ve found nothing worth looking into.”

“That’s fine, it would be better that way to be honest.”

“Alright, should we start now M’lord? This seems to be the domain of the if I am not mistaken.”

“It is, Laura, I want you to lead the vanguard with me. Brutus stay near Charlotte and the rest, although I don’t wish for Nabila to come along with us, this place holds great importance to her.”

Brutus nodded to his words as he gave a fearless smile.

“Lilith, I’m counting on you to scout ahead.”

“You can rely on me M’lord.”

Her words lacked her usual clumsiness as it carried an air of decisiveness.

“Good, Charlotte, Prynn we should get going. You’ll get more chances to talk later.”

““Alright!””

“Nabila, are you ready?”

“Un…”

Seeing her unease, he caressed her head again before thinking to himself.

(I’m afraid this’ll become a habit of mine at this rate.)

“Don’t worry Naby! We’ll be here to protect you! Especially Brutus, his head is filled with nothing but thoughts of protecting those who can’t protect themselves! He’s silly that way.”

Prynn commented as she poke fun of Brutus, causing him to furrow his brows.

“Naby?”

“Yes! That’s the nickname we’ve decided to give little Nabila~”

Hearing Prynn’s enthusiastic tone of voice and how Nabila didn’t seem to mind, Renya just gave a wry smile.

“Ahem, let’s start.”

As he said those words, he put on [Serpent’s End]. A dark set of armor that has a tint of red that has a few pieces of divine material like silver, giving the armor and otherworldly look.

Another noteworthy detail is that the helmet had a long dragonic tail like appendage that moved like a living being with a mind of its own. On its tip is double edged short sword whose quality does not lose out when compared to a [Ancient Grade] weapon.

[Casul_Reader: I feel like Draco Catulus sounds dumb so we’re just naming it Serpent’s End, its color changed too from black and silver accents to dark red and silver accents. Hey, my naming sense was pretty bad back then, I sometimes cringe at it when I see some of them every now and again *shivers*. But it’s been done so I’ll just roll with it.]

He gave of the feeling of a valiant leader, causing the eyes of the sentinels, even Nabila’s, to light up. With that, the the seven of them entered the dungeon.

Immediately, the scenery changed from the oppressive desert to an immensely wide, quiet and ominous hall way.

“Just like in the [Altinea Continent].”

The enormous hallway was littered with blue crystal like rocks that gave the pitch black walls a hint of dark blue.

“Alti-neya….?”

“That’s… right, do you know the name of the continent during the Ancient Era?”

“No… Only know…. Many strong people…”

Hearing her words, the sentinels’ expression to a turn for sympathy as they focused their attention towards the poor girl.

“How did you know about this place then?”

“I… was thought few things… how to get back…. one of them….”

He could not help but caress her head yet again, he felt pity for the poor girl who knew little of the world she lived in then and now.

Seeing the atmosphere so tense, Brutus spoke.

“The place looks as if it hadn’t aged a bit huh.”

“Of course it hasn’t. It’s the domain of that time god remember?”

Prynn said as in scolding manner, causing Brutus to make a strange face.

“Brutus has a point Prynn, Aeva Unn is long dead. This place should’ve lost his influence long ago yet here it is still.”

Renya replied. Although he was sure that it wasn’t Brutus’ actual point, it did make him reach that conclusion. After each of the Evil Gods gets beaten the first time, more lore gets provided for the players to read through. Although others can still fight the boss, the first time would always be the most special as the players who managed to do so would get special rewards and the special title [God Slayer].

Renya happen to be someone who did just that, on two Evil Gods even! happen to be one of them.

This special title would give one the ability to fight on nearly equal grounds with an Evil God, boosting all stats and abilities when faced with one.

“As far as Evil God domain goes, after the master dies, the effect on the domain slowly diminishes.”

Charlotte commented.

“That’s how it should work, however I encountered a guardian a few hours ago near the area.”

“”““!!!””””

“Though it might just be a remnant as it was alone. But still, there still might be a chance that that something caused all this to happen.”

“Then we should get M’lord.”

Laura suggested.

“Alright, Lilith.”

“Ha!”

In an instant, her body became shrouded in black fog before disappearing completely. Seeing this scene made Nabila to blink a few times.

“She!!!”

“She’s an assassin, specifically a [Divinity’s Shroud]. A special kind of assassin, one that integrates their bodies completely into darkness. Unlike the typical poisons or traps, the focus more on dark magic.”

Renya explained, as she was one of the sentinels he created much later than the rest, he had more chances to use the systems that got implemented during the updates. For example, a scroll dropped from quests or bosses that allow a player to gain a special class gained only through such means.

[Divinity’s Shroud] is one of these items, when the class scrolls first came out, you could not use them on NPCs, however that was changed in a patch much, much later on after the countless protests of players who wished to give their NPCs a unique class outside of the presets.

After he explained it briefly, the group immediately set out and began exploring the dungeon. With Renya and Laura leading the vanguard, Brutus behind them and finally, Nabila and Little White in between Charlotte and Prynn.

However, the deeper they went, the more perplexed they got.

“Empty?”

Laura furrowed her brows as she saw the results so far.

“Mhm, empty.”

Lilith released her skill, revealing her figure as she confirmed Laura’s question.

“Strange…”

“Indeed, who knows? Maybe we were just getting tense for no reason at all! Haha!”

Brutus joked as he spoke.

“Let’s not jinx ourselves Brutus.”

“Yes M’lord…”

“Let’s continue on, maybe there will be something in the boss area.”

“Boss-su…?”

“Ahh, it’s a term we use to describe the strongest monster in a dungeon. I doubt it’s a common word though so don’t mind it too much.”

“Okay…”

After the short exchange, the group headed for the Boss chamber.

Much like the rooms before, the area had crystals all around. However, this time around the whole area was much wider in compared to the rooms before, easily reaching 2-3 kilometers in diameter. In the middle of the area was a large magic circle that had lost its light.

“A broken array? This doesn’t make sense at all!”

Prynn exclaimed. However, the moment she did, the whole array lit up as a blinding blue light lit up the entire area. From the middle of it, a shadowy figure began materializing.

It stood at around 40 meters tall as thick and sinister blue aura emanated from its body. Soon, its facial features became obvious. It revealed itself to be a menacing white bearded old man, however his eyes when opened glow a fierce blue light, on the crown of his head protruded 7 pitch black branch like horns as the aura around his body congealed into a dark blue tattered robe.

The old man pulled a scythe made of crystal like parts that are suspended in thin air.

“Mortals, thou shall suffer for thy insolence of disturbing my slumber!”

His voice carried a terrifying strength that caused one’s soul to shiver to its very core. Sadly, Renya and the others are no mere mortals! As for Nabila, thanks to Renya and the others shielding her from blunt of the attack, she did not feel a thing.

“Aeva Unn, I never thought I’d see you again.”

Hearing his voice and recognizing his set of armor, Aeva Unn began trembling. As if he was recalling a nightmare from the past.

“It’s y-you!!!”

“It’s me, one of the main reasons you fell from divinity.”

Renya replied with confidence, when really, he’s just taking advantage of the thought that he might recognize him as one of the players who played an active role in taking him down and pulling him from divinity.

Seeing his little ploy work, let alone Aeva Unn, even he was greatly surprised.