Prelude: Players

Near Third Gate , Toraigh

Eighth Month 15, 11 RC

From the edge of a mountain ledge, which had been carved out into a small plateau by the support troops of the Holy Reclamation Second Army, Vicar Apostle Claudius Servilius stared at a bridge crossing a fiercely flowing river. On the opposite side of the river, the bridge was blocked by a wall that stood more than forty-five meters in height, and the gates fronting the bridge were closed and barred. At the top of the wall, some fifty odd soldiers stood watch, and the camp behind the wall was filled with over ten thousand more.

The light of the early morning sun was blocked by the mountain sun, and the strong winds still carried the intense chill of the end of winter. In these far southern climes and at the high altitude of the broad river valley, the winters were long and harsh. Despite the cold, Claudius Servilius only wore clothing woven from fine wool and a cloak. The clothing was more suited to being indoors in front of a warm fire, but he was a player from Earth, Archbishop Thomas Green. His body, being a character sheathe, was far more more resistant to extremes of temperature than a natural body.

Spread out below the ledge where Claudius Servilius stood, the players from Earth had built a hodgepodge town, which consisted mostly of small stone cabins and much larger stone keeps, all of which were arranged in no form of order. There was not much in the way of timber suitable for at their high altitude in the nearby lands, and stone was a much more durable building material to begin with.

At first the rulers of Third Gate had allowed the players access to their lands and city, but when dozens of players quickly turned to hundreds and thousands and many were hostile and violent, the city's troops were turned loose against them. Many players were killed and the rest were driven out and forced back over the river. Since the gates were closed three days past, the number of plays had grown from the thousands to the tens of thousands.

Any and all players who had reached Rank 1 or higher had a quest to find the city of Skye, and the players gathered at the bridge would be damned if they would allow some "shitty NPC natives" to keep them from their quest. For them, the rewards from the quest were too valuable to pass up, and the only clues anyone had led them to Third Gate, which was the last outlier fortress-city of the lost city of Skye.

Looking down at the masses of players who were starting to emerge from their temporary lodgings, Claudius Servilius revealed a contemptuous smile. In another week or two, we should have enough sacrificial pawns to throw at the wall that we will be able to break through. I suppose that I should not be surprised, but to think that this isolated city of dying trash would have such big heads that they would dare to throw out members of the Church of the Sun. Soon enough, they will bend the knee to the Church of the Sun.

Conquer Third Gate: Force Commander Version (Storyline) (Difficulty: Indeterminate )

» The city-state of Third Gate is the last surviving remnant force of the city of Skye. After the city of Skye was imprisoned within a temporal prison, the outlying cities, the "Gates", which once served as its outer defensive ring, fell one by one. Now, Third Gate alone remains, but for millennia, it has been in a state of decay.

» The heathens of Third Gate must be forced to submit to I, Quantum-El, the one True God.

» As the ranking commander of the forces of My Church of the Sun, you must bring Third Gate to heel and make it subservient to I, Quantum-El, the one True God.

» Conquer Third Gate.

» Force all the rulers, political functionaries, and bureaucrats to swear fealty to Quantum-El and the Church of the Sun.

» Reward: 100,000,000XP and 100 Character Points.

» Failure: Unknown.

Conquer the Stronghold of Earth: Force Commander Version (Storyline) (Difficulty: Indeterminate )

» Deep beneath the surface lies the Stronghold of Earth. Centered around the only known entrance to the temporal prison of the city of Skye, similar to the "Gates", it was once an outpost of the city of Skye, but now, it is an unholy pit of degeneracy. Humans have joined with beastmen to create an imitation of a civilization.

» The unholy alliance must be broken, and the beastmen must be conquered and become the slaves of the Church of the Sun.

» As the ranking commander of the forces of My Church of the Sun, you must bring the Stronghold of Earth under the hegemony of I, Quantum-El, the one True God.

» Conquer the Stronghold of Earth.

» Enslave the beastmen.

» Force the humans of the Stronghold of Earth to swear fealty to Quantum-El and the Church of the Sun.

» Reward: 100,000,000XP and 100 Character Points.

» Failure: Unknown.

With a frown, Claudius Servilius looked at two quests in his quest journal. Both quests had been given to Claudius Servilius by Quantum-El directly, and he did not dare to fail at either one. The rewards were lavish, but the "Failure:Unknown" possibility sent a shiver down his spine. Since his awakening, Quantum-El had shown himself to be a merciless God, and Claudius Servilius had no desire to be on the receiving end of his God's displeasure.

Claudius Servilius' eyes were drawn to a woman walking up the path from the Church of the Sun camp directly below his plateau. She was of average height, and her long red hair, which was tied into a tight braid, reached her waist. With a face that was close to beautiful and overly large breasts, her character sheath was almost a perfect match for her cryogenically frozen body. Before her service to the Church of the Resurrection, many men had thought her a vision of perfection, only to be tortured and killed by her. She was one of Claudius Servilius' most trusted subordinates. As long as he allowed her to hunt and kill men, she was a perfectly loyal dog.

As Sister Marga approached Claudius, she bowed. "Your Eminence, one of the scouting parties has returned from Third Gate. They have interesting news."

Claudius stared at the olive skinned beauty for a moment. He appreciated her appearance, but he had never touched the woman. Her personality did not suit his tastes. "Report."

"The patrol spotted One Hammer Under God. That bastard Stark should be in Third Gate." A malicious grin twisted Sister Marga's lips, but there was hint of fear, which she could never rid herself of, deep in her eyes.

Claudius Servilius frowned. He did not know the specifics, but he knew that Sister Marga had once fought Brother Stark. Since it was after Brother Stark had stopped engaging in PvP (Player vs. Player) conflicts, he let her live. Whatever Brother Stark had done to Sister Marga left her terrified of him, she also hated him.

"The heathen has betrayed Quantum-El. If we find him, we will kill him."

The insanity in Sister Marga's eyes matched her mad grin. "Yes, Your Eminence!"

Near Third Gate , Toraigh

Eighth Month 16, 11 RC

As Chin-Sun stared at the entry to the cave, she felt a wave of trepidation, which she could not explain. Since she recklessly started playing Primacy Online as a War Mode player, she had already been inside multiple caves, but there was something different about the one in front of her. After being entrapped by the Enchantresses, she became part of their main dungeon group and spent most of her time searching for as yet unexplored instances.

Everything was wonderful for Chin-Sun, until she learned that she was just a tool that would be used to kill Crom Cruach. After that, she became a piece of baggage being dragged along by the Enchantresses. They revealed their real skills. They showed her that the skills she was so proud of were only mediocre.

As Chin-Sun thought about it, her anger and hatred for Crom Cruach flared up, yet again. He ruined everything. The fat bastard ruined everything! Damn you, Fat Pig! Even if I get away, I'll still kill you! No, I will get away! I will kill you!

While dragging Chin-Sun along, the Enchantresses treated her indifferently, but she still leveled up along with them. Unlike the Enchantresses, Chin-Sun only possessed a single class. After doing research on Earth's quantum data net, she decided to put as much experience as she could into Character Points and had a sizable number of points. However, after she learned that the Council of Witches had her and her sister's real bodies, she had stopped spending her Character Points. She stopped trying to strive for the top. She tried to look as weak and useless as possible. Even though the Council of Witches had her real body on Earth in their possession, she still intended to escape, and those unspent Character Points would be her only advantage when the time came.

*Is this it?* In their party channel, Crimson Carrie's question was carried by a mixture of boredom and irritation.

Inside the cave, Lilita shrugged. *Probably. But if it's not, we can just find another cave. We'll get the right one eventually.*

*Lilita!* With Crimson Carrie's shriek, anger flooded the party channel.

Lilita laughed out loud and pointed at the roof of the cave. *Don't get your panties in a wad. That should be the remains of ancient foundations. If nothing else, there was some kind of building above this cave, once upon a time.*

Chin-Sun had long since learned that Crimson Carrie was an action junkie of sorts. If she did not have something to stimulate her, she would look for trouble or instigate it when none could be found. In the Enchantresses, she was nothing special. All of the women in the guild had odd quirks or twisted personalities. Chin-Sun hated being a part of the Enchantresses.

I never should have ditched that fat pig's group. Somehow that useless sack of blubber managed to sucker in top class players, who carried him to the top of the rankings before the QCP hid them. I wonder how things would have been if I had stayed. Would these bitches have still stolen mine and sis' bodies? Would I be a virtual prisoner? Not realizing that her emotional state was easy for others to read, Chin-Sun's expression shifted from depression to anger and back to depression.

While Chin-Sun was lost in self-recrimination, War Witch looked over her shoulder. *Get your ass in gear, baggage! We've got new places to see and new something or others to kill!*

Without realizing she was doing it, Chin-Sun frowned. After being around them, she did not like the Enchantresses, but she especially detested War Witch. The woman was as sadistic as they came, and she especially enjoyed tormenting victims that could not fight back. Time and time again, Chin-Sun had tried not to see or hear anything, as War Witch tortured still living people and monsters, but the other Enchantresses seemed to not even notice when War Witch had her fun.

*Don't worry, we're going after that freak friend of your sister. Kamaris wants the heads of him and that ice bitch Raven Goddess.*

Crimson Carrie glared at War Witch. *Shut it, Witch! Don't be spouting off things to Little Ojou-sama there that will confuse her.*

War Witch returned Crimson Carrie's glare. *What's got you so touchy today? Did you do your morning masturbation with a thistle plant?*

*You shouldn't be so crude.* Morticia looked down her nose at War Witch. In contrast to her cold appearance and elegant robes, she was the most violent and bloodthirsty of the Enchantresses. As a Necromancer, she could summon hundreds of the living dead and would often send them on bloody rampages, so long as she was certain she would leave no survivors to tell tales about her.

They may look beautiful, but they're all sick. They're monsters in human skins. I never should have ditched that fat pig. Why did he have to be fat, disgusting, and useless? As the thought went through her mind, Chin-Sun's face revealed her disgust, but no one was paying attention to her.

*All of you knock if off, already! Something's not right. The skin on the back of my neck is crawling. I'm pretty sure someone is watching us, and they aren't friendly.* Without turning her head, Crimson Carrie tried to scan as much of their surrounding as she could, but there was no sign of anything but a few animals.

War Witch sneered. *Are you sure your not just being paranoid? Don't let your fear of our targets make you sloppy. That Crom Cruach is a goddamn monster, and Raven Goddess is not much weaker. But no matter how nasty they are, we'll make them beg before we kill them.*

With contempt radiating from her eyes, Crimson Carrie stared coldly at War Witch. *We're not going to make them beg. We're going to kill them, and we're doing it from ambush. I'm not going head to head with either of those freaks.*

*I'm going on ahead. Whenever you two get tired of butting heads like a couple of men, you can follow.* Shaking her head, Lilita moved deeper into the cave.

After glaring at one another for a few moments, Crimson Carrie and War Witch trailed behind Lilita, and drawing Chin-Sun along by her arm, Morticia brought up the rear.

Near Third Gate , Toraigh

Eighth Month 16, 11 RC

From a hidden position several hundred meters away from the Enchantresses, Heaven Sword watched the Enchantresses disappear into the cave mouth. Despite his normally stoic demeanor, his face revealed a deep frown. For many long minutes, he did not move or do anything to reveal his presence. He simply stared at the tunnel.

After nearly ten minutes, Crimson Carrie and War Witch appeared in the mouth of the cave and looked around intently. After not seeing anyone, the two gesticulated at one another, as though they were arguing, but their lips did not move.

You are still a suspicious bitch, Carrie. And your hobby of fighting with War Witch has not changed in the slightest. The slight curve of Heaven Sword's lips might have been called a faint smile by some, but there was nothing resembling humor or pleasure in the expression. In contrast with his expression, his heart was filled with intense antipathy.

After a few minutes, the pair disappeared inside the cave once more and did not return. But Heaven Sword still waited another half-hour before leaving his hiding place. From behind him, another twenty-three men and women appeared. Like Heaven Sword, all of their character sheathes were human and had been customized to have a distinctly Oriental appearance instead of Occidental with an Oriental cast to their features, which the majority of players from Asian city-states seemed to choose. Among the natives of Toraigh, their appearance stood out. Without the use of magic or disguises, there was no way for them to blend in with any of the native populations. In addition, most of them wore clothing or armor that was cut and styled in the appearance of characters in pre-World War III marital arts movies.

*Boss Heaven Sword, are we going to continue following those bitches?*

As Silent Sword appeared next to him, Heaven Sword repressed the urge to jump. No matter how many millennia they had been Primacy Online players, Silent Steps always played a variant of a Scout, and he was one the stealthiest, most inconspicuous people Heaven Sword had ever met. Whether in or out of the game, Silent Steps could stand in the middle of group of intimate friends and not be noticed if he did not make his presence known. If he did not do something to deliberately draw attention to himself, wild animals would not even notice his passage.

Looking toward Silent Steps, Heaven Sword saw the man's eternal serene smile and sighed in his heart. *Carrie is a bitch among bitches, but that little group of hers has a knack for finding people. She will lead us to Crom Cruach and Raven Goddess.*

*Are you certain that those bitches are hunting Crom Cruach?*

*My source has never been wrong, and he said that the Council of Witches hired the Enchantresses to hunt down Raven Goddess, with Crom Cruach thrown in for good measure.*

Silent Steps serene smile twitched but did not fade. *Was it that man Graham, who told you this information?*

*Yes.*

*He is the Council's dog. He always has been.*

Heaven Sword chuckled out loud. *Of course, he is. The Council is attempting to use us. The Enchantresses are no match for Raven Goddess. But killing Raven Goddess and Crom Cruach suits our purposes, as well.*

Silent Steps stared at the cave. *The mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind.*

After glancing over his shoulder, Heaven Sword gestured toward the cave. *You can track them, as always?*

*Of course. Bare stone is no obstacle.*

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