《The Power and the Glory》Book 4: The Mantis, the Cicada and the Oriole
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BOOK FOUR: THE MANTIS, THE CICADA AND THE ORIOLE
螳螂捕蟬,黃雀在后 (táng láng bǔ chán, huáng què zài hòu)
Chinese, "the mantis stalks the cicada, unaware of the oriole behind". Idiom meaning to pursue gains in front of you while ignoring danger behind.
When you read the account of a murder - or, say, a fiction story based on murder - you usually begin with the murder itself. That's all wrong. The murder begins a long time beforehand. A murder is the culmination of a lot of different circumstances, all converging at a given moment at a given point. People are brought into it from different parts of the globe and for unforeseen reasons. [...] The murder itself is the end of the story. It's Zero Hour. -- Agatha Christie, Towards Zero
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- In Serial251 Chapters
Virtuous Sons
The saying goes that when a man is born the Fates weave his destiny and swaddle him in it. Then one day the man dies, and the swaddle becomes a shroud. Heaven moves on. It is audacity to question the Fates. Olympus is Olympus. The land of men is the land of men. To transgress that, to cross the line of divinity and scale Olympus Mons? To defy the Fates and cast off their threads? That is hubris. It’s a mark that every philosopher bears plainly on their soul. [participant in the Royal Road Writathon challenge]
8 268 - In Serial8 Chapters
The Supervillain Tries Playing Games to Relax
After yet another hard day of work, William Ainsworth, a National-Level Villain and the CEO of Hound Corporation is surprised with a birthday gift from his head scientist. The gift turns out to be a VR-headset, and after some convincing, William decides to try it, joining a fantasy-styled VRMMORPG alongside thousands of other players. In this new world where he suddenly isn't feared, he finds unlikely friends and allies, including such characters as Tin, a popular girl hiding her nerdier tendencies, Track, a NEET hidden away for the good of the world, George, a military field doctor trying to learn combat and Chrys, a Superhero in-training trying to learn how to fight. At first, William wouldn't consider these oddballs to be any important to him, but after being stuck with them for long enough, they might just let him melt his icy exterior. ------- -In a world where Superheroes and Villains have existed for only a few meagre generations, this story will focus on how a stoic supervillain comes to befriend people when he hasn't ever been allowed to get close to anyone. Imagine it like a sort of Boku no Hero Academia where the big bad villain is playing the same game as the kids, which happens to be a similar game to Legendary Moonlight Sculptor. The story will take place in both the real world and the game and these plots will interact and intersect. Characters will be fleshed out as the story goes along. Enjoy!
8 238 - In Serial8 Chapters
Fractured World
Two different people, years apart in age, in experience, and in life, but both have been caught up in an extraordinary event. A place of business has been dragged to another world and now they must figure out what they're doing there and how to survive a world filled with magic, monsters, and non-humans.
8 186 - In Serial10 Chapters
Storm on the Horizon
When stars fall from the sky and monsters roam the streets, who can hope to save the royal city of Farone? ~~~~~ Llain, an apprentice blacksmith who feels adrift in the hustle of a big city; Kalia, an eager initiate of Izael's temple seeking her destiny in the form of a prayer; and Lavinia, trained from a young age to be her master's knife in the dark, find themselves thrust into danger as their seemingly disparate lives intertwine to rectify the mistakes of the past. But as they chase the stars on a quest to find meaning, their own history threatens to undo everything they love.
8 110 - In Serial7 Chapters
Chronicling of Lumenter
"The world that I made is a world a kin to that of my own, from the periodic table to even some of its history, but this is still my world, a fantasy world where the unspeakable and the unexplainable can happen, and yes... I've already recorded everything my dear Marianne, but if you want to continue where I left, here! A library, be my Chronicler, organize and record every stories, that I've already recorded and the ones you will record! Have fun dear! And no... if you want your greatpa's story you have to ask him yourself..." Chronicling of Lumenter is an anthology series that tells stories about various interesting events, peoples, and much more that happen in this land called Lumenter. Go here to find more! Cover by - Moccha
8 88 - In Serial88 Chapters
From Max to Zero to God
When the world ends, the last human returns to the past, before the world knew despair. Han Ling travels back to the start of Sovereign's Battleground, a realistic game-like system that turns people into gods. Facing dangers he once defeated, Han Ling's journey to a god begins again...
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