“What the hell is an era?” Vivena asked her spiritual companion, not bothering with using her mind to ask the question. She floated above the treetops near the location where she’d called Wagner. Her eyes were directed at the Capital, far in the distance. Something was going on up there.

“You can now access the System. It has a lot of information about eras.”

Vivena did so and shortly after she started reading, she had to land. There was so much to take in and she didn’t trust her to stay in the air.

ERA: Dominion of Monsters Monster Levels: 1-5 Monster Max Rarity: Runic Description: The rift monsters now walk freely on the planet’s surface. Their desire to make it their home is insatiable. Stop them before it is too late. Winning Condition: Kill the Global Boss.

“Is this… like an outbreak?” she asked Isako.

“No. The outbreak is something very different from eras. The era is the System’s event and is very regulated and has many rules.”

Vivena continued to read.

Rankings: there are 3 solo rankings tracked by the System. Weekly Monthly All-time Weekly Ranking: each week the top 100 monster hunters will be rewarded for their performance. The ranking is automatic. To enter it, an ascender must kill at least 1 event monster. The System tracks the score and decides on the allocation of the points. Killing the rift monsters does not count. The Scoring: Level 1 monster = 1 point. Level 2 monster = 4 points. Level 3 monster = 9 points. Level 4 monster = 16 points. Level 5 monster = 25 points. Monster rarities do not award extra points but increase the chance of independent loot drops from the event monsters. The monster class adds percentage bonus points. Prowler (20% bonus points; 5% chance to double the points of the next killed event monster. Apex Predator (30% bonus points; 10% chance to double the points of the next killed event monster). Sub-champion (40% bonus points; 1 extra point for each killed event monster affected by the sub-champion’s aura). Champion (50% bonus points; 10% bonus extra points for 1 hour after killing the champion). Local Boss (100% bonus points; 10% bonus extra points for 6 hours after killing the local boss).

“Is this a game?” Vivena asked sharply, she was pissed. “This is not even funny. There are lives at stake and the System makes a game out of it. That is wrong.”

“That is how the System works,” Isako replied sheepishly.

Vivena swallowed her anger and returned to reading.

Special scoring: The System does not only award points for killing the event monsters. Personal Achievements: these must be related to the current Era. Personal Achievements are secret until the condition is met. Challenges: These are global and often awarded to the first ascender who does the challenge. Challenges are communicated by the System one day before the challenge is online. Local Event: These are short-lasting happenings that often bring their own set of challenges or missions and offer special rewards. Missions: These are rare and come in two types – Global and Personal. The System will communicate when missions are available. Rankings Rewards: Weekly Ranking: Lesser Orbs, gear and raw materials of various rarities, essence orbs, techniques and skill shards. Top 1-3 receive a rift each. Monthly Ranking: Rift Orbs, Lesser Orbs, gear and raw materials of various rarities, high-density essence orbs, special techniques and skill shards. Top 1-10 receive a special rift each. All-time Rankings: Greater Rift Orbs, Rift Orbs, Lesser Orbs, gear and raw materials of various rarities, high-density essence orbs, special and unique techniques, skill shards and exclusive loot. Top 1-20 receive a special rift each.

Vivena was speechless. The rewards were … insane. Each week the best three monster hunters would receive a rift each. A rift. And monthly rewards sounded many times better.

I hate this! She hated this but at the same time, she couldn’t deny that something about the ranking made her want to participate in it. There had to be something in the ascender’s nature that drove them toward a challenge.

She looked up the ranking and saw the first entries there.

I need to win this. But first things first. I need to find Keynes.

***

Wagner, Columbus and Esopp were having an emergency video conference. They were meant to speak earlier but since the outbreak Columbus had been unavailable. His officers said that Columbus was personally closing the rifts as many of his best soldiers were currently at the Baikal lake rift cluster. Columbus had stayed behind in South America, wrapping up the transfer of the leadership. His initial idea to stay with the resistance until Windsor Freeman was dead interfered with his plans, so he decided to step down and remain in the resistance in non-executive capacity.

Their new agenda was centred at Columbus leading the company’s defence arm. But the three men also agreed that they must grow and get stronger as reports kept coming that some people got to Level 5 on rift essence alone and that equaled a Level 7 human essence ascender - them. So once Columbus was finished with the resistance’s leadership, he’d be pushing to Level 8. For that reason, Esopp was scouting a suitable location for their training base in Southeast Asia. He too had been unavailable for the last two days as the region was hit by the monsters quite badly.

The only person who remained in Geneva was Wagner, and he wasn’t particularly happy about it. He was furious even though he didn’t show his emotions. Nina Kid’s Talent’s soothing helped as much as it could. Wagner had been up for a straight week when the outbreak and the era event hit. The amount of potions he consumed was approaching the worth of a private jet. He didn’t care about the cost but the prospect of a rest was remote.

Though his emotions were hidden behind the mask of indifference, his tone betrayed him.

“We’re about to get screwed,” he said as the video conference with Esopp and Columbus started. “The Ministry of Geneva and the World Government want to call a meeting. They’re inviting every single person and organisation that matters.”

“The outbreak and that Dominion of Monsters thing?” Essop asked.

“That too,” Wagner said, sounding rough. He nodded at Columbus, cuing him to speak.

“The World Government offered a peace treaty,” Columbus explained. “They are unable to continue the war in the face of the third outbreak, the System and the era.”

“Isn’t that the right time to push harder?” Esopp asked with a frown.

Silently, Wagner wanted to agree with him but there were too many issues with the whole thing.

“If I try to take advantage of them, I’d not only lose face but also half of the army too. After the battle at the Baikal lake rift cluster, there is pushback against the war. Especially with the monsters breathing at our necks. If the resistance keeps fighting the World Government, the narrative will eventually change and we’ll be the bad ones.”

“What about the White Masks?”

“They are independent from us,” Columbus replied. “I don’t know what they’re planning.”

Esopp took a sip of something black and hot, presumably coffee.

“And this is what riled you up so badly, Wagner?” Esopp asked. “Because I don’t see the flimsy peace treaty threaten our plans.”

“It’s not flimsy,” Columbus interjected. “If we discard the internal motives, the external threat is something I can’t ignore. I can deal with the outbreak, we’ve already cleared all the rifts near our bases, but the Dominion of Monster is something else. I’ve lost an entire squad of Level 3 rift essence ascenders to a single Level 4 event monster today. And there are Level 5 monsters out there. Not to mention the threat of prolonged presence of these monsters.”

“What do you mean?”

“It’s in the event details. The longer the monsters stay in one area, the stronger they grow. Eventually, they’d create a spawning ground with some sort of area buff. We cannot allow this to happen.”

“I agree,” Esopp said, albeit carefully. “But isn’t the event’s winning condition killing a boss?”

“The Global Boss hasn’t spawned yet,” Wagner added. He had people read everything about the event in the System.

“So, when will it spawn?”

“When its six sub-bosses are defeated.”

“Then let’s kill the sub-bosses, spawn and kill the boss and be done with this event.”

“It isn’t that simple,” Columbus said. “We don’t know the location of the sub-bosses. According to the System, the sub-bosses must be found first. Then we’re facing an issue of some global monster buff each time the sub-boss is killed. And this is only the stuff we know about the event. My people are in agreement that the System didn’t give us all the information. Do you still think the peace treaty is a joke?”

“I start to see why Wagner is so riled up.”

“Oh, that’s not the reason,” Wagner sighed, uncorking another mental stamina potion. He drank it, emptying the small vial. The benefits had a diminishing return and he felt only slightly better. “What I am pissed about is the true intention behind the meeting.”

“Which is?”

“They’re going to use the outbreak to get to Keynes.”

“They…” Esopp trailed off as it dawned on him. Before this outbreak, their company managed to keep Keynes sheltered from everyone because of Windsor Freeman and general disagreement on how to proceed with Keynes Kid. But Freeman has gone into hiding and Keynes Kid just handed everyone the ammunition.

Columbus Curt looked surprised too. Neither of them had considered what the unannounced outbreak meant? All muscles, no brains.

“That’s unfortunate timing,” Esopp said. “With you stepping down as the leader of the resistance, your replacement may decide to switch the sides.”

“No. I trust her.”

“Her?”

Columbus didn’t reply so Esopp turned to Wagner.

“What’s our plan?”

Plan? Wagner thought bitterly. As if I had a plan… Well, he started formulating a plan the day Keynes left Geneva. He understood that this might happen. What he didn’t anticipate was the Dominion of Monsters, and with that, he needed to improvise.

“We should expect everyone there. I’m not only talking about Mars, Venus, every Old Blood family, Death Dealers, Red Moon Legion, the Council of Merchants or the Sovereign, but everyone who has enough weight now. And there are many rising stars because of the rifts.”

“Many unknowns.”

“Yes, and the Ministry won’t release the guest list, so it’s like fishing in the ocean.”

“What can we do?” Columbus asked.

Wagner took a Level 2 leaf from his drawer. It wasn’t a new invention except Pucci managed to raise the plant’s Level from 0 to 2. The leaf would clear the mental fog now that Wagner replenished some of mental stamina. Without enough stamina, the leaf had nasty side effects.

As Wagner started to chew the leaf, his mind achieved clarity he missed so much.

Columbus and Esopp waited until Wagner finished.

“First, we bring our own allies. Second, we cannot back down no matter what they throw at us. The moment they sense blood, we’re done.”

Esopp frowned. He wasn’t convinced.

“We’ll take Persephone there. She’s on our side.”

“Persephone…” Esopp mused. “Will she be enough?”

“She’s the head of the White Masks and…” Wagner hesitated. It wasn’t the information he should be giving away but Esopp and Columbus were his business partners. They needed to know. “She is Level 6 rift essence ascender.”

Esopp whistled while Columbus’s face hardened.

“That makes her stronger than us.”

“Even stronger than Syberius Sael,” Wagner added. “Without gear, her naked states are 40 points each. She’s a powerhouse.”

Columbus Curt raised his hand. Wagner and Esopp looked at him.

“Remember that we don’t want to start another war at the meeting. We have to bring something to the table that takes them off our back.”

It was harder said than done. They didn’t have many things they could offer without showing weakness. No. renegotiating deals and such won’t work. They’d simply push for more until Wagner and his company broke even or worse. No. We need something else.

“We should wait them out.”

“Wait them out? Like ignoring their demands?”

“More or less. At the moment, most of their forces are unavailable, clearing rifts and dealing with the event monsters. It will buy us time until we get a better understanding of who sides with who.”

“Fine,” Columbus stood up from his chair. “If that’s all, you’ll have to excuse me. There’s work to do.”

Like I don’t have work … unbelievable.

Columbus’s video disconnected.

“What about Keynes Kid?” Esopp asked. “Is he going to be there?”

“If I have any say in this, he won’t. Now. There is something I was meant to talk to you about.”