“I am the fourth highest level person ever to live, and you would not even break the top one thousand. You truly think you can defeat ME?”

Zarconius the Mad, berating a Vrogottian diplomat over coffee

“Threatening to kill you was Zarconius’ way of saying hello.”

Minister Cromwell, also known as Cromwell the Many-Headed, famed for surviving no less than four beheadings through elaborate trickery and just plain toughness, and for his staunch loyalty to his liege all throughout

“You’ll die here, Warden. Your bones will be scattered upon the wastes that this land shall become, and I will forget you as soon as you are slain, consigning you to oblivion and erasure. Weep, for you will perish not having known even the smallest of true pleasures this world has to offer, not a drop of love, nor a dash of intoxication. You are so dedicated to your faulty principles, you will be known only as a fool.”

“Is every Demon this talkative?” Zara asked him as the warped crowd encroached, Bim slung over her left shoulder. “Look, you’re level, what, 20 to 25? Somewhere in there. I have at least four levels on you, and not in just any Class. I’m the highest level in all of Esun.”

“Ah, but I have hundreds of minions, and Talents enough to slay a battalion of soldiers. You might be powerful, but I have scale on my side. Bah, why am I even debating this point with you? Hordes, slay them both!”

Zara assessed the danger. The quasi-mindless horde before her was slow-moving, not good at strategizing, but surprisingly tough and strong. They were probably, individually, about a level 10 threat. Which was, on its own, terrifying. The rule of thumb for minions was that one could empower their servant to the point that they’d be functionally one third of your level. The Storm-Eater Mage, for instance, was able to make Bound that were around level 11 or 12 at their most powerful. At most he could make a handful at a time that were half his level, 15 or 16 or thereabouts. But making hundreds of beings gain attributes worth half your level, all at once, with seemingly no limit in sight? It was unheard of, even by the most powerful and the like.

Zarconius was famous for his , which involved bringing one hundred peasants with levels in the single digits up to level 20 in moments, though that Talent had a cooldown that lasted over a month, and was a potent Talent gained at level 40something, not level 20something. On top of that, had caused the one hundred chosen warriors to drop dead of heart failure, their muscles shredded, their blood vessels engorged, their entire bodies wrecked from overexertion, after just a quarter of an hour. No such limitations were in effect here, it seemed.

All together, the circumstances looked grim, to say the least. She did have one advantage on her side-- the fact that she had around 20 levels on these enemies of her. She could take on twenty at a time easily, but forty, one hundred? More were getting created with each minute that went by, and she didn’t see any good exits.

She of course had only a handful of activatable Talents, but her greatest one, , had been used once before-- to bat away, for an instant, the influence of an Archon. She figured this Demon creature’s thralls wouldn’t be too much of a problem, in comparison. She reached out, and felt the power of the Talent burn in her-- and knew it would take days to regain use of it, possibly an entire week.

Seeing no other option, she rushed into the fray, an aura of power surrounding her and rebuffing all who came near. Having no weapon, she just batted away and shouldered through the mob, who stumbled away or were pushed aside by her bulk. She reached the edge of the tornado of dark power that encircled the Demon, and, rearing back a fist, punched it.

The surface of the vile energy hardened into a kind of dark, oily gelatin under the pressure of her blow, stretching in order to dissipate the force of her strike. She reared back again, and threw a second punch. This time, the material became hard as glass on contact-- and shattered under the weight of her aura, sending slivers of dark, demonic energies scattering everywhere, and causing the surrounding demon-corrupted creatures to begin to converge on her, trying to restrain her and block her path to their master.

“Why do you continue to deny my gift, to attack me, O Warden? I am backed by forces greater than you can conceive of, and my ever-growing horde will soon rip you to shreds if you persist. Besides, your greatest Talent will soon fade from you, whereas mine is only growing in power. Yield, and join me. You will become my mightiest servant, cap--”

Midspeech, Zara tore the creature’s head from its body, causing its form to dissolve into dark, black ooze, which sat, like a miniature pool of pure night, at her feet. The tornado that had grown up around the creature, already weakened, dissipated into the surrounding air, and the demon-infected, just moments ago deeply driven, began screeching in what sounded like some kind of demented grief, and scattered.

Class Variant unlocked!

🠊

ERROR

--------

ERROR

Level 29!

granted!

ERROR

-----

Talent unlocked!

earned!

earned!

earned!

And suddenly, she was somewhere else.

“You!” A being that sat above and behind the world, and a limb of whose had been stabbed through the torso of the Demon Zara had had just slain, bellowed in a voice that shook the very mountains of the Spirit Realm she had been thrown into. She stood in a wind-blasted tundra, a mirror of her present location, but without cities or towns, and in place of people their were translucent wisps of various sizes made of different colors of light.

“You dare defy ME? I gave you the power you wield, and you use it to muck with things you do not understand! You are a fool, an arrogant, little worm! Play your part, and play it well, lest I annihilate you and everyone you care for with the barest effort of will.”

“You’re an Archon.” The Warden responded evenly, her words battered by the force of the wind. “You’re unto a god, and you’re bullying me, someone who isn’t even level 30. With all your power, this is the best you can do?”She held up the malformed, decapitated head of the Demon the Archon had used as a conduit. “It’s ridiculous.”

“Cease your insults, insect!” The wind became even more forceful, and the Warden was forced back a step, but she held strong against the onslaught. “I thought that twisted hellspawn was a caricature of evil, but you might be worse, actually. I don’t know what I expected, but it definitely wasn’t this.”

“SILENCE!”

The wind became so forceful that she was thrown onto her back. She felt the pressure of the Archon above her’s power surround her like a vice grip, lifting her into the air. The pressure intensified with each passing moment, a horrible pain wracking her entire body.

0 Years Drained

She felt herself grow older, the dark infection within her spreading and turning her a little more with each second that went by.

1 Year Drained

The tips of her hair began to gray, wrinkles beginning to accrue on her face. Then within the dark and pain, that familiar voice spoke.

Level 30 earned!

Talent Advancement unlocked!

🠊

Class Advancement unlocked!

🠊

Talent Advancements unlocked!

🠊

🠊

Talent unlocked!

earned!

1 Year Drained

“You DARE?” The Archon shrieked in anger, but the pressure was held at bay, at least for a handful of moments.

“” She coughed trying to breath in raggedly.

2 Years Drained

The pressure lessened around her, becoming, if still excruciating, bearable enough to allow her to think.

“” She pulled in another gasp of air.

2 Years Drained

“! The Archon’s pressure ripped away from her, as if the creature had been burned by the force of her will.

Level 32 earned!

Just as suddenly as she had been dragged into the Spirit World, she was thrown back out, stumbling back. After collecting her thoughts, she was struck with dread-- an unconscious Bim had been slung on her shoulder when she had gone in, but wasn’t anywhere to be found now.

Meanwhile, in a not so distant city, a rose to power.