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Chapter 045: Maria Under Siege

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"This is the entrance"

It was a familiar statue in the underground cells that Siva had once been into.

When the original "Mefisto" broke out of the seal and took over his body, this statue was also broken into pieces by the collapsing ceiling.

By now, the scene looked like a picturesque sight of a broken statue shined upon by light from a hole in the ceiling, a shadowy canopy created a majestic scene of both mysteriousness and beauty with its own charm as if it was from a fantasy game.

The air was calm in this place and the low hum of the city winds above only gave the scene more of its unique chaotic aesthetic sense.

Even the smell of soil was something that made the feel of the place... magical.

In short, the sight of this place gave the feeling of the despair and fear the former inhabitants felt as they watched the scenes play.

—or perhaps there was another source for this feeling of desolation?

Gats' mind quickly focused and found out what this place was making feel. Desolation. Forlornness. A sense of darkness causing one to dread what was going to appear.

Kladis walked over the statue. With his simple hand gesture of wiping a curtain, the broken statue and the debris around him were blasted outwards with a loud bang.

What was revealed in front of them was a flight of steps leading down.

Kladis walked down followed by Kira and the rest of the Riddler's Guise Guild.

Gats also followed. Behind him, the other members of The Legion also followed suit.

Upon his first step, he immediately knew that his earlier conjecture was right. That feeling of forlorn and emptiness, of a dreadful darkness lurking and waiting to devour one's soul in the pits of a raging fire from hell... its source was this place.

The walls were thick, the stairs spiraling down as if it was endless. Every step they took made a clear sound that echoed endlessly to their ears.

No lights were available to them so they all used their own methods to light up their own feet.

Kladis walked relaxed as the rest followed. No one made a sound. No one wanted to. No one could as the feeling of vigilance rose higher and higher into their hearts the deeper they go.

Even Gats felt that it was odd.

How could a game create such a desolate feeling?

But they persisted. No one retreated.

After a few minutes of silently walking in a spiral, a change in the scene occurred. There was a tunnel in front of them. Dark, dismal, and bleakly gloomy, it was a place that hadn't been visited for a very long time.

"Not even a torch?" someone commented.

"They don't need it." Kladis said.

"Who's they?" Gats asked.

"The guys who made this place, of course." Kladis replied and walked on. "If you're thinking about this place as some sort of secret hideout, you'd all be wrong. This is simply a channeling station or more like a reservoir of water meant to supply the water to its client... only, the client in question is just one nasty individual with a very peculiar need of a very special kind of water... Naaah... I'm not really good at this analogy thing."

Gats caught on to his meaning and stayed silent but the others were very surprised as well as also confused and were still wondering.

This 'Kladis' is really not the same Kladis they knew before; open and cheerful, arrogant and full of air, but confident. He wasn't this mysterious before.

He never was.

Those in the seats even asked themselves if there was something at play in here. After all, was it even possible to let a Battle-AI take control of your game avatar in Terroa? This was the first time they were seeing and hearing it.

Kladis.... no, this [Lord Eros] is showing signs of him being an NPC and yet they were okay with him saying things connected to the real world.

What they could only hold on to, however, was the word of their leader, Gats, that he is Kladis' proxy and that Kladis is somehow busy in the world... or something.

From the back, hidden in the dark, someone asked again, "Why don't they need a torch to light this place?"

Kladis then laughed, "It's simple. Because they are one with the darkness. Darkness is... their home or something along that line."

It was another mysterious reply.

No one had a feeling to follow up another question in fear of receiving one of this Kladis's mysterious replies. It was starting to be annoying.

The walk wasn't long, just five minutes, yet what they saw in front of them after 5 minutes took their breaths away.

Bright red lights in the cave's exit... it was a large magic circle at least 500m in size.

"What... in...... the..."

Many similar reactions erupted from everyone.

Their eyes were glued in the vast space they didn't know existed below their own city.

"There was such a large space under Dragona?"

"Who built this place?!"

"I love this game."

It was like a stadium, only larger, but it had the same shape as the stadium with the statue above.

"Look!"

Almost at the same time as someone pointed it, all of them noticed tendrils of finger sized chains that extended upwards.

Like seaweeds on the seabed, the chains danced aimlessly along an invisible current.

Gats immediately realized its significance.

The "Ethereal Chains" that bound all prisoners of the underground arena above were given the task to kill each other, to only let the strongest survive, with the defeated vanishing as per their quest's 'plot element' —part of the quest's storyline.

When they die, something was dragged down from them and now that they were seeing these chains, Gats knew that this might be it.

—the thing that they defied the Immortal Emperor for... the thing that will give him power to control this planet and achieve absolute glory and fame!

There was only one entrance and exit in this place and that was the direction where they came from.

From the floor where the bloody-red Magic Circle was embedded to the ceiling, it was at least 1km in full height and the entire stadium was like a funnel-shaped concave architecture with a few strands of red coloured Mana being dragged down from thin air out of nowhere.

Everyone that would see this scene, themselves included, would feel the dreadful air radiating off from the Magic Circle.

Their experience told them: no matter what it is, it wasn't a good spell...

........but to heck with it..... this is just game!

—they thought.

"Now... our task here is to simply guard this place until it accumulates enough Blood Energy. Then, we project that energy through the cannon to its intended recipient."

""The cannon...?!""

Almost everyone has the same surprised reaction.

Who would have thought that this landmark actually has such a use in their quest? All these time they thought that taking over this city was nothing more than establishing a base for their quest.

"To where?" someone asked.

"Rather than that, how is this connected to the first Quest we have... the Knights of the Round Table?"

It was Gats' voice.

Kladis turned to smile at him, "Of course it has all and everything to do with it."

"How so?"

"Because if what I learned from the Church is the right Intel, then he'd be the one that will bring you the Excalibur and complete the set."

"He? Siva?"

"Yep."

Although Kladis said that, there was a clear look of disgust and antipathy when he said those things.

"I'm not following you." Gats narrowed his eyes.

Kladis harrumphed and explained: "The bastards in Dakar have something Siva is desperate to get no matter what the cost. Once we get this thing done, Siva will be desperate to go there to cause havoc, and that's where you guys come in: whether you succeed in acquiring this... thing... that Siva wanted —or not—things will still go on in this scenario and you will still get the sword."

When he said "you" he stressed it to be Gats when he was speaking.

Gats was silent. Kladis turned his gaze back at the Magic Circle while the rest of the members were acting confused. Isn't Gats our leader? Why is he the one being led to here?

Kladis then elaborated, "Simply put. You have two options; one is to use the incoming havoc to seize the sword yourselves or; two, if you can't seize the sword for yourself, then you can do an exchange with Siva by acquiring that very thing he is so very, desperately, seeking out. With this scenario, in the end, you still win and he gets what he wants, no clash and violent battle, just a simple exchange. If you still insist on bringing him down, then just gang up on him and deal with him... swift and clean."

Gat now understood.

Siva wants something in Dakar and Dakar also had something they both wanted.

The difference is: Siva's real identity was unknown to his enemies while The Blue Card Legion is one of the most famous organizations in the game.

A lot of breadcrumbs can be traced back to them.

The Blue Card Legion can't attack Dakar but Siva will, and he can.

In the issuing chaos, that's their chance to sneak in and steal that something Siva wanted. It was simple to understand if put this way.

In the end, if Siva kills everyone —which Kladis is really sure he will— he will eventually get his hands on the [Excalibur] and the [Light Sword].

By then, they can search for the [Providence] after the trade was done. It was a win-win situation.

But——

—it depends on whether they'd be able to get their hands on that 'something' that Siva wanted.

Sneaking in... that was the key point.

But what does this magic circle has to do with them succeeding in sneaking in and trading with Siva?

This indifferent Kladis was the same as their Kladis of the past, but his methods are more ruthless and heartless than how the normal "Kladis" acts.

It was their difference.

This "Lord Eros" was a really scary individual.

*****

After Kladis spoke, no one continued to ask any questions and only prepared defensive measures by establishing defensive mounts here and there.

In the middle of it all, Kladis approached Kira and without warning, slid his right hand in that fine line between her buttocks.

She yelped in surprise —or tried to— but she felt his lips sealing her voice as he dragged her into a remote dark corner, away from the busy activities.

"I've always been noticing your sneaky eyes on me little girl. Do you need a charging?"

Kira panted as she chased her breath, looking at the same face with a different soul inside it. She stared at his eyes longingly and with a blush and a bit of seductive smile.

"Yes." She uttered sweetly, her hand moving on its own and venturing to catch an angry dragon, "Ah!"

As a reply, Kladis also felt her already wet gap so she gasped in surprise at the barbaric finger.

"It's not good to get the rewards without risking."

She pleaded with a panting request, "Please, Eros-sama, I'm low on battery and need this charger in me. I've always longed to be loved by Eros-sama."

Kladis laughed like a devil, "Honesty is still the best policy, my little puppet. Alright, why don't you sing me your concert?"

"That would be my absolute pleasure." After a nod, she knelt in front of him and massaged the mike in preparation to the concert.

Putting her forelocks gently over her left ear like a delicate lady, a happy smile beamed on her lips as Kira held the mike on her right hand and began to sing her slurping song.

*****

Somewhere in the busy activities, Gats saw this and wore a frown as he watched this Lord Eros take away the members of his team one after another.

Don't think I don't know what you're up to.

He cursed them in his heart.

This world is mine. I will be king! None shall deny me my destiny!

As he kept his thoughts to himself, he stared at the Magic Circle and then looked up to the ceiling. He then went into a remote dark corner far away from everyone else, and then began to set things that're hidden from all kinds of detection.

If Siva would see him, he would be surprised for what Gats was doing was pulling out Inventions one after another... and then connecting them all in a series using NanoCubes.

Gats... also has a PNF of his own!

Whether it was already hacked into, or whether it was still recorded into the Alliance's database, this wasn't important.

For what's important is that what Gats was doing is setting up his own contingency plans to deal with unforeseen things... in case of betrayal.

After all, he wasn't some kid who inherited what he has now... he schemed and fought to get it.

*****

Siva had sent his emails to the Asgardians.

Not long after, the members of Asgard gathered in the conference room and with Thorn receiving the Intel from Fuma, they immediately understood the gravity and scale of this (another) unprecedented global Terran event.

"80% of all widely known cities in the entire Player-known territories are being attacked. 50% of those have already been suppressed or on the process of being suppressed as we speak. Still, for those remaining 50%, it's either the local defense of the cities, the Knight Orders or the Military Polices that were tasked to safeguard them, have either been already defeated or were the ones that's actually instigating these attacks."

As Fuma spoke to everyone, the core members of the Asgard had a frown on their faces.

Now that they've decided to help Siva on helping him find and safeguard Baron, they also carried the same amount of worry he had with all global threats that sprout one after another around him.

With all these dangers it was clear to them that Siva is indeed the eye of a gigantic storm.

—a storm that connects and affects Terroa and as well as the people in the real world...

Some of them, even, couldn't help imagine just how high Siva's so called Quest-difficulty is to be able to trigger such global-level events like these.

And to those like FlowerLord, Volt, and Thorn who knew more of just how high the difficulty settings of this game was, it was suffice to say that they felt really threatened now for Baron's safety's sake.

A wide panel window opened in front of the room and in it were the people from the Grand Mansion in Jeremiah, or more accurately, Pistareen and the blonde Elf, Gaia.

"Siva said it was those Blood Dragon God Church followers that are instigating these attacks." Thorn said, "According to his Intel, moles are already in place in the Terran and Dragon Societies... there was a huge continent being fought for in the Inner Continents called [Middle Earth] but these Church Followers called the place [Yvalice] —the Land that was Promised, in an ancient Terran Tongue."

Gaia was always carefree but this news made her show a rare sight of seriousness.

Thorn shook his head, "Siva was in a place called Horbe in the Inner Continents. He read reports of the past events and also said that he had some sort of business to finish in Horbe before he could go back. He also said that the Blood Dragon God that these followers are worshipping was someone called [Vasuki]... I don't have any information about this Vasuki but Siva said he was an Elder Dragon."

Pistareen was visibly shaken but Gaia nodded and her frown went deeper.

"What should we do, then?" Thorn asked with his stern expression. This wasn't the time to dwell on things that doesn't solve a strand of their current situation. They were in this meeting to talk about their course of action, not dig up legends and lores of an inconceivable ancient past.

Gaia understood his thinking.

Thorn frowned. Gaia had just pointed something he was actually trying to avoid right now.

Indeed, this was a chance to do politics. But as the son of a politician himself, it leaves a bad taste in his mouth so he didn't try to open a lead to it.

But even then, if they wanted to help Siva by being a "power" in Jeremiah, it is indeed a chance for the team to promote Volt via this global event.

To do or not to do... that is the question.

"Do we really have to go on that avenue of thinking right now?"

Thorn frowned deeper, "To use the people's plight to promote popularity for politics... it... just doesn't feel right to me."

Gaia snorted,

"I am! But this..."

Thorn's hesitation made Gaia yell at the Comms.

The line was cut and Thorn and the rest were all dumbstruck.

Indeed, why did they gather here? it was to set up a plan... and the reason why they called Gaia is to let her know about Siva's message.

So what are they siting here for?

It was simple math. Time is wasting.

At that point, another video call connected, it was Volt who just logged in.

He didn't wait for a reply as the call ended.

Thorn faced the group and then ordered, "I really embarrassed myself there." he laughed bitterly and exhaled a deep sigh, "Alright everyone. We'll also join the fray and follow Volt in Maria."

It was decided, the entire Asgard will reinforce the Walled City of Maria.

*****

Siva found something significant in the situation of Maria...

The closer he got into the City Lord's Mansion, the denser and stronger the ranks of Acolytes that stepped out to stop him on his tracks.

It even got to the point that he found two Priests with their platoons were working together just to stop him.