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Chapter 69: The Words of Donar
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"Acolytes." He calmly called them and after a few seconds came the flashes of lights as people in various colored clothes and armors, came one by one.
These are people famous in The North for their strength and every single one of them were in match or even stronger than him in an actual combat.
Heller, the Archmage...
Coralline, the Little Fiery Witch...
Rentaw, the City Lord...
Debra, the Hercules...
Red Metal...
And then there's the personally selected bunch of four players by Siva which were highly recommended by Ren based on their skills: Diyers, an Assassin; Niobe, a Provoker; Otus, a Ranger; and then Pitou, a Thief...
These four were specialized players who reached the S-Ranked when specializing on these jobs.
One of them was actually more noteworthy than the rest of the nine; Niobe, the Provoker!
She was special.
These eight, with the exception of Rentaw, will be his companions when he attacks Apus Epirus.
"Ren..." he called.
"You have orders?"
"Bishop Black had told you about the role you will be playing?"
When everyone heard this, they frowned and looked at the City Lord of Warjillis. Did you sneak behind us to gain extra favor?
"I am aware"
Ren replied with neither haughtiness nor nervousness.
He just bowed as if it was his job and is a normal thing to do. In fact, this attitude was somewhat farfetched considering that he was especially called by the name and was revealed to have received some kind of secret instructions from the other minister, Bishop Black.
This punk...
The rest of the Acolytes all felt that they were left out on this one single fact.
At the top of the platform, Thorn inhaled deep and then exhaled a long breath before speaking, "We are going to attack Apus Epirus. They are currently trying to attack Alexandria which has someone His Majesty was looking for in a very long time. At this point, the more damage the city gets, the more danger the person he's been looking for gets, and the angrier His Majesty becomes. Our mission is to stop the attack and/or kill everyone in the Apus Epirus and also to rescue a certain individual, another person that has a connection to His Majesty's mission in this mortal world, which is either imprisoned or trapped inside the floating castle... Apus Epirus."
Coralline, asked with honest curiosity, "They have someone His Majesty had a relation to?"
"Yes." Thorn replied with a grave tone. "Do you know the one called 'The Fairy of the Lake'?"
Everyone except for Heller shook their heads. Heller pondered for a moment, unsure of his thoughts but it was still seen by Thorn and was asked, "You're familiar with the name? She's actually an Archmage, just like you."
Gasps could be heard escaping the other Acolytes and even Heller was surprised by this.
If an Archmage was kidnapped, does that mean that the strength level of the enemy was too great that she even failed to protect herself?
"She...?" Heller spoke from pondering. "As far as I know, the only female Archmage is someone named Scion and she was just recently promoted too. I have not seen her either but if we consider the introduction earlier, I have indeed heard of the famous Fairy of the Lake from rumors. I'm just not sure if she is the one called Scion."
"She is Scion." Thorn said gravely. "And she has a deep and complicated relationship with His Majesty. For everyone's information, Scion is in possession of a Unique MOD and this Unique MOD has bound itself on her being for some reason and is now only useable by her. This MOD and His Majesty are connected that's why he needs to make sure that Scion is safe. Unfortunately, she was kidnapped and now we're here not only to rescue her but also to make those mortals pay the price of their actions."
Thorn, to Ren's memory as part of the things he heard from Volt earlier, bent the few facts on what he had said just now.
It is true that 'His Majesty' and Scion has a deep and complicated relationship but it is something that was even deeper than what Thorn just said.
Everyone was surprised by this.
A Unique MOD?!
Isn't this going to be the first bit of news regarding Unique MODs if this is revealed to the world? No wonder the Blue Card Legion kidnapped her.
It was actually because she was the only one who can use this Unique MOD.
The Blue Card Legion wants to monopolize this MOD to their use that's why she was kidnapped and no news of this was shared to the world.
"The name of this MOD is the Eye of Origins. It has the ability to show who our Guardian Spirit is. If this MOD is used in the wrong hands, it may invite catastrophe to this mortal world. Do you understand the mission?"
Everyone frowned but they nodded.
What is a Guardian Spirit?
Aren't the talks about "Spirits" only telltale in Terroa?
But more than that, their role in this battlefield are the so called [Acolytes of Donar]. They are the very representation of his power and influence as a God.
Donar is a newly revealed God in Terroa and these so called Acolytes are the first members of his Church.
On the day they were heralded as Acolytes, their jobs have always been to first reach the [Apostle Level], a level that is a level higher than a Bishop.
Apostles are entitled the secondary priority to the blessings of Elder God Donar.
Right now they are in the [Acolyte Level], the lowest level in the Church of Donar.
4) Apostle
3) Archbishop
2) Priest
1) Acolyte
The 5th level belonged to Donar.
As Acolytes, the lowest existence to his Church, their job was to uphold the will and carry out the orders of Elder God Donar.
Someone with a relationship with the Elder God Donar was kidnapped so of course he will snap and will prove that the wrath of a God, and most especially of an Elder God with a title of a God of War, isn't something that anyone can just simply choose to ignore.
If this is true, then they being here right now will be in a tough fight for survival.
Thorn naturally knew their thoughts but he choose to ignore it for now and firm his resolve to command them according to his authority and persona.
"His Majesty has decided. Anyone who is able to kill a core member of the Blue Card Legion will be promoted into a Priest Level. There are twelve possible targets in Apus Epirus. (DING!) These are the information on them. Study them or if you have your Auricles, set your facial scanner to active so that you will be alerted once you meet them on this mission to attack the castle."
One should know that in a ranking composed only of four levels, the test given for a promotion of an entire level isn't an easy one.
To prove this level of difficulty, only when they take down a member of the core elites of the Blue Card Legion will they be promoted to the Priest Level... but, is it really easy to kill a Core Legionnaire?
One must take note that an Archmage was taken by The Legion, what more is a group of ragtag Acolytes assembled not too long ago?
What was the level of their team work?
Are they even sure that even if they work together, they would stand a chance against The Legion?
Thorn pondered on the information provided by Marshal D'Catch regarding the structure and current status of the true core members of the Blue Card Legion, and then decided to use this as a goal for the Acolytes of the Church of Donar as a reward system.
"Those who will be promoted to Priests shall be eligible to establish his or her own small chapel in any one area in any of the nine islands. Of course, being promoted into Bishop, one shall be eligible to obtain their island and redecorate their own land. A personal island can be used however one wants as long as it is on the power given and authorized by His Majesty. An Apostle, however, will be given power and authority to spread the Church's name into any land... and receive the blessings and protection of His Majesty."
Ren was calmly sweating.
Thorn himself was also burning underneath his robe.
They eyed each other and their gazes conversed.
'Where are you getting all these lies from?'
'Your grandmother! Of course I have no choice. I need to announce enticements or they won't put their soul out for the job!'
'Baka! You're only digging your own grave!'
'It doesn't matter! What's important is this situation.'
'When push comes to kicking, I won't be your chopping board!'
Of course, when undertaking a dangerous task, rewards are always what drive the participants to do their best at their tasks.
The only question is: What are the perks of being a priest under the Church of Donar?
"Priests are eligible to command the acolytes during missions." Thorn said as if to read this question on their faces. "Also, priests get more priority into His Majesty's missions when coming along with him in the future. Like for example, when we... hunt treasures..."
An enticement that hits the nerve points of a gamer is something that is basic bait technique for a bargaining chip when asking favors.
Though this mission to destroy the core of the Blue Card Legion is important, Thorn was still clear that he must not leak out any more information regarding the origins of their identities.
He continued, "...or hunting special monsters... or hunting certain evil individuals to get whatever things they keep in their lairs..."
These enticements don't have any baseless grounds.
Terroa is a game that promotes hunts. Strength is decided how well you fight because there is no level in this game. There is only difficulty in ranks estimated according to the abilities of the players.
A rarer monster holds rare materials and importance on some circumstances. So of course, something that an NPC Elder God is capable of searching will always be at the level where other players will always covet.
Having sent this message to them, the eight players all began smiling and even the arrogant and usually uncaring Heller was grinning from excitement.
All of them have officially bitten the carrot.
"The bottom line is," Thorn said as a closer, "Those who will become priests will be able to come with His Majesty during hunts and also receive special missions that only those of the specified ranks can enjoy."
It was the finisher blow.
Whether they will come or they will quit is decided on this. He ended his enticements speech here and waits for the fire of ambition to burn in their eyes.
Ren close-eyed let it all happen. Even he couldn't think of anything unusual to those lies he just heard. After all, Siva's depiction of himself as a God was so perfect and so precise that the whole world believed it.
Was it acting or was it the reflexive defensive mechanism of the brain to think up excuses and reasons to defend the situation that one had thoughtlessly created?
In short... was it all planned up or was it all just a product of the spur of the moment?
"No matter what it was, Siva had done a marvelous job on it. He led the world on the nose by pretending to be a God... and... the rewards and benefits that entails on this was even overwhelming all of my predictions and calculations by an entire realm! Was there any reason to NOT join this entourage? No. Joining this trip would be the greatest benefit not only to me but to the Hydra Society as well...!"
His report from missing from Warjillis would have to be made later and he knew that The Hydras would understand the choice he made that day when he decided to be Siva's retainer.
After all, to the eyes of the world, Siva is Donar.
City Lord Ren had his own mission and even though he wasn't obligated to help him, he was already here so why quit in the middle of it?
That would not only hurt his pride and ego, but also ultimately wound his dignity as a man who doesn't have a single word, aside from the fact that he'll lose big-time in terms of beneficial privileges.
In the end, he was still an Acolyte.
One sigh escaped his mouth and Ren assented as he pointed, "I'll go."
And following that, not wanting to be left out, the eight of the rest had also voiced their willingness to join this gamble...
"Good." Thorn nodded. His heart with joy as it all went well. "We now have an agreement. At this point, we will now be falling our way to infiltrate the Castle Base and enact the plan alongside our allies."
"Infiltration plan?" asked Debra. He's been silent all this time so when he voiced a question, aside from Ren, the rest were quite surprised.
Thorn gave a nod and explained, "Mn. The plan is a simple and direct approach. Using Akhenaton as both a decoy and main cannon, we will..."
Following the minutes after this, Akhenaton entered the space of 52km away from Apus Epirus.
He used the minutes to explain the details of the plan to the Acolytes and only after 10 minutes did they stop and confirm their respective roles.
"Got it?" Thorn ended.
"Yes." Everyone confirmed.
"Now, everyone get ready. If you have to take your own party, ready them in less than five minutes. We will leave as soon as I finished informing His Majesty with the plans."
After a flash, Thorn disappeared from their sights and the nine Acolytes were the only ones left in the platform.
Red Metal was undeniably the weakest of the bunch while Heller was the strongest.
When they were alone, a temporary role of leadership should be decided in order to promote the sense of seniority and unit-movement on the Acolytes. Since there are only nine of them, with "Dilim" seeming to be a [Special Force Unit] directly under His Majesty, Donar's, orders.
He serves to be under special instructions as of the moment. There was a need for the rest of them to decide the alpha of the pack.
This role should've been shouldered by the strongest one amongst them but Heller had long said that he has no interest to play the part.
At this moment, the leadership role was put on the shoulders of the uniformly considered second strongest among them... Coralline.
Looking around her, she voiced out, "I'm really curious about that Dilim. After he enslaved all of those punks from the three largest guilds under his [Company], he disappeared without any kind of warning."
Even though it was decided that she was the leader, the truly ones she can command was the lowest five of the nine (Diyers 'The Assassin'; Niobe 'The Provoker'; Otus 'The Ranger'; and Pitou 'The Thief'), with Red Metal —a seemingly random character that doesn't quite fit the requirements of what they thought an Acolyte of an Elder God should have.
And yet... on the names called out that day...
He was the 6th name called, higher than these four.
In fact, did he even choose to participate in the brawl in the arena? There were eye witnesses saying that he was in the audience racks during the arena event and didn't even join the bloodbath the whole while!
Looking at the back of that Mohawk guy, Coralline could not help click her tongue.
"Look at him..." said Pitou, dissatisfied, "Although the Right Minister did indeed tell us that we are allowed to bring our own team in this mission, it doesn't mean that we should actually bring them with us in this mission, right? I mean, shouldn't it be a mission meant only for the Acolytes and no other people?"
[The Thief]
Although the north was NOT the center of the gamers in the huge planet of Terroa, the player activities in this place is still great thus it means that it does not lack the players with the traditional occupations.
Pitou, Diyers, Niobe, and Otus... these four chose to play the traditional career paths of an RPG-Gamer.
Terroa boasts of freedom and hybrid versatility when choosing skills and abilities, it also means that players can also maximize their character builds.
As such, although the career paths of these four were predictable because of being common to RPGs, the hybrid versatility provided by RPG: Terroa on choosing one's skill sets allowed them to cover some of their weaknesses with either equipment items or skill/spell talismans.
In fact, it's not even rare to see someone with the rather common skill set like Diyers, an Assassin, to be able to use magic.
An Assassin
A Ranger
A Thief
And a rare Provoker...
Perhaps out of the Acolytes, Niobe (*pronounced Na-yu-bee) has the most special and attention-grabbing career path.
Her specialty lies in her ability to get attention. And in one glance when looking at her 'provocative' styles of dress and those 'provocative' womanly curves, one would already know what kind of 'job' she has to offer in the battlefield.
This was a kind of profession that is really hard to play.
Kiting!
Her specialty lay on attracting opponents for her to deal with AOE damage or for her team mates to farm.
In a VR-Game where you move your own bodies with your own thoughts, how you move well in the real world will reflect the level of skills you can show inside the game.
As such, Niobe became popular in The North not because she was strong, but because she was really good at Provoking —especially to men's standards.
FLASH!
"Everyone." Thorn's voice attracted their gazes.
Right after he appeared, they all felt the island shook and the speeding movement of the Akhenaton over the forest surrounding the city, with the city wall on plain view on their right side, gradually became slow as the nine islands and view of the surroundings were covered with the illusion of the veil of clouds.
To the players and citizens near and inside the wall, the darkness of the eternal night curse had begun to spread its horror.
With the shaking of the island and the vibrations in the air, they all knew that Akhenaton... had slowed down.
With the least sol energy used for movement now, the cloudy illusion effect that helps hide it started to cover Akhenaton again while the screaming winds left behind its wake started to die down.
Earlier, Akhenaton was running, now, it had assumed its walking pose. The Godhammer on his right hand also disappeared and the long imperial staff with an embroidered gem at the head end came into view.
Thorn's call caused their hearts to skip a beat because as soon as he got their attention, the highest level of the platform flashed as a person clad in pontifical robe appeared with its eye-catching white and gold.
As soon as this man appeared, the first one to kneel down, full of reverence, was Red Metal and it was followed by the rest of the Acolytes with the last being the surprised Coralline.
"Everyone, His Majesty, Elder God Donar."
""""We greet His Majesty, Elder God Donar!""""
"Stand." Siva's seemingly hurried voice rang. He was clearly still trying to chase his breath at this moment and though it was suppressed, it still did not escape Ren and Deb's attention. "You are all the members I have chosen from the thousands of the willing followers on that day. Do you know why?"
None of them answered and only kept their attention as they all look at him in earnestness.
Siva continued firmly, "Because all of you possess limitless potential and has the ability to follow the path of power while upholding what my name must have as it resounded in the eons."
No one dared to say a word because not only they not have any idea what he was talking about, they also felt that speaking at this point would only cause the air of holiness around them to be dyed black if they replied.
"I represent power and justice. I war because I am too lousy to spend time negotiating peacefully using jabs of nonsensical lyrics. If you have something you want, get it yourself. A strong fist can hold what you dear to it more firmly than a softer one. Do you agree?"
Everyone almost laughed.
Is this really an NPC?
Why does he talk like a mafia boss?
But they still nodded, "Yes." and replied with vigor and attentiveness to the point of what he said. He does have a point. Just what movie did the history and story gathering AI of the game get these lines from?
"If you die, then you die. If you don't, then you only get stronger. That is the essence of living. Right now, the bastards of the Blue Card Legion not only have my woman... they are also trying to destroy the city which holds millions of lives. You tell me. As representatives of [Power and Justice] of Donar, what is the price to pay for this outrageous blasphemy?"
On the side, Red Metal suddenly answered. "Death!"
Everyone was surprised but in their hearts, they now understood why this guy was chosen. Apparently, out of all of them, this guy was the most loyal subject.
And so, they hurriedly answered one by one.
Deb: "Kill the bastards."
Ren: "Cut their necks!"
Coralline: "Electrocute them!"
Heller: "Burn them to the ground..."
Similar replies were also heard from the other four Acolytes and their replies only made the atmosphere on the platform, and even Ren and Thorn, secretly, get goosebumps at the realization of how easy it was for Siva/Rex to arouse the crowd's will to flow with his own.
Such frightening talent to gather the crowd was not a common skill and definitely wasn't something that was easy to train in.
"Right." Siva nodded. "So if you don't want to watch, then fly... go give them my regards."
As soon as the words were uttered, the surprised minds of the Acolytes were broken when Thorn was the first to jump into the air and dive down the island.
The rest didn't want to be left out so they also did the same. As they floated up, they also heard Siva's voice resound from behind them...
"Remember my words you have to deliver to their ears moments before their death... 'You have chosen the wrong day to defy me.'"
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All preparations are complete, war now explodes!
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Next chapter: A raging god, an angry brother, a vengeful lover... all in one!
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