Derium Plains, Daggerfall.
00:45 a.m. 15 th Banem 1092.
Shhhh…
Whlap! Whlap!
High in the skies above the Derium plains, the rhythmic beating of massive, flapping wings cut through the occasional pauses between thunderstrikes. A silhouette nearly 10 ters long leisurely breezed through the clouds, uncaring of the peals of lightning that struck around but sohow never hit it.
In fact, it wasn’t only lightning that avoided the creature but also the rain itself. The droplets curved around the beast like a magnetic force repelled them.
A lightning bolt that struck dangerously close to the silhouette illuminated it in its light, revealing the hidden creature to be an Ephrium. Ephriums were beautiful, white-feathered creatures with the body of a four-legged, land-based lion with a wingspan that could grow as long as 20 ters wide. The majestic creatures boasted a long, slender neck that ended in a sleek, cougar-like head. Ephriums stood at nearly 4 ters tall and had pretty long tails that could grow up to 8 ters long, bringing their total length to just about 12 ters.
They were beautiful, intelligent creatures that had found themselves on the brink of extinction after unchecked hunting severely thinned out their numbers.
A small, hooded feminine figure sat atop the ephrium’s back, humming a sweet tune as she flipped the pages of a novel. The lady did not have a rein or saddle but sohow effortlessly kept her balance on the creature’s back. While she read, a red light began to pulse and glow beneath her cloak. The young woman, intrigued, closed the book and drew out the glowing pendant.
“Such rage and despair,” a sweet, airy, innocent voice remarked as she studied the pendant. “I wonder what could have happened.” She patted the ephrium’s back and said, “Ephrie-kun.”
The ephrium sensed its master’s thoughts and descended from the clouds. It changed course and flew in a direction indicated by the pendant whose light gradually grew brighter with each passing mont. The ephrium slowed down as a small settlent ca into view.
The robed woman looked at the pendant then at the rundown village. “Over there, Ephrie-kun.”
The ephrium let out a small growl, then dropped till it was only a few ters above the roofs and flew over the village, much to the shock and surprise of several orcs who were locked in combat against a faction that had popped out of seemingly nowhere. This faction, which wore body and face-concealing clothes in the fashion of mainstream ninjas, launched an attack against the orcs monts after Renark walked into the tunnel like they had been waiting for precisely that mont.
The hooded figure ignored the squirmish in the town and patted Ephrie when she spotted a ssy pile of corpses on the street. The pendant grew hot enough to scald her skin when Ephrie landed in front of the bodies, indicating she had reached her destination.
A group of orcs nearby battling against assassins in dark clothing looked over at the woman, and more importantly, the ephrium behind her in wonder and shock. However, they were too busy trying to save their own lives to question what she was doing there and her purpose.
However, while the orcs were fully occupied, the assassins were not. A group of assassins watched the attack’s progress from rooftops, dropping in to assist if things got too hairy for the trainees. Among these assassins stood a young man dressed in gold, eye-catching ninja-wear.
The eyes of this flashy assassin shone through the narrow space in his headwear as he admired the ephrium. “Go see what she’s about,” the young man ordered.
“Yes, Nightslayer-sama,” echoed three assassins as they disappeared from the rooftop.
anwhile, a white half-mask appeared in the hooded woman’s hand as she descended from the ephrium’s back. She fixed the mask and walked over to the corpse pile. She was about to reach for the being that called out to her when three assassins suddenly lunged at her with daggers trained at her head, chest, and back.
A pair of green eyes flashed beneath the mask, but she ultimately ignored the attacks as she gasped a small, burned hand.
Bam! Clang!
“What!?” The assassin cried in shock as they slamd against an invisible barrier. The killers struck the shield with their strongest attacks, but there wasn’t even the slightest hint of a tremor or crack. Helpless, the assassins were forced to watch the robed woman pull Bok out of the corpses.
The assassins gaped as they looked at the goblin. Grizzlydiamond’s attack had terribly mutilated Bok’s body.
Bok’s legs and his left arm were blasted to bits. Angry red and black splotches dominated the rest of his charred skin. However, despite this, the goblin’s eyes opened wide, red and alert, carrying within them staunch defiance of death fuelled by enough rage and spite to drown several continents in blood.
The goblin’s bloodlust sent chills down the assassins’ spines. They were no strangers to the art of murder, but the madness contained in the goblin’s eyes overwheld them to the extent of near submission.
However, one person was not affected by the goblin’s eyes. The young woman placed her right hand on Bok’s throat. A green glow suffused around her palm as she healed the goblin’s crushed throat. She smiled as she saw the shock and fervent desire in Bok’s eyes. “Why are you so angry?”
“They killed them. They killed everyone!” Bok shouted as he desperately grasped the woman’s hand. “They keep killing us. No matter where we hide, they keep chasing us! I’ve had enough!”
“Anger is good,” the woman said as she observed Bok. “But anger without cause is equally useless. It is a tool you must use for your own devices. What do you wish to achieve?”
Hot tears poured down Bok’s eyes as the mories of the constant deaths of everyone he knew played continuously in his mind. The goblins’ fear as they fled, the despair when they got caught, the laughter of the righteous adventurers. And the hated word, ‘experience points’ and ‘level up.’ “A world for goblins!” Bok cried out. “A world where we don’t have to run and hide. A world where we aren’t hunted for experience points!”
The woman smiled. “The only way to achieve that world is to prove to everyone that goblins must be feared. We can help you make that happen. But, are you prepared to do what it takes to create that reality, no matter how evil the process?”
Bok’s heart skipped a beat. “I-is such a thing truly possible? You won’t hunt us down?”
The lady’s lips curled into a wide smile as she took off her mask and pulled down her hood. The woman was revealed to be a young, sweet-looking, halben, with an air of na??ve innocence about her. Her short sandy-blonde hair fluttered in the gentle night breeze as she flashed a beautiful smile. “We don’t care about what you are. As long as you are willing to drown the world in the chaos, it needs to be reborn.” The halben let go of Bok’s hand, then held it out once more. “If you are willing to accept Chaos, take my hand.”
Bok’s heart accelerated as he looked up at the woman’s innocent smile. Sothing about her expression felt off. It felt like the longer he looked at her, the more pieces of cloth covering a painting was torn away. With each tear, a terrifying, ominous presence began to make itself known, and the lady’s smile began to appear ever more treacherous.
However, despite the turmoil in his heart, Bok’s rage won over in the end. The goblin gritted his teeth and grabbed the woman’s arm. His eyes flashed with desperation as he swore with the last energy left in his body, “I don’t care what I have to do! I must create that world!”
“My na is Myra Locktree.” The young lady’s smile brightened her features as she placed the pendant in Bok’s hand. “Welco to the Chaos Order, little one.”
Bok barely had ti to register her words before he sharply bent in pain as a seismic amount of dark energy surged into his body from the pendant. The explosive power shattered bones, tore muscles and ruptured blood veins as it rampaged throughout the goblin’s body, forcefully modifying, improving, and squeezing out the latent potential within his bloodline.
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Bok rolled on the ground, shouting in pain and anguish until his voice turned hoarse. He should have lost his mind, but the anger and rage in his heart kept his sanity intact. He refused to let himself die. Not until he had avenged his families. Not until he’d ensured he would never again have to live in fear!
“Aaargh!” Bok cried through gritted teeth as his fra began to grow slowly. His limbs gradually regenerated while his height increased, which caught the assassin leader, Nightslayer’s, attention.
Nightslayer observed Bok’s transformation with equal parts greed and curiosity. “What the hell? That thing’s evolving the goblin?” The assassin’s interest in the situation took a massive upturn as he quickly surmised such a tool’s possible applications. He took a step off the roof and appeared just outside the barrier the woman set up.
Nightslayer placed his hand on the do and grinned. “Hey, why don’t you put this down and talk with
for a bit?”
Myra glanced at Nightslayer and shook her head with a regretful sigh. “Sorry, Master said I should not talk to strangers.” After saying that, she turned her attention back to the rapidly evolving goblin.
Nightslayer frowned. “Are you joking?”
Myra did not respond. Judging by how intently she observed the goblin’s evolution, she did not intend to talk anyti soon. As far as she was considered, Nightslayer might as well have been air.
Nightslayer’s eyes burned with anger at Myra’s perceived disrespect. “Think you can insult
just cause I’m on an alt?” He taunted as he knocked on the shield. “If my main were here, this flimsy shield would be nothing.”
Myra still paid no attention to Nightslayer, as by this point, Bok had grown from the size of a ten-year-old to just over five-foot-five. The goblin had grown new, sturdy limbs, but nasty burn scars remained on his face and chest, a permanent reminder of the reason for his anger, and a kindle for the fla should it ever threaten to fizzle out.
Nightslayer ground his teeth, his pride shattered by the halben’s disinterest. Amid his rage, he looked at the docile Ephrie and laughed. “Hide in your shell if you want. I’ll be taking your mount.” The assassin tapped the do and ordered his n to capture the Ephrium.
Ephrie looked at the approaching assassins with disdain and let out a short cry akin to that of a bird’s screech as it turned to look at its master.
“Kill them,” Myra lazily said.
Whoosh!
Nightslayer’s eyes widened in shock as his body trembled from a heavy premonition. The assassin instinctively swung his dagger at five lights that suddenly flashed in front of him. The young man flinched as his arm trembled from the impact. He quickly examined the objects that floated in the air after losing their montum and shivered when he realized they were feathers.
“Quick! Retreat!” Nightslayer shouted, instantly understanding the gulf in powers.
Puchi! Puchi!
“Aaah!”
Nightslayer’s eyes turned red with fear and rage as he watched the laser-like feathers cut through his n before they could react. However, the feathers did not stop at the nearby assassins and spread across the entire village, cutting down every living thing it ca across, orc and assassin alike.
“Stop, you damned beast!” Nightslayer roared as he teleported over the ephrium. Ephrie dismissively glanced at the assassin as twelve feathers shot out of its tail to impale him.
“Fuck off!” Nightslayer’s hands accelerated and launched a dense net of ki blades that scattered the feathers in a surprising display of strength. The young man straightened his body and ‘kicked’ against the air. This sent him flying through the brief opening with the force of a piledriver. A silhouette of a sharpened golden stake ford around the youth as he stabbed down at the ephrium.
“Die!” Nightslayer shouted as he bore down on the stunned beast.
Ephrie’s lackadaisical look vanished as the stake bore down on it. The attack was too sudden and in such proximity that it would not be able to dodge in ti. Nightslayer’s triumphant grin reflected in the beast’s pale blue eyes.
Ephrie snapped. It snarled and opened its mouth as it raised its head to et the stake.
Boom!
A concentrated energy beam suddenly shot out of the ephrium’s mouth and shattered the aura surrounding Nightslayer to pieces. The young man was left defenseless as the beam struck him in the chest.
Nightslayer coughed up blood as he was blasted high into the sky. Weak and delirious, he managed to look over the village and paled as he saw ephrium’s feathers cut down the last set of orcs and assassins. Every soul that ca to this village had perished except for himself, the goblin, and those strangers.
As he fell to the ground, Nightslayer cursed as he examined his H.P., which had dropped to a critical state. Even if he survived the fall, he doubted he would be able to move further.
Nightslayer winced as his back hit the earth. Thud! Monts passed, and he tentatively opened his eyes, surprised to find he remained among the living. Fortunately, the impact was not as bad as he had expected. It seed sothing had kindly broken his fall. Nightslayer turned to the side to see what had saved his life.
‘Ugh’ Nightslayer had to force himself not to vomit as he stared into the squashed eyes of a dismbered goblin corpse. The young man had never hated L.N.E’s reality system as much as that mont! Even though he was grateful the pile of goblin corpses had saved his life, he did not appreciate being forced to look at them.
Nightslayer inwardly swore as he weakly reached into his pocket for a potion. He uncorked the bottle and raised it to his lips. Grab! A burnt hand grabbed the young man’s hand before he could pour the contents down his throat.
Nightslayer trembled as he looked up at the owner of the hand. A naked goblin with heavily burned skin towered over him, red eyes burning nacingly in the night. However, upon rembering this was all a ga, Nightslayer recovered his bravado and imdiately threatened, “Let
go if you know what’s good for you.”
“That’s right. You Summoned do not fear death,” Bok coldly remarked as he began to tighten his grip. He ignored the young man’s cries of pain as he crushed Nightslayer’s wrist. The potion dropped to the ground, and Bok picked it up. He squeezed and the bottle shattered in his grasp, spilling the red liquid everywhere.
“You Summoned are the true locusts,” Bok snarled with disgust as he grasped Nightslayer’s throat and began to squeeze slowly. “You co to our world, steal and kill as you like, laughing all the ti.” The goblin kneeled on the assassin and drove his knee into the Summoned’s chest. “This is because you do not fear death, isn’t it?” Bok said as he bent over Nightslayer, so his scarred face blotted out the sky.
“I will fix that for you.” Bok snarled as he slowly inched over Nightslayer and tightened his grip over the young man’s throat. “You will know fear.”
Nightslayer gagged and gasped as he weakly struggled to remove the goblin’s grip. Tears stread down the young man’s eyes as his lungs seed to burn while he fought for oxygen. Bok’s face grew larger in his eyes until all he could see were the goblin’s red, rage-filled eyes. The young man was so consud by fear and pain that he forgot he could save himself with a simple logout.
Luckily, L.N.E had an auto-logout function in case of extre stress. Most pro gars had this option turned off, but Nightslayer had forgotten to switch off the option as this was his secondary account. That oversight saved him from further trauma as it forcefully logged him out when the combination of fear, pain, and desperation surpassed critical thresholds.
“Coward.” Bok snarled as Nightslayer’s body went limp in his hands. He angrily grabbed the assassin’s head and forcefully tore it off the rest of his body. He raised the severed head and looked into the vacant eyes. “My world cannot be a reality as long as the Summoned exist.” Flas burst out of his hand and reduced the head to a pile of ash blown away by the wind. “If I can’t get rid of them, I will make them fear us. I will make every last one of them regret treating my kind as sothing to be ‘fard.’”
“I look forward to seeing how far you go,” Myra remarked with a smile. She observed the newest mber of her guild and said, “You are free to do whatever you want. What’s the first thing you’d like to do with this freedom?”
Bok looked at Myra. “I would like to read.”
“Read?”
“Yes, a library,” Bok explained. “I would like to visit a library. The biggest you can find.”
Myra’s eyes sparkled. “Interesting choice. I’m looking forward to your accomplishnts.”
“Thank you,” Bok said in reply.
Monts later, Bok, dressed in a ssy mishmash of clothing from the fallen assassins, sat bet behind Myra as Ephrie took to the skies. The goblin looked at the burning village as it receded from sight and hardened his resolve. This would be the last ti he surrendered those he loved to the fla.
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