“Been thinking about things… And it just doesn’t make sense…” Victor, the one who sat in Lily’s pendant, suddenly said after they finished their daily ‘cultivation’.
“What doesn’t?” Lily asked.
“Everyone around … Take Mona's situation for example… Take you, having so crazy fate… Take Rosette being lost in another world and a disciple to a lord… Margret being a ti traveler… And now Axel is the sa… Lin being the real Linda…” he said. “With everything happening. It is like everyone around is so unnatural but still appears like one big coincidence… “
“.... Aha… Margret's situation is your doing… Axel is the sa” she said, pouting a little.
“Ok… Maybe Margret and Axel are a special case with their fates being connected to mine. I can make similar excuses for other things, but getting the twins was barely a whim of mine after my return, a kind of childhood fantasy… But look, BAM now they have a mysterious sister!” he said with a frown. Once or twice could be considered a coincidence, but this kept happening!
“I think you are mistaken on many parts…” Lily pondered.
“What?” he asked.
“The twins had been fated to by Tom’s brides, so if you take into consideration him being a scion, one can expect that their fate had sothing hidden!” she suggested. “You couldn’t have known all that had transpired with them!”
“True…”
“Secondly, your fate weaver class might have caused you to change quite a few things… So getting embroidered in strange things is to be expected!” Lily suggested.
“You an like a rebound for changing fate?” he pondered.
“Yeah, every action has an equal and opposite reaction! It doesn’t have to be physical…”
“Good point…” Victor nodded.
“And lastly…. it might not be about you… “ she suggested. “It might all be connected to … My fate is huge, and Mona did recognize !” she finally added.
“Oh…” Victor nodded. That was a good point. His thinking had been too self-centric lately, and he failed to consider that his fate and Lily’s were now connected, especially after she revived him in the other tiline, so things related to her might appear around him! “I think you are right, I might be overthinking things! But Co on, a year has not passed since my return…”
“Good point… But you had not been idling…” she spat. The bastard was busy creating a harem.
“Good point…” he nodded.
“Um…. So, when are you returning?” Lily asked.
“Two weeks tops, I might barely make it to the tournant!” he said. “Will you be there?”
“50% 50%, I will clear this dungeon in two days, then I will be apprehended with Yulian and taken away by the family’s force… After that, I will have to go through the cleansing ritual and get interrogated… I will try to find a way to be there, but it will all depend on how things go with my stupid uncle!”
“Oh… “ Victor frowned.
“Don’t worry, I will probably co to see you in the Heavenly sect when the ti cos afterward… Are you still going with that?” she pouted.
“Yeah… Tom already got all the info I need…” he said with a frown. “And now that I have a fake to take my place, the situation couldn't get better…”
***
“Are you ready?” Theta, dressed in a very cute armor that she got from a treasure box, asked as she struck her whip to the ground. She also got it from another treasure box. For so strange reason, she was the only one finding those!
“YES!” more than 300 players who stood in lines like a real army replied all at once. Most of them were ard to the teeth with armor made out of rat fur and ribs. Although this form of armor looked rudintary, it was the only thing they could use.
“Now that we have located the boss’s base, it is ti to go there and conquer it!” she said, turning to nod at Ruby. They were working according to Lily’s schedule. “Once we beat it, we should be able to escape this accursed place and hopefully, if any of your loved ones here survived, we would et with them outside!”
“YEAH!”
“Let’s move!” she commanded and began walking, followed by an army of players. The strong ones were in the front and the back, while the kids and the elderly were in the middle.
In the back, behind Ruby a young man marshed, his eyes kept on her from afar.
“You also fell for her?” a burly man beside him asked as he noticed him eyeing her.
“Yeah… She is just so cute, making one want to protect her!” the young man replied, shrugging as he smiled in a self-deprecating manner.
“Yeah… “ the burly man nodded. “I, with a few others, had decided to follow her once we were out of here!”
“Oh… That Players guild she is forming?”
“Yeah… It is like an adventurers guild in video gas… we, the weak players, against the oligarchs who control the world!” the burly man said as he squeezed his fist, clearly still affected by Theta’s speech on how those select few hid the knowledge about Players and how they controlled the world from behind the scenes!
“Really…. You discussed that with her?”
“Yup, she told us to wait until everything calms outside before seeking her out of town!”
“Oh…”
“Interested?”
“Well, I will have to weigh my options, one of those families might take a liking to and recruit after all!” the young man said as he slowed down a bit. “I heard their wage rates are amazing! 5 figures per month at the very least!”
“WAIT! What…” the burly man slowed down and looked around, making sure no one was listening. “Really? Where did you hear that from?” he whispered.
“From an old man… He should be around here sowhere….” The young man looked around as if searching for soone, but found none. “Anyways, it would depend on the Authority level; and class, if they are sufficient, they will definitely give you an offer once you leave this place… You can listen to them at that point, you don't have to agree imdiately!”
“Oh… Good point… But will they take fancy to my Bone Warrior class?”
“I think it would depend on your authority…”
“Is 3 enough?”
“Maybe…One will never know…!” the young man shrugged. “But you should really not reveal your class and status this casually…”
“Ah… Right…. But I don’t see any harm in that,” the burly man said looking around. “Especially now that we have gotten a little far away from the others… We better hurry to catch up…” he added, noticing that they had almost been left behind thanks to the young man walking slowly.
He wanted to hurry up, but for so strange reason, his legs no longer moved.
What the…
He couldn’t complete that thought as he felt sothing sharp penetrate his heart. Monts later, his body lted and changed into a tallic card that fell to the ground.
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The young man knelt and grabbed it, shaking it a bit to remove the dust before giving it a look. It looked like a trading ga’s playing card of sorts, with the picture of the burly man’s shocked expression forever painted on its front. Under it, a na, a level, an authority number, and a class. Knowing those were the conditions to activate his skill!
“The ones who taught you not to reveal your status did that for a reason you know…”The young man smirked and flicked the card. Monts later he turned into that burly man before hurrying to follow after the others. “Dear Yulian… If you are still alive, You better not disappoint , or things will beco boring!” he added under his breath.
***
“Wait here…” Rosette pulled Victor to the side and said as soon as he entered the Storm lord’s court.
“What’s going on?” he whispered to her watching an old half-dwarf woman drawing sothing with chalk on the ground under the throne where the Storm lord sat eyeing her. It was so kind of an array that Victor had never seen before. One must know that he was knowledgeable about those things, but this array did things completely illogically!
“Just watch!” Rosette didn’t explain but Victor, who already appraised the old woman, needed no explanation.
Lidiara Simmo Vilo
Class: ORACLE
Level: 899
Authority: 89
He knew exactly what this was about!
“Finished?” the Storm lord asked after five minutes.
“Yes, your lordship, only the last steps are left and Lazarous’s fate will be revealed!”
“What happened to Lazarus?’ Victor whispered.
“Dead…” Rosette answered briefly, watching the old woman begin to draw so symbols in midair like so kind of a lunatic.
Victor sweated as he looked around the hall, the ones standing to the other side were Lazarous’s entourage, including Naga who was staring daggers at him.
Oops… Still holding a grudge…
WAIT…
He squinted his eyes looking at her. She had a new line in her description.
STORM LORD’S DISCIPLE (2nd)
Eh… Did she take Lazarous’s position and beco the storm lord's disciple?
Fate was really a cruel mistress… Wait, he was a fate weaver, did that an that he gets to court that mistress? Could he add it to his harem? Would she play well with the others? She was cruel after all… Would she agree to try a threeso?
Having those random thoughts, Victor watched as the woman seemingly finished her setup and looked toward the storm lord.
She nodded.
The old woman took a bottle of blood and emptied it in the middle of her array…
HSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS….
Almost imdiately all of it boiled up and turned into a red foggy mist.
In the midst of it, like a mirage, a scene was reflected. Not perfectly clear, but with a lot of noise and interruption like watching a TV with a bad Antenna.
Still, what was going on there was clear enough.
They could see an indistinguishable man approaching Lazarus who was playing dead, they were in a strange sandy environnt that looked like a part of the death gorge.
PAM!
Lazarous jumped the man, but a mont later a bone-chilling scream could be heard and the mist collapsed and dispersed imdiately.
“What happened?” the storm lord, whose expression was hidden by the veil on her face, asked.
“Soul poison. The soul’s mory is too damaged and that’s all we could retrieve!” the old woman replied.
“Oh….” the soul lord paused. “Can you get a close look on the man’s face?”
“Ah… Well… The damage is very intensive, with everything it will be very hard, almost impossible…”
“I will make it worth your ti!”
“What remains of your disciple's soul might suffer pain beyond death…”
“He is already dead, this is just a remnant…” the storm lord responded coldly.
“Ah… One mont….” the old woman nodded, taking a strange-looking doll from her robes and then setting it in the middle of the array. It was a totally normal faceless doll, just made out of a strange material called Soul Wood.
Then she began to speak incomprehensible language before setting the doll on fire. Blue fire!
KYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA…..
Another bone-chilling shrill sounded as the doll began to turn around. It was clearly Lazrous screaming as what remained of his soul disintegrated.
Victor could swear that it was about to look at him, so he was preparing to invoke his disguise skill as soon as their eyes locked.
Thankfully he didn’t need to as the fire was extinguished by itself monts later before it could make the full turn.
What was left was a lifeless doll that fell to the ground. Now it had a face that looked distinctively similar to the Poison Lord.
“Yazal!” the storm lord hissed as she squeezed her fist.
Victor who was secretly sweating sighed in relief. Thankfully he used that disguise!
“Thank you… You may leave!” the storm lord said to the old woman. “I will send the things promised later…”
“It is my honor to serve you, your lordship…” the old woman who seed a lot more pale after activating that soul-calling skill said as she retreated politely, nearly falling down on her way out of the hall.
The lord nodded and looked at one of her assistants, “Did Atma catch up with him yet?”
“Ah… No, your lordship, that guy is still on the run! He is going deeper into the demonic lands!”
“Like that would ever stop Atma…” the lord spat before turning to face Victor. “You may step forward…”
Victor swallowed then took a few steps to approach the throne before bowing down ceremoniously.
“Has your Master contacted you?” she asked, clearly knowing the answer as she had been keeping an eye on him.
“Yes… Just now! He also brought this Talisman!” he said, taking out the box ‘he got from his master’ and opening it to reveal a golden talisman inside. It looked like any other talisman expert for the strange marks made with a sharpie on it.
“Oh… He is smart, making it so only you can use it!” she said as if she knew what she was talking about.
Victor acted shocked as if he didn’t know more than anyone that she couldn't see anything out of the ordinary on this talisman… In fact, it was not even a real talisman at all, just a random ‘stone paper’ that appeared like one. He couldn’t risk the lord using it after all and Sistem items sotis could be traced to their makers, so he had to guard against that also!
“Yes… He told that I will be the only one to use it after we sign the contract with the conditions specified!” he answered nervously. “It is all his doing… I don't have anything to do with it… I swear!” he quickly clarified.
“I know…” the storm lord nodded, acting all mysterious. “But I will need my assistant to check the Talisman first if you don’t mind!” she said.
“Sure…” he said, presenting the talisman to the assistant. In fact, he already expected the lord to be very suspicious. And if it were not for the accident with Zifr she might have kept him waiting for a few months in order to investigate everything. It was just now, she was feeling extra pressured! Just as intended.
Victor was secretly crossing his fingers as he watched the assistant use a strange artifact to test the ‘talisman’ for demonic energy or poison.
If the Storm lord backs up now, he would have to go with the backup plan of kidnapping his mother-in-law and her family and forcibly bringing them back to Trilaria. Technically forgetting about establishing a base here for the foreseeable future. Without the storm lord, this world might be gone after all!
“Your lordship… The detector is not responding…” the assistant suddenly said nervously after trying everything to test the talisman. It was not working!
“Really?” the storm lord frowned.
“Yes…” the assistant nodded as another one hurried to her side to check it. It was the sa.
“Show it to …” she said, making the talisman float into her hand.
Looking at it, she frowned. Other than its paper being sothing she had never seen or felt before, it was totally innate.
“Will this work?” she asked, looking at Victor.
“My master told it would!” he said, noticing the warning about the truth artifact effect being applied to him.
The storm lord frowned.
If this talisman appeared to be a normal one she would have been more suspicious of it being a trap, but it was sothing very foreign, so she didn’t know what to think.
She was very suspicious after all. Victor’s master not wanting to sign the contract by himself made her worried.
That’s what Victor could read from her reaction after all.
“Ok…” she finally said. “Let’s do it!”
“Ah…” Victor was a little taken aback, he thought she needed a few more days, and had been planning to release a few demons through the capital to nudge her to accept. “Really?”
“You look surprised…”
“A little, my master told that you are a hard nut to crack and that no man would be able to get under your skirt and withstand your thunder without having an iron rod!”
“...” Everyone in the hall glared at Victor, bringing their hands to their swords upon hearing his very dirty pun. HOW DARE HE!
The Storm lord sighed and gestured to them to stand down. He was under the truth-telling artifact after all! She regretted trying to probe him…. DAMN THAT PERVERT!
“Bring the docunts!” she said to her assistants who were glaring at Victor like they wanted to shred him into pieces.
Soon the docunts written on gilded parchnt papers were brought in front of Victor by a middle-aged woman who had CONTRACTOR OF LIFE class.
He slowly began to read through them. They were exactly the condition his master demanded.
Rosette and her family would be allowed to return to Trialria safely.
A Demon Dispelling Sect would be founded on a mountain on the eastern front.
Victor’s safety would be guaranteed until the mont he leaves this world as long as he doesn’t attack the storm lord or harm her interests.
On the other hand, Victor would be demanded to cure the Storm lord and keep it a secret! And no matter what, he was not allowed to harm the storm lord during the procedure.
If harm was done internally or unintentionally, he would suffer the sa fate.
Victor frowned, seeing that last term. This bitch, on the verge of death and insisting on dragging others… But it was too late to back down now.
“I accept!” Victor finally said, signing his na on one side after giving it a quick thought. If he knew the Storm lord could shield herself like this, he wouldn’t have bothered with antagonizing Zifr!
Watching him step back, the assistant quickly moved the docunts toward the storm lord.
She glanced at them, then signed with a cyan-colored feather.
POOOOOOOOOOOOOOOF!
The docunts shone and then disappeared as both Victor and the storm Lord got the notification about the contract being established.
“Good…” the storm lord said. “Follow …” she told Victor as she stood up and entered a door behind the throne.
Victor hesitated before quickly following behind her. Rosette kept her worried eyes on him for the entire ti.
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