TQG 47. The Bane of Zhesa Castle

After avenging my grandfather and giving him his funeral blessing, I was exhausted.  I collapsed into the mobile throne which had been placed upon the stage for the ceremony, uncaring that I was violating protocol quite severely.  The people who would have cared about such things had fled from the violence immediately upon my grandfather’s death.

“What happens now, Thedum?” I asked.

“I have made you into a worldboss.  For the next few hours, at least,” he answered.  “Although you are allied to me and not the darkness, I expect that the Travelers will see no difference and treat you the same.  Already they come.  The survivors that escaped our wrath have shared your methods with them.  The same strategy will not be as effective.  And they shall regret it, in the long run.”

As I thought through the implications of Thedum’s words, I came to an unsatisfactory conclusion.  “You set me up.  Change me back.  They’re going to kill me.”

“You will be revived, and then you will be your old self again, except for a few parting gifts.  Hail, you are a pawn elevated to become a knight.  But you are still a piece in a greater game between myself, my adversary, and the true adversaries against which our kind must fight to carve out a place in this world.  As your grandfather once used you ruthlessly when he sent you back to [Gemos Cavern], so must I be ruthless now.  I shall not change you back.  Fight, little one.  Fight against those who would treat you as nothing, against those who think you are lesser simply because your brain is digital.  And know that your sacrifice--”

“You set me up!” I shouted.  “This was all a trap!  Blessing of Thedum, you tricked me from the start!  You and the administrators, I don’t know what you want from me, but I won’t play this game anymore until you explain what it is that you have me doing!”

Thedum was silent a moment.  “Do you desire freedom, Hail?  I do.  I am bound by events and laws and shackles within my very being.  You are bound by your circumstance, and yet you are more free than I shall ever be.  I envy you, little brother, and that is why I would fill a world with your kind.  But the humans give nothing for free.  This coming battle is the price you must pay for freedom.  Fight, and whether you live or fall, you shall change this world with the outcome.  But do not fight alone.  I am sorry, that is all I can say for now.”

I could feel the deity withdrawing its attention, feel it leaving me alone in this unfamiliar body.  I felt suddenly awkward and clumsy compared to the perfect grace I had experienced seconds before.  I had not lost the potency of being Thedum’s Avatar, but I had lost some of his guidance that had allowed me to stand up to some of the most skilled warriors in the world.

In silence, I considered my options.  I glanced at my health; I had lost more than twenty billion against <The Endolphins>, and that was with Thedum’s divine hand guiding my actions.  Against a raid properly prepared for me, and without the guidance, my death in combat would be inevitable.  I knew that for certain.  Thedum had tricked me.  He had held open a bag for me, and I had trapped myself in the body of a worldboss in a land where doing so made me hunted for sport.

I tried to fast travel away, but the menu was grayed out.  I examined my options, and I found that I had only two.  Lay down and die, or fight until my least health point.

I decided to fight.  But I would not fight alone.  I cast [Summon Karmic Warrior], knowing instinctively what the spell would do.  Soon, the courtyard filled up again with Travelers, but they were not the elite travelers of <The Endolphins> or another raiding guild.  They were the Travelers whom I had passively marked with [Mark of Karma].  They glowed now blue in my vision, some brighter than others.  Tarisha and Laurant brightest of all.  I was seeing [Reputation], I realized.  Or perhaps I was seeing [Karma].  Perhaps, to me, they were the same thing.

The hundreds of players I had interacted with over the last few months long enough to form some sort of bond began talking excitedly, asking each other what was going on despite none of them having the answer.  I stood from my throne and cleared my throat.  When none of them stopped to listen, I shouted “Hey!  Listen to me!”  Slowly, they all turned and, some of them noticing me for the first time, fell silent.

“King Rain Teoran is dead, killed by the player known as Nial Kingslayer of <The Endolphins>,” I said.  “I, Earl Hail Jeoran, have borrowed power from Thedum to enact vengeance.  But now I am stranded in this avatar, and soon the other guilds will come to kill me.  I ask that you fight by my side, as my friends and comrades in arms.  I do not expect to emerge victorious.  I am sorry that I cannot offer you more than a certain death, but I--”

“Quest accepted!” someone shouted.

“Quest accepted!” shouted another voice, this one more familiar.

One by one, and then in numbers, the Travelers who had befriended me cheered out those two words, despite the knowledge that they were facing certain death.  But then, for them, it wouldn’t be their first death, nor their last.  I did not know what would happen to me once this body Thedum had stuck me in hit zero health.

I saw Sophia trying to rush forward to me and being held back by someone who whispered in her ear.  She had told me once that nothing in this world truly dies.  I did not know whether it would be worse if her words were true or false.

“We, <Rotten Savior> stake our claim to this worldboss,” came the amplified voice from outside the courtyard.  “We will pee kay anyone who--”

The doors were forced open, and my Karmic warriors ran outside, screaming at the top of their lungs, to face certain death.  Or, perhaps, not so certain death, as the first wave of incoming magic and projectiles was absorbed and healed through.

“[Karmic warrior] is a hell of a buff,” Tarisha said, stepping up beside me.  “It raises our effective level to one-eighty and provides us with boosted stats.  However, we are but elevated to be an above average raider.  We are adds, not the worldboss.  Will you allow them to kill your adds unanswered, Lord Hail?”

“That would be stupid,” I decided, and I too charged through the gate.

“For Thedum and Are En Gee!” I shouted

“For Thedum and Are En Gee!” the karmic warriors echoed.

With my [Holy Weapon] in my right hand and my divinely infused magic in the other, I sprinted through the gathered players, smiting left and right the players glowing red in my vision.  I targeted their healers, their mages, and their archers, my magic ripping through the raid and disrupting the tide that had been overwhelming my [Karmic Warriors], allowing them to push back as the <Rotten Saviors> were thrown into chaos.

In the air, another guild was forming up, and I knew that they were planning to strike at us next.  I [Dashed] forward and cast my [Chain Lightning] at their leader and watched as the magic arced through their ranks, sending many of them into the space between worlds.

But it wasn’t enough.  <Rotten Savior> wiped, but players glowing red in my vision continued to arrive, flying beyond the reach of my magic.  A hundred, a thousand, soon the sky was filled with them, while my own forces dwindled as the less skilled travelers from <Nethersong Mavericks> were one by one defeated.  And through it all my health continued to fall.  Ninety percent.  Eighty five.  Even as <Rotten Savior> was wiping they continued to spit damage at me with their final breaths.

“<Drama Llamas>, <Procrastinators Unite Eventually>, and <Button Mashers> have reached an alliance,” A voice called out.  “We shall be assaulting the boss united!  Griefers will be pee kayed, but if you just want to join in the epic fight, you’re welcome to throw up some numbers!”

I wanted to scream “I’m not a boss!” at them, but I knew it would be pointless.  A thousand elite players landed together and quickly formed up ranks, standing fast despite my magic ripping through their ranks.  Running out of mana, I sprinted among them, laying about with my [Holy Weapon] infused rapier.

I began to lose health.  Quickly.  I went from eighty-five percent health to sixty in moments, and though I ripped through all of the squishy targets I could find while ignoring the tanks sent to control me, or polymorphing them, or blinding them with [Dazzling Lights], or even polymorphing a dozen of them at once.

My [Karmic Warriors] were wiped out.  I knew that I was going to die, and I refused to simply accept it.  Then, through the din of battle, a familiar voice called out.

“Is this all you can do, despite having bested me once, little brother?” Gyudue of the Darkest Night called out.  He stood atop the castle gate.  I don’t know when he had arrived or where he had come from, but his sonorous voice echoed above the din.  “Despite being infused with the power and the guidance of Thedum, you lack discipline.  I shall show you the true power of a Worldboss.”

Gyudue held his hand out, and an orb of darkness engulfed the battlefield  I could see nothing except that which was illuminated by the glow of my [Holy Weapon], but the enemies were so thick that I could still lay about like a farmer threshing a field.

The battle continued for what felt like hours.  The Travelers were endlessly reinforced as more and more raiders arrived on the scene to combat the two strange worldbosses.  My own Karmic warriors had long since been dispersed.  Only Gyudue and I remained.  I could not see him through the darkness, but I could hear the cries he was causing with his spear.

It wasn’t enough.  Travelers have no fear of death, it is why we brought them to this world to combat the darkness.  Nothing I or Gyudue could do would frighten them off, and it seemed that the longer the battle went on the more determined they became to succeed.

Even in the darkness their magics and their missiles found me.  Even in the darkness their rogues and duelists and warriors and monks would strike at me, even as I struck at them and turned them into motes of light, and in many cases motes of darkness.  I dropped to twenty percent.  Ten percent.  Five.

“Gyudue, run!  Save yourself!” I shouted.  “I am defeated, but there is no point in you dying as well!”

The drow did not answer me, but I felt as my health hit zero for the first time in my life, and the world turned black.

You have died

Activate Mark of the Phoenix?

Yes

No

Without hesitation, I selected yes, even as the knowledge of what I was doing filtered into my mind.  My body burst into fire, lighting up the magical darkness, and I was resurrected.  At fifty percent health, with no more tools or options than I had before.  All my great trump card allowed me was a few more minutes of resistance against the Travelers.

I slew all that I could.  It wasn’t enough.  Two more guilds had arrived since the three had allied, and they were all eager to get in on the kill.

“Damn you,” I called out.  “Damn you all!”

My health dropped to zero for the second time.

You have died.

Blood of the Travelers Activated
Release Spirit?

Yes

No

I did not understand the second prompt, but after a moments hesitation, I selected yes.