Ashley

Several days pass by in a bit of a blur as I go from one Domain to another, clearing my territory of a couple dozen Gates in the process and leveling up one time after another. Gradually getting up to level thirty-nine. All while taking a large number of Skill Trees from the monsters in the process.

Mostly because these Gates have gotten a lot easier to deal with thanks to some of the passive skills that aren’t obvious to the viewers. And the bosses are easy too since I can just pause the livestream and wipe them out with the more powerful skills I got from the guy in the council and the elf prince. Who of which has contacted me since and I’ve actually spoken to through messages a bit.

At the rate we’re going I may even invite him to Val.

Maybe.

Just because of Chaos’s comment about me needing connections.

Speaking of Chaos though, he’s been gone since I woke up after my tenth Official System Event.

Not sure where since he never said. And he isn’t responding when I try to ask him questions.

Probably busy or something.

But I find a rather unexpected surprise when I leave my latest Domain. One in the form of a twin brother standing outside, having clearly shooed away the reporters and fans.

The two of us end up staring at each other for several seconds in an awkward silence.

Then I just give him a nod of my head, no longer feeling as anxious around him as I used to. Probably because of that memory leak that happened in the council meeting. Even if I don’t remember the memories that leaked through.

Just something about us being close before my memories were lost.

“Ashley,” he says with a smile, taking a tentative step forward.

I don’t move. I just watch him, glancing at his feet before looking at his face.

He takes another step.

I still watch.

And another step. Then another.

I only move out of the way when he tries to hug me, making him pause and pull back. Seemingly rather dejected.

But after a few seconds, I decide to reach my hand out for a handshake.

His expression brightens and he accepts my hand as he says, “Would it be alright if we started over? From scratch, I mean.”

The man – my twin – looks rather awkward. Like he isn’t used to talking to me like this.

I stare at him for several seconds before eventually nodding my head and letting go of his hand. Then I flap my wings and fly away, leaving him grinning after me while waving. Albeit not pushing any further to chase after me.

Which is good.

Not really sure what I’d do if he tried to chase.

I continue flying while thinking about him for a bit, only to eventually turn my thoughts towards Chaos. Who I’m kind of curious what is doing right now.

The last time we spoke I’d just gotten my True Damage reflection skill. The one called Chaotic Source.

Actually, now that I think about it, I never did research the Unique Monsters.

Since I have nothing else to do right now as I’m searching for the next Gate, I go ahead and open the System Forums before researching Unique Monsters.

And what I find is actually quite interesting.

Unique Monsters are incredibly rare and incredibly powerful. They spawn once every thousand or so years somewhere in the universe as the boss of something called a Unique Domain with their own special Gates. Meanwhile they have a full set of entirely unique skills not found anywhere else in the universe.

Incredibly powerful skills at that.

They also are a completely unique species not found anywhere else either, and only have static skills. Skills like Assimilate that only have a single level to them and can’t level up.

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Although they have rather large Skill Trees despite that.

Overall, only around a dozen or so Unique Monsters have ever been defeated. With the Primordials not helping kill them personally for some reason.

And the Unique Monsters who were slain were all killed by entire parties of Successors.

Teams of six different Successors.

Anyone else who tried just plain died.

Even groups of six Successors were killed in an attempt at killing Unique Monsters.

Suffice it to say, they’re dangerous.

Although they’re also a bit more specialized. Specifically in the manner that their powers are all built with different focuses in mind.

Kind of like different specialists in a team.

Tank, damage dealer, glass cannon, healer, and so on.

So if their specific specialization and powers are a bad matchup for you, you have no chance to kill it at all. But if a UM – as Unique Monster is shortened to – is a good matchup for you, then you… still don’t have much of a chance. But you have a better chance, at least.

Oh, and the UMs apparently have a sort of karmic attraction to people who know they’re going to spawn soon.

Which is…

My thoughts come grinding to a halt as I stop flying.

Wait a second.

I think back to when Chaos mentioned for me to be on the lookout for Gates with strange colors mixed in and a unique name.

The same things these Unique Monster Gates have.

I hear a strange shattering sound akin to glass as reality around me seems to fracture and an even stranger crimson thread appears connecting me to something.

Shit.

Now I understand why he said that I didn’t need to know about it now.

He wasn’t telling me it wasn’t important to know about right then.

He was telling me to not learn about it.

Then a warping sound fills the area as a large Gate rushes straight through the fractured reality, entering the skies right next to me. Following which I feel myself being pulled into the Gate.

And right before I’m yanked inside, I see the Domain’s name filling my vision.

♢ Class E Gate: The First and Last Hell of the King of Destruction – Recommended level: ? ♢

Well that can’t be good.

When I regain my vision, I find myself inside of the Domain. A place that is… not very pleasant, to say the least.

I’m standing in the middle of some ruins, with several strange blocks of stone arrayed around me. Meanwhile there is a massive volcano in the distance, along with what appears to be dozens of fortresses scattered across a vast and barren plains. One covered in ash and monsters.

Oh, and a bunch of glowing crimson cracks all over everything. Whether it’s the ground, the sky, or the fortresses.

Even the monsters have them.

Monsters that vary in appearance from humanoid to what look kind of like dinosaurs. Sorta.

Okay, a bunch of reptiles. I’ll keep it at that.

The humanoid monsters are also reptiles, with some of them looking like short walking lizards, others like little humanoid dinosaurs. The only difference being the intimidation factor between them.

I go ahead and identify the various monsters I see nearby.

♢ Level 46 Destruction-Touched Kobold – 183 Potential Skills – X ♢

♢ Level 49 Destruction-Touched Drake – 241 Potential Skills – X ♢

♢ Level 44 Destruction-Touched Lizardman – 150 Potential Skills – X ♢

♢ Level 42 Destruction-Touched Lizardman – 142 Potential Skills – X ♢

♢ Level 50 Destruction-Touched Dracoraptor – 284 Potential Skills – X ♢

My mouth starts hanging open in silence as I look through the stones at the monsters, none of whom seem to notice me. Yet all of whom are elite monsters.

I continue identifying more monsters all around for as far as I can see, but every last one of them is an elite monster.

What. The. Fuck?

Not only are they all elite monsters, but they’re elite monsters who are all higher leveled than me…

My thoughts are cut off when I hear a very loud roar. One that shakes the very ground and makes the monsters flee towards different hiding spots. Whether it’s inside of caves, behind large boulders, or inside of fortresses.

Then the volcano erupts, shooting out things that are very much not magma or what should normally come out of a volcano.

Instead it’s strange bolts of deep crimson energy that arc and crash into the ground, making more and more of those crimson cracks appear before whatever they strike turns into naught but red ash. Whether they’re monsters or inanimate objects.

With the only things staying in one shape being the fortresses, some of the caves, and some ruins just like the one I’m in right now.

And with one last roar from whatever the hell is inside of the volcano – probably the unique monster – the little crimson missiles stop firing and everything returns to normal again.

Just for the Domain quest to appear in my vision.

♢– The King is Dead, Long Live the King! –♢

You have heard the Unique Monster of the Unique Domain. The following objectives have been unlocked.

Complete Objective 1 to conquer the Unique Domain.

Objective 1: Kill the King of Destruction

Objective 2: Conquer all twenty-four fortresses

Objective 3: Survive

Objective 4: Slay the five Grand Lords of Destruction

I feel my legs give out from under me as I fall to the ground on my rear, genuinely beginning to wonder if I’m going to survive this.