Second Chapter
The faceless
“What did you want to talk about in private, leader?”
The scene: an abandoned tavern. Amidst the rustic scent of aging wood and small foliage, two individuals stood face to face. One was a large knight adorned in a suit of magnificent golden armour, and the other, a frail girl dressed lightly in a soft pink outfit. Ignoring the girl’s question, the knight merely stood silently. He studied her form and mannerisms; from the way she dressed and annunciated words one could only conclude she was a genuine female. Yet, to the knight something was had been off about her. Something he couldn’t quite put into words.
Finally, with a lengthy sigh the knight began to speak the thoughts which had ailed him for the past few days. Though before he could let out a single word he was cut off by a misunderstanding. “Oh dear! How inconsiderate of me,” the girl let out a small blush. “It should’ve been obvious why you brought me all the way to this secluded place,” with a soft giggle she let her delusions take over and form improper conclusions. She covered her mouth and squirmed around as if to suggest embarrassment. “But, I’m sorry leader, I can’t respond to your feelings. I hope we can continue to be good friends from now on.”
The knight shook his head in disappointment. “You can drop the act now,” he glanced back at the feeble looking girl with arms so thin a gentle breeze could snap them. For the past few weeks this girl had been the centre of attention in his guild, but where everyone else gazed at her with admiration and longing, he was the only one who watched her with scorn and distrust.
“Act? Whatever do you mean?” asked the girl continuing to play innocent.
“Save it. I know who you really are.”
“Who… I am? I don’t understand,” the girl cocked her head to one side expressing bewilderment and confusion. For a second the knight might have reconsidered his suspicions with that act. The thought that maybe he was mistaken crossed his mind several times as he watched her movements; either she was genuine, or she was just that good at acting.
“You’re Astraea, aren’t you?” the knight didn’t bother waiting for a response as he drew the massive golden two-hander from his back. “I admit, I didn’t think much of it when you first joined, but watching you run raids with us I found something a little suspicious. Despite being such a proficient support and healer, there’s absolutely no background information on you. This game’s community is small enough that almost everyone knows each other on a first name basis, but somehow someone as adept as you is completely unknown? And it wasn’t at the level of just being good either; you haven’t made a single mistake in the over thirty raids we’ve participated in, even when everyone else has made at least two or three. Strange, isn’t it?”
“You’re praising me so much, how embarrassing!” the girl giggled to herself.
“I wasn’t.”
Absolutely nothing is known about the player called ‘Astraea’. However, that was by design and what made them so famous – or rather ‘infamous’. Their gender, looks, race, and even character specialization changed every time they appeared. The only reason people knew about them was because they always caused some massive drama and when the dust settled they arrogantly announced; ‘it was me, Astraea, all along!’ and then disappear once more. Thus, it came as a small miracle that the knight was able to notice the small imperfections in this girl’s acting and how she behaved.
“33 end-game raids with no mistake, but that’s not all. You also gave item drop priority to the other members when it should’ve rightly gone to you.” Though it may have only seemed like this girl was just magnanimous, reality was far simpler. “There isn’t anyone in their right minds who would do something like that unless it was because they just didn’t need those items. You gave up those items so you could gain favour and trust within the girl.”
The girl grew uncharacteristically silent at these accusations.
As to the reason why the girl had done all this – why she garnered goodwill and favour from the guildmates – that too was an easy guess. “You must’ve had something to gain by doing all that, right?”
A sinister smirk stretched across the girl’s face for a brief second before returning back to the serene smile of a saint. “I’m not sure what you mean, leader, but after all that investigation what was the conclusion you came to? Why do you think I did all of that?”
“It’s the Guild Vs. Guild tournament that’s being held next week,” explained the knight as he took a step closer why tightening the grip on his sword. “My guess is that you’ve been sent by some rival guild to sabotage our chances when the time comes. By demonstrating vast knowledge and skill about this game, along with the trust of the other members, you could easily create a distraction during the guild battle at an inopportune time. For example, if you were to suggest and erroneous opinion, the others would surely listen.”
“It’s certainly an entertaining theory, but aren’t you just overthinking it? The truth is that I’ve actually quite enjoyed my time with this guild and was hoping we could get along splendidly in the future too.”
“Save it, I ain’t buying that crap!” yelled the knight as he charge headfirst towards the girl.
With swift and soundless steps uncharacteristic of the usual immobile healers, she dodged the flurry of unpredictable attacks and instantly teleported away several steps. Half of the tavern had been destroyed by the end of the knight’s attack, but the girl remained intact without a single scratch.
The knight clicked his tongue, “as I thought. You claimed to be a pure support healer, yet just now you used ‘Shadow Step’, didn’t you?” It was a high-level acrobatic skill that most support-type players couldn’t obtain easily. In fact, it was such an arduous skill to attain that most players had to wait until the very end game to even attempt the quest; there was absolutely no way this girl was just a support. At this point sirens had been going off in his head.
“Whoopsie! Seems I was caught then, tee-hee?” the girl stuck out her tongue trying to act cute. “Ah well, since there’s no going back from this, I’d like to ask you one question.”
“What question?”
The girl pointed to the glimmering aureate armour and asked, “that. How exactly were you able to afford a full set of Aurium Dragon Guardian Armour? If I’m recalling correctly, there should only be about three full sets of those in the entire server. And I hope you’re not going to say something stupid like you afforded it through hard work.”
“Hmph,” the knight scoffed. “there’s no reason for me to tell you anything.”
“No, but it is a little suspicious.” The girl then suddenly disappeared and reappeared in front of the him. “Actually, you’re not the only one who’s done a little investigation.”
“What?” her words gave the knight a moment of pause, enough for her to take advantage of it and launch her own counterattack. ‘Palm Strike’, it was an extremely basic ability but had its uses as a speedy surprise attack. The impact of the strike contained enough force to toss the knight’s body like a ragdoll over a dozen metres.
It took a second for him to realize what had just happened and to get back on his feet.
“The way I see it, even if you spent the next ten years on this game you’d never be able to raise enough funds to afford that entire armour set.” The girl moved in once again and delivered a powerful snap kick towards the knight’s fully covered stomach. The strength of the kick was enough to create a small crack on the centre of the armour.
“What the fuck?! How is your unarmed combatant skill so high?!”
His armour, the ‘Arium Dragon Guardian Armour’, was the single best armour set in the entire game, yet she had been able to break through its defensive capabilities like a sledgehammer to a walnut. Despite being just a virtual experience, the knight could feel his entire body becoming winded and subsequently fell to his knees.
“Well, I’ve played this game for a long time,” the girl shrugged. “Anyway, back to what I was talking about. That armour definitely isn’t something your average guild leader should be able to afford, even for one as big as yours. The only answer I could come up with is that either you either spent tens of thousands of dollars on it – which is fairly unlikely – or you’ve been siphoning gold from the guild’s savings.”
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The jolt of lightning ran up the guild leader’s back.
“Of course, it isn’t like it’s illegal or against the game’s terms of service for you to embezzle the guild’s funds for your own gain, but it’s a bit of a dick move. Money painstakingly saved up by all the members so you could properly function guild events and make improvements was instead used for vanity. Now, if you owned the guild from the very beginning… well, even then it would leave a bad taste, but you inherited the guild from the former owners with their confidence that you’d be a proper leader. I wonder what the former owners would say if they knew the truth.”
“Shut up! What does it matter to you anyway?!” the knight lashed out and began to wildly swing his sword around at her. Unfortunately, none of the attacks managed to connect with her nimble and small-framed body. “Who gives a shit about the previous owners? It’s my guild now and that means I can do whatever I want! So what if I used a bit of money to beef up my character?!”
The girl flashed a malicious smirk as she channelled a spell through her hands. After a second or two the knight found himself bound and immobile by ethereal chains that erupted out of the ground. “You all heard that too, right boys?!” the girl shouted into the air.
“What are you…” before the leader could even finish his thoughts his eyes almost popped out of his head. Everything had been a set up. Several dozens of people appeared out of thin air, all with the same disgusted expression on their faces. “Wait, what?!” screamed the leader as he was surrounded. “You set me up!” he pointed at the girl.
“Props to you, guild leader,” the girl began to clap. “You were at least right about another guild sending me to sabotage your guild, but I was free in how. I think it’s safe to say your guild won’t be participating in the guild battle next week. Heck, I don’t think it will participate in anything ever.”
“You son of a-!”
“Actually, I wasn’t lying when I said I ‘enjoyed’ my time here.”
***
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“And so, that’s how I’ve been spending the past month since you guys suddenly quit the game. After that, the guild officially disbanded and the leader disappeared completely,” explained a smartly dressed man as he calmly took a small sip out of his coffee. Finding the taste to be somewhat unpleasant he reached over and tossed in several more cubes of sugar. “I also found the armour set up for auction on an RMT site, but it was quickly taken down after people began to realize who it was.”
“Hahaha, noooo~ that’s too horrible even for that guild leader!” an older woman chuckled innocently whilst taking great interest in the man’s story. “Haah… why am I not surprised by your evil antics anymore?”
“It was how I operated from the very beginning; too late to ask me to change all of a sudden,” the man shrugged. Though he pretended everything was in order, the truth was anything but. To begin with, this entire conversation had been taking place in a pinkish void upon a floating glass-panel platform. The only thing around him was a small coffee table, the two chairs they sat on and an endless pink. The woman sitting opposite to him could also hardly be labelled as ‘normal’, at least not with those six angelic white wings sprouting out of her back as if she were the legendary seraphim of the bible. Of course, it hadn’t been the first time he had seen this heavenly figure; he had met this woman on many occasions before within the virtual spaces of the game. However, this was different – this was real.
With a small ting, the man placed down his coffee cup and stared directly towards the woman with a serious gaze. “And? When are you going to start explaining what’s going on? Serena.” This woman – ‘Serena’ – was a former friend from a certain online virtual game.
“Ah,” the woman responded with a solemn face. “I guess we have to talk about that after all, huh?”
“Were you planning not to?”
She shook her head. “No, I have to since I brought you here.” It took a moment for her to find the words. “So, you say it’s only been about a month since the rest of us disappeared from the game?”
The man nodded, “yeah. It wasn’t just disappearing either, your characters were deleted off my friends list too. A complete wipe.”
“I see. Astraea, the truth is that for me, it’s been over six-hundred years since I appeared in this world,” the woman confessed something outlandish and began to explain her circumstances. “But before I tell you what I’ve been doing, I’ll tell you a little about what’s been going on with this world.”
The man quietly contemplated to himself as he mixed in more sugar cubes to his coffee. “Go on.”
“This world – called ‘Terra Luminous’ – is a strange one where two alien gods have fought for its dominance since time immemorial. There is the Ancient Goddess of Light who tried to protect life on this planet, and the Ancient God of Darkness who seeks to eradicate it. I don’t know how it began or for how long this battle had been going on for, but by the time I was summoned here the Ancient Goddess was on the verge of death. I was summoned with the last vestiges of her strength and she granted me divine protection so I could become a Hero and take her place in vanquishing the Ancient God.” The woman paused for a moment and let out a small wry chuckle in self-mockery. “To be honest, at the time I was fairly gung-ho about it. I mean, it was a fantastic adventure that we all dreamed of as kids! But as years turned to decades, and decades to centuries, I began to realize this fight would never end with my powers alone. With no other choices left, I used a similar ritual to that of the Ancient Goddess’ and summoned the rest of our friends from the game to help me.”
“And you’re saying that’s why they suddenly disappeared?”
“Yes,” acknowledged the woman. “I summoned them roughly three-to-four-hundred years ago, but even our combined strength proved insufficient.”
“Is he that powerful?”
“Rather than ‘powerful’, he’s evolved into a completely conceptual being. He doesn’t possess a physical body, and his soul is spread across the world so finely that it would be impossible to track down all the fragments individually and destroy them. When the Ancient Goddess perished, the Ancient God was supposed to have as well, but somehow he found a way to integrate with the world on a metaphysical level. His will can manifest in anyone or anything. I’ve killed dozens of Demon Lords who carry out his will, but every time he just comes back in another form… well, it’s not dissimilar to a certain someone.”
“That’s… quite the uncanny ability. Then? How are you supposed to defeat a being like that?”
“I… I don’t know… and, I’ve no more time to find out.”
“What do you mean?”
The woman stopped everything for a second, almost as if her entire being was paused. “I’m… dying,” she confessed. “Astraea, I don’t have much time remaining,” there was a hint of anxiety and fear in her voice now. “I can count the number of seconds I have left, and it scares me. I don’t want to die…” Before the man could figure out what he was supposed to do to quell her fears, the woman wiped away her sadness and resumed. “No, I’m sorry, you weren’t supposed to see that.”
“What happened? How are you dying?”
“I... Um... My powers as a Hero is a direct translation of the abilities I had in the game. In theory this should mean I was nigh immortal with my regenerative capabilities on top of everything else. However, when the will of the Ancient God empowers a vessel they gain many strengths, one of which being the ability to cause irreversible wounds. With enough damage, even with the divine blessings of the Ancient Goddess, I would die. The others… they’ve already… disappeared a long time ago.”
Suddenly the woman’s body started to become more transparent as time went on.
“Serena, your body.”
“Ah, I guess my time is almost up. This isn’t my real body but a projection I cast to talk to you. Outside in the real world my body is dying. I’m not sure what will happen when I die, but before I go there was one thing I always wanted to tell you: I’m sorry.”
“Sorry? For what?”
“I’ve had many chances to bring you to this world when I summoned the others, but I refrained from doing that. I… didn’t like how you did things back in the game and I was afraid you’d become even more of a threat than the Ancient God if you came here.”
“If you didn’t trust me that much, then why now? Is it desperation?”
The woman returned a befuddled expression. “What do you mean? Even after living for six-hundred years I couldn’t name a person more trustworthy than you. If there was one person who could definitely defeat the Ancient God, then it would be you. Like I said, I was simply scared of how you would defeat him. As to why now… you’re right that it is desperation, but I’ve also come to understand that it takes more than just a bunch of naïve heroes to defeat this opponent. It would take the strength of a united world to drive him back. Yet, neither I nor the others could achieve that, but I know you definitely can. You’d use any method to achieve it.”
“You make me sound like some villain,” the man sighed.
“Because it’d take a villain to do what’s necessary… what we never could. And you’re the greatest villain I know,” the woman smiled softly. “Also, there’s one more thing I wanted you to do… though you can refuse this request if you want.”
“What is it?”
“There’s a baby… it’s not mine, but one of my descendant’s. Since she was born through my direct bloodline she also carries attributes of the divine protection within her. I don’t know how important that fact is… but I know the Ancient God is also hunting her down. My other descendants have all… perished, except for that last baby. It’s up to you… but I humbly request you save her,” the woman’s voice began to fade as she earnestly pleaded.
“Even though you think I’m a villain you want me to save your child?”
“Haha… it’s because… I trust you.”
“Very well, consider it done,” the man accepted. Looking back at the woman, her eyes were slowly starting to close, and her posture was sinking further back into the chair. The complexion of her face was completely drained, and it felt like only a slight breeze would knock her down. “Is there anything else? I’ll listen to any number of requests while I’m able.”
“Astraea…” she muttered feebly. “Why are you… Astraea?”
The man sat back comfortable into his chair as a final gesture to keep the woman company as she slowly drifted off. “Why am I Astraea? You mean why did I start to take on this malicious character?”
“… Yeah…”
The man let out a soft chuckle, “it’s such a silly thing when I think back. Actually, I never took this game very seriously before I met all of you. I would waste away my time scamming and robbing people of their hard-earnt items just for the fun of it. Eventually, all my bad deeds caught up to me and I was forced to change my appearance and name just to avoid backlash, and it all took off after that. Rather than being a petty thief, I decided to flesh out my character a little more and add a theatrical spin to it. You guys were always there to play along and… Serena?” the man called out, but the woman was no longer there.
He sighed. “You called me to this world despite understanding my nature. If that’s what you think it takes to defeat this enemy, then for you I’ll play the part of the greatest villain… I’ll become ‘Astraea the Faceless’ for real.”