At first, some people sneered, but as she spoke on and on, some left and others remained. Victor couldn’t exactly believe what she was saying, they were all lies, accusing Blair of things like hiding away and having no bravery. And yet, people listened. As the meeting ended, about one-third of the people had left, and two-thirds remained. It was a crazy amount really.

And then the meeting ended. He had managed to scurry away without being noticed by the woman. But it banged in his head, the next meeting to be held in about a week. He had to make sure, to confirm that he wasn’t going insane, that his fellow humans weren’t stupid enough to try to rebel, to try to do something. The crazy woman, Aria, had spoken about going to hunt monsters in the north, about growing stronger to prepare.

At first he thought nobody would listen, but he noticed more and more people leaving the city to level up, even on the first day. It weighed heavily on his mind, and even drinking with The Light Maker didn’t exactly help him. As far as the alcohol went, he had no idea where the man got it, but he was grateful nonetheless.

Victor was loyal, but he also held off on telling anyone, hopeful that the angry mob would wake up.

Except they didn’t.

A week passed, and he looked at the woman speaking.

[Human. Lvl. 94]

The crowd from the initial one-hundred-forty or so, had become a crowd of just over a hundred people. Nonetheless, they had gone up by a dozen levels at a minimum. Victor couldn't hold off on it anymore, and yet he decided to listen, maybe hoping that there would be something, an external factor that made them change their mind, but there wasn’t.

“Next week will be the final meeting and preparation meeting. Once I reach level 100, we will raid the city lord.”

Everyone nodded tensely. Of course, the meeting place had changed, afraid of the crowd getting unwanted attention. Nonetheless, it was akin to fanaticism, or a cult in which they believed Blair to be the ultimate evil, a tyrant that wanted to recluse humans from being free, binding them until they were only loyal to her. It was ridiculous, and yet with the hatred of losing their homes, their loved ones, they followed along. It was…

Stupid.

But all he could do was grit his teeth as he left. The next day, he gathered with The Light Maker to drink once more, but this time, it was different, this time Victor confided in him the situation, and the man just blinked.

“Well that is troublesome, Blair is currently busy trying to become stronger…”

Victor felt confused. “How is she becoming stronger in her home?”

The Light Maker nodded. “To reach C Grade one must have something called Essence, and she is trying to discover what it is. It’s a meditative thing, but she is making great strides based on what The Illusionist has said.”

Victor nodded. It sort of made sense to him. “Then, she cannot deal with the situation?”

The Light Maker shook his head. “It’s not that, so much so as just perhaps it's best to confirm.”

“You mean?”

And the man before him nodded.

“I’ll go with you for the next meeting, if it’s confirmed then we seek out Blair.”

Then something clicked within Victor. “Can’t you just kill them or put a stop to it? Aren’t you stronger than Blair?”

And yet, The Light Maker, the level 235 man, simply shifted and scratched his cheek. “Well, as much as I would love to have killed the dragon and put a stop to it, The System itself prevents anyone from outside to interfere. That’s why the dragon wasn’t slain by The Illusionist or the Dark Calamity.”

“Who is the Dark Calamity?”

“Don’t worry about it, she is an awful woman.” The Light Maker shook his head. “Point being, we watch and then decide for good.”

Victor nodded at The Light Maker, he hadn’t known the man for long, but right now he felt as if the man before him was an alien. Nonetheless, he also felt closer to him than before. It was a strange thing.

◇ ◇ ◇

The gathering place this time around, was inside a cave in the forest of Moonlight. Victor and The Light Maker waited nearby inside the trees as the humans gathered around. And finally, the time came, and the meeting began. They were a couple hundred meters, but Victor could still inquire the woman thanks to his Prophecy, and he didn’t like what he saw.

[Human. Lvl. 101]

The surrounding people were level 70s and 80s too. They had gone from average people to approaching the highest level figures such as Shao Yun, who was currently level 102. It was terrifying to him, and also concerning.

He turned to The Light Maker.

“She is level 101 now.”

“I know, I am not blind. Just from my level alone I can listen to what they are saying, focus on yourself.”

Victor stared for a brief second before nodding. “Right.” He felt a bit weird, almost as if he was a misbehaved kid, but he focused on the situation at hand.

“Today is the day,” Aria spoke, gesturing wildly. “Today, we kill the wretched city lord. I have acquired a Legendary Skill, a gift of The System! And with it, she will go down!”

Victor’s mind whirred. A Legendary Skill?

“Oh that is certainly troublesome, alright, enough.”

Victor was grabbed, and next thing he knew he was⁠— standing before the modern stone house, Blair’s house. Victor always found the house strange but never questioned its origins. However, they had just been instantly teleported, nevertheless before he could infer anything he was dragged along. He entered through a clearly broken window, and as he peered inside he saw someone sitting on the couch, she turned towards The Light Maker.

“Oh, it’s Ron!”

It was a small woman, perhaps his child? Victor inquired.

[Lumina, the Dark Calamity. Lvl. 599]

Huh? Then she turned in his direction.

“And an interloper.” For some reason he shivered under her gaze.

“It’s The Light Maker, and he is a guest so don’t even threaten him.”

She snorted. “You’re no fun Ron.”

Victor regained his poise after a breath, he had to inform her, inform Blair. “There is a rebellion occurring.”

“Rebellion?” The woman raised her brow. “Rebellion?” She chuckled. “Oh, this is going to be great!”

He couldn’t quite understand why the woman was laughing as if it was the funniest thing she had ever seen, nonetheless, he turned to The Light Maker, who simply sighed.

“Let’s just tell Blair, and get it over with.”

The woman nodded. “Let’s do that, I will gloat when they all die.”

Victor shifted uncomfortably, somehow he still wanted them to be spared, but he had given them so many chances, and yet, it was inevitable. It was a necessary sacrifice, a necessity that needed to happen. And now, it seemed that they had roped another powerful figure into it.

* * * * *

I took a deep breath, sweat trickling down my forehead. I had tried different things, a lot of different things in the past two or three weeks since the dragon attack. All I knew was that the city was going well, aside from eating every third day or so I didn’t leave my room. And yet, I felt excited, I was so close, or at least felt like it, at the same time oddly enough as I tried different skills with my essence there was one without a sense of wrongness, and⁠—

I didn’t dare to use it. I felt like I was missing something.

If the skill is strong? Well… you might just die.

The skill was strong. It was my strongest skill, my ultimate weapon, the thing I relied on the most. A Legendary Skill, Darkest Instability. It was the only skill that didn’t feel wrong to use, out of the ones I had tried⁠— explosive shot didn’t feel wrongful either, but I wasn’t willing to test it out. Flashbang⁠— it didn’t either.

I guess there was more than one skill, but I didn’t dare test them out. I was afraid that I was missing something, and the warnings from Elasia and Lumina lingered in my mind. I was still apprehensive about calling them my parents, and they too didn’t care other than to call me their daughter occasionally. Nonetheless, it was amazing.

But aside from happy feelings, I was getting close to seeking their advice once more, at the same time I also feared the ⁠— just try it ⁠— answer that I might get. I was unsure if I was being honest with myself, at least now, if I looked inside of me. I could see my Essence quite clearly, it was in a different plane than mana, almost closer but also more personal. It was what made me, akin to my will⁠—

This book's true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.

Door knocks interrupted my thoughts.

“Blair.” A man, The Light Maker called through the door. “I got news for you⁠—”

The door opened in spite of having a lock. Lumina walked through the door with a smile.

“The humans are rebelling!”

I blinked. “What?”

“The humans are rebelling…” A voice said from behind The Light Maker, and a man walked in, one who I recognized, Victor. “They want to kill you, and the leader has a Legendary Skill now apparently.”

“Oh, the leader has a Legendary Skill?” Lumina gasped. “Blair, let us go, I want to see how you kill them!”

Confusion permeated my being, as I stared at Victor, I needed some elaboration, something to make it click.

The Light Maker shrugged. “Apparently, they have been gathering for about three weeks?”

Three weeks… Didn’t I give my speech, and a week later they gathered? Three… Rage boiled as I gritted my teeth.

“They just wanted to die from the start.”

Lumina nodded. “Now let us go.”

I looked at The Light Maker. “Teleport us there.”

He nodded, and gestured for everyone around to touch him, except for me, he just grabbed my hand instead. After we were all in contact, a bright flash engulfed my vision and ambient sounds reached my ears along with cheering. I blinked, and we were standing in the Forest of Moon, more specifically the highest strata, the old residence of the Upper Moons. I looked around, readjusting myself for a moment, before I reached for my bow.

“Interesting place.” Lumina commented as she sat down. “Go kill them!”

The Light Maker too shrugged and sat down. Victor looked around at the two of them and couldn’t help but ask.

“Are you two not worried? The leader, Aria, has a Legendary Skill.”

“Allegedly has a Legendary Skill.” Lumina corrected. “Doesn’t matter, I just want to see them die already.”

Legendary Skill. Right, it was mentioned before. It was best for me to hold off in doing anything extreme then against the leader. I didn’t want to risk suddenly dying to damage being deflected or some other ridiculous effect that a skill may have. I pushed mana onto my ring and took out a seed that I immediately modified and flooded with mana. It took a few seconds, but I threw it onto the ground, and it blossomed into a treant, or Fluffy, as Sun would call it.

Unfortunately, Sun was out of the city, becoming stronger, from what I remembered. He was a bit ashamed about the events that had occurred in the ocean nest. Victor stared at the treant for a moment before commenting.

“So, that’s how it came to exist… still. You can’t⁠—”

“Just kill the humans already, oh wait we should probably tell El.” Lumina looked at the ceiling for a moment. “There, I told her.”

The wind blew as the humans grew more heated, and in a moment. I saw Elasia walk out of the air itself.

“You should probably hurry in killing the humans before they disperse.”

I nodded. I got a bit too distracted simply hearing whatever things Victor was saying, but right now the man was just looking at the high level trio with utter disbelief. It didn’t matter to me all that much what he thought of things, I had already made up my mind about the situation quite a while ago. Elasia simply met my cold gaze and nodded with a small smile. It was a small re-affirmation, a minuscule approval that urged me to turn around and prepare my arrows.

Holding onto the Moonlit Arc, my bow, I nocked three Lyco Puff arrows ⁠— arrows with clouds of deadly spores ⁠— and walked forward. I needed to kill as many humans as possible in one fell swoop. To be honest, I certainly doubted every single human was resolute to kill me, even now, but also unfortunately, I couldn’t afford to be lenient forever. It was just life.

I stepped past a tree, and with a small hop I reached onto the lowest branch. From my vantage point I could see a window across the thicket of trees that allowed me to see the reunion with the humans. The leader stood, a woman of blonde hair, in the middle, while everyone else was gathered as if they were soldiers.

I took a breath, before taking out the broken Verex and tapping into its mana. To be honest, I was grateful that I could use the ability so often. In an instant the familiar notification arrived.

[Enhancement Mimicry: Immediate Fate.]

Stowing it away, I pulled back the bow string, it creaked as the black wood ornamented bow bent with pressure. I heard footsteps behind me, it was probably Victor, ye the said nothing, he simply stood by. The arrows shone in an eerie purple light, and at that moment everything felt right, my senses sharpened and I simply stared, zoomed into the crowd of humans looking for the shots that would reap the most lives.

And at that moment, as the arrows shone the brightest and was about to shoot. The leader of the rebellion looked in my direction, and her eyes widened.

“Carefu⁠—”

I fired the volley of Explosive Arrows.

* * * * *

Victor watched as Blair, his Savior perched herself on a tree, she aimed for a while like a hunting stalking for its prey. Except for the fact that her prey were humans. Victor shivered at the thought for a moment, before finally turning to the rebellious group, he could count about one-hundred-ten humans in the crowd, and at that moment he realized.

Weren’t there too many people? He frowned as he heard quiet dragging and rustling from behind, he looked only to see the treant slowly making its way to its owner. He returned to watching the humans, even with the moving tree monster, he felt unsure if it would be enough to actually accomplish anything. So many humans were against a single person, he had seen her do amazing things, but at the same time, it wasn’t a one versus ten, or fifteen, it was against over a hundred people. She would long run out of mana before she could kill everyone, and with Aria using her Legendary Skill, Victor did not hold much hope.

He looked at the crowd and shook his head, it was hopeless. A sinking feeling formed in his stomach as he realized he was unable to even stop Blair, all he could do was watch as the elf started an unwinnable battle.

And then he saw it, Aria looked in her direction, her eyes widened.

It was too late. Victor closed his eyes.

“Carefu⁠—”

A deafening explosion rang through Victor’s ears, a small shockwave of wind passed through him as he slowly opened his eyes, an annoying buzz permeated his ears along with small shrieks of pain, and what he saw made him pause. Flames, a raging purple fire in the middle of the forest, he saw people running and burning, some coughing through green mist before they slowly fell limp. For a moment he thought he was in a swamp of hell, where the only sources of light came from burning embers and the fires of the damned as their souls were consumed by the purple flames.

His eyes recounted as he realized.

Over half of the humans died in that salvo of projectiles.

The elf pulled back three new arrows, they had just appeared within her hand. Victor blinked as he saw the string creak and light up in a deadly purple, he didn’t understand how much pulling force the elf was exerting, but even though her arm was trembling, her gaze remained steady. He snapped his gaze in the direction of the people, and he saw Aria gritting her teeth.

“You⁠—”

Another salvo was fired, three streaks of light flashed as they impacted on a split crowd of humans. In an instant, it exploded in a misty blaze. No matter what was done, the screams of agony wouldn’t stop resounding between Victor’s ears, and his Savior, Blair, was expressionless while doing so. She was like a machine, whose only directive was to kill all stragglers, to kill all of the humans that had been gathered here.

Aria gritted her teeth, as the Savior simply fired barrage after barrages, the screams of agony, the throes of death wouldn’t stop. And yet, she simply stood there until she finally had enough. She screamed in rage as she pulled a shining light war-ax out of thin air.

“Not only do you cower in-doors, you are also a cowardly sneak attacker!”

She screamed, rushing towards Realm Breaker.

Victor gulped, he wondered how his Savior would survive now. He had never even heard of a Legendary Skill until today ⁠— just how terrifying was it?

* * * * *

Notifications resounded through my head, to be honest it felt satisfying, it was gratifying. The same people that had been ungrateful for my help now served to make me stronger. The leader screamed at me in rage, she was running towards me as well, but I paid it no mind. That could wait. I simply aimed my bow, craning it without wasting movements towards a pair of humans, and without hesitation, I fired. The pair exploded in an instant, and once more. I turned to another human and⁠— fired. Notifications kept resounding in my head, but at that moment, one made me smile.

[Level up: You have achieved level 117. Prophecy Bonus: +2 WIS +2 VIG]

I fired at two more humans, once more they instantly died. They were level 80 or so, and yet they were too weak. Even me before going to the trial wouldn’t have struggled. It was weird really, perhaps they were my feats, perhaps it was something else ⁠— my skills, arsenal, items ⁠— I didn’t know. I simply focused on killing all of those that tried to defy me, those that had disrespected me and my home, sullied my legacy. I was upset, but it also felt like vindication.

At that moment, a sharp danger passed in front of me, and I made a small hop to get out of the way. A flash of light passed through my vision and sliced through the tree, the ground and air along with it as it disappeared. I fell from my spot, landing dully on the ground as I turned to the person that had made the attack. The leader, the so-called possessor of a Legendary Skill, well I believed they had it, but I didn’t actually care too much. She held a war-ax with both hands as she looked at me, it was one made out of yellow light.

“You finally look at me in the eyes,” she commented with a smile. “Good, it is time for revenge.”

I raised my brow as I jumped back. “Revenge?”

She smiled, it was a bloody one that held nothing but hostility. “That is right, you could’ve killed the dragon, but instead you let it escape. All you want is for us to be trapped under your rule.”

I felt irritation, but I simply answered. “I would’ve killed the dragon if I could.”

“Lies,” she snorted. “No matter now, whether it is the truth or not, you will die at my hands, elf.”

“Dark elf.” I corrected with a frown.

“The only darkness you will see is when your vision fades!” She swung down, I sidestepped as the yellow light rippled, felling a tree behind me.

I jumped back and raised my bow, nocking three different arrows this time around. A coiling vine to incapacitate her, a tendril arrow and a Valea arrow ⁠— a vine that would consume things. In an instant, I engulfed them with my purple mana and she smirked, she placed her ax to block but it was too late⁠— I fired. In an instant, she was launched back as the three arrows embedded into her skin. The vine coiled around her neck, the tendril dug onto her flesh and the valea tried to eat her from outside.

She wiggled and screamed.

“YOU!” With a grunt, her body flashed in a yellow light, and she was enveloped with a golden aura. “[Unwavering Push]!”

The plants disappeared from her body. I frowned as I moved back, kiting her away, firing the occasional arrows. But they would explode on her body and she would just grunt. The only benefit I had was the fact that she seemed to be slowed by Lunar Stasis. She chased, swinging her radiant ax and felling the trees as I narrowly dodged. All I could do was step back away from her, my arrows ineffective. I frowned and switched my bow for my spear.

“Tired of running away?” She mocked.

I could feel the lingering mana within her body, and yet I refused to try to use my skill. Something felt off, as if she was waiting for something, but I couldn’t make sense of it. I simply frowned and responded as I swung the spear, simultaneously giving a command to the treant.

“Shut up! Help me dodge!”

She parried it, and I was pushed back, nearly losing my footing⁠. Then she swung, and with both of my hands I blocked. In an instant, I felt a painful shock ripple through my arms as I was sent flying, rolling through the ground completely overpowered. I sort of knew I would lose the contest of strength, but still, it confirmed it for me.

Low Agility, high Vigor, high Strength.

She cracked her neck slowly walking towards me, though her gaze held nothing but pity.

“Strongest?” She mocked, looking down. “You are pathetically weak. It is time to end this for you.”

Her demeanor changed at that moment, and that’s when I realized what was about to happen, my hairs stood on end from the danger and my heart raced. Legendary Skill. I felt afraid, but now I knew what to do. Her body shone in a golden color, mana wisping and coalescing mid air on the war-ax as she shouted.

“Witness my Legend⁠—

Vengeful⁠—

VINDICATION⁠!”

She swung down.