Talia crouched atop a pile of rubble, staring toward the city. Behind her, the huge, green pillar that represented the dungeon that had poisoned the Cradle of Life with unchecked vitality loomed. Yet, even with that deadly source of life so close, the whole of her attention was on the city.

Because something was happening.

“What do you think it is?” asked Baruk, standing at her shoulder with his huge sword strapped to his back. He was still recovering from the inoculation procedure that allowed him to live in the Cradle of Life, though he’d borne the burden better than most. Almost half of their people had died. Another ten percent had succumbed to the madness. A few more had simply disappeared into the ruins, never to be seen again. That left a mere fraction of survivors – no more than a few thousand – to continue the fight against the government that had once given them succor.

They had been taken over by the Death Warden herself, who, after the gruesome murders perpetrated by Adontis loyalists, had adopted an attitude of unchecked expansion. She wanted to inoculate the entire Deathguard and sweep out across the world, creating pockets of undeath that would slowly transform the land into a paradise of death.

Talia and her companions had tried to stop her. They’d attempted a coup, destroying most of the improved inoculation chambers and killing the people responsible for developing them. However, it was only a delaying tactic. Unless the Death Warden was stopped, her plan would eventually reach fruition.

The worst part was that many of the undead citizens of Darukar – and El’kireth at large – supported her. On the surface, expansion seemed like a great idea that would raise everyone’s power. In addition, it would offer freedom to people who, so far, could only travel within the bounds of their native kingdom.

Talia could understand that.

But she couldn’t support it. Expanding the borders of El’kireth would, by design, sentence every living person to death. Sure, they would rise as undead, but from experience, she knew that they would do so as different people with different personalities. Perhaps even different souls.

No – the conversion into the undead meant the death of one person and the birth of another. And Talia couldn’t bring herself to support that.

But even then, the largest reason she opposed the Death Warden was born of instinct. Something had changed about the woman, as well as her closest followers. They didn’t seem like the same people they’d been when she’d first come to El’kireth. However, Talia was incapable of pinpointing what, exactly, that change entailed. She was just aware of it. And that meant she couldn’t ignore it.

“I don’t know,” she said, still looking at the distant destruction. Fights in the city weren’t uncommon, but usually, they only happened at her discretion. But she knew nothing of the reason for the crumbling buildings and massive spikes of mana she saw miles away. “Something big, though. Do you think one of the abominations got into the city?”

Those were always an issue in the Cradle of Life. Huge, malformed monsters of malignant growth, they were terrifyingly powerful. Fortunately, they rarely left their native environment, and when they did, the Deathguard was tasked with keeping them away from the city proper.

Obviously, in the middle of a civil war, the Deathguard had already become lax in their duty. And it didn’t help that almost all of Talia’s people had come from their ranks.

“How is Adriel?” Talia asked, referring to Baruk’s partner and Talia’s mentor. The vampiric woman was one of the people who’d been horribly affected by the inoculation procedure. She hadn’t died or gone insane, but the last time Talia had checked, Adriel was still in a coma. It had been ongoing for weeks, and it didn’t seem that there was anything anyone could do but wait.

“The same,” Baruk stated evenly. He didn’t let his emotions show, but Talia knew the man well enough to recognize the slight tension in his shoulders. More, he had stopped joking, which was just as telling as any change in posture. “What do you want to do?”

“We wait. It’s coming this way,” she said. “Get the others ready. Five squads. We need to be ready if it comes to a fight.”

Baruk nodded, then climbed down the pile of rubble to the underground headquarters they had established. It had originally been part of the city’s sewer system, but those tunnels had been discontinued once the ever-expanding Cradle of Life had enveloped that part of the city. As a result, once they’d cleaned everything up – which had been a long and arduous process – the maze of tunnels and chambers had become a perfect staging ground for the resistance.

Though Talia had difficulty separating them from their former function, even if everything was clean.

Over the next hour, she watched the destruction progress. Buildings fell, and huge surges of mana swept through the city. Yet, the battle clearly raged on, indicating that a powerful force had come to Darukar. Would they be an ally? Or an enemy? Perhaps a third side to the civil war had emerged.

There was no telling.

What was obvious, though, was the fact that it was clearly heading in the direction of the Cradle of Life. So, it was a good thing that Baruk had managed to gather their soldiers and position them appropriately. Despite not being the most powerful combatant on the field, he was a good commander, and the fighters all respected him.

For her part, Talia made her own preparations, infusing herself with [Alacrity of Undeath] and her newest skill, [Inevitability]. The latter increased the power of her more active skills, adding a layer of cold and death that had the potential to make them doubly effective. She looked at the notification she’d gotten upon choosing it:

[Inevitability] (D) – Create an aura of frigid death that serves to augment your every attack. It grows more powerful the longer you remain in motion. Upgradeable.

It was a powerful ability, especially given her fighting style. At present, it was barely even noticeable, yet if she kept moving for a few minutes, it would reach its peak. When that happened, she would become a terror – as was evident from the first time she’d used it against the Death Warden herself. Talia hadn’t won that fight – the woman was far too powerful – but she’d held her own long enough for her people to escape. That, she considered a moral victory.

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After that, Talia leaped down from the pile of rubble and joined her troops. By that point, the battle had gotten close enough that she could hear the crushing weight of heavy blows as they toppled buildings. Dust filled the air, and the mana had come alive in a way she couldn’t quite understand.

Then, something else hit her.

Suddenly, she felt stronger than she ever had before, and great, orange runes erupted across her body. The same couldn’t be said for her soldiers, all of whom had fallen to their knees. Even Baruk, whose endurance was among the highest among her forces, struggled to remain upright.

Talia readied herself for battle, though she had no idea what was going on.

Not until a giant man made of stone burst through a building a few blocks away. He was more than ten feet tall, with a jagged form made of earth, and mana swirled all around him. More, five bronze figures followed, fighting a retreating battle against a dozen members of the Deathguard.

Talia used [Eyes of the Revenant], the upgraded version of her inspection skill:

Colossus – Level 71

Strength: Peak

Agility: Above Average

Dexterity: Above Average

Endurance: Peak

Intelligence: High

Wisdom: High

Resistances: Very High

Most Used Skill: [Triune Colossus]

The fact that there was a most used skill suggested that the colossus was no monster. Rather, it was a person under the effect of some sort of transformation skill. That, in turn, told Talia that whoever was beneath that skill was an ally. After all, any enemy of the Deathguard was a friend of hers.

She hoped.

So, without further consideration, she darted further. Under the effect of [Alacrity of Undeath], she covered the ground in the blink of an eye, and when she fell upon the Deathguard, she did so with extreme prejudice. The colossus, meanwhile, wheeled around, swinging a massive hammer with a bone haft. The head took one of the Deathguard in the face, launching the woman hundreds of feet through the air. She didn’t stop until she’d collided with a crumbling wall, and even then, she burst through, only slowing when she’d crashed into the next one over.

Talia shouted, “Follow me! They will not pursue into the Cradle of Life.”

The colossus stopped in his tracks. “Talia?” came an oddly familiar voice. It was distorted by the transformation, but there was still something about it that she recognized.

Then, the figure shifted, shrinking down to human sized. Talia stared, not believing what she saw.

“Zeke?”

“Yep,” he said, casually backhanding a charging member of the Deathguard.

“Is…are you suppressing my people?” she asked.

“Oh. Maybe. I guess I just default to assuming everyone’s an enemy until proven otherwise. Which ones are yours?” he asked, seeming entirely unperturbed by his situation. Talia had no idea how Zeke was even in El’kireth – most of the living couldn’t endure the deathly ambiance – much less how he’d already reached level seventy-one. Clearly, much had happened since they’d ascended.

“Those,” she said, pointing to Baruk and the others. They were still on the ground, struggling to rise. “Release them, and we will turn the others away.”

“On it,” Zeke said. And suddenly, the other members of Talia’s force sprang to their feet. More, the same fiery runes that had appeared on Talia’s body now manifested on theirs. After only a second’s worth of hesitation, they charged.

The pursuing members of the Deathguard saw the writing on the wall. They weren’t just outnumbered, but they were also outclassed. So, without delay, they wheeled around, gathered their injured, and fled.

Suddenly, the battle ended, but Talia knew that if they remained on the edge of the Cradle of Life, they would be exposed to further retaliation. So, she said, “We must return to the tunnels. Then, we can –”

Just then, she received a quest:

New Quest Acquired!

Quest: A New Place

Objective: Enter the dungeon called The Pillar of Life and conquer the challenges within.

Reward: Seed of Life and Death

“Did you just get a quest, too?” Zeke asked.

She said, “I did.”

“I think…I think I know what this is,” he said. “But let’s talk about it once we reach safety. I don’t think your friends back there are going to leave me be.”

Talia agreed with that, then said, “Very well. Follow me.”

After that, she signaled to her people, who were accustomed enough to her orders that they fell into line behind her. They set out after that, delving into the Cradle of Life that had become so familiar over the past months. Even before that, during the war with the abominations, she’d spent enough time in the life-attuned area that it barely even made her uncomfortable.

The same could not be said for her companions. Even after the inoculation procedure, the densely life attuned mana in the area was painful for them to endure.

Zeke, of course, had no issues at all.

She longed to hear his story, but that would have to wait until after they were safe in the tunnels. So, she led the group of warriors deep into the Cradle of Life until they reached their destination. On the surface, it looked like an ordinary gate guarded by a rusty grate. However, a few dozen feet after they descended into the abandoned sewer system, they were confronted with clean walls and bright lights. They followed the proper path until, almost an hour later, they reached the chamber that served as their main headquarters.

It took only a few minutes before everyone was sent on their way, and she led Zeke to her own quarters. Once there, she asked, “How did you get here? Why have you come? And where is everyone else?”

Zeke sighed. “It’s a long story,” he said.

And it was. Zeke then went on to describe his journey, from being enslaved to having to make a foray into the demon realm in order to complete a quest. He told her how he’d helped free the dwarves’ slaves amidst a battle between two peak entities, then his trek across the tundra before he entered a dungeon.

He skipped over much of that part, only saying that they spent months inside and barely made it out alive. When they did, they’d made an alliance with a society of centaurs, fought a war against hill giants, then fought another one against the Knights of Adontis.

That they won.

“I killed Lord Adontis a couple of months ago,” Zeke said, massaging the back of his neck. “Then, I came looking for you. When I got here, they tried to detain me.”

“Did you mention me by name?”

“I did.”

“That’s why,” she said. “There’s something wrong with El’kireth. Some of the people here – especially the ones in charge – don’t seem like themselves anymore. This kingdom has existed in isolation for millennia. Now, they’ve suddenly embarked on a policy of expansion that will inevitably turn the entire world against us.”

“And you’re part of the resistance to that,” Zeke guessed.

“The leader, actually,” she corrected. “Or one of them. The other leader is…indisposed right now. Now, about the quest…what is it?”

“It is clearly the answer to your problems,” came a voice from nearby. She wheeled around to see a tall, statuesque, and red-skinned woman wearing a form-fitting black dress. Horns grew from her forehead, and a luxurious mane of black hair tickled the small of her back. To say she was beautiful would have been an understatement.

“Who are you?!” demanded Talia, leaping to her feet.

Zeke only sighed. “Eveline, we talked about this,” he said.

“You were taking too long,” the horned woman said.

Zeke turned back to Talia, saying, “I’m sorry. I would have warned you if I knew she was going to do that. Talia, this is Eveline. She’s a parasitic mind spirit who occasionally helps me out. Most of the time, she just insults me.”

“A mind spirit?”

“Yes, dear,” said Eveline. “And more importantly, I have some insight into what your quest is. The Framework does not give out meaningless quests. Chances are, you have a need. The reward for that quest is meant to meet that need.”

It only took Talia a moment to think of Adriel’s condition. The Seed of Life and Death sounded like precisely what the vampiric woman would need to overcome her comatose state.

“I think I know what it’s for,” she admitted.

“Good,” Eveline said. “Because Ezekiel has already decided that he must have the reward from the quest he received, and he truly wants you to tag along.”

“You could have let me tell her,” Zeke said. “Stole my thunder a little, there.”

“You take too long.”

“Keep it up, and there will be consequences,” Zeke stated.

“Promises, promises,” the red woman smirked.