Tense silence reigned over the battlefield as Kashi looked at the enraged Brilith and Sonic. Kashi understood their anger. No one liked being played for a fool, and currently, it looked very much like he had tricked them.
Well, technically, Kashi did trick the duo, but it was for a good cause. Kashi’s lips curled in a slight smile as he said, “I understand why you’re mad, but I did it for our own good.” Kashi quickly explained the Undead’s Blessing, and then said, “Sorry, I had to trick you all so I could fool the Chaos Order. I’m certain they are not aware of this buff. Once they do, they’ll do anything to disrupt our army and let more undead pass. Then, it’ll be an unmitigated disaster. Once enough undead get blessed, they can pass through the gates and hunt down those of us inside Oni Hill. Imagine facing thousands of liches. That’s what we’ll have to endure if we let the Undead reach the gate.”
Brilith and Sonic frowned. If Kashi spoke the truth, they had just avoided a massive disaster. But, how could they know he was telling the truth.
Kashi shrugged when he saw the skepticism in their eyes. “I do not mind telling you the truth. I know Razznik’s player from King’s Journey. He told me everything about Oni Hill, and the numerous traps the Demon King, and then he, himself laid out.” Kashi nodded at Shokō, who gamely put away her sword. “As a show of good faith, I’ll tell you what we’re going to face in Oni Hill.”
Sonic’s gaze turned sharp. He did not yet believe Kashi, but he would not turn down information on Oni Hill. So, he patiently asked, “What do you know?”
Kashi did not mind Sonic’s harsh tone. It was already a miracle that they had not broken out into a fight. Sonic and Brilith’s mental fortitude showed why they had grown to lead the largest clans in Destia.
“Your leaders probably told you that Oni Hill is divided into eight floors, but that's wrong. Razznik and the Demon King released false information to crush anyone who dared to invade."
"Oni Hill is divided into twelve floors. Originally, there were eleven, modeled after the Seven Deadly Sins and the Four Last Things, but Razznik added an extra floor to house his loot and wealth.” Kashi paused and then added, “Death, Hell, and Heaven take up the first three floors while the Seven Calamitous Sins take up the next seven floors. The eleventh floor is the treasury, and the twelfth is the throne room, also known as the Judgment Floor.”
Kashi’s eyes took on a wistful look as he sunk into old memories of a past life. “Death, Hell, and Heaven floors use a horde-mode concept. If I recall correctly, there are twelve undead cores, devil cores, and angel cores on each floor respectively. Each of these cores is like those dungeon cores that regularly spew out monsters. To reach the next floor, you have to either eliminate every monster or destroy all the cores.”
Kashi revealed an excited grin as he mumbled, “Considering Oni Hill hasn’t had visitors for centuries, I wonder how many thousands of these monsters are running around on those floors. I suggest you focus on eliminating the cores instead of fighting the monsters, or they’ll wear you out.”
Brilith’s eyes narrowed. “We only have a few hours. How are we supposed to find these cores?”
Kashi revealed a sneaky smirk. “Oh, you do not need to worry about that. Once we go in, you cannot miss them.”
Sonic frowned but did not press for more details. Instead, he asked, “What about the Seven Calamitous Sins.”
Kashi tapped his chin. “Wrath, Envy, Greed, Gluttony, Sloth, Lust, and Pride in that order. Each floor forces an unblockable debuff that has to do with the theme. The actual floor’s state changes every day, but one thing is constant. To advance, we must make it to the end of the floor and defeat the floor master.”
“That doesn’t seem too difficult.” Sonic looked at Kashi and Brilith. Even without help, there shouldn’t be any monster the three of them couldn’t crush if they were completely serious.
Surprisingly, Kashi shook his head. “You’ll get hurt if you underestimate Oni Hill. There’s a reason no one could defeat the Demon King no matter how many troops they sent.” Kashi raised his fingers. “The sin floors’ difficulty exponentially increases proportionally to the invaders inside Oni Hill.”
“Huh? How does that work?” Brilith frowned in anger. Why was Oni Hill shrouded in so many mysteries? The last player team that invaded Oni Hill in King’s Journey also did not share any video or details from the fight. Genaco most likely bought their silence for the sake of this event!
Kashi revealed a bitter smile. “The original Demon King was a sick man. He believed sin multiplied when more people congregated, so he placed a formation that creates as many alternate realities as there are invaders in Oni Hill. The formation then duplicates the Floor Master among the realities, forcing every invader into a one-on-one fight against either the Floor Master or his doppelgangers. Each doppelganger has the Floor Master’s initial stats, but the real Floor Master’s strength increases by about five percent per alternate reality. To pass, you need to kill or defeat the real Floor Master.”
Kashi glanced at the top of Oni Hill. “If I had to guess, I am sure that the Chaos Order would have replaced the previous Floor Masters with their own men. Most likely individuals on the Primate level. It will most like be a really difficult fight.”
“What kind of broken concept is this!?” Sonic nearly exploded in anger. “We definitely need a large number to pass through the horde mode, but then we get punished on the next floors for bringing others along?”
“Told you the Demon King was a sick man.” Kashi revealed a wry smile, but then added, “It’s not entirely hopeless though. If everyone defeats their doppelgangers quick enough, the real Floor Master will return to their normal stats. Whoever is fighting the real master just needs to hold out long enough. Of course, if they can defeat the original early, the doppelgangers will disappear.”
Brilith asked, “Can we determine who fights the real Floor Master?”
Kashi nodded. “The first person to step into the next floor fights the Floor Master. But, we’ll be in different realities from the fourth floor. Both rinks and system messages won’t work so it’ll be difficult to tell who’s going first.” Kashi paused and then said, “Well, it’s simple though. If you are confident in your strength, rush ahead once the door opens. If you are not, wait a bit before moving on. But, if you wait too long, your doppelganger on the next floor will remain, boosting the next Floor Masters’ strength.”
Sonic clucked his tongue. “What a distasteful game. It’s like they made this test to weed out teams without complete trust in each other.”
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
“Well, the Demon King created the system to protect himself from getting overrun by large armies. Razznik kept and refined the system because he was only interested in fighting small groups of elites capable of clearing the horde and still reaching him.”
Sonic felt like he was going to have a headache. “I heard Razznik was a crazy bastard, but it seems the rumors don’t do him justice. If I ever meet his player, I’ll definitely strangle that asshole just once.”
“Haha, wouldn’t that be nice?” Kashi ignored Syèl’s snide smirk and instead turned to look at the small parties that had run up to them during their discussion. “Alright, I’ll leave you to relay the details to your teams, but can we have some quick introductions? I like to know who I’m working with.”
Brilith revealed a cold smile. With the matter of Oni Hill dealt with, she could finally take a good look at a conspicuous Orc who had been glaring at her with hate-filled eyes for a while now. “Of course. I am even acquainted with some of your party.” With those words, Brilith introduced her party, “GrizzlyDiamond is our tank, RustyReaper is our main offensive mage, Rono is our rogue and specializes in close-combat. Honne-Onna specializes in illusion magic, and Nightslayer is our assassin.”
Durst’s brows furrowed, but he held in his rage. He knew this was not the place to carry out his vengeance. Right now, he needed to do his part to ensure Razznik was not summoned. Only then could he seek the Hopeful Maggots’ help in good conscience.
Sonic sensed the hidden tension between the Maggots and Brilith’s party. However, he chose to ignore it and introduced his party. “Gentle Breeze is a wind mage, Crow is our assassin.” He then pointed at a blue-furred chesch in plate armor. “Storm is our tank. Don’t let her lanky form fool you. She’ll beat us all in an arm-wrestle.”
Sonic laughed as he ignored Storm’s protest and pointed at a red-furred lycan with dangerous, insane eyes. “That’s Tempest. He’s pursuing a self-created berserker-style route. Well, just look for blood fountains and you’ll find him.” Finally, he looked at a beautiful kafu dressed in a light tunic. “Last, and certainly not least, we have our archer, Rolling Hail.” Sonic glanced at Kashi and said with a smile, “She’s a fan of yours.”
Kashi smirked when he met Rolling Hail’s provocative glare. What about her was a fan? She looked more like she wanted to prove she was the best archer in the world. Kashi was just a target to crush in her eyes.
Kashi did not expose the kafu’s hidden desire. Instead, he looked at Sonic with questioning eyes. “You seem to have some interesting tastes.”
“Fluff is heaven.” Sonic shamelessly chewed on his thistle, which caused his teammates to cover their heads in shame.
However, rather than poke fun, Kashi nodded. “I commend you. As guildmaster, you should stick to your guns even if your guildmates protest. Mm, after this, I’ll also name things as I want without second-guessing myself.”
“Name things as you want?” Sonic cocked his head in confusion.
“Hehe, it’s nothing.” Kashi could hear Syèl, Shokō, and Leila sucking in cold air, but he gamely ignored them. “Anyway, you introduced your team, so let me introduce mine. Syèl here’s our mage. Just consider him a Calamity-level event and you get the idea. Shoko is our swordsmaster. Don’t fight her one-on-one or head-on if you like your head. Leila is… Do I need to introduce her? She’s even more famous than me.” Kashi laughed and then pointed at Hektor and Zuri. “Hektor’s our knight and tank. You’ll see him upfront. Zuri is… heh. Anyway, Zuri is the strongest. That’s what’s important. Please take care of us in the future.”
Hektor’s eyes widened when Kashi introduced him. Kashi was actually taking him along? He had thought he would have to stay behind with the army, but Kashi was taking him along! Hektor was giddy inside, and the invisible weight on his shoulder softly bounced in anticipation.
Zuri, meanwhile, did not think too deeply. As far as she was concerned, it was only a matter of course that she stuck by Kashi’s side.
The groups greeted each other. After a few moments, Kashi cut short the meet and greet. “Alright. As I said, there are twelve dungeon cores on the first three floors. For the sake of efficiency, we will share the burden equally. Each party will be responsible for destroying four cores each. Any problems?”
Sonic shook his head. “That’s perfect. We will work better on our own anyway.”
Brilith glanced at Kashi. “I look forward to your performance.”
Kashi, however, laughed and shook his head. “This time, I think you should focus on my guild members.”
“Needless modesty.” Brilith snorted. She turned away from Kashi and began walking with her party to the gate.
Kashi scratched his nose. “I’m not being modest though.” He glanced at a vacant space on Hektor’s shoulder. His dragon blood had been boiling ever since Hektor showed up. He glanced at Syèl and knew the Blood Mage felt it too.
There was a goddamn Divine Dragon on that boy’s shoulder! A dragon on the same level as Nornesh just casually showed up on the battlefield? What the hell did Hektor go through to contract that thing?
‘Wait, can it be?’ Kashi suddenly thought of a horrifying possibility and glanced at the skies. ‘If it is, how will he react?’
Unbeknownst to Kashi, Nornesh’s eyes were red and it took Damah Dumm’s firm hand on his shoulder to prevent him from charging into the battlefield. The little dragon’s concealment techniques were top-notch considering its age, but how could it ever hide from the ancient Nornesh?
“A Divine Dragon! A real Divine Dragon child!” Nornesh’s eyes watered as he looked at Hektor. “I don’t have to be alone.” At that moment, he affirmed his decision to help Kashi no matter the consequences.
Nornesh placed his palm on the table and glared at the Transcendents on both sides. “I will only say this once. If any of you touch a hair on Kashi’s head, I will destroy you and everything you have ever held dear.”
“What is this crazy dragon…” Bellmaster Rene muttered as he returned to his seat. However, he wisely checked his tongue after facing Nornesh’s vicious glare. “Fine, fine. But we can’t do anything if he falls to our subordinates.”
Nornesh snorted. “Do not worry. I won’t interfere if he falls.” ‘I’ll just take the dragon and leave.’ However, that was his last resort. Draconic pride exponentially increased with each tier. Divine Dragons would rather commit suicide by implosion than live under bondage. That was the reason why Dragoons could only make pacts with dragons rather than force or train them into submission like with wyverns and lesser drakes.
Meanwhile, unaware of the waves he caused, Hektor scratched Rex’s head and then walked alongside Kashi as they passed through the gigantic gates. A tremendous pressure pressed down on the parties, but they all proved why they were the best of the best.
Without missing a beat all eighteen warriors passed through the gates carrying upon their shoulders, Destia’s fate.