“Mr Goodman, it’s a pleasure to finally meet you.” The imposing man who sat behind the mahogany desk in the centre of the room said, his voice thrumming with an almost unchallengeable power and authority. The man’s body language alone gave off the very distinct impression that even if Arthur unleashed all of his power in an attack against the general, Arthur's attack would do absolutely nothing to harm him. For the power he sensed exuding from the general's body was far beyond anything he had felt before, eclipsing even the hydra that he’d faced not so long ago by leaps and bounds.
Before the powerful figures out there in the multiverse had been abstract entities that had haunted his thoughts of the future, but now, one such monster sat only a dozen or so metres from him – looking him up and down intently, and Arthur couldn’t help but shudder in response. The man's stern facial expressions revealed nothing about what he thought about Arthur as he undoubtedly gleaned the former butler's profile with some perk/skill.
“Yes, General Maximus, Sir, I am Arthur Goodman. You wished to speak with me?” Arthur eventually managed to croak out, quickly taking the chair that the general then gestured for him to sit in. His usual confidence and social ability had been shaken by the man’s overwhelming aura as well as Arthur's mind’s inability to focus on anything other than Lucas’ current dire state. This initial interaction reinforced the notion in his mind that it had been a bad idea not to wait a bit longer before meeting the general, as he feared in his current state he could leave nothing but a bad impression on the important and powerful man.
“Yes, I did. I was hoping to talk to you about having you join the Imperium’s elite forces. However, that conversation can wait until this whole Jörmungandr situation is taken care of. Speaking of which, if I am not mistaken, you aspire to be a butler within the Imperium do you not?” The general said, his voice breaking Arthur out of his sombre thoughts.
Arthur was a bit taken aback by how casual the man was being. However, he too had been only momentarily shocked by the Quest prompt's contents because, after all the stuff he had experienced over the last 2 months, the sudden appearance of the world serpent threatening to do world serpent things was actually quite refreshingly normal as far apocalyptic events go. Sure, Arthur was frightened about the possibility of the earth being destroyed, but his mental state was already so low that there really wasn't any place much lower for his mind to go. In fact, Arthur was more surprised that his aspirations to become a butler had been relayed to the high command of the Imperium than he had been at the fact that the Midgard serpent was a real entity threatening Earth itself.
“That’s correct general. Though I must confess, I do not see how my wish to become a butler is relevant to the world serpent’s appearance.” Arthur finally managed to reply, his confusion genuine.
The general leaned back in his chair before saying, “Imperium nobility are extremely hesitant to hire non-citizens to important positions within their households. This is not only because many hold not-so-favourable views about those they consider foreigners, but also because many of the upper crust handle material and resources vital to the Imperium’s internal and external security. So, hiring someone perceived as a foreigner and thus a potential foreign agent is a risk that most nobles worth their weight in System Coins will avoid taking on.”
Arthur nodded in understanding. A frown began to form on his face as he realised the implications, and the general soon confirmed his thoughts.
“To put it simply, you are not a citizen Mr. Goodman. And the path to becoming one takes decades to walk, even for someone of your incredible talent.” The general let his words sink, having delivered the stick, he gave it a few minutes before he revealed the carrot, “However, there are a number of exceptional circumstances in which a person can become a citizen by demonstrating particular feats of excellence, bravery, and or patriotism on behalf of the Imperium to earn their citizenship in a far more accelerated manner, Mr Goodman. And I certainly believe you could earn your citizenship this way in only a matter of weeks truth be told.”
Arthur had a feeling that he knew where this conversation was going as the general was not exactly being subtle about it. However, Arthur was not pleased by the idea of fighting against another world-boss beast, especially not one spoken of in Norse legends. If he remembered correctly, the legends had it that Thor, a literal god, was about the only entity in the universe powerful enough to bring down the monster and even then it had cost him his life. However, despite that, if what the general was saying was true, then displaying extraordinary feats might be the only way for him to achieve his goal of becoming a butler anytime soon.
Arthur’s mouth had already begun moving before his mind had fully been made up. “I see. Then, what kind of feats must I perform?” Arthur asked uncertainly.
The general’s smile grew wider as he replied, “Nothing much. I just need you to take care of some of the World-Boss monsters for me.”
“You want me to fight against Jörmungandr?” Arthur asked, defeated.
The general only laughed at the question before shaking his head.
“That monster is over 200 levels higher than you at the moment, asking you to fight against it would be the equivalent of asking you to commit suicide. Even with your insane title and stats. Plus, I already have a plan to kill the Titan myself, so no. You don’t need to fight the world eater. Instead, you just need to kill all the other world bosses that roam the surface of this planet.”
Arthur paled at the man’s words. He’d assumed the monster would be at or around the same level that the hydra had been, but to think that Earth was being threatened by a monster over level 300. The thought alone was terrifying. However, the more mind-boggling thought to the old man was that the man in front of him planned on taking the monster on alone. He knew the man in front of him was stronger than anyone or anything Arthur had ever seen, but he didn’t know if that would be enough to kill the world serpent if the monster was over level 300.
For in Arthur’s mind, his victory against the adolescent hydra had been a total fluke, and he couldn’t even imagine the power one would need to take on a monster 3x the level of the monstrous adolescent hydra and win without any assistance.
“You want to fight against the world serpent all alone while I take on the other world bosses?” Arthur asked quietly, his question was intended rhetorically, but the general answered it regardless.
“Yes. That’s correct.”
“Why? I don’t understand.” Arthur replied weakly. Every drop of Arthur’s usual strength of character had been rapidly sapped from him over the course of the last few hours and now he was almost a pitiful husk running dry – his mind feeling as weak as his body had been back in the care home. It was a horrible feeling, but Arthur just couldn’t muster the willpower to pull himself out of his slump, not with Lucas suffering excruciating pain only a few buildings away from where he was.
The general noticed Arthur’s downtrodden state but didn’t comment on it as he answered the former butler's question.
“By defeating even just a couple of the other 6 world bosses, you aid me tremendously in killing Jörmungandr. As for my strategy to be successful in killing the world eater I require the world’s core to have as much potent mana as possible stored within its confines. By killing each world boss for me, you release the potent mana that makes them up back into the world’s natural environment, and due to its potency, the mana quickly finds its way back into the world’s core where I need it. Understood?”
Arthur nodded before a lone realisation came to him and he said desperately, “My grandson, I was told by the nurses that he was hexed. If I help you by fighting these monsters, not only do I want for us both to receive citizenship, but I want him cured.” Although Arthur now held this position out as an inviolable red line for him, his shaky voice did not portray that well. However, the general was seemingly in a generous mood and did not push for any more concessions.
“That’s fine with me. However, there is no one capable of lifting the hex placed on him in a sector anywhere near this planet. So, his hex's lifting will have to wait until after the battle with Jormungandr has concluded, and you will have to accompany me back to the Imperium’s capital. For only there where many of the best mages in the whole multiverse reside can I guarantee that we will find the boy a mage strong enough to lift the hex placed on him."
If Arthur had been in a stronger place mentally, and or stronger in terms of his negotiating position, he would have identified that this response was likely bogus and the man just wanted to keep Arthur close. However, with the man in front of him offering him hope for his last remaining grandchild’s survival despite the powerful hex placed on him, and given his mental state, Arthur would have probably bought any story and made any deal so long as Lucas would recover.
This story has been stolen from Royal Road. If you read it on Amazon, please report it
“I accept the deal,” Arthur said, his hope for the future slowly beginning to recover.
Maximus nodded before asking almost casually, “Excellent. Sorry to rush things but we’re kind of on a tight schedule. We’ve scanned the globe and have gathered the approximate locations, levels, and names of every World Boss who roams the surface. Now which World-Boss do you want to fight first, the Nemean Lion as it's apparently called, or the sea monstrosity Charybdis?”
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Steven couldn't help but be awestruck as he gazed out the observatory pod's window and saw Earth in all its oblate spheroid glory. The sight of the Earth from outer space reminded him of just how small he was in the grand scheme of things, and just how crazy the world had been even before the system had arrived. For among the hundreds of millions of people that the Imperium had managed to convince to evacuate Earth, there were probably a number of, hopefully former, flat earthers who were now also looking at Earth – potentially for the last time.
He couldn’t help but think that his life before the system had been almost perfectly quaint. He remembered the many hours he had spent watching Flat Earth debunked videos on the internet, laughing at every wacky experiment, pseudo-scientific claim, and conspiracy theory that these random internet personalities would spout. When the apocalypse had first begun, Steven had castigated himself for wasting all of his time watching said videos and not practising martial arts like his father had always wanted him to. But, now, he resigned himself to looking back on those simpler times with a comfortable nostalgia as well as a deep sense of despair.
He was not stupid. The fact that the Imperium had evacuated all who would listen to their warning meant that the threat the World Serpent posed was real and that there was an almost 100% chance that Earth would not be habitable in short order. The system had not only taken from Steven his old life, his family, but now one of its hideous manifestations was about to irrevocably destroy the planet on which he had spent his entire life up and till this point. There would be no going back to how things were before, there would be no new normal, there would only be the cold unfamiliar wasteland of space to explore and the shallow comforts of power without a place to call home.
Yet, Steven could not mourn his sense of loss openly, nor even express anything other than stoic acceptance because that was the kind of emotional strength that Annabelle needed from him. She needed her big brother to be strong. For him to be her rock to help her weather the unknown, and for him to show just how much of an emotional wreck he was on the inside outwardly would be a display of the utmost selfishness as it would ruin her innocence further just for him to momentarily feel better.
Arthur, or Mr Goodman as he now liked to call him, was probably the only person left that Steven felt he could be open with. The man had suffered through so much pain and loss and yet kept on going, driven by the needs of his family, and yet unlike Steven, the man hadn’t closed off his heart due to despair or suspicion and instead had actively embraced him and his sister - total strangers to him. The man had shown them true kindness and understanding and had never failed to do his best to aid them, even when it was clear the man himself was suffering tremendously due to his grandchild’s dire state.
Steven's thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a huge system prompt appeared in his vision. He didn’t even bother reading it, as he already could guess its contents. Instead, he, like every other person on board one of the Imperium’s huge motherships, scrambled for a position directly behind one of the large viewing windows and then looked on with both horror and excitement as everyone awaited the battle to begin. They felt horror because they all had spent the last month dreading the world serpents awakening, and a guilty sense of excitement because they all had been informed that the Imperium’s general himself would personally fight against the monster.
Everyone on board had heard rumours of the general’s power from the Imperium’s soldiers but many, including Steven himself, were sceptical. The soldiers were probably exaggerating the man’s power so as to intimidate the Earthlings on board, as there had initially been quite a lot of tension between the Imperium’s forces and Earthlings so their wanting to make them all more docile was not totally implausible. However, Mr Goodman, who had met the general personally, had told Steven that the general was a man of insane power, and as the information came from the old man himself, Steven had arrived at the position that the rumours were likely at least partly exaggerated but probably had a large kernel of truth to them. Yet, this assessment was based on rumours and second-hand information, and now he had a front-row seat to the most titanic battle in all of humanity’s history and he'd soon find out for himself just how powerful this general was as he fought against a monster spoken of in legends.
The battle started in an appropriately dramatic way.
A shockwave as powerful as the force produced by 2 planets crashing into each other buffeted against the motherships’ shields as the Earth began to visibly crack. To Steven’s eyes, the Earth’s mantle looked as though it were nothing more than the shell of an egg, and soon enough the monster that hid within it stretched and Earth tore in two and it became visible. Its brilliant scale-covered body was as long as the Earth was tall, and as wide as the oceans were vast. Its maw was large enough that it could undoubtedly swallow the moon in a single gulp, and its slit-like eyes were as large as asteroids and glowed a crimson red.
Undiluted Terror the likes of which many had never experienced before suddenly enveloped everyone's soul. This was not a fight that could be won. This was not a monster that could be killed by man. A mere glimpse at the beast's form made Steven feel as though he were looking at the pits of hell themselves, infernal and infinite, and he dropped to his knees out of fear. He had not been religious before now, but now the only explanation he could think of was that this monster was divine punishment. That was perhaps the only rational explanation that came to mind as Steven resigned himself to a fate he felt inevitable, being consumed by this monstrosity's enormous jaws.
However, this sense of terror consuming everyone's psyche suddenly reduced in intensity almost a hundredfold. Confusion spread amongst the ranks of millions, until a strange system prompt appeared in their vision.
JORMUNGANDR'S SOUL-CRUSHING AURA HAS BEEN MITIGATED BY MAXIMUS LORENTIA'S LEADERSHIP SKILL
Many had barely finished reading the prompt before they felt and then saw him. A man whose size rivalled the beast's own who wielded a shimmering golden sword, whose muscles seemed to hold as much raw power as did the sun off in the distance. Just looking upon his form reminded Steven of portraits of old Greek gods and heroes. Whether it be Heracles or Atlas, every being from myth he could think of paled in comparison to the monstrous entity in front of him. The general seemed to Steven to be physical strength personified.
Then, the giant man collided with the snake monster's body like an asteroid hitting a planet, and when his sword clashed with the monster's scales a powerful shockwave was sent coursing throughout the solar system. But although the ginormous blade left a scratch the size of a city on the monster's scales, everyone could tell that the general's first strike had not done nearly enough damage to slay the monster in a single blow.
On the other hand, when the monster moved at unimaginable speed to attack the Imperium's general, its bite barely missed its intended target, but successfully crunched almost 90% of the Earth's mass in its jaw - including the oddly purple bubbling spheroid that was obviously the world's core. However, the immense reality-shattering cry that bellowed from the beast's jaws seconds later made Steven realise that he had been far too naive in his estimations.
There had been no chance for Earth's survival. The general had Earth's essential destruction as a vital part of his plan to defeat the god-like serpentine goliath and the worst part for Steven was that he didn't care. For when faced with the monstrosity whose roar was now opening tears in the fabric of reality itself, what other option did the general or humanity have other than to use the beast's immense hunger against it?
The tremendous blade of gold clashed with the monster's scales over and over again, each slash doing more damage than the last. The monster was quick, powerful, and titanic, but it was clear that Maximus was far beyond it in terms of intelligence. However, intelligence alone could not overcome sheer monstrous power, and though each attack did more damage, the beast was recovering its health almost as quickly as Maximus was slicing and dicing it away.
Then, for a moment, all hope was lost as the snake dodged a humungous sword slash and it then moved its huge maw to instantly bite down on the giant man's head. Steven heard gasps and cries of sheer horror around him as millions saw what they assumed to be their hero's death.
Then, a purple fluid ball the size of an asteroid appeared in the place of the giant man and it began expanding until it rivalled Jupiter in size. As the monster's enormous gullet was flooded with purple fluid, long black veins began appearing on the body of the giant serpent. It let out a gargled roar of pain.
A portion of the purple fluid shot away from the monster's mouth and subtly coalesced and reformed into the giant form of the general, a smirk present on his face.
Time, space, and the building blocks of reality itself began vibrating around the crew of the mothership as the monster made its fury known. Thousands of peoples' heads began exploding around Steven as the world serpent's roar manifested pure chaos throughout the universe.
An ocean of blood covered the observation pods' viewing windows, and no one could see the battle outside anymore. Everything both inside and outside of the ship was veiled behind the red sheen of galleons of blood.
An imperious fellow in worn-down armour tried to calm the evacuees on board by shouting at the top of his lungs, "Everyone! Calm down! Due to the ship's magical wards, the beast's deathly roar will only affect those level 15 or below, you all should be safe now!"
Steven did not know how he heard the words but as soon as he did he no longer cared about who won the battle outside, the people around him, or the blood that pooled beneath his feet, because he had already lost everything.