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Volume 4
Chapter 16: That Night, Loire in Chaos
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[Master, *wink* (^.^)…Mwah!]
“Sigh…”
Reading an emoticon in a plain txt, trying to put up an improvised coded message, was making his head hurt. Migraine is attacking his nerves.
Siva’s brows curled and joined as he wondered just in what level should he put Cassiopeia’s weirdness away from the Goddess of Seduction, Rafaela. Imagining the difference between the two was like the integer that exists between (-1) and (+1).
[Hello! as it turns out, Zeta is an old scumbag that had a certain history with the Kingdom of Amalur in the Western Side of the Continent. Why I said he is a scumbag is because of all the information that I have managed to uncover. It all said about him being a big jerk who was so fascinated with Dragons and their all so legendary beastly legends that he practically threw everything in his life away and just focused his work to study them all. The bad news is, all information about Zeta had been recorded during the first cycle of the “The Founding” era…]
“Meaning he’s been long dead. Sigh…”
With a hand on his head, he leaned his back to the seat and paused to think. After a few moments, he sent an email back to Cassiopeia.
—And what about Jack of Helium?—
While he waited for a reply, Siva opened the files that came with Cassiopeia’s email. There were four files so he opened the top most.
He skimmed through the copied text and concluded the whole document’s message after a few moments.
“According to the story, Zeta is a Wizard 700 years after the fall of the Roman Empire. The encounter with a certain Dragon ignited Zeta’s obsession, believing that there was a way for Terrans and Dragons to live in harmony, especially against the Demons’ invasion.
To prove that he lived after meeting one, he spent all his time trying to uncover secrets and legends regarding their tales. But, no one believed him.
After a few years, he published his findings about an old mythical beast that exists in the references in the ancient Muan language. It tells of a beast that had been in war against the first Muan Navigators and killed the legion of their kin, driving them off the land.
It tells of the legend of this Dragon being a voracious one who consumes blood as its meal. Thus the name he gave the beast.
Blood Dragon God.
After this, he gained criticism as well as support. But it came to the point that his family abandoned him and deemed him a crazy old Wizard with an obsession.”
Siva wondered why Cassiopeia addressed him as a jerk and a scumbag, but realized it was pointless to ask as he himself had experienced how shallow Cassiopeia’s talent in judgment is.
TING!
[I’m sorry my lord (W-W) but according to Illuminati’s central information agency, the entirety of the Helium Guild had already cut all its connections to us and all its members are currently assumed to be lying low. So please, punish me! Hit me in my buns so I will scream and moan and…]
Siva didn’t continue reading the rest of the paragraph after that short introduction. He just focused his mind on the information he received.
In other words, Jack is in hiding. It was all clear to him as day. Jack knew what he did and he knew that he was still alive.
His assassination attempt had failed and Karim’s MOD had already gotten into his hands.
«Deva‘s Path»
Type: MOD
Rarity: Special
Set Number: 4/6
MOD Description:
One of the medallions that symbolizes the cycle of reincarnation as believed by the ancient people in the Kingdom of Budapest. Its power draws in the energy of the wielder, giving him the ability to control the forces governing attraction and repulsion.
Grants:
(-) Draw — (-) Spurn (ACTIVE)
Perhaps he could even feel that he was coming back for him. He will do that, he will not hide. Siva had decided upon himself that he will hunt down this Jack and take back the treasure.
He would have been willing to fight over it if Jack had only resorted to a fair battle of rights to the treasure, but he can’t forgive the fact that he intentionally tricked him, not to mention that he even sent an assassin team to make sure that Karim’s mission to kill him would succeed.
But thanks to his luck, his mettle, and his undying resolve to live on and survive, Siva surpassed his limits and defeated his enemies.
Now, he’s coming for Jack.
Thinking about it, rage swelled up on him and he didn’t realize he was already causing another scene.
It was a night filled with horror for the people of Loire as The Destroyer unleashed his hatred on the innocent people in the streets. That night, many accidents happened and a city-wide search for the one who caused the commotion took place.
But Siva’s care was far away.
While the city guards were arresting everyone they saw who wore a mask, Siva was looking at the sight of them and laughing his heart out on his balcony.
It was an unfamiliar sense of happiness unique to him and yet still felt comfortable. Like sending a message to all that will try to fight him, he laughed out like a leader of a crime seeing the fruits of his dubious plan.
He abandoned all restraints and just thought about the things he’d do when he held Jack on his collar.
No bullet nor slashes of sword would satiate his anger, nor will any kind of scar will ever make it enough. He threatened him with foul play, and in turn threatened Baron’s safety.
The anger boiling inside his heart escaped and became the dread that embraced Loire.
He will never forgive him. That’s what Siva thought.
As the Killing Zone caused the city to suffer accidents and as the people questioned Captain Harris’ ability to ensure safety inside the wall, the players whose online at the time recorded everything and another hot topic about The Destroyer began to circulate in the net.
**********************
[Abilities work in the City!?]
[What the hell is happening to him? He crazy?]
[Attack! The Destroyer is causing chaos in Loire!]
[Killing Zone in Loire!]
[Accidents perpetrated by The Destroyer!]
Hot topics about the incident ignited a fire. Trending posts and blogs from writers and players gathered the attention that even the media people did not miss.
“Hey, is this true?”
“I have a friend online in Loire right now. I’ll check!”
“Send operatives in Loire! Investigate this incident!”
“Do we have a contact in Loire right now?”
This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.
“Can anyone tell me where exactly?”
“Reports of accidents are increasing!”
Offices of the media perks that focused on Terroa’s everyday happenings grabbed this rare opportunity to report something that tells about the now slowly getting famous The Destroyer.
No one knows who he is, no one knows where he came from, but they all agree that The Destroyer is a myth of a player. No. Not one player actually knew if he really is a player or was actually an NPC.
This side of the argument regarding the Destroyer’s individuality started when the first video that Riddler’s Guise Guild posted tells of a secret that everyone never knew before. It was about the failure of certain quests and missions.
In that video, Riddler’s Guise discovered a certain S-rank Mission somewhere in the Gardenia Empire in the Western Continent of Flowerion. They fought a strong boss mob and was trashed but upon the failure of the Mission, the boss mob ran rampant and escaped the lair with which it was awakened. Since then, it was never seen again.
According to game researchers, RPG: Terroa’s Mission difficulty and mechanics tells that there are certain consequences in regards to a failed mission.
The consequences’ effects are rarely felt because most of the missions that was discovered so far were all low ranking missions. But if a high ranking mission fails to be completed, the consequences to the world varies with the difficulty level of the mission.
That said, S-Ranked missions are the missions that can effect the whole world of Terroa. The next lower rank than that can affect an entire kingdom. Then so on…
When this article was published after the War of the Two Powers, every media companies had started their own research about the mysterious identity of the two last people in the middle of the battlefield.
The first one was the villain who perpetrated the entire war itself, Rogue, and the other is the one who tried to stop it, The Destroyer.
No one knew who these people are except that they only appeared briefly during the clash and yet they are the turning point and center to its abrupt result.
The destruction of the Fortress of Mooran near the territory of Xargoal-6 had a certain impact to the player morale and opinions.
One of these opinions say that such destructive power is just too powerful to be owned by a player while the other tends to say that The Destroyer’s might is just too strong to be done by a mere player.
These conflicting opinions and articles in many forums and blogs indicated that the article regarding mission difficulty and their consequences are things not to be set aside. In fact they should be taken seriously as they were going to affect the game world of Terroa whether they like it or not.
“Kathleen Brew, we’re doing a special coverage.”
“Okay.”
“We’re live in T-minus-5... 4... 3... 2...”
[Good evening all gamers! Welcome to a special live broadcast of Terroa Day Today! My name is Kathleen Brew and I’m in the studio with my partner here Brad Goldoni.]
[Good evening. This is…]
[[Terroa Day Today!]]
[Now, Kath, everyone is asking. What exactly is going on?! People are quite noisy this time of the night.]
[That’s right. Forum sites are flooding with posts about an alleged attack in the middle of a Walled City!]
[And the perpetrator of the said attack is none other than the mysterious The Destroyer.]
[So tonight we’re going to talk about a very peculiar event that ‘just’ happened in the Walled City of Loire.]
[Yes. As you can see in the video, Walled City of Loire has just experienced what the players in the War of the Two Powers had experienced when they faced the might of the legendary existence called The Destroyer.]
[Very terrifying if you’ll ask me.]
[Right on. Reports from monster tamers said all their tamed beasts, specifically, C-Ranked monsters they had been able to subdue and tame with the help of their special Racial Missions, had been rendered cowards as they all began to go wild the moment the Killing Zone activated ‘inside’ the city premises. What can you say about this, Kathleen?]
[Thanks, partner. Well, there have been talks in the net that The Destroyer’s alleged Unique Ability “Killing Zone” is a result of a very unique stat build… that is, if we’re talking about him being a player.]
[Wait, do you mean he’s not a player?]
[There are rumors running around about him being the result of a failed high ranking mission somewhere in the five known continents of Terroa.]
[When you talk about it like that, it seems that he’s not good news at all.]
[You’re right Brad, he’s not. If you can remember, I was also subjected to the “Killing Zone” during the war in Buendia Valley and truth be told, if I hadn’t hit my Flying Wyvern in the head at the time while we were up, I wouldn’t have been able to deliver you the breath taking footage of the war as seen from above.]
[…E-Ehem.]
[What I wanted to say is that the “Killing Zone” is an ability that not only drops an opponent’s defenses by a staggering 70% decline, it also causes monsters of varying levels to go wild or cower.]
[Wh-Wha…]
[In regards to this ability, if he really is a player and he can use that inside a Walled City, then that means that there is no place safe for any player in Terroa if they want to fight against him.]
[That is if he’s a player… right?]
[Yes. In fact, there was a recent poll made by bloggers and researchers that made 80% of over 100,000 posters saying The Destroyer is not really a player but actually an NPC Boss that escaped a failed mission.]
[My God. If that’s the case…]
[RPG: Terroa is going to face a large event soon.]
[Then this attack in Loire…]
[Rumors are flying around the game site’s forums that The Destroyer is searching for strong weapons as part of a chain quest.]
[Chain quest?! That’s one rare event!]
[Indeed. In fact, just like how Riddler’s Guise is doing their part to minimize the number of difficult quests for other weaker players, the chain quest The Destroyer is trying to complete may have been the very mission that the players who freed The Destroyer was trying to take.]
[So when they failed the mission…]
[The Destroyer was then unleashed to the world, taking the failed mission to himself as part of his purpose.]
[Wow. Such a loss. But Kathleen, what about this attack in Loire? Is this a part of the event?]
[No one can answer that right now, Brad, but we do have our correspondent Hilda Oromo live in Loire right now to give us the latest news regarding the attack. Er, Hilda, what’s the latest news in Loire?]
(Hello Kathleen, as you can see behind me, multiple cases of accidents and rampages have been reported to have caused substantial damage in this area of the Walled City of Loire. The activation of the “Killing Zone” had an estimated influence of 500 meters wide and was centered in the Hotel District near the Central Market of the city.)
[Err, H-Hilda… Hilda….]
(Yes Brad?)
[Are there any reports about the Knights of the Seven Pillars of Loire finding The Destroyer?]
(No, there was none. From the moment the ability was activated, all tamed beasts started to ran amuck and rampaged everything, trying to escape the premises. All hands were full, according to the Guard Captain, and the search for The Destroyer was left for a specialized group of people with tracking abilities.)
[Wait, the monsters are escaping? Why?]
(The reasons are yet unclear but one thing is for sure though, the Knights of the Seven Pillars have yet to catch the culprit and their Guard Captain is still silent as to the result of their search.)
[Wait, one last question, Hilda.]
(Go ahead Kath.)
[Is there a prompt for an event? Because as of late, the Panorama Corp has yet to announce that there was an event regarding this incident. As players of the same game, we don’t want to surprise our users for what may happen if The Destroyer suddenly appear and cause more commotion right? Are there anything like that?]
(Sadly, Kath, there’s none. Since the activation of the ability 20 minutes ago, no event prompt had gone up to the players online. Although, I don’t know if this would help, but there are talks circulating in the area that they felt that something was changing in Terroa.)
[Changing?]
[(*Shrugs*)]
(A player in Loire I came to talk to earlier said that at some point earlier this morning inside the game, there was someone with dark skin and a hooded outfit came crashing down in the fountain square. The player said that the skin of the man looked like the one he saw in that video posted by the Helium Guild members about an S-rank Mission completed by The Destroyer.)
[Hey, are you talking about that Ancient Evil?]
[But to cause a change…]
(The talks in the area said that the NPCs have been all noisy about a catastrophe that will befall Terroa. Some say that The Destroyer was sent by the Dragons to kill the Terrans that took their lands.)
—Hey this is not part of the script!
—Cut it off!
—Cut Hilda off now!
[(But she‘s still live!)]
[(This is an important news!)]
—Cut her off! Do it now!
—DON’T DO IT!
—The ratings are high, just go on!
—Cut her off, NOW!!!
[Th-that’s certainly some news…]
[Well, thanks for the update on the latest news in the Walled City of Loire, Hilda.]
(Wait, I wasn‘t fini—)
[That’s all for tonight, gamers, this is Brad Goldoni.]
[A-And this is Kathleen Brew.]
[[You are watching Terroa Day Today!]]
—CUT!
It was in this part in the studio that a man in black suit appeared. His ties were black and his hair was a sign that the man was not an ordinary employee from the Panorama Corporation.
His eyes were pointed at Kathleen.
“Miss Brew.”
“Y-Yes?”
“You are working under the Panorama Corp.’s Media Relations Group. If a broadcast is not scripted by your superiors, you shouldn’t say another word if you’re already prompted to stop.”
Kathleen narrowed her eyes as she measured the man’s integrity. By the looks of, he was one of the Integrity Knights sent by the company to regulate the news that they were going to say.
That said, thinking about the things she had heard from his dad back in Loire, a smile drew on her lips that made the man in black suit shudder.
“Whether I report it or not, the gamers will eventually see that Terroa is changing. And no matter how much you try to hide the fact that you can’t control Janus any more, it will eventually come out sooner or later.”
“Y-You… how did…”
“I am Kathleen Brew. Don’t underestimate my ability to sniff out news on my own. I may even know more than you in regards to Terroa’s inner workings. So if you’ll come to me and try to intimidate me, make sure that your guns are loaded with the proper bullets or I’ll make sure you will eat them yourself. Do you get where I’m going, mister Integrity Knight?”
The man fixed his collar, stepped back, and cleared his throat. Kathleen was already 12 inches away from his face as she made her way to him out of annoyance to his very abrupt stop to her broadcast.
“I will make sure the management knows about this.”
“Please do. And tell them to bring ten more of you the next time you cut my broadcast.”
The man left and Kathleen turned around. She saw the stiff and frozen Brad Goldoni, raising his hands in an attempt to give up even before she said a word.
After that, she sat down on her chair as her prep team started their job. Staring at her mobile terminal, she dialed a number and the line connected. [Hello?]
“Hey, Eiffel, it’s me. I gotta tell you something. I think dad’s right about his warning...”