“What the Hell?” Carlos whispered to me as we both dived back into cover. We only risked a quick glance at the horned humanoid before we broke line of sight for fear that he would spot us. In a fearful voice, Carlos asked another question. “Should we attack him?”
“No,” I answered immediately. I recalled the horned humanoids among the lesser beings mentioned in Epsilon’s memories. If this man was among the elders’ enemies, he would logically be our ally to some extent.
Trusting my instincts, I holstered my laser pistol and stepped out into the open. I held my hands out to the side in a gesture of peace, making sure to not hold my hands out toward the horned man for fear that he might interpret it as the somatic component of a spell.
“Are you crazy?” Carlos whispered to me from cover.
The horned man looked over to me with an expression of relief on his face. He said something in that alien language. His statement was short, but I could make out one word, “Human.”
“That’s right,” I said, speaking slowly and vigorously nodding my head to get the point across. “I am a human.”
The horned man fiddled with some device hanging around his neck. He said something with the cadence of recitation, as if he was reading out a prewritten statement. After a few seconds, his vocals took on a recognizable pattern. He began speaking in English, though the movements of his mouth did not match the actual words spoken.
“...where, when, why.” The device on the horned man’s neck began to translate in the middle of a list of interrogatives. He didn’t seem to be asking me those questions. Rather, I got the sense that he was speaking to calibrate the translator on his neck.
“Good. It’s working. Greetings, human. Be not afraid of my appearance, for I am your ally.”
His words were strangely biblical. The horned man spoke diplomatically, but he seemed annoyed by his role. He fidgeted with the handle of his sword and looked off to the horizon as he spoke.
The horned man continued. “I have a message that needs to be disseminated to as many people as possible. Do you have some method of mass communication without the [Network]?”
“You can understand me?” I asked, lowering my hands to my sides.
Carlos stepped out of cover and waved to the horned man. Awkwardly, he said, “Hello.”
“Yes, I can understand you,” the horned man said with annoyance in his voice.
“I don’t know what the [Network] is, but I can use the Internet to spread information quickly. I just need to use my phone.”
“That’s much better than I was expecting,” the horned man said in a tone of pleasant surprise. “I heard that, last time, the Naskals had to spread the news through ink printed on paper.”
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As I removed my phone from my pocket, I asked, “Would you mind telling us what’s going on?”
“That’s what I’m here for,” the horned man said, but he was clearly not happy about that fact. “Let’s start with my name. I’m Hellman, what about you two?”
“Hellman?” I asked. Was that a joke? Was he aware of Earth’s cultural understanding of his appearance as demonic?
“Like the ketchup brand?” Carlos asked.
“No, I assume,” Hellman said, blinking in confusion.
“I’m Vincent, and that’s Carlos.”
Hellman’s yellow irises darted over to the corner of his eyes for a moment, as if he was deep in thought. His eyes darted forward a second later, and he said in a tone implying we had just made a childish mistake, “No, not those names. I mean your names in the Revelation System.”
I was amazed. Hellman hadn’t gestured with his hands at all. Somehow, he managed to navigate to the [Friend List] and attempt to send a [Friend Request] in about a second without any visible input. I wondered if I would be able to do that at some point.
“Uh, right. I’m Vincent, and that’s Slader.”
Within a second, a new pop up appeared in the center of my vision.
[NEW FRIEND REQUEST: HELLMAN]
NEW FRIEND REQUEST: HELLMAN
I clicked the button and quickly navigated to my [Friend List]. There, in between Elstine and Slader, was a new name.
Elstine: Priestess, Lvl. 3
Hellman: Champion, Lvl. 25
Slader: Knight, Lvl. 3
Elstine Priestess, Lvl. 3 Hellman Champion, Lvl. 25 Slader Knight, Lvl. 3
I was surprised by the new entry in my [Friend List]. The fact that Hellman’s level was above 20 implied that the Revelation System’s leveling system wasn’t like Dungeon King’s. I had already assumed as much, anyway, from the fact that Liz hadn’t yet unlocked second level spells. Considering that the levels of the Revelation System probably maxed out at level 100, I was surprised that Hellman’s level was so low.
“While you do whatever it is you need to do to send my message to the rest of the Human tribe, I should tell you about my reason for being here specifically.”
Hellman’s use of the word “tribe” seemed strange to me. He meant people like Carlos and me but not people like him. Epsilon used the word “race” to describe this group, but Hellman’s translator used the word “tribe.”
“Exactly 24 hours after System Integration, the [Greater Dungeons] will appear. Everything within 62 miles of a [Greater Dungeon] will become uninhabitable, and I’m here right now because we know a [Greater Dungeon] will appear within 3,300 feet of my landing site. My purpose here is not to prevent the appearance of the [Greater Dungeon]. Rather, my job is to find the Star Child that landed here a few minutes after System Integration and kill it before it can take control of the dungeon.”
It was barely perceptible, but I could feel Epsilon move slightly when Hellman mentioned the Star Child. There was no doubt in my mind that Hellman was searching for the creature that was presently holding my skull together.
“Do you two have any idea where this Star Child is? It shouldn’t be evolved enough to fully integrate a sapient host yet. Right now, it should look like a shambling corpse with the head of a dog. I need to find it quickly before it’s able to fully integrate a Human host.”