They had won. The tunnels had been collapsed, the Drakonai forces smothered underneath. All that was left was to take the crown. Ryu had beat Lucius. He had left the battlefield early. Maybe it was selfish, but the clean up and logistics left after a battle did not interest him. He’d seen too many examples of the dead as it was. In truth, he just wanted to rest. The comforts of a bed would be denied to him soon.
He was weary to the bone. The plots, the mind games, the veiled threats… They all weighed on him. Even that brief moment where he’d let his Skill collapse had not helped. If anything, it made things worse. It only highlighted how hollow he truly was. With his Skill active, he wasn’t whole, but then again, maybe it was better this way. Better to be hollow than that.
He walked through the Urodela city, the streets bursting with life. Uncommonly so, actually. Had word already reached them of the Urodela victory? Ryu thought quickly. Maybe Shin had released the word, but that did not make sense. The council had ruled that he was no longer in command of the military, so on official records, the salamander had spent the day doing paperwork. It would be suspicious if he leaked the news of the battle. Ryu’s brow furrowed. He had a strange feeling. His feet carried him to a street corner. A salamander, decked in the robes of an official, spoke from on top of a box.
“I regret to inform you all that as of today, Speaker Shin has passed. The council has named this a Day of Mourning. It is unclear how things will proceed, but in the coming days, a new Speaker will be put into place temporarily,” the official said, speaking the rehearsed words for what must have been the umpteenth time. Ryu tuned her out.
Shin was dead? It could only mean one thing. Lucius. Of course. Why had he expected the spy to gamble the results on a battle? They’d considered assassination as an option, but that had been before the council had moved against them. Once that had happened, all focus was put into adapting the plan to account for Talen. Another thought occurred to Ryu. Lucius was subtle. Assassination was too ineffective in this case. Killing Shin did not affect anything. A new Speaker would be elected. Having the council assassinate Shin, however, was something altogether different. The election would be postponed. The council members would each make grabs for power. It would be civil war, or close to it.
It probably hadn’t even been that hard for the master of disguise. Spread a few rumors. Pay a council member’s mistress to whisper the right things. Plant evidence. Ryu’s mind didn’t work that way. He had only thought of how combat would play out. He had not considered the idea that Lucius would literally cause the Urodela to destroy themselves.
Ryu made his way to the government building with haste. His anger was a cold, bitter thing. He hadn’t wanted to do this. He knew the truth behind the Urodela and the Drakonai. They were the remnants of societies from other worlds. He did not want to shed blood, to ruin a people’s government just to win. This option had always been there, however. The limits on his ability by the Quest did not apply to his own forces as he had found out when killing Councilman Oni.
He burst into the building, storming up the stairs until he found the door. The council room. Lucius. This was his fault. Ryu growled, letting his Skill slip completely. The monster, the part of him that his vital Skill had locked in place, returned. With it came the memories. The murders, the violence, the bloodlust… The visions. This was the true him. He kicked open the door to the room, crumpling it like paper.
Death. It painted the grand council room in its many forms. One councilman’s headless body lay slouched on the table. Another, a female Urodela, was crumpled against the wall. In the middle of it all was a man. Ryu. His thoughts held a bitter edge. They always did. He was a man who had known both love and hate, and if he was honest, it was more often the latter. To think he’d once considered this urge to kill a blessing. What a deluded fool he’d been. Of all the pieces his Skill could’ve chosen, it had picked this cold, murderous toxin, and time and time again, it had ruined his life. He let the Skill slide back into place. Relief. He didn’t understand why, but by concealing his true strength, that part was weakened. He left the room with a weary sigh.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
He walked down the hall, startling a poor servant, He grabbed the trembling salamander by the shoulder. “If anybody asks, you’re the new Speaker. Have fun.”
He left the building. There was a certain spy who had to pay for the death of a society.
---
He found Lucius in the abandoned fort in which they had met previously.
“So you’ve won, then,” Ryu said, leaning over the battlement. Lucius did the same to his right.
Lucius looked at him with a smirk. “Whatever do you mean? If I recall correctly, your army won, and I’ve been told my play with the council is… dead.”
“It was never about the game, was it?” Ryu said, voicing the suspicions that had been building in his mind. “This was just one of those nudges, wasn’t it? The one your fortuneteller told you needed to happen for her vision of the future to take place.”
Lucius raised his hands in mock surrender. “Now you’re a quick learner,” he said with a grin, blonde hair hanging around his face.
Ryu chuckled with madness. “I should have known. I should have. I figured she had not predicted you entering this dungeon with me, but look at me now. A fool. Always a fool.”
“It wasn’t just you, to be fair,” Lucius said, “The Sixth Ring needs to be opened. You, and a few others I might add, just happened to be other items of interest. Two birds with a singular stone, if you will.”
“You know I can’t just let you go, right? You killed the others,” Ryu said. He might not have known the others in their group well, but they were innocents. And Lucius had killed them and paid for the death of even more.
“Ah, yes. The Climbers who were transported with us into this dungeon. A shame, really. If they had stuck around, you never would’ve revealed your true power. Still, I didn’t want to kill them. Some things just outweigh the lives of a few.”
“And what would that be?”
Lucius made eye contact with Ryu. “The fate of all humanity.”
“Who are you and your boss to play god?” Ryu asked. His mind’s eye flashed to a memory of long ago. Another body in the forest. His body tensed.
“God?” Lucius asked with a chuckle. “If he exists, he’s done a pretty bad job. They say he created men equal, correct? If that’s the case, then the lives of many outweigh the lives of a few. Don’t take a moral stance now, Ryu.”
Ryu drew his hatchet. “You’re wrong, Lucius,” he said.
“How so?” Lucius said, slipping a hand into his own pocket.
“God didn’t make man equal. Classes did,” Ryu said. He leapt towards Lucius, but the man hopped away, moving even faster than Ryu.
Lucius laughed again. “You might just be right,” he said, pulling his hand from a pocket. He clutched a stone, its dark surface engraved with glowing blue runes. “Until next time, eh?”
He crushed the stone in his hand and disappeared in a flash of light. Ryu shook his head. An Exit Stone, one of the Epic-ranked items that allowed one to leave any dungeon, Trial, or System-generated Quest. Lucius had played him.
---
With the disappearance of Lucius, Ryu’s victory was simple. The Drakonai had wagered their treasury on winning the crown, and with Lucius’s disappearance, they were left with little means to win. The coin they used to pay their spies was drying up. As for their military, a significant portion of its strength was gone, buried beneath the ruins of the tunnels. They could no longer afford to fight the Urodela for supremacy, leaving the Urodela on top. With no leader to guide them.
Ryu had his key, though. He had already said goodbye to his team, and now it was time to conquer the last part of the dungeon. He let his Skill slip. His bloodlust filled the air like a physical force. This time, there could be no half measures.
Quest Completed
Reward: Gathering information on the third part of Scaled Giants’ Burrow…
Request Complete!
The third section of this dungeon is where you will find the Violet Key, the final key needed to open the way to the World Boss. Enemies found in this region are Cave Drakes, Night Fangs, and Tunnel Wyrms. Information on these opponents will be delivered to your mind shortly.
The final MiniBoss is the beloved pet of the World Boss. It is the pit drake, Midir. Beware, for the blood of true dragons flows in it.