Maria was sitting on a couch inside of her living room after just returning home from school and was eating some ice cream as she was watching TV. It was news regarding the ongoing events in Unitale.
After the inconclusive battle between the Celestial Order, Gaia’s Faction, and the Pantheon which was brought about by Maria’s deed before she left the battlefield and disappeared, the guilds from each of the factions ceased all aggressions against one another.
The 2 conflicting factions that were the cause of the war, the Celestial Order and the Pantheon, were all but husks of their former selves as the battle in the Realm of War had annihilated around 70% of the two factions’ important NPCs. Without the figurehead NPCs, there was no one to lead the factions and those that were left behind were fighting for the right of leadership like a bunch of wolves. Many of the guilds that allied themselves to these two factions began pulling back because, from what they saw, there was no longer any profit or future in staying with them.
The Main Storyline had veered from its normal progression and was now going down the alternate version’s storyline. The original storyline was supposed to have an unending war ravage on the planet thanks to the help the players gave to the two opposing factions on the planet.
The never-ending war would destroy Gaia and make it into a stage where the players could hone their combat ability through constant battles, rapidly increasing their levels, skill proficiency, and equipment quality. At least, that was the kind of stage the developers and the Chief AI, Zeus, wanted Gaia to be, but with Maria’s intervention which brought about the alternate storyline, the unfortunate future of the planet was changed and things became a little bit different.
This was fine, however, because the planet still had the Colosseum. The players could still hone their combat ability and obtain many lucrative rewards from there, so the developers’ original intent on the planet hadn’t really changed. It was now only less violent than what they originally planned to have it be.
Maria was glad to see that the planet was in Gaia’s good hands now, but what really shocked her was that after restoring the planet, the Goddess actually severed all of the connections the players had with the Astrals and Gods that they had made pacts with.
Now, the only kinds of Summons players could summon would be Primals, whom, by precedence, seemed to be much stronger than the Astrals and Gods anyway. The players that lost their pact with their former Summons would have to reenter the Void Sea Realm and establish a new one with a Primal, but the only way to do that would be to enter into Gaia’s Faction.
Thanks to this, many of the guilds and players from the other factions or those who remained neutral, all began pouring into Gaia’s Temple to register as official members. If you weren’t on Goddess Gaia’s side, then you wouldn’t be able to Summon a Primal or obtain one by going to the Void Sea Realm, since now, only the Goddess Faction had the necessary means and resources to let players enter that realm.
Gaia’s followers blew up overnight as players poured into her temple and began pledging themselves to her, allowing her Power of Faith to grow and empower her along with the planet. Although no one won the battle in the Realm of War, the only real losers were the players that had to abandon their broken factions and join Goddess Gaia’s Faction.
They needed to build up contributions and reputation in their new faction, which put a stop to their Main Story Quest progression. The frontrunners of the planet’s Main Story Quest fell onto those who had switched to the Goddess’s side before the events in the Realm of War.
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Once again, the Fallen Angels Guild was put into the spotlight because they were the only major guild that had decided to jump ship from the Celestial Order and move to the Goddess’s Faction. Many major guilds thought that Lizzy and her band of ‘opportunists’ would once again hog all of the Main Story Quest rewards, but to their delight, Gaia hadn’t issued a new Main Story Quest after the war.
Since it wasn’t known when she would hand out the new Main Story Quest, all of the major guilds began scrambling to earn contribution points so they could quickly catch up to the Fallen Angels. Lizzy didn’t mind this one bit because it wouldn’t be fun if they were the only ones to monopolize things again. Of course, that was her answer on the surface, but inwardly, she was cursing at Gaia for not hurrying things up because she wanted to take everything for herself.
Her guild had a substantial lead over the other guilds and she wanted to take advantage of that. Gaia seemed to have other plans though, and since it was an AI that was connected to Zeus, the Main AI, ‘fairness’ for the players needed to be accounted for since the Main Storyline had changed.
From the looks of things, it would still take a long time until the first batch of players arrive in Vanhal. Maria took note of this as she watched the broadcasts of the players’ activities on the TV.
“It’ll take a long time, but how long is the question…I still haven’t taken over the entire planet yet and if the players are added to the list of variables I have to take into consideration later down the line, things will become much more complicated for me…”
Even though time was of the essence for her, Maria still decided to enjoy her break. Being hasty wasn’t going to do her any good and she still needed to focus on strengthening her rule over her new nation, which was the size of a continent. Her foundations needed to be strong and firm so that no one in her nation would even think of undermining her authority and try something so stupid, such as rising up to rebel against her.
The players could definitely instigate an event like this if an NPC or even the system itself gave them a quest, so although her war had ended, Maria couldn’t sit back and relax just yet because she needed to prepare for another war that was definitely going to come to her in the future.
“...Dammit, I really shouldn’t be taking a break like this. I already had my fill yesterday and now I just feel really anxious to get back into the game.”
Maria quickly got up and went towards her room after leaving behind the unfinished ice cream she was eating on the living room table. Her maids quickly cleaned up after her and after she entered her room, Maria quickly opened her gaming capsule and got right in.
“Instead of feeling bad, I’m actually feeling a bit excited. As I thought, Unitale really is the best!”
After saying this, Maria closed her eyes and logged into the game.
Scanning completed. Access granted. Logging into Universe Tales
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…
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Welcome back, Player Maria!
******
Maria opened her eyes inside of the game and noticed that she was sleeping on a bed inside a very grand and majestic room that was, quite frank, unfamiliar to her. She got up and was about to look around the room, but a series of notifications blocked her vision the next instant.
*DING*
Congratulations to player Maria for having successfully conquered the Blood Continent!
*DING*
The Bathory Coven has…
*DING*
The Dracul Coven has…
*DING*
The New Garm Coven has…
*DING*
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