Sitting cross-legged on the floor in the very center of the zombie horde, Pramod looked at the vile organ in his hand. It looked like a beating heart, but instead of muscle and tissue, it seemed to be made of rotting leaves and bark. His one and only mission was to kill as many humans and beasts, all if at all possible.
Originally, his plan was to use this Cursed Quibly Heart on his enemies after they had been worn out after fighting the zombies endlessly, but the two treasure chests presented another opportunity. If he could manage to get to the endless spirit energy, during this round he could kill as many as possible with his own two hands, and save the heart for the next game. Or maybe, if he got an advantage for the next game, he could use it to set up traps.
Either way, there was not too much pressure on him. The devil that had commanded him had given him the mission, but also told him to treat these games as a training opportunity since the nodes would be lost regardless of the situation. With no pressure for success or failure, he could do as he pleased.
So for now, he waited. As soon as his birds informed him of the location of the chests, he would make a drastic move. The loss of a little over 10,000 zombies in the past hour did not phase him in the slightest, and he continued to sit on the ground as if he were meditating in a park. A few dozen feet below him, the node was hidden in an underground base. A part of him also wondered, if he destroyed the node himself and gained all the points, would it be worth it? Would the prize still go to the planet Vegus Minima, or would it go to the devils?
*****
Lex was slightly confused when he heard the panicked man's whisper. What did he mean war had broken down on Earth? War, even in this modern day and age, was not necessarily rare on Earth. Without taking any sides on the matter, there were many conflicts not only between what was described as the West and the East, many countries had high tensions with their neighbors..
An embarrassingly long list of countries' names flashed through Lex's mind when he thought of countries it would be troublesome to be neighbors with. This was also only considering the affairs of the so-called 'mortals'. Large-scale war between cultivators had also been curtailed by the ICPAs.
Yet before the man could explain more to Fateh, or Lex could come up with a plausible explanation, the familiar ring of a new quest rang in Lex's mind.
New Quest: You have encountered a special event called 'World War'. All guests coming from the planet experiencing the World War will have a period of 70% discount on all expenses. All guests below the age of 15 will have a 99% discount on all expenses. As the most prestigious establishment in the universe, the Midnight Inn must be a safe haven during troubled times. Host as many refugees as possible!
Quest time limit: Duration of World War
Quest Reward: Subject to number of refugees hosted
Remarks: Some things are worth more than MP, such as a good reputation! Scam everyone till you get it!
Lex froze when he read the quest, and his shock was so huge that even the Host Attire wasn't able to stop his body from tensing up. Though no one dared to scan the Innkeeper with their spiritual sense, many had their focus on him at all times.
Let alone Remy and Akihiko, who were sitting beside him, the mystery devil along with a number of other prominent guests noticed the anomaly in the Innkeepers' behavior immediately.
"LEX SNAP OUT OF IT" Mary roared in his mind, quickly snapping him back to his natural state. Yet the damage was already done. Many people started wondering what had happened to elicit a reaction from the Innkeeper. They started replaying scenes from the games, wondering if something had happened there. A few people wondered if his reaction had to do with something that happened at the Inn.
The mysterious devil, whose senses were by far the strongest here, naturally overheard the words the bloody man had whispered. For a moment he considered if that was the reason, but then dismissed it. There was a delay of several seconds between the words and his reaction. At their level, even a single second could be stretched to fit a billion thoughts, let alone a few of them, so it was unlikely.
What he did not know was that the delay in reaction was because Lex was listening to his new quest. Such a simple misunderstanding had saved Lex from revealing a huge secret, yet no one realized it.
But even as Lex had recovered his composure slightly, his mind was in chaos. What did the system mean by a world war? What was happening? There was no indication of this whatsoever beforehand. He was not worried about anyone else at this moment except his family.
He had been waiting to bring them to the Inn because he wanted to become stronger first, but how could have anticipated such a situation? A million thoughts ran through his head before he calmed down. At this moment, he could not give a rat's ass about maintaining his facade.
His focus was entirely on the bloody man's words as he explained the situation and thought of what he could do.
"At first, they cut the connection to the internet, then the power. Communications were severely compromised, so we had to wait for the backup generators and private communication channels to understand what was happening.
"All governments are already under their control! Many countries' militaries tried to put up a fight, but they were either quickly defeated or their leaders were captured. Dozens of sects are taking part in this, and from what it seems like, so are the ICPAs. Anyone who could put up a strong resistance has either been detained or killed. Nuclear facilities have fallen and many holy lands have lost control of their formations.
"And this is just the bits and pieces of information we were able to gather before we lost communication. All key points worldwide have been taken over. Civilians haven't been hurt so far, or at least, the ones who didn't try to fight back haven't…"
"Lex, you need to be clear headed," Mary said loudly in his mind, attracting his attention. "Your greatest asset is the system and the Inn. You need to maintain their power and prestige. On Earth, you have no contacts, no power and no say. If you're worried about your family… well, to be completely honest, unless you use the Inn, there's nothing you can do for them. So don't break character and don't let anyone know the Innkeeper is interested in Earth. It will only spell trouble for you."
Lex grimaced, but eventually acknowledged what Mary said.
"Thank you," is all he said to her. He needed to clear his head and understand the situation clearly, only then could he react appropriately.
While chaos was beginning to spread across Earth, and among their representatives at the Inn, Alexander had already reached the first chest. After leaving sight of the other armies, he had headed in a straight line at maximum speed, not caring to preserve his spirit energy or stamina, and he was rewarded accordingly. Without any suspense, and with none the wiser, Alexander opened the first chest and felt a token latch onto his arm.
Spirit energy coursed through his body, completely refreshing him. He felt a special artificial film coat his meridians, preventing them from suffering any wear or tear due to the excessive amount of spiritual energy.
The feeling was more intoxicating than any drug – and yes, Alexander had tried various drugs, under supervision of course – that he had ever experienced. For a while, he even forgot what he was supposed to be doing.
But the feeling passed, and the boy recovered. He opened his map to check the location of the second chest, and to see if any of the armies were near it. Preferably, he wanted the second one as well. To his horror, he saw that nearly 80% of the zombie horde was moving towards the second chest, and had nearly reached it.
There was no way Alexander would be able to get the other chest. Suddenly, his eyes narrowed as he had an idea.
"All units assume bulldozer formation and await my return. The node is vulnerable, we have to destroy it before the others return."
As the 99 soldiers who were with him also recovered from the euphoria of the endless spirit energy, he gave the order for them to return. Activating his body technique to the absolute maximum, Alexander rocketed towards his destination – his gold aura shining brighter than ever before!
As nonchalant as Brandon usually was, even he was not smiling right now. He'd had a strong feeling that something would happen during the games, but despite all their investigations, they yielded no results. Now it seemed the answer was in front of them. It was impossible for such a massive conspiracy to be hidden from all five families, unless the members of each family were also involved in them. It seemed they had suppressed everyone's ambitions for too long.
He was sitting in a room with the other family's heads. The bloody man was present as well, and had been thoroughly interrogated. To ensure the truth of what he was saying, the family heads had sent back several of their assistants and followers back to Earth, but none of them had returned yet. That in itself was information enough.
"The fact that we return to Earth from the exact place we left is a big flaw," Richard finally said. "It lets the enemy prepare a trap for us in advance."
"There is no point in delaying this. Even if there are traps, what can they do to us? We just need to return and take care of anyone who gets in our way."
"Matters are already beyond that. Do you even know who you can trust? Who will you 'take care of' once you return? How many people will you kill as a demonstration? You know, the whole point of leaving us in-charge was to avoid chaos. If we go back and start killing everyone who resists us, what will we do when 'they' become dissatisfied?"
Silence filled the room once again. From the moment they had started the meeting, none of them had been able to come to a conclusion on what to do. The truth was, everyone was just evading the problem as long as they could, because once they did, it was likely they would have to kill their own kin. Other than Brandon, who was only 104 years old, the rest were a fair bit older – though they did their best to hide their ages. They lacked the youthful vigor required to tackle difficult situations..
Just as they were about to begin arguing again, Richard's personal hologram appeared before him.
"Excuse me for disturbing you, but your granddaughter Selene is trying to reach you. Would you like to allow her into the room?"
"Yes, let her in," he said quickly. Selene had been on Earth and had not joined him for the games, so her presence here was a great relief. But it also left a hint of dread in his heart – what if she was the one who betrayed him?
The girl that entered no longer had her prior grace and elegance, instead her face was painted with anxiety. The moment she saw her grandfather, she handed him a letter, unsure of her voice to communicate effectively at this moment.
Richard read the letter, his body trembling in anger as read the words, until he reached the end, when his shoulders slumped in defeat.
"The letter is from my nephew," Richard said, passing it to the others. "That ten nuclear devices have been planted in cities across the world. They have all of our locations of departure from Earth under surveillance. If any of the family heads return to Earth, they will set off 2 nuclear devices for each family head. Someone will come to the Inn to negotiate with us in a few hours, until then we've been instructed to stay here."
His words chilled everyone's hearts. It not only confirmed their worst fears about being betrayed by their families, it put them in a position where they could take no chances. Unless someone could prove to them that there were no nuclear devices ready, with the people of Earth as hostages, the family heads were unable to do anything. Furthermore, from the Inn they could not even communicate with the mysterious lady they talked to previously and let her know of the situation. All they could do now was wait.
Lex, who had been spying in on the meeting, grimaced. Originally, his knowledge about the politics of Earth had been very limited, but occasionally, whenever he found free time, he would spy on these high leveled Earthlings to learn more about his planet. He had a basic understanding of the five families, and now concluded that the so-called 'World War' was a result of their family members revolting against the leaders.
He didn't care much for their internal strife, but if any of his family members got hurt as a result of this, he would make them pay dearly. In this moment, Lex learnt something about himself. He never realized it, but he had a very serious anger issue, and when thinking of all the things he would do to them should his family get implicated, he was a strong believer in revenge.
*****
Somewhere on Earth, in what looked like a very modern version of the Taj Mahal, Kristine and Vera Joel stood close together, whispering amongst themselves. Around them were various security guards and only a few other people who were dressed casually. Among those dressed casually was Ayesha Shehzad, looking forlorn.
"Are you sure about this?" Kristine asked her daughter nervously.
"Yes, yes, trust me. Well, I'm not so sure about you, but I've already determined that I'll be absolutely safe here," Vera answered with too much honesty. "We just need to wait out the month, then we can leave this desolate planet."
"I hope you're right," Kristine answered bitterly.
Suddenly, Vera turned her head towards a wall, a smirk suddenly appearing on her face. It appeared as though she was looking at nothing, but a few rooms away in that direction, one of the guards started making a report about the sudden war to a hologram of a woman. It was the same women the five family heads reported to.
*****
Alexander had no knowledge of what was happening on Earth and had his entire attention focused on the task before him. If all went according to plan, not only would this game end earlier than the 12 hour mark, he would take a huge lead on the number of points.
He and his 99 soldiers were running at maximum speed, radiating spirit energy far and wide for anyone to sense. But even if they were noticed, it would make no difference now as they had already taken the tokens.
Despite running at his utmost speed and using as much energy as he could, Alexander had never felt better. Imagine doing the most arduous physical task your body could endure without dying. Now imagine being able to repeatedly do that task without fatigue or danger of hurting yourself. That was how Alexander was feeling, all he was really doing right now was running.
Well, he was doing more than running. He was the beacon that led his troops to battle, the tip of the spear that would pierce the enemy, the front of the vanguard that would clear the path for those who followed.
His idea was simple. He and his 99 troops would charge through the zombies and continuously bombard the node with the strongest, most deadly and destructive weapons they had. With unlimited spirit energy, they were literally experiencing video game cheats in real life.
The first of the zombies entered his line of sight, and he entered theirs. By the time the zombies realized it was not a ball of golden flame approaching them but a person, he was already upon them.
Cutting through the horde like a bullet through a loaf of bread, Alexander has his destination marked. As he laughed in mirth at the wonderful feeling of endless power, his troops began a coordinated assault on the horde.
But in this scenario where their brains were slightly overstimulated by the endless euphoria, coordination simply meant screaming 'watch how many I kill in this direction' before throwing their strongest attack that would usually leave them completely drained.
As ridiculously as the situation had become, those who were still watching the match realized that these troops may have slightly… lost their sanity. But who cared? It made for an entertaining show.
Alexander reached the center of what remained of the horde to realize he could not see the node. Was it hidden somewhere? While he analyzed the situation, his six blades spun around him like a saw with a ferocity never before seen, slicing anything that tried to come close.
'Underground maybe,' Alexander thought to himself and looked down. It was at that exact moment the ground burst open and an armored hand reached for his leg.
Alexander leaped out of the way, but the hand was faster and longer than he expected. The seven foot tall demon revealed himself, the scaly armor adorning his body free from any dirt despite coming out of the ground, and caught hold of the teenager.
Before Alexander could do anything to protect himself, Pramod used Alexander's body like a hammer and smashed him into the ground. It was impossible to tell under the helmet, but the viewers got the sensation that Pramod was grinning.
There were numerous battles taking place in the games, mainly around the second chest. It was a frantic free for all, yet despite their best efforts, the chest remained in the control of the zombie horde that seemed to be slowly taking it back towards the center. The elephants met their match in zombies ten feet tall, the wolves were stalled by the zombies with tentacles; the humans slowed down by a special breed of zombies that could dig into the ground. It truly was a spectacle.
Near the center of the map, 99 fearless soldiers were launching repeated attacks out of what looked like rocket launchers, as if they would never run out of ammo. The truth was, these weapons were powered by spirit energy, so under their current circumstances, they really wouldn't run out of ammo. That, accompanied by their overly excited emotions due to the excess energy running through their brains, resulted in a situation where they were fighting the hordes like kids in a video game instead of backing up Alexander who was deeper in.
Yet despite all that, at this particular moment, most people who were still watching the games had their attention turned towards Alexander. The first time he was smashed into the ground, he became completely disoriented, the golden aura around him vanishing and the air knocked completely out of him. But that was only the beginning.
Pramod did not slow his movements, and started smashing Alexander around like a rag-doll. With a grip tight enough to crumple steel clamping onto the teenager's leg, he swung him over his own head and smashed him into the ground. Once. Twice. Thrice.
As he was about to smash Alexander into the ground the fourth time without any resistance, people had begun to suspect him already dead, but that is when the six blades that had fallen onto the ground flew into the air, aiming to pierce through Pramods hand.
Originally, the giant demon meant to ignore the blades, as he had every confidence in his scaly armor, but when the first blade cut into his forearm, the demon had no choice but to release Alexander and retreat..
The demon stared at his bleeding arm with a mix of pain and fascination, giving the beaten teenager some time to pick himself up. Even as Alexander wobbled to his feet, his head was spinning and he could not think straight. For the first time in a long, long time, Alexander had been taken completely by surprise and was disoriented. Before his infinite physical stamina helped him completely recover, Pramod decided to attack him once again.
But things did not go according to plan. Even without the ability of coherent thought, this was not Alexander's first time in battle. His instincts were honed through hours of endless combat and expert training.
His six blades, still as sharp and lethal as ever, immediately attacked Pramod the moment he moved towards Alexander. The few seconds they delayed him were enough for Alexander to barely recover.
He no longer looked like a handsome youth, straight out from the cover of a magazine. Messy hair and a layer of dirt on his face were the least of his worries. He was suffering from a broken nose, several hairline fractures in his ribs and probably a severely messed up leg. Whether the bone was crushed or not could still be debated, but his muscles and tendons were surely ruptured.
But even as he raised his hands towards his face to pop his nose back into place, Alexander wore a messy grin. What had he cultivated his body for if not to be able to handle such injuries, if not worse ones? This was not even taking into consideration how quickly he would be able to heal with his endless spirit energy.
"Dat wash goodsh," he said, before frowning. After wiggling his tongue around in his mouth for a second and discovering the problem, he spit out a few broken teeth.
"That was a good surprise you gave me there," he said once again, his accent only slightly changed due to his missing teeth. "I don't even remember the last time I suffered a concussion."
"It was not aimed towards you specifically," Pramod said, his voice surprisingly mild and sweet, as if he was a kid. "But I'm glad I came across you. With your annoying stoic face and attitude that says the whole world revolves around you, you were really beginning to annoy me. I'll thoroughly enjoy taking you down."
Alexander grinning, and looked at the massive demon in front of him. The teenager himself had not yet reached six feet in height, so he had to turn his head upwards, but his demeanor screamed as if he was still looking down at Pramod.
For a moment, he considered exchanging a few more lines with his opponent, then decided to directly get on with it.
The golden aura around Alexander returned, and he charged towards the demon. The six blades flew into the air, distancing themselves from the two, but kept their aim directed towards Pramod. Even without doing anything, the threat of being attacked from six different directions was very real, even for Pramod, but the most pressing threat was the sword in Alexander's hand.
But the demon did not shy away. A purple aura wrapped itself around the demon's hands as it directly slapped the sword away, directly pushing Alexander aside. Pramod's massive brute strength was already dangerous enough, but the purple aura had a corrosive effect on the sword as well. Alexander had to quickly use his own spirit energy to wash away the lingering purple aura, only to find his sword had dulled slightly from the middle.
Alexander ducked, still looking at his sword, just in time to dodge a massive palm, and stepped closer towards the demon's body. Using both his arms, he swung his sword upward, slashing at the demon's neck. The demon dodged nimbly, its speed not at all affected by its hulking body.
The two exchanged moves, each more lethal than the next, doing their best to kill one another. Yet despite their speed and impressive skill, so far all their techniques had been limited to simple augmentation types. Alexander augmented his sword's lethality, while the demon did so for his hands.
The human teenager was the first to break the pattern, a golden bolt of energy escaping from the tip of his sword just as it passed Pramod's face after a dodge. Alexander was already readying his next move for when the demon dodged but, unexpectedly, the bolt hit it directly in the face.
Pramod yelled as he fell backwards. Immediately, Alexander took advantage of the moment and directly attacked. Unable to deflect the attack skillfully, as he had been doing before, Pramod released a massive burst of purple energy from his palm, blasting the sword out of Alexander's hand. For a moment, it seemed the demon had managed to protect himself.
Then, one of Alexander's blades that had long been forgotten pierced through the demon's neck from the back. Through the helmet that the massive demon wore, Alexander could only see its eyes showing surprise mixed with horror. Then another one of his blades cut through the demon's neck, and another, until the head was cut clean off from the body.
Back at the Inn, everyone sat frozen at the sudden conclusion of the fight. It had only just begun. Where was the desperate battle? Where were the hidden techniques? How could it end so quickly? Was that all there really was to the demon commander? Either his end was extremely anticlimactic, or this Alexander was much stronger than he seemed.
The kids from Troy academy burst into cheers, waking up the rest from their reverie. In her room, Loretta continued to watch the screen with a placid look. It did not appear as if she cared about Pramod's demise.
"To be honest, I was expecting more," Alexander said, as he looked down at the demon's detached head. There were still things he held in reserve. He was just getting warmed up. But this was a good reminder to him. Life wasn't always like a movie. You wouldn't always get a long, drawn out battle. A moment's carelessness could prematurely decide even an expert's fate.
Using all his physical and spiritual strength, Alexander suddenly moved to the side as dread suddenly filled his heart, but it was barely enough.
A sword – his discarded sword – pierced through Alexander's back and through his chest, puncturing his left lung.
The crowds at the Inn, humans and beast alike, froze as they saw the scene. Behind Alexander stood a headless body.
"To be honest, I expected more," Alexander heard a sweet voice. His eyes bent downwards at the head to see its eyes staring back at the body. His expression did not need to be seen, just from the look in his eyes, one could tell he was grinning.