Chapter 66: Sacrifice, Dominion, Betrayal
For a moment I was disoriented. When I could see properly, I realized that we were in a train station. It was crowded, with many people coming and going.
I looked around and noticed that armed men and women were the ones boarding the trains, while people who looked like civilians were getting off with their families and children.
Amidst the confusion, no one noticed our sudden appearance, or perhaps they could not perceive us. While I was analyzing the environment and thinking about the objective of the maze, I heard Gaia's voice.
[A DESTINY SCENARIO HAS BEEN DETECTED. ACTIVATING GAIA'S SECONDARY FUNCTION. THE USER NOW HAS THE ABILITY TO SEE THE ESSENCE OF THE SCENARIO]].
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Mission: Trials of Destiny (Lightning)
You are in a train terminal connecting three realms facing an impending crisis. Select one and change its intended destination.
Select among the three kingdoms:
- Kazan Kingdom (Dominion)
- Tenjin Kingdom (Sacrifice)
- Myong Kingdom (Betrayal)
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I could see a mission window in front of me and thought of a possibility. To reaffirm my assumption, I asked Gaia.
"Gaia, is this what I believe?"
[[AS THE USER MAY HAVE NOTICED, THE GAIA SYSTEM MISSIONS AFFECT THE TEST YOU HAVE ENTERED AND ALLOW YOU TO SEE THE ESSENCE AND GOAL OF THE TEST].
This really surprised me. I didn't think Gaia had the ability to tell me what to do in these mazes. Usually when you enter the mazes you have to search for answers on your own and adapt to the type of scenario or test, blindly moving forward until you find clues that may or may not be part of the conquest objective.
That's why they are so difficult and it's rare that you can complete them on the first try. Although I knew when and where some dungeons would appear, I've only been able to enter some and conquer them, but I don't know what the scenarios and requirements are for those I didn't enter.
This is one of the ones I had never entered, but now that I know what I have to do, everything is easier. This Gaia function will be very useful to me.
"Boss, what is this place?"
"...."
"Boss!"
"....Ahh, nothing. I was just thinking. As I had told you, this is a maze be on the lookout for any changes in the situation."
"Yes, boss!"
"Well, so far so good, follow me," I told the kids as I stood in line to buy a ticket. While in line, I checked my body and noticed the changes brought about by the maze.
My stats and rank dropped back to third rank, and all skills also decreased in rank. While this is bad, it's not the worst, as they usually seal skills when they are higher rank. I guess this is also an intervention by Gaia.
It's a bit annoying, since I just recently ascended, but that's what the Eight Labyrinths are. I looked at the children and saw that, in turn, their ranks increased. They seemed to notice, as they were excited.
At that moment, my gaze located the guys from the Blood Moon guild. They were in another line, buying tickets to Tenjin Realm I guess it's obvious what to do even without the Gaia system so I put them out of my mind for the moment and put back in my mind what I was going to do, now that I have Gaia. Solving this maze is easier, so I'm going to change the plans a bit. When I got to the counter, the sales lady asked me which ticket I wanted to buy.
"Give me one ticket to Tenjin Kingdom, five to Kazan Kingdom and four to Myong Kingdom."
After buying the tickets, we moved off to a corner and I started talking to the boys.
"As you may have heard, we will be divided into three groups. I will go alone to the Tenjin Kingdom. Clayton, Chris, Nora, Tom and Roi will go to the Kazan Kingdom. Eirlys, Misha, Miyuki and Walter will go to Myong Kingdom."
I divided them into groups for the maze. This will be a good experience for them. One thing I haven't told them is that the Eight Mazes have the quality that even if you die, you won't really die. You'll just show up outside with your rank decreased by one and greatly weakened, but it's better to go in with the resolve that you may actually die.
"Boss, who are the leaders of the groups?" asked Clayton. Hum, I know naturally Eirlys is in control of her group, but with Clayton's, Chris is smarter and makes better decisions than Clayton, although he's not very good at leading people because of his personality.
"There are no leaders. Everyone can act on their own or form groups, so I leave it up to you guys."
It's best for everyone to do what they want. Although their rank will decrease if they die, it's not that bad since they are only awakened from two stars and would only need a few months to recover, compared to high rankers who would need years to return to their rank. So I will let them taste freedom and let them be in charge of their decisions.
"..."
"..."
"..."
The guys looked at me doubtfully, but it's for the best. As I bought the tickets for the other kingdoms, I was also able to see their missions and told the kids what they needed to keep in mind as well as the missions they needed to do. How they will make it or if they will make it is up to them.
After talking and explaining to them what I just found out, I also informed them that any weapon, item or artifact they had does not work inside the mazes. I took out my dagger that I had purchased and it had already adapted to me.
I still retained the low arcane elemental rank (four stars), which is corresponding to my actual rank unaffected by the maze. When I thought about that, I realized something and asked Gaia.
"Gaia, can the items bought in the store be used in here?"
[[YES, USER. ALTHOUGH ONLY STORE ITEMS PURCHASED DURING TESTING ARE USABLE, BUT DUE TO RESTRICTIONS, YOU CAN ONLY BUY AND USE ITEMS OF YOUR RANK OR LOWER. ON THE OTHER HAND, THE INVENTORY SYSTEM CAN BE USED FREELY]].
I took the opportunity to buy all the guys some good gear and fully equipped them with the best stuff from the store. I had a lot of (SP), so buying a lot of weapons and three-star items was easy.
Armed to the teeth, the guys maybe used to me didn't even ask where I got the weapons and artifacts I just mentioned couldn't be brought in from outside the maze, with all that said and done we split up.
Each group took a different train and left. I took mine and was in the same carriage as the Blood Moon guys. Now that the Eyes of Truth are back to their old rank, I can't see their status window, but I can mostly see the elements and general strength. I can say that I can take care of them , but now is not the time. They didn't notice me because, from their point of view, I was just someone on the stage and they didn't pay attention to me.
Then I went back to looking at my status window and the mission section.
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You have chosen Tenjin Kingdom (Sacrifice).
Main Objective:
- Join the Tenjin Kingdom and prevent the invasion of monsters and demons.
Secondary objectives:
- Stop the sacrificial ritual.
- Prevent more than 50% of the Tenjin Kingdom soldiers from dying.
- Ally with at least one kingdom in an alliance.
-Complete the scenario without the general dying.
- Kill the leaders of the invasion.
-prevent the expansion of the rift.
Reward
Container to your achievements.
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I was able to see some quests and objectives that had to do with the scenery. It was my first time trying this specific maze, so I was a bit blind, but with this everything is easier.
I was paying attention to the voices on the train to further understand the situation and I could hear a lot of rumors from this and the other realms. They had now become the only places that could stop the invasion, as other surrounding kingdoms had their own problems and waiting for their help was futile. That's why they started recruiting as many mercenaries as they could, emptying their treasury.
Another thing I could notice is that on the train everyone was a mercenary and none of them had a rank higher than three stars. In fact, there were so few of them that the group of seven who were all three stars stood out on the train.
I hid until I understood the situation better. I also heard discussions about the appearance of a monster so strong that one with equal power had never been recorded in history. It was a bit worrisome, but mazes never set impossible quests, you just have to find a way.