Avalan held only one church filled with various well-worshipped gods and goddesses. To many, this place was full of holy and innocent virtues.
“!@#$!@!!!!”
“OUT! Get him out! NOW!”
The church priestess yelled angrily, inciting the nearby guards to throw out the cursing Divine’s Chosen. At this point, the priestess couldn’t tell if the divine were testing her or if she had earned their indecipherable ire.
“Why do they have to be reborn here?”
The priestess leaned helplessly on one of the pews as the guards threw out the mischievous player who dared to curse inside the holy church.
Thud!
Novus’ arms tucked as he rolled. All the while, he cursed.
“@!#$@! That damned dragon slayer!”
As if to add insult to injury, status messages informed Novus about his death from Edna.
| Due to dying, you have entered a weakened state. |
| Items dropped upon death: Etched Villager’s Sword |
| You have lost EXP due to your death. |
Hundreds of curses came to Novus’ mind, some draconic, some from other languages. He chose his favourite.
“Vanka!”
It loosely meant to trample the object you were cursing. Novus forgot where he had learned it, but the pronunciation was satisfying enough to release a bit of his frustration.
Splash!
Novus dunked his head into the nearby fountain water as he cooled his cursing urges.
| ??? laughs at your misfortune |
Splash!
Novus’ forehead vein finally stopped throbbing when he dunked his head a few more times in the cold fountain water. Finally, with a light ground pound, Novus thought about his mistakes.
I probably shouldn’t have said anything about Gaius. That only pissed her off.
Novus breathed in deep. Slowly, the emotions running through him eased back and let his thinking shine.
I couldn’t get Edna’s help, but that doesn’t mean I’m without options. It just means there’s a person to avoid.
Novus’ finger waggled around the air as he sent a few updates to his only two friends.
| Novus to Party: Still alive. Meet in town. |
Second order of business is my sword. Why did it have to be my sword that dropped?
Novus' shoulders sagged.
Whether it’s the auction or smithies, I doubt they’d have anything of that quality. But, there’s one place that might: Goibhniu’s smithy.
A light shone in Novus’ eyes as he was reminded of the pair of brash lovers.
Circe and Goibhniu. They’re powerhouses in their own regard, and if they choose to help me, I’ll grow stronger than ever. Perhaps, they’d let me exchange the slime cores for a new sword.
“For now, that’ll do.”
Inside the nearby forest, shadows spread across the ground as leaves battled against the sun's light, Phoebus. From out of the shadows, a figure covered in entirely black attire briefly slid out and waited patiently among the rustling leaves. Suddenly, his body was pulled into the shadows as a voice echoed.
“Found her. She’s alone.”
The gentle breeze grew, and the shadows on the ground danced among the fluttering leaves.
Crack! Thud!
Suddenly, a tree was punched to the ground as a white-garbed figure grumbled to herself.
“Escaped, huh? You little rats can skulk about, but this is my island. You can’t escape forever.”
Humph.
With a light snort, Edna disappeared again.
Chirp! Chirp!
Along the branches of fruit-bearing trees, birds of multiple forms shuttled in the sky or fluttered their wings in their nests. On one such tree branch, a mother bird flew to the eggs in her nest with a swoop.
Briefly, one egg wobbled back and forth on the perimeter of the nest, soon to hatch. The wobbling of the egg grew increasingly frequent, and a small crack could be seen running along the eggshell.
Wobble. Wobble. Wobble.
The mother bird hopped curiously beside the egg, awaiting the awakening of new life.
Wobble. Wobble. Wobble.
The egg seemed ready to open when it managed to catch the edge of the nest mid-wobble and gently fell off. Twirling through the air, the egg that nearly met the dawn of life was on its way to a premature death.
Squawk!
The mother bird hurriedly chased after the egg, but there was little it could do to save its child, given its current speed.
Plop!
Squawk! Squawk!
“I know. Just let me put it back!”
With the mother bird flying around him angrily crying out, Novus placed the unharmed egg back into the nest and found himself looking at Circe and Goibhniu’s quaint house and the nearby obsidian platform.
The familiar sound of tools breaking against the obsidian platform let Novus know the players hadn’t gotten rid of their get-rich-quick mentality. Though some had gotten new tools, they didn’t even leave a scratch.
You’d need at least a legendary spell to try and crack it.
Squawk!
Novus turned his thoughts away and gazed at the mother bird, who was anxiously rustling around the nest.
Whistle…
Squawk!
Suddenly, the mother bird flew off.
Seeing the mother bird leaving the nest, despite the young egg still not being born, Novus got a terrible feeling. Very little could convince a mother bird to leave its unprotected young behind and flee.
Whistle…
Slam! Slam! Slam!
The whistling was growing louder, accompanied by closing doors and window blinds. People in the street rushed into their homes or even strangers’ homes. Of course, the only exception was Circe and Goibhniu’s house, which remained peaceful since the beginning.
Meanwhile, the players were too curious to move. Most had even begun chatting while using their system’s record feature to videotape whatever event was about to begin.
Whistle!
Novus could finally pinpoint the origin of the whistling sound and saw an object's white outline in the sky.
Really!?
Shivers ran down Novus’ spine as he responded like lightning, and his pupils widened. His legs couldn’t bring him fast enough as he banged on multiple doors.
“Let me in!”
However, Novus didn’t get a single peep from the adapted townspeople. The opening for people escaping into homes was brief, and Novus had missed that timing. Now, the door wouldn’t open unless it was for a cherished family member or a higher authority.
WHISTLE!!
Finally, the object hurtling in the air was close enough to make out as it headed towards the obsidian platform at excessive speeds. A few fast-reacting players jumped in time, but the unlucky ones only saw a white blur descend, and they were directly pulverized with a thunderous bang.
BANG!!!
Novus covered and insulated his ears with his Crimson Aura, but the rest of the nearby players wobbled in dazed weakness. If the sound-shattering bang wasn’t enough to weaken them, then the dust stinging their eyes was enough to blind the players. Novus could only cover his eyes with his sleeve, trying to blend in with the rest of the players, and act feebly.
Then, the dust cleared all at once.
Clack, clack, clack.
A beautiful lady in white Victorian-styled armour stepped down from the platform, and her piercing eyes studied the crowd of weakened players.
Edna had descended.
“Scram!”
There was radio silence as Edna’s pressured voice overpowered the entire crowd of players. The most they could do was look away, finding comfort in the floor and away from Edna’s piercing eyes.
Novus didn’t move, despite wanting to more than anything, or he risked being the black sheep amongst a herd of white sheep.
The silence reined until finally, a voice broke it. The voice wasn’t loud, but the implied meaning made it so no player could resist greed popping into their eyes.
“Legendary NPC.”
The players shifted around before a few bold ones charged out of the crowd. Soon, the frantic players' steps flooded toward the lady who had fallen from the sky. The entrance alone convinced the players that, just like the legendary NPC stories on the other islands, they too could transform into an expert by just meeting the lady before them.
A chance!
Novus was the only exception as he pushed against the crowd.
Meanwhile, Edna had a brief inner dilemma.
“Do I kill them? Ah, wait, they’re immortals. Maybe their souls will escape too?”
Edna’s white eyes faintly glowed as she extended her hand to the tsunami of players.
“Gather.”
Like a tide coming into shore, the players toppled over each other from Edna’s unseen attack. No rushing player was left unharmed as wisps of white smoke-like apparitions seeped from the players before collecting into Edna’s extended hand as a misty orb. Sometimes, faces appeared in the orb before gently dissipating and having another take its place.
“They collect just fine.”
Edna clenched her hand, and multiple shrieks sounded out as the destroyed orb vanished in a puff of sizzling, white smoke. However, Edna’s brows locked together the next moment as the white smoke remnants turned into twinkling lights that fled to the far-off church. It was painfully slow, but Edna sensed the souls repairing themselves from some unseen power at work.
“What sort of demon spawn have the divine created? To not even die from having their souls crushed….”
Suddenly, through the smokescreen of the player’s bodies turning into twinkling lights, Edna caught sight of a flash of crimson. Looking closely, Edna’s face couldn’t help but reveal a knowing smirk.
“What are the odds?”
A slight chuckle escaped Edna’s throat as she stepped towards the retreating Novus. The first step was slow, the second was slightly faster, and the third was rapid.
Meanwhile, Novus was asking the same question. Kind of.
Why is it her!!??
KNOCK! KNOCK!
Novus aggressively knocked on Circe and Goibhniu’s front door. At this moment, they were the only ones Novus could think of that would find something in their good-natured hearts to save Novus.
KNOCK! KNOCK! KNOCK!
Novus made the mistake of looking back, and he saw Edna nearly at the door. Upon seeing that, the knocking became slamming.
SLAM! SLAM!
“LET ME IN!!!”
If other players saw how Novus dared to knock on the witch’s house like this, they would applaud his bravery.
Clack!
Novus only heard one step, but it was enough to make him turn and brace his back against the door as Edna’s hand reached out for his forehead.
Time slowed in Novus’ eyes as he felt the door against his back open and himself fall back from bracing against the door.
With her hand extended and her posture resembling a panther pouncing on her prey, Edna was nearly in contact with Novus’ forehead.
The odd part of this formula was the descending smith’s hammer that brutally collided with enormous strength against the area where Novus previously was before falling back.
The same place where Edna’s head currently resided.
Thankfully, Novus was right about Goibhniu’s personality. Only, it wasn’t the good-natured part but the reckless, unwise part.
SLAM!
