NOVEL WEB 1.26: Prelude to Arc 1 Finale
We lost track of the number of clan requests we had from all the players as we went back through the Hell Gate. Even the ones who had died and reset were wanting to join our gang of misfits, and we reluctantly had to disable the ability to send us clan requests. That still didn’t stop everyone from crowding around us and peppering us with hundreds of questions. We finally made it into the tavern and handed over a large sack of gold to the owner to make it so only our clan could enter. I laid Emelia carefully down on top of a pile of rugs that the owner stacked on top of one of the tables. After we all took our seats he and the barmaid eagerly showered us with drinks and food. He also returned the sack of gold stating, “I couldn’t possibly charge the heroes who saved us.” After recounting more than a few of the highlights of the battle, Emelia woke and asked the question we had all been wondering; why did the angels and Angelspawn decide to attack now and how did they get so organized?
“A coordinated attack would have taken a lot of planning, and it felt like we were fighting pretty much every Angelspawn in the game…”
“Here’s the thing that gets me though… I double checked the player numbers and the math just doesn’t add up. There are over 5 million players over all the different servers, but well over half are Demonspawn. Yet somehow we were outnumbered nearly 4 to 1. Our server specifically is 63% Demonspawn, so we should have easily had the upper hand. Unless the majority of the Demonspawn players opted to not play today, during the games 1st double XP event no less, something was way off.”
We all sat in stunned silence at Emelia’s revelation and wondered what could have caused such a massive discrepancy. Suddenly I had a sick feeling in my stomach as a thought occurred to me. A powerful mage with enchanting powers, like a particular demon lord that I knew, theoretically could cast enchantments that might account for the numbers discrepancy. The thought of my master working with angels and Angelspawn was a laughable concept, though I couldn’t shake the thought now that it had bubbled up in my mind.
“What’s on your mind, Allie? You look deep in thought.”
I turned towards Scythe and sighed.
“My master wasn’t in the castle when I left my room this morning. He is always there, and he always finds creative ways to use my body… Today was the first time I didn’t so much as see him. It was more than that though… the entire castle seemed… I don’t know… boring and ordinary. Not what you’d expect from a demon lord. I hadn’t thought much more about it until my mind started wandering just then. The power of his enchantments are… astonishing. If he can permanently change me from what I was to what I am now, there’s no telling what he’s capable of. When you caught me deep in thought I was thinking about how a powerful enchanter might account for the enemies’ numbers. I know it sounds stupid that my master, a demon lord, would work with angels… but I couldn’t stop picturing it…”
“From how you described him, your master doesn’t seem the type to ally with anyone let alone angels. But I don’t believe in coincidences either. The fact that your master was mysteriously absent at the same time a massive attack on the hellgate was happening is far too convenient to be unconnected. It would also explain the number error.”
“I think you failed to mention to the rest of us that your master was an Enchanter. You told us he was a berserker warrior type.”
I told them all everything that had happened in the spider caves and about my return to the castle. Scythe opened his character screen and swung it towards me.
“I have limited Enchanting knowledge… I did see that one of the spells I could eventually learn is [Body Multiplication]. It creates an exact duplicate who can act and move independently. Normally it restricts the duplication to a single copy… but if your master is as powerful as you say… he may have likely done something like that. If he in turn enchanted the copies to look like different people it would definitely explain the number discrepancy. All he would have to do is enchant himself like he did for you, only in reverse. Basically if he turned himself into an Angel, even if it was temporary, he could easily persuade a large group of players to go along with his plans once they saw how powerful he was.”
The more I thought about it the more it made sense. Mellic was certainly vengeful enough to do something like that, and if his sister was to be believed, he was second to none when it came to enchantment magic. It would also explain why the entire army seemed intent on attacking me on sight.
Well… Shit.
“If that’s what happened… and I’m really beginning to think that it is, there’s no way in hell he’s going to let me just stroll back into the castle…”
“I agree. That’s why we’re going with you. Our sanctuary is here, so we can level up, save, and then help you kick his ass. You said we needed to grind to 50, and after today’s fight with the double XP event we are all pretty damn close.”
My heart pounded in my chest at the thought of finally confronting my master. I hadn’t anticipated it happening so soon, but Em was right. Now was probably our best chance of defeating him, but it would be probably the most challenging fight our clan had ever had.
“Lady Allexus, if you do indeed plan on confronting your master, might I suggest contacting Niall so he might assist us? I know he expressed an interest in helping, and I have no doubt we will need all the help we can get.”
“OK… so we’re all on board with this?”
Everyone nodded and Bray flexed his fists.
“We owe that little bitch for all the shit he’s put you through. We got your back, Allie.”
Everyone cheered and we finished up our meal and drinks. I couldn’t help feeling like we were playing right into Mellic’s hand, but my options were limited at this point. After purchasing a large stock of supplies, and using our newfound fame and fortune to get first pick of each shop keeper’s prime stock we assembled outside the Hellgate. Everyone looked fucking epic in their new equipment and I felt like we actually might have a shot of pulling this off. Unfortunately, Niall didn’t respond to my message, so it looked like we’d have to do this without him. We walked to the castle and sat a few hundred feet away as we made a plan of attack.
