10 : 21 : 03"Are you sure, your majesty ? This is still... dangerous. We are taking Pride's power but... our regur foot soldiers are still just that, soldiers. I have no doubt you can face this Wyvern but what about... what if you get injured in a way that prevents you from ruling the nation ? The heiress is still..."
Commander Brutus gnced briefly at Liz'a de Wandermer, who was walking around the outpost, her mind elsewhere. The Emperor looked at her too but shook his head.
"Commander, don't worry about this. I have already face the previous Avatar of Wrath. And moreover, I am almost certain the Pride I am using will not let me stand without fighting."
"Should we... make way ? For your csh ? To avoid getting our men caught in the chaos. The war will start tomorrow te morning. That still leaves us half a day to evacuate."
The Emperor didn't seem to have heard the inquiry. He was muttering to himself, instead."... What if- ? What if that's why the holy nds don't bother sending protections ? Are they that confident in this Wyvern ? What if they hope it will be enough to crush our forces ?"
"Would that truly be overconfidence, your Highness ? Scriptures talk about Avatars being able to destroy small cities by themselves. This one could very well wipe out half of an army of fifty-thousand..."
"But that Wyvern doesn't expect someone with the power of a Sin to face it-"
-
Liz'a de Wandermer looked at the soldiers and messengers, all hurrying to send and rey st-minute missives to the Ten Legions.
It seemed that the Commanders and Gram de Wandermer had finally found a solution. And... judging from the Emperor's face, it wasn't one Liz'a liked.
"... Sigh.Status."
Gram de Wandermer.The man who stands atop of the Akwa Empire. His control over Ice Magic is unparalleled.
Man of infinite love for his nation and his daughter, he taints his hands in the blood he freezes to create the better world he envisions.
By Ice and Pride.
? LV: 100 ?
HP: 13 700ATK + Magic: 650 + 2800Stamina: 1 200Mana: 4 000Defense: 600Magic Dispersion : 87%
Titles:
- Ruler of Frost.- Prideful ?- ...
... Will that be enough ?
Liz'a tsk'd. The body still had an instinctual attachment to the man. She was worrying over nothing. She didn't even known the Emperor before two weeks ago. Remnants of the original were still lingering there and there.
But... what the fuck is that obsession for her own father ? Was the original Liz'a into things like that ? In any case, that wouldn't end well...
Should I have said the full truth ? That the Wyvern's the Sin itself... ? Now he's gonna get killed. ... What are those stats though ? He's the strongest man in the world but what the fuck ? Those are... peak endgame stats. Of a pyer who knows what he's doing.
He's reached the numerical maximum of magic resistance... And it's the... the gss cannon stat composition. Jean did that too sometimes. His defense should be lower though. But even then... Raya will pulverize him if she's as strong as she was in the game. Especially with this 'true damage' bullshit Frea was hysteric about.
...What's that title about ? Pride-filled ? Liz'a frowned. I've never heard of that thing. Ruler of Frost can be obtained in-game but what's the other one... ? Was it even in the game ? It has to do something with the first Sin, but why would the two be reted ?Where was the boss even ? I don't remember...
-
"Ah...! I'm sorry it had to fall on you, Mr. Topher. You'll have to take the pce of a moderator for a day or two.. Everyone is already swamped with work and you... you were the only one somewhat avaible." Director Vil apologized profusely over and over while accompanying the newest employee to his temporary workspace.
"You'll have to manage any suspicious activities. Like cheats or slurs, or improper behavior in the setting. Sins of Marka II is rated as R-18 but motion capture allows for... disgusting things to be done online today.But rest assured, you won't have anything to catch up to when you go back to the modeling department."
"It's no problem, Mr. Vil. A senior kindly informed me beforehand about what I should do today."
The director of the studio let out a relived sigh. Today was the big day and just when the studio could afford a single misstep, a bunch of seniors had called in sick for the day. Apparently, the meals of the canteen downtown weren't very fresh and the people who ate them suffered from indigestion.
The team had to fill in spots by overworking the staff on the worst day possible. Even Mr. Vil had to step in and stated he would be with the rest of the developers to manage the flux of pyers.
"With that said, Mr. Vil... If I remember correctly, the start of the game will begin with a scripted event, right ? Some kind of... pseudo-world raid ?" Chris Topher inquired.
"Absolutely." the other acquiesced. "The crew had the idea to... instantly put some of the pyers in the shoes of soldiers and mercenaries of the Empire. Like in movies, where everything starts in some war zone scenario. The pyers will be able to experience bits of the game's brutality early on. It's a gamble that may cause us to lose some pyers, but it's a gamble we're willing to make."
"Hm. And why did you take that risk ?"
"Well.. The vast majority will begin with character customization. We just wanted to mess around a bit, hehe~"
"Oh... Everything the pyers do, leave an impact on the world setting, you've told this several times already, is that right ?"
"Yeah. If pyers start messing with the setting... this virtual world would degrade very rapidly."
... It already is degrading you Fool.
"Alright. Then I should go to set up my pce. Good luck boss."
"Good luck to you too, Mr. Topher."
You'll need it. Lots of it. And this time. Coding won't help you. At all.
08 : 24 : 16"Raya."
Yes ? What's this about ?
"Be careful out there. Nobody knows if there's going to be one of the beings who could hurt you on the Empire's side. Don't rush."
...Thanks for worrying about me. You're a good friend... Kari. Sorry, can I call you that ?
"A-ah. Yes ? It's fine ?"
I don't think any of these beings will show up today though. And if they do, change of pn. I rush to the empire's main city. I free Manticore and he stops the assault. Hopefully by retaking his Pride from all these sinners.
"In both cases... freeing the Sin of Pride was your goal. You just wanted to vent your Wrath on the Empire's forces before that, didn't you ?"
Reading through me. As always. How much time do we have ? Less than half a day if I followed everything correctly. Tell me. I've been feeling weird for the past day. There's something twisting in my stomach. It's as if... it was making knots everywhere. It's not good. I don't feel good.
"... Are you ? Are you experiencing stress ?" the Pope asked, astonished by the sentence.
I- I think so. I tend to uh forget things... very easily now. With the whole Wrath in me... I kinda have to feed everything that I don't deem important to my Fire. Raya put her wing on her snout, the Wyvern equivalent of massaging one's temples, and sighed.And that... bad. Because I'm constantly forgetting parts of conversations and what I've done the day before.I mean... unless I vent out enough tomorrow... I'll probably have to get rid of that conversation too tomorrow.
The padins and basically everyone in BncheVille's central pza stared at the Wyvern before Pope Kari coughed awkwardly to voice out-loud everyone's opinion."Ra- Raya... I hope I'm not... bspheming here but... isn't that process... Really dumb ? Why... ? Would The Divine hinder you in such a way ? It seems incredibly counter-productive, no ? I mean, if you can't remember details of previous days, then the whole narrative of a week, or a month can become... useless. And what if you forget important happenings ?"
In response, the Wyvern smmed her tail down on the pristine pavement and shook her head.I don't know. I didn't want to question it at first because it wasn't a real problem to me, since... well, the only things I had to consume were bad memories from my time in Astria...But now I've settled here and I'm with you guys so it's bit more... problematic to interact with people. I wanted to ask about it to Them at some point, but... I forgot.
Kari felt the urge to facepalm.That Wyvern girl was lovely but she was such an hopeless case sometimes. She was a-
"-Dork..."
WHAT ?! What do you mean by dork ?! I'm not ! It's not my fault !ARGHH- I'm pissed off now ! Fuck you !
Raya fpped her wings, to take off making sure to send as much dust as possible in the direction of the Pope. In a few seconds, she was already far away from the capital city of the holy nds.
...
Tsk-
As much as I want to shrug it off, that's still a problem I'll have to take care of. Kari's right. I can't live indefinitely like this. Absolutely not.... But without The Divine's accord, that's something I cannot touch. They were the one to...I wouldn't dare. I cannot. I must not.
Oh nononono... I can't cross the border anymore now... That's right. The empire could use this to start invading.
...My fires are holding. They make a nice barrier. Let's just stay stationed here.
From the other side of the border, the men of Empire and their mercenaries could only helplessly gaze at the faraway red form patiently waiting in the air, near the only area it hadn't lit up.
"So... that's the Avatar of the Sin of Wrath. As expected. Bigger than any Wyvern."
The Emperor lowered his spygss and looked at his armies, then at the fires.
The new tactics was to force the Wyvern to nd, for it and the magus to csh, for it to tire out and stop the fires. He would be assisted by as many Wyverns and mercenaries the Empire had found. A grand total of forty-one. Twenty-five who masted water. and sixteen of the Earth element.The ones of Wind had bailed out upon learning of the enemy's supposed identity.
In any case, if the Wyvern wanted to py a stalling game, so would the Empire.
Gram de Wandermer looked at the group of blue and brown dots in the sky. They were part of the contracted Wyverns, who should report the situation soon.
One of the blue dots vanished and a loud stomp was heard in the camp. One of the Water Wyverns had teleported back here, to gain some time surely.
"Status report !" de Wandermer demanded.
The Wyvern in armor nodded and obliged."The enemy is definitely strange. Is has no armor, nothing it carries that could heal it from injuries, no CommuStone to communicate with people... It's as if... It's going in solo. And I will say that... this doesn't feel like overconfidence. My brother is biggest of my family. He is only half the size of that monster."
"..."
"Moreover..." the Wyvern continued. "Our blood confirmed the heiress' worries. This is indeed a Wyvern affiliated with our accursed progenitor. Sigh...Emperor. I will tell you this. Do not expect this war to end well, even when we come out victorious. Causalities will be high. And we expect compensation for our kin you killed to create armors up until now..."
"My end of the deal will not be broken. I will repay you. And I swore in the name of the Empire to not use your corpses as materials unless you give us permission to do so. But for now, let's rest. We have a quarter of a day before us."
00 : 09 : 57SINS OF MARKA II : AGE OF BLAZE : PRE-LAUNCH MEGATHREAD.
? - Good luck people. Let's have a good time discovering this year. ?- Not for me. Moon timezone is fucked... It'll be like 1AM for me. ? - RIP...
? - Didn't have the time to look into the leaks and BETA tester tips. Anyone has the link or screens ? ? - Try this link ! ? - Bro...It's 2281. No-one's gonna fall for the rickroll.
? - Anyone worried the servers will hold ? Studio is still very small. ? - Devs released a statement. The servers can hold half a million pyers. Very big for this type of game today.
? - ...
00 : 05 : 57"Be brave, honorable Padins ! Be fearless ! The Divine is in our Hearts ! They will guide our strikes ! We fight to protect, to cull sins ! When zenith comes, we will be invaded by sinners ! We will bathe in The Fmes of Wrath ! The Drake Sin of Wrath will aid us ! Ready your Hearts ! And open them up to The Fires of Hell ! To purify this tainted world ! To rid Marka of the Age of Peace ! To welcome the Age of Bze !"
"OHHHHH- !"
"YEAH-!"
"O Will of the Heavens ! Grant to Your followers... This Divine power !"
A bright white light shone from the Pope, engulfing the pza, then BncheVille, then the Papal States altogether.
The armies waiting to invade the holy nds also saw the light, that burnt eyes and unprotected skin.
00 : 03 : 02"Tsk- Pope Kari... You are still as strong as ever... But matters not. You will fall." Gram de Wandermer grumbled. "Legions ! Today is the day where unifying this world becomes more of a reality ! To free Marka of the Sins ! To trap them forever ! Legions ! We need to crush the nation who colluded with their minions ! Crush the Papal States ! March as one ! As the Armies of Frost !"
"Sieges machines !"
"Balistas !"
"Trebuchets !"
"Cannons- !"
"... Unfaltering Will of Ice. Forge me a bde. Forge me Magic. Form me an aegis. Form me an unshakable Pride."
Everyone could feel the temperature dropping as the magus chanted. The more he let mana flow, the more his body coated itself in deep blue ice. Then a wave of cold hit the soldiers on standby. They felt themselves faster, stronger, tougher.
As the icy dust settled, the soldiers steeled themselves and the Emperor, fully encased in ice, stepped forward, brandishing a rapier of back crystal.
"A- appraise..." a tiny voice in a carriage whispered.
Wandermer.He is Ice itself.Unwavering in his beliefs, he stands proud in the face of adversity.
? LV: 100 ?
HP: 29 000ATK + Magic: 2 500 + 3 700Stamina: 1 900Mana: 7 500Defense: 2 000Magic Dispersion : 98%
Titles:- Frost.
W-what the ? That's beyond any... in-game stat... ?
00 : 01 : 47"Ready ?"
"Yes !"
"Right ! I count on everybody ! We must have a perfect unch day !"
... It will be perfect. For me.Sorry it had to fall on you. But your passion and love for this game... Goes after my realm's safety.
00 : 00 : 32Raya... My child... I am sorry. This burden...This world... Must be purged. I see it now. I was foolish. To hide the tribe... We should have... Burnt it away... millennia ago.
Right ? Progenitor ?
... Yes.
As the sun moved, bdes were unsheathed.
As the countdown ticked down, VR pods booted up.
As wings fpped, a suppressed power surged.
...
00 : 00 : 0300 : 00 : 0200 : 00 : 01...00 : 00 : 00"CHARGE !"
"PROTECT THE BORDER ! AT ALL COSTS !"
"SERVERS OPEN !"
"YEAAAAAAAH- !"
The UHD was in complete chaos. In an instant, the virtual field of vision of some unfortunate pyers got filled with spells being cast, waves of allies rushing forward, gigantic projectiles flying in the sky.
"What the hell is that ?! CHAT !? Do you see this ?!"
Task : defeat as many enemies as possible."What the fuck ?! How am I supposed to do that !"
BOOM- !
"Soldier ! Get up and charge ! Stop kissing the dirt !"
"Hey ! You're a pyer too ! Come with me !"
"Dammit !"
The pyers dragged into the bad part of the game's unch could see what they assumed to be their allied forces... ? Charging at tall silhouettes of stones and iron. Golems.Some soldiers were also opening up cages from where wolf-like and bird women creatures rushed out.
RAAAAAAAAH-
More worrying was the presence of dragon-like beings completely made of fire, that were advancing to csh with other creatures of the same type, but blue and brown... and of flesh.
"Dammit ! Help me Azic ! Get off me !"
One of the blue dragons... or wyvern was struggling against one of fire. It was spraying its foe with jets of pressurized water but judging from the bckening scales... and the steam that touched the fiery body... the allied creature was not winning.
"Azic ! Help ! It's eating my mana !"
"Soldier ! Stop staring and distract the golem ! On your right !" a captain grimaced.
"Y-yeah !" the pyer replied instinctively.
The pod reyed the pyer's neural signals, the character took his hammer, dodged a stray arrow and began smashing the rocky knee of the golem.
- this is so fun to watch- blud appeared in a bad zone. Or it's a bug. I'm in the character customization interface.- same- what ??? I got killed by a golem bruh- how big is this war anyway ?!
UUUUUUUUUUUUH- The golem let out as its fist shattered into shards from attacks of mages a dozen meters away.
"What the fuck is this game... Ah- ah- ah... It took me that much effort to attack ten times ! But... you know what chat ?! I like this !"
-
The csh kept going for the following ten minutes. Pyers were dying left and right. Fireballs, lightning arc, tree trunks and boulders flew, coming from each side of the borders, now piles of corpses and discarded gear.The strange wyverns of fire were consuming everything they could, retreating in the immobile barriers of fire from time to time, when they sustained to much damage.
Pyers across the world and in the moon's colonies roared in indignation or ughed hysterically about the messy first minutes of the game's unch.
Some decided to familiarize themselves with the combat system. Some decided to suicide their character to avoid spending more time here.
The chain of command was completely lost. A few moments ago, the soldiers were still behaving like the most powerful army in the world... and in the blink of the eyes, they started behaving erratically, not following commands, swinging their weapons with disastrous stances, casting spells that threatened to explode in their faces...
Gram de Wandermer sighed. This was a disaster. A spectacle. A farce. Then his CommuStone buzzed to life.
"We CAN'T ! It's too powerful ! We can't even approach it ! It's too hot ! It shattered a Earth Wyvern's hide in one hit ! We'll have to n- ARGH-! "
The Emperor took out his spygss and looked above.
The form of a smoking and scorched blue Wyvern could be seen falling down in direction of the Empire's lines. The Avatar of Wrath was surrounded by its thirty-nine remaining foes. It vanished in a burst of fmes and appeared above an Earth Wyvern, delivering a fming punch to its skull. The neck bent at an awkward level and the rest of the body spasmed before falling too.
The other created some distance with their enemy before another Earth Wyvern charged, only to have its neck fractured in the same fashion.
"Fucking... Avatar..."
Then it echoed.A deep, rumbling voice, that held weight and carried a feeling of dread.
Sinful... Bastards....Blood traitors. Wyverns of shame and betrayal. I will... purge you. For everyone. For the tribe. For Fureur ! Because you abandoned my ancestors... You abandoned... your duty to keep... the Demons at bay... You left... us ! My tribe ! The FIRE Wyverns !
You bathed in glory and honors while my tribe repelled the Demons of old...
???WHAT ? was the thought of many who heard the voice.Fighters in the crowd stopped, mostly adventurers and mercenaries, to look up at the skies in disbelief.
What did that Wyvern say ?
You are... worse than the ones who steal from Sins. You are... worse than the otherworlders ! You are... ARGHHH-DIE !
In a burst of orange light, the Fire Wyvern's wings turned into gigantic red fmes that reached out to grab its stunned foes. The fires coiled around their jaws, tails and wings, preventing them from moving...or flying.
Repent... Give back this blood you are unworthy of !
The Avatar dive-bombed towards the ground, falling faster, faster and faster.
This was the moment. The csh would be inevitable. Gram de Wandermer gritted his teeth and closed his eyes as the Wyvern and its prisoners approached the ground.He tried to ignore the sickening crunch of joints popping and bones breaking, and only focused on the hellish ugh from above. A ughter that had frozen everyone, friend of foe alike, in pce.
Farewell.
The fires on the border vanished. The ones that coated enchanted swords disappeared too. Fire magic in the hands of magi dimmed out of existence.
There was no relief however. Gram de Wandermer stepped back, his eyes fixated on the crimson red fire in the Avatar's jaws.
He teleported but not everyone had this chance. The fmes spread out, engulfing the agonizing Wyverns' forms, vaporizing skin, muscles and armor. They advanced, devouring nearby soldiers, mercenaries and fortifications, uncaring about their terrified screams and pleas.
The fmes advanced, leaving no traces of what they consumed.
After what felt like hours to the soldiers and the bystanders, a line of ice cut open the fmes and a figure emerged from the opening.
"What the fu-"
"It's the Emperor !"
"Go !"
"Yeah !"
"Teach that thing a lesson !"
"Avenge us !"
"..."
-
"Ohoh ! What a show little Raya ! It's my turn to shine now !"
Panicked and horrified screams echoed in the studios as every developer pod shut down, trapping everyone inside them as powers cracked in another realm to engulf a pnet whole.
"This world ! Is mine !"
-
World Raid : ??? has appeared.-? Stats of all existing entities temporarily reduced by 50% ?The VR dispys of about half a million pyers turned to bck before zooming in to what looked like a cut-scene in a battlefield.
"Avatar of Wrath..." the noble human figure began "This sealing Ice will put an end to you. And to your master."
I SEE ! I'd like to see you try ! Borrower of a OTHERWORLDLY power ! Stealer of... PRIDE !
The human's figure hardened, extended his right arm, with his ice rapier firmly held in his grip, the other hand at face level, holding his magic wand.
"I have sealed Pride. Power in the flesh. I fight as the strongest being that exists in the realm. No-one can stop me. Not your cult, nor the holy nation, nor you, a mere Avatar... And not even the angels of Heavens."
... Kahahaha-
A bluish aura coated the Emperor and spread around in an instant, freezing structures, enemy golems, knights and padins. The sky had colored itself in a deep hue of royal azure.
"Hmpf... You hold no power her- Uh ?"W- what ?
The air was scorching hot. The freezing aura infused with Pride had been... overpowered ? The Ice relics of the apporaching Ten Commanders had... melted. Their weapons too.
The Bck Ice... had failed ?
INTERESTING ! the Wyvern excimed. You believe... that you are the strongest. That I am no match for you. Let's py a game then.Your cursed otherworldly Bck Ice... against this world's Bck Fire. The True Fmes of Wrath.
In the blink of the eyes, the Wyvern's red scaly body had turned into pitch bck, infernal bze.In the blink of the eyes, the sky had turned crimson red, then grayish. In the blink of the eyes, the sieges machines had been reduced to ashes.In the blink of the eyes, the air was filled with floating cinders of vaporized bodies of the Empire's soldiers.In the blink of the eyes, only the Papal States' forces remained.
And for an instant, as the monster stood in its hindlegs to open its wings of dark scorch... Holograms and eyes briefly gazed at ruined realms of cinders and bze.
I say... Let's... PLAY !I challenge you... AS RAYA, THE DRAKE SIN OF WRATH ! And I procim ! The start of the Age of Bze ! And then, Gram de Wandermer's unfaltering will of ice cracked.
