Rise Of The Worthy [LitRPG System Apocalypse]

Days scream by. Rounding up the remaining stonestep solutions loyalists takes a little while, maybe three and a half days-ish, and while Clutter's stealthy group does that, the rest of us split into smaller factions to do… well… everything that needs to be done. Cleaning up the last few sidequests that the Quest says are worth doing, liberating as many constructs from the system as we physically can, all the while rotating shifts with Fore to repair all the damaged anchors. Having knowledge of someone else's skills forcibly inserted into my brain isn't the nicest feeling, and having it removed right after so somebody else can do the repairs is somehow far worse.

All in all, though, it's just busywork. We can't risk trying anything shellraiser-related while the system's still watching, so that gets to wait until I relocate us to Earth. Obviously nobody's allowed to go try any uplifting trials, either, due to yet another system impossibility. So we're sort of stuck milling around, hashing out details of the stonestep solutions people who want me to be the boss' employment, and generally just making the most of our last few days here.

That doesn't stop the end from screaming up to us at breakneck speeds, catching nearly everyone off guard and setting things in motion for the final time. It started with a message I got a few hours ago saying Fore's almost done fixing up the anchors. Then everyone was herded over to the vaults, far more people than the quest ever should've been able to take in at one time, and we slowly reunited each anchor with their person.

Except… there are still so many left over. So many people that already died–already became constructs–or just disappeared somewhere in the city that the Quest can't find them. I bite back the question of how the hell this worked–how the horizonguard managed to bring in so many damn people through the seemingly ironclad rules–and remind myself that the Quest isn't what it seemed to be.

Its shellraiser parts screwed everything up. For the system, for the quest, and for everyone else. I can't expect this to ever happen again, so I just have to accept that it's bullshit and hope that the system can't find some way to replicate this. Blatantly unfair quests by the hundreds would spell the end for us Worth Classes and everyone who's working with us.

Once all that's done, there's nothing else left. Nothing that needs to be done here–where we're actually less safe than if I teleported us away. Fore and Gil lead everyone who's working with us–either through their own volition or begrudgingly–away to somewhere safe-ish. The amusement park district has the biggest stretch of open space we've found in the city. It's the best place to defend if things go wrong… and the constructs seem to have agreed that if they're all going to die somewhere, that's where they want to die.

I watch everyone leave, Jumble and Clutter and Illumisia staying behind to watch with me. Ebb looks back at us with a pinched expression as if she wants to be a part of this too, but Gil pats her on the shoulder and shakes his head. She sighs and nods knowingly, allowing herself to be led away with the rest of them. The sounds of footsteps fade away as the constructs open the way through the strange transportation network of the city, and within minutes, it's as quiet as a tomb.

"Just us now," Jumble notes. "Well, I guess that means it's time."

I give a short nod in response. Everyone crowds around me for no reason as I focus on the relocation coins I left behind in the tombs, along with Click and the Quest to stop the horizonguard or Clamber's dad from clearing it. One by one I send them away until I'm the last one staying behind.

"Pearl, you there?" I ask, my connection to my spell taut and ready.

She yawns and slowly blinks, but nods anyway. "Partly. We're doing it?"

"We are. I never asked before, but are you okay with this? All the fake shellraiser stuff must be a sore spot for you, and I just didn't bother asking your opinion."

A sleepy laugh shakes her gooey body. "It's a dang good thing you didn't, because my opinion now is way different than when we first learned about all this stuff. Go relocate yourself to the rest of them; I'll keep talking while you're getting ready."

"Works for me."

My spell flares once more, putting me smack in the middle of everyone currently in the tombs. Click, the Quest, and Illumisia's real body all turn to look at me slightly annoyed at the few extra seconds I took before I teleported in. Everyone else stares at Clamber's dad, thin roots sticking into his legs and arms where he's stuck fast to the ground. There's no light behind his eyes; like he's completely asleep even though he's on his hands and knees.

"That plant Class is terrifying," Illumisia says joyfully. "How wonderful that he will be under my command beginning now. Clutter, ensure he does not step out of line too often, and equally ensure that he does not follow orders like a lovesick puppy. I do not care for those without minds of their own."

Clutter bears his teeth in a grin. "Understood."

Illumisia returns the expression, though hers is a thousand times deadlier. To his benefit, Clutter doesn't flinch at all. Though the wobbly legs are a dead giveaway that he isn't quite as comfortable with the megalodane as he wants us to think.

Before anyone can say anything else, Click steps forward and puts its arms under Clamber's dad. It grunts with effort, snapping the thin roots holding the paindne hostage, and throws the man over its shoulder with far less effort. Then it turns, nods to the Quest, and walks right out of the tombs. I tense, waiting for the notification that we finally cleared the quest… but it doesn't come. Because there's still one person here that isn't on our side.

The horizonguard. Kept in some sort of stasis by Illumisia for my sake. I raise my chin at her to finally put an end to him. A small smirk crosses her face instead. Her magic shimmers once, then falters completely, placing the horizonguard right in front of us again–and very much not dead.

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He sucks in a breath, eyes watering and full of existential terror. "You… what are you, animal?"

"Your better, and if you refer to me as an 'animal' again, I will cleanse your lineage from this world," Illumisia says plainly. "Now, are you going to fight us, or are you going to listen to what my pup has to say?"

I raise an eyebrow at that phrasing, then the other at the fact that Illumisia is looking directly at me. The horizonguard can't take his eyes off the megalodane as his entire frame shivers and shudders in absolute fear. I'd pity him if he wasn't such an unpitiable asshole.

He slowly opens his mouth. Something tells me he's about to do something unbelievably stupid.

"DIE!"

All the moisture in the air aims itself squarely at my throat. Illumisia sighs theatrically and taps a paw on the ground. All four of the horizonguard's limbs vaporize into a thin red mist, which then sticks to his body like a thousand leeches and saps away his own magical abilities. Screams of pain rip his throat to shreds in the span of a few seconds, and when Illumisia's said and done, there's not a single drip of magic left in the horizonguard.

"Monster…" he whispers through tears.

Illumisia bears her teeth. "Yes. I am. Now, since you are being quite unhelpful, I am going to subsume your mind and take control. Whether Shelby gives you the sweet release of death once you spill your last words is a choice all her own."

The horizonguard whimpers. Then he's simply gone. A body remains, missing all its limbs, but there's no mind left to occupy it. Illumisia shakes herself and splits off another blood red copy that runs up to his body, rolls it onto its back with one paw, and cracks open her jaw wide enough to fit the top of the horizonguard's head between her teeth. Unnatural shudders course through him, and when she drags the body over the ground to look at me, there's an unnatural cherry red light in his empty eyes.

"Stonestep solutions is yours to take," he says in monotone. "The names of the stakeholders are kept in a very safe place. Kill all of them and nobody will even know you took over."

Jumble snorts derisively. "That's easy. Almost makes me wonder if the horizonguard ever planned to do that himself."

"Oh, he most certainly did, "Illumisia chuckles. "Right after he betrayed our world to the Preservation he was going to betray Stonestep Solutions to HuSt. Such a horrible person. Such a fitting end."

Her double sinks her teeth in a little further. Rivulets of blood drain down the horizonguard's face, creating a ghastly visage that looks like he's crying blood. I reach up and fiddle with an earring in discomfort at the scene; even if I can't feel any pity for the man, this is still severely messed-up. Killing him is one thing, but this?

It's just extra. But it's already done, so I should… make the most of it. Ick.

"He obviously knows the details about the Preservation thing. I want to know absolutely everything, or at least know where to go to know about everything. If we can make the Preservation think things are still happening the way they want them to, then we can manipulate it to our advantage."

Pearl hums in thought. "Ursula, Noland, and March are all still going to be on this world. If we can intercept the Preservation on Earth while they deal with the Preservation here… we might be able to deal a pretty heavy blow. Maybe even loosen their foothold on Earth."

"Exactly," I say to myself. "We need to establish the resort as a real powerhouse before whatever the cataclysm is happens. This is the perfect time to do exactly that."

Illumisia lowers her nose at me. "It is done; I have all the information you want. Do we have anything else we wish to know from this man, or are we done with him?"

I shake my head. "I think we're–"

"I have a question," Jumble cuts in. She shoots me an apologetic look, but softens as I motion for her to go ahead. "Okay… so… how much was the system actually controlling him? Was he a construct all along? Is he a first-wave that just doesn't look like one, or did the system find some way to perfectly control second-waves? Is it the same way it tried to control Shelby, but Illumisia's biology stopped that from happening?"

A low growl escapes Illumsia's maw. "The system made an attempt to… what?"

"Control Shelby. Fore helped that not happen, and so did the Quest with the earrings, I think," Jumble quickly explains. "The uplifting trials were obviously about control. Your biology being used as the base for us wave-twos is the only reason we're not all stuck-up system worshippers like the wave-ones."

Pride seeps in to join Illumisia's ice-cold hate. Neither pushes out or diminishes the other while she seems to go through whatever's in the horizonguard's head again. What she sees brings her a moment of pause. One filled with utter disgust and disbelief.

I suck air through my teeth. "The system wasn't controlling him at all, was it?"

She shakes her head. "It promised him power and rewards. That was all he needed to treat it as his god, and all he needed to turn on those who did not wish to murder you pointlessly. He himself was promised a massive additional reward if, in making the city reappear, he murdered you and the other Worth Classes in the process."

"And it made that promise right after he met with us the first time?"

Illumisia nods. "Sounder minds convinced him not to waste his time on defeating you himself, but in time, those sound minds were abandoned and chained. More than a few of them were negotiating contracts with us not a few hours ago. Do I have permission to end this?"

Yeah, it's about time. I curl my hand in a go-ahead motion. Teeth sink deep into the horizonguard's head with a sickening crunch, sending the lifeless body to the ground with a wet thud. Vital fluids drain out of the thing and into the ground, joining the countless paindne who died to make this place a reality. A single notification pings onto my Class Card. I close my eyes, breathe deeply through my nose, and envision the long stretch of ocean sprawled out beyond Fleur's platform back at the resort.

With Jumble's measurements, there should be plenty of space for the city. We have no idea what the appearance of such a massive landmass will do to things, but it's magic. It'll just work out somehow.

Quest clear.

Rewards: complete control of the shellraiser innards of this city.

Choice of where the city reappears.

40,000 Worth.

And my eternal gratitude.

Thank you, Shelby, for this.

If in the teleportation I somehow die horribly, know that I won't blame you in the slightest.

Now let's get going.

I'm excited to see what a real planet looks like.