NOVEL NEXT 86 – Settlement: Spatial Battlefield
Genji and Silver Empress stepped onto the other side of the hallway and found a spot to rest. Similar to the first time they traversed this hallway, they suffered severe wounds. Genji leaned against the little space left apart from Silver Empress's body and took out a potion to pour onto his wounds.
Smoke rose from them as a sting, akin to alcohol, appeared. Genji looked back to the hallway and noticed the Zerg queen had died. It seemed like the second trip through this tunnel of terror had broken her. This, though, only made his plan that much easier.
Pulling up the time, Genji saw that he had around 30 minutes left. He closed his eyes and regulated his condition to the best of his ability before getting up at the 1-minute mark.
Taking out a healing potion, he approached Silver Empress.
"It seems like you could use a potion."
But this sentence only caused her to become wary. She had been scammed enough by him to know when he wanted to extort her.
"Don't be like that. Think of this as a gesture of goodwill before we part," Genji said, opening the bottle over her massive wounds.
Genji counted down as the smoke blocked Silver Empress's sight. When the haze reached its peak, Genji dropped the bottle and quickly drew [Jaguar] from his storage. Then in one fell swoop, he ignited shadow flames and swung down. There were two factors that he was depending on for this attack.
Firstly, Silver Empress was heavily injured, and her mental powers were depleted, an aftermath of the horrible hallway behind them. Because of her large body, her wounds were bigger and would take longer to heal.
Secondly, Genji managed to hide himself among the fumes, further slowing her reaction speed. By the time she noticed something was wrong, his blade had already reached her neck, severing it.
As the large centipede head flew through the air, the remaining brain activity caused its eyes to glare at him. The mandibles twitched, trying to vent her last resentments, but only ended up dropping the egg. Genji reached out and caught the egg with 3 seconds to spare.
The egg was chilly to the touch and reminded Genji of a space rock. It also had a heavy weight, causing Genji's hand to sink upon contact. But despite these oddities, he clasped it against his chest. A small smile formed on his lips as he awaited his departure. Everything had gone smoothly. Almost too smoothly.
But to his shock, the blanking-out feeling didn't reach him. Opening his eyes, he realized he was still in the hallway, next to a cleaning contraption that struggled to deal with the centipede's remains.
"What's going on?" He asked out loud, pulling up his remaining time.
71:59:50
This time caused him to pause.
"What's going on? Why did more time get added?"
Then he pulled up the notifications from when he had killed Silver Empress.
[You have slain: Silver Empress (Substitute)]
[You have gained: Bio-Crystal IV, 98,761 contribution points, and 34,982 coins]
[Bio-Crystal IV]
Rating: Legendary
Effect: Gain 25,982 bioenergy upon use.
Note: Maybe you can find a use for this?
[You have triggered the response mechanism: Silver Empress's Revenge]
Description: You have killed the body double of Silver Empress and betrayed the Zergs. 3 days will be added to your term as her legion hunts you down.
Genji quickly scrolled past the killing rewards and found the cause. A body double? Since when? Genji had scanned Silver Empress before, but there was no such tag. Yet now that she had died, it was revealed? What kind of feature is this?
"Shit. How long has she been like that, or was she one from the start?"
Whatever the case, Genji needed to get out of here. While he could go back through the hallway down to the 23rd floor, that would only do so much. For an empress with a body double as strong as the centipede, Genji had no doubt that she was stronger. If the body double could make her way past it, then it should be no problem for the original.
Plus, empresses have mental powers on a different level compared to their queen counterparts. There's no guarantee that Silver Empress can't attack him from a distance. Under those conditions, Genji had no confidence in surviving for three days. If he didn't want to be a sitting duck, Genji would have to escape this ruin.
As he snuck out of the 20th floor, he was met with a wall of Zergs. His stomach dropped, but he drew his weapon, ready to defend himself and retreat back down. But before he could follow through, a queen spotted him.
"Hey! What happened to mother? We felt her connection suddenly disappear!"
Hearing their panicked but unhostile tone, Genji paused. Did they not know about his betrayal? Does that mean the original Silver Empress doesn't have direct control over them? Or is it because she hasn't set up the mental link yet? If that's true, he might have a chance.
"Silver Empress is heavily injured. I need to go back to get some items to make a potent healing item. She's on the 22nd floor, so I don't recommend going down there. Everyone in the initial scouting party died so far. Just wait here while I come back as soon as possible," Genji lied, before rushing for the stairs.
"Then what's that black stone you're holding?"
The queen was referring to the [Void Egg] in Genji's grasp. The last time they checked, he didn't have such an item.
"This? It's the down payment Silver Empress gave me. Now step aside. I don't have much time left, and I won't get my reward unless I save her."
Genji's words dispelled their suspicions. Over their cooperation, they've seen how greedy this person was when it came to rewards. As long as you gave him an adequate reward, he would dare do anything. Otherwise, don't expect him to do anything. If he wasn't like this, why would they have suffered so many casualties?
Genji quickly dashed up the ruins and returned to the surface. Then he picked a direction in the Beast's territory and ran.
"Weird. That's not the direction of the nest."
While the queens observed this, they didn't think much of it. They were content with staying here and waiting. After all, why would they risk their lives when someone else was going to do the job for them?
"I wonder where Empress got that shiny stone from. Last time I recalled, she didn't bring anything into the ruins." Soon the queens became bored and made some chit-chat.
"And how did Mother cut the connection like that? We typically only experience that when the zergs under our control die."
The queens continued to gossip and enjoy their free time until a swarm of aerial units landed near them. At the front of this swarm was a wasp queen,
a fellow sister of theirs.
"Sister, what are you doing here?" The idle queens greeted her, but the newcomer didn't reply.
She scrutinized the queens before looking at the ruins.
"Where's the realm member?" She demanded. This was a rude way of asking, but the other queens assumed she was simply moody right now.
"He went back to the nest."
"So you let him go?" She asked with a scary voice.
"Yeah? What's wrong with it?"
"YOU IDIOTS! He killed mother!"
"!!!"
"They must have realized by now," Genji thought as he hid from a pteranodon.
Once he made sure there were no threats nearby, Genji came out from under the large tree and continued running. Right now, he needs to widen the distance as much as possible and hide from any flying surveillance. Three days will be hard, but it's not impossible. As long as he doesn't provoke anything too strong, he should be fine.
Hours passed like this, but Genji knew he couldn't continue. Multiple gliders passed overhead as they searched for him. While he can hide for now, it's only a matter of time before he gets found.
And at the current rate things are going, it might only be a few hours until then. That would leave him with around a day and a half of relentless pursuit that Genji knows he can't outrun.
With his current strength, it doesn't even take a couple of Ravengers to kill him. As long as Silver Empress churns out enough units, it's not hard to surround him.
"In that case, I might as well take the initiative."
Genji pulled out the map and oriented himself to the core areas of the beasts. Then he broke out in a full sprint, disregarding the attention he received from the gliders. It's going to take some time for the Zergs to catch up to him, and he's going to use this time to make things difficult for them.
He refused to believe that the Beasts would allow an enemy faction to search their core areas to catch him. As long as he can avoid their detection, he should be able to tide through these few days.
Soon Genji found himself in the mountains, near the den of a dangerous beast. Genji circulated his energy and calmed himself, trying to minimize his presence as much as possible. It was moments like these that Genji appreciated the stealth-boosting capabilities of his cloak.
As Genji blended into the environment, a large army of Zergs marched toward his location. This group irritated many beasts, but the casualties were negligible compared to the entire army. Silver Empress had gone all out to kill Genji and retrieve the unknown treasure. As for these beasts that attacked her army, she could only grind her mandibles in anger.
The army soon approached the mountains, but its host was less than happy about it.
*Grrrroooowwwwllll*
A giant bear, 12 meters tall, growled loudly as it climbed out. Resting above its head was a crown shape woven from intertwined hair. The Zergs stopped at the foot of the mountain and sent up a mantis queen to communicate. This negotiation, though, went as Genji expected. When the bear heard they wanted to search his territory, it instantly mawed the queen.
Silver Empress became irritated but held herself back, sending another queen. The same result.
"I'll have you know, you are the one provoking us. The Balancer's agreement won't protect you!" Since the peaceful approach didn't work, the queen transitioned to threatening the bear.
Yet when the bear heard her, it snorted and devoured the queen. Its meaning was obvious. Bring it on. It's not like it is afraid of them. And for a good reason. Beast kings have the strongest bodies on this battlefield and can hardly be killed. The only reason West died was that Genji's insane poison weakened him below the level of a beast king.
At worst, Silver Empress forces him to switch habitats, but that can be discussed when she optimizes her units. Right now, she's a strong empress at best, which is nowhere near her potential. Plus, if it backs down because of a little threat, the other beast kings will look down on it.
That was how a large battle between the two sides started, though a battle was putting it euphemistically. Because Silver Empress was in a hurry to catch Genji, most of her units were elite and lower. There are very few mini-boss levels, resulting in a one-sided massacre. None of the Zergs' attacks can even break the bear's tough hide.
This battle continued until a booming voice stopped everyone in their tracks.
"ENOUGH!"
The two parties quickly separated to reveal a middle-aged paladin walking toward them menacingly, like an angry father who found out his favorite vase was broken by his children, promising he wouldn't get mad if they told the truth. Of course, the younger sibling believed him. What a liar...
"What's the meaning of this, Empress? Didn't you promise me that you won't start any exterior wars?"
"Sir, it's not like that. I promise," the queen hurried to explain, but that only worsened things.
"Then explain your aggressive expansion of troops in the past day?"
"What promise?" At this moment, Silver Empress took control of the queen and asked. She had just woken up from her slumber so she had little idea what was going on. The only thing she understood was that someone killed her body double and stole an important treasure.
"You're not Silver Empress. Who are you?"
This was a different voice than Julian expected. Unlike the cold, aloof tone of the previous empress, this voice sounded jagged, worn down by the vicissitudes of time. It was this ancient voice that told Julian something had changed.
"Me? I am Silver Empress."
"Whatever. I won't argue over what you call yourself. Tell me, why are you provoking the Beasts?"
"I'm hunting down a traitor hiding in the bear's territory." Silver Empress might be asleep most of the time, but she still knows the workings of the battlefield.
"Traitor? Is this true?" Julian asked the bear king, to which it returned a "How am I supposed to know" look.
*Sigh*
"Guess I will have to figure this out myself. Wait here for me," Julian said, sensing a familiar presence sneaking away from the mountains. Then he disappeared, leaving the two parties behind, but no one dared to say otherwise.
The next second, Julian appeared in front of Genji, causing him to stop instantly.
"What did you do, Enigma?"
"I killed Silver Empress. Who would have expected that she was only a double." Genji had no reason to hide this. What does the empress's death have anything to do with Julian?
"How bold of you. And I assume over that treasure?" Julian's eyes landed on the [Void Egg] in Genji's arm. While this item can be taken out, he can't put it into his storage. If he wants to keep it, he will have to survive while carrying it.
"Yeah. Man proposes, God disposes." Genji said, explaining his unexpected predicament.
"Why are you so greedy? If you didn't pull this stunt, you would have been fine. But now, you are being hunted down."
"What's the point of living if you don't enjoy the thrill of it?" Genji flashed a big grin, causing Julian to furrow his brows.
"You are one crazy bastard. I've never seen someone do so much against such stacked odds."
"I'll take that as a compliment. So how about helping me out? I forced Shepherd out of this world and balanced the factions, essentially doing both of your tasks for you. With the current state of the Zergs, it would take a miracle for them to cause the other factions trouble. The least you can do is to help me out, right?"
*Sigh*
"Fine. After this, we won't owe each other anything."
"I'm glad you are reasonable."
Julian then returned to the standoff and declared in an authoritarian voice, "This matter ends here. I will protect that man's life for the duration of this term. After that, I won't get involved anymore."
Although this declaration upset Silver Empress, there was not much she could do about it. If the Balancers are getting involved, then nothing can change their decision.
"You have escaped this time, but what about the next?" She asked, knowing full well all realm members would eventually return to this place.
Settlement: Spatial Battlefield
Achievements:
- Fought off the Zerg Swarm
- Killed hundreds of elites in the siege
- Performed spectacularly in the siege
- Guard the tower
- Fended off the Parasitized Brontosaurus (This is worth 3 achievements due to its overwhelming powers)
- Explored the important ruins (This is worth 2 achievements)
- Survived the attacks of 2 Sentinels (This is worth 4 achievements)
- Retrieved the lost contents of the ruins (This is worth 3 due to your contributions)
- Survived an encounter against West, the T-Rex (Worth 2 achievements)
- Survived against Morris (Worth 3 achievements)
- Participated in the War against Zergs (The entire event is worth 4)
- Killed the Zerg Queens (Worth 2 achievements)
- Survived Aposynthesi's attack
- Passed the Trial of Determination
- Killed 3 Zerg queens (Worth 3 achievements)
- Survived the Beast's Beheading (Worth 4)
- Entered Silver Empress's nest
- Planned a disastrous battle that killed multiple peak powerhouses (each powerhouse is worth 5 x 5 beings + Morris worth 7 + 2 for each faction x 5 factions = 42 achievements)
- Forced Shepard out of the world (Worth 2)
- Uncovered the hidden Mecalan Ruin (3)
- Passed the Trial of Fearlessness
- Killed Silver Empress(Substitute) (Worth 5)
- Passed the Trial of Audacity
- Obtained [Void Egg] (Worth 3)
- Survived the hunt of Silver Empress(Original) (Worth 2)
Total Achievements: 96 (Your rewards won't be determined by this, but legacy strengthening will)
Total time spent: 43 days
Rating: Nightmare
Note: EverRealm is very pleased with your massacre.
Contribution points: 5,692,173
Please buy your rewards as upgrade energy is being allocated...
[It has been detected that you possess a Void Egg. To hatch this egg, 10,000,000 contribution points are required.]
Genji looked at that absurd number and became speechless. Even after everything he did, he still doesn't have enough to hatch the egg? One has to understand that even people with 45+ stat points won't be able to pull off what he did, yet that's still not enough?! Just what is this egg?
"Whatever. Let's check the shop first."
The first thing Genji saw when he opened the shop was the stat points. Costing 10,000 points each, Genji could buy a maximum of 20 stat points before the option greys out.
Don't misunderstand; this was a decent amount, considering the average champion gets around 15 stat points per world. Genji's just the odd one who gets an absurd amount.
After that, there were coins at an exchange rate of 1 contribution point to 2 coins with a limit of 500,000 coins. Then there are the skills at various prices, depending on their powers.
Genji even found his own Flashstep at the cost of 240,000 points, which made him feel scammed, not that he regretted it since he could only have his current strength because of that contribution.
Genji scrolled past these expensive and unnecessary skills and settled on something that interested him: knowledge books. Specifically, flexible knowledge books. Unlike the expensive prices found in EverRealm, these books are a bargain, costing only 1/5 of their initial price, if converting coins to points.
Seeing this profitable rate, Genji purchased as much as he could before the shop locked those options, leaving him with around 4.1 million points. Since nothing else caught Genji's fancy, he chose to save the remainder for the [Void Egg]. These contribution points won't disappear so he should work towards the 10 million goal.
[Please select a direction of growth for Lethal Opportunity]
"Same as usual."
[Lethal Opportunity]
Rating: High Legendary (Previously Legendary)
Damage: 36 (up 6)
Durability: 400/400 (up 130)
Effects:
- Growth (passive): After every world, this set will grow with you
- Effortless Cutting (passive): +40 sharpness (up 16)
- Nigh Unbreakable (passive): +180 durability (up 80)
Description: A pair of twin daggers that reached a level abnormal compared to their owners. Is there anything they can't cut?
[Please select a direction of growth for Shroud of Terror]
"Do an all-around increase"
[Shroud of Terror]
Rating: High Legendary (Previously Legendary)
Defense: 40 (up 7)
Durability: 250/250 (up 70)
Effects:
- Growth (passive): After every world, this equipment will grow with you
- Undetectable (passive): Your stealth now has low priority.
- Untraceable Movement (active): Multiply your speed up to 3x for 30 seconds, cooldown of 30 seconds. Any excess time will reduce the cooldown by that amount of time when canceling the effect. This effect has medium priority.
- Like a Feather (active): Reduce the effects of gravity by 90% for 1 minute. Cooldown of 15 minutes.
- Essence of terror (passive): no change
Description: A cloak that brings terror to everyone but its owner.