After many generations of civil war between the Oni and Ancient Alliance factions, there was finally peace on the ancient resurfaced island.
The battles had only grown more deadly with the arrival of Demigods, Kodria, and the Aeviuns throwing their weight behind their chosen faction.
With the end of the war a delegation of leaders from the Oni, the Ancient alliance, and Aeviuns had joined Akira and the others for a trip to Kodria for further talks of co-operation as well as to introduce them to Kodria’s other allies.
Akira wanted to also help enrich their minds with the sights of Kodria and the other cities along the way showing off the modern structures, weapons, and tools they all used.
Since the Oni and Ancient Alliance were far behind what Kodria and its allies were capable of, much of what they saw on the journey to Kodria was quite eye-opening to them. Especially the weapons, armor, and city defenses that they saw common city guards using. They had already seen such equipment being used by Akira and the Navy during the war on the island but they had thought it was only for the most elite of their forces.
Now that Akira had returned to the city he was stuck inside the royal meeting room in a long drawn-out meeting with the grand elders.
Zundar, Varbu, and Prince Gobbers were all having fun entertaining the new envoy guests and showed them around the outer city’s markets and the other industries that were booming.
It was fortunate for the delegates that they had come during the warm months. He was not sure if they could survive the cold winter since their island’s dry climate was far different from Kodria.
“…I see your report on the whole matter is quite worrying. Those damn Demigods are always popping up where you least expect and are always causing trouble for the demon race. Surprisingly, they allied with one faction over the other,” said Grand Elder Hegir
“And what about their forces on the island now? Are they still a large threat or can we ignore them?” asked Grand Elder Seoc.
“There is no need to worry about them causing any problems. With the help of the Aeviuns and their flying beasts, the [Full moon] guild members were able to quickly fly across the land and deal with the remaining demigods. They were wiped out and sent back to the main continent where the other scourge of their ilk was lurking about… although it was odd that the different groups were all working together as one force this time. Normally they like to fight each other over the smallest of disagreements let alone when an entire island was on the line which they could have claimed for any one of their guilds…” said Akira.
“Nothing weird about them working together. The only thing weird is them teaming up with the Oni demon race,” said Grand Elder Àaron.
“Enough talk about the island. Let’s get onto some pressing issues Kodria has been facing while you were gone,” said Grand Elder Hegir pushing a stack of papers and reports across the table over to Akira.
“Do we really have to do this right now? I haven’t even seen my wife and children yet…” muttered Akira.
“We have to finish this before the planned festival starts tomorrow,” said Grand Elder Seoc.
As Akira grabbed one of the economic reports and started reading…
Ding!
-
Kodria has advanced to a Mid-level Kingdom!
Akira spent the rest of the day being tortured by reports and decisions he had to make. He had only just returned to Kodria and was already being worked to death by the Grand elders who seemed to be taking joy in passing stack after stack of documents over to him every time he thought he was finished.
As the sun was going down Akira managed to escape the clutches of the Grand elders and was now walking through the streets of the outer city with a hooded cloak to disguise himself so that he could search for some cheap street food. He could of course get anything he wanted made for him at the castle but he was not in the mood for such fancy food.
The streets were already packed and in a festive mood as Kodria’s civilians finished their last-minute shopping for the start of the celebration on the next day. With such a crowded street It was hard for his guards to stay discreet while also protecting him from any dangers.
The smell of cooking food from one of the street stalls caught the attention of his nose and stomach making it impossible to pass so he decided to wait behind a handful of people. He was forced to wait several agonizing minutes as fresh portions were cooked up for those ahead of him in the line. It was even more unbearable when he ordered several portions from the stall for him and his guards and had to wait even longer.
When the food was ready he quickly paid for the food and started to walk back to the docks and their waiting boat while he tore through the food with gusto. The guards who were similarly dressed as him were also enjoying the food as it disappeared into their stomachs as they walked down the main road to the city gates.
“I guess I have to head back and get chewed out by Mileena for not checking in with her and the children yet…” muttered Akira.
Part of the reason he had come here was to put off running into her just yet as he was dreading her scolding… he couldn’t help that the grand elders would not listen to his request to let him see his family earlier in the day. They were adamant that he finish all the work before the festival started the next day.
“Awooooooo!” An alarming howl rang out through the darkening night sky.
The warning message from the city scouts sent chills down every civilian’s back!
Akira and his small group of royal guards shoved the rest of the food into their mouths and rushed out of the city and ran in the direction of the howl.
Upon arriving at the destination, Akira slowed to a walk and quickly armed himself with his sword and shield.
The royal guards also unsheathed their weapons and transformed into their large Werewolf forms as they let out low warning growls.
On the ground before them lay the body of the werewolf scout that had sent the warning. Fresh blood was pooling out of fresh wounds that had killed him only seconds before. The scout’s killers stood next to the body as they ignored it and stared at Akira and his Royal guards.
“I didn’t expect this plan to work so well. I thought we would have to kill a few more of you mutts before you showed up,” said the tall figure who was wearing a mask covering his face and was standing in the middle of the group.
“What are you demigods doing in my territory? I thought we had already killed all of you. You are not welcome here,” Growled Akira as he focused on the demigod who seemed to be in charge.
[Scar level 235]
“I have come to challenge you to a duel to the death!” shouted Scar.
“Stop beclowning yourself. We all know you just want to kill me and are using this as an excuse. The only one that would die for good would be me since you would just reappear the next day…” said Akira scoffing at the demigod’s challenge.
“Are you afraid? I killed your fellow werewolf don’t you want to take revenge? Fight me like a true man!”
“Well, that’s kind of hard to do since I am a Werewolf and not a human. You do not have to worry about my courage. I will kill you, but I am not going to play games with you,” said Akira motioning for the royal guards to support him.
Akira activated his skill [Darkness Domain], enveloping the entire area in darkness.
“This is cheating!”
“Damn it where did he go!”
“%^#! you!”
The demigods were next to blind as they tried to group back up and find their targets.
A few of them gave up looking and decided to just cast their deadly skills everywhere.
“STOP HITTING ME!” shouted an angry demigod as he was hit in the back several times by a few fireballs causing him to run around trying to put out the fires that were now burning his cloth armor.
It would almost be a comical sight if not for the fact that these demigods were strong enough to kill dozens of Kodria’s civilians and guards in seconds if they were not dealt with. The more they tried to regroup and fight Akira and his guards the more they got separated.
Akira and the royal guards did not have any problem with their vision and acted as one to target Scar.
“You’re a freak!” shouted Scar as he traded blows with Akira.
Several wildly flung skills lit up the area around them as they both had to dodge the attacks by the other demigods who were now relying on the sound of battle and were pouring out everything they had in their direction.
“You’re one to talk. To us the real freaks are you demigods who will not die!” growled Akira as he hammered Scar back several steps with heavy sword blows.
Although the demigods were pouring out skills all over the place, few hit Akira or the royal guards as they tried to box in Scar. Several of the attacks actually helped Akira as they slammed into Scar wounding him and giving Akira more chances to further wound him.
“You demigods will never win by spamming such random attacks all you are doing is tiring yourself out!” growled Akira.
With his wounds growing by the second, Scar was getting desperate to finish the fight.
“Damn it! Who trained you guys? Watch where you are shooting your skills or I’ll have the guild leader strip you of your guild ranks. The rest of you hurry up and get over here and help me!” shouted Scar as he started to back away from the fight using several large explosive skills to knock Akira and his guards back.
As Scar ran away several other hidden demigods popped out of the shadows and other hiding places a good distance away and rushed over to the battle.
“The plan has failed. You guys hold him off for me. I’ll pay you back for any losses you have. I can not waste any time here anymore!” said Scar as he made for his escape with a few of his friends.
Akira tried to chase after Scar but was cut off by several demigods blocking his path using their wide range of skills as well as their large shields and their bodies. Even if they could not see properly they just used their other senses or just guessed in order to stop Akira.
These demigod attackers were not low-level nobodies which forced Akira into a drawn-out battle with the demigods as they fought tooth and nail to stall and stop him chasing after Scar.
Around this time a large force of Kodria’s warriors led out of the city by Varbu joined the battle with Akira and managed to start pushing back the demigods.
“Awooo…oo…” a pained howl came from the direction of the river.
Akira knew who that howl belonged to, he was all too familiar with it! A chill of dread went down his back before his emotions turned to anger.
The demigod that was currently locked in a test of strength with their swords pressing against each other was set off balance when Akira suddenly kicked at the demigod’s legs allowing Akira to grab onto the man’s head and … tear it off his shoulders in his anger!
“To the river!” growled Akira as he sliced and tore limbs off of the remaining demigods that stood in his way making a path to the river as he pulled forward with his rising anger pushing him forward.
As they reached the riverside Akira saw a large body lying in a pool of their blood.
Akira rushed over to the large body and saw that it was Zundar!
There were several large gashes on his chest, arms, as well as a wound to his neck that was still bleeding. One of his prized horns had been sliced in half, luckily the horn had blunted the attack and only left him with a shallow wound to his head. He looked to be in the worst shape Akira had ever seen him in before.
Akira was quick to pull out a red potion and pour it on Zundar’s wounds to help bring him back from the brink of death.
“Where is he!” asked a worried Akira as he worked to get Zundar to a point where he could talk.
“…Kill me… I have failed you…” muttered Zundar in a weak voice as he coughed and choked on the blood in his throat.
“That’s not going to happen! Just tell me where he is!”
“They… escaped down the river… said boat… waiting… for them…”
“You, stay with him. The rest of you, with me! We will hunt them down!” roared the angry Akira as he gave orders before charging down the side of the river to chase after the escaping demigods.
***
“There it is! Everyone get on the ship!” shouted Scar.
“We made it without any trouble. I was worried for a second,” said one of the demigods.
“You don’t count the two that stalled us as trouble?” asked another as they got onto the ship and started to prepare it to set sail down the river.
“Why did you guys bring that thing with you?” asked Scar pointing to the unconscious body of a werewolf.
“I thought he would be good to use as a hostage if someone tried to block our path or caught up to us. But now…”
“What do we do with him now?”
“It’s just another monster. Kill it and throw it into the river. We have to get out of here as fast as we can,” said Scar.
***
Akira was hot on the trail chasing after the scent of the captured werewolf. He only stopped when he reached the end of the trail at the edge of the river shoreline.
He along with the others searched the area for signs of the demigods but found nothing.
“Damn it! They got away on the ship! We have to continue down the river to see if we can find any more clues. Since this area has several winding curves in the river that backtracks we may still be able to catch them!”
As they continued running down the river taking shortcuts that a ship could not, Akira’s attention was drawn to something that was bobbing up and down in the water as it washed up onto the shoreline some distance away from them.
He rushed over to the body and picked it out of the water cradling it in his arms as checked the body hoping that there were no serious wounds only to see a large wound through his chest!
Akira’s mind went blank as he was lost in anger.
“Ahhhhhhhhh!” he let out a pained howl as he held the body in his arms.
Ding!
-
A new energy source Rage has been created!
Build up rage to launch deadly new skills!
New skill learned!
Rage explosion: An active AOE skill. Upon activation, the built-up rage will burst out from your body and pierce the nearest targets in a 10-foot radius. The damage is based on the strength of the target compared to the skill user.
-
A secret main quest starts now: Destroy the Cult of Science, save the world!
The cultists have retrieved the last piece they need to enact their long-cherished goal… you must stop them at all costs to stop the destruction of the world!
Travel to Halrverold and thwart their plans!
Akira paid no attention to the system messages as he was lost in his rage and grief. His vision was colored red in his rage.
“Your majesty calm your anger! He is still alive! If you use your potion now you will be able to save his life!” shouted Dolph breaking through Akira’s red haze that was clouding his mind.
For a few dazed seconds, Akira stared at the young body in his arms. His shoulder was shaken once again by Dolph fully waking him from his mindless rage.
Now that he was calmed down he was able to see small signs of life and immediately began to work on saving his son’s life.
***
In a dark cavernous room on the main continent of Halrverold, 7 dark-robed figures sat around a large stone table.
“So… the final rare item for the ritual has been acquired.”
“All that is left to do is find a vessel. Then we may start the ritual.”
“There is no need to worry about that. We have already picked out several candidates and have asked them to come to the usual meeting place for guests…”
“Do you believe one of them will be the vessel we have been looking for all these years?”
“There is no doubt, with their bodies, they can handle far more abuse and stress than any other living being or creature.”
“As soon as we decide on which one will be the vessel we must start the ritual as soon as possible. We have wasted decades with nothing to show compared to past achievements of our long-gone ancestors.”
“There is no need to be hasty or worry. We have waited this long and have properly prepared for the ritual. We WILL NOT fail this time!”
