Palace Obsidia, in the Dark Territory’s highest peak. Dark Knight #11 Lippia Zankel reports back to her boss, Dark General Zast. Their familiars have found the Administrator is dead. It took her a week to know for sure, and the fact Administer’s countermeasures to prevent spying from the Dark Territory spells didn’t even detect or kill Lippia showed it’s probably true. Rumours suggest Administer died by a sword, which coincided with when the Synthesis Fifty left her patrol area half a year ago. Zast thinks this is a good opportunity to push for peace; the walls between Dark Territory and Human Kingdom will fall soon, and the ten leaders have been haggling and arguing heavily over who gets the land, loot and slaves. While the only rule in the Dark Territory is “the strong take what they want”, Zast is different to the other 9 leaders. This is shown when other servants of the ten leaders are taken but he had instead offered Lippia flowers and asked for her help.
While they have a 50,000 strong invasion force, the humans have the Synthesis Knights, each of them can match a 1,000 of their own; it’ll be an even battle between those 50 knights and their army. Sure, the Dark Territory will eventually win with superior numbers, but they’re likely to lose up to 20,000 of their own people. When their invasion succeeds the peace pact between the five races and ten leaders will be null and void, and ‘the time of iron and blood’ will come once again. The infighting will likely to last more than a hundred years. With the current situation, Zast is confident Synthesis One, Berculi, would be willing to accept peace if it’s proposed. On their side they’d have to assassinate the pro-war faction leaders, the mountain goblins, beastmen and dark mages guild leaders to get this working, but it’s not impossible. Lippia objected to the danger involved, Zast would probably be able to kill the goblin and beastmen leaders but the dark mage leader would be problematic to defeat with her tricks. Zast proposed to Lippia for her to become his wife and help him, but before they could plot any further the merchant guild leader rushed by his office screaming at the top of his lungs: their God has returned.
Gabriel gazed upon the Fluctlights that will be his tools for the coming war. One of his lieutenants logged in as the Dark Knight, while he’s logged in as Vector, the God and Emperor of the Dark Territory. The ten leaders are introduced: Merchant guild leader, giants’ elder, assassin’s guild leader, beastmen’s elder, 1st seat of the Gladiators, Cannibals’ leader, Mountain goblins’ elder, plains goblins’ elder (the two goblin factions have a rivalry), dark mages guild leader named ‘D’ (stereotypical dark-skinned beauty schemer, with skin-revealing clothes, has 3,000 mages under her control), and finally the dark general Zast. Zast asked why did their emperor return now of all times, and Gabriel thought he’s not just a simple unit like you might see in games. Gabriel in his persona as the merciless Dark God replied:
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“For Bloodshed and… Terror. Fire and Destruction. Death and the cries of Despair.”
Gabriel’s ice-like voice that was as smooth as clean-cut alloy echoed in the hall. The ten leader’s expressions tensed.
Looking at their faces one by one, Gabriel waved his right hand towards the eastern sky, his robe billowing with his movement.
“The Walls that protects the paradise favoured by the Gods that exiled Me from heaven is on the verge of collapse. We have returned… to demonstrate Our divine might to the world! We have only one wish, and that is to obtain the Priestess of the Gods that will arise in that land at this time! For every other human, plunder and kill as you wish! As all of the people of Darkness has hoped for… the promised time is here!” (All of this is supposed to be said in archaic, royal manner, hope my translation puts the feel across)
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The assembled leaders and their officers went wild at Gabriel’s declaration, though he noticed throughout all this only Zast stayed knelling with a expressionless face. He couldn’t tell if it was because of his self control as a soldier or because of some other emotion.
Scene change, Gabriel’s lieutenant congratulated him and said he should have been an actor. Gabriel used the command console in his room to turn the time flow of UW back to 1:1 with Earth and told them what happened, and they will move against the Human Kingdom within 2 days. Their hacker warned if their character dies it can’t be revived, and they’ll have to come back in to UW in lvl 1 characters. The JSDF people haven’t attacked them yet. Gabriel told them the next time he contacts them will be when has captured Alice and about to log out. After that conversation Gabriel’s lieutenant wanted to go out and have some fun, but Gabriel told him to wait for now; after their target is retrieved Gabriel will give him a day’s offtime to go have fun later before they leave. His lieutenant agreed and left for the room next to his. Gabriel disrobed and prepared to sleep, but then another door into his room opened. Gabriel was surprised at that, he had gave orders to ensure no one, including his servants, could enter the floors above his throne room; according to the rule binding the Fluctlights they should not have been able to disobey their God. A small figure knelt next to his bed, and he asked what she was here for. She said she was here to serve him for the night as his partner, and from the thin clothing she wore Gabriel could see no weapons. He asked on whose orders did she come for, and after a pause she replied nobody ordered her to, she thought it was her duty. Gabriel gave a non-committal reply and lied down on his bed. Seconds later the human woman started to disrobe.
Gabriel was impressed at the level of AIs, since as far as he knew these are limited ones unlike Alice. He wasn’t impressed by the physical beauty though, but their own volition; the woman suddenly took out a knife hidden in her long blue hair and tried to stab him where he was lying down. He figured this would happen and intercepted the attack, and pinned her down onto the bed. From the flaws in her make-up and her muscled form he thought it’s not the assassin guild leader’s doing, more likely to be one of the other leaders and probably one of the human leaders’ doing. Gabriel asked who her commander was, and she replied no-one, she’s a vagabond. Gabriel understood that the laws of Dark Territory was the weak cannot disobey the strong, so if she’s lying to him it meant she thinks her boss is stronger than him and his order supersedes his. Gabriel decided he needs to make a example of his strength, and he’ll have to take down the leader than tried to do this to him. Gabriel asked why did she do this; was it for money or power? The woman said back to him it’s for the good of the world, since if war starts now they’ll lose 200 years of progress, where the weak will be ravaged by the strong. Details earlier in the chapter showed there are treaties and rules set up to minimise that in order to limit the chaos and build a superior fighting force compared to the Human Kingdom; instead of being tortured, used and killed the weak are sent to training schools to emerge as fighters of one kind or another. Gabriel was shocked at her words, was this really an AI before breaking the limits? In her eyes Gabriel can see resolve, loyalty, and even further inside her was…
After seeing what that emotion is, Gabriel decided he doesn’t need her alive anymore. He broke her neck, and after stopping her struggles he let go in surprise; even if this is VR, killing another person felt as real as killing someone else in RL. The woman’s soul/fluctlight emerged from her corpse, and after seeing that Gabriel abandoned all his self-control and sucked her soul inside him. He felt the bitterness of fear, pain and sadness; the sourness of regret and sorrow. And the sweetness of many more memories. Children of all races was playing around in a courtyard, and after they saw her they ran to her smiling. In another man’s arms she was embraced.
In her last moments before fading into oblivion, her last words were “I love you, master…”
Gabriel was stunned with bliss after feeling those emotions. He didn’t know the mechanics was the STLs are connected to the other lightcubes physically and there was some reversing flow of information, but he didn’t care. He sucked dry the remaining emotions within the dying woman, her feelings of love. Gabriel wanted to feel more. And he is more than willing to kill more.