Chapter 275 The Afterblast

A few days later, in the royal capital:

The sky above the capital turned dark, thunders rumbling in the distance.

The capital was in chaos, with the windows closed and doors barricaded. The streets were abandoned and quiet, except for the occasional barking of dogs.

A small group of players ran down a street, water splashing under their feet as they ran through puddles of rainwater on the uneven stone road.

"How could we lose?! We have joined a kingdom. Such big factions are supposed to be stable."

"Shit, they are here!" the players jumped into a cover of the dark side streets as multiple larges reptiles passed above their heads, throwing their shadows on the streets.

Soon after:

POV The Draconic Knight:

Loud steps were ascending a long white marble staircase, muffled by the white carpet on the ground. The staircase was brightly illuminated, with tall decorated walls supporting tall vaulted ceilings.

Massive chandeliers with hundreds of tiny crystals hung from the ceiling. The beautiful light refracting in the crystals was reflected in the polished marble.

The steps stopped, the tall armoured figure turning his eyes up, 'I thought that everyone already ran away.'

A line of guards in ornamental lamellar armours and long blue silver sewed blue cloaks stood there unmovingly like statues, pointing their long blue-glowing halberds down the staircase.

"Stop! You can't..."

Before they could even finish, the figure swung his long black sword, a fan of neon-red flames cleaving through the guards, passing through their armours as if they were made of paper.

They all just collapsed to the ground with loud thuds and clangs.

'We have really won.' The figure resumed his march, his heart pounding in relief, knowing that his worse nightmare didn't happen, 'What was I even thinking? This is reality. There is no way that some hero would just appear and defeat master with the power of love and friendship.'

A doubt appeared in his mind, 'Is this reality? Why are everywhere some infinitely resurrecting players?'

Finally, he reached a massive door. They were more than five meters high, their whole metal surface engraved with glyphs.

He pushed them, and they smoothly flung open, revealing a massive throne room. The room spanned into the distance with its impressive length, its ceiling supported by tall pillars with a long blue carpet leading towards a massive throne on its other end.

'Well, this is definitely not what I was expecting. Where are dungeons full of virgins and labs with suspicious potions? I thought that the king was a vampire. Where is he hiding his secrets?'

"Quickly grab everything!"

"Haha, what do you think?! Do I look good in this crown?"

"We have no time, so stop messing!"

Voices were quickly closing towards the chamber, a smile forming on Johan's face as he knew that his master was right once more, 'Humans, their country is crumbling, yet they always find time for looting.'

A man rushed into the room, immediately freezing when his eyes fell upon the tall figure. Immediately second man ran into him from behind, both of them tumbling to the ground.

"You idiot!..." the second man also froze when noticing the black knight standing before them.

They were both richly dressed, like noblemen. Their garments were sewn with golden thread, creating majestic ornaments. One had a golden crown with rubies embedded in its frames on his head.

The knight raised his sword, his eyes dangerously glowing in the eyeholes of his dragon head-shaped helmet.

"Haha, foolish mortals! This kingdom now belongs to his majesty, and you have dared to steal from him? How could you be so stupid? You should have instead covered in your residences and begged for mercy" his eyes were blazing as he got back into his persona, which he loved. He loved the feeling of power and the respect and fear of others towards him.

'Who wants to be king? They are always busy with their politics. Instead, their henchmen don't need to care about it.'

His heart was beating faster and faster as he watched the mortal nobles crawling on the ground, their bodies trembling in fear.

"I hereby sentence you to death!" his blades cut through the air, and flames burst out, enveloping the two men. Their expensive clothes caught on fire, with their skin turning coal black.

POV Vesuvius:

Ding!

//

Your faction Vesuvian Kingdom has officially become a country.

Effects:

The laws of the faction will automatically affect every player on your territory except for special cases like enemy armies.

All players on your territory and factions will automatically be considered sub-factions and faction members of the kingdom, except for special cases like openly enemy factions and enemy players.

The faction officials can punish players breaking the law on the kingdom's soil.

Faction level +2

//

The colossal dragon high in the sky looked towards the ground, his injured wing already fully regenerated with his armour looking pristine. Crystals were randomly growing out, pulsing in mana light.

He was huge, with his height from the tips of his horns on his head all the way to the sharp crystal claws easily reaching over three hundred meters, making him look like a small mountain.

Vesuvius looked at a burning town under him, his whole plan crumbling, 'The enemy leader is dead, but so is a large number of my soldiers.'

The whole kingdom was in chaos, the nobles attacking each other in cutthroat conflicts for power. The towns were burning in fires of uprising with the priesthood of the church of light, causing chaos in the streets.

The dragon frowned, listening to the shouts coming from under him.

"Down with the nobles serving evil monsters of night!" A priest stood on the square under the castle, a huge crowd of people holding torches and pitchforks and even deserted soldiers cheering at his words.

"Damn peasants, return to your homes, or I will slay you all!" a fat nobleman with a terrifying aura was shouting from the wall, trying to suppress the whole crowd enticed by the priest without any success.

"Kill the lord and loot his castle!" a large group of players armed to their teeth were shouting together with the peasants, their eyes shining as they got the opportunity to stir trouble.

'Their government was destroyed, yet I have no army to march in. And these annoying clergymen are now using this power vacuum to get their bidding. The whole geography is going to hell. Some nobles already surrendered while others escaped or decided to fight against each other, thinking I can't control them. Then they are maniacs and loyalists that decided to die rather than to surrender...'

Vesuvius felt a growing headache just thinking about his new country crumbling right under his nose, 'They are all like children. One can't let them without supervision. My elite forces should at least keep the capital under control. As for the rest, it will take time.'

His eyes specifically stopped at the priest, 'They created that amalgamation that, together with that vampire, killed so many of my minions, and now they are making a mess on my territory. I will need to purge them all from my country.'

The dragon flapped his wings swooping down at the town, each flap of his wings sending whirls of burning wind.

His domain expanded out, the whole town and the castle in its centre submerging into shadows with all of the extinguishing of the flames.

POV Looters:

A group of players stood in the large crowd, waving their weapons above their heads while loudly shouting. Their eyes were shining with joy; it was like paradise. The guards abandoned their posts, the central government collapsed, and the local ones were in utter chaos, no one knowing who was on whose side.

They could do everything. They could ransack villages. They could kill noble NPCs for massive loot. They could slaughter random soldiers for XP. They could do anything they wanted without any government to punish them.

"This is libertarian paradise!"

One player looked at the dark sky with worry, his instincts screaming at him that he was being watched. He looked at his friend, "Is this a good idea? What if the Vesuvian army shows up and starts punishing us?"

"Haha, nonsense, their army was destroyed. They have no one to send here. They are barely holding the territory that they occupied. This is now a wild west!"

"What about the dragon?"

"Huh, it is a single dragon, and there is a whole kingdom of towns, castles, cities and villages? What chance is that they will show up here? And at worst, what will they do, kill us? That is not a problem. They can't arrest us!"

Suddenly everything darkened, the flames of the torches fizzling out. The whole crowd froze as if they had turned into statues, and the loud flapping of wings came from the dark sky.

"It is your fault. You have jinxed it, you idiot!"

Two golden eyes crackling with lightning opened up in the clouds, their tense glowing gaze carrying a simple message, 'You have fucked up!'

"What is this, mortals?! How dare you make a mess in my kingdom?!"

No one even peeped, the arrogant lord looking like a statue. Even the priest shouting until now about killing monsters was now trying to shrink and look smaller.

"You have been banished from this country!" the dragon's eyes pierced through the players, all turning pale as if they were chiselled out of salt.

Ding!

//

You were banished from the territory of the kingdom-rank faction.

You are not a member of any faction that can override this.

If you die on the territory of the Vesuvian Kingdom, you will automatically respawn outside with penalties except for special events like wars.

//

This was why the players didn't dare to cause too much trouble, as the large factions like kingdoms had the power to punish them by imprisoning them, banishing them or forcing fines upon them.

That was also why even strong players didn't dare to bully nobles or kings, knowing they would suffer.

That was the terrifying difference between kingdoms and some random factions.