Chapter 637
In the Divine Trees Land, three women faced each other.
One was Verdandi, who had once been regarded as one of the six beauties but had since faded into obscurity. Not only was she the older sister of Skulds, but she was also the sister of Urd, who had fallen into the Abyss.
The second woman was Al, the World Tree. And unlike the former demigod of the Divine Tree's Land, Yggdrasil, Al was theoretically the most powerful being. Even if Davey used all his strength, he could not easily defeat Al in the Divine Trees Land without the Power of Taboo. Her power was simply superior and vast.
The third and last woman in the Divine Trees Land was Yun Hee-Ryeong, or more precisely, Isildi. She was the Princess of the Abyss, who had separated her instinct from rationality, leaving her as a half-being with only rationality left.
With no other company apart from each other, the three women sat on wooden chairs at a table, staring at one another.
"The Divine Trees Land is basically a prison."
"Then let me leave this place immediately. I need to return to Ja-Seong and Hee-Ah."
"But if you go back now, you might end up killing those you so desperately want to protect."
Isildis brows furrowed at Verdandis sarcastic remark.
"Verdandi."
"Youre different from me, Isildi. I hold this book and continue to kill my instincts, while you cannot do such a thing."
"Was it your power that separated my instinct?"
"Not what I expected, but essentially, yes. Unlike the other Princesses of the Abyss, you're in a similar situation to mine," Verdandi murmured bitterly. She then looked at her firmly, saying, "So stay here for the time being."
"Until when?"
The real debate was primarily between Verdandi and Isildi. As for the World Tree, Al, her role was mainly to make sure these two disparate remnants of the Abyss did not stir up unnecessary trouble.
"Do you know much about Neltarid?"
"..."
Silence was Isildis only response to Verdandi's question. But the lack of answer didnt faze Verdandi, who went on to say, "Right now, three gods in this world are in a strife as they vye for power and control. And in our homeland of the Abyss, the God Thanatos is just waiting for revenge, his body still dismantled.
"..."
"Then, theres Freyja, the goddess of this land. She is the one manipulating Davey, who brought you here. And lastly, the God Neltarid, who has begun to manifest in another dimension.
...
"The combat between these three gods means I need you now."
"Why would you need me?"
"When Thanatos disappears, I need someone who will protect me... and my son..."
Asking this from Isildi just meant she had the power and strength to do it.
"The world has changed. In the past, the world was turned over periodically among the gods, but Goddess Freyja, who won the Three-Gods War, is slowly changing the flow by twisting it. Its up to Davey, who is nearly no different from her servant, to cut down the variables that are created in the process."
Isildi didnt say anything at the mention of Davey. After all, she already knew damn well.
Davey ORowane was a guardian of Goddess Freyja. He was immensely strong; he was practically an incarnate of a portion of her power. For some reason, he was drawing out all his power under some sort of conditions, but that also meant he was fraught with great variables.
"It's a pity. Even Thanatos has a sad story. Hes clamoring for revenge after being robbed of his rights, but he is directing his revenge on the wrong target.
"Explain it to me simply. My head isn't good enough to understand what you're saying."
"Long story short, the war of the Three-Gods will intensify. The defeat of Thanatos may be inevitable, but what comes after that is a problem."
"What... What are you plotting?"
"Me?" Verdandi gave a sly smile. But then the expression vanished almost as soon as it appeared on her face.
"Surviving by keeping promises... To do that, I need Davey's power. World Tree Al, you are ultimately in the same position as I am, arent you?"
"I won't deny that. However, you shouldn't think that Davey is unaware of your schemes."
At Al's nonchalant comment, Verdandi just shrugged her shoulders, uncaringly saying, "I'm already tired of that assumption."
"Remember, its fine for now. But it would be sensible to consider whether Neltarid really just wants to aid Goddess Freyja, leading to this situation."
Goddess Freyja likely knew about this too. Yet, for some reason, she allowed Neltarid to run amok.
But how could a mere being comprehend the vast transcendent will? After all, the transcendent will was something that did not exist yet also existed. Such was the nature of a god.
Verdandi fell silent, no longer keeping the conversation alive. Isildi might not have been aware, but she was a slightly unusual Princess of the Abyss. For she actually held just a bit more memory of her being the Princess of the Abyss.
'Why does goddess Freyja let Neltarid be?'
She did not know exactly what the war of the Three-Gods was like. However, she could occasionally catch a glimpse of unexpected memories from Thanatos through periodic memories extracted from astrology, which was her speciality.
The first to be attacked and lose divine favor was Neltaridthe being that also signaled the start of the war.
* * *
Cat Tower regarded his contract with Davey as something akin to an NPC fate, which existed in Alf Online according to Hydro and Oxygen. NPC fate allowed players to clear special quests of higher NPCs and earn significant rewards. Of course, this had caused no serious problems in the game. In fact, it was even properly rewarding players for their efforts, making it an additional benefit to them.
However, that was only the case with soulless NPCs created by Neltarid.
When a few more men began to surround Maga, the people around them started looking on with intrigue, as though they found the situation rather entertaining.
"What's this?"
"Is this an unauthorized Player Killing? Is it really a PK?"
Ignoring the murmuring from the bystanders as if they were just bees buzzing in the background, the young man firmly grabbed Magas hand.
"Come with me. Do we not have things left to say to each other?"
"Things to say? When did you start spouting such nonsense? I have nothing left to say to a bastard like you! Let me go, or I'll make you regret it!"
Despite futile struggling and yelling, she did not have the strength to overpower the young man. Seemingly dissatisfied at being dragged along, she quickly pulled out a large potion bottle from her belongings and hurled it at the man.
The bottle she threw was one of the alchemists' offensive skills called 'Pain Drinker,' a poison damage spell. Of course, no sooner had the bottle hit the young man, a muscular man nearby quickly cast a spell to remove any status ailments.
"Be careful, young master. Logging out forcibly could lead to significant losses."
The young man nodded silently at the warning given.
"You fucking piece of trash, let go of me!" she cursed and cursed as she continued to struggle.
This only seemed to irritate the man further. Unable to control his ire, he slapped her hard in the face so suddenly that she didnt even have time to even blink when it happened.
SMACK!!
At the strong impact, her head spun. Although there was hardly any actual pain because they were in a virtual reality, the dour and surly look on her face still hardened.
"Must I spell it out for you to understand?"
"See? It's your rotten behavior. This is why you got dumped, you son of a bitch."
"Who said so?"
She was notorious for her irascible demeanor, but this young man, she had the misfortune to date before, was filthy beyond reason.
He disgusted her. And it was not just because of one reason. For one thing, he was an excessively entitled man with a vile penchant for violence and with a severe lack of empathy and compassion. On top of that, he also had a history of womanizing, which she loathed above all. Oh, Maga could probably go on forever listing the things that made the man repulsive.
"I'm utterly disgusted that you went through more than twenty women while we were together. There's nothing left to say between us, and it's all been dealt with by my family, so just get lost, she snapped back coldly and slapped the young man's hand away.
"I could only meet you here, so I had to come to this filthy place. Just come with me quietly."
"Eat shit, bastard."
At her icy response, the young man tilted his head, seemingly unruffled. And then, his high-level-equipped bodyguards overtly activated their PK status to pressure her.
'Oh crap... I'm supposed to be meeting Oxygen!'
Now was not the time for this. Someone more important was waiting nearby. She internally fretted over what to do. She had already sent a message the moment the quarrel began, so she needed to wrap this up before Oxygen arrived to keep her real identity hidden.
"Want to fight? Come at me then, you bastards. I may be a producer class, but I can still handle a PK."
At her provocation, the men lunged at her, with subduing seemingly being their goal.
It was clear they were targeting her online since they could not meet her offline.
With high-level users surrounding her, there was obviously not much she could do, apart from dodging and running.
The commotion gained more traction to the point that the guards from the village started to gather on the location. But it seemed like the young man's bodyguards had bribed them beforehand as though they had anticipated this to happen. And so they still showed sly readiness even in the unexpected turn of events.
It was undoubtedly the use of a 'Bribery' special skill indeed.
So when the guards didnt bother to intervene, it relieved her immensely that she directed Oxygen to a different location. She was scheduled to meet Oxygen soon after all. So if Maga hadnt done so, Oxygen couldve gotten entangled with the mess too.
And she knew the guy in front of her was a vile one. Anyone not to his liking was likely going to be relentlessly hounded and harassed.
But what they had not anticipated was becoming clearer by the minute.
A mage, who was pressing on her, released a wide-reaching spell that barely missed her but inadvertently hit a bystander. While bribe money might make the guards turn a blind eye, it could also activate a penalty where unrestricted PK gets enabled. And so anyone could be targeted, and the presence of enemies could increase.
It was a sort of game balancing, discouraging the reckless use of money to enable PK. But that had little effect on the intentions of these aggressors, and as expected, they were not concerned in the slightest. It was just other players who might take offense.
BOOM!!!
A great explosion blasted and someone had been hit.
Maga cursed internally, narrowly dodging a vicious blade's trajectory. But the attacker anticipated her movements and stepped forward, continuing the assault.
Her eyes widened as the attack nearly caught her. But the striking blade never reached her. A young man stepped from behind her and effortlessly pulled her backward, causing her to tumble to the ground.
THUD!!!
Then, with a smooth flick of the wrist, the young man deflected the attacker's sword.
"What?"
Surprised, she caught sight of the newcomer. Black hair, crimson eyesalmost foreign in appearance, but undoubtedly striking.
The composed young man then spoke, his voice loud and clear, "Fighting is one thing, but you should at least know who you're attacking before you proceed?"
He was smiling broadly, but she felt a chilling viciousness behind the smile of this black-haired, red-eyed young man.