Apophis opened his eyes.
A wave of pure relief ran through his body. He was still alive!
Then he received a strange notification.
System: You have entered the Level ??? Raid [Flashback: The Fall of Oralia] on [Value_Not_Found] difficulty.
That was a strange and glitchy notification, but far better than being dead. Apophis gathered his wits and inspected his character.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼CHARACTER
║ ╰╼[Name] : Apophis
║ ╰╼[LvL] : 10
║ ╰╼[Tier] : E+ {Awoken}
║ ╰╼[Class] : Esper {40 Skill Points available}
║ ╰╼[Biology] : Male Zetark-Human Hybrid {Evolution Level: 2}
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼SOUL
║ ╰╼[Energy] : 1100 (+50%) = 1650
║ ╰╼[Alignment] : -1 {Dark}
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼STATS
║ ╰╼[Strength] 200 (+10%) = 220 STR
║ ╰╼[Intelligence] 200 (+10%) = 220 INT
║ ╰╼[Agility] 200 (+10%) = 220 AGI
║ ╰╼[Dexterity] 200 (+10%) = 220 DEX
║ ╰╼[Luck] 1 LUK
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼BOOK SKILLS
║ ╰╼~Dark Cosmic Meditation (lvl 2)~
║ ╰╼~Demon God Flame (lvl 2)~
║ ╰╼~Lord of Flames (lvl 1)~
║ ╰╼~Susanoo (lvl 1)~
╟─╼TALENT TREE SKILLS
║ ╰╼~Firebending~
║ ╰╼~Telekinesis~
╟─╼PASSIVE SKILLS
║ ╰╼[ Archaeologist ]
║ ╰╼[ Mark of a God ]
╠══════════════╡
╟─╼EQUIPMENT
║ ╰╼[Galactic Coins] : 401,023 GC
║ ╰╼[Complete Zetark Battle Armor (Rare)]
║ ╰╼[God Tzeentch's Rings of Power (Legendary)]
║ ╰╼[Zetark Nobility Uniform (Epic)]
╚═══════════════╛
Unbelievable! Despite his worries, nothing had changed!
Then Apophis took a moment to inspect his environment. High above him, even farther than the edges of the planet's atmosphere, was a huge space battle involving several thousand capital ships!
What the hell was happening?!
He opened the political menu.
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╟─╼POLICY
╟─╼[Stellar Year] 5997
╟─╼[Galactic Sector] Center of the Galaxy (Difficulty: Divine)
╟─╼[Stellar Faction] Zetark Empire
╟─╼[Planet] Oralia
║ ╰╼[Biome] Arid
╚═══════════════╛
Now Alexander thought he understood what had happened! The universe space of Horus had disappeared during the update–perhaps temporarily, perhaps not–and so Apophis had spawned into an instanced zone. Similar to being in a Dungeon, he was observing a portion of a Raid event that wasn't in the main game space of Horus.
The keyword "flashback" in the system message brought something to mind. In his old life, some Raids were flashbacks to historical moments. So this Raid was about the Fall of Oralia, the day the ancient capital of the Zetark Empire fell to attackers!
The strange thing was that Apophis had never heard of a Raid retracing the Fall of Oralia from his first life.
Even stranger, the Raid had no visible level, and the difficulty was glitched.
He looked around at what seemed to be the remnants of a gothic town that had been bombarded by space debris. In the distance, about a mile away, was a vast palace. Apophis made his way through the ruins of the town and found the main highway. As he approached the palace, Apophis quickly realized something disturbing.
Strewn across the open ground on the way to the palace were thousands of dead soldiers, though there had been nobody in the town. He inspected one of the corpses.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼NPC CHARACTER
║ ╰╼[Name]: Imperial Guard
║ ╰╼[LvL]: 200
║ ╰╼[Rank]: A+
╚══════════════╛
This was incredible! Such an immense power level for a mere soldier!
The closer Apophis got to the palace, the more corpses he met. Hundreds of thousands of high-level NPCs, all dead and scattered across the path...
The atmosphere was heavy with silence.
When he arrived in front of the palace, Apophis couldn't help but feel awed by its magnificence!
It rose over one hundred meters high and was built with magnificent Gothic architecture, like the rest of the Zetark buildings he'd seen. Apophis entered through the two huge doors of the palace—
But as soon as he entered the palace, Apophis received a notification.
System: Quest Notification.
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╟─╼[Secret Quest] Survive!
║ ╰╼[Recommended Level] ???
║ ╰╼[Difficulty] ???
║ ╰╼[Time Limit] 999 years.
╟─╼[Summary] You are in grave danger! Leave immediately, before he finds you.
╟─╼[Objective] Survive until the time limit is reached.
╟─╼[Reward] Based on your final quest score.
╟─╼[Failure Penalty] Your essence is destroyed.
╚═══════════════╛
System: This quest has been automatically assigned.
Apophis, seeing the message, fell into despair.
He couldn't even refuse the quest! What was he supposed to do?
For the first time in a very long while, Apophis was petrified.
Yet, he had to move on! Staying in one place was a guarantee of death! So Apophis continued to move forward, very carefully—
What he saw next shocked him!
In the next room, near a huge golden throne at the bottom of the stairs, lay many scattered corpses. Most were clearly elite Zetark guards, but two were clearly different: a little girl slumped across an old man, both wearing blood-soaked but extremely rich clothing.
Apophis inspected the first corpse.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼BOSS
║ ╰╼[Name]: Malekith VI, Emperor of the Zetark Empire
║ ╰╼[LvL]: 200
║ ╰╼[Rank]: S+
╚══════════════╛
He'd never seen this figure before… but he recognized the second person.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼BOSS
║ ╰╼[Name]: Princess Antanria, Heir to the Zetark Empire
║ ╰╼[LvL]: 200
║ ╰╼[Rank]: S+
╚══════════════╛
Antanria had a huge hole in her back, and she had clearly died from blood loss. Apophis assumed the same was true for her father's corpse, upon which Antanria had slumped over.
Then, slowly, Apophis became aware that there was another figure in the room… sitting on the golden throne itself.
The man was beautiful, with white hair, violet eyes, and two huge black wings sprouting from his back. He wielded a huge sword with an eye in the center, and its blade was soaked with blood, along with the man's right forearm. He gave off a powerful aura of dominance. The man stared up at the ceiling, as though he didn't realize that Apophis was there.
Apophis understood what had happened. This thing had invaded the Raid and massacred everyone!
With apprehension, Apophis inspected the mysterious figure.
╔══════════════╕
╟─╼PLAYER CHARACTER
║ ╰╼[Name]: Unknown God-Emperor, God-Slayer, Lord of the Universe
║ ╰╼[LvL]: ???
║ ╰╼[Rank]: ???
╚══════════════╛
No sooner had he finished inspecting than the man on the throne looked down to stare directly at Apophis—and, in less than a second, had teleported before him!
The God-Emperor drove his sword through Apophis's stomach like a hot knife through butter.
System: You are dead.