[Somewhere in the demonic realm]
In the heart of the demonic realm, deep within an obsidian castle sat, Asmodeus, The third strongest demon king ,on a throne carved from blackened bone and molten gold.
The throne room was vast, its jagged walls alive with a faint, pulsating energy.
Light was an unwelcome guest here, the room illuminated only by the soft crimson glow emanating from the demon king himself.
His presence was overwhelming—a perfect blend of majesty and menace.
Even in his restrained, human-like form, he radiated an aura of absolute supremacy, as if the very fabric of reality bent under his will.
Before him knelt one of his subordinates, his ashen form trembling under the crushing weight of his lord's gaze.
"My lord," the demon began, his voice hesitant,
"The corruption is progressing as planned. Virella, Eldermere, and the surrounding towns have fallen. Only one remains before the required life force is gathered to complete the ritual."
Asmodeus leaned forward slightly, his clawed fingers tracing the arm of his throne. "And the Celestial Princess?" he asked, his voice low and velvety, yet dripping with malice.
"The capital has declared her dead," the demon said cautiously.
"She was last seen in the town of Virella before its fall. No word of her has emerged since, and the light faction assumes she perished during the invasion as well."
For a moment, silence fell, broken only by the faint hum of dark energy pulsing through the castle.
Then, Asmodeus' lips curled into a wicked smile.
"How foolish they are, these so-called servants of light. They were more than willing to destroy their own in pursuit of their ambitions. The High Paladin himself plotted the death of his blessed daughter. Heh...Hahaha.."
His restrained laugh shuddered even the intense mana around him.
He stood, his towering form casting a shadow so immense it seemed to devour the room.
"The final town, I wonder which one should it be ..." his grin widening as he thought.
Asmodeus turned his gaze to the far end of the chamber, where a figure stood cloaked in shadows.
This being was no mere demon. Its very form radiated an aura of silent devastation, its eyes burning like smoldering coals.
"You," Asmodeus commanded, his voice sharp, "will leave for Valltherion, gather information and lead the assault. Ironvale must be reduced to ash. Leave no survivors. Do not fail me."
The figure bowed deeply, fading into the darkness like a shadow melting into the night.
Asmodeus watched the spot where the figure had vanished, his eyes gleaming with cruel satisfaction.
"Soon, this world will kneel," he murmured, almost to himself. "The light faction will reap the chaos they sowed, and their goddess… will watch her precious creations crumble. Ahaha... AHAHAHAHA!"
He laughed softly at first, but it quickly grew louder, rougher, until it sounded like he couldn't stop, as if the thought itself was too satisfying to contain.
**********
[Etherea Online - Technical Department]
Elliot Carter leaned back in his chair, his legs propped against the edge of his desk as he scrolled through the livestream of a popular streamer struggling against a pack of goblins.
The chat was in chaos, half of it debating whether the goblins were too overpowered, while the other half insisted they were ,'too sexy' for a game and should not be killed, rather befriended.
Unfortunately, Elliot was among the second.
"Another day of doing nothing," he muttered under his breath, glancing briefly at the performance metrics on his screen.
Everything was in the green, as usual. Celestia, the AI, handled every conceivable task, leaving him and the rest of the department as glorified babysitters.
"ANY UPDATES?" the manager's voice thundered across the room, snapping Elliot out of his thoughts.
"NO, SIR!" the team replied, their voices a mix of boredom and mechanical obedience.
Elliot yawned, prepared to dive back into his phone, when his screen suddenly flickered red. The sharp, urgent tone of an alert blared through his cubicle.
"What the hell?" Elliot muttered, sitting up straight.
The manager, who had been pacing the room, froze mid-step and turned toward Elliot's cubicle. "What's going on now?"
"Uh… sir," Elliot stammered, his fingers flying over the keyboard. "Sir, it's… uh… the player from server 9998AB67. The one we couldn't track after the tutorial?"
The manager's face darkened. "Yes, what about him?"
"Well," Elliot hesitated, gulping as he read the data flashing on his screen. "He's… triggered a World Quest."
The manager's face twitched in disbelief. "A World Quest? Before the system was supposed to even unlock it? That's impossible!"
"Apparently not, sir," Elliot replied, his voice laced with panic and fascination.
"The system flagged it as an S-rank quest. Celestia's refusing to provide context again, and it's blocking all attempts to interfere."
The manager stormed over, leaning over Elliot's shoulder to peer at the screen. "Are you telling me an untraceable player—someone who shouldn't exist—just triggered a quest designed to shift the balance of the entire game?"
"Uh, yeah… that's about the gist of it," Elliot said, forcing a nervous laugh.
The manager cursed under his breath, rubbing his temples as if willing the situation to be solved away on it's own. "And what's Celestia saying now?"
Elliot typed quickly, accessing the AI's communication logs. The screen filled with cryptic gibberish. One line, however, stood out in bold-
"The player has been deemed essential to the integrity of Elyndor's future. No interference allowed."
Elliot's heart skipped a beat as he read it aloud.
The manager's scowl deepened. "Essential to the future? What is this, some kind of melodramatic fantasy novel?"
"I… I don't know, sir," Elliot admitted, his hands trembling slightly. "But whatever's happening, it's way beyond our control now."
The room fell into uneasy silence, broken only by the soft hum of the monitors.
Finally, the manager straightened, his expression grim. "Keep monitoring him. If this player does anything else that threatens the system, I want to know immediately. And... pray this doesn't escalate further."
Elliot nodded, but as he stared at the bold text on the screen, a chill ran down his spine.
**********
It had been roughly two hours since Ray and Seraphine left for Valltherion. Both of them trudged through a rocky path which bended and twisted unnaturally as if not even the makers of it knew where they needed to go.
There was no presence of any life forms as far as their eye could see. Only the barren land riddled with high rocky peaks and the occasional tuft of greenery.
'Woman can't you remain quiet for once??'
Ray's mind was now completely saturated from the incessant talking of The Celestial Princess, but he kept his express calm.
After all, yelling at a princess—the Celestial Princess—probably wasn't the best way to win her trust.
Her questions, however had been relentless-
"Ray, what other abilities did the goddess give you?" She asked imitating an imaginary screen in front of her with a look of understanding.
"Are these given to every otherworlder like you?"
"Do all of them know how to create potions?"
"You know, my father never really appreciated me. I always tried so hard..." she said with tears in her eyes.
Ray would have felt bad for her but the sudden changes in the conversation made him more confused than anything.
"Ray, can you also communicate with goddess? Like me??"
"Ray, why don't you wear any armor, if you're the chosen one?"
"Ray, is there a reason you have a mole above your eyebrow? Does it symbolize something divine?"
Ray gritted his teeth. "Princess, it's a birthmark. Not everything about me is divine."
Seraphine ignored his irritation entirely and barreled on with her interrogation.
"Princess, are you sure Valltherion is this way?" he asked, his eyes scanning the barren landscape for any sign of civilization.
"O- of course, we definitely travelled from this way when we were to arrive in Virella...I think...?"
"Wha- what 'I think'. Don't you remember it?"
"It had been nearly a month! How do you expect me to remember the road? It was not like I was driving the carriage!"
"Carriage..? Then why were you so confident to be the guide...hah, truly legendary princess, just like your ability to ask questions without taking a single breath."
She pouted, crossing her arms. "Well, excuse me for being curious! It's not like I've ever had to stroll without being surrounded by guards before, especially with an otherworlder"
"Clearly," Ray muttered under his breath.
They walked in silence for approximately three minutes before Seraphine perked up again.
"Ray?"
"Yes?"
"Why do the rocks look like… faces?"
Ray frowned, glancing at the jagged peaks. Sure enough, some of them vaguely resembled distorted human faces—screaming mouths, hollow eyes and such.
[Warning: Dormant Lithoguards detected. They are bound to protect the Runestone of Aeons. Do not disturb unless absolutely necessary]
"Let us... not disturb them, princess. Those are not just rocks, those are real monsters."
Ray, although curious about the runes they were guarding, but he was not suicidal. They quickly walked away not trying to bother the sleeping monoliths.
They had walked quite a distance when Seraphine said-
"Hey Ray, Are those rocks called Lithoguards?
Then we must be on the correct path... I remember one of the paladins mentioning these when we were going past."
She said but she felt like she was forgetting something important.
"That's quite a relief to hear. So you are sure, right? There are no more dangers left on this route?"
"Of course!" Seraphine replied with a confident smile, striding ahead. "My team and I came this way only a month ago. It's completely safe—"
A whizzing sound cut through the air. Ray barely had time to react before Seraphine lunged forward, shoving him aside.
Thwack!
An arrow embedded itself into the ground where Ray had just been standing.
"What the—" Ray scrambled back, he took out his sword from his inventory as his eyes darted around.
"Oh," Seraphine said sheepishly, standing over him with a slightly guilty expression. "I might have forgotten to mention… but there was a bandit camp nearby."
"..." Ray had no words left to say.
"Well," she shrugged, dusting off her hands as though saving his life was just another royal chore, "when my team passed through here last time, we… uh… sort of ignored them. They weren't a problem then."
"Well, they are definitely going to be a problem... now "
Ray said as hundreds of armed bandits emerged from the rocky hilltops, encircling them completely.