- Sirzechs -
"Is this everyone?" He asked as he looked at the group of people gathered in front of him.
Ajuka nodded.
"Yes. They were given a full rundown of the situation. Their task will be to complete the game and rescue the people trapped inside. We have already provided everyone with a list. Each member they rescue will increase their reward and the ones to complete the game will get a reward granted by the Three Factions together. All of them have agreed voluntarily to join the mission. Should anything happen to them, their families will be compensated for the next three generations. Most of them are people who have their own family members trapped inside the game or have debts or are people who have had injuries and had to leave their normal lives due to it….and some of them are criminals who wish to be pardoned. Some of them wish to achieve a high rank in the underworld."
He nodded. " A Rank of upto High Class will be rewarded to anyone who rescues anyone from the list and Ultimate Class to anyone who completes the game." He promised.
"We will also offer them a reward from our side." Michael came forward and added.
"Well….we will throw in something from our side as well." Azazel added.
They had ordered over two thousand nerve gears but due to the shortage of time, only five hundred people were gathered within the week.
They plan to send four batches of five hundred people inside to allow the ones going ahead to make some progress while the later ones arrive.
Many people were trapped inside the game even among the Supernatural factions. This included not only the members of the Three Factions but also some others from different factions.
He had sent messages to all the other pantheons to inform them about the deal with the Game Master in the hopes that they would also send some people inside the game to rescue others.
There had been no reply till now due to the short amount of time passing.
Most of them were hesitating to make any moves after seeing the retaliation of the Game Master against the Devil Race due to the actions of Rizevim.
He hoped that the successful entry of the first batch of people inside the game would also give them hope and they would lend a hand to the cause.
"Lord Lucifer." He heard a voice beside him and looked to the side to see his sister's knight, kneeling before him. "Please….please allow me to go inside to rescue others." He begged.
The boy had been feeling guilty since the day he found out about what had happened.
He had been out due to a contract and had escaped the fate of being trapped inside the game. The others hadn't been so fortunate.
This had been eating away at the boy.
Again, when knowing the boy's past, it was understandable.
Survivor's guilt.
He had once lost all his friends due to the actions of a madman and once more, the same thing was being repeated with him.
It must be even harder on the boy.
That said, he, in his right conscience, couldn't allow him to do so.
He knew how much his sister cared for her peerage members. Losing even one of them would leave her devastated.
The rest of her peerage is already trapped inside. Now, if he were to send even the last one in such a dangerous situation, she would never forgive him when she came out.
He let out a sigh and patted the boy's shoulder.
"They need you here, Yuuto-kun. I promise nothing will happen to them. I will….we will save them all."
The boy tried to argue but he shook his head.
"Tell me, Yuuto-kun, do you think Rias would ever forgive any one of us if anything happened to you inside the game? Will Akeno, Koneko or Gasper forgive us? No. They would never wish for you to endanger yourself. What you can do in the meantime is stay here and train. Become stronger and wait for them to come out. While their minds may be trapped inside the game, their bodies are still outside. Please stay here and protect them while they are inside."
He reassured the boy and finally sent him away.
Looking at the departing back of the boy, he sighed.
While he did so, said all those words to the kid, he himself was very nervous inside.
Right now, he could only hope that everything goes well with this mission.
- Game Master -
"Eight hundred people have entered the game in total. Five hundred from the Devil's side and three hundred from other independent factions. This number is only going to increase when others learn of the successful entry of the devil's side inside the game. I expect the number to be in the thousands when the different human governments and rich businessmen send people inside to rescue their family members." Red told him as she looked over the list.
"Well, we have prepared for a total of forty million people so it's not a big deal. I seriously doubt they would send that many people inside. Anyways, the more they send the better for us."
"I wonder what the world will look like after the game ends. There is sure to be a great upheaval."
"That's for sure. And they will have to deal with it and overcome it. If they can't even do so, then their fates at the hands of the Machine and Spirit Gods would be the fault of no one but their own. I can just give them a chance to gain power. If they cannot unite even in the face of world destruction level danger and continue to plot against each other….let them go extinct. I will not stay here protecting them and wiping their asses forever." He replied.
"Well, I don't want to do so either. I am a dragon, not a guard dog." Red scoffed.
She had been the one who was most pissed when she found out about her possible future. That had led her to train in earnest and gain the power she had today, which was almost twice of what she had the first time they had met with each other.
Ophis and Tiamat were the same.
That said, none of them wanted to be stuck in this world after knowing of the vast multiverse outside. All of them wanted to go out and explore.
But if they did so, this world would be destroyed for sure. They wouldn't stand a chance against the Machine Gods and if by some strange miracle they did survive, they would become a slave of the Spirit Gods.
He had already seen another world facing such an end.
Being targeted by the Machine Gods and used as the pawn of the Spirit Gods who used them as cheap soldiers to thin out the numbers of their enemies.
Ultimately, nothing was left of the world.
While he was sure he could fight even the strongest of the Spirit Gods and Machine Gods with his current power and the help of his lovers, the rest of the world was not strong enough to even survive the clash between the two sides.
To prevent this from happening, he and all his lovers decided to think of a way to empower the world itself so that they could face the dangers of the outside world.
He was slightly grateful to this world for making him what he was today but none of this was handed to him on a silver platter. He had to fight from the bottom, as a human on the verge of death due to getting caught between the fight of the two Heavenly Dragons to the strongest existence of this world, he had carved his path with his own two hands. So he was returning the same favour to the world.
Those who were capable would use this chance to become stronger.
He had done his part in the background too. He had trapped the messengers of the Spirit Gods who had already arrived to this world a decade ago in a never ending illusion to keep the other side in the dark.
This game, Soul Art Online, was his wish as well as the last chance of this world to survive their imminent destruction of the whole world.
"Number of people reaching T3 Class Jobs has reached the mark." Tiamat interrupted their talks and he looked at the screen.
Every region has twenty T3 Class people now.
"Start the first world mission."
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Author's Note:
I am back with another chapter of Soul Art Online.
Things are heating up bit by bit.
Arthas became a Goblin Slayer of all things.
The Game is forcing them to face their fears and the months of staying in the game doesn't make it any better. They will struggle and grow up in the process.
PS: Snuggles help.
On the other hand, Kuroka is inside the game and meets Gasper.
I will write some parts in the future chapters telling everyone's side of the story and what they are doing in the meantime.
Enjoy the new chapter.
Good Day, Peace Out.