Legacy of the Betelgeuse

I approach Ivonna and the others in the hallway that seems to be the entrance where the royal families are at. Ivonna looks at me and stands up. I wave at her and she then walks towards me while waving back at me.

"What are you doing here, Trev? Aren't you supposed to do your thing?"

I nod.

"Yeah, but everything seems already under control, so I came here to check on you guys. How are the royal families? Are they all in there?"

Ivonna nods.

"Yeah, everyone is in there. They're currently having an emergency meeting and find a way to deal with that thing out there. By the way, have you seen Emma and William when you came in here?"

I'm humming and pointing at the outside.

"They both went to the front line to help the others. I told them to do that."

Ivonna is furrowing her forehead and looks at me with disbelief.

"Why?"

I smile and shake my head.

"Why not? We need them out there right now. We can't just waste our best players staying here doing nothing. We need to hold the invasion for a week, and we need as many resources as we can get. I know what you're thinking, but don't worry. Nothing is going to happen to the royal families, and Michael with the others will be back in a few since they will need to rest. That's why I'm here in the first place. I will switch with them to handle the monsters later."

Ivonna is humming. I chuckle and look at her.

"Your expression looks awful. Don't worry about it too much. Everyone needs to have a taste of the invasion, and you should too. Why don't you go right now and join them?"

Ivonna slightly smiles and shakes her head.

"No, I'm fine. My job is to protect the royal families. I need to focus on that."

I cross my arms and shake my head.

"You don't have to worry about that. Nobody will try to harm them."

Ivonna looks at me.

"What makes you so confident about that? Because they told me there's a group of people that will try to take the opportunity to take them down."

I tilt my head.

"Because I already ordered someone to eliminate the threat."

Ivonna raises her eyebrows while staring at me with disbelief.

"So that's what you were doing. I really appreciate that. It makes me feel a bit relieved and at ease. I guess I can relax for a bit."

I nod.

"Yeah, you should. I can tell that you're feeling tense and uneasy. How about we all go to the front line after Michael and the others came back? Maybe you can relieve your stress out there. How's that? Sounds good?"

Ivonna looks back and sees Francesca and Grisell are leaning against each other while Chelsea is looking at the paintings on the wall. Then she looks back at me.

"Yeah, I think that's okay, I guess."

I smile and nod.

"Good. For now, just get some rest because we will be fighting those monsters all night."

Ivonna nods and then we approach Francesca, Chelsea, and Grisell then inform them that we are going to the front line when Michael and the others are back. They seem excited about it. We then go to sleep on the sofa in one of the rooms in the palace.

(6 hours in-game time later.)

Someone is poking my shoulder. I open my eyes and it's Emma. I sit up and see everyone is in the room. Michael and the others are covered with blood and dirt, and they all seem exhausted. Ivonna, Francesca, Chelsea, and Grisell are already wearing their full set of armor.

Ivonna looks at me and nods.

"We are ready to leave, Trev."

I nod and grab something to eat in my inventory.

"Give me a minute."

Ivonna nods and then looks at Michael.

"What's the situation out there?"

Michael is leaning on the chair.

"Everything is still under control. Everyone is doing their best to prevent the monsters from leaving the Maryoca Kingdom, and right now they're already switching with the second team for the night shift."

Francesca looks at Michael.

"Shazjae is still not moving?"

Michael shakes his head.

"Fortunately, yeah. It hasn't moved a single muscle. I think as long as we don't wipe out the entire armies, it won't move as Trevor said. So everything is safe for now."

Ivonna is humming with understanding.

"Even if it's safe for now, that doesn't mean we can ignore the fact it will start moving when all the monsters are dead."

Grisell snaps her fingers.

"Oh! What if we keep one monster alive for the next 6 days? Doesn't that mean Shazjae will do nothing?"

Leo shakes his head.

"I don't think so. It sounds good to be true, and I think they already thought about it and will wake Shazjae at some point. Am I right, Trev?"

Everyone is looking at me, and I nod in agreement.

"That's right. No matter what trick you guys are using, Shazjae will awake and start destroying the kingdoms."

I stand up and stretch my body.

"The worst scenario is that Shazjae will wake up and immediately getting enrage. To be honest, if that's what going to happen, there's no way to stopping him. We still can distract him, but I'm not confident if everyone can survive after they take the aggro."

Everyone is looking at me with confusion. Ivonna tilts her head.

"Why is that?"

I look at the quest.

"It's because the population of the Alliance Kingdoms is still above 50%."

Francesca chuckles with disbelief while shaking her head.

"Are you trying to say that we have to sacrifice 46% of the population so it won't enraged? That sounds fucked up."

I tilt my head and nod.

"Well, it's all back to what decision you guys are going to make about it. But yeah, it is what it is. Either you all will choose the former or the latter, it doesn't matter to me because I'm just going to do my best to prevent Shazjae from destroying the kingdoms."

Everyone looks at Ivonna. Ivonna then rubbing her chin.

"I personally don't want that. But the decision isn't in my hand alone. I will discuss this matter with the other leaders. For now, let's just focus on what's in front of us right now. Shall we go, Trev?"

I nod.

"Yeah, let's go."

We enter the Maryoca Kingdom and there are too many monsters' corpses around here and so many players are fighting against the monsters in front of us. I look up and Shazjae is standing still like a statue. I look back and check on Chelsea because she's been quiet ever since the invasion started. She's just hugging herself while staring at the ground.

"Chelsea, are you alright?"

Chelsea is shaking her head.

"Nope, I hate... whatever that thing is."

I smile and tilt my head.

"I thought you love some cosmic horror? You were asking for it back then, right? And you were excited when you asked me about that."

Chelsea chuckles and smiles nervously.

"Well, I'm already regretting it now."

I smile.

"You will be fine. We all are here with you, aren't we? So let's have some fun and happy hunting."

I grab my staff and spellbook and then immediately cast [Frozen Flame] at the group of monsters while Azrael is charging at them and finish them off. Ivonna lifts her shield and lance then charges at the horde of monsters with Francesca, Grisell, and Chelsea.

The four of them are having so much fun that I have to warn them to not kill so many of them and let the monsters approach us, not the other way around. They all apologize and back away. Chelsea who was looking depressed now has a big smile on her face. But then something is hitting my head from behind, I look back and I can see Avriel inside a ruined house while waving at me.

I use [Moonsteps] and approach her.

"What's wrong?"

Avriel is smiling and then walks into a room that looks like a kitchen. I follow her from behind and there's a familiar scent coming from the kitchen. Avriel turns around and looks at me, then she moves away and pointing her arm at the kitchen table. I raise my eyebrows and am staring at 3 decapitated heads on the table.

I look at Avriel.

"That was fast. I thought it would take around 2 or 3 days for you to complete the job. Are you alright? Do you have any injuries on you?"

Avriel chuckles and lifts her arms and turns around.

"I'm fine. It was an easy job. Not because I handled something far worse, but it was because father's men that were with me were doing an excellent job to help me."

Avriel then sits on the chair in front of the 3 decapitated heads while rolling one of the heads around.

"So, I found something interesting from these guys."

Avriel then grabs the head and stares at it.

"These guys work for that pig emperor of the Eluna Empire, huh? I never know about it, well... I only heard rumors about them but I never thought they were real."

Avriel then throws it to the ground.

"Duke Nester."

Avriel grabs another head and throws it to the ground.

"Marquess Poldrad."

Avriel grabs the last head and throws it to the ground as well.

"Lastly, Count Dellia."

Avriel rests her head on her hand while staring at those heads.

"The three-headed snake that managed to kill 6 Kings and their descendants. The only target that they were failed to kill is the crown prince from the Maryoca Kingdom that managed to escape with his family."

I nod.

"Yeah, the crown prince is actually was closer than you think. But now what's left is the son of that crown prince, Gervase. That lives in the Sarkh Village."