Chapter 612: The City of the Chosen |
Phase 1 of Stage 2 had ended. Luke and Eleanor were rowing the boat when the sun started rising over the horizon.
“Here we go again,” she said. “We’re close to one of those buildings, Luke.”
They rowed harder. Luke’s Spectral Beast was still recovering from exhaustion inside its core.
“The water’s coming!”
The tide was dropping where they were. The ocean had already started pulling back.
Luke jumped into the water while Eleanor made the boat vanish into her pocket dimension. He threw a knife with [Witch’s Thread]. Eleanor grabbed his hand, and the two of them were yanked toward a wall. Luke activated [Demonic Predator Hands] and held tight to the structure.
The water kept retreating. A few minutes later, it was gone, rushing back into the ocean.
“Okay,” Eleanor said, looking down, “so now we’re standing on top of something as big as the Empire State Building.”
They managed to climb down using their abilities. For a week now, they had been moving in the same direction, following a distant glow somewhere on solid land. Luke opened his notification history.
[Phase 2 is beginning! New Beacons will now be summoned... at the bottom of the ocean.]
[Phase 2 has been temporarily paused!]
[The participants in this region have fulfilled a requirement that unlocked the location of the Citadel!]
That special notification had appeared right after Phase 1 ended.
[Congratulations! 51% of the Phase 1 Beacons have been cleared! As compensation, all participants in this Region of Sunken Realms have received the location of the Citadel, a safe refuge on solid land. If 51% of participants do not reach the Citadel within two weeks, you will lose a special bonus and additional information about the event.]
“Evangeline stopped moving,” Eleanor said. “Maybe she reached the Citadel.”
She was following the tracking line connected to Evangeline, which was far ahead of them and still leading toward the Citadel. Luke’s hope was that Charlie and Angie, if they had not cleared a Beacon, might head there too. It could become a meeting point.
A few more hours passed. When they crossed through an empty city, the place was crawling with crabs. Eleanor fired arrows that burst into waves of wind. At the same time, Luke was testing the new Witch skill he had chosen when he reached level 75.
[Telekinetic Stasis (Rare)]: The Witch uses telekinetic power to completely halt the movement of an object, suspending it motionless in the air as long as it remains within the range and limits allowed by [Enhanced Telekinesis]. While in stasis, the object does not fall, advance, or retreat, remaining fixed in the exact position where it was paralyzed.
***
Luke kept testing the skill while Eleanor picked off distant monsters almost like a sniper. He lifted a few rocks into the air and activated [Telekinetic Stasis]. Three large stones froze in place midair. Eleanor jumped up and stood on one of them, then drew her bow.
A giant crab dropped dead moments later.
“Good firing platform.”
Luke could only apply Stasis to an object once, and he could not apply it again for a while. Once an object had been affected by telekinesis and then locked in Stasis, it stayed fixed until enough time passed.
“I can’t build a staircase with just three rocks,” he said, “but with enough of them, I can.”
He raised several more stones and locked them in place across the air. Eleanor backed away until she was very far from him. Luke fired a ball of flame into the sky. That was the signal. She fired an arrow.
“Too fast.”
Just before the arrow hit him, Luke activated [Telekinetic Stasis]. The arrow kept coming in a straight line.
[Teleport Pentagram activated]
He appeared beside Eleanor.
“For one second there, you almost took an arrow to the balls. That would’ve been the end of Luke Junior,” Artemis said.
“Sorry,” Eleanor said.
Luke exhaled. “The test failed. I can’t stop arrows.”
They had already tested it a few times. It was a limitation of telekinesis. He could not affect objects bound to another person. Luke could not rip Eleanor’s bow out of her hands. What he wanted to test now was arrows. Once an arrow left the archer’s hand, it was no longer being held, but it still counted as bound to the person who had fired it.
“Even at a distance, the arrow stayed linked to you.”
“The sun’s going down,” Eleanor said.
The water came in. The two of them spent another night in the raft while Luke’s Spectral Beast pulled them along.
Two days passed. Eleanor was eating a piece of fried crab while they traveled.
“And there was Zoe, standing there completely naked next to Luke, and he goes, ‘Sorry, I can’t give you what you want. I am the night, I am vengeance, I am Batman,’ and then did absolutely nothing.”
“You really didn’t do anything, Luke?” Eleanor asked, her voice full of fake disappointment.
“Can you two stop judging me?”
“The plot on your island was way more intense than mine,” Eleanor said.
“It’s not our fault you don’t know how to be the protagonist of a dark romance,” Artemis said.
“I like dark romance,” Eleanor said.
“You have excellent taste,” Artemis replied.
“What’s dark romance?” Luke asked.
“You’re better off not knowing,” Eleanor answered.
“It has dark in the name, so is it something cool, like Batman?”
“Let’s end this topic here, Luke,” Eleanor said.
The two of them had been talking about the battle royale, and Artemis was recounting everything like she was narrating an audiobook.
“I’m impressed. You managed to charm a hero’s assistant,” Eleanor said.
“So that flame hero is from Europe... good to know.”
“This is where you’re supposed to ask more about Zoe, man. Who knows, maybe you’ll run into her in the Citadel.”
Luke was interested in the hero class, remembering what Azazel had told him in the past.
As long as no hero tries anything with me, I won’t get in their way.
“And what’s our country going to look like when we get back? Technology is gone. Society’s going to collapse,” Eleanor said.
“I don’t know. All I know is I lost eighty million dollars sitting in the bank...”
“That’s brutal, Luke. Getting rich just months before the apocalypse,” Artemis said.
Then they stopped.
“We’re here,” Eleanor said.
The Citadel stood before them. A gigantic city whose buildings were made of green stone, something between medieval and Aztec architecture.
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***
Luke and Eleanor approached the city. The buildings still carried traces of the sea, algae, debris, salt-stained filth. This place had spent a long time submerged before rising again. The high tide no longer reached it, which made it one of the safer areas, at least in that regard.
“Do you think these people got here recently, or were they just lucky enough to be teleported nearby?” Eleanor asked.
They passed blacksmiths at work, merchants selling food and tools. Most of the taller buildings were broken, but some still had people living inside them.
“Do not fear the day of judgment! This is only a filter. The Great Filter!” a man shouted while holding up a sign, but no one paid him any attention.
Luke and Eleanor walked past groups dressed in matching clothes. Same faction.
“Church of Kindness,” Luke said. “Jack might be there.”
The locator tracking Evangeline had already reached its destination, the Citadel itself. Now all they could do was search. Half a day passed. By the time evening started to settle in, they were still wandering the city.
“Wonderful,” Eleanor muttered. “We might lose her completely if she just decides to leave the city.”
They sat down on a stone off to the side.
“Rum?” Luke asked.
“Rum,” she said, taking the bottle.
“If you’re basically resistant to poison and anything else you consume, doesn’t rum do nothing for you? No drunkenness at all?”
“No.” He took a drink. “It’s just the taste. Feels like I’m drinking soda... except a soda that tastes like bee. I think that’s the closest description.”
“Bee flavor?”
“Don’t ask how I know that.”
They had already left Jack’s name with members of the Church of Kindness. The church people had assumed Luke and Eleanor were a couple looking to join them.
“If Jack’s in the Citadel, he’ll probably go there,” Eleanor said. “And Evangeline will probably think the same way.”
They spotted a few men walking by in cowboy hats.
“Gunslingers of the Long Nights,” Luke murmured.
He had killed one of them during the battle royale.
“Shouldn’t you be looking for someone from the government? Or the members of the team who worked for you?” Luke asked.
“They can take care of themselves.”
There was still no sign of Charlie or Angie. Luke kept his interface open constantly, scanning every face for theirs.
Then he opened the notification that had just appeared.
[Quest: The Thousand Participants]
51% of the participants in this Region are currently inside the Citadel. However, for this mission to activate, 51% of the thousand people who have killed a Sea Guardian must be present.
Participant Count: 384/1000
Luke was one of them. One of the people who had killed a Sea Guardian inside a Beacon.
Why was I the one chosen to do a dungeon with one of those things? Does it have something to do with levels, or what?
He was sure there had to be people in this region of Sunken Realms far stronger than he was.
“Hello, Eleanor. And hello, Cinderella,” a voice called.
Luke looked up and saw a figure hanging overhead in what looked like ninja clothes.
“Finally. We meet again,” Evangeline said.
***
They were sitting in an open-air tavern. Someone had set up a food-and-drink stall and was trading meals for gold and valuable items.
“A battle royale?” Evangeline asked. “Damn. You got really unlucky.”
“And what was your challenge like?” Eleanor asked.
“Mine?” Evangeline took a long drink from her mug. “I spent three months tanning so I could get bikini lines. Look.”
She tugged down the collar of her shirt.
“Wait. You got sent somewhere easy?” Luke asked.
“Survive three months on an island and help build a ship. That kind of generic nonsense,” Evangeline said. “It was like I got sent on vacation to Mexico. I spent all day on the beach drinking coconuts.”
“Lucky bastard,” he said.
“It’s not my fault the universe loves me. I honestly thought everyone else was basically on vacation too, until I found out some people spent three months nearly drinking their own piss just to stay alive.”
Evangeline explained that she had been sent to the island with Jack. After about an hour of talking, Jack showed up. He had been in a meeting with members of the Church of Kindness.
“Luke! Eleanor!” the healer said when he saw them. He was noticeably tanned. “You’re still pale as paper, Luke.”
Once they had all caught each other up, Luke learned they had arrived there three days earlier. They had come by ship as far as they could.
“And how did the ships survive the high tide coming in? Wouldn’t they all get smashed or something?” he asked.
“I don’t know how the others did it, but ours stayed on top of those structures out in the ocean desert,” Evangeline said.
The ship had only taken them halfway. The rest of the journey they made on foot and by raft. They ate fish for dinner and drank while finishing the story of their trip. When they were done, they headed toward a very tall building.
“This is where I’ve been staying,” Evangeline said as they stepped inside. The place smelled like algae.
They climbed to the third floor and walked toward an area whose “door” was really just a hanging sheet of fabric.
“On the island where we were, we also ran into someone you’re going to love seeing again, Luke,” Evangeline said.
“Love seeing again?”
She put a finger to her lips and motioned for silence.
“I’m coming in,” Evangeline said.
“You took forever. Where were you?” a voice asked from the other side.
“Oh no...”
“Surprise,” Eleanor said as she stepped inside, already recognizing it.
“Professor?” Layla lit up and hugged Eleanor. Then she looked to the side, saw Luke, and her entire happy expression collapsed. “Oh no. Not you again.”
***
“I was in pajamas, Evangeline!” Layla complained.
They had all gathered in Evangeline’s “apartment.”
“So what?” Evangeline shot back. “You never cared when Jack came in here.”
“Yeah, but this guy seeing me like that? Absolutely not,” she said, pointing at Luke.
“Katarina!” Luke said, spotting his friend in the corner. “I thought I heard somebody yelling in here.”
“Oh no, here we go...” Layla muttered.
Katarina was over in Layla’s part of the room.
“How did she end up here?”
“I was in my room when suddenly the world started ending. The sky was full of planets. My dad and I ran to the basement with her to hide, and when we got there, what happened next was the part you already know. Then the event started.”
Layla had been sent to the island where she found Jack and Evangeline, but her father was still missing. He had been sent to a different island.
“I hope you find him. My family’s missing too. Charlie and Angie as well.”
“Thank you,” she said, and this time it sounded completely sincere. “I hope you find them too.”
“We’re all together here now. It kind of reminds me of the tutorial,” Evangeline said.
“Don’t even remind me of that,” Jack replied.
“Sorry. Ruined the mood,” Evangeline said.
“We’re in another world, living through an apocalyptic challenge. I thought the same thing,” Eleanor said.
“At least this one has an end date,” Layla said.
“Which brings us to the real question,” Evangeline said. “What are your next steps?”
“I’m going to finish this event,” Luke said. “And I plan to win it.”
Silence filled the room for a few seconds.
“Okay. So the suicidal lunatic who fought the Beast Lord and an archangel wants to keep testing his luck. What about the normal people in the room?” Evangeline asked.
“I don’t know,” Eleanor admitted.
“I want to stay here and do absolutely nothing until this hell ends,” Layla said. Then her voice softened. “But... I also want to find my dad.”
“I’ll do whatever you all decide,” Jack said.
Evangeline threw an arm over Luke’s shoulder.
“Oh, Cinderella, I’m feeling nostalgic. And why is your hair so straight and silky even after all that seawater?”
“Stop touching my hair...” he muttered.
“I’ll admit, I was wondering the same thing, and I never saw him use shampoo or anything,” Eleanor said.
“I traveled with this jerk for a while. He doesn’t use shampoo, conditioner, anything, and his hair still looks like that. And did you know he doesn’t put anything on his skin either? Yet somehow his skin is perfect,” Layla said. “It’s offensive to women.”
“Focus,” Luke said. “I do not want to become a research subject.”
“Until we know what the system is going to reveal to the chosen ones, there isn’t much we can actually do,” Eleanor said.
“I’m curious,” Evangeline said. “I want to know what’s going to happen, but only the people who fought a Sea Guardian get that privilege. How are we supposed to know they’ll even tell us the truth?”
“Luke killed one.”
“Killed one?” Jack asked.
“Looks like we still need to sit down and go over what each of us actually did,” Evangeline said.
“My favorite part involves Luke and a naked woman in a cave,” Artemis said.
***
Several days passed. Luke was walking through the Citadel when he received a notification.
[Quest: The Thousand Participants]
51% of the participants in this Region are currently inside the Citadel. However, for this mission to activate, 51% of the thousand people who have killed a Sea Guardian must be present.
Participant Count: 711/1000
Update: The deadline has ended, and the 51% requirement has been met. Go to the designated location and meet the other chosen participants so that a vote may begin.
Time Remaining: 23 minutes : 39 seconds.
The moment the notification appeared, Luke started following the glow that had formed over one of the city’s buildings. Only he seemed able to see it. Which probably meant the other chosen ones could see it too. In the days that had passed, he had searched for Charlie and Angie, but found neither of them.
Luke reached the place. It was a dome-shaped building. The moment he entered, the system warned him that if any outsiders were present, the message would not reveal itself. As he walked through the corridor, he saw others like him, people who had also killed a Sea Guardian. The gunmen were among them. They arrived in a place that looked like an amphitheater.
[All participants are present!]
Each of them sat in a designated seat. All kinds of figures were gathered there, and every one of them radiated confidence and power.
“Looks like we all made it,” said an old man holding a staff. “A pleasure. My name is Silas. I lead the New Era.”
Luke assumed that was some kind of faction.
“So we’re introducing ourselves now?” asked a thin, pale man in dark mage robes.
“The system is silent, so I assume yes,” another said.
“And who might you be?” Silas asked.
The man had long blond hair and wore blue clothes. Beside him sat another dressed the same way, younger. He glanced at Silas, then looked forward again and ignored him.
“As charming as ever, Lord Rhiannon,” Silas said.
“A dragon is a dragon,” the man replied.