Everlast Online

"It's nice to see you again Smokey, Nina. And I don't believe we've met." The Marquise said as he took a seat in front of Nina and Liz, Gloria stood behind them; always the valiant knight.

"That's Gloria." Liz said, "She doesn't speak much. Anyway, I assume you've gotten the information."

Barview nodded and began to explain to the girls.

In essence, the Archduke intended to incite a riot using drugged commoners and during the confusion use a series of tunnels to sneak an army into the royal palace to take control and kill the king and the rest of the royal family. While the drugged commoners would not be a serious threat due to their relative weakness, that was only in relation to the knights - against other regular commoners it would be like releasing a wolf among sheep.

The current king is one who values the commoners greatly and would without a doubt send his only soldiers out to assist in any way they can, leaving the palace almost defenceless. After that Kilgard would be hailed as a hero by falsifying evidence that the king was the source of the drugs with the motive of becoming a heroic king who saved his people from a riot; proving himself as a hero just like the founding king (A/N: Author's note ch8). Ironically, supposedly failing at almost the exact same plot that Kilgard was attempting.

Liz and Nina nodded solemnly as they heard the plan, it was rather ingenious for Kilgard to take advantage of the king's weakness in order to not only get rid of him, but transfer the crown to himself with as little backlash as possible.

"So what do you need from us?" Liz said, more than ready to progress and - from the looks of it - finish this quest.

"As it stands, Kilgard likely knows that we know about his drug plot, but doesn't know we've found his underground tunnels." Marquise Barview explained, one of his knights handing him a map that showed a series of tunnels running under the capital city, all converging on the palace, "So, the best plan of action is to split our troops. Half of my knights will be placed in position to stop and if possible prevent the rioting commoners; the other half will be dispatched to warn and protect the king - myself included."

"And us?" Nina asked, leaning forward as her ears twitched slightly.

"You three will be given the second most important mission." Barview said gravely, "You will enter the tunnel at an entrance my men have dug out, from there cut down Kilgard's numbers while making your way to the palace. Take these as identification to show the palace you're not enemies and the map to help you navigate."

Barivew handed over the map he was showing the girls to Liz as well as a badge each all with Barview's crest, Liz quickly took a closer look at the items to see what they actually were:

[Noble Identification - Marquise Barview (~): Identification showing you are working under Marquise Barivew. This will grant you almost free reign within the Royal Palace of Vradora]

"We have reason to believe that Kilgard plans to move today, so I need you to get into position." The Marquise said as he rose to his feet, "The green spot is where our tunnel entrance is, I wish you luck and should we succeed in preventing Kilgard's plan, I assure you the king will reward you earnestly."

With that he left and a system message appeared in front of Nina and Liz, one that confirmed this was the final part of the quest; and one that promised the greatest rewards yet.

(A/N: 2 things. First switching from <> to {} since I think it looks better. Second, didn't intend for (III) to be so short, just forgot that I was planning on beginning the final part of the arc so soon sos)

"... We better get to work." Liz said, rising as Nina was still rather shocked. Gloria hadn't seen the screen to begin with, but she likely wouldn't have been phased anyway, "Nina? Are you oka-"

"We're gonna be the first noble players!" Nina yelled out, shocking Liz as she did. After a moment she calmed herself and chuckled at Nina's reaction, before the 3 of them headed towards the marked location. On the way there they began talking strategy.

"How should we go about this?" Nina asked as she looked over the map.

"I think our rewards will be different based on how many we kill before they reach the palace." Liz explained before stating what she thought was the best idea, "So it would be best if we split up and each deal with a section before meeting up in the middle."

Nina nodded, but Gloria didn't seem so sure. Liz asked what was wrong.

"While your ideas are likely right, master, this is a full military force intending to overthrow the kingdom. Dividing ourselves may not work as intended." Gloria explained, having taken part in many wars in her last life.

"Hmm. Maybe you're right." Liz said, "How about this. I send a puppet with each of you, should one of us be in danger I will be able to tell and inform you through the puppet. With that I can guide you to where you're needed."

"You've got those puppet things working?" Nina asked, remembering when Liz couldn't even use the skill without being forcibly logged out.

"Kind of." Liz said sheepishly, "Even with a hundred soul points I can still only really control 5 and one of them is busy."

"Busy?" (Nina)

"I've set it to make potions for me to use and sell." (Liz)

"I thought summons were destroyed if they got too far away from the summoner." (Nina)

"They do, but my puppets aren't summons." Liz tried to explain, it was hard since she didn't fully understand either, "They're kind of in between regular summons and summons like Gloria. They can be across entire continents from me just fine, but I lose most control over them. It's kind of like programming in that I can set them doing simple and repetitive tasks and since they're bound to my soul I can reap all the rewards, even if they're kind of diluted."

(A/N: XP gained from far away puppets is less than normal, can't really sense around puppets if too far away, can still use inventory through puppets - very broken skill)

"AAH! Why do you get all the powerful stuff!?" Nina groaned, putting on a fake pouty face as she looked down at Liz, "Anyway, will you be able to keep control over them in the tunnels?"

"It'll be cutting it close, but based on the map they should remain in fully controllable range. At worst they'll start acting like they're drunk." Liz explained, "Is that sufficient Gloria?"

"... It is likely the best method available, master." Gloria agreed after thinking it over for a moment.

The rest of the walk the girls came up with some ideas, deciding a signal for Liz to give through her puppets if Nina or Gloria needed the others.

As the 3 had almost made it to the tunnel entrance something started to happen. There was the sound of an explosion and screaming deeper into the city; Nina and Liz looked at each other before they began running towards the tunnel entrance.

As the slowest Liz began falling behind so Gloria scooped her up and placed her on her shoulder as they ran through the streets. It was not long before they found a Barview knight placed at the tunnel entrance.

"You took your time!" He shouted, "The coup has already begun!"

"I know. Open up and go help the commoners." Liz said as she jumped off of Gloria's shoulder, the soldier looked a little shocked to see Liz giving the orders, but didn't question it and revealed the entrance to the tunnel to let the girls inside.

It was dark inside but none of the girls had trouble seeing thanks to their racial traits.

From her inventory Liz pulled out her 4 remaining puppets, 2 would stay with her and Nina and Gloria took one each as they headed through the tunnels in search of Kilgard's soldiers. Nina took the map as Liz's [World Map] skill could supplement it and Gloria was capable enough to memorise where she needed to go.

"Good luck." 

"Don't die."

"We'll see each other at the palace."

With that each of the girls headed deeper into the darkness.

---

Rowan made his way towards the centre of the chaos as quickly as the crowds trying to escape would allow him.

(A/N: Rowan was a knight from chapter 10 and a couple others in case you didn't remember)

Marquise Barview had anticipated that Kilgard would spread the blizzed commoners throughout the city and force the knights to spread out, making the threat much harder to end quickly. As a result Rowan was alone as he came upon the enemies he must fight: His own people.

Rowan was not the most senior knight, nor was he the most talented or powerful, but he had still been informed of what was about to happen within his country. The marquise had trusted him enough to send him to stop Kilgard's diversion. It was this trust that Rowan refused to disappoint.

He knew that what he was doing would hurt him, as a knight loyal to this kingdom and its people, he would have to kill the very same people he had pledged to protect for the last decade and a half of his life; it was for the greater good, but that was never a suitable phrase to lessen the guilt of a truly moral individual.

However, Rowan knew what was at stake, not just the king, but the way of life of the people of this kingdom. Kilgard didn't care about the commoners, to him they were just a means to an end - his diversionary tactic was more than enough proof of that - and Rowan knew that the archduke would discard the entire population of Vradora as it suited him, the moment their lives could be sacrificed for further power every single commoner would be sent to their deaths without the right to fair trial.

The streets were packed, people running in fear, children that lost sight of their mothers, even those who had been trampled under the weight of the people's fear; but Rowan could not stop for even a moment to do what he knew what was right. He closed off his heart and shed stoney tears while ignoring the chaos around him, pushing against the tide of fear and heading towards the source of it all.

It was not long before it was revealed to him, the reason so many people had been running away so recklessly. Rubble and debris littered the cobbled, capital street as 5 people went on a rampage, destroying whatever was closest to them. Thankfully all the civilians had managed to evacuate, though Rowan could see that some people had not been lucky enough to get away.

Right in front of him were the poor souls who had been forced into causing chaos, the commoners and slaves who had been used as nothing more than pawns for Kilgard's wicked plot; Rowan felt nothing but disgust towards Kilgard and true pity for those he had dug his demonic claws into.

Blizz was an epidemic in the Vradora kingdom, it had been for decades, and this meant many people had done tests with the drug - both good and bad. 

One such test was finding a way to increase its potency as a drug. This research was ordered by a crime boss a long time ago in an attempt to make more money off of the drug, getting more people addicted and with better highs; the result was [Liquid Blizz]. 

A vial of liquified blizz that would be injected directly into the user's blood. Compared to the normal way to take blizz - snorting it - injecting liquid blizz essentially doubled the effects, bringing the stat boost from 500% to near 1000%, while also extending the duration of the high to an hour. The blissful and euphoric effects were also increased, to the point it was capable of permanently destroying the minds of people who took it, and lastly this method increased the side effects.

A single usage of liquid blizz inflicted the [Weakness] debuff (-50% stats) for a full week as well as permanently reducing the user's stats by 15% per usage. But there was more, due to the intense pleasure the drug caused, liquid blizz would also inflict 3 status debuffs during usage: [Insanity], [Mania] and [Lunacy]. Striping the addict of their mind during usage and making the body act automatically as it attacked anything nearby. Worst of all, liquid blizz only had a 20% survival rate.

As a result the crime boss and researcher responsible for its creation were punished under the harshest sanctions possible - they were tried as traitors and tortured to death along with 3 generations of their family. Following that, the mere possession of liquid blizz was punishable by death throughout the entire kingdom.

And Rowan could tell that those in front of him were suffering the effects of liquid blizz, there was nothing he could do but offer a small prayer for their souls to safely pass on to the next life. Rowan couldn't help but allow his mind to wander as he watched, the chaos unfolding bringing memories that he desperately wanted to repress to the front of his mind - images of death and chaos all around him, but he managed to regain control. Push all such thoughts to the back of his mind

In front of Rowan there were 5.

First was an ant insectoid, a troublesome opponent, especially on blizz. Ant insectoids had incredible physical strength, but their carapace was also incredibly durable, meaning it was unlikely that Rowan's sword would be able to deal much damage under normal conditions.

The second was a red ogre, one of the intelligent species of ogre and incredibly physically powerful.

The third was a frenzied, an incredibly strong member of the demonic race that passively released hellfire in different amounts and intensity based on their anger and rage; an incredibly difficult foe under normal conditions, but only made worse under the berserker effects of blizz.

The fourth was a bull beastling, rapidly changing between his 3 forms and causing an incredible amount of property damage.

(A/N: Beastling is a race - I think - I came up with. Essentially the final form of the beastfolk evolution chain. Beastfolk -> Werebeast -> Beastling. Gain a new form with every evolution - beastfolk, 1 - werebeast, 2 - beastling, 3)

And finally, the most tragic of all, the one that caused Rowan's rage to burn with even greater intensity: A juvenile malignant arachne. Although Rowan couldn't tell the exact age, he could at least tell that the half-spider shooting webs coated in highly potent acid was no older than 10.

Rowan couldn't allow for this to continue. He needed to put them out of their misery; and for that he was truly sorry.

I'm a knight. He thought to himself, placing everything but his duty to the Marquise and the kingdom in the back of his mind. He pulled his sword from his sheath and slammed his visor down. Rowan prepared one of his skills, bringing his sword to his side for a slash before letting loose.

I'm sorry.

[Regret]

From his blade a chilling darkness swept through the street, frost building up between the cobbled street until it smashed into the 5 people creating chaos in the city, knocking them back and inflicting the [Freeze] debuff to slow their movements,

With that all 5 of their attentions turned to Rowan as the largest threat to their euphoria. Rowan looked into their rolled back eyes and foaming mouths, ready for what would likely be one of the hardest fights of his life.

"I will not lose this time."