Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 702 Reasons

"And if you were an ally, you'd treat us with more respect. After all, it's wise to respect someone who has your life in the palm of their hand, isn't it?" Bloody Lily replied, with a slight smile at the corner of her mouth.

After a brief moment of silence, Cephal let out a heavy sigh, finally seeming to surrender to the situation that kept him chained. His eyes, already burning with fury, now showed a trace of resignation, a shadow of defeat that rarely touched such a skilled fighter. He faced the Bloody Lily, whose face was a closed book of determination, her unwavering gaze fixed on the prisoner.

"Very well, I'll do it... Please, Bloody Lily and companions, set me free." Cephal said, biting down on every word.

Blood Lily looked at Eraskan and Jayaa, then nodded, went to the chains that bound the right side of Cephal's body and raised his red sword. With a downward stroke, she easily broke the chains, and did the same with the chains on the left. In the end, they weren't special bindings, Cephal was just weakened.

"Now, it would be good to start talking about how the hell you ended up in this situation," said Eraskan.

"Do you want to know how I ended up here?" Cephal asked, standing up while checking the marks left by the restraints. "Grrrr... There's not much to talk about, I was tricked and ambushed."

Then his chains fell to the ground with a metallic sound. Cephal rubbed his wrists, massaging the skin scarred by the bonds that had held him prisoner.

"I was following a lead on the disappearance of Asgard's ancestral jewels. There were rumors that a dark clan had resurfaced in Mibothen, seeking power through these magical relics. I thought I could stop them alone, of course. However, I was foolish to trust false information. In the end, I was in the center of the Royal Capital of Mibothen when a sound broke through the sky and the people in the streets began to disappear. Before I could realize it, I was surrounded by ten strange figures, all very powerful."

"More powerful than you?" Jayaa asked.

"Individually? Of course not, don't be silly. However, together they managed to surprise me and somehow, I was getting more and more tired even though I wasn't exerting myself."

Eraskan looked at Cephal sympathetically. "And in the end, what were they?"

"Demons. Nine of them were commanders of the circles, and the last one, the only non-demon, was an Evolved like me." Cephal explained.

At this point, none of the other three players needed to look at each other to come to the same conclusion, and this became clear when all three spoke the name they had in mind at the same time:

"Fryft!" They said in unison.

Cephal's eyes widened in surprise for the first time. Then they narrowed in suspicion.

"How do you know?" He asked calmly.

"A crazy man we met underground in a village near Mibothen's border with Tretidian told us about a powerful woman who passed through the village days before all this happened to Mibothen. Right away, I recognized the name and was confused, after all, I had never heard of Evolved actively participating in missions and stories in the game."

Cephal smiled, exposing his sharp fangs. "Of course, we don't usually do that, we don't care about any of that. It's not much money, it's just hard work and it's all very easy, especially in Midgard. It's more worthwhile for us to evolve our PR and other skills."

"Evolve PR? What do you mean?" asked Eraskan.

"Basically..." Cephal started to explain, but Bloody Lily interrupted him.

"That doesn't matter to us for now, Eraskan. We should focus on what's in front of us... If Evolved normally have no reason to take part in history missions and that sort of thing that is nonsense to you, why is Fryft interfering and even helping the wrong side?" Bloody Lily asked.

"Power." Jayaa answered. "If the only thing the Evolved care about is how they're going to get stronger or richer, her only goal must be to get power."

Cephal sighed, looking a little disgusted with himself for explaining all this to a group of players. "You're right, power is what Fryft wants. The Evolved don't mind a bit of player banter, but when power is involved, the story can change. Look at me, I even ended up in this dump called Mibothen... She must be looking for some artifact or skill that can increase her own power."

Eraskan shook his head affirmatively, absorbing the information. "That's really disturbing. If Fryft is looking for power, it means she could wreak havoc in this world, and that would affect all the players in Midgard."

Blood Lily frowned, pondering the situation. "We need to know more about Fryft and what she has already achieved. Cephal, you must have valuable information. Tell us about her actions in Mibothen."

Cephal hesitated for a moment, his eyes showing a shadow of mistrust. However, he realized that his only chance of getting revenge on Fryft in his current situation and perhaps even reversing his situation depended on cooperation with that group of weak players. So Cephal sighed and said:

"If Fryft didn't mind interrogating me, either she knew I wouldn't easily hand over information, or she needed me for something else."

"Something else? What could it be?" Bloody Lily asked.

Cephal looked at the serious and determined faces of the players before him, and in search of an answer for them, in the end he came up with a question:

"Wait a minute, how did you find me?"

The players looked at each other, confused.

"A corrupted woman told us in her lucid sighs that there was a portal here and that it was this portal that was causing all this, and when we finally reached the end of this long cave after a long canal, we found you." Jayaa said.

"This is a trap." Cephal said and started walking towards the exit, hurriedly.

"What?" asked Bloody Lily.

"The city already belongs to Fryft and somehow they managed to trap you here, just like they did me. They must have closed the entrance as soon as you found me or something." He continued opening the door. "You have allies out there, don't you? They're in trouble, they're sure to be cornered just like I was."

"Wait, we don't have allies out there. We have only one ally out there." Eraskan said.

Cephal then stopped and turned his face to look at the other players. "Who is it?"

Confused, Eraskan uttered. "Huh?"

"I asked who your ally is!" Cephal started to get angry.

Bloody Lily stepped in front of Eraskan, protecting him. "Kaizen is the one outside."

"Kaizen... That name..." Cephal repeated, trying to remember where he knew it. "He's good and powerful, but no, if even I can't beat them, neither can he. Let's run outside, try to keep up with me." Cephal opened the door.

"Let us guide you to the exit. We know the way." Eraskan said.

"It's not necessary. I can smell the snow."