Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 706  The Capitol

While Bloody Lily, Cephal and the others discovered the capitol in the center of the Royal Capital of Mibothen, Kaizen was already inside the building.

The place was huge, perhaps two or three times the size of the Royal Palace of Tretidian. Made entirely of white stone, the place looked like a building built by ancient Greeks in the middle of a medieval city. In other words, it was out of place, almost strange, but very beautiful. However, this place, which should once have been full of guards and people working hard for the progression of the kingdom, was completely empty.

The corridors were more like the abandoned tunnels of a very old mine, and the large halls were as full as on the few summer days in this kingdom, meaning there were no humans at all.

However, contrary to what the eye could see, to Kaizen's eyes the place was very full, but not of people but of strange, paranormal beings.

At first, Kaizen realized that something was wrong with this place when he landed just after Fryft and the demons continued in the sky, forming a circle over the capitol, but this time each one facing a different direction in the city, as if they were sentinels watching over and protecting this building. Then Kaizen looked around and no matter where he looked, he saw shadows staring at him out of the corners of his eyes.

Luckily, a Psyker's eyes weren't like those of ordinary players. Thanks to an evolution of the skill <Analyzing Eye>, Kaizen could see beyond what ordinary eyes could see, not just status windows or things like that, but a whole other world, the world beyond the veil of the paranormal that hides another reality.

So Kaizen activated this ability and in the next moment, the irises of his eyes stopped glowing a bluish green and began to glow a faint shade of purple.

Naturally, only people of an extremely high degree could perceive this change of tones, but this simple change of color gave Kaizen completely new information. So, before his eyes, the curtains of the world seemed to begin to open, revealing all the mess behind everything.

When Kaizen opened his eyes, he saw that the sky above him was not actually gray and dark, but bright like a red aurora borealis.

Then, right over where the nine demons were positioned, there was a large hole in the sky, a hole that gave the impression that a large crack in the clouds had appeared, through which the clouds themselves came down like a waterfall. As this was only the vision of the paranormal world, Kaizen knew that not everything should or would make sense, because common logic didn't apply to this reality, but it was obvious that out-of-tune signs in the paranormal world could mean big changes in the real world.

In any case, Kaizen tried not to look directly at where the crack in the sky was, so that Fryft wouldn't be suspicious of what he could or couldn't see.

'Things are more absurd than I thought.' He thought as he looked ahead and saw that all over the capitol there were dozens and dozens of shadows, low-level evil spirits that Alina had already told him about.

Some of these spirits were sitting on the rooftops, others walking around the courtyard where Kaizen and Fryft had landed. However, the most frightening thing was that most of these shadows were surrounding them, forming a large crowd around the two players. It was bizarre, because several of these shadows had their faces literally almost glued to Kaizen's face and he could see the mixed expressions on their faces. Some expressed deep sadness, marked by thick, frowning features, with sad eyes incapable of tears, while others had broad smiles, as if they were anxious to see Kaizen react to their presence.

Kaizen's heart raced and he tried not to react at all costs, after all, if all these tormented spirits knew he could see them, what would they do?

The Evolved, Fryft, looked at Kaizen out of the corner of her eye and asked:

"Is there a problem, Kaizen?"

Even though she was a meter in front of Kaizen and had her back to him, you could see by the cheekbone protruding from her face that she had a closed smile, which made Kaizen immediately realize that she knew what she was doing. So he took a deep breath and nodded.

"Yes, I have a question."

"Feel free to ask now and forever. You're my guest here."

"Well, that guy back there in the cave was an Evolved too, wasn't he?" He said, pointing back with his thumb in a relaxed way.

At the same time, the evil spirits responded to his gesture and looked back.

Fryft turned towards Kaizen and raised his eyebrows slightly. "Do you know Cephal?"

"Oh! So that's his name. I remember seeing him on television once... And why is he here too?"

The Evolved seemed to relax at Kaizen's answer, then crossed her arms and turned to face the front. "He's nobody important, just the weakest of all the Evolved at the moment and, if all goes well, for the rest of his life. He's not someone we should worry about. Now, if you'll allow me, I'd like to introduce you to someone." She said, starting to walk forward, towards the large door of the capitol.

"A person? Who?"

"Follow me and you'll see." She continued, looking over her left shoulder.

Then Kaizen looked with more concentration at the doors of the capitol and, at that very moment, he felt an aura shaking inside the place. It was so powerful that it emanated an odor and this odor was pure rottenness, and Kaizen felt as if his nostrils had been filled with rotten meat, to the point of almost making him vomit.

Who would have such a bad aura that they could emanate a smell just from their aura?

The capitol, imposing and gloomy, loomed before Kaizen and Fryft like a sleeping giant. The massive doors, adorned with intricate carvings and weathered gold ornaments, creaked as Fryft pushed them open, revealing an interior that was both grand and decadent. The interior of the Capitol was an opulent and sinister sight. Large white marble columns rose to the ceiling, adorned with detailed carvings of ancient figures from the kingdom. The walls were covered with dark tapestries that seemed to absorb the light, creating a gloomy and macabre atmosphere. The floor of the initial hall was covered in a thick carpet, so dark that it seemed to absorb the light that fell on it. A dim, greenish light came from chandeliers suspended from the ceiling.

Kaizen followed Fryft through the gloomy corridors, feeling the oppressive aura in the place grow more and more intense.

Fryft didn't seem to mind, moving with confidence and determination. As they walked, the shadows of evil spirits followed them, floating silently around them like restless ghosts, some climbing the walls, others pushing each other, like a cloak around them.

The rotten smell that Kaizen had smelled earlier also intensified as they approached a large ebony door, adorned with ancient runes and magical symbols. Fryft pushed the doors open with ease, revealing a large, sumptuous room. In the center of the room, a black throne, adorned with intertwined skulls and bones, was positioned on a raised platform.

Sitting on the throne was a tall, slender man dressed in a dark cloak that seemed to absorb the light around him. His face was hidden in shadows, but his eyes shone with a sinister, penetrating light. Around the throne, there were several other people, but Kaizen was able to recognize only one of them: Thenomor.

Thenomor was a man who had helped a woman called Niah Spelloyal take over as Queen of Tretidian and put King Steveren Spelloyal into an almost eternal slumber. Luckily, with the interference of Kaizen and the princesses, he managed to help the royal family and thus purge not only Niah from her position, but also Thenomor, saving the kingdom. However, unlike Niah, Thenomor escaped.

Kaizen knew that Thenomor conspired in the Kingdom of Tretidian to help The Eye of Hermodr, and later discovered that he did so not only to gain influence in one of the Three Great Human Kingdoms, but also to find the King's Sword, the only item known to a player to have the Divine Rank.

Considering all this and the whole scenario, it was logical for Kaizen to come to the following conclusion about the current situation: they don't want Kaizen as an ally, of course not, they want to know what happened to the King's Sword after his fight against Morgaroth, the Second Bishop of the Eye of Hermodr.

'In other words, this man on the throne must be the First Bishop...' Kaizen concluded, raising his head to face the man.

...