Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 711 Meeting

At the vanguard of the army of players forming the siege around the Royal Capital of Mibothen were Taznaar, Korgrak, Draken, Bloody Lily and Cephal, the latter two having retreated from the area near the capitol along with Eraskan and Jayaa because Dathan had warned them what was happening.

As Xisrith was the one who guided the army to the Capital with the others, she was also in the vanguard.

Thus, all these key players were around a large table in the open air, on top of a hill overlooking the city.

"After all, why don't we just go in there and finish them off? There's no way they're stronger than our entire army united." Taznaar said, crossing his arms.

Eraskan sighed, trying to keep his patience. "Simply because it's too risky to enter enemy territory without discussing the information and drawing up a plan... Xisrith, Dodir and the others have checked the other towns and villages nearby and there seem to be no dangers other than the usual monsters, so we need to be even more cautious than usual."

"Correct, Eraskan." Bloody Lily agreed and continued: "The real problem here is that we're facing creatures that none of us have faced before, or have any of you ever faced a demon before?"

Her red eyes passed person after person at the table, but surprisingly stopped when they saw one of them raise an arm and it could be none other than the Evolved himself called Cephal.

"Have you ever faced them?" The red-haired woman asked, frowning. "Why didn't you say so before?"

"Well, you didn't ask." Cephal replied in the most natural way in the world.

"Seriously, who is this guy?" Taznaar questioned angrily, getting up from the table while dragging the chair he was sitting on.

"WHAT'S UP, SHORTY?" Cephal stood up angrily too, but unlike Taznaar, he didn't simply drag his chair, he made it shatter with a single movement.

Korgrak, who until this moment had just been watching everything with his arms folded, finally spoke up. "This man is Cephal the Fierce, the player who managed to evolve the fastest on his own. On his own, he managed to reach level 150 a month after the launch of RO."

"What?" Taznaar looked at Cephal in a completely different way and now that Korgrak had said it, he began to recognize some of Cephal's characteristics, such as his fully exposed chest, the Frost Bear skin he wore as a hood over his head and his barbaric clothes, as well as his explosive behaviour.

With Korgrak's explanation, Cephal also seemed to calm down, because someone recognized him, and promptly a support player brought another chair for him to sit at the table.

Blood Lily's gaze softened as she thanked Korgrak with a nod. "Thank you for clarifying, Korgrak. It's good to know who's on our side, especially when we're up against such formidable foes." She then turned to Cephal and said, "Please, Cephal, continue. Tell us about the time you faced a demon."

Cephal leaned back in his new chair, looking more at ease now that his presence and reputation were recognized. He ran a hand through his disheveled hair, before beginning his story. "Well, that was a few months ago, when the game was still in its early stages. I was exploring a deep, dark dungeon in Vanaheim while hunting a Legendary-ranked creature. However, what I found was something very different."

He took a deep breath before continuing, his eyes narrowing at the memory.

"In the darkness of the last room of the dungeon, I heard a voice and then something came out of the darkness. Although chained and with a metal cage covering its head, I immediately recognized what it was. It was a demon, a being from the depths of hell, with all the traits a demon is entitled to, including horns and wings. Its body was a mixture of shadows and smoke, its eyes glowed like burning coals. It had razor-sharp claws and a laugh that made even the bravest tremble. It was a terrible creature, but I knew I couldn't back down. My courage was my only weapon at that moment."

The other players at the table quickly became completely absorbed in Cephal's story. Even Taznaar, who was initially wary of him, was now leaning forward, eager to hear how it unfolded.

"The demon threw himself at me with uncontrollable fury and even his chains weren't enough to hold him back," Cephal continued, his voice gaining intensity. "He didn't look hungry or desperate, on the contrary, he seemed pleased to see me. We fought fiercely, each of us seeking the advantage over the other. I could feel the heat of his putrid breath and the cold of his claws brushing against my skin. It was a life and death battle, the hardest for me at that time."

As he spoke, the night breeze blew gently, making the flames of the torches dance around them. The moon began to rise between the clouds that covered the kingdom, casting a silvery light over the table.

"Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, I found an opening in the demon's guard. With one sure blow, I managed to drive my axe into the creature's dark heart. It let out a high-pitched scream, a sound that echoed in the depths of the dungeon. And then it dissolved into shadows, leaving behind only an acrid aroma and the echo of its evil laughter."

"That's it? So...?" Draken, the leader of the Sentinel Guild, the strongest guild in Vrikhodour, was saying, but Jayaa, the bard, interrupted him.

"What do you mean 'that's all'? Didn't you understand the part where he said it was the hardest battle of his life? Cephal was already strong enough to hunt Legendary-level creatures. How many of the thousands of players here can do the same?" Jayaa said.

The bard's words made everyone fall silent, because as hard as it was to admit, he was completely right.

"The boy understands things." Cephal said, placing a hand on the table and closing it. "Besides, I believe that the demon I faced in the past was one of the weak. Since it was at the end of a dungeon, it was a demon imprisoned, sealed or whatever. The important part is that there are much stronger demons than you can imagine, and in Muspelheim there is a place called Hell, which is basically where Surtr's doghouse is. In Hell, there are nine floors and each of these floors is protected by a very strong demon. And if I'm right, those were the demons I saw with Fryft."

Again, silence followed for a few seconds, until Korgrak herself, with her mask and disguised voice asked:

"Cephal, you're definitely the strongest one here, from zero to ten, what's the chance of you defeating all the major demons and letting us deal with the rest?"

The fierce man looked seriously at Korgrak. "At the moment, zero. The leader of the Eye of Hermodr is an Evolved too, and one with bizarre powers. He's some kind of vampire and that's why he managed to steal most of my powers... Obviously, if there's a power that strong, he can probably only use it once per person."

"What if you're somehow at full strength again?" Taznaar asked.

"From zero to ten? A solid five, either I'm going to lose or I'm going to win."

"In other words, our best chance of winning is by recovering your powers and to recover your powers we have to defeat the cause of all this..." Bloody Lily said. "They were clever, they thought of everything."

"But there's one part I still don't understand. If they already had all this in mind, all planned out, why did they make a point of involving Cephal, the only element in the equation that gives us a chance of winning?" Eraskan raised the question, rising to his feet. "Think about it, if Cephal hadn't been involved, our best chance of trump would have been Kaizen, yet they managed to convince him easily and took them away from us. Why involve Cephal in all this?"

"Maybe this vampire has to absorb someone else's power to be really strong?" Jayaa cleverly pointed out.

Eraskan snapped his finger and pointed at Jayaa, as if that was exactly the answer he was hoping for.

However, Cephal growled and shook his head negatively. "No, he's really strong, I felt that when I was in his presence. And it's no wonder that Fryft is helping him on his own, other than through a subordinate."

The Evolved's words frustrated Eraskan. "Ah-..." He said and sat down again.

"Their leader wanted to show the world what he's capable of, the level of power he's reached..." Blood Lily said. "Finding Cephal in that situation, at the bottom of that cave, was no coincidence. He made sure we knew about Cephal and that's why he showed us where he was, that's why that woman directed us to the cave, saying that the 'portal' was there. So it was no coincidence that Fryft surrounded Kaizen shortly afterwards. He had it all planned out."

"The bastard wanted to show us how strong and clever he is." Draken said.

"To you?" Cephal asked and a broad smile appeared on his face. "Don't be so arrogant, of course it wasn't for you. He wanted to show the other Evolved. Otherwise, it would be easy for any Evolved to come to Midgard and want to make a name for themselves by foiling The Eye of Hermodr's plans, after all, they saw how effective it was, because part of Kaizen's fame was built up that way."

"In the end, the possibility of us getting reinforcements is nil." Taznaar gritted his teeth, staring angrily at the table, indignant at his own weakness. If only he had tried a little harder, he might now be an Evolved and be able to help more.

 "In other words, our chance of victory is zero..." Jayaa slammed a hand on the table. "Shit, what was Kaizen thinking when he went with these guys?"

Jayaa made everyone think about it and after a few moments they all raised their heads, seeming to reach a consensus without saying a word. Since the beginning of this 'war', they had been at loggerheads and had only realized this when they sat down to discuss it, but what if Kaizen had already realized that their chances of victory were slim even without all this information?