Chapter 1205: Turning Over a New Leaf

    I couldn’t help but grit my teeth as I sat in the throne room of Olympus, with numerous screens hovering above the floor. Our attempts at information gathering had been... unhelpful, to say the least. Even when I had Lena turn into Pierce, using his powers to predict the future, she was unable to foresee any information about the enemies or their tactics.

    If there was one positive to be found in all of this, it was the fact that they didn’t seem to be too interested in making a mess. It had been over an hour since the start of the invasion, and a second battle had not yet broken out. Most likely, the first battle only occurred because the shadow mage troops appeared in the heart of a city, making their presence obvious to observers.

    In other words, we were right about them wanting to capture our worlds, rather than destroying them. This was good for me, because it meant that the majority of the battles would be away from populated areas. As I was thinking about that, the ring on my finger suddenly began to heat up.

    My eyes widened, and I lifted my hand to look at the ring. At the same time, a golden sword fell through the ceiling above my head. Tsubaki’s eyes narrowed, and she appeared next to the sword, shattering it with a kick. “My Keeper?” She asked, looking towards me curiously.

    I gave a small nod, glancing up at the hole in the ceiling. “It looks like another Origin just made a move against me.” I said firmly, recalling what Dana had said about the ring. It would only activate in response to the powers of an Origin, or other void-related interference.

    “Maybe they wanted to snipe you before anyone else had the chance.” Dana furrowed her brow. “Still, for an Origin to manifest a sword, that’s probably going to be bad. All of the domains that I can think of for that effect would be specialized for combat.”

    I nodded with a grim expression on my face. Now that they had launched this first attack, we had to wait and see whether they would follow up with something even bigger. However, before I could question that, Dana spoke up again. “Boss, a group of troops just left the cluster of five universes. They appear to be headed towards the group with the scattered eye-monsters, and are engaging in battle.”

    It took a great amount of willpower to not order her to take advantage of the situation to wipe out one of the groups. We were still sorely unprepared to deal with the full force of the enemy. “Have you sensed any units being sent to any of our other worlds?” I asked, and Dana gave a small nod.

    “I can’t give you an exact number or destination, but there have been small transmissions from all three forces. They’re using an instantaneous void travel ability, so all I can detect is the fact that the travel occurred, not where they went or how many.”

    Sitting around a large, wooden table were several figures. They looked to be created of gnarled vines and branches, as if thin trees had uprooted themselves and taken humanoid shape. “Are there any reports yet from the scouts?” One figure said, his voice echoing in the room as his mouth seemed to glow.

    Another one with lighter ‘skin’ and a higher voice responded. “I am receiving information now. This world has many favorable resources, and...” There was a pause. “A sister race seems to have taken root here.”

    “Oh?” The first looked over, as if curious.

    “Yes. They call themselves Sylvans, a plant-based race born from giant trees.” The second figure spoke, as if in amazement. They had scattered several of their ‘prestige’ scouts across the various universes within this dungeon, each one with skill trees specialized in gathering information.

    “What is the public view of these Sylvans?” The first figure asked, seeming to be the leader of the group.

    “They are quite highly regarded, according to reports. Their groves have taken root in many planets and stars, and there are even ‘gods’ among them.”

    Hearing this answer, the first figure closed his eyes. “I will send a cutting. Have a scout try to inform the administrator of my arrival.”

    “Are you sure?” The second figure asked in surprise. However, the first simply raised his hand in a gesture of silence. Its branches twisted, snapping off from its back to create an identical copy of itself.

    “Ready the travel stone. I will depart immediately.” The copy spoke in a gravelly voice.

    Another hour passed, and no more attacks came from the mysterious sword-wielding Origin. At this point, my biggest concern was none other than Spica, where the Origin of Darkness had appeared. It had been almost two days in Spica since the start of the invasion, and everything was still quiet.

    “Why’s that?” Tsubaki asked, feeling that it should be the lower ranked guilds that don’t use universes as a base of operations.

    “Because all of the top twenty guilds have a true Master class as their leader.” The monarch explained patiently. “Some of these Masters do not use a universe-level base because they carry their bases with them.”

    Tsubaki nodded her head at that. “According to our findings, the remaining two powers are a ‘Master’ of Darkness, and the other has some fate-related ability.”

    The monarch’s branches stiffened at that. “The first would be the eighteenth-ranked guild, Fierce Night. The second... among the top twenty, the only Master with a power like that should be the Hermit, the third-ranked guild. The Hermit Guild is a guild of only a single individual, but his power is astonishingly strong. If he has been chosen for this raid, then perhaps the Five Nations is not as high of a priority as I thought...”

    Tsubaki furrowed her brow, staring at the monarch. “Explain.”

    “The Hermit is the Master of Fate, as you said. He has never failed to clear a dungeon, and he always performs a ‘full clear’. According to the few people who have survived joining him in a dungeon, he uses his power to adopt the domain of the local world, fully masters its abilities, and then challenges the administrator to a personal battle. He has gone through more than fifty dungeons, and has gained the powers of each world as he did so.”

    Hearing this explanation, Tsubaki’s eyes widened. “I... see.” She said, already sending the information back to her main body. “Now... why are you telling us all of this?”

    The monarch breathed out a long sigh, light flickering within its ‘mouth’. “The World Tree Guild is a remnant of a conquered dungeon. Over time, we managed to overthrow the guild that conquered us, regaining our autonomy. However, our kind are despised among Hal Tua, both due to our conquered status and our plant-based anatomy. It is not uncommon for natives of Hal Tua to throw feces at us and laugh, telling us to ‘eat up’.”

    “Despite this, the rankings are an absolute measure of power, and so we have risen by becoming strong, in spite of their mockery. The World Tree Guild does not seek primarily to conquer dungeons. Rather, we are aware of what some call the ‘hidden clear’ method. This only applies to some dungeons, but it is said that a guild may choose to peacefully integrate with a world. We have been seeking a world that would not reject our status as foreigners, or as plant-based entities.”

    “I will not deny that we have destroyed other dungeons in the past, dungeons where we found that we would not be accepted. I do not seek forgiveness for the lives that I have taken, for I know that it would be my life and the lives of my people that would have been lost if I did nothing. However, our scouts have scoured the common knowledge of this world, and we have come to know of the Sylvans. It is this race which gives us hope that we may be accepted here.”

    Tsubaki narrowed her eyes in thought, seeming unsure of what to do. Going by the rankings that the monarch had given, she could tell that their guild was the weakest of all participating guilds, and not by a small margin either. However, this would also mean one less enemy that they would have to face, as well as a reliable source of information.

    That said, she had another question that confused her. “Why does the Keeper... the administrator of Hal Tua allow potential traitors like the World Tree Guild to operate in dungeons like this?” She knew how upset Sanction was due to her Keeper leaking important information about his systems, so she couldn’t understand how this guild was able to continue existing when they were a liability like this.

    The monarch paused, considering how to answer the question. “The administrator rarely concerns himself with the matter of players. Besides, though we may betray him now, it comes at the price of far greater suffering later. It is this suffering that dissuades others from seeking the ‘hidden clear’ route.”

    “What suffering?” Tsubaki asked, feeling something amiss.

    “The bodies we have here are not our original selves. We are but copies created by the dungeon gate, with the exception of the Masters. Once the raid is over, and the dungeon has been conquered, the copies that exist within it will naturally be destroyed, together with the copied assets. However, if we seek the hidden clear route, it is our originals that will suffer the price of betrayal. My and my fellows’ original bodies will be tortured for an eternity, serving as an example along with the Gray Knights Guild.”

    Tsubaki’s eye twitched at that, clearing her throat. “What are the Grey Knights Guild?” She asked cautiously, and the monarch explained.

    “It is said that the Gray Knights was a minor guild that once raided a Mythic dungeon long ago. However, something happened during their raid and the dungeon collapsed. Normally, this would be normal for a failed raid, but the administrator was furious. All one thousand members of the Grey Knights Guild were cast in soul fire to burn for eternity. There are rumors that you can still hear them crying if you enter the chambers beneath the administrator’s tower.”

    Tsubaki glanced off to the side at that. “Ahem... yes... I believe you could consider that this is the same ‘dungeon’ that they entered. We managed to extract information from one of them and shared that information with other Keepers, which drew your ‘administrator’s’ ire.”

    The lights in the monarch’s eyes blazed hotter. “Truly? I see... in that case, I suppose it is mixed fortune that we may meet. Our guild will finally find a home where we belong, but it is likely that those we left behind will become firewood beneath the administrator''s tower. Assuming that we survive the coming fights. You mustn’t underestimate your remaining foes.”