"Is the Death Domain attacking us?" Ryder asked, wondering if the Death Domain was here? Did they finally decide to attack? And if they did, was his trial what led to it, or was it something already planned?
"No, that shouldn't be it. Their Prince was in their Palace last I saw him. There seemed no indication that he was about to attack anyone. The army was also not preparing for war?" he muttered, confused.
"Who is it that attacked us?"
"We don't know. We have stayed inside the Palace to protect it. We only heard that the Southern Border of the Demon Realm is under attack," the Guard answered.
"Southern Border? That's a place Devilia handles with a few other southern Dukes," Ryder muttered.
"The other High Dukes have more information. I wasn't here, so I don't know about this. Come with me," High Duke Oris said as he started walking away.
Ryder followed behind him with Rale.
As the three of them left the Royal Palace, they stopped as they looked in the distance.
"Looks like we don't need to go anywhere for answers. They're here already," Ryder muttered as he gazed at the new arrivals.
He could see the other three High Dukes flying towards him.
High Duke Eston was on the left, and High Duke Mila was on the right. High Duke Magna was flying in the middle.
All three of them landed in front of the Palace.
"You're here already. We came to your Palace to get you only to find out that you had gone to help the Prince?" High Duke Mila said to High Duke.
"I see you brought this guy with you. So he failed," High Duke Magna said as he gazed at Ryder standing beside High Duke Oris. "Can't say I didn't expect that."
"He didn't fail. He finished the trial. It was after he finished it successfully, and he was coming back that he faced the danger," High Duke Oris said.
Without waiting for High Dukes to be shocked, he continued, "Even I couldn't believe that he finished so fast. But apparently, he can."
He showed the proof to the High Dukes as well.
"Amazing. He finished the trial at such a young age. He might be the youngest Prince to finish the trial in history. Not bad," High Duke Eston praised Ryder.
"That's right. Now that he is finished, he can become the King," High Duke Mila said.
Ryder wondered if they would do Coronation now. It was good if they did. At most, it would take a few minutes
Unfortunately, all his dreams were ruined by High Duke Magna.
"He will become the King after the coronation. But it's not the time for that. First, we need to solve the problem at hand. Did you forget that we are under attack? Every second is important."
"Who is attacking us?" High Duke Oris asked.
"It's the Spirit Realm," High Duke Magna said.
"The Spirit Realm? They still exist?" High Duke Oris exclaimed in surprise.
"Apparently, they do. I thought the First Demon King had wiped their entire race. But it seems like some survived and went under hiding. They grew in number with time, and now they're back to attack us," High Duke Mila said.
"Spirit Realm?' Ryder asked in confusion. He didn't know about them at all.
"They're a different species that live in the Spirit Realm. Apparently, one of the seven doors at the basement leads to Spirit Realm. But it was destroyed a long, long time ago. That gate doesn't work now," Rale whispered in Ryder's ears to give him a short explanation.
"In short, they're a long-forgotten enemy. It seems like we're at war now. A war which we must finish before the Death Domain decides to use this opportunity to join the Spirit Realm in attacking us," High Duke Oris also gave an overview of the situation.
It was at that point, a quest notification popped up before Ryder. However, it wasn't from Janus this time. It was from Divinity.
Strangely, not even the notification, but he also saw something else. A semi-illusory figure was standing before Ryder.
"Maya?"
Seeing that figure, Ryder blurted out. It was the human form of the Divinity System. The one that had screwed him over last time. If it weren't for Janus, Ryder would be stuck as an NPC by now because of this cra*py Maya.
[A World Class Quest has been received by you. Would you like to accept?]
Maya asked Ryder a question that happened to be the same that was on the screen.
All the High Dukes stood still, not moving. It was as if Ryder and Maya were in a different realm where they weren't affected by time.
"World Class Quest? What is that?"
Ryder didn't accept the quest. He had not even heard about such quests. All he knew about quests from the lowest rank to the S-Rank. World Class Quest was a new term that he was only hearing now. What was it?
[World Class Quest is a quest the success or failure of which affect the future of the world of Divinity]
[Would you accept the quest?]
As Maya explained, the screen again popped up before Ryder.
"Why is there only one option here on the bottom of this popup? Why is there not a 'no'? What would I do if I had to select no? Not that I want to reject the quest, but this is a bad system," Ryder complained, noticing the problem in this quest. It seemed like a bug that didn't show the other system.
"There is no other option. You can only select yes," Maya replied.
"Are you stupid then? Why are you even asking me to select when I can only select yes?" Ryder asked, smiling wryly.
This was a mandatory quest. Was there even a reason for her to waste so much time?
"What if I don't select the option?" he asked.
"Then yes will be selected automatically within two minutes," Maya said.
Ryder felt like facepalming himself. This girl was so annoying. She was basically wasting his time here.
"Fine, I select yes," he said as he tapped on Yes.
[Quest Accepted]
[Quest Goal: Defeat the Spirit Realm and kill the player leading them]
[Quest Grade: World Class Quest]
[Quest Reward: The World Fragment]
[Quest Reward: Level +69]
[Quest Reward: Mysterious Mirror of Galia]
[Quest Reward; Hidden]
[Quest Failure: You will be banned from Divinity for eternity]
"The rewards are pretty nice. But that increase in level by sixty-nine? Is Maya joking with me? Or is she a woman of culture?" he muttered as he saw the information about the quest on screen.
It highlighted all rewards, but the failure was also intriguing to him. If he failed, he could never enter divinity? That sounded like a harsh punishment after he did so much to get the Kingship.
If he failed, he couldn't even attend his own Kingship.
"Well, I don't think there would be any Kingship if I must anyways since this place will be destroyed or taken over by the enemy. But it's funny. There's another player that got the command of a special realm like me?"
"I wonder who it might be. The second highest was Lucifer last time I checked. Is it him? It'll be fun to see who it is. Since I have already accepted the quest, I can't do anything else anyway."
"The player on the other side has been commanded to kill you as well. But as the important bit of the quest, your face will be changed. It's being done to hide your player look since this event will be broadcasted in the Real World." Maya told Ryder.
"I understand. Are our names going to be hidden as well?" Ryder asked.
"Your names will also be hidden. Random names will be assigned to you. You will be named Demon King. The enemy player will also have her looks altered. She would be known as Spirit Queen. For the duration of this event, your player names are changed."
"Spirit Queen? The enemy player is not Lucifer but a girl?" Ryder asked in surprise.
Maya didn't answer him, though. She had said everything she wanted to. Now it was time to go. She disappeared.
"Wait a minute… Is Lucifer a girl? I never saw him actually as a guy. I only assumed he was a guy. But it's also possible that he's a girl," he wondered while everything returned to normal.
"Who is leading the Spirit Realm?" High Duke Oris asked High Duke Magna as he started moving.
"We don't know. At the moment, only their army is here. As for their leader, that's probably in the back somewhere. For now, they haven't managed to barge inside according to what information I got from Devilia," High Duke Magna said.
"Alright. I'll arrange my army. You arrange yours too. After they're all ready, we'll leave for the Southern Border. If it's a war they want, it's a war they'll get."
