Chapter 215 – Tumult (1)
In the north, at the Temple of the Fallen God…
Paimon, a survivor of a now unknown species guarding this place, suddenly looked up.
The sky had opened. The sky was torn, revealing an unknown darkness. From there, white snowflakes started to fall. No, instead of snow, it was white ash. Simultaneously, a huge pillar of light fell from the hole towards the temple. The magnificent sight of ash and light filled his vision.
Then Paimon’s mouth dropped open. He stretched out his arms towards the sky, and tears flowed from his eyes.
“Ahhhhh…!”
Paimon fell to his knees. Then he shouted towards the sky.
“I knew you would come back!” He grabbed his head. “I knew you would come back!”
The gigantic pillar of light dimmed and became a white circle. Someone was descending in the middle. With a woman’s appearance… She was the mother of the dead, who touched all of the dead with her white hair. The grey god… It was her. She slowly descended towards Paimon.
“I’m back.”
Her hands touched Paimon. He was the one who had endured for a long time after the grey god had fallen and the demons had been destroyed. Paimon’s tired spirit fully recovered through her touch today.
Now, the power of the grey god flowed in his body.
“I’ve been waiting for you! I believed all this time that you would come back.”
“Thank you. I’m sorry.”
“It is nothing. It was a pleasure for me to wait.”
“Your words make me laugh.” The grey god smiled. “Paimon.”
“Yes, Mother.”
“I want to finish the work that I didn’t finish long ago.”
Paimon raised his head. Above his head, the grey god was laughing. It was a bright and beautiful smile. As the ash fluttered and the light flowed down, the expression in the grey god’s eyes remained unchanged.
She wanted to end this world to save it. The demons, who had witnessed the end of the world with her, decided to help her. All the gods had struck back. They had been defeated. The grey god had fallen to another dimension because of the gods. The demons had been devastated. Then a long time passed, and they were forgotten.
However, Paimon had never once felt doubtful. The grey god’s infinite compassion towards the world and her sublime will… Her sincerity to save the world had caused her to fall into the void.
The grey god asked Paimon, “Will you help me?”
He replied without any hesitation, “Yes.” Paimon nodded. “I will.”
“Thank you.”
Then the grey god waved her hands again. A huge chain of light started to form around the light pillar.
“I crashed into an unknown dimension due to the other gods, and a new world was present. It is a world completely different from this one. The universe there is so young and beautiful. The longer I stayed there, the less I found myself able to endure our pitiful world.”
The divine power caused an earth earthquake, and the ground shook. Now, the mighty beings of the world could feel her appearance. It was a force huge enough to swallow the world.
“I’m back. I’m sorry for the humans of the world I used, but there is no other way.”
“I will follow Mother.”
“I won’t fail this time.”
Her white power emerged into the air. The purely white sphere…
It was a lump of power. The sphere floated in the middle of the light pillar. Simultaneously, the stem of light, which stretched out from the grey god, embraced the Temple of the Fallen God. The area was now a space controlled by the grey god.
She declared, “Sorry, World. It isn’t the fault of anyone born in this age. The procession of life and death is just like this.”
The white sphere started to rise into the sky. Then it gradually expanded. It doubled, tripled, and eventually became huge. Over time, it would cover the sky of Elder Lord.
“This isn’t an eternal end, but a new beginning.”
The countdown to the destruction of the world began.
***
It was a great power that couldn’t be ignored. So much had changed since the war ended.
As the timer ended, Crockta could feel himself belonging to this world. He felt it accurately through his whole body. He already had the highest assimilation rate, but the landscape changed again once he belonged to this world. It was as if he took off uncomfortable glasses and saw the world clearly with his naked eyes.
“Crockta,” the war god called out.
Crockta’s face was stiff.
The war god continued, “Just now…”
“Correct.” Crockta didn’t know what had happened. However, one thing was clear. “She is back.”
The grey god had returned. All the gods could feel it. A strong energy could be felt coming from the north. The grey god’s unique strength was like a mountain. It continued to multiply and expand.
“Tearing a gap between dimensions and returning here…” The war god formed a fist.
Crockta stared into the war god’s eyes. The two men who had just risked their lives, they exchanged a unanimous unspoken consent.
“If you’re really serious about what you said…”
“I will stop her.” The moment that Crockta responded, a new message appeared. It was for the users still under the influence of the grey god.
[Do you want to go back?]
[Defeat the grey god.]
[The last quest has started.]
That was it. Crockta felt like it was a message from the grey god to himself.
Then he recalled the grey god. He had never felt anything bad from her. She had expressed compassion for the destiny of the world and the inevitable destruction. The ‘vision of the grey god’ which she always saw was gruesome enough to eat away at Crockta’s spirit during the short time he’d had it.
She called out to him, ‘Defeat me.’
He walked towards the war god and said, “I will surely stop her.”
Crockta had been able to get a brief glimpse of her mind. She wanted to destroy this world out of compassion. In her mind, the world was entering an irreversible death, and the people here were just enjoying a finite life.
Eventually, it became his mission to save the world again. He would confront her with all of his strength… And accept the result. This was a gamble with the fate of the world on the line.
Crockta looked around.
The expressions of the gods were serious, the expedition members were pleased without knowing anything, and the orcs were bewildered. The strong people who had reached the peak of the world realized that something was wrong in the world, causing them to stare at Crockta and the war god.
In the meantime, a man walked towards Crockta. It was a robed man. He slowly took off his hood to reveal a familiar face.
Crockta called out his name, “Gordon.”
Gordon smiled. However, there were mixed emotions in that smile. It was a sad smile.
***
“No, this is ridiculous, how…”
Laney was hiding using stealth in order to relay the war. All of the talented BJs had been killed, so the situation at the end of the war was only being relayed by a professional videographer of the Undergames Channel and Laney.
She had a hunch that the best jackpot was when Crockta had shown mercy to the war god. Laney had formed a fist as she stared at Crockta. However, after that…
A strange system message popped up saying the game was over, then a timer appeared. Nothing happened after the timer ended. So, she just shrugged and continued to film the video. However, strange words appeared in the Youvids chat room where she was relaying in real time.
「Sad and Slow: I went to the chat room of another BJ, and he is freaking out because he can’t leave Elder Lord. The logout button has disappeared. Laney should check it ㅜㅜㅜㅜㅜ
You and You Me and Me: Does that make any sense?
Sad and Slow: It is real. The person is BJ Jaylee who was doing a quest. He is crying now, so check it out.」
Elder Lord was a virtual reality game, but there had never been any problems with its stability. Furthermore, it didn’t make sense that they couldn’t logout. Even if the user was forcibly pulled out of the capsule, there wouldn’t be any big problems, with only slight aftereffects.
Laney snorted and called for the logout window. However, it didn’t appear. The logout window wouldn’t respond, no matter how she called. Feeling anxious, she stopped moving. It wasn’t a problem to call her status window or quest window. However, the logout window didn’t appear. A cold chill went down her spine.
“Well, it isn’t a big deal. It seems like the server is unstable.”
She tried to get rid of any ominous thoughts. Then she continued her work of filming Crockta, the gods, the orcs, and the expedition forces. Then at that moment…
[Do you want to go back?]
[Defeat the grey god.]
[The last quest has started.]
The message windows shone. At that moment, she realized that something was wrong. From then on, she focused on logging out instead of her broadcast. All of her attention was stuck on the logout window.
There was still no reaction. Gradually, ominous stories started to appear in the chat room.
「Breaking News Man: ★★Breaking News★★ People have died in the Elder Lord capsules ★★Breaking News ★★ Check the news.
I’m a Coward: ㄷㄷㄷㄷ What is really going on?
Breaking News Man: ★★Breaking News ★★ More people all over the world are dying in the Elder Lord capsules ★★Breaking News ★☼/p>
Sad and Slow: This is real ㅜ ㅠ ㅜ Laney, be careful.」
People pulled from the capsules were brain dead, and the number of those dying from Elder Lord was on the rise. Laney didn’t show it outwardly, but she felt like crying. She continued trying to make the logout window appear, but it didn’t.
Then at that moment…
「The chat window has been paused.」
This message appeared, and the chat window became quiet. Then another message popped up.
「Administrator: Laney, calm down and listen to the end. Evacuate to a safe place and follow our instructions. This is a real-life situation. Once again, it is an actual situation. At present, there is a serious problem. The user’s safety is at risk. Please move to a safe place. 」
Laney realized this was a real problem. Her hands began to tremble. In Elder Lord, she was an assassin class, a heroine who covered all sorts of crimes. However, in reality, she was just an ordinary person. Until the chat window was stopped, scary information had been circulating.
“No way…”
Laney left the battlefield hurriedly and started running towards a safe city.
***
The Elder Lord incident emerged. The incident was one in which users from all over the world were confined in Elder Lord. The whole world fell into shock. As incidents occurred in various places, the governments of each country recognized the seriousness of the situation and rushed to form a countermeasures committee.
However, now that Elder Lord and reality were completely separated, the actions they could take were limited. The Elder Saga Corporation dispatched the best technicians from around the world to dismantle ‘Albino’, but it wasn’t successful. Still, it was just a matter of time until they managed it.
The only good news was that they could connect the real world with Elder Lord through the BJs and broadcast reporters running the live relay program.
Then exactly one week passed by.
