Battleforged: Book 1 - THE BILLION CREDIT HEIST - An Earth Apocalypse LitRPG Adventure

Greed snorted. “Are you sure about this, Aurelia? We didn’t receive any System messages of anything significant, meaning that your grandkid’s got a half-assed class at best.”

Lilly refused to respond, however much she trembled with fury even hearing him trying to act like a bemused, half-concerned opponent when he wanted nothing less than their absolute enslavement, torment, and utter destruction. Like the darkest of demons in any tale.

Besides, Lilly was all too aware now of all the ways things could go seriously south if she didn’t time things perfectly.

More than anything, however, she was exceedingly grateful for her newfound Tactical awareness of her surroundings and for the lessons and experiences that had been drilled into her psyche and soul from multiple teachers over the span of two days, perhaps, that truly felt like a lifetime, if not several. Because if she was going to have any chance of saving her troops, she’d have to be ready for things to get extremely ugly, extremely fast. And even with no-longer subtle Bronze Tier Blue Corp Troopers decked out in powered armor with plasma rifles making it clear that Lilly sure as fuck wasn’t getting off the first shot, at least she could take comfort that the were only allowed to defend.

As long as she played her cards right, they wouldn’t be lifting a single blaster to blow her away.

The dozen shamans presently commanding magics capable of bridging the gap between worlds on the other hand… they were not her idea of gently dipping her toes in hostile waters.

She then clenched her fist and shook her head, for such thoughts were now utterly unworthy of her.

Instead, she turned around, presenting herself before her ultimate commander until Elonia chose to reveal herself once more. And just seeing the fierce fire in Aurelia’s gaze made it clear that Lillian was everything the Winter Queen had hoped for.

Her cheeks immediately flushed with warmth, touched by the tenderness she wasn’t expecting.

“Are you ready, granddaughter?”

Lilly swallowed the lump in her throat as her heart began to pound, a clammy sweat prickling the back of her uniform that did nothing to stop the crispness of her salute.

Leaving so much left unsaid between them.

Lillian knew her grandmother wanted to shout to the heavens almost as much as she did.

But that would be tipping their hand.

“I’m ready to carry out my orders in Elonia Silver’s name, Your Grace.”

“Good. Your first order, my child, is to assume command of your men.”

Lilly saluted. “At once, Your Grace!”

She the turned toward the almost four hundred thousand troops that would soon be hers to command, body and soul, in this life, and the next.

For only a second she hesitated, before her eyes widened with awed understanding. It wasn’t even about befriending her Senior officers, or the Majors, Captains, and Lieutenants that made up the chain of command. It wasn’t even about selecting some sleek interface button on the Dominion Conquest page that had just populated in her interface.

It was more like opening her eyes for the first time and stretching her hand, admiring her fingers where once she had had no limb at all.

She trembled and shook, eyes widening with awe as, in a very limited way, she was suddenly one with all 392,464 soldiers suddenly under her command. By no means was it mind reading or puppet mastery. It was more like combing all the countless strands of her hair. As she flipped her head, the strands would flow where she willed, and if she took the time to mold it and shape it, her hair could be done up in countless designs.

She wanted to laugh at the absurdity of her own analogy as she took a deep breath, mirrored by her troops. Because as odd as it was, it fit.

She took another deep breath as Greed snorted and spoke. “There. Is your granddaughter happy in her new role? Wonderful! She’ll make a great figurehead, I’m sure. Now, if we could finish our last portal bridge, it will finally be time to bring our bargain to a close, don’t you think?”

His smirk assumed an easy answer even as Lillian breathed deep, inhaled and exhaled.

Just like when she was trapped in sleep paralysis.

Or a nightmare without end. The diaphragm, but autonomous and directly controllable, was the bridge between automatic and controlled, and wake and sleep.

It was a truth she had stumbled on while trapped in awful dreams and sleep paralysis as a child.

So like the living nightmare every single one of her soldiers was enduring, even as their frozen souls shrieked under the cackling of chained spirits and vile corruption, each and every one of them near mad with pain and fear, just KNOWING what was in store for them, as they had been made aware from the instant they had ported through, taunted with knowledge of their torment for, in some cases, days on end.

An endless prison from which there was no escape.

Yet was simultaneously no more than a dream they all needed to wake from.

Breathe in.

Breathe out.

Exhale. BEFORE AURELIA FINISHES HER NOD!

Somehow, she knew if it had been anyone else who dared to jostle the Winter Queen before she could give Greed a condescending dip of her head, they would have been instantly obliterated.

Yet all her grandmother did was stare, even as a fiercely smiling Lillian, now utterly in tune with her troops, their torment, and allowing them ALL to see out of HER eyes, as she spoke.

“No, Greed. NO MORE PORTALS!”

Her voice, much to her own surprise, projected with such volume that it forced even the goblins to lurch back with a surprised hiss, to say nothing of the outraged curses this earned from her own cohorts.

“How dare she insult our Empress!”

“What does this foolish git thinks she’s doing?”

“Shush, Valorn, not everything is as it seems.”

Greed froze, eyes widening before glaring his disdain, his mask of jaded buffoonery cracking the slightest bit. “In case no one saw fit to inform you, a bargain was forged between Aurelia Silver, your grandmother, and I. And it most definitely calls for the delivery of exactly 400,000 troops after some final… haggling and mutual concessions, and then our bargain will most definitely draw to a close.”

Lilly inhaled, ready to argue her heart out, before abruptly swallowing her words, realizing it would play right into the goblin’s strength.

Greed’s smirk was one of absolute triumph. “Properly put in your place? Good. Now let’s draw this farce to a close so I can finally get back to Freetown and put this whole sordid affair behind me.”

Lilly, heart racing, suddenly understood the flaw in her plan.

She needed more.

One final concession!

Breathlessly, she turned to face her grandmother, for all that she felt Winter’s gaze freezing her where she stood. “What is the first rule of command, once obedience is established?”

Aurelia humored her with a smile, clearly curious herself. “Why, to keep them alive at all costs, child. All costs save achieving ultimate victory should be done with preservation of one’s troops firmly in mind.”

Lillian swallowed. “Is it fair to say that I have full autonomy when it comes to preserving the lives and well-being of my troops, so long as my loyalty to Elonia Silver and the Sylvan faction itself remains unwavering? So long as conquest, not self-destruction, is my ultimate goal?”

Greed hissed at those words.

And whatever bemused curiosity Aurelia had became action as she acted with a speed that sent chills down Lillian’s spine, her grandmother suddenly looking straight into her eyes, before slowly nodding.

“That is correct. With the understanding that you hold Elonia close to your heart and would see our faction prosper, you have ABSOLUTE authority to direct the troops before us in whatever manner you see fit!”

Those words filled Lillian with heartfelt relief.

Before she felt a cold spike of dread, as Greed, no fool, screamed at his men in goblin to hurry up with the final ritual as fast as they damn well could.

And like the bitter call of doom, the gate opened once more.

Yet the horror she felt, exquisite senses sensing the scream of tortured souls already, wasn’t enough to still her tongue.

For a Commander’s Shout would never be silenced by terror, illness, or fear.

Not until the final battle was finished and said commander had hung his uniform for the last time.

“As Field Marshal of the Sylvan Brigade, I formally renounce ALL former contracts, agreements, or covenants made with the goblinoid faction! From this moment forward, all troops under my banner are abjured of ALL goblinoid affiliations!”

She flashed a fierce smile at the look of furious outrage promising a slow death that Greed was now sending her way.

“You can’t do that, fool! Goblin contracts are ironclad! Til death do you fools part, and beyond!”

“You mean like the Soul Forges you use in your starship construction yards, you twisted malicious fuck?”

Greed’s furious snarl turned to cold-blooded laughter. “That’s exactly what I mean, foolish bitch! Prepare to spend the rest of eternity screaming under the weight of unbreakable steel as you suffer for eternity for my pleasure! Because that’s where you’re all going in about ten seconds!”

Lillian couldn’t deny the fierce sense of vindication she felt even as terror froze her for an awful heartbeat as she sensed Aurelia’s breathless gasp – and how incredible was it to sense what even a Silver monster had missed? - or the weight of terror experienced even now by each and every one of her exquisitely aware offers and enlisted men.

“WRONG, GREED! DIDN’T YOU GET THE MEMO? YOU’VE ALL BEEN CENSORED FOR THREE FULL FUCKING LEVELS!”

Greed froze at those words, visibly blanching as each and every shaman shuddered and squealed under the explosive backlash of countless thousands of strands of fate being severed from parties who now KNEW they could slip free whenever they wanted to, and with the chains of despair torn free, they immediately fled those horrific bindings.

Yet Lillian’s fierce sense of vindication was short lived as she felt the sudden foreboding weight of a monstrous Bronze who was Deep in his own corrupt ascension.

Lillian hissed and stepped back, despite herself. Because of 1200 points was the sign of a strong Rank 10 Bronze Classer…

Greed was radiating about 5000 points worth.

“IT WAS YOU!” The monster before her snarled his fury, no longer playing at being any petty puffed up bureaucrat or mortal showman.

The mask was torn free and all Lillian saw underneath was the darkness of the Void and twin red suns glaring with monstrous hate.

The very ground seemed to groan and buckle as Greed Azmodeous revealed himself at last.

The girl that was Lilly froze where she stood, so horrified that she couldn’t even move as snarling hate rapidly closed, and the monster was suddenly BEFORE HER! Glaring with hideous hate that paralyzed her with something beyond horror.

Mental Resistance modified Willpower Check has FAILED!

You have glimpsed demonic malice in its pristine form, as portrayed by countless fables and folk tales! For it seems that Aurelia wasn’t the only party who baked herself into the hearts and minds, the myths and legends, of humanity itself!

“Lilly! Hang on, I’m coming!”

It was Eric’s desperate cry.

And if she had ever wondered if the boy who had forged her into being had any love for her besides a moment’s heroic indulgence… it was answered for all time right then and there.

“Lilly! I’m coming!”

A father’s scream.

Which of course enraging the demon before her blotting out the sun. So all she saw was inky darkness, and all she felt was malice as death snapped its wide, smiling jaws about her soul.

“Oh my foolish little fruit. Thinking you could pluck such sweet prizes without being forced to pay the ultimate price?”

Greed’s awful chuckle filled the desolate hell she suddenly found herself in. “It’s now clear that eliminating your faction from all boards for all time has been a too long neglected priority. Not that you need worry about that, with all the screaming you’re soon to do, once I TEAR OUT YOUR SOUL AND DEVOUR IT! And the look on your foolish father’s face, that sweet, sweet expression of despair on those porcelain-perfect features will have to tide me over until we next-- NO! YOU AREN’T REALLY HERE, BITCH! WE ALL KNOW YOU’RE A… AIEEEE!”

“Lilly!”

Lillian shook like a leaf about the be swallowed by the void, recalling so well the horrific memory of her father, lost in the inky darkness beyond mortal space… and hadn’t she somehow saved him? Jolting him back to the rift just like she herself was jolted to the bitter hard ground now frozen solid with the howling storms of winter as the air shrieked with gale-force winds, all the shamans desperately sheltering under an arcane ward a dazed Lillian realized she already understood implicitly. A stray thought in a mind horrified by the demon that had come so close to claiming it, before Winter herself claimed her due.

“YOU THOUGHT I WAS BUT PROJECTION? AN ILLUSION? AN EMPTY MIRAGE YOU COULD IGNORE AT YOUR WHIM? FOOL! I BUT AWAITED YOUR OVERSTEPPING YOUR BOUNDS, AND YOU HAVE DONE SO! SHATTERING ALL TREATIES AND OATHS WITH YOUR BLASPHEMY BEFORE THE NATURAL ORDER!

“NOW, BY YOUR OWN ACTIONS, YOU HAVE LEFT YOURSELF OPEN TO THE RETRIBUTION YOU SO RICHLY DESERVE! DARING TO TOUCH MY OFFSPRING! DARING TO CLAIM MY WORLD! YOU THINK GOBLIN ARTIFICE IS THE HEIGHT OF AGONY A SOUL CAN BE MADE TO SUFFER? FOOL! IT IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!”

Aurelia’s voice roared and howled through the air and ether like the most terrible and fearsome of hurricane winds as she held the now insignificant looking demonic abomination twisting and writhing within her bitter cold hands. Proving that yes, she was very real, and fully invested in securing this world.

Lillian shuddered, both delighted and horrified to see her grandmother in all her grim glory, soaring as high as a mountain-sized glacier, eyes living storms of bitter retribution, and Lilly sensed she was exerting just the tiniest flicker of her will upon the world, her domain manifesting in all its pristine frozen splendor.

Greed squealed, which did him little good, as Aurelia’s cold chuckle drowned out whatever pleas he tainted the air with.

“IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU TAKE OFF YOUR MASK AND REVEAL YOURSELF AT LAST, ABOMINATION! FOR NOW I MAY DO THE SAME!”

That was the moment that Lillian’s exquisitely sensitive ears caught the desperate screams of the terrified and clearly freezing shamans begging the Blue Corp guardians to intervene.

“You have to protect our master! Aurelia Silver has dared to make an unprovoked attack!” One Goblins snarled

Another’s face twisted in what he perhaps hoped was a convincing plea but came off as a malicious sneer.

“You’re now oathbound to defend us, Blue. Shoot that whore and all her servants! Let Aurelia Silver contend with all of Blue Corp now painting her as red!”

Lillian’s gut clenched. Because of course it made sense that things would flow this way. Greed had intended all along to surprise Aurelia with the depth of his treachery, then use her own unspoken ally against her to slaughter the remainder of her troops when her soldiers threw themselves in outraged horror at the murdering shamans who were ironically protected by the very allies Eric had worked so hard to cultivate. No doubt Greed would have acted quite differently, if he had realized that Aurelia was really here, not just a brilliant powerless mirage bluffing her way into prominence and significance, as she had no doubt intended everyone to think. Yet the dice had been cast, Greed clearly working multiple angles to destroying the Sylvan faction while assuring that everyone was hostile to any surviving remnants in one fell swoop. Totally a masterful Machiavellian play.

But only if a coldly staring Caliban brought into it.

“Bullshit!” Lilly screamed. “Don’t believe those manipulative fucks, Caliban! You recall the contract you went over with my dad? It was a trap! All the souls brought here were gated through Greystone territory, which just a day ago was a Soul Forge refinery making Starships on the cheep by fusing thousands of souls forced into eternal torment into every section of armor plating fused to the hull!”

“Liar!” Screamed the closest shaman, glaring her way in absolute hate. “Lies and slander that must be answered in courts of blood and steel! Now you will accept my challenge or concede slander and submit yourself to my bonding immediately!”

Lillian froze at those words, her mind racing even as Caliban’s icy gaze thawed the tiniest bit, peering her way as Aurelia held a struggling Greed in a grip as cold and pitiless as the arctic winter.

“Is it true? Are you truly the daughter of Eric Silver?”

“As far as the System is concerned… yes!” She boldly declared, locking gazes with the man, letting him read whatever he dared in those words. She then pointed at the foul creature of darkness writhing in the air. “That bastard was trying to drill into my mind and claim my soul, declaring that he had rights to it, like he did all the men under my command, and I must shut up and obey immediately! And had my grandmother not actually been here as more than a mortal avatar…”

She shuddered, sickened even to say it, though her eyes did flash with fury and horror in equal measure. “That was most definitely an attack! Any accords broken were done by him! And family protecting family is a precedent literally as old as time.”

“I know,” Caliban said, coolly gazing at the one sided battle between demon and titan. “That’s why I asked.”

And the look he gave his men said all that needed saying, not a single one even raising their blasters, let alone aiming them at what were, after all, their own people, even if belonging to another faction.

“This is outrageous!” Screamed the closest shaman. “When Arlen Ort hears about this, he’ll have you replaced and your head put on a spike for our pleasure!” He screamed.

Lillian snorted at that. “Yeah, somehow I don’t think things are going to work out that way,” she said, sharing a bemused smile with Caliban who gave her a curious look.

“How much has your father shared with you?”

Lillian winked. “Definitely a convo for another time. Like once we get our Contender mailing privileges online! In the meantime, you don’t owe those goblins shit!”

“I’m afraid I do,” Caliban conceded with a quiet sigh. “Or at least the goblins wise enough not to attack the progeny of a Silver Empress while in her actual presence.”

Lillian immediately shook her head. “No, seriously! The goblin faction fucked up so bad they’ve been sanctioned! ALL contracts in effect with goblin parties are breakable without any penalty by all other factions! Only goblins are forced to uphold their System-enhanced contracts if the other party wishes it, and the other party can still get right out of it whenever they want!”

She smirked at the goblins glaring her way with absolute hate. “Even better, each individual goblin is forbidden from making any more binding contracts until they’ve gained at least three fresh levels! Any Silver-tier gobin or below is now on the hock for triple levels!”

She crossed her arms, smirking at her enemies as Aurelia took her sweet time tearing fresh guttural screams from the disgusting creature Lilly now hated above all others, the goblin who had been so willing to slaughter and eternally torment 400,000 innocent elves.

“That means that you can walk away from this mess without a single System penalty or mark on your record!”

As far as Lilly was concerned, it was the perfect end to a week that had been both more wonderful and horrifying than anything she could have possibly imagined before. Yet much to her surprise and dismay, Caliban regretfully shook his head. “I’m afraid it’s not that simple, Lady Silver. Blue Corp swore oaths of protection. We are bound to them not because the System binds us, but because our honor demands it.” He flashed a tired smile. “It is that unflinching resolve that has allowed Blue Corp to ascend in almost all cultures on almost all worlds. The knowledge that we are both impartial and just. That we unstintingly and eternally honor both the meaning and letter behind the words we write and the contracts we forge. Because it is when times are most perilous and uncertain for a given faction, that is when Blue Corp’s worth shines for all to see.”

Lilly froze at that, jaws clenching in dismay. “Please don’t tell me than means you’re going to attack my grandmother? She’s the fucking Winter Queen.”

“Of course not, child. But it does mean we’re still duty bound to defend those who didn’t attack your clan or reveal themselves to be Deep Bronze on the cusp of an ascension that now might never come.”

He gave Greed a coldly measuring gaze. “Though this does explain much… there is still counsel I will give your Empress free of all charge or obligation.” He then cleared his throat and modulated his voice to carry every bit as loudly as the howling winter gale.

“Aurelia Silver, Great and terrible Winter Queen. Empress of all the Snows and the Frigid North. I pray you heed my words. For as much as it is true that Greed broke covenant in attempting to claim your granddaughter’s soul in a move that was shockingly bold even for him, as much as it is true that his choice to reveal himself to better enact his vengeance opened the gates for you to do the same… it is also true that the System takes a very dim view of Powers and Potencies revealing themselves this early in the game. I fear, Your Grace, that should you spill the blood of a half-step Silver on the soil of Ashland Province, you shall both be summarily expelled from this realm until you manage to ascend to Gold.”

And those words alone caused the howling winds to instantly still to bitter pitiless cold as a now far shorter twenty foot tall Aurelia froze, holding the still wriggling and struggling Greed as if he were a maggot, before tossing him like the worthless trash that he was.

And a second later it was a very human looking Aurelia, no longer radiating a monstrous presence that had absolutely every elf present crashing to their knees who was glaring coldly at the flopped over form of the vile little schemer that had once more cloaked himself in the guise of a seedy politician. Yet far from looking utterly bested and humiliated, his smirk was one of malicious triumph.

“You wish for the abrupt abrogation of our arrangement, bitch? So be it! It does not change the fact that the souls of all your soldiers were never properly sent to Earth in the first place. Only their bodies!”

Lillian realized she wasn’t the only one frozen with horror before both Greed and his cohort’s laughter.

“That’s right dear, sweet Aurelia. Your granddaughter’s little revelation is too little, too late! Whether or not they end up in our foundries, their souls are about to snap right back into Greystone before the final rays of the dying sun.” He chortled mockingly. “Why do you think I was so eager to wrap this up today?” He then turned to glare at Lillian. “And if your rank aspersion and crass insults are found to have even a lick of truth to them, if I find that you’ve done so much as shift a single cauldron out of place in our completely aboveboard, sanitary, and absolutely cutting-edge high-tech ship manufacturing facility with nothing but joyful employees and happy customers…” His smarmy salesman’s voice grew harsh and twisted with all the malice of hell. “Then I swear with my dying breath, girl, I will make you pay.”

His twisted mockery of a face then snapped back into that of a bright-eyed salesman once more.

“But before that, boy do I have a deal for you!” He then gestured grandly at the gate behind him. “For so long as that gate’s open, your troop’s bodies will be allowed free passage right back to Greystone Foundries in perfect, tip-top condition! We wouldn’t want to waste all that carbon, after all. Ha ha. No, ma’am. Now, here’s my proposal! You’ve said some mighty unkind things, girl, and I think it’s only fare that you made amends in the only court that matters! A duel where my wronged associates can defend their honor. Should you win, then you have my permission to funnel your legions wherever the hell you want within Greystone. But should my champions win…” Greed’s smile grew twisted once more. “You’re joining your little toy soldiers, exactly where I choose to send you. Now tell me, Lillian Silver, do we have a deal?”

Lillian’s lips curled in a smile just as insincere as Greed’s own. She ignored the cold hiss of warning thrumming through her mind, Aurelia’s gaze saying so much without saying a word.

“Lilly, are you sure?”

Her grandmother’s silent concern. Lillian took a deep shuddering breath, locking gazes with the dozen Bronze-tier monsters filled with such malice and hate, having absolutely no doubt what Earth’s fate would be if those monsters continued to work behind the scenes with most adventurers still struggling just to hit level 30, with only 130 points worth of development on average and no special traits to show for it at all. And they were still like gods compared to the vast majority of mortals who had somehow managed to survive this long.

The thought of having to duel even one of these monsters was more chilling than she wanted to admit. But if she could ease the burden of her panicked father who she sensed desperately racing toward her even now… even if she could only manage to take out a single enemy pawn, it was still something.

Some tiny way of saying thankyou to the man who had loved her, cherished her, and given her life. Even if it had been eighteen years worth of memories compressed in a single System event, it was still far more than her original father… her mother’s original father, had ever done for either of them.

“Yeah,” she said breathlessly, as the once more thawed and perfectly vibrant spring grass rustled in a breeze smelling of honeysuckle, wildflowers, and endless possibility. “I’m sure.”

“Excellent!” Greed all but chortled, pointing to the very ritual circle his tools had been prepping all this time. “Then I suggest we avoid any further delays and get started! The summoning circle will prevent any stray magics from unexpectedly getting out of hand, ha ha.”

“Granddaughter…”

Lillian shivered before that one word even as Greed’s smile grew wide, the little shit no longer bothering to hide his teeth.

She swallowed and turned to face her grandmother. And how it shook her to see this monstrous titan before her, still radiating the tiniest iota of the power as she had before, and yet it was enough. Enough to send her falling to her knees… sensing the august majesty of a woman who could so easily rule and manage an entire world, effortlessly. And according to the scattered memories that she and Bunbun shared with her sire… she already had a dozen under her control. Yet before her as well was a woman as mortal and approachable and beautiful as Elonia herself. A girl who had hugged and greeted her as kin. A girl who everyone seemed to still think was locked in a coma.

But if that was the case…

She shook herself out of her growing stupor, stiffening her spine in a military salute. “It will be my pleasure, Empress, and I can think of no better way to begin my tenure than by taking out some of the trash tainting our world… Your Grace.”

Aurelia held her gaze for long moments.

“Time is ticking, woman!” Greed sniped, but they pad him no mind.

“You know things are never simple with demons, dear.”

Lillian shivered, slowly dipping her head. “Believe me, I know that as well as anyone could.”

Aurelia frowned thoughtfully, a single graceful finger delicately caressing the tip of Lillian’s prehensile ears. “Will they be enough?”

Lillian swallowed, more than a bit surprised by those words. Did Aurelia see through her so well already?

She forced a smile. “They’d better be. I’m sort of betting my life on it.”

“You are, child. Just so long as you understand that.”

“I do.”

Then, much to Lillian’s heartfelt surprise, Aurelia bent down and softly kissed her brow.

“Then fight well, my granddaughter. Do me and your father proud.”

You have received the Winter Queen’s blessing! You now enjoy +5 to Find Weakness, Unified Perception, and all arcane skill checks! Let her ancient wisdom and august insights guide your own!

Bunbun did a happy little jig on her shoulder. “Fuckin’ hell yeah! Winter Queen’s blessing, baby!”

Lilly’s ignored the pounding in her heart as she gazed Greed’s way, clenching mental muscles like a fencer readying his blade.

She took a deep breath, approaching the circle, but not before eyeing it very carefully.

Unified Perception modified by Winter Queen’s Blessing! You are in Elonia Silver’s domain, overseen by the Winter Queen herself. Save for the twisted bindings you’ve already severed from your men, you sense no corrupt magics!

Runic Spell Forger skill check: Success! You understand that this truly is a portal between worlds! Magics cast within this football field-sized circle will wrap around itself infinitely in a closed system! No need to worry about arcane backlash!

Winter Queen’s Blessing has further enhanced your insights! You have begun to unravel the runic components of world gates!

5% comprehension achieved!

For just a moment, Lillian stumbled overwhelmed and giddy with awe at the revelations flooding her soul, filled with wonder at the mysteries and wonders revealed to her arcane senses. She allowed herself a single breathless smile, promising herself that one day soon she would be making all her fantasies of studying magic and enjoying slice-of-life student adventures at one of Aurelia’s prestigious academies a sweet, halcyon reality. One day soon…

Just as soon as she took out the trash here and conquered a world.

“Remeber, Lillian, you are free to walk away, even now.” Her eyes widened, surprised to hear such counsel, even concern, from Lord Caliban, the Bronze-tier Blue Corp representative of all people.

“How dare you interfere in matters outside your purview! You’re here to defend my person, not hers!” Greed snapped.

Caliban sighed. “I am well within my purview to remind this child of what she already knows. And that she knows what she does speaks extremely poorly of you on so many levels, Greed. And do you truly want to risk what will happen if you actually do manage to best Eric Silver’s daughter?”

Greed flashed a twisted smile. “He will do nothing. You’ve sensed my strength, Caliban. You already know what I’m capable of… what I’m well within my rights of doing to him, should that brat harm a single hair on my head!” He chuckled coldly. “So he will watch, helpless and screaming, while I make him suffer beyond even the pain collar I pray is still around his neck!”

Caliban flashed a cold smile of his own. “If you think causing him pain is the extent of the consequences you will suffer, then you truly are a fool.”

Lillian bowed once Caliban’s way as a show of respect, before entering the ring. “My familiar and I accept the terms as we understand them to be. You may bring your champion forth to face me.”

Greed’s outraged scowl turn to a twisted grin, making it clear that once more he was seeking to distract with his petty performance as the closes shaman smiled and stepped forward… immediately followed by all the others. “Then the terms are struck! Aurelia’s champions against my own!”

His face twisted in a truly malicious smile as, faster than even Lillian could react, the world gate was catalyzed with a dull thrum.

Lillian’s eyes widened with wonder far more than horror, no matter the dozen goblin shaman’s now gazing at her with wolf-like predatory grins.

World Gate comprehension is now at 20%! You have elected NOT to engage in further analysis at this time.

Aurelia’s voice crackled with outrage. “What is the meaning of this?”

Green smirked. “Exactly what it looks like. My champions against yours.”

“I allowed for a duel between my daughter with a single one of your men!”

“Wrong, Aurelia. Your daughter has her familiar, and my head shaman has his coterie.”

“That’s outrageous, Greed, and you know it! Mages and their familiars are considered one being under long-standing precedent. It’s YOU daring to bring a dozen Bronze-tier shamans into a duel with my White-tier daughter who has yet to even reach level fifty that is absolutely outrageous!”

The air grew heavy with the weight of storms that didn’t touch the now shimmering football sized dome that was cutting off Lillian and her opponents now cackling and taunting her.

Aurelia continued to bluster and shout, but Lillian knew it would do no good, save in exactly the way it was intended.

Keeping Greed’s attention while the dozen goblin shamans took their time taunting and mocking the helpless girl with the quivering rabbit ears.

“Beast-kin! Ha! To think Aurelia’s bastard boy would fall so low!”

“It will be sweet, savoring her flesh when this duel is done.”

“But not until she screams, so many delicious screams! I will tear free her vocal cords to restring my Quanzei!”

Lillian’s heart began to pound as the lead shaman cracked his neck, gesturing her way with a wand now brimming with curse magics Lilly could sense so clearly.

Curse magics that made her stomach roil, somehow just knowing her one physics-based ward would do nothing to counter.

“Don’t look so frightened, rabbit girl! Why, we’re nothing if not reasonable. Is that not right, brothers? Why, we’ll even let you throw the first spell!”

The full dozen goblins nodded at that, and Lillian’s lips curled despite themselves as a subtle pressure began to build up. FINALLY build up.

For the first time in this life, she was about to embrace that which before she had only embraced in nightmare and dream.

Before immediately crashing to the ground when a bunny’s scream pierced the air, realizing how close she had just come to getting her throat cut.

You have FAILED to sense Stalking Assassin!

Rabbit kick has sent you flying!

You have saved versus stunning blow!

Perception check has caught sight of Bloodtear Assassin!

Lillian’s eyes widened with horrified dismay to see a furiously cursing goblin struggling to rip free his knife from her mother’s struggling body.

“BUNBUN!” Lilly screamed as time stretched and slowed with the fury welling within her soul.

For just a heartbeat, she locked eyes with the little bunny who had given her life.

The mirror of her soul that she cherished even more than herself.

“BUNBUN!”

Only vaguely did she register the jaded voices of outsiders.

“Really, Greed? You had to send in one of your assassins to take out my grandchild, as well as a full dozen of your strongest pawns here on Earth? You do know that there will be significant penalties for that breach.”

“Well worth the price, woman. Considering your son, I decided it was best not to take chances. I’m sure you understand.”

“MOMMY!”

Lillian’s eyes were helplessly riveted to her mother being casually flung from the assassins’ cruel blade, her steaming entrails spilling behind her as she crashed to the grass, wheezing her final breaths as the air began to vibrate and thrum with forces Lilly had last experienced in hideous nightmare.

Yet when she locked gazed with the sneering assassin, glaring so coldly at her as he licked free his blade and approached with a coldblooded killer’s smile, all she saw was a monster worse than the twisted horrors that had once consumed an entire world.

Horrors that had consumed countless hundreds of thousands of innocent souls.

Horrors, like the cackling shamans, that had absolutely slaughtered numerous desperate champions that had dared to pit themselves against inevitable corruption.

“Look at that foolish girl, trembling like a leaf after Snilk gutted her pet. Pathetic! At this rate, we won’t be able to cast a single spell before he has his fun!”

The words mean nothing to Lillian as she shrieked to the heavens, crackling with all the fury of winter, before her eyes snapped open and she embraced that which even Bronze-tier Cthulian horrors a world away had learned to fear as the air began to hum with static so fierce it drowned out all sound as the air turned crimson with sweetest retribution.

For just a second she caught sight of her own countenance reflected in the beady gazes of over a dozen sneering goblins. A frightened girl with desperate eyes and a pair of rabbit ears crackling with crimson lightning flaring brighter than the sun. A light that made the head shaman alone flinch with sudden apprehension.

“No, no, no! She’s another ringer! Strike her down now! Kill her before she—”

“SANGUIS FULMEN!”

Two words alone Lillian screamed so loud that the field exploded around her, sending her opponents flying. But not before the entire dome was filled with brilliant crackling red lightning that didn’t die off but built and built to shockingly brilliant proportions.

So bright that the entire dome began to glow like the sun.

Greed cursed furiously and stepped back.

He turned to Aurelia with a look of awed disgust.

“That bitch is just shy of rupturing a world gate! Who the hell did your son fuck to create that?”

Aurelia’s throaty chuckle made even Caliban shiver, her words a taunting retribution as porcelain features revealed winter’s chill smile once more.

“That’s an excellent question, dear Greed. Why don’t you ask him?”