MMORPG : Rise of the Interstellar God

Terra—Planetary Surface

After an hour's walk, Apophis's team finally approached the coordinates which Lotus had given.

Along their journey, they came across many other groups of players who were also beginning to gather in this area. The shape of the coming battle became more and more distinct.

Of course, everyone they met immediately started moving away from Apophis and the Eclipse players once they were recognized. After all, the current resentment towards Apophis had grown very heavy. It was because of him that everyone had been stuck here for almost ten days! Not to mention all the lost levels people had suffered during that time.

However, nobody wanted to confront Apophis, no matter how much they hated him. He'd taken on an S Rank player. No one wanted to be his next victim!

So by the time they arrived, Apophis's group was in the midst of a stifling environment where thousands of players stared at them blankly—but without making any other hostile or provocative gestures.

The location was through a wide alley in the middle of the remaining cityscape, which was mostly hidden from any observers in the sky. Apophis's group continued to advance through this alley, which seemed more and more crowded all the time. Apophis himself began to notice a lot of famous guilds. In particular, he spotted members of his first life's guild, "The War Fnatic." There were not only some of the guild executives, but also his former guild leader.

But unlike his past life, today Apophis was the center of the world. No one dared to treat him like garbage, or even to challenge him anymore! Even the high-ranking members of The War Fnatic scurried out of his way, as though they were monkeys and he were a tiger.

But then something happened that surprised Apophis.

Some players, rather than glaring or cowering, actually approached and bowed to Apophis in respect.

Hulk and the other Eclipse players were quite impressed by all of this. Though Apophis had certainly been infamous before now, they were really seeing the extent of his notoriety up close and personal for the first time.

Finally, Apophis's team arrived at the coordinates which Lotus had sent. The destination was a huge destroyed building which seemed like its remaining structures couldn't withstand a single energy blast with crumbling completely. At the very top of this building, on what remained of its roof, several players could be seen standing.

Aside from those who had noticed Apophis, the tens of thousands of players gathered within the huge, hidden alleyway were staring up at these few figures.

Apophis approached, squinting up at the figures. The crowd parted before him in waves until he was close enough to scan these figures' identities.

Ceasar, Joker, Lotus, Lucifer, Mario, Zelda, and Zeus.

Every member of the 7 Gods, the most famous MMO players in the world, stood like true deities over their adoring worshipers. This was perhaps the first time since the Siege of Tyo that they had all stood together in this way.

Apophis understood why they had gathered like this. He didn't believe for a moment that they all considered each other to be trusted and united allies, as many naive players would assume.

Rather, the 7 Gods wanted to raise the morale of players who had been thoroughly discouraged by the way the Imperials had spam-killed them and stripped away their levels. Hulk was close by, and he leaned in to speak quietly to Apophis. "What should we do? Are we going to join them?"

But before Apophis could answer, a loud shout rang through the alley. "Attention, please! The Commander of the Eternals' Defense Council is about to speak!"

It was… Lotus's voice!

Apophis was astonished as the beautiful, tanned woman in golden armor stepped forward from the back edge of the roof, where she'd previously been hidden from sight, and spoke loudly to the gathered players.

"Eternals! I am Lotus, Commander of the Eternal Coalition forces! Others know me as the guild leader of Eclipse. I'm here because the Defense Council assigned me the mission to solve the crisis of Terra's blockade. Unfortunately, our first attempt failed.

"The Imperial blockade fleet that guards Terra spent many more resources than we anticipated, preventing us from breaking through. Our fleet was far smaller and weaker than the Imperial army, so we chose to commit suicide and respawn here with you on Terra. We have created a last chance solution, but it is no sure victory! To have the best chances of getting everyone off-world, we will need every player available!"

Lotus paused, giving the crowd time to discuss among themselves. This was all news to many of them. A commander of the Coalition forces? The Eclipse guild leader? A plan to save everyone?

To many of these players, this was all utter nonsense, and some began shouting insults at Lotus from inside the crowd.

"Hey, Eclipse bitch, help me level up!"

"Hang her!"

"Show us your tits!"

"Slut whore!"

Lucifer, who was one of the players who had committed suicide to respawn on Terra, was quite annoyed at all this disrespect and lack of seriousness. He took a step to the edge of the roof, then joined his hands in a pyramid shape before launching a huge ray of concentrated light into the crowd! Three players were instantly vaporized, while ten others were seriously injured.

"Listen up, you maggots!" he snarled from up above as soon as the crowd stopped screaming. "Either shut your mouths and listen to Commander Lotus, or me and the rest of The Warlord members will slaughter every last one of you! Now, I don't want to hear another word when Commander Lotus speaks!"

Beside him, Lotus's expression hadn't changed from its ordinary calmness. After Lucifer finished his speech, she began speaking clearly again. "I know that many of you are not inclined to help me. Indeed, my guild has stood against you more than once. But I am not asking you to love me… nor to obey Eclipse. Look above me! The 7 Gods stand here, united, because we all want to get off this damn planet!

"The NPCs have been bullying us for too long! And over the last week, things have gotten even worse. The Imperials treat us like common cattle. They bully us, they humiliate us, they kill us over and over because they fear our power! They do all this to make us understand our place… But we will not accept this anymore! Now we are the hunters and they are the prey!"

The crowd had been frozen with fear of another attack from Lucifer, and so they'd remained silent through Lotus's speech. But as she spoke, even the stupidest among them started being carried away by her discourse. At the end, a different sort of shouting from before could be heard among the crowd.

"Yeah, well said!"

"Death to the Empire!"

"Kill all NPCs!"

"No mercy!"

"Azerof's a son of a bitch!"

Lotus waved her hand as a signal, and the 7 Gods stepped forward to the edge of the roof, showcasing their unity. Lotus called in a voice even more commanding than before, "The greatest players of our generation will participate in this battle for freedom! Who else is with me?!"

The crowd went wild and shouted back one word over and over.

"Freedom!"

"Freedom!"

"Freedom!"

The crowd grew frenzied. Some players fired off their Skills as though they were shooting off fireworks in celebration, while others simply raised their fists in a sign of approval. All in all, it was quite an epic moment.

Apophis, who was among the players below, watched the spectacle in disbelief. He could hardly comprehend the truth: Lotus had succeeded where he had failed.

She'd won the hearts of the players, rather than simply dominating them through raw strength and fear. She hadn't had to deceive them or even bully them too much—though Lucifer's strength had certainly helped.

But in the end, she'd charismatically explained the truth, and this had won her the loyalty of a weary crowd.

A feeling which Apophis hadn't felt in a long time resurfaced, one he'd sworn to himself that he'd never allow himself to feel again, a feeling which he'd believed came only from his former weakness.

Jealousy.

***

Terra—Planetary orbit—Azerof's flagship

In the stratosphere, Emperor Azerof leaned forward on his golden throne and asked Admiral Hazh, "What is the situation?

Admiral Hazh replied, "The Eternals' fleet is preparing to enter hyperspace."

Azerof, surprised, leaned back and narrowed his eyebrows. The scars on his face stretched uncomfortably. It was a sensation he hardly noticed anymore. "They're giving up on everyone who returned to the planetary surface? That doesn't sound right."

Admiral Hazh cocked his head, thinking. "Perhaps they're retreating to get reinforcements?"

Azerof shook his head slowly. "The Eternals have no allies outside of their own people. We've surely seen almost all of their combined strength already. No… they're planning something." He thought for a moment longer. "Yes, they're up to something indeed. It can mean nothing good."

Suddenly, an officer entered the command deck and bowed before Emperor Azerof. "Your Highness! We've detected a strong concentration of cosmic energy on Terra, near the ruined Valor Temple!"

Azerof could hardly believe what he'd just heard. "What?!"

The officer answered, "Yes, Your Highness! According to our estimation, at least three million Eternals have suddenly gathered in the general area!"

Azerof replied, "How is that possible? We should have broken their wills by killing them repeatedly and imprisoning them!"

Admiral Hazh interjected, "What do we do, Your Highness? If they have any real power, a new battle on Terra will result in our infrastructure being heavily damaged. Not to mention the billions of human refugees still in the bunkers. All of them are waiting for us to give them the green light to return to their former lives. Our plan to integrate millions of Eternals into the Imperial Police and Army seems doomed to failure now..."

Azerof replied, "It's a catastrophe! Repairs will already cost us billions of GC. Another battle will mean a catastrophic economic loss!"

Hazh replied, "What do we do now?"

Azerof hissed, "We have no choice but to allow them to evacuate. Time for their conscriptions..."

***

Terra—Planetary Surface

The end of Lotus's speech caused such a surge of excited chaos and military organization that it was a while before Apophis and his team were able to reach Lotus again. They arrived at a huge mall, guarded by over a thousand players, which served as the mission's temporary headquarters. It was there that the great leaders of the mission were gathered.

Apophis turned to Hulk as they approached the entrance. "Stay here with the others. I'm going to talk to Lotus alone."

Hulk frowned. "Are you sure? People don't exactly like you here, Boss. Almost everyone inside is your enemy."

Apophis gave a cold grin. "Don't worry about me." Then he walked to the entrance of the huge mall, where he was stopped by a very anxious-looking sentry. "Sorry," said the player, "but this building is for use by the Defense Council leaders only. Everyone else is forbidden to enter."

Apophis laughed. "Little boy! Take a look at my nickname and say that to me again."

The sentry, who already seemed to be worried about the possibility of any kind of trouble, inspected Apophis—and broke out in a cold sweat. "Hey, I didn't recognize you, Mr. Apophis! I'm so sorry. You can go in, of course..."

The inside of the mall was so vast and empty that Apophis's footsteps echoed for a long time whenever he put his foot down. After five minutes of walking, he noticed that a large office room was guarded by more players. This was undoubtedly where the leaders were gathered.

He summoned all his courage and opened the door, walking right past all the guards who, unlike the sentry outside, clearly recognized him and knew better than to confront him.

Apophis entered the room without knocking. Inside there were about fifty of the most famous players in Horus, all talking to each other in tense voices.

Every one of them shut up when they saw Apophis.