Legacy of the Betelgeuse

Kingstar is looking at us.

"What are you two whispering about? Care to enlighten us as well?"

I look at them all and clear my throat.

"It's better to let Lothair explain it to us."

They're all furrowing their foreheads, and then Kingstar is clicking his tongue.

"Can you just tell us? Lothair is still in the game, there's no way we can contact him except using an email."

Diamond's phone is vibrating and he grabs his phone. He slams his table and it startles all of us. Diamond looks at the camera with his surprised expression.

"Lothair sent me an email... He said that he finally got a piece of information after he went to the Palace. The bells... it's to inform the people of the Eluna Empire that they will be preparing for war!"

Everyone is furrowing their foreheads with confusion. I look at Ivonna and I shake my head, Ivonna then looks at Diamond.

"Does Lothair know with whom the Eluna Empire is going to wage war?"

Diamond shakes his head.

"Lothair didn't tell me about the details because he said that the bells are just to notify the people of the Eluna Empire, but the official announcement isn't out yet. Lothair is still looking for another information related to this."

Jade Liu puts his hands together and looks at the camera.

"If the Eluna Empire is going to war, isn't it the other two factions that will be the enemy? It might be because of our actions of defeating the subjects and they noticed it and since they don't want their plan to be exposed, they finally start to make a move before the other two factions can prepare themselves."

Ken is sighing.

"I think what Jade said is right. We need to start to make a move, and even though I'm the Eluna Empire's faction, I don't want to see the other players from the Aarus Empire and the Alliance Kingdoms' factions suffer from the war. We need to prevent the war from happening."

Everyone is nodding in agreement, but not Kingstar. I look at them and raise my eyebrows.

"Prevent the war? How?"

Sigryd raises his eyebrows.

"By killing the subjects of course. How else are we going to prevent the war if we don't eliminate their strongest army?"

Kingstar sighs and looks at all of us.

"Trevor is right. Even if we want to prevent the war, we don't know how to do it. Did you say by eliminating the subjects? How? We barely see a small portion of them, and there are at least 30.000 of them around the three sovereignties. It took me days in-game time to find one and we were lucky enough to find dozens of them at the same time."

I'm resting my elbow while covering my mouth.

"I'm not trying to be rude to anyone in here, but what can you all do to find all the subjects and eliminate them? Kingstar said it himself that he needed hundreds of his men to defeat dozens of the subjects. I know you're all strong and there's no need for any of you to prove it, but these subjects are out of our league."

Everyone is sitting in silence while looking at me. I sigh and tilt my head.

"Let's say, you're all going to do it anyway, you're all going to find them in the Aarus Empire, Eluna Empire, and in the Alliance Kingdoms, but could you do it stealthily and secretly? Because one wrong move and the NPCs or the players who saw you kill your own people will make you all look bad in the community. Remember, some of those subjects are sitting at a high-rank table in each faction. They could be the general of the army or the commander in command while you're just no one if I have to say it harshly. This is not as simple as you think."

Jade Liu is humming with understanding.

"Now that you mentioned it since the subjects are sitting at a high-rank table in each faction, they will stir each faction to a civil war. The Eluna Empire is attacking them from the inside as well as from the outside. Thinking about it makes me start thinking that it really is impossible to prevent the war. Emperor Lerst planned everything carefully and perfectly."

Kingstar is nodding in agreement.

"Even if the Eluna Empire announced that they're going to war against us, there's nothing we can do but to defend ourselves from the enemy from within. We would lose so many forces after the civil war while the Eluna Empire will strike with their full forces."

I'm humming in agreement.

"That's right, I'm glad Jade Liu realized it quickly."

Cho Ahn is raising his eyebrow.

"Then what's your suggestion? At least you have something in your mind, right?"

I'm tapping the table while looking at them.

"I have a few options, but the best option is to abandon the ship."

Everyone is furrowing their foreheads. Cho Ahn scoffs and shakes his head.

"What? That's it? How's that a solution while we are going to war?"

I nod.

"That's right, you all abandon your ship and take over the enemy's ship."

Diamond raises his eyebrow.

"You're suggesting that all of us should strike the Eluna Empire while the other factions are having a civil war?"

I nod in agreement.

"Yeah, it's because as long as both the Aarus Empire and the Alliance Kingdoms can handle the civil war, and I know they can protect themselves without your help. There are millions of players that would defend their own faction and you all can focus on striking the Eluna Empire while it's happening and prevent the fall of the Aarus Empire and the Alliance Kingdoms from the Eluna Empire's forces."

Kingstar is leaning toward the camera.

"That's a nice plan, but what about them? What about Diamond, Lothair, Ken, and Cho Ahn? They're from the Eluna Empire's faction. They can't make a move and even if they let us in, it would look so obvious and it will start a rumor that they help us destroy the Eluna Empire. So I don't think it's the best option we have or at least for now."

Ivonna looks at me and then she looks at them.

"I don't have any suggestion, but is there anyone else that can give a piece of your mind in this matter? I honestly would agree with the decision you all make as long as it's to prevent the Eluna Empire from winning the war."

Everyone is looking at each other in silence, and nobody is saying a single word for quite a while. I take a deep breath and exhale deeply, then I lean on the table.

"I have a way better option that could even prevent the war from happening."

Everyone is surprised and looks at me with curiosity, then Kingstar nods up.

"Let's hear it."

I put my hands together and put them in front of my lips.

"I will prevent the war by killing Emperor Lerst Eogura by myself during his announcement of waging war in front of millions of the people and players of the Eluna Empire. With that, they will postpone the war since they will be too busy catching me, and with that opportunity, I will lure out all the subjects from the Eluna Empire and I will kill them all."

Everyone is shocked, but then Diamond raises his eyebrows.

"But that means..."

I nod.

"Yeah, but I will need your intel and give me the information when he will announce it publicly. To prevent you from being suspected, you all must try to kill me after I kill the Emperor."

Diamond, Cho Ahn, and Ken are sighing. Kingstar is looking at me while squinting his eyes.

"Are you sure about this? Do you really want to make yourself down deeper into trouble?"

I scoff and look at him.

"Do you have any better option? I'm open to suggestions."

Kingstar shakes his head, and everyone is sighing nervously. Ivonna looks at me.

"Can you do it?"

I chuckle and look at her.

"Do you think I can't?"

Ivonna smiles and shakes her head.

"Nevermind..."

Ken bows his head.

"Thank you, and I will never forget your sacrifice."

Diamond and Cho Ahn are nodding in agreement. I exhale deeply while staring at the ceiling.

"I guess it's decided, right? I think I have to go now... you all can continue talking about the other things..."

I stand up and leave the room and immediately go to the gaming room and log in to the game.

I teleport to the Temple of Gloom and enter the Land of Sigrid to bargain with Ezira since my quest's condition is to prevent the chaos by doing it the right way, but I guess there's no way to prevent chaos without chaos in this case. I hope she would understand, and if she can't, then I guess I have to lose her as my mentor.

Ezira is sitting in front of me and she's staring at me while raising her eyebrows.

"What do you need?"

I sigh and start explaining everything to her.

Ezira crosses her legs and stares at me for quite a while, she then sighs while nodding.

"I see... so this happened because of that Aspen kid. I guess I underestimate him, then you can do whatever it takes to complete the task."

I raise my eyebrows with surprise, then a notification appears.

[Disciple Quest #2 (Modified)]

[Becuase of the Unexpected event, the condition has changed. Prevent the dark history from happening again in any kind of way. (Mentor's Orders cannot be declined, ignored, and will be automatically accepted)]

[Reward: 1.000 Disciple Points]

[Failed (Modified): Ezira Alexus will no longer be your mentor]

Ezira is glaring at me.

"Failur is not an option."