Book 9. Chapter 28: Sweet Victory
The Battlegroup had materialized on the sweeping, repaired, pristine courtyard of the Crystal Citadel. They were outside the castle, not far from where a giant slab of stone had landed and where a gargantuan centipede was killed. Only now, the city was rebuilt, with numerous buildings and thousands of natives present.
The moment their boots touched the ground, a massive, heaven-piercing explosion of pure light erupted from the Citadel HQ’s central spire, the hexagons of the Framework tracing upward and into the sky. The brilliant beacon shattered the gloomy, oppressive clouds that had hung over Serthune, signaling their ultimate victory to the natives and Adventurers scattered across the globe with Framework Script.
Simultaneously, deep within the various secondary dungeon instances, every surviving raid group received a localized Menu notification. The Prime Instance had succeeded, and victory was theirs.
For those battered warriors fighting impossible hordes in the dark, it was an overwhelming beacon of hope. They knew they had a home to come back to. The world was not lost, and they only needed to extract what they needed from the enemy.
There was actually a fair number of raid instances that had already been successful–and failed. Those who failed wouldn’t be here, but Valtor was ready with a report–the Raid Instance he and Amara led had already been completed.
The two had been incredibly underleveled, barely allowed to enter thanks to the level scaling of the natives–if fewer had initiated, Jake didn’t think they would have made it at all. Including them was a calculated risk. Increasing their strength to go along with their critical talent and leadership was crucial for their guild's progression and also served as an essential anchor for the lower-level allies to lean on.
Valtor beamed, twirling his mustache proudly, his spirit hovering inside his floating robed-armor form. “Milord! I knew you would be successful. Just knew it!”
Amara smiled fondly at her husband, her spirit floating next to her large tome and at Valtor’s arm. “He’s been watching that gate like a hawk–along with his Menu, of course. He’s been trembling in anticipation.”
Jake smiled at the two. “How’s it going so far? I know it’ll be skewed thanks to some bias in the timeframe–the Raids not yet completed.”