Adventure World Online (AWO)

The battle descended into chaos once again. Chang Long spread her wings and flew up Siegfried onto the city wall, where she landed beside Commander Tosh. The twins refused to follow, still delighting in the thick of combat.

"Our side has the upper hand—clearly,"

Commander Tosh remarked to Chang Long, who simply nodded in acknowledgment, saying nothing. After all, the players invading her city this time were not an organized force worth fearing. Just as the battle was tilting toward a clear conclusion, a handful of the last remaining players raised the white flag in surrender.

"What do you think, my liege?"

Commander Tosh turned to seek Chang Long's opinion. At that moment, the assault had momentarily ceased, when suddenly a group of players who had been lying in wait surged out, launching a surprise attack through the city gate that bordered the Dark Forest. A thunderous roar erupted from that direction, drawing everyone's attention toward it. The commander was about to issue orders for the warriors to defend the gate when Chang Long stopped him.

"Looks like the players here were just a decoy. Let's escort them toward that gate. I've got something fun I want to show them."

With that, she spread her wings and flew straight toward the embattled gate with lightning speed.

…..

The endless waiting, without knowing when they would see each other again, had left Lucifer—the Lord of the Underworld—boiling with frustration. From sitting demurely on the sofa with a smile, patiently waiting, he began to pace back and forth, agitated. His copy, who had been reading a book, looked up with blinking eyes. Finally, when his patience wore thin, Lucifer reverted to his monstrous form, a towering goat-like demon, now rampaging in his private chamber. Lamia and Fangy dashed for cover in a panic. Just then, a familiar voice called his name, and a summoning magic circle appeared beneath him.

Amidst the ranks of emboldened players charging toward the gates of Dark City, confident that all the city's defenders had been drawn away, a massive magical circle lit up outside the city walls. Slowly, something terrifying began to emerge—a figure embodying sheer wrath from being abandoned and left to stew in solitude within Lucifer's Chamber.

"What? What's happening!"

"How is this possible?! How did that thing show up here!"

"N-No way. Is that Lucifer!"

Shouts of panic broke out among the players. Suddenly, a massive creature—the upright form of a goat demon—stood right in their midst, clearly agitated to the extreme. Everyone turned pale with fear. Not only was Lucifer one of the most brutal dungeon bosses, but he had somehow appeared on a battlefield where he absolutely should not be.

"What is the meaning of this!"

Lucifer bellowed.

"Well, well, long time no see. Looks like you're in a terrible mood today!"

Chang Long greeted him cheerfully, making the crowd of players go pale. Some now suspected she might be the one who summoned this apocalyptic beast.

"You dare leave me behind for days!"

Lucifer cried out, about to dash toward her. The players scrambled to clear a path, terrified of being trampled underfoot.

"Sorry, I had no choice. You must be pretty mad, huh. I'll allow you to rampage all you like—just go wild on them."

Chang Long said with a relaxed smile, pointing down at the army of pale-faced players below, who now did not know whether they should flee or fight to the bitter end.

"Aah, that's so much better!"

Luther—now in his child form—sat sipping tea contentedly on a bamboo bench in front of a tea shop in Dark City, surrounded by Chang Long's pets and spirit companions, along with the twins and Siegfried.

"What's got into you, Lu?"

Fluffy Head-chan asked, puzzled, as they had all been summoned out only after the battle was over.

"Oh, I was just mad because brother left me waiting for so long. So I blew off some steam with a little rampage. Felt great."

The little boy answered cheerfully.

"You've got one hell of a temper. Just a few days of waiting, and you totally lost it."

Devi-chan snorted through his nose.

"Of course. I already told you, I'm never letting myself get separated from brother again. But those people—who knows who they were—they looked like they came here to mess with her, so I wiped them all out."

Luther replied, then picked up a piece of grilled banana drizzled with honey and took a bite.

"Who! Who the hell dared to mess with missy in her own turf? Tell me—I'll go take care of them myself!"

Devi-chan erupted in rage, which made Chang Long, the twins, and Siegfried—who were all in the know—burst out laughing.

"It's over already, Devi-chan. Luther wiped them all out in the blink of an eye. They won't be back for at least two hours or so." Chang Long replied.

"What?! And I didn't know anything about it. So, what exactly happened while I was sealed away, lad?"

Devi-chan turned to Siegfried, who was quietly sipping a cup of hot tea.

"Oh, well, some players declared war to try and take over the city today."

The elven man answered simply. Devi-chan nodded as he processed the information, then let out a pleased chuckle from his throat.

"So that's what happened. Those arrogant fools must've been wiped out to the last one, huh?"

Devi-chan remarked with satisfaction.

"Not a single one left,"

Killer replied proudly.

"No prisoners taken,"

Murder chimed in, joining the conversation. The three of them chatted happily, even if their words sounded a little psychotic. They paid no attention at all to a pair of eyes spying on them from a nearby alley.

"Who are those people? I know Siegfried of Pendragon, sure—but the others? No record of them in any database. No names, no photos. And yet they're absurdly strong, horrifying even. And the Lord of Dark City owns the legendary Dark Elf race on top of it. Judging from the way she interacts with Siegfried of Pendragon, they're clearly close. Dammit, I just want a bit of intel—something I can turn into a news story."

As it turned out, the player in hiding was a member of the Journalists Association—a writer who had tagged along with other players to scout out Dark City. Since he had not registered to participate in the war declaration and was still inside the city during the attack, he had escaped the massacre and even managed to capture the entire battle in photographs. Now all that was left was the article—though he had no clue how to begin writing it in a way that would convey the true terror of what had unfolded.

"Guess I'll have to wait and interview the players who got killed."

Muttering to himself, the player took out his camera and started checking each photo. The more he looked, the paler he became. The sheer brutality of the Dark City defenders was sickening. And then, in the frames where he had secretly snapped pictures of the city's lord, something terrifying became clear—frame by frame, she could be seen slowly turning her head toward him, with a cold, chilling smirk on her lips, as if she knew she was being watched.

"S... Screw me! They know I was spying. I didn't even get the full story. But if I stick around, I'll end up dead for real."

He hurriedly stuffed his camera away and stepped out of his hiding spot in the alley. Unfortunately for him, fate had other plans—he walked right into Siegfried.

"Oh. There are still other players in the city,"

the elven man exclaimed in surprise. The young reporter went ghost-white. His head spun, feeling faint. Not only was Siegfried here, but the entire group surrounding Chang Long was present as well. Every one of them turned to look at him, their curiosity piqued.

"I... I'm dead for sure."

With that, the reporter fainted on the spot.

"Well, he just passed out."

Luther huffed through his nose in exasperation.

"So fainted-hearted. For real,"

Devi-chan grumbled. In his eyes, a real man should not be so weak—not to the point of fainting just from seeing some powerful folks. Siegfried gently propped the unconscious reporter up against a wall, then the group continued on their way, paying him no further mind.

Something unexpected happened. Killer and Murder told Siegfried and Chang Long that they intended to leave the Immortal Guild to follow Chang Long instead. While the reaper girl was not opposed to the idea—in fact, she quite liked the two of them—she did not want to cause any tension with Destiny. However, the two men stood firm, insisting it was their personal decision. They had wanted to follow Chang Long ever since they first laid eyes on her, and they had already informed Destiny of this choice beforehand.

Furthermore, the Emperor and Empress of the Dark Elves had officially announced that anyone interested could now undergo a trial to change their race. Killer and Murder rushed to be the first to sign up. This announcement also seemed to affect Chang Long's reborns, just as the bird sage once said. They were automatically entering a cocooning process and would be reborn as Dark Elves, just like their Reaper King.

The trial's conditions were grueling. Not only did one have to locate the mission site within the Dark Forest, but they also had to arrive on the correct day. For the twin assassins, finding the location was no problem. If one entered at the right time, they would see the imperial couple seated side by side on their wooden thrones. The two monarchs would then speak of their race's slow extinction, and players were required to listen to the entire tale before receiving their mission. The quest was framed as an effort to increase the dwindling population. If accepted, players would be transported to a vast mud pit.

The objective was to destroy root structures buried in the mud and retrieve dwindling stars from them—within a time limit. However, not every root contained a star. Players who retrieved more than fifty but fewer than ninety-five sparks would undergo a partial race change called the "Half" transformation. In this case, their skin would darken, but their ears would not become pointed, and they would receive only half the racial benefits.

"You are really going to take the quest?"

Chang Long asked as the two men finished stockpiling supplies.

"Yes. We really want this race—it has attributes that synergize incredibly well with the assassin profession,"

Killer replied.

"Looks like it's not just the Dark Elves offering this race-change quest. Drago just called—turns out every major race in the game, like Elves, Orcs, Goblins, and Merfolk, has opened similar quests too."

Siegfried turned to tell Chang Long after hanging up his phone.

"Is that so? Then the game's about to become even more diverse."

Chang Long nodded with interest.

"Oh, right—how's Firetail doing? Did he go back to Draco alright?"

Chang Long asked, recalling that Siegfried had rushed to her on Firetail's back, but no one knew what became of the mount afterward. And then there was the city invasion.

"He's very smart. After resting up, Firetail flew straight back to Draco in Heaven City. Didn't stray off course even once."

The elf replied with admiration for Firetail's intelligence and loyalty.

"Not surprising. Firetail saw Draco the moment he hatched, so he sees him like a father."

Chang Long added. Pets hatched from eggs formed loyalty bonds much easier than wild pets tamed later.

"But there's one thing I should warn you about. While we were completing the Dark Elf tomb quest, Draco told me that Peach Blossom took a boat to follow me here. She should have arrived by now."

Siegfried said, looking worried. He feared his younger sister might stir up trouble in the city—or worse, block him from spending time with Chang Long. No sooner had he spoken than a familiar, high-pitched, unmistakable voice rang out.

"Brother Sieg! Lord Chang."

Peach Blossom ran straight up and hugged Chang Long tightly. Luther's eyes went wide in confusion—he had never seen her before.

"Who are you and why are you hugging brother like you're best friends!"

Luther snapped at her. The girl turned to him with a puzzled look, as she had never met Luther either.

"And who might you be, you adorable little gentleman?"

"Ugh... don't call me adorable!"

Luther muttered, cheeks flushing at the compliment from the cute girl.

Amid the unexpected stir caused by Peach Blossom's sudden arrival, another young woman stood watching Chang Long's group from afar. Her eyes were fixed on the handsome elven man, sparkling with emotion. Finally, after all this time, the one she had searched for stood before her. He had not seen her yet—but it was only a matter of moments before his gaze would lock onto her alone.

Devi-chan was the first to notice the uninvited presence—both the player and the spirit that accompanied her. He turned to alert Chang Long and Siegfried about the arrival of one of the heirs of the pirate king, Shadin Creepin. Of course, the young woman was unaware that a spirit was trailing her. Since gaining her inheritance, Shadin had never revealed herself to the woman again. The ghost of the female pirate king now appeared, visible to all who were watching—except the woman walking beside her. She was too absorbed in gazing at the elven man she adored, mistakenly and gladly believing that he was looking back at her.

"Mr. Siegfried,"

the young woman called out sweetly, her eyes making her affection unmistakably clear.

"You must be… Shadin Creepin?"

The elf greeted—but not her. Following his gaze, she turned—and was shocked at the sight of Shadin's spirit standing right beside her.

"You've got sharp eyes, kid. If I were still alive, you'd definitely be husband number eleven, hehehe."

Shadin teased, lifting Siegfried's chin with a flirtatious grin. Both Narada and Peach Blossom looked ready to explode with rage.

"Mr. Siegfried. It's me. Don't you remember me?"

Narada blurted, trying to draw his attention away from Shadin.

"Um… who are you?"

Siegfried's question left the number one beauty speechless, humiliated. She had gone to the ends of the earth searching for him, yet he did not recognize her in the slightest.

"She's the world's clingiest beauty queen, that's who. Why are you even chasing after my brother!"

Peach Blossom stepped in front of her brother, blocking Narada with zero tact. Her words made Narada's brow twitch with rage. They had clashed once before in Heaven City, and had it not been for Peach Blossom's status as Siegfried's sister, Narada would have killed her without mercy.