Legacy of the Betelgeuse

They all are looking at Aspen for quite a while and then Kingstar is pointing at him.

"Who are you?"

I'm surprised because I thought that everyone knows who he is, but it seems that he's unrecognizable by the top players. Aspen is shrugging and smiles.

"I'm just someone who plays for fun."

Grisell is looking at Aspen very carefully and then looks at me while pointing her finger at Aspen.

"You called him Aspen earlier? Isn't that mean he's the Neutrality Clan's leader?"

Aspen is looking at me and I'm just smiling apologetically. Aspen then nods.

"Yes, that's me."

Everyone is surprised when they finally are able to meet the Neutrality Clan's leader. Ken is pointing his finger at Aspen.

"Ahh! You're one of those players who gave information on the monsters' whereabouts in the forums. You also defeated a boss monster on your own, right?"

Now that I think about it. I remember that the Neutrality Clan is the one who provides monsters' information and what loots they are dropping. Not just that, I also read in the forum earlier in the inn after clearing the dungeon, that if players are looking for a middleman, they would go to Aspen and ask him to be their middleman. Its cost varies depends on how expensive the items are. Not just to him, but also to the higher-ups of the Neutrality Clan. They said they didn't like the faction system and will stay neutral, but that doesn't mean they're weak. To be honest, most of the players already used their service to help them farm items and levels. It amazes me that we are playing the same game but it feels like that between me and him, we are living in a different world.

Ivonna looks at Aspen and their eyes are met. Ivonna tilts her head.

"Do you want to bring your friends along? But we only accept players that are capable. I'm not trying to be rude, but we all here agreed on that."

Aspen is humming with understanding and smiles.

"I understand, no hard feelings. I have 2 of my best men, I will invite them with me."

Ivonna smiles and nods.

Two guys are walking towards us. Both of them have black hair and brown eyes. To be precise, they're identical. One has a short sword on both sides of his waist while the other one is holding a spear. Aspen is pointing his arm at them both.

"They're my friends in arms. We are best friends in real life and their skills can't be compared to those players out there. Jake and Jacob."

Jacob is the one who's holding a spear and Jake is the other one. They both are waving at us and introduce themselves. I can see the Headless crest hanging on their belts.

Ivonna then looks at everyone.

"Alright, let's party up. Since we have so many players here, we can't be in the same party. So I suggest to party up with your own friends or commanders and let Grisell join your party later on to give the buff. How's that?"

Everyone is looking at their own clan members and nod.

"Yeah, that's fine."

After everyone is party up, we are leaving Fjel town and on our way to the Maelstrom of Abyss dungeon.

Aspen is walking behind us and then he approaches me.

"So... where are we going exactly?"

I look at him and pointing at the distance.

"We are going to the Maelstrom of Abyss dungeon."

Aspen, Jake, and Jacob are looking at each other and then humming with understanding. Aspen is looking at the scenery.

"We haven't gone there, and we have no idea what the dungeon looks like."

Everyone stops and then turns around. They're looking at Aspen with disbelief. Aspen is surprised to see their expression. Aspen then lifts his hands.

"What? What's wrong?"

Francesca is chuckling with disbelief.

"Are you being serious right now?"

Aspen, Jake, and Jacob nod. Kingstar and the others are glaring at me. I smile and shrug. Aspen then put his hand on my shoulder.

"Don't worry, we are good at improvising and we are fast learners. Just give us the basic stuff and we can work on that."

Queenstar is glaring at me.

"That's your job. You're the one who invited him."

I scoff and nod.

"Don't worry."

I explain to Aspen, Jake, and Jacob about the dungeon mechanics on our way there. After they all understand, I explain the strat to them and what kind of monsters and what are their skills. They all understand and give me a thumbs up. They're repeating what I say and make sure what they just heard is correct. They're really fast learners and immediately suggest to me some of their strats. Some of their strats are actually quite nice and in the end, we all are discussing it.

We are standing at the edge of the cliff and look at the fierce whirlpool and bolts of lightning struck the whirlpool. All the players around us are looking at us in awe. 6 big clan leaders and 1 former top 10 leader are standing side by side. Kingstar then looks back at the players. We tried to invite Sigryd, but he can't join us since he was busy with IRL.

"We will attempt to clear the thunderstorm phase. We will not allow anyone else to join the raid! My men will block the path until the thunderstorm phase disappears."

Hundreds of the Supremacist Clan members are blocking the way and pushing everyone away from the cliff. Kingstar then looks at us.

"Let's go."

We all nod and jump off and dive into the whirlpool.

[Player [Trevor] has entered the Maelstorm of Abyss [Thunderstorm]!]

[Maelstrom of Abyss [Thunderstorm] gate will be closed in: 4mins 59secs]

[Maelstrom of Abyss [Thunderstorm] will begin in: 5mins 29sec]

They're talking about the strat for one last time and make sure everyone understands their roles and what's the most important things to do.

[Maelstrom of Abyss [Thunderstorm] gate is closed]

[Maelstrom of Abyss [Thunderstorm] will begin in: 30secs]

[52 Players are currently inside the dungeon with the average level is 250]

[Maelstrom of Abyss [Thunderstorm] is generating...] 

[Each player has 3 lives and will be teleported outside the dungeon and to their spawn point after their 4th death]

[Maelstrom of Abyss [Thunderstorm] is generated!]

[Boss monster Sulrk is awake and enraged!]

[Maelstrom of Abyss [Thunderstorm] now begins. May the Betelgeuse bless you!]

Everyone is equipping their equipment and consume buff items. We all entering the first stage. Aspen, Jake, and Jacob are mesmerized by the scenery. Then they all immediately run toward the Ocean Heart. Kingstar, Michael, Queenstar, and Boshcwell are attacking the Ocean Heart. Grisell uses [Gold Coating] to everyone and uses [Weapon Perfection] and [Armor Perfection] to Ivonna and the others.

The monsters' wave is coming and Ivonna is tanking most of them while the rest are attacking the monsters. Aspen is handling the other side with Jake and Jacob. They're moving so swiftly and their damages are pretty high. Hans, Leonardo, Gunther, Reinhardt are destroying the bubbles since their damages are enough to destroy them before they're coming to the ground.

[You successfully destroy the Ocean Heart!]

[Sulrk's status values are reduced by 10%!]

[1 Extra life is given to the players!]

[The first stage will be closed in: 5mins]

20 minutes is it takes for them to clear the first stage thanks to Kingstar, Queenstar, and Michael [Berserker] skill.

Without wasting any time, we all enter the second stage. I'm pointing at the coral that will lead us to the hidden stage. Kingstar, Queenstar, and Michael immediately run toward the coral and start attacking it while the rest of them are holding off the monsters. Aksevel has been standing near me the whole time since the first stage. He let his minions do the job.

[Hidden path has discovered!]

[Objective has changed! Enter the hidden path!]

We all entering the hidden path. We are running up the long narrow path that is surrounded by whirlpools underwater. All the monsters are following us from behind. As soon as we reach the hidden stage, a notification appears.

[All the monsters inside the hidden stage are weakened by 50%]

[All the players inside the hidden stage are strengthened by 50%]

Everyone starts to bombards the elite monsters.

[You successfully cleared the second stage!]

[1 Extra life is given to the players!]

[Sulrk's status values are reduced by 10%!]

[You successfully cleared the hidden stage!]

[All the players' status values are increased by 10%!]

[The hidden stage will be closed in: 5mins]

Everyone is sighing with relief except for Aksevel since he's barely doing anything. Kingstar is looking at us.

"This is it. We must be careful or we will get wiped."

Everyone nods and then we all entering the boss stage.

[The wrath of the depth of the sea, Sulrk has awakened]

[Those who enter, cannot leave...]

[Those who are weak will die...]

[Those who are brave will be punished...]

[Sulrk, the wrath of the depth of the sea shall slaughter to prevail]

[The boss battle will begin in 30 seconds. Please prepare before the battle begins.]

Ivonna is pointing at the Ocean Hearts behind Sulrk.

"We need to destroy those first. I will take the aggro and hope you guys can destroy them before I ran out of lives."

Aksevel is sighing and then opens the book.

"You don't have to, I will take care of the aggro."

Aksevel is summoning a monster that makes everyone's eyes and mouths wide open. Aksevel summon Sulrk and it's as big as the original. I chuckle and shake my head. Boschwell is lifting his head and look at Sulrk's face.

"Bloody hell..."

[The boss battle now begins]

[May the Betelgeuse bless you!]

Summoned Sulrk is charging at Sulrk and starts clashing. Kingstar and the rest of them are running around them to avoid unnecessary accidents. But what everyone doesn't know is that the summoned Sulrk is way weaker compared to Sulrk in this phase. In less than a minute, the summoned Sulrk disappears. It surprises everyone.

Seeing the summoned Sulrk failed miserably, Ivonna immediately runs towards Sulrk and takes the aggro. Grisell is hurriedly using [Gold Coating] to Ivonna and her party members. Again, Sulrk in this phase is way different from the other two phases because this Sulrk has [Heavy Cleave] skill which is to deal 400% cleave damage to the enemies behind the target no matter how far they are from the fight while the target only takes his original damage. Sulrk slashes his trident at Ivonna where everyone is behind them hitting the Ocean Heart.

[8.921]

Ivonna takes a lot of damage, but what surprises Ivonna is that everyone behind her takes [35.684] damages and died instantly. Ivonna is surprised and confused at the same time.

I chuckle and smirk.

"Welcome to the thunderstorm phase."

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