Chapter 172: The Forming of Evil
Chapter 172: The Forming of Evil
Heron came back to Helios, the Demon Continent, as soon she could. There she was met by Sylph who was surprised by the fact that Heron came back early. Morpheus on the other hand was left on Elysium to handle some minor problems.
Heron, on the other hand, was about to give the shocking updates to Sylph. She did so after they moved in the meeting room as it wasn't information that was to be disclosed to the elites without plans being made yet. As soon as they arrived, Heron got the expected reaction from Sylph.
"He did what?" Sylph said trying to contain her voice as much as possible.
"You hear me the first time." Heron said in reply.
"Ahh for crying out loud Zeke. What the hell is running through that head of yours." Sylph continued, making a facepalm as she felt a headache forming.
"It's not like we are in any position to stop him." Heron added, with Sylph looking at her; brows furrowing on her face. She wanted to complain but couldn't muster any strength for it so she simply sighed.
"Yeah and I don't believe we can stop him even if we tried." The Windsprite added.
The two chuckled among themselves. They thought of how unpredictable Zeke could be at times. Making decisions that no other mortal would even dare joke about. Defeating 10 [Chaos Dragons] all on his own. Destroying most of the fortresses on each continent. These were only some of the crazy stunts which he performed with the addition of a [One-Man Raid] now at the top of his list.
"So what do we need to do." Heron asked, wanting an update from Sylph.
The Windsprite showed her the map which they have already completed. All the landmarks. The danger zone. The monster areas. The caves. All of these were visible on the [Minimap].
"Impressive." Heron applauded.
"Yeah it's all thanks to those kids." Sylph said, feeling proud of the achievement made by the elites.
"Anyway shall we continue?" Sylph asked; with Heron nodding in agreement.
"For starters, leader of the elites just woke up. So, there's that. Quinn accumulated a lot of damage from the fight and his weapon was even destroyed in the process."
"Is that how dangerous the enemies down there are?" Heron asked; knowing how capable Quinn is.
"Not necessarily. I'll explain details regarding that later." Sylph continued.
"Anyway. While he was recovering, we've expanded the map and, now we have the whole area's terrain." Sylph said, with Heron looking at the details before speaking.
"So there are five caves in total?" The Dragon Morpher asked.
"Yes. Since the remains of the mythical creature is nowhere to be seen, we're guessing that it's on one of those caves. But the problem is that we can't afford destroying them since the rift would expand even more. That would immediately result in the rift's hole expanding even more. Enabling the release of more [Chaos Poison] all over the continent."
"Is that the reason you spoke of? Regarding the strength of the enemies down the rift?"
"Yes. Don't get me wrong. The elites can probably destroy the monsters within the cave. But with the handicap I mentioned, those kids can't go all out."
"Yeah, that would be a big problem indeed" Heron said in reply; thinking of what could be done in the fight.
"However, things have change drastically now that you've come into the picture." Sylph continued. Smiling excitedly from the plan she cooked up.
"And why is that? Heron simply replied.
"Well for starters, you have that skill [Cloud of Dreams]." Sylph changed the view back to the top of the rift. There they saw the gap where the [Chaos Poison] oozed out of.
"We can use that skill of yours to cover the top of the rift. While you're at it, everyone else can go down and fight the monsters without worry." Sylph presented a map which showed the skill blocking the poison.
"So you're thinking of using my skill to plug it momentarily? Removing any chances of the rift actually expanding the position released?" Heron sat there, with arms folded below her chest.
"Yup."
"That actually sounds like a decent plan. But you know that it's a double-edged sword, right?" Heron commented.
"I know."
This was the danger that ran through both Heron and Morpheus' heads. If the rift was to be closed using [Cloud of Dreams] then it means that the [Poison] would also be contained within the rift.
As time passes, the poison would inevitably thicken; making the area more hazardous than it actually was. This means that the equipment they used won't be able to defend the for long. Hence, requiring the mission to be finished as quickly as possible.
For this reason alone, Heron was hesitating with the plan. It was a good plan of course. It made use of what resources they had in the most optimal way. Yet, she also knew how much danger it entailed. This worry was showing on her face so Sylph added a little something to calm her worries down.
"Don't worry, if thigs start going south, I've specifically instructed them to come back immediately. We have the teleportation ready and, I also have a way to transport to them in case that's not enough." She said, staring at Heron with a look of confidence on her face.
"Okay. Let's go with that." Heron said, finally agreeing.
"Let's move on to the other problems we may encounter." Sylph said, showing cracks on the top of the rift.
"As you can see, cracks may appear on other parts of the rift. But for that, I'll be leaving one of the defenders who specializes on creating barriers. He'll be placing those on top of the holes. Patching them up with barriers while the mission is underway."
"Should the circumstance arise of more cracks appearing than what could be plugged; it won't be much of a problem. With the main rift closed, the small openings could only emit the normal amount at maximum." Sylph said, showing every step of the plan. Having every step cleanly laid out.
"I see why master Zeke has appointed you to this post now. You're a really capable strategist." Heron said and, Sylph couldn't answer back for a while. With her cheeks blushing from the mention of Zeke trusting her.
"Of course I need to be a capable wife for him." She thought to herself, pretending to clear her throat as she calmed her heartbeat which rose a bit.
"But how about the kids which would be deployed? Are you sure that they're up for the challenge? Their leader almost got killed after all." This was the last worry on Heron's mind. One which decided if the plan was to push through or not.
"I believe they could handle themselves. You'd be surprised at how much experience they've gained just from farming the mobs down the rift." Syph said, pressing on the [Data Window] and giving it to Heron whose eyes widened in amazement.
"Oh my. It looks like master Zeke have made the right choice in deploying them here." She said, looking at their levels. All of which exceeding 100 already. None of them have chosen a job class yet however as they waited for Zeke's opinion on the matter.
"The only wall we've hit was on the cave. Other than that, I believe that the elites could handle their own down there."
"Okay let's do it then." Heron said, giving her approval of the plan.
With all this being said, the meeting was after an hour of preparation. Heron brought more supplies coming from Zeke and, she also told of the elites about the plan which was underway. They got the same reaction as Sylph written all over their faces and on their voices as they exclaimed in shocking surprise.
Nevertheless, they were excited because they were actually going to be finished with the mission. With one exception of course. Quinn was silent all throughout and Jake could feel it. He could feel how unsatisfied their leader was with himself. He knew the feeling all too well. After all, he's done nothing but catch up to Quinn all this time.
Yet he didn't address this. He didn't talk with Quinn about it and allowed their leader to feel the pain. He thought of how the pain could fuel Quinn to get stronger. And maybe this was the wrong choice to make because not all grow from a slump such as this.
"Your desires will change based on what the world can offer."
This was what Zeke told them before. The same principle that was taking effect in Quinn.
He wanted to get even stronger. Strong enough to get accepted by Zeke. Strong enough to be on equal footing with the gamer. Strong enough to be called the vest once again. He was thirsty for the same kind of acknowledgement that made people call him the apex of humanity. The summit of all that humans could evolve to.
He knew exactly how this could be done. He knew how he could gain enough power to close that unbelievably wide gap.
Quinn decided to devour the boss monsters and the mythical creature's corpse. He decided to take all that the rift had in store for him. Thinking that, if he was truly the strongest, then consuming that many monsters won't be a problem for him.
"I am strong. I am the strongest." He said to himself, spiraling down a darker path.
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