Legacy of the Betelgeuse

Azrael and Grisell's Amruchi are growling while staring at the space. We both are looking at our own Amruchi and it seems that they're angry at something. The players around us are still staring at the space, and then most of them are logging out because they don't like the feeling of the atmosphere.

*Ding!*

Becker is messaging me.

[Trev, we need to meet ASAP. There's something important I want you to listen to. Are you busy?]

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[What is it?]

[No, I'm not busy at all, so tell me where you are and I'll be there.]

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[No, I'm on my way to where you at right now. Just wait for me.]

-

[Okay.]

I look at Grisell so seriously.

"Grisell, you might need to tell everyone what's going on right now. I'm going to meet my friend because there's something important that needs to be discussed."

Grisell nods with understanding.

"Okay, I'll be right back then!"

Grisell logs out from the game, and I can see Becker is running towards me from Fjel Town.

Becker's expression is a bit concerning, but before I ask what is he wants to tell me, we both enter the house and talk about it privately.

Becker is standing next to the window while staring at the space.

"This is going to be a big problem."

I furrow my forehead and look at him.

"Why? Which invasion is this? Since this is the first invasion, it should be the invasion to the Alliance Kingdoms, right?"

Becker is humming in agreement.

"It is, but something has changed even before the scenario of the invasion started."

I tilt my head.

"What is changed?"

Becker turns around and looks at me.

"The Saintess is already dead. As you know, in the real scenario, players need her help and she will sacrifice herself to save the Alliance Kingdoms. But now, since the Saintess is no longer in there, there will be nobody else that can stop that thing. Well, at least at the moment there's no NPC can replace the Saintess."

I look at him with disbelief and then lean on the chair while sighing.

"F*ck... that was my fault. She died because I triggered a hidden quest from her..."

Becker is nodding in agreement.

"Yeah, that was really a bad idea to have such a hidden quest like that, huh? Now I know that was really a bad idea."

We both are looking at each other and chuckle because we both are in the wrong in this case.

I stand up and got to the other window and staring at the space.

"Even though it was my idea to make this kind of setting whenever an invasion is occurring, it scares me so badly. This atmosphere is giving me chills all over my body whenever I look and listen to this."

Becker is chuckling nervously and looks at me.

"Even I was the one who tested it back then felt scared by it. Just a few minutes ago when the sky disappeared and the ambient sound started, I was panicking and thought what the hell is going on with the game, but then I remembered that I was the one who made it."

I lean on the wall and look at Becker.

"Let's talk about the details of the process of the invasion. The thing came down to Orion with the army of aliens, right? After knowing that the thing can't be defeated, the players got a quest to find the Saintess and ask her help, right? Then the Saintess will sacrifice herself to send them back to where it belongs. But, I don't know exactly know how did she do that."

Becker nods in agreement.

"That's right. The thing is scripted to be undefeatable and the first invasion is just an introduction that so many extraterrestrial beings exist outside of this planet Orion and will invade this planet from then and onward. It's to tell the players that a threat is not just coming from the inside but also from the outside of the Orion. The Saintess repelled the invasion with the help of one of the Heroes, Eveth, that descended from the land of Sigrid and possessed the Saintess' body as I scripted. Eveth used the power that was lent by Betelgeuse to repel the thing to buy us the players some times to prepare for the real deal on the next invasion. Because of that possession and Betelgeuse's power, the Saintess couldn't handle them all at once, and so she died because of that."

I'm humming with understanding.

"I see. Then how about Aria? She will be the next saintess, right?"

Becker shakes his head.

"Well, right now Aria is still one of the candidates to become the next Saintess. So, she's really hasn't become the Saintess yet. Also, I didn't script her to be possessed by Eveth even if something like this happened."

I furrow my forehead.

"So you're saying there's another scenario to stop the invasion?"

Becker nods in agreement.

"There is. If the Saintess for a reason is unable or already dead in the scenario during the invasion, Eveth will be descending without having to borrow anyone's body because she will be descending with her full body. But, the problem is that it will take way longer compared to her taking possession of the Saintess' body. Of course, the quest itself with change, from finding the saintess to save the people during the invasion for a period of time. So yeah, it will be harder. Not just that, it will also create a massive butterfly effect on the NPC's side. They have no idea about the land of Sigrid that really exists and that the 6 legendary heroes can descend back to the world even though they were all dead. Especially to those descendants of the 6 legendary heroes. It will create such a big question mark that leads to a revelation."

I'm putting my finger over my lips while humming with understanding.

"I see, that is indeed becoming harder compared to just to find the Saintess."

Becker is staring at Azrael on my shoulder and then raises his eyebrows.

"Wait a minute, is that a Specter Amruchi?"

I look at Azrael and nod.

"Yeah, I think I got him because I was lucky enough. Honestly, I have no idea about this. You didn't tell me about this back then."

Becker is grinning and just looks at me.

"Well, there's a reason why I didn't tell you about it back then because I know that you might get him when the game got released. So, you will know what he's capable of someday."

I scoff and smile.

"Alright then."

Becker then looks at the screen in front of him.

"I think I have to go. My friends are looking for me and they seem anxious about this event."

I nod.

"Okay. Have fun, Beck."

Becker nods and smiles.

"Of course! I'll see you later, Trev."

Becker leaves the house and running to the town. I'm watching him through the window until he's no longer visible.

Grisell is logging in and then one by one everyone is logging in as well. Emma is appearing behind me, and as soon as she sees me, he grabs my shoulder and looks at the sky through the windows.

"Wow... what the hell is happening..."

I raise my eyebrows.

"That's why you all are here. I'm going to tell you the things that you guys should know."

Emma is humming with understanding.

"I see. But seriously though, this is f*cking scary."

I chuckle and point at the ground outside the house.

"You haven't heard the sound effect. Go outside."

Emma is looking at me with confusion but then we both go outside the house.

I just realize that the wind is as cold as in the winter. The ambient sound is slightly louder than before. Soon, it will be hard for everyone to hear each other's voices because the ambient sound will be louder and the wind will be way colder the sooner the invasion is going to happen. So basically, everyone needs to be taking shelter or stay inside to be able to talk normally. The reason why Becker and I made it that way is that to make everyone feel anxious about the invasion.

Everyone is hugging themselves because of this dark atmosphere and cold weather. Ivonna and the others are looking at me and then approach me.

Ivonna is looking at the space.

"What is going on right now?"

I'm pointing my thumb at the house behind me.

"Let's talk about it inside the house."

Everyone nods and we all get inside the house.

I start to explain about the invasion that will be happening in a week of in real time, except about the details of the invasion. I only tell them what they only need to know. I just don't want to spoil all the details to them, because there's no fun about it.

Everyone is looking at each other while thinking. Ivonna then looks at me.

"So, this invasion will occur in a week from today and we still don't know what kind of invasion and where it will be. But if this is really a world quest, that means it will affect every land in Orion, right?"

I nod.

"That's right. It will affect everything that breath on this planet if we didn't stop it."

Leonardo is looking at me.

"But we have no idea where it is exactly, right? Even if we made a precaution about this event, if we missed, then it will be a huge problem."

Everyone is murmuring and discussing about it. I put my hand on the table and look at them.

"We need to have a meeting with all big clans leaders in the game if we want to stop this invasion. We need to inform them about the invasion and take action that is crucial for this situation. We just need all players in the game to be prepared for this."

Everyone is looking at me so seriously and nods in agreement.

[6 days, 23 hours, 50 minutes until the invasion begins.]