[★Main Quest "Demon Lord Subjugation" Update★]
[Peace was fleeting, as the Demon King in the darkness stretches out his claws. Warriors from another world have disturbed the hidden army of the Demon King but failed to reach his lair. Now, the Demon King's schemes are within reach. Fear will shroud the heartland of this continent. Please protect Bissus, the symbol of human spirit.]
[Warriors from another world, please protect these innocent lives.]
[Normal Achievement Conditions: Repel the Demon King's army, successfully protect Bissus; protect important NPCs within Bissus territory.]
[Perfect Achievement Conditions: Repel the Demon Lord's army, successfully protect Bissus; protect important NPCs within Bissus territory; eliminate the new Demon King.]
[Quest Rewards: Divine Skill x 1 (Top 3 monthly contributors) [Standard], Sacred Equipment Set Piece x 1 (Top 10 monthly contributors) [Standard]; God will grant your wish [Perfect]]
[Quest automatically accepted]
Mentor opened the system description for "important NPCs", and a list of moderate length unfolded before him. He held his teacup, glanced briefly over it, and quickly locked onto a line of text.
[※The "Golden Sword" family (4 people): Enbillick Alva, Avra Alva, Moore Alva, Colette Alva; Golden Sword Enbillick Alva is an important figure in the Alva Merchant Group. His survival is beneficial for the region's reconstruction]
The rest of the NPC descriptions were similar, and unsurprisingly, Mentor found the names of the Pope of the Temple of Life and the two archbishops, as well as Eugene Malloy. Basically, all notable figures were listed, except for Godfrey Painter.
"This time I don't see any level restrictions." Teest poked the system pop-up curiously. "Last time during the Tower assault, Star Stealer Sol made sure to exclude us with great care."
"He must have strengthened his control over the system, not placing the conditions openly." Lynn frowned. "Otherwise, it would be too outrageous, and surely some Players would feel something is off."
Nol nodded in agreement.
Last time, Star Stealer Sol's restriction was "humanoid players below a total level of 300". Such a condition appearing in a regular quest might be normal, but appearing in a main quest, no matter how you think about it, would be very strange.
Star Stealer Sol made the first move.
This quest was very subtle. It appeared to be a main storyline tower defense quest, but the rewards included a count for "monthly contributors". This meant the quest might continue for a long time.
Every month, the Players who contributed the most could receive "Divine" skills and equipment, a not insignificant temptation. As long as Enbillick remained in Bissus, he would be protected by the Players.
But they all knew, Nol and Teest wouldn't let this avatar go.
The Enbillick left there was both bait and a restraint—Star Stealer Sol wouldn't just play defense. He was surely planning to counterattack them.
However…
"Let's go have a look in Bissus, Teest." Beyond the circle of fire, Nol donned his cloak.
"Good idea. It's been a while since I last visited Bissus." Teest gathered his long hair.
"Is it really no problem for us to just go back like this?" Solo shivered. "That God definitely knows we're associated with Paradise… Ow, ow, ow!"
He hadn't finished speaking when Anakin grabbed his ear.
"That's exactly why we want him to see us." Anakin bared her teeth. "Don't worry. He won't consider you a threat. They'd come for me first."
"Sister…" Even though he was ranked among the top hundred players, Solo looked like he wanted to cry at that moment.
"He won't easily attack Players in Bissus," Lynn comforted, then turned to Nol. "I've prepared everything. Have a safe journey."
Nol weighed the heavy suitcase in his hand and smiled. "Of course."
It was Anakin and Solo who crossed the fire circle first. They didn't head directly to Bissus but chose to join a team of Homeward Saints Guild in the neighboring Shidina Federation, then pretended to rush back from abroad.
Teest took Nol's hand, and the two teleported directly outside the capital of Bissus using their hidden power.
With a flicker of blue fire, the light extinguished, and Nol appeared beneath the towering city walls. From this angle, he could only see the spires of buildings behind the city.
As an island nation situated in the middle of a river, the Holy Land of the Temple of Life, Bissus, didn't cover a large area.
Over eighty percent of its land was given to forests, mountains, and grasslands, boasting natural scenery no less magnificent than the forests of Shiva. The remaining twenty percent of the land housed the most prosperous and largest holy city-state on the continent of Tahe.
At this moment, they were at the capital of Bissus, the only city in Bissus—Saint Bissus. Usually, people still habitually call it Bissus City.
At this moment, it had become the Players stronghold for a tower defense game.
At the foot of the city, Nol watched as monsters attacked from all directions. The current monsters weren't very strong, only including some poisonous giant rats and killer flies. There was also ample breathing room between two waves of monsters. Backed by the high city walls, Players valiantly exterminated these attackers.
The blood and flesh of monsters soaked the grasslands beside the city. Green bushes hung with intestines, and even the moat had taken on a tinge of blood.
As the weather warmed, to prevent the spread of plague, the Temple hired many local refugees as a "cleanup crew". Three times a day, people carted monster corpses to a designated location for a unified burning.
Nol blended into the group of local refugees, heading into the city. At this moment, he wore a worn and dirty cloak, with a long sword hanging from his waist. He carried a huge suitcase in one hand and a fluffy white cat in the other.
His hood concealed his face, with only a few strands of light golden hair peeking out from the gap in the cloak.
The guards checked each person entering the city, but when it came to Nol, it was as if they couldn't see him, letting him directly into the city.
Nol deliberately dialed down his concealment power a bit. He could feel a faint gaze coming from somewhere. Pretending not to notice, he headed straight for the city's worst inn.
Considering Bissus City's wealth and uniqueness, a lousy inn here was harder to find than a good one.
Bissus City was the most magnificent city-state Nol had seen; not even the famously prosperous Grape Collar could compare to a tenth of it, let alone places like Whitebird City—though Nol didn't quite like it here, missing the "liveliness" of Grape Collar. Everything on the streets was orderly; everyone dressed in neat, light-colored clothing. The air was filled with the elegant fragrance of incense offered to God.
Nol's destination was in a corner of the city, a district specifically for foreign laborers.
Compared to other areas of Bissus, this was like a different world. In this large city, only here could one find noisy inns and taverns filled with curses and laughter. Even so, it was much better than the lower districts of Grape Collar. At least there were no street children, drug dealers, and prostitutes to be seen.
The inn was easy to find. It was located right in the center of the district. The building was brick-red, resembling a scar on the landscape. The innkeeper glanced at Nol's attire, without even confirming his face, and threw a key to him.
"End of the hallway on the second floor. One gold wheel a day," he said, chewing on tobacco. His lips emitted a foul odor. "If you can afford it, stay. If not, get lost."
The big white cat's tail swayed, and its eyes narrowed slightly. Nol soothed the cat with a couple of strokes, silently taking the key.
The room here wasn't big, but it was better than the rooms in Perradat's church. Its bed was a sturdy old wooden bed, and the bright sunlight… was completely blocked by Nol with the curtains.
With a click, the door was locked.
"If someone ever sings praises of your legend in the future, this part definitely needs to be embellished." The big white cat jumped onto the bed with its tail held high. "You really have no taste in locations for performing 'miracles'."
As soon as Teest finished speaking, a scream of "I want to break up with you!" came from next door, followed by the sound of glass shattering. The curses of guests downstairs were nonstop, among which the clearest voice complained that the nearby fried meat tasted like shit.
Nol: "..."
He seemed to have no rebuttal, so he let it go.
The white cat sighed, curled up its limbs, and coiled up beside Nol like a loaf of bread, its golden transparent eyes reflecting the entire room. Nol opened the heavy suitcase, starting to organize the materials inside—
A small tube of blood given by the young black dragon girl with a toothy grin.
A skeleton Nol had made himself, then Lynn adjusted several times, perfectly mixed with dragon bones.
Lastly was an eyeball from Perradat. It came from Perradat's core, shimmering with a beautiful blue, possessing a portion of the core's power of the Floating Cocoon—of course, it was merely symbolic. Perradat quickly grew another eye for herself.
After verifying the materials, Nol spread out a sheet on the floor. The white cat yawned, and golden threads whizzed across the room, arranging the bones from the suitcase into a human structure, without the slightest error.
Ben curiously stuck out its nose, trying to steal a bone, but was unceremoniously slapped back by the cat's paw.
Nol kissed the cat's ears and placed Perradat's eyeball into the heart position of the skeleton. Then, with a feather pen dipped in dragon blood, he wrote line after line of runes on the white bones.
As he moved, a chilly magical fluctuation spread out, securely contained by the magical barrier enveloping the room.
In the chest cavity of the skeleton, the eyeball trembled non-stop, gradually turning into a deep red mass of flesh. Countless tendrils shot out, climbing rapidly along the bloodstains on the bones. Blood vessels and organs gradually appeared within the empty skeleton, and nerves grew like a spider web.
Nol's pen moved continuously, downwards then upwards, finally stopping at the forehead of the skull. Sweat beaded on his forehead—this time, he couldn't add anything uniquely his. He had to act according to the system. With heavy restrictions, this task was more troublesome than repairing a magical circuit.
Beside Nol, Teest maintained his cat form to ensure ample space.
At this moment, Teest had no mood to even purr. Actually, this task didn't need to be so troublesome. As long as a certain person accepted becoming Nol's retainer, Nol only needed to give a drop of blood to easily and quickly handle everything.
But to use Perradat's flesh and blood as the core, Nol couldn't freely use his own powers, only meticulously carved as an unrelated party—the reason was simple. Once the magical circuits of two gods intermingled, the product could easily malfunction.
At this moment, Nol was completing the last step.
He removed Kando from his staff and placed it into the skull's eye sockets. The candle's blue flame illuminated the hollow cranial cavity, and those eye sockets were no longer purely black.
"…Are you sure?" Nol whispered. "This is your last chance to back out."
"If you continue, you'll wake up as a 'Dracolich'. You've been dead too long. I can't turn you into a living person."
"If you give up, we'll consider other methods. Once I take back the permissions stolen by Star Stealer Sol, I can definitely do better, maybe even grant you real life."
"I've been dead for two hundred years already. I'm used to it." Inside the skeleton, Kando snorted disdainfully. "Stick to the plan."
Nol hummed in agreement, then stood up. He held his hands above the skeleton, beginning to chant silently. The cold power gradually became gentle, centered on the "eyeball", the flesh inside the skeleton grew faster.
Organs, muscles, skin, hair.
The heart began to beat. Nol's modified [Ash Remnants] gradually took effect—the dried-up blood vessels were gradually filled with blood, sending warmth to every corner of the body. The pale skeleton gradually disappeared. The exposed teeth were covered by pale red lips.
A young man lay on the white sheet.
With a swipe of the white cat's paw, the blanket was pulled to the man's lower body, so he wasn't entirely exposed. Nol made sure the man's face gained color before stepping back two steps and letting out a long exhale.
The man on the floor moved his fingers, opening his eyes—those were the familiar blue they all knew, the blue originally seen in Kando's one eye.
The blue that belonged to the hero Drake.
The real hero Drake, or rather Drake Kando, sat up, his light golden hair falling with his movements. He stared at his hands for a long time, speechless.
Nol moved his fingers, and the curtains silently opened. For the first time in over two hundred years, sunlight poured onto the Hero's skin.
"The plan has finally begun." The white cat arched its back, elongating into a big stretch. "First, put on some pants, Great Hero."
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Adding a Drake first (?
Drake's team is finally assembled!