MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

“…As you wish, Master.”

Just as the two began to think that the participants wouldn’t follow such an absurd order from Erika, Valyr and Ataraxia were instead proven wrong as one of the men stepped forward.

Placing one of his hands on his chest, the man proceeded to exert all of his strength as he tore his chest apart, his face showing no expression of pain whatsoever.

Breaking through the bones and muscles as if he were doing it to someone else, the man eventually took out his still beating heart out of his body, only to then crush it after uttering a few words.

“All for the god.”

Squelch!

Watching the first man that volunteered fall to the ground with a calm expression, Erika soon glanced at another participant in the formation, only for them to more or less do the same thing sometime later.

One by one, the men took out their hearts and offered them up to the god, gradually transforming the sight before the two from the pinnacle of debauchery to the pinnacle of cruelty.

‘…Are we… are we just gonna leave this be?’

Feeling a bit of anger rise up within him as he continued to watch the participants mindlessly sacrifice their bodies for some unknown cause, Ataraxia sent this thought out to Valyr, the hand holding the crystal slightly quivering.

‘…I don’t know,’ replied Valyr after a bit of silence, his expression turning grim as more and more of the participants fell to the ground lifelessly.

‘Is it worth risking our stealth to save them? Would Erika not command the remaining participants to kill us if we do that? Would we be able to safely bring the recording crystal back to the director if we make the decision?’

As those words lingered in Ataraxia’s mind, the young man remained silent, the gears in his mind turning as he wondered what would be the right course of action to achieve the best of both worlds.

Unfortunately, even after all of the guys Erika invited had sacrificed their lives for her, he still couldn’t come to a decision, causing his expression to turn into that of intense guilt.

‘…I think it’s time we should make a move.’ Of course, it wasn’t as if Valyr was ignorant towards the guilt Ataraxia felt.

However, considering the request given to them, he clearly remembered that it was optional for them to stop the ritual from happening. If anything, what they needed to do was to record the ritual and bring it back to Lunarossa.

With that being said, now that the record crystal had captured enough proof that would inexplicably link Erika to the Crimson Cathedral, he decided that the two of them had endured for long enough.

Naturally, this thought immediately made Ataraxia’s emotions undergo a total shift, briefly being left at a loss for words before a mix of excitement and apprehension appeared on his face.

After all, even if they didn’t include the fact that she was part of the Crimson Cathedral, she was still at the peak of Rank 5 like the other arbiters.

Add on the benefits she might have gotten from the Crimson Cathedral, wouldn’t that basically make her a formidable foe for the two of them?

“…I’m surprised the two of you still haven’t taken action after seeing all of that.”

Just as the two were starting to draft a plan of action that would’ve allowed them to save the remaining participants, Erika spoke up all of a sudden, causing the two to freeze in their tracks as they knew she was talking about them.

Seeing that the two remained still even after she said those words, the woman let out a faint sigh as she directly looked in their direction.. “…Did you really think staying still would render you two invisible?”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Understanding that Erika had fully seen through their stealth, the two saw no use to keep their skills up anymore, allowing their presences to return to how they were before.

“…When did you notice we were here?” Valyr asked her, the gears in his mind still turning as he thought about salvaging the situation.

However, his train of thought was forcefully halted when he heard the words that soon left her mouth.

“Ever since you two arrived,” she told them, her look that of slight indifference. “Did you two really think I’d let you go that easily? Especially with something that could expose my secret?”

Slightly releasing a bit of her aura as an act of intimidation, Erika briefly shifted her attention towards the remaining participants as she commanded, “Offer your life up to the god.”

“All for the god.” In response, the participants took out their hearts from their chests in unison before crushing it, causing all of them to fall to the ground at the same time.

Wooonggg….!!!

Just as the two looked at the current sight before them with far more grim expressions, the magic circle under Erika and the others finally began to glow, giving off a faint crimson light as strands of energy began to manifest above it.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

“From this point onward, you’ve seen far more than you should have.” Confirming that the strands of energy were constantly being made by the magic circle, Erika slowly stepped out of it as she looked at the two with a solemn expression.

“With that being said… you two can die now.”

Fwoosh!

With their minds still in the midst of processing what was going on, Valyr and Ataraxia hastily conjured barriers around them as Erika shot a crimson orb at them, which soon exploded into miniature spikes the moment they made contact.

Fsh! Fsh! Fsh!

Feeling their energy reserves greatly decrease the more their barriers collided with the spikes, Valyr sent out a burst of Prime Azure Energy that shot most of the spikes back towards Erika.

But of course, as the wielder of the spikes herself, Erika dispelled all of them before they could touch her, a faint smile of amusement now tracing her lips.

‘Guard the crystal.’

Understanding that he would only be hampering himself if he tried to continue fighting against Erika with both identities at the same time, Valyr had Ataraxia step back as far as he could and conjured a barrier around him.

Knowing that his other identity would need all of the focus in the upcoming battle, the latter sat down cross-legged and closed his eyes, making sure that the recording crystal was running before doing so.

Whoosh!

Feeling his senses reach an incomparable level of concentration a few seconds later, Valyr took out the crimson spear from his back as he made his way closer to Erika.

Then, after stopping just a few meters away from where she stood…

He made his move.