Chapter 136: Apollo
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Chapter 136: Apollo
The figure on the stage looked calmly over the shouts of protest from the crowd.
"Who are you?"
"A jester of sorts," he said flippantly. "I am also known as the Archangel Michael."
"You're not a real archangel! You're an idiot, a clown!" shouted [FatherJohannes], a player who wore a large crucifix pendant around their neck.
Michael's juggling stopped abruptly, and he silently turned to face FatherJohannes. Staring impassively at the heckler, he held out his right palm and a fireball flew effortlessly out of it.
As the fireball accelerated and collided with FatherJohannes, his body was soon consumed in searing, white flames. His screams thundered across the area. Soon, only his ashes were left, still burning on the ground. The crowd stared on in confusion as the ashes continued screaming louder and louder, as if wracked with a deep pain, until the fire consumed them.
"Ask no more," Michael said. His voice sounded like the searing flames which had just consumed Johannes.
In a somewhat self-aware manner, he shifted back to his usual, carefree voice. "Now, to be honest, he was right. I used to be the Archangel Michael, but by now I am considered fallen. I lied. But it doesn't matter, you could just call me Apollo, it's what everyone calls me."
"Then where's your chariot?" snorted a sceptical observer named [Aphisa].
Some of the people around him looked nervous, seeing what had happened to the last heckler. But for Aphisa, a devout Christian who had painedly watched his family dwindle away in this game, Michael's carefree, dissolute demeanour was thoroughly offensive.
Michael half-turned his face towards Aphisa, and said in an emotionless voice, "Bring me my chariot of fire."
Aphisa's body exploded into four pillars of flame, which spun in a circle. Each flame rose wildly upwards, and crowed with the sound of Aphisa's screams like a rooster at morning. These pillars trundled over the clouds towards Michael, as the crowd scampered to get out of the way. A few were crushed or set on fire by this, and those who were set afire were soon consumed by the flame.
Squinting, Crucis saw that the four pillars of flame were accompanied by an infrastructure formed of Aphisa's charred bones and other remains, which formed a dusky chariot with a fiery pillar in each corner.
As it approached Michael, he smiled and hopped in, leaning back luxuriously inside the chariot before leaning out to address the crowd. The flames danced around him.
"Sköll and Hati shall soon come for their feast. This grand chariot, fretted with golden fire, is only cooked meat for hounds," Michael said. "Soon they shall come and devour it, even though your friend was so obsessive about it. So be it. It's not about the chariot, it's about sending a message."
A few members of the crowd were becoming increasingly agitated and disturbed by the corpse-chariot.
"It's screaming! It's - aaah!" screeched [DellaB].
"Why not? Maybe he just wants to be heard," Michael replied, eyes seeking out this female in the crowd. "You should understand him. Isn't that how hecklers are, too?"
She cowered behind a few tall male Guildmates nearby, who stood tall as if to protect her. Crucis could see that they were in a Guild named [Chagrin], which was fairly small but seemed to have a few large players.
Michael frowned, as he noticed her hiding behind them. "What are you afraid of? He's dead, he has the right to stage his depressive screamo concert." His voice turned slightly more serious. "You're even afraid of the voice of your fallen comrade! What are you? Why should you live to see the daybreak, if you can't bear the crowing of the rooster that announces each dawn?"
The crowd grew louder and more agitated. Crucis heard a small sound, like birdsong, in the sky, and looked for it. However, as his sight verged towards the sun, in the direction from which he had heard the sound, he found jarringly that he was simply looking straight at the fiery chariot and the birdsong resolved to its screams. The sensation of birdsong vanished as instantaneously as if it were a pareidolia.
He shook his head, to ward off dizziness, and noticed some of the Hashin rubbing their eyes. The surreal nature of the heavens took some getting used to.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
"Excuse me, could you all stop clustering around the lady? It's not very sociable," Michael said to the crowd.
"You're mad!" shouted one of the males, bravely standing in front of the female. He seemed familiar with her, and was using a hand to calm her down and encourage her to crouch down out of sight.
The gates out of this area opened, and the rest of the crowd were allowed to leave. They did so quickly, to avoid any further run-ins with Michael. A few stepped over Alauphag as he writhed on the floor, due to their haste and fear.
After a minute, Alauphag was dead.
As the crowds hastily left, Crucis noticed that Michael didn't seem to notice the four players hidden in the rocks nearby.
However, as Vladislav stumbled slightly while stretching his legs, he stuck out of the rocks for a moment. While no player saw him, Michael looked over and flicked his wrist, and they found a small, thin card embedded in the rocks next to them. Its flight towards them had been barely even a blur. Picking it up, Dr1fter saw that it was folded over, and contained two lines of text:
Bring the [Ashen Urn] to the Temple South of Sanra.
I am Apollo, but am also known as the Archangel Michael and 4183239444.
Dr1fter tossed out a small, cosmetic [Sun Trinket] as thanks, while the others carefully copied out the information.
"What's this number?" Jin asked.
"It must mean something," Dr1fter replied circumspectly. "Take it down."
"I think that numbers like that are used to represent AI," Crucis said. "Maybe it represents his AI version."
"Oh, interesting. So was he a rogue AI? Impressive. I have noticed a few NPCs are more complex now, Vladislav said it is probably something like that."
"Yes. Seemingly, the usual censors and policies aren't working on this figure, so it acted more freely. It was probably given its massive power to confer advantages and referee things, basic janny biz, instead of which it attacked them."
"Like any God of mythology, it is only invented for human interests, and that is why people feel comfortable giving it big powers. Like the Hashin, who were supposed to serve others! Excellent information, thank you. I'll memorise the number. Perhaps it could be put to use somehow... Well, if we meet again, we'll see if you figured something out."
After this speech, Dr1fter led the way back towards the plains.
"So, is everyone ready for the event?" he asked.
"Yes!" Vladislav said, with a hint of nerves.
The rest of the group agreed sheepishly, and Dr1fter smiled.
"We will have no choice, might as well be confident."
"What is likely to happen is that one or two big Guilds will spearhead the fight with the monsters. I'd guess, [Stranded] Guild for Aesir and [Erasure] for Vanir. I'm getting PMs saying those Guilds are the biggest so far on each side. We will be on the Aesir side, but we'll kill on both sides. Eventually the monster fight will become a PvP battle as well, because each side strengthens their own monster so they will try to obstruct each other. By the way, you have no Guild, right?"
"Yes."
"OK, best way then is to avoid the big fights, because Guilds there will protect their own. Try to stay hidden, and don't let most players come near. Do not be too... 'gung-ho.' If you can, form a party of three, but not before the event because you won't be able to hide with two sods next to you."
"Sure. You guys will be looking for kills, I'm guessing?"
"Don't worry, we'll leave you alone. Our MO is to aim for named players, because killing them will have more impact. So our Guild won't attack you... Actually, Awdimir's clique might. Those guys never listen to me," Dr1fter said. "Look out for them. Good luck."
The group split as they approached the entrance to the plains, with the Hashin members going to meet up with others from their Guild.
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Chapter 136: Apollo
The figure on the stage looked calmly over the shouts of protest from the crowd.
"Who are you?"
"A jester of sorts," he said flippantly. "I am also known as the Archangel Michael."
"You're not a real archangel! You're an idiot, a clown!" shouted [FatherJohannes], a player who wore a large crucifix pendant around their neck.
Michael's juggling stopped abruptly, and he silently turned to face FatherJohannes. Staring impassively at the heckler, he held out his right palm and a fireball flew effortlessly out of it.
As the fireball accelerated and collided with FatherJohannes, his body was soon consumed in searing, white flames. His screams thundered across the area. Soon, only his ashes were left, still burning on the ground. The crowd stared on in confusion as the ashes continued screaming louder and louder, as if wracked with a deep pain, until the fire consumed them.
"Ask no more," Michael said. His voice sounded like the searing flames which had just consumed Johannes.
In a somewhat self-aware manner, he shifted back to his usual, carefree voice. "Now, to be honest, he was right. I used to be the Archangel Michael, but by now I am considered fallen. I lied. But it doesn't matter, you could just call me Apollo, it's what everyone calls me."
"Then where's your chariot?" snorted a sceptical observer named [Aphisa].
Some of the people around him looked nervous, seeing what had happened to the last heckler. But for Aphisa, a devout Christian who had painedly watched his family dwindle away in this game, Michael's carefree, dissolute demeanour was thoroughly offensive.
Michael half-turned his face towards Aphisa, and said in an emotionless voice, "Bring me my chariot of fire."
Aphisa's body exploded into four pillars of flame, which spun in a circle. Each flame rose wildly upwards, and crowed with the sound of Aphisa's screams like a rooster at morning. These pillars trundled over the clouds towards Michael, as the crowd scampered to get out of the way. A few were crushed or set on fire by this, and those who were set afire were soon consumed by the flame.
Squinting, Crucis saw that the four pillars of flame were accompanied by an infrastructure formed of Aphisa's charred bones and other remains, which formed a dusky chariot with a fiery pillar in each corner.
As it approached Michael, he smiled and hopped in, leaning back luxuriously inside the chariot before leaning out to address the crowd. The flames danced around him.
"Sköll and Hati shall soon come for their feast. This grand chariot, fretted with golden fire, is only cooked meat for hounds," Michael said. "Soon they shall come and devour it, even though your friend was so obsessive about it. So be it. It's not about the chariot, it's about sending a message."
A few members of the crowd were becoming increasingly agitated and disturbed by the corpse-chariot.
"It's screaming! It's - aaah!" screeched [DellaB].
"Why not? Maybe he just wants to be heard," Michael replied, eyes seeking out this female in the crowd. "You should understand him. Isn't that how hecklers are, too?"
She cowered behind a few tall male Guildmates nearby, who stood tall as if to protect her. Crucis could see that they were in a Guild named [Chagrin], which was fairly small but seemed to have a few large players.
Michael frowned, as he noticed her hiding behind them. "What are you afraid of? He's dead, he has the right to stage his depressive screamo concert." His voice turned slightly more serious. "You're even afraid of the voice of your fallen comrade! What are you? Why should you live to see the daybreak, if you can't bear the crowing of the rooster that announces each dawn?"
The crowd grew louder and more agitated. Crucis heard a small sound, like birdsong, in the sky, and looked for it. However, as his sight verged towards the sun, in the direction from which he had heard the sound, he found jarringly that he was simply looking straight at the fiery chariot and the birdsong resolved to its screams. The sensation of birdsong vanished as instantaneously as if it were a pareidolia.
He shook his head, to ward off dizziness, and noticed some of the Hashin rubbing their eyes. The surreal nature of the heavens took some getting used to.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n.
"Excuse me, could you all stop clustering around the lady? It's not very sociable," Michael said to the crowd.
"You're mad!" shouted one of the males, bravely standing in front of the female. He seemed familiar with her, and was using a hand to calm her down and encourage her to crouch down out of sight.
The gates out of this area opened, and the rest of the crowd were allowed to leave. They did so quickly, to avoid any further run-ins with Michael. A few stepped over Alauphag as he writhed on the floor, due to their haste and fear.
After a minute, Alauphag was dead.
As the crowds hastily left, Crucis noticed that Michael didn't seem to notice the four players hidden in the rocks nearby.
However, as Vladislav stumbled slightly while stretching his legs, he stuck out of the rocks for a moment. While no player saw him, Michael looked over and flicked his wrist, and they found a small, thin card embedded in the rocks next to them. Its flight towards them had been barely even a blur. Picking it up, Dr1fter saw that it was folded over, and contained two lines of text:
Bring the [Ashen Urn] to the Temple South of Sanra.
I am Apollo, but am also known as the Archangel Michael and 4183239444.
Dr1fter tossed out a small, cosmetic [Sun Trinket] as thanks, while the others carefully copied out the information.
"What's this number?" Jin asked.
"It must mean something," Dr1fter replied circumspectly. "Take it down."
"I think that numbers like that are used to represent AI," Crucis said. "Maybe it represents his AI version."
"Oh, interesting. So was he a rogue AI? Impressive. I have noticed a few NPCs are more complex now, Vladislav said it is probably something like that."
"Yes. Seemingly, the usual censors and policies aren't working on this figure, so it acted more freely. It was probably given its massive power to confer advantages and referee things, basic janny biz, instead of which it attacked them."
"Like any God of mythology, it is only invented for human interests, and that is why people feel comfortable giving it big powers. Like the Hashin, who were supposed to serve others! Excellent information, thank you. I'll memorise the number. Perhaps it could be put to use somehow... Well, if we meet again, we'll see if you figured something out."
After this speech, Dr1fter led the way back towards the plains.
"So, is everyone ready for the event?" he asked.
"Yes!" Vladislav said, with a hint of nerves.
The rest of the group agreed sheepishly, and Dr1fter smiled.
"We will have no choice, might as well be confident."
"What is likely to happen is that one or two big Guilds will spearhead the fight with the monsters. I'd guess, [Stranded] Guild for Aesir and [Erasure] for Vanir. I'm getting PMs saying those Guilds are the biggest so far on each side. We will be on the Aesir side, but we'll kill on both sides. Eventually the monster fight will become a PvP battle as well, because each side strengthens their own monster so they will try to obstruct each other. By the way, you have no Guild, right?"
"Yes."
"OK, best way then is to avoid the big fights, because Guilds there will protect their own. Try to stay hidden, and don't let most players come near. Do not be too... 'gung-ho.' If you can, form a party of three, but not before the event because you won't be able to hide with two sods next to you."
"Sure. You guys will be looking for kills, I'm guessing?"
"Don't worry, we'll leave you alone. Our MO is to aim for named players, because killing them will have more impact. So our Guild won't attack you... Actually, Awdimir's clique might. Those guys never listen to me," Dr1fter said. "Look out for them. Good luck."
The group split as they approached the entrance to the plains, with the Hashin members going to meet up with others from their Guild.
Chapter 136: ApolloThe figure on the stage looked calmly over the shouts of protest from the crowd."Who are you?""A jester of sorts," he said flippantly. "I am also known as the Archangel Michael.""You're not a real archangel! You're an idiot, a clown!" shouted FatherJohannes, a player who wore a large crucifix pendant around their neck.Michael's juggling stopped abruptly, and he silently turned to face FatherJohannes. Staring impassively at the heckler, he held out his right palm and a fireball flew effortlessly out of it. As the fireball accelerated and collided with FatherJohannes, his body was soon consumed in searing, white flames. His screams thundered across the area. Soon, only his ashes were left, still burning on the ground. The crowd stared on in confusion as the ashes continued screaming louder and louder, as if wracked with a deep pain, until the fire consumed them."Ask no more," Michael said. His voice sounded like the searing flames which had just consumed Johannes. In a somewhat self-aware manner, he shifted back to his usual, carefree voice. "Now, to be honest, he was right. I used to be the Archangel Michael, but by now I am considered fallen. I lied. But it doesn't matter, you could just call me Apollo, it's what everyone calls me.""Then where's your chariot?" snorted a sceptical observer named Aphisa.Some of the people around him looked nervous, seeing what had happened to the last heckler. But for Aphisa, a devout Christian who had painedly watched his family dwindle away in this game, Michael's carefree, dissolute demeanour was thoroughly offensive.Michael half-turned his face towards Aphisa, and said in an emotionless voice, "Bring me my chariot of fire."Aphisa's body exploded into four pillars of flame, which spun in a circle. Each flame rose wildly upwards, and crowed with the sound of Aphisa's screams like a rooster at morning. These pillars trundled over the clouds towards Michael, as the crowd scampered to get out of the way. A few were crushed or set on fire by this, and those who were set afire were soon consumed by the flame.Squinting, Crucis saw that the four pillars of flame were accompanied by an infrastructure formed of Aphisa's charred bones and other remains, which formed a dusky chariot with a fiery pillar in each corner.As it approached Michael, he smiled and hopped in, leaning back luxuriously inside the chariot before leaning out to address the crowd. The flames danced around him."Skoll and Hati shall soon come for their feast. This grand chariot, fretted with golden fire, is only cooked meat for hounds," Michael said. "Soon they shall come and devour it, even though your friend was so obsessive about it. So be it. It's not about the chariot, it's about sending a message."A few members of the crowd were becoming increasingly agitated and disturbed by the corpse-chariot."It's screaming! It's - aaah!" screeched DellaB."Why not? Maybe he just wants to be heard," Michael replied, eyes seeking out this female in the crowd. "You should understand him. Isn't that how hecklers are, too?"She cowered behind a few tall male Guildmates nearby, who stood tall as if to protect her. Crucis could see that they were in a Guild named Chagrin, which was fairly small but seemed to have a few large players.Michael frowned, as he noticed her hiding behind them. "What are you afraid of? He's dead, he has the right to stage his depressive screamo concert." His voice turned slightly more serious. "You're even afraid of the voice of your fallen comrade! What are you? Why should you live to see the daybreak, if you can't bear the crowing of the rooster that announces each dawn?"The crowd grew louder and more agitated. Crucis heard a small sound, like birdsong, in the sky, and looked for it. However, as his sight verged towards the sun, in the direction from which he had heard the sound, he found jarringly that he was simply looking straight at the fiery chariot and the birdsong resolved to its screams. The sensation of birdsong vanished as instantaneously as if it were a pareidolia.He shook his head, to ward off dizziness, and noticed some of the Hashin rubbing their eyes. The surreal nature of the heavens took some getting used to.The inaugural upload of this chapter took place via N0v3l-B1n."Excuse me, could you all stop clustering around the lady? It's not very sociable," Michael said to the crowd."You're mad!" shouted one of the males, bravely standing in front of the female. He seemed familiar with her, and was using a hand to calm her down and encourage her to crouch down out of sight.The gates out of this area opened, and the rest of the crowd were allowed to leave. They did so quickly, to avoid any further run-ins with Michael. A few stepped over Alauphag as he writhed on the floor, due to their haste and fear.After a minute, Alauphag was dead.As the crowds hastily left, Crucis noticed that Michael didn't seem to notice the four players hidden in the rocks nearby.However, as Vladislav stumbled slightly while stretching his legs, he stuck out of the rocks for a moment. While no player saw him, Michael looked over and flicked his wrist, and they found a small, thin card embedded in the rocks next to them. Its flight towards them had been barely even a blur. Picking it up, Dr1fter saw that it was folded over, and contained two lines of text:Bring the Ashen Urn to the Temple South of Sanra.I am Apollo, but am also known as the Archangel Michael and 4183239444. Dr1fter tossed out a small, cosmetic Sun Trinket as thanks, while the others carefully copied out the information. "What's this number?" Jin asked."It must mean something," Dr1fter replied circumspectly. "Take it down.""I think that numbers like that are used to represent AI," Crucis said. "Maybe it represents his AI version.""Oh, interesting. So was he a rogue AI? Impressive. I have noticed a few NPCs are more complex now, Vladislav said it is probably something like that.""Yes. Seemingly, the usual censors and policies aren't working on this figure, so it acted more freely. It was probably given its massive power to confer advantages and referee things, basic janny biz, instead of which it attacked them.""Like any God of mythology, it is only invented for human interests, and that is why people feel comfortable giving it big powers. Like the Hashin, who were supposed to serve others! Excellent information, thank you. I'll memorise the number. Perhaps it could be put to use somehow... Well, if we meet again, we'll see if you figured something out."After this speech, Dr1fter led the way back towards the plains. "So, is everyone ready for the event?" he asked."Yes!" Vladislav said, with a hint of nerves.The rest of the group agreed sheepishly, and Dr1fter smiled."We will have no choice, might as well be confident.""What is likely to happen is that one or two big Guilds will spearhead the fight with the monsters. I'd guess, Stranded Guild for Aesir and Erasure for Vanir. I'm getting PMs saying those Guilds are the biggest so far on each side. We will be on the Aesir side, but we'll kill on both sides. Eventually the monster fight will become a PvP battle as well, because each side strengthens their own monster so they will try to obstruct each other. By the way, you have no Guild, right?""Yes.""OK, best way then is to avoid the big fights, because Guilds there will protect their own. Try to stay hidden, and don't let most players come near. Do not be too... 'gung-ho.' If you can, form a party of three, but not before the event because you won't be able to hide with two sods next to you.""Sure. You guys will be looking for kills, I'm guessing?""Don't worry, we'll leave you alone. Our MO is to aim for named players, because killing them will have more impact. So our Guild won't attack you... Actually, Awdimir's clique might. Those guys never listen to me," Dr1fter said. "Look out for them. Good luck."The group split as they approached the entrance to the plains, with the Hashin members going to meet up with others from their Guild.
