(PinkLotus's POV)
PinkLotus frowned deeply when all her stats were reduced by 35%.
She too was tracking the development surrounding 'TheBoss' closely, and while she did not feel surprised that he succeeded in outsmarting everyone, she felt annoyed at receiving a penalty for his success.
"Why must I be penalized? I technically don't belong to any faction. Although I'm not a rebel, I'm not a righteous player either… gosh, this is so annoying" she cursed, as she did not feel content with the current state of affairs.
As far as she was concerned, her personal strength mattered more to her than the success or failure of the righteous faction, which was why she felt beyond livid at the unfair penalty.
"You know, if you think about it, you're more than likely to fight a war in this weakened state very soon…." Luke said calmly, as he stood beside her near the waterfall where she usually trained.
"Oh?" PinkLotus replied, sounding surprised as she waited for Luke to explain his statement.
"The righteous faction is weakened, the rebels are sure to make a move…. If Leo were to ever cash-in his bet and have you fight for the rebels, it's going to be pretty soon" Luke explained, as he reminded PinkLotus about the terms of their last spar.
"Right…" PinkLotus said grimly, her eyes widening as flashbacks of their previous battle flashed in her head.
In return for accepting her request to spar, Leo had put forward the condition that were she to lose, she was to join him in war whenever he called for it.
That day, he defeated her brutally and he was roughly 122 levels stronger now compared to that day after his recent rampage within the light faction.
The gap between them was widening at a rapid pace and whatever little hope she had to catch-up to Leo, seemed to be slipping away every passing day.
"Stupid…Stupid game developers, I hate them…" she cursed as she started to hack away at the waterfall in fury.
Beside her, Luke stood with a soft smile on his face as he began analyzing the future events with a calm head.
Even Though he was not a part of the DarkSky guild anymore, he could envision exactly what everyone in the guild must be discussing at this moment and how they would react to this news.
"*Sigh*, I wish I was back in a group again…. Solo play is kinda boring" Luke muttered to himself, sighing as he missed his leadership post within the DarkSky guild.
However, although he missed the whole experience, he did not feel keen on returning, as he knew that the DarkSky guild was not the right fit for him anymore.
If he were ever to join a guild again, Luke felt sure that it would either be his own new guild, or another organisation, however, he was not keen on joining the DarkSky guild anymore.
********
(Jacob and Elena's POV)
Elena and Jacob both found themselves sitting within Elena's restaurant, located inside a remote righteous faction tier1 town.
Jacob was on his way to disrupt some pursuers who planned to camp and kill Leo, however, once Leo changed his course and veered away from where Jacob was stationed, Jacob decided to give-up on the chase and instead decided to spend the rest of the day with his lovely wife at her own restaurant.
"Jacob, I talked to Rita today, she's saying that there are at least a 100 million players trying to kill our son's best friend 'TheBoss' and that he's the most dangerous man to ever live…. Is that true?" Elena asked, with concern evident in her eyes as Jacob failed to form a proper answer.
"T-that, right… no…" he said, lying through his teeth, as although it was indeed the truth, Jacob decided to not make Elena worry about it.
"Rita doesn't know anything Elena, Leo is only business friends with 'TheBoss', the two aren't really chummy, the actions of 'TheBoss' does not concern our son" Jacob said, as Elena nervously clutched her cooking apron around her neck.
"I don't like our son being friends with such a dangerous guy… but he's all grown up now, and I can't even scold him.
Jacob… Please talk to him when you can? He doesn't need to be friends with a KingSlayer.
Even if he earns a few less gold coins a month it's okay, but don't let him stay with a bad company" Elena said, as Jacob nodded his head in agreement.
"I'll talk to him, don't worry…." He said, as his reply made Elena instantly beam into a smile.
"Both our kids are kind-hearted and morally decent…. All this murder, carnage and this deplorable game world, it doesn't suit us…" Elena continued, as Jacob felt it hard to swallow the food she had cooked when she talked about the game this way.
Only Jacob knew that all three of them were dangerous murderers and killers, as all three of them were within the top 10,000 ranks of the game, being three of the strongest players all around.
However, in front of Elena all three of them were as straight as an arrow, not even daring to harm a fly, because they knew better than to upset her.
If not for her, Jacob had no doubt in his mind that the three of them were unhinged to their cores, however, any semblance of decency that they had was only because of Elena and the values she instilled in them over the years.
Jacob quite enjoyed watching his enemies squirm and die, and he enjoyed the thrill of the hunt as well and somehow, he knew that his children did too.
Usually, such individuals became prone to mental instability, however, because of Elena the three of them retained some modicum of decency.
She was the guiding light in their lives, however, with the boys not being around her anymore, slowly but surely that light was starting to drift away.
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/// A/N - Bonus chapter for hitting the gift target.
Gift progress 2730/2500. Which means there will be yet another bonus chapter tomorrow!
Counter resets to 230/2500.
Special shoutout to patrons AceKing137 for the 2000 coin donation! ///