"No worries... at least, I got some action compared to Jasmine." Levi chuckled as he swiped his hand to the side, firing the rain of explosive arrows to the sea.
Boom! Boom!...
The moment the arrows struck the surface, the viewers’ hearts jumped... the explosions erupted in rapid succession, dozens at once, like a fleet of warships unleashing their cannons, sending mist everywhere.
"True, I feel bad for Jasmine... she didn’t get to do anything."
Nurah sighed while hurling the heads into the water. Then, she grouped up with the rest, and they walked on the bridge one next to the other, returning to their base.
As the viewers watched them laugh and tease Jojo, whose bald scalp was still shriveled from dehydration, they honestly didn’t know how to react.
They had expected many things, but a total wipe-out in less than five minutes, while half of them seemingly not going all out? Nope... not this.
If even Gamemaster Sparks was taken aback by this development, how could the others react? Well, one thing was for certain... Heliodor’s viewers absolutely loved it.
"Ladies and gentlemen! You’d better get those jaws up off the floor, ’cause what you just witnessed was no ordinary raid! This was a statement! Heliodor’s Raiders just walked into the scene and showed us that they meant business!"
Gamemaster Sparks pointed his cane at Shia and continued passionately while smoke was emitting around him.
"First up...Shia! The bloodthirsty barbarian with a sinister smile, swingin’ her blade like the battlefield will never claim her soul! Ain’t no blood she won’t spill, ain’t no enemy she won’t carve up! Ain’t no wound she can’t heal from!"
The audience cheered, and Shia’s name was chanted over and over again, making her wave her hand lazily while pulling a lollipop from her pocket.
Swiftly, the focus was on Arthur, who was trying to keep his aloof, cool appearance, but a twitching grin kept failing him.
"Then we got Arthur! the wall, the shield, the damn fortress that walks! But don’t get it confused, this ain’t no passive guard dog. When that switch flips, he turns into a powerhouse that’ll crush you flat and grin while doin’ it!"
’Guard dog? The f*ck does he mean by that?’ Arthur’s widening grin froze, feeling betrayed by the Gamemaster.
Still, the viewers spared no amount of noise on him, knowing that he was one of the MVPs of this game... he protected, slayed, and did it in style.
"Next up, Nurah! the silent killer, the deadly assassin. One second you see her shadow, the next second, you’re on the floor wonderin’ where your head went! That girl doesn’t dance with death... she is the damn waltz of shadows!"
Nurah blew kisses to the sky, her seductive beauty made many male fans lose their cool and utter some unholy things that they wished to be done to them... the most repeated comment was... Step on me, Queen Nurah!
Gamemaster swiftly changed the focus to the shriveled Jojo, who was touching her cracked skin with an annoyed look.
"Jojo! Don’t sleep on her now. Martial arts mixed with spiritual prowess... Fast fists, sharper kicks, hurting both body and soul!"
The viewers gave her some love, not forgetting how she forced a Tier 4 nightcrawler to commence a suicidal move just to deal with her.
"And finally Levi! The..."
Before Gamemaster Sparks could even get started, the crowd thundered so loudly, it felt like they were attempting to bring the sky down!
Gamemaster Sparks smirked at such a reaction, expecting this much from the captain, who made this entire fight as smooth as it had appeared. Without him, the others would have struggled immensely since the Drowned Court were known to bully their enemies from the safety of the depths.
Levi’s Aetheric Grasp murdered their advantage and left no corpse.
"The maestro, the puppet master, the captain playin’ the long game from the backlines. He orchestrates with his masterful control of the elusive Aether energy! Every move, every strike, every damn victory note... it all flows to his tempo!"
Once he finished, Levi smiled serenely and waved his hand at the viewers, who were chanting his full name... Levi didn’t care much about the attention, but he knew that the moment he joined the CRS Platform, he was under the radar.
In simpler terms, he needed to be the opposite of the Celestial in everything he did... akin to having an alter ego.
’You worry too much, I already told you... With you registering under two seeds, no way in hell anyone will link you to the Celestial even if you shared some similarities...’ Ash’Kral said, ’Two different serial codes imply two unique seeds, and the general consensus denies such a possibility of a single person having two.’
’I know, but it wouldn’t hurt to be extra safe,’ Levi said solemnly, ’All it takes is one person to ignore common sense... plus, I have already screwed up by showing my sniper rifle to Darius... you told me that now both him and the Bishop should have such information.’
Levi hadn’t forgotten about the day he fought Lord Darius in Demetris’ body... at the time, his rationality was clouded by emotions, and made him risk everything to kill him, even if it meant exposing his second weapon.
Levi prided himself on his rationality and calm thinking; yet, whenever that cursed night or anything tied to it resurfaced, the buried rage, resentment, helplessness, and every festering negative emotion in his heart surged out uncontrollably.
If it wasn’t for this, he would have realized that the smartest decision was to let Lord Darius take Demetris away... or maybe, he realized it, but he still couldn’t let him walk away after everything that they did... he just couldn’t.
Now, he had to deal with the consequences of such a decision... knowing that one day, they would come knocking, he just didn’t know when. The only thing he could do was increase his strength as much as possible, to prepare for that day.
’Don’t worry, that ain’t happening now... at the moment, the Celestial is still nothing but a cool ’phenomena’ in the lower ranks... he isn’t as important as you make him be compared to the true Nobles in the Ring... although your latest clip of slaying the Leviathan has already hit the two billion viewership mark, it is still far from making a massive splash in the entire dimensional network.’
’Sooner or later... I will be getting there, and then, no one will be able to ignore me.’ Levi uttered indifferently, ’I have to be ready for that day... no more mistakes.’
As Levi walked across the bridge with his friends, Gamemaster Sparks shouted in the background.
"So remember this night... cause this is your introduction to Heliodor’s Raiders... the rising superstars of our beloved CRS Platform!"
Kaboom! Kabooom!...
As the last sentence was uttered, Gamemaster Sparks bowed, akin to a performer under the background of fireworks exploding in the sky.
"Good morning, good evening, and good night."
With a snap of a finger, the sky was cleared out from the watchers in no less than two seconds, returning the Tri-Crucible Ises to its peaceful state.
Levi and the others weren’t too surprised by this... if there was a team wipeout or a title achievement, the Rifters get to summon the Omnigenie and choose a wish.
They couldn’t do this under the eyes of the viewers... Wishes were so private, not even the Gamemasters had the right to know what anyone had wished for.
After Gamemaster Sparks descended to meet them at the bridge with a brimming smile, he told them that the Genie could be summoned on the Altar... he had already fulfilled the condition of the summoning for them, which was collecting all Blood Rites on the map.
Since Levi’s team had wiped out the Drowned Court, they were instantly rewarded with the wish... an incentive by the system to push for such endings.
Though this didn’t mean they had claimed the title, just the wish.
"I have to say... I never thought I would have enjoyed being demoted to such piss-low rank... but, you have given me a new perspective, and reminded me of who I used to be." Gamemaster Sparks said... his pimp-like accent was nowhere to be seen.
"Does that mean you are planning to stick by for some time?" Levi smiled.
"Not a chance, I am getting the hell out of here at the first opportunity."
Levi and the others’ lips twitched, but they said nothing...
"Aight, you know what to do... Once you complete your wish, you will be teleported straight to the Drowned Court nest. You can take it from there."
Seeing everyone nodding in understanding, Gamemaster Sparks made a peace sign and stepped into an emerging dimensional portal, leaving the team on their own.
Levi and the others swiftly returned to the Altar and saw Jasmine sitting in the same position... although the game finished, she was still drawing on that piece of paper.
When she saw them, she waved with a faint smile and sent a dimensional message, ’Was it any fun?’
In the past fifteen days, Jasmine had opened up slowly to her teammates after spending so many hours training, hunting, and just simply hanging out... now, she was comfortable enough to send dimensional messages, even though she knew that the voice they heard was of her depressed nightcrawler, not hers.
But Levi and the others were unbothered by it, which made Jasmine drop using holographic sentences and signs unless outsiders were involved... for now, her friends and father were the only ones who heard her telepathic voice.
’Killing nightcrawlers invading our planet under the cheers of millions? How can it not be fun?’ Arthur grinned, having enjoyed his first raid thoroughly.
’You must have been bored.’ Nurah said, ’Next raid is on me... I will keep guard.’
Jasmine shook her head with the same smile, ’It’s okay... I enjoyed my time drawing.’
She then turned the scroll and showed them the insanely detailed island they were on, drawn with nothing but black ink... she drew the forest, the moon, and the altar in the center. Although she wasn’t using colors, the drawing still carried the map’s crimson atmosphere.
’Looks pretty... can I keep it?’ Jojo requested.
’Sure.’
Jasmine offered her the drawing, knowing that without her signature, it served as nothing but a piece of art.
Soon, everyone switched their focus to the illuminating scarlet Altar... Levi stepped forward and followed the instructions to summon the Omnigenie of this Order... Sanguigenie.
"By lifeblood and vow, I call thee... Omnigenie of blood, appear. Grant my wish, carved in scarlet flame." Levi uttered the incantation he found in the game’s details.
At once, the Altar was activated... Countless Blood Rites were hovering slightly above each IIthorien Major Rune on its surface.
The Blood Rites resembled a giant blood droplet, and when the Altar was activated, they started dropping one by one in a sequence.
With each drop, the IIthorien lines kept shining until the entire array was as bright as the crimson moon.
Once the final drop landed on the center, which had a Major Rune of Blood on it in the shape of ’ᛒ’, a crimson beam shot into the heavens, forcing everyone to take a step back.
"What a powerful oppressive force... It feels like I am being pressed by the universe." Levi muttered.