As we all stood around what we knew was no longer Victor we felt the force that had been holding us subside as we looked between each other.
Well on the plus side, at least it's not as painful as the summit was.
Will said in my head as I could feel the damage accumulating. I looked at Little Fox who was laying on the ground, looking more terrified than anything, and one could hardly blame her, this was beyond what anyone would expect a level 50 to be dealing with, much less a bunch of level 15's. I turned back to face the observer as I asked.
"You saved us before by sending Victor, yet you have only let Victor's player control them for a moment, why?"
The others turned to me, clearly confused, but I didn't have the time, we had at best 10minutes before we were all on the ground bleeding out, and I needed to answer questions before that happened.
The observer used Victor's body to examine his own paw as if fascinated by it before he turned back to me.
"To answer that, I need to show you all something first."
The Observer didn't even move as behind him a large screen like the system appeared. Within it 6 figures stood before a massive dragon covered in Bronze scales. Streaks of white hot electricity arced around their scales. Some of the scales however showed signs of damage, cracked and broken in some places while gray and stone like in others. They stared down the other 5 figures, with one of them being recognizable as Victor. Yet beyond him others stood.
One looked to be a boy no older than 14, and yet covered in more scar tissue than normal skin, a gray complexion to their skin as they stared down the dragon, a strange look of bloodlust in their eyes.
Another looked to be a skeleton, lacking any skin, flesh, or even eyes, they wore an open read coat and a large plumed pirate captains hat. A cutlass in hand, they stood with another figure behind a wall that was partially transparent.
To the skeletons right stood a man who looked the part of a vampire, open button up shirt to reveal a V of the chest, pale complexion with silver white hair, and red eyes. They stood as blood swirled around themselves.
The last was hard to see, and yet they were identifiable by the strange floating circular portrait that flew over them. The figure was on a flying book that seemed to have a strange magic running through it, and while we had to squint, I could see that the figure was a small orange gecko of some kind, maybe a fullblood. The entire scene was frozen as the portraits flew around and occasionally glowed as they talked. Each one tied to one of the 5 figures aside from the dragon.
Over Victor floated a strange kiss mark, like a woman leaving a lipstick imprint and the word "Sweets" inside of it.
The boy covered in scars was connected to a picture of a younger looking human girl in a strange black and white color palet. A dress that plummed out at the bottom whit a sun parasol. She could have looked like an illustrated portrait if not for the strange black glasses she wore.
Above the skeleton was a picture of a strange Jackal like halfblood with purple flames behind them, and a simple expression like a cartoon character, little dots making the eyes and a simple flat line for the mouth.
Above the vampire was a figure in futuristic black armor, and while they could have been intimidating, they wore a tall white chefs hat and a pink apron with a heart on the front.
Lastly above the gecko sat a picture of a lich, adorned in ornamental robes and shrouded in darkness, they leaned against their arm. A glowing red gemstone floated in the core of where their stomach would have been.
The figures seemed to be floating around and discussing as above them I heard a familiar voice as I glanced higher on the screen. A part of me expected to see the Observer as he had appeared at the summit, but instead I was greeted by a similar Icon to the others, this one depicting a small little green naga in a green military helmet, their eyes looking in two different directions.
"Ok, so the Bronze Dragon is going to be using its breath attack, the wall will save Davie and Alphonso, but I'm gonna need a Dex save from Victor."
The icon with the little naga on it said as it flashed, the observer's voice coming through as he spoke.
"Crap, thats ann 11, + dex mod thats a 12."
The Icon with the kiss mark said.
"What, I thought Victor had a higher Dex mod."
The icon with the black and white girl in sunglasses said in surprise and worry.
"Nah, I went all in on Strength baby, so lets see if I live this."
There was a sound of something like a handful of rocks landing as there was a collective sound of the icons saying "ooooooohhh" as if wincing at something.
"Whats your HP looking like with 2899 lightning damage?"
The observer asked as there was a moment of silence before the kiss mark Icon said.
"Crap, I think that kills."
The recording suddenly shut off as for a moment movement returned and we watched a blast of blinding crackling lightning strike Victor in the chest. Turning back to the observer in Victor's body he parted the fur on his chest to reveal a crackling burn that ran through his chest.
"I-Is that what I?"
Thalia asked, sounding both on the verge of throwing up, and horrified as Victor was made to smile.
"Paused at the time of death, you all happened to be in trouble at roughly the same time, so I made Victor's body be frozen in its state, not dead, but at the same time dying. It was a little deal I struck with his players to help you all."
"Help us, we have no Idea who you are."
Jax said as we all shuddered for a moment as the system once again announced.
Warning: your soul is too weak to last long in the presence of T̷̡̡̮̞̪̦͈͕̹͓͚̘͉̪̜̻̱̖̯͒̂̈́̃̉͑̇͒̋̏̍̇͆͛͋̈́̚̕͜͜͝ͅͅh̴̢̨̢̨̢̛̳͈̤̣͍̠̹̘̹̟̫̟͉̗͓̦̬̝͍̱̩͍̘̺̺̭̙̩̫̤̘̱̙̣̣̹̘͙̗͙̎͒͛̄͛̅̂̓̄͌͗͌̚͜ͅē̶̢̛̥͚̞͚̰͉̩̮͎͕͉̙̖̻̦͇͚̝̽̽̑͋̆͛͊̏͐̅̃̕͝͝͝͝ ̶̢̢̨̤͎͇̠͙͖͎̠̫̰̯̖͙͕̙̩̮͎̣͔͕͇̼͖̙̮͕̣̮͉͕̙͓̘̓͗̓̽͜͜ͅͅƠ̸̧̨̧̢̛̩͍͔̻̙̗͔̌̑͑̀͗̀̔̀̍̓̊͊́͂̈́́͆͗̓̀̄̍͌ͅb̸̡̲̗͚̫̥͔̱̼̦̝̻̐̊̒̈́̀̀́̃͊̑̄̇̈̌͛̒̽͗̂̒́̃̂͜͝͝͝ͅs̶̡̨̗̙͈̲̼̠̥̳͎͈̤͕̥̞͖͇̥̰̤͙͔̙̼̯̯̜̼͕͔̙̮̝͗̍̒̂͋̔̃̿̿͂͌̓̈̿͆͂̒̾̾͂̃̀̐̀̈́̈́̇͊͗̄̈̎̕̚̕͘̕͜͜͝͠͝͝͝͝ͅͅͅȩ̸̢̧̯̫͔̭̰̠̼̣̫̟͖̤̟̱̣̩͉̯̲̱̥͚͇͖͖̘̙̫̥͙̲̰̤̻͎̯͖̬̤̄̃͑̓̈́̉̌͊͒̂̅̈́̃̉̍̕̕͝ͅŗ̴̢̡̡̧̢̭̠͕̭̭͕̟̫̙̖͎̺͉̘͔͍̩̞͈̯͚̹̦̯͚͎̺̻̜̔́̃̂̒̓́͂̅̓̀̿̏̍͋͗̒̋͊̅̈́̂͑̒̑̋̂̅̈́̐̃̆̊̌̎̇͑̚̚̚͠͝ͅv̸̢̡̡̨̧̨̡̛̛̛̠̫͔̮̱̬̙͎̩̟͔̭̉͋͗̂̂̄͒̌͆̀͒͊̄͐̓̅̂̆͑̈́̊̎̈́͑́̒̿̐̇̽̿̆̚̚͝ę̶̛̛̛̠̫̞̤͕̮̥͕͇̳̟̱̖̬͎̪̙̭̭͖͈͉̝̯͕̼̯̱͌͛͐́̂̀̎͑͑̿̂̅̑̍̎̈́̐̈́̎̈́̓̑̉͊̿̊̉̾͑́̿͌͌͗̿͊͗̈́̅̂̕̕̚͠r̸̼̲̞̭̳̮̹̗͍̘̖͕͖̊͑͑̏͐̓̉̂̅̽̅͑̇̌̿̆̑́̈́̐̽͆̚̕͘͠͝ͅ
The observer chuckled as he gave a smile that to my surprise reminded me of my grandfather, it was the kind of smile that radiated nothing but love, warmth, and a fervent wish for success to those it was directed at.
"You may not have known it, but I have been following you all since chapter 1, letting others join in too as we watch your stories unfold. In some ways you all are one of my favorites."
"I-I'm not sure I understand you, what do you mean chapters?"
Selene asked as she looked at the rest of us. The Observer took a moment to think before he turned to me and said.
"Aiden, I know for a fact that you and Liora love the 7 stars book series, right? What would you say is the worst part about getting the new book?"
I turned to Liora before saying.
"I-I guess it's when you have to wait for the next book to come out?"
Victor started to bounce on his paws like a kid excited for christmas as he said, probably louder then he had meant to.
"YES, EXACTLY. It's why instead of cultivating a new story, I helped cultivate an entire world. No matter where you go, there is a story around every corner, and with the players taking part using characters, the world is churned up in ways even a 4th dimensional being like myself can't even fathom. It's amazing!"
"That still doesn't explain why you're here."
Liora said sitting down in a heap as I could see her breaths coming quick and sharp as blood had begun to run from her eyes as well.
"Well the reason is simple, we're already at the 100th chapter, and that's a pretty big benchmark after all."
We all stared in confusion as the Observer walked towards us. He reached a hand out as a small small system notification appeared
System has been used to grant you a skill
Skill: Waking up the Herald of Defense(A)
Waking up the Herald of Defense(A)
Active
This skill can be used one time before it is gone. When this skill is activated you summon Dynamo, the son of Blue of world 7 to aid you. This aid is only guaranteed for 1 minute, after which Dynamo is no longer obligated to assist you.
I looked up, a part of me bewildered to see the rank of the skill, the other part of me was wondering what a Son of Blue was. I turned to where the Observer had walked behind us, but as I turned I found that Victor was walking towards the treeline.
"Hopefully I'll see you all in chapter 1000."
The observer said chuckling. Little Fox seemed to have been building courage for a time and blurted out.
"You don't know if we will!?"
"Of course, what viewer wants spoilers, plus."
The Observer turned as Victor Vanished into the woods and for a brief moment he stood as his full form, the starry mantle and everything as he smiled and held out a small 20 sided dice.
"In worlds like this one, fate is often just a roll of the dice."
Without another word the Observer Vanished, the dice dropping to the ground, the side with the 20 facing up.