Echoes of Glory and Shadows
Days before the players fought against the boss, in the continent, Human Empire.
"Lord Draeven, we have bad news," said a man as he entered, holding a lamp in his hand. It was extinguished, but still warm, as if the flame inside had just gone out.
Kerovan lifted his gaze from the documents he had been carefully reviewing and looked at the lamp.
"Killius"s life lamp… it seems that, in the end, he"s dead," he remarked, tapping the desk lightly with a finger. Each tap caused small cracks to form in the wood. "Did he at least send any information before dying? Was he close to finding what I asked for?" Draeven asked, his eyes fixed on the soldier who had entered.
Under that gaze, the man began to tremble, as if any wrong word could cost him his life.
"Y-yes, sir. Only one message arrived—it said: "We found it,"" he answered, his voice shaky.
Draeven"s eyes widened, full of satisfaction.
"Then they must have placed it inside the bag I gave them. Quickly, form several squads and send every ascended you can, at least a dozen sacred-ranked ones. You may take money from the treasury. Recovering that bag is of great importance," he ordered with clear excitement.
"Sir… there aren"t many powerful ascended available. The emperor called them, remember? He"s preparing something with them," the soldier replied, still visibly nervous.
"Tsk… right," Draeven muttered, thoughtful. "Then I"ll go myself."
The soldier"s eyes widened in surprise before speaking: "Sir, that would be complicated. You have the mission the emperor assigned you regarding the demons. And if a powerful demigod like you entered the forest, every beast would hunt you the moment you set foot inside."
With a stoic expression, Draeven raised his hand, and the guard immediately shut his mouth, seized by a slight fear.
"I know, I know. I"ve been in this world longer than you. Believe me, I Don t need reminders. That thing the scientists are working on… it"s already passed the testing phase and can be used, correct? Speak to Perion and tell him to send me one. I"ll personally bring him interesting materials from the Dark Forest," he said calmly.
"But sir… that"s even more dangerous," the soldier insisted, his concern evident.
"Tsk… you re really annoying," Draeven replied. He raised one hand and, in an instant, a sword of light pierced the guard"s chest. Then, dozens more swords struck through him without mercy.
Draeven looked at him with slight irritation before touching a crystal orb on his desk. The face of another soldier appeared on its surface.
"Send someone to clean this up… and get me another assistant," he ordered, cutting the connection immediately. A faint smile curved his lips as he thought about how he would soon be able to heal his fragmented soul and restore his power to its former level… or perhaps surpass it. If he managed to find divine fragments in the forest, he would mark them and make sure to obtain them at any cost with the new device the scientists had created.
"Ah… glory smiles upon humanity with my rise," he murmured to himself, intoxicated by the anticipation.
…
Back to the present.
"Lua, look, look!" exclaimed Liora as she spread her arms and scrunched her face, blushing as if making a great effort. Suddenly, a golden armor began to form from the rays of the sun, enveloping her completely. Her blonde hair shone brightly, her wings moved gently as she floated, and her eyes sparkled with joy. Above her head, the halo blazed with radiant light.
She had evolved again, and with it came several new and interesting abilities: the sacred armor she now wore, as well as various support effects for her allies, including an overall damage boost for the entire group.
"Liora!" came Sally"s excited cry. Lua and Liora looked down from the wall and saw the girl, carried in her father Peter"s arms. He now looked more human than eagle, though he still had the wings on his back and the characteristic eyes of his race. This time, his human face was clearly visible.
Peter stopped in front of them. Sally, with a wide smile, showed her arms and face covered in dark tattoos that shifted and changed shape: circles, squares… even small smiling faces on her cheeks.
"Look, this is so interesting," she said playfully as she formed smiley faces on her skin.
"And I can also do this," she added, touching her father"s arm. Peter smiled, already knowing what would happen.
A flow of blue mana began to stream out of Peter"s body and into Sally, who held her stomach with an expression of delight.
"I can eat mana," she said with a satisfied smile.
At that moment, Lua sensed something and turned, gently raising her hands. A fragment of space opened before her like a door, and from it, Loli was expelled, falling directly into her arms. Lua looked at her with interest.
Loli lifted her gaze and met Lua"s eyes. Her appearance hadn"t changed much with the evolution, except for her now longer hair. She blushed at being so close but quickly stepped back with embarrassment when she noticed the curious looks from Sally and Liora.
"Thanks… I wanted to try my new ability, called Spatial Movement, but it"s harder than I thought to move precisely to a coordinate," she explained, her cheeks still red.
In that instant, a black mist sped toward them, stopping right beside Loli. The fog condensed and took shape, revealing Sig, who appeared with both hands raised like a performer on stage, wearing a confident smile.
Lua narrowed her eyes slightly before speaking:
"A demon," she said in her usual stoic tone.
Sig no longer had wings. Her body was the same as in the real world, with blonde hair streaked with reddish strands. Her eyes had turned black, and slightly longer fangs showed in her smile. Two massive dark horns, curved backward with double tips, adorned her head like a sinister yet beautiful tiara.
"So this is what demons are… Even though I lost my wings, moving as mist is… interesting," she remarked.
Loli looked with interest toward the figure approaching in flight: Bert, in his elven form, but now with majestic translucent wings.
"High Elf," murmured Lua as a brief explanation. Bert had evolved into a superior version of his race, with even longer ears, wings, and greater skill in magical manipulation. Of course, he would have to learn rune use on his own.
From atop the wall, Lua observed the battlefield and the rest of the players.
Joe was no longer a gigantic minotaur: he now had a muscular human form, with bull horns sprouting from his head. He could alternate between this form and his full minotaur form, which was larger, with black fur and skin as hard as steel.
Dean, like Bert, kept his base form but had black wings and the ability to create weapons and projectiles made of shadow.
Edward was no longer a simple gelatinous creature—now he had a body of flesh and bone… or so it seemed. He could still shift to his slime form whenever he wished. His personal army had grown stronger, now numbering an impressive one thousand slimes.
Alfred stood, organizing the groups to collect the loot. His long white hair and the aura of blood surrounding him gave him a noble yet dangerous air, fitting for a high-ranking vampire—perhaps a count.
Even the old man had evolved twice thanks to his participation in the battle: first during the komodo hunt, and then against the boss. From fairy, he had advanced to Earth Elemental, and then to Earth Spirit King. He still retained his handsome appearance, but now stood taller, with brown skin and very human features, and he seemed capable of summoning small earth golems to assist him.
This made Lua reflect: for some reason, everyone seemed to be evolving toward humanoid forms—or rather, becoming more human-like.
"Maybe their forms change to adapt to themselves, boss. Even so, it"s not a bad thing. They"re not like the humans who attacked your village," SIA commented mentally.
"I know. I can t say much myself—when, as an oni, the only things that set me apart from a human are my horns and the color of my eyes," Lua replied calmly as she turned and began to descend from the wall.
She would let the players divide the loot among themselves. She had many things to ask her mother.
…
Silvia entered the rebuilt house, observing every detail with a light smile. It wasn"t exactly as she remembered, but it had its own charm. When she reached her daughter"s room, her eyes fell on the two beds; one of them was adorned with several plush toys that looked as if they had been made by an inexperienced hand—surely by the little girl she had seen earlier, named Liora.
She smiled softly as she picked up one of the dolls, which seemed to be an attempt at portraying Lua. She held it gently and stroked its surface with affection.
At that moment, she felt a presence behind her, but she didn t turn around. She continued caressing the doll as she spoke.
"You know… when you were little, you didn t like being stuck inside the house. You d look for any excuse to convince me to go out with you. You never seemed to get along with the village children… although I m sure they only teased you because they liked you—boys and girls alike. Even as a child, you stole hearts, and I see you still haven t lost that," she said with a gentle smile. "And as gluttonous as always… winning over a cook—I m not sure if I should call that strategy or simply your luck from birth. You truly are just like your mother," she added, though the way she said it made it seem she wasn"t referring to herself.
Behind her, Lua frowned.
"What are you hiding from me, Mother? I m happy you ve finally woken up… but since you opened your eyes, it feels like you ve been trying to avoid me," she said, staring intently at her.
Silvia turned, meeting her daughter"s gaze.
"More than two hundred thousand years ago, there was an empire called the Spiritual Empire. After the nine gods gave their lives to create the World Shield, this empire was founded to keep the demonic beasts at bay. Its empress was the Goddess of Life, one of the ten gods who came to exist.
The races evolved following the essence of each god—how they thought, how they lived, how they existed. For example, the God of Fire… an airhead who seemed like a living flame, eating fire and acting without thinking. The Goddess of Water was calm, kind, and as refreshing as a spring. The God of Earth… quiet, always cultivating different kinds of plants, fruits, and vegetables, even creating unusual combinations. The God of Wind—restless, always on the move, making everyone laugh. The God of Light, benevolent, helping anyone without hesitation, even if he had to give his own blood to save the wounded. The God of Darkness, locked away in his research, only coming out when the others forced him.
Six basic laws, six unique personalities.
Over time, four more gods appeared, with more primordial laws: the God of Death, solitary but not evil; the Goddess of Luck, playful and mischievous, an adorable little one; the God of Destruction, a walking disaster who destroyed everything in his path—enemies and allies alike; and finally, the most important to me: the Goddess of Life.
She was the only one whose personality seemed to have nothing to do with her law—restless, always teasing everyone, flirtatious… sometimes excessively so. When the nine left, she would joke that it was because she had annoyed them too much, and that now she had all the power to herself, that she d be the only goddess. Of course, she was joking.
But when the other gods gave their lives to protect the world, truly leaving her alone, she did everything she could to keep the empire safe, to protect the life of every spirit… even feeling some compassion for the demonic beasts. She also took it upon herself to guard the divine fragments left behind by the gods, giving them only to those who sought to increase their power.
Only one person chose to make use of them: the empire"s general, a demigoddess of destruction. The others were far too confident, leaving all the burden on the Goddess of Life… she, so simple and foolish, and yet so great."
Silvia paused, looking out the window with a nostalgic smile, as if her words had carried her centuries into the past.