MMORPG : Rise of the Interstellar God

The new, breathtaking aura which surrounded Apophis terrified everyone around him.

His body was now a colony or manifestation of some kind of thick, black smoke. Two shimmering red eyes burned on what looked like a face, but any other supposed facial features were completely obscured by his new form.

Apophis's appearance could still be called "humanoid" due to the presence of his armor, which still floated around the smoke body. Two leg-like and arm-like smoke appendages sprouted from the armor, but their details were impossible to make out.

Whatever contempt Apophis's enemies had for him a few moments ago was gone. The only thing he inspired now was fear.

But even the players from Apophis's own team had trouble recognizing their guild leader now! Some even looked at their mini maps to confirm that this thing in front of them was truly Apophis.

Ignoring everyone else, Apophis's shape stooped down toward the still-unconscious Lotus, who was at his feet.

Meanwhile, Ceasar turned to the others and asked in disbelief, "Is that really Apophis?"

Lucifer answered, "It would seem so..."

Zelda said, "Yes! That fool caused the energy-saturated item from the warehouse to shatter. He must have caused millions of deaths. The negative Alignment from that action must have been incredible!"

Mario said, hesitantly, "Should we attack him, or do something about this situation?"

But Joker answered, "No! Stay back, everyone! We have to stick to the rest of our plan, as best as we can." He was growing more and more frustrated with the way that the others kept getting distracted from their goals!

Apophis picked Lotus up. It seemed that his smoke form was still able to interact with his surroundings as though it were solid. Then he carried Lotus close to where the rest of his team was lying, paralyzed. The electrical machines which were generating the powerful AoEs were still active, but with a simple wave of his hand, Apophis reduced them all to twisted scraps of metal.

Lotus's eyes fluttered open. Her body stirred, but she was unable to move much, since she'd been so horribly dismembered by Lucifer. "Thank you," she whispered.

Apophis turned to Chocolate, who was just getting up off the ground. "Take care of her," he said in a voice that now had an uncanny thickness to it.

Chocolate, who was a rather shy girl, and clearly afraid of Apophis's appearance, answered, "Uhhh… Yes, guild leader…"

Hulk was now on his feet, alongside almost everyone else. He crossed his arms and looked contemptuously out at the SuperGuild players who had betrayed them all. "What do we do now, Apophis? I can't begin to tell you how much I want to break some heads right now."

Apophis answered, "Stay where you are. Protect the guild leader."

Hulk answered with a sigh. "Eh... Okay."

Joker's eyes were darting back and forth between Apophis and the broken machines this whole time. He'd been hoping to avoid any further complications, but it seemed that was impossible at this point. "I guess we don't have a choice now," he said. "We'll have to face that monster."

Apophis fixed his burning red "eyes" on all the traitorous SuperGuild players who were still gathered there. "You're going to die," he said.

Zelda snapped back in a belligerent voice, "Your new mutated race is quite interesting, but don't get overconfident, you fool! Remember how close Lucifer was to killing you before? Well, there's no way you can take us all on at once!"

Then she pointed a hateful finger at Apophis and commanded, "Hyrule, forward! Slay this abomination!"

But the ten or so lesser Hyrule players who accompanied Zelda hesitated, unwilling to spring into action. Apophis's PvP reputation was already legendary even by the standards of a SuperGuild like Hyrule's... None of the players had any hope of actually beating Apophis in an open fight. That was the whole point of the ambush, after all!

But the players put themselves in fighting positions after all. What other choice did they have? Hyrule had them in a tight-fisted contract. It was better to die in the game than to die of hunger in reality…

…So long as Hyrule didn't fire them if they failed in the impossible task of defeating their enemy here.

Regardless, the Hyrule players lined up and prepared for what was to come. Meanwhile, Lucifer and Joker also ordered their own groups to join them.

Apophis now had about fifty elite players of LvL 30 surrounding him. These were the absolute top tier of professional Horus players, a true death squad.

Yet, Apophis didn't hesitate for a moment. Instead, he opened his hand and summoned a flame that hovered above his smoky palm.

This flame started out black, as Apophis's fire usually did… but it didn't remain this color. Instead, it grew white, such a bright, sparkling white that it blinded the eyes of those who dared to look at it!

Then this white fire spread over Apophis's entire "body" of black smoke! Apophis spread his arms, using his ~Dark Lord of Flames~ Skill to create a shuddering sphere of white fire around himself—then released a shock wave of fire outward in one fell swoop!

Apophis's combination of Skills gave him extreme command over fire, and the extreme power boost he'd received from his recent Alignment shift allowed him to raise these flames to a level of over 10,000 degrees Celsius. This was almost twice as hot as the surface of the sun, a temperature capable of turning metal into gas! The release of these flames caused a violent explosion as it contacted the air, immediately obliterating the entire warehouse!

The elite players had no time to react and were annihilated before they even understood what was happening, leaving only a single item drop—and their GC—on the ground.

The star players were a bit further back—as well as more skilled and knowledgeable than their minions. Joker reacted swiftly enough that he spent a huge amount of Energy to raise a protective shield that could have completely blocked a single attack from a Dungeon boss without wavering. However, it broke under the force of Apophis's apocalyptic attack, allowing some of the damage to pass through and strike the star players!

Lucifer brushed some debris off his shoulder, acting as though the burning power which had just struck him was nothing more than a minor inconvenience. "Perfect," he muttered. "Just perfect."

Joker gave a bitter laugh, still shocked by the way Apophis was so easily able to overcome all his best Skills. "Yep. It's an incredible Skill that this guy has… Not to mention that he got it without relying on hundreds of thousands of other players. Rather than feeding off Eclipse, I think it's obvious at this point that Eclipse, as an important guild, only exists thanks to him!"

Lucifer replied scornfully, "I couldn't care less. I suppose it's my turn to uphold my part of the deal." Lucifer stepped forward…

…And Apophis received a surprising notification.

System: The player "Lucifer" proposes a duel to death.

System Notification: The proposed rules are the following:

System Notification: Time limit of 20 minutes. Surrender is not forbidden. External intervention is forbidden.

System Notification: If one player surrenders or external forces intervene on their behalf, that player will be permanently banned. If the time limit is reached, both players will be permanently banned.

Apophis hesitated. The specific circumstances of this challenge seemed certain to be a trap. The risk of permanently losing his character would truly be a much more devastating loss for himself than for Lucifer. It was possible, after all, that Lucifer might take the fall for his SuperGuild and be heavily rewarded for destroying Apophis… Perhaps even by the rest of the Coalition of the Eternals.

With all the resources of Lord Of War, Lucifer could rise swiftly to incredible power with a new character, just as he had in the first place. And, of course, he was one of the most skilled MMORPG players in the world.

But for Apophis… He wouldn't be able to return to his current level of power so easily if he was banned. Though Lucifer and the Coalition didn't know the truth of how Apophis had gained his current power, they surely assumed that it wouldn't be possible for a solo player to rise swiftly without a whole SuperGuild supporting him.

However, Apophis also knew that Lucifer was likely far too proud to sacrifice himself just to cheat a mutual ban into effect. That would be to admit to the world that Apophis was so much stronger than him that Lucifer had no hope of ever surpassing Apophis. It would perhaps permanently destroy his reputation.

Moreover… The advantages of such a duel for Apophis were plain to see. If he won, Apophis could strike a lethal blow against the best players in the game and the symbol of the Coalition itself. He would show everyone that not even the 7 Gods could betray Eclipse and live!

So, Apophis said at last in his new, darker voice, "I accept… but on the condition that we add one more rule. Our two sides can't attack each other during the duel. This obviously includes every single guild that makes up the Coalition, since you've proved that the Coalition was Eclipse's enemy all along!"

Lucifer smiled coldly and answered, "If you like..." Then he modified the challenge to include this clause and sent the new version to his enemy.

Apophis looked at the new rules in detail, making sure nothing new had been snuck into the text. Thankfully, everything seemed perfectly in order and well-detailed.

Before accepting, though, Apophis glanced over to Lotus. She was fully alert and standing proudly beside the others, looking fiercely at Apophis's new form. Her limbs had regenerated, and her limbs were bare where the armor had been torn away with the arms and legs. She looked as though nothing at all was wrong with her.

Apophis started a private chat conversation with Lotus, quickly typing, "How do you feel?"

Lotus: I am all better. Chocolate's care is miraculous! The pain has almost completely disappeared, and you can see that my limbs are healed.

Apophis: Do you think I should accept this duel? It's very risky… but the payoff could be incredible.

Lotus: It is clearly a trap, as I'm sure you can see. But… if you judge that Lucifer is underestimating you, then he is the one setting a trap for himself. Crush him!

Apophis chuckled and said aloud, "Well, I'd suggest everyone else take shelter in what remains of the basement. This fight might get a bit violent!

Then he pressed "Accept."

It was time for Apophis to finish the job he couldn't on Cronos I.

Despite his usual arrogance and coolness, Lucifer's smile was clearly nervous.

System Notification: The duel will start in 10 seconds...

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