Hmm, odd, I can turn the viewpoint much higher than in the game. Oh, I can see my surroundings.
Let's see. Pitch dark, pitch dark, pitch dark, a vague silhouette of a man that is somehow even darker than dark, pitch dark. Wait.
The border of the silhouette vibrates slightly as a voice, sharp and clear, appears: "Achieve calmness quickly, I observe. Wondering what this is all about, are you?"
This is a dream, right?
The voice speaks: "A dream, this is not. Reading your mind, I am."
Hmm, so is this like those isekai anime where the MC gets summoned into another world?
A sighing sound appears as if a great weight has been lifted off. The voice says: "Oh thank goodness your world has anime. Anyway, yes, this is similar to those anime. No, that's not how I normally speak, I was just being dramatic. Anyway, welcome to Wanarion. You will conquer it with the aid of my name and my blessings upon you. Good luck and light speed."
I quickly feel myself falling down onto the world. Desperately grasping onto anything, and failing to, I try to think of something to convince whoever that is to slow down and let me know more.
Uh, world conquest, light speed. Ah! Wait! How quick do I have to be? This is very important, ya know! Plus, what's the consequence of refusing?
The voice replies as the silhouette fades away: "Honestly, just don't fail too badly like the last guy. As for who he was, go read a history book there. He should have failed so badly as to be recorded as a desperate general of some other, unrelated, major power."
At this point, I realize that I have stopped falling since the silhouette started talking. Unfortunately, because they have done. Well, I am back to falling.
Based on how my view changes so suddenly, from the full view of the world to this frozen mountainous landscape, I can only assume that I have been teleported here instead of dropping straight down. To be fair, I am still some thousands of meters above the ground and falling.
Now, the first issue, I am approaching the ground at a much higher speed than I would prefer. Hmm, whoever that was won't let me die here, right? Well, they did say something about blessings, so
"System!"
Nothing answered. Not good, not at all. Hmm, what now? Maybe I get endless mana. No, that won't be useful as I don't know any magic. Maybe I can tank the fall…Yeah, I will place my hopes on that.
Well, let's try slowing myself down. How do they do that in parachuting again? Uh, belly down, arms and legs spread wide. Great, I can see that I am slowing down as well…Why am I slowly moving to the side? Why are my fall slowing down fast and my movements to the side becoming much faster?
Turning my head back, I see wings! Wings attached to my back. They are just right around my center of mass. I can't exactly feel it. Hmm, let's try wiggling it. Okay, I am seeing it wiggling there, feeling something around the attachment area there. Great! While these are certainly too small, and too weak, to fly, I can glide with them.
Right. Now, where do I land? Hmm, there is nothing but pine trees, snow and mountains here. If I remember correctly, this is the far north. As there is no smoke here, this is probably the north eastern corner of the continent as the tribal civilization lives on the north western area. In the north eastern region, there is nothing. Wait, no, there are ruins of a large city here. Although I can't see it right now, I can glide around for a bit. It will be a much better place to stay than in the wilderness.
As I fly across the frozen landscape, I observe the world below. To be expected, there is barely anything living here. Well, I see a few mammoths eating off pine trees, but that's about it. There are many bushes, which the mammoths also eat berries off. Maybe there are more foxes eating berries and mushrooms, I am still flying very high after all. Hmm? Where is this warm gush of wind coming from? What the
Looking back up, I see a portal connecting to
"Aaaaahhhhh!"…somewhere. I am not going to be curious about the place where that scream came from. Then the silhouette from before appears and speaks:
"Hey there, it seems you have found one of my blessings upon you, very good. Anyway, you know how there is usually a pretty lady that helps the MC?"
I nod, the implications of that coming into my mind right after I nod, just a moment too late.
They continue: "Great, here's yours."
They throw a young woman, roughly my age, straight out of the portal.
The portal quickly closes, leaving the echoes of their last words: "Her name's Lucy."
Lucy then falls on top of me and grabs onto my left wing for dear life, which unbalances me, causing me to go into a spin. As a result, I am back to falling down, this time I am spinning and there's a person with me.
…
Maybe given enough time and a calmer me I could have stabilized and landed properly. Unfortunately, if it isn't obvious by me referring to that using past tense, I panicked and failed to stabilize. Fortunately, I have found out that I can, indeed, tank the fall. In fact, that's the only reason I'm thinking about this instead of being the red smear on this shattered boulder that I crashed on.
Now, where's Lucy? Looking around, she seemed to be luckier, landing in the snow. Actually, she is climbing out of the hole as I am thinking about this.
She is, just as the silhouette said, pretty. Uhh, my brain only registers that. Okay, what else? She has white hair, pale skin, and red eyes. Is she an albino? Wait, no, she has a pair of red horns and a thin red tail. She probably isn't human so biological conditions may not affect her the same way. Actually, now that I think about it, none of the living organisms here probably is the same as I know.
Anyway, as I stand up, she walks over and begins to talk: "Well, good to meet you, the name's Lucy Chanllior. I assume that you have noticed that I seem to be not human. You are correct. I am of a species known as High Devil. It seems that the Dark One didn't tell you much, did he?"
I can answer, but I feel like keeping silent and staring blankly is more effective. So I stare blankly at her.
She sighs and continues: "Figures. Welcome to Wanarion."
She spreads her arms wide, showing me, well, the snow, pine trees and mountains. There isn't anything interesting here, other than that ruins.
She does a spin and speaks: "Now, as you can guess from my attire, I am also not that well-informed on whatever is the Dark One's plans."
I look down to see that she's wearing a business suit, like, a modern business suit for a businesswoman. Well, except for shoes, she's wearing boots rather than heels.
She continues: "However, at the very least, I know about this world more than you, so follow me for now until we can contact the Dark One again."
I nod. She raises the index finger of her right hand and moves it quickly. As the finger moves, some kind of sparkling trail is left behind. By the time I begin this thought, she has already finished. The trail now looks like a magic circle, which quickly morphs into a holographic 3D map. The map shows the entirety of the local area with the approximate terrain, though pine trees are only marked with the same pine tree symbol. On the right side of the map is a place marked with a symbol of 4 squares inside each other and a X cross over them. Written next to it is the words 'Olta'.
As she looks at the map, she says: "Based on how you were flying, I assume that you were trying to find the ruins of Olta. A good idea for a place to stay for the night, if you only know it for the ruins that is. I know that it is also the home of a cult that worships the Dark One. He has promised them a blessed leader for a few centuries already, so your arrival should be welcomed by the whole cult, to say the least. In fact, the Dark One has given them a copy of the first volume of Undeath already, so they should have a vast horde of undead servants themselves."
Then I notice that while she is talking, a large magic circle, enough to encircle both her and me, is slowly being created. Based on the speed of its creation, it has been in creation since the map was completed. When she stops speaking, the circle completes and starts to shine brightly. Then she taps the ruins on the map like tapping a button on a smartphone.
For an instant, my view is filled with blinding light. As the light quickly fades, I see that we are already standing before a large city, or ruins of what was a large city to be more accurately. There are skeletons just about everywhere. The wall around it is, well, perfectly fine as expected of a defensive structure. Expectedly, the towers are also standing tall. It is the grand gate that has been seemingly removed and replaced with much less impressive wooden doors. Lucy turns to me and speaks:
"Alright, to make sure that I don't embarrass both of us and also that the Dark One actually gave you the knowledge of the local language, can you please introduce yourself?"
"Ye, yes, um." I take a deep breath, "My name is Danh. I am apparently a Dark Lord now. Good to meet you"
She corrects me: "The Dark Lord, one and only. You best remember that's a title only the Dark One can grant to his chosen and is seen and accepted as his stamp of approval. His followers will flock to your name as if it is his and your voice will be seen as his. Don't worry, he doesn't give much of a darn about you using authority for whatever you want. The bad news is that you are also seen as being on his side now, which makes a good half of the world your enemies."
Sudden clanking sounds alert me to look at the top of the wall where the skeletons are moving around. Some are pulling out banners and flags to raise up high. Oh, right, undeath. The doors open, pushed by the skeletons. From there, ominous chanting begins as columns of skeletons bearing black banners and, what I assume is, cultists wearing black robes.
They slowly form into a half circle around me. The skeletons stand guard while the cultists prostrate before. From the center of the half circle, an exceptionally well dressed cultist walks out. They wear shining black robes with golden lining at the edges. As the chanting stops, they bow deeply and speak:
"Oh great one, this lowly servant presents herself to you as the High Priestess of the Olta branch of Dakorism."
Lucy leans over to whisper to me: "Dakorism is the religion that the Dark One established in this world, mainly focusing on serving him in exchange for his blessings. I am not aware of how religion works in your world, but here it is similar to an autocracy, except that the ruler is very much unkillable. As for why I refer to them as a cult, each branch has a different level of devotion, this one, in particular, is a bunch of fanatics."
The High Priestess is still talking: "The most almighty Dark One has already foretold us of your arrival"..."both 2 centuries ago and just recently for us to properly welcome your greatness"..."Even so, please accept our most sincere apologies for not preparing a grander welcoming." Predictably, I can't hear both of them at the same time. Though it is not hard to decide whose words are more important.
Lucy whispers: "They actually don't know how to prepare for, or what even is, a grand welcome. Most of the books of this city had been looted when it fell. These are the descendants of the poorest people from that time, who survived thanks to the Dark One's gift and their determination. Hence, why they are fanatics and why the Dark One saved them."
Meanwhile, I still try to hear the main points of the Priestess's talk: "We will dutifully follow your orders as if those are his"…"follow us to the grand palace"…"he said that he would be waiting for your arrival to properly bestow on you the many proofs of your status as his chosen." I can hear that last part clearly.
Guessing that the horse…skeleton horse drawn carriage is for me, both because of how decorated it is and that the High Priestess is making a welcoming gesture for me to go in, I climb into the carriage and take my seat. Lucy follows and sits next to me, while the High Priestess takes the opposite seat.
As the carriage shakily, no really, this thing doesn't have suspension, goes toward the palace, the obviously most impressive looking building, I take a look at the ruins. Most of the buildings still stand, covered in snow. Enough so that it isn't hard to make out the city's layout. This main road, that the carriage is on, leads straight to the market area where all of the buildings remain mostly undamaged, minus the broken windows and doors. The former slum can also be easily distinguished from the rest, because most of the buildings there have collapsed from the snow already. The major exception is the church, which was clearly destroyed by hand as the rubble is much larger than the houses' in the slum.
As the carriage passes through the second wall, separated from the rest of the city by a large ditch, crossing through a large bridge, I take note of the changes in the style of the buildings. The buildings here are all still standing almost undamaged, also minus the windows, doors and gates. The plots are much larger and each 'house' is essentially a fort with wall and corner towers that protect a large yard and a mansion. The layout was significantly less organized and seemingly grew almost randomly as more buildings were added in.
The palace is further separated from the rest by even higher walls, towers and deeper ditches. The only crossing point is a drawbridge. Well, it was a drawbridge. I don't think it has been lifted up since a very long time ago, judging by the snow. The palace proper is grand and imposing, even with the snow covering most of it. The courtyard is large, enough for horses to run relatively freely.
While I am monologuing all of this in my head, the Head Priestess is staring at me, which I decide to ignore, as I am terrible at guessing emotions. As for Lucy, she is viewing the city quietly. As for the cultists, they are walking quietly. Some glance at me here and there, but they stop when another cultist nudges them or I look at them.
The carriage stops just outside the main entrance, which has its poorly maintained doors opened by many skeletons and determined cultists pushing in unison. The High Priestess gets off the carriage and enters the palace, Lucy and I follow behind. Behind the entrance is a large hallway that leads straight into a large room, which I assume is the throne room. The reason is mainly because of all these armed skeletons standing in attention that flanking my way to the room.
As I walk along to the room, I note that, while the dust and cobwebs have mostly been cleared, the hallway is still dirty. There's a chandelier, but it is unlit, the light sources are mostly candles atop holders attached to the wall. The skeletons themselves are, um, I don't know what is the local standard, aka compared to my enemies. However, they do seem poorly armed in my eyes. Armed with only a spear, round shield and sword, they lack any armor or helmet. Actually, now that I think about it, how do undead get killed? Like, the important organs no longer function or needed so what needs to be destroyed to kill, or unlive, undead.
Anyway, the time that it took me to think about it is also the time it took to walk to the end of this hallway. The cultists pull open the ornate door, revealing the dark silhouette, the Dark One, sitting on a dark throne. A dozen meters away to his left, I can see a golden throne covered in white cloth. As we approach, the High Priestess drops down and prostrates before him. The cultists immediately lower themselves to the floor and lie face down on it. Lucy kneels before him. Based on the hierarchy from what I have heard so far, I bow deeply.