I woke up drowsy the next day, still tired from the day before's activities. I hung in anger with the sheets covering up to my nose.
Ah, that's right, I gave him a gift. So, I'm no longer obligated to give him anything else.
Good, Noobie's an idiot anyway.
After nodding my head to make peace with last night, I stared at the ceiling. I couldn't help but be bothered by all the commotion outside the tavern.
There were Platinum-rank Adventurers, a ton of them with horse-drawn wagons and equipment, like they were preparing to participate in a long journey ahead of them.
I quickly dressed and went through my usual routine. Putting on my armor, strapping on my boots, gathering my gear, and making my way out of my room.
Arriving at the bottom of the stairway, I see Tim and Tina standing by the doorway. Tim's face was in awe, as if a child had pressed their face against the window to peer at the world outside. The Guild Receptionist and the guild maids were busy tending to the Platinum adventurer's needs, requests, and demands. It was a bit chaotic.
"Missy!" Tina shouted, pointing her finger to signal Tim.
Tim, who stopped staring at the Platinum adventurers, immediately noticed me and quickly waved me over.
I went over to them because there were no tables or seats available.
The Platinum Adventurers were getting their request forms stamped by the guild Receptionist and the guild maids. The Guild Master was yelling at Platinum-ranked adventurers to form an orderly line while they stamped requests.
I wondered what all the hustle was about.
Through the doorway came Exiled, Kit, and Noobie.
They didn't waste any time as they walked up to the guild master. He who personally handed each of them a shard item, and the three of them bowed in respect to the guild master.
My heart stopped, as did Noobie's, when our eyes finally met after last night's exchange, while they walked past me.
"Noobie I-" I started. I wanted to talk to him, but the words could barely form a complete sentence.
How do you say anything to a person who may never come back, knowing what they were about to do would and could potentially kill them?
The guild receptionist, who had a basket full of request forms, patted my shoulder and shook her head in guilt.
Noobie saw my hesitation, but stared forward, reached into his adventurer's sack, and handed me a flower, the same one that he was caressing at the marketplace the day before. He then left alongside his party members.
Guild receptionist, Tina, and Tim stared at the flower in amazement.
"An Amaryllis…" the Guild receptionist explained as she smiled.
We all smiled at one another, the 4 of us.
As if fate couldn't get any worse than the sour taste left in my mouth. Amid the chaos that followed, the platinum adventurers began running amok, drawing their swords and flashing their spell circles.
"Wha-What's going on!?" I asked.
"I-I don't know!" the guild receptionist cried desperately as she tried to hold onto Tim, Tina, and her basket full of request forms.
The ground shook as panic brewed. One moment, I was standing next to them, the next, as I blinked, I was flung to the other side of the doorway when I grabbed the doorframe and caught a glimpse of what was happening outside.
Outside, the ground shook from wing beats, and the Platinum ranks adjusted the cannons and repositioned them. Exiled, Kit, and Noobie held the 3 shards high together and in unison.
The event had begun.
A dragon larger than a castle flew past the guild tavern, following the gaze of the shards.
"We, Team Omega, shall stop the calamity; the Abysmal Dragon!" Exiled commanded as the dragon perched on top of the ruins of a cathedral and roared in triumph.
The dragon smiled, prey once more. It flew towards the guild tavern.
"Noobie, THE PEOPLE!" Exile barked.
"On it!" Noobie yelled as he ran forward with his shield up towards the dragon.
"Castle in the Sky!!" Noobie cast a huge golden wall formed with him to block and protect the guild tavern.
As the dragon flew, Exiled used a quick rope to latch onto the dragon's tail. At the same time, Kit shot a cannon, but the shot ricocheted off the dragon's obsidian dark scales.
I stared in horror; the dragon was nothing like I've ever seen.
Then to add misery to joke on us. It revealed itself, on the TOP of every player's screen, now flashed a BIG FAT PURPLE health bar titled FATED CALAMITY ABYSMAL DRAGON with the life bar showing an x8 on it.
"CHARGE, WE FIGHT FOR THE GUILD!!!" One of the platinum commanders yelled out as multiple adventurers poured out of the tavern towards the dragon.
Cannons roared, and Ballista launched, causing no damage to the dragon as it flew. There was not even a single scratch on the dragon, as if the weapon had barely tickled it. The health bar never took any damage, and if it did, the dragon's health regeneration covered whatever little damage they inflicted.
Noobie focused with his eyes closed, then he raised his shield once more, casting, "Will of the Statues!!"
Everyone in the vicinity of Noobie, even myself, began glowing in a teal hue.
Exiled, who was on the dragon, began sharply stabbing and targeting weaker areas that he could find. Kit followed nearby with another catapult to launch, which would hit the dragon on its head, angering it.
The dragon had had enough toying around as it breathed and launched a gush of fluid from its mouth, which it would ignite with black flames, while it moved its head uncontrollably.
Noobie's eye widened as he quickly cast one last spell before he was engulfed in the black flames, "Protector of conviction!"
Of course, the flames hit the other Platinum adventurers as well; the tavern and more important areas of the town were protected by Noobie's castle of the sky spell…
Noobie burned ferociously with the black flame as his cosmetics stuttered and staggered, like static on a broken television.
Wait…I didn't take any damage, nor did everyone else around us…
Noobie's cosmetics disappeared, revealing to everyone… who he was…
The sigil, the armor, the blade that had a mist haze around it. But most importantly, the banner that waved in the wind…The Fallen Kingdom's banner…
Noobie, who had just realized his cosmetics had disappeared, tried to hide himself behind his shield before platinum adventurers turned to look at him.
My eyes widened.
Many began muttering, "Thu-The Left hand of the Fallen Kingdom…"
"The Unfallen…"
"He's real—?!"
Voices rippled through the Platinum ranks like a shockwave. Some stepped back. Others froze. A few dropped their weapons entirely.
Noobie hunched behind his shield, trying desperately to cover the sigil on his chest as if an animal was cornered, about to be prey. The mist‑shrouded blade at his hip, the banner fluttering behind him like a ghost of a kingdom long dead.
"I—I didn't mean—" he stammered, voice cracking through the visor.
But the dragon roared again, drowning him out.
The black flames finally faded, leaving scorched stone, melted metal, and a crater where Noobie had stood. Except he was still there. Kneeling. Smoke rising from his armor. Shield planted in the ground.
Unfallen.
My breath caught in my throat.
"Noobie…" I whispered.
He didn't look at me. He didn't look at anyone.
Was it the shame? Guilt? Or was it just him trying to protect himself? His heart, his mind. What little mentality he had left before breaking entirely?
He simply pushed himself to his feet, legs shaking, and raised his shield once more.
"For the people…" he murmured. His voice was quiet, shaking, cracking.
And the dragon turned its hateful gaze toward him.
He unsheathes his Mist edge as he puts his shield behind him, and he clears his throat and barks out, "COMMAND OF the FALLEN KING!!!!!!" With all his might, while another wave of flames consumed him and those nearby.
"NOOBIE!!!!" I yelled out, with the Guild receptionist yanking me back inside the safety of the guild tavern as the flames that were spilling in immediately were doused.
As the smoke cleared, some platinum adventurers got to their feet and re-accessed the damage, while others still bought time.
Exiled was able to clip one of the claws of the dragon off, which flew and propped up right in front of the guild tavern.
Kit used a ballista with an anchor to shoot and climb onto the dragon.
Noobie, on the other hand, slowly rises and follows the dragon's chaos, with MANY other platinum adventurers giving him the "stare".
They know who and what he is.
The legend that the myth whispered was right in front of them, and it marched into oblivion… For them… the people.
As Noobie walked forward, the Platinum adventurers slowly rallied alongside him. They walked with him towards the dragon as it flew and dropped, while Kit had injured one of its wings.
The skirmish continued as carts of injured Platinum-ranked adventurers filed in by cart. They were injured by the skirmish and by the flames. Tina would try to heal as many as she could, barely doing enough. Many of the guild maids became nurses instantly, using heal and debuff cleansing to dispel the dragon's flames. Still, the flames didn't die for quite some time, as if they crawled their way from the underworld itself.
I tried helping, seeing many charred victims struggle to heal their health bars after chugging their remaining potions, to no avail.
I knelt beside a Platinum adventurer whose armor had melted into his skin. His health bar flickered at the very bottom, refusing to rise no matter how many potions he chugged.
"H‑Hold still," I said, hands shaking as I tried to pour water over the blackened burns. It hissed uselessly, evaporating before it touched him.
"It… it won't go out…" he whispered, voice trembling. "The flame… it's still burning…"
Tina rushed over, her hands glowing with a weak spell. "I'm trying! I'm trying, okay?! Just— just stay with me!"
The spell washed over him, but the black scorch marks didn't fade. His health bar twitched upward by a sliver, then dropped again.
Guild maids sprinted past us carrying bandages, salves, holy water, anything they could grab. Some were crying. Some were chanting. Some were shaking so hard they couldn't speak.
Another cart rolled in.
More burned bodies. More screaming. More people are begging for help.
I swallowed hard, my throat tight as if a lump was stuck.
This wasn't a battle. This was a massacre in its wake.
Outside, the fight was getting desperate.
Exiled, who at this point was testing for weaknesses alongside Kit, was trying to sever its wings to halt it from flying.
"Get Noobie up here!" Exiled commanded Kit as he continued to stab the wing relentlessly.
Kit nodded, took out a talisman scroll, and used it instantly.
Noobie, who was on the ground healing a TON of platinum adventurers, just healed them and vanished instantly.
Upon him, reaching the back of the dragon, with Kit and Exile.
"We need to get this nuke OUT OF HERE!! If it casts the meteor spell, nothing can protect the town and its people!! WE NEED TO LURE IT AWAY TO A SECLUDED PLACE!!" Exile yelled.
Noobie nodded. He spotted a snow-covered mountain and pointed to it. "THERE!!"
"Alright, we must lure it away from town!!! But all 3 of us must still be alive, the shards are the only things keeping it on US!!!" Exile explained as each one of them took out a roll of rope. Noobie sighs since his rope was the cheapest and shortest of the 3. Exiled and Kit's eyes widen as if hoping it wasn't what it seemed. Blinking twice did nothing. It was typical of Noobie.
"You got it on sale?" Kit asked in a high-pitched voice, hoping Noobie didn't pull this on them at the worst possible timing.
"The merchant said it was 3 pounds!!" Noobie complained. He thought it was a steal for the deal he scored, like a child who made the right choice. He was very proud and even stuck his nose in the air, waiting for the praise that never came.
"More like 3 feet," Exiled remarked as he snickered, "Fun part-time, choose a spike guys."
Exiled and Kit chose their spike closest to the wing. In contrast, Noobie chose the one behind the horns of the dragon's head, as it shook to swing the 3 of them off, but those 3 weren't moving or even trying to hold on; they'd already secured their footing and ropes onto the spikes.
Exiled signals Kit to direct the wings, and they do so in unison to redirect the dragon in the direction of the snowy mist mountains. The dragon crash-lands in the Snowy Mist Mountains with a huge explosion, with plenty of environmental damage in the process.
Many of the Platinum adventurers follow up by mounting their horses and charging to the landing area.
I observed the scene as the Guild Receptionist handed me a bandage and a wet towel to help with the other injured adventurers.
Be safe, I prayed.
The carts of the injured didn't cease; we kept going. Tina was beyond exhausted. Tim was doing everything he could, from driving carts to fetch the injured to finding merchants to help him look for potions, burn heals, ANYTHING to help.
The Guild receptionists and I had our hands tied with victims who were charred with their armor seared into their skins by the black flames that refused to die out.
One platinum adventurer, who was a female, still had a gold phantom hue on her; she wasn't injured, but the flames didn't stop burning her.
She introduced herself as Serina of the Gold Valkyries. It appears Noobie's Command spell had saved her, as she and many of her comrades in arms took the full brunt of a meteor blast claw from the Abysmal dragon.
Serina knelt beside one of her fallen comrades, her golden phantom aura flickering like a dying candle. The black flames still clung to her armor, crawling along the metal like living shadows, yet she didn't flinch.
"I should be dead," she said quietly, almost to herself. "All of us should be."
I swallowed hard. "The flames… they're still burning you."
"They can't touch me," Serina replied, her voice steady despite the chaos around us. "Not while his command is still active."
She placed a trembling hand over her chest, where a faint golden sigil pulsed beneath the scorched armor.
"That boy… that Unfallen… he saved the entire front line."
Her eyes lifted toward the snowy mountains, where distant flashes of gold and purple lit up the sky.
"He took the meteor claw head‑on. No shield. No barrier. Just conviction."
Tina stumbled over, nearly collapsing as she tried to heal another victim. "I‑I can't keep up… there's too many…"
Tim rushed past us with another crate of potions, shouting, "We're running out! The merchants are out! The whole town's out!"
Serina stood slowly, her phantom aura shimmering brighter for a moment.
"Hold the line," she said softly. "He's buying us time."
I looked toward the mountains again.
The sky flashed violently. The ground trembled. A roar echoed across the valley — deep, furious, endless.
My heart clenched.
"Please…" I whispered. "Be safe."
But the wind carried my words away.
And the battle raged on.
Then judgment day came.
There was a light, a purple light…on the ground. A spell circle? But whose?
Serina's eyes widened, "GET DOWN, ALL OF YOU, NOW!!!!"
We all ducked our heads as well as those close by.
The spell circle expanded beyond the snowy mist mountains, past the forest, and right onto the roads beyond the border of our town.
Then the sky shimmered with fireballs and meteors as it came crashing down onto random areas of the location INSIDE the Spells' circle, and it burned the same black flames, exterminating and consuming all in its path.
The first meteor hit somewhere in the forest. The shockwave rattled the tavern's windows. A pillar of black fire shot into the sky, twisting like a living serpent. Screams echoed from the road. People who hadn't ducked in time were swallowed whole.
Another meteor crashed into the farmlands. Another into the riverbank. Another into the old watchtower.
Each one erupted in the same unholy flame — a flame that didn't burn like fire but devoured like hunger.
Serina gritted her teeth, her phantom aura flickering violently. "It's the Abysmal Meteor. The dragon's ultimate spell. It shouldn't be able to cast this so soon—!"
A meteor slammed into the snowy mist mountains. The ground shook so violently that I fell to my knees.
"Noobie…" I whispered, my voice cracking.
The sky lit up again. Another meteor. And another. And another. Each one is closer to the mountain. Each one was closer to where Team Omega had fallen.
Tina covered her mouth, tears streaming down her face. "They're still up there…"
Tim clutched the edge of a cart, knuckles white. "They're still fighting…"
Then the carts stopped coming.
Tim reports to me that there wasn't any more coming. He had his head down in guilt. The Platinum rank adventurer had told him there wasn't any more coming.
I touched his cheeks, dirtied and dusty from ashes, and I commanded Tim to rest as he sat next to an exhausted Tina, who was already snoring away.
Serina took off her armor; the melting metal bothered her. By now, the flames had stopped, but the golden aura remained, slowly fading away.
I continued to stare in the direction of the mountain. It was quiet.
The guild receptionist sits down next to me, handing me a drink and a cup of water for the flower to put by the window.
I thanked her, but my gaze fixed on the mountain.
Platinum enforcement arrives, a small squad of 4. They studied the place. It was a hell of a mess. There was a makeshift hospital in the Guild Tavern, with many injured. Some were covered with white sheets, marked without saying they are dead.
The inventory of those who died stacked up against the bookshelves that used to be, as the guild maids slowly and carefully set them against each other. Bloodied up bandages all around the floor, with a multitude of armor left around on the ground, carelessly abandoned.
The leader of the squad clears his throat, "I am Chief Duncan. We are what's left of the Platinum enforcer. I wish to gather a party alongside my 3 team members and me here to scout the Snowy Mist Mountains for survivors! Is there ANY brave soul among you present?"
Serina stands up, "I'll go, Duncan…"
One of her comrades shakes her head, "Lady Serina, if you die, the Golden Valkyries may as well be wiped."
Duncan clears his throat once more, "I'm not asking as an obligation. I'm only asking anyone…"
I stood up, still holding the drink the Guild receptionist had handed me earlier.
The guild receptionist looked as though she wanted me to stay, but held herself back.
"I'm going," I answered Duncan proudly, with anger on my face.
Duncan nodded, "An addition to the party, please, Mr. Fector."
Fector nodded and instantly added Serina and me.
I saw all their health bars.
Duncan was HEAVILY injured, his life barely 1/8 left. Fector was worst on the 1/16th left. Their gunner, Fanna, was hanging on by a thread (her left arm being poorly bandaged). Finally, there was their medic, Rina, who still had more than half of her health remaining.
Duncan studied the party window for a moment, his expression unreadable. Then he closed it with a slow exhale, as if the numbers confirmed what he already knew.
"We move in two minutes," he said.
Fector tightened the straps on his cracked armor, wincing as the motion tugged at a wound beneath. "Chief… we're in no condition to fight."
"We're not fighting," Duncan replied. "We're looking for survivors." His voice softened. "And we're bringing them home."
Fanna adjusted the bandage on her ruined arm, her fingers trembling. "If there are any survivors."
Rina placed a hand on her shoulder, her healing aura flickering weakly. "There will be. There must be."
I swallowed hard, my gaze drifting back to the snowy mist mountains. The flashes had stopped. The sky was still. Too still.
The Guild Receptionist hovered behind me, her hands clasped tightly together. She didn't speak. She didn't try to stop me again.
She just whispered, barely audible, "…come back."
I didn't answer. I couldn't. My legs were already moving toward the door. Toward the mountains. Toward whatever waited for us in silence.
We marched into oblivion…