Far away from the Bastion, and Phoenix's dealings with a goddess, the ten top guilds were still under massive strain. Even though some of their assailants had abandoned the attack once they heard the update notification, many small and medium-sized guilds just refused to quit.
One, in particular, was having a tougher time dealing with many more players than the others. Aces High's guild headquarters were currently filled with players fighting.
They had an industrial-looking building, so there was only a tiny yard outside where they could not contain the invaders. The fighting had rapidly moved inside, where the limited room blocked a lot of the fighting capacity of every player.
But one gnome wasn't as affected by this, as he ran on the roof support beams, shooting his gun at the players below, uncaring of the friendly fire he caused. Azamus was red with rage.
Seeing so many unwanted pests run around in his base was fouling his mood by the second. And all of this was caused by the resistance of one small, inconsequential guild.
"Die, scum! You dare invade my base?! No one is leaving here alive!"
In his rage-filled actions, Azamus also shot and killed many of his guild members. His reputation would take a massive hit when this was all over.
Other guilds also had this issue, with one guild being the least affected. Knights of the Sun were always for peaceful negotiations and win-win arrangements, so few guilds had issues with them.
The ones that did, were mainly angered by being poached their top players. So when the announcement came about the update timer, a lot of them backed off, almost completely ending Killi's battle for him.
The few guilds that remained were asking for compensation for losing their officers or power-pillars. Killi eventually settled with offering them all to join his guild.
The offer wasn't a bad one, and almost everyone accepted. This conflict resulted in him expanding his already massive roster again.
Killi wasn't all that angered by the results. But he knew the power structure for the ten top guilds would be forever changed after the update.
'This Astaroth is going to become a behemoth. I better try to stick on his, and his Paragon's, good side.'
Killi went to settle in his office, needing to make reports for all these recruits and all the war expenses he just used. His, just like almost all the other top guilds, were externally funded, and needed to be held accountable.
He couldn't fathom how a guild leader like Azamus was going to repay for all his damage caused. But another thought was haunting him.
'How is Astaroth going to fund his guild? No big company has claimed ownership of it yet. Is he not paying his players?'
He doubted the man had no plan for money, and since he had never seen him on the news or TV before, he doubted Astaroth was secretly a millionaire.
He figured he might tie an alliance with him if he made his Knights indispensable to him. Then again, he doubted Astaroth would need manpower for very long.
With the display of force from Paragon, they would get applications like running water soon. His other avenue was financing.
But he wasn't sure Paragons would be in lack of that, either. He could already imagine the number of sponsors lining up to reach the guild leader of Paragons to sign a deal.
'I'll find a way.'
***
In an office, high inside the Evo-Gaming HQ, Constantine was looking at a timer before the forced log-out. The air about her was filled with nervousness.
She kept looking at her phone, like she was expecting a call. But when her phone did ring, she picked it up, before putting it back down.
Constantine sprang up from her office chair, walking at a brisk pace into the doors to her left. The doors led into a cozy loft, with a wide open space floor.
The decoration was sparse in this loft, and most appliances were top-of-the-line. In the center of her living room, a large gaming pod was hooked up to the building's power source and network.
But her pod didn't look like the top model the players could buy. It was more refined, with a streamlined profile, and red and black colours.
A green and blue light was flashing in the cracks of the open cover. Constantine hopped inside in a practiced movement, lying in and closing the top swiftly.
"Connect."
Her inlaid screen flashed white as she lost consciousness. But instead of appearing in a city in New Eden, Constantine appeared on a cloud, high in the sky.
Her body was covered in gold-plated armour, with a white single-shoulder cape flapping to her left. At her belt, a silver shining sword, with a handle made of gold, reflected the sun's light.
The sun seemed oddly close to where she was standing, and the air was thin enough to make experienced climbers wear their oxygen masks. But inside New Eden, Constantine didn't need that.
If anyone could scan her, they would understand why.
*Paladina, Champion of Creation*
Level: 100
Grade: Legendary
Class: Paladin
HP: ???
MP: ???
Paladina, Constantine's character, was created before the game ever came out. But it wasn't created like the other characters.
She didn't get to choose her race, starting stats, or even her class. This was all decided for her by the one who created her avatar.
Paladina stayed static, her face ice cold, and her body as immobile as a statue. If one were to glimpse at her right now, one would think she was a very well-crafted effigy, instead of thinking this was a living person.
But her wait would soon come to a stop, as a buzzing sound echoed behind her. Accompanying the noise, an enormous wave of Aether crashed into Paladina's back.
But aside from ruffling her hair and sending her shoulder cape flapping vigorously, she seemed unbothered. She knelt on one knee, lowering her head.
"I thank you for accepting to meet me, oh great one. I, Paladina, Champion of Creation, and Paladin to your grace, had something I wished to ask of you."
Stepping around her, a familiar yellow humanoid, devoid of facial features aside from black eyes, stopped in front of her.
"Speak, human. God's time is valuable and I wish not to waste it here. I have many things that require my attention."
Lifting her head, Paladina looked into the eyes of her interlocutor, Gaius, God of Creation.
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