Guild Wars

Draco waved his hands benevolently. "Of course, of course, who doesn't know about the nefarious Grey Rot that threatens to break our fair society?"

Ulido nodded. "It is a scourge of epic proportions and every hand is needed on deck to… hold on, you know about the Grey Rot?"

Draco blinked. "Yes?"

"And you still decided to ascend?" Barrado asked with a look of incomprehension on his face.

Realizing what they were getting at, Draco smiled. "It's basically the same reason you fellows are still here. You could have run down to the mortal world to eke out an ignoble existence, but what would that change?"

"Eventually, the Grey Rot is going to consume the entire Divine Realm and then come down after consolidating and strengthening itself. Might as well stay here and fight it out then." Draco concluded with a shrug.

Ulido and Barrado's eyes shone with a light of admiration. "Good lad, you make it sound easy, but how many can take the same path you did?" Barrado cheered while hitting his chest.

Ulido nodded. "Your logic is sound, and anyone should be able to see it as long as they think a little, but how can fear and the need for self-preservation be so easily denied? When the Grey Rot first appeared, many True Gods fled to the Lower Realm. Some eventually returned after calming down, but many continued to hide in some dirty corner of the mortal world."

Barrado snorted with coldness. "Not only did they hide, but they cut of those regions from the senses of the Divine Realm, causing them to fall into a form of darkness where we couldn't see what was up with them."

Draco was startled by a sudden revelation. He had always wondered what the reason for the existence of the unmapped zones could be. It would have been easy enough for the AI to simply declare them as forbidden zones or make them hard to access, but their existence had practically been hidden from NPCs and players alike.

As it turned out, those were the places where the cowardly True Gods were hiding. They were so afraid to be detected that they had literally cut of the Divine Realm's perception of their areas.

So then what was the reason behind the recent map expansion? Could it be that some True Gods of the nearby unmapped zones had a change of heart and decide to join the fight against the Grey Rot? Given what happened, that seemed unlikely.

"That reminds me, we had a sudden surge of True Gods from the mortal world thanks to the Divine Realm decoding some of the methods they used to hide themselves. This allowed the Divine Realm to drag them here and throw them at the frontlines." Ulido commented, casually answering Draco's unasked question.

"Ah yes, that unruly lot. I had a great time beating them down. How dare they be so arrogant when their strongest member only had an Intermediate Law? They spoke as if they were our grandfathers, ha!" Barrado laughed.

Ulido shook his head. "Well, it's good to see a new ascender join our ranks, True God Draco, especially one with your mindset. Please, follow Barrado and he will take you to the frontlines to do your part as well as set you up. I wish you good luck."

Barrado nodded and led Draco out of the Registrar-General's office. He then took the fellow through the pantheon while informing him about many different facts. It was clear that the Minotaur had completely warmed up to him seeing that not only was Draco a talent, but he was courageous enough to enter a danger zone during a crisis.

Draco took this opportunity to chat with his guide to further their relationship up. He was going to fight at the frontlines and it was always good to have your commanding officer be friendly to you. A good relationship could lead to benevolent deployments and positioning, which would also lead to less stress and decrease the risk of his death.

Eventually, they reached a large open area that was guarded by a few masked Angels and had a giant portal at the center. Barrado explained that this portal led to the current frontline fortress against the Grey Rot, and was how troops were deployed and recalled.

The two True Gods walked through after being greeted by the Angels managing the portal. Draco felt Space warp around him as he traveled an untold distance to come out of a portal in a torchlit chamber.

The portal here was guarded by even more Angels and these ones were unlike the lofty ones back at the city. These Angels seemed to be hardened and radiated discipline as well battle-readiness, making Barrado nod his head.

He led Draco through a row of torchlit hallways until they came to a bright entrance that led to a courtyard. The entire time, all Draco encountered were Angels, not a single True God.

When they entered the courtyard, there were even more Angels doing miscellaneous things like manning stores, handling mounts in a nearby stable/aviary and even blacksmithing or doing alchemy in various controlled areas.

Barrado took Draco to the left, up a flight of stairs that lead to a platform that overlooked the courtyard. There he saw a bunch of Angels assisting a burly True God in handling some documents.

｢Name: Justicar – True God

Level: Law of Military Supremacy (Supreme)

Divine Energy: 100%/100%.｣

Draco's expression became serious. This Supreme Pantheon was no joke, they had literal True Gods at the Supreme Law rank. It was no wonder jpw they were still able to remain on top and rule the entire Divine Realm despite the great losses of the old era. It also explained how they could survive against the Grey Rot for so long.

Barrado stood before Justicar and greeted him respectfully, and Draco followed for the sake of it. The fellow raised his head and revealed his features that were similar to cueball on earth, making Eva and Shuangtian burst into laughter within Draco's mind.

Draco himself maintained an amiable smile. When Barrado explained what Draco was here for, Justicar asked for his token. After taking it, he tapped it lightly and then tossed it back to Draco casually.

"A True God with an Intermediate Law that is offensive… hmm, you can go to the Withered Plains Zone 4. Go and reinforce the True Gods there and take down the Grey Rot anomalies." Justicar spoke in a deep voice before losing interest in the matter at hand and returning to his documents.

Barrado's expression was a bit surprised, but not worried. He nodded to Draco and thanked Justicar before leaving and leading the human away.

"Is the area he gave me good?" Draco asked the prudent question once they were a safe distance away.

Barrado didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He turned to glance at Draco with an amused look. "There is no such thing as a good or bad area on the frontlines. The Grey Rot is terrifying everywhere it goes, with deaths often occuring in even what we perceived to be the safest zones."

Barrado paused and pondered. "Still, to some extent, the zone you have been given can be considered good. Not because there is less danger, but because the True God in charge of the entire Withered Plains is very powerful and reliable."

Draco smiled and nodded. "Lucky me, I guess. So,Swhat's next?"

"Barrado glanced at the nearby Angels and took him to one that manned a counter. He slapped the counter with an unruly expression and spoke. "Angel Quartermaster, one set of gear for an Intermediate True God with an offensive Law! Quickly!"

The angel was a female that was quite tall and busty, but her golden eyes were filled with apathy. She nodded and rummaged around before taking out a set of armor, three skillbooks and three potions and placing them on the counter.

Barrado checked them and nodded, handing them over to Draco while they left the area. The Minotaur seemed to be taking him near another smaller portal that was set up in a subsequent courtyard near the main one which was filled with labeled portals all over.

Meanwhile, Draco checked this 'standard issue' stuff for himself.

｢Basic Divine Set – Weapon

Rank: Divine

Durability: MAX

Effects:

Passive 1 – Form Change: This weapon can change its form with ease to mimic any type of weapon in existence, but not its special powers or characteristics.

Passive 2 – Anti-Grey Rot: This weapons deals double Law damage against any anomaly or agent of the Grey Rot.

Active 1 – Merge: Merge this formless weapon with your own active weapon to merge the attributes and effects of both together seamlessly. Duration: Variable Cooldown: None.

Active 2 – Purification: This weapon forcefully purifies any agent of the Grey Rot struck by it, causing them to suffer a permanent death and allows their drops to be retrievable. Cooldown: None.｣

｢Basic Divine Set – Armor

Rank: Divine

Durability: MAX

Effects:

Passive 1 – Form Change: This piece or armor can change its form with ease to mimic any type of torso related armor in existence, but not its special powers or characteristics.

Passive 2 – Anti-Grey Rot: This piece of armor grants up to 30% immunity against any corruption by any anomaly or agent of the Grey Rot.

Active 1 – Merge: Merge this formless armor with your own active piece or torso-related armor to merge the attributes and effects of both together seamlessly. Duration: Variable Cooldown: None.

Active 2 – Law Barrier: Create a barrier made of your Law that shields you and up to three allies from the Grey Rot's invasion. Duration: 10 minutes. Cooldown: 15 minutes or 0.0008 Divine Points.｣

｢Basic Divine Set – Armor

Rank: Divine

Durability: MAX

Passive 1 – Form Change: This piece or armor can change its form with ease to mimic any type of belt related armor in existence, but not its special powers or characteristics.

Passive 2 – Anti-Grey Rot: This piece of armor grants up to 30% immunity against any corruption by any anomaly or agent of the Grey Rot.

Active 1 – Merge: Merge this formless armor with your own active piece or belt-related armor to merge the attributes and effects of both together seamlessly. Duration: Variable Cooldown: None.

Active 2 – Skill Storage: Store any of your skills imbued with a Law into this piece of armor and then cast it immediately at any time of your choice. You can store up to 10 skills. Cooldown: None.｣

｢Basic Divine Set – Armor

Rank: Divine

Durability: MAX

Effects:

Passive 1 – Form Change: This piece or armor can change its form with ease to mimic any type of arm related armor in existence, but not its special powers or characteristics.

Passive 2 – Anti-Grey Rot: This piece of armor grants up to 30% immunity against any corruption by any anomaly or agent of the Grey Rot.

Active 1 – Merge: Merge this formless armor with your own active piece or arm-related armor to merge the attributes and effects of both together seamlessly. Duration: Variable Cooldown: None.

Active 2 – Damage Boost: Increase the damage of your Law against the forces of the Grey Rot by 500%. Duration: 1 hour Cooldown: 6 hours or 0.05 Divine Points.｣

｢Basic Divine Set – Armor

Rank: Divine

Durability: MAX

Effects:

Passive 1 – Form Change: This piece or armor can change its form with ease to mimic any type of leg-related armor in existence, but not its special powers or characteristics.

Passive 2 – Anti-Grey Rot: This piece of armor grants up to 30% immunity against any corruption by any anomaly or agent of the Grey Rot.

Active 1 – Merge: Merge this formless armor with your own active piece or leg-related armor to merge the attributes and effects of both together seamlessly. Duration: Variable Cooldown: None.

Active 2 – Movement Boost: Increase your mobility in areas possessed by the Grey Rots invasion, allowing you to pass through unharmed and quickly. Duration: 1 hour. Cooldown: 6 hours or 0.05 Divine Points.｣

｢Basic Divine Set – Set Equipment (5 piece)

Rank: Divine

Effect;

- With 2 pieces equipped: +10% increased Law damage

- With 3 pieces equipped: +10% increased Law defense

- With 4 pieces equipped: Skill cooldowns reduced by 3%

- With 5 pieces equipped: Divine Energy recovery increased by 50%.｣