The Key to Changing Fate

With the Carrion Mother's death, the Undead army's assault on Tristram finally came to an end. When Fang Zheng dragged his exhausted body back to the town gates alongside the Crusader, only Captain Rumford and two archers remained among the living to greet them.

"Fine work, kid."

Captain Rumford looked at Fang Zheng with a gratified smile. He reached out and gave Fang Zheng's shoulder a firm pat before turning to the Crusader beside him.

"Thank you for your help. You can go in now. Leah is at The Slaughtered Cow Inn, and Fang Zheng can take you there... What's wrong, kid?"

"Nothing, Captain Rumford."

Hearing Rumford's concerned question, Fang Zheng shrugged gloomily and spoke. He truly regretted what he had been thinking earlier. He had originally thought that, although the system-issued quest was troublesome and dangerous, at least its objective had been clear. Yet he had never expected the third stage of the "Guardian" quest to be such a damned trap!

Change fate!

The mere thought of the quest requirement made Fang Zheng miserable. All these system-generated quests were random, and he had no recollection of them. The quest prompt itself gave no clues either, merely demanding that Fang Zheng change an established fate. As for what exactly that meant, it explained nothing. Worse still, the system had specifically warned that failure would result in his forced removal from the Quest World, and had even "thoughtfully" included a countdown. So now Fang Zheng had only forty-eight hours to change this so-called "fate"... He had originally planned to follow the Nephalem around and grind for a while, but it seemed that was clearly impossible now.

"Please follow me."

With that thought, Fang Zheng forced himself to perk up. He nodded to the Crusader beside him, then headed into town.

The two did not speak much along the way. If he had had the time, Fang Zheng would have liked to see what the "official" Nephalem was really like. But he was in no mood to waste time now. The quest's third stage had given him only forty-eight hours, and he did not have the slightest clue what this fate was supposed to be.

This was also because Fang Zheng barely remembered the plot of Diablo III. Then again, that was understandable. Once you spent every day immersed in Greater Rifts, what Diablo's story was even about became completely irrelevant to players. Getting a set first was what really mattered...

When Fang Zheng brought the Crusader to The Slaughtered Cow Inn, he immediately spotted Leah looking troubled at the counter. The short-haired girl was sitting in a chair, quietly speaking with the innkeeper. When the innkeeper saw Fang Zheng push open the door, he immediately cut off his conversation with Leah and warmly waved him over.

"Kid! You saved us again! Here, this one's on me... And who is this young lady?"

At the innkeeper's question, the Crusader beside Fang Zheng stepped forward. She removed her helmet, revealing a face full of heroic spirit. Her long golden hair was tied into a ponytail that rested over her shoulder. She first gave the innkeeper a gentle smile, then turned to Leah.

"Hello, Miss Leah. I am a Crusader devoted to Zakarum. My name is Eirene..."

Oh, for fuck's sake!

Fang Zheng, who had just reached the counter, nearly spilled the drink in his hand when he heard that. He turned and stared uncertainly at the Crusader before him. Nephalem, that hairstyle and name are both seriously cursed!

I can already see how this ends, can't I?

Putting everything else aside, Fang Zheng felt that the first priority was getting this Miss Crusader to change her name and hairstyle. That way, his quest could probably be completed with ease... Yeah, right.

Then could it be Leah?

With that thought, Fang Zheng looked at the young girl again. Of course he knew that an evil god lay hidden within her body, and that it would eventually use her body to return to life. Logically speaking, if Fang Zheng simply killed her with one strike now, that would count as changing fate. However... was that even possible?

Leaving aside the fact that Leah herself was a combatant, the evil god's power inside her was equally terrifying. Even if Fang Zheng launched a surprise attack, he would never be able to deceive its eyes. If he drove it into a corner, Fang Zheng would not come out of it unscathed either. Thus, the thought merely circled through his mind before he immediately discarded it.

At that moment, Eirene had already begun asking Leah about the Falling Star that had descended from the sky. Just as in the game, Leah explained the situation to the Nephalem and asked her to find her uncle... Deckard Cain... Hm?

Hearing this, Fang Zheng's eyes suddenly lit up.

Right, how had he overlooked someone so important—Deckard Cain!

If Fang Zheng remembered correctly, Deckard Cain had been threatened by Maghda, leader of the cultists, to restore Angel Tyrael's shattered Holy Sword. But Cain had refused to yield even unto death and was beaten severely by Maghda's subordinates. Then Leah had unleashed her power and driven Maghda's group away. In the end, Cain had used the last of his strength to restore the Holy Sword, but his life had been exhausted, and he ultimately died.

And by then, the Nephalem had left Tristram in search of the Holy Sword's third fragment!

So, if he recovered the third fragment of the Holy Sword ahead of time, could he prevent the Nephalem from leaving Tristram? And if so, could he change fate?

At that moment, Fang Zheng felt that he had found the key to changing fate!

With his current strength, saving the Nephalem or killing Diablo were both fantasies. He was only a Militia right now. Even though he had learned Crusader Strike, Fang Zheng did not think he was more capable than the Nephalem. So, setting aside those difficult options, what he could do now was recover the Holy Sword's third fragment in advance. That way, Cain could restore the Holy Sword earlier, and the amnesiac Tyrael would not be captured by Maghda and made to run through dungeons over and over again. Cain could survive too—wouldn't that solve everything? Even taking a step back, if Cain still died later because of some unforeseen screwup, preventing Tyrael's capture and restoring his memories early would still count as changing fate, right?

Having made up his mind, Fang Zheng acted immediately. The Nephalem, the protagonist, was handling the Falling Star, so he was not worried about problems there. Besides, the quest had given him a time limit, which meant this plot event had to be happening nearby. Otherwise, if he had to go all the way to the Supreme Heaven to change fate, the quest timer would probably run out before he even arrived.

"Then I'll set out at once."

By then, the Crusader with the dangerous hairstyle and dangerous name had finished speaking with Leah. She stood, put her helmet back on, and looked at Fang Zheng.

"Will you come with me?"

"No. I have a more important task."

Being noticed by the protagonist was certainly a good thing, but Fang Zheng had no time to dwell on that now. He could only shake his head and refuse the Nephalem's invitation. The Nephalem said nothing more, merely nodding slightly before turning and leaving in a hurry.

After watching the Nephalem leave, Fang Zheng also walked out of the inn. He had originally wanted to chat with Leah some more, but unfortunately, she did not seem in the mood to talk. Perhaps she was quite dissatisfied that he had refused the Nephalem's request. The girl merely glanced at Fang Zheng, said nothing, and returned to her room. Of course, Fang Zheng was not about to argue with her. If he accidentally provoked Diablo into coming out, he would be the one in trouble, wouldn't he?

With that thought, Fang Zheng said nothing further. He left the inn, went straight to Captain Rumford, and requested permission to travel to Wortham.

"Wortham?"

Captain Rumford was clearly surprised by Fang Zheng's request.

"What are you going to Wortham for?"

"I received some information. I heard that some fragments of the Falling Star may have landed in the direction of Wortham, so I want to take a look and see whether I can find clues to unravel its secret."

There was nothing wrong with Fang Zheng's explanation, so Rumford did not deliberate for long before nodding and granting his request.

"All right. I'll notify the boatman to prepare a ship. But you just went through a fierce battle. Aren't you going to rest before leaving?"

"No need. I can rest on the way."

After all, the quest countdown had already begun. Where was he supposed to find time to waste lying in bed?

"All right."

Seeing Fang Zheng's impatient expression, Captain Rumford said nothing more. He simply nodded, led Fang Zheng to the Dock, and spoke with the boatman there. Afterward, the boatman set out with Fang Zheng, sailing downstream toward Wortham.