Resurrection

Avilan looked at Arthur kneeling before him and helplessly covered his forehead. Back when this had only been a game, NPCs had merely been data, so when Avilan wrote the commands and programs, the guild members had all regarded themselves as supreme gods. After crossing into this other world, however, in the eyes of NPCs like Arthur, he truly was a supreme and exalted god. Kneeling before Avilan was their highest form of respect, but for an upstanding young man from the twenty-first century, this habit of kneeling at every turn gave him quite a headache.

"It's fine. This isn't your fault, Arthur. Go arrange some manpower. I don't want something like this happening again," Avilan said reassuringly.

"Yes! Supreme One, how should we deal with that human now?"

"Oh, have him work alongside those Horned Demons. We're short on manpower anyway. Also, have the bodies of Allen and the other two been dealt with?" Avilan asked after thinking it over.

"They've been kept in the cold storage. Supreme One, do you intend to resurrect those three vermin? Forgive your subordinate for speaking out of turn, but those inferior creatures are unworthy of your personal intervention. Resurrecting them would only soil your hands," Arthur said, immediately guessing Avilan's intentions.

His words carried intense racial discrimination, something that had been part of the settings when Despair Fortress was first established.

Only players from Demon Realm races were recruited, and enslaving the other races of the Myth world was regarded as their highest honor and mission.

Of course, nearly every guild came up with such pompous guild declarations. Some first-rate guilds even proclaimed that they would conquer the entire Myth guild system. Most players merely glanced at such things; what truly caught their attention were the guild benefits listed afterward.

But it was different for these NPCs. The guild was their entire world, and its declaration was bound to become the highest mission and honor of every one of them.

"Enough. I'm only using their bodies for a small experiment. And stop calling me Supreme One. Just call me my lord," Avilan said pleasantly as he rose to his feet and patted Arthur on the shoulder.

He still did not know whether these NPCs, who possessed independent intelligence of their own, would betray him. He did not dare be overly harsh with them.

"Understood, Lord Avilan." Arthur's expression remained utterly calm as he began leading the way.

Avilan found this kind of deadpan face the most troublesome. He simply could not read what Arthur was thinking.

Even as the guild leader, Avilan did not really know how enormous Despair Fortress was. After all, the game's data was completely different from reality.

There were two so-called cold storages. One was used to store food, while the other held rare corpses and experimental materials. Both were located at the very bottom of Despair Fortress.

As he walked through the underground passageways beneath the Demon Fortress and took in the gloomy surroundings, Avilan could not help complaining inwardly about Shen Jiecōng, the man who had designed the fortress's environment.

Shen Jiecōng had originally been Avilan's college roommate and had majored in architecture and home design. This entire Demon Fortress had been designed solely by Shen Jiecōng, who had personally drawn every detail of its interior stroke by stroke.

All to create a demon castle steeped in an atmosphere of despair.

In the game, Avilan had not felt how terrifying these buildings were. But now that everything had become real, the bottomless underground passage, the faint flickering firelight within it, and the moldy, damp smell lingering in the air made him feel deeply uncomfortable.

Especially since the only sounds in the entire passage were his and Arthur's footsteps, their echoes ringing out with unnerving clarity.

The cold storage was piled full of all kinds of corpses and experimental subjects.

Before long, Arthur dragged out several bodies. They were Allen and the other two.

Avilan tapped continuously on the control panel and quickly found a level-thirty Minor Radiant Resurrection skill. It was an innate skill of a level-eighty Legendary ring. Since Avilan had been wearing it at the time as a precaution, he had been fortunate enough not to lose it.

"Radiant Resurrection!"

Avilan pointed his ring at Allen. A thin ray of light shot from it and enveloped Allen's entire body. When the white light completely entered Allen's body, Avilan blinked.

He could actually see Allen's attributes.

Allen, Human Race, Level 21 (Level 11), Class: Warrior

Mastered Skills: Level 5 Valor Enhancement, Level 10 Constitution Enhancement, Level 20 Physique Enhancement.

Allen slowly opened his eyes. Looking at the gloomy, freezing surroundings, the bone-chilling cold quickly made him sit up. Hugging his shoulders, he tried to make out what lay before him, only to discover two men dressed in a tailcoat and a suit standing in front of them.

He had never seen such clothing before. Even the nobles of Valen City wore nothing like it, yet these strange garments gave off an innate air of nobility.

"Allen greets the two lords."

Having spent years hovering at the edge of life and death, Allen quickly calmed down. He dropped to one knee and saluted Avilan.

Avilan looked at him with interest. "Rise."

There was an indescribable majesty in that light, casual voice, but Allen felt that it sounded strangely familiar, as though he had heard it somewhere before.

The Minor Radiant Resurrection attached to the Ring of Radiant Protection could only be used three times a day, just as in the game. However, because it was only a minor skill, resurrection in the game caused a loss of fifty percent of one's experience. In the later stages of the game, after divine priests could learn Advanced Divine Resurrection Art, Avilan had never used this ring again.

After all, Advanced Divine Resurrection Art only caused a twenty percent loss of experience.

Avilan resurrected the other two as well.

Like Allen, both Lippy and Agonsi had lost ten levels.

"It seems that most magical items and equipment from Myth can be used in this other world. That means this world has the same magical rules as well," Avilan pondered as he walked.

"My two lords, were you the ones who defeated the two evil demons in this castle?" After Lippy, Allen, and Agonsi exchanged a few furtive words, the youngest, Lippy, could no longer hold himself back and asked.

In his view, since they had been resurrected here, these two mysterious powerhouses must have defeated the two demons, taken over the castle, and then resurrected them in passing.

There could not be more than five such powerful people in the entire kingdom.

Arthur in particular had a resolute face brimming with righteousness. Combined with his luxurious tailcoat, he gave off an indescribable sense of steadiness and security.

"Evil demons?" Arthur's expression darkened instantly upon hearing those words. He whirled around, grabbed Lippy by the throat with one hand, and lifted him high into the air.

Allen and Agonsi were immediately stunned. They could not understand why this peerless powerhouse had suddenly flown into a rage.

Soon, a scene that filled them with despair unfolded before their eyes. Black energy began to radiate from Arthur's body, growing increasingly intense until, at last, a glint of cold light flashed.