BXBX NOVEL Chapter 78: Approaching Darkness
Chapter 78: Approaching Darkness
Upon reaching the café, they found a cozy corner table and settled in. Alister and Lila ordered some drinks and snacks, while Axel and Blitz slumped into their seats, wincing slightly with each movement.
Blitz glared at Alister, rubbing her bruised arm. "You totally abandoned us back there, you know."
Axel nodded, with a look of frustration and pain on his face. "Yeah, we really thought you could\'ve at least brought out your summon to protect us. Lady Aiko was really scary this time!"
Alister, sipping his drink, raised an eyebrow. "And what exactly did you expect me to do? Summon a dragon in the middle of the training grounds to save you from a well-deserved punishment?"
Lila couldn\'t help but chuckle. "You guys really should\'ve known better than to pull those pranks on the newbies. Lady Aiko\'s patience has its limits."
Axel sighed, resting his head on the table. "We just wanted to have some fun. It\'s not like we meant any harm."
Blitz nodded as she too agreed. "Yeah, we were just trying to liven things up a bit. Didn\'t think it would backfire this badly."
"I mean, we didn\'t even use explosives this time."
Alister leaned back in his chair, studying them both. "Well, consider this a lesson learned. Lady Aiko\'s not someone to mess with, especially when it comes to the guild\'s reputation."
Lila took a sip of her drink, then spoke, "And next time, maybe think twice before involving newbies in your \'fun.\' They\'re still getting used to everything."
Axel and Blitz exchanged glances, then nodded slowly. "Yeah, we get it," Axel said, his voice sounding resigned. "But you could have at least tried to help us out a bit."
Blitz leaned forward. "Just a little intervention would\'ve been nice. We were practically begging for our lives!"
Alister chuckled slightly. "Consider it divine punishment for all the praks you two have gotten away with. Besides, you survived, didn\'t you?"
Axel let out a dramatic sigh. "Barely. I swear, I saw my life flash before my eyes."
Blitz nodded. "Yeah, for a moment there I thought she was really going to kill us."
Lila giggled, shaking her head. "You two are hopeless."
Despite their bruises and complaints, Axel and Blitz couldn\'t help but smile.
As they sat enjoying their drinks, and food, Alister glanced around and then turned to Axel. "By the way, where is Beatrice? I haven\'t seen her around lately."
Axel shrugged. "She\'s participating in a dungeon raid right now. After that, she has city patrol duty."
"City patrol duty?" Alister asked, his curiosity piqued. "What\'s that exactly?"
Blitz, taking a sip of her drink, spoke up. "It\'s when members of a guild, along with some Union officials, patrol the inner and outer parts of a sector they\'re in charge of. They usually do it to stop crime and solve other problems. But sometimes there are cases where monsters sneak into the city or are just lurking around somewhere. Members on city patrol are expected to handle those situations too."
Axel nodded in agreement. "Speaking of patrols, there\'s been some bizarre news popping up lately."
He grinned, a mischievous look on his face.
"They\'ve been talking about people getting carved up or mutilated and left in alleyways. City patrol still hasn\'t figured out if it\'s the doing of a human, a monster, or both."
"They say a clear reason or explanation of how the murders take place still hasn\'t been discovered, CCTV footage, fingerprints, nothing, and apparently the culprit always leaves a message."
Axel grinned even further.
"Look into the abyss, look beyond this fractured world."
Alister looked at Axel with a touch of disappointment and exasperation, "If you are trying to scare me to get payback for not helping earlier it\'s not gonna work."
Axel looked a bit surprised, "What? No, I\'m being serious." he slammed his hands on the table slightly to emphasize his point.
Lila, wearing the same look as Alister then said, "But a part of you was actually hoping to scare us a bit, if not you wouldn\'t have grind like that."
Axel was surprised Lila also had the same reaction, he couldn\'t help but let out a sigh, his shoulders slumping slightly, "I swear, you two are the only newbies I know who could hear something like that and still keep a straight face."
"But on a more serious note, I\'m not lying, take a look."
Axel proceeded to slip a small white cube to the table, the cube opened up a small hole and proceeded to create a holographic display above it, showing the news report.
Alister\'s expression turned serious. "That\'s disturbing. Any leads on who or what might be behind it?"
Blitz shook her head. "Like Axel just said, nothing. The Union is keeping a tight lid on the investigation, but it\'s got everyone on edge. Beatrice mentioned that the guild is stepping up patrols and security measures in response."
Alister couldn\'t help but slightly worry about the safety of the city and its inhabitants, but he wasn\'t one to involve himself too deeply into something beyond his control, for now he needed all his focus on his sister\'s health and upcoming auction.
"Well, that\'s that," Alister said, trying to shift the mood. "It would be best for us to put more positive thoughts on our minds from now on."
Axel and Blitz exchanged glances, then grinned. "Hey, we heard you defeated the guild master using a new summon," Axel said, excitement in his voice. "You have to tell us all
about it!"
Blitz nodded eagerly. "Yeah, come on, spill the details!"
"Was hearing a lot of talk about how it seemed to be teleporting and stuff."
Alister let out a sigh. "Alright, alright, I\'ll tell you." Just as he was about to begin, the system flashed a message before him, but compared to past system windows, this one was different, it was massive and appeared to be held in the maw of a massive golden dragon head.
[Ding!! New quest: Last stand(1/10):
Darkness approaches and an overlord must take a stand!: #### has descended upon this world and is slowly making their move. Be ready when they strike and fight back!
Quest completion requirement:
- Summon your first wyvern army! (D rank)
- Obtain 3 dragon generals: (3/3) - (completed)
- Reach level 30 (second bloodline awakening) -- current level: 24.
Reward: Piece of Overlord\'s broken crown (?? - rank).
Quest failure penalty: ??
[Notice! Time left for daily quest completion: 04:02:34.]
Alister\'s eyes widened slightly as he read the new quest.
\'Darkness approaches? An army of wyverns, is this related to the reason the system hasn\'t been allowing me to summon any other dragons?\'
In the past week, the system had stopped Alister from summoning any other dragons, despite
the large number of conduits he now had, giving him the message, \'Max amount of dragon generals currently reached.\'
Not only did this message confuse Alister due to the fact the system never dubbed his summons as dragon generals in the past, but it also seemed like the system was deliberately choosing his summons instead of them being random. The fact they had a part of their surnames that was similar caused him to think that.