Chapter 115: The Dragon at Helios Reach
The time for preparation was over.
After discussing their options, the group had finally settled on a plan. It wasn't a particularly safe one, but with Imperial soldiers patrolling the streets and bounty hunters searching for Ryze, they couldn't afford to wait much longer.
Everyone began checking their equipment.
Ryze stood near the window, fully geared and ready for combat. Her silver hair fell over her shoulders as she held her sniper rifle, checking the weapon's condition one last time. Her ammunition was prepared, her equipment was secured, and her eyes constantly moved between the streets below and the surrounding rooftops.
If they were going to escape Helios Reach, she would need to cover the others from a distance.
Beside her stood SK, wearing her familiar silver and white armor. She held her scythe in one hand, its blade reflecting the light from the room. Her expression was serious, and she appeared ready to cut down anyone who tried to stop them.
Volt, meanwhile, had finished checking his equipment. Wearing his usual combat gear, he adjusted the straps around his chest and made sure his weapons were within reach.
Their supplies and modified T-80 tank were still outside the city. Their first objective was to reach it, then find a route toward BattleNet.
Simple enough.
At least, that was what Ryze wanted to believe.
Abbyrose stood near the window, staff in hand, watching the Imperial patrols moving through the streets. She had already explained that she would create a distraction, but she hadn't revealed exactly how she intended to do it.
Ryze had asked her twice.
Both times, Abbyrose had simply smiled.
I swear, if this plan gets us killed, I'm blaming her.
Finally, Blaze moved away from the bed.
He stretched his arms slightly before looking at the others.
"All right. We should..."
His voice suddenly stopped.
His expression changed.
Blaze tried to stand.
His leg barely moved.
His expression changed as an unfamiliar heaviness spread throughout his body. It felt as though invisible chains had suddenly wrapped around his limbs, forcing him back toward the floor.
"Ugh!"
He dropped to one knee.
"Blaze?!" Ryze rushed toward him, lowering her rifle. "Are you all right?!"
SK was beside him a moment later.
"Sir Blaze, what happened? Are you injured?"
"I don't think so." Blaze placed one hand against the bed and tried to push himself up. His body refused to cooperate. "That's strange. I was perfectly fine a moment ago."
He tried again, but the invisible weight only seemed more oppressive.
"Well, I think I can't get up."
Ryze stared at him.
"What do you mean you can't get up?!"
"My body suddenly feels heavy."
SK's expression became serious.
"Wait, Sir Blaze. Don't move."
She activated her inspection interface and scanned him. A moment later, her eyes narrowed.
"...There's a debuff."
"A debuff?" Ryze repeated. "From what? We haven't fought anyone since the battle with Orion!"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out."
SK examined the information again. Most of the details were missing, leaving only a single line that confirmed an active negative status effect.
"Volt, inspect him too. We need to know whether your interface shows the same thing."
Volt nodded and activated his own inspection tools.
After a few seconds, his expression darkened.
"Confirmed. He has an active debuff, but there's something strange about it."
"What?" Ryze asked.
"The duration."
Volt turned his interface toward them.
"The timer is listed as infinite. There's no expiration time, no description, and no information about its source. It's as if the system is deliberately hiding the details."
Ryze looked at Blaze.
"How is that even possible? Who could apply a debuff like this without us noticing?"
Blaze fell silent.
For the first time since collapsing, his expression suggested that he had an idea.
"...I see."
Ryze frowned.
"You know something?"
Blaze looked toward the window. Beyond it, the streets of Helios Reach remained filled with Imperial patrols. The city was still under lockdown following his battle with Orion.
"During the fight, Orion couldn't defeat me directly. But that doesn't mean he had no way to interfere afterward."
SK's eyes widened slightly.
"You're saying he did this?"
"Most likely."
Blaze rested his back against the bed, recalling the final moments of their confrontation.
Orion had been the administrator of SkyRealm. His Authority allowed him to manipulate the world's systems in ways ordinary players could barely comprehend. During their battle, Blaze had resisted his attempts to control him, forcing Orion to rely on increasingly desperate methods.
But Orion didn't necessarily need to overpower Blaze during the fight.
He only needed another opportunity to mark him.
"Orion must have planted the effect on me before our battle ended," Blaze explained. "He could have attached it through his Authority without displaying a notification. Then, once we were far enough apart, he activated it remotely."
Ryze stared at him.
"Wait. Remotely? You mean he can just debuff someone from a distance?"
"An ordinary player probably couldn't. But Orion isn't an ordinary player. He's SkyRealm's Administrator."
Blaze glanced at his status interface.
"Whatever he did, it doesn't look like a normal skill. The effect has no visible source, and the system isn't showing us its details. That's why we didn't notice it earlier."
Volt folded his arms.
"So Orion planted a hidden status effect on you during the battle, then activated it after you escaped?"
"That's my guess."
"And he made the duration infinite?" SK asked.
"Or at least made the system report it that way." Blaze gave a faint smile. "Either way, he seems rather upset about losing."
Ryze clenched her fists.
"That petty bastard! He couldn't win, so he decided to cheat afterward?!"
"Well, I suppose he doesn't handle losing very well."
"Blaze! You're the one who's been hit with an infinite debuff! Why are you smiling?!"
"I'm thinking."
"Then think about how to get rid of it!"
"That's what I'm doing."
SK studied the status information once more, but she couldn't find any command to dispel the effect. It wasn't behaving like a conventional debuff that could be removed with a cleansing skill or an item.
It was as though Orion had written a restriction directly into Blaze's status.
And because the effect was tied to an Administrator's Authority, they couldn't be certain that ordinary countermeasures would work.
Before anyone could say anything else, Blaze lowered his head.
The faint smile disappeared from his face.
Then an overwhelming wave of aura erupted from his body.
The windows rattled. The furniture shifted across the floor, and an immense pressure swept through the room.
SK immediately stepped back, her eyes widening.
Volt braced himself against the wall.
Abbyrose stumbled backward, clutching her staff.
Ryze raised an arm to shield herself.
"Ah! Hey, Blaze! What are you doing?!"
Blaze planted one foot firmly against the floor.
"If Orion wants to restrict my body..."
His aura surged again.
"...then I'll just have to make that restriction irrelevant."
He gripped the edge of the bed and forced himself upright. His body trembled under the pressure of the debuff, but the strength radiating from him continued to rise.
Slowly, he stood.
The overwhelming aura filled the room for another moment before settling around him.
Blaze straightened his clothes and exhaled.
"Well, there's only one way to deal with a debuff that has no timer."
Ryze stared at him.
Blaze raised a hand.
"Buff yourself."
Volt looked at him in disbelief.
"...This is bad."
The debuff remained on Blaze's interface. Orion's hidden effect hadn't been removed, and its duration still showed infinity.
But Blaze could move again.
By amplifying his own physical abilities beyond the restriction imposed on his body, he had forced himself to stand despite the effect.
It wasn't a cure.
It was a way of fighting back against the debuff without knowing how to dispel it.
And somewhere in SkyRealm, Orion might still be able to observe the result of his handiwork.
If he was watching, he would now know one thing.
His attempt to keep Blaze down hadn't worked.
While Ryze continued silently arguing with herself, Blaze turned toward Abbyrose.
The red-haired girl had remained unusually quiet since his aura erupted.
She was staring at him, her staff held close to her body.
Unbelievable...
She had heard the rumors, but experiencing his presence firsthand was something else entirely.
Even with an unknown debuff restricting his body, Blaze had forced himself to stand by releasing an overwhelming amount of power.
And he had done it without appearing particularly concerned.
Abbyrose shook her head, forcing herself to concentrate.
No. Focus. We have a mission.
She approached the window and opened her interface, accessing the scouting functions available through her magic. Information began appearing before her as she attempted to examine the streets surrounding the inn.
Imperial patrols were still moving through the district.
Several groups had gathered at intersections, while others were checking buildings and questioning passing players. The lockdown was becoming tighter by the minute.
They wouldn't have much time.
Ryze noticed Abbyrose's expression.
"So, what's the plan?"
Abbyrose turned away from the window.
A small smile appeared on her face.
"I'll create a distraction."
SK immediately frowned.
"You're still going with that plan?"
"Of course."
"The streets are full of high-level players and experienced Imperial soldiers. We don't know how many bounty hunters are operating in this district, either. If you draw too much attention, you could be surrounded before you get away."
"I know."
"Then why are you smiling?"
"Because I have an idea."
Ryze looked between them.
"An idea? What kind of idea?"
Abbyrose simply raised her staff.
"Wait for my signal."
"Hold on," Ryze said. "What signal? You haven't even told us what you're going to do!"
But Abbyrose was already moving toward the open window.
"Abbyrose!"
The red-haired girl glanced back with a cheerful smile.
"Trust me!"
Before anyone could stop her, she stepped onto the windowsill and leaped into the open air.
"WAIT! WHAT SIGNAL?!" Ryze shouted.
Abbyrose disappeared beyond the window.
For several seconds, the room remained silent.
Ryze slowly turned toward SK and Volt.
"...She just jumped out of the window."
Volt stared at the empty space.
"Yes. We all saw that."
"She told us to wait for her signal, but she didn't tell us what the signal was!"
SK pinched the bridge of her nose.
"That girl..."
Blaze, meanwhile, calmly walked toward the window.
"Let's see what she has planned."
Ryze hurried after him.
"Don't tell me you're actually curious!"
"Of course I am."
Before Ryze could complain again, a sudden flash of light illuminated the street below.
The three of them turned toward the window.
A massive magic circle had appeared in the middle of the street.
Its intricate patterns spread across the ground, glowing with brilliant magical energy. Symbols rotated around its edges while streams of light rose into the air, twisting together to form a towering column.
The surrounding Imperial soldiers immediately stopped moving.
Some raised their weapons.
Others began shouting orders.
"What is that?!"
"Everyone, move back!"
"Get the patrol commanders over here!"
The magic circle grew brighter.
Then the ground shook.
A deafening roar tore through Helios Reach.
BOOOOOOM!
Something enormous burst out of the magic circle.
A gigantic dragon emerged into the city, its vast wings spreading across the street as its enormous body rose above the surrounding buildings. Scales covered its body like overlapping plates of armor, and its long tail swept through the air behind it.
Its claws struck the ground with enough force to crack the stone beneath its feet.
The creature lifted its head.
Another roar echoed across the district.
The sound rolled through the streets, rattling windows and sending nearby players scrambling for cover.
Ryze's jaw dropped.
"...What?"
Volt leaned forward, his eyes widening.
"WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?!"
SK stared at the enormous creature.
"Is that a dragon?!"
She looked back toward the magic circle, then toward the creature towering over the street.
"Why is there a dragon in the middle of Helios Reach?!"
Ryze pointed helplessly at the monster.
"HOW?!"
The dragon spread its wings again, casting a vast shadow over the surrounding buildings.
Imperial soldiers scrambled into formation, while players nearby began retreating in panic. The city that had been under a strict lockdown only moments earlier was suddenly thrown into chaos.
Blaze watched the scene with a calm expression.
Then he smiled.
"Well..."
He rested one hand against the window frame.
"I think that's our signal."
Ryze slowly turned toward him.
"...You're kidding."
Blaze's smile widened.
"Come on. We should get moving before the dragon decides to redecorate the entire city."
Another roar shook the inn.
Volt grabbed his equipment.
"Right! Everyone move! I don't care what that thing is, but I'm not staying here when it starts tearing the streets apart!"
SK lifted her scythe and headed for the door.
Ryze took one last look at the enormous dragon.
Then she tightened her grip on her rifle and followed the others.
Abbyrose...
She had a feeling she was going to demand a very long explanation later.
For now, however, there was only one thing to do.
Escape Helios Reach.
And thanks to Abbyrose, the entire city was about to have a very big problem.
End of Chapter 115