Riveting Night turned to face the one who called her, and her expression became heavy. Of course, this was hidden from the view of others, but the three women with her were able to notice her change.
In truth, Riveting Night had known this day would come. In a very uncharacteristic manner, she had been avoiding it for the longest time because there were too many implications that came with it.
However, what must come, will come. No matter how much you run from your problems, they would bide their time and bite you in the ass when you least expected it.
This was such a situation for Riveting Night.
The person who stopped her was a female, one around the same age as Riveting Night herself. She was quite short, being around the same height and stature as Sublime Notion.
… in essence, another loli. She was not as cute as Sublime, but more towards the pretty side. Her auburn hair was styled in a frilly manner, with each strand obeying its own rules.
Her face was round, and she had brown eyes that seemed a bit dull. She had a small nose, and small, thin lips. She wore brown mage robs with a bit of style, which meant she paid money for it.
After all, if every player were to wear the traditional robes, they would look like students in uniform. Humans hated conforming to a standard, always wanting to stand out and identify themselves from others.
Beside her stood two other women. The one on the left was a normal woman with soft features, resembling a woman of high society. She had blond hair and blue eyes; a famous combination of nobility due to eugenics.
She had a light and warm smile as well as a chest that was almost at the level of Sublime and Loving Aunt. The loli, of course, was flat throughout.
She also wore similar attire to Sublime, a white cleric's robe, but hers had a mixture of blue and red adornments. She held a wooden staff in hand.
The final woman on the right was a tall female with a very lightly tanned skin. Her eyes were shaped like flattened tr.a.p.ezoids and her brows were narrow. She looked very dangerous and violent, and her hazel eyes did not help one feel any comfort.
She had red hair tied into a warrior's ponytail, just like Diana from the War Maniac Pavilion. Her face was oval-shaped and her figure was extremely fit.
Her lips were slightly thick and possessed a sharp red color, similar to Rina, Zaine, and Eva, making one wonder how they might taste. Her chest was great and her backside was even better, all of this displayed by her battle attire's looseness.
She wore a red crop bra for exercise, as well as black leggings which would look perfect in a gym. On her feet were boots that would certainly deal extra damage when connecting with her foes, and she wore semi-metallic gauntlets as well.
Just like Zaine had been - or wanted to be - she had a Fighter class. The loli seemed to have a Mage class while the 'Young Mistress' had a Cleric one.
Riveting Night remembered them, of course she did. How could she forget?
Hera, Keira, and Lucia. The loli was Hera, the tanned fighter was Keira and the elegant beauty was Lucia.
They formed the Three Pinnacles of Darkrow. They were to Darkrow what the Five Generals had been to Hellscape. These three women managed to hold off five similarly skilled fighters thanks to their co-operation.
Keira, the Killer Queen.
Lucia, the Gentle Light.
Hera, the Great Caster.
These had been their titles, just as Uno was the Godless Paladin, Kiran was the Dark Monk, etc. Their prowess was something that 15 years in Boundless refined to perfection.
Even when Riveting Night had been defeated, they had been undefeated. The best the Five Generals could do back then was hold them off, which was Draco's plan anyway.
Then came Sword Skill 359: Overcharge and when it failed, the miraculous Sword Skill 360: Counter Kill.
The rest was history.
Now, they had appeared before Riveting Night in this life. She did not know how to face them, which was why she had been avoiding them.
"I'm not your Guild leader anymore. That should be obvious." Riveting Night answered bluntly.
Hera was stunned by Riveting Night's reply. She was normally cool and indifferent sure, but never to them. Just like Sublime Notion, they were her close friends even in reality and had even seen her true face.
Even the evil-looking Keira seemed pained, while Lucia bit her lips. Hera's eyes drooped and the mood seemed to fall. All the bystanders seemed to be watching this strange reunion silently, like some drama.
Hikari had a worried expression on her face, while Zaine was eyeing the three women carefully, using her Telesthesia-boosted Psychometry to get a handle on their emotions, as well as how to resolve this situation.
Roma was simultaneously confused and curious about what was going on. As for the children, they were completely lost.
Riveting Night frowned. The last thing she wanted was a crowd when she was dealing with such a pivotal moment in her new life.
She faced the bystanders as her black eyes swirled with malice. Even though none could see her face, the blackness of her hood went from eerie to dangerous, making many feel fear.
"SCRAM!"
Riveting Night roared this at them, and many NPCs left straight away. They dared no show disrespect to Riveting Night as she was the second-in-charge of Vita City-State.
Vita City-State was of paramount importance to all the powers in the world, and Sturgehaven kingdom especially so. If Riveting Night even killed a Minor Duke, the kingdom might be willing to look the other way, much less them.
But that was only considering her power as a ruler. What was even more mind-numbing for them was her Heraldry.
… Riveting Night was the herald of a True God. Her status was the equivalent of an Empress in this world. If she even killed the direct line of the King of Sturgehaven, he could only swallow his anger and kowtow in thanks.
The only ones who remained were those who were part of the various organizations or thought they could remain obscure. Yet when Riveting Night stared them down, they felt like their cloaking was useless.
The rest of the NPCs left quickly. This also included more than 60% of players, who were old players that knew the terror of Riveting Night and Umbra. They were not willing to lose anything just because of this matter.
Of course, many players stayed behind. A good amount of them were new players who only met Umbra through the First Player Auction, so while they were in awe of the Guild's wealth, talent and standing, they held no fear.
They had not seen the Dragon-Slaying Event or watched the tumultuous First Guild War, otherwise, they would have fled long ago.
The rest were players who were arrogant, feeling like there was nothing she could do in Cario City. If this was Vita City-State, no one would dare, but in a main city of this Kingdom? Who did she think she was?
As could be expected, players could not see the details of her Heraldry, otherwise, things would have been much smoother.
Riveting Night was too lazy to argue with them. The only things these brainless idiots could talk about would require her to spend too many words on them.
Instead, she just used the active skill of her Abyssal Ring.
｢Active 1 – Abyssal Pull: Open a wormhole to the abyss that swallows all enemies within range. Cooldown: 3 days.
Note: The maximum suction range is 500 meters at Rank 1.
Note: The maximum suction targets are 500 at Rank 1.｣
Naturally, she listed all the remaining players as enemies, so when the black wormhole opened up to swallow them in, they had a disbelieving expression on their faces.
To attack them in the heart of the city, where the Portal Center was, did she have no fear? How could she do such a thing?
After they were cleared, Riveting Night focused on the three women, the Three Pinnacles. Each of them showed no reaction to the removal of unnecessary viewers, only gazing at Riveting Night silently.
They would have to be fools to not see the change. The Riveting Night standing before them was nothing like the one they remembered. The aura she gave off and the way she spoke were vastly different.
That was a given though. The Riveting Night they remembered was the one from the original timeline, the one who was truly 21 years old and had never met Draco. Her personality and demeanor back then were more like a kuudere than a wicked and menacing person.
The current Riveting Night was the one from the past timeline, who had gone through such a horrible tribulation and had her sanity destroyed due to her obsession.
Even Sublime Notion had needed time to acclimate to Riveting Night's changes, much less these three.
Riveting Night faced them and spoke once again. "Darkrow is a thing of my past, representing my feud with Draco. I want nothing to do with it anymore. I am now the vice-guildmaster of Umbra."
Hera, Keira, and Lucia shared uncertain looks. What did she mean it was a representation of her feud with Draco? As far as they knew and had researched, the ill.u.s.trious leader of the number 1 guild was new to the gaming scene in a professional sense.
When had he ever tangled with them? He had never been a leader or any significant member of any guild from the previous FIVR games before Boundless.
Riveting Night was aware that her words would confuse them, but it didn't matter. She simply wanted to state her stance to them, if they understood the reason for it was another matter.
Riveting Night had changed too much over the 15 in-game years of the previous timeline and the events of this one. The way she viewed these three had also changed greatly, but she didn't hate them.
Hera and co were silent for a bit before Lucia stepped forward and spoke to Riveting Night in a light and almost singsong voice. "Are you leaving us?"
This question was like a dagger that pierced Riveting Night's facade. Lucia wasn't asking if Riveting Night was leaving the guild, as she had made it clear.
Lucia was asking if she was abandoning them, her three friends. This was a cutting and concise question, and Lucia, Hera, and Keira waited for Riveting Night's answer with bated breaths.
Riveting Night was silent for a long while. She mulled over everything from the point of view of Draco's benefits as well as her own will. This formed a rift in her mind as they both clashed.
Zaine seemed to sense something and her eyes gleamed. She walked up to Riveting Night and tapped her on the shoulder.
"Eva, there is no need to think too much. I can see that you have a history with them, something that existed before Draco, and might cause a rift between both parties if they are merged into your life."
"You worry that by doing so, Draco might be harmed indirectly due to differing interests or old trauma similar to the one you showed me before?"
Zaine suddenly smirked. "Eva, you're thinking too much."
Riveting Night was interested in what Zaine was trying to say, as she knew Zaine had a great grasp of psychology and social scenarios. In fact, she was an unparalleled genius in this aspect.
Anything she said would be very beneficial to resolving her current difficulty.
Zaine continued. "Eva, you are Draco's soulmate, the other half of his equation. If you punish yourself by rejecting what your heart desires over his benefits or goals, he would feel much more pain than you."