First things first, Eva had Luxia stop their joyride as the Light Phoenix blazed through the atmosphere, reaching the Aether Hall of Vita City-State in two instants. Eva had no idea where they had been before, but for it to take more than one instant at the speed of light meant that they must have been many continents away.
She jumped off Luxia's back and used her Short Blink skill when she was close to the ground in order to land safely. This technique was commonly used by players with flying mounts allowing them to enter combat quickly and was especially deadly when performed by rogue players in combination with their cloaking skill.
Eva entered the Aether Hall after being greeted by Vitae, heading down to the former bas.e.m.e.nt which was now housing the Anomaly Realm. Only she knew what she did down there, as she had spent less than two hours before she came back out.
Her expression remained the same, a cold grimace, preventing anyone from gleaning into the thoughts of the mysterious Vice-Guildmaster of Umbra.
She then went to check on the other wives of Draco, Hikari, Zaine, and Roma. Seeing that they were fine and busy looking after their children - and the genealogy as a whole - she did not disturb them.
Her next stop was an inn where the Three Pinnacles, Hera, Keira, and Lucia had been residing while they tried to find out where their place lay in the scheme of things.
As soon as she entered the room, the other girls perked up and smiled once they saw Eva's beautiful face. They submitted to her because they felt like moons to a planet whenever she removed her veil.
Now that she had come to them like this, they understood that they were finally about to become an important part of her life again. Eva revealed an uncharacteristic smile when she looked at them.
"I have two things I want you guys to do. First, I wish for you to disband Darkrow and have all the true members of our guild join Umbra. We'll offer them the same terms as our normal recruits, unparalleled opportunities for growth, and domination in exchange for loyalty and obedience. Is that okay?"
Their eyes gleamed with surprise.
"You would do that? Allow us to once again fight under your banner?" Hera, the short auburn-haired woman asked with a raised eyebrow.
Eva nodded. "Yes, although I need to make something crystal clear. I may be the Vice Guildmaster, but Umbra belongs solely Draco. Everything you or I will do will be to allow him to reach the peak of this world."
Lucia giggled, the blond-haired noblewoman's large chest bouncing as she did. "So, the rumors we heard were true. You and this Draco fellow are like two magnets. I dare say your word should be as good as his."
Eva blinked and opened her mouth to retort, but could only shut up in defeat since it was true. "Fine, fine, you win. Anyway, the second thing I want you to do is to accompany me into a Divine Dungeon."
Keira's eyes glowed, the redhead s.e.xy beauty flexing her toned body that was just shy of beefy enough to be masculine. "A dungeon! That's all you had to say! I was getting bored cooped up in here."
Eva grimaced. "Sorry about that, I had a lot of things to handle in the meantime."
Hera and Lucia approached Eva then hugged her gently. "We understand. But please, Eva, don't forget that we are your friends… and we are willing to carry your burdens for you just as Sister Mary does."
(Author's Note: As you can imagine, Mary is Sublime Notion's real name. Doesn't really fit, does it? That's exactly the effect Sublime Notion wants.)
Eva was touched deep down. Beneath her cold exterior and the ever-burning heat of her madness, the normal girl the three of them knew her as, who enjoyed having friends she could trust and spending time with her family, was moved.
Unfortunately, that normal girl had been smothered by the blazing madness and the murderous frost that composed Eva's mind and current personality. One day, she might surface again fully, but until then, it only came in flashes.
Eva nodded. "I'll make sure to have you by my side in the future. For now, let us get going to our destination."
The Three Pinnacles nodded and enthusiastically followed Eva out of the Aether Hall. They were excited to finally quest with Eva after so long, and this would also be their first time in this amazing game too!
They marveled when Luxia came down and lowered her neck, allowing Eva and the girls to mount her back as the Light Phoenix took off to the cave entrance which would take them to the small world they needed to get to.
It took Luxia a single flap to get there, and the group dismounted. The Three Pinnacles were left speechless by this. They had only just got on, before they already had to get off without even having the opportunity to enjoy the ride…
Eva took out the deed to the Plains of the Colossus dungeon, which resonated with the entrance to the cave. The item shone and turned into golden motes of light that entered her body.
As soon as this occurred, the seemingly empty and average cave turned into a portal that was blue-ish in color. What was on the other side was not visible, but Eva already knew what awaited them.
She led the Three Pinnacles into the Divine Dungeon while carefully explaining how Divine Dungeons worked and informed them about the lore of this one in particular. After all, the only reason she and Draco knew that stuff at this point was because they were reincarnators.
Once in, Eva and co were led to the town hall of the Leikarthi Village. She met up with the Lady of the area here, Portia. The older woman still remembered Eva, but lamented that she was still Rank 1.
Her previous work together with the Three Beauties had been extremely beneficial. It had allowed them to live in relative peace for a long while now, making them extremely satisfied.
Once Eva reached Rank 2, she would be able to take on bigger tasks and help the fight against the invading Colossi even further. Eva simply smiled and introduced Portia to the Three Pinnacles, requesting for the old man to grant them a quest and watch their progress.
"From now on, these three ladies will take my place in methodically repelling the vile Colossi from your lands every week. They are as skilled as I am and much more versatile. They shall prove to be a great addition to your plans."
Portia assessed the three young women and nodded, liking what she saw. "They certainly look competent, and to acquire your recommendations means that they can be trusted. You come at the perfect time. I needed someone to check these locations for any surviving people of my clan."
｢Silent Rescue – Divine Quest
Description: Scout the ruins of former villages and towns around Leikarthi Village to see if there are any survivors! If not, find anything leftover that could aid Leikarthi Village in fighting back against the invasion!
Stage 1: Exit the village using their special method.
Rewards: Legendary item, 10,000 platinum｣
｢Accept Quest?
Y/N｣
The Three Pinnacles accepted the quest and turned to Eva questioningly. From the way she spoke, it seemed like she wasn't going to come with them, rather acting as a sort of intermediary.
Eva smiled towards them. "Go and prove yourself to Portia. My goal here today is different and requires me to go solo if I want even a slight chance of success. I promise you that we will quest together in the near future."
Not ones to nag and pine like little girls, the Three Pinnacles formally nodded and left with their minds fully on their task and nothing else. Eva felt a pang of something, some strange emotion as she once again commanded her best friends and followers to fulfill a task.
Looking at their backs as they left was what caused that feeling… nostalgia maybe? Wistfulness?
Eva turned to Portia and spoke. "I need to know how the Colossi managed to enter your realm. Exactly what method did they use?"
Portia was startled by this question, and thought carefully. "If I remember correctly, we've discovered that they used a replica of the Orb of Worlds to discover our co-ordinates, but they couldn't use it to enter per se."
"All it had allowed them to do at the time was to weaken the spatial barrier. We were unable to find out what special method they ended up using to do the rest. Even this much information came at the through great sacrifice, as we wanted to search a way to expel their troops when they first arrived."
Portia sighed. "However, this knowledge has only helped buttress our despair instead. With a replica of the Orb of Worlds, they will easily find us again and repeat the same process, even if we were to expel them. The only way to win would be to cull them all, a trying task."
Eva nodded. "Thank you."
Portia frowned when she saw Eva taking her leave. "Will you be leaving the village? If so, let me assign an exit squad member for you."
Eva turned and smiled thinly. "Don't worry, my job here is done. I shall be returning from whence I came. Thanks for your time, Lady Portia. We might not see each other any time soon, but I shall send even more competent people to your aid."
Portia sighed and looked slightly saddened. "I understand. Thank you for your repeated help Eva Morningstar, and may your activities yield you some benefit."
Eva didn't respond, only exiting the small world through the portal again. She turned and fused the deed with the portal to keep it open. The first person to exit the portal would be the next owner of the deed, and it would no longer be her concern.
Of course, it would be one of the Three Pinnacles. The natives of the small world would die upon leaving their zone, so no one would bother poking their heads through.
Besides, they needed outsiders to have the deed if they wanted them to help. If they kept the deed for themselves, which was utterly beyond useless to them, they would be shooting themselves in the c.o.c.k.
Anyone who entered from the outside would not receive the deed, and they would never come out either. Eva and co were only allowed in because they had the deed. Anyone else who came after them would likely be butchered and fed to the dogs.
Whatever the case, Eva could care less. She summoned Luxia and mounted the Light Phoenix, zooming off into the distance. Portia had said very little, but the wealth of information she had given Eva was astounding.
One problem Eva faced that she was considering to solve was how to locate the specific co-ordinates of the treasury of the Merchant's Guild, her hunch telling her it was locked away in a super mini small world.
She couldn't just break into the Guild's vault and hope that it was located there. That would be suicide and foolishness of the highest degree.
As such, Portia had told her how to find her target and how to make breaking-in possible. The rest was up to Eva herself to figure out.
Eva took out the Orb of Worlds which had been in her inventory ever since it caused her to have a painful internal breakdown that Zaine had to save her from. She hadn't even looked at it once since then, but now she observed it carefully.
｢Orb of Worlds (Replica) – Special Item
Rank: Legendary
Effects:
Passive 1 – Void Immunity: Up to 50 people can be blessed with the <Void Immunity> status, preventing them from experiencing any backlash from world traveling.
Passive 2 – Indigeneity: No matter which realm one is transported to, the people sent over by this item are granted the knowledge of the natives.
Active 1 – Gateway: Activating this skill sends up to 50 people to a random small world or side realm for 1 week. Cooldown: 1 month.｣
Theirs was also a replica. After all, the real Orb of Worlds was a Divine item, possibly an Origin one. It would be in the possession of the Gods, not mere mortals like them.
Eva looked at the Orb of World's effects and noted that none of them specifically helped her do what Portia said, so how was she supposed to go about it?
Eva guessed that it must be a hidden function of the item then, and it required one to know what they wanted to do before it would be achievable. As such, the madwoman focused her mind and forced her will upon the orb, trying to see if her idea would work.