On the outskirts of Innsbruck, Austria.
If a person walked along the mountain path, they would see an old castle. It was a castle by a transparent lake. It was beautiful enough to capture the gaze of passing birds. But why did it feel so dreary?
Swaaah.
The wind blew through the fields. There were no signs of life.
***
A 100 pyeong room that didn’t have any furniture or decorations. There was only one capsule placed in this room.
“Luna...”
The man sleeping in the capsule seemed to be having a terrible nightmare. The dyed green hair was wet from tears, and the haggard face was distorted with pain and sorrow.
“Luna...!”
The troubled man who repeatedly called out one name was none other than Agnus. He gave a loud scream and raised his body.
“Pant... Pant...”
He couldn’t see his lover, no matter how hard he looked around the desolate castle. The awful reality cooled Agnus’ cold head and blood.
“Luna...”
Agnus got up and moved to the window, his golden eyes staring at the lake. The landscape of the castle was reflected on the lake. He always felt warm when he saw this scene with her, but now it was the opposite.
"...The landscape that you wanted to see every morning.”
He had accumulated wealth. It was an immense wealth that allowed him to buy a whole castle. But he was alone. There was no one but him in this huge castle.
Kkuok.
Agnus barely suppressed his tears. His lover Luna had to face a terrible end because of his incompetence. Agnus wanted to kill himself every time he thought about the past. He resented that he couldn’t turn back time.
“I... I want to meet you again.”
Stagger.
Agnus’ powerless steps headed back to the capsule. Then he connected to another world, Satisfy. It was to achieve a desire that couldn’t be fulfilled in reality.
***
“Shit! Dammit!”
“...”
Black and White attacked Reidan but died, suffering enormous losses. They were filled with poison as they reunited at the resurrection point. White cursed while Black screamed inwardly. Their fury towards Overgeared pierced the sky.
‘What type of person is Grid? How did he get so many excellent NPCs?’
‘Faker... A normal class dares...’
White wanted to run back to Reidan right now. This time, she would achieve her desire. Unfortunately, the opponent was too strong. She couldn’t dream of revenge. Did this make sense? They should feel fear when fighting Kraugel or Grid, not Grid’s subordinates!
A gentle voice entered the ears of the trembling sisters.
“It will be hard for you to confront Overgeared with your strength. It is safe to say that Overgeared’s current power is a match for the Ares army.”
“...!”
Who was at the resurrection point? The sisters’ eyes sharpened as they stared warily in the direction of the voice. Then they were surprised as they saw the owner of the voice. It was a white-haired young man beautiful enough to be a woman, Veradin.
"Captain of the hyenas? Why are you here?”
Hyena. It was a derogatory term for necromancers. A necromancer could manipulate the corpses of others. They were called hyenas because they had a habit of looking for dead bodies on the battlefield. The reason why the sisters called Veradin the captain of the hyenas was simple.
Veradin was the top ranked necromancer.
‘The one who was called the best genius along with Lauel in the 10 Rookies.’
‘Unlike Lauel, he’s been acting quietly. Why did he approach us?’
There must be a big picture. Veradin extended a hand to the sisters.
“If you want revenge on Overgeared, why don’t you join us?”
“Hah...!”
White laughed. It was ridiculous.
“Join the White Wolf Guild? You want us to join the guild led by someone weaker? Do you not understand your targets? In the first place, how can you help us?”
It was a violent reaction, but Veradin wasn’t offended. The White Wolf was a guild in the top 200 of the guild rankings. However, Veradin acknowledge it wasn’t enough to recruit such big people like the White and Black sisters.
“Please don’t misunderstand. I’m trying to recruit you into Immortal, not my guild.”
“Immortal?”
It was a big name.
"The organization of necromancers?”
The sisters laughed but then Veradin spoke amazing words.
"Immortal is a secret organization that serves Agnus.”
“A-Agnus?”
The weight of Agnus’ name was enormous. Agnus, along with Kraugel and Ares, had a powerful force and a unique madness. Even the worst dark gamer group, Blood Carnival, avoided Agnus. None of them wanted to provoke Agnus and they were always wary of him.
But so far, Agnus didn’t have much influence on the power structure. It was because Agnus was always alone, just like Kraugel. Now Veradin claimed otherwise. Agnus also had a force behind him.
“Wait a minute. Isn’t it too dangerous to give power to that crazy guy?”
"He smashes a city every time he’s bored...”
“...”
Veradin felt bitter that even the sisters, who weren’t classified as normal, perceived Agnus as the biggest madman. Veradin laughed and shook his head. “Unlike what you think, Agnus has a surprisingly cool mind. He doesn’t do mass murder unless his feelings are disturbed.”
“...”
In other words, he would commit mass murder if he was in a bad mood. Veradin once again made an offer.
"Come to Immortal. If you’re with Agnus, you don’t have to be afraid of Overgeared.”
“...”
It made a lot of sense. Agnus’ presence was that big. In particular, there was Agnus’ Death Knight Transformation. It might be temporary, but he could become the strongest undead knight that didn’t have to fear death.
'If we’re with a person like that...’
'We will gain wings on our back.’
However, it was difficult to change forces so easily. They had to look at the conditions.
“What is Immortal’s purpose?”
“It’s to make Agnus the king of the living and the dead. The goal is to dominate the whole continent in the future by setting up a kingdom where undead and users coexist.”
“...Interesting. It would be incredibly strong if you can create an undead army at the level of a kingdom.”
“But won’t there be annoying activities if we join? We’re in Blood Carnival because we’re guaranteed freedom.”
“Of course, you will also get freedom in Immortal. However, please be aware that Overgeared and the Ares army are our enemies. If there’s an armed conflict with the two forces, you will have to fight.”
“...”
The conditions weren’t bad for White and Black. Not only were they guaranteed freedom, they liked the fact that they were definitely opposed to Overgeared.
‘I’m wary about being hostile to Ares, but...’
‘Won’t we be invincible if our strength is combined with Agnus’ undead army?’
Their worries didn’t last long. They felt reassured when thinking about Agnus.
“Okay. Then we will withdraw from Blood Carnival.”
Veradin shook his head at the Black and White sisters.
"No, on the surface, you should stay in Blood Carnival. Just like I am staying in White Wolf.”
“You aren’t announcing to the world that there is an organization called Immortal yet?”
"Yes, more than anything else, I’m curious. The master hidden behind Blood Carnival. What is his identity?”
"Ha, we also want to know that.”
The White and Black sisters scoffed, but didn’t express any complaints. They were also curious about the master’s identity.
***
The stronghold of Blood Carnival located deep inside the Dravian Mountains. One person spent most of his time in the previous nest of the light dragon Nevartan. Blood Carnival’s master, a.k.a ‘Dark.’ Only the three founding members of Blood Carnival knew the identity of the hidden master.
‘It’s annoying that the White and Black sisters are silent.’
The sisters had attacked Reidan and failed. Based on their original nature, it wouldn’t be strange if they rushed to him right now. The Blood Carnival members gathered for the benefits of the individuals, so it was impossible for him to send forces to help.
However, they were silent and this didn’t make him feel good. He thought about this and sent a whisper to Viola, one of the founding members of Blood Carnival.
-Have you found any named NPCs on the level of Piaro?
-I have roamed several kingdoms with the kids and haven’t seen a talented NPC. It’s the first time I’ve discovered that an independent NPC is so precious.
-Everyone is greedy for talents. Hrmm... Maybe it is wiser to train one ourselves.
-Train a named NPC? How?
-Viola, have you seen the Bairan war video? One soldier was helping Grid covertly on the battlefield. Maybe Grid didn’t look for named NPCs from the beginning. He might’ve systematically trained an ordinary NPC and evolved them into a named NPC.
-Is that possible?
-We need to figure out if it’s possible or not. If you see a roughly gifted NPC, secure them. We will place them in the dungeon and raise their level.
-U-Understood.
Viola was dubious, but followed Dark’s command. Her confidence in Dark was this deep. After passing on the order to Viola.
"I should keep it faithful to the owner.”
Dark made a pleased expression and moved to a secret passage hidden behind a curtain. He descended the stairs and saw a complex maze. The creator of this maze?
“Let’s work hard today.”
It was none other than Dark.
Kaaang! Kaaang!
A dungeon with a terrible difficulty was created by Dark’s hand that was holding a pickaxe. It was the emergence of a new hidden class, Dungeon Maker.
This would later be a great gift for Grid and Overgeared...