A chest requiring Grandmaster Lockpicking would take considerable time to open. Kael tucked it into his inventory; he had more pressing matters to attend to.

  The five of them followed the Second Chieftain back to the Thunder Plaza. They expected to find Fenris celebrating, but instead, he was slumped on a stone step, his face deathly pale, supported by two other warriors.

  “Brother!” Bork rushed to his side, his voice cracking with alarm.

  Fenris’s weary eyes fluttered open. He managed a faint smile for Bork and Kael, his lips trembling as he tried to speak. Suddenly, his head lolled back, and he lost consciousness.

  “Fenris! Fenris, wake up!” Bork cried, shaking him gently.

  Kael stepped forward. “We need to get him to Starlight Village now,” he said urgently. “Find a healer, stabilize his condition.”

  “Right, right…” Bork mumbled. With a sound like rushing wind, he vanished, taking his brother with him.

  “Wait,” Kael started to say, about to follow.

  “Hold on,” Lila called out, stopping him in his tracks.

  Kael turned to face her.

  “This buff is insane,” she said, a glint in her eye. “It’ll disappear once we turn in the quest. Why don’t we go grind some experience first?”

  Orion’s face lit up. It was a classic min-maxer’s thought, and a tempting one. Kael paused, weighing the opportunity against the risk of delaying the quest turn-in.

  Before he could decide, the teleport nexus flared to life, and a single figure stepped through. It was Malcolm, the former steward of the Brotherhood.

  “Fourth Chieftain,” he said, panting for breath. “The First Chieftain summons you all back immediately. There is urgent business to discuss.”

  A collective sigh went through the party. The system was keeping them on a tight leash. If they ignored the summons now, it would almost certainly affect their final reward. It wasn’t worth the risk.

  “Alright,” Kael said to Malcolm. “We’re on our way.” He gave a nod to the others and stepped onto the teleport pad.

  They materialized in the Starlight Village council hall, where the First Chieftain, Korbin, sat alone on the central throne. He spoke before they could.

  “Haha, Ullr. Heroes,” he boomed, his voice echoing in the hall. “You have done the Brotherhood a great service by establishing the nexus. And you defeated three of Kromgar’s powerful lieutenants. I imagine the Warchief is furious.”

  “This is your reward.”

  A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  A system notification appeared for all of them.

  [System]: Congratulations! You have assisted the Third Chieftain in establishing the Blackwind Brotherhood teleport nexus. You have received one Level 30 Ascendant item.

  For Kael, a second message followed.

  [System]: Lucky Bonus triggered! You have received an additional Level 30 Ascendant item.

  Including the reward for getting Fenris to the stronghold, this single quest had netted him four Ascendant-tier items. By any measure, it was an incredibly generous haul. And yet, Kael couldn't shake the feeling that the system was being cruel. Not with the rewards, but with the difficulty.

  Looking back, the game had thrown three nearly impossible tasks at them. How would a normal five-person party ever have completed such a complex, high-stakes mission?

  He thought back to the defense of the stronghold—a hundred players against ten thousand. He remembered the Archon’s [UNDEAD REBIRTH] spell during the siege of Starlight Village. Even for someone with his broken power level, every victory had been a desperate, down-to-the-wire clutch. A single failure at any point would have shattered their progress.

  Is forging a new path in this world supposed to be this hard? he wondered. No wonder no one in my past life ever uncovered this storyline.

  “Ullr? Ullr?”

  Korbin’s voice snapped him back to reality. He looked up to see that the others had already been dismissed, and the First Chieftain was looking at him with concern.

  “My apologies, First Chieftain,” Kael said quickly. “You were saying?”

  The powerful aura around Korbin seemed to deflate as he let out a heavy sigh. “My third brother… he expended a great deal of his life force healing Bork and me days ago. Today, he was grievously wounded by the Warchief’s minions…”

  Wounded by minions? Kael thought. But… I killed all of them. Then, realization dawned. Ah, so that’s the original script.

  The quest’s difficulty wasn't supposed to be so high because Fenris was meant to intervene, sacrificing his own health to save the players from being overrun.

  By perfectly clearing every challenge, Kael and his team had saved themselves, but the game’s narrative still required Fenris to be at death’s door. The story was proceeding along its pre-scripted path.

  “…leaving him on the verge of death,” Korbin continued, his voice thick with regret. “If I had known the Warchief was colluding with those humans, I would have escorted him myself.”

  “He will be alright,” Kael said, offering what little comfort he could.

  “Hmph…” Korbin fell silent, head bowed. The great hall became unnervingly quiet, and an awkward tension filled the air.

  Just then, Bork strode in from a back room. Korbin shot to his feet.

  “How is he?” he demanded, grabbing Bork’s shoulders. “Is he any better?”

  Bork sighed, a deep, rattling sound. “His internal injuries are too severe. There is nothing our healers can do.”

  “What?!” Korbin staggered back, his face ashen.

  “However…” Bork’s voice took on a new urgency. “Healer Isaac told me of a Master Healer who lives in these lands. If we can find this person, they can certainly save our brother.”

  A spark of hope ignited in Korbin’s eyes. “Where? Where is this Master Healer? I will go myself!”

  Bork opened his mouth to answer, but was cut off by Malcolm bursting into the hall, his face pale with panic.

  “First Chieftain! It is a catastrophe!”

  Korbin’s brow furrowed in anger. “What is it now?”

  “The enemy… they are moving! They are attacking the village’s outer protective ward!”

  “What?” Korbin roared.

  At the same instant, a private message flashed in Kael’s vision.

  [System]: The Warchief has learned of the deaths of his three champions. Enraged, he has decided to advance his plans.

  It was followed by a second, public broadcast that appeared in the sky above every player in the game.

  [Server Announcement]: The Warchief is launching a full-scale assault on all starting villages! Players, prepare for battle!

  Across the world of Godpath, a single, unified sentiment echoed through every chat channel.

  “HOLY SHIT!”