The space that had once been filled with people striving to end this diseased world. Hundreds of true believers, and thousands of hangers-on who were, at the very least, loyal to the money they were paid.
But now, they numbered less than twenty, and every single one of them was visible from...
2023-12-14 18:50:13 +0000 UTC View PostFirst of all, [Judgement of the Inferno]. Hell no. It might claim to not be all about witch hunts, but the description made it pretty damn clear on what side of due process this [Class] fell and it was decidedly the wrong one. Sure, it might have helped with rooting out cultists, but eve...
2023-12-14 18:49:15 +0000 UTC View PostThe fifth Evolution, the final step on the path to power. From now on, every Level would grant 30 Stat points, and the [Skills] gained would build upon your past choices wherever possible, gaining new effects based on your build up to this point.
And what a build that had been.
[Rogue...
2023-12-14 18:44:27 +0000 UTC View PostSeven separate battles in a single night, zapping all over the globe, at first under his own power, later being transported by portal mages and the relocation [Skills] belonging to military officers. Never bloody again.
If he could avoid it. But Isaac knew that he would go if the o...
2023-12-14 18:43:57 +0000 UTC View PostThere were many kinds of democracy in the world, ranging from people just trying to get on the same page to thinly veiled insults. It all depended on the nature of the situation and the temperaments of the people involved.
Elena preferred it when things were cordial, but sometimes, Churchil...
2023-12-14 18:33:07 +0000 UTC View PostNormally, Isaac borrowed Yoo-jin’s ability to generate frozen fortifications via the [Round Table], but that was a known trick. So for this fight, he’d switched out that [Skill] for Arthur’s [Heavy Plate Armor], which allowed him to freely move wearing heavy armor and compensate for all the...
2023-12-14 16:39:21 +0000 UTC View PostIceland was surprisingly warm for something near the Arctic Circle in the middle of winter. It was also in the middle of bloody nowhere, with a tiny population that should have made hiding a base here fairly obvious. But based on the intel they had, it was more of a stopover location than anythin...
2023-12-14 00:00:08 +0000 UTC View PostThe Himalayas were an awesome place to be. Mighty mountains filled with myths and legends of old, slopes that would be perfect to run, ski, or roll down … the only problem was the neighbors.
Genocidal assholes who’d sold out all humanity.
Not quite what one Fenrir Olgeirsson had h...
2023-12-13 16:35:35 +0000 UTC View PostThere were certain things that always elicited certain reactions.
Otters holding hands? Aw, so cute.
Someone kicking a puppy? That guy’s gonna be limping in a few seconds.
And when a hardened veteran of the most elite military units on planet Earth sported cat ears, jokes were...
2023-12-13 00:19:46 +0000 UTC View PostFive months. Five bloody months of preparation during which the fourth Anniversary had passed with a bare minimum of trouble, Events had been the usual pain in the behind, and so on.
Isaac had managed to grind all the way up to the edge of the fifth Evolution, but not quite crossed that thr...
2023-12-12 21:29:17 +0000 UTC View Post“So, we got War with some kind of fallen angel transformation [Skill], durability that makes them functionally immortal on the battlefield, and the ability to affect the perceptions of those who get too close. Is that everything?” Habicht asked.
“I’m pretty sure that [Axis Mundi] is...
2023-12-11 15:10:05 +0000 UTC View PostKids were so incredibly adorable. Of course, the kids in question were in the middle of the third Evolution, on par with anyone not considered monstrously strong by most standards, hardened veterans of every torture Isaac had been able to sneak past his military overseers, but still … in his ey...
2023-12-08 23:44:36 +0000 UTC View PostJosef had nothing to say now. Nothing to do but slump against the back of his seat, both his body in the real world and his representation in their group’s chamber. His insides still throbbed from where shrapnel had torn through him, nothing to say for the fact that the bones in his left leg we...
2023-12-08 21:54:26 +0000 UTC View PostIn the real world, when someone walks through a wall, they generally tend to not leave a perfect outline of themselves behind. Generally. But if the wall had sufficient structural integrity and was made from a material not prone to crumbling, you could get close. Also, the person walking...
2023-12-08 10:04:44 +0000 UTC View PostOn paper, this had probably been a win.
The current Aspirants for War and Pestilence were dead, killed by Isaac and Dr. Loup respectively, and Ardouin had absolutely kicked the ass of who had to have been the Aspirant of Death before Isaac had arrived. After all, the figure had been wearing...
2023-12-03 23:55:14 +0000 UTC View PostIf the [Master of Primordial Flame] had been a hammer, the sound mage was a scalpel. Tightly controlled fields of vibrations fouling up bullet projectiles, patches of ground being reduced to quicksand underfoot, perfectly tuned sound waves impacting buildings to vibrate the rebar to the point whe...
2023-12-03 19:51:57 +0000 UTC View PostSeven and a half months of things finally going smoothly, of problems that were solved using local resources even when [Raid Bosses] were involved.
A TV show that raked in huge rakings while still managing to scare people off [Raid Bosses], having built its popularity on Schadenfreude alone...
2023-12-02 21:45:41 +0000 UTC View PostIllusionists were officially on the top of his shitlist, no two ways about it.
His [Banish the Fog of War] removed that mess from everywhere within a hundred meters of him, but Ardouin could only deploy it at a distance five times a day and he had to save at least one of those charges to dr...
2023-12-01 00:09:37 +0000 UTC View Post“You’re seriously stealing eels? That’s got to be a new low point,” Jim groaned as he leaned back in his chair, resting his feet on a nearby crate.
“Because glass eels are valuable in the Asian Markets, and without new glass eels to develop into adults, Europe’s eel population w...
2023-11-29 21:59:43 +0000 UTC View PostThe military was a place that embodied the very concept of “regulation”, at least in theory. Discipline, a strict hierarchy, rules for absolutely everything.
Which just meant that when things weren’t going well, it was all the more obvious, blindingly so.
And the reactions to th...
2023-11-26 18:10:23 +0000 UTC View PostSometimes, there wasn’t much of a difference between a warzone and an area under construction.
And Etzel looked like a bomb had torn it to pieces. The bones remained, but everything else was, once again, being rebuilt from the ground up. Isaac could see several [Combat Engineers] tear apa...
2023-11-24 00:14:38 +0000 UTC View PostWhat the hell had warned people? Some kind of [System]-based warning he hadn’t known about because even in the other timeline, no one had been stupid enough to summon a Tier 10 monster before the first Tier 9 had graced the light of day?
That certainly couldn’t be it as Isaac had killed...
2023-11-20 16:40:48 +0000 UTC View Post“Are you sure this is a good idea?” Patrick asked.
“Define ‘good idea’,” Isaac responded.
“You know what I mean. I know you’ve put some thought into this, but it just feels … it goes against every rule of scientific conduct and good sense ever written,” Patrick rep...
2023-11-17 20:44:04 +0000 UTC View PostThe show ended up being simply titled “[Raid Boss]”, complete with brackets. And its premise was just as simple as its name. People get slaughtered by the monster while others commented.
Unsurprisingly, Herbert hadn’t managed to find any S-Rankers willing to fight in full view of the ...
2023-11-15 21:55:07 +0000 UTC View PostPreparing to fight the Tier 8 [Raid Boss] had been one of the most painful experiences in Yoo-jin’s life. The issue was that, well, he knew so much about how this thing operated, and what would and wouldn’t work against it, but implementing his knowledge had been difficult.
The issue wa...
2023-11-14 00:04:32 +0000 UTC View PostGetting to Saint Helena was an absolute nightmare. It was one of the most isolated places on the planet, excluding the likes of R’lyeh or central Antarctica.
Andre managed to teleport him a few thousand kilometers in the right direction, and Li-Mei teleported him further, as close to the ...
2023-11-12 21:21:46 +0000 UTC View PostA few days later Isaac found himself in the last place he’d ever expected to be—the lobby of a reality television producer. He didn’t watch reality TV, he didn’t enjoy it, he generally wasn’t a fan of it. The email he’d gotten had gone straight into the “ignore” folder and that wo...
2023-11-10 15:59:29 +0000 UTC View PostArthur was waiting for Isaac on the roof of the great hall, legs dangling over the side. Surrounding him were multiple devices projecting an anti-eavesdropping field.
“So, I’ve heard that Brussels got a bit crazy,” Arthur called out, “I heard it got crashed by that Monkey King of yo...
2023-11-07 17:37:18 +0000 UTC View PostGoing to Brussels to meet people had been interesting and helpful, but also frustrating in places. He’d made plenty of new and useful contacts, but possibly even more importantly, he’d discovered several potential sources of friction.
Specifically, Ardouin was going to be a problem. He ...
2023-11-06 16:45:17 +0000 UTC View Post“… And then he asked me if I’d really never made a mistake,” Isaac grumbled.
“What did you tell him?” Amy asked.
“I told him that everyone makes mistakes, and anyone who claims otherwise is lying, delusional, or stupid. So yes, I’d made mistakes, but I’d never made t...
2023-11-03 19:19:45 +0000 UTC View Post