Chapter 190
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Translator: Ace
Chapter: 190
Chapter Title: Stage 30 - Lv. 875 Dwarf Kingdom (3)
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The gods noticed it first.
Next came the exiles who were connected to that future.
High Ranker Ilgrim grinned.
"Man, what crazy bastard pulled this off? This is fun."
"Fun my ass. All the effort we've put in so far just went up in smoke."
"What's the big deal? We might as well sweep up everything worth taking before it all vanishes anyway. We needed to reset the future once anyhow."
His party members sighed. There was nothing they could do about it.
A massive upheaval had shattered the future's possibilities in a single blow, turning them to dust in the abyss.
Even if they tried to set things right again, there was no guarantee this future would hold.
"New toys are always welcome."
"You gonna recruit 'em?"
"Depends on their potential. If the guy grovels and begs on his knees, maybe I'll consider it."
"Otherwise you'll just make him."
"Nah, pulling off something like this means he's no ordinary guy. Probably a high ranker from somewhere else who died and got sent here."
The Labyrinth's entire history was measured from the moment the tutorial server was born—the medieval era when the first exile entered.
If that baseline twisted badly enough, the chain of history would unravel like a kite cut loose, sinking into the abyss and vanishing.
It didn't happen easily, though.
There were safeguards against upheavals that could rewrite server history: [Hero Units].
Exiles couldn't interfere directly with history themselves. Only the NPCs already living in the Labyrinth—those hailed as heroes—could truly alter it.
By becoming friends with heroes, their mentors, or their rivals.
It usually happened indirectly like that.
That was the only way to steer toward a positive future.
But what had just occurred was simpler, easier, and far more devastating.
"They're all dead. Five hero units tied to the dwarves—gone. Just dropped dead right there, no reasons or setups."
"The one that got wiped was the dwarf kingdom's capital, right?"
"And it had two great engineers—the fathers of magitech. That's the problem."
"This future's gonna get even more barren now."
On the flip side, the new future to emerge might have more natural resources left untouched.
Technological progress would slow down somehow, reducing demand.
But exiles weren't the type to leisurely build mining rigs, process ore, and haul it to the kingdom.
When you got down to it, it was a loss.
Even if resetting the future for resource respawns made sense once in a while, no one would go this extreme.
The losses fell on them, after all.
So none of the established high rankers could have done something this radical. No reason to.
It had to be someone new.
And probably not alone.
Ilgrim was thrilled. Whoever it was, their stunt had erased this future.
And luckily, he was still hanging on to the vanishing one.
If he left now, he'd never return.
"Eight years, huh? Looks like a party from 46 Server ground their teeth and came over. Whoever they are, thanks!"
"Psycho bastard."
The NPC they'd been dealing with panicked at Ilgrim's sudden outburst.
But they couldn't react.
His head was already severed from his body.
The high ranker had gone berserk.
At least, that's how it must have seemed to the NPCs who'd seen him as a good trading partner.
After thoroughly demolishing everything up to the map's edge, Ilgrim gathered whatever he could carry and returned to the kingdom.
This future was sinking into the abyss anyway. No reason to treat its people like people anymore.
Even the gods stayed silent as their followers died.
Those followers wouldn't be theirs much longer.
In the dead of night, the Tri-Council jolted awake from their beds.
The incident was too grave for complaints.
"Can't keep this from spreading as a rumor now."
"Something this big, everything falls apart anyway."
"Maybe siding with that senior was the wrong call."
The Tri-Council was in a bind too.
Server 43 was relatively mild toward exiles—one of the dozen or so most vital servers propping up the kingdom's economy right now.
The sudden cataclysm there was a huge deal, and they had to pinpoint the cause.
It wasn't hard.
The problem senior had entered a rift that morning. He'd only just returned.
And he'd refused to log where he'd gone or what he'd done with the on-duty national mage.
It was common to skip records for things that wouldn't look good on a resume or secret gains.
But the dual-wielder he'd listed as party leader hailed from Server 43.
Who did it? Obvious. And most lacked the power anyway.
The finance dragonkin screamed.
"Goddamn it! This was a trap from the start!"
"You're the one who grabbed that hand the hardest."
The troll sneered at the shrieking dragonkin.
He'd dug deep into the Chaos Cult that had newly built a temple in the slums.
The Throne of Chaos existed on every server, really.
Its authority was too vague for a major god, so veterans only considered it during rearing, then apostatized while accepting punishment. Common stuff.
Seemed impressive if you thought it controlled luck, but reality? Meh.
Unless you meant the legendary supreme deity of fortune.
Chaos's power just rerolled the dice—never favorably.
Lucky not to worsen.
Couldn't reliably profit, so cults stayed small.
That was the common view.
Mayer watched them both and spoke up.
"Still, we're not losing out. High rankers will dig hard into who did it. We just tell 'em. Never promised to keep it secret."
"Then it becomes fully that senior's problem. Hope they don't turn our capital into a battlefield."
The troll shook his head.
"Nah, what we caught might not be so simple. Could even be a good thing."
Mayer and the dragonkin eyed him curiously.
The troll shared his investigation.
This kingdom was ancient.
Even centuries-old fairies hadn't seen its founding.
When those elders first set foot here, the land was already settled.
Since then, only the guilds holding hegemony as the nation had changed names endlessly.
Exiles never knew when they'd leave for the next run, so they didn't bother writing histories. Sparse info.
Yet the Labyrinth had gods.
Beings older than long-lived races.
The troll had to consult his own god after exhausting leads.
Prayer at the temple got a reply after ages.
Even a divine utterance—rare.
His god's tale was from an era few knew: long ago, when exiles hadn't secured rifts and pioneered from scratch.
When many thrones sat empty, unclaimed lands everywhere.
The negligible god of chaos had once ruled this kingdom.
Old gods or ancient exiles knew; young ones didn't.
His god had lived here as an exile back then.
Troll reported the new Chaos follower stepping into the kingdom.
His god tilted its head.
"Not new Chaos? The one from back then vanished ages ago. Thousands of years. Thought the throne stayed empty since."
His god took interest.
The pantheon was gods' turf. Only enter when summoned; no casual prayers.
Troll rushed to the under-construction Chaos temple.
Henry, the sole priest, greeted him.
Grabbed his hand, prayed to the Goddess of Chaos.
Troll expected nothing. Even messages from his own god were rare.
Couldn't watch every follower across worlds.
Gods didn't chat with others' faithful lightly.
So the divine utterance shocked him.
"Pioneer-era Chaos? That's me. More remember me than I thought. What? Shadow God? Don't know 'em. Throne was empty then."
Troll was confused.
Hearing his god address the Goddess of Chaos plunged him deeper.
"Oh my. Lady Chaos. I'm an assassin who was once your follower. Became a god much later."
"Oh? High rank in the cult?"
"Not memorable enough."
"Time flies. That era's fuzzy anyway."
"Long life does that."
Mayer and the dragonkin gaped at the full story.
"Ugh, feel like I learned stuff I didn't need to."
"More like, you served the Shadow God? Planning to troll-assassin?"
"Trolls stand out too much. Just needed to hide and strike first. Not full assassin."
Not that weird. Trolls didn't always charge yelling.
Mayer frowned oddly.
"Amazing, sure. But why so deferential to the Goddess? Old follower or not, what's changed?"
Troll pondered how to relay without sounding insane.
"Said even five current gods couldn't take her."
"What? Makes no sense."
"War God got beat regularly..."
Personal god power? Pointless talk.
No avatars, no sightings.
War God was ancient. Impressive in itself.
War and duels topped warrior gods.
More challengers.
Tri-Council members knew high rankers vanishing from rankings after challenging here.
War God publicized wins, troll-warrior style.
Seen as top-tier among gods.
"And probably at least level 7,000... Won't make an enemy if possible."
No rebuttals this time.
7,000 points?
2,300 skills?
Mind map sprawling too deep and vast to glimpse fully.
"That's... a real god."
Suddenly, everything else felt trivial.
Level 7k backup?
Isn't that just winning?
Trapped on a throne or not, what mattered was capability.
Such leveling meant info on another plane.
Know-how worlds apart.
Levels didn't equal combat power perfectly, but those numbers...
The dragonkin broke the silence.
"Fine, not our place. Better plan trades hauling resources from 46 Server. 43 crashing boosts 46's value."
Mayer muttered.
"If all planned... that senior. The goddess too."
Troll replied.
"We're sitting pretty anyway. High rankers rush to kill? One avatar from her ends 'em."
They knew it wasn't simple.
God avatars weren't casual.
Forgotten cult handling one? Doubtful.
But way beyond mortals. Unseen, unheard, unwanted involvement.
Mayer summed up.
"They'll handle it. We play dumb."
Watch the feast, eat the rice cakes.
High ones sort themselves.
Of course, they reported to their gods.
Soon spread to all.
That era's Chaos returned.
Flipped 43 Server on arrival.
Big ripples, good or bad.
Meanwhile, the goddess lounged on her throne, crunching a lollipop.
"Demons never get cavities from sweets!"
"Vampires too, right?"
I sighed, sending Hiu, the kid, and dazed Jenny home.
Big day; they needed rest.
"Where you off to? Not home?"
"Tri-Council's probably gathered by now. Obvious it's me. Gotta sweet-talk, soothe, dangle carrots, swing whips."
"You have my thanks, great warrior."
"You'll be busier soon, Goddess."
"Pantheon's chaos already, I hear. Maybe drop in, say hi. Long time."
"If you want."
Learned from chatting with Nature God there: she was more famous than I thought.
Among gods, at least.
Tri-Council wasn't dumb; they'd know now.
Barged in; as expected, assembled.
The three councilors, slack-jawed, welcomed me and agreed to keep relations smooth, no issues.
Confirmed they'd stonewall on secrets.
Too much profit from my 46 Server monopoly to refuse.
They griped about a heads-up next time.
I smiled, nodded.
No real plan to warn ahead.
I'd need fame eventually.
Not yet.
For now, just some Hardrock high rankers whispering was ideal.
Stunt pulled; fallout coming.
Councilors buy a little time, that's all.