100\% Drop Rate: My Special Ability is Perfect Replication

Nirvana fell to her knees as the battle erupted around her.

The puppet knights, despite losing their master, rushed toward them. Thalia screamed something, but the sound was distant and distorted. Greg rushed forward, raising his shield. Spider clenched her teeth as she finally transformed again.

Zen and Thalia spared her a glance and left her to fight.

A deep black groove was carved into the stone where Faust and Vi had been standing. The sudden blast of golden light came from nowhere. There was no time to even react.

They were just gone.

Across from her, on the opposite side of the black trench, Drekar was also on his knees. There wasn’t despair in his large black eyes. Instead, there was a bitter smile on his lips.

"Rest well, my light."

It all came crashing down on her.

This was real.

Her heart ached in her chest. Real pain she knew was heartbreak. It felt like she would die.

’No. NO! Don’t break. It’s not over. I’ll bring him back! I’ll...’

There was no corpse. She didn’t know how long it would take. But she had to try.

If there’s one thing Faust would want for her, it would be for her to keep moving forward.

Death was the only guarantee. But she would break that.

[Your soul is cracking.]

Nirvana let out an audible scream that made her friends turn back, worry flashing on their faces.

The pain was relentless and disorienting. She felt it all, yet at the same time was numb.

[Process has been halted till race evolution]

Relief washed over her so suddenly she nearly blacked out. Her vision blurred in and out, but she noticed when something changed.

All the figures moving rapidly over the floating island stopped in their tracks and just stared.

Zen’s jaw dropped. Thalia watched suspiciously. Greg was smiling wide. Spider had a blank, disbelieving look on her face.

Nirvana followed their eyes.

She jumped up, eyes wide with disbelief. Her weak heart was pounding like a drum. How foolish she was. A giddy smile formed on her face.

Faust floated down from the golden magic circle hovering over their heads. His white and red armor glowed in its light. His red hair was a halo of fire that fit the arrogant grin on his face.

All the puppets dropped to their knees.

Drekar looked up in disbelief. "It... it’s not possible.... How do you have control of the Nifelgar?"

He must have meant the magic circle because Faust glanced at it.

"I’m in control of it, but that’s not important," Faust said calmly. "Do you yield, Shadow my friend?"

The words sent a shiver down the ancient assassin’s spine. His head drew low, eyes darting around, trying to make sense of what was happening.

Then he froze and dropped to his knees slowly.

"I yield."

Nirvana was lost in whatever game Faust was playing. The euphoria of seeing him alive was more important.

She ran to him as he reached the ground, touching down softly. She ruined the majesty of his return, crashing into him. Faust fell over with her as she kissed his neck, savoring the familiar scent of his blood.

"You doubt me too much," Faust said, sighing and rubbing her back.

He got up with her, carrying her in one hand easily. He must have fallen over on purpose; if not, it would be like running into a brick wall.

The others approached warily, but Thalia marched up to him and said, "making plans with you is pointless."

"I never plan for anything," Faust said with a shrug. "Big waste of time in my opinion."

"That’s a complete lie," Thalia remarked. Then she mellowed down, staring at him. "So you killed her?"

"That’s what I said I would do."

Thalia glanced from him to Drekar and then the black trench in the ground. She shrugged.

Greg patted Faust so hard across the back that Nirvana felt it from her place against his chest. Faust didn’t buckle or flinch, but he glared at Greg.

"You had me really scared there, man," Greg said with a soft smile. "Nice to know we still have you."

"You won’t have me if you keep hitting me like that," Faust growled back.

Nirvana never understood why he was so hostile to Greg, but she enjoyed seeing him show those emotions.

They all looked up. Which was technically down.

The entire Novice Village and acres of wild land around it hung over their heads. The full castle had come through the portal now. It hung upside down in the air.

"What are you going to do with this?" Thalia said.

Faust frowned. "I’m going to take it down just a little above the Novice Village, then we’ll go down. Just have to be careful, the magic is rather sensitive—"

A massive golden laser erupted from the magic circle. It missed the Novice Village just barely and tore a massive gash in the earth.

They all stared at the massive black line the size of a city block in silence.

"That bitch crazy," Zen said in disbelief. "She was going to shoot that at us??"

Drekar gave him a vicious side-eye. "Either that or drop the castle on you from this height."

They all watched him carefully. This guy was still extremely deadly, after all. But Nirvana noticed Faust’s lack of concern with Drekar and relaxed.

It might just be Faust putting on a tough front, but she believed with him here it would be alright.

"And what are we doing about him?" Spider said, glaring at Drekar. "Will the system whisk you away once the event ends?"

"I have an idea of what will happen," Drekar said grimly. He rubbed his face. "Let’s hope the event ends soon."

◇◇◇

[Wow... what an end to our first event. I’m still investigating some things, but congratulations!]

[The Beast Tide event has ended!]

[Click here to see our top 1000 players before the fifth wave...]

[Before we proceed to the award ceremony, one of our sponsors would like to speak. A founding member of the Aural Council. You can consider him the father of our tiny planet. The Sovereign of Eternity, Vox Galdara!]