Chapter 87 - Episode 87: Nothing Lasts Forever.
Chapter 87 – Episode 87: Nothing Lasts Forever.
All the spectators didn't say a single word, but they all stood up and gave a standing ovation toward both clans. Then one by one started to cheer for them. Francesca and the others approached Trevor and hugged him so tightly except for Ivonna, she looked at Kingstar then walked towards him and lifted her hand for a handshake.
"I admit that we are no match against your clan. I also admit that without Trevor, we should have lost this match as you said earlier."
Kingstar grabbed her hand and nodded. Ivonna then looked around and then looked at Kingstar.
"Now I understand what I'm lacking. I will make an announcement after the auction."
Kingstar tilted his head with confusion, but Ivonna left to be with the others before even Kingstar could ask her about it. He looked at Ivonna for quite a while before Queenstar and the others approached him..
[Title [Mass Murderer] has been upgraded!]
[Title [Mass Murderer] is no longer available!]
[Title [Genocide] obtained!]
[Genocide: Successfully killed 1.000.000 players from one of the three factions in a day of in-game time. Increase damage by 200% to players, also decrease damage taken by 75% from players when equipped. Can only use one title at a time.]
[Congratulations! Exclusive Passive Skill: [Annihilator Lv.1] has been learned.]
[Annihilator: Inflict [Weakened] status to the enemy. Increased damage taken to the enemy around the player by 10% with a 10-meter radius. Cost 10 Stamina per second when activated.]
[Necklace of Blood (Cursed) obtained!]
[Necklace of Blood (Cursed): A necklace that is made by the blood of the enemies. When equipped ??? ??? ??? ???, ??? ??? the player will die]
I look at the necklace and sigh.
"Another one, huh?"
A notification appears in the sky.
[Celebration Event Closing Party!]
[All the players can enjoy the last hour before the event ends by entering the Wonderland map in the 'event tab' with Admin Sev! We will be announcing the rewards for the winners of each event in there! Not only that, all the players who entered the Wonderland map will gain 1.000 EXP per minute until the event ends! There are so many limited items that you all can buy with Betelgeuse's Coin or Copper, Silver, and Gold coins!]
[Come and celebrate with us! May the Betelgeuse bless you!]
[The Closing Party will begin in: 6hrs 00mins 00secs Real-time]
Kingstar and his friends approach us. Everyone is looking at us from the distance. I look at Francesca and she doesn't show any expression and just looks at them casually. Kingstar looks at us for quite a while and then he clears his throat.
"Next time, we will win."
Queenstar is glaring at Francesca and Francesca notices that she's glaring at her, but she's still not showing any expression. Then she raises her eyebrows and sighs.
"I don't think I will compete with you all again for quite a long time. I wish you all the best."
Francesca lifts her hand for a handshake with them. Kingstar and his friends are surprised, but they all give her a handshake. Queenstar is still can't believe what she just said. Francesca then walks back and looks at something while showing her back to us. We all look at her with confusion. Ivonna furrows her head because she's surprised as well.
I approach Kingstar and the others and lifts my hand for a handshake. They all look at me with disgust except for Kingstar. Kingstar then grabs my hand for a handshake. I look at them and tilt my head.
"Go to the No Man's Land. There's a whirlpool under the cliff. It's a dungeon called Maelstorm of Abyss. I heard about it from an NPC. You guys should check it."
They're looking at me with surprise. I raise my eyebrows and continue.
"I guess that for an apology for ruining your game."
Kingstar looks at me and scoffs.
"Is that so? We will check it then."
Kingstar looks at Ivonna. Ivonna slightly smiles.
"We are not interested in that at the moment, so it's yours, I guess."
Kingstar nods. Then we all shake our hands with Kingstar and the others.
We all teleport back to the Forsaken- Clan base. We are inside the roundtable room and then Ivonna looks at us and smiles.
"Let's celebrate our victory with our members."
I lift my hands and shake my head.
"I'm not coming, I think I still need to get some rest."
Ivonna nods with understanding. Everyone is at the door and Francesca is still sitting on the chair. Ivonna tilts her head.
"You're not coming?"
Francesca sighs and shakes her head.
"No, I want to be here for a moment. I'll catch up with you guys later."
Ivonna is a bit disappointed but she smiles and nods with understanding. Then they all leave the room. I look at Francesca and she's just staring at nothing without moving a single muscle. I sit at the other side of the roundtable and look at her.
"You want to talk about it?"
Francesca is pouting in distaste then she's looking at me while resting her forehead on her hand.
"At first, I thought with you here to help us in the skirmish game would give me a satisfactory, but when I watched you single-handedly carried all of us in there, it made me realize that it didn't feel great at all. I'm not saying that you're too overpowered, but it's quite the opposite. We are just pretty much nothing compared to them. I made a wrong call, Ivonna as well. We won it all because of you. When I watched you giving orders in the fortress, I was like, wow, you're on a different league in all aspects compared to us."
Francesca exhales deeply and continues.
"I made up my mind. I'm going to leave this clan and I'm going to follow your step. I was imagining how nice it would be to play without getting bound with responsibility. I was thinking that if I just get down from my position as a commander to become a member, I might still have some kind of responsibility because Ivonna and the others are still the head of this clan. I might get dragged by them, you know what I mean?"
Francesca rests her head on the table and wraps her face with her arms.
"Ivonna is going to hate for this, but I don't care. This is what I want."
Francesca is looking at my face and waiting for my response. I look at her and smile without saying anything. Francesca chuckles and stands up then stretches her body.
"Anyway, I'm going to the hall and enjoy my last time with everyone."
Francesca then furrows her forehead then squints her eyes. She walks toward the window. She turns around and looks at me.
"Uhh, you might want to see this…"
I stand up and walk toward Francesca. I look at the window, and we both see Ivonna with all the members going to the teleportation device. We both look at each other with confusion. We then walk down and leave the base to catch up with them. We run toward Ivonna and Francesca looks at her with confusion.
"What's this?"
Ivonna is surprised to see Francesca. Ivonna smiles.
"We are going to celebrate with all the Alliance Kingdoms players since the majority of our clan members are coming from different clans. So it's the right thing to do."
Francesca tilts her head and nods with understanding.
"I see… I thought there's something you want to announce with them."
Ivonna smiles weakly and keeps on walking without responding to Francesca's statement. That alone makes both of us look at each other and look at Ivonna while raising our eyebrows. We both know there must be something going on with her. We both follow her without saying a word after that, but then a notification in the sky appears.
[Voice of the World]
[Congratulations to the player [K******r] and [Q*******r]. They have discovered the "Maelstorm of Abyss" Dungeon. The rewards are [10 status points], [Diamond Mysterious Box], and [Fame +100]. May the Betelgeuse bless you!]
Everyone looks at the VoW and they all look excited about that dungeon. Then they all look at Ivonna, but Ivonna doesn't even bother to look at it and just keeps walking.
Ivonna looks at the members.
"Let's go to the Kings' Palace area, I already informed the other clans that helped us and lending us their members to celebrate with us there. They all already gather in there as we speak."
We all go to the Kings' Palace's courtyard and it's so crowded in here. I can see so many familiar faces and they all are cheering at us and clapping their hands. Ivonna smiles and looks at everyone. It's a beautiful area where you can see trees and flower fields that are surrounded by walls as far as the eye can see with a giant palace in the middle and a temple beside it.
Ivonna walks to the front of everyone, she smiles.
"Thank you for coming, everyone. I would like to say a few words. First of all, thank you for helping us and it's all because of you that we all won first place in the skirmish event. I will repay you all by helping you who are in need of help in the game, I can promise you that."
Francesca is clicking her tongue while turning around and looking at me. She raises her eyebrows and sighs. Ivonna then continues.
"The last one is…"
Francesca looks at Francesca, but Francesca is facing me and showing her back at Ivonna. Ivonna clears her throat.
"The last one is, I want to make an announcement. After the auction around two weeks from now, I will step down and will no longer be the Forsaken- Clan leader."
Everyone is shocked. Francesca turns around and furrows her forehead while staring at Ivonna. Ivonna looks at Francesca and slightly smiles. She continues.
"The reason is that I'm not ready for this… This is too much for me to handle and I realize I'm not fit to lead. That's why I gathered you all here to discuss this matter with you all. I'm planning to find my replacement from anyone in here."
Everyone is talking with each other, but they all don't have anything to say. Then Francesca walks forward and stands next to Ivonna. She clears her throat.
"I don't think we need to discuss this matter. It's obvious that no one in here is ready. Even if they are, that doesn't change the fact that the members want to follow him or her. If that's the case, it's better to disband the Forsaken- Clan and let the members join another clan or create their own clan. You might think that this is a selfish act, but please understand that this is all too sudden even for me. I thought the same thing because this is beyond my capability as a commander. Even if we all are no longer a part of the clan member, we are still with you all."
Everyone is standing there in silence while looking at Ivonna and Francesca. Then one of the members raises his hand.
"I personally don't mind if Miss Ivonna disbands the clan. I had a great time here and everyone was nice to me. I met so many new friends and we all had fun together. I don't understand about leadership, but I do know how hard it must be for Miss Ivonna and the commanders to maintain the clan. So please, Miss Ivonna. If you think this is the best for you, then I have nothing to complain about. All I can say is… thank you for giving us such a wonderful time and for giving us new friends."
One by one is nodding in an agreement and start showing their empathy to Ivonna. But then Ivonna is covering her face and starts shaking. She's starting to sniffle and Francesca puts her arm around her shoulder and starts comforting her. Michael and the others approach her and comforting her as well.
Ivonna removes her hands from her face and we all can see her red eyes and tears running down her cheeks.
"Thank you, everyone."
After Ivonna is calming down. We are celebrating our victory and have so much fun while listening to their reaction to the match earlier. Everyone seems supportive of Ivonna's decision. So in the end, the Forsaken- Clan will be disbanded after the auction.