Free Web NovelChapter 15: The Ones above the Table
–Chapter 15–
Title>> The Ones above the Table
At the center of a limitless liminal space, between the streams, above the servers and the world of Arillion, stood what looked like a hall.
It was a hall that existed because whatever gathered inside required a space capable of holding their presence.
White columns stretched farther than the eye could follow, their stone chiseled to perfection. They framed a massive table carved from the very same stone, bathed in light that came from nowhere and somehow everywhere.
The light itself carried different colours. It drifted like an aurora above floating crystalline thrones, each with a holographic screen suspended before it.
Beyond the table rose a flight of stairs that seemed to climb into infinity. Their beginning couldn’t be seen. Yet at the very end of them stood a man...
Though calling him that felt inaccurate. Disrespectful even.
It was simply the form the [Game Master] had chosen to wear in this age.
[The Game Master] stood with his arms clasped behind his back. He wore a white robe trimmed with golden crosses upon the shoulders, complementing his blond hair.
His electric-blue eyes remained fixed ahead, watching something only he could see. Even as the others began arriving, he never turned. And simply allowed them to settle.
The first arrival resembled darkness given form.
His skin was as white as snow, standing in stark contrast to the living shadows that cloaked him. Beneath heavy brows rested pale eyes that seemed deeper than the abyss itself.
His face carried the weariness of endless years, yet every feature remained painfully meticulous.
This was the [King of Hollows].
The next was an entity simply called... [The Archive].
He did not arrive. It was as though the space simply accepted the fact that he needed to be there.
Fwoosh.
One moment, the chair at the far end of the table was empty.
The next, [The Archive] sat there.
His hair looked permanently disheveled and stained. His fingernails were long and twisted, as though they hadn’t seen a trim in centuries.
Hunched over the chair, [The Archive] kept scribbling across his open palm. His fingers moved restlessly, his eyes even more so.
"You sloth," an ethereal voice echoed through the hall.
The voice belonged to another entity who had arrived alongside [The Archive].
She possessed the unmistakable silhouette of a woman. Even beneath the large hooded white cloak she wore, her voluptuous feminine figure was still undeniable.
Beneath the hood, her face remained impossible to focus on. Every attempt to look directly at it dissolved into brilliant light before the mind could settle on it.
[The Light That Never Dims] took her seat across from the [King of Hollows], folding her arms as though already prepared to further scold the entity she’d called a sloth.
The entity in question occupied a space originally meant for two.
His body was broad and heavy, his shoulders carrying the weight of a beard as intimidating as Thor’s hammer.
[He Who Watches Without Moving] let out a deep, carefree laugh that peeled away some of the ancient tension hanging over the liminal hall.
"By the All-Father..." he rumbled, stroking his thick red beard as the next entity manifested within the space.
It was none other than "V." The force everyone above the table simply called the [Ever Victorious], though her names were countless. In the end, the gods and the others alike settled on the one legacy that defined her above all else.
She had never lost.
V didn’t need to announce herself. She simply appeared upon the seat reserved for her as though she had been there a thousand times before.
Beside her rested a glass half-filled with an amber liquid. Whether it was wine or whiskey, no one present seemed interested enough to ask.
Leaning back into her chair, her long braid slipped over one shoulder, settling gently against the generous curves of her chest beneath an elegant purple dress.
"Beautiful!..." [He Who Watches Without Moving] muttered again, his sapphire eyes following her movement for far longer than decency allowed.
V paid him no attention. She simply lifted the glass, took another sip of her cosmic cocktail and idly played with the tip of one of her curved horns.
"I am here," she said calmly.
"You may begin."
***
Standing at the head of the table, [The Game Master] walked them through the terms.
Every entity who had answered the first council call had always been watching.
Yet no matter the world, no matter the age, he always made them hear the stakes from his own lips.
This time was no different.
It was One World.
Ten million players.
Each bestowed with the opportunity to become humanity’s champion.
And at the pinnacle of their tale...
A single wish waited.
"The stakes for Earth-296 are quite straightforward, if I must say," he concluded.
"Indeed..." [The King of Hollows] replied. "Survive the game. Save your world. Primitive creatures shouldn’t find those instructions difficult."
[The Light That Never Dims] rolled what would have been her eyes beneath the veil of light.
"How many of them truly understand the stakes?"
Brilliant light spilled from beneath her hood as she spoke.
Entirely unfazed, [The Game Master] answered. "None, I believe."
He paused, briefly glancing toward V before returning his attention to the only other woman in the hall.
"I presented the terms to them no differently than I have presented them to you."
Raising a finger, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
"They were never trapped. Only chosen."
His smile lingered.
"Whether they remember that distinction... is entirely their own affair."
"Efficient," [The Archive] interrupted without looking up. His fingers scribbled across empty air before abruptly stopping.
Crumple!
He reached forward, grabbed at nothing, and somehow reality answered. Whatever he’d seized collapsed into his fist before he casually tossed it aside.
"Compliance... below forty-one percent."
His fingers resumed moving.
"Unsatisfactory."
[The Game Master] simply moved his attention elsewhere. [The Archive] was one plagued by the curse of knowledge.
"So then."
"We have ten million players."
"Your count is incorrect." [The King of Hollows] spoke flatly.
[The Game Master] raised an eyebrow.
"How so?"
"There are ten million... and one."
"The server registered an additional entry after the threshold closed."
The hall silently listened to the words of the [King of Hollows]
"The terms specify ten million participants. You have ten million... and one."
"The irregular variable falls within acceptable parameters," [The Gamemaster] replied.
"The terms contain no such parameter."
"Neither do they forbid one."
The words landed without force, yet none around the table mistook them for uncertainty.
[The King of Hollows] studied him for a long moment before speaking again.
"How did a human enter after the threshold closed?"
"Luck?" [He Who Watches Without Moving] offered with a shrug.
No one at the table acknowledged his absurd notion.
"There was an error," [The Gamemaster] said.
V chuckled softly. "On the contrary, I corrected an error."
Every gaze shifted toward her at that moment.
She continued..."The player required what every new player requires. I merely ensured he received it."
"You intervened before the game had truly begun?" [The King of Hollows] said in a stern tone.
"I did," she answered unapologetically
[The King of Hollows] looked around the council.
"Then the intervention should be revoked."
"That is your opinion." V rested her chin on one hand. "Not the law."
Her golden eyes met his. "If you wish to prevent errors... write better terms."
The chamber fell quiet at her insinuation. After all, someone like her did not earn the title [The Empress of Errors] by respecting imperfect rules.
"Is this permitted?" one of the gathered entities asked.
[The Gamemaster] answered before anyone else could.
"The player remains within the bounds of the game."
He folded his hands behind his back.
"The equipment provided was starter tier. It altered nothing that the rules considered meaningful."
A faint smile crossed his face.
"Everything else was through his choices."
"Choices?" [He Who Watches Without Moving] barked with laughter, slapping the stone table hard enough for the sound to echo through the hall.
"You give mortals too much credit."
"There is no such thing," [The Archive] murmured without looking up, now writing across his own palm.
The tension around the table gradually faded, but [The King of Hollows] never looked away from the holographic screen before him.
His gaze remained fixed on a single human.
The one V had chosen.
"Should we begin choosing our blessed?" [The Light That Does Not Dim] asked.
"The first event has yet to begin," [The King of Hollows] replied.
"The first tale has already been written," [The Archive] muttered without lifting his head.
"One player moving quickly does not make him worthy of a blessing."
[The King of Hollows] folded his arms.
"It merely puts him ahead of schedule."
"...And interesting," V cut-in. "There is a difference."
"Interesting players die every day." [The King of Hollows ] snorted and didn’t even glance at her.
"The records are full of them."
[The Archive] made a strange humming sound.
[The Gamemaster] simply nodded. He loved the passion.
Raising one hand, he calmed the room.
"Sponsorship channels are now open."
The words reached far beyond the chamber itself.
Beyond the council...
...Beyond the worlds.
And to every existence entitled to watch.
"Choosing a blessed before the first event is uncommon," he continued.
"But it is not forbidden."
His eyes swept across the gathering.
"Those who wish to invest early may do so."
"Those who prefer patience will have another opportunity once the first event concludes."
A faint smile appeared.
"The story has moved ahead of schedule."
"Personally... I find that refreshing."
Without another word, [The Gamemaster] turned and began climbing the endless staircase.
***
One by one, the council dispersed. [The King of Hollows] vanished without a sound.
[The Light That Does Not Dim] lingered only long enough to study the young girl displayed on her screen before disappearing into the light.
[The Archive] never moved. His fingers continued writing as though the meeting had never happened.
Slowly, [He Who Watches Without Moving] rose from his chair. The ancient seat groaned in relief.
On his way out, he stopped beside V.
"You picked early," he said.
"I picked even before they knew how to walk," she said.
He nodded while stroking his ginger beard and rubbing his massive tummy. "I hope your gamble pays off... But should you ever need anything, you know where to find me."
V chuckled gracefully, placing a finger over her mouth, her eyes moved to the screen in front of her. "You flatter yourself...attendant of the All-Father"
"...But my attention belongs only to one," she completed with something like desire behind her eyes.
The Norse giant laughed once before disappearing in a flash.
Silence reclaimed the hall. Immediately he left. But V did not leave.
She expanded her screen, staring intently at only one thing.
The most interesting thing in Server 1. One marker, moving northwest away from the castle, already past the terrain that had slowed the Bog Strider, already preparing for his next objective.
[The Archive] who was the only other person there, looked up from his palm.
"You know what he is?" he spoke like a prophet of doom.
"He’s Mine!"
V answered without even sparing him a look.
"That is not what I mean."
"No?" V purred. "It’s infinitely better."
[The Archive] looked back down. His ink filled fingers scribbling again like a mad man in heat.
But V watched Xavier’s marker..
A slow smile spread across her face.
"Show them all..."
Her voice was barely above a whisper.
"...my darling."
–End of Chapter–
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