SYSTEMBREAKER: Rise Of The Ninth Overlord

#8: Are You Really A Chosen?

Plan A: Get the [Arcanist] Lord riled up and go in.

 Ideally, he wanted the skeleton soldiers to have been in the middle of the fight with the last soldier, but the lord was being too cautious. Rhys Artisan grabbed a throwing knife from his chest strap as he made a throwing motion.

 The Bone Sovereign ducked.

 Rhys Artisan threw his knife for real as it went–wide. Both [Arcanist] and [Infiltrator] looked at the knife as it flew past its head by a fair margin. The lord opened its jaw as it stared at the bad throw.

 "You should have practiced a little-Hey!"

 He started sprinting the moment the Bone Sovereign broke eye contact. He could hear the skeletal warriors rushing back towards the chamber while their lord had tried to stall him with banter. The distance had closed to fifteen feet–but the problem was that the lord was on an elevated platform. And the lord had grabbed his wand.

 The wand pointed at his head as a shimmering orb of red went flying at him.

 He barely dodged, the orb whizzing past his shoulder as it landed on the ground behind him. It exploded on impact, and he winced. The Bone Sovereign had [Firebolt] not [Magebolt].

 Longer cooldown, but one hit and he would be done.

 The lord stepped back. The distance was twelve feet now. Three stairs he'd have to climb. A difficult task while the [Arcanist] Lord had a wand tracking him. Three orbs of red light spinning around it.

 The Bone Sovereign was supposed to be the equivalent of a realm one [Arcanist]. That was one realm ahead of what people started off. It still meant its physical abilities weren't higher than his. The problem was the skill slots. It had two. That alone would have still been an easy fight. Especially considering it had just used a [Firebolt].

 Unfortunately, this battle was scaled to three people. The wand allowed the lord to multicast. He wouldn't be surprised if the lord had a stored spell in that wand. It was fucking terrifying. Rhys Artisan stopped where he was and the Bone Sovereign chuckled.

 "Was that your opening? Seems - stop it!"

 He charged again. The lord was surprised as it jumped back. He closed the distance, five feet and one more big stair. The Bone Sovereign fired, practically at point blank.

 He charged headfirst into a red orb - as it harmlessly dissipated into a cloud of bright magical light. He smiled as his gamble worked.

 A [Magelight] made to look like a [Firebolt]. A classic, predictable if you knew how the boss thought.

 The Bone Sovereign opened its mouth in surprise.

 ~

 The Bone Sovereign was about to launch a real [Firebolt] as the [Infiltrator] jerked to the side. Its hesitation had let the boy get a little too close, but this was good too. If the fool thought he could survive a [Firebolt] to the face, then let him try.

 It leaped back and got ready to launch the real [Firebolt], the one that it had kept stored in the wand. The Bone Sovereign saw the [Infiltrator] stop suddenly and pull out a throwing knife. That was fine, a mutual shot would be worthwhile. His bones were tougher than ordinary skeletons and a [Firebolt] would do more damage to the [Infiltrator] than an errant knife to his head. Besides, the boy had been such a bad shot.

 The risk was worth it. It still had the other Crucibleists to prepare for.

 As the finger sized [Firebolt] launched, a knife hit it in midair.

 A perfect shot. Completely unlike his previous throws.

 Magic met metal as the [Firebolt] exploded right in front of the Bone Sovereign's wand. The explosion shattered the enchanted wood and flung the lord to the other side of the raised platform. It tried to spin to soften the landing, but a shadow covered its body as the boy-

 No, as the [Infiltrator] looked down at him.

 A foot came crashing down on its neck as the boss of the first Crucible could only applaud the little monster.

 ~

 The drake soldier made his way back to the entrance. The footprints leading back into the dungeon suggested that he'd been played. It didn't matter, he walked down the dungeon, completely kitted out for a solo clear. He'd looted everything the villagers had. He still wasn't confident he'd complete it by himself.

 Not this late into a Crucible

 The inn was burned down, the zombies all destroyed, tripwires taken care of, a corpse stabbed through in a chamber. The [Infiltrator] that had ruined their Crucible knew what he was doing, and it showed. That was still fine. The wounds on his allies and the aversion to facing him showed that the kid wasn't confident in his hand to hand abilities.

 All of it just tricks.

 Then he came across two broken skeletons. That gave the soldier pause. The skeleton guards shouldn't have been that easy to defeat. The Bone Sovereign would gain more control over its soldiers as time went on.

 Not that, two skeletons shouldn't have been the entire group. The footprints indicated that there had been more skeleton soldiers around, but the [Infiltrator] had walked through them.

 If the [Infiltrator] accepted the Bone Sovereign's deal, he'd have to run and use guerilla warfare in the forest.

 The drake shifted to a shield and a villager's crossbow. He wished he had a gun instead. The gates were already open.

 There was no ambush of skeleton soldiers. Instead, the bones were scattered haphazardly all around the chamber. But he didn't focus on those. A chill went down his spine as he looked forwards, and up.

 The mortal [Infiltrator] lounged on a stone throne. One leg draped over the handle of the throne. He was throwing a skull up and down. The skull of the Bone Sovereign. The [Infiltrator] had been waiting for him. The spread-out [Infiltrator] just raised a bored eyebrow at him.

 How had he soloed them all?

 "You took your time."

 The drake had seen the corpses of his allies. If he didn't have scales, he'd be sweating. Where the hell had a kid like this come from? He'd managed to solo the boss in the chamber with the solders?

 He gulped. If he could say the right things to complete his Crucible quest, then he could teleport out of here. At least then he'd keep his safety life.

 "It didn't have to come to this, adventurer. We could have gone our separate-"

 "Ahahaha!"

 The sinister laugh cut him off. The [Infiltrator] continued to laugh as he looked at the drake covered in blood, the blood of the remaining villagers he had slaughtered. He stared into those eyes and knew they were well past words.

 He raised his crossbow to take aim and-

 That was when the surrounding bones started to animate themselves. They rose up and picked up their weapons. When he turned around to run, the soldier had realized he messed up. The two skeletons in the tunnels had reanimated too. They held shields up as they stood side by side, blocking the exit.

 Then he heard laughter, he turned around to see the [Infiltrator] wearing a broken crown. He stood up from the stone chair, holding up the Bone Sovereign's skull. Its eyes flickered with a purple fire.

 The Bone Sovereign had still been alive.

 All of this had been a trap.

 "What? You didn't think I'd fight fair, did you?"

 ~

 《Crucible quest Completed! Completed objectives: Kill the Bone Sovereign. Completed! Take tutelage from the Bone Sovereign and help him kill the other trialists. Completed! Failed objectives: Flee and get the villagers to safety》

 Rhys Artisan didn't even have to do much. He just stuck to the pillars and let the skeletons go to work. The soldier refused to turn his back to him, and being surrounded by six coordinated skeletons was a death sentence for even the best realm 0 adventurers.

 The soldier hadn't even seen it coming. It wasn't that unknown that you had to destroy the Bone Sovereign's skull to kill it. Plenty had died from a stray [Magebolt] from the Bone Sovereign's skull before. What was really unexpected was for him to have beaten and tricked the Bone Sovereign into working for him. Now that was niche knowledge nobody ever used.

 The Bone Sovereign cackled.

 "Well done! Well done! Now come let us make sure all the villagers are killed."

 "I'm done."

 He said as he angled his sword, tip first, at the skull's head. It spluttered in shock.

 "Wait! You promised to let me guide you!"

 "Well, I lied, I am an [Infiltrator] you know."

 The skeleton's eyes dimmed a little at the joke. It decided to continue its tirade instead.

 "Just a little more and your achievements will increase further. Help me, and I will set things up to optimize your future Crucibles. You can be great, as great as your pioneers!"

 That was an offer that the Bone Sovereign couldn't deliver on. It was also a double-edged offer. 'Optimizing' Crucibles meant making his future Crucibles really difficult. He just sniffed.

 "No thanks, and we call them the Overlords these days."

 The Bone Sovereign, still trying to find a way out, found its ray of hope. It desperately attempted to weave a tantalizing offer.

 "Ah, a common situation. Why not rise up to match them? You're already penalized by knowing so much, but I can help set things up. Help me, and I shall help you overthrow your Overlords."

 Rhys Artisan ignored the quest change notification. He just looked at the bone-head in confusion.

 "Why would I want to overthrow the Overlords? You're not really making sense here."

 "What?"

 "I mean, I've already won the Chosen lottery. I can just relax and take the easy route, find a team, pick up a gun and get to the fourth realm in a year or two. I'll grind the lower sectors and be pretty rich in a few years. It's not as glamorous, but it's the sensible choice. You know?"

 The Skull Sovereign looked at the [Infiltrator] who had just played chicken with a [Firebolt]. Who had just outmanoeuvred three experienced soldiers, who the Arbiter had clearly picked out for a reason, plot the most ambitionless path possible.

 "...Are you really a Chosen in a world with Overlords?"

 Rhys Artisan paused. He tried to figure out what the talking head's angle was. Then he realized what the misunderstanding was.

 "Oh yeah, sorry, we call them the Overlords because that's the name the nations on Terra Prime gave them while fighting them. Honestly, I'm on the side that they saved the world from nuclear war. Most people are." He just shrugged. "They really redefined the word, I guess."

 The Bone Sovereign gaped, its jaw hanging low.

 "What in the gods has your world been up to?"

 "Sounds like it's your fault. All eight of the Overlords are alive. Seems like your other versions didn't do a good enough job."

 He aimed the blade at the center of the skull.

 [Twin Strike]

 《[Twin Strike] leveled up! [Twin Strike] level 1 -> 2》

 The last thought that crossed the Bone Sovereign's mind was wondering exactly what the entity managing the Crucible System was doing.

 《Calculating realm achievement score… Realm 0 achievement rating: S- Congratulations! Adjacent classes available! Teleporting you to the Arbiter's Void》