Chapter 461 Temple Run 2.0

Dave received an incoming call while he was still with the Undead King and company. His first words were, "Oh god, here it comes." Then he proceeded by plugging both his ears with his fingers as he answered the call.

His action served little purpose when Zoe shouted through his brains "DAVEYYYYYYY!!! How'd you do it?!"

"Easy on me babe, you're too loud, I'll tell you later," Dave said and had to hang up, the Undead King still had many things to say.

"Okay, TTYL," Zoe replied.

"Childe, I have many allies that I shall ask to attend your coronation, on the morrow, the world shall know of our next prince, and they shall tremble at his feet. Where do you suggest to host your coronation?" the Undead King gave Dave the choice.

A notification popped up in front of Dave locating several spots where he can choose from.

***

You have been give the choice to choose where your coronation ceremony will be held.

The Lost City of Urburg.

The Eastern Kingdom Capital.

Moria, rim of the Eastern Kingdom.

Second Raid Zone, Burning Heights.

Kis'Shtiengbrah's Personal Territory in the Dead Realm.

***

NPCs who have a friendly relationship with the Undead King will all attend, and a chosen few from the Players will also be invited. While within the event, all fighting is prohibited, and all hostile activities will be dealt with by execution. Feel free to invite some of your acquaintances from the player base.

***

"King," Dave said.

"Yes, Childe."

"Can we host it here?

The Undead King tilted his head, then rubbed at his own small goatee beard.

"I see no reason not to," The Undead King said.

"But that will allow others to know of our city and palace layout, is this wise?" Dagla asked.

"So what?" the Undead King said, "What could ants possibly do against oppressive power? Let them see what we have, We shall make sure that every undead, every one of our subject is present in this event, we want the world to know how much power we hold, even if it is unwise to show one's cards, in this case I permit it, it is a show of the glory that awaits Kis'Shtiengbrah once he takes the throne."

"Wow, hold up. I don't need the crown, it fits better on your head," Dave said.

"I would wager it would fit better on yours," The undead king said with a smile, "I have ruled my fare share of years, I waged wars against countless threaths, and have emerged victorious many, many times, I have grown tired of ruling, and this, my children could tell you of. It is in my vision, that once I see you fit, that you shall lead the Undead to a future I could not give them."

"I doubt any Undead would need more than you have offered them so far, they have safty within their lands, power that can protect them and give them free reign on their actions, and they have you to back them up if they are in trouble. Why would they need anything more?" Dave asked.

"In a sense, you are both right and wrong, I have given them many things, but I have not given them what should be theirs."

"What is it then?" Dave asked.

"Freedom from the Shackles of the Underworld. Only a few of our children could walk to the overworld, and even while waging war, we could only stay for a small period of time. What I want is for them to be able to stay in the overworld whenever they want, and for however long they wish to. That is freedom I have not been able to grant them due to lord Ramsha's rule."

"I think I understand. Ramsha has locked up the demons and you guys with them, he didn't let the demons do as they please, as they can't leave the Underworld, but he gave you more freedom than them. It's more like the Undead are the Demon's wardens."

"Yes, we are wardens, and it is a task we had no say in it. But once the Ash King is forever gone, our mission will be over, and we shall be able to claim the overworld."

Dave nodded then asked, "I find it a little bit hard to believe that Ramsha would allow the Undead to walk out after we finish of the Ash King. I mean, no offence, but we are undead, we're not the friendliest of the bunch toward the other 'living' races."

"It is indeed so, but we are not chaotic, we think, we make allies, we wage benefit and loss before we make action, yet the Demons, they all seek destruction. We abhor that, we seek valor, chivalry, and honor even after death. We undead, the ones blessed by the Death Heart, we who think do not mindlessly Kill, we will not slay helpless women and children, and we only kill men that would raise a sword in opposition. We give everyone a chance to live, it is their responsibility to either take the chance, or forgo their lives."

Dave nodded again, what the Undead King said was true. The Undead were evil, but not chaotically evil.

"Right then, I'll head to the East now, I still need to bring down the remaining temples of the Ash King."

"Good, we need to limit his power as much as we can, our raid upon his dominion is nigh, and we want all the advantages. If that failure of a demi-god believes he could bring us to our feet at our lands, then we shall prove how we can do the same, only more efficiently. In a week's time, our raid shall commence, make sure to bring down as many of the temples as you can." The Undead King said.

"As you command," Dave gave a half curtesy bow and turned to leave the room.

Once he left, Dave used the teleportation scroll to the Eastern Kingdom, he needed to see how things were going in his new territory and by the looks of it, Demitri was doing a great job.

The Undead Dave had hired had fully repaired the capital, people brimmed with confidence as they moved about to do their jobs. Trade prospered as players teleported to the Eastern Kingdom to quest and do trades. And security was superb.

Dave had allowed players to enter his domain with the condition to not surpass a certain number in a given area. They could raid dungeons and do quests for the NPCs and trade their goods in his city. This will allow a lot of money taxed from the transaction to go back to their pockets, but Dave had decided that the majority of such income will be handed to the right personnel.

Crops extended to great distances around the capital. NPCs happily worked the land with the aid of untiring undead. The Undead carved the ground to help the humans put seeds in the soil. They dug wells and mined ore. Transporting them continuously into the city, rejuvenating all of the activities within it.

This didn't only happen in the capital, it was all over the ten major cities of the Qin Kingdom. Not to mention the increased security and transportation safety of the Qin roads. The Undead made watchtowers all over the land. More than ten thousand watchtowers stood in the lands of Qin, overseeing any disturbance in the terrain.

Villagers worked with renewed hope. As the flames of the last war has not harmed them, and in the current run, the Undead who were their most feared foe are helping and aiding them. Villagers traded their hand made materials at the city center, all operated by the ever so greedy Dikenz, yet he was made sur to give the NPCs their fair prices for raw material, as for players, Dave didn't care if he could scam them for every penny.

Dave valued NPCs more than the player community, because without these 'pixels' this game would never have a life of its own. And for that, Dave opted for the comfort and good life of all NPCs in his domain.

Though the reparation had only started, Dave could see that NPCs had an incalculable number of quests. Unlike in other cities of the world of conquest where NPCs with an exclamation mark were rare, the ones in Qin were as numerous as the sand. Everyone wanted something done for them, it was all thanks to Dave's good intentions that aided these people in having more hope for the future, and to achieve their goals, they sent players to quest for them, which in return will come with benefit to the kingdom.

Demetri noticed Dave's arrival and came to meet him at the city center.

"Don't tell me you've been here since the last time I saw you," Dave said.

"Yes, I have never changed my spot, like I said I have many things to do and deal with. The NPCs life is getting better, and as much as I would not like to admit, you were right. I made a study on the current life of these people and noticed that in the near future, the tax income will increase exponentially as more players come in and do their quests here. So, I'm making sure everything goes well."

"Great then, now, I'll have to go and destroy a nasty temple that should be under one of the churches here,"

"In the capital? I saw the commotion you caused in Icathia, if something like that Stalwart comes here, it will be a disaster, we don't want to scare the citizen. Many of them haven't overcome the traumas of the last war."

"I know, but I have an idea. Last time I needed to be subtle, but now, with undead alongside me, that Stalwart will not have a sodding chance."

"Sodding?"

"A new word I learned, look it up. Now see ya," Dave said and turned to the cathedral. Once he arrived he summoned Bud, but a notification appeared in front of him.

***

You cannot Summon Bud. Bud is going through his Doom Knight quest.

***

"Ah, I forgot that my boyz also ranked up with me. But why do they need to quest?" Dave questioned himself and called for Albert.

Once Albert showed up, Dave frowned heavily, the old man's face was not visible, it was heavily pixelized for a second then it returned to normal.

"Are you okay old man?" Dave asked.

"Yes, never been better. Why?"

"This is the second time you're pixilating."

"Oh, that again, yeah some players reported this happening all over conquest. A few monsters also were penalizing, it seems that it is going through all the game. It's most likely stress from the generation of the questlines in this area and the upcoming events. Don't worry about it, every game has its own flaws. And this one is merger and can be dealt with soon. So what have you called me for?"

Dave didn't fully believe the man, something was going on, but he didn't know what, and if Albert didn't tell him, it was either something seriously bad, or Albert himself didn't know, making it even worse than the first suggestion.

"Anyway, why is Bud on a quest to be a doom Knight? Shouldn't he level up with me?"

"Oh, it is only normal, because you have become an Abyssal Knight, and have granted some of your Undead Sentience or recruited ones with great minds, they need to be challenged to earn their rank, otherwise if they freely level up, you will have an amazing power that would hardly be fair to the rest of the players." Albert said.

"Hey, you're pulling an Alfi on me with your unfair, weren't you just saying that you didn't care if I broke the game."

"And I honestly don't, it was the Deve's idea, but worry not, all the quests handed to your Doom Knights are relatively easy, slaying monsters, and believe me your undead have done their fair share of slaying. It's just protocol to shut salty players."

"Right, then when can I have my boyz back?" Dave asked.

"As soon as they finish their quests, it should take a day at most. By tomorrow when your coronation starts, you will have all of your undead with you, and they will probably all manage to rank up."

"Thanks then, I suppose this means that I'll have to fight the Stalwart again by myself,"

"Well, I wouldn't want to spoil you, but what you'll be facing isn't a stalwart, and it would be better if you went in alone," Albert smiled at Dave, winked then disappeared.

"Damn, what does that mean now?"