The Path of Ascension 2: A LitRPG Adventure

18

The bored look returned, and he idly scratched his cheek as he finished talking which brought Matt’s attention to the appendage. His hand was dark, like freshly cooled lava and even had the same rough texture.

“We only found out because they apprehended someone on The Path of Ascension. Most restrictions that can block AI communication don’t work on their AI for a reason. This guild was staging assassinations on Tier 4 and Tier 5 people who were here to join in on the exploration of the new worlds. Their modus operandi was to target the less wealthy. They had a mole in the bureau of rift affairs located in the capital city, and targeted those that attempted to buy out rifts, but couldn’t afford it.”

“Then they filtered those targets down to the people who weren’t spending too much through the city, using complicit businesses’ financial records. After that, they apparently enlisted the aid of a corrupt judge or eight, who would back up any charges that were levied on the victims. So far, we’ve identified nearly twenty thousand victims of this scam through our investigation.”

Matt was shocked hearing that. As it turned out his second supposition had been partially correct. Being targeted because they didn’t want to pay the absurd prices for a rift was a horribly corrupt tactic, but he could see the sick logic behind it.

This hadn’t been about him at all. Twenty thousand people sounded like a lot, but millions of people were flooding in to participate in the exploration. It was like a training world, but not limited or presided over as much.

A part of him cursed the fact they were acting frugally. Saving money shouldn’t get you targeted. The fury built up in his chest at the injustice at it all.

That flicker of fire in the duke’s eyes crackled through again, and the general apathy slowly vanished with the change in color.

“My question was, why were they in need of so many people in the Tiers 4 and 5 range? Well, to answer that, we need to look at the guild leader. That leads me to the most egregious offense. The leader of said guild was actually a member of the local royal family. A distant cousin, to be fair, but a member, nonetheless. The guild had recently bought a continent in the Tier 6 world and intended to use free labor to subjugate the land and claim it. That’s two offenses right there. Firstly, the Empire doesn’t allow guilds to purchase land of that quantity. And secondly, a member of a noble house leveraged his connections to do it.”

Duke Ignite’s pupils were now so bright, the camera had to dim the picture to compensate. It only lasted for a moment, before the duke gestured to the side, and the screen paned to the courtyard next to him. There, dozens of people were bound and kneeling. At their front was a man who was graying at the temples. The resemblance to the statues and paintings they had seen in the capital was readily apparent even to Matt who hadn’t been here long. The guild leader and royal cousin.

With the pan of the camera, they zoomed out, and Matt saw the king, who was off to the side dressed in fancy clothes that contrasted to the duke’s plain, baggy attire.

The duke raised a hand, and his moniker became obvious when his hand came into view for the second time. It looked like his arm from mid-forearm down was replaced with glowing lava that was breaching the surface of his ‘skin.’ His fist radiated light and energy through the cracks of his earth-like dermis. It looked just like molten rock escaping the confines of a planet’s crust. Near his fingertips, the color was bright orange, and Matt could only imagine what kind of power it took to restrain that heat.

“Before anyone questions the thoroughness of our investigation, we’ve received permission for an AI scan, and have confirmed that these seventy-two people were the ringleaders. Most of the remaining guild members will be receiving fines and some jail time. These…” Duke Ignite gestured once again, “We found to be much too complicit in such heinous crimes. Their punishment is death.”

At the completion of his statement, there was a blinding heatwave that completely whited out the picture, and the kneeling people disappeared. There wasn’t even a speck of ash, or any soot stains left. They were utterly vaporized. Just before the wave of heat killed the offenders, Matt saw a figure with one arm, and hoped it was the man who attacked them.

The duke didn’t seem at all bothered at the deaths he had caused, but he looked to the camera for a moment. His eyes were so bright, the entire screen was nearly black, and his pupils were all that could be seen making a statement to all who saw it.

There were visible shimmers of heat that matched the intensity of his eyes when he looked to the king off to the side. “I suggest you look into the corruption we found today. Imperial law forbids me from investigating further myself. But corruption is like lice. If you leave it unchecked, it spreads everywhere. You might want to go through your kingdom with a very fine comb. Because if the Empire comes back, we’ll come back with a razor and a fresh start.”

The statement was an ominous end to the video. It was a very poignant threat to level at a king during a live presentation, especially after vaporizing nearly a hundred people.

When the image went back to the newsroom, the man was pale and sweating, while the woman’s mouth was just hanging open.

Matt turned to Liz and Camilla. “Are you f*****g kidding me?”

Liz didn’t look that shocked, but Camilla looked like she had just swallowed an egg.

With less heat, Matt finished, “I can’t believe it wasn’t even a real assassination attempt. I thought I was going to die for sure.”

Camilla didn’t say it, but she had guessed correctly.

They ended up chatting for a while with the backdrop of the news anchors. Their tone had shifted after the duke’s proclamation, and they decried anything resembling corruption. They were clearly shaken and were sure to state and re-state how they had never dealt with corruption themselves.

Matt put them out of his mind.

Camilla asked Liz, “Do you know Duke Ignite?”

“Not personally. I think I was introduced once or twice, but he’s a part of a different faction than my parents so I don’t know him know him.”

Matt had to clarify that statement. “Wait, factions? I kind of assumed that everyone marched to the Emperor’s drum. What factions are there?”