Chương 139: Regicide

Meno was completely sure of it now: Reactor was one of the most broken abilities in Veyrath. At full HP with an Absorption shield layered on top, a 3-second Pyronucleosis was basically free unless the enemy could burn through both bars before Reactor triggered. Then Reactor restored him and permanently increased Unstable for the rest of combat. Swing Master had demanded constant attacks to keep Chain alive; False Hero could scale by standing still and getting punched.

Naturally, Meno spent a ridiculous amount of the trip toward Northspire intentionally stunned. It actually made kiting the Colossus easier. Whenever Meno stopped to use Pyronucleosis, the walking mountain caught up enough to land a few hits, refreshing the chase while shaving pieces off his Absorption. Three seconds later, Meno healed to full, gained another Reactor stack, moved just far enough ahead to keep the monster interested, and repeated the cycle.

By the time Stormhold Redoubt came into view, only around 15 minutes had passed and Meno was already sitting on an absurd stack count. [Reactor 150 | Unstable 1600x] Stormcrown Highlands was only a Level 20–30 zone, so the local NPCs had no interest in testing themselves against a Level 60 Colossus. Guards abandoned roadside posts the moment they saw it coming, farmers ran toward Northspire, and NPC travelers joined the evacuation while low-level players made the usual decision to be content.

Some followed at a safe distance. Others fired arrows, fireballs, and whatever else they had into the Colossus while Meno dragged it north, but their damage barely registered and none of them came close to beating the threat from Meno's original Engulf tick. The whole thing looked incredibly stupid. Meno would jump ahead, stop, stun himself for 3 seconds, let a giant rock punch him a few times, heal back to full, then continue walking it toward a city. Chat appreciated the visual.

most exciting escort quest ever PROTECT THE CITY COWARDS REACTOR FARM SIMULATOR the colossus thinks they are friends now whisper Prulo to join city defense! THIS IS SO DUMB WHY IS IT WORKING bro invented reverse tanking The stupidity also made the trip slow. What would have been a short Gravecycle ride took another 32 minutes because Meno constantly had to wait for the Colossus, keep combat active, and avoid opening enough distance to trigger a reset.

By the time Northspire finally spread across the horizon, the trip from the Templefall boundary had taken roughly 47 minutes. Meno had spent enough of that time voluntarily stunned to reach a number that should probably not have existed. [Reactor 450 | Unstable 4600x] His Absorption shield had suffered more than the stack count.

Letting the Colossus repeatedly catch him during Pyronucleosis had chewed it all the way down to 4%, and Meno was starting to wonder whether Solar would suspend him again before he even reached the city. Technically, he had not done anything wrong. It was not his fault the AI had created an ability that permanently ramped damage every time he survived 3 seconds of crowd control, then paired it with a full heal. False Hero was becoming a walking force of nature.

Northspire sprawled ahead across less land than Westmarket but packed much more tightly. Thin stone towers crowded together behind the walls, most capped with red pointy roofs or banners, while larger structures climbed over one another toward the center. The tallest tower rose inside another fortified district and almost certainly marked the royal area. It looked like an elven capital from some other MMO, except everyone living there was human and obsessed with Gold.

Word of Meno's approach had obviously traveled faster than the Colossus. Players crowded the outer walls, rooftops, and towers, looking down at the half-naked Level 70 Grave Crown player escorting an open-world boss toward their city. Most people caught outside had already retreated through the gates. One guy remained standing in the road.

Meno could not inspect him yet, and after Crownfall had demonstrated that random people could carry explosives, he had no interest in trusting anybody acting suspiciously near his Colossus. Maybe the guy had engineering charges. Maybe he was waiting to grief the pull. Meno was not risking it. Once he entered range, he planted both feet and launched with Desync. Engulf came online during the approach, Meno hit the player feetfirst, and Sticky locked him directly to the guy's face.

One contact tick landed and the player evaporated. Meno killed Engulf immediately with a self-stun. [You have slain JustrelaxPete] [-10 Karma | +10 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)] Chat recognized the name before Meno properly processed it. [Reactor 451 | Unstable 4610x] JUSTRELAXPETE AGAIN the guy that got ran over by the wurm?

THE LEGACY CONTINUES HE CAME BACK JUST TO DIE AGAIN The Colossus caught up while Meno was still absorbing what he had done and slammed a stone fist into him, wiping the remaining 4% Absorption.

"I thought he quit!" Meno jumped away before the next punch.

"His sister is going to assault me for sure after this." That was a future problem. The notification mattered more right now.

"Hidden Grave Crown bonus? Negative Karma gives Reputation. I was wondering how we were supposed to gain it without quests on a PvP faction. There it is." Northspire's alarms started before he could think much further. Harsh bells rolled through the towers, archers rushed onto the outer walls, and NPCs outside the defenses fled toward the gates. The guards still showed friendly toward Meno, which meant the city was reacting to the Colossus. Perfect. Meno kept the monster following while edging through the gate.

With 451 Reactor stacks, his damage was so far beyond anything on Veyran that practically every normal NPC should die from a single Engulf tick. The real problem was maintaining combat long enough to preserve those stacks while building enough negative Karma to turn Northspire itself hostile. The Colossus would not survive concentrated city defenses forever, so the plan was simple: use it as an NPC magnet while Meno pushed toward the center. Northspire immediately complicated that plan.

The moment Meno passed beneath the outer gate, the enormous doors slammed down behind him hard enough to shake the road. The Colossus was trapped outside while archers along both walls opened fire into it. Meno had no time to wait for the rock to solve that problem. He jumped toward the nearest guard, activated Engulf, and erased the Level 60 NPC with one contact tick while the Colossus began pounding on the sealed gate behind him.

[-10 Karma (Guard) | +10 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)] [Red Bastion of Northspire: Hostile] HE ACTUALLY STARTED IT NORTHSPIRE HOSTILE LMAO CITY SIEGE ARC RED BASTION PLAYERS YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED 4600X DAMAGE IN A CAPITAL IS INSANE THE KING IS COOKED Every guard inside the walls turned toward Meno at once. He kept moving before they could surround him, jumping from guard to guard and giving each target exactly one Engulf tick.

Once his health burned down to 10%, Drowned Pilgrim's Vitality stabilized it while False Furnace rebuilt Absorption over the top. Negative Karma and Reputation climbed together. At roughly -300 Karma there was still no new system response, but Meno barely had time to care before the outer gate shattered inward.

The Colossus had finally broken through the weakened defenses and lumbered into Northspire, immediately turning toward Meno because that initial Engulf hit still held more threat than everything the guards had done. The city completely lost control. Merchants closed stalls and vanished into buildings. Civilians flooded away from the main roads while guards poured out of towers and barracks, some aiming for the Colossus and others for Meno.

Most players still stood around watching the spectacle instead of joining in. One Level 57 warlock named Wrooki decided he wanted to be a hero. A ranged spell hit Meno during a jump and stunned him for 2 seconds. Engulf shut off immediately, and the short duration was not enough to trigger Reactor.

"Annoying." The moment control returned, Meno launched toward Wrooki. The warlock dashed away in green flames and reappeared behind a panicked NPC. Meno followed. His feet hit Wrooki, his shoulder clipped the civilian standing too close, and when the contact timer completed, Engulf deleted both. [You have slain Wrooki] [-10 Karma | +10 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)] [-100 Karma (NPC) | +100 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)]"That was intentional griefing."

Meno did not waste time trying to understand whether the system agreed. More guards were rushing the Colossus, and keeping the siege moving mattered more than a hundred Karma. The first major threshold arrived soon afterward. [Negative Karma Threshold Reached: -666] [Global Bounty Issued] Only players affiliated with a faction may claim this bounty. When your Global Bounty is claimed, your Karma is reset to 0 and all Negative Karma bonuses are lost. Your bounty will be deducted from your gold when claimed.

Insufficient funds will result in a negative balance. Resurrection Shrine PvP protection is disabled while your Global Bounty is active. Bounty: 25, 000g Your crimes have attracted attention. [Black Market Access] Location: Westmarket Royal Cathedral Goods: Illegal Meno tried reading the wall of text while still bouncing between guards. Black Market access was not new.

He had unlocked something similar under the old system and never bothered investigating it, although apparently Solar had moved the requirement and decided -666 was funny. The bounty section contained a much less funny line.

"Deducted?! Negative gold? I thought it was just a reward. Nobody said anything about me paying the bounty!" YOU FUND YOUR OWN BOUNTY LMAO CRIME TAX GO NEGATIVE GOLD PLEASE 25K IS NOTHING KEEP GOING PBG PAYING PEOPLE TO KILL HIM"It's only 25k gold. Should be fine." More importantly, players inside Northspire had finally become hostile and attackable despite the safe zone, which meant Meno could stop waiting for them to throw the first hit. Apparently, global outlaw status had benefits.

The cost was that every player kill still dumped negative Karma on him because of the level difference, which was proper nonsense when most of them attacked first. Could a nice guy not raid a city in peace? Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. Meno accepted the trade and started moving through the crowd. Players who had spent the last few minutes watching the siege suddenly found PrayerBeadGod stuck to their face for 1 second before being sent to respawn.

Ranged attacks flooded the streets, and within minutes Meno had around 15 different damage-over-time effects attached to him. Most came from low-level players in weak gear. His real HP stayed stable around 10%, while False Furnace regenerated Absorption faster than the combined chip damage could remove it. There was no reason to bother stacking Reactor anymore, because nothing here could survive the 4610x Unstable. The Colossus was doing much worse.

Every guard and newly arriving player kept pouring damage into it, and the world boss steadily dropped toward critical health while Northspire filled with people logging in specifically to participate in the siege. Meno pushed deeper. Normal guards gradually gave way to elites, and one red-and-gold captain charged him with sword and shield while he was moving between targets.

Instead of taking a full jump, Meno made a tiny two-legged hop and instantly canceled it with Jet Lag, producing just enough movement to plant both feet against the captain's armor. He ended up staring at the sky while Sticky held him sideways against the guy's chest. One second later, the captain died. [-500 Karma (Elite Guard) | +500 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)]"Wow, chill out. That's a bit much. Five times a normal guard." The deeper Meno pushed into Northspire, the uglier the battlefield became.

Stealth classes came in from side streets, ranged players fired from rooftops, and elite guards tried to pin him long enough for everyone else to connect. The lingering debuffs were the only real problem, because killing their casters did not remove them. His Absorption could still handle the pile, but Honeygrave or another high-level DoT player showing up would change the math quickly. Fortunately, Honeygrave had no reason to defend Red Bastion. The next threshold triggered before Meno reached the inner district.

[Negative Karma Threshold Reached: -1, 666] The Black Market now trusts you with more of its forbidden stock. [Global Bounty Increased] Bounty: 100, 000g The civilized factions have had enough of you. [Hunted] Red Bastion, Veil Court, and Sunring Concord NPCs will attack you on sight. Their cities are no longer safe. Grave Crown doesn't care. GRAVE CROWN DOESNT CARE LMAO CIVILIZATION HATES HIM NOW GC uncivilized confirmed need that 100k real bad PBG GLOBAL CRIMINAL ARC do not come to Easveil!!!

"All the other factions hate me now too. Cool. Civilized is a bit much, though, with people like Kestrel." The 100, 000g bounty changed the mood immediately. Players stopped watching the siege like a show and started seeing prize money. Stealth classes moved in. Melee players charged through groups hoping somebody else would soften Meno first, while ranged attacks came from every direction. Mostly, they fed him more negative Karma.

They were also helping kill the Colossus, which had dropped to 17% HP by the time Meno reached the circular square in front of Northspire's inner wall. Elite guards were everywhere here, all around Level 60 and worth -500 Karma each, and Meno erased enough of them that the next threshold arrived much faster than he expected. [Negative Karma Threshold Reached: -6, 666] Your reputation has reached the Black Market's less respectable merchants. More dangerous goods are now offered to you.

[Global Bounty Increased] Bounty: 250, 000g Your name is spreading for all the wrong reasons. [Excrino's Favor I] Players slain by you cannot resurrect for 15 minutes. [Jail Sentence: 1 Hour] If slain by a Red Bastion, Veil Court, or Sunring Concord player or NPC while your Global Bounty is active, you will be imprisoned in that faction's capital. Grave Crown does not imprison Hunted players. Other deaths do not trigger imprisonment. Sentence time progresses at 50% while logged out.

The system walls were becoming an actual combat debuff. Meno skimmed the jail sentence first, saw 1 hour, and decided that was survivable before noticing the favor.

"Excrino? Cool. Keep attacking me if you want a 15-minute timeout. You aren't stealing 250k of my gold, though." He False Blinked through a projectile and landed against another player.

"Can't check right now, but has Kestrel woken up yet? Are they coming?" KESTREL DOESNT CARE still in dungeon he said to ignore it 250K BOUNTY PUMP wtf is that 15 min res timer THE KING STILL ALIVE BTW"He doesn't care? Bet he will once I'm done here." The Colossus died just before Meno reached the inner gates, collapsing in the middle of the square and shattering into a mound of enchanted rock. With the distraction gone, every guard and player converged on Meno.

That also meant Meno no longer had to slow down for it. He accelerated. Desync launched him from player to guard, guard to rooftop, rooftop to wall. Anything he touched with Engulf vanished after 1 second, and when Northspire's inner wall got in the way, Meno simply jumped onto it, erased the archers above, then dropped into the royal district. That was where the city finally sent something capable of denting him.

A woman with flaming hair appeared across the inner courtyard, heat distorting the air around her robes. Meno jumped close enough to inspect her, deleting another guard on the way while archers kept trying to snipe him from the wall. [Seravaine | Northern Archmage | Level 70] Finally, something at his level. Seravaine raised one hand.

"Cease your deranged acts, evil scum!" EVIL SCUM LMAO I need her for my quest! DO NOT KILL! ARCHMAGE BOSS FIGHT she has no idea about the 451 stacks PBG IS THE RAID BOSS NOW Meno launched straight at her. Seravaine blinked away and left a flaming copy behind. It exploded the instant Meno landed, and Sticky kept him planted against the ground instead of letting the blast throw him back, but his Absorption still dropped to 83%. Then she did it again.

Every time Meno committed to a jump, Seravaine waited until his path was obvious, blinked away, and left another explosion behind. Instant teleportation was a clean answer to Desync because Meno still had to physically cross whatever distance she created. Jump, blink, explosion. After several failed chases, Meno stopped playing her game and aimed for an NPC instead. A richly dressed noble had frozen near the edge of the courtyard, apparently trusting the Archmage to solve the problem. Bad choice.

Meno launched onto him. [-500 Karma (Elite NPC) | +500 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)] Seravaine's expression twisted.

"Your evil knows no bounds, coward! Face me!" There it was. Meno aimed at another noble sprinting away and launched with Desync. Seravaine took the bait instantly, blinking forward to intercept and raising a wall of fire where she expected him to land. Halfway through the jump, Meno hit Jet Lag and dropped straight down. Seravaine's fire wall formed in empty air. The moment Meno touched the ground, he launched again toward her. Her blink was still cooling down. This time his feet connected.

Sticky locked Meno against the Archmage just as her teleport returned, and when Seravaine desperately blinked away again, Meno went with her. Chat exploded. HE WENT WITH HER STICKY TELEPORT TECH SHE CANT GET HIM OFF ARCHMAGE HAS A PBG ATTACHED THAT IS SO CURSED BLINKING MADE IT WORSE Seravaine panicked. A blue mana shield wrapped around her, fire detonated around both of them, and strange blue flames ignited beneath their feet as she threw every defensive spell she had into getting Meno off.

None of it broke Sticky Titan. Her damage was much better than anything else Northspire had managed. It tore Meno's Absorption Shield down to 6%, but 4600x Unstable did not give her enough time to finish the job. When Seravaine dropped below 10% HP, her skin turned to ice and she became immune to damage, but Titan Execute did not care. It bypassed everything, so when Meno kicked off, she was erased. The Archmage survived around 5 seconds instead of 1.

[-10000 Karma (Core NPC) | +10000 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)] Meno almost missed his next jump.

"THAT MUCH?!" The sudden 10, 000-point hit launched him past the next threshold and into the bracket after that while guards and players were still flooding the courtyard. [Negative Karma Threshold Reached: -16, 666] The Black Market now trusts you with goods reserved for its more infamous customers. [Global Bounty Increased] Bounty: 500, 000g Jail Sentence Increased: 3 Hours Hunters now cross borders for your head. [Excrino's Favor II] Players slain by you cannot resurrect for 30 minutes.

"That's a lot of gold." He had no time to dwell on it. The siege was still moving, and losing combat would erase every Reactor stack, so Meno kept bouncing through whoever followed him while pushing toward the palace. The main doors were sealed, but a mage guard firing elemental projectiles from a balcony provided a better entrance. Meno launched upward, erased him, and went through the opening behind him. Inside, the palace was packed with elite guards.

The tighter corridors changed the route without slowing the damage. Full Desync jumps were too large indoors, so Meno switched to shorter launches and rapid Jet Lag cancels, sticking himself to target after target without smashing into ceilings or overshooting staircases. By the time he fought his way down toward the main floor, the next Karma threshold appeared. [Negative Karma Threshold Reached: -26, 666] The Black Market now offers goods kept hidden even from most of its infamous customers.

[Global Bounty Increased] Bounty: 1, 000, 000g Jail Sentence Increased: 8 Hours There are few places left where your name is not cursed. [Excrino's Favor III] Players slain by you cannot resurrect for 1 hour.

"Eight hours of jail and a million gold. I can absolutely not die." Meno jumped over a forming shield wall and landed behind the guards.

"If you guys want a one-hour logout, feel free to join." ONE MILLION BOUNTY KILL HIM KILL HIM KILL HIM ONE HOUR RES TIMER LMAO PBG YOU NEED TO LEAVE NO HE NEEDS THE KING FIRST Elite guards kept pushing upward while Meno worked his way down, and the confined palace made every movement more technical. He had to control the massive Desync power, use Jet Lag for tiny landing corrections, and keep enough contact to kill groups without trapping himself between shields. Then the stairs opened into the throne room.

An old man in a golden robe sat on the throne beneath enough golden jewelry to qualify as a dragon. He looked terrified and completely non-combatant. Ten Royal Guards surrounded him, every one Level 70. Meno jumped into the formation without bothering with a slow approach. A shield flashed from the back line, and a ranged bash effect stunned him for 5 seconds turning Engulf off. All ten guards piled onto him at once, sword abilities tearing through his Absorption while Meno stood helpless.

Not enough to finish him before the third second. Reactor triggered, restored his HP, and raised the stack count. [Reactor 452 | Unstable 4620x] Before Meno regained control properly, another stun hit. The Royal Guards kept attacking and pushed him all the way down to 7% HP before Reactor fired again. [Reactor 453 | Unstable 4630x] Then they stunned him a third time. Meno started laughing.

"They're feeding me." Another full crowd-control window completed. [Reactor 454 | Unstable 4640x] By then, repeated control had pushed his status resistance high enough that the next attempts failed to lock him down. Meno activated Engulf and finally started killing them. Royal Guards disappeared in groups whenever Meno could maintain simultaneous contact.

He let his HP fall to 10%, disengaged when incoming damage started threatening the low shield, then used the open throne room to jump in wide circles while False Furnace rebuilt Absorption. The guards tried surrounding him, so Meno jumped over them. They fired sword-light projectiles, so False Blink handled the dangerous ones. Once Absorption returned to 100%, Meno dropped back into the formation and erased another group before pulling away again.

Eventually only one remained, and Meno deliberately left him alive to preserve combat. Boronar the Third had collapsed back into the throne, clearly aware that the people meant to prevent this outcome were almost all dead. Meno inspected him while the final Royal Guard kept chasing. [Boronar the Third | Northern King, Ruler of Northspire | Level 70] The King raised one hand.

"Cease! Y—" Meno reached him feetfirst. Sticky locked against Boronar's face while the final guard charged from behind. Meno extended one arm, caught the guard's shoulder long enough for the contact timer to complete, and erased him without ever leaving the King. Boronar had an obscene amount of HP but basically no combat kit. He grabbed at Meno's legs and screamed, trying to push him away while 4640x Engulf ticks carved through his bar. The King lasted roughly 5 seconds. At 10% HP, Meno kicked away.

Titan executed him. [-50000 Karma (Regicide) | +50000 Reputation (Grave Crown Bonus)] HE KILLED THE KING REGICIDE LMAOOOO FIFTY THOUSAND KARMA NORTHSPIRE KING DOWN KESTREL CHECK YOUR FACTION PBG ACTUALLY DID IT GRAVE CROWN MOMENT THE KING GOT KICKED TO DEATH The throne room went completely quiet after Boronar died, and with no enemies left alive Meno's combat state finally ended.

All 454 Reactor stacks disappeared at once, leaving him alone beside a dead King while the system processed exactly how bad the last few minutes had been for his Karma. The answer arrived immediately. [Negative Karma Threshold Reached: -66, 666] The Black Market has stopped pretending some things should never be sold. [Global Bounty Increased] Bounty: 5, 000, 000g Jail Sentence Increased: 24 Hours The world would be richer without you in it. [Excrino's Favor IV] Players slain by you cannot resurrect for 2 hours.

You may summon and ride mounts in cities and combat. Taking damage no longer dismounts you. Resurrection Shrines outside faction capitals may now be destroyed by you and are marked on your map. Destroyed Resurrection Shrines are restored after 2 hours. Meno's attention locked onto the bounty first.

"FIVE MILLION?! The last one was only one!" Then he saw the jail sentence.

"Twenty-four hours too. Yeah, I need to get the hell out of here before all the guilds show up." The actual bonuses softened the disaster slightly. Combat mounts were extremely good, permanent mounting through incoming damage was even better, and destructible Resurrection Shrines sounded exactly like the kind of mechanic nobody sane should give him.

FIVE MILLION BOUNTY PUMP EVERY TOP GUILD IS COMING NOW 24 HOUR JAIL HOLY DESTROY THE SHRINES EXCRINO LOVES CRIME COMBAT MOUNTS ARE INSANE PBG HAS BECOME A WORLD BOSS Another prompt followed before he could finish reading the first. [Audience of Excrino] Your deeds have earned His attention. Break ten paths back from death, and Excrino will open one to Himself. Meno looked from the shrine markers newly appearing on his map to the quest text.

"This Excrino guy wants to talk, so I guess I should destroy ten Resurrection Shrines next." YES YES YES DO NOT LISTEN TO THE CRIME GOD EXCRINO QUESTLINE TEN SHRINES TEN SHRINES FULL VILLIAN ARC NORTH IS OFFICIALLY UNPLAYABLE"Everyone is welcome to try and claim this bounty if you want a two-hour logout. Keep coming." His actual Karma had already fallen to -90, 100, far beyond the -66, 666 threshold.

Meno had no idea whether another tier existed beyond a 5, 000, 000g bounty, 24 hours of jail, and a god apparently inviting him to destroy resurrection shrines, but after everything Solar had done so far, assuming the system ended here seemed optimistic. Notifications were arriving faster than Meno could properly process them. He was still deciding whether to get out of Northspire immediately or start breaking shrines when one final prompt appeared across his vision.

Meno read it, and the panic over the bounty faded behind a grin. Oh yeah. Kestrel was about to lose his mind.