3 Chapter Two: A Conspiracy Against the Alliance 

In the distance, against the backdrop of an endless void, was Julia's precious avatar, Ophelia Von Luna. She poured thousands of credits and most of her adult life into it. Julia had crafted a masterpiece! Ophelia was frighteningly beautiful, inhumanely so. Her pale marble skin was devoid of any warmth. Wild, silvery hair flowed down her shoulders. Golden, cat-like eyes demanded submission. Her curves and softness gave the illusory invitation to all to gaze upon her. To be lost in her bewitching paradise.

Fifteen years ago, when she created her, Julia spent hours editing and perfecting every detail in character creation. Her inspiration for Ophelia was the mythical Greek goddess Hecate. Julia selected her avatar. A screen appeared before her, with some basic information about Ophelia.

Name - Ophelia Von Luna

Class (es) - Necro Knight

Race - High Elf, Purebred Vampire

Body Type - Humanoid

Curse (s) - Vampirism

Blessing (s) - Carmila's Gift

A smile crept across her face as she leaned in and pressed her forehead against Ophelia's. A sense of calmness spread out across her body. Whenever Julia felt stressed, Ophelia would wash it all away. Another window appeared before asking.

"Would you like to log in?"

Yes.

No.

Julia selected her answer, closed her eyes, and waited to be logged in. She wrapped her arms around Ophelia's waist and waited. A second later, a familiar sound filled her ears.

Ding!

A flash of red light appeared in the middle of a dimly lit passage. As the light faded, standing in its place was Ophelia. These were the halls of the Ichor Sanctuary, a secret refuge built deep within the Khadar mountain. It had taken her years to have it built without the notice of her enemies. The sanctuary would be the nexus of her power. From here, she would rule over her shadow empire.

With her gauntlet, she reached out and clenched her fist, smiling. Julia pulled up the games menu and checked her notifications. One by one, she went through all of them. Most were spam. Friend invites, party invites, guild offers, bribes, and even a few death threats. Ophelia ignored them all. Only paying attention to the fifteenth-anniversary gifts that were given to her. Excitedly, she opened the mail and moved the anniversary gift boxes into her inventory.

Julia glanced at the game clock. She was late! "I will open those later."

Quickly, Ophelia scrolled through her equipment menu and equipped something more "regal". The NPCs around her wouldn't notice or care, but to her, it was about setting the mood. It was best to dress for the role. Right now she wasn't an adventurer, she was their empress!

Pumped with adrenaline, Ophelia selected her favorite long-sleeved, deep, v-neck ebony dress that clung to her curves. She equipped a matching high-waisted corset belt. Then she chose a long raven-black robe with hidden patterns woven into it over the dress. Finally, she picked out her accessories: the void-black crystal earrings called the "Tears of the Styx" and a necklace named "Draconic Authority", which were some of the best equipment she had.

"Ah, much better!" She clapped her hands, giving herself a once over.

With that done, Ophelia exited the menu screen. She glanced at the time and cursed herself as she rushed down the hallway. Although she was a little late for the meeting with her retainers, they wouldn't complain. As she turned the corner, Ophelia passed attendants and knights carrying chests, barrels, and crates towards the vaults and supply rooms. Their blank expressions focused on the task at hand.

If a player didn't interact with an NPC, they would remain expressionless. It was her only real complaint about the game. She understood that the AI and programming couldn't make everyone lifelike because of hardware limitations, but it still ruined immersion. Which sucked because she spent hours writing backstory for some of them. They just followed commands and schedules, doing whatever she asked.

Briskly, she walked past them and continued down the corridor. Not long after, she stopped in front of two large, dark steel doors. Ophelia adjusted her clothes and took a deep breath, getting herself into character, before letting out a long sigh. She placed her hand upon the ornate silver doorknob, twisting she pushed the door open. It was eerily quiet as she stood there in the doorway. Her trusted confidants sat in their respected seats, waiting for her.

Upon seeing her, they stood up in silent unison and bowed to her. Ophelia grinned as she walked across the glimmering marble floors, making her way to her throne. Sculpted from precious constellation jade, the Twilight Throne looked as if they crafted it out of the night sky. Leading up the throne were seven steps, each made of a precious metal.

The throne's intricate details always fascinated her. Often she found details she never noticed before when sitting in it. She caressed the arm of the chair before spinning around and taking her seat. From her point-of-view she felt like a celestial being, gazing down upon the mortal realm.

"Sit." Ophelia issued the command to all of them.

Everyone in the room sat down in unison and looked at her blankly, awaiting further orders. They all were NPCs and each of them was her trusted companions and retainers. Some of them held exalted positions within the alliance, while others just followed her. And although they were not actual people, to her Ophelia they were precious. She had brought everyone together to discuss the Northern State Alliance, and how they were planning to tear it apart.

The alliance was already sprinting down the road to destruction. Its demise was inevitable. But because of Ophelia, its death would be brutal. She felt no remorse for it. It had to be done. The petty squabbles of the allied council were bringing the alliance to a standstill. After her reign, her political enemies would gain the majority vote and nominate a traitor to the throne. This cemented her reasoning to never trust players. Too unpredictable and selfish. At least NPCs had a loyalty bar that you could max out and gauge.

Ophelia had tried to fight the corruption within the alliance with her trusted retainers, but that didn't solve the root of the problem. Players' greed had driven the alliance to a cliff's edge. New edicts and policies that could help ease the alliances' issues became useless. Her rival, Zafir Zadkine, had spent the last two years blocking her every political move.

"One of my proudest moments was when I looked Ophelia in the eye and I said, 'Empress Ophelia, you will not pass any new laws.'" The weaselly man had boasted quietly behind her back.

The Alliance had already betrayed itself. Many players were already working with the nations to the south. When the new emperor claimed power, Zafir and his ilk would sell out the alliance.

With the help of her spymaster, Cybel, Ophelia had discovered their plans to plunder the alliance. The southern players' nations would gain a vast amount of land and resources. Those within the alliance who helped them would receive lofty positions, power, and wealth. She could use this knowledge to keep the alliance together, but she no longer cared to. For years, she had worked hard for alliance! With her guidance, she had turned the once fourth-rate power into a regional powerhouse. No way in hell would she allow others to steal the riches, equipment, items, and power she and her retainers bled for. Instead, Ophelia would take it!

The 15th-anniversary celebration was a perfect distraction to drain the last bit of the alliance's vaults. She had set this plan in motion over a year ago. By fixing the accounting books, she laundered untold amounts of gold, items, equipment, and items into the sanctuary vaults. After the celebration ended, the players within the alliance would quickly learn what happened. No matter how good her accounting skills were, she couldn't explain missing legendary items and equipment. When the other alliance members learned of what she had done, chaos would ensue.

But by that time, she would have erased her tracks and disappeared. With the precautions she had taken, they would never find her. Ophelia wished she could see their faces when they learned the alliance vaults were empty. The southern nations would also go ballistic, knowing all the legendary and mythic items had disappeared. On Monday morning, the message boards would explode into a frenzy.

The Ichor Sanctuary would be her refuge until everything blew over. From here, she would establish her shadow empire. It would only exist as a hushed rumor, but its influence would stretch across the continent. Euphoria filled Ophelia as she thought about her plans finally coming to a successful end. It had been a genuine test of her abilities and nerves. But it was finally almost over!

She pushed these thoughts aside, turning her attention onto the meeting. Taking on a "regal" side, Ophelia locked eyes with one of her most loyal retainers, Diego de Leon, the current chancellor of the alliance. He was a cobalt-blue cambion that rose to power within the alliance on his own merits. Originally, she was quite distrustful of the man, but he gained her trust. Diego was an intelligent, friendly, and charming man, whose skills were second to none.

He was a tall, lean man, with precise features, with shaggy and unruly black hair, and gentle emerald green eyes. His smile exuded friendliness and calmness, which made him easy to approach. Whenever she saw him, he moved with poised grace. Diego's attire, although orderly and fanciful, didn't pull too much attention to it. You could tell he paid attention to how others perceived him.

Although he had a body for it, Diego had no combat skills. Most of his skills involved governing, logistics, managing, organization, and communication. He was the ideal assistant to her. He carried out most of her plans to perfection.

Ophelia gestured towards the man with a slight smile. "Report status of Operation Purlion, Chancellor Diego."

As if being turned on, he gave her a meek smile, his eyes focusing on her. Although the AI sometimes gave NPCs awkward facial movements, it was well enough to pass her standards. It was just a shame that unless you interacted with an NPC; they would remain lifeless looking. But she couldn't be too picky. It would be impossible for current AI technology to make every NPC seem lifelike.

"Blessings of the night, your highness." He bowed slightly to her. His honeyed tenor voice was pleasing to her ears.

"Operation Purlion is ninety-nine percent complete as of the last report I received from my subordinates." Diego flipped through some documents in front of him before glancing up and awaited further commands.

Satisfied, Ophelia turned her attention to the woman sitting next to Diego, Cephal Nordsee, the Trade Minister for the Northern State Alliance. Like all Scylla, she had a human top with a bottom that closely resembled that of an octopus. She was a sinister beauty, with voluptuous curves. Her skin was a glossy pale white-silvery color. With lustrous lavender hair and a face that could tempt any sailor to jump into the sea for her. Her tentacles were dark-indigo purple with black accents, her suckers were a lighter shade of lilac. Draped across her delicate frame was a black-scaled and purple lace nightdress, which barely covered anything.

She hailed from a large merchant family that joined the alliance because of privateers from the southern nations repeatedly attacked their ships. Cephal was a woman of high intelligence and calculated her every move. She did not move if there was no profit.

"Cephal, Report the status of the Northern State Alliance's main vaults." Ophelia crossed her legs and awaited the woman's response.

From the corner of her eye, she watched the life drain away from Diego as Cephal came to life. Even after witnessing this for years, she hated to see it happen. It pained her to see her retainers return to their blank expressions, waiting for a command. She hoped that one day the game would upgrade to where all her NPCs had their own AI.

"Blessings of the night, your highness." Cephal bowed. Her low, sultry voice was like a decadent dessert to the ears.

"We have emptied the Northern State Alliance vaults, which you have designated, leaving only one gold coin in each, as you have instructed." A fierce smile spread across her lips as she looked up at Ophelia.

The benefit of NPCs was that they did what you asked them, depending on your connection to them and their loyalty meter. The issue was they were not as flexible in their thinking as players, so the instructions you gave them needed to be detailed. If it wasn't for her work experience in the government and foreign affairs, her plans would have failed a long time ago. Ophelia nodded to herself, peering around the table, trying to recall the next phase of the plan.

Her eyes locked on Sorzo Wavea, the Ichor Sanctuary's overseer. The old man had been with her for a few years after she completed a few missions for him. Originally, he was the steward of a citadel in the south, but when a new lord came to power, they forced Sorzo to flee. He was the perfect person to take over the position of overseer. He had faithfully served her and the sanctuary a little over three years.

Sorzo was a lime-green male Lizardian, or as some players called them, "lizardfolk". Scales covered most of his body. He had sharp talon-like claws on his feet and razor-like teeth. His face, like most of his kind, resembled that of an iguana. His face, however, had an almost constant smirk on it, as if he was always up to mischief. Considering his age, Sorzo still had a tall and powerful build. With his gold-vertically slitted eyes, game him an intimidating look.

Ophelia strummed her fingers on the arm of her throne. "What is the status of the food and crafting supplies within Ichor Sanctuary, Overseer Sorzo?"

Just like Diego, Cephal's face dimmed and became blank as Sorzo came to life. She pushed that unpleasant feeling aside and focused on the old Lizardian.

Sorzo bowed. "Blesssingss of the night, your highnesss."

"The ssupply rooms dessignated for crafting suppliesss within the Ichor Ssanctuary are at full capacity. The sstore roomss designated for food are at 50% capacity." Sorzo pointed out, looking up at Ophelia.

"How many blood vials do we have? And what's the status of obtaining more from the null council?" Ophelia rolled her eyes as she mentioned the null council.

"The Ichor Ssanctuary currently hass 3,271 blood vialss according to our latest recordss. As your insstructionss we are currently negotiating the price and payment of more blood vialss from the null council. However, the council hass not agreed upon the price point you provided to me." He shook his head and shrugged his shoulders.

One by one, she went around the room, asking everyone the status of certain projects, tasks, and missions. As she listened, it felt like the calm before the storm. Once the alliance descended into chaos, everyone's work would only increase. Many of the faces in this room needed to go to other nations and regions to build up contacts and influence. It was necessary if she was going to rule from the shadows.

By the time she had everyone's reports and handed out new detailed instructions, several hours had passed. Ophelia glanced at the game clock and realized it was already 23:59. This was the downside to running an empire. Most of her time was spent dealing with management issues.

It was rare for her to travel out and do actual quests these days, at least not like she used to. Ophelia would need to find time to go out and have some fun and do some quests. Of course, it would need to be well out of the reach of the prying eyes of the alliance and southern nations. She was sure that they would put out a massive bounty on her come Monday morning.

Standing up from her chair, she was about to dismiss everyone when a notification popped up. That was highly unusual. Usually, the game tried to never allow that unless absolutely necessary. It was simply telling that she has received an urgent message. Worried, she opened up her menu screen and went to her message screen, and looked at her inbox. There at the very top was an unopened message.

Champion Selection

Curious, she opened it to see what it said, but found nothing but an almost endless sequence of letters and numbers. Her brow raised as she did quite understand what the message was trying to say. A strange tingling sensation came over her. Then a stabbing sensation struck her head, causing her to lurch forward onto the table. She grabbed the sides of her head, screaming for the pain to stop. Through teary eyes, she watched as her retainers watched her with blank stares. Until finally, everything in the room faded, and the world went dark.