As they stood around the thing they now knew was no longer Victor, the force holding them in place finally subsided.
Everyone looked between each other.
Well, on the plus side, at least it's not as painful as the summit was, Will said inside Aiden's head.
Aiden could feel the damage accumulating.
He looked at Little Fox.
She was lying on the ground, looking more terrified than anything.
And really, who could blame her?
This was beyond what anyone would expect even a level fifty to deal with.
Much less a bunch of level fifteens.
Aiden turned back to face the Observer.
"You saved us before by sending Victor," Aiden said. "Yet you've only let Victor's player control him for a moment. Why?"
The others turned to him, clearly confused.
Aiden did not have time to explain.
At best, they had ten minutes before they were all on the ground bleeding out, and he needed answers before that happened.
The Observer used Victor's body to examine his own paw, as if fascinated by it.
Then he turned back to Aiden.
"To answer that," the Observer said, "I need to show you all something first."
The Observer did not even move.
Behind him, a large screen appeared, similar to the system.
Within it, six figures stood before a massive dragon covered in bronze scales.
Streaks of white-hot electricity arced across the dragon's body. Some of its scales showed signs of damage, cracked and broken in places, gray and stone-like in others.
The dragon stared down the five figures before it.
One of them was recognizable as Victor.
Beyond him stood others.
One looked like a boy no older than fourteen, yet he was covered in more scar tissue than normal skin. His skin had a gray complexion, and he stared down the dragon with a strange look of bloodlust in his eyes.
Another looked like a skeleton, lacking any skin, flesh, or even eyes. He wore an open red coat and a large plumed pirate captain's hat. A cutlass sat in his hand as he stood beside another figure behind a partially transparent wall.
To the skeleton's right stood a man who looked every bit the part of a vampire.
Open button-up shirt revealing a V of his chest.
Pale complexion.
Silver-white hair.
Red eyes.
Blood swirled around him.
The last was harder to see, but he was identifiable by the strange floating circular portrait above him.
The figure stood on a flying book that seemed to have strange magic running through it. Aiden had to squint, but he could make out a small orange gecko of some kind.
Maybe a fullblood.
The entire scene was frozen.
The portraits above the figures floated around and occasionally glowed as they talked.
Each one was tied to one of the five figures, aside from the dragon.
Over Victor floated a strange kiss mark, like the imprint of lipstick left behind by a woman.
Inside it was the word Sweets.
The boy covered in scars was connected to a portrait of a younger-looking human girl in a strange black-and-white color palette. She wore a dress that puffed out at the bottom and held a sun parasol. She could have looked like an illustrated portrait if not for the strange black glasses she wore.
Above the skeleton was a picture of a strange jackal-like halfblood with purple flames behind them. Their expression was simple, like a cartoon character, with little dots for eyes and a flat line for a mouth.
Above the vampire was a figure in futuristic black armor.
They might have looked intimidating if not for the tall white chef's hat and pink apron with a heart on the front.
Lastly, above the gecko sat a picture of a lich adorned in ornamental robes and shrouded in darkness. He leaned against one arm, while a glowing red gemstone floated in the center of where his stomach would have been.
The portraits floated and discussed.
Then, above them, Aiden felt a familiar presence.
He glanced higher on the screen.
Part of him expected to see the Observer as he had appeared at the summit.
Instead, he was greeted by a similar icon to the others.
This one depicted a small green naga wearing a green military helmet, with its eyes looking in two different directions in a way that made it look dopy and dumb.
"Okay," the naga icon said, the Observer's voice coming through it. "So the bronze dragon is going to be using its breath attack. The wall will save Davie and Alphonso, but I'm gonna need a Dexterity save from Victor."
The icon with the kiss mark flashed.
"Crap, that's an eleven. Plus Dex modifier, that's a twelve."
"What?" the black-and-white girl icon asked, sounding surprised and worried. "I thought Victor had a higher Dex modifier."
"Nah," the kiss mark said. "I went all in on Strength, baby. So let's see if I live this."
There was a sound like a handful of rocks being dropped.
A collective chorus of "ooooooohhh" came from the icons, as if they were all wincing at once.
"What's your HP looking like with two thousand eight hundred ninety-nine lightning damage?" the Observer asked.
There was a moment of silence.
Then the kiss mark icon said, "Crap. I think that kills."
The recording suddenly cut off.
For a moment, movement returned.
A blast of blinding, crackling lightning struck Victor in the chest.
Aiden turned back to the Observer in Victor's body.
The Observer parted the fur on his chest, revealing a crackling burn that ran through him.
"I-Is that what I…" Thalia asked.
She sounded both on the verge of throwing up and utterly horrified.
Victor's body was made to smile.
"Paused at the time of death," the Observer said. "You all happened to be in trouble at roughly the same time, so I froze Victor's body in its state. Not dead, but still dying."
The smile widened slightly.
"It was a little deal I struck with his players to help you all."
"Help us?" Jax asked. "We have no idea who you are."
They all shuddered as the system announced itself again.
Warning: your soul is too weak to last long in the presence of T̷̡̡̮̞̪̦͈͕̹͓͚̘͉̪̜̻̱̖̯͒̂̈́̃̉͑̇͒̋̏̍̇͆͛͋̈́̚̕͜͜͝ͅͅh̴̢̨̢̨̢̛̳͈̤̣͍̠̹̘̹̟̫̟͉̗͓̦̬̝͍̱̩͍̘̺̺̭̙̩̫̤̘̱̙̣̣̹̘͙̗͙̎͒͛̄͛̅̂̓̄͌͗͌̚͜ͅē̶̢̛̥͚̞͚̰͉̩̮͎͕͉̙̖̻̦͇͚̝̽̽̑͋̆͛͊̏͐̅̃̕͝͝͝͝ ̶̢̢̨̤͎͇̠͙͖͎̠̫̰̯̖͙͕̙̩̮͎̣͔͕͇̼͖̙̮͕̣̮͉͕̙͓̘̓͗̓̽͜͜ͅͅƠ̸̧̨̧̢̛̩͍͔̻̙̗͔̌̑͑̀͗̀̔̀̍̓̊͊́͂̈́́͆͗̓̀̄̍͌ͅb̸̡̲̗͚̫̥͔̱̼̦̝̻̐̊̒̈́̀̀́̃͊̑̄̇̈̌͛̒̽͗̂̒́̃̂͜͝͝͝ͅs̶̡̨̗̙͈̲̼̠̥̳͎͈̤͕̥̞͖͇̥̰̤͙͔̙̼̯̯̜̼͕͔̙̮̝͗̍̒̂͋̔̃̿̿͂͌̓̈̿͆͂̒̾̾͂̃̀̐̀̈́̈́̇͊͗̄̈̎̕̚̕͘̕͜͜͝͠͝͝͝͝ͅͅͅȩ̸̢̧̯̫͔̭̰̠̼̣̫̟͖̤̟̱̣̩͉̯̲̱̥͚͇͖͖̘̙̫̥͙̲̰̤̻͎̯͖̬̤̄̃͑̓̈́̉̌͊͒̂̅̈́̃̉̍̕̕͝ͅŗ̴̢̡̡̧̢̭̠͕̭̭͕̟̫̙̖͎̺͉̘͔͍̩̞͈̯͚̹̦̯͚͎̺̻̜̔́̃̂̒̓́͂̅̓̀̿̏̍͋͗̒̋͊̅̈́̂͑̒̑̋̂̅̈́̐̃̆̊̌̎̇͑̚̚̚͠͝ͅv̸̢̡̡̨̧̨̡̛̛̛̠̫͔̮̱̬̙͎̩̟͔̭̉͋͗̂̂̄͒̌͆̀͒͊̄͐̓̅̂̆͑̈́̊̎̈́͑́̒̿̐̇̽̿̆̚̚͝ę̶̛̛̛̠̫̞̤͕̮̥͕͇̳̟̱̖̬͎̪̙̭̭͖͈͉̝̯͕̼̯̱͌͛͐́̂̀̎͑͑̿̂̅̑̍̎̈́̐̈́̎̈́̓̑̉͊̿̊̉̾͑́̿͌͌͗̿͊͗̈́̅̂̕̕̚͠r̸̼̲̞̭̳̮̹̗͍̘̖͕͖̊͑͑̏͐̓̉̂̅̽̅͑̇̌̿̆̑́̈́̐̽͆̚̕͘͠͝ͅ
The Observer chuckled.
Then he gave a smile that, to Aiden's surprise, reminded him of his grandfather.
It was the kind of smile that radiated nothing but love, warmth, and a fervent wish for the success of those it was directed at.
"You may not have known it," the Observer said, "but I have been following you all since chapter one. Letting others join in too as we watch your stories unfold."
His gaze moved over them.
"In some ways, you all are some of my favorites."
"I-I'm not sure I understand," Selene said, looking at the rest of them. "What do you mean by chapters?"
The Observer took a moment to think.
Then he turned to Aiden.
"Aiden, I know for a fact that you and Liora love the Seven Stars book series, right?"
Aiden stiffened.
"What would you say is the worst part about getting the new book?"
Aiden turned to Liora.
Then he said, "I-I guess it's when you have to wait for the next book to come out?"
Victor's body started bouncing on its paws like a kid excited for Christmas.
"YES, EXACTLY!"
The Observer was probably louder than he meant to be.
"It's why, instead of cultivating a new story, I helped cultivate an entire world. No matter where you go, there is a story around every corner. And with the players taking part using characters, the world is churned up in ways even a fifth-dimensional being like myself can't fathom."
His eyes glittered.
"It's amazing!"
"That still doesn't explain why you're here," Liora said.
She sat down in a heap, her breaths coming quick and sharp.
Blood had begun to run from her eyes as well.
"Well, the reason is simple," the Observer said. "We're already at the hundredth chapter, and that's a pretty big benchmark, after all."
Everyone stared in confusion as the Observer walked toward them.
He reached out a hand.
A small system notification appeared.
System has been used to grant you a skill.
Skill acquired:
Waking the Herald of Defense (A)
Waking the Herald of Defense (A)
Active
This skill can be used one time before it is gone.
When this skill is activated, you summon Dynamo, the son of Blue of World Seven, to aid you.
This aid is only guaranteed for one minute, after which Dynamo is no longer obligated to assist you.
Aiden looked up.
Part of him was bewildered by the rank of the skill.
The other part was wondering what a Son of Blue was.
He turned toward where the Observer had walked behind them, but as he did, he found Victor walking toward the treeline.
"Hopefully," the Observer said with a chuckle, "I'll see you all in chapter one thousand."
Little Fox seemed to have been building up courage for a while, and she finally blurted out, "You don't know if we will?"
"Of course not," the Observer said. "What viewer wants spoilers?"
Victor vanished into the woods.
For one brief moment, the Observer stood in his full form, starry mantle and all.
He smiled and held out a small twenty-sided die.
"Besides," the Observer said, "in worlds like this one, fate is often just a roll of the dice."
Without another word, the Observer vanished.
The die dropped to the ground.
It had 20 sides, and bounced for a moment before landing with the 20 facing up.