The True Endgame

Blackstache and Ull are both here alongside some of the city"s best chefs and entertainers. It is like a miniature festival has been prepared for the winning crew, and there is a table in front of the two leaders that displays the winners" rewards.

"Congratulations, Captain Fenrir and tha rest o" the crew o" Thas...o...b..ll. Ya did what n.o.body thought ya could and managed ta win the tournament. From savin" lives in tha first round ta barely survivin" tha second round, ta befriendin" tha serpent and fightin" with "er in tha final round, ya managed ta make a name for yerselves and have become muses fer plenty o" songs," Blackstache announces.

Some more of those orbs are floating around to show the award ceremony on that large screen still hanging from the tower.

"I ain"t too happy "bout ya friend costin" me some repairs, but it was one h.e.l.luva show ya gave us, so we"ll let ya off tha hook this time so long as ya don"t break anythin" else," Blackstache continues before stepping to the side.

"Congratulations, Fenrir. I truly did not expect you to win, but here you are. Regardless of what may have happened between us, I would be a fool to deny that you have performed excellently and provided us with a show that n.o.body expected. Now, not only may you keep the branch of Yggdrasil that you stole from my champions, but you may have this reward I have brought for the winners," Ull says.

As much as Fenrir may have his reasons to dislike Ull, he respects how mature and respectful he is being in this moment. Fenrir isn"t sure that he would be able to act so mature were the roles reversed. Then again, if he was in Ull"s hooves, he would have cheated and made sure that winning was impossible.

The Divine Brigade never played fair.

"Who"re they?" Serra whispers to Ca.s.siel while trying to subtly point at a group of players wearing brown and black uniforms. They"re dressed like detectives out of one of the old school mystery movies that Serra loves.

"They call themselves the Gaian Press. They"re always at major events and they stream everything to their viewers. You know how this game makes it into the news? It"s usually those guys doing the reporting," Ca.s.siel explains.

"How does streaming work if the game is two times faster than real life?"

Ca.s.siel blinks a few times. She"s never watched streams herself, so she doesn"t know the answer to that, nor has she ever really thought about it before. "I"m – I"m not sure," she answers.

Meanwhile, Oleander happily clings to Corwin"s arm and smiles at the journalists after overhearing Ca.s.siel"s explanation.

Bonekraka looks bored, Tabitha looks so proud that she"s on the verge of crying and trying her best to hold back her tears, and Rock is sitting behind Fenrir watching his tail sway from side to side.

"Ya have anything ya want ta say?" Blackstache asks Fenrir.

"I"m uhh, I don"t think—" Fenrir gets interrupted by Tabitha smacking him on his back and pushing him forward. "Alright, I"m just… I really have to thank my crew for this. Everybody has been a ma.s.sive help and not a single member of our crew failed to pull their own weight. Serra was a great sniper for us with the ballista, Ca.s.siel, Bonekraka, and Corwin were huge helps and did whatever needed to be done, Oleander masterfully handled the ship and pulled off maneuvers that only he could, and Tabitha is the best engineer that any captain could ever ask for. And Rock is the best mascot," Fenrir says.

Tabitha"s quivering eyes finally start leaking while the rest of the crew gets pretty emotional as well. Even Rock looks proud!

"Winning wouldn"t have been possible without every single one of them, so to anybody watching or listening to this, don"t attribute this win to me just because I"m the captain. If anything, they all did far more work than I did and deserve way more recognition than I do. I also need to thank The s...o...b..ll, because without her, we never would"ve been able to compete in the first place. She never gave up just like the rest of us, and has easily taken the hardest beating out of all of us," Fenrir continues. "Thank you for giving us the opportunity to compete in the tournament."

"Well spoken, Fenrir," Ull says. "Now, your rewards."

A sack overflowing with a couple hundred of gold coins rests on the table alongside the award that Ull has brought himself. It is a mighty horn several times the size of most players in attendance of the ceremony, and to Fenrir, it looks like a curved drinking horn with runic symbols etched into it.

"The Gjallarhorn was crafted by our most talented smiths and is capable of producing the loudest blast in the world. Even those from my home across the ocean will be able to hear its call, and it will serve as a worthy addition to the ship capable of taming serpents and defying all odds," Ull explains.

While the rest of the crew may not be nearly as excited, both Fenrir and Tabitha are practically salivating at the thought of putting this giant, awesome horn right on the front of the ship.

Fenrir may be interested in the lore of the horn and how important it is in Norse lore, but Tabitha just sees it as a really loud horn to honk at people with. Part of her is already thinking about how to make it even louder!

"Ya were supposed ta have tha serpent as a reward as well, but I doubt that"s goin" ta be happenin". We"d always carve up tha serpents fer past winners, but we ain"t got any serpent ta be carvin" up this time around," Blackstache says.

"Money and an awesome horn is more than enough for us," Fenrir says. "Plus, we just really wanted to win. Winning alone is enough of a reward for us."

…

"You hear that?" one of the guards on the pier to Ull"s flagship asks.

"Yeah, but I don"t see anything," another guard answers.

They hear what sounds like somebody wearing heavy armor walking near them, but they fail to see anybody.

The experienced guards draw their weapons, but that doesn"t stop them from getting their heads swiftly lopped off before having their corpses pushed into the water.
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Fire engulfs the sails of the ship moments later.

"We"re under attack!" a crewman shouts.

"Who"s attacking us?!"

"I don"t see them!"

"They have to be using magic! We need a nullification field up!"

One of the mages...o...b..ard the ship starts chanting to erect a barrier around the ship that will nullify all spells and magical items within it, but he"s set aflame before he can finish chanting the spell.

…

Fenrir turns around to look in Nell"s direction. He cannot see Ull"s flagship due to buildings being in the way, but he knows that something is wrong. He feels Nell"s worry – her panic.

His worry is confirmed legitimate when he sees smoke rising in the air coming from her direction.

He turns around to warn everybody, but it"s unneeded. Both Blackstache and Ull are talking to their respective subordinates to send people over to check on what"s happening, and it is only a few seconds later that Ull himself leaves to check on the situation.

Fenrir looks at his crew and then the rewards on the table.

This chaos can be taken advantage of now that the tournament has been won.

"Get the gold and horn back to The s...o...b..ll. I"m going to go get Nell," Fenrir tells them.

As much as they may all want to rest and partake in the celebrations planned for them, they follow Fenrir"s orders and get to work.

Fenrir takes off after Ull.

Nell"s panic grows stronger by the second.

With the tall buildings cleared, Fenrir has vision of Ull"s flagship and sees its masts and deck caught in a blazing fire. Magic is being used to put the flames out and it"s working but slowly.

Fenrir catches up to Ull since he has stopped in the middle of the street, staring at his ship.

When Fenrir tries running past him, Ull extends an arm out in front of him to stop him.

"What are you doing?" Fenrir asks.

"Thinking and watching," Ull answers. "The most likely culprit to attack my ship is you. But, you are here and not there, so who could it be?"

"Does it matter? Nell is there!"

"Calm yourself, wolf. The fire will not be able to spread to her before being put out, and she is not of your concern in the first place."

Ull may be saying that, but Fenrir feels Nell more panicked than ever before.

"She"s locked up, isn"t she?" Fenrir asks.

"Yes, and she will not be getting out again," Ull answers.

The only problem with Ull"s words is that Fenrir feels Nell suddenly being on the opposite side of the city away from where she"s supposed to be.

Fenrir sees The Steel Tiger when he looks directly at where he feels Nell"s presence coming from.

The Steel Tiger undocks and sets sail with quick repairs being done and new sails already having been set up.

If Ull believes that Nell is still kept prisoner on his ship, now is the perfect opportunity to get away with her.