After sending that final message, the frantic pings finally quieted. Eden called Uriel into her study to debrief on the scout's findings.
"The scout returned and reported nothing at those coordinates," Uriel stated, handing over a parchment scroll. "The citadel was completely reduced to ash. There was no sign of Menki's survival."
Scanning the report, Eden noticed a strange anomaly: there was no trace of NPC farms. As one develops their citadel farms within the borders are usually unlocked. Only one logical conclusion surfaced. He gave up.
Would he actually be able to return to the real world? she wondered, a heavy weight settling in her chest.
Recognizing that the vacuum of leadership required immediate stabilization, she drafted another address to the alliance:
Greetings,
It is believed that Menki found a way back from this world. There was no trace of his fortress remaining; I have attached the scout's report of his last known location for transparency. For those who wish to depart the alliance, submit your requests privately to avoid administrative fees. All others, please await the formal announcement of your new R4 appointments.
Best Regards,
Great Eden
Within hours, three departure requests crossed her desk. One came from a high-ranking member sitting third in the alliance's internal power hierarchy. Suspicious of a rat fleeing a sinking ship, Eden pulled up his communications log. It was a textbook jump-ship maneuver; the moment Menki vanished, this player assumed the faction was doomed. Well, I did give them the option, thought Eden.
Recognizing the need for a complete cultural reset, Eden decided the faction required a total reinvention—starting with its name and its governing core.
She dispatched encrypted invitations to six standout individuals: Maur, Corruption, Ron, Notme, Onibat, and Blowzabella. These individuals would form her new executive cabinet.
Before the summit, she sought clarification from her guide. "Uriel, if players completely surrender or give up, do they die?"
"Negative," Uriel replied flatly. "They are reassigned, but their physical vessels on Earth lose functional agency and freedom of movement."
Eden chewed the inside of her lip. Evansly operated like a ruthless match of chess where checkmate meant deleting your opponent and stripping their assets. It was a grim, mechanical reality of survival that she would simply have to stomach if she wanted to see the other side. Before her guests arrived, she issued a final administrative instruction: "Uriel, remain by the beast stables during this meeting. Do not interfere."
When the newly promoted alliance generals arrived, Arthur politely escorted their respective guides to a holding chamber to prevent any distractions over the origins of their entities.
Gathered around a heavy oak table, Eden wasted no time cutting through the polite silence.
"Thank you all for coming. I've called this summit to establish binding administrative protocols so we stop operating as free food for rival factions," Eden began, leaning forward. "We currently sit at 6th place in the regional power rankings. The security threshold begins at 5th place. According to my calculations, if we collectively scale our power output by twenty percent, we can break into the safe bracket."
Silence hung thick around the table. Realizing her abrupt delivery might have missed its mark, Eden cleared her throat with an apologetic smile. "Forgive me, I have a persistent habit of rushing straight to business. It is a genuine pleasure to meet you all. Without your backing, this alliance has zero chance of surviving the coming winter."
Maur leaned back, swirling his goblet. "Are additional generals awaiting for appointment?"
"I could expand the board, but a lean council is far more effective for our current operational scope," Eden replied.
"What specific portfolios will we manage?" Corruption asked smoothly.
"Corruption will operate as my Second-in-Command; her perceptual awareness and strategic poise make her my operational voice of reason. Maur will act as our chief diplomat, handling external negotiations with carefully weighed responses. Onibat assumes the Warlord mandate, backed by Ron and Notme as combat advisors. Blowzabella will oversee recruitment and personnel retention." Eden paused, sweeping her gaze across the room. "These alignments were tailored to your demonstrated tendencies during the preliminary drafting. If anyone takes issue with their posting, my door is open for a private discussion."
"Sounds logic," Maur approved. "How do you propose whipping the broader alliance into alignment?"
"With an iron fist, naturally," Eden chuckled dryly.
Across the table, expressions tightened—except for Corruption, who recognized her dry humor. Blowzabella, who had remained silent until now, snapped. "That is no way to govern. You are dealing with human lives, not game pieces."
Eden sighed lazily. "We are stationed inside a live combat zone; there is no sugarcoating our reality. If the general members remain oblivious to active warfare, we are merely sitting ducks. I lead strictly by example. If a border post is struck, I will mobilize. But in exchange, I expect those I protect to invest in their own infrastructure. Every member has utility, regardless of tier. They don't need to match my power, but they must stop leaving their gates unlatched."
"How do you plan to bridge that competency gap?" Maur challenged, taking a slow sip of wine.
"By teaching them of course and setting milestones for them to meet. Then we celebrate every milestone. But I need help developing the plan for this." responded Eden with positivity.
After a group deliberation, they all came to an agreement.
"Okay great! By distributing tactical newsletters directly through the alliance mail relay—step-by-step guides on defensive zoning and counter-raiding metrics, we can improve their citadel, " Eden answered, dropping a draft sheet onto the wood.
Onibat frowned, scanning the notes. "You're going to spoon-feed them the basics? Shouldn't combat literacy be standard by now?"
"Ideally, yes," Eden countered grimly. "But not everyone processes survival data at the same velocity. We accommodate the learning curve."
Ron offered a quiet, earnest nod. "I'll assist wherever possible. Honestly, I'm still figuring out these mechanics myself."
"You and Notme represent our heavy vanguard," Eden softened her tone, raising her glass in a silent toast. "Veterans. Your real-world tactical backgrounds anchor our strategic planning.Though this is a game and rules are different, it's important to remember these are human minds we deal with."
"Which is precisely why ruling with an iron fist is catastrophic!" Blowzabella interjected sharply.
Softly, Corruption intervened. "She was joking, Blowzabella. If you knew Eden, you'd know she isn't genuinely tyrannical. Why else would she seat us here to debate constitutional rules collaboratively? Previous executives never offered that courtesy."
Eden exhaled slowly. "Thank you, Corruption. I should have measured my delivery better. This is precisely why you are my voice of reason."
Pulling out a second scroll, she slid copies across the table. "Here are the binding articles of governance. Furthermore, because Menki appointed me without my consent—or yours—I am establishing a recall clause. If I ever go unresponsive due to operational needs, Corruption assumes command. Conversely, if any member at this table determines I am unfit for sovereign leadership, you retain the legal right to petition a vote of no confidence and remove me from my position. The majority vote wins. Do we have a consensus?"
Eden picked up a quill and signed the charter first.
Maur stared at the paper in disbelief. "Are you genuinely willing to gamble your supreme administrative authority like that?"
"I'm not gambling; I am establishing accountability," Eden replied steadily. "The preservation of the alliance supersedes my ego."
With a contemplative smirk, Maur signed, followed in quick succession by Onibat, Ron, Notme, and Blowzabella. Only Corruption held her quill suspended, watching Eden with a quiet intensity.
"Do you object to the terms, Corruption?" Eden asked, genuinely surprised.
"I don't believe you'll ever give us cause to trigger it," Corruption replied softly, pressing her seal to the parchment in steady solidarity. "I sign simply to validate your conviction."
The following morning, as the newly appointed generals gathered in the dining hall for their final briefing, Eden stood before them with a crisp, decisive announcement.
"To honor our new covenant, we discard our old identity. From this moment onward, we operate under a banner that will command absolute respect across the server: Excalibur, E.X.C."
With a sweep of her hand, the standards lining the hall shifted, displaying a pristine new crest forged in gold and silver mail.
Corruption beamed, smoothing down her newly upgraded robes laced with metallic thread. "We simply must commission a round table to match the legend."
As the rest of the Alliance Commanders filed out, Eden asked Corruption to remain behind. Pacing the manicured hedge mazes of the courtyard, Eden let out a stressed breath. "I worry Blowzabella and I will inevitably clash. My poor attempt at humor proved I need to soften my public posture."
"You can project approachability, but you can't sugar coat combat," Corruption observed astutely. "She'll adjust once she experiences a real breach firsthand. Is that all you wished to discuss?"
"Not entirely. We need to scale our boss raids. Lower-tier members cannot contribute heavy combat units yet, meaning the burden falls entirely on our high-tier hitters. That means you and I will absorb the vast majority of damage during raids."
"I accept the math," Corruption nodded. "We pull what the roster can safely dispatch."
"Which means you take massive hits alongside me."
"Did you forget your own speech? We are in this together."
Eden laughed, shaking her head. "You possess a terrifying talent for quoting my own words back at me."
Promoted to 15th place on the server power ladder after unlocking her combat dragon, Eden and Corruption quickly established themselves as the server's premier power-duo for high-end monster raids. However, a persistent tactical anomaly began plaguing their outlying territories: smaller allied settlements were raided during specific windows of the night—windows when Eden and Corruption were asleep.
"You suspect a spy?" Maur asked during a late-night war room debrief.
"I have a hunch that someone is acting as a decoy, I don't know how they're doing it but it became clear to me after looking at the report times. Also, some of these people were on my communication list under friendly, but attacked once I went to sleep."
"It did seem strange that when you said goodnight to everyone yesterday, an attack happened 5 minutes after."
"They have become bold, making it more obvious or sloppy"
"What do you think of doing?"
"Clear my friendly communication list and sign peace agreements with the surrounding alliances"
"That sounds good and all, will they agree?"
"Well, if they don't, then I'll launch a full-on attack on their alliance until they comply. I doubt most of them will want a constant pressure of war from me."
"You are devious, but I like your style hahaha"
"How are the new recruits doing? I sent them resources"
"They seem to be settling in nicely, though they still have fear in their eyes when your name is mentioned"
"Hmm I know my style of recruiting is ruthless, but the survival of the alliance is a priority. Once I get the majority of the alliances to sign a peace agreement I'll stop"
"But we won't get to see the wrath of Eden anymore"
"Hahaha you'll see it, It will be reserved for others. With that said, I need your help"
"What can I help you with?"
"I know you are very good at deducting information and getting all the juicy secrets, I want to see if any one in the alliance has a similar style of speaking as someone else. And if they are active at the same time in our alliance chat or alternatively. I know it's a lot of work, but you are discrete. We can go over the list together to select which seems odd."
"A secret mission?"
"Corruption is aware of my suspicions"
"Of course, your second in command would know"
"I really hate to believe anyone here is willing to sell us out, but there's people who take joy in such schemes."
"Well, your recruitment protocols aren't exactly gentle."
"Survival demands unconventional strategies," Eden stated flatly. "Once the diplomatic perimeter stabilizes, I'll ease the pressure."
"And miss out on watching you terrorize the server? Unthinkable." Maur grinned. "Now, what is our operational play regarding the mole?"
"I need your discretion," Eden said, leaning forward. "You possess an exceptional talent for cross-referencing behavioral patterns. I want you to analyze alliance chat logs against active raid timestamps. Find the accounts whose linguistic syntax mirrors known hostile entities or whose progression curves remain artificially stagnant despite resource injections."
"A clandestine counter-intelligence audit?"
"Precisely."
Maur pulled out a master ledger, immediately crossing off loyalists while drafting a high-risk shortlist. "We have a handful of silent members. They rarely communicate in main channels, and their combat contribution metrics are flatlined."
"They could just be hoarding collective rewards while serving as spies," Eden deduced. "Let's flush them out. We will host a ball."
"A ball? How do we compel members to check in?" Maur asked skeptically.
"By dangling a massive reward incentive tied to verified power-tier progression," Eden smiled thinly. "Mandatory attendance paired with milestone material payouts. If they aren't physically present at their terminal to claim the asset drop, our scouts verify their physical status."
Invitations went out the following morning. Within hours, private pushback arrived. Blowzabella messaged critically: "Why are we forcing everyone to increase power? Power isn't everything. Some can't put in the time and energy as the power houses. They have other matters to attend to."
Eden took a deep breath. She took a moment to think about how to reply.
Onibat had offered supportive words within that same minute: "They should grind independently, but I understand your administrative intent. I'll secure the perimeter gates during the event."
Corruption chimed in with quiet loyalty: "I'll sponsor a portion of the reward pool. You shouldn't shoulder the treasury cost alone."
Retaining her focus, Eden responded to Blowzabella's critique with a diplomatic deflection: "Participation is entirely voluntary."
The ball proved an overwhelming success for internal morale, but beneath the music and structured pageantry, Eden's drag-net executed its true directive. Five members failed to ping their physical presence check-ins. Scouts dispatched to their border confirmed the coordinates were abandoned ghost towns.
The following morning, Eden authorized Corruption and Maur to formally purge the inactive rosters. Within hours of being cast out, all five members joined hostile enemy alliances.
Maur marched into Eden's office, slamming a verification report onto her desk. "You called it. The moment we dropped them, they integrated directly into the alliance that previously raided our members."
"Confirmed traitors," Eden murmured, exhaling slowly. "We need to maintain heightened perimeter security. The human element is always the most fragile part of the infrastructure."
Maur asked, folding his arms,"Our internal threat is neutralized, but what about external deterrence?"
Eden replied, "We've secured a few peace treaties, but the apex alliances don't view us as worthy to sign a treaty."
Eden stood up, walking toward the grand strategic map of Evansly pinned to her back wall. She traced a finger across the heavily contested sovereign zones controlled by the server's top-tier empires.
"Maur," she said softly, her eyes hardening into steel. "We've built a functional foundation. Now, it's time to transition this alliance into a collective of stone-cold killers."