Mythos Of Narcissus: Reborn As An NPC In A Horror VRMMO

The air around the Vandasisimo camp was tense.

Despite their earlier bravado, the Vandasisimo forces stationed outside the Theotech Vault were grossly unprepared for what was about to descend upon them.

Telepathically, Verina voiced a statement for every member of her group to hear, "Anyone who accidentally killed their target will receive a physical punishment after the Theotech Expedition is done!"

"Wait, that's too cruel!" Kara commented.

"I think that order is reasonable enough, my friend," Amelia commented.

"Aww, there goes our chance to use the Warpiece Drone…" Callista complained.

Verina's group moved with precision, their approach silent save for the faint hum of Cognitive Engine-linked communication devices.

At the vanguard, Verina herself led the charge, her crystalline musket glowing faintly as it hummed with stored energy. Her sharp eyes scanned the perimeter of the camp, picking apart potential weaknesses and escape routes.

The bastioneers and Heavenly Maids flanking her had their weapons primed and rushed to the scene.

The first strike was swift and decisive. Verina raised her musket, and a single arcane shot fired into the sky, exploding above the camp in a cascade of blinding light.

The Vandasisimo were thrown into chaos, their guards scrambling for weapons as their eyes struggled to adjust to the sudden brilliance. Before they could regroup, the bastioneers swept in like a storm, neutralizing any resistance with stunning precision.

A Vandasisimo guard lunged forward, his blade raised high, but a Heavenly Maid intercepted him mid-strike. With one fluid motion, she disarmed him and swept his legs out from under him, pressing a blade to his throat as he hit the ground.

"Urgh!"

"I don't think you can do that," Maid-19 grinned as she picked the guard's blade and then bent it, before using it as a restraining cuff. "Dare you do anything funny. I will kill you."

"No killing," Verina chimed in through the telepathic channel.

"Then what can I do!?" Maid-19 complained.

"Tell him that you will torture him beyond comprehendsion instead," Verina said while she was hanging multiple Vandasisimos by pinning them onto their structure by stabbing them with their weapon.

All around the camp, similar scenes played out as the bastioneers and maids systematically dismantled the Vandasisimo's defenses.

Verina herself was a force of nature, her musket firing bursts of energy that incapacitated multiple targets at once.

Even as she barked orders to her team, there was an almost casual air to her movements, as if this raid were little more than a routine exercise. She made sure to keep the focus on suppression rather than outright destruction, though her natural inclination toward overwhelming firepower made it clear that restraint wasn't her forte.

Despite their barely-put efforts, the Vandasisimo were hopelessly outmatched.

Within minutes, their forces were subdued, their weapons and Theotech goodies confiscated, and their freewills bound, waiting for the inevitable. The once-proud wide-stretching camp now lay in disarray, its occupants huddled together in defeat under the watchful eyes of the bastioneers.

Verina smirked as she surveyed the scene, wiping a faint sheen of sweat from her brow. "Well, that was almost too easy," she murmured to herself before reaching out through her telepathic link to me "The camp's been taken care of, my love," she reported, her tone carrying its usual playful edge. "Not a single casualty on their side—just as you requested."

My voice came through clear and calm, though there was a hint of amusement in my tone. "Good work, Verina. Keep them secured for now. Once the expedition is over, we'll decide what to do with them."

"Of course," Verina replied, her grin widening. "And when this is all done, I expect some proper gratitude from you, preferably in the form of a quiet dinner and—"

"Not until we married, Verina," I cut her off. "You better be joining Kuzunoha's group soon. They're waiting for you to lead the vanguard into the Vault."

"Understood," Verina said with a chuckle. "I'll make my way over shortly. Try not to miss me too much, darling."

"How can I miss you when you're always by my side?"

"Aww, can I ask for a kiss later?"

"I'll consider it, depending on your performance."

Meanwhile, Kuzunoha's group had already entered the Theotech Vault, their advance marked by a trail of dismantled traps and deactivated defenses.

Hilariously, Lupina's disembodied head was securely strapped onto a device made entirely of Cognitive Engines, her neural connections stabilized and monitored in preparation for the potential transfer into a Theotech Vessel.

Two Heavenly Maids pushed the device like they were pushing a tray full of food with practiced care. Their expressions were neutral as they maneuvered it through the Vault's twisting corridors.

The group moved with relentless efficiency, looting everything in sight. Nothing was off-limits: glowing tiles embedded with alien glyphs were carefully extracted, turret mechanisms were dismantled and stored, and even the Vault's defensive constructs, once neutralized, were harvested for parts.

Each piece of technology was cataloged and secured in the bastioneers' Multi-Purpose Storage Units.

With their newly sorting and filter update that was shared by the collective network of the Cognitive Engines itself, it should be found to insert an unholy amount of different things now compared to before.

"They are stripping everything," Charis commented.

Enjoy new tales from empire

"They are not stripping enough. The walls are still intact," I replied.

One bastioneer approached a wall shimmering with faint, golden light. Without hesitation, she extended a tool that emitted a low hum, the glyph-covered surface breaking apart into manageable fragments.

Behind her, another bastioneer was already loading the pieces into a storage unit, the process was seamless enough that a mere blink of an eye would be enough to not catch all the things that they were doing inside that vault.

Is it really okay for us to just… take everything like this? Doesn't it feel a bit excessive?" Lupina voiced her concern, still strapped to the stabilizing device.

Kuzunoha glanced over her shoulder, her crimson eyes glinting with amusement. "Anything Theotech-related is fair game," she replied. "It's not like anyone's around to claim it, and if they were, we'd just take it anyway."

Lupina hesitated before pressing further. "But why don't the Vandasisimo do the same? They should be experienced enough as Theotech Hunters..."

"Simple," Kuzunoha said with a smirk. "They don't have the means. Their tools are far primitive compared to ours, and they don't have anything like the Multi-Purpose Storage Unit. They're hunters, not engineers. They break things, we collect."

As they spoke, Verina's group arrived at the Vault's entrance, the Warpiece Drone floating ominously beside them.

Its sleek, angular frame bristled with weaponry, each turret and cannon primed for action. With Verina at the helm of control for this absolute unit of a powerhouse, they advanced into the Vault, their presence heralded by the drone's low, mechanical hum.

The combined forces of the bastioneers, Heavenly Maids, drones, and Duolos now swarmed through the Vault, each unit playing its part in the grand operation.

The Duolos, in particular, were proving invaluable. Their hivemind allowed them to coordinate with unparalleled precision, and their ability to absorb and share knowledge made them increasingly formidable with each converted Vandasisimo.

And at this point, all of the Vandasisimos within the Theotech Vault should be completely assimilated into Duolos.

"Ah, they finally meet with one another."

When Kuzunoha's group finally rendezvoused with the Duolos, the reaction was immediate. The bastioneers and Heavenly Maids paused, their eyes widening at the sight of the childlike figures with blue hair and glowing eyes.

Despite their uncanny nature, there was something undeniably endearing about the Duolos, their youthful and friendly appearances was a massive stark contrast to their deadly efficiency.

Lupina, her voice filled with surprise, couldn't hold back her reaction. "They're… adorable," she said, her tone caught somewhere between disbelief and amusement.

Kuzunoha, however, was less amused. She crossed her arms, her expression somewhere between a scowl and a pout. "I still can't believe you kept this project from me, Narcissus," she muttered. "Then again, I wouldn't be able to make them this cute, so maybe you win this time."

Yup, I win this one, alright.

The Duolos, unfazed by the attention, immediately confirmed Kuzunoha's leadership within the hivemind, their synchronized movements and responses a testament to their efficiency.

The bastioneers and Heavenly Maids quickly warmed to them, their initial wariness giving way to admiration for their capabilities.

Back on the Landship, Charis's voice echoed as she was witnessing the Duolos' interaction with the rest of our bastion members. "Can Carlotta and I be friends with them?"

"Of course, Charis. I made them so you'd have more friends."

Charis's excitement was palpable even through the connection. "Thank you, Father! I can't wait!"

When designing the hivemind for the Duolos, I put on an instruction and the proper behavior preset for them to be able to warm up and seamlessly interact with Charis as their equal instead of her servant.

So it should be fine for the Duolos to become friends with the two of my daughters.

With the teams fully integrated and the Duolos leading the charge, Kuzunoha's group pushed deeper into the Vault.

The spiraling architecture grew more intricate and alien, the glyph-covered walls pulsing faintly as if alive.

At last, they reached the Vault's central spire, its towering form radiating an almost oppressive energy. The path downward beckoned, the underground depths of the Vault promising even greater challenges—and rewards.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om