Back inside the abandoned modern city of Eldwood, two Merchants with a heavy wagon named “ConningMan' and xX_A$$Bl@aster69’s Wares and Tares'' Are rummaging through the remains of a dining restaurant, they’re picking up the utensils, bottles and cups whilst those electronics had whatever with copper ripped from there innards and thrown into a pile. “Ahahahaha, oh man. This is gonna sell. These items are made with high quality precision and have a lot of value for players wanting to have something more modern in their homes. Blaster, what’s the news on the back?”
AssBlaster hurriedly picks up as many items as he could from the kitchen, even pulling out microwaves and toasters while ConningMan takes his time. His voice is that of an older person that has a calming air to it. The player opens his hands and raises it, gesturing to Blaster.
“Now, now. Calm down, the two armies fighting are way over there in the Westside of the city. You don’t need to panic. We got all the time in the world.”
“I’m not gonna let those guys stop us again and make us pay for the checkpoints. Ten gold coins?! Who are they to ask that type of money?”
“It’s fine, with these items, we should be able to reimburse all the money we lost as we’d make the money back with no effort. Continue appraising whatever item you get your hands on and level up that magic. A good Chosen One Merchant knows what sells and what is good to keep to sell in the future. Players in the Mid and Beginner Continent would pay a fortune for these.”
“You see those players in the armies? They’re low level people trying to get exp in the hardest continent. They think they’re all big and bad since they're part of a group. The stupidity of people in uniform, even in Full Dive. These kids when they get something that looks cool, it goes over their heads and becomes dickwads.”
“Just try to understand. You're also low leveled you know. It's hard to play this game alone so here I am, taking you to the most dangerous continent so that you can make easy money and level up. Let me remind you, the respawn points of this place for us civilians are one the very south, about a hundred kilometers away. ”
“Yea, and I hate dying, hence why I became a Trader instead.”
The two fill their wagon with all sorts of modern items to be sold on a Kingdom a few days out. As they empty the restaurant, the two jump onto their wagon and start roaming around the city.
“Man, I still can’t believe players made this modern city out here.”
“Rumors say, the folks used Skeletons as workers. Big red glowing eyes and has a killer attitude to them. They made them wear hard hats and reflector vests too! Ahahaha!”
“Really? I thought Skeletons are only good as basic grunts for guilds without a high player count?”
“Ohhh, High level Mages can summon skeletons that could be scripted to do other things. Many things actually, from helpers to soldiers. Just that you need someone who knows what they’re doing and NPCs do not like Skeletons.” Their Wagon is the only thing moving on the wasted city, where the local fauna had mostly overtaken the sprawling concrete. “Dang, this place once had a working tramway?”
“Yer, I visited this place twice when it was still populated by players. It looked very out of place with the rest of the game and many of its visitors were still wearing medieval armor and equipment. It wasn’t like Woodstock or Neo Tokyo in terms of size, so dress codes are basically a free game.”
“Ehhh, do these buses and garbage trucks also work?”
“Mhm. Most of the city works as done by Skeletons. This strange guild that had a thing for Death Knights ran them. I constantly saw them back then, checking and seeing the Skeletons work. Feels like they’re testing the capabilities of the damned things.”
“Players can really do a lot if we put our minds and resources into it can we?”
“Oh you haven’t seen anything yet kiddo. Dark World VR has a very open building system. Some guilds are dedicated to building and architecture while others focus on maintenance of player built roads and utilities.” As he pulls the reins on the horse a bit and observes the various rotting skyscrapers, he could see the veins trailing from one building to another as birds slowly flapped their wings on the area.
“Wait, so those guys we passed on the border of Avitan were actually doing it for their guilds?”
“Yer, lots of different folks here. Four Hundred Ninety Million concurrent players worldwide on a workday says a lot with how unique things can get.”
“Then what about these two massive player Kingdoms fighting?”
“Ohhh... just the good ole human nature of wanting something but someone else wants it so you fight over it.”
“I still can’t believe they have the logistics for this war. It must be hard to maintain it.”
“Humanity is always organized, no matter what or where. War or peace, we come together and build things together. This isn’t any different. Breznick and Libertus had the size and manpower to have a supply chain from their main Kingdoms in the Mid Continent all the way here in the Dark Continent.”
“Do they use those huge teleport circles?”
“Heh. Not just that. You might see some of it actually, the Big Birds. Heck, Breznick might’ve even called in their mighty Dragon Air Corps for this.”
“Dragon Air Corps?!”
“Yup! Oh, it's a thing of beauty to see. We should really visit their Capital city one day, kid. It's completely out of this world. Glistening white walls of marble with gold outline and men in suits of armor that could blind a Demon.”
“Wow… This community has really sprawled hasn't it? How come reviews from American players are super low though?”
“This is a game made by us Asians… Their versions are also censored as the two sides of the planet have very different views on things. We play on the Global version, they play on the NA Version.”
“Though when I first arrived, I swear many of the players were Americans and Europeans.”
“You could tell? Dang, Blaster. You got some ears kid. I couldn’t really tell since this game is a European Medieval History. All of our Avatars look like Norwegian supermodels! Ahahahah!”
“Yes! I could hear it in their accent. Most of us Asians still have a bit of a lisp when talking. Do they use a program to play the Global version then?”
“VPNs really. Though from what I heard, it is a pain to set it up with your Full Dive Gear as it requires you to hook up the main core to your PC.”
“Eh?! I just bought mine last week and I’d never even dare touch it.”
“Good. Saves you money too.”
As the two pass along an abandoned bus station, an arrow is fired near their horse, one of the two gets spooked and stops their wagon from moving. “Dammit! Kid! Don’t do anything stupid!” At least ten bandits pop out, swords and spears on hand from the alleys and buildings with cracked windows. One of them, wearing a battered Breznick officer's helmet, steps forward and speaks in a commanding voice.
“Step down from the wagon with your hands up. Don’t reach for anything or make any sudden moves. If you even dare make a small cross, I’ll make sure when you return here after respawning, your precious Wagon is a pile of ashes.”
The two obediently follow his instructions and step down with their hands up. Con kept looking at Blaster, his eyes wide and his mouth zipped. The newbie only did a small nod.
“We’ll simply be looking through your cargo and see if we can steal anything of value. We won’t take everything, on behalf of the Bandits of the West coast border of the Dark Continent.”
“Just please don’t take our potions. We need those as our journey back to the Kingdom.”
“As I said, we won’t take everything. Just the things we see value in. I know how hard it is, and we ourselves just want to make a living through his lifestyle.”
Two of the bandits immediately rummage through the back of their wagon. Looking for items to pick and steal while the rest guarded their perimeter, the ranged ones kept their space, a handful even behind cover with only their staff peeking out.
“We should’ve paid for those mercenaries.”
“Look kid, the important thing here is that we’d be able to haul some of our loot. We should still be able to pay back the cost of going here as long as they don’t take everything.”
“Boss! I found something you might like! Ahahaha!” one of the players who was rummaging through their Wagon pulls out a fine looking portable oven. “Finally! Saves us the pain of finding firewood and cutting it up. Throw it.” catching the device that’s the size of a square hiking pack, he looks and inspects it. “Huh, interesting. So this uses the small mana gems.”
As the leader walks up to the driver seat, he starts rummaging through their leather bags. Openly holding up the device as his free hand violently went through their personal belongings. “Also, I can’t help but overhear your conversation but which mercenary group is this? The ones hanging about the NPC Holy Kingdom?”
Conning just smiled and nodded. “Yes, those.” This made the Bandit leader scratch his forehead as he looked back to his boys and then to him once again. “Ah, I don’t recommend those guys. You’re better off looking for ones you find on the guild houses out in the middle of nowhere. Those city slickers can’t stand up to real bandits like us and since trouble is everywhere nowadays, there’s been a rise in Mages you can hire even in some random town.”
Blaster on the other hand lifts his hand. Interrupting the Bandit. “But they’re extremely well equipped though. What makes them different from the ones out there?”
“Ah kid, they might look fancy for the ones entering the city, but give them a run along outside their spheres and they start falling like little rats. Me and my boys had already killed about a platoon sized team of soldiers from both sides entering this bus terminal. We might not look that much with our cloaks and leather armor but it's in the tactics and those fancy looking ones are all about shine and polish but it's the rough looking ones you should look out for.”
“I guess they did say this game doesn’t hold back in damage.”
“Always remember that kid, maybe right now, you won’t think about it as much as your only level thirty or some shit, but when you reach my level or the old man here, you’d see that level doesn’t mean everything here when your opponent knows how to use his tools and what he has in hand.” He then pointed above them, a Breznick Dragon Air Patrol was passing them. The huge Wyvern even at their heavily armored state, with banners of the Guild vividly flapping on their necks, were still able to move and maneuver as if the addon armor wasn’t weighing them down.
“There is a reason why it's recommended to wear Leather armor with fire resistance when going against Dragons, kid. Me and my boys had done it before with armor and I can tell you. Their size lies in their agility and mobility. They don’t grow to that size without mastering Magic and their level with Wind spells are over the top. You might think you can outpace those Dragons with how big and sluggish they look. But believe me, turn that intersection and they’ll follow you like a Wolf right up a Rabbit’s tail.”
Climbing back down from the side of the driver, he gives the portable oven to one of his goons as he walks back to the sidewalk, unsheathing his shortsword as the two bandits that were rummaging through their cargo finishes up and screams that there was nothing of value found.
“Alrighty, up on the wagon trail you two go. I recommend taking the West M-1 Highway out of this. The Kingdom of Breznick just made a counteroffensive on a lightly defended Libertus encampment. Better for you guys to avoid that mess.” he then orders his minions to step aside, letting the two hop back in the driver seat as they pack up whatever they stole from the two players. “T-thank you for your consideration! I wish you luck. Now kid, be sure to remember that advice. He's right, you know.”
“About what?”
“The Mercs and the Dragons. The Dragons most of all. I never joined the World Events where Giant Dragons are involved but in YouTube videos. You can see how they move like their wolves or something. Pretty gnarly stuff for something that’s the size of a mall.” He then snaps the reins, making the two horses move forward. “I’ll be sure to remember this.”
“Good. But I guess this is enough for today. Let’s head back to the Inn and log off.”
“Oh! When we were still at the Tavern. I heard some of the players say the Werewolf and Vampire Guilds are at it again! We might be able to get some good loot from the Vampires!”
“Pfft. Unless we get to have God’s favor in this virtual world and we stumble upon an empty Vampire Manor. It’s better we leave them be… And it's not like this is a one off thing. Those two are always at each other’s throats. So much so the Shine Guards might be planning on decapitating both of them.”
“Man… the Shine Guards are really something, aren’t they?”
“Yer. Unlike these Bandits here. They actually contribute to the Dark Continent. You see how I treated the patrol we met on the way here? Give them food and potion if you can. Thanks to them the roads are clear.”
“I will! Man! This is so amazing! I might get addicted to this! I might spend my entire vacation just playing Full Dive!”
“Ahahahahah! Don’t overdo it! Me, I won’t be always on as I have a family to take care of. Right now, my wife might be standing over my body on my bed with an angry expression! Ahahaha!”
Passing through the uneven roads, the sounds of fighting echoing through the blocks and upon blocks of skyscrapers. They then enter the derelict elevated highway that leads to the exit of the city, while traveling on it, they see the gleaming armor of a woman, and the shiny spark of an Elven Knight fighting alongside one another fighting heavily armored Cavalry and Spearmen.
“Holy shit! That’s the Sword Saint Elizabeth! Woah! I’ve only seen clips of her on YouTube and Twitter! How cool!”
“Keep yer head down and look straight. That’s none of our business.”
The two powerful players stand out like a sore thumb amidst the battlefield, from their shining armor to their swords that reflect the Sun's shine, with almost inhumane precision, the two cut down their foes without hassle. The two traders could only look in awe as their wagon ran along the highway.
“That Elven guy, I think I’ve seen him before on that Keyneth Kingdom of sorts.”
“You’ve visited the Elf Kingdom?”
“Yer, every month or so, I go up North and do some trading with them. They have some items that only they could brew efficiently and wood related stuff for enchanted scrolls, they produce some pretty amazing quality ones and it sells for a truckload.”
“Then how did you know that the Knight next to Elizabeth was an Elf? From here, he looks like just some pretty dude.”
“Ohhh I know that green cape with that logo. I think he’s one of the higher ups of the Kingdom of Keyneth. Seen him visit the traders guild on their Kingdom multiple times. Seems to be a true heroic type. We people don’t really see eye to eye with the Elves as much, though not as bad with the Reptilian type and halfbred. Many folks even here in this game don’t like it when they see something different and there’s the Vampires and Werewolves… don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with them, but the people playing those races are very uhhh… eccentric to say the least.”
“I guess that’s because this game is very brutal. The player culture has its ups and downs but still has some very bad downs.”
“Yer. Well, you better start doing some inventory, open up the wagon and start counting the profit. The bandits didn’t steal anything bad so we should be good for the next few weeks.”
“Alrighty, I’ll start then. You better teach me how this trading thing goes. I’m still new to all these.”
Flashes blink in and out of his vision. The first image he remembers, that of a little girl whose height is below his waist carrying a pouch of grain and tripping on a rock. Throwing the rice all over the dirt path, making him run to her with his officers as he approached the girl. Wiping the tears off her face and though not knowing the language, his trusty friend, with the rank of Captain translates for him and they walk into the forest where they find a dilapidated house with cracks on its concrete walls.
This made him feel an immense amount of guilt and sadness as for the next few days, he had himself and his men to repair the holes on the roof and even fix the path, putting up fences in some parts and even one way glow in the dark light meant for night time combat and as they receive new orders, as their final goodbye. He and his men gave the little girl what rations and meat they could have bought with their money from the hefty military salary they annually receive.
Fully waking up, Jackson’s eyes peeled open like he had run for a mile. Attentively licking his cheeks was Bahamut. The little Dragon wasn’t letting up at all as he could see the cobblestone roof with chains hanging on it. “Argh… my head.” as he straightens his upper body, the Dragon merely ran to his shoulder and continued to do her thing. Now focusing on his neck.
“I guess this is the effects of the gear. Haaah…” as he looked at his hands, silently staring at it. Bahamut tilts her head and looks at the frozen eyes of her Human.
“Bad dream again, Master?”
“Nah. It’s actually one of the better ones.” Opening his eyes, he is met with a wet ceiling of cobblestone. “It was after the war and I was on a peacekeeping mission in Japan. Though we weren’t there for long as we were sent to Africa soon after. There was this girl in the village we were garrisoned in. Poor girl had no parents left and everyone in the village was too old to take care of her.”
“Hm. This is actually pretty heartwarming of a Human story, Master. I thought it was one of the times your Captain went and killed someone again.”
“Gah. Captain Benedict. I am surprised that nutcase didn’t stay in the army long. He seemed like he was born for it and the killing.”
Looking around, he finds himself in a wet dungeon. “You know Master, in Dragon culture. Having a Bad Dream usually means a great calamity is about to come.” On the cell opposite of him was a player in a peasants tunic and wool pants. “Is that so? Well, I think this is what it meant.” He had a chainmail coif and a shortsword scabbard that’s missing the sword itself. He had his hand up with a magic ball and was actively reading comments being sent to him. “Yeah! Uhhhhh… Bad timing guys! The local Lord has had me jailed for perverse public actions so here I am now!”
>Lady Amanda has sent you a Dowry!
>Lady Amanda: Wanna come join my dungeon instead? You can be as perverse as you want…
“Ohhhh, Lady Amanda. Thanks for the fifty but you need to give me a dowry before that!”
>Renes The Knight has sent a Fat Cow!
>Renes The Knight: Lady Amanda proving to us all that she’s a Lady for the Cobblestone Streets once again!
“Sir Renes, let’s be chill here. I don’t want a lady to go after me now. Ahahahaha. Thanks for the ten!”
>Mikhail the Farm Peasant has sent Thirty Gold Coins!
“Oh my! Mikhail! Thank you so much. This might actually help me here to pay off the fine!”
Jackson just had an empty expression on his face as he lowered it to his hand. “Oh guys! Good news! My Lord’s castle just upgraded and got this sweet ass King sized bed! So that means, the Queen sized bed will soon be sent off! So I got this idea. Serf of the Year will receive this wonderful bed as a gift!” The player in his suit still looked to the hallway where the Guards were on the opposing ends. “Hey, is that peasant doing well? Did the Knight maybe hit his head a bit too hard?” They looked confused as the player continued to speak to the wall.
“These Chosen Ones, I think their heads got fried with Orc muck or something.”
“That’s a Chosen One?!”
“Yeah, I heard he can come back to life since Our Lord actually decapitated him last week.”
“Eh? So we’re just gonna hold him here? You know how potent Chosen Ones are. These people are on a whole different level from us.”
On the other end, which was nearer to him. The two guards were just sitting down, playing cards. The two’s expressions were stoic as they focused on the game with all their might. Jackson just sighs as he leaned his back on the wall. “Dammit. You really had to steal that Ruby, Bahamut. Gosh darnit. Without Hassan, I’ll need your goofy useless Dragon ass to get us out of here.”
“Eh? What’s the plan, Master?”
“Use your magic and teleport me out of this place will you? We will need to submit the quest items we got!”
“Errrrr… Master. The town has a magic circle above it. The mage in town will detect it if I try.”
“Dangit! Of all places, why does this town have a mage? The Age of Demons are long over!”
“Pretty sure that has got to do with the latest attacks Master.”
“You really read that?”
“With my Dragon eyes, Master. That’s no problem.”
“Then…” he starts rubbing his chin. Profusely walking back and forth. “Gah, I wanna use my sword but I can’t! I need to keep my reputation up with the locals!”
“Master, do we really need to go to the Dark Continent again?”
“Uhhhh, yeah. The package has been delivered to City Zero One and the fighting has gotten to its climax as I’ve read in the chat.” The Dragon then proceeds to crawl around the cell. Sniffing at every crevice where she then finds the location of the biggest leak. “Oh! I have an idea, Master!”
He looks up and sees that the hole where the water was dripping from got frozen. This made him tilt his head as it started expanding into the crevices and cracks of the cobblestone ceiling. “W-Wait… BAHAMUT! NO!” He didn't have time to further talk as he dodged the big pieces of rocks falling after she detonated the ice. Expanding upon the crackings and completely destroying it.
Now, with access to the surface and the guards rushing to his cell. He opens his palm and casts a spell to melt the locks. “Yoooo! Guys, my cell bro here is escaping with his Dragon pet! Heck yeah! Send some Gold Coins for my boy here!” As he climbs out, the player is then ambushed by a grunt who was just having a nice nap.
He proceeds to get into a fist fight with the man. With him, having to pull his punches a bit and upon one mistake, that being the Grunt attacking him first. He merely dodges the soldier’s fist and with the opening, sends his knuckles to his exposed face. Sending him down to the cell as the man made a run to the window where he then whistled and his Black horse materialized out of thin air.
“Hoh! Good shit, Bahamut! Woho!”
“Yeah! Let’s do it again, Master!”
“Heck no! Do you have any idea how bad this will be when I come back here?!”
“Awww, come on, Master. You think too much sometimes.”
Riding for an hour, they soon arrive at a small quaint village of Forculi nearing the border of Breznick. Jackson enters the Adventurers Guild building of the village. Though its size wasn’t anything impressive nor was it presentation. It was the only place next to the Elder’s house that had palisades on its front and backyard.
Inside were a lot of colorful people, aside from the usual darb of the Medieval times, the players inside were all sorts, from Elves, Lizardmen, Halflings and ordinary Humans. Knights, Rangers, Archers, to Clerics were also present in the lively location. The place was bustling and full of life and Jackson walks over to the counter and immediately interacts with the NPC on the desk.
The pretty lady had a warm spring smile to her as he submitted the Ancestral Tesseract that was requested by the Church. With a happy walk, she takes it to the back and comes back out with a hefty coin pouch which he proudly takes. Looking inside, it had five silver coins and a bunch of bronze ones. “Ahahaha! And we still have two more to spare! Off to my collection it goes!”
Support creative writers by reading their stories on Royal Road, not stolen versions.
“Master, you really need to calm down on the collecting part. You already have enough weapons and armor to arm a nation sized militia.”
“No! I’ll collect more and… Oh! I might need more shelves and stands!” He smacks his fist into his hand, as if to put it into a list in his head. “Bahamut, do you think a five part shelf would look nice or should it be a three part one?”
“Master, we seriously do not have any space in our house. You need to make a shed for this extra stuff. That Ancestral Tesseract will only be useful in making a Pendant." The Dragon then balled up on his shoulder, resting her head inside her own circle.
“It’ll be easy…. No problem. You’ll help me build.”
“Ehhhhhhh… can’t we just sell it, Master? And buy meat?”
“Whaaat? No.”
“Master, you already have twenty more of those. Our carriage is filled with upgrade items you refuse to sell or use.”
“That is because what if I get a cool sword or something? How am I gonna upgrade it and save money at the same time? Come on Bahamut. We’ve been together for years. I won’t change just like that.” as the two bickered and walked along the aisles. He once again approaches the questboard. Squinting his eyes and rubbing his chin.
-NEED HELP! Mages with Soil Expertise! Please visit our Farm! Willing to pay with old family Grimoire!
Ignoring this, he turns to the one on the bottom.
-CHURCH OF THE ONE GOD: Request for White Griffin Feathers. Five bronze coins per feather.
Shrugging, he looks over to the right where the man sees a poster next to the Guilds recruitment adverts. It was a wanted poster for anyone seen using modern equipment dating from the 17th-21st Century, the ones ordering it were “The Kingdom Alliance” and willing to pay for each captured player or skeleton soldier. Five Hundred - Fifteen Thousand Gold for capturing one player with modern equipment, highest payments for those more equipped in more modern armor.
This made his eyes blink multiple times as he continued to read it. “E-Eh…?” The Dragon on the other hand just yawns. “Master. I already know what you're thinking.”
“I mean… our skeleton soldiers with modern gear are all summoned. We can technically sell them infinitely and then just have them unsummoned. Bahamut, with this, we’ll be able to buy as much ribeye steaks as we want.”
“Master. No. The Guilds on that alliance consists of Breznick and Libertus. They will know something is up if a person keeps selling them skeleton soldiers with modern human equipment.”
“But… maaan…” As he returns to the questboard, he overhears a small party taking their picks on the bounties, one mutters “Chief, are you seeing this? People like us is merely just pocket money to the kingdoms, like fuck this ain’t even a whole day’s worth of grinding gold, this would just barely pay for repairs.”
With a swift smack over the head, the Chief retorts, “Quiet down fool, worse case scenario is we’d be shooting our way out of here so keep your head down and shut it. We don’t have any of our guns on us so we’ll keep it safe.” As the two mercenaries left, Jackson just shrugged his head. “Bahamut. Wanna go?” the Dragon merely replies with a nod.
He moves along outside and removes his horses' rains from the wooden log. On his way outside of the town, he opens his player tab and heads over to Guild and opens the Group chat and into the specific channel for higher ranking members.
“PilotMan: @all I’m all good. Where are we meeting?”
“BleedingHearts: You still in the Mid Continent Paul? I’m otw to an outpost near the top of Mount Eldar. Be careful on the straight route as Libertus has patrols there. Take a left path which takes you to the area faster and quieter.”
“PilotMan: Why do I have the feeling that this is gonna make me take the long way around?”
“MustardLovingBarrel: We’re all goods here. All C-5 Galaxy’s and C-130s are accounted for. The Flight Engineer and Ghost team on the ground has all confirmed the device is ready.”
“BleedingHearts: Rog John, headed there too. Any transport that could pick us up? It's gonna be a long run if we head up there by horse. A ship will take us days and teleport circles aren’t really a good idea with the activity of the Kingdoms.”
“FirstHashashin: I’ll dispatch some Humvees and MRAPs to go pick you guys up. A helicopter will then deliver you to an airfield owned by the Men of the Woods. They have a teleport circle that will take you to Dark World @PilotMan @BleedingHearts”
“PilotMan: Thank you big boss.”
“BleedingHearts: Are the rest of the Knights ready?”
“MustardLovingBarrel: Yepper, they’re all here and accounted for, except for the ones in the Navy.”
“FirstHashashin: We're we able to complete the second Iowa class Battleship?”
“MustardLovingBarrel: @Carjackers147 Was the second Iowa-class battleship completed?”
“PilotMan: Wait, we’re using the Battleships? I thought the Men of the Woods were having supply chain issues? Including the Cruise missiles?”
“BleedingHearts: Ohhh, I’m excited!”
“FirstHashashin: Yes we are, Breznick and Libertus have so many players inside the Abandoned city. We’ll have to level the entire place with our Mana. The munitions will be loaded after the main battle has finished as we’d all be Manaless by then and it will be up for the ships to destroy their retreat. @Carjackers147 @MustardLovingBarrel @PilotMan @BleedingHearts”
“Carjackers147: Hai, BB-02 is not fully finished, It's crewed but Turret 1 is still needed to be refitted with two more 406. I’d also would like to politely ask for more skeletons to use in manual labor.”
“MustardLovingBarrel: Can we complete it within a few days? Wasn’t the Himeji Guild all up in arms about their Yamato project?”
“Carjackers147: Hai. Though the battle would already be at its peak when I could release it and our Arleigh Burke Class gifted by the Men of the Woods is still missing a lot of ammo..”
“MustardLovingBarrel: Good enough for me. The main plan is to use our magic on the battle anyways. The guns and missiles are for their retreat and possible counterattack.”
“FirstHashashin: Asayama-san, go with the current fleet you have, just bring the second battleship when it can.”
“Carjackers147: Hai, Hassan-sama. It shall be done.”
“PilotMan: Heh, this feels awfully ironic.”
“MustardLovingBarrel: Just get your asses over to Mount Eldar and prepare for transport.”
“PilotMan: Rog.”
“BleedingHearts: No prob.”
PilotMan heads over to his inventory and presses the “Map of Ibalius”. With it infront of him, the huge map showed the Mid Continent. The player Kingdoms mostly sitting on the coastline and the NPC ones being more in the middle and scattered between them were not only small villages and towns but also dams and even dungeons and crypts.
The overall recommended level at the center ranged from 51 to 65 and the areas on the coasts were 20 to 30. With not much dangers aside from certain valleys and mountains where more dangerous creatures with levels requiring as high as 75 was recommended.
His handwriting was also apparent on the place, with markings of stuff he had found in the dungeon and even bits and pieces of reminders he had when going to that place.
Looking near the center, Mount Eldar was a hefty distance from Froculi which made him crack his neck and fingers. “A few hours give and take. Let’s go then.”
He grips the rains of his horse and tugs it, the demonic creature starts running at an extremely high speed. Without a thought, its pace was unstoppable, fast and aggressive and showed no stopping unless ordered by its master.
“Bahamut, I want you to keep quiet and stay in my pockets. You’ll be our emergency Ace if things go south.”
“Eh. I’ll be sleeping then, Master.”
A lowly and tired growl comes out his jacket’s pocket. After two hours of nonstop running, Jackson stops as he sees a bunch of players in the colors of Breznick had gathered on the side of a small lake. Dismounting his steed, he walks towards the nearest soldier of Breznick in full plate armor. “Excuse me, what’s with the roadblock?” The man then quickly turned to look at the player donning an elegant suit.
“I apologize, sir. But the route is closed due to the appearance of a Siren. It had already killed thirty of the locals.”
“What’s the hold up then? A few kilometers down the road, there was a mage in town.”
“Sorry sir. But that’s not our mage. We’ve already called in the chat for a dedicated Cleric but he still needs to come down here from the Dark Continent.”
“EH?! What?! That will take days or even weeks!” Jackson then dons his plate armor, though it's nothing impressive, it did catch the eye of the Knight in the group with gilded gold encrusted armor and a cape made of silk. “I’ll take care of this.”
Walking towards the small lake, he looks down on his pouch and Bahamut scans the water. “Oh, that’s a pretty strong creature. How did it end up here I wonder?”
“Might be the Mages Association. They keep bringing these dangerous things to Mid Continent for research.” The player in the shiny gold armor then walks to Jackson, resting his hand on his shoulder. “Player. What’s your business here?” turning around, he met with the gilded plate armor of the Breznick player. “I’m gonna clear this lake.”
Observing him, the Knight nods and steps back. Stopping at the main road where one of his subordinates walked up to him. “Eh? Why did you let him go? If he dies and respawns.” the higher ranking Knight just shrugged his head. “That’s no normal player.”
Kneeling down on the edge of the lake, Jackson lowers his hand into it and a forehead peeks out on the center of the small body of water. It’s a person wearing a circlet. Lifting up a bit more, it reveals its womanly eyes to him and he gets sent back by a wave of images.
It touts him to walk to the water and just lay under but he merely blinks and the Siren dips back down. “Alright then, if that’s what you want. Bahamut, bless the water. Light up a fire up her ass.” The Dragon nods and with his cape behind her, she touches the lake and it lights up a golden hue.
The purification made the Siren jump out from underneath as the murky colors of the pond returned to a crystal clear. “There you go.” She had a deathly scream, making even the Knights of Breznick cower behind their steeds while the Gold Knight just stood with his hands up his hips. Intently watching.
Lifting his hand, his Dark horse comes to him. Donning its darkened armor, he hops into the saddle as the Siren was steaming hot from the purification of the water.
It locks eyes with him, in his steel colored helm. The man's eyes were completely fixated, unblinking and cold as it approached the Siren. It then turns its head to his shoulder, following it to notice a Greatsword. With a length of a blade that could very well reach its head from a good distance, the Siren forcibly returns under water.
“Master! It's headed to the upper stream!” he nods, Junior swimming faster as the Black Dragon squirms to the lake itself and starts chasing after the Siren.
Up above, the Knight knows where it is by the trail of boiling water and steam. “Junior! Just push a bit more girl! You can do it!” his horse promptly screams as it starts to swim even faster. To his surprise, the Siren stopped and upon reaching it, the feminine creature lunged out of the water with its legs completely burnt to the bone.
Jackson was quick with his Greatsword, swinging it right at the neck and beheading the unholy creature with one slice. He immediately leaned to the water as Bahamut stealthy returns to the pouch.
On the road, the players of Breznick were all left with their thoughts as Jackson cut to the other side and continued down the road. On the horizon, the Mountain was in sight.
“W-what the hell? How did he do that? Water touched by a Siren is basically oil. How did he purify it? Did he have a consumable?”
“No, he had a little friend who did the purifying.” The lower ranking Knight turned to his superior, confused. “I am also part of Breznick’s Air Force remember? I know the smell of a Dragon from a mile away.”
“E-EH? He had a Dragon?!”
“A powerful one too. For a Dragon to purify a pond even of that size needs to be the ones as large as a minivan. Yet, his Dragon did it in a tiny small form.'' The player was then left to his thoughts as he gazed at the road the unknown Knight took.
Finally reaching the base of Mount Eldar, the hilly terrain made it a bit longer as the horse had to zigzag through the dense trees and bushes and with it, the occasional rubble from the once owners of the terrain, no longer forgotten. Never to be beckoned with as a new step forth to the soil once theirs.
Below the large mountain, two squadrons of Rangers with mine resistant vehicles await PilotMan’s arrival. He pops out of the bushes and the skeletons immediately salute him. “At ease.” The Rangers drop their right arm and open the rear passenger door of the MRAP for him. He briefly enters, grunting as he had not removed his plate armor and had to squeeze into the seat and once again opens his player tab and goes into chat.
“Pilotman: @BleedingHearts Alright, I’m headed to the base. Let’s do this.”
“BleedingHearts: I’ll be there in a few minutes, Jackson. You go on ahead.”
And thus, the Jackson was taken to a back alley road where a little hut was placed in an opening.
But driving towards it. The hut changes into an open empty plain with a teleporter large enough for the vehicles. This quickly sends them inside their main air base at Eldwood forest, the Blackhawk transport helicopter ferrying Jackson arrives at the Helipad near the cargo hangar. The sun is beginning to set and a shadow looms over the Dark Continent, smearing it with the coat of black that edges towards the forest of Eldwood.
The cargo planes that once aligned the large airbase are all gone and replaced with B-52H high altitude bombers all with their engines turned on and ready for flight. The deathly aura administered by the undead ground crew, mindless toiling as they loaded the bombers with high explosive bombs.
One by one by one, in an endless trail of carts with all manners of munitions from the main storages were pulled out and driven to the tarmac. The sound of the mountain valley, and the Wyverns that roamed it were snuffed out by the collective echo of the machinations coming to rise from within the valley formation.
As he exits the Blackhawk, KC-135 Stratotankers for midair refueling take off from the main runway. Making him lift his hand up his eyes as they took to the skies, heading West then South. MustardLovingBarrel arrives in an open top Humvee. He walks up to Jackson with a big wide smile to his face. “It's quite a busy day isn’t it?”
“Well, the invasion is about to start. What about the Russians?”
“They have multiple squadrons of Ekranoplan Seaplanes ready to beach and their Carrier group with the Men of the Woods is ready for action.”
“With this much firepower, you’d think we’d be crushing Godzilla.”
“We’ll show Breznick and Libertus what it means to fight a man's war. Dipshits dare to take over our city and steal the modern stuff we made? Heh. Like we’ll let them after defeating us once. Dark Continent will be fully ours. Iron Mountain, the headquarters of the Men of the Woods, has been creating skeletons nonstop for two months now.”
“This is such a crazy plan. I can’t believe we’re the ones to open it.”
Another Blackhawk helicopter arrives and lands next to Jackson’s ride. A large man decked in Death Knight armor with a devil-like helmet exits. In a funny tone, Jackson flips the man and crossed his arms. “If it ain’t edgelord number two.” Mustard then tilts his head. “Then that makes me edgelord number three?!” He just replies with a confused look and blinked multiple times as John reached them.
“Yo yo yo, if it ain’t the autists of Dark World VR.” he opens his arms wide and hugs the two of them as Jackson pats his back. “Hey dingus.”
“Nice of you to show up all decked out. What the Hell are you doing? Aren’t we supposed to be in disguise?”
“Look, not like you guys, I love my armor. This Death Knight armor of mine is a part of me and I don’t like being a Skeleton. Not feeling anything is weird.”
“More like that set of armor is the only badass thing you have in your inventory.”
“OHHHH!”
“At least I don’t look like a school shooter with that all black suit and fedora get up off you weeb.”
“Better than being an edgy tin can trying to fit in with the Demon Lord's army. How many people have you fooled with that outfit? Thinking a high level NPC is out on the loose patrolling the roads?”
“AHAHAHA A lot actually! Yea. Well, now what John?”
“Yea, Trevor and Paul. Go to your Spell Books in your player inventory and activate transmutate. Turn into skeletons yourselves. C’mon.”
“Ugh, I hate being a skeleton. Can’t feel anything since it has no skin.”
“Just go with it.”
Both Jackson and BleedingHearts both open their player tabs and scroll down below inventory and open the game's Spell Book. Both of their Spell Books materialize and they turn the pages, stopping at the center.
Transmutate(Lvl: MAX): Gives the player the ability to turn into any humanoid being they wish. At max level, they could stay as this being no matter how long they wish and return back to their true form any time they wish. Type of creature is dependent on the player's level. The higher the player, the higher form of the creature they wish to become is what they’ll turn into.
Both players cast the special spell and turned into high level skeleton commanders. Clad in Medieval Knight armor, the two look like they came straight out of a Dungeon’s bottom floor. PilotMan could just laugh at the fact that they actually don’t look apart from the ones you’d encounter in high level fights against Skeletons.
“Are you two cozy there? Change into the ones I’m wearing. Go to the Aircraft Traffic Control tower and on the second floor is the Officers Lockers. You should be able to find a replica US Army General Service Uniform there.”
“Man, I miss the black leather ones we used to wear.” Jackson then looked around and stopped as he got sight of the ATC. The place was packed with activity, even in the background, tankers and planes were roving about the tarmac. “Jackson, we’ll be playing with the other Guilds. It's best we look not like Edgelords you know?”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah. But the black ones were so good looking though. John, let’s go.” the two then started walking towards the Tower as Mustard had a confused expression on his face. “Man, I look cool as heck. I should use this spell more often. RAR! DESTROY ALL HEROES!” As he unsheathes his sword, acting like he had the scripting of an Eldritch Commander, Jackson just smiled and shrugged his head. “Dimwit, we have no use for it. We’re Death Knights. Twenty four seven, we’re kitted in the heaviest, spikiest, and bulkiest armor known to man.”
“Well, being a skeletal Death Knight commander would be cool ain’t it? Like, I’d be a walking Raid boss with the health of a player.”
“You have a point, but save that for Halloween where we can troll low level players.” Mustard in the Humvee drove up next to them and just had a disgruntled expression on his face. Followed by a long hard sigh. “Hot damn, you guys are autistic... I’m in.”
“YEAAA, Let’s do that then.”
“I’ll reserve some time for that. Scare some players, acting like roaming bosses out in the forest. AHAHAHA! Rookie Village is gonna be lighting up its bonfires for weeks straight after that! That’s for sure!”
The trio then heads off into the open top Humvee and rides it to the Aircraft Control Tower located in the middle of the airbase. As the vehicle drives along the tarmac, the loud sounds of the B-52 H's engines drown any attempt to converse between the three. Instead, they threw gang signs and middle fingers at one another. Laughing and having a good time as they made faces at each other.
But soon realized they were all but skeletons and the laughter just doubled.
As they entered the Air Traffic Control building, the two looked out of place immediately, and ran off to the second floor. With heavy clunking as their armor parts clash with the tiles on the ground. They quickly get changed into the uniforms and head back downstairs.
The atmosphere suddenly changed as these three skeletons, wearing General uniforms met one another. A sinister air becomes apparent in the aura of the room. MustardLovingBarrel, with a smirk on his tone, says “It’s time.”
The three walk outside of the Air Traffic Control building and back into the open top Humvee. Tears for Fears - Everybody Wants to Rule the World plays, the Humvee rolls along the giant airbase. Bombers await for their clearance to fly and Apache attack helicopters spool up their engines. Fighter planes and their sonic boom are heard as they zoom through the skies of the airbase.
The Humvee stops at an MH-47G Chinook, the all black tandem rotor helicopter already had their Black Ops soldiers inside.
The trio casually walks into the Chinook, with their Blue glowing eyes that makes them stand out with the casual soldiers with the Red glowing eyes. The ramp slowly closes and extra troops board a backup MH-60L DAP Blackhawk armed with Hellfire missiles.
Inside the Chinook, the roaring sounds of the engine and the chatter of the members of the former Knights of Eldwood fill the hold. A ping is heard, prompting the players to open their chat boxes.
“FirstHashashin: Doth’s time to roll. Thine survival is of the line. @all”
“Carjacker147: The fleet is headed to the port of the City Zero One. The Men of the Woods says they're ready for the signal.”
“PilotMan: Affirmative, I’ll blitz into the city center with my mechanized force. Bahamut and the rest of our Dragons are asleep and non active.”
“BleedingHearts: Good but Jackson, don’t mention them anymore alright? Those two factions has some of the best Mages. They might intercept our chat.
“PilotMan: Oh yeah. Oops.”
“BleedingHearts: The Sniper team I sent with the AC-130 Gunship reports that Breznick’s offensive against Libertus was successful and their regrouping and resupplying. It's now or never.”
“MustardLovingBarrel: Affirmative, four flights of B-52s have just taken off. They’ll be staying at Angels Three-Zero-Zero.”
“KrankenWagen: This is Escobar, my Marines are prepared inside the Nimitz. All UH-1Y Venoms and Seahawks are prepared for take off on the pads of the Arleigh-Burke Class Destroyers. The Men of the Woods came through with the supplies, we can go and fight.”
“blackjackpecker: Admiralty here, F/A-18s all carrying GBUs and Sidewinders are prepped for take off. I’ll empty the Nimitz carriers of all their strike wings if need be.”
“FirstHashashin: Await for thine signal. We’ll launch the attack with our Russian brethrens. And Paul, do not release Bahamut even if it meant certain defeat. We’ll keep her as an Ace.”
“PilotMan: Roger.”
“FirstHashashin: Friends, heads shall roll today! And if we are defeated, a message will be left for them!”
“PilotMan: Oh, so that’s why the briefcase was put in the center of the city. That’s one heck of a message. :O”
As the battle rages on, Elizadeath with the Elf, Thomas has slashed and dashed their way into the Port. The Army of Libertus has retreated and regrouped at its wall. The derelict concrete structure was still able to hold out Breznick’s attacks and another stalemate occurred thanks to the arrival of Libertus’ special Knight force and Dragon rider reinforcements.
Their sudden appearance, swooping in and coming from the ocean was a shock to the soldiers of Breznick. Completely taken aback by the sudden barrage of fire and arrows from the skies had them to take their chance as their own Air Corps was sent to the enemy.
The street was littered with fallen weapons, craters that made the already tired road even more battered and destroyed. Cracks on the dilapidated buildings became more apparent as the fighting damaged them more. The city was crying, but no one cared as Breznick rolled siege towers through the bridge from the airport.
Pushed by gem powered wheels, the Mages focused all their energy in making them move. Though turning left and right proved difficult with the wooden wheels and the road. Having them focus on turning only one wheel to slowly edge it to the right direction.
On the skyscrapers, the glistening glass windows showed a faint silhouette of aircraft coming from afar.
But down below, colored in shining Blue and Red armor the Special Knights of Libertus, high level players that have mastery in Ice and Fire magic and are able to hold out against their skilled opponents. Though they had their backs on the wall, and separated from the main army that’s having a hard time breaking through the defensive positions of Breznick. The Knights, with sheer wit and compassion to their duty had made a victory from the untenable situation just as the sun sank in the horizon.
It shrouded with it the silhouettes of another party as the fighting draws to a close with the Moon coming.
Breznick once again was met with a standstill. The moon is high in the sky and the lanterns and torches fill the streets where their forces have control. Their generals were quick with their feet, setting up tents and checkpoints as patrols were already out and about, looking at every alleyway and basement for any stragglers or partisan teams wishing to go and destroy their logistics.
But the sounding silence felt heavy, as if it was an abnormality to the semblance of humanity left to rot in the blasted city.
Frustrated in her seat as a silence looms over the city, Elizadeath requested for High Command to attempt a counteroffensive with the Dragons they have on the airport. But multiple times, no one responded from the messages, even the Guild chat was silent, though her Stream chat was bustling with donations and constant sad face emotes. The air inside her field command tent is getting anxious and heavy as it dawned on them that they might end up in another uphill fight against an equal foe.
“Where are those blasted generals? If we push now, we have a chance to break the spine of Libertus in the city. Knight Commander, anything from them?”
“I apologize ma’am, The Court of General’s last message was that they spotted massive movement from the rear of the Airport. They think Libertus is attempting to strike from behind.”
“Impossible. If they were to do that, they’d have to go around the entire city outskirts. We’d be sure to spot that.”
All the while, ElvenBroThomas12 is looking hard into the map on top of the table. His eyes are full of confusion, unable to see what could have silenced such a massive airport.
“Sir Anthony, has anything come to you?”
“I apologize Miss Elizabeth. Thinking hard about it now, I find it hard to believe Libertus is able to send a force large enough to take on the airport. Whatever it is, it could either be a third party, or a party of assassins that got spotted.”
They suddenly hear a deafening boom from the skies, as if lightning just flew past them and the glass windows of the skyscrapers shook from the sound.
The three Knights in the room instinctively unsheathe their swords and run outside, where a Dragon Rider from Breznick has fallen from the skies. The Wyvern’s entire rear up to the legs was blasted off but the Rider was well alive. Elizadeath immediately runs to the man, lifting his back up as he coughs smoke.
“What could have done this to you?”
“J-jets!” His eyes suddenly perk open, smiling at the sight before him. “Fighter Jets! They’re back!”
Everyone within the vicinity immediately becomes still, as if they just turned into rocks. Curious and scared, Thomas approached the man, kneeled down and holding his hand. “Do you want to respawn?” he shrugs. “Ask me now.”
“Is anyone in the airport still alive?”
“No sir, everyone’s dead. They sent me here to tell you to retreat. The missiles, they came out of nowhere. Like they fired them kilometers away beforehand.” Even more frustrated, Elizadeath starts showing the stress on her face. MotorideKiller, the Breznick Officer approaches the Dragon Rider. “What else did they send? Helicopters? Tanks? Infantry Fighting Vehicles?”
“Y-Yes sir! Forward scouts said they spotted tanks, helicopters and armored vehicles!”
“Oh God… they’re back and even more equipped than before.” Motoride stands up, looking at the direction of the airport. “I’ve fought them once before already. Miss Elizadeath, you were there weren’t you? When they were on the verge of defeat did they unleash their modern weapons against us.” As the players began to get anxious, the woman remained calm. Just sighing as everyone stood still. “Let’s all collect ourselves. Even if they have tanks, those won’t be enough to stop us. We can simply rip through their armor without a hitch with this magic.”
“No, what's scary here is that right now, they can merely send missiles after us, killing us all and leveling the place till they get to the Altars, forcing us to respawn at the nearest Kingdom encampment which is hundreds of miles away.” The Officer then sat on a wooden chest. Brushing the roof of his helm. “Without modern vehicles, it’ll take us days to reach this place again while it would only be a few hours for them.” Thomas then nodded and looked at the Sword Saint. “Ma’am, we must run now. Before they make a move.”
“I agree, we shou-”
Suddenly, massive explosions rattle the street, the derelict streetlights of the city fall into the ground and windows high above the buildings' remaining windows shatter, becoming little knives and wounding soldiers not wearing their helmets.
The entire port is lit up like a campfire. Missiles coming from the direction of the airport hit the Seaport with deadly accuracy. The bombing lights up the entire block and its surroundings, killing not only the Special Knights but also the grunts and the Dragons of Libertus that were replenishing themselves. The ones that tried to take off were simply swatted from the skies by the sheer force of the explosions.
And those able to climb to a higher altitude were promptly shot down by missiles.
Surviving Libertus soldiers climb over the Ports wall and run towards the direction of Breznick, they drop their swords and arms in a panic and run into enemy lines with no sense of professionalism. It was all for yourself as they made a dash to them. “DON’T ATTACK THEM! ALL SOLDIERS STAND DOWN!” Lifting their hands, the players didn’t stop running as more explosions followed.
The soldiers of Libertus cower behind the covers of Breznick’s and the two player Kingdom seemingly united against one powerful foe. Little to their knowledge, an MQ-9 Reaper Drone is flying high above them, watching their every movement.
After the bombardment of the port, the soldiers of Breznick set their differences aside and help heal the soldiers of Libertus, even equipping them with new swords and shields and in the night, the silence would be occasionally broken with the cries of fire from the flames emitting at the Seaport. It was so bright that they had no use for the torches and lanterns they had carried.
Soon, the sun slowly rises over the old and worn city. Both the soldiers of Breznick and Libertus gather together in front of the field tent where the Knights are. A high ranking soldier in Libertus’ army steps in front, he kneels with his sword, lunges into the ground with his right hand gripping it tightly and following it with a salute.
“Hello Miss Elizabeth, Sword Saint of Breznick. My name is Sir Benny, or reeman45, First Lieutenant of the 36th Guards Knight Regiment of Libertus. I’d like to propose an alliance with you. To get ourselves out of this peril.”
“Mhm. Stand up Lieutenant, we must get out of here.”
Walking in the scene, Thomas unscrolls a map of the city. “Then, I propose we take a bus.” The Sword Saint and the Officer of Libertus looked at each other then at the handsome Elf as the two armies seemingly united.
The soldiers from both sides are landlocked from two large modern armies using lifeless skeleton soldiers as their warriors. Thomas, with Benny of Libertus then planned to take a team into the Bus terminal and see if some of the buses could run and take them away from the city while Elizadeath was to hold out the street they have near the Ports till they could find an exit. MotorideKiller was to keep the perimeter guarded and secured.
The planning took longer than expected and the fighting on the perimeter of the city had only gotten worse by the hour.
The constant crackle of gunshots heard from the outskirts of the city was becoming so frequent you’d hear it by the second. Ranging from automatic gunfire, autocannons, and shells are heard roaring from both the side of Libertus and Breznick. Some of the players with the Sword Saint just opted out to log off for the day while those who stayed merely had a longing and concrete stare as the sun’s rising shine engulfs the city, the war turns into a bloodbath as it gives light to the panicking armies getting hammered by long range weapons from their flanks.
Rolling down the hills, the players near the Seaport could clearly see massive formations of armored vehicles barreling down at the city as helicopters patrolled the outskirts, daring not to go in as they swept the stragglers and any remnants.
While on the other side of the wall, Destroyers have dropped their anchors, and General Escobar, the leader of the Marine Corps personally leads his men into battle. A UH-1Y Venom drops them near the shoreline and he and his men rise from the deep water, with death in their eyes.
But just as Escobar had reached the main street, Thomas and Benny with their Knights had started to sneak through the city, block by block. As they continue onwards, the more they hear roaring sounds of vehicles and the fly over of Blackhawk Transport Helicopters and Apache Attack helicopters becomes more frequent inside the city proper.
Nearing the Town Hall in the middle of the city, about two kilometers from the port, they suddenly hear the sounds of a turbine engine nearing them. Thomas immediately signals for the Knights to hide within the derelict alleyways and worn buildings.
In cover, an M1A2 Sepv3 Main Battle Tank appears from the road that leads to the town hall, guarded by a squad of skeleton soldiers. The armored vehicle was following the pace of the infantry as it scanned the road directly in front of them. A player pops out of the hatch, even though his character is a skeleton, he stood out with how animated he was compared to the rest.
“Ogre to Swift, units reporting little resistance. We have the package secured. Should we turn it off or keep it in there just in case they actually pull a victory?”
“Copy Ogre, continue your advance, other units are reporting heavy fighting on the Eastern side. Do not touch the package, leave it be.”
As the armored vehicle and the soldiers pass through them without detecting the players, they continue onward, encountering a Humvee pulling captured players with chains. Skeleton soldiers were collecting swords and shields and loading them up on M939 transport trucks and civilian dump trucks.
Some of the piles were so much, they had to get CAT D7 bulldozers to load it up on the trucks. Benny curiously looked at Thomas as they piled the equipment on a section of the street.
“What’re they doing? Why are they collecting those?”
“I don’t know myself but I get the feeling that they’ll be using this for their undead army.”
“I guess so, c’mon. The Bus terminal shouldn’t be any farther. Libertus had an encampment there before as I said. There should be built up defenses we can use.”
After a few more minutes of walking, the group reaches the Bus terminal. Formerly an encampment for the Army of Libertus, there an army of worn coach buses litter the terminal.
Aging and rusting from months of neglect. The terminal itself has a calming feel to it, with the overgrown leaves crawling through the concrete and the sun’s shine falling down on the terminal while sounds of battle, guns firing and engines roaring were heard from afar.
The dust particles gave the derelict place a sense of peace to it as the overgrowth had taken the stops and even the wheels of the buses.
“Everyone, stay low and move in. reeman, enter through the front, Me and my Elves will go through the parking lot.”
“I got you. Men, Great Knights of Libertus, let’s go. We can’t keep the Sword Saint waiting.”
As the two groups split and enter the bus station, they encounter a platoon sized skeleton group that seems to be wearing the uniform of a Western styled Marine Corps. Equipped with M4A1s and MARPAT camouflage. The skeletons looked around the perimeter like scripted drones. Unnerving with their mechanical movements.
While on the Breznick-Libertus camp near the seaport, they’ve been doing brutal close quarter combat for some time. Elizadeath stands atop a M1A2 Abrams, the barrel was sliced clean and its crew stumped down on the turret, she looks down on the skeleton soldiers gunning down the Knights trying to take cover from their assault rifles.
“Absolutely disgusting… Do you call yourself an army? Where, you gun down people from afar rather than facing them head to head? Where is your honor? Sense of duty to respect your enemies? All this hate and for what?”
The turret suddenly turns and its coaxial machine gun starts firing at the Knights in cover. The M1A2 Abrams suddenly shifts backwards, forcing Elizadeath to grab into the barrel of the top mounted M2 Browning.
She then pours mana into her Golden sword, powering it with holy light, she digs it through the top of the turret, slicing from the left to the right. The hatch on the turret opens and a crewman with a carbine rifle pops out. The skeleton unloads an entire magazine into her, but it only dings off her armor. The undead immediately drops his M4 and grabs the Glock 17 on his vest. But before he could touch it, his head was already flying away from the tank.
The armored vehicle then suddenly comes to a grinding halt, throwing Elizadeath off of the turret and into the street and the battered Main Battle Tank then starts driving into her. “Oh Holy Light of the Gods, bring upon me the power to strike down this metal beast in front of me. To destroy the machinations of man.”
Her sword powers up and she points it at the charging 67 ton tank at her, a large beam was emitted out of the tip, vaporizing the tank and a portion of the street it was on. Blasting a path and destroying the derelict buildings.
Looking back at the street that leads to the camp, dead Knights and Grunts from both Breznick and Libertus litter the street. As she walks back, the bodies around her start despawning and the atmosphere of the street becomes eerie as she becomes the lone one still alive.
As she nears the camp, she sees one of the soldiers pointing upward into the sky behind her. With the speed of a fly, she turns around looking at the Hellfire missile fired upon her. She hunkers down and her shield materializes.
The Air to Ground missile hits her shield dead center and she’s sent flying. Immediately making a small cross and looking at her HP. It took out a portion of her health instantly. She looks around the street and sees a manhole a few meters from her amid the battle between the Knights and Riflemans. She stands up and makes a dash to it. Another missile is incoming and with her sword, she flips the manhole over with its tip and dives in. Just a few seconds later, it lands on the road a few meters from the manhole.
Tired and alone. She walks deeper into the sewer, in the direction that heads back to the camp they have. Though the smell was atrocious, she couldn’t care less after experiencing hell once again. After some time, she finds another manhole cover that leads right inside their camp. Looking around, all she could see was the despair in the air, the Knights and Grunts all looking defeated and wanting to go home while others had already quitted, dwindling their numbers further down.
Though some just outright go offline. Not wanting to be a part of the slaughter. She looks down on her dirtied armor, once shining and gleaming, now scratched and damaged. Many of the gunfire that started in the Morning are all gone. A few potshots are being heard from both sides. It seems that only the stragglers remain within the abandoned city.
Looking around to think of a way to get out of the situation, the Lady Knight starts looking around the streets, checking the alleyways and buildings. But after finding nothing, she looks back at where she came from, and with a spark of inspiration, she realizes that they can use the sewer to go to the Bus terminal, with the player map of the city, they could easily navigate through it and arrive at their destination without having to meet much resistance and meet up with the other two. She runs to the command tent to alert MotorideKiller, but only his Sergeants are there.
“Where’s Motor at?”
“He died a few moments ago. A missile from a drone hit his post.”
“O… I see…”
The already sad atmosphere of the camp becomes solemn as the dead despawns and respawns hundreds of miles from the abandoned city. Elizadeath suddenly lights up, pressing her hands down on the war table.
“Look, I know it's tough but we can still escape this. We’ll use the sewers and head to the bus terminal. It's located on the outermost part of the city and is pretty much next to the highway that leads outside of this base. I’ll contact reeman and Sir Anthony and tell them we will go to them instead. Now everyone, look up, we can still make do.”
The Sergeants leave the tent and start spreading the new plan. Elizadeath opens her player tab and contacts the two Knight commanders.