With the appearance of the blonde lady, surrounded by heavily armed soldiers. The sign of the Hunters Association dangling above her as she looked down on the dirt tainting her new high heel shoes as the sounds of boots filled her ears. Looking up, the Hunters she’s facing all stood stiff. Observing the woman as she walked through the path, keeping a tight eye at every last one of them. Donning Victorian and Gothic clothes, wielding guns and swords, they were ready for a brutal fight right then and there.
The combat soldiers would suddenly get ahead of her as she approached the main camp, making sure the bushes and branches wouldn’t dare even touch her magnificent pale skin while the the stars touch into her made the Vampire glow.
Through the afternoon shimmer in the busy forest, the small patch of openness in front of her has been turned into a camp. One full of gothic dressed monster hunters, wielding silver longswords and ornate pistols and rifles, their eyes were as sharp as the daggers that’s tucked in their tall boots as the soldiers made a human shield. There are far more modern kits and weapons in contrast to the vintage players.
Without a care to the world, the Vampire walked into the middle of the camp and nonchalantly put her hand into her hip. “I’ve come to request your services, Monster Hunters.”
Walking out of one of the tents was a player whose avatar was already past his prime. With wrinkled skin and long loose white hair, he came out of the flaps of the tent and looked right into the eyes of the beautiful blonde donning dusty clothes that belongs in a Western town. “And why should my company become the weapon of your bloodsucking fangs? Have you no respect for this place and the work we do?” His voice was strong for his age, still brimming with a masculine deep voice and a vigor yet to be matched by those who were at his time.
“I’ve not come here for trivialities but one that will end the fight beyond the mountain behind you. This is a contract from your leaders.” The old man breathed in and though his hat’s brim covered half his eyes, it didn’t waver as he sat down using nothing but pure magic. The air resists into the shape of a leather chair as he elegantly crosses his legs. Hands on the armrests as he chuckled. “So the Government sends a genocidal Queen who was known for her hunger for power and blood…” he groans as if he was far too old for this and had passed his time. “What else would I expect for them to send?”
The laughs of the hunters all filled the area of the forest, grim and dark in their tones even in joy, the old man switched the cross of his legs. “What do you offer us as payment? Fighting Werewolves and Vampires is not cheap.” tipping the edge of his brim, his gold coloured eyes clearly sees Elizabeth’s emerald ones.
“A place in the city, there’s an apartment block that has recently been cleared in Downtown, multiple warehouses too. You may want to use it, won’t you?” with a swish of her hair, the old man grinned. “Death don’t have no mercy for the old.” Standing up, he puts his hands into his pockets and flexes his shoulders. “Add in the part where we may have no limits to our weapons and you may have a deal.”
Elizabeth then smiles and nods. “Very well. Maria, I’ll assign you an area and notify the task force and the two of you are to plan this out.” Turning around, no one was able to say anything as the old man's eyes swerved to the image of the Huntress. In her gothic ensemble with a lace cravat, she was as dashing and pale as the Queen.
"You have a job. The Vampire Hunting Guild is now under a contract with the Government. The Hunters Association will support you in this endeavor."
She didn't say anything, merely looking towards the Queen in her almighty pose as a smirk flew into Elizabeth's face. "Ah, of course it takes one to know one. Do humor me, but have you met and fought a Black Knight with a Black Dragon on his shoulders?"
"I've fought a lot of those types. You need to be more specific."
"One you stole a sword from?"
"Ah, that was a fine blade. The stacking of Anti Vampirism buffs on it was extravagant. I've never seen anything like it."
"Well, should you know. My Lord is the owner of that sword." She then opens her palm, materializing a Greatsword with a familiar aura to it. Its dreadful and ornate shape of a killing weapon meant for a single purpose is shown to her. "I believe you have been acquainted before?"
As if to display the magnificently crafted Greatsword, its length beyond that of even an above average height Human. The Queen waves it around with amazing grace as she neatly settles its tip on the dirt. "I believe the saying goes on Earth. How small is the world?"
The Huntress just smiled and shrugged as the stoic eyes of the Monster Hunters all stood still with sweat falling down their foreheads. Some, their fingers inching closer to their pistols. “I’ve… been reading about the Vampires of this world, and it would not pain you for me to bring my second best, yes?”
Walking out the tent she was in, still holding a map on his right hand and his pistol, that of an old but massive Colt Navy chambered in .500, it's another Vampire but Elizabeth’s face quickly changed as she squirmed at his smell. “Hmph. I knew it, that interview isn’t fooling anyone, Queen Elizabeth." This made the Hunters draw their pistols as the soldiers quickly reacted, shouting from the top of their voices. “PUT THE GUN DOWN!”
“I do not take for my presence being taken so lightly with all this jesting.” She was behind the player carrying the Colt Navy, her just as big AutoMag V, akin to an oversized 1911 pistol chambered in the .50 Action Express, pushes the muzzle up to the back of the Vampire’s skull. “What a devious creation, you are. Your birth is already a mistake and here you are hunting down the blood you use for your strength.”
Maria though, just turns around and gestures for the Hunters to lower their guns as she crosses her arms, looking at her with a grin. “Look at you, yet in that interview, you speak of being under a Human whom I am sure you spend many nights with.” Elizabeth’s emerald eyes have changed to a shiny gold, with her trigger on the finger, her hand was concrete and still as a statue.
But then, she pulls the hammer of her AutoMag up and whisps the large pistol away. “Do not be fooled, Huntress. If we were to ever consummate a child, it would only have the blood of a Vampire through and through, the primordial blood is far too strong and would eliminate any hints of mortality upon fertilization." She then appears behind Maria, a mere step away as she looks with a murderous intent.
“Of course you’d excuse yourself by moving the goalpost. Is this how the Vampires of this world act?” This made the Queen chuckle as she took a step forward. “I am not moving anything. My word is the word of a Nation, if I say this is acceptable, it is. That is true power, Huntress. One you do not possess.” she suddenly appears to her right, making Maria turn her head.
“And do not be fooled by My Lord, unlike the Dhampirs created by Vampires lusting for the weak flesh of mortality, he is different. Far more different than any Human. His genetics would be wasted on another Human, under the strength of a Vampire’s blood, it would not only be perfected, but also pushed to its limits. Our offspring would be akin to a General Mar but with the wisdom and kindness of Charlemagne." She then appears to her left, this time with her arms up and crossed but Maria just shrugs.
“So what? The Royal Vampires could keep the most strongest genes and traits all for themselves? To solidify your position by being unbeatable through millennia of selective breeding? Taking only the best and combining it for an even stronger offspring?” Elizabeth though was back on her original position, flanked by soldiers.
“Tell me, can a peasant born with nothing, from nobodies take command of a Kingdom with enemies whose strengths far outpaces those of before? The Vampires of today are far stronger than the ones of my age, it's only their lack of experience that gives me the upperhand.” Maria smiles as she puts a finger up her sharp chin. “Isn’t one of the Heroes here in the city a nobody? A peasant from some village near the Elven border? You talk so big with your bloodlines, even starting wars with it and yet here you are working under a Government run by Humans whose blood, by your Kingdom's standards, is below that of an Elven slave.”
“Enough with these games Huntress. To become a Hero means you are not normal, and that comes far and few with the lowly birth while to us Nobles, entire Nations are given to us by birthright... I can only feel pity for his situation. The weight on his shoulders far exceeds even those of high birth.” She then appears next to the old man, leaning into his chair made out of air. “You seem to forget that it is only for the blood of Men in Geraldia whom we, the Royalty, have spilled and sacrificed so much to protect our people. Those within our Kingdom have their blood weighed as much as gold and enchanted metals.”
“A Queen thinks twice and thrice and yet again before she makes request.” Elizabeth then stepped in front of the old man who watched closely and silently. “I could not even sit down at the thought of my people not being able to drink enough blood, with this I’ve sacrificed so many heralds who is swift to my command, my dear friends who bought back so much and in return, only to be given more tasks for their endless toils.”
She then puts both of her hands side by side, making the Royal Crown of the Vampires appear. The Hunters all gleed at the sight of the headpiece, its presence alone commanding respect as its diamonds, sapphires, and gold was enough to fund a small country. “For the weight of this Crown can shatter even the noblest of souls. When I donned this upon my head, it felt light, yet its weight was on my immortal heart.” she looks up to Maria, tilting her head slightly to the right.
“That was the feeling of not only an entire Nation being rested on me, but…” her eyes squinted as if she was somewhere, far away and foreign. “It reminds me of the freedom I gave up so long ago and for all my Lords and Ladies who believed in me, to die in brutal warfare.” she walks forward to Maria, holding it up to her face. “Tell me, can you don this ancient headpiece, one that gives you the power to rule over an entire species and succeed?”
The Huntress just had a silent expression to her as she observed the Queenly crown set before her face. “To be a Queen is to be a servant. A servant to your King and most of all, to your people and a servant to their well-being. Though the chains that cage me and my freedom may be made of sapphires, gold, and the finest enchanted jewelry, but it is chains nevertheless.” Elizabeth then elegantly swirled around as she disappeared and reappeared back to the soldiers. Holding the crown tightly near her chest. “Do not take bloodlines and royalty so lightly. No soul would want to be birthed with so much yet so little. My Lord, I may treat him as my King, but what of him but a man imprisoned by his duties?”
She then looks up to Maria, her eyes steeled, as if the crown she has on her hands laid softly on her brow. “A beautiful soul, a wonderful person who deserves nothing but the best wine, women, and wealth, yet he toils away for all of you, inside that damned office, and as his closest aide, his servant, what am I if I am not able to stand by his side? We aren’t here because we have the power to, nay. We are here for we have a responsibility to fulfill.”
The old man chuckled which then led to laughter and clapping by him. Standing up, he walks to her as if he was a young teenage warrior, ready to fight. "How many of us do you wish to come with you? Maria, Johnno, Loude, Marcus, prepare my kit." The top Hunters quickly went to the largest tent, walking out with his Winchester rifle and four sets of revolvers of varying chamber sizes as his belt was filled with a Rapier, Longsword, and Shortsword. “A hundred at least.”
Looking around, the Huntress who had finished putting the wide brimmed black hat on the old man then whistled a lullaby as her compatriots sneak out of the woodworks like well dressed undead. "One hundred. Do you want more? The enemies lying beyond the mountains are not normal Werewolves nor Vampires. There hardened players who had been fighting for years.”
"That's not a problem for a skilled tactician. Meet me in the Valley Mouth Entrance Base at Checkpoint Karnah." The Queen then walked away, the crown disappearing into a plume of golden dust rising upwards to the skies as the camp mobilized as the combat ready soldiers in their bulky kevlar armor all tailed behind her.
"Now that is a leader I can get behind, Maria.”
"Hm. That's a devilish Vampire if I've ever met one. Her blood would've been a fine addition to my collection.”
“Grave diggers like us have no business with the living, Maria.”
“With the living? Sir Jane, that is a Vampire.”
“So are you. But those who can love aren’t fully dead yet. She’s fighting for someone and something she believes in, who are we to stand against that? She may be an ancient royal, but what royal back then were of clean hands? To lead a state is to lead with dirty hands.”
As she left, a small crowd had gathered, looking at the large convoy of military vehicles with the blacked out armored limousine in the middle. She stops right by the exit sighing longingly as she gestures with her finger for one of the squad leaders. “We ride to the Checkpoint. I request for everyone to keep their weapons to themselves.” One of the players in the crowd took a photo of her, posting it online with a caption “Princess Beauty from the interview spotted on the refugee perimeter city!” and Bahamut, who was in the middle of a basketball court in the center of the city, tucked between its maze of alleyways, smiles at the sight as she puts her phone down and looks to the right.
An arrow made out of pure flames is stopped midair as she crushes it and turns to the line of Mages all tired and nearing to fall apart. “Again. Haaah… why did Master send me here? You do not use magic to fire off so many in rapid succession. You are straining yourself, rather than doing it slowly and controlling the use of Mana, you are panicking yourself and your arrows vary in power, the last one being nothing even worth looking at." She turns to the Officer who just smiles.
“Train them harder. I’ll report to Master that the Militia’s are not up to standards." The player salutes as she leaves for the street with one hand having a smartphone on it as she vigorously typed and sent messages like a machine gun.
With this, the Dragon was left with herself. Sighing as she began to explore the city’s area between the Downtown and Commercial hub. The towering skyscrapers sat next to the rotting warehouses, where the sidewalks and roads became badly maintained, cracks and potholes as far as the eye could see.
As she continues to explore, Bahamut runs across a van with a bold lettering on its side. “Clerics With No Borders” as two players are thrown out of a rotting house’s window and into their vehicle. Leaving a huge dent on its side panelling as she walks into the scene with her arms crossed. “Do you Chosen Ones need help?” The female player wearing Cleric robes nods. “Sp-pirit Possession!” She turns her head to the left, dodging a wooden chair as it crashes into the passenger side window, making the male Cleric cry out in pain. “AHHH! MY VAN!”
“I recommend that the both of you to not move. I sense multiple hundred broken bones in your bodies." She then pockets her smartphone as she points her finger at the dark interior of the building. “Reveal yourself, and free that person's body. Feel privileged a Dragon has come to cleanse yourself.” creaking bones and an unusually elongated arm and hand reaches out from the interior and a disfigured and ghostly head peeks out. “Ahhhh, just my luck. A Dragon. Just when I became strong enough to possess a Chosen soul.”
Its head tilt at a 180 degrees, opening its mouth showing the mutated teeth that’re akin to a predator rather than a person. “Try to cleanse me with your magic circles, Dragon. The host's body will die. I’ve tied-” before it could finish, Bahamut had closed the gap and had grasped its long neck. “Who said I was going to do it the traditional way?”
She pulls its massive body, the stomach of the former player full of other people as it crashes into the dead front lawn making it turn around and face the Dragon who had once again, came up to his face and punched it. The Demonic Spirit cried out in pain as its very essence almost flew into the stratosphere. “BUUUHHH!” Blood flew out of its mouth and nose as it drooped down from the damage the bones took from the single punch. “Wha… What was that?! You can’t do that!” Bahamut was then right below its neck, looking up to it.
“Shut up Demon. Leave with dignity or I’ll extinguish you in the most humiliating way. Do you want to enter the Void with such a death?” a tentacle coming from within the house then explodes out of the front door, making Bahamut jump away as it quickly turns to follow her. Looking inside, a faint glimmer caught her eye making her run around to the backyard with the fleshy tentacle trailing closely behind her.
A golden streak of light then hits the Demon’s horrifically mangled and elongated face as it swerves its neck around and looks down on the two Clerics, there backs are right up to the van and the woman had her arms out, creating a shield around them as the man with his flickering scepter, both of them trembling in fear as it pushes its face up the barrier. “Oh ye’, why do you believe still? I’ve seen the memories of this soul, the world of science is filled with wonders beyond even magic. Your Kings and Queens are all but using you, under the nonexistent God that you pray to, nothing but cosmic dust that can speak.”
Its sharp claws then began to slowly peeled off the barrier, piercing it as the disgusting face of the Demon smiled. “Not even your leaders believe in your God, merely using it as a tool to control you, make you live in fear and subjection. Lessen up your tensed minds and come onto me.” As the barrier was about to break, the Demon got punched once again and turning around, Bahamut has a vial on her hand with a liquid powder inside it.
“You know, we Dragons didn’t have a concept of smiling. We lived to fight and that was our entire basis, but as I grew stronger, I realized what I was missing from the others.” She throws at the grass and the Demon just tilts its head in confusion as its messed up body begins moving on its own. “What?! No! NO!” As the Demon digs its head into the broken vial, licking and sniffing the dust. Bahamut stood right next to its head that's bleeding from the broken glass. “I didn’t have any imagination.”
She then lowers her pose and with one powerful punch, the abhorrent creature falls face flat and begins to tremble. “And c’mon Demon, you are trying to instill rationality into the most irrational species. So irrational that they use rationality to build weapons that can end their civilization.” It then tries to stand up but the Dragon puts its heels onto its head. “Rather than killing and wiping all of us Dragons off, they instead befriended us and loved us, took us all in because a select few of us were merciful to them and treated them as equals. What kind of species is like that? It makes no sense to me.”
All of the sudden, the body began to intensely tremble and spazz out, its mouth opening into an unholy size as it pukes out seven players and the body of the player, that of a woman began to reverse back into its original state while Bahamut walks towards the two wounded clerics. “Hm. Oh ye’ of little faith. Learn to not fall to the sweet talks of a Demon. Look at them, they don’t believe in anything, nor have any real emotion. They're nothing but mere aggressive drones, working like robots to an end that is not even there to decide. Programmed to live and die with a set purpose from which they do not deviate from, a sad existence." She then pulls out her smartphone and takes a photo of the broken vial, sending it to Elizabeth.
Helping the both of them up, the female cleric opens the van and inside is an Altar that’s dimly lit. “Eh? There’s still more?” Hearing a click of a tongue, she turns around and Bahamut is pointing downward. “It has infected the soil. Be sure to cleanse it well.” The eight players begin to puke and vomit as they regain consciousness, making the two run towards them and begin healing magic. “I wonder… a Coven of Witches you say…” she began to continue walking along the sidewalks. Her hand up her chin as she closely observes the dilapidated buildings.
Sirens blare in the distance, two police cars followed by an ambulance rush pass her as she continues to walk nonchalantly. With the two clerics right behind her picking up the players as police rush into the building, one of them running into the back of their Crown Victoria to grab a Staff and shotgun with both hands full, the Elf jogs into action.
She constantly walked and walked, crossing three different blocks as she’d occasionally check if Elizabeth had replied to her, only to be left with seen and then, a glimmer came to the reflective screen and looking up, something shiny caught her eye. Stopping to turn to her left, the dusty boutique shop had all sorts of nicknacks to it and on its own stand is a necklace composed of multiple gems and the one in the center, a large green one.
Very much like the green brooch on her choker. Walking in, the doorbell rings and echo into the empty shop. “What is that thing on the display up front?” peeking out was an Orc, with light green skin and reading glasses, he places his massive cutting blade on the counter. “Uh… good afternoon.”
He looks at what she is pointing at and grabs a book below the counter. His large and impressively buff arms trembling. “It’s the necklace of an olden Noble from the Mid Continent, I sell it at ten silver coins or one Gold coin from Threa.” she then brings out the card she’s been given. “Do you accept credit?”
Reaching again into his counter, the player brings out a card reader, though occasionally looking out, grabbing his massive sword as he goes around the corner, checking the exterior of the shop. “I am not detecting anything. You can calm down.” he shushes her as the Orc checks the sidewalks. “Demons you know, I saw one. You can’t normally detect those unless you-” Bahamut then cuts him. “Have the eye, I have the eye. Multiple of them.” she walks to the counter, leaning into it as she opens her phone.
“And it’s not like most supernatural things are dangerous. Even those ones who can make objects float aren’t worth my time.” As the Orc takes the necklace, Bahamut reveals the credit card, slipped between two of her lanky fingers as one hand continues to scroll through her phone. “It’s the ones that can possess that need to be taken out. Demons are chaotic by nature, give them Human emotions and a personality of danger is born.”
As the Orc takes her card and swipes it, he walks to the back, placing his sword on a display case and takes out a worn tote bag. “And they are usually brought to the world through a hole. Is anyone here a Sorcerer? One that knows how to use Dark magic?” walking out of the doorway, his insanely buff and large body perfectly fitting through it as he held the tote bag as if it's a tiny item with his two hands stops and nods. “The Loan sharks of this area, the Dark Quad. They're all mages of differing types. I was hiding because not only did they release a Demon, but they were insane!” He neatly wraps the necklace and puts it in the bag, closing it.
Handing it over to Bahamut, it quickly burns up and she nods. “Where did they go?” he points to the left. “On the low income tenant buildings. They're doing their rounds today on those who owe them, I hope the ones from the drug house weren’t-” she turns around, walking out of the shop and immediately turning left and walking down the block where she could see the brick buildings with hundreds of window units.
The roads were mostly empty, only having parked cars on the sides that’re all older and much less maintained models. Many of them are missing wheels and doors or even entire hood and fenders. “Phooooeehh, don’t we have a beauty here.” looking at them, sitting on the benches of a basketball court, the tattooed Dark Elf with its ashen greying skin stands up, the odd group composed of two dwarves, a High Elf, and an Ogre. Donning leather armor that’s rolled up to reveal the magical runes on their skin.
“Is the Dark Quad here?” They stood up and began walking to her, hands in pockets. “Yeah, there here sweet momma. You sound nice, Hmmm… nice long smooth neck too. Reminds me of a bitch I’d have gouged down on my di-” before he could continue, the High Elf stops him. “Dude, I think this is a mistake.” This made him look at his colleague with piercing eyes. “What?”
“We’re inside her Mana pool right now.” This made him laugh out loud alongside the Dwarves and the Ogre. “Did you sniff that stuff too good today? Added paint or some shit? Mana pools don’t have physical forms, what you see is a representation of it. The brighter a person, the more larger their Mana pool is.” the High Elf shrugs. “I can’t even turn on my Mana detection, it's so bright.” and after a blink, the player was blinded fully. “The Dark Quad is at the third apartment building named Number Eight to the left.” Bahamut leaves making the Dark Elf drag his blind friend away. “CALL THE WEIRDO HEALER DUDE FROM FIVE!”
Reaching the place, it isn’t like the high rise brick buildings, these ones being made out of pure concrete and only stood at four stories high and she stops half a hundred meters away. Observing the surroundings first and instantly notices a bunch of Mages in suits with cloaked heads standing around a black SUV.
One of them had their phone out and walked up to the second floor, opened the door with the broken lock and began filming the interior where the screams of a man and woman were. After showing it, the player goes down the stairs and back to the SUV where he takes a pistol, pulling the slide back. “Please! Just give me some more time! You can take me, just don’t hurt them!”
Up above, the door violently swings open as a man wearing a polo and cargo shorts and slippers has a sword driven up his chest. A woman ran towards him only to get slapped into the room. “Please! Don’t hurt them! I’ll pay! I’ll pay even if it's my soul!” The curved sword is then twisted and the player dies but to the Dragons surprise, he doesn't turn into a plume of sparkling golden dust. “Ah, how devious.” Walking up one of the walls, she takes a good look inside the room.
It was messy, small and already far too limiting for a single man, let alone a woman who was getting her head kicked in, her arms up to the side of her cheeks as a little girl ran out of the cabinet punching the cloaked suited person. Though her tiny hands only made the collector look down and sweepingly grabbed her. The woman who tried to fight with a kitchen knife is sliced up her chest, the screams of the little girl filling the entire street as she was dragged to the SUV which takes off.
“Now, lead me to your Master.” her eyes suddenly shifted from the car towards the room, the woman had gotten up and dashed out of the room, pleading for the man to wake up but after a few tries and her blood spilling off everywhere, she instead runs down the staircase and to the road where a trail of her blood could be openly seen on the bright afternoon. Some of her next door neighbors open their door and windows slightly just to close it again.
“SOMEONE! PLEASE HELP! PLEASE!” She then falls in the middle of the road, her body now fully static.
A step is then heard and she finds herself and her husband floating in a sea of darkness. “I don’t usually do this, but… a stupid Human who has taught me alot I feel like would be disappointed if I were to let this be.” hearing the floating voice, the two players hugged each other. “I shall broker you a special deal. I like your souls, the Male fought valiantly to protect your loved ones, looking through your memories, even after having many chances of taking an easy way out, you chose to work hard, and you, female, you worked just as hard as he did and gave your all, even your body.”
Suddenly, a wet floor was below them and still in their slippers, their pale bodies seemed to be the only bright thing in the endless sea of black. “Give me your souls when you die and I shall give you the Blessing of Bahamut. Reserved only for warriors I deem worthy, it will not only make you stronger, faster, and better, but also live longer.” Before replying, they both looked at each other and nodded. “W-We’ll accept it.”
Both of them then wake up, below them are the puddle of their own blood and Bahamut standing in the center of the small single lane street with her phone out. “Be sure to kill all of them. Thank you for doing my job.” As she turned around, and began walking down the street, the two hugged her and bowed their heads. “Thank you! Thank you!” they screamed in unison.
But she just grinned and shrugged her head. “Don’t thank me. Thank my Master. I have to report everything to him and I know he’d feel sad if I left you to be. They went to a warehouse with a butchering factory next to it down that way. You already know what vehicle they use. Hurry, you want that little girl safe, right?” She pointed at a direction that’s opposite of hers and the two couple instantly ran towards their room, picking up their weapons and donning their armors once again.
As they got out, stepping on their blood, the woman in a suit and a black leather general’s greatcoat was long gone.
Bahamut was already blocks away as she sees Elizabeth has replied.
Arriving at the outermost checkpoint of Woodstock, the Queen takes the call. “Yes, Dragon. I am fine. I left you on read because I was looking for any evidence.” with her is a tall woman with long wavy white hair, wearing a frilly Maid outfit, the girl silently kept to herself. “The photo you took, it seems to be a known drug from your world. An upgraded version of Stoneder, I will be finishing this today. Be sure to tell Our Lord my pleasantries.” She drops the call and the only thing there were military vehicles and horse drawn carriages that were going through customs. The soldiers were all asking for the IDs of the players whilst the Customs officers kept going in and out of their crates, the Magicians with them with X-Ray magic uses there magic twice to even thrice as the boundary to the city’s territory marked with orange tape was long behind them, the skeletal combat grunts kept an eerie stare at the horizon as they stood on top of it, meeting with the open plains where a lone patrol of armed men was.
A buzz of the alarm then came, the soldiers rushing around while their skeletal counterparts kept a stoic statue at their duty as a limousine escorted by armored vehicles drove in the motorpool. The Lieutenant in charge of the Outskirt Outpost with the Customs Supervisor had to don his beret as he opened the door to the jet black Cadillac.
With a salute from the two, Elizabeth exits out and immediately heads to the top of the tower where it was enough to peek over the valley and hills. With the telescope, she looks at the scarred plains, there were no corpses but weapons and equipment were laying around. Mostly swords and discarded shields alongside bits and pieces of plate armor.
“Yeah, it’s a mess. You’d think sense would come over these people, but they're just as bad as the Demon players. It’s as if they’ve all lost their damned minds.” The Lieutenant turns around, looking at the city that's hidden through the terrain. “It’s bad enough we’re skeleton crew here, but if those two decide to invade the city, we’d be dead. The peace we had gone.”
“You have peace?” Elizabeth with her arms crossed watched the horizon, it was eerie with its silence, to think that just beyond that is a complicit war between two sides. “You do not have peace, Lieutenant. You are at war, what you are seeing is an illusion of peace.”
“Well, I’d rather have a little bit of order than whatever is the alternative. Ma’am, we have a bird watching over the Lycaon’s afternoon patrol. Would you like to have a look?” she nods and he opens his hand, a large translucent screen shows a literal birds eye view. With the flaps of the pigeon's wing occasionally blocking the sight.
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There, a team of four Werewolves, all stood around 8 feet tall, donning a full set of plate armor with long fur capes. They wielded Great sized weapons, and their leader, having a Greatsword that could easily dwarf Jackson if he were to stand next to it, observed a Rapier that’s embedded on the ground.
Using their noses, the players were sniffing the undead that was sent at them. Poking on those still alive as they continued their patrol. Picking up whatever good conditioned weapon they come across.
“And the Maidens of Bathory?” the Lieutenant shrugs his head. “Sorry ma’am. They don’t send patrols during the day. Everyone is at their camp near the edge of the treeline till the dead of night.” In her extravagant modern outfit, the woman lifts her finger and slowly rubs her chin. “And what do they do there? Even when the Vampires of Threa couldn’t walk in the light of the Great Star, they would still do things to pass the time like lazily walking around.”
This made the Lieutenant look up to the ceiling and think for a second. “I… They usually just laze around their tents. Our patrols show no signs of any movement. Even the animals under our control sense nothing when coming close to their camp though that might be just their magic barrier spoofing us.” Elizabeth sighs and she looks at the two players. “What is the use of being a Vampire if you can’t sneak through something as simple as the eye of a bird?” She then looks at someone between them and turning their head, they panic at the tall pale Maid. “Go do as you are instructed. Be well in your duty and come back to me with results.”
Walking down the ground, she looks around at the Outpost, neatly tucked on the other side of the hill, sandwiched between the taller valley formation that protects Woodstock itself. There wasn’t much really happening at the Outpost and Customs building, aside from the caravans parked around and the military vehicles tucked inside a fenced off area with a helipad, it's oddly quiet.
Most of the conversations between the soldiers and customs officers were about the Mana Cores being shut down while the more Native oriented players would always find a way to bring in the news that the Heroes are in the city, and the last ones are about to arrive, though many would ignore it, as if its a taboo topic, akin to the last keys of doom being bought together.
One after another, caravan after caravan. Elizabeth silently watched in the corner of one of the offices that looks out to the main road. Occasionally looking at her smartphone and looking at the vial, made out of a thin glass and a bronze cap on two sides, it didn’t look special at all, if anything, it looks extremely fragile and easy to destroy.
With a handful of more merchants passing through, one of them caught her eye. The merchant van had an odd smell to it, and the players had a sembling fragrance that she’s familiar with. An old one who's been defeated by her Lord a few months ago. The flowery stench was strong, even though an armored glass was between them, the smell was so eye opening that even a smidge of it was enough to make her awake. “Lieutenant, do stand up and follow me. Make much haste.”
Extending her arm out slowly, she points at a Merchant caravan with four people that was stopped at customs. This prompted the Lieutenant to take out his enchanted monocle and upon the lenses, it showed their race is Human. “I don’t… understand. Should I ask the Supervisor to detain them? We need probable cause though.”
“Do they put the untrained to guard your borders? Just how much of your proper army is overseas? Send soldiers. That makes a stronger statement.” She then opens the door and starts walking down to the thick steel fence lining with a concrete base, the NCO gesturing for the Squad Leaders to follow her but stop at the door, awaiting probable cause as green uniformed border patrol officers surround the wagon.
The Customs and Border Protection were doing a thorough checkup on the carriage which had multiple sections to it, a visual, X-Ray and another with Magical lenses with Mages using their staff. “Dog One, Yeah, it looks like this one’s clean. C’mon, we still have thirty more to go. Tell the Border patrol guys to drop the act.” as the player in his blue customs officer uniform was about to gesture for the caravanners to get back, the gate suddenly locks fully.
This made the customs officer look at the main station and there, fully armed and combat ready soldiers had taken the post. Surrounding the Border officers with their rifles ready for a fight. “Now, now. No need to suspect them. What you are against are trained enemies. They wouldn’t do something as risky as having an inside person with such a thorough system in place.” The Lieutenant though was panicking. “Ma’am! We do not have probable cause! This is against Player Rights!”
The girl in the caravan looks to her left at the exit gate where a blonde woman in a beautiful gown and expensive bag walks in. The CCTV’s mounted on the poles following her as she proudly brandished her sharp ears and emerald predatory eyes. “Lieutenant, may you get your men to calm down? Officers, please stay in one corner." Everyone did as she ordered, with the Border and Customs personnel staying by their Command truck while the Lieutenant was on the other side with his soldiers all standing around ready for action.
She then walked in front of the caravanners, consisting of two males and two females, she’d sniff the air and instantly, something caught her. “What a herbal smell… a familiar scent. You’ve met someone who disrespected me and paid the price, are you aware?” Her eyes continued to scan the four people, there was nothing special about them. Even the presence of their Mana was so miniscule that one could just count them as Level One Human players.
Yet, they just stood there, staring at her whilst the players of the UN were all confused at what was happening. “Ah, you're the leader. Grab her.”
Looking at the black haired girl, she shrugs her head. Clasping her hands together as she got to her knees, pleading. “Please no. Please. I am just a merchant! I’ve done nothing wrong!” The Queen didn’t even touch her as the girl groveled before her and the soldiers stopped.
“Just leave us alone! We’re here to trade. Nothing more…” with a quick stare from the beautiful blonde, the man just looks away. “Impressive.” She then lifts her right leg and stomps it on the back of the head of the groveling girl. “You may be able to get through them, but I’ve smelt you from far away. Now, are you going to talk or shall my friends from the Hunters Association be the ones to speak with thee? They're coming and I know they will detect you.”
This made the three remaining players look at one another. “Yes, I told them to come here as this is going to be our meeting area. I believe they take part in the art of collecting Vampire blood, yes? Our most precious resource, more precious than the Immortality and Eternal Beauty we hold. The essence of it all, the source of it all, our blood.”
“Errrr… sir, isn’t this against the-” The Lieutenant just shuts the Corporal, shrugging his head as the Queen further gives weight to her leg on top of the girl. “Don’t even think about it. She comes from 8-Gon. Do you want to get sent to Schon?” She then raised her right hand, meeting the fist of the other female on the caravan as the two males tried to jump her.
She just disappeared into a plume of roses. Reappearing right behind them and throwing a punch so hard the moment it made contact, a shockwave was made which sent the caravanners flying. “Let’s try to be civil, shall we not?” The girl on the ground picks up some dirt and throws it at her, prompting the Queen to pick up a tissue from her purse of Dragon scales.
Letting it fall on the ground slowly, Elizabeth kept teleporting with her legs up. Fighting them one versus many with no effort on her side. The players, though with their guns drawn, are unable to follow the fight but the Lieutenant. “Wow… that’s… Corporal, shotgun.”
As the piece of tissue lands on the ground, the Queen’s heels suddenly flicks it up to the level of their faces, blocking their view and gaining the attention of the four shocked caravanners. “I just got this pair of shoes. Shall we not sully such a wonderful set of footwear?” One of the Vampires, the young male with a side swept hair stands up and then tried to attack her as she stood completely in place picking up the tissue that was about to touch the ground and the Lieutenant came behind her and shot one of the Vampires dead in the face as he stylishly pumps the shotgun, the spent buckshot dropping on the floor. “HAH! I got one!”
One by one, the caravanners fell with one fell swoop. A mere kick from her sent one of them who still had some vigor flying into the hardened concrete wall of the Outpost while another got impaled through a piece of antenna. The last one had received strikes that had liquified their innards followed by a buckshot to the face and then the heart. “With this, I should go straight to the Dark Tower!” The soldiers laugh as they check on the corpses of the players, slowly turning into golden dust. “You're all going to jail for assaulting city and government personnel and possibly, harbouring illicit materials and aid of distributing.”
He points his shotgun at the female first, pulling the trigger as the other soldiers follow afterward, killing all of them and making them respawn.
The Lieutenant who was there with his shotgun was just left with a satisfied expression on his face as Elizabeth punched the side of the wagon, tearing it open to reveal the thick wooden lining was hollow and plopping out was vials. The Customs officer was left with his mouth open as one of the Customs Mages picked up the wood. “This is some high level stuff. What the hell…”
“Call for a helicopter. I wish to visit their camp immediately and Officer, do meet with Miss Maria and her troupe. They already know what to do. We’ll rendezvous here when the leaders are captured.” with a smile to her face, the Queen then hands the roll of tissue to the NCO. “Now, lay me a carpet would you not?”
Soon, a CH-47 Chinook tandem rotor helicopter arrives. Escorted by a pair of Apaches and a strike package of a Blackhawks fully loaded with Skeletal Army Rangers of Eldwood sent on behalf of her Lord, the Vampire Queen was soon taken to the skies.
The plains that they onced trudged through reached even as far as Woodstock, with the occasional tree that’s usually a kilometer or a few hundred meters away from one another and grass filling in almost all of the space aside from random boulders and rocks. The battlefield was nowhere to be seen as the Queen just sat on the center of the helicopter, with her legs stylishly crossed as the skeleton soldiers around her were as stiff as the mountains afar.
Her nose then started picking up a certain stench which made her walk towards the cockpit and on the rolling hills, there were smoke plumes coming out of the ground as the formation of helicopters flew over craters of varying sizes.
All sorts of weapons were littered on the ground but there were no corpses anywhere. Just signs of battle. Though she could properly smell blood being thrown on the ground as the lead helicopter, a Bell OH-58 Kiowa makes a right turn. Heading straight into just another endless plain.
Though down below, as Elizabeth observed the battle damage. The magic used even made her thin eyebrow lift as remains of humanoid stone people wielding rapiers and armor lay within the grass, if it weren’t from the view from above, she’d had a hard time noticing them as the helicopters followed the trail leftover from carriages.
From there, the bodies of gargoyles and winged beasts lay lifeless with massive steel bolts shot right through their bodies, some only having large gaping holes left over as they needlessly bled on the serene green of the great plains. “Well, it seems that I’ve underestimated the Outworlder Vampires once again.” She then quickly pushes the pilot’s stick to the left.
It violently stirred the Chinook to the other direction as the Kiowa in front of them dropped all collective thrust as it dodged a van-sized bolt that shot right at the formation. Flying mere inches from the Queen’s larger helicopter as the skeleton pilots regained control and began to fly just above ground level. Her slender fingers then lightly skim through the chin of the dead pilot. “Be a good corpse and land in front of their gate. Soldiers will stay behind me, a beauty like me needs to be in front of the spotlight.”
Approaching a small fortress, the dark steel walls with protruding spikes and the zombies standing sentry on the walls just lumbered around as the helicopters came into view of the fortifications.
On one of the posts, in a coffin shaped box on top of the thick gates. The door bursts open as a person in a full set of black armor with glistening glass slits looks up to the skies. Taking a minted composite bow from its resting place, the person aims it at the formation as another giant bolt is fired into the skies with the helicopters dodging it once again.
Pulling the string with four arrows, it shoots at the general direction of the helicopters which prompted Elizabeth to order the skeletons to open the cargo hatch on the center floor of the Chinook where she then exits out and unfurls her bat wings. Two gloved hands appear from a plume of roses wielding her big AutoMag V pistols.
As the arrows came closer, the size also enlarged but it didn’t lose the agility of its original form as more gloved hands appeared from roses, wielding disposable one shot rocket launchers from inside the helicopter and with a squinted eye, she points her finger at the oncoming projectiles and the weapons open fire. Intercepting the steel arrows midair.
It completely ended the attack as they reached the small fortress, with the Queen herself being the first on the ground with her hands together in front of her, elegant and proper in her posture as the Chinook landed alongside the three Blackhawks of Eldwood. The two Apaches from the Men of the Wood kept a constant patrol in the air, circling the fortification like hungry vultures.
“Come out, let us end this bout before more violence is caused. I want to return to My Lord and aid him in his work.”
As the beautiful blonde Vampire stood behind her, the helicopters unloaded the Rangers of Eldwood. Armed to the teeth with SCAR-Hs and M4A1 SOPMOD assault rifles, complete with Advanced Combat Helmets and Quad nods, her own army arrives with their deathly bodies as their combat fatigues looked out of place due to the lack of flesh of its owners.
The downwash of the rotors made her long golden hair fly wildly, making her already imposing silhouette seem beyond large, her aura empowering it to make her seem like an Angel with fangs and sharp ears had presented itself to the immortal players. The serene visage of the attack was not like any other, imposing and yet alluring.
Walking along the wall's pathway, the awakened armored Vampire then pointed its bow to the sky and fired one arrow that exploded into a bloody mess. Though the liquid didn’t drop from the sky, instead creating a dome that blocked the foreign sun’s light and the escape route for the transport helicopters as it turned on its spotlights. Illuminating the Queen’s back.
The gate of the blackened fortification then opened as undead whose bodies are chained together like reindeers dragged a heavy tomb to the front of it. She raises her hand up, the skeletons not shooting as the zombies stopped a few meters from the main gate.
An explosion then occurs on the door to the tomb is blasted into the skies and coming out of it is a hulking Vampire that stood at nearly ten feet tall donned from head to toe in special plate armor. Before it could even fully stand up, the Rangers opened fire with a rocket launcher. The tandem warhead made contact with the armor and created a huge plume of smoke.
Without any notice, Elizabeth materializes her Greatsword, the great Black Steel gleamed even in the lightless environment as the helicopters behind her with their searchlights began to track into different directions and an immeasurable clang is emitted as black and silver made contact.
The force of the two steel mashing against one another sent a small visible shockwave through the air. Even for its size, the huge Vampire was extremely nimble and agile, enough to put a smile onto the Queen’s face as she quickly changes her stance and faces it head on.
“Such vigor. Though a Vampire should not be too tall, it gets ugly.”
Disappearing into a plume of roses, bullets hail the monstrous blood Knight. With its sword alone, it parries the oncoming fire, turning thousands of rounds into bits and pieces of lead that’d flung onto the grass and to the iron wall of the Vampire Fortress.
On the walls, the armored archer’s eyes are darting around the area, in constant scan as a sword is pushed through its back and exits out the other front. Looking down, the blood wasn’t disappearing nor was the wound closing, instead, there was a painful burning sensation, as if it was being cooked inside its plate armor. “W-what?! This metal…!”
“Hm. It's a gift from My Lord. Hellraiser is thy moniker.” And with a swift pull to the skies, the player is cut in half and the body he left behind completely incinerates as she looks forward and the hulking Vampire Knight is painstakingly trying to kill the Rangers.
Though skeletons, being of higher level and coming from late game areas. The player was given an immensely hard time in killing them. Not only were there programming working in full, but also the combination of modern weaponry and high level magic made it very difficult to read and predict AI patterns into something akin to a Mini boss arena in of itself.
Its eyes inside the slits of the sharp helmet open wide, the crimson red shone in full as it turned around and a Greatsword of immense length is parried. The shockwave this time was ten times stronger, strong enough to shatter the glass on the slits, revealing the Vampire inside.
“Good sir, why not just surrender? I won’t go and put your head on a stake.”
A burst of mana was then combusted, sending Elizabeth a few meters back as she stylishly landed on her heels. “So… this is the power of a Vampire from Threa…” With a heavy husky voice, the Vampire didn’t veer his eyes from the Queen as bullets annoyingly pinged off his armor from all directions.
He then disappears and reappears, a rocket that was shot phasing right through his position as it blows up on a patch of grass, leaving behind a small crater. “You have some balls to fight me, Lady. I am ranked Eighty in the Knight Class Leaderboards. I’ll be sure to gut your pretty face first and present it to my boss.” The Rangers stopped shooting as a weight was then felt on his shoulders as he looked to see it was the Queen sitting neatly on top of the thick plated pauldron.
“Balls? Hah, your language is so hard to understand.” She turns her head and leans her body to be directly in front of the head of the armored Vampire. Her breasts covered half her face as she had to lean down to face him. “Though, I will say you have some strength. But it lacks so many things and requires refinement, still.” as he tried to grab her long golden hair, the woman disappeared once again. Turning around, she was now standing on top of Hellraiser’s pommel.
With one heel on it, the woman posed with a hand on her hip as she showed the Knight a snarky grin.
This prompted him to start spinning and on the third, threw his longsword straight at her as she dodged it and quickly kicked Hellraiser out and grabbed the handle where she shot straight at the player and the first hit had landed.
Though all it did was leave a gaping scratch on the plate armor as he returned it with a sudden and swift comeback through an explosive slash. As if all the molecules the edge would touch was combusting into a fiery show.
Standing by the sidelines, the Rangers who were just watching the two fight suddenly split into groups and started marching towards the fortification where they began picking off the zombie defenders. One by one, they fell swiftly to their guns with having to use swords and spears against them.
With the undead all gone, the skeletons started to go from tent to tent as clunks and bangs would be heard from the outside along the occasional explosion and shockwave.
On the grass, the two meet face to face as Elizabeth closes the distance once again and punches him straight into the head. With a great smile on her face, a fiery flame then comes out of her hand as she digs Hellraiser into a small area in between the plates, the chainmail under it catching the tip as she then pulls on it like a lever.
To her surprise, the plate armor didn’t budge, nor did the chainmail. This made her unfurl her bat wings, the red membranes inside shone a crimson color as the helicopter’s bright lights tracked her and with more power this time, pulling the sword's handle down, finally breaking a part of the chainmail.
Hearing the crack, the armored Vampire quickly retreats as far as he could. But the Queen wasn’t far behind as he put his hand on top of the tiny hole whilst Elizabeth was going at him with a relentless drive.
“Hrrrnngg… gah, just what the fuck are you?!”
With Hellraiser now held with both her hands, she parries his silvery longsword. This time, pushing the edge of the Greatsword down to the pommel and swiping the sword right out of his hand.
The Queen then edges the sword down to his other hand, swiping away for a moment as a lone bullet fired from a Marksman rifle goes straight into the tiny hole in the chainmail prompting him to puke blood and grunt in pain as a click of a hammer is heard.
Before he could look up, Elizabeth fired her AutoMag Vs into his helmet, the force pushing it down as she ruthlessly kicked him on the side and fired another into the wound.
She didn’t stop, emptying both pistols into his stomach before the woman breathed in and the player turned into a plume of golden smoke. “Ah yes, this is what’s so problematic with you Outworlders.” As she finished, the armored Vampire was already gone and the Queen flew back into the fortification where all of the zombified defenders had been defeated.
With the Rangers piling them up high in some areas, the tents were all empty, and to her surprise, the lamps inside were still turned on but there was not a single soul inside nor outside with the two she defeated being the only ones.
Though the only thing with sound is the largest tent in the fort, sitting right in the middle. Her sharp ears would twitch upon the sound of many feet marching up and down staircases which made her turn her attention to it.
Landing on the long wide dirt road towards it, the Rangers followed suit, staying closely behind as they swept the tents again. The dome of blood is still active above them as she changed her attention to her front where she could see through the flapping doors of the large tent as a difference in the interior made her tilt her head and smile in amazement.
A gleaming marble and porcelain tiled manor complete with big gilded pillars and a pair of grand staircases, this made the grin of her face even larger as she once again appears on inside and her face was in bewilderment of how perfect the magic was, the Vampire heads into it without a care to the world.
Already, the difference in the air made her senses heighten and the deeper she walked, the more uneasiness was creeping from all crevices and corners. Even the Rangers walked more cautiously, now at a slower pace and their bodies close to any cover available.
“What a pretty golden flower.” The sound of an amorous voice of a mature woman coming from nowhere invades her ears as she scans around and finds no magic nor telepathy being used. “I’ve come to ask for a chat. I’d like to end this conflict without the need of violence. It would be best to not waste much time as it is limited.”
“And what will that bring? Will Lycaon’s Pack surrender? The cave they have is ours! The Government’s brutality never ceases to amaze me. They will even send someone to the levels of you to stop this meager conflict to there eyes. Shouldn’t they send you to the frontlines instead?”
“End it I shall, one way or the other. I have been given an order by My Lord and I shall carry it out to my utmost abilities. I wish to report to him that this fight between the two sides ended without further violence… but…” an eerie silence befalls the grand hall as Elizabeth’s eyes seemingly look from one door to another. “If you will continue this needless fighting, I have employed people who will make sure you’d wish for mortality.”
“Lady Maria and her troupe of Vampire Hunters from the Monster Hunting Association, correct?” This made Elizabeth cross her arms as she grinned at the ceiling. “Ah, your network is more vast than I expected.” Unbeknownst to the floating voice, one of Elizabeth’s Knives had been scouring the mansion since landing and on the corner of the second floor, the blackish plume of air was floating from door to door.
“Do not underestimate us. I know of your kind, Archaios was what the ancient people called your kind. The primordial Vampire, capable of walking on light, sees itself in a mirror, and is not weak to anything.” The blonde woman then walks to the center of the hall, the Rangers all taking cover behind the many pillars that hold up the pathway on the second floor.
“Actually… looking at you right now… a certain friend of mine had said about someone who fits your description. Even in the impeccable beauty even for a Vampire… Nooo… do not tell me.” The black plume of smoke then stops and Elizabeth looks straight down below. “Hmph. Try it, I have said to some people that I know where your Lord is. I might’ve started the thing you’ve all been afraid of since the beginning.”
Sitting inside a couch at an elegant restaurant, Alana had a perfect view of the 11 island platforms of a Grand Central Station. Most of the ones were empty, with only a freight train that’s stopped and waiting for a green light as two high speed trains were parked at the very edge. “How long do you plan to study?” setting down her tea, she looks straight at a female Elven player.
She had a pair of brown twinstairs and large circular glasses, donning winter clothes and a long skirt with nylon leggings, the girl didn’t veer from reading her book of advanced algebra. “Until the sun goes down.” The island platform next to her window was empty, and there were very few players on the station as she sipped more tea. “Why do you study? I don’t think there’s any schools nor universities built by the Outworlders.”
“It’s for my entrance exams. Life on Earth is not easy and I usually study in Full Dive. I like the fantasy setting, it gives me peace of mind." This made Alana just irk out a long “Ehhhhh…” as she sipped her tea once again and the table began to rock a bit. “How long do you study?” This made the Elf lower her book and look up to the ornate wooden ceiling. “Hmmm… twelve? Fourteen hours a day?” This made Alana’s jaw drop as she blinked multiple times in succession. “May I ask what profession you are trying to learn?”
“As I said, I am still in high school, Miss. I am studying for an entrance exam. Since the war ended long ago, most of the ASEAN nations became developed but that also means we need to keep up with our neighbors." A massive steam train then passes their window, the T1 Thrust edges itself to the corner of the platform before stopping and the beautiful art deco style Pullman cars it had opened its doors as players exited out. “I… see, but do you atleast do anything in your free time?”
She shrugs. “Well, I hope your time in university isn’t as taxing. My time was surely well spent, we often have hours of just breaks and leisuring around the university halls.” The Elven girl smiles and shrugs. “We are not Vampires, Miss. With so much to learn, and the top university I plan to go to is known for the long hours. Students often sleep in the school itself.” a ping then comes to Alana’s smartphone, making her reach for it and it was a text message from Elizabeth.
This made her eyes open wide as she stands up and elegantly bows even though she donned a pair of tight jeans and a shirt while having high heels. “I thank you for your time Miss Sung.” and the teenage Vampire walks out to the platform re reading what was sent to her. “Good thing I’ve finished dance practice.” The whistle of the steam locomotive bought her out of it as she ran towards the edge of the platform and opened her wings.
Returning to Jackson's office. Alana ran towards the man as he scratched his head on the paper on both his hands. “I feel like I’m gonna get sick.” but the Countess shoves her phone up his face. “Huh? Alana, you could’ve just sent me this.” He only hears the Countess serve him a mug which he gladly took and drank it to half empty almost immediately awakening him.
“Hm? An attack? A possible decapitation attempt before the calamity?” He quickly picks up the telephone and holds 9. “Hello, Security? I need you people to up security immediately. Go into the highest alert.” he then puts the phone down and for a moment of silence, he seems to just stare at the beautiful Vampire before springing into action.
Grabbing a key from his drawers, the man first walked towards one of the cabinets on the left side of the room and unlocked it. Breathing in and then out before looking at her and smiling.
“Alana, what do you think? Since there’s people complaining about the watering of asphalt roads, do they know that's preventing tanks from ruining the already messed up roads is the water? I should just have the tanks roll up to their houses or something and have them drive it to the port.” he nonchalantly walked towards the map on the board and looked at the various paths and methods military vehicles had to take to get to their location. “Dangit, why did the railway connection to the port not get teleported along the city?”
“M’Lord, I suggest you just ignore their pleas. It’s not like they could do much and it's only a handful of people from Downtown. It need not be given much attention.” she takes the mug and refills it as he rubbed his chin, thinking.
“I guess, but there’s also the preparation for the arrival of the Heroes tomorrow. Ah geez, why do I have to be in charge of clearing the main street?”
“M’Lord, your schedule is already cleaned up a bit now with the Field Armies being moved to Schon in position for the calamity.” She then hands the mug back to him, on it, the logo of the Men of the Woods 8-Gon, the Eagle gripping the planet of Tur with its claws. “I know, but still. Dangit. Where is Thomas and Mars?! Are they still busy?” she shrugs her shoulders as she walks to the desk.
“Haaaah… we are so fucked! You clear up the schedule, and they bring you more stuff to do. Grrr…” he took a sip of her coffee and he sat down on the sofa. “So, how was dance practice?”
As Alana starts sorting out the already done paperwork she looks at him and performs a New York Disco Hustle dance and he claps his hands. “Woah! You learned that in a few days?” She had such a structure and practice to it that he even couldn’t believe the elegance and freedom she showed with her flow. “It’s still a work in progress, M’Lord but I believe in a week or two I'll be able to do one full dance.”
“Hm. What do you want for your coffee? Black with cream right?” she nods and he quickly brews her up. Taking the mug from the other side, the handle facing her as the smoke from the liquid visibly billows, she does a curtsy with her nonexistent skirt and takes it from his hand. “Your kindness knows no bounds, M’Lord.”
“So after practice, what did you do? Found anything cool or met anyone?”
“I was mostly wandering around the Downtown area, M’Lord. I found a restaurant there and helped them with my business acumen and I followed the tracks with a bus ride and ended up in the Menyon Grand Central Station.”
“Ah! Well, that place isn’t really being used as much as before. Only the Shinkansen works.”
“Indeed, though there was this steam train that arrived just as I got the text message from Her Majesty.”
“Oh, pretty sure that was from the Woodstock Railroad. They still use steam trains. Was it cool?”
“Hm! Was the one you gave us like that, M’Lord?” Jackson shrugs as he could see the telephone was blinking red. “Sadly no. They only allowed an 844, which is not used anymore. The only steam trains active in Woodstock Railroad are the T1 Thrusts.” he then puts his finger on the 1 button. “Well, that is disappointing. Though I wish I could ride that train with you, M’Lord. With everyone.”
He stands up and kisses her on the forehead as he returns to the sofa. “Heh, don’t worry. If things go well and we find time. Why not?”
With a smile and an aura of content in her face, she goes back to her tasks while Jackson keeps scratching his head, spinning his mug around as a knock comes to the door. “Hm? What is it now?” He stands up and walks towards the cabinet he had just unlocked as the telephone on his desk once again blinked. “Alana, ready yourself. The telephone blinked red again, that means a threat was found.”
Walking to the exit, the Countess looks through the peephole and sees that it is a soldier, though he was oddly in full combat gear. Donning his kevlar vest and helmet with a fully loaded kit. “M’Lord, it might be one of your goons. It might be about that threat Her Majesty spoke of.” he then stands up as Alana put her hand up, stopping him.
“M’Lord, there’s ten more soldiers heading to our door. This is odd. They're not noisy either nor showing a hint of fear.” The General quickly got into his cabinet and opened it, taking the Glock inside and loading it with a magazine.
As he pockets the spare ammo, the black haired teenage beauty quickly feels a slight disturbance, kicking the empty air. It makes contact with something as she stops a shape of a sharp object in the air. With his gun loaded, Jackson opens fire and an odd reddish blood is splattered on the wall and a corpse of a hooded demon plops on the ground. “What the…” Alana quickly jumps out of the doors way as bullets start flying straight into it.
Taking the dagger, the Countess spun it on her finger with skill. “Huh, they're using guns.” The front door to their office had started to crack as the soldiers outside switched, three men with Light Machine Guns then unloaded into it while Jackson removed the hood of the intruder. “Special forces?!”
Sitting inside Iron Mountain War Room, the massive Military Command Center tucked deep below the ground, protected by meters of thick concrete blocks tipped with steel and composites, has a blip appear on their radar. “IFF confirmed, it’s a flight of F-2 multirole fighter belonging to the Greater Japan Guilds Western Air Defense Force. Fourth air wing, ninth squadron.” A general with a rainbow on his coat from the amount of medals and ribbons he had attained walks forward into the light.
With a squinted eye, the blip nears the Men of the Woods airspace. “Callsign, Houdini.” he only gruntled as he continued to listen to the controller. “It’s currently not responding sir.” he puts his hand on the edge of the table, and another behind him as another controller speaks. “Area, Alpha Two, Charlie Nine. Heading Two-Zero-Zero. Altitude, Angels Three-Zero going Seven hundred knots." This made the General look to his back at the other officers all standing in anticipation.
“Any word from the Greater Japan Guild?” with a few moments of silence as the blip nears their airspace, someone finally answers. “GJG says no response from any of the air wing units sir. In addition, the airbase from where it took off, Miswa is not talking.” This made the General’s eyes open wide as one of the officers came down and leaned to his ear. “Sir, could this be another incident like with our Mana Nuke capable bombers? Shoot down our own fighter planes?”
This made him look at the lower ranking officer with widened eyes. “That’s impossible. We are now doing thorough checks with every airbase commander every week.” a ping is then heard as another blip appears on the radar. “Sir! Rostock has sent interceptors! They're airborne now!” he immediately points his finger at the player. “It’s Smirmoff One to three, from the Three hundredth and twentieth at Tartari Oblast, we’re expecting them to intercept within the next ten. One-Zero.”
Flying high above the airspace, the Su-27SM Flankers of Rostock, painted in their digital blue dazzle camouflage checked their radar and indeed, Houdini was flying straight at Woodstock. “Smirmoff to Cleric, maintain Angels Three-Two.” it then approached a pair of F-22s, the handful the Men of the Woods has. “Cleric One, Smirmoff, you are lead.” and suddenly, Iron Mountain itself calls to them. “Smirmoff, Cleric, Maintain Angels. This interception is now under the eyes of Higher Joint Military Command.” and the fighter pilots calmly replied with a “Roger.”
“Sir, Houdini is still not answering to any of our hails. It’s still heading straight to Woodstock.” The General could see the multiple blips of the fighter jets as they properly entered the airspace of the Men of the Woods. The predicted flight path in perfect heading to their capital city guild. “We’re handing pursuit watch. Smirmoff, Cleric. Houdini is at Charlie Four Bravo Six at your Nine-Zero. It's still maintaining an angel of Three-Two.”
“Single Group, Bullseye Nine-Zero at Three-Two.” The two formations of fighter jets then turned to their right, on their radar, Houdini was just a few kilometers now but all of the safeties on their weapons were still on.
“Sir, we have a situation. Greater Japan Guild just replied to us. There is no take off at this moment, most of all with their F-2 fighter jets. They are currently trying to reach Miswa, but just like in Zavalda sir, all lines and contact with them are cut off.”
“General Martins, hail Shogun Tokugawa and ask them if they equipped these planes with Mana Nuclear capable dumb or smart bombs.” he then turns back to the men inside the room. “Verify IFF codes once again, this is a Priority One situation. Contact 8-Gon for possible preparations.”
“Sir, could it be that they're attacking again?” he shrugs his head and turns back to the gigantic screen showing the blip now deep inside their airspace. “Sauron to Iron Mountain, we’re detecting a flight of Mitsubishi F-2 fighter jets at our radars that are currently painted as Bogeys and a team of Flankers and Raptors nearly getting on top of it. Is this an IFF error?” he notices Sauron was an E-3 AWACS flying around the sea between Geraldia and Schon. “Disregard that and keep monitoring Schon, Sauron.”
“Cleric, Smirmoff, any contact?”
“Negative, contact.”
This made him tilt his head. “Did the Greater Japan Guild put active cloaking magic on their jets? Team, what’s their ETA to the Woodstock metropolitan airspace?” and the reply made his hands tremble. “Ten minutes sir.”
“Prepare to intercept. Call up 8-Gon and ready for an emergency call at the situation room later.”
Outside as the smearing heat reflected off the clean skin of the formation of fighter jets, they see that they should be right on top of Houdini, but there was not a single thing showing up on their HUD. “Bogey Dope, Iron Mountain.”
“Say again, Smirmoff?”
“Bogey Dope. No contact.”
“Smirmoff, Cleric, Target is dead ahead, Nine-Zero. Heading Two-Twenty. Altitude Three Two, Mach One Point Two.”
“This is Cleric, No Joy! The blackened F-22 Raptor with a fantasy cleric on its vertical stabilizers fly wings tip with Sirmoff, both of their flight leads shrugging at each other as they continued to look everywhere in broad daylight. “We’re Negative Contact here, Iron Mountain. No Joy. Requesting new Bullseye call.”
All the while, the fighter jets from Rostock and the Men of the Woods were mere meters from Houdini, making the controllers stand up. “Cleric! Smirmoff! You're merging with Houdini! Break!” and to their absolute shock, their green blips were removed from the radar and only Houdini was left. “WHAT?! Hail Cleric and Smirmoff! Don’t tell me they’ve all been downed!”
“Sir! Bogeys have changed direction!” Houdini then turned to the left, their direction, Iron Mountain itself. “CALL ALL PATRIOT BATTERIES! PREPARE FOR A SHOOT DOWN!” Meanwhile inside the Woodstock International Airport, the ATC busy with their afternoon flights couldn’t believe what was happening as the airspace was completely locked from civilian and military flight.
On their radars, they could see that an entire formation of six fighter jets had completely disappeared and the three they were supposed to intercept were now heading to somewhere else. Breaking off from their flight path to Woodstock. “No freakin’ way. Are they… are we under attack again?” The civilian controllers all flood the one in charge of the area where the dogfight was happened and the collective grasps of the players filled the room.
“Draco, target is hostile! You are cleared to fire!”
“Draco One, No joy still! Requesting new BRAA calls.”
The blip blinked and the F-2 fighter jets were actually flying at below radar contact as it broke into Machspeed again as if it performed a violent dive. “Sir, Houdini is now thirty minutes from Iron Mountain!” the General could only swallow as someone rushed from the hallway and down to him. “The Shogun called. They do have Mana Nuclear capable bombs.”
“Sir! Houdini is showing the same flight skills as the Felon that intercepted some of our Hornets and the lone Raptor in Schon at the eve of General Jackson’s diplomatic mission to Rose.” he tilts his head, his eyes squinting. “You mean, that World War Three Vet who used to fly Raptors for the USAF?”
Leading the flight of F-2 fighter planes, with a cartoonish art of a man bound and ready to be thrown into a pool of water under the pilots canopy, the silent fighter pilot with his cohorts violently swerved their planes, dodging a bunch of Patriot missiles as they turned off the safeties.
Looking down to his left, he flips open the red safety cap on the “Nuclear Consent” switch, the pylons on his wings indicating green on the cockpit as a continuous stream of flares is fired from his fighter jet.
Inside the Military Command Room, everyone was panicking, some just standing up unable to grasp the immense skill of the pilot and his wingmen, being able to dodge thirty more Patriot missiles. “Priest, target locked on hostiles. Fox-3.”
“It’s too late.” outside of Iron Mountain, the Mitsubishi F-2s suddenly jolted upward and six B61 nuclear bombs were released. All sorts of alerts came on their screens but the General just sighs as a bright light streaks from the base of the mountain base, blinding everyone outside.
.