“So, Colonel. You’re telling me that you had full faith in the Queen and didn’t bother to quickly pour everything into supporting her as the city was under fire? Aren’t you an officer? That’s basic multitasking that’s expected of you.”
“Jawohl, mein herr.”
“I… Ahhh… I don’t have the shit to try to explain to you how bad it is to be under the care of anything. Because, you know that this capture of her is going to send shockwaves to the entire chain of command. I just hope heads won’t roll.”
“I know mein herr. I am prepared to take any punishment for my actions.”
A rattle of a metal chair is heard as a man stood up. “Is this your first war Colonel?”
“Ja. I was far too young to participate in World War Three.”
“Good, but one tip of advice to you. Don’t become confident with anything, just because the Queen is an all powerful ancient vampire doesn't make her invincible. In war, nothing is invincible. I myself have seen it first hand. We had fancy tanks, but all it takes is one guy with a rocket launcher to end it, there was even rumors a single guy with an exoskeleton managed to destroy a Leopard Two.”
“Mein herr, you were with the Asian Alliance?”
“Yes, I was a Colonel. I didn’t go into the war with valor and glory in mind though. I merely did what my country asked me to do. Not once did I think of anything other than the fact that me being there, spares some guy back home from being in my place.”
“But herr-”
“No, don’t give me that. I’m not here to tell you how you fucked up but instead how you can improve. You carry with you a rank, a rank that symbolizes veterancy and age. I held that very same rank, but on Earth and in what was arguably the most destructive war mankind waged against each other in the shortest time. I’m happy the Southern Theater only made it to Italy, I was already freezing my ass off in the Turkish desert. What more in the Balkans.”
“Then I shall correct my mistakes. But please, do not drag the Detective into this. He’s merely a cop. It was my decision to only send a handful of choppers to reinforce the Queen. I thought she’d hold-”
“Uh uh uh. Stop that, don’t say I thought. Say I failed. Saying you thought or maybe can lead to people dying. You're lucky right now that all deaths are merely a setback, but me? I had to learn that the hard way. I thought there wasn’t a minefield there. Now look, ten kids are dead on the back of an army truck and multiple MRAPs damaged beyond repair. Do you understand what I am saying, Colonel?”
"Jawohl, General."
“Don’t fuck this up Rudentoft. I know behind that avatar of yours, you're probably just another kid. But now, you're given a heavy responsibility that you must carry on till we get out here. The soldier's your leading? Those are kids too you know? Probably even younger than you are. Please avoid the needless charges, I get it that was your only option with how well placed that castle was. But please, as much as you can avoid that.”
“What would’ve you done General?”
“I’d destroy those towers first. Yes, you’ll probably lose men but it's less than doing a full frontal attack. At Least try to cover those windows with the Main Battle Tanks or helicopters with smoke shells or rockets. Don’t get so cocky just because we can return back to life. The psychological damage you're giving to these kids are irreparable. It’ll probably hunt them till they get back to their mothers and fathers.”
“And the Detective, General? Is he going to also get reprimanded?”
“Yes, bring him over. I’m done with you Colonel. I hope you’d learn something from this conversation of ours. I know it feels good to win, and get valor and glory as you come back here the winner and savior. The women fawning over you and the men wanting to be like you, but… not that I am hoping for this to happen to you. But when we’re no longer able to respawn, you’ll see the true horror of war. The things machines can do to human flesh…” the General’s eyes wondered. As if a quick slideshow passed through right in front of him.
“Now imagine that but with magic and enchanted weapons, this will be just as bad or even worse… magic isn’t like the machines we make. They don’t adhere to logic or physics, if something as rudimentary as man made machines can turn a man into a mist of red… urhg… I came back to Southeast Asia hating technology more than I could. But at the same time, I felt like war was the only thing that truly latched onto me. Even to this day, I hate putting on any uniform.”
“Eh? But you're currently wearing one, General.”
“I know, but we’re all big boys aren’t we? Suck it up and get it done. In the end, this uniform to me is a reminder of all the rights and wrongs I’ve done that led to the death of hundreds of good men, it also led to the creation of monsters.”
“M-monsters?”
“Hm, some of the people in my unit are from prison, who took the army to get out of it. My right hand man, Captain Aldrin. He is by all means, a better soldier than I am, heck even a better Officer. Four times I could recount sending him to a city just to be gobsmacked by artillery and airpower. But he made due and survived it all, he is the perfect soldier. He loved killing and he loved taking orders without question. When the war ended, last I heard that he became a notorious hitman. I’m sure you’ve heard stories like this since you were a kid.” the high ranking officer relaxes, his shoulders, devoid of its stiffness.
“War is one thing no medicine can heal, and when you only find yourself in war, then you’ll carry war with you everywhere you go.”
“Ja, someone who cannot truly fit in society but fit in war.”
“Exactly, teach your men and be an example. Do not be corrupted, shine your shoes. Wash your uniform, look good and most of all, be moral. These kids will be looking up to you, you know? So don’t send them into charges like it's World War One when you have the tech to do it. We’re in no rush if it means saving a life.”
The man in white and gray flecktarn stands up and salutes. Leaving the dark small room and walking into it is Detective Henry. Putting down his fedora and leaning down out of respect as he shakes the hand of the uniformed five star general.
“Detective.”
“General Jackson.”
“Let’s hurry this up. I have a festival to attend to.”
In the dim Pier 5 of the Capital of Woodstock, with the Moon and its satellite high above the skies, five people dressed in all black sneak past the guards. Each step they took was methodical and the snow barely made a noise as they ran through rows and rows of newly furnished Main Battle Tanks and Armored Personnel Carriers mothballed next to a huge railway junction as train horns echo through the snow falling from the dark skies. Walking past them were some men in reflector vests and work boots holding clipboards.
“Christmas is near and here we are putting tanks inside ships.”
“Aw well. Next year, we’ll get out of this place anyway.”
“Yea, can’t wait to go back home.”
“Oh! Have you heard of it? Some people saw Bahamut in Neo Tokyo.”
“What? Fuck no, we already have enough problems here. Literally in a foreign world and you tell me our worst nightmare, Bahamut is also here?”
“Don’t have to tell me man. Though it was a cloudy snowy day so it could be just bullshit. But I know a friend who is a Dragonknight, I’m sure he’d be over the Moon knowing they have a Dragon to pray to.”
“I hope so. We have enough problems already. I also don’t plan getting hit by her Dragonbolts.”
“Wait, you didn’t reach her boss room?”
“I did but I was in the first wave of players that sieged her labyrinth you dunce. I ate like a hundred Dragonbolts from that thing before even reaching the room.”
“It’s pretty bullshit though how Bahamut’s AI is coded. It reads your moves and intent like a douche. Heck, the fuckers moveset is also randomized and the huge ass Dragon can go from flying around blasting you with lightning bolts to lasering you.”
“Yeah, I don’t want to experience any of that again, I don’t get why you should put input reading on a Full Dive VR game, at that point. It’s just a game for masochists.
“I never did get why they gave Bahamut the ability to input read, like I know its her lore that she’s some sort of a prehistoric Dragon God before the True God arrived but if it weren’t for the high level players, the entire fight would’ve been nothing but bullshit.”
“Don’t even get me started on the Bosses you find on the Underworld or the Abyss where it's so freaking dark. Ugh.” He makes some checks as he looks up to the snow falling into the huge Seaport with mothballed ships, as if his eyes were whisked away by something. “Oh! You know they’ve put an extra measure of protection on the Mana Cores?”
“Eh? First I’ve heard of it.”
“Yeah, some of the stuff I moved from a ship contained shells for the Mana Cores. I think the suits know something might happen… you know, I heard one was actually corrupted. On one of those three fortified cities that kept fighting each other and had these awesome robot fights?”
“Sh sh sh, do you wanna get whacked? Keep your voice down. But I think you're getting onto something with that. Later, we’ll theorize more, with some beer and beef. The suits might still be here, you know?”
“The suits visited this place?”
“Yeah, it seems like they were surveying the place or something.”
“Damn, yeah let’s scurry along.”
The five didn’t even make a sound as they stealthily passed the two after listening to their conversation. The two men move on, checking things with a clipboard while cranes deliver container vans and more tanks into the area.
Moving closer, they see it. A massive Bulker Carrier with the name “Celestia”. Its main large cargo hold hatches were open as the cranes onboard were loading container vans and military vehicles inside it. The group sneaks past a convoy of ten damaged tanks driven by mindless skeletons in construction outfits, loading them into a flatbed in a collection area. The spotlights that littered the Pier was countless, lighting up every nook and cranny while people were on the move. Busy making sure the war effort continued its current steam.
Successfully reaching its stairs, the sailors aboard the Bulker didn’t even hear a thing as they swiped the snow from the main deck. They then ran into their backs. With one quick attack, puts the two sailors to sleep. The snow puffed upwards as their bodies hit the metal deck while inside, some of the sailors heard the commotion and opened the door just to get smacked themselves behind the neck and put to sleep while the sailors far in the middle of the deck toils away in silence.
Now having access into the bridge, the group makes their way to the bottom. Following a dark metal staircase as an alarm blairs in the Port. “To All Pier Personnel, including Sailors and Military soldiers. Please go to the emptied Container Collection Area at A-One to D-Ten. Scientists had made an announcement concerning the very recent events about the disappearance of the Player Menu.” bulkheads open and the Sailors of the ship abandon their current duties to head out.
The group hides inside the shadow, using magic to completely mask themselves to the naked eye as they blend perfectly at the darkness below the unlit stairs. The steps rattle as the men went up to the deck and to the gigantic Port. After a few minutes, it was nothing but utter silence.
“Constantine, what was that about?”
“Player menu? What happened?”
The voice of two teenage women echo through the enclosed area below the staircase. Constantine, who was wearing a light chest rig with a longwave radio, performs a small cross. Nothing.
“Huh, that’s… weird.”
He does again and nothing pops out. The others do it too and they all found out that the player menu no longer opens. Though shock came to them, they knew it had to be another time. Moving into the cargo holds. The giant room was full of container vans and military vehicles. The small girl with them has a folder bag and a retro camera slinged to her tactical belt starts taking photos. Moving down the third hold, the group of five enters the second one and sees a steel box and the Moon and its satellite high above it, its whitish rays baring down like it was sending a message.
“That must be it!”
“Shhhh, we’ll open it. See if the Vampire Queen is there. Have any of you contacted Havannah?”
“No, she isn’t responding nor are any of the people from her inner circle.”
The woman with the large rucksack just tightens the straps as she nonchalantly walks to the metal box.
“What were they doing at that ancient castle anyways?”
“We’ll talk about this back at the safehouse. For now, let’s finish this. Nana, stop taking photos and check if this thing is booby trapped.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah…”
The small girl with a chest rig carrying pouches and camera rolls starts checking around the metal box. “PROPERTY OF THE MEN OF THE WOODS, IF FOUND. DO NOT TOUCH, REPORT TO THE NEAREST MILITARY INSTALLATION!”
“Hmph, for a bunch of larpers. These people have a pretty good manufacturing power. They used the same armor they have on their Main Battle Tanks as its outer shell. Bialloy, to think their willing to go this far to hide the truth.”
“Is this the Sarcophagus? Is it inside this shell?”
“Yep, from the shape and size. It’s the one alright.”
“So, how are we going to open it?”
“Well, we don’t have the gear to open this as it's locked by a special key that’s nowhere to be found.”
“Then just use your powers and crack it open.”
“And if it's booby trapped?”
“Aren’t you supposed to find that out? You're our intelligence officer for a reason.”
“Okay…”
As she looked around the metal box, the other squad members secured the perimeter and could feel the intense peace as snow from the opened cargo hatch fell down on them. Though the air felt light, a booming distrust of the situation looms on them.
“What’re they gonna use these vehicles for? Pretty heavy for an Archeological team.”
“Rachael, don’t touch those. If anything detonates the stuff you're carrying in that ruck of yours, we’ll all be history.”
“I know, but who uses Strykers and Bradleys for searching Ancient tombs?”
“None of our business, all we know is that this very ship that came from Meridia, has a Sarcophagus which was loaded into a train. Same time it was attacked by that Sword Saint Elizabeth.”
“And the circle thinks the UN is lying to us and is now returning, said Sarcophagus to the Sultanate, blah blah blah. Conspiracy talk.”
Their conversation is broken as the small girl finds a panel behind the shell, revealing another wall. “What the heck? This is Durablite Steel, how’d they put this much effort into protecting something like this?” she then starts kicking it, the powerful woman manages to dislodge the flimsy welded plate, revealing the wiring inside. After some effort, she opens the outer shell, revealing the ancient Sarcophagus adorned in silver and gold. Meanwhile on the bridge, inside a storage room was a bunch of Black Ops skeletons. Their eyes light up, and with the intense glow of red opens the bulkhead door and starts heading down. Guns up, Nods down, and peeking down the stairs and corners.
“Really Nana? Sammy bro, do something with her.”
“Don’t ask me bro. I just drive shit.”
The woman just as tall as Constaintine with an HK416 stops at her feet as she hears the rattling of metal above them. Soon, the others hear it too.
“Close the doors immediately!”
Rachael and Nana jump to the scaffolding and lock the bulkhead doors there while the other two below lock the ones they came from. Constantine, with his immense powers, opens the Sarcophagus.
“O-oh my… what have they done…”
Nana with her immense speed appeared behind him and the rest followed. Rachael in shock removes her balaclava. Revealing her short blonde hair and pointy ears.
“They-they did it?!”
“I… I don’t know. Put your balaclava back on. Take your photos Nana, let’s go.”
Alarm bells ring and the entire Pier goes up in full alert, an entire Company of skeleton soldiers running to the cargo ship from the Docks as players looked around in confusion as they were in the middle of a briefing.
“LET’S GO!”
A flashbang then drops from the opened cargo latches above them and is followed by fastropes. Skeleton Black Ops Operators in all black ACUs and Advanced Combat helmets shoot their M4 SOPMODs and Mk17 Scar-Hs slinged to their hips. The five members of the squad were able to see the bullets and were effective in dodging them. But the hail of lead was soon overwhelming as M249 SAWs on top of the opened cargo hatch laid down suppressive fire.
One of their members who had been silent the entire time was the first to return fire. His M4A1 hit the skeletons but their kevlar vest tanks the shots as they deploy in the second hold. Constantine tried to CQB one of them, but was faster than him to his shock and was effective in dodging his extremely fast punches. The lifeless skeleton operator fought the vampire hand to hand and gained the upper hand quickly, forcing him to reveal his bat wings.
“WINGS OUT!”
Their eyes glow red and bat wings appear from their backs, the group takes off from the cargo hold as they get shot to bits. The enchanted bullets of the Black Ops made their regeneration extremely slow and hard. On the Pier, CIWS and AMRAAM missiles lock onto them. The entire city was awakened as the 20mm Vulcan rotary cannons opened fire, sending a blazing trail of tracers into the dark snowy sky in tandem of AIM-9s fired from surface launchers zig zagged into hitting the flying humans. Soon, even the MML spotted them and started firing a hail of AGM-114 Hellfire rockets into the docks.
Seeing the response, the group lines up and starts flying through the docked cargo ships and naval ships. Making the missiles following them hit the destroyers and military cargo and sustainment vessels, sounding their deck alarms as fires break out and ammo starts to cook off as many were under replenishment and were stopped midway with ammo still littered in the open.
“PORT! PORT! THIS IS SAINT LOUIS, WATCH YOUR FIRE! WE’RE RECEIVING HEAVY FRIENDLY FIRE! ENGINE ROOM IS ABLAZE!”
The Phalanx CIWS was so caught up with its tracking that its bullets flew into the skyscrapers of the city and into the ships and mothballed naval vessels as more Multi Mission Launchers fired a hail of Hellfires, managing to lock into the flying players.
“PORT TO ALL NAVAL VESSELS! CLOSE QUARTER DEFENSE SYSTEMS DETECTED FIVE INTRUDERS, SEEMS TO BE VAMPIRES THAT RAIDED A CARGO VESSEL!”
“FUCK OFF! WE’RE RECEIVING DAMAGE! THIS IS HAIL OF CELESTIA! WE JUST GOT OUR BRIDGE BLOWN OFF! MAIN AFT IS ON FIRE!”
“HEY WATCH IT! THIS IS HAMMER OF DAWN, THE ONLY SURVIVING MONTANA CLASS SUPER BATTLESHIP! WE’VE RECEIVED SHOTS FROM THE PHALANX! DAMAGE REPORT TO FOLLOW!”
The docked Arleigh Burke Class destroyers were unable to do anything as the AIM-9 Sidewinders and AGM-114 Hellfires hit their sides and blows up exposed ammo on the docks, causing an unmitigated catastrophe as ammo cooks off, the surviving rockets continued to fly to the assailants, ruthlessly chasing them. An Admiral comes blazing into the Port headquarters and points his sidearm at the man in charge.
“SHUT IT DOWN NOW! YOUR HITTING OUR OWN SHIPS! OUR ONLY REMAINING MONTANA CLASS IS DOCKED IN THAT FUCKING PIER!”
Soon, the rockets chasing them were shot by the CIWS and fell into the Port and the shallow water, soon after the group was free from its chasers. Behind them was a blaze as the Pier sounded every alarm it could with firefighters and players using magic to quell the exploding munitions. One container full of JDAMs exploded, causing a massive mushroom cloud to appear, blasting Woodstocks skyscrapers and countless windows.
In the Port’s main office, the Admiral in charge could only facepalm at the horrendous sight right in front of him. As stacked containers explode and ships fire suppression systems kick in, in a vain attempt to stop the large blaze that’s slowly engulfing the entire pier.
The group rendezvous on a lone island Lighthouse, kilometers from the city’s outskirts. Guarding the powerful waves as it hits the sides of the rocky island, defending the metal bridge behind it and the only connection to the mainland. They gather around outside, in civilian clothes. Watching as helicopters and aircrafts orbit the pier that’s been set ablaze. Soon, they faced North and the other world’s Moon with its little friend sinking into the ocean. Constantine in his open plaid polo, with a shirt that has the text “Not An Asshole.” sits by the dock and with him was Nana who was in a white dress and a sunhat.
“What a mess.”
“You got that right mister Squad Leader.”
“You don’t have to call me that.”
The young strong looking man puts his feet down and lets it hang over the water.
“Is it true then… that the Vampire Queen is alive?”
“We still don’t truly know, for all we know. The UN would have already burned her remains or buried it in concrete somewhere in the desert or forest to disallow the natives from letting her be used.”
“So, what’re we going to do with the photos you took? No way we’ll be able to contact Havannah now with the player menu gone. Our orders now would be to just do what we can.”
“I’ve already decided. Let’s reveal it to the public. Everyone has the right to know that the Vampire Queen is no longer resting in her coffin and might be out there…”
“And what about the Vampires of this world? Don’t you think they’ll be very shocked with this?”
“We’re different from them. Their eyes glow in gold while ours glow in red and most of all, have lived hundreds or thousands of years more than us. I’m sure they’ll take this professionally. Not only that, would they even believe the photos? Do they even know what a photo is?”
In the horizon, an Arleigh Burke Class Destroyer without its lights on are passing through, with it, a gigantic black shadow nearly a kilometer long steaming into the open waters.
“Let’s hope. And the Kingdoms? The humans will be pretty angry with their friends that we Outworlders messed with their land and opened Pandora’s Box with our arrival.”
“I don’t know… but they have the right to know the truth.”
The lighthouse’s lantern lights up the Naval vessels steaming into the ocean of Lord Loch. Their eyes widened at the massive battleship, almost the length of the two Arleigh Burke Class destroyers screening it as it stealthily headed its way into open waters.
“Wo-woah…”
Nana’s jaw dropped at the sight with the rest of the crew.
“Fuck me… that’s one big ship.”
“That’s no normal ship, that’s a Montana Class… wait… how?”
The lantern once again lights up the ship as it turns, heading directly North. Its twelve 16-inch guns, to the helipad on its aft and the Phalanx CIWS that litters its top deck and midship were all seen. The hulking giant of the seas steaming onward into the Moon as faint explosions are heard from the Pier.
“It’s modernized too, like the Iowa classes, Constantine, do you know what this means?”
“What? I’m not a military nerd like you.”
“The Guilds are going all in, heading North, right above Geraldia is the Ocean of Loch and then, Schon…”
“Geez, what’s something like that gonna do? Wasn’t the fighting already deep inland?”
“Might be for show, a show of force to the smaller Jarls and Earls there who are not submitting to us, players. War is one thing, keeping the peace is another story. Either that or their planning on razing the entire coastline and shelling anyone who doesn’t submit to them.”
“You're really into the military stuff, aren’t you? And do you think the UN would really do that? I mean, we’re all players. How can we be capable of bringing that much pain and suffering?”
“I came from a military family. I don’t hate it, this is pretty fascinating stuff. My Father always told me, no matter where or what, humanity brings with it, its chaos and violence. I’m sure we’re capable, it doesn't matter if its players or our leaders back on Earth. It’s all inside us, though I wonder what has happened to her sister ship, the Spirit of Fire?”
“Eh? The Men of the Woods built two of these? What for? Dark World is a fantasy game, what’s the use of these giant hulking ships? True Magic alone is enough to destroy one.”
“I’m sure the Guilds with modern tech all had something planned before we got transported here. It’s just far too good to be true, for them to be this armed and ready? They must’ve been planning something back in the game for them to have mustered this army. Just imagine the logistical undertaking they have to do. This isn't something they can just swish in.”
“So, if we didn’t get transported. The Modern Guilds would’ve started some sort of world war in Dark World? Really? They’d go that far just because the community said no modern tech?”
“Could be, it’s the only feasible explanation for them to be this armed and deadly. We’ve only been in this foreign world for twelve months. Something like this takes years and years of planning and building.”
Seeing the amount of effort it took the players to build and maintain the technology they are using, he just looks forward again and enjoys the sight of the massive ship silently steaming ahead. Amazed and yet, fearful of his own kind.
The five silently watch as the massive battleship with no flags or visible light steams ahead as it disappears into the horizon. Slipping away at the dead of night without a trace of its existence left.
In the city of Neo Tokyo, Queen Elizabeth is below a Torii gate in a red winter kimono, it has the design of roses as her hands grasp a string that holds her bag. Her long blonde hair was tied to the back of her head while visibly blushing as she played with her side bangs. With makeup on and even a pair of pearl earrings. The tall European beauty in Asian clothing was absolutely captivating and is getting constant stares by the outgoers.
Down below, Paul, John and Escobar could already see her from below. “GO GET ‘EM KIDDO!” John smacks his back, pushing in forward. “What? At least help me climb these stairs.”
“Hah no, and we’ll be watching from the sides. You can do it, just be yourself and don’t go overboard with talking about complex stuff. If she asks for drinks, you know you're on the final leg of the race, just take my advice and go on.”
The three Generals huddled together seemed as if a deep meeting was going on the side of the street as a festival was behind them, loud and bustling with people in traditional Asian clothes. Seeing that they're serious, he sighs and starts walking up the stairs. Reaching the top a few minutes later.
“God damn it. My legs…”
Paul was already tired climbing to the top of the hill from the extremely steep steps. Fixing his collar and collar devices as he prepares himself. “Be yourself, and make jokes. Dammit John, I hope your married ass is actually going to get me laid.”
In his jet black Eldwood Army Service Uniform with the rank of Army General, the man was dressed to impress and is as sharp as ever. With his newly polished ribbons, badges and belt buckle. He finally arrives at the top, looking down to check if his Oxford Dress shoes were still shiny. “I hate this stupid dress codes. I wanted to go here with a shirt, flip flops and cargo pants but noooo… gotta be professional even though I literally just woke up from a freaking coma two days ago and had to give an earful to two dimwits who mishandled the Queen and got her captured. Tsk.”
Meanwhile, near a stall. The Queen could immediately smell his scent. She looked to her left and could see the beautiful, eye-catching embroidered gold bullion with arcs of oak leaves on the visor and the blue-black velvet hatband. The insignia on it is a gold-colored Coat of Arms of Eldwood.
“My Lord! Over here!”
The General immediately knew where she was. Being so used to hearing her deep amorous voice. Slithering his way through the crowd of players in traditional Japanese clothing, he soon sees her sparky blonde hair. Gleaming as the lanterns stringed on the wires of the poles lit up the top of the hill. The snow filled trees swirled as the wind swished at the altitude, bringing with it the cold breeze of winter season.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
“Elizabeth! I’m here!”
Pushing through the last crowd of people, he pops out of the busy crowd and stops right in front of her, who was looking down on him with lustful eyes.
“Uhhhh… Elizabeth?”
She was so busy staring at him that she didn’t notice that her saliva was about to drip out of her mouth. Completely enamored by the man's well dressed statue, his cleanly shaved jaw, and the uniform accentuating his broad shoulders and tall height. Realizing her face, she puts her hands up and wipes her mouth with a red handkerchief.
“Oh my, I apologize for my distasteful reaction, My Lord. I just haven’t seen you look this dignified before.”
He removes his service cap and puts it under his armpits, revealing his shiny parted hair. All cleaned and properly groomed for the occasion.
“Really? Yea, I don’t really wear this. It’s uhh… hard to put on and maintain and all the bad memories. Also, where are Bahamut and Alana?”
“Oh. I think they're out somewhere for now.”
“Eh, this was supposed to be our vacation. Where did those two go now?”
As he starts to look around, Elizabeth puts her hand up her mouth.
“Ahem, ahem.”
“What?”
“AHEM, AHEM.”
“OH, you look very beautiful Elizabeth. Kimono and all, I can see you also went with a different makeup and hairstyle. Love how your usually long hair is all locked up there, like a bit bushy brush behind your head.”
“FFFFFF…. BWAHAHAHAHA! Oh, My Lord! You might be dressed and look dashingly handsome but goodness do you have to work on your pickups!”
“Haaaah, I tried. For now, let’s find those two before an entire block is blown up or Bahamut eats an entire warehouse full of meat.”
As he was about to leave, the Queen grabbed the sleeve of his jacket.
“Woah, what is it?’
“Why not let them be for now? I’d like to spend some alone time with you.”
“Eh? Are you sure? But, those two though.”
He looks at her and could see that her eyes are locked onto him, making sure he won’t escape her sights.
“It's fine by me but we can’t leave those two hanging.”
“No worries, I made sure they’re properly busy for the time being.”
In another city, the two are on a busy airfield with a huge wide portal where C-5 Galaxies and AN-124s teleport from the desert and to the winter cityscape. The huge metal sign on top of the large portal saying “Zavalda to Western Schon”
“Name a thing that starts with P. C’mon bloodsucker.”
“P? Why would I do that? And just call me Alana, bloodsucker is starting to get old.”
“I can feel your heightened anger. We’re about to meet with the Chosen Ones who are going to transport us to the location. Be nice to them.
“Ugh, freaking Dragon. Alright, uhm… Peace.”
“Another.”
“Pain.”
The two soon starts walking around the busy airbase, its snowy tarmac littered with cargo planes and bombers, with container vans being stacked high from cranes moving to and from the portal.
Seeing the large commotion and the giant planes moving about, they entered a Hangar where its inside is full of trees that seem to turn to look at them. Bahamut who snaps a branch from a tree gets surprised that the inside of it was bark and flesh. The wound on the tree closes and the branch retracts into its body. The Hangar itself wasn’t concreted and its floor was connected to the soil itself.
“What is that? Why is this being kept by the Chosen Ones?”
“Nosap, they’re the worst type of tree that may grow on your land. The soil here must’ve formerly been a battlefield as they only grow on piles of dead bodies buried. We have to run a fire or start deforestation efforts.”
“So, what’s the purpose of this? To learn how to defeat them?”
“It’s easy actually, just find the bodies and either dig it out or burn them and hope that what comes with it is the blood and flesh its roots feed on.”
“Goodness me, what’s the Chosen Ones planning with this?”
“How should I know? You’ve been with the Outworlders far longer than I have.”
“The humans were never like this till the True God thought it’d be a smart idea to modify the concept of Death and give those with potential the gift of rebirth.”
A man in a dark Knight armor that seems to be made of hardened rock and shiny metals appears behind the two.
“Uhm… excuse me?”
“Goodness! Do not sneak up on a vampire like that!”
“O-Oh, I apologize. My name is FridgeStealer, but you may call me Dragon Knight Fridge.”
Bahamut instantly notices the special armor the man is wearing and walks up to him and starts sniffing the man.
“Hmmm… your armor. Who is your Dragon God?”
The Knights head then tilts, and unstraps his helmet, adorned with two large horns that reminiscences of one's Dragons would have.
“So the papers weren’t lying. You truly are Bahamut.”
“Yes, yes I am human. What’s your problem?”
“Not really a problem but could we have your permission and blessing to pray to you instead?”
“Hm? Why me? Wouldn’t you be betraying the Dragon God you're praying to right now? I do not need that as my followers.”
“Well you see, we aren’t in Tur anymore. The Dark World is long past us and our prayers no longer work. We do not receive the buffs Dragon God Celestia would give anymore.”
“Haaaa… alright. Bring me to your Altar. I guess I’ll have a talk with Celestia when I return to the Abyss.”
“W-wait! We’re supposed to meet with the Blue Sentinels! Both of you stop!”
“Oh, uhm Lady?”
“Minuit.”
“Well Lady Minuit, all helicopter flights are canceled as of right now. I’ve come here to deliver a message that tomorrow is only when the Blue Sentinels will be able to pick you up.”
“Tsk, that damned Queen!”
“A-and where is General Jackson?”
“He won’t be with us. Tsk, just deliver us to your place. Bahamut, do this quickly.”
“Oh, it’ll be a bit long as I am very demanding if they’ll be making an Altar for me. How much Argent do you have?”
“Enough.”
“I see, then could you make a larger Shrine for me then? The last one made by the Cult of Bahamut is long gone as you Chosen Ones destroyed my Labyrinth in your siege to defeat me.”
The player stayed silent for a bit, as if to try to remember what she was talking about and all of the sudden, his face reacts.
“OH! THAT ONE!”
“Yes! That one! I really REALLY liked that statue.”
“HAH! Uhm… no. Like, most Argent rocks that’s found and smelted by the entire Dark World Full Dive VR Community for over seven years now is just enough to build a one storey house made out of it.”
“Boooooo! I want a larger one!”
“Sorry Goddess, we really can’t. But what about a Chibi version of you? We have a member who actually makes figurines as his job.”
“No! I want a large statue, how would the others see me if you made this Chibi thing of me?!”
“Oh, don’t worry about it, Goddess.”
“Ha, no. I’ll only permit a statue of me in my Dragon form too.”
“Then a Chibi Black Dragon.”
“NO.”
Alana just facepalms as the two argued. Looking at the sky as she swiped her hand to stop a tree branch from staking her. “Will the two of you stop bickering? Just deliver us to the city and I’ll grab something to eat.”
“Oh Lady Minuit, we do not offer blood sadly.”
“I have no need for blood. Human food will do.”
“Really? Huh, vampires here work differently. Alright, I know this great Steakhouse that gets their meat from orange coloured Cows with large horns.”
“Oh, those are Trentle Cows. Which Royal did you steal those from?”
“We actually just found them. I think there was supposed to be a Lord here with his personal pasture of food but then the city teleported in and I guess crushed his mansion?”
“Goodness me, you Outworlders will bring me more headaches than the Werewolves.”
“Oh, there’s going to be more. With no Internet, many people are outside being productive creatures. So the city is super lively even in winter.”
“Go on then, lead us.”
Back in the festival, Paul just facepalms hearing the snarky plan the Queen came up with to give them some alone time for the next few days.
“And how are you even sure this will keep them at bay? They might be a bit eccentric, though you are too. How would they not just bulldoze their way through the army and rescue the Priestess?
“Because there’s a lot of Outworlders roaming about the central parts of Geraldia. Making it hard to do it as they’d be encountering a lot of resistance. I am fully aware of the strength you special humans hold. It should be enough to keep at bay for at least… hmmm two? Three? Days at least.”
“And that part about war? Isn’t that a bit obvious that I am supposed to be present for it to be started? I remember that one, it's a request because a player Guild is doing some invading and declared war on a native Kingdom.”
“My Lord, Alana is also a Commander herself. I am sure she can do something with Bahamut, those two are walking typhoons.”
“Look at you talk…” he slouched and facepalmed. “Alright. Want some candy apples then?”
“Of course.”
Seeing her excited face, the General opens his arms and lets the woman wrap hers around his. Elizabeth puts her fingers up her mouth, hiding her grin. “Goodness me, aren’t you forward today.” The two then walk through the busy festival. Even though it was cold, there were still many attendees and stalls for them to go through.
“Shoot one, get one stuffed toy!”
The man in a stall with an air gun takes the attention of the Queen. Stopping the General as her head turns to look at it and the stacked bottles.
“Wanna give it a try?”
She nods and the General politely lets her pay some coins. The player hands her an airgun that looks exactly like an M14 carbine with an orange cap on its muzzle.
“Is this your first time holding a two handed gun?”
“Yes, My Lord.”
“Okay, first things first. It's not that different from a pistol, just that your dominant hand would be underneath the barrel. Aim and pull the trigger when you shoot.”
“I am dominant with both of my hands through My Lord.”
“Then use the one for writing.”
She then uses her right hand but her posture was a bit off, making the General come to her and fix her posture.
“Straight back, feet emplaced and sturdy.”
“M-mhm.”
Already, she was blushing as Paul lowered his head on her shoulder and aligned the iron sights. She could instantly feel his breath from her pointy ears as he leans in to fix her posture more.
“Level your shoulders, buttstock as far in as you can. Don’t be afraid of it, I’m sure there wouldn’t be any recoil with your immense strength.”
Following the man's instructions to the tee, she manages to align the toy gun perfectly.
“Good, very good. Now, breathe in and when you exhale, shoot.”
“Hmph, it isn’t any different from using a bow.”
She pulls the trigger, the first shot doesn't do anything but move one part. “Aw lady! Two shots left!” Her following shot, the stacked tower of bottles completely collapses from the single part she moved.
“Huh, holy shit. I never managed to do that with two tries.”
The man in the stall cheers in amazement, and hands her a large teddy bear as big as her torso. He puts an attachable handle to it. Paul takes the burden as he gestures for her to continue walking. Now backpacking a large teddy bear around in his uniform.
“My Lord, what is this festival all about anyways?”
“Ah, it's a commemoration of the Ten thousand strong. Before the Greater Tokyo Guild became like the Men of the Woods, it was a warmongering larping Samurai clan in Dark World. Usually known for their extreme tenacity and obsession with the Katana and the Samurai way of life. Their armor is fashioned the same way. One thing I love about it is the badass metal Oni masks they make.”
They pass by a man selling candy apples. Paul pays for two and hands one to the Queen as they continue chatting amongst each other in the sea of people in traditional Japanese clothing.
“After gaining so many enemies from their raids and sieges, a united force of like ten guilds. Totalling in an army of over a hundred thousand players raided them and their ten thousand strong army. Mostly made up of Asian players somehow held on. The big battle concluded with a pyrrhic victory for the ten guilds. Hence, the tradition they have of lighting ten thousand lanterns.”
“Amazing, for ten thousand humans to hold strong against a united force.”
“Yeah, and they hated the other races. So, they fought Elves, Lizards, Demons, and Vampires even as they also angered a nearby Manor. They have some questionable views but do they make up for it by being a strong army with the tenacity of a true warrior clan.”
“And the shrine right there.” he points at the massive red shrine with a bronze statue of a traditional Japanese samurai with an oni mask “Is for General Kendo. The one that led the ten thousand strong army of the guild. Even we, of Eldwood have no idea how they did it. It’s recorded and even live streamed on sites, and just the brutal use of magic and close quarter sword fighting was on another level. Commanding must’ve been chaotic without radios.”
“My Lord, could it be that they split themselves into smaller groups? Some out in the open and some hidden?”
“Huh, yes. That is indeed how they did it. Even though they were only ten thousand, they made it seem like they were in equal numbers. But it shouldn’t have worked this well though, not against so many experienced players and generals.”
“That is a good tactic, if properly executed. It doesn’t matter how big and experienced your enemy army is, I’ve used something similar in my campaign for Geraldia. The Kingdom of Gareth, though being made of great and powerful human Knights, outnumbered my magnificent Crimson Legions Thirty to One. Not even our power as Vampires may stop their holy swords from piercing our ancient armor. So, in response. I split my army of two hundred thousand down to groups of twenty thousands.”
“How did you even manage so many small groups? Our method mostly is using a third party software alongside the game so that we could chat with each other without needing smoke and magic to communicate amongst each other in battle.”
“Why do you think we Vampires are trained to fly, My Lord? It's not only for the sake of an easier method of travel. But also for group communications. I used that to our strength, I was able to hand out orders immediately and with signals such as fire and illumination magic I managed them. Music also helps as there were hills which made it easier for my men to hear the sound of the piano to give out the orders I was giving.”
“Wow, well. Eldwood never had any of those numbers. At our peak, we only had about two thousand members. But, it might be due to our very strict recruitment process and vetoing. It creates a good and coherent fighting force with a lot of commonality in equipment making logistics far easier. There’s also our ability to have thralls. We make up what we don’t have in numbers with mindless skeletons.”
“I do wonder what has happened to my Familiars. I’ve always seen myself as a trained person in making thralls, but it seems to be a bit of a curse that most of them died brutally…”
“Eh? Wait, just how many people did you turn into your servants?”
“A hundred. I kept it at that number so that I may be able to control them.”
“And I’m guessing these are extremely powerful Vampires?”
“Yes, but some of them died from their own ignorance. Pushing the boundaries of Vampirism, hmph. Even after I went through the trouble of giving them my blood.”
“Were many of them generals?”
“Generals, Politicians, anyone really that may help me maintain my power and status. You know My Lord, I didn’t just have any power… but true power. Me and my King, we had brought great prosperity to my kin… till we knew it, our numbers were dwindling as we stayed in our own territory, unable to multiply. Caught up in our bliss of not having to fight and live as eternally beautiful and eternally youthful creatures.”
“But why would you have to multiply? You could have a rare fixed population status you know?”
“We could if it weren’t from the fact that we Vampires are also subjected to our own ignorance. Vampires killing Vampires and Vampires challenging creatures not even we can stand up to. Mix with it our arrogance from simply founding our very own Kingdom. Tsk, those fools. In the end, they weren’t any different from the humans they despised so much or tried to forget. Imagine a Vampire dying in the cold as he or she gets frozen just because you're a Vampire doesn’t mean you're invincible! Goodness me, this is giving me stress.”
“And war? Weren’t you born after the Second Reset?”
“I was and we founded the Kingdom of Rose a hundred years before the Third. Even in that length of time, war was not a problem as the Demon King's creations littered the lands, making Nations unable to fight each other.”
Walking through the crowded Shrine, Paul sees an old festival game that he knows much about. Goldfish scooping, but the Goldfish was replaced with shiny silvery freshwater fishes. Wanting to try it again but this time, in his Avatar. He walks up to it and pays the One bronze Aeralous coin and is given three scoops.
“Uhhhh My Lord, how do you play this game?”
“Here, take this.” he gives her one of the scoops. “Objective is to take one of these uhhhh… Chromefish?”
“Uh huh…”
The Queen squats down, legs tightly together and leaning down as her large breast is crushed in between her thighs and chest. With a swift hand, the water is thrown violently and the scoop completely gone.
“Eh?”
“Hahahaha! Now watch this.”
Before he could scoop up a fish for himself. The entire festival grinds to a halt as screeching sounds of engines flow from the skies. Everyone instinctively looks up, the Lanterns shaking violently as a gigantic formation of B-1B Lancers and Tu-160 Blackjacks cover the stars. Like little birds flying through a spot light, the big Moon and its satellite silhouette the aircrafts and the fighter jets escorting them. The roaring sounds of the jet engines drowns the festival sound, Paul looked down on his uniform and could feel the stares of the people in the crowd. After a brief minute, the large formation of planes passes them and the festival music is once again heard, everyone goes back to enjoying their time. Except the Queen who was still staring upwards.
“GOT ONE!”
The General looked at Elizabeth who was still looking upward. The lighting of the festival accentuates her sharp chin and nose, wonderfully carved and looking dashingly beautiful as always with her never ending elegance.
“Sometimes… I think many of us are just afraid.”
“Hm?”
“Of the future… that unrelenting thing that we cannot be. Always in the past, beautiful for all of eternity while you, you’ll age and someday, disappear. You create these Godlike machines so that you may make your mark in history before it's too late.”
“Ah… Well, I’m sure you’ll do just fine. You're a pretty weird woman… and you need some of that weirdness to be able to cope with the concept of living for eternity. Don’t think too much about those machines, they're amazing, yes. But the idea behind them is nothing but most human thing to ever exist.”
“Hmph, humans. I still wonder to myself how humans truly work.”
“Just like what I told Alana, we humans work like this. Enjoy it and better have fun now than later, am I right?”
“I just wish you could walk beside me, till the stars fall down from the skies and this world withers away and remains are the Gods.”
“I’ll always be with you.”
“Hm?”
“That sword I gave you, Hellraiser. That’s my one and only, the first and most used Greatsword in my entire arsenal. That thing has a part of my soul and mind. As long as you keep it with you, I’m there. Just not in this form, but in another form. Think of me when you wield it and swing it.”
The General smiles at her, holding up the Chromefish he got. The Vampire Queen blushes at the sight. Putting her hands up her cheeks to hide her redness.
“Had succumbing to that curse made you more smoother?”
“HA! As if, c’mon.”
“You humans scare me truly, to think you can get your pickup game to be this good only after an hour. Or is it because I’ve lost my edge after so long?”
She helps him up as the General thanks the man, the two continue their stroll through the festival as small bits of snowflakes fall from the sky. Now once again free of any aircraft and is just the shiny stairs of the foreign world looking down on the visitors from another realm with brightness.
“When we return to my Kingdom. I shall present you a gift from me. It is tradition in Rose Cramoisie for Queens or Wives to present their Husband or King with a weapon if they’re ever headed to war.”
“Oh, you don’t have to. I already have enough swords and stuff.”
“Nay, I will not take your courtesy. Let me do this for you.”
She then smiles with her hands on her back. Leaning forward and placing her head on the General's broad shoulders.
“Haaaah… why must you be human… I’m going to miss you. You could’ve been the perfect King. Infallible with his views and true to his nature, great things could’ve been achieved.”
Paul, who was pretty shocked by how forward she was even more, in such a tightly packed and crowded place caught him off guard. But nonetheless, continues walking with her to the main Shrine area. There, they encounter two Photographers. The Queen instantly recognized the two and so did they.
“Woah! It's the blonde hottie!”
“Mister Lee and Mister Joachim. How’ve you been?”
“Superb. Man, may I take a photo of you?”
“Of course, but please also take one with me and my Lord.”
The two photographers look at the handsome caucasian man. Tall, proud and with a parted hair on the left, professional and dressed to impress with his jet black uniform adorned with ribbons and military decorations.
“Hello, I am Joachim and this is Lee. We’re part of the Naryl Photographers Guild.”
They shake each other's hand, with strong grips and big smiles.
“Pleased to meet you, names Knight General Paul Jackson from Eldwood’s Armed Forces. I am also the Lord and Master of the Queen here.”
“Yea, dude you're so lucky. Have you seen her in cosplay?”
“She cosplayed?”
He turns his head to the Queen.
“You cosplayed?!”
“Of course, why wouldn't I take my time to show off the beauty of us women. Grand by design, meant to be looked at and praised for our beauty. Ha-ha-ha!”
With a blank stare, he faces the two again.
“What did you morons do?”
Lee, who was already taking photos of the Queen, takes out a photo of her in cosplay from his winter coat. Paul’s jaw dropped.
“WOAH! THA-THAT’S… IMPOSSIBLE! Really? This is you? WOW! Wait, did she laugh?”
“Oh you bet she did.”
“I wanna buy some of these.”
“How many?”
“How many do you have?”
After a few minutes of photoshoot and the General buying photos of the Queen in cosplay. They parted, the two then walked to the observation area as fireworks were about to be set off. The speakers started counting down and the two arrived just in time. “Ni…”
“This has been very fun My Lord.”
“Ichi!”
Fireworks were then set off, the bright explosions were magnificent and were the patterns and the cheers of the foreign people from another world.
“Wow…”
“Pretty cool right? You should see the bigger ones at grand openings or anniversaries. Though not gonna lie, with magic. Fireworks can really be something else and we players. Heh, our fireworks are out of this world! You should see the ones that move!”
As the explosions come, the fire starts moving around the skies. Drawing illustrations of Samurai fending off thousands and thousands of players in Viking and Mongol inspired armor and the mighty Knights and Chivalry.
“Merry Christmas Elizabeth. Enjoy my gift to you.”
“And to you to My Lord. I am sure by the Twenty Fifth we’d be back in my Kingdom. I shall award you with something I think you’ll love.”
“Heh, I shall eagerly await it.”
Soon, more fireworks are fired into the skies, making moving illustrations of General Kendo in his samurai armor, fighting of Knights and Nobles with Bat Wings, it then changes into the General charging onwards against the iconic Knights of Libertus with their shiny Ecranche and its Wyvern Air Force, it finishes with their heroic defeat and the crowd claps and slowly starts to disperse back to the main festival while some leave for the night.
“Now what?”
“Hmmm… Oh, I’d love to drink some more alcohol here, My Lord.”
“Well… since this is Japanese owned. Pretty sure you’d find all kinds of Sake here even though I don’t drink.”
“How come you don’t drink My Lord?”
“Oh me? I’m a cheapskate. I don’t have vices like drinking or smoking because I’ve spent all my cash on inanimate objects and random stuff that I find interesting… Yeah, I’m a big consumer…” in the back of his head, the man is doing backflips and dancing with success. “Holy shit John, I’m going to need your advice more. Oh fuck, I don’t know what to do afterwards though! Fuck! I forgot to ask!”
“Then, why not drink with me? I shall teach you, My Lord!”
“With you?”
“Hm!”
“Well…” he thinks through it. Putting his fingers up his chin. “Well, this isn’t the real me anyways. I’m in my Avatar’s body, which is pretty well built and toned. So I’m sure this body can handle a booze or two… if John’s advice is true, then I can’t go drunk. I gotta keep a level head, fuck. I’ve never drunk anything short of Root Beer on Earth. DON’T FAIL ME NOW GOD! I’M SO CLOSE!” he nods as if to agree with something in his head.
On the open fields of Geraldia, Alana is resting her back on Bahamut’s chin. The big dragon snores as it enjoys the air of the vast open land with the Sun right above them.
“That freaking woman. Hoarding M’Lord all to herself.”
With her arms crossed and her back resting, Alana squinted her eyes to see a kilometer away, a dashingly beautiful blonde woman in Knights armor riding atop an armored horse, the Knightly woman could see the giant black dragon and a faint tiny silhouette of a person wearing a red gown sat down on its chin. Getting closer, the woman unsheathes her sword and points it at the Countess.
“Where is the man?”
The girl spoke with an authoritative voice and kept her stare at the vampire. Visibly frowning and not giving any chance for the woman to make a move.
“M’Lord won’t be here, the scheming thieving woman wanted to have him all for herself for a few days.”
“Then, the deal is off. Tell your human masters, vampire. That we cannot work together.”
The Countess stands up, opening a brown backpack and unrolls a paper.
“Ahem, it is said here that the General is only here to do negotiations. I can do both, and it specifically said that it doesn’t even require his presence truly as we’re the ones who are supposed to do the fighting.”
“Tsk, then come. But do not bring the dragon, the village already has enough nightmares with the Demons.”
“Of course.”
Bahamut’s eye opens, and the giant dragon yawns as she changes into her human form.
“Is that good enough for you?”
“Heavens be, this is amazing.”
The woman steps out of her horse and kneels in front of Bahamut.
“Eh?! Why not me?! I’m a Countess, you know!”
“Oh Divine Goddess, I am Holy Knight Captain and Warrior Nun Julieanne Ammor, it is of great blessing that you’ve come here.”
Holding Bahamut's left hand, the woman gives her fealty to the still newly awakened Dragon.
“H-Huh? Oh, thanks.”
Alana just facepalms by the nonchalant reaction of the Dragon and sighs. The two are soon led to a despotic village where Nuns and Knights litter the streets, giving aid to the people as piles of burning wood scatter the muddy terrain with makeshift barricades and dead winged demons piled on the rooftops and alleys.
“What happened here? Nun, explain.”
“Haaaah… Vrax blesses me. It’s the Demons used by the Outworlders. We’ve never encountered anything like this before. The ones they use are far stronger and wield more fearsome weapons.”
The Knight stops her horse and disembarks, leaving the two petite women to look around as she turns a dead demon face up, its wearing a breastplate and its wings protected by armor.
“Only the Outworlders can create machinations like this. The King of Vitas would be smearing himself if he had an army of this size and capacity.”
Bahamut leans down, smelling it and nods. “The Demons of Hell in another world, interesting. Only a Chosen One can summon these in mass.” she then turns around to look at the people, the villagers not scared at all, their eyes full of warrior lust and the need to fight. The dragon lady grins inside her veil and walks back to the horse, waiting around while Alana inspects the entire village.
All of the houses had their roofs entire pierced by a spear or lance while some are outright blown off while Nuns and Priests ran left and right to help the wounded and to move corpses, covered and brought out of sight as many pray to their Gods on the horrendous sight of a once visibly peaceful and tranquil village.
“And so, I guess this is where me and Bahamut come in Lady Knight?”
“It’s Julianne or Anne you wretch. I’m surprised a Lady like you would venture out to this world without her entourage of boy toys and slaves.”
“Hah, I only travel with my Knights. Nothing more, nothing less.”
“And where are they? I’ll be needing everybody I could get, ones that could regenerate in mere seconds would be a game changing unit.”
“Oh, I apologize. But I only carried myself and that woman… dragon...”
Bahamut waves nonchalantly behind her as she looks up to see the clouded skies, its bright color hidden behind the smoke from the burning piles of wood and houses on fire.
“Tsk, this isn’t what I planned but so be it. Follow me wretch, I shall show you our command tent.”
Alana then waves at Bahamut to follow them and she obliges. The two women are led to a colorful blue and silver tent where two other Knights in heavy armor are, looking down on a table on the map. The two hardened men with scratches on their well built and sculpted faces stared knives at the vampire who entered their premise.
Soon, Bahamut followed with a bouquet of flowers she randomly picked from around the once beautiful village. The two men immediately ran to her and bowed.
“A crown with dragons, we’re blessed to be with you Lady. May you gift us on behalf of Vrax. The halfling human and dragon in our dire time of war against a force that is not of this world.”
Looking down on them, Bahamut nods and places her hand between the two of them.
“I sensed your hearts true, full of heroism and courage, true humans with true goals and an ending in mind. I bless thee, with the Dragons Eternal Flames, the one that had molded weapons from Meteors itself, may you carry on and continue to show the strength that lies underneath your fragile, mortal bodies.”
Their bodies lighted up in a hue of gold for a second and the scratches on their faces disappeared and the other man, wearing a shiny orange armor with white lines, gets most of his sight back, his blue eyes returning its colors.
“Goodness, this is a miracle! Thank you Lady!”
“Call me Bahamut, the Dragon God of the Abyss, the one that roams the land between life and death, the almighty black dragon that felled hundreds of Heroes before it.”
They bowed their heads more and then stood up, gesturing Julianne to the table as they resumed their planning.
“Captain, I hope this is the reinforcements the Outworlders promised.”
“Yes General, one Vampire and One Dragon. The human is nowhere to be found but the wretch said the contract didn’t specify he had to be here.”
“Of course, I personally made it so that if he was to be busy, we’d still get the supposed strength of the Outworlders and I am shocked. For them to bring a Dragon God… Goddess Bahamut, may your wings be true and guide us to victory today.”
“Be not afraid human, my wings are always true and I shall bring down the wrath of the Dragons flames on them. This isn’t the first time, nor the second I’ve dealt with the Chosen Ones.”
“And you Vampire? Why are you here?”
“I’m only here to do what I am ordered to do and keep an eye on the Dragon.”
“I see, but I want no funny business with you.”
“Oh please. I already went out of my way to come here. At least show a bit of humidity.”
“Your kin hasn’t really been racking up good points for us to trust you.”
“And yet your nobles, most of all the Knightly ones from Gareth, are one of my top buyers of wine. I’m sure a General like you would also know the dirt underneath all that grandeur of Knightly heroism and stories.”
“Tsk, Holy Knight Richtard. Carry on with what you were planning on with.”
“Ahem.” The young knight with a shiny and mirror polished armor with a long blue cape behind him points at the open field on the map. “We’re going to be luring them into an open field, where the Nuns and Priests in this village will conjure a joint spell and cast the Sermon of Swords. It should be enough to at least cut down a fraction of their numbers.”
Alana then raises her hand. “I propose you do not advance, Bahamut will be ending this quick and fast. Right?” Bahamut who was busy sniffing the flowers just stops at her tracks and stares at them. After a few seconds she nods and goes back into smelling. “Don’t worry, her aim is usually Godly.”
“...Uhm… Goddess, you would fight?”
“...Hm? Oh yes, of course! Why won’t I fight? I’m a Dragon, fighting is part of my blood. To kill these Demons in large quantities would also be a nice plus, returning their souls to the lands beyond.”
“R-Really?!” The three Knights even Julianne had their faces light up like a bulb, visibly ecstatic and happy beyond words. “Goddess, we’re blessed to be given the right to fight with you. We shall win this battle no matter what, be it our deaths!”
The Knight then changes the writings on the table, and makes new arrows.
“We're also expecting another group, an army of Knights from the Outworlders to come here. They call themselves the Blue Sentinels.”
“Oh! I know those!” Bahamut then rubs her chin, recalling something. “Me and my Master met them in this big tower where all knowledge of Tur is being kept at.”
“Could this be your world's version of the Great Library, Goddess?”
“I think? It has a lot of books, even in the lobby it's already full of them and they store all and every information they could find in it. It’s arguably the most human thing I’ve seen, their endless desire to know everything and record it.”
“Hm it is indeed your world's version of a Great Library, ours was burned down by the devilish warrior Queen of the Vampires thousands ago. The wealth of knowledge inside it is forever to be lost and us, doomed to fill those shelves again.” the Knights then looked at Alana whose arms were crossed.
“What? She’s already defeated, y’know?”
After an hour, the General gets a proper carriage to transport them and is led to a big tent city. He immediately assembles his men and Bahamut peeks over, to see a majority of them are well equipped and wielding weapons of top quality with clean and well dressed uniforms.
“Is this normal Alana? Not even the Kingdom of James has that much heavily armored people.”
“The Kingdom of Gareth is a Knightly country. It is one of the only places in Threa where a Commoner can rise to a Lord with nothing but sheer skill in fighting. Though Bahamut, I suggest not looking too deeply into it. These people are as Knightly as they come, including the weaknesses.”
“I see.”
Julianne who was driving the carriage steps down and is greeted by a Bishop. She bows and her sword is doused with water, it gleams as if it was given a new battery. Lighting up the blade. A grunt then salutes to her and hops into the driver seat. She then knocks into the carriage door which Alana opens.
“Oh, I thought a boyish woman like you wouldn’t want to be inside a comfy carriage.”
“Save me the lecture wretch. Bishop Francis just wanted me to ride inside, saying it's a waste of my looks to be seen driving this carriage.”
“Good, hop in then. I have a lot of questions to ask.”
“Hm?”
Soon, the carriage goes onwards as the army assembles with the rattling of a thousand feets hurdling together in the muddy soil to get into formation and march into the frontlines.
“Why is the Pope so angst to get us here? I find it odd the Holy See itself is willing to ask a vampire to come into their ranks. I’m sure you're all zealous enough to not let a creature like me walk amongst you in battle, something you all deem as a religious practice.”
“Do not speak as if you know us, you might’ve lived longer than my entire bloodline, but you do not know of all and everything. Be it known that the Pope is only doing this as he has bigger plans, bigger than the past itself.”
“And it's to allow the other species to be part of the religion, am I correct?”
“Aren’t you up to date, how many Priests did you pay off to gain that information?”
“Oh I didn’t have too, M’Lord had told me about it which fairly shocked me to see the change of heart. So, if the Pope is this bent on getting this pushed, what’s so special with this occasion that he’d ask for such a powerful creature like Bahamut, and I, a Countess to appear?”
“Do not ask too many wretched questions wretch. You're tethering on the line right now, just do as you're told and carry on.”
“Goodness, am I being far too forward? I tried leveling it with you humans. But it seems that my effort has been futile. Such is the hardness without having M’Lord here to translate your rampant line of thought.”
“Oy, are you questioning me right now? I have no need for soldiers that ask too much while doing too little.”
Bahamut sniffs the air inside the carriage and stares at the woman. “Before you continue going on about how wretched the Countess is, how come I can smell traces of multiple scents on you. Both male and female, and of differing species too… even Orcs…?”
Julianne immediately goes beet red, covering her face as she looks away. “G-Goddess! You didn’t need to make me confess like this!”
“Eh? What?”
The Countess then tugs Bahamut’s arm, with a devilish grin and a nod of approval.
“I-I, I used to be a Songstress in an Opera… I, Goddess, have lived a sinful life, full of debauchery and thievery. But soon, I came to realize that it will only end in misery, thus I came to the Church to give my life to the cause and the religion.”
“And your skills? It's uncommon for human women to be fighting alongside men in combat like this.”
“My skills came from my days of thieving behind the backs of the Nobles I’d sing and act to on the stage. I had to learn the sword to be able to defend myself as most of them were trained by skilled people, and I seem to be gifted with it and proved to be a deadly user with a longsword and a rapier.”
“I see, well Alana here is actually pretty nice. Master likes her and how she always lectures us and even the blonde one sometimes! So, be respectful. She is part of my circle, and to continue to show disrespect to her is a disrespect to me. Whoever my Master respects, I also respect.”
“You have a Master, Goddess?”
“I do, and he is a great human. A human that you should all long to be, to see his eyes when he charged into the castle. It…” Bahamut then wraps her arms around her as her eyes wander. “It sends shivers to my spine, to see a fragile human man like that. He is a worthy Patriarch and warrior, befitting the right to stand by my side for eternity.” they soon reach the field of battle, already. Alana’s pointy ears stood frozen as she could detect a lot of foes.
Disembarking, Bahamut materializes her majestic transparent sword. Constantly changing its hue with its main color of a moving rainbow, the woman in black crests a small mound on the ground. Her eyes are met with a sea of blackened. Dead and rotting corpses of grunts and soldiers paired with Demons with wings and wearing armor while wielding shields could be seen, walking like a flood that consumes all that be.
Marching till there is nowhere else to march, the army seemed to be far worse than anything she’d seen so far and Julianne looked with eyes full of courage, ready to fight as her hand held the pommel of her sword. Alana all the while is staring down the entire formation, as if to look for a weakness or opening.
Following the heathen army is an air of death with an evil mixture full of darkness and mischief. The army then parted in the middle and a tall shiny polished armor in the shape of a lizard is seen with his bright tower shield, moving in front of the army to lead them.
“How many hours before the General gets here? Looking by their pace, they’ll cross this field and your Sermon of Swords will miss entirely.”
“Blast! Did they change tactics again? What’s with these Outworlders?!”
“That I do not know Lady Julianne!”
The three women are spooked by the voice of a helmeted man behind them, turning around to see a Knight wearing a Blue and Gold armor and wielding a long halbert with the ornate flag of their Guild on its pole.
“It is I! Commander Wolf of the Blue Sentinels Third Cavalry! I’ve come to the call, it seems that I am a bit early to the party.”
“Let it be Sir Wolf! We must delay them here!”
“And that lady over there on the crest… is that who I think it is?”
Bahamut just puts her hand on her hip, tilting her head at the heavily armored man.
“Hah, If it isn’t the Black Dragon. We meet again, I must say, your Labyrinth is probably the most fun I’ve ever had in Dark World and most of all… YOUR HUMAN FORM MAKES ME DOWN BAD-” a scabbard flies into his helmet, causing the man to completely collapse and slouched down while riding his horse. Another player wearing a lighter Knight armor gives a thumbs up. “Sorry, he's a bit obsessed with mommy goths.”
“Goth?! Am I Mommy Goth?!”
“You tell me Dragon Goddess. But, it's good to see you on our side for once rather than firing lasers and lightning bolts from the top of the world while we shat our pants and respawned.”
“Me… a Goth? I just like the color black since it's the color of my scales…”
The dejected Bahamut then lifts her veil to show to them her face. It isn’t even old, her pale beautiful face is that of someone who is in their early twenties.
“Woah, very hot… and Goth. Commander Wolf, you have good taste sir.”
“Wha… What?! Grrrrr….”
She then turned her face to the oncoming horde, with Alana pointing at the man leading it. “You see that? Kill it. I went to the top of a tree and there’s no one else like him in that entire formation. He must be the General or Commander of sorts, Sir Wolf.”
“Y-YES!” the man sparks back to life, Alana could feel his heartfelt stares from the darkened eye slits of his shiny helmet. “Are your men ready?”
“As it should be!”
“Then, make a Vee shaped formation in three, cut through their lines in three places and have a layer of protection for Bahamut.”
“As it shall be done, Vampire lady!”
Before he could tug his reins, Alana held it for him. “Also, tell me, why did the Outworlders accept this request? Wouldn’t this be not of your concern?”
“Ah well, the Pope’s Golden Girl. Priestess Seiness, a Half Wolf girl is trapped inside enemy lines and we’ve been called with the Special Knights led by Captain Julianne to save her and bring her back.”
“These thieving religious zealots!” Julianne just smiles and shrugs as Alana sighed. “Okay, I bid you of good battle, Sir Wolf. Carry on with good will.”
“Oh man! A hot vampire lady wished me luck guys!”
He unsheathes his serrated Greatsword while digging his long halbert into the soil on horseback, making its shine bounce and reflect off the shiny armors of the horses of his men hiding in the bushes. Coming out, more than a thousand players assembled, all on horseback and wearing Knight armor.
“Gosh, not even Gareth could muster an army like that.”
“COME MEN! WE’VE DONE IT IN TUR BEFORE AND WE SHALL DO IT AGAIN IN THREA! WE’VE DEFENDED THE FORTRESS VALLEY FROM THE ARMIES OF LIBERTUS!”
“DEFENDED THE BOSTOLL RIVER FROM THE ARMIES OF BREZNICK AND THE MIGHTY LIBRARY CENTRUM MAGIA OF THE MAGICIANS ASSOCIATION!”
“NOW, WE DO IT AGAIN! AGAINST THIS DAMNED ARMY! COME WITH ME BOYS! LET US BURN OUR NAMES INTO THIS FOREIGN WORLDS HISTORY! RAH!”
The Knight army of players rallied up and quickly got their orders with Bahamut revealing her dragon wings and taking flight while Alana rode behind one of the calvary, her legs on one side and ready to fight.
“Wait! We have a plan!”
“Blast that plan, beautiful Julianne! I, Commander Wolf shall lead victory! To the army of the night my boys!”
“You gung ho Outworlders! Do you have no fear of death?! My Holy Knights haven’t even arrived yet!”
“Technically…. NO! Because we can respawn even in this place! Bwahahaha!”
Leading the charge, the heroic player goes on into the army of Hell, their halberts facing forward and their armored horses gaining more and more speed on the slope down to the enemy, a massive laser then goes down from the skies, instantly halving the enemy armies’ numbers as the strangely shaped Knight General threw his tower shield to the beam, deflecting her laser for a moment before it completely gets vaporized by it.
As he unsheathed his sword, it was already too late as the Blue Sentinels charge passed him, not giving the enemy Knight General a chance to stop them. “Smart!” was all he could scream at the players hitting the demons and zombies like a demolition ball meeting a squishy wall. Their enchanted halberts turned them into ash upon mortally wounding the demons as they penetrated deep within the army.
The armored lizard man then looks up as his ear canals gets blown by the sound of an object breaking the sound barrier, as he looked, he could see a woman wearing a dark gothic funeral gown diving headfirst into him, he lifts his sword to meet hers but in the final second, dodge rolls into safety as a massive explosion followed her meeting the ground.
“Woah. If it ain’t the prehistoric legend itself. One of the dinosaurs responsible for the ousting of my kin who only wanted to be with its far more powerful cousins.”
Appearing from the mist of dust is the shape of a scrawny woman with a veil and a crown styled of four legged dragons, even through the chaos around them as the endless ocean of undead soldiers and demons go around their area, the shiny color changing glass sword of Bahamut pierces through the dust and with a tightening of her grip, sent the smoke away, clearing their surroundings.
“Which tribe of scaled men did you come from, lizard?”
“None, my tribe discarded me and a Dark Elf saved me. A Chosen One.”
“Of course it's a Chosen One. Gifted by the True and Original God the gift of rebirth, it changed the concept of death itself for them. Now I wonder, what ash you’ll be when I burn you.”
“I won’t go down like my ancient ancestors. Burned by your kin, we merely wanted the protection of the Dragons.”
“Hah, don’t even speak of us Dragons with you, failed misconceptions in a sentence. Yes, I also stood against your kin. Weaklings even with your scales.”
“Does power mean so much to your civilization that you wouldn’t care if we all perished? Now look, none of your underwater and swamp cities remained. Only ruins.”
Bahamut then lifts her sword up to the lizard in shiny armor, walking closer to the creature in the midst of battle.
“Same could be said to us, as your damned species brought down the flying marvels of us Dragons. But even then, it's thanks to that we mingled amongst humans and found our allies in Tur.”
“Tsk, when will you stop looking down on us?!”
“I will always look down on you lizards. I still remember how your diplomats groveled and begged right in front of us like weaklings. If you wanted to become our allies, you should’ve sent a warrior, not a talkative food. I guess the rumors are true, that you're like the humans but less resilient and smart. Imagine holding onto a prehistoric story till the present times. How… sad.”
Bahamut puts away her sword and puts her hand up her chin, grinning at the armored lizard and staring at him demeaningly. Her bright golden coloured eyes inside her veil shining as she mocked the lizard with her look.
“You wretch! I’ll get you! If not me! Then the Chosen Ones shall bring you down as they did in Tur!”
“Fine, humans are strong unlike your kin. I’d gladly get defeated and killed by a strong creature than be humiliated by you lizards.”