The other side?

A warm sensation enveloped Aisael from head to toe. He opened his eyes and found himself in an environment contrasting the previous one. It seemed like ARMA transported him from one simulated location to another. One moment a luscious forest, the next moment a flatland filled with soot as far as the eye could see.

It was a peculiar yet amazing sight to behold. Everything was painted black because of the surrounding soot. Everything but the gigantic marble pillars littered here and there across the flatland. Each pillar was surrounded by smaller pillars a quarter of their size. The small pillars were roughly ten meters in height and three meters in diameter.

“Point Siege will start in 3… 2… 1.” An androgynous voice announced.

A low ominous rumbling from behind caught Aisael’s attention. He turned around and saw the source of the sound. Immediately, an instinctual fear arose within him.

A sandstorm as dark as the soot under his feet appeared on the horizon. Its height was way beyond the pillars and stretched as far east as west.

An inescapable sootstorm was making its way towards him, ravaging everything in its path.

“Brother Blue run!” A familiar voice shouted.

Toby and Dina were a few breathes away from reaching a small pillar when they realized that Aisael was not with them. Dina placed a reassuring hand on her panic-stricken brother.

“We still have time. Besides, we’ve got bigger problems to worry about.”

The three of them were not the only ones present in this soot-filled land. An estimate of a hundred participants were present and gathered around the largest pillar in the vicinity. There was a commotion as some of them could be seen fighting amongst themselves.

[There seems to be trouble ahead.] ELZB noticed.

Aisael arrived next to Toby and Dina who were looking towards the crowd gathered at the large pillar.

“What’s going on?” Aisael asked.

“We’re waiting for the Main Point to activate so we can have access to the Sub Points.” Dina furrowed her eyebrows in worry. “But they’re taking forever.”

Are the pillars supposed to be the ‘Points’?

“Why don’t we activate it ourselves?” Aisael took a step forward.

“Brother Blue, you can’t!” Toby stopped Aisael. “No matter how strong you are, you mustn’t interfere.”

“Toby’s right.” Dina agreed. “It’s a surprise that House Magnum hasn’t hunt you down yet after getting a First Blood on them.”

What’s is it about House Magnum that they’re so afraid of?

“What do we do about the approaching storm then?” Aisael asked.

Toby looked at his feet. Dina bit her lips in silence.

“I’m going.” Aisael did not like waiting for others act if he could accomplish things himself. “The both of you can wait here for the Sub Points to activate.”

They did not follow Aisael not because a lack of confidence in him. But the power struggle between the Houses was not something a single person can take upon themselves, much less with the three them.

It was an unspoken rule not to bring politics into a game due to the unhealthy environment it creates. However, ARMA had to relent since its main clients were from the four Houses that governed Milestone City. The Houses were not inconsiderate benefactors as they each send representatives to co-supervise ARMA’s matches on a rotational basis. This is so that the in-game inconvenience caused by the Houses’ social dynamics would not exceed a tolerance limit.

But who would have thought that a nobody would tip the fragile balance by one-upping someone who was supposedly at least twice stronger than him. And now, he was about to cause more havoc due to his refusal to live under the actions of others.

Aisael decided to take matters into his own hands.

ELZB, run a scan on the power levels of everyone present. Use the amount of sigils owned as benchmark.

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[76 participants have less than 10PL. 21 participants have at least 15PL.] ELZB did a quick analysis and reported.

The atmosphere was tensed.

Aisael noticed two groups of people that were bickering in front of the Main Point, distinguished by their color-coded apparels. A third group was hovering nearby, presumably waiting for an opportunity to strike.

“Who are you? Can’t you see that we’re in the midst of something important?” A participant noticed Aisael approaching and stopped him.

“Get lost if you know what’s good for you.” Someone else chimed in.

“Blue One?” A man with a blue eyepatch covering his left eye recognized Aisael.

With the mention of the name of someone who got First Blood on House Magnum, it was only a matter of time before the crowd’s attention fall onto Aisael.

To the people in House Clovis, “Blue One” was just someone they had been meaning to kick out for the longest time. He was a slacker and was not contributing much to the affairs of the Houses. But what Aisael did at the start of the match boosted his credibility considerably.

“What’s the hold up?” Aisael got straight to the point of the matter. He wanted to alleviate pressure from the numerous gazes.

“It’s House Oxborn.” The man with the eyepatch stated. “We’ve arrived at the Main Point first but they claimed otherwise.”

“Take your crap elsewhere, Brass!” A participant with a purple Mohawk hairstyle yelled. “You should be grateful that we even allow you guys to occupy the Sub Points.”

[It seems that this is going nowhere.] ELZB stated the obvious.

The sootstorm’s rumbling was growing hard to ignore whilst the bickering continued.

“Brass, activate the Main Sub.” Aisael, who was growing impatient, instructed the man with the eyepatch.

“You dare?” The guy with the purple Mohawk glared at Brass. He shifted his attention to Aisael when he noticed the latter approaching.

“The Sub Points are free to occupy.” Aisael contested the man’s glare with his own cold stare. He did not like being polite to someone hostile but a compromise is needed for this situation.

Several participants began whispering among themselves.

“Who does he think he is?”

“This nobody thinks he can do whatever he wants just because he First Blooded House Magnum.”

“How arrogant!”

ELZB, what are the power levels of those around me?

[Scar Face on the left have 11PL, One-Legged man on the right have 12PL, the twins at your rear both have 10PL, and Purple Mohawk in front of you have 16PL.] ELZB reported.

“Hey nobody,” Purple Mohawk did not like Aisael’s attitude, he felt threatened. “Get out of my face!”

Aisael sighed. His patience was running paper-thin.

“Did I stutter? I sai-…” Purple Mohawk was interrupted and caught off guard by an unexpected uppercut from Aisael followed by a lethal punch to the throat. Both moves were executed smoothly within a fragment of a second. The result was a ray of light that Aisael was getting strangely familiar by now.

You had your chance.

Those that witnessed the scene were stunned into silence by how quick it took Aisael to kill someone. It was as if he was on a different power level compared to the rest of them.

“Young Master Yun was 1-hit KO-ed…”

“He killed Young Master Yun! Avenge him!”

Four participants with purple overalls were furious as they moved in on Aisael. As dedicated followers of the Yun Family, they felt great shame for allowing the young master to be murdered right before their eyes.

“Fight!!!” Brass shouted and a chaotic brawl broke out.

Aisael elbowed the wind out of the twins that were sneaking up from behind. He chopped heavily onto the back of their necks just as they were clutching their stomachs and they turned into rays of light immediately.

“Ahhhh!!” Scar Face threw heavy punches at Aisael, all of which were blocked successfully. Scar Face fumed seeing Aisael’s cool expression as the latter block each and every punch thrown his way.

[This guy seems really angry.] ELZB commented.

He’s annoying to deal with.

“Ahhh-… *cough cough*” Scar Face’s angry scream was cut short followed by severe coughing. His eyes bulged in astonishment when he realized that Aisael took advantaged of his brief moment of vulnerability and attacked. What a ruthless person!

“Gotcha!” The One-Legged man grabbed Aisael from behind suddenly. But Aisael was not the least bit fazed. He, instead, sighed.

“I wanted to avoid getting rough with a disabled person but it seems that my kindness was for naught.” Aisael pried One-Legged man’s hands off of him forcefully, kicked the only feet that was keeping the man grounded, and threw him towards Scar Face.

It did not take long for Aisael to turn Scar Face and One-Legged man into rays of light as they both were busy untangling themselves. A moment after he did, the gigantic pillar beside him glowed blue.

“Point 142 secured by House Clovis.” The announcer’s voice was heard throughout the area.

[The Main Point seems to be activated.]

Aisael scanned the battlefield. He saw Brass nod at him, perhaps in respect, perhaps in admiration. Aisael nodded back in acknowledgement. He saw Toby and Dina placing their hands on the walls of a Sub Point before transforming into pixels. Aisael was baffled as to what had happened. But the approaching sootstorm did not care about his thoughts. It was drawing awfully close!

Participants from both House Clovis and House Oxborn were still at each other’s neck while those from House Philius sneak attacked both sides. Panic flooded the battlefield when the sound of the sootstorm became terrifyingly loud. Some lucky ones managed to react in time and escaped into either Sub Points or the Main Point.

Aisael ran as fast as he could towards the Main Point and placed his hands on it, mimicking a few others before him. The warm sensation from before enveloped him once again.