Astre laid low as he surveyed the battle. He was in no state to help, neither he felt obliged to. They only operated under him for a while, and he still was thinking they got the wrong idea about him.
They did stay by his side back then, but he was confident it was mostly because they were dissatisfied with their guild. He wasn't going to risk losing the tournament because they wanted to enjoy playing the game.
They wouldn't lose much if he abandoned them, Blaze already looked spent so they may even win this. On the other hand, if he lost here. He didn't hold much hope for the future if that were to be the case.
He wasn't even sure is he could charge Snipe for long enough without fainting. The pain he felt was disconcerting. It clearly wasn't the system limit on abilities, since he wouldn't be able to use them at all if that was the case. He only hoped it would pass, and the system wouldn't log him out, because some health protocol triggered.
When Flash got killed, he didn't feel much. It was a bit of a shame, but nothing more. The assassin shouldn't have attacked when he had no means of escape. It was a bit aggravating. If he was in better condition, he could have used that as a chance to score a kill on the guild leader and gain some points.
Astre looked around, but he didn't see any members of the Blazing Symphony. Counting the bodies, he only accounted for half of the personnel of both groups. Astre didn't notice until now, but part of the cliff facing the jungle seemed to be missing. He didn't know what caused that, still it seemed like the most likely cause of missing people.
The battle bellow continued. Eclipse shed her own blood to empower her strikes, while Sanguine enlarged her weapon whenever she struck. Both of the girls were fighting with the full use of their Rage abilities, their never-ending onslaught of lightning-quick attacks flickering on the rocky mountain.
Red battle robe fluttered in the air as its owner jumped nimbly, her long hair tied in ponytail followed in suit. Her blazing yellow eyes watching each movement her opponents made. The staff was moving swiftly in her hand as if it was her own limb.
Blaze calmly deflected attacks to the ground, causing it to shatter, or evaded the strikes altogether. She was experienced, and her abilities were suited for this type of combat. She deflected the ginormous ax to the ground beside her, and as fire appeared around her feet, she boosted forward at the white-haired girl.
The large sword aimed for Blaze's head, but she propelled herself to the side and spun her staff. As the weapon took ablaze, she smashed the greatsword into the ground. Eclipse tried to pull it out, but it was stuck, she couldn't get away as spiraling flame orb struck her in the chest, piercing the white-haired girl and blasting her away.
Sanguine charged at the lone guild leader, her eyes shining bloody red. Blaze stood at ready, but just before she was going to parry, lightning struck from the sky. During the shock, the ax managed to sever her left arm. Blaze barely avoided getting guillotined by dashing backward.
The arm regrew, and the guild leader grit her teeth. The area around her shimmered as air moved wildly. The rocks around her feet sizzled and started gleaming with a red light.
Astre closed his eyes. He recognized the skill, whatever the chances the remaining four had were now gone. He was surprised that Blaze still didn't use her level five spell. The whole area bellow would soon turn into a sea of flames.
He turned his head away and prepared to move away to make sure he didn't get caught in the blast. He had already overstayed his welcome. Using his bow as a support, he brought himself up.
Then just as he took one step away, his world turned grey. Astre looked around carefully, but the pain of dying didn't come. He was confused since he didn't have the ability active. The world around him seemed to glitch as red shapes increased in numbers. He continued looking around but couldn't find anything, and the world seemed to be in a still.
He watched as Blaze stood in place, her spell halfway through its cast, then everything broke. The world cracked, red fractures filled his vision. With a sound of shattering glass, he found himself in empty darkness; there was no light or sound.
Pain assaulted him from every direction. He felt himself spinning at a ridiculous speed. Unknowable amount of time later, he stopped himself, finding the footing he overlooked a world of different shades of red. The sky took the color of blood, and a crimson sun hanged in it menacingly.
Standing on the edge of a large building, he saw a familiar structure. The hospital his sister resided in was in front of him. It took him a fraction of a second to find the window he was looking for. In this world of red, he saw the figure of his sister lying in bed. Next to her was a figure of a woman, holding a staff covered in flames, the dark red fires forming a scythe.
Instantly he looked around for anything, remembering he was still clutching a bow in his left arm he materialized an arrow in his arm. There was no time to use an ability, Astre pulled the string and released an arrow, his fingers dripping with blood.
When his vision returned, Astre fell to his knees, finding himself on a stone ledge, his bow outstretched in his left hand. His whole body felt numb, so numb that he didn't even notice that his clothes and mouth were covered in vomit while blood dripped from his eyes and ears.
Then a pillar of fire rose to the sky. He forced his eyes shut as the blinding light spread. Even in his state, he could feel the tremendous heat on his body. Then when it calmed down, he found ragged Blaze standing in a circle of molten rocks, in front of her face was a hand with an arrow piercing it, from its tip drops of a potion of berserk magic fell to the ground.
The four players seemed fine. Their clothes only slightly singed as they looked in his direction. They stared in bewilderment at the sight of Astre, who looked to be on the verge of death.
"So, you decided to come out!" Blaze shouted and pulled the arrow out of her hand. Propelling herself into the air, she advanced upon Astre.
The adventurer watched with solemn eyes. His whole body felt numb and unresponsive. Even the pain now just fell dull, and he was still in shock over what just happened.
Astre wasn't willing to give up. He was more than willing to push himself past his limit. Yet, it wasn't so simple, it took all he had just to stand up. Still, It wouldn't be enough, he grabbed his head as he used an ability, nearly blacking out in the process.
The end of Blaze's staff formed into a giant ball of fire. Astre was sure if the attack landed, it would finish him off. Taking a step backward, a trap activated under his feet. It ejected him into the air, just as the flaming ball exploded on the cliff, hot ruble sprayed into the air.
Astre pulled on the string on his bow, aiming at the back of his target. He didn't count on his chances to hit anything smaller in his current state. The syringe-arrow flew through the air; it wasn't supported by any ability but contained poison that caused confusion.
The arrow barely pierced through the robe Blaze wore. It was enough, the guild leader stumbled and nearly fell down as her vision and sense of direction twisted. Astre tried to shoot another arrow, but his numb fingers released the projectile too early, and it went wide.
"Quickly rescue him!" shouted Judgment.
Astre felt as a force tugged him to the side, soon landing by the feet of the blue-haired mage. Judgment looked at his ragged appearance with worry. "Are you alright?" the blond-haired girl asked.
"No," Astre said, bringing himself up, standing unsteady on his feet.
He immediately sent invites to an alliance. He didn't want to risk getting backstabbed. The girls accepted as soon as they realized what it was, Hermes, on the other hand, didn't.
"Hermes?" inquired Judgment.
The mage looked worried at the screen in front of him. He looked between Astre, Judgment, and the system window. Finally, with a sigh, he accepted as the girl frowned at him.
"This is a crazy amount of points," Judgment commented as she fiddled with her menu.
"Look at that later, we are still in the middle of the fight," Astre reproved as he watched Blaze gathering herself.
The two sisters looked at Astre for a short while after accepting the invitation. Then they jumped ahead and charged at the fiery woman on the ledge, who held her head as she stood unsteadily.
The lone guild leader watched as two spinning figures closed onto her, she cursed herself for leaving all of their remedies with their now dead support. With a click of her tongue, she summoned a wall of fire in front of her.
Instead of a deterrent, she expected it to be, the two sisters jumped through the fire, the burns healing as they used their LP. Their Thick Skin passives protected them from most of the damage. Their eyes shining crimson as they stood before the enemy.
Blaze closed her eyes. There was no point in getting messed up by her vision. She protected herself by creating a sphere of flames around her and propelled her body into the air. She didn't know how long the status effect would hold, but it shouldn't last much longer.
"Do you have any boosts?" asked Astre looking at Hermes.
"No, my skills are mostly used for protection. My only heal is slow regeneration that needs a constant touch from level one," announced the fairy. "You can try asking Eclipse."
Astre looked at the two sisters, one throwing the other into the air, trying to catch the elusive ball of fire. He didn't even attempt at shooting her down, his arrows without the support of any ability would simply get swayed away by the hot air blowing outwards.
"Judgment, can you cast a spell at her?" asked the new alliance leader.
"I already used all my level four spell to take most of the people her out," she announced proudly. "My Lightning Lance has a one-minute cooldown, and it will be few hours before I will be able to use my God's Judgment."
Astre sighed. He still didn't understand why the mage in front of him was so set on turning all her abilities into strengthening ones and being left with only one spell. He turned to Hermes and explained his strategy for the fight.
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The mage nodded as he looked at the two sisters doing their best to catch the ball of fire. It took over a minute before Blaze finally lowered herself. She blasted the two sisters away with an explosion. Her breath was ragged from using spells for that long and the heat had made it nearly impossible to breathe, only her resistance passive protecting her from massive burns in her lungs.
Without pause, Blaze propelled herself at Astre. Her eyes widened as she phased through the figure of her enemy as if he was air. The illusion behind her dispersing as a dome of darkness rose around her.
She activated her ability to see heat signatures, boosting her staff she smashed into a figure next to her. She heard a clang of metal and the person was thrown to the side. Following immediately after it, she left the darkness.
Dropping her ability, she saw Astre stepping with his sword at her. Blaze immediately stepped backward, putting her weight on her left foot, and avoided the swing entirely. The figure dispersed, proving it was just another illusion.
Then arrow struck her left ankle, with all her weight on it, she collapsed to the ground. A trap triggered under her. A metal net enveloped her from all sides, blue dust settled on her body. She tried to melt it away but soon discovered she was unable to activate any ability.
Blaze kicked and thrashed, trying to get out, but with each movement, the net entangled her only more. Soon all movement was all but impossible. All her struggle only managed to reveal a bit of ground below her, exposing a blue circle under her.
Astre walked over to the lone guild leader. With sword in his hand, he pragmatically wanted to get over with his right away. He hoped that Blaze didn't have a lot of LP, or it may look like bullying. Not that he cared, he just wanted to end it and find a place to rest.
His hand hesitated, the eyes that always brimmed with anger, now looked empty and resigned. Astre sighed, that would be one anti-climactic resolution. She should have at least cursed at him a little.
His sword stabbed downward and missed. The earth under his feet shook, the volcano in the distance erupted. Hot and molten rocks spraying half a mile into the air. A black shadow rose from the epicenter of the explosion.
Giant claws clutched the edge of the volcano. Head the size of a mountain, a dragon with long golden horns and white whiskers, the width of a large tree, raised above the skies.
The dragon was covered in white scales. Its body that of a snake, long and coiling as it rose into the air. White mane stretching along the length of it's back. Two shining emerald eyes locked on Astre. The enormous mouth opened, white light gathered into a sphere in the jaw of the beast.
Astre released a hollow laugh and wondered if he annoyed the monster by creating tremors in its habitat. His luck was indeed the worst. He questioned what the devs were thinking, placing such a thing in the PVP tournament.
Suddenly a notification appeared in front of his eyes. Reading it, his eyes went wide in shock. This tournament would really turn into something crazy. He doubted anyone had been prepared for it.
As souls of the strongest stir the air. The beasts of Ragnarok awaken. The end is nearing. Ragnarok grade beasts are closing on the island. They will cause mayhem and destruction, destroying the landscape and turning zones into unhabitable land. It's recommended not to engage in combat with them.
The dragon mouth closed. It looked to the south, where a pillar of flames reaching the stratosphere erupted. Then looking behind it and it felt chill on its back. East and West didn't relive its worry. No longer carrying about the small human, it retreated high into the skies, soon disappearing from view, leaving a white trail behind.
Astre stared flabbergasted, the two mages from his newly founded alliance joined him in the endeavor. The pillar of flames continued to erupt, and while there were no changes in other directions, the reaction of the dragon told them there was something there.
As always, the two sisters were unreadable. But even they stared into the skies considering something. On the other hand, Blaze just stayed listlessly where she was, seemingly unconcerned with what was happening.
Astre shook himself awake, something like that would cause a lot of commotion and chaos in player behavior. He looked at Blaze, noticing her state he started to get curious, he also felt too tired to swing his sword anymore.
"What are you so upbeat about? It's hard to finish you if you act like that, I feel like a bully," Astre commented, sitting down as he felt his legs would soon have given up on their own anyway.
"..." Blaze looked at him, and for a while, she had a questioning look in her eyes. "Why would you care?"
"I don't really," the adventurer shrugged. "We squabbled so many times, so I decided to ask, ask me why when I'm less tired."
"I don't understand you as always..." she said under her breath. "If you need to know, I needed to win if I wanted to quit and still get my money."
"Ah, the usual newbie idol, or rather an influencer contract, however, they like to call it" noted Judgment. Astre gave her a questioning look, so she explained, "Most companies like Blaze's nowadays, hire young internet stars with a promise of pay rather than an actual paycheck. It's a legal mess, and lawsuits are flying all around because of it. It's also the only way to become a presence on the internet without getting squashed by a more prominent player."
"Huh, sounds shady" Astre let out a surprised huff. Thinking for a bit, he questioned, "Do you need to win personally? How was it worded?"
"I or in case of team battle, my team need to place in the top three. I guess they included that if someone from my guild won," Blaze recited. "Look, what are you getting at? I know you, you are a greedy bastard, you won't let me kill you just because you feel pity."
"True, but what if your team won, you just weren't the leader of it?" Astre asked.
"They would probably spout some bullshit and not pay me," Blaze concluded.
"They probably would," stated Judgment. "But a skilled lawyer could probably change their mind if you actually won in a team. If it is worded like that."
"What are you getting at?" Blaze questioned her voice filled with suspicion.
"Disband your alliance and accept my invitation," Astre offered bluntly.
"What?" the red-haired woman expressed dumbly.
"Jeez, Astre is offering you a second chance. You can also get some revenge on that company of yours. We are in a pretty good position to win, you know," Judgment stated.
"Don't you worry that I will stab you in the back? It's not like we are friends or anything?" Blaze asked, some energy returning to her voice.
Astre looked behind himself at the chasm he crafted. "Unless it's something like that, I wouldn't worry too much," he remarked, pointing with his thumbs behind him. "I wanted to bury that stupid war hatchet anyway. Honestly, I already don't remember how all of it started, and it's just giving the rumors more twigs to the bonfire."
Blaze looked at him before chuckling, "Me either. Won't this give even more reasons to the rumors?" she questioned. Then shook her head, "Fine, let's do this, maybe this way, I can get better closure."
Soon Astre alliance's members number increased by one. Then Blaze spoke, "With that done. Can you free me? This net is really uncomfortable."
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"Where are we going?" Blaze asked as she walked at the back of the group.
"Someplace I think will be safe now," Astre answered, laying on a quickly made stretcher. He found himself being carried by the two sisters, who were the strongest physically from the group, more than a tad embarrassing. After sitting down and relaxing, his legs refused to work.
The group currently traveled through the tunnels underneath the mountains. Astre decided to return to the spot where his key acted up. He didn't know if the item would lead him to a reward or more danger. From only its name, he could guess it would be a place at least. What 'Progenitor's Sanctuary' meant, he didn't know.
He only thought it would be safe since he had seen the dragon leaving. Considering the item dropped from peak legendary grade boss, if the key were to lead to danger, it would probably be a mythic boss. He thoroughly doubted there would be more than one of those on the whole island.
"What's that?" asked Judgment when Astre pulled out the crystal key from his inventory.
"It dropped from the boss we fought," the leader informed, his voice tired.
"You fought a boss?" Blaze questioned, surprised. "Doesn't sound like a risk you would take."
"Wasn't my choice, abducting guild orders," Astre commented.
"You really screwed sunnies over, didn't you, well their fault for trusting you when they had something to lose," Blaze stated, then added, "Just so we are clear, I'm thankful for the chance."
"I was too," chuckled Astre before wincing from the pain.
Judgment looked at him worriedly, "What did you even do to yourself? You are already healed to the max and drank few mind potions."
"My regeneration should have gotten rid of some mental stress too," remarked Hermes, his eyes shifting to look at the red-haired woman behind him from time to time. Blaze seemed to ignore it.
"I feel a bit better now. Could probably walk on my own," the adventurer said half pleading.
"No. Rest," spoke Sanguine, who held the front of the stretcher. Eclipse nodded.
Astre could only sight, "What happened up there? After I left?"
"I fought and overwhelmed the sunnies, only the teleporting elf archer was a problem, but after my mages pinned him down, he went down quickly," Blaze explained. "If not for a certain mage tricking me and raining down lighting on my men when they were tired, we would have been looking for you in a group. I wasn't even surprised when I learned she was with you, are you related or something?"
Astre turned his head slowly, to not cause himself more pain, looking at the prideful smile on Judgment face he answered, "No. Though that made me interested."
"Just some psychological warfare," Judgment declared, her nose high.
"I thought I have gotten less naive, but her acting was quite something," Blaze commented with a sigh.
"I didn't hear what you said since I was further away, trying not to die," announced Hermes. "Only saw Flash hiding his face in his hands for some reason."
"It's probably better not to repeat that," Judgment said bashfully.
"True," added Blaze.
"Eh, wasn't it recorded to the public anyway?" said Hermes, interested.
"Probably got censored by the system," remarked Blaze.
"What?" Hermes let out surprised.
"It's probably best not to prod," suggested Astre. Thinking how to change the topic, he spoke, "Shame about Flash, if I were in better condition, I would have been able to help."
"No grudges though, I'm not going to hold any over my whole guild being dead, so don't hold any over protecting myself," Blaze protected herself.
"You are a lot nicer than I expected," Astre commented.
"Oh?" the red-haired woman released questioningly in a cold breath.
"I mean, well, you were always hostile towards me?" the alliance leader added quickly.
"Hmph," she huffed with annoyance at the reminder. "Considering you were the cause of most of my problems with work, mostly because of the rumors, I may have been a bit negative. It's good not to have to be warry of that at all times."
Astre decided to leave that without a comment on the 'bit' part. After that, silence descended upon the group. It seemed that further talks would come once they were somewhere safe. As currently, only Blaze could detect enemies with her heat vision. Astre didn't want to depend on her, but he had no choice as he couldn't activate any ability without backlash.
"Go right here," Astre directed as the sisters stopped, looking at an intersection of tunnels. "We are close."
With few more turns, they found themselves over the crater created from Zesimos' final attack. Its surface was ideally flat, making it more slippery than ice. Astre asked for them to lower him and stood up on his own.
He still felt horrible, he wondered whatever the cause was in his in-game body or the real one. Not that he could log out and check, and if the health protocols didn't detect anything wrong, he shouldn't have to worry too much. The capsule used the same systems that hospitals used to monitor and regulate patients.
"What made that?" asked Hermes curiously, touching the ground.
"Zesimos," Astre told dismissingly. He walked over to the hole in the crater carefully. He pulled out a simple scroll from his inventory of mage light and passed it to Hermes, it was one of many things he managed to get by looting the bodies.
Hermes nodded and cast the spell. A blue ball of light appearing between his fingers. The sphere lowered itself down, lighting up a corridor made of limestone bricks. It was only a few feet high drop, so the party lowered itself slowly, only helping Astre, who was still unsteady on his feet.
The corridor wasn't long and mostly unadorned outside of a few pillars along the walls. The group soon found itself in front of a circular engraving on a wall blocking their path. Astre pulled out the key, now shining more brightly than ever.
"Found this place mostly through luck, let's see if it holds up," muttered Astre as he put the key in a pattern on the wall.
The carvings came to life—each symbol shining with colored light. Astre recognized one, the alchemical triangle of fire shining in red. Water, earth, and air were evident thanks to their colors, but the hundreds of others, he had no idea what they represented.
He wasn't given much more time to think as white light shined from the structure, enveloping all of them. Soon, Astre felt the familiar feeling of displacement. Opening his eyes, he marveled at the sight of a beautiful garden, shining crystal in a rocky ceiling and a dome-shaped building made of white stone in the distance.
You discovered Progenitor's Sanctuary Do you wish to make it your alliance's base? The location will be set to private and won't be broadcasted to viewers of the tournament unless trespassed by a non-allied player. Yes/No?