A young man appeared in the center of the circle as the bright flash faded. He looked around, realizing he was in the center he made way towards an open space within the circle.

‘Glad you could join us, Shadow,’ a man spoke. The man had a dark complexion with a solemn yet trustworthy face. He wore a long brown robe, made of some rough looking material. He had a large wooden staff in his hand and a sword strapped to his side. 

‘It seemed like the right thing to do,’ the young man replied to the Druid with a tone of respect.

‘Ha! the right thing to do, you know we’re all going to die right, like not even a fight, just deleted from existence, as if we were never here.’ Another man spoke with a derisive tone.

‘If you’re so scared then fuck off’ said a tall man wrapped in an eirie grey robe.

‘I’m not scared. I’m just stating the likely end to our heroic tale,’ he spoke each word, dripping with sarcasm. 

The young man watched as they argued. He knew who they were, everyone did. The Demon and that necromancer were two of the most infamous players on the continent. 

‘Would you all stop whining, it’s getting annoying’ a woman dressed in a rather fancy dress spoke as she continued reading the book in her hands.

Another flash went off in the center.

The Demon glared at the woman who interrupted him. ‘What the hell is a native doing here anyway, you know why we’re here right, to kill your god, not a god, the god, the one who made this shitty world, and stuck us in it all because he was being a little bitch.’

‘Oh really, I thought we were all here for a picnic, I’ll be damned.’ Another woman sporting a greatsword and a longbow appeared as the light settled down. ‘Brought my favorite casserole too.’ She said as she feigned a look of disappointment. She walked right next to the necromancer hugging his arm. ‘Hey bonesy, long time no see,’ she spoke with a rather mischievous smile. He rolled his eyes, yet he couldn’t help but show a warm smile.

‘Hey Shadow’ the young man heard his name as he felt someone poke his arm. He turned to the young person next to him. He saw a man who barely looked old enough to be called so. He saw red scales that covered much of his body and noticed a tail swinging slightly behind him. His wings were closed tightly behind his back. 

‘Did he just smile, are they like together?’ The dragon like man looked curiously at the two.

‘Looks like it’ the young man responded with a shrug.

‘Well I can’t say I ever expected them to get together’ the dragon spoke with a face of intrigue.

Three more bright lights appeared simultaneously. Each revealing a figure. The first was a burly man. He had a buzzed head and a scraggly beard. He wore various hides as armor and on his back was a wicked looking spear-like weapon. The next man was short and pudgy. He wore unusually normal clothes and looked rather nervous being the center of attention. By his side was a beautiful woman who looked flawless. She was carrying a rather large device in her hands.

‘Uhh, hey guys,’ the pudgy man spoke. ‘Uhh, oh yeah, C-3 can you set that down over there.’ 

‘Of course,’ the flawless woman responded with a sweet voice that seemed to lack any emotion. She walked over to the indicted spot and dropped it on the ground.

‘Don’t drop it!’ the pudgy man yelled as he turned his body cowering away from the device. He slowly turned back towards it cautiously looking at it. ‘Whew, that coulda been bad.’ 

‘And what’s that exactly,’ the woman in the dress stopped reading her book, looking at the device with mild interest.

‘It’s a nuke, well not a real one, but like a magic one, it’s a, well, very big bomb,’ the pudgy man stumbled through his words purposely avoiding eye contact with the woman.

‘We got it, it’s a bomb, will it do anything,’ the Demon spoke rather interested in the device.

‘It should, I think,’ the pudgy man nervously responded. 

‘Shadow.’ The burly man suddenly spoke as he walked towards the young man. 

‘Hey Arron,’ the young man replied, glad to see a friendly face. ‘Finally kill that thing?’

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‘Yep, took me like three months to track it down and another one to finally beat it. Do you need anything from it? 

‘Not sure, lets get through this first.’

‘Fair enough.’ Arron turned around eyeing the others. ‘Quite a team.’

‘Alright that's enough,’ the druid spoke with a particular finality, drawing the attention of the others. ‘Others will probably join us late but we can fill them in. So are we ready to kill god?’ He chucked at his statement, it seemed ridiculous, yet here they were. ‘Well, let’s get started. The Demon, the necromancer, and I will send in what we can, followed by the various armies that have pledged their support. Those with high individual combat skills will seek and destroy high profile targets and make their way to end this nightmare. Everyone else, ah fuck, just do what your good at and hope for the best.'

‘Is he joining us?’ the dragon asked with anticipation.

The Druid sighed. ‘I don’t know, he disappeared after Arnold, and well if he is alive I’m sure he’ll come. I hope he does at least. He’ll be the answer we need for Saraphi.’ 

The necromancer brought out a large grimoire that reeked of death and black magic. He opened it, a dark miasma calmly radiating from it. He began chanting as numerous gates and portals opened. Legions of undead walked through them, the larger ones showcased his trophies. Multiple skeletal and zombie dragons, a seven headed hydra that was clearly missing a head, numerous undead giants, and a single colossus. Each and every portal brought something powerful and fierce. Finally one of his own creations came from a rather haunting portal. These undead horrors were infamous and have become horror stories passed on throughout the continent.

The Demon, not willing to be outdone, began summoning his army. Numerous imps, demons, possessed, and other creatures came from the torn ground. Wicked screams and excited howls contrasted against the cold and calm march of the undead. Each of the players in the circle felt rather uncomfortable. One side gave off a bone chilling cold that pierced through the soul. The other had an intense heat that seemed to engulf the spirit. 

Shadow walked away from the group as he walked towards the edge of the cliff. His eyes scanned the valley below as he saw moving masses of people, creatures, undead, and demonic beings. He sighed as he looked towards the enemy. The large city with a massive citadel in the middle. He could see outlines of the armies that protected its walls. This is really it, huh. He heard someone approaching him. Judging by the loud clank of their armor, he had a good idea who it was.

‘You ready Shadow?’ 

Shadow tuned to see the man, his bright silver armour seemed to light up his surroundings. ‘Ugh, don't call me that’

‘Why not, it's the name you got stuck with might as well use it.’

‘It's pretty damn cliche if you ask me’ the young man complained. ‘Well I guess it's better than The Hero.’ The young man gave a chuckle.

‘You're telling me, Hero this Hero that, quite tiresome when people think your something bigger than you are.’

‘Aren't you selling yourself short, not anyone can do what you did.’

‘Too little too late i'm afraid’ the Hero spoke with a downcast face.

‘We’ll see, did you bring the templars?’

‘Would I go anywhere without them?’

‘Fair enough.’ Shadow pulled out a blade from its sheath. He twirled it in his hand with grace.

‘Dude what the hell is that thing!’ The Hero yelled as he looked at the sinister blade. ‘How cursed does something have to be to give off that type of aura.’

Shadow laughed. ‘I guess it is pretty bad, just lost half my health holding it.’

‘What the hell, put it away!’

‘Just fucking with you, hasn’t done that for quite a while,’ Shadow spoke with a cheesy grin on his face.

The Hero shivered, ‘wouldn't surprise me if it did.’

They both turned around as they felt something off. In the middle of the circle they could see a spatial distortion as the very air seemed to twist and turn, it grew a bit until they heard a loud snapping sound and saw a woman fall out of it. The moment she hit the ground the earth shook a bit. She stood up and dusted herself off. She had messy dirty blonde hair, and the body of a world class athlete. She wore torn up baggy pants that barely covered her knees, and her chest was bound with white cloth. She had four large cuffs on her wrist and angles with broken chains of varying sizes attached. She looked through the crowd not lingering for more than a second at each person.

The normally stoic Druid finally called out to her. ‘Glad you could make it Allysa, did you finally beat him?’

‘What do you think,’ she spoke with an arrogant tone.

‘Well that’s good to hear, i'm a bit more confident now.’

She scoffed as she continued looking for someone.

‘Looks like she’s one of us now.’ Shadow spoke to the man beside him. He nodded as he slowly made his way from the edge of the cliff. Shadow smiled, as he slowly walked in the other direction. ‘Good luck’

Her gaze finally landed on her target, a smile formed on her face. 

‘Oh Shi-‘ a loud crack was heard as a cannonball of a girl crashed into him, sending both of them flying 30 meters.

Shadow shook his head as he headed towards the group.

‘Shadow get over here!’ the Druid yelled with a sense of urgency. The young man walked towards him. ‘The Vegas guild was wiped and the Joirs got tied up, they said it’s Kohren. Can you take him?’

Shadow thought for a minute. ‘Yeah I should be able to, send Moira too if she’s available.’

‘Good, well, guess this is really happening,’ the Druid spoke with a solemn smile.

The young man nodded as he walked towards the teleportation circle. He was calm, a blade appearing in his hand as a  cold smile slowly stretched across his face.