The two elders smiled at each other, although something about their gaze felt different. Anton then heard a rustle from the bushes near them. He saw a shadow moving in the corner of his eyes.
“Leap,” Anton readied his legs.
“Speed Enhance!” Anton yelled while leaping into the shaft.
“Wind Breath!” he sent a gust of wind downward to stop his fall. Back up on the surface, the action started.
“Hiah!” Charlotte yelled. Anton couldn’t see the fight from the tunnel, so he waited for the two elders. A while later, they jumped into the tunnel.
“Float!” Anton yelled while pointing toward the two elders. He clenched his fists carefully, slowing them down. He pointed toward the human side, the two quickly moving aside. Charlotte then fell inside.
“Flo-” the spell didn’t trigger in time, and Charlotte crashed into the tunnel floor. An enemy came from above, his sword pointed at her. She rolled out of the way, and with a horizontal slash, cut through the enemy’s feat. It threw the enemy off-balance. Charlotte did a quick follow-up attack and finished him. She then stepped aside, with the rest of Anton’s group jumping into the tunnel.
“Campfire!” Lucy yelled, using the spell to light up the tunnel. Lea did the same, their fires giving light to the darkness. Anton pointed toward the human side of the tunnel. The rest of the group quickly circled the elders.
“Kayla, you and the rest evacuate the elders. Charlotte And I will hold out.”
“Roger!” Kayla traded words with the elders. A couple of soldiers from both sides came down to the tunnel.
“Everyone, follow their orders!”
“Humans, I’m giving you leadership. I trust in your judgments!” both elders declared.
They started running toward the human side of the tunnel. Several soldiers went to accompany them. Unlike Arco, the Sumbar elder, Wei didn’t have many escorts. Anton recognized the few soldiers that did come with him and let them through. Around eight Sumbar soldiers also went to escort their elder, while the rest stayed behind to block the path. Several human soldiers stayed behind as well.
Their attackers then fall into the tunnel. They crashed to the ground, but quickly got up. Anton recognized those soldiers from two years ago. They wore the same armor and had the same weapons.
“Everyone, charge!” Anton aimed his staff forward and leaped without hesitation. Those liars, those people who hurt Kayla. An unsuspecting soldier turned toward him, only to disappear the next moment.
“YEAH!” with a loud warcry, the rest of the group went toward the group of soldiers, brandishing their swords.
One of the Sumbar soldiers muttered a spell and fired upward, creating a ball of flames on the roof, right next to the hole that connected the tunnel and the outside world. The enemy soldiers leaped back and started firing their guns at the army.
“Wind Shield!” Anton yelled. He stayed in place, standing in front of the attacking force, putting himself in the hail of bullets.
The bullets quickly depleted his shield but not his health. He stabbed the staff toward an enemy, forcing them to fall back. He then leaped away. Charlotte took his position and struck the final blow. Two enemies down, a lot more to go. The fight soon turned into a large brawl, with Sumbar soldiers aimed with physical weapons closing the distance. The human soldiers moved backward, crouched down, and fired their rifles. Anton saw shadows coming from above. He dodged an incoming attack, stabbed the enemy, before jumping back.
He then retreated back toward the group of human soldiers. More and more enemies entered the tunnel. Some wore normal modern armor, while others wore Sumbar armor. They had no markings, though.
The brawl became chaotic. From behind, Anton saw Charlotte slashing right through a group of enemy soldiers.
“HIYAAAAH!” Charlotte roared. The two NPCs fell and disappeared. She quickly scanned the area in search of another enemy. She noticed a Sumbar swordsman fighting off another Sumbar swordsman. She targeted the one that didn’t have the tree marking and sliced through him.
“Thank you, human,” the swordsman said.
Charlotte blushed and nodded slightly. The two part ways, searching for their own enemies. As the battle continued on, more and more enemies entered the tunnel. Most of them didn’t stand a chance, however, as the size of the shaft limited the amount of enemies that could fall into it at once. Many of them were distracted by the darkness and the tunnel, as well.
Anton spotted one of the enemy soldiers aiming toward a Sumbar soldier. He had his hands up toward the ceiling, maintaining the flames.
“Steel Strike!” Anton dashed toward the enemy and stabbed him from behind, right before the person could fire a shot.
Anton continued his strikes, looking for more enemies. Anton struck through another soldier, this one an impostor wearing an unmarked Sumbar uniform. After taking the soldier out, he noticed that the fire in the ceiling started dimming.
“Campfire!” he held his right hand up high, giving light to the underground battlefield.
The soldier that previously held the fire retreated and took a quick rest. Seeing him, two Sumbar soldiers approached him and guarded him against incoming enemies. They held enemy physical attackers in their position while Charlotte finished them off from behind. They also used their weapons to block any projectile coming toward him. While his right hand held the flames, his hand traveled to the group chat and activated the voice chat.
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“Kayla, where are you?” he asked through the voice chat, the two soldiers holding off the bullets for him. Charlotte behind them targeting whoever attacked him.
‘We just arrived at the peace zone. You think you can retreat to the human side of the tunnel?’ Alita asked through the voice chat.
“We’ll try. Everyone! We’re heading to the human side of the tunnel!” Anton yelled. The soldiers formed a line, with the resting soldier back to duty. He swapped positions with Anton, now lighting their way back. They moved backward, guarding against enemy attack.
Yet the soldiers coming through the hole refused to stop. If they got far, the enemy would be able to shoot at them from behind. He searched for a way to get all of the troops safely on the other side.
‘Charlotte, Anton! Hold on. Help is coming!’ he heard Daisy’s voice from the radio.
“Alright!” Anton replied.
Some of the Sumbar soldiers started swapping their swords for staff. They got behind the sword-wielders who acted as vanguards and tanks. They started firing magic at the enemy, side-by-side with the village elder’s guard. The combined attack made it tough for any enemy to attack them.
They slowly pulled back. The enemy continued falling. Despite having the upper hand, Anton noticed that the casters started losing Magical Energy. He didn’t use any complex spells and he had a large Magical Energy pool thanks to his level, so he never paid attention to them. It felt similar to using a heavy machine gun, all he did was continue firing.
But that wasn’t the case for NPCs. NPCs, especially the swordsmen, didn't have a large amount of Magical Energy. Once their Magical Energy ran out, they would be in a tough situation.
‘Charlotte! Anton! Go!’ Daisy said
‘I hope the Sumbar soldiers forgive us for doing this…’ Kayla muttered.
Once he heard their voices, he noticed the enemy stopped coming. He heard the roars of a cannon screaming above ground.
“Everyone, let’s go!” Anton yelled, and the entire group made a run for the exit.
* ••
After a few minutes, they arrived at the entrance to the human village. The Sumbars kept their guard up, even after entering the peace zone. They couldn’t see the peace zone notification, so it was understandable… probably. Anton didn’t know whether that was actually the case or not. AI companions could, he knew because Kayla sometimes pointed it out for him.
They made their way toward the bamboo shack that started their adventure. The two elders sat inside the shack, talking about something. Anton noticed the LAV missing, the rest of the group nowhere near them.
“Kayla where are…” Anton then heard the rumbling sound of a vehicle engine.
The Five-Seven parked next to the teak tree. Its front side covered with dirt and some scratches, with leaves and bushes weaved here and there. The rest of the group came from inside it. Kayla then approached him, looking downward.
“Umm…” she glanced toward the LAV before looking back at Anton. Anton smiled and patted her head.
“Thanks.”
Kayla’s eyes lit up the second she heard that. She looked at him with sparkling eyes.
“Warriors, come in,” the village elder called from the shack. The group then entered the shack.
The rest of the soldiers sat down outside, guarding the bamboo shack. Anton and the rest sat cross-legged on the bamboo floor, with the two elders sitting beside each other.
“We need to talk to you,” Arco, the Sumbar elder. The two elders exchanged glances before bowing their heads.
“We’re sorry.”
“And thank you,” they said. The entire group was taken aback by their words.
“We have made great mistakes. We have believed the lies that were fed to us by our enemies.”
“And we roped you all into this mess. So for that, we apologize,” the two said solemnly.
That was quick.
Anton thought, but considering that they had strayed so far from the original quest, the game probably struggled to generate even more content.
“What are your plans now?” Daisy asked. The human elder scratched his chin.
“First would be an official announcement of the reconciliation between our two villages, and after that, the official reopening of the tunnel that connected us. After that is where things become tricky. As you warriors know, many of the people who once lived in this village had moved out. We will need to convince them that it is safe for them.”
“And our enemies had sown distrust into the hearts of many Sumbars. It will take time before they can reaccept the humans, even longer than our lifespans, I believe.”
“After we leave this world, it will be our successor's task to learn from our mistake and fix the problem we and our generation started.”
The two elders then continued on with a lot of information. How the conflict started, how they actually knew each other before the conflict, and the changes they planned to bring. It took quite a while before they finished. The rest of the group started asking various questions. Anton remained seated, filling his mind with various not important thoughts as he waited.
Kayla sat there, unmoving, her eyes on the elders. She asked questions and paid attention to the answers. Eventually, the time came for them to finally go back to Norbva. The quest that lasted a few hours felt like it had gone for days. Anton and the rest waved toward the two elders, now standing side by side with a smile on their faces. Anton re-entered the driver’s seat and opened up the driver’s hatch. The rest entered the cabin and left the rear door in an open position.
They waved as the LAV turned around and headed back toward Norbva. Once they left the peace zone, they closed the hatches and sped away.
* ••
“Phew, that’s the end of it, eh?” Kayla asked while leaning back to the LAV’s white interior.
“Wow… the rewards are awesome!” Daisy said.
“That’s because you all are under leveled. You’re not supposed to take this quest with your levels,” Anton said, his eyes on the road. It didn’t take long for them to arrive back at Norbva. Anton parked the LAV in front of the Norbva Adventure Terminal, where the entire thing started. The group got off the LAV.
Anton then looked at the six girls that stood before him and Kayla.
“So that’s it, huh?” Michal said.
“Ah, that was fun!” Lea added.
“And that’s just one quest, I wonder what other quests would look like?” Sophie wondered. Anton looked to his right, Charlotte standing there silently, a thin smile on her face. He clenched his fist and lifted it up. Charlotte noticed. She glanced his way, before slowly lifting his hand and giving him a fistbump.
“Let’s see if we can take more quests.”
“Maybe tomorrow? It’s getting late, after all.”
“Hmm… yeah, you’re right.”
Anton then glanced toward Kayla, who stood there, giggling as she watched over the friend group.
“Should we go?” he asked.
“Ah, yeah,” Kayla nodded. Anton then noticed a virtual screen appearing before him. It came from Charlotte. He looked toward her and pressed ‘accept’.
“Ah, right, add us well,” Daisy said, sending him a friend request. He accepted hers and Michal’s.
“Alright. Stay safe now!” Kayla waved toward the group before entering the LAV. Anton smiled and entered. Kayla went to the driver’s seat and opened the hatch. The girls moved out of the way as the LAV turned back toward the road. Kayla and Anton waved from the front hatch before setting off, leaving Norbva behind.