“Damn it! Hurry up, we’re so late!”
“Hey! Don’t blame me. How was I supposed to know that dungeon had that kind of trap!? Damn thing stole several hours more than we planned. It’s almost midnight. I bet the Oni Hill battle has most likely reached its climax.”
Two adventurers argued as they spurred their mounts towards Meilfour. The older of the two clucked his tongue as he muttered, “Fortunately Black Beard said they’re playing a live coverage from the Emporium at Meilfour, cause we never would’ve made it back to Aygorzi in time.”
The younger one eyes shone as he thought of the magnificent Emporium. Sometimes he could not believe that mere gamers came up with such a beautiful design. His brows then furrowed in anxious worry as he thought of the Emporium’s main attraction. “Do you think Ms. Lunette will be alright? She’s just a singer. Even if her buffs are powerful, any stray arrow can kill her.”
“Pfft. Lunette should be the least of your worries.” The older adventurer snorted at his younger companion’s shock. “That’s right. You just transferred to Merriheim’s branch so you don’t know yet. In Merriheim, the scariest things aren’t the monsters with thick muscles and magic, but those that use music.”
“What? Does that make sense?”
“Whether it makes sense or not is something you’ll realize when there’s a stick pierced through your brain.” The older adventurer’s eyes brightened with joy when Meilfour’s brand new walls appeared on the horizon. “Less chit-chat. Give your mount all you’ve got. We’re going to double-time it.”
With those words, the adventurers spurred their mounts even harder. As if sensing the end of the journey, the mounts fully complied and brought out 120% of their normal max speed. With that, the adventurers rode into the town in less than three minutes.
Surprisingly, no one checked them at the gate, but they soon realized why when they saw a gigantic gathering outside the Emporium. Every guard in Meilfour had been reassigned to this location to ensure no fights broke out.
“Ah! Miss Lunette!” The younger brother screamed in shock as he stared at a giant projection on the Emporium’s outer wall. The adventurers were just in time to see an overhead view of Oni Hill’s main battlegrounds as the undead launched themselves at Lunette and Jade to destroy these two strategic locations. “Ah! She’s in trouble! What are the warriors doing? Why is no one going to help her?”
“Help her?” A random adventurer chuckled as he looked at the young adventurer. “Shut up and watch, noob. God Lunette isn’t someone these undead can touch.”
“G-god Lunette?” The young adventurer barely had time to process his shock before he let out another scream. God Lunette had just left the skyboat’s protection and was walking on the air towards the incoming undead missiles.
“Hahaha! The show’s about to start.” The random adventurers’ eyes suddenly turned blood-red as he started clapping and hollering at the top of his lungs. “Oi, admin turn up the volume!” Even more shockingly, most of the adventurers at the Emporium shared the same reaction. These veterans of Lunette’s concerts seemed to sense something as their turbulent emotions were like a lit fuse leading to a powder keg.
“Watch closely, Grim Sky.” The older adventurer suddenly said as he gazed at Lunette’s floating figure. “Look how true Merrites fight.”
***
“Are you sure you don’t need help, Falsetto-kun?” Atop the skyboat, Lufer asked as he glanced at Lunette in the distance. Despite the loud music and battling sounds, he wasn’t afraid she couldn’t hear him. To musicians like them, their ears were one of their greatest assets.
Lunette smiled as a grand piano appeared in front of her. If Kashi was here, he would have recognized it as the grand piano he saved from the corrupt mayor’s vault. It was all fixed up, shiny, and somehow floating in the air alongside Lunette. “It won’t be necessary Lufer-san.” Lunette glanced at the battle going on below and added, “The army cannot be deprived of the orchestra’s buffs for even one second. That’s exactly the undeads’ goal. We cannot play into their hands.” A confident grin played across her lips as she sat down and played a note. “Besides… I do not think I need help to defeat these monsters. I’m not the same helpless girl I was when we fought Belrug.
Lufer revealed a hapless smile as translucent avatars wielding different instruments began appearing around Lunette with each key she played. These avatars bore a striking resemblance to the songstress, except dressed differently like they were incarnations from parallel worlds.
“That’s where you’re wrong.” Lufer shook his head as the violinist incarnation joined Lunette’s tune, followed soon by a drummer. “You have never been helpless.” His gaze then hardened as he firmly turned his back to her and focused on the orchestra. “Alright. We can’t hold her back! Everyone, WarBringer, Movement 3! We’re going on the attack!”
Lunette’s fingers blurred as she poured everything into a new song. The powerful notes exploded with a will to destroy everything in its path. The never-ending crescendo was akin to a warrior walking the path of vengeance. It would continue to destroy until the object of vengeance was destroyed. Victory or Death! There were no other outcomes!
In a forgotten realm, several ancient souls began to stir from their eternal slumber. These vague souls trembled as Lunette’s song pierced the veil between realms and poured upon them. Like starved beasts, the souls ‘drank’ the song’s heart-thumping tunes as their souls began gaining definition.
Within a few seconds, the ‘souls’ took the forms of several warriors armed with drumsticks, bows, violins, and many more musical instruments. There should have been a sense of incongruity stemming from the clashing heavy armors and instruments. But, somehow, the picture just seemed right. It was like these warrior souls should never wield anything but instruments.
The ‘souls’ eyes sharpened as power flowed through their bodies. Buoyed by the thunderous music, several wings burst out of the souls’ backs and they charged into the skies. However, halfway to the distant sky, they began disappearing one by one as if summoned to another dimension.
And summoned they were.
Back at Oni Hill, Lunette’s figure pulsed with incredible power as she channeled Suvron’s God’s Mark. Not only did Suvron’s God’s Mark give her incredible mana, but the exclusive skill [ All for One ] turned Lunette into a one-man army for as long as she could maintain the various projections.
“Human! Die!” A falling undead roared as it shot down from the sky, pointing its spear at the vulnerable songstress.
Many across Destia had their chests rise to their mouths at the perilous scene. They still could not understand why Lunette left the protection of Lufer’s [Show Must Go On] barrier. She would just die here. Some lamented the hubris of a rising star, and others mocked her with schadenfreude.
Bottom line, very few actually believed she had a chance of surviving this encounter. This was why the next few seconds left many gaping mouths across Destia.
BAM! The undead’s spear suddenly paused mid-flight. The blue will-o-wisps flickered as it stared at a shimmering figure that seemed to be made up of thousands of musical notes. The figure had stopped the spear with what looked like a pair of cymbals.
“Hohoho. Now, that is a rare sight.” Above the skies, Fladnag chuckled as he admired the strange musical ghost. “So, Song Sprites still existed? I thought the Chaos Order destroyed the pathway for good.”
“Your ill-words wound my heart,” Cathek objected with faked pain. “Even with all my faults I would never condone eliminating an entire species like that.”
Zeing snorted. “But you ordered the destruction of all tomes referencing the Song Sprites. You know the Song Spirtes need music to sustain their existence. What you did is no different from killing them.”
“That’s where you are wrong, Zeing.” Cathek revealed a thin smile. “Song Sprites can survive for up to a hundred years without music, albeit in a weakened state. I judged that the Summoned would return before that time expired. Believe me, I would never consign such works of art to an unjust extinction. If I did, I would be the first person Razznik beheaded upon his return. You all know how fiercely protective he can be, right?” Cathek sent a deliberate look at Sayen as he spoke.
Sayen looked away. She knew better than most. After all, the nations in the past used Razznik’s protective nature as justification to launch attacks at Oni Hill.
A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.
“Either way, it’s good to see the Song Sprites back. I’m guessing Suvron’s Mark revealed the pathway to the songstress.” Cathek praised without a hint of deceit. It was impossible to tell what the kafu was thinking. “Merriheim suddenly got a lot stronger.” Cathek glanced at his sleeping brother. “You know, I’m jealous of your champion. Why does he seem to get all the best toys?”
As usual, Bert ignored his brother.
Cathek awkwardly chuckled, but then looked back at the battle below. “Well, let’s see how she does. A song sprite’s power is directly proportional to the musician’s skill. I wonder just how powerful she truly is.”
“I think you will be surprised.” Rider suddenly spoke up, causing the rest to look at him in shock. Unlike Cathek, Rider was the type to treat each word spoken like gold. He would never say something if he wasn’t certain.
BOOM!
Simultaneous loud explosions brought everyone’s attention to the battlefield. They then stared in shock as they watched dozens of Song Sprites break out of the void and charge at the falling undead. They then blasted the missiles out of the sky using various instruments. One smacked its drumsticks against an undead, shattering it to dust, while another strum its harp, sending out several sound waves that minced a couple of undead.
The rapid reversal and show of power left many stunned, but the undead were not a species that understood fear. Upon seeing that the initial approach did not work, the undead immediately switched to plan B.
Plan B resulted in multiple explosions. The undead self-imploded, sending hundreds of thousands of bones flying through the air.
The Song Sprites quickly retreated to protect Lunette from the dangerous debris. However, the bones stunned everyone by circling around before coagulating in the sky.
Initially, many hot-blooded men and women stared in anticipation of a mega-undead. Every one of these people grew up watching Saturday morning cartoons with fusing mega robots, so their enthusiasm was understandable.
Unfortunately, reality was oft disappointing.
The hundreds of thousands of bones did coagulate in the sky. Unfortunately, rather than a mecha-undead, they combined onto a giant bony platform suspended in the sky. The platform, which was about as long as three football fields, allowed subsequent undead to land safely a distance from Lunette and her Song Sprites.
The undead planned it out perfectly. With Lunette’s Song Sprites at a distance, they could land safely without worrying about getting struck by archers from below. The platform itself was subject to heavy bombardment, but the undead were confident in its ability to last long enough for them to utterly destroy Lunette and the orchestra.
Within the span of a few seconds, several dozens of undead made it through the coalition’s bombardment and successfully landed on the platform.
This second batch was filled with the elites of elites. The dreadful mana emanating from their bones could be felt several miles away.
Faced with this overwhelming force, Lunette did not panic, but rather, stood up from the grand piano as another song avatar took her place. Following this, she softly clapped her hands as her smile slowly turned ferocious.
*Clap* *Clap* *dudududu dududu*
The drums beat a boastful response to Lunette’s claps as she stepped onto the bone platform. As she walked forward, the Song Sprites congregated around her as both claps and drums turned more fervent.
Battle intent rumbled in Lunette’s eyes as she stopped about twenty meters away from the advancing undead warriors. The confident songstress grinned as she stomped the ground, and then snapped her fingers.
Cheers erupted in Merriheim as eager fans recognized their maiden’s iconic pose.
Lunette grinned as musical notes sprung up from the ground and began circling her body. With a flash, the notes transformed into a beautiful dark dress that sparkled like the hidden cosmos. Lunette’s favored skill, [ War Dress ] turned a musician’s original composition into a dress or armor that would last the duration of the composition’s song. The type of buffs the dress/armor gave was also dependent on the type of song.
Lunette’s current [War Dress] was composed of a hard-hitting, aggressive composition titled ‘Valkyrie’s Charge.’ It boosted her speed and power, while significantly reducing her defense.
Of course, the [War Dress] was not without limits. It massively drained its wielder’s mana reserves. Like a beautiful song, the [War Dress] lifted its wielder’s to the heavens before unceremoniously dumping them back to earth on the final note.
Lunette, however, did not seem to care about this limitation. She simply grinned as she charged alongside the Song Sprites amidst thumping drums.
Empowered by the [War Dress], Lunette soon reached the foremost Drugher General. The monstrous seven-foot undead roared as it cleaved at the advancing songstress.
Many onlookers choked in fright at the insane speed. The undead was much faster than its size implied. However, their shock only intensified when Lunette gracefully dropped to the ground, seamlessly sliding underneath the deadly blow.
The songstress smiled as she slipped beneath the Drugher General’s feet, making sure to throw two palm strikes at its calves that matched up with the music’s beat.
Bam! Bam! Shockingly, incredible force escaped the dainty palms, causing the Drugher General to awkwardly buckle in place. The enraged Drugher General roared in anger as it turned to stab at the pesky female. Unfortunately for it, however, Lunette had already hopped a distance away, rhythmically skipping across the platform like she was playing a dancing video game.
The enraged Drugher General wanted to give chase, but… BAM!
A Song Sprite smashed its violin bow against the Drugher General’s helmet. The attack did not deal too much damage. This was a Drugher General after all. But it did draw the Drugher Generals’ attention to three Song Sprites that immediately engaged it in a fierce battle.
Freed from the greatest threat, Lunette sprung into the mass of Drugher Knights and Soldiers with reckless abandon. Her steps quickened in line with the rising tempo as she skipped through and retaliated against the Drughers’ attacks.
Each slap released powerful shockwaves that outright destroyed the Drugher Soldiers, while injuring the knights. The intelligent undead quickly figured out that Lunette’s attacks were much more potent when she hit in tune with the playing song, so they tried to predict and dodge her movements based on the music.
“No! That’s impossible!” Yong-Su blurted out as he watched the Drughers’ unnatural movements. The unfortunate undead tried to dodge Lunette, but their bodies appeared recalcitrant.
The undeads’ janky movements failed to take them out of Lunette’s attack range. At first, it did not make any sense, but upon closer inspection, it became obvious that the Drughers seemed to move in accordance to the song’s tempo.
The strange movements caused it to seem like Lunette and the Drughers were engaged in an elaborate choreographed dance that incidentally ended in the Drughers’ destruction. The Transcendents immediately recognized the phenomenon. A domain! The ability that bent the very laws of nature and physics to its wielder’s specialties within a certain range.
“That’s a domain! How can she use it? Is she a Transcendent!?” Yong-Su’s eyes practically spewed flames as he glared at Brock and the others. “You hid a transcendent from us? Is there even a point to this farce then?” The pirate slammed the table and made to stand up.
“Do not overreact, Yong-Su.” Damah Dumm’s powerful, yet calm voice stopped Yong-Su in his tracks. The mertian extended a warm smile as he rebuked, “Look closely. The lady is not a true Transcendent yet. She is merely utilizing the God’s Mark to temporarily cross that threshold. Look, you can see the domain is not that stable.”
Yong-Su snorted, but even he was not brazen enough to offend Damah Dumm for no reason. He thus complied and observed Lunette’s battle. Indeed, like the elusive merchant stated, Lunette’s domain was not stable. He could see that some Drughers were able to break out of the choreography, if only temporarily.
Fortunately, that brief moment alone was enough to show that Lunette was not a Transcendent—not a true one anyway.
Yong-Su quickly sat down after clarifying the issue. He did not doubt the outcome as long as Lunette was not a Transcendent. She would soon run out of mana and then it would be lights out for—
Crackle! BOOM!
Thousands of hearts leaped to their throats in unison as a two-meter-thick lightning bolt suddenly blasted a giant hole through the bone platform. Several Drughers instantly went flying in various directions. The lightning’s pure yang/holy energy ground their yin/death-infused bodies to dust in an instant.
Before anyone could process what was going on, soft laughter emanated from the hole as a familiar woman flew through the lightning while covered in lightning arcs.
Yuhi Jade flashed an evil grin as she looked at the scrambling undead. “Oh, I’m sorry. Did you chew toys think we were easy targets?” She smiled as she flicked several coins into the air and then pulled back her middle finger. Powerful electric arcs poured from her hands onto the coins causing them to rapidly heat up as they spun in the air. Then, with a shit-eating grin, she flicked the first coin.
“Eat Shit, Boneheads!”