Ahh, how long has it been?
An hour or longer? I'm actually starting to get a lot closer to not give any fucks anymore. Seriously, there's been 3 floors, and all of it has the same premise. There's this guy over here, kill it. There's this guy on the other floor, kill 'em.
There are no defining moments, at all. You would think that I'd change and stuff, but nope, nothing really happened. I'm still the not-so-apathetic, suicidal man who just so happens to get a brother to take care of.
And now, we're heading towards the great end. Good thing, this girl, Cylo, has convenient powers like this. Now we don't have to walk anymore.
Xiel: And we're here, again. We've seen the same layout... again.
Reus: At this point, I won't know where I was anymore if we haven't tracked the stairs that we had gone to.
Cylo: Uhhh, you know why there are actually empty rooms below this building? It's because this was use as a training site. By us, of course.
Nyx: Wait, so.. in a way.. no.. we were actually heading towards your lair? Like, charging head on?
Cylo: Yep.
Nyx: Oh man, that's cool.
Cylo: I have one question though, why did you actually come here? I know we were sent here to guard and all, but there's really nothing to guard.
Reus: What? But..
Cylo: But?
Xiel: Someone said that our teammate was taken here. Because of some reason. Then all of a sudden, the 2 of them attacked the whole tower and miserably failed, because it was heavily fortified. Soldiers came in, we beat the hell out of them, then got out, someone said that we need to go here because they said he was here.
Cylo: You're getting tricked. It's probably why they directed you here. Why the hell did you actually decided to come, then?!
Xiel: We don't have any leads, at all. So the only thing we can do is to actually take the guy's directions and come here.
Cylo: That's pretty stupid.
Xiel: Then what the hell are we supposed to do?! Stand and wait?! He's our damn friend, even if he is probably retarded.. but still!
Cylo: Alright then..
Honestly, Cylo isn't wrong. To charge straight on the enemy's base is stupid, even for us. But, even though it is cool, it's still risky because these guys are mortals. They could die, but they still charged head on. In a game, these guys are probably those "Friend-fueled characters". Don't get me wrong, I'm not bashing them, I'm simply just describing them.
I'm not taking her side, though. I just met her 2 hours ago.
Nyx: Is the crap talk done yet? Can anyone tell me the description of the next guy?
Cylo: That guy.. I.. I really don't know..
Nyx: The fuck? But isn't he your teammate?
Cylo: Well, yeah. Well, no.. uhmm, in the middle? Let's see... I have never seen his true face before.
Reus: The hell?
Cylo: No, really. Like, everytime we go on missions, he change faces. He's also not consistent about it, though, because he doesn't reuse old faces.
Nyx: He can change faces?
Somehow, that seems familiar...
Nyx: What about his guise then?
Cylo: I also don't know..
Nyx: Damn it, why the hell did we even bother to take you, anyway?
Cylo: Seriously, we're also pissed as well. He sits out almost every missions, and if he did get assigned to one, it's a solo mission.
Reus: They're.. trying to hide him?
Cylo: God, no. Everyone knows him.. well, based on his ranking. Rumors, and rumors spread, making him the myth that surrounds this city.. that, and how this place is in the middle of a desert, and a forest with decent water supply. Somehow, I think that one is stranger.. why not just move the city in the forest..?
Nyx: So.. basically, he's stronger than all of you guys?
Cylo: In rank, yes. I don't know, I haven't seen his skill. Anyway, here we are. The same stairs, and the same scenario.
Nyx: Finally.. God, does that mean we have to go back the same way we took?
Cylo: Well, of fucking course. Do you see any elevators here?
Xiel: Alright, alright, shut up. Both of you. Let's just get this over with.
We walked down the stairs, the only stairs that I have ever known... since coming in this building. Well, maybe that one staircase in the 1st floor. Damn it, why am I talking about staircases this time?!
What awaited us is the same room, with the same words floating above our heads.
"Who is it this time?"
4 floors in, and we're already bored. Not just me, but everyone at this point. I had such high hopes when I entered this building.. also high hopes for my teammates. They did deliver, though, but the enemies? I feel like we've all defeated them in a sort of a.. generic way? Like, I know we're strong and all but... these guys are supposedly the best of the best in this city. They should defeat some guys who came from a mansion devoid of the outside world. (In a way, it's sorta like Vor and I, because the books that was in the library in our village are all outdated..)
I really do hope this guy is different. Or.. so I thought.
There was a guy on the middle. He was wearing a hobo like outfit, and a trash bin is clearly visible from the entrance of the room.
Xiel: Wait?! IT'S YOU?!?!
They all knew who that man was. It was only about a month ago when they last saw him.
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???: Oh! Hey! Didn't expect you to come here! Actually, I did.. but you know, I don't know what to say. Just a second, I'll change to a suitable.. appearance.
He went inside the trash bin to.. do something.
Nyx: (IT WAS HIM?!?!)
Skree: (You don't mean.. he was that guy?)
Nyx: (THE GUY FROM PARANOM! THE ONE THAT'S SOMEWHAT GUARDING IT!)
Skree: (Ohh, I actually thought he was the vendor..)
Nyx: (How the fuck, of course not!)
???: So.. I'm hopeful you haven't forgotten my name.
Xiel: Uhhh, actually... what was your name?
???: I've sort of expected that.. Well, just to jog off your memory, my name is.. Zack.
Reus: You were the one who spun that wall for no reason, right? I guess your Guise might be..
Zack: Yes. My Guise is something else entirely, really. It doesn't depend on my elements, at all.
Nyx: Psycho..kinesis? Was it?
Zack: Not quite, but the concept is there. Like I said, my Guise isn't dependent on my elements.. or no elements, at all. I'm what you call.. Inept.
Nyx: Then we're the same.. then.
Zack: No, not quite.
And in a flash, he ran towards Nyx and the rest.
He didn't use any weapons at all, and only used his kicks. Reus was startled, and blocked him with his axe, but Zack quickly responded by landing on the axe, then landing on the ground, close to Reus's axe.
Zack: Heh.
All of a sudden, Reus floated in mid air. He then pulled out his axe, and continued to block but.. Zack wasn't doing anything. He then touched Reus's arm, leaving him confused. Then, Reus, who was floating, got pulled upwards by something, then pulled downwards, crashing the floor with his body. Zack was the one who was toying with Reus. He used hand movements to make Reus go upwards and downwards. He was bored, and Zack pointed at the wall on the opposite direction, throwing Reus away. Luckily, he was able to change into his form, so no damage was taken.
Xiel charged at him, fast. She doesn't know what the limitations of his Guise were, so she charged at him with her knife. The same thing happened to her, and she was stuck in mid-air, floating. Zack touched her arm, but she has a trick up her sleeve. The one that got caught was a clone, and she was standing far behind him.
She now knows how his Guise works.
Xiel: NYX!
Nyx: WHAT?!
Xiel: HE HAS SOME SORT OF FIELD! LIKE A MAGNETIC FIELD, BECAUSE IF HE GETS CLOSER TO ANY OF US, WE'LL GET CAUGHT IN THAT FIELD AS WELL!
Nyx: A.. magnetic field?
Cylo was the next to attack, and she heard everything that they said.
She summoned wood up from her hand, and surrounded the whole room with wood.
Zack stood in the middle, and didn't move an inch.
Zack: Show me what you got, traitor.
Pillars and pillars of wood came down the ceiling, and crashed down at Zack. But, all the attacks that Cylo made were ineffective, because when the wood crashed down, they stop.. somehow. Even Cylo couldn't control it.
Cylo: Ho..How?!
Zack: You guys are good at figuring out other's secrets, don't you? Yes, my telekinesis isn't what it means. It's more like.. hmm... Zero Gravity. I could control it, well, gravity. But it has limits, of course.
Nyx: Let me try it out..
Nyx charged at him, then jumped towards him.
Like the rest of them, he got stuck, and got toyed with by Zack.
Zack: See, I knew it..
Zack threw him right in the air, and with his Guise, he teared off Nyx's body in half, then teared off in quarters, and so on.
Nyx: Aw, God, that actually hurts. Can you put me down, now?
Zack: As you wish.
Zack threw his dismembered body parts at Reus, who was taking a rest.
Reus: AHH FUCK! DAMN IT, THAT STARTLED ME!
Nyx's head went straight to Reus's axe, splattering blood all over his face. He then removed his head, and Nyx regenerated.
Nyx: Wooo, ok, I think I know how to damage him. But, I don't think this will be effective. Reus, can you move?
Reus: Well, I'm already done resting anyway.
Nyx: Great.
Nyx called Cylo and Xiel, and they planned something, while Zack was just watching.
Zack: Oh, are you done yet?
Nyx: Yep.
***
Nyx: Look, if he says he has his Guise, which was Zero Gravity... is it possible if something heavy enough crashed his personal space?
Cylo: I already did that, you know. It didn't work.
Nyx: It didn't work because he touched your wood. Remember, he can control anything he touches, if I'm guessing it right. The Zero Gravity force field around him only slows down that summoned wood of yours, but it went down the first time, then he touched it, and that's how he controlled your Guise.
Cylo: So.. he stopped it completely by controlling the gravity of the force of my.. element.. because I manifested it, therefore he indirectly controlled me..?
Nyx: Yep. Sounds confusing but yeah, that sounds about right.
Cylo: Ok.. so what's the plan?
Nyx: We drop Reus. From the ceiling. With your element. You're going to boost him while his falling, while Xiel and I will try to stab him from below. It certainly didn't go Zero Gravity when you smash him with your wood but.. it did go slower for a while. Maybe, if we hit him with Gravity but much stronger, we could break his barrier.
Xiel: That doesn't sound half bad.. what do you say, Reus?
Reus: Anything for you, Nyx.
Nyx: Wot?
Reus: Alright, let's do this.
***
The 4 of them charged straight at Zack.
He also charged at them to counter what they're about to do, but Cylo stayed back, and summoned wood from the floor for Reus to use as stepping means.
Xiel jumped in the air and cloned herself. She then dropped down all of his clones so that Zack wouldn't see what they were up too. Of course, Zack tried touching every one of them, but only to fail because when he tries to stretch his hand out, Nyx stabs the clones with his scythe and making Zack vulnerable, while Xiel producing more and more clones to cover his field of vision.
Then, from above, Reus changed into his form. He then jumped and dropped down. It looked like a wrestling move, and it got boosted by Cylo's wood who was pushing him downwards and downwards until he gains enough speed to crash Zack's barrier.
Reus then dropped and crashed down straight to Zack's barrier! Damaging him for the first time. Nyx goes in and tried to damage him even more by slashing inside the field, slowly. The waves obviously didn't hit Zack, but it did make him wary of the people he's fighting.
Zack: Ahhh, I knew it.. Agh.. that hurts..
His arm got sprained by trying to touch Reus while he was falling, but he obviously failed.
Zack: This is the last resort, then. I'm tired..
He pulled out a piece of paper, and showed it to them.
Nyx: The fuck is that?
Zack: Well, you know how I can change faces and all that stuff?
Reus: Yeah?
Zack: I did that to lure you all here in this building. I was the one who told you all that, but, I'm going to give you all a little hint..
Xiel: ...
Zack: I'm a sort of a double agent, you know. The king planned to lure you all here, then I used this opportunity to.. well, kill all of you. But I can't exactly do that to you, right, Nyx?
Reus: Wait.. so you're planning to..
Zack: Uhh, duh. I plan to kill you.. by also killing those "Ranked" knights. To be honest, I don't really have an order to kill those knights but I just kind of want to.
Cylo: You.. so.. so.. that's why we get any information out of this?!
Zack: Correct. The king didn't say anything about all of you going here, and I thought he would've heard what I did by now... I wonder what happened. Also.. Paranom has all sorts of good tools, you know.. This paper is basically what you'd call a Teleport Seal. As you heard, it teleports the user to wherever the hell he wants, and I'm going the hell out of here.
Then the paper lit up. Nyx tried to pull him with his scythe, but the field stop him and in a matter of seconds, he was gone.
They went into the pathway that was supposedly the 5th floor.. but all they could see was a dead end.
Nyx: ...I.. Damn it...
The ceiling above them rumbled, and an explosion-like noise can be heard.
The soldiers that backed down when Nyx and the rest entered the building were all commanded by Zack. The King entrusted him his soldiers, only to get betrayed by Zack as well.
The tower above the building was real, so they set up explosions below the building. Specifically, Cylo's floor where she was supposedly defeated.
The room that Nyx and the rest were in was caved in by the ground and debris that was caused by the explosion. They were caved in.. only to get saved by a hair's breadth by Cylo, who made a barrier out of wood, protecting the rest in the process.
Cylo: That was.. close..
What Zack didn't calculate was the presence of the traitor, Cylo. He didn't know she'd come with them, and that's his biggest mistake.
Cylo's summoned wood easily tunneled to the ground and the debris that surrounded them, lifting them up to the surface.
Xiel: Whooooo, that scared me. I thought I was going to get buried alive there for a second. Thanks.
Reus: Well, if Vor wasn't here.. then where?
Nyx: I think I know where..
Nyx looked at the tower that they got their Rails in, and realized that that was the only place that Xiel overlooked, since they didn't know and was fixated on getting out.
Zack saw them rose from the ground, and he trembled in shock.
Zack: H-how!?
Nyx: We're not done yet, Zack..
Zack: F..FUCK THIS!
With that, he pulled out another Teleport seal, and vanished below. What remained were the soldiers, who were also cowering in fear.
Nyx: Wasting our time like that... that ticks me off, y'know.
Cylo: Care if I join? I wanna see through the bottom of this.
Nyx: Be my guest.
Reus: Alright, finally, we're out but we really can't spare you guys now, you ticked him off.
Xiel: You also ticked me off by making us walk in that spiral pathway.
Nyx: Well, let's go.
Xiel: It's time we fucking finish this..