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Volume 5
Chapter 41: Havoc
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As minutes went by, more and more people were pouring in towards the arena.
The streets were in chaos but the stores were intact while dead player avatars littered the streets like trash on an empty alleyway.
There was no stopping the fights at this point for the players are now beyond the point of their losses and the defeat of their friends will be appeased by merely the membership on the Ten Acolytes.
All of those who were part of an alliance or a Guild are determined to exact revenge.
They can’t attack the instigator so they could only vent their anger to the ones who actually killed their friends and comrades.
Flashes of lights streaked in the air, a defensive magic was cast to block. The arena quaked as Mages with friends to protect him were successfully able to cast an AOE spell.
The fires rose form he marbled floor, rubbles flew on every few explosions, people were frozen by directly being hit by a Water-element spell, bodies were chopped in half, roars of fury and unwillingness echoes in every direction… the southern arena was a sight of slaughter to behold.
People with weaker hearts could only select the visual rendering of their NLDs to the lowest to prevent seeing actual gore and blood.
But for those who wanted to experience the extreme environment generated by the 90% realness of the NLD’s visual rendering ability, their eyes bulged at the sight of a seemingly endless cycle of carnage and destruction.
The former clean and tidy marbled arena, and even the arena in their memories were now gone.
Blood was on the floor and it flows like rivers on the side of the arena, pouring towards the 8 entrances on the side.
Who knows how it all started but every sound made outside the arena didn’t matter anymore. Only the sound of metal against metal, of magic spells cast and bodies slashes in half… could be heard.
The audience began to stay silent.
Fingers pointing not towards a magnificent player but to any unsightly corpse that caught one’s eyes.
It was only a 6-hour event and it was only halfway to the time limit… and yet it was now clearly visible to everybody what human greed is capable of.
For the sake of acquiring that single spot in the Ten Acolytes of an Elder God, men and women alike delighted themselves in the carnage of war.
No one wanted to voice it out but many were asking the same question… is this still a game?
But just as the audience stopped pressing their panels and stopped putting on bets, just as the people that began to pour into the arena from the walls and entrances began to lessen, just as Rentaw who hovered above the arena started to count his own profits, just as everybody else thought that the carnage and deaths of player avatars will be lessened from this point on…
––just as everybody thought that nothing could be more surprising now…
A loud roar of a monster came from the south side.
Not one body was able to move after that roar.
Everyone was frozen on their feet, those who were floating in midair using Flight Armors and Wings fell, including Ren.
Those were in the middle of casting a spell stopped and their spells broke off with a poof on their hands or on their weapon mediums.
Those whose blade was about to hack on their enemy also stopped moving, the eyes of the victim staring wide-eyed at their impending dooms.
Those who were dying and was about to drink a red potion died on the spot.
Even those in the audience who were laughing, pointing fingers, or jeering, or even in the middle of telling stories to their buddies…
All souls inside the arena, including the personalities like Heller, Coralline, and Top 5 Guilds…
Except for Volt and Thorn, for some reason…
Everyone inside the arena felt their hearts stopped at this moment as all sound disappeared in the world in but just that one monster’s roar.
“Thorn, Volt, get back to the Akhenaton.” Siva’s voice rung on the ears of the two and although they didn’t know what was going to happen, they both flew out from the arena and upwards, to watch the scene that would happen down below.
No one was moving.
No one was creating a sound.
Because a monster with green scales and yellowish lines on the back, vicious tyrannosaurus-like face, two muscular front limbs with wing-like attachments for flight, and an imposing posture as it looked at the bunch of people in the arena while standing like a king atop the coliseum’s wall… was there.
It was the one that roared just now ––all so that the one riding on his back could gain everyone’s attention.
And as it happened, the monster dived down without a care for anything and landed at the southern side of the wall, near the crater made by Donar, while every soul in the arena was still under the [Pose of the King] spirit binding spell.
Only those who had trained their spirits could resist this creature’s monstrous ability and the person who rides at his back was one.
Without a sound but with a quick movement, the man then landed on this side of the arena’s bloodless marbled floor. He carried a bluish-brown staff that made Coralline from afar widen her eyes in shock.
“That’s…!!”
“Everyone…” The voice of the man at the back of the monster came like a hot water in the cold silence of the arena. “Mind if I also join in?”
TAP!
With a single tap of his staff, an entire 30m wide space of the arena was engulfed in a black hole that had him at the center. And from this shadow in the floor, a bulge suddenly appeared behind him as if something wanted to escape from this pitch hole of darkness.
Even half of the crater from earlier was covered by it!
Slowly… gradually… this bulge took a height of 3m as this black shadow in the floor cracked with sounds of something like bones breaking, and a humanoid hand piercing from the apex of the bulge as if a monster is trying to escape its confines.
Horrified, even though the ten seconds of paralysis from the Pose of the King ability of the Lapis Lazuli has passed, no one had noticed it for they were all caught by the sight of this seemingly gigantic figure.
Just the hand alone was already 3m high!
BAM! The sound of this hand slamming on the arena floor caused the arena to shake. Whatever this entity was, it was trying to climb off this black hole!
It was too silent in the arena. Even the fallen Rentaw could only stare wide eyed at this scene.
The figure completed its climb from what seemed to be its grave, its upper body on the arena, the lower part still somewhere where it came from. And from the looks of it, it was an entity of complete darkness!
Black, completely black, no contours on the body, no other lines visible. Just black and had no ability to even reflect light back to give it any signs of material.
The only thing the people knew is that this is man-shaped entity had red eyes with no irises.
And yet, when the first figure looked up front, it was already enough to put fear on those who thought of attacking its summoner.
Looking closely, this entity seemed to wear a hooded cloak and when it tried to climb out of the pitch black hole, the hood seemed to actually sway as if it was of a material existence, covering the red eyes.
With a glance, anyone who had heard the story could tell the this is the red-eyed black skull that attacked The Mansion in the south.
He turned his head towards Ren then said, “You don’t mind me joining, right?”
While the man with the skull mask spoke, the entity was now getting up from the dark hole in the floor as if it was some sticky bed with black goo still sticking on its body as it tried to stood up.
This black goo was in fact actually its black robe!
“Ah…” a pathetic look could be seen on Ren’s face as he was still clearly in the middle of surprise and shock that his mind can’t keep up with what’s happening.
Siva, assuming his Mage persona, was excited to try his new weapon and test his limits with it. The reason why he took a small detour to the monster office is to pick up his newly acquired pet.
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Looking at the stunned crowd, his ghastly voice echoes in their ears, “Anyone wants to try me?”
Try you? You are a bully!
Everyone had the same thoughts. Just now, the heat of the battle, the rising intensity of the battle royal, the nonstop pouring of the fighters and bets… were all abruptly put into a pause because of his arrival.
If Heller was an open bully, then he was on the same level and even more!
Why indeed?
It’s because behind this man was a Lapis Lazuli who majestically sat up with its butt like a good dog while glaring silently at the crowd of inferior organisms.
“You guys don’t want to fight me?” With the silence still open, Siva then spoke and tapped his staff to the ground. “Okay then. If you won’t attack, I will.”
Like a command, the dark figure behind him completely pulled his body from the black hole and then stood at a terrifying 20m height. Everyone was looking up, astonished, stunned, eyes glued on every move of this black substance giant.
And even when it was standing in front of them, no one still dared to attack and in fact, even some of those on the wall who had been planning to join in on the arena matches and have already put in their bets were beginning to back off.
They were willing to fight it off even against Zabrze or Bladey of CAP but an oversized Lapiz Lazuli and a black substance giant with red eyes 20m high…
No way!
But this giant wasn’t even done yet. Its height and its size was one thing but now, seeming to have forgotten something from the black hole behind the newly arrived Mage, it stooped down and took a long black substance staff from deep down.
And when this staff emerged, the number of retreating figures multiplied by two.
The height of the staff seemed to have no end as it was even taller than the black substance figure. But just as they thought it was already the end of its big surprise, what the people saw next… warranted the complete hatred and fear of in fact the entire city.
That’s because at the end of this staff wasn’t a circular orb or something but in fact is a giant curved blade 20m long!
“My Ghaaaaaadddd…!!”
“It’s the end of the world!”
“People with great minds invent many things…”
“Those who have experienced things in life would be the ones who can think of this.”
When this blade appeared, many felt despair while many felt quitting the game altogether. The escaping fighters gave the arena one last glance before they all thought that their bets were all free giveaways. The despair they felt when seeing that giant… reaper… is something worse than imagining what their end will be.
“Ah… ah…ah…” Rentaw’s brain seemed to have been deeply fried in oil. He couldn’t process anything.
“Help me! Help me! Help me!” Bladey who was in the middle of the arena and was still bound by Thorn’s blades were screaming, crying, and was like a little girl who had lost all reason to live.
The Ebony Sanctuary, who was fighting all out against Coralline earlier and even she herself on the side right now, couldn’t believe their eyes.
Not to mention the rest of the weaker factions in the arena right now, they were all looking at the giant reaper in complete horror.
A reaper 20m high with a giant deathscythe 20m in size… all black without any ability to reflect light…
The unified reaction of everyone in the arena was a single saving line.
“Run away!”
Following this random guy’s declaration, the silence of the crowd broke into a stupor of frightened pigs trying to get away from this new comer.
Ren who was still sprawled in the middle of the arena had his eyes fixed on the reaper.
He can’t even think of anything else.
With the frantic escape of the crowd in the arena, the poor Bladey who was still bound by swords died not due to attacks but by the stampeding crowd of many players trying to run away at the same time.
Those poor people who were slow were trampled and for the ones who had Flight Armors or Flight Wings is lucky as the sky was wider and broader to escape to.
Volt and Thorn who were watching from above couldn’t help but exchange glances, gulping down their doubts as they knew who that person was.
The two could only dryly laugh.
He might have finished his Black Tech already and the image they are seeing right now is perhaps his very Black Tech itself.
“Why are you running?” Siva growled angrily then he turned his head to the Lapis and gave a mental command.
Monster Tamer––
––this is the innate ability of Apollo Race players!
With a blood oath between them, a subdued monster is given the choice of life and death and if the monster does choose the former, then an Apollo Race player can attempt to bind the monster to himself as a pet.
The resulting relationship is then of a master-servant between the monster and the player.
But this relationship is dependent on many things. If the monster feels that the player that bound it is very weak, then the possibility of rebellion is huge.
Not to mention this particular S-Ranked Monster.
A monster, especially those S-Ranked ones, and most especially those like this particular Lapis Lazuli that had Elemental Blood on its veins… are smarter and prouder than any other S-Ranked monster.
The only reason why Siva was able to bind it to him is because his SPIRIT was able to contend against its own Elemental Monster’s Spirit.
He was subdued and was left with no choice but to live or to die ––to become Siva’s materials.
To live longer, faced with the threat to its life, it chose to submit wholeheartedly instead.
With the mental command sent, the Lapis Lazuli jumped out of its place and then flew up, crashing down on the northern side of the arena to block the escaping NPCs players.
Amongst them were the members of the Night Locking Victory Guild members.
The Lapis roared but the players didn’t freeze since it wasn’t the Pose of the King. But this roar was still a warning on itself and the frightened players could only back off from the exit and distance themselves or beaten by a random trip of the Lapis.
Coralline glared at the players below and then up, to the Akhenaton, seeing the two floating beside each other who only watched the entire scene take place.
“These guys aren’t planning on doing anything!” she clicked her tongue in irritation.
Of course, she herself knew well the reason why.
Donar is an Elder God. Why would he save useless Mortals like them?
He was the instigator of this turmoil. He was just here to ensure chaos and discord while finding the top ten to become his retainers.
The audience was lucky. Since they aren’t part of the arena matches, they can watch and even record this scene on their PDAs to be shared later on.
Cameras flashed, astonished exclaims and laughters rung from the audience racks. They were all seeing a once in a lifetime event where an arrival of a single player changed the tide of a chaotic battlefield.
Who wouldn’t be deterred by a 20m large reaper that held a 20m large scythe?
Not to mention the mere size of it was enough to put even Guild Masters running, even if they do managed to summon the courage and fight it out with him, the casualties are still expected to rise extremely high.
Logic told their minds: No one wants to be a fodder.
The audience of course knew about this mindset and that’s the reason why they were laughing at this ridiculous scene.
Now, they were even more jubilated to see that the arrogant Ebony Sanctuary, especially their Guild Master and its celebrated Son of Magic, Namur, is in a frantic escape from the giant reaper.
Heller recovered his bearing and he glared at that black clad Mage with hatred not inferior to how he felt against Volt earlier.
“You… are… stealing my stage!” He hissed the words between teeth and then jumped towards the black clad Mage.
Seeing this, Siva was delighted and he motioned for the reaper to slash out with all its might.
With a wind generated by the sheer size and speed of the scythe’s descent, the sound was like that of a roaring dragon with a mountain’s size, coming at you with all its glory and focused destruction.
That sound alone summoned unending horror creeping over the skins of the ones who were closest to the impending clash.
No resounding came from the giant figure. It only stared at the small mortal figure coming at it with full murderous intent.
“I am the strongest Mage in this territory!” Heller was roaring in wrath.
Time and time again, there was always someone and something that kept on challenging his authority. He was an exalted Archmage.
He should be feared by all!
The presence of this monstrosity in front of him was a clear threat to his deterring name. His pride cannot tolerate the fact that by just appearing here, it already generated enough fear for everyone to forget how frightening the name [Heller] was.
Besides, what was his name?
He was Heller.
That was a name he chose from the moment he started this damn game ––a name representing Hell.
It has no feet, no corporal body, and aside from the black gooey substance that was in fact its physical form, the black hands that held the large scythe, and the red eyes hiding behind its gooey-like hooded cloak… there was nothing else that could in fact make one think that this reaper is physically there in front of them. And yet the reaper’s actions created sounds of slashing wind ––the speed was so fast it leaves anyone cringing with dread with its might.
Sometimes, Illusionists would appear in The North and make a ruckus. The difference between a real Magic Spell and an illusion relies on the fact that real spells could affect the surroundings and create real sensations to the skin that tells one that danger is approaching… fast.
~~HUMMMMM––––
These humming sounds drummed through the wind barrier, breaking limits, creating rippling sounds that could destroy flesh and bones.
“You cannot beat me!” Heller roared and stretched a hand to meet the attack.
With a blunt sound, a magic circle appeared in the hand and the tip of the scythe that was coming at him abruptly stopped. Its momentum and all that entailed of what should have been a destructive end for Heller was stopped with that outstretched hand.
This surprised Siva. As he stared at that Magic Spell as if it was a glittering gold in a dark dungeon.
Volt, from above, could only frown seeing this.
“So it turns out that it can nullify all threats of all levels in exchange for one single use each time.”
Thorn beside him nodded. “An all-purpose defensive magic spell that can nullify all levels of threat… I can only say… with Rex’s temperaments…”
Volt and Thorn exchanged glances. Back at the forest in the south of Warjillis, Siva chased out a Demon Commander and sacrificed all resources and faced all dangers just to get his hands on a Black Ball.
And now that the situation is much safer than in the forest… the two could only sigh to say the same line:
““Heller’s in for a big trouble now.””
After stopping that attack, no second was wasted as Heller instantaneously teleported leaving exploding debris and rubbles behind him ––the after effects of the chasing wind of that one slash– and appearing next to Siva to hack on his head with all his might.
“Die!” he yelled.
It was so fast that the enemy practically had no time to dodge or even think of escaping.
The reaper was still frozen stunned when Heller had appeared next to Siva. There was practically no space to even breathe and he was sure that aside from the False Immortals with Donar and Donar himself… no one else who had the capability to dodge his attacks inside this arena.
His blade sliced the air. It was so sharp that the wind generated was like a whip on itself.
Because of its massive size, all the more the wind barrier between the blade and Siva was a wall rushing to crush him in pieces.
Heller was sure he was going to slice Siva to death and was unable to process anything else. Even that small change where the dark cloak the man wore had begun to have another layer of non-reflective dark colored substance that formed what could only be spoken of as a silhouette of a black robed being.
It formed around him like a protective aura, swirling in a manner akin to how Ebony Sanctuary appeared in the stage.
That aura then formed into a shape, and even though it all seemed to have happened slowly, it was, in fact, happening very fast akin to a blink of an eye.
The formed shape was a being. It was behind Siva and it held something like a long staff in its hands.
CLANG!
Heller’s smile of victory froze as he heard the sound of his slash hitting a hard and blunt staff. A wall-like sturdy something had barred his blade and Siva in between.
“What is…?!”
His eyes wide, he traced the source of this object and couldn’t almost process what was happening as, from above, the large reaper had disappeared and a smaller version of it is now staring at him eye to eye from behind Siva.
The staff that held the blade –a deathscythe– in its hands was stopping his Leaf Blade, the goo-like substance that was its robe, fluttering, and is somewhat blocking his view of this Mage’s skull masked face.
Without legs and seemingly floating in midair, this reaper-entity appeared without any kind of warning.
It should be noted that Heller appeared on Siva’s left side and so when Heller realized that he was staring eye to eye on that entity that defended Siva, not only was he shocked beyond redemption, his mind also froze as he saw three more of those reapers appear around Siva.
––and all of them were staring at him with their round red eyes.
“This isn’t magic!” Heller realized and he summoned all his mental strength to pull the Leaf Blade before the other four entities start moving towards him.
I can’t be wrong! This is no Magic.
This is––
––––it is…
Black Tech!
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Heller in trouble.
Siva’s Black Tech finally appears!
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Next chapter: The end of the chaos in Battle City!