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Volume 5
Chapter 43: Doom
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All Black Tech had a core form…
Just like FlowerLord’s «Ceres» which is also the name of her Black Tech, Siva’s Black Tech was called Erebus and its default core form is… the one now hovering at his right side like an obedient slave.
Holding its deathscythe’s blade down, it appeared there in a snap from beheading the last victim and is now observing the incoming horde of enemies.
It doesn’t have a consciousness and all its actions were all mental commands from Siva. And by Siva’s command, it turned its head towards Siva as Siva spoke of a phrase while looking at the number of incoming enemies, “Death is but the beginning.”
He doesn’t know where it came from but Siva just felt like saying the line nonetheless.
And right after he spoke, the [Reaper] turned its head towards the enemies as the three summons braced themselves in a defensive line.
With the first wave of enemies, the Berserker Puppet clashed with the first person while the Lancer blocked with its shield while stabbing an enemy who tried to go up above it.
The Swordsman Puppet was the most active as it was swinging its large 2m sword without care for defense and was going on for almost any direction it faced.
Defense is not its concern.
Its body was made up of Black Tech and only if there was something with a force strong enough to penetrate this skin, no attacks will be able to cause it to stop or pause.
Aren’t Cramer’s Mjolnir back then in the War of Two Powers only able to push FlowerLord back with every hit? If FlowerLord loses her short-tempered attitude, she could even be more powerful than Cramer!
CRASH!
With one swing, two enemies were pressed just trying to block it because the weight of its attack was just unbelievably terrifying!
Above all else, its movement was frighteningly irregular and very fast. Even those swordsmen who were seeing it would have to think twice before engaging it in a fight.
While the puppets were blocking the first layer of this all-out assault, the second layer breached the gap on their defense and went straight towards Siva. All of them were going against Siva and pouring in on him by the numbers.
Seeing their appearances, Siva was smiling.
With how much effort he had poured on researching this game before he even started it, and with how much more effort he was even putting into finding any leads to satisfy AG’s tastes for H-Class info…
How can he miss on deciphering who is a high-grade player or who is not?
“I think you guys are forgetting something very, very important right now––” as he spoke, he pointed his staff towards the incoming enemies. With just one fast swing, the reaper exterminated them without even being able to utter a cry. “––I am an S-Ranked Player while you guys are just fodders.”
In the nearest 100m radius from Siva, he was aware of what was happening. He was positioned 50m away from the edge of the southern side of the arena while the side of the GMs and their Guilds were far away from the Northern side.
The Lapis Lazuli was an absolute barrier on the northern side of the arena and no one was daring to even go to the other exists for fear that the Lapis will attack them if they do so.
Smart people would be able to discern that this newcomer Mage’s intent was to trap them in the arena. Every time there was someone who’d go to the west or eastern exists, or to any of the other exists on the quadrants, the Lapis will always, without miss, turn on that direction then roar mightily. The sound of it will travel across the arena, into the ears of those braves, and put them into realization that the Lapis was never going to let them escape the marble ring.
But those with a Flight Armor and Flight Wing with them, upon escaping to the skies, the Lapis would never even care if they’re going to return or not.
With this, they realized that the only way to escape the arena was up or up front ––to either kill or defeat the newcomer Mage.
And that’s what Siva was after.
Right now, Siva had put it upon himself: he is officially an S-Ranked Player.
With him there, the Guild Masters were aghast.
Continuing to watch the one-sided slaughter, the GM of the Nine Dragons Gate –Federation– is crying as her lips trembled in agony. Her hand that held the sword trembled and shook in a visible way.
With one slash, the heavy sword slashed two people in half while the lance pierced on four people like a barbeque and the berserker cleaved through ten enemies one after another.
The deadliest of the three was actually the berserker who moved throughout the battlefield within a blink of an eye. Slashing with its claws, those who were in the middle of defending or attacking the other two puppets were caught off guard. Their coordinated movements were so precise that it was frightening to behold let alone imagine.
And while they were fighting like that, those who managed to pass through their defense line were all eradicated with one swing of the deathscythe.
In but just a minute, the first wave of the enemies was liquidated that the sight of the mangled corpses in the arena was a sight to behold to in itself.
Not one of them was in one piece. They were either in half, in pieces, or were put into a pile of corpses with holes in their chests.
Seeing this massacre, the Queen of Fire had an ugly expression of hatred and disbelief. The first wave was over two hundred people and even though all of them were B-Ranked and below, it’s still two hundred of her most cherished and experienced NDG members.
Just how could a single person annihilate them in just a few minutes?
Not even one body was left intact!
It was injustice!
“Y-Y-You cannot be forgiven!” Her eyes shedding tears, she turned her head towards her subordinates and then back to Siva. “You’re a vile existence that all members of the federation shall hate for all eternity. Everyone, attack together! Don’t let our sisters’ deaths be in vain without killing this man! Kill him! Kill him for the federation!”
Screaming in anger, she raised her flaming sword and shouted their war slogan. And after her voice echoed, the voices of the members of the NDG also came echoing from behind; “For the federation!”
“For the federation!”
“For the federation!”
“For the federation!”
This unified cry of a single phrase echoed in the arena like a war song. Every word, every syllable, sending the vibrations of their will, crying out to seek justice for their dead comrades…
After this, the entire offensive was solely managed by the Nine Dragons Gate –Federation– while the other Guilds and players either sneaked in for the kill or just watched as the show progressed.
Siva remained static as he just watched everything happen, pretending to give orders through his staff but is actually attentively watching everything happen in his player window.
He didn’t relax one bit. He didn’t dare.
Because while everyone only saw the massacre he was conducting, he was actually listing the draws and lackings of his creation. In fact, in his mind, he was already planning on the improvements on the orb.
“The consumption isn’t that much but it was still a bit worrying. If only I could create a power generator…”
While he maintained an absolute defensive circle, Siva was listing the things he needed to improve on the Erebus System.
And so, minutes pass by.
The NDG forces became more and more aggressive as Siva was at times being forced to actually physically dodge some of the ones who luckily slipped through his defenses, or block their physical attacks at very rare occasions where one or two slipped pass the Reaper.
But of course, with how fast he could control it and with how attentive he was on the arena, it was still consider ‘lucky’ if they indeed slipped through.
Of course, there was something that he had noticed.
Looking towards the GM area, he saw that the other Guilds had stopped their activities. Right now, the only action in the area is the place where he was at –against an entire horde of NDG members.
It was good, at one point, but with how things are going, he would be mentally tired before he could sum all enemies up into his bowl for breakfast.
“Should I stop here?” He pondered and then looked up to the Akhenaton only to shake his head. “No. I haven’t tested the real limits of the possibilities The Orb had. Well, let’s pour it all then.”
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Lifting his left hand, he materialized a second large heavy sword, a non-flaming un-special one, and was metallic black in color, having a slightly longer handle than the fire blade that he made the Reaper grab.
To everyone’s surprise, the Reaper took the plain looking 2m sized heavy sword and threw it in the air by which the Swordsman Puppet caught and used to land heavily on the ground with a smashing force.
A crushing explosion spread in the arena, shaking the ground that some players were toppled off their feet.
In the crater that was made, a pair of poor defending players tuned into meat paste as they became the good examples of how much heavier this sword was than the first.
Debris flew and hit a few incoming players that they stopped on their tracks, being trampled by the ones behind them or have been the cause for the incoming allies to be obstructed.
In but a single action, it caused a traffic for the horde of NDG members to take notice to.
This opening wasn’t missed by the Swordsman Puppet as it rose up from the crater like it carried only two buckets of water, and started to spin around like a top.
With the first heavy sword colored like fire, it was distinctively visible as the spinning motion picked up its speed and momentum.
A player who wanted to defend from the approaching spinning summon braced himself with a sturdy shield and five of his fellow strength-type players supported him from behind as to carry the brunt of the incoming blow. But even if he was an A-Ranked strength-type player, as soon as the black metallic sword hit the shield, the shield was bent like plastic until it was chopped in half as the sword didn’t even diminish the strength of its turn and went straight to the player and slashed him in half along with three of the five people behind him.
The last two of the five were thrown to the back and although their bodies were intact, when they slammed to the other incoming players, they created a bowling pin phenomena and the chain reaction of tumbling players went on for 30m afar!
“D-Dead…” the Queen of Fire was aghast. “All of them… dead… this is… this is just too…”
The heavy sword tornado continued to pick up speed and wind, obviously not minding anything and only wanted to deliver destruction to the incoming horde.
“I don’t have to worry about ever experiencing vertigo again with these puppets around.” This was one of Siva’s dilemma. He had experienced the joy of that one sensation… and even until now, he could feel it vibrating in his bones.
He was missing it.
It’s like a great part of him was paralyzed because of the price he had to pay to use that ability again. It wasn’t an ability created by the game, but a skill he, Siva, created himself for himself!
As fast as lightning, as destructive as a meteor! Siva could still feel it in his muscles, that exhilarating feeling of dominance, of an untouchable speed along with the increase of power with every slash of his blade and every crashing blow of the God Hammer.
He could remember the sensation and the feeling of absolute destruction by then…
He was being guided by the sword.
He knew there was a sense of calling in that moment, like every strike that he delivered was a part of a memory he had long lost… somewhere… some time…
…back in the forest of Anazon…
…at that time…
“I never forgot that feeling.” As he closed his eyes, he basked himself on that unforgettable feeling of absolute power.
That one time where he felt that there was nothing that could stand in his way.
He wielded that power and even until now, he had it.
But the price of that power was just too great. He had almost died back then due to extreme vertigo.
“Until I am cured by that condition, I can’t ever use it again... not if I can’t help it.”
And not only that, in his current cursed state, he still wouldn’t be able to use it. Siva had decided that he would try his best to remove this curse right after he gets Baron out of Alexandria.
With that lingering sensation in his skin, he could feel his body trembling. Siva’s mind was guiding that Swordsman Puppet ––like a spinning top of ruin that now summoned a strong wind layered by the faint light of a burning sensation.
It moved in the battlefield in an incredible speed, hitting anyone and anything. Seeing it from the arena level was one thing but to those seeing it from above the arena, it was really frightening.
One moment it was 5m away and then the next, it’s pouncing on the ones on a group in the nearest 5m radius.
––it was really a top as when it hit something, it will bounce off to another angle!
No defensive equipment or ability was able to stop it from destroying the formation of the incoming horde of players from the NDG!
Seeing this, the Queen of Fire was horrified. If it was a person, he would have long ago stopped spinning and have been rendered a honeycomb from just the number of arrows and volleys of magic spells that’s been thrown at it by now. But no amount of spell was able to break its momentum; no amount of physical prowess was able to block the ravaging pair of 2m large heavy swords.
And yet, even right now, it’s still increasing its speed and momentum! A small tornado was now being made and every revolution of the Swordsman Puppet brought forth destruction and ruin to the incoming horde of players and users of the NDG Guild that the majority of the incoming people were choosing not to engage it and went directly towards Siva.
But even though they were smart to think so, there was still the Berserker and the Dragoon.
What was scary about the Dragoon is that it can also jump around like the Swordsman Puppet and with every fall, the Lance in its hand would always, with no miss, pierce at least one person’s chest.
Although the Lance had a limited deadliness to it than the heavy sword, this 4m long weapon, when used to sweep through a formation, was enough to actually destroy their line ––then being finished by the third one, the Berserker, without a miss.
One poor soul would always be skewered by that blue and greenish colored watery themed Lance.
If it misses on a spot, it will do a sweep. Those who were able to dodge the sweep will be minced by the berserker. No matter if it was an A-Ranked or an S-Ranked player who had prepared spells or equipment that can properly defend against attacks, they were still too slow when compared to it.
It has five claw-swords on each hand and it can penetrate into any defenses that it was practically impossible to defend against it.
Even magic spells that specialized in slowing down foes were useless to it.
Mechanical Abilities having slowing effects to their enemies or have strengthening effects to their users were also rendered useless.
The attacks of the Berserker was too fast and is too unpredictable that when the victim thought that he was already safe and would prepare to move out of the range of its attack, the berserker would suddenly appear behind that player and finish him off.
With every direction it went, no intact body remains.
It was this sight that the Queen of Fire couldn’t handle and she was losing her cool as time passed.
“H-How can this be?!” she could only utter. “How can he be this strong?”
Wasn’t this cheating? He’s too damnably strong that there seem to be no chink to his defenses!
Only 30 minutes have passed but almost a quarter of her people were already being slaughtered.
Even one of the Nine Dragons, her proudest and most noble of members, has already fallen from a single swing of the Reaper’s deathscythe.
Also, there was a fact to be considered here. She may be the Guild Master of the Nine Dragons Gate but her ability and talent lay on managing the Guild, not fighting in the front lines.
Her strongest warrior was in fact Beki, the leader of the Nine Dragons Squad.
The Queen of Fire turned her head with the look of pleading to the other Guild Masters.
She couldn’t care anymore about face and dignity.
Her subordinates were dying, she needed reinforcements.
Turning her head to look at the leader of the Sisters of Valkyrie, she spoke with a deep voice, “If you help me, I will treat it as a big favor.”
The leader of the Valkyries looked at her and said in an uncaring tone, “I will reinforce you if you’d sell me one of your warships.”
Hearing this, the Queen of Fire’s brows twitched but she gritted her teeth and retorted. “Full support for a 10% discount.”
The Valkyrie GM smiled confidently, “Deal.” then she turned to Alexa behind her and winked. “Go lead your squad and take that Mage down.”
Alexa was the squad leader of the nine S-Ranked users that entered the arena. With a nod and a look of determination in her face, she led her squad of eight members and went around, going straight for Siva from the back.
Seeing that, the Valkyries GM then switched gears to wear a flowery pink dress akin to a kimono with wings made up of pink flower petals as well.
Her appearance was like an angel, except that she was a sakura angel ladened by ink petals. There was even an illusion of petals floating around her as if they were in love with her elegant gracefulness.
When she wore this costume, the racks of Valkyries on their audience seats also rose to their feet and one by one flew towards the arena.
No rules were spoken about reinforcements.
This is no longer a battle of who should be the best ten but rather who would be the last ten that will be left after they dealt with this Newcomer Mage.
Of course they haven’t realized that this wasn’t a summoning but a Black Tech. if they knew, then they would have to think twice before attacking him ––just like what Heller realized and did.
Right when the Valkyries GM called forth her forces, the Ebony Sanctuary’s GM, Zabre, also stepped forth in an attempt to bargain. “What about selling us one of your warships as well? We will help you deal the finishing blow towards that Mage. How about it?”
Ishtar, the Queen of Fire, frowned at him but never spoke a word and instead stood straight, faced Siva, and then flew towards the battlefield to join her own Guild. Being ignored was one thing but not even as much as an acknowledgement to a single word he said was blatantly saying that she did not give Zabrze any regard at all.
Namur, who stood behind him, was really furious but just before he could open his mouth, he noticed his Guild Master already facing Siva’s direction, eyeing the floating Reaper beside him who only occasionally brandished its scythe when there was an enemy to kill. He was calculating his moves.
Zabrze looked up and true enough, he felt that cold glare coming from the red witch riding a broom.
“She’s not going to make it easier for us.” Zabrze murmured and then eyed the battlefield again before facing Namur. “You circle around from above and deal with that brat of a witch. Kill her swiftly.”
Namur understood and didn’t reply instead, he led his own squad to join the battlefield while Zabrze continued to watch over the battle.
He was bidding his time. He can’t move against Siva because if he does, then the Witch will be sure to use that opening to finish him off.
She had an unfinished business with him after all.
It was irritating that he was trapped between a rock and a wall. He can’t forward and he also can’t move back.
He can only bid his time for the right opportunity.
Namur departed and Zabrze was furious inside. He held his black staff and stared at the Mage with his four summons. The way he could coordinate them all into a solid defensive circle was enough to actually be a threat to even him and his Guild.
But not only that, even when there are those who’re able to pass through the Reaper, he could deal with them with a fluid movement like that of water.
“He fights as if he was able to see everything around him… like he had eyes at his back.”
Zabre was always one to be cautious and dubious of anything disadvantageous to him. As such, when he thought of the Mage having eyes at his back, he looked around him and saw countless small drones and camera balls flying around the arena.
He wasn’t sure that he had some of them in there but he was sure that if his theory was true, he had to do something to deal with the obstacles of being chosen as one of the Ten Acolytes.
Gritting his teeth, he then looked back at his men.
“Protect me.” He commanded. The members of the Ebony Sanctuary established a defensive perimeter around him while Zabrze began to cast an AOE Spell.
From above, seeing this scene, Coralline couldn’t help but frown as she calculated the target and the kind of spell that Zabrze was going to release.
“Illusion-type?” Coralline stared at the forming Magic Circle on Zabrze’s feet. After a while, she was sure that he was going to release an illusion-type AOE Magic Spell. “Based on the target… I see!”
Coralline was startled.
She saw the cameras floating around the arena and the unbelievable way The Summoner fought against this many people with solidity and fluidity on his defense.
“Cameras, 20m defensive circle, black summons… I can’t be sure. But if my guess is correct… this guys is more dangerous than what they’re thinking! Now I know the reason why Heller retreated.”
Coralline was now sure of The Summoner’s secret but instead of helping the crowd, she just playfully beamed a charming smile.
If Zabrze hasn’t realized it himself, then he would only be inviting doom upon himself and she had no obligation whatsoever to inform him of his demise.
After all, they are enemies.
One’s downfall is another one’s delight.
Although it leaves a bad taste on her lips, she had never considered Zabrze as a worthy enemy in the first place. Earlier, she had competed against his whole Guild by herself and was in a tie... she was positive that Zabrze is weaker than her.
Right now, Zabrze is provoking his doom.
That newcomer Mage is using Black Tech and to all of the Guilds in Warjillis, perhaps only the Hydra Society is the sole organization that has an ability to actually send out troops to hunt a Demon Commander down.
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Experiments need sacrifices...
The chaos of the arena draws into a close!
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Next chapter: Siva in dire straits…