Hours passed and Shin sat calmly in place. Sometimes he talked with whoever was on shift with him but mostly he just watched, the ever vigilant guardsman with no sense of concern nor urgency. The time was without incident, even with the hostility he had incurred and the growing power of those who held it. He didn’t waste mana or attention, not even the excess he had, his priority solely on his protection.
Jean checked the counter within his notifications of the event, waiting a few seconds beyond the hour before walking over and tapping Yen’s shoulder. The orange haired mage emerged in a moment and she walked over to Shin’s side with a sigh.
[Human Pyromancer (epic) - Greater Lord]
“I’m up to four okay. We can’t all be freaks.” Yen caught Shin looking at her and frowned, checking the time. “Less than an hour. Shouldn’t you start back soon?”
“Yeah.”
“Anyone else got Greater Ward?”
“Don’t know.”
“Hey. Someone needs to take your place, you know.” Slight exasperation found her face. “None of these guys are gonna fight off the horde for you.”
“Mm.”
It didn’t seem like Shin had a plan but Yen didn’t say anything further. She didn’t have a solution either. Her casual wandering eye lingered on the sight of one of the people of the curse clan walking over to the Saba and without hesitation she tapped each of their makeshift party members twice on the left shoulder. A signal they decided meaning something was probably going down but nothing serious enough to step away from the verge of a breakthrough. Still, everyone left their challenges, whether by caution or interest.
[Human Pagan (legendary) - Greater Lord]
“...what?” Kamala questioned Donny’s amused look.
“Nothing.” He said, turning his attention back to the situation out front.
“Are you able now?” Titon asked.
“I promise no guarantee.” The man more or less the new leader of the Kamo said before turning his attention to Zerah.
Gray mana swirled around him and Zerah in twine, seeming to eat away at the ominous mana bound to her. Her expression tensed as she bore the discomfort but slowly but surely the curse was vanishing. And just as the last thread was removed, the Kamo exorcist let out a terrifying roar. His body spasmed, rising into the air, and just as suddenly exploded.
Shin cast a ward around the now 25 members of their temporary alliance as smoldering gray clusters of curses peppered the hallway. Some were dispelled, some crashed against the various shields of choice and vanished, and some struck players. Their bodies spasmed as well, but this time, their flesh surged like waves beneath their skin and a third familiar eye appeared in the center of their foreheads.
Malicious cackles erupted all over as the corrupted players charged towards the nearest wall of the ward. Some tried wielding their skills to break it and when that failed turned to attack another player. Those few who possessed teleportation left to the outside at the farthest side to the party and allowed the mindless players to fall upon them. The moment they died, their bodies exploded into curses, inflicting more mindless around them.
“Contain them!” Titon roared.
The Saba moved into action and the other major powers in the group followed, realizing the threat upon them. All over, the corrupted players were bound, trapped, and suppressed. But the brutal fray between the mindless and the cursed outside the ward raged, and the cursed were growing in number.
“Throw them.” Shin spoke normally but all heard his voice, and Donny was the first to understand.
He grabbed a corrupted player locked in place and the moment Yen released her Grasp, he threw them. A gap appeared in the ward, just briefly, allowing the player to crash into the violence outside.
“Move it!” Donny yelled this time and other players followed his example by their own means.
Shin created more gaps in his ward as the bodies hurled through the air, giving the barest of openings, something the corrupted outside had started trying to exploit. One of the nameless panicked under attack and killed a corrupted inside as it lunged. The player vanished and the corrupted swelled with evil mana. Shin aimed his thoughts and a ward not his own contained the corrupted explosion. He glanced at Zerah who seemed to have regained the use of her skill.
With the inside free of corrupted, the group fell silent amidst the cackles and crashes of the battle outside. But that noise died down in moments, and the corrupted looked their way with malicious glee. Tension gripped the air, and the corrupted three eyed players turned and ran away all at once, leaving silence.
“We need to move.” Jean said with no particular concern.
“You know something?” Yen asked.
“No. But the cursed players seem intelligent and move as a hivemind. They probably went to find players who can break or bypass wards.” Jean spoke plainly and bluntly, turning his focus to Zerah.
“What are you looking at?” The Seer asked with hostility.
“They might just be hiding and waiting for us to leave. We need someone to see ahead and find a safe route.”
“To where?” Titon stepped into the conversation.
“Somewhere close by a safe room is best.”
“Then we turn back.”
“No.” Kamala objected. “If the curse has the original’s memories, then it know where that is. Even if it does not, it would likely search through the areas nearest us.”
Titon lingered on them for a moment then looked to Zerah. Less than pleased but she did as she knew he silently asked. Her eyes rolled up to the back of her head as her consciousness sped through the hallways rapidly. A minute passed until she returned.
“I know the path.”
“The corrupted?” Kamala asked.
Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.
“In the opposite direction, all together.”
“Let’s get moving then.”
“The mindless are a problem…” Jean looked to the lazily rambling horde.
“We have two warders again, just push past.”
“I mean they could lead the corrupted to us.”
“An easy fix.” They turned to Lu Kang. “Some of the people here can get rid of them.”
“Volunteering yourself?” Yen shot back.
“Are you stupid?” A response that pissed Yen off more than it should.
“Mages would be the most appropriate.” Wumei spoke up, her gaze focused on Yen. “Someone needs to make the noble sacrifice.”
“I’ll drop you outside if you talk again.” Shin spoke with an utterly casual and frivolous tone, but with the nature of the situation and speaker it only added to the eeriness of the promise.
Without warning, Donny grabbed a random player by the back of his armor and hurled him towards the ward. A gap opened for the warrior to pass through, and the mindless slaughtered him in an instant.
“Right!” Donny brought the attention to him. “Line up by the wall. Mage, archer, long range types in front, close combat behind them. Use the strongest attack you have when we tell you. My personal advice to you, yeah, is kill one of them before they kill you.”
The nameless players stood silently in place, reluctant to obey or reluctant to be the one who moves first. A thundering crash reverb sounded throughout the hall from the end of Lu Kang’s glaive slammed into the ground.
“Move.”
Strong intent from the other four leading clans bore down on the players. Gradually some started walking forward, which led to others following suit and finally those who least wanted to comply unable to withstand the threatening pressure put upon them. The crowd lined up exactly as Donny ordered, most trying to stay as far back as possible, some pushing to the front with nervous resolve.
“Give me the rest of your tokens.” The sacrificial vanguard shuffled at Shin’s casual demand but a flurry of notifications appeared before Shin all the same.
“Aim.” Donny waited until it seemed like Shin’s business was finished, then looked around at conscripts. “Now!”
The wall of the ward fell apart and a surge of attacks cut through the mindless. In no time, the long range players vanished and the rest of the horde charged over the bodies of fallen.
“Go!”
The melee types rushed forward, adrenaline surging through their veins as they tried to secure their way back safely. A more brutal and bloody fray broke out as the desperate players clashed with the mindless. Players vanished in droves and even more fell dead. As the last of the forced conscripts disappeared, a remaining handful of mindless turned their sights on the five parties.
Before anyone could act, Shin blurred between two mindless. One turned faster than the other and swung, decapitating the other as Shin dodged, and was banished from the festival. The invoker blitzed through the mindless falling on him, nudging and shoving some away as he allowed others to slay their own.
A mindless lunged from a jump behind, longsword fiercely gripped in hand, and Shin slipped his head to the right. The spear of the warrior in front piercing through the other’s neck. Shin casually dodged the thrusts of the spearman on the backfoot until he suddenly vanished, the longsword wielder flat on the ground. Shin blurred back to the party without even sparing the fallen a glance, a passive smile greeting the others.
Donny looked around. “Let’s go then. Saba up front, us in the back.”
“Who are you to decide, boy?”
“You ain’t really got much negotiating power right now.” He stated to the abbess bluntly, showing her as little respect as she did him.
“Enough talking.” Lu Kang stepped to the center with his party. “This is wasting time.”
Titon nodded to his clansmen and they sped off at the vanguard and the rest followed behind, Shin discreetly leaving behind several floating eye origami. The five parties flew through the halls like the wind down the path Zerah mapped, none among them wishing to lose more of the valuable time than they had to. A tension lingered between the parties but the group held steady.
“How much farther, Seer?” Minutes passed before Lu Kang broke the silence.
“Stay here if you want.” Zerah scowled back.
The group rounded a corner and were met by a small party of mindless. Blank eyed same as the others, but their posture less listless and each of the half dozen before them baring legendary tier classes. A swordsman burst right in front of a wide eyed Zerah, leaving a trail of lightning in his wake.
The flash of his sword clanged off Titon’s shield faster than her eyes could follow, as he pushed her back into the guard of the party. A khopesh appeared in his other hand as he repelled the swordsman’s rapid flurry with ease.
A robed mindless Frostmaiden behind unleashed a bombardment of frost. A shield of symbols appeared before Wumei’s swirling hands, guarding her party, and the Lu and Kamo protected themselves with their own defenses. Before the party a mystic shield spread out, denser and larger than usual, easily blocking the solid spheres of frost crashing against it like cannon fire.
Yen aimed her gaze, powerful forces locking the Frostmaiden and Lightning Samurai in place, and a giant berserker burst before her. She locked the towering man in place and the spell shattered. The world tinged gray as Shin blinked behind her, placing a hand on her shoulder. He tried to blink away but the spell denied him. Without hesitation, he threw Yen back outside the gray veil as the giant berserker’s club mace crushed his skull against the wall.
The giant raised his weapon and a wrench of force from an enraged pyromancer knocked him off balance just enough for Donny to crash forward with a viscous Shield Charge. But the helmed berserker didn’t bunch an inch, raising his club once again, and Karla rocked his skull with a pinpoint punch on the chin, a violent stream of wind surging passed the point of impact, slumping the giant to the floor as if a switch was turned off. Golden light enveloped Shin and his head started to regenerate, Kamala casting a veil of armor around herself as well.
Behind them, a sword thrust from the shadows straight through Jean’s heart without warning, a black garbed man stepping through the shadows like ink. Blood drained from his wound, pain and shock draped his face, just before a cloud of smoke enshrouded his body and a wooden puppet took his place as he appeared several yards away, his expression bored and sharp.
Visible mana threads from his fingers attached to the puppet, and it’s arms snapped around the Shadowwalker. The ninja clad assassin struggled against the puppet for only an instant before melting into shadows and lunging for the puppeteer once more. A thrust of immense speed crashed against the nullifying bastion of Donny’s shield. A dagger appeared in the attacker’s hand faster than Donny could react, and the young scion of the Kamo acted.
A crippling force bound the mindless player in place. Sparks and disturbance bounded against the arcane constraints, neither might nor magic able to break the man free. He floated over to the front, joining the five other legendary mindless players, all trapped by the arcane, arranged in a perfect line.
Without an order, one of the masked Kamo walked to the front and conjured a dense crackling spear of mana. He concentrated it to further destructive power and cast. The spear soared forth, shattering through the chain of heads arranged for him, and the Kamo member disappeared.
Shin looked ahead, the first one to notice a seventh mindless peering around the corner amidst the silence they just regained. A large swirling gate of black and red mana opened at the side, and dozens of mindless swarmed through. Zerah cast a ward between them and it broke immediately. None among the group needed an order to flee in the opposite direction.
“Find a safe room.” Titon commanded.
Another member of the Saba picked Zerah up into a carry, allowing her to use her clairvoyance without concern. The Seer’s face flickered and strained, before her consciousness snapped back.
“I don’t have enough mana…”
“Hey, that’s your one job, Seer.” Lu Kang admonished.
“This way.” Before Zerah could respond, Shin spoke up, leading the group along a new path. He offered no explanation but they had not the leeway to demand an answer with the threat behind.
Soon the five parties came across another horde, ambling in place. A few started to turn as a greater ward parted them forcefully away, and the group charged into safe room, as Shin stood to the side, waiting just outside the doorway to keep the ward up for the other parties.
The moment the last of them passed, Titon bringing up the rear guard of his clan, Shin followed. With nonchalant demeanor, he rejoined his party, glancing around at the inhabitants of this room. Significantly greater numbers than their previous but three main groups could be found at a glance.
To the left, familiar faces of the Igarashi clan led by Renzo, numbering close to 50. To the right, three dozen members of the Pendragon house evident by the king Richard at the helm. And straight ahead occupying a region of the room on their own, over 100 people of all ages and shades, each with golden eyes. At the center, stood the solemn faced Charlemagne.
“Yo, Princess.” A young man stepped forward, stylish blond hair and an arrogant mocking smile aimed right towards Kamala. “This looks like fate, huh?”