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Chapter 35 - A Time Lost
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All around me were echoes of the past. Some soldiers I once knew are now looking at me ghastly, flesh torn from their face like a crow buffet. Bones empty, hollow, shattered and broken. Armor clanking loosely to the now ill fitting bodies they are attached to.
The skull of one of these soldiers stood only inches from me. I could see into its empty hollow eyes a pure feeling of dread and sadness.
“The poor bastards” I thought to myself.
In the next moment a red aura was emanating from me, slowly creeping towards the skeleton head, like invisible limbs, like vines growing upon a tree at the speed of light. My aura reached into the eye sockets of the poor soul. Similar to a hand with its thumbs in the skulls sockets.
*crack*
It’s skull now cracked into two pieces and casually thrown aside without mention or a break in my stride. All upon me were the sounds.
*crack*
*break*
*whistle*
*BOOM*
This was a battlefield. One that wasn’t in our favour. Looking around at the dead icy tundra before us, I could see thous...
No..
perhaps millions of undead pouring in at every turn. Like a swarm of cockroaches that just wouldn't give up. I even thought back on my past life of Ryu, thinking to myself if a nuke would even help.
My breath was now a cold red mist huffed before my eyes. You’d be inclined to think it was blood, perhaps it even was, however I sustained no injuries yet. Just a deep crimson red mist was before me with each troubled breath, what have I become?
My breath frozen in mid air was turned to tiny brilliant red crystals that drilled the air before them before falling and breaking. Whizzing past one another with a majestic but casual stroll.
Losing myself to my breath, I quickly realized I was neglecting my comrades. Fatal wounds all around me from the incoming horde quickly snapped me back, horrid screams of pains as axes landed firmly in my comrades backs.
Silence.
Just silence.
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POV Change, Rosie To Eldamore, Squad Leader, Front Line
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The wounds I have are too many, our front line faltered. Did we ever really stand a chance against these numbers? That odd fellow Elzare certainly helped, hell I’d give a thousand men any day to have more of him!
Even with his help though, there’s just too.. damn many. Lost in thought I failed to realize I’ve been flanked. The circle of undead have closed before me.
Most my squad is likely..
Well.. I can think about that later, perhaps in the afterlife.
“not without a GOD DAMN FIGHT FIRST THOUGH!” I screamed as loud as my collapsed lungs would allow me, grabbing my battle axe with all my might, my hand clenched tight enough to almost draw blood.
“ARHHHGHH”
“One little, two little, three little skeletons..”
“Four little, five little, six little spines..”
“Seven little, eight little, nine little rib cages..”
“And ten skeletons down!” I ended up stomping to the beat like a child enjoying a game. Skulls flying off in every direction, bones being cut clean in half.
I truly do thank the blacksmith that made this axe, god could it cut like butter. I should remember the name firmly before I die on this day.
I believe it was Bronzebeard who handed me it, he joined our war effort just before this big attack. Didn’t think this thing would be this well made though! Them damn crafty dwarves.
Smearing the handle clean with my thumb, looking for some sort of inscription while I had the small clearing before me. In a bright glimmer shone the signature of the craftsman I wanted to thank, It’s a sorta crimson red I think, that's glittering, damn, didn’t know signatures could be this fancy.
With blood dripping down the handle from my tight clench, it slid down onto the name I was looking at, the name.. Glowed violently in cursive.
Rosie..
The name came into my head like a silent whisper.. No.. I could’ve sworn someone actually just pronounced it. Inspecting further, looked like she was an apprentice of Bronzebeard. Well Rosie! I humbly thank you for this weapon in my final stand.
Almost as if the gods heard me, my fucking axe expanded! A blood red aura moved the handle down, extending it with a pure manifestation of.. Energy? Red Energy? That looked solid to the touch.
The bladed part of my axe expanded twice the size, with alterations in the length like a goddamn sawmill. It was glowing red with mist all around, small sparks of red lighting within what I could only guess it's own air. I didn’t know this fucking thing would be enchanted to this level!
What triggered it though? Red.. hmm.
Was it my blood?? I’ve heard of blood enchanted weapons before, but not like this..
Expecting it to weigh heavy, I swung it in a wide arch with ease. It was in fact lighter than I anticipated, easily killing 10 undead in a single sweeping motion. It was starting to feel more like a pole-arm than an axe now. My years of experience as a grizzled old fart have trained me enough for this though.
Changing my stance with new determination to take as many as these undead ugly fucks as possible with me. I danced. I danced with the blade of death at my side.
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“10 little.. 20 little..” My breaths becoming more troubled with each motion as what felt like eons passed.
I think it's perhaps time though. As if my intuition knew, a giant golem of just flesh and bones smashed through its own lines charging for me like the angriest of bulls, kinda fitting with my fancy red axe here.
Holding it forward to take the charge with numerous broken bones, I held my will. This fucker will give others a lot of trouble, he should be my last kill. Charging like a true dumbass, he ran right into the blade, cleanly sliced in two!
Problem is, the separate parts.. Well.. Imagine someone threading a tunic, stitching itself back together. Pretty much that, without stopping its momentum.
It slammed into me extremely hard with the weight of.. god.. a giant boulder I could only guess.
Blood spewed out of my mouth, my conscious was fading. With dizzy vision, I saw my breath in the air before me and freeze mid air into brilliant, pretty little gems landing on my axe. As each gem landed the axe got fiercer. With red snow all around me, a fierce breeze on my face, calmness enveloped me. This isn’t so ba….
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POV Change, Eldamore To Narrator
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The battlefield was ghastly and red. Thousands of soldiers that were defending against the undead horde were screaming out, almost in unison.
Thinking of their families, daughters, wives, sons, every relation they ever had, old pals or otherwise. Not because it was their dying thoughts of love for them, no, their dying thoughts were of their family being killed by this horde after.
This unsightly monstrosity like a sea of insects that just kept clashing into their world like a violent wave. It would kill everything it touched, like poison to the land, hell even the land itself was changing color around the horde.
With the masses of voice’s being combined together, if you had a keen ear you might hear a few be screaming a certain name.
“Rosie!”
“Rosie, please I know you are there.. Please” Was cut off by a sickening sound of a sword plunging deep”
“Rosie god damn it! Was all that shit in Andril lies? I know how strong you are! Where are you.. Where.. Where..”
All those who inspired by Rosie were saying the same thing, where? Over and over again.
An answer to a god is usually unmet. One might think it’s a good thing Rosie is only mortal then.
With earth shattering noises of thunder all around, and then silence for what felt like eternity, a loud swoosh of noise was being focused on one person.
A red air began to swirl and form around Rosie, as if all the blood on the battlefield was being sucked up, massive clouds of red formed above her and started to shape something. For those of religious beliefs, you might think the shape was a red angel after a couple minutes focusing your eyes.
A giant, towering angel hundreds of feet tall in the middle of the battle field.
The angel soon started to move its hands, spreading them apart with its palms facing downward. Soon tendrils of the cloud like substance was being shot down and funneled onto the battlefield. One with a keen eye would see the substance was going for those injured.
As if a thousand clerks healed everyone at once, everyone was being healed back to full. Even Eldamore who thought his last breath was long overdue, was now slowly climbing back to his wits. It was an amazing sight for the soldiers, morale was increasing through the roof, people yelled with humbled breaths..
“Rosie!”
After the clouds settled down, the angel started shrinking its intimidating stature, a few soldiers tried to get to the source.
The sight that awaited them was an unexpected one. A woman, crawling on the ground away from the undead, with her skin wrinkled and pale, her bones visible. Her overall health clearly looking malnourished, hair white as a sheet.
Behind her was an undead clad in intimidating armor with a well kept sword aiming it down for her head. The soldiers tried to run, to intercept, to stop the nightmare before them. They were too far though.
The sword fell with a heavy force of undead weight behind it to meet Rosies head.
“You really are a foolish girl..” was whispered in the air before the ghastly body disappeared with the wind. The soldiers unable to hear what was said, or fathom where she went, now faced the clearly elite monster.
Rosie had pale white eyes looking up at the familiar face she knew to be Elzare.
“They were calling my name.. Some from Andril..” was barely muttered from the feeble body.
“Shh.. just keep that loud mouth of yours sealed for now.”
“Elzare.. ” her last image before fainting was of death floating behind Elzare as he jumped from undead to undead to get back, at the very least he didn't have a smile this time. That thought brought Rosie some minor comfort, but also worry.
Soon a large beast entered the battlefield, furious as could be, clad in some of the finest armor and weapons you could imagine for just a beast. It was multiple times larger than any feline creature the land knew. Its name?
Was Berry.
“Oi, ya fucking big ga loot, you go out there and smash them bones! I certainly like the idea of smashing bones! Amiright Berry ol pal?”
“What thats? gay? BERRY! I thought I raised you better.. Wait.. actually you’re right there pal, that does sound kinda like a fairy tinkle fest.. Hmm”
“What! Berry.. Heavens to Betsy, such a mouth, your owner must’ve have quite the finer arts of a vocabulary master for the uhh darker arts.”
“I know I’m your owner you big puss! It was a joke a joke. A nice..”
“The only puss I get is you! WHAT NOW BERRY”
“Only a joke you say.. Well.. JUST GO OUT THERE And fight for Inglos sake!”
Rosie was coming back to conscious, barely a thread left in her blood flow. The amount of blood she generated and replenished was beyond superhuman even for a VRMMO, it’s all thanks to her new abilities and passives. She could hold more dense blood than anyone else, and replenish it faster too. Her class was extremely well rounded and coming together in her level 40s.
She still overdid it, she’s never used her healing ability to that extent before, the battlefield gave her ample supply of blood, but for every person healed she needed to imbue a little of her own, cleanse the blood with mana, and control the direction in flow to so many. When you consider just how many people she healed it was an exponential difference than just a few cuts and scrapes of others.
Blinking back into existence, she could see she was in bed, and that her color was slowly returning, her skin filling back up, her white hair slowly turning back crimson, its now permanent state.
“I’m actually fine, what was I even worried about, those fuckers from Andril owe me.”
Andril.. Raced through her mind. There were still warriors she brought here with her out there fighting. One’s she trained herself. Clamoring out the bed like a child, a hard swift hand pushed her onto the bed.
“Just when I thought to myself, maybe that was the foolish thing she will ever do, your sorry ass tried to get back out there?” Elzare scolded down to her.
“Move out the way grey ears! Thanks for the save, seriously, but I’m going back out there.”
Elzare tried to push her back down onto the bed again, but was met with a force he was starting to know all too well. A red aura, clasping his hands pushing him back.
“You leave your sorry ass to come out here and play hero and when I finally find you to help you’re trying to stop me? You watching over me and me being in bed is hindering our war potential out there! You saw those undead fucks, they will ruin everything, we need to get back out there. Now, move out of my way.”
The red aura flung Elzare to the side with a force even he wasn’t ready for, crashing him through the poorly built house that was made just weeks ago.
“Now, I don’t know what kind of issues you have with me, but I'm trying to look out for you! Need I remind you of the state I first found you in?” Was echoed by multiple Elzares surrounding Rosie.
A flash of the past made its way forcefully into her mind, and a twitch in her face could be seen.
“I.. I’m sorry” Elzare muttered.
“After your big stunt out there, the front line will easily hold for a bit more, and the replacements are supposed to be coming later today as well, so at the very least, try to rest for a couple more hours, okay?” Was said with a sweet and sincere voice.
Why was Rosie so mad at him, even outright attacking him after being saved again and finally meeting him after so long. She shook her head clear and collected herself.
“Guess I must be losing it, deal ole grey ears.”
“Can you not call me that? Just how much has Bronzebeard corrupted you??”
“Not nearly enough! Am I right??” She instinctively tried to go for a high five, but was met with nothing.
As Elzare was going back to the front lines he finally replied “Clearly far more than enough.”
Rosie laid back down, and started to think of all the things leading up to here. How long has it been?