“Today’s the mutha licking day,” said Tweak, high-fiving me when I passed the island.
“Yeah baby. We’re going all the way.”
“The Lords of Doom don’t stand a chance!” Kit leapt up and down and clapped joyously.
“Oh, they do,” Cecilia corrected her. “If we’re going to beat these guys, we’re going to need a miracle.”
“Damn girl, you always so gloomy?” Tweak asked.
“Not gloomy, realistic,” she said, her tail waving behind her like an entranced cobra. “There’s a reason that Horizon corp dropped us in favor of them. They’ve got a huge following, and they’ve got over forty highly competent guild members.”
“Meh,” said Ember as she peeled an apple with one of her enchanted daggers. She was lounging in one of the heavy wooden chairs around the table, still wearing her teddy. “We’ve got a following too. And who cares anyway? Fans don’t help on the battlefield. And I don’t think that having a shitload of guild mates helps any.”
“Yeah, well, they’ve got some of the most powerful healers in the entire game,” Cecilia told her. Then she tapped on her interface and shared the roster with us.
The final battle wasn’t until noon, which gave us about four hours to study up on the Doom Lords. We had seen plenty of their fights, and I had personally scanned over that roster more than any other. I was still a little bent about having been passed over by Horizon corp, and I was intent on winning the whole damn thing and showing the ungrateful bastards at corporate that they had bet on the wrong horse.
As we watched the replay of the Doom Lords versus Hiro Quest from the day before, I couldn’t help but be impressed by their healer’s abilities. Nearly half the guild was a healer of some sort, be they priests, shamans, witchdoctors, clerics, or druids, and they were all level 55 and up. Their stats were impressive as well, and they each somehow attained a full set of mythical armor called The Skin of the Azure God.
“We’re going to have to ignore the healers,” said Anna as we watched Hiro Quest fail at the opposite strategy. “All they do is take attention off the guardian and force the enemy to use up all their mana.”
“Yeah but look at how effective they are,” said Kit. “They’ve kept the guardian over 90% for most of the fight.”
It was true. The battle had been raging on the looking glass for more than fifteen minutes, and the Doom Lords’ guardian was still over 90% health, while Hiro Quest’s guardian was down to 50%.
“So, if we aren’t going to focus on their healers, but they constantly heal their guardian, then what’s the plan?” Stormy asked.
“We do the same thing,” I said, glancing at Cecilia.”
“Exactly,” said the foxy lady.
“But we don’t have enough healers,” said Kit. “There’s just you, me, and Anna.”
“Yeah,” said Anna. “And when we’re inevitably killed, we won’t be replaced by fresh healers.”
“We don’t need more healers,” said Cecilia. “We need a shitload of healing relics, potions, wands, staffs…everything we can find.”
“That shit’s expensive,” I noted.
“Especially ones strong enough to keep a guardian healed up for any extended period of time,” said Ember. “The Doom Lord’s casters are powerful as shit too.”
“Then we break the bank. Spend every last dime we have to buy the best, rarest shit there is,” said Cecilia.
“Are you nuts?” said Kit. “If we lose then we’ll be broke.”
“Yeah babe,” Tweak added. “You are talking about almost a million gold.”
“But if we win then it won’t matter. There’s a frigging kingdom on the line,” Cecilia countered.
“I say we go for it,” I told them. “Balls to the wall.”
“Ozara Kingdom or bust,” Nanaya added.
“All in favor?” Cecilia asked and raised her hand. I raised mine, and the rest of my guild mates soon followed. “Alright, let’s hit the markets and see what we can dig up.”
We spent the remainder of the morning shopping around the markets in the many cities of Rebirth Online. In Aeorock we picked up a healing crystal that would release a steady stream of healing energy, 1,000 per second to be exact, and it lasted over ten minutes. In the Hindi Islands we found an old NPC shaman that had a mythical dragon tooth that boasted a staggering 100,000 healing power. It put us back about 40,000 gold, but if it helped us win, then it would be worth every penny. In Evermoon City we traded our enchanted dragon lances for something called the Orb of the Maker. When worn, it was supposed to add 25% to the total health bar of the bearer. If we put it on the guardian, then the big lug would have well over one-million health points. At an auction house in the Gilded Wastes we found an artifact that would set us back 250,000 gold, but it offered advantages that we just couldn’t overlook. The artifact was called the Stone of Angelic Power, and it allowed the user to summon angels that would act as healers. The stone would last an impressive fifteen minutes, and more impressive still was that if the summoner died, the angels would remain.
Armed with as much healing power as we could muster, and completely broke, we took a portal to Aeorock and prepared for battle.
Chapter19
The coliseum was filled beyond capacity, and it had even been redesigned to fit another thousand people in the stands. Thunderous applause greeted us when we walked onto the sand, and I looked across the stadium and watched as the Doom Lords sauntered in. They looked confident, but who could blame them? Their battles hadn’t been as hard won as ours.
“Welcome to the final battle!” Doctor Marks bellowed into the crystal that acted as a microphone. Every looking glass showed him sitting with the wizard and the elf woman, and the crowd cheered and stomped their feet.
“It’s sure to be a hell of a fight,” said the elf.
“Right you are,” the wizard said over her. “Why, I haven’t seen a matchup like this since—”
“We’ve never seen a matchup like this,” the elf interrupted.
“Heavy Metal Thunder is a Cinderella story if I’ve ever seen one,” said Doctor Marks over them both. “With only nine guild members, they’ve managed to fight their way through five stages and thirty-two guilds to win their bracket. But they’re not going to find the Doom Lords an easy adversary. With over forty members, the Doom Lords have risen to the top through teamwork, innovation, and a hell of a lot of power.”
“It’s going to be interesting to see if Heavy Metal Thunder can keep up,” the elf noted.
I turned from the looking glass and gestured for my guild mates to bring it in. We huddled like a football team, wrapping our arms around each other’s shoulders.
“No matter what happens today,” I said to them with emotion welling up inside me. “I’m proud as hell of every single one of you.”
“We’re proud of you too, Big Daddy,” said Kit.
Nanaya sniffled and squeezed the girls on each side of her. “You guys are a bunch of mooshy bitches.”
“Awe… Nanaya does have feelings,” Kit said with a smile.
“I love you all,” I told them, and we all hugged it out.
“Now, let the battlefield be revealed!” Doctor Marks bellowed.
The crowd waited anxiously as the sands began to shimmer, and soon the battleground was revealed. The ground beneath our feet shuddered and began to rise into the air, and I saw the Doom Lords also floating upon a chunk of rocky land. Similar rocky islands rose up into the air, and the floor of the arena turned into a swirling patch of fog. Above us was another churning cloud of multi-colored mist.
By the time our islands stopped floating higher, there were at least twenty other islands scattered about at different heights above the churning mist. I assumed that falling into the mist would be a bad thing, but there was no way to know unless someone jumped in and found out what happened. If the guardians fell into the mist below and disappeared, then it was going to change the game a lot.
“What’s up with the
sparkly fog?” Tweak asked, glancing over the side of our little island.
“Only one way to find out,” said Trinity. “As soon as the battle begins, someone needs to jump in.”
Ember scoffed. “Then let it be one of the Doom Lords.”
Our island soon became our base, and pillars of stone rose up in a circle, marking the veil that we would have to wait behind in ghost form. The oval chunk of rock that we floated on was about fifty feet long and twenty feet wide, and the Doom Lord’s island appeared to be about the same size. The two bases were even with each other and separated by three-hundred yards of open air and about twenty other islands, some level, others above, and still others below. I thought that we could leap the distance between some of them, but that method wasn’t very practical.
“We’re going to need your wings Nanaya,” I told the beautiful succubus.
“Oh, I’m already on it,” she said as she moved her hands around in an intricate pattern.
Our guardian appeared, and my guild mates and I were quick to arm him with the many healing artifacts that we had bought. He let out a roar and glowed with multi-colored light, and I grinned as I scrolled over his much-improved stats.
I looked across the expanse as my guild mates applied their buffs, and I saw that the Doom Lords had already conjured their own means of flight, and of all things they had chosen magic carpets. I had to admit that the multi-race guild looked pretty damn cool in their glowing purple armor as they stood on their carpets like surfers ready to catch a monster wave.
“What style, what class!” the wizard gushed.
“Alright peeps,” I said when the countdown began. “Stormy and Ember hang back and be ready to jump in. Guardian, stay here for now, and stay away from the edge.”
“Edge bad,” said the gargantuan crystal man.
“I think we should see what happens when you fall into the mist,” said Trinity.
“Are you volunteering?” Tweak cocked a purple brow.
“Hell yeah,” she said. “We need to know what happens before we know what the best strategy is going to be.”
“Agreed,” I said, “but I should be the one to jump.”
“Too late,” said Trinity, and a moment later, Doctor Marks announced the start of the battle.
Trinity ran and leapt off the island, and my guild mates and I raced to the edge to see what would happen to her. The crowd gasped when Trinity disappeared into the mist, and for a silent moment everyone in the coliseum waited with bated breath to see what would become of her.
“Woohoo!” came a cry from above, and we all looked up in time to see Trinity float out of the churning cloud above and land on the island in front of ours.
“Holy shit!” said Tweak, “They are like portals!”
“Sweet,” said Ember.
Nanaya cast her spell on us all, and black, leathery wings sprouted from our backs.
“Guardian!” I said, having suddenly thought up a clever plan. “I want you to jump off the island and fall into that mist. When you come out of the clouds, jump in again. Kill anyone who tries to hurt you.”
“Kill bullies!” the guardian sang before leaping off the side of the island.
Across the expanse, the Doom Lords had taken to the sky and were now headed our way.
“What’s the plan?” Trinity asked as she landed at our base.
“We send the purple monkeys and Nanaya’s imps after the healers to distract them, and we hit their guardian with everything we’ve got!” I told them. “This is it bitches, it’s now or never. Maintain the high ground! Let’s show these fuckers some heavy metal thunder!”
We flew into the air right at the Doom Lords with the howling crowd cheering us on. Spells streaked by as the Doom Lord casters got the jump on us. We held back our attack until we were closer, and I released Firestorm, Hellfire, and Arcane Lightning. My guildmates unleashed their magic as well, and soon the sky was alight with dozens of screaming spells.
A blue ball of flame zipped toward me, and I barely barrel-rolled out of the way when it exploded beside me. The blast knocked me off course, but my armor took the brunt of the blow. I banked hard right, avoiding the spear of an elf, and flew around one of the islands and came at him from behind. He turned just in time to eat one of my fireballs, and I scored a hit with my enchanted sword as I passed.
Tweak’s purple monkeys flew by, hanging from the skinny legs of the tiny imps. They found the healers near the enemy base and got to work causing as much trouble as possible. The remaining Doom Lord fighters flew past us and veered toward our ever-falling guardian, and we continued past to attack their guardian. They hadn’t instructed theirs to leap off the side like we had, and therefore our target was much easier to hit.
With the enemy healers tied up dealing with our minions, I took the opportunity to hit the big red guardian with my Nuclear Thunderclap. As I moved my arms through the intricate patterns, I felt the magic building up inside me. It came from the core like an orgasm, and releasing it felt almost as good as sex. The power gushed out of me in a thin red line, hit the ground below the guardian’s feet, and exploded like a mini nuclear bomb. An entire chunk of the enemy’s floating rock base broke free and rose into the wake of the mushroom cloud.
“You wanna warn us before you do that?” Ember asked as she flew by wiggling a finger in her left ears and moving her jaw around.
“Sorry!” I yelled back at her as she flew toward the guardian with daggers drawn.
The enemy guardian was already down to 94%, but it was nothing to celebrate. The Doom Lords had already gotten our guardian down to 89%, and that was with three of their players healing on the opposite side of the battleground.
“We gotta pick it up!” I said as I dodged the big arm of the red guardian, who was swatting at us like King Kong angered by buzzing little planes.
Trinity must have been killed, because neither she nor Anna were anywhere to be found. Nanaya, Ember, and Tweak were attacking the guardian, and I could see Stormy trying to get out of our base in one piece, but she was being bombarded with spells. Worse yet, Nanaya’s wing spell was going to wear off in 60 seconds.
I flew around the red guardian, pelting it with Fireballs, Arcane Lightning, Magic Bolt, Firestorm, Hellfire, and Scorched Earth, but I barely made a dent. The healers had taken care of Tweak’s monkeys and Nanaya’s imps, and they were now casting healing spells on their guardian from afar. I looked back at our guardian, who was now pinned down to one of the floating rocks and being bombarded with enemy spells. Fireballs, electricity, enchanted arrows, spears, and swords steadily hacked its health, which was now at 60%. At this rate, we would be out of the game in a matter of minutes.
We needed to stop the enemy healers and we needed to burn down the red guardian, but more importantly, we had to stop the enemy from attacking our guardian.
But we couldn’t do it all.
Samson…
I glanced around at my nearby guild mates, but they didn’t seem to have heard the voice.
Megulla?
Samson, thank the depths, came Megulla’s voice in my head.
I’m kind of busy right now, I said as I conjured a Fireball and launched it at a nearby healer.
It’s Baal. He’s attacking the city.
I can’t help you right now, babe! I ducked a spell from an ice mage and retaliated with a fireball that left him scorched and smoking.
You must summon the children to the surface world, Samson. They are too weak to defend the city, soon they will die.
I can’t do this right now, I told Megulla as I deflected another of the ice mage’s spells and countered with Arcane Lightning. A warrior came out of nowhere and swung his big battle axe at my head. I blocked it with my Fire Shield, but the blow took me off my feet and sent me over the side of the rock island. I landed on another one about ten feet below and groaned.
Samson! Please! If Baal defeats me, I don’t know what will become of your parents…
Listen, I can’t hel
p you right now. You want me to become a king? Then leave me alone and let me win this damn tournament!
I leapt off the stone island into the swirling mist and came out of the clouds above the enemy base. Megulla’s voice didn’t return, and I assumed that she had ended the spell that allowed her to speak to me mentally.
“We’re losing our asses!” Trinity yelled as she flew by and stabbed the red guardian with her enchanted sword.
She was right.
It was time for the Stone of Angelic Power.
“Cover me!” I yelled to Nanaya, and I beat my magical wings as hard as I could.
We flew across the battlefield and swooped down into the fog about fifty yards from the island where the Doom Lords were attacking our guardian. Flying through the mist was disorienting as hell, but a moment later we emerged from the clouds directly above the enemy.
I selected the stone from my interface and activated it, and a moment later my demonic wings disappeared. As I fell through the air toward our guardian, a dozen singing angels that looked like they spent four hours a day in the gym appeared, and their healing light overwhelmed me. I landed on my guardian’s shoulder as the healing light washed over him as well, and to my delight, his health bar began to noticeably tick upwards.
Trinity had lost her wings as well, and she fell upon the leader of the Doom Lords, taking him with her over the edge of the little floating island.
“To the enemy base!” I yelled in the guardian’s ear, and he leapt forty feet into the air and bounded off another floating island.
The ride on his back was exhilarating, and I held on for dear life as he let himself drop into the mist below, only to emerged from the clouds hundreds of feet above where he had gone in. In this manner we quickly reached the other team’s base, and I instructed our big blue lug to attack his red counterpart.
The two behemoths exchanged blows that would have shorn off the side of a stone tower, and I smartly leapt from the blue’s back and engaged the Doom Lord healers. The angels had followed me and the guardian across the battlefield, and now circled the enemy base, healing us as fast as we took damage. Our guardian was closing in on 70% health, and we had the enemy red down to 50%.
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