“Ahhh!” Nanoc screamed in pain. Luke spun to see an orc pulling his large bastard sword out of Nanoc’s left shoulder. He dropped his axe as his arm went limp.
Luke fired arrows at the orcs as he ran, readying himself to cast nature’s regrowth when the cooldown was over. With the enemy forces being so compact, he holstered his bow and focused on his claws. He simply didn’t have the room to use his bow effectively.
Acting quickly, Luke delivered as many blows as he could to the backs of the orcs while their focus was on his party. The sudden jerk of pain in their backs caused the orcs to lose momentum and their attacks went wide. Nanoc and Penny capitalized every chance they got, slaying the handful of orcs who were around them and regaining their own battle momentum.
A sharp pain shot up Luke’s side. Feeling around he felt something hard. He pulled on it to reveal a throwing dagger. Penny jumped in to shield him from additional daggers while he healed himself. Looking at his mana he noticed that he was down to about a third, only enough to heal a couple more times while maintaining his weapon’s ability.
“Every time we think we're gaining ground something like this happens,” Luke grunted out while getting back to his feet.
“They just keep coming.” Penny bashed a goblin's head in with her shield while simultaneously stabbing another with her sword.
“The goblins are all low level but there's just so many of them.” Nanoc was continually striking with his axes. He was disregarding any defense in order to slay as many enemies as possible. His rage numbed him to the minor wounds he was receiving. Luke cast nature's regrowth on Nanoc when the cooldown was finally up.
“Guys, we have a problem. I’m almost out of mana.” It worried Luke. When he ran out of mana, the healing would stop. With the large number of enemies flowing in through the gate, his guild wasn’t able to send runners to retrieve healing potions.
An ogre suddenly crashed through what was left of the main gate, sending more stone shards flying across the battlefield. Luke and his party fell to the ground in cover, watching large stone shards impale the travelers and goblins around them.
A large ape leaped off of a nearby building with its fists raised high. As it reached the ogre, the ape crashed its fist down on the hulking mass, sending it to the ground and cracking the cobblestone. The ogre crushed several goblins as it fell to its knees. Not giving up its advantage, the ape picked the ogre up and started spinning it. The ogre spun around a few times before the ape threw it into a nearby building.
Several of the other ogres, who had now broken into the city, came to the injured ogre’s aid. One of them attacked the ape with a club but the ape caught the club before it made contact. While the ogre distracted the ape, another ogre landed a combo of punches to its lower back, forcing the ape to release his grip on the club. Now free, the ogre with the club pulled back to swing again but a large wolf, the size of a minivan, tackled it to the ground. The wolf wrapped its large mouth around the arm of the ogre and began to drag it around like a makeshift chew toy.
Ursa ran across the rooftops, leaping over the ogre that had previously crashed into a building. Before she could land, the ogre swung its fist at her. She crossed her arms to block the blow but the sheer strength of the attack sent her flying several dozen yards, over the wall and into the ranks of the enemy's army.
The ape launched an uppercut at the ogre, knocking it off its feet and onto its back. Before it could stand, several of the mages sent waves of attacks against it. The ape put a foot on the ogre to keep it on the ground, beating its chest in a display of dominance.
A massive black fireball crashed into the ape's back. The following concussive blast sent him flying through several nearby buildings. The enemy mages finally made it to the battle. Dark-robed goblins began to flood the city's walls and fire down on the defenders. Those who were able to, took cover. Many were too slow and now lay slain by the onslaught.
Luke hid behind some rubble and noticed a shift in the battle. The orcs and goblins around the city gate started running past him and the other defenders. The monsters were no longer stopping to fight their opposition. Captain Holtz suddenly flew out of an alleyway. He was covered in white flames and made quick work of the first few rows of enemies who ran by the city’s defenses.
“Don’t let them into the city! Stop them at all costs. We have to protect the citizens.” Captain Holtz dashed through the lines of enemies, taking another few dozen down before engaging the ogres.
The captain’s attacks created an opening for the defenders to recover without enemies surrounding them. The enemy mages capitalized on this and rained down their area of effect spells on the wide open space. Despite them hiding behind cover, the mages destroyed a third of the defenders’ forces with their back-to-back assaults of magic. Defender after defender fell from a barrage of fireballs, ice storms, chain lightning and rays of pure darkness.
After a few rounds of attacks, the mages switched focus and began protecting the ogres. They cast heals and buffs to empower the hulking beasts. Captain Holtz, the city’s mages, Ursa’s ape and various high level NPCs were having trouble keeping up with the enhanced creatures.
Two humans, wearing thick black robes, appeared on top of the wall. One of them had two ropes strung across his chest in an X shape. Several black crystals were strung from them. At their sudden appearance, the bulk of the enemy forces stopped their advancement.
“Hello and good evening everyone.” The man with the robes spoke in a deep booming voice. It was clear to Luke that the man’s voice was being empowered with mana as it was loud enough to reach across the entire battlefield. “My name is Iron and I’m here representing the joint forces of the Crimson Shadow and these monsters.” The man gestured at the army of monsters surrounding him. Luke gritted his teeth in anger at the mention of the Crimson Shadow.
“I’m here to make all the travelers an offer. Join the Crimson Shadow. All we ask is that you swear your allegiance to us and Shadow Incarnate with your mana. In exchange, we offer you power. The power to take what you want, the power that releases you from the chains of society. We can make you gods!”
There was a long pause before someone shouted out, “you’re all mad! It's your fault I can’t see my kids right now!” Luke couldn’t locate the person who was shouting, but they sounded extremely upset.
“I understand your confusion. I was confused at first too. Crimson Shadow didn’t trap you in this game. We evolved your minds to a higher plane. Think about it. You will no longer be trapped in a nine-to-five job, no longer insulted or picked on. You will no longer be the outcast, the geek, the loser. In here you will have power! Real power! You can write your own destiny and you will not be confined by society's rules. You can do anything and everything you want. It truly is an Endless Fantasy.” The man chuckled slightly at his unintentional pun. “We are legion, we are one, we are power!” The man clenched his fists and black flames began to surround them. “Join us and you will have this power too!”
There was another long pause before someone else shouted. “Yeah… Sounds kinda like a cult if you ask me.” Several travelers started laughing, washing away any power or strength Iron may have gathered from his speech.
Iron spoke slowly and emphasized each word. “We are not a cult.”
“Exactly what someone in a cult would say,” another traveler shouted and this time it caused all the travelers to erupt in laughter.
Iron grinned. “Clearly I haven’t shown you enough of the power I was referring to.” He grabbed one of the black crystals attached to his garment and ripped it loose. Holding it in his hand, the crystal drained in color as thick black lines began coursing up his arm. The black lines covered his entire body in tattoos that represented dark power. When the crystal was fully clear and drained of its pigment, it crumbled into dust.
Iron looked through the crowd, eyeing the people who shouted at him. He lifted both of his arms and pointed a hand at each traveler. At first, nothing happene
d but soon a black ball formed in both of Iron’s open palms. Without warning, a torrent of black flames exploded from each of the black balls. The flames flew outward, expanding into a large cone.
The flames traveled fast and quickly reached their intended targets. Besides hitting the two travelers, the cones expanded outward and encompassed an area about fifteen feet wide. What scared Luke the most was the sheer power of the flames. They destroyed travelers, stone, goblins, walls, rubble, virtually everything in their path. As the flames flew from Iron, the black tattoos slowly drained away from his body and into his palms. When the tattoos vanished, the flames abruptly stopped.
Luke stood in shock. That single attack destroyed at least thirty travelers. There were large indentations in the ground showing the path the flames took toward their intended targets. The flames were powerful enough to tear up and melt the cobblestone path. Luke had to do something, or else they would all be dead.
Iron looked down with an evil grin dawning on his face. He grabbed another crystal and allowed the power to course through himself. He let out a grunt of pleasure. “Now.” He paused a moment to allow the power to fully course though himself as the crystal crumbled in his hand. “What was I saying? Oh, that’s right. Who wants to be on the winning side?”
The travelers shuffled uncomfortably, no one wanting to speak up and face Iron’s wrath. “Don’t make me repeat myself.” Iron’s eyes emitted an ominous black light as he shouted into the crowd. Orcs and goblins were cheering while the travelers all jumped in fear.
Someone in the crowd said something faintly and Iron shouted at them to speak up. “I said, go to hell!” Shrapnel emphasized his words as he stepped forward, travelers parting and giving him a wide berth. “No one here will join you. You trapped us in here and cut us off from our friends, our family, our lives! I think I speak for everyone here when I say, you can take your offer and shove it!” Shrapnel raised his war hammer in defiance. Other travelers soon followed, raising their respective weapons and preparing for battle.
Iron started laughing. “Well. What can I say?” He shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands up questioningly. “I was hoping you would say that.” He grabbed another crystal, and the power flowed into him. Another set of black patterns started appearing on his body, in addition to the patterns that were already present. His body was now emitting a visible aura of darkness. It was as if his body couldn’t contain that much power so it was leaking out of him.
Iron took a few steps forward until he was on the edge of the ramparts. The monsters around him took several steps back in anticipation of the upcoming magical release. The shadow aura coming from Iron made his grin more intimidating and sinister as he raised his palms into the air. “Die to my power.” Large black fireballs began to form in each open palm and Iron began cackling as the fireballs grew in size.
The cackling abruptly stopped. Iron looked down at his chest, his face showing a mixture of shock and pain. Three holes appeared in his chest and blood was slowly running down the front of his robe. As people looked closer, they noticed three lines of dripping blood coming from the holes. The lines appeared to be floating in midair as if held up by an invisible force. Slowly fading into existence were three metal claws.
“In the words of a friend, Backstab!” The other robed man shouted in fear as Luke materialized next to him, with a clawed gauntlet through Iron and an empty potion bottle in his other hand. Luke had consumed the invisibility potion he had brewed from the ghostshrooms he found in The Den, using it to sneak into position. Iron fell to his knees and his hands flew to grab at his stomach. The fireballs his hands had been holding fell toward the ground.
It didn’t take long for the fireballs to come in contact with the stone below and the instant they did, they exploded. The concussive force of the blast sent everyone flying. Luke tried to leap out of the way but Iron’s limp form crashed into him and sent both of them soaring over the walls.
The explosion sent splintering flames in all directions. The flames engulfed traveler and monster alike. Since the travelers were farther away, it caught only a few of them but the monsters weren’t as lucky. The blast killed several waves of goblins and orcs before dissipating.
The explosion was loud enough that they could hear it all over the battlefield. It created a temporary ceasefire while both sides struggled to locate the source of the noise. It didn’t take long for them to find it and continue their respective attacks.
Several yards away from the wall, outside the city, Luke was groaning as he struggled to stand. Opening his eyes, he discovered that he was in the middle of the enemy army. Goblins and orcs were pushing each other aside to be the first to taste his blood. Not knowing how he would survive, Luke raised his fists in preparation for the fight to come.
A loud noise, sounding like a crack of thunder, came from the middle of the city. Dozens more followed it in quick succession. Luke turned to see what was happening. Large flashes of light were continuously going off, as if someone was shining a flashlight in your eyes and then turning it off.
Luke could hear a loud commotion coming from the ruined city gate. Without warning, the enemy forces started fleeing from the city. Goblins were running to regroup outside the city walls and large groups of travelers were following them with their weapons drawn. Luke tried to find his own party but didn’t recognize any of the advancing travelers.
He heard Ringo’s voice ring in his head. “Papa. Papa. Travelers are here. Hundreds of them.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Travelers
The booming lightning continued, showing that even more travelers were arriving. Luke’s eyes lost focus as a searing pain ran up his back. Looking down, he saw a blade protruding from his stomach. He tried to spin around and counterattack but the motion caused the blade to move around inside him, sending another round of pain coursing through his body. A goblin ripped the blade out with a grunt from behind him.
Luke fell to his knees and more enemies began closing in, blades rising and at the ready. A goblin slashed across his chest, and blood was gushing from the deep gash. Ringo screamed for him as his guild mates tried to reach him, but they were still too far away.
The slash from the goblin cut the strap holding his bag to his chest. This caused the bag to fall to the ground and its contents spilled out. Luke’s face fell, his hit points reaching five percent and falling. Looking around the ground, he saw the contents of his bag rolling around. He saw health potions, some arrows and food sprawled about. Luke’s eyes were drawn to the medium-sized bottle containing a bubbling purple liquid.
Rose’s emergency potion! he thought as he tried to think of a way to get the potion. An orc took a swing with a large battleaxe in an attempt to decapitate him but, thinking quickly, he fell flat on his stomach. The motion and falling caused him to lose three percent health but his face was within inches of the bubbling liquid.
The orc staggered sideways as a result of missing his blow, but was quickly recovering. Luke reached for the emergency potion, removed the stopper and downed the liquid. As the cool liquid raced down his throat, he could feel sparks of energy coursing through his entire body as a system message crashed into view.
Major Empowerment. You have received the major empowerment buff. You have received the following effects for the duration of the empowerment: +300% max hit points, +300% max mana, +300% max stamina, +300% hit point regeneration, +300% mana regeneration, +300% stamina regeneration, +25 to all attributes, and +25% movement speed. This effect will last for two minutes.
WARNING! Skill, attribute, and experience gains are disabled during the duration of your empowerment.
WARNING! You will receive a Major Weakening for 24 hours after the major empowerment’s duration is over. Major Weakening will give you the following effects: -75% max hit points, -75% max mana, -75% max stamina, -75% hit point regeneration, -75% mana regeneration, -75% stamina regeneration, -25 to all attributes, reduced to a minimum of 1, and -75% experience gai
n.
His flesh began to stitch itself back together at a rapid pace. Before he knew it, the cut on his chest had vanished and the hole in his stomach was reduced to nothing more than a bruise. The orc had recovered and was swinging his battleaxe from overhead, but Luke noticed something: the orc seemed to move in slow motion. Looking at his hands, he realized that the orc wasn’t moving slowly, he was moving fast!
Easily dodging the orcs attack, Luke rolled to the side and delivered several punches to the monster’s stomach. He watched as the orc flew backwards in slow motion. Weighing his options, he headed for the city to help the travelers repel the invaders.
He bent down and leaped into the air with all his strength. He leapt fifteen feet up at the peak of his arc before landing. As he landed he extended his hands with his claws out and crashed into several goblins. He took several jabs to clear a space large enough to leap again.
With one more impressive leap, he landed among the charging travelers. Ringo rushed through the crowd to reach him.
“Papa…” she asked questioningly as she slowed and stopped several feet away from him. She cocked her head in confusion. “Why are you on fire?”
“What!” He looked down at himself and, for the first time, noticed the purple flames covering his body. Looking at his buffs he noticed ‘purple aura’ listed as a side effect of the potion. He also made a note that he only had about one minute left before he would become useless.
“Ringo, help the travelers push the monsters back. I’m going to try to help with the ogres.” Before Ringo could protest, Luke leapt into the city and began a full sprint toward the nearest ogre.
There was an ogre near the city’s wall, and a group of new travelers was taking its chances fighting the monster. It was a foolish attempt, and every swing of the ogre's club killed several of them, sending them to respawn once the conflict was over.
Endless Fantasy Online Page 24