Rewards: ???
Failure: Death of all guild members in Selhi Capital. Allowing the troublemakers to run free.
“Shall we? Dwayne still needs our help to get to Kim and Lucy,” Josh said.
“We will need your help to clear the streets!” the guard captain said.
“Take this.” Josh handed her a whistle. “If you are in trouble, use it and my people will help you out.”
“But…” She started but Josh jumped away. Malsour followed, riding a shadow.
“We’ll do our best. Look after the POEs—they’re targeting them for extra experience.” Dave ran and jumped to clear the guards.
“Ah fuck, I forgot how much my stats jumped.” Dave made sure his hood was on as he cleared one building and barrelled into another’s roof.
His legs bicycled the air, catching on the roof, and slowed him enough to not fall off the edge. He used a chimney to throw himself off the roof and to one behind Malsour and Josh.
“Take a little detour?” Malsour asked.
“Oh, shut up, you shadow surfer. Lot easier to ride that thing than climb all over the place,” Dave said, vaulting roofs and jumping over drying lines or swinging around on chimney stacks.
There was an explosion in the distance.
“I found them!” Dave yelled.
“I think everyone bloody well found them!” Josh said.
Malsour didn’t say anything but moved faster on his shadow surfboard.
“Oh, for the days when I was just a lazy executive who worried about everyone having food and could drink coffee all the time. I had cars and elevators,” Dave whined.
As if hearing him, he saw a notification about his sprint fade away into the corner of his interface, adding to the missed notifications waiting for him.
He thought about the skill’s first description. Although you look like you actively fear running, it seems that when needs must, you can still run. He snorted, unable to hide the smile that tugged at the corners of his lips.
Chapter 15: Nailing the Coffin Shut
Javal walked through the streets of Selhi without a care in the world. He focused his curse onto a single guard, walking up behind them as they looked around wildly at the battle happening in front of them.
Javal whistled; the guard turned, their eyes going wide. None of their buffs or spells worked as Javal’s blade sunk into the guard’s neck.
The guard gurgled, holding their neck before falling to the ground.
Javal hummed to himself and walked past the dying guard. He giggled at the guards trying to fight the large group of Players in the middle of the road. He spread out his curse, cutting off the empowering runes. The guards’ protections from being within the city fell away. The PKP fell on them like wolves, tearing through their ranks.
“Ah, it is a beautiful night,” Javal said loud enough for the surviving PKP to hear. He looked at the bodies that littered the ground, the burning and destroyed buildings. Screams and sounds of battle could be heard in the distance.
“Who are you?” One of the PKP pointed his blade at Javal.
Javal gave the man a casual look, using his aura to push the man to his knees.
“I’m Javal, one of the Dark Lord’s Champions. I was sent to help you and Hevard in killing these Stone Raiders. I don’t much like you Players, but it does seem like you PKP types are rather entertaining.” Javal giggled again.
“I’m sorry for my guildmate’s words. Would you be interested in joining us? Your ability to stop the guards’ buffs could be really useful,” another PKP said.
“Ah, at least there is one of you with brains here.” Javal released his aura’s hold on the first PKP Player.
The Dark Lord always told me to band with others where possible, to use them until the very end. Less risk to myself.
Javal hummed again and walked forward down the road. The PKP moved to follow.
Javal took a deep breath, breathing in the smell of death and destruction ripe in the air. He let out another giggle again.
What a beautiful night!
***
Dwayne grunted as the PKP fighter slammed their sword into his shield.
Dwayne lowered himself, making the attacker think that he had forced Dwayne to his knees. Dwayne felt the blade come off his shield. He turned, driving his shield up as he drove his blade forward and into their armor. Dwayne’s Strength was less than the attacker’s, but his blade was better than their armor.
The blade tore through the armor, taking out sixty percent of the attacker’s Health.
They let out a howl as Dwayne pulled back. Blood came with the blade, and an additional ten percent damage.
Status effects went to work as Dwayne brought his shield back down.
“Lucy, we could use some help!” Dwayne yelled as a spell hit his shield.
Frost damage! Fucking hate frost damage—makes my arm stick to my shield!
“Takes a lot of work and concentration, so shut up!” Lucy yelled back.
Dwayne looked to Kim who smiled at him weakly. She held her chest, an arrow sticking out of it. She’d refused healing; it wouldn’t be enough to fight the poison as she was only down to ten percent Health and it was slowly going down. She sent out a group heal on the frontline fighters and some more buffs, using her time to give them all the support she could muster.
A ball of lightning whipped past Dwayne’s head and smacked a warhammer-toting idiot on his ass; the lightning made his body convulse and jerk.
“Watch what you’re doing, idiot!” Kim admonished, her breathing slow and rapid. “Need someone to watch my gear while I’m taking a nap in my home!”
“Bitch and moan. Always, ‘look after my stuff while I respawn,’ or ‘go and dive into that shambling mound—once it eats you, it’ll leave the rest of us alone!’” Dwayne’s blade found the tasered warhammer dickhead.
Dwayne saw a new notification pop up at the side of his screen. He didn’t have time for it as he looked around. They were fighting in an alleyway. The houses on both sides were made of stone. The PKP were fighting from both sides. Ranged and casters were on the roofs, covering those below and making sure that the PKP couldn’t just pour in attacks from above.
There were a few warriors up there. Their group of forty had been whittled down to twenty or less.
“Hey, that was one time and once it had a meal of all the meat you stored up, it pissed right off.” Kim coughed.
“Yeah, all of that rare meat that was worth over fifty gold and I literally lost an arm to get! Hate it when I lose my right arm,” Dwayne muttered to himself, thanking his left arm for staying attached this long as some dickhead called out an assassin’s move, only to find their face planted into Dwayne’s shield.
They hit so hard it sounded like two pans had been smashed together.
Dwayne brought his shield down on the now stunned assassin, caving their skull in with a single hit. “And stay down, bitch!” Dwayne yelled.
“Did they touch your no-no spot?” Josh’s voice came out from behind the PKP fighters, followed by the telltale sound of a high-powered archer.
“Oh, I do like dark places.” Malsour floated at the front of the alleyway.
“Fuck!” Dave crashed into a wall and cartwheeled off a roof.
“Dave, seriously?” Josh asked.
“Hey, new stats. At least when I enter, I don’t try to be some creepy pervert,” Dave muttered.
Dwayne couldn’t say anything, focused on the battle in front of him. The PKP was a good fighter with their sword and shield.
“Ebony whips!” Malsour cried out.
“See.” Dave climbed out of the wall. “Perverts.”
“Will you hurry up and kill them already?” Lucy yelled.
A blackness so dark it seemed to be solid settled over the alleyway nearest the new arrivals. There were sounds of gnashing teeth and wet meat slapping together, as if an overpowered octopus were in the middle of that darkness. Then the screams started and the wet
meat sounded as if it were attaching itself to items.
“But of course, my damsel in distress!” Josh said.
Dwayne booted his attacker in the shield, pushing them two feet back, right into the darkness.
“I’m really regretting this seeing in magical darkness shit. That is nasty.” Dave jumped high enough to grab the second-floor roof with one hand, hauling himself up and over.
“I’m no damse—” Dwayne looked to Lucy, beads of sweat on her brow. Magical power from her rune flowed through her body and into the surrounding area. “Shut up, Josh.”
Dwayne looked to his people beside him. “Move back a bit.”
The ones who had gone into the darkness hadn’t returned. Only screaming came out from that portal into hell.
A PKP slammed into the wall, screaming before they fell into the black area.
“This is Spar—“
“Ah, fuck off, will you!” Dave yelled. He tossed someone who had attacked him from behind and slammed them into the wall opposite. They dropped ten feet and into the ground.
Dwayne moved to them as they groaned in pain. Dwayne’s sword slammed through the eye slit in their armor, too fast for them to even cry out.
Malsour moved out of the darkness as if it were nothing. He settled down next to Lucy. “Darklings,” Malsour said, as if he were calling his favorite dog to come out to play.
Shadow creatures appeared in the shadows of the alley, killing anything that was PKP.
The ebony whips disappeared, showing loot and valuables. Nothing remained of the PKP who had been there before.
“I will protect those down here. They need you on the roofs,” Malsour said.
“What he said!” Josh yelled.
Dwayne looked to Kim, who waved for him to let her be.
He jumped, using his sword to climb up the wall. He looked back to see Malsour disintegrate the arrow. The black and purple veins that had been crawling up her neck, consuming her from the inside, disappeared.
Good, one less person whose shit I’ll have to watch as they respawn!
Dwayne hauled himself onto the roof, taking in the scenery and drinking a Health potion. He threw the small glass bottle to the side, letting out a roar as he charged over at a group of ten PKP who were fighting three Stone Raiders. One fell under their blows, screaming as an assassin appeared behind them and sliced their throat open.
Dwayne felt his world go red. Reason left him as he got closer. Damage seemed to bounce off him as if it were lessened, his anger and the pain of his enemies fueling his rage as he used everything at his disposal to bring about their demise.
***
Dave watched as Dwayne went completely and utterly berserk, running through those who dared to get in his way and tried to attack his guildmates. He was no longer a person, but a force of armor, strength, and moving scary.
Remind me to not piss him off. Dave’s shield turned into a blade, deflecting the surprised PKP as he drove it into their groin. He’d learned quickly that armor was not his friend. At least when other people were using it. His armor—well, it had saved his life more than once.
“Worth its weight in gold. Though it is made out of Mithril…” Dave jumped forward, rolling away as if a second sense had told him of the impending danger coming from behind him.
“Silent slash!” He turned. The sword extended into a spear, allowing the rogue PKP to impale themselves. They looked at the spear in shock. Dave canceled the spear, moving in close and turned his sword into a hammer, smashing it into the rogue’s head.
There was a wet noise as the rogue crumpled.
Dave kicked them off the roof, hoping the fall would finish them off. “If it was silent, then you wouldn’t call out the command, dumb fuck.”
He looked around to see that the PKP were getting pushed back or were, in some cases, running for their lives.
“Move to the tavern!” Josh yelled.
Those who were wounded were pulled onto the backs of those who weren’t as bad. Support people ran around to collect loot from all the fallen Stone Raiders as well as a number of the PKP.
“Nearly done!” Lucy looked as if she were being drained of her life force. “Soul bind! Tracker. Firebrand. PKP guild.” With that, a wave of dark energy shot out from Lucy. It flowed over the area and settled on the fallen PKP bodies. A white gem showed above their corpses and any surviving PKP around them.
“The heck is that?” Dave asked Malsour, who now floated up from his defensive position, dismissing his army of darklings with a wave of his hands.
“She just soul bound a curse to them that they can only get lifted by the Lady of Fire. They will forever get burning damage; Lucy will always know of their location both by sense and on the map. While they might be able to hide themselves on a map, Lucy and all those she deems friends will forever know the direction of the PKP who were here. It is an extremely powerful spell. It will be stronger on those who are dead, but the living will also have a shadow about them due to it.”
“Wow, okay. I didn’t even know such a thing was possible,” Dave said as the last of the wounded were picked up and the Stone Raiders moved to the roofs. The healers and wounded were in the middle, with the ranged and then warriors facing out.
“I did not think it would be so soon that one of the Players would figure out one of the spells that goes beyond death,” Malsour agreed as they moved toward the tavern.
The firestorms had died down, but the fighting was still fierce. There were just sixty or so Stone Raiders left alive in all of SC, most of which were grouped at the tavern.
***
Deia’s two swords flashed, breaking the two-hander’s attack on her and giving her space to move as they dodged back. Deia flicked her sword; a slash of Fire appeared on the attacker.
They yelled out, using skills to bat the Fire away. It was green flame, a sticky fire that could burn anything. The only way to put it out was cover it with sand or starve it of oxygen. Water didn’t affect it, but the ice the two-hander was using did.
Deia sent three more slashes of green flame into her opponent and those her fellow Stone Raiders were fighting.
“Fore!” Steve backhanded one with an axe.
Deia winced as she heard the breaking bones. Who the fuck showed him golf? Steve was one of the odder summoned creatures she’d met.
Suzy and Induca were still holding their own. The Stone Raiders now controlled a block instead of just a tavern.
Anna was locked in combat with what could only be a Demon. He moved as fast as her, capable of dispatching those who got too close to their fight with brutal efficiency.
Esa said that he was Hevard, the leader of the PKP guild.
A cold feeling passed through Deia, a wave of soul, Dark, and Fire magic. It was powerful, and nothing the likes of which she had ever sensed before.
Her opponent came at her, burn marks over their armor as Deia saw that there was a burning effect on him. Her flames were out but she could tell that somehow they were burning from the inside.
Deia got some space and started her Fire dance. Her guildmates moved to either side, defending her as she shot waves of wind and Fire at those in front of them. They defended as well as possible, but Deia had deep reserves and her flames were not to be taken lightly. They forced people back as if they were physical blows.
Furrows appeared in the ground as Deia watched the Stone Raiders’ rogues and scouts who had been out descend from behind.
She cut off her attacks. “Come on, you gonna fight me? Can’t even kill one person?” She spat on the ground, holding their rage as her people crept up.
Just as the PKPs started to charge, their voices were cut short and gurgles started. Blades found purchase. Skills ignored armor and the PKPs were now the ones with shocked looks on their faces.
“That’s how you ambush someone, bitches!” Steve hooted, looking to Suzy, nodding and then running off in another direction.
There might be sixty people left over from the
attack, yet there were another forty who had just arrived after clearing out the rest of the city—all of the scouts, rangers, spies, rogues, and stealthy types. Creeping up on a person was hard, if they weren’t occupied.
Now the PKPs who had been ready for fighting the Stone Raiders were getting violently shivved in the ass by their opposites in the Stone Raiders. They weren’t used to being the targets of assassination kills.
Deia saw a Stone Raider down and hurting. She moved to them, healing them up with a potion. “Damn, you’re a heavy bastard,” she grunted, putting the armored warrior on her back.
“Urggh, and you’re carrying me right on a cut!”
“Oh shut up, you pansy.”
Seems that Dave is rubbing off on me. Or was it the Dwarves, perhaps? She shook her head. Deia dropped off the heavy bastard at the main tavern, Jules taking him.
Deia left, looking for Anna and that black blurry piece of shit.
It was time she had a real fight. A cold smile passed over her face as she headed out, surrounded by her comrades, her fellow Stone Raiders. There’s nothing quite like hunting down your enemies with a group tried and trusted.
These were the people who destroyed Boran-al’s Citadel. They would make these little bastards pay for ever raising a sword against their guild.
***
Suzy watched through the eyes of her various creations as they and Steve waded through the PKP.
Then, the rest of the guild arrived. They didn’t yell or scream; they moved silently, flowing over rooftops and walls. The morning sun rose ahead of them. Each of them carried their weapons, their eyes cold and hard. They had come to avenge their friends and nothing would stop them.
“Steve, go make a distraction to keep the PKP interested in you and not looking behind,” Suzy said, feeling Induca’s heat as she unleashed dazzling Fire from her hands, coating the PKPs she could see in the street.
“Elementals!” The same Fire turned into cyclones before two female creatures, similar to the Earth elementals she had seen, started causing havoc among the PKP ranks.
For The Guild (Emerilia Book 2) Page 20