by John Nest
Two silver golems shortly stood up beside Ultimo. Smoke created them but was left with little mana. His two minions stomped on the grounded Barbarian but dealt insignificant damage.
Meanwhile, Sharur ran over to where Sierra and Laernea were. The red-haired HighElf was still healing the injured Lioumerean.
Laernea's life bar was still not fully restored as Sierra focused on closing her gaping wound.
Smoke switched to his power chainsaw bow and fired poison arrows at the downed Ultimo.
Suddenly, a zweihänder plunged through one of his metallic minions and knocked out the golem's electro stone.
The golem instantly crumbled to the floor.
"You really give me little credit, Smoke," angrily spat Ultimo. "Of course I would know the weakness to Horrabelle's beloved creations."
Ultimo stood up and effortlessly drove his zweihänder into Smoke's second golem.
Smoke retreated to where his friends were. He instantly created a spherical Manatl and protected them. He needed to buy time while he still had no idea how to deal with Ultimo.
SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD
Afterimages of Ultimo's zweihänder came at his barrier once more. This time it took less than a minute for his Manatl to show signs of degradation.
"Sierra, how are we doing back there?" worriedly asked Smoke.
"Laernea's healed," replied Sierra briskly, and casted Druid Archon's Blessing on Smoke once more.
"Alright, everyone retreat to the left," ordered Smoke.
He canceled his Manatl and backed away as before, but this time Sierra Transmogrified into her Werebear form and countered the Barbarian's zweihänder with her claws.
Sierra successfully delivered her Double Slash attack and knocked back Ultimo by two-meters.
Equipped with his energized staff, Smoke jumped behind Ultimo.
THWAK
Smoke delivered a decisive blow to the back of Ultimo's head, revealing his life bar to be (1,424,900/2,100,000 HP).
'I guess this could work,' thought Smoke and quickly joined Sierra and the others.
"How's everyone doing?" asked Smoke.
"We're all fine," added Sierra while clutching her Werebear arm. She had been injured when she countered Ultimo's swords earlier.
"Sierra, you should heal your wound," said a concerned Sharur.
"I can't use my Druid abilities when I'm in my Werebear form," answered Sierra.
"So, what's the plan, Smoke?" asked Laernea while pointing her bow at Ultimo.
"We'll wear him out," briskly answered Smoke. "Laernea, Sharur, you two keep firing at him. But make sure to always stay behind me."
"My attack hurt him earlier too," added Sierra. "I can't just sit still and wait to heal you guys. The best defense is a strong offense."
Smoke wanted to argue with what Sierra said, but he knew that she had no intention of doing anything else.
"Alright, but be care—" Smoke was interrupted by Ultimo as his zweihänder came at him.
Once more, Smoke created a full spherical Manatl.
Less than two minutes passed, and his Manatl showed signs of breaking.
Suddenly, Ultimo stopped attacking. Simultaneously, his Cunning of the Dire Fox lost the Barbarian Warlord's presence.
Smoke desperately looked around. Since his Manatl would break in the next attack. He canceled it absorbed it into his staff.
Then, he saw some movement coming from above. He looked up to see a leaping Barbarian overhead.
He squarely landed on top of Smoke and drove his zweihänder into his shoulder.
"Owww!" screamed Smoke as the Barbarian's sword exited his body.
He looked around in search of Ultimo only to see him running towards Laernea.
SHINK
Ultimo mercilessly plunged his zweihänder into the lioness Lioumerean's heart.
THWAK
Smoke hit Ultimo on the back of his head with his energized staff, sending the Barbarian Warlord a few meters away.
However, it was already too late. Laernea's life bar displayed zero.
"Noooooo!" shouted Smoke while he crouched down next to Laernea. He had no idea that Ultimo could leap that high.
"Waaaaaaaah!" roared Sierra as she went into a rage.
Sharur's bolts came spiraling at the grounded Ultimo, but only dealt the same insignificant damage.
In her red Werebear form, Sierra stormed at Ultimo with her claws above her head. She delivered a clean slash with her right claw, but her left did not harm Ultimo as he caught it in an armlock instead.
"Aaugh!" Sierra cried out in pain as her arm was being squeezed tightly.
SHINK SHINK SHINK
Ultimo's zweihänder viciously pierced Sierra's chest, three times.
One of Smoke's black rod struck Ultimo's chin, and his second one unlocked the Barbarian's hold on Sierra.
Sharur quickly came and pulled Sierra backward to where Laernea's body was, but it was already gone as it was absorbed into Mictlan.
The only thing that remained of Laernea was her long bow.
Sierra tried to revert to her HighElf form but Ultimo was crashing down on them from above. The Barbarian Warlord used his Leap Attack on her and prevented her from changing.
Sharur tackled Ultimo off her, and the two of them rolled on the labyrinth floor. The OrkElf then kicked Ultimo's zweihänder away, but the Barbarian Warlord grabbed a hold of his head instead.
Ultimo held onto Sharur's head and brought the OrkElf against his back.
CRACK
The Barbarian Warlord broke Sharur's neck, reducing the OrkElf's life bar to zero.
A bleeding Smoke came running towards them, but Ultimo threw Sharur's dead body at him. Smoke was flattened by his friend's dead body.
Seconds later, it faded out of existence, joining Laernea in Mictlan.
Before he could get up, Ultimo's zweihänder plunged deep into his stomach, impaling him to the floor. Smoke's life bar quickly went below 25%, which activated Horrabelle's Decay Aura.
Sierra, in her Werebear form, tackled Ultimo off of him. The two of them rolled on the floor next to Smoke, and were damaged by the Decay Aura as well.
Smoke quickly activated his necklace to counter the curse's effects, but Ultimo squeezed both Smoke's and Sierra's necks with his massive arms.
"This is the end, Smoke," hissed Ultimo. "Oh, I know that you'll come to find me again, but don't you worry. I'll be right here waiting for you."
With the Heart of Reente's regeneration negated, Smoke's only chance of survival was Sierra. He looked at her life bar and saw that it was still at 30%.
Ultimo followed his eyes, and smirked at him. "So, you're more concerned with the girl, huh?"
The Barbarian Warlord released his hold on Smoke, and kicked they dying DarkElf away. He then picked up his zweihänder and pointed at Sierra.
"Say goodbye, Werebear," taunted Ultimo and slowly inserted his sword into her, reducing her life bar each time it penetrated her.
Finally, Sierra's life bar was reduced to zero as well.
Ultimo released Sierra's lifeless cursed form, and carelessly dropped it on the ground.
Then, a storm of sickle and iron-ball engulfed Ultimo. Smoke only had seconds left to live, and he had to do everything he could with this final attack.
Smoke's weapon glowed red as he screamed. "Suicide Attack!"
+ You've dealt your MAXIMUM CRITICAL BLOW x 5 on Ultimo Maire. Damage 666,666.
- Using the Suicide Attack ability, you have killed yourself.
- You lose 1 level!
- All the stats that have increased on the last level up will be rolled back!
- Because you have died, you cannot log in to Zectas for another 24 hours!
* * * * * *
Nash stepped out of his game pod, drenched with sweat. He wiped the tears from his eyes and searched for his phone.
Without a doubt he knew she would immediately pick up.
"Sherry, can I come over?" asked Na
sh somberly.
After a quick shower, Nash hurriedly went over to Sherry's house. It was only ten-minutes away.
DING DONG
Sherry's doorbell rang.
She came out, wearing her pajamas. Her eyes were bloodshot, clearly from crying.
"Listen, I—" began Nash, but Sherry placed her fingers on his mouth. She wordlessly led him into their living room.
"I'm watching a documentary on pyramids," she said and offered him a seat on their couch.
Nash saw ice cream, chips, cookies, and a chocolate cake scattered all over the coffee table.
"It helps keep me off my mind on things," explained Sherry in between sobs. She sat down and grabbed the ice cream.
Nash settled in next to her and placed her arms over her shoulder.
Minutes flew by, and the two of them silently watched the documentary. Then, it showed how the ancient Egyptians prepared their meals.
"Sharur was the first one to teach me cooking in Zectas," Sherry said suddenly, and erupted in tears.
"Yeah, Laernea was a great cook too. Both of them were," added Nash and squeezed her shoulders. "They were true friends."
"You know, I've read about it in the forums, about groups who meet up, pining over dead Zectians," began Sherry. "I know it sounds ridiculous, but I can completely understand them."
"Why am I hurting this much?" she asked out loud. "They were just characters inside a game," she said, and sobbed.
"It hurts because they were real," consoled Nash. "To other people they might have been just an organized zeros and ones, but to us, to the people who knew Sharur and Laernea, they existed."
Sherry nodded her head, and continued to focus blankly on the screen.
Nash did the same and let out a deep sigh.
"You know, even though it will only be a day for us, it'll be four for them in Zectas when we get back," suddenly said Nash out of the blue, and held her hand tightly.
"Yeah, I wonder how everyone else will be then," replied Sherry and rested her head on his shoulders.
* * * * * *
Smoke and Sierra simultaneously awoke to Nanahuatl's fountain. A crowd of their core members were gathered there. The air was heavy and stifling.
"I prayed to Cuezaltzin that you were just delayed somewhere," spoke Jinggu. "I prayed that my brother was safe with you, in a place where we can not talk to you. But seeing the two of you here only confirms it."
The lone OrkElf stormed away. Thyrsus and Ichaival immediately went after him.
"So, this means Laernea's gone too?" asked Gandiva as her tears began to flow. She slumped down next to the fountain.
Smoke remorsefully nodded. Sierra quickly ran to Gandiva and hugged her.
Igniz flew towards Smoke and sadly orbited around him. "Yeah, they're gone, bud."
Everyone circled around the two of them, and had them retell the whole horrendous event.
"So, did you kill Burmistrz?" suddenly asked Sharanga after Smoke paused. "He hasn't shown himself in Coatl's annual events."
"I don't think so," somberly replied Smoke. "He's extremely tough. He even has an ability that negates my Cunning of the Dire Fox."
After Smoke and Sierra told them of the tragedy, Smoke was pulled away by Darius.
"Listen, I need to tell you something," began the old man. "Remember when I told you about the Magietrois?"
"Vaguely? Why?" asked Smoke.
"Our Brotherhood has found one of them," explained Darius. "It is said that one of the heroines of legend is in Sawtorn."
"Sawtorn? Where's that?" wondered Smoke out loud.
"It is one of the southern continents," explained Darius. "Although, our brothers weren't sure whether it was in Vitzytl Kingdom or Thanotl Kingdom."
"So, which one is it?" inquired Smoke.
"There is an 80% chance that one of them is in Vitzytl. So, I'd go there," answered Darius.
"And what good would the Magietrois be?" questioned Smoke.
"Well, for starters, one of them was said to be a Thaumaturge," replied Darius. "Someone who has the power to bring back people from the dead."
Then, a strong urge to find the Magietrois overcame him. "So, how do I get to Vitzytl?"
"You could teleport there," briskly answered Darius.
"You can do that?" asked a surprised Smoke.
"With my full power I could, but I meant that you teleport there with a continental teleportation circle. Each city should have one," explained Darius. "You could ask your friend, Duke Jeune, to help you out."
Smoke energetically nodded. "Thank you so much, Darius. You are a real lifesaver."
"Remember, our lives are defined by opportunities, even the ones that we miss," said Darius.
He smiled and left his old friend. He quickly searched for Sierra in the crowd of his core members.
After he pulled her into his house, Smoke hastily began describing the miraculous chance to save both Laernea and Sharur.
"So, you want to come with me to Vitzytl?" asked Smoke.
She paused and deeply thought about it. "I would love to, but I can't. Someone has to stay behind with them."
Sierra lovingly turned to the Vigilantez.
"Besides, you remember what that bastard said," began Sierra. "He'll come after all of our friends. We have to be even more stronger than ever. I'll stay here and train with everyone."
"Alright, but don't go looking for trouble without me," replied Smoke.
"I won't, as long as you promise to come visit my house like you did yesterday," countered Sierra.
"You would have to twist my arm to stop me from coming," bantered Smoke affectionately. "I'll be back before Burmistrz amasses another army."
"That is, if he doesn't come looking for us first," pointed out Sierra.
"Then, you'll just have to fortify Verbrannt and make it impossible for anyone to conquer it," said Smoke irrefutably.
* * * * * *
Inside Centzo's royal throne room, Smoke was kneeling in front of Duke Jeune.
"I'm sorry, Smoke, but our continental teleportation circle has been disabled because of the war," explained the young Duke. "And it would take a tremendous amount of power to have it working again."
"Why do you need it anyway?" asked Prosjak, who stood beside Jeune.
"As you might have heard, one of the Magietrois has been found in Vitzytl Kingdom," said Smoke and looked at Prosjak.
"Really? I've never heard of such reports," countered the royal adviser.
"Are you sure?" asked a surprised Smoke. "Maybe you should check your sources again?"
"I'm always up to date with my information," retorted Prosjak. "Maybe, it is you who should check who ever told you this information."
Smoke fell silent. He could not understand why Prosjak would not know about the shared information from the Beggar's Brotherhood.
"Anyway, I still say it is better for you to stay here in Wysteria," added Prosjak. "There is nothing for you in Sawtorn."
"Prosjak, please be quiet for a while," interjected Jeune. "Smoke, I am truly sorry that I cannot accommodate your request at this moment. However, I do know of an independent village far south from here."
Jeune signaled one of his attendants, and the man brought over a map to Smoke.
MAP LOCATION: Havre Village
Coordinates: Latitude: +10°09' S, Longitude: -291°15' E
Note: Two hundred kilometers away from current location.
"I heard that there are a lot of ships from the Sawtorn continent docking there. Maybe, you can find one and ask them to take you?" suggested Jeune.
"Thank you so much, your Grace," said Smoke gratefully and lowered his head before the young ruler.
Prosjak forcefully let out a cough. "Well, if you insist on going there, then may I suggest that you take on a disguise. Burmistrz should not know that you are out of the continent. You are one of his threats that is keeping his Cavalry Knights at bay from attacking."