This is a critical moment, the acting leader of Easy Money thinks as the two sides are trading spells and arrows non-stop. Divine John quietly casts a special divine spell, “Prophecy.” “Oh Wise Gods of Eternia, Please Grant Me Insight, and Foretell the Future! Amen.” The spell grants a five second window into future actions on the field. The priest sees the black hole forming above his head, and sucking everyone in his group into it. Immediately, John empties his mana bar to cast “Reflection.” “Oh Merciful Gods of Eternia, Hear my Plea! Send Treacherous Magic Back to the Infidels! Amen.” Please be in time, the priest pleas silently.
PING!
The black hole forms as prophesized, but in a different location-in front of the portal!
“Damn!” Godo the Black says right before he gets sucked into his creation.
The rest of the Eternians are quickly sucked into the hole as well. Once Trista is pulled through, her magical link maintaining the Wall of Air vanishes.
* * *
“Wow! What a turn of events!” Evan exclaims for the camera. “The Eternians got wiped out by their own black hole!”
“Gotta give credit to that priest for casting a timely Reflection spell,” Antoinette agrees. “Now there is nothing to prevent the Virtuans from waltzing into the portal.”
“There are still some defenders on the mountain,” Richard reminds them. “My players won’t allow the Virtuans to enter the portal that easily.”
“I didn’t take you for an optimist,” Charles chuckles. “With Heimdall neutralized, how will my players be stopped from entering?”
“Let’s find out!” Evan cuts into, motioning for the video technicians to show the vicinity of the portal.
As the camera turns back to the field, Richard turns on his administrator status and furiously types out an email message to Mark: “Mark, how did the Virtuan priest know to cast a reflection in time to flip the black hole back to our players?”
A moment later, the project manager sends a reply: “According to the game log, Divine John had cast a ‘Prophecy’ spell and intercepted the black hole before it took effect.”
“What?” the CEO types back. “I was not aware we had such a spell in the game.”
“We don’t,” Mark answers. “It was another item apparently sneaked in by Virtuous Gaming’s technical staff. I’m sorry sir.”
Richard resists the urge to type “You’re fired” to his employee. First the cloud runner creature added to the game unbeknownst to him, and then a new spell. It is now checkmate unless his players on the mountain can stop the invaders in the passage way.
Chapter 68 – Wild Cards
“This is it! Let’s end this now!” Divine John urges his men forward.
“CHARGE!” Suddenly a group of riders rush through the remnants of the abatis, bypass the two duelists, and try to go pass the men on the ground!
Divine John turns around and sees that the scouts belonging to Marcus’ faction are trying to swipe Easy Money’s hard fought victory! “Stop them!” he orders as the mana-less priest pulls out his staff from personal inventory and tries to knock a rider off his mount.
Hugo Everheart ducks under the blow, but the passenger behind him is knocked off. The player from The Returned alliance urges his mount onward. Victory is just a few yards ahead!
Suddenly a Wall of Bones engulfs the portal, making it impossible for Hugo to enter!
“No!” Hugo cries out in frustration as his eyes dart back and forth, trying to find the source of that spell. Finally he notices a spell caster dressed entirely in black, holding a skeleton hand. “Kill her!” he points at the necromancer before an arrow punches through his skull, knocking the scout leader out of the game.
* * *
“Good job!” Wesley praises Conrad when the leader sees that the live counter for Virtuans has been reduced by one. After the debacle with the reflected black hole, the remaining defenders are now on the mountain top behind the portal, along with Heimdall on the ground. The live counter now reads eight Eternians to fifteen Virtuans remaining on the field.
Let’s tighten the defense around Laura, Wesley decides. “Everyone, abandon your post and form a circle around Laura!” he orders. “And if you can, pass mana to her so that her wall enclosing the portal can be maintained,” he adds.
The remaining defenders take a peek down the chasm; they are either surprised or aghast at the presence of the Wall of Bones, since none of them were aware that a Necromancer was joining their group.
“I’ll explain later,” Wesley says as he sees the question forming on their faces.
Diana and Lucious stands to the left of Wesley, while Westrom Lightseeker and Urdon take the right side. Diana and Westrom both use the Succor spell to pass along a quarter of their mana to Laura.
“Thank you,” the necromancer says softly. Laura knows that it’s taboo for the two members of the clergy to assist a necromancer and they may face repercussion from the Church as a result. “I have enough mana to maintain the wall for the remainder of this tournament,” she announces.
“Good,” Wesley nods simply. “Conrad, give us a heads up if any spell casters try to cast an area of effect spell to disrupt your partner. Also, warn us if the Eternians manage to find the ropes and climb up the mountain,” he orders.
“Can’t we send a runner to cut the ropes?” Lucious asks.
“Not a good idea,” the knight shakes his head, “because that would mean breaking formation. There are still some missing Virtuan players on the field, and we don’t know what their capabilities are.”
Suddenly, a throwing star flies toward Wesley’s face. The cavalier quickly raises his shield to intercept its path.
In front of them are five players dressed as ninjas, with black clothing, blue belts to mark their faction as Virtuan, and masks covering their faces. The thrower of the star steps forward. “Are we late to the party?” a female voice asks in amusement.
“Wait!” Diana interrupts. “That voice sounds familiar. Who are you?” she asks.
“I can’t fool you, can I?” The ninja pulls her mask from her head, revealing a beautiful platinum blonde underneath. “Hello sis,” she grins.
“Priscilla!” Diana exclaims.
Lucious’ jaws drop at the name. He has never met Diana’s sister in person, although his girlfriend complains about her all the time.
“Why are you here?” Diana demands. “And representing the enemy?” she glowers.
“Why? There are many reasons. I work for Virtuous Gaming,” Priscilla begins.
“I thought you were a public relations person,” Diana interjects.
“Oh, I wear many hats in the company,” the newcomer replies without missing a beat. “I started as a PR staffer, but caught the attention of the CEO, and became executive Secretary as his right hand person. Once we got to know each other, we started going out.”
Lucious shakes his head in disapproval of the fact that an employer is dating his direct subordinate.
Priscilla catches the shake, and grins. “Charles Winter trusts me enough to put me in charge of finding the fifty players to represent Virtuous Gaming Co. for this event. I figured why not put myself in the group and manage things from the field?” Priscilla explains.
“You traitor!” Diana’s eyes lit up in flames. She pulls the mace from her belt and points the steel ball end at her sister. “She is mine,” the angry priestess growls.
“You want a one-on-one duel with me?” Priscilla smirks. “Sure, why not,” she agrees and starts to back up for more space to fight her sister.
“Yagh!” a voice cries out as Conrad punches an arrow into a Virtuan’s skull. The player had climbed up a rope on the left side, and tried to sneak closer. Alas, Conrad does not fall for Priscilla’s attempt to distract the defenders.
Priscilla frowns for a moment as she continues to back into her companions.
The four employees of VG allow Diana to pass through and start to take their fighting stances as they face the remaining defenders on
the mountain top.
* * *
“Wow, we have another change in momentum!” Evan says. “Just when it looks like the Virtuans were going to enter the portal and win the tournament, they get backstabbed by a different faction within the group. And the Eternians used the opportunity to padlock the portal to prevent entry,” he summarizes the action as the video replay rolls on screen.
“Indeed,” Antoinette nods in agreement. “It is clear to us in the audience that this tournament has turned into a triple sided fight. Sir, if your side ends up losing what will you do?” she asks Charles.
“We’re not going to lose,” the CEO of Virtuous Gaming replies confidently. “We still have more players on the field. The defenders up on the mountain top are primarily spell casters, and they passed along a lot of mana to the owner of that wall of bones in order to help her maintain it. Give me a fight between melee players and mana-exhausted spell casters, and I will bet on the melee guys every time,” he remarks.
“While it’s true that melee fighters have an advantage in that situation, you are forgetting something important here,” Charles chides his rival. “Right now I have The Strangers as the core of the remaining defenders. I’m more than willing to bet my ownership stake in my company on these four.”
“And there we have it! It’s the final showdown for all the marbles! Will the Eternians manage to hold on until the end? Or will the Virtuans pause in their in-fighting long enough to find a way to break through The Strangers’ defense? Keep watching to find out!” Evan says, and the screen returns to the mountain top.
PING!
Suddenly a small screen appears in front of Charles. The following words appear in the screen: “Activate Speed Hack? Yes or No.”
Charles quickly hits “Yes” and the screen disappears.
At the same time, a small screen also appears in front of Richard. The following words appear in the screen: “Activate Damage Hack? Yes or No.”
Richard hits “Yes” and the screen disappears.
The two men take a brief glance at each other, and look away.
The Digital Bandit has finally made his move.
Chapter 69 – Truce
The Virtuan riders from The Returned alliance run through the path with reckless abandon, trampling on other players without regard. Their only goal is to get through the portal. However, the wall of bones appears from thin air, and encloses the portal. The scouts cannot avoid crashing into the wall!
The last rider manage to rein in his horse in time to avoid the same fate as his comrades-concussed with a steep drain on their health bars, and their steeds dead from the violent collisions with the wall. Burton coaxes his horse to kick at the wall with its hind legs, but the wall of bones remains intact with no visible damage.
“Up there!” someone shouts.
The Virtuan player looks up, and sees a female player dressed in black sitting cross legged on a perch overlooking the portal. Unfortunately, the spell caster is at least one hundred feet above him, and beyond the range of his arrows.
“For Easy Money!” a warrior cries out as he rushes up to the rider. Burton nonchalantly commands his horse to rear kick the would-be attacker; the horse sends the swordsman flying through the air.
The warrior lands on his back with a loud “THUD!” but does not get up.
PING!
Suddenly an arrow bounces off the scout’s leather armor, doing only one point of damage.
“What the heck?” the player asks as he looks around. Easy Money and his The Returned alliance are still fighting each other, but now the blows between the combatants are resulting in ping-ping-ping-ping-ping!
“HOLD IT!” Divine John booms in a loud voice. “STOP FIGHTING! NOW!”
Geoffrey Bladelust points his bastard sword at the direction of the priest. “Why should we listen to you? You’re a stinking merc!”
Seeing that everyone in the vicinity has stopped fighting, John replies in a calm and normal voice. “There are two reasons. First, there is a glitch that seems to reduce our attacks to one point of damage each. Thus, there is no realistic way for us to kill each other before time expires,” he explains.
The priest points a finger at the Wall of Bones enclosing the portal. “Second, if we don’t work together, we’re going to lose this tournament. So we have two options: either we continue fighting amongst ourselves until time expires and lose to the Eternians by default, or we work together to figure out a way to break that wall. As the second in command for Easy Money, I am ordering my members to cooperate with The Returned. Now what will you do?”
Gentatsu approaches the man. “I am the current leader for The Returned,” the fighter says. He looks back at his members with a frown. I hope Marcus will understand, he thinks. “We will form a truce with Easy Money.”
Chapter 70 – Beautiful Chaos
Heimdall catches a glimpse of the Wall of Bones and smiles to himself. It was the right choice to allow Wesley to finalize the list of defenders for this Hundred Man Tournament, the warlord admits. Heimdall has a bad tendency to micro-manage things, and it took a lot to concede such managerial power to someone else. Heck, even in the Players Council, Heimdall was the one sitting at the head of the table and calling the shots!
If Heimdall was the person making the final call, he would never allow a necromancer to join the tournament. Think of all the flak from the Church of Eternia! Yet, it is clear as day to everyone, both on the field and off, that the necromancer has saved the Eternians. Without the wall, their enemies would have entered the portal by now, and won the match.
Heimdall jabs at his enemy’s face again, forcing the man to hop back. When was the last time a single opponent stood toe-to-toe with Heimdall for so long? Was it months ago, half a year ago, or even longer? To a veteran player like Heimdall, it is still these unexpected surprises that make the World of Eternia so appealing to play on a daily basis. “Let’s end this,” Heimdall says aloud.
“If you can,” Virgil snaps back and starts his rush toward the man. Suddenly, the ranger finds himself moving at a much faster pace! Before he knew it, Virgil is standing right in front of his enemy. The ranger sees the Decapitator take a swing for his neck, but the movement is in slow motion! The mercenary ducks and leans forward in one fluid motion, and quickly thrust his left scimitar at his opponent’s heart.
PING! The blade, which should have punched through the armor, barely scratches it . . . for one point of damage!
“What the tiny kitty,” Virgil says as he aims his right scimitar at his opponent’s throat. The blade nicks the halberd welder in the neck for one point of damage again! "That should have been a decapitation," the ranger mutters to himself as his fury starts to rise.
Heimdall continues his attack with a sweep at the dual welder’s legs.
Virgil avoids the sweep by jumping, and sends both feet into the armored man’s chest, knocking Heimdall back a few steps but doing limited damage again. “What the heck is going on?” the ranger blurts out in frustration at the three consecutive hits for one point of damage each. Is there a bug in the game?
Heimdall plants the flat end of his pole arm on the ground. “Apparently we’re experiencing bugs of some sort. Even if you can move faster than me, you still can’t do any damage to me. If these bugs persist through the end of the tournament, there is no way for you to win this duel. So this means it is pointless for me to fight you anymore,” Heimdall says and turns his back on Virgil.
“Don’t you dare turn your back on me!” Virgil roars in anger at the obvious show of disrespect on camera, and jumps on the armored man’s back. Wrapping his legs around Heimdall’s waist and hooking his left arm around the neck, Virgil stabs at his opponent’s neck several times for limited damage.
“That tickles,” Heimdall remarks as he drops the halberd and grabs Virgil left arm with both hands. Suddenly the warlord bends his upper torso downward, using solely the waist, and pulls the arm forward. The surprise Judo throw flips the ranger throug
h the air and he lands on the ground with a loud “THUD!”
The hard impact with the ground, coupled with such tremendous force, knocks Virgil’s health bar down to five percent. Even worse, his avatar has received the Concussion status. Unable to see anything aside from stars on his visor, Virgil hears the words, “Good game, man.” His view screen immediately turns to black with the dreaded “Game Over” flashing on it. The defeated player rips his virtual reality gear off his head and slams it against the wall in his room. BANG!
* * *
“Wow! There we have it! The duel finally ended with Heimdall emerging as the victor!” Evan says. “Who knew a martial arts move would be the way to end this duel?”
“It appears there are some bugs manifesting during the last moments of the duel though,” Charles approaches the topic gently. He doesn’t want to reveal the speed hack that the Digital Bandit had enacted on Charles’ behalf.
“That’s the rant of a sore loser,” Richard taunts his rival. “Your mercenary lost in a fair fight. The two fought non-stop for nearly an hour. Fatigue becomes a factor at that point. And your player simply couldn’t muster up the energy to continue the fight,” Richard offers his theory on the matter.
“We will bring this to the attention of the mediator,” Charles replies, unconvinced.
“Yes, you do that,” Richard agrees. “We have a lot of matters that came up so far in this tournament that could use a third party review.”
The two lock stares, with neither man willing to back down.
Finally, Charles gets up from his seat and grabs his staff. He points one end of it close to Richard’s face. “I just changed my mind. I want to settle this with you personally. I challenge you to a fight. Winner takes all,” he says.
Richard gently pushes the staff from his face and slowly gets up from his seat. “You know, we are in the entertainment business. And this tournament has been entertaining to the viewers out there." The man pauses for a moment and continues to speak. "I think the audience will be equally entertained when I give you a good spanking. So I accept your challenge,” he replies.
World of Eternia: The Complete Collection Page 41