by Riker Kane
“Harbingers, keep your distance. Use your abilities sparingly. Don’t draw any attention to yourselves.
“Same goes for you, Gunrunners. You shouldn’t be within twenty feet of this thing. If you are, I’ll be extremely disappointed.”
Rhys walked around the group, passing by me and the other Cavaliers and toward the Vanguards.
“The Basilisk is vicious. It can tear you apart with its claws or its teeth. The spikes on its back mean it’s dangerous even when it’s immobile. But its biggest threat is its stare. A stare strong enough to turn you to stone. Its eyes are yellow but when they turn white, it’s getting ready.
“Vanguards… That’s your signal. Raise your shields and block it. For the rest of you, avoid getting caught. If you do, the next thing you’ll be looking at is Dr. Marchal in the Med Bay.”
He walked back over to the Cavaliers.
“Cavaliers… Your job is simple. Follow my lead.” Rhys walked to the back of the group and moved right in front of me. His face didn’t show any signs of my punch, but I took solace in knowing he felt it.
He looked down his nose at me. “New Cavaliers… You will not engage the Basilisk. Clear a path for everybody else. That is your responsibility. Leave the heavy work to the ones who can handle it.”
The disdain on his face had never been so obvious. I wanted to slug him again but knew now wasn’t the time. He turned back around and headed toward the front of the group.
“The Basilisk is the Obelisk. We beat it, we close this place for good. Everybody does what they’re supposed to do, this will be easy. The Captains won’t have to come in and clean up this mess. Now… Let’s show the LOD what the Vegas District is made of.”
Everybody unsheathed their weapons at the same time. The sound of metal being brandished and Mana flowing filled the air before the silence came back.
I kept my focus straight ahead, watching and waiting for anything.
The ground began to tremble beneath me. I looked closer and saw small divots in the grass forming. The soil cracked and bulged as the rumbling grew stronger.
BOOM!
Explosions all over the ground in front of us sent a shower of dirt and green in every direction. I watched the dirt cloud slowly fade and watched the creatures slowly emerge from the holes. Giant lizards as tall as horses and twice as wide crawled out onto the grass. The yellow and green scales of their hides glistened underneath the sunlight. Their eyes were giant yellow tennis balls shifting in every direction. They opened their mouths to reveal their ragged teeth. Meter-long tongues flopped out onto the grass, red and coated with slime. There must have been more than fifty of them, each one eying our battalion with vicious hunger.
“Oh, man…” Douglas grumbled next to me. His mouth shut, he looked like he was about to puke.
“It’s all right,” I said. “We got this.”
“Omegas!” Rhys shouted. “Let’s go!”
The Vanguards and Zealots charged forward in unison with Rhys before them. The Harbingers readied their staves and fired screeching bolts of lightning and streams of blistering flames at the giant lizards to make them squeal in pain.
“Let’s go, baby!” Elliot was the loudest of the Gunrunners as he led his own charge into the fray.
The Striders zoomed by everybody in a purple blur, leaping into the air and pouncing on the lizards.
The newly recruited Cavaliers were the last group to move their way forward. I worked with Douglas, Brian, and Paige to tackle one of the beasts. It turned its attention to Brian and lashed its tongue out at him, wrapping it around his legs and pulling him to the ground.
“Crap! Help!”
I rushed up and slashed my saber down, severing the tongue and setting Brian free. The lizard squealed in pain and clawed at Douglas. The massive swipe caught him in the chest and sent him tumbling back on the grass.
“Don’t stop!” I yelled.
Paige and I worked together, thrusting our sabers at the same time and piercing the lizard’s side. Brian followed up and slashed down. His cut didn’t separate the lizard’s head from its body but a deep enough cleave made it bleed bright green blood before exploding into Mana.
Brian stood there and scratched his shaggy blond hair, his eyes wide with amazement. “Wow… That wasn’t so hard—”
“Look out!”
Paige’s warning came too late as a lizard slammed into Brian from behind. The blow was so heavy it folded him in half before crumpling him to the ground.
The lizard didn’t wait, turning its attention to Paige and me.
“Parry and slash… Parry and slash…”
I muttered the words to myself as the lizard charged at us. It dug its claws into the grass to push itself but a sudden thunk of metal slammed into it, sending it tumbling across the grass and knocking over another lizard a different squad was engaged in.
Quentin took the lizard’s place and gave me a thumbs up. “Miss me, Soul?”
“You should be with the other Vanguards,” I said.
“Screw that. We’ve got things under control. I say we take down as many of these things as we can together. Look at all of this Mana.”
Among the battle, every color of Mana littered the grassy fields. I couldn’t argue with him. Not with how much of an opportunity this was.
I looked at Paige. “The more the merrier.”
She gave me a smirk and nodded.
We ran over to Brian but he stayed on the ground.
“Crap,” he groaned. “I think my back is broken. Along with every other bone in my body. I think I’ll just lay here for a bit…”
I searched for Douglas but he was nowhere to be found.
“I think his Recall Box took him back,” Paige said.
“Dammit… One-shotted…” I shook my head and saw the chaos all around us. “We gotta keep going.”
Quentin, Paige and I moved forward through the field as more lizards emerged from the grass. All around me, the cadets were working together to take them down. The beasts were no match for all of the blades and hammers and Mana aimed in their direction. But the relentlessness of their numbers made more than one cadet fall.
I kept my focus. I had no choice. With a lizard coming right toward me, all I could do was try to time my parry. Having Quentin there to block any charges made matters easier. The lizard ran into a steel wall and knocked itself into a daze. Paige and I followed up, stabbing it on both sides and turning it into Mana.
“Where do you suppose Rose is?”
I didn’t have to search far to spot her. Nina cartwheeled around the battlefield with her katanas. All of the striders whizzed by, violently slashing and cutting at the lizards before they could respond.
“Let’s get the Defenders back together,” I said as I ran in her direction.
Quentin led the way, lowering his shield and ramming into all of the lizards like an offensive lineman. Paige and I stayed close behind him, finishing off the beasts as they flailed on their backs. We absorbed as much of the Mana as we could on our way toward the spot of the valley where Nina was.
“Rose!” I shouted.
Nina twirled into the air and pounced on a lizard right in front of me, sinking her katanas into its skull and turning it into Mana.
“You called?” She smiled softly at me, her eyes narrowed. Only Nina could look sweet and sadistic at the same time.
“We’ll be more effective if we work together,” I said.
“Rhys looks like he’s just making everybody do the work for him.”
“Let’s show him what the Defenders are made of.” Quentin slammed his fists together and the ground shook. But the ground kept trembling. “I didn’t know I was that strong…”
“I don’t think that was you,” I said.
We all looked toward the other side of the valley. A quarter mile ahead of us in the open field, the grass bulged like a mountain was growing out of it.
BOOM!
A giant explosion sent a cloud of grass and so
il into the sky. Quentin raised his shield up and blocked the dust coming toward us.
“What the hell was that?” Quentin coughed from all of the grass and dirt still lingering in the air.
We got an answer quickly when he lowered his shield for all of us to see.
It wasn’t a mountain but it could’ve been. A giant green lizard the size of the Nerve Center stood in the crater it just made. Its thick scales were like emeralds welded together. On its back, a hard green shell covered with jagged yellow bone spikes pointed up to the sky. Eight limbs with massive claws bigger than my own saber stomped on the grass to make the ground shake again.
Massive yellow eyes scanned the battlefield before it opened its mouth. Thousands of broken but sharp teeth were a shredder waiting to get its hand on whatever was unfortunate enough to wander next to it.
The giant green beast pointed its mouth to the sky and roared loud enough for it to make the whole world tremble.
I would have stood there in awe at it if not for the smaller lizard charging at us. Nina leaped into the air to avoid it and Quentin met it head-on, slamming his shield right into its face. Paige and I followed up. Hard thrusts in its sides immobilized it further, making its skull an easy target for Nina’s blades.
“Now I know why they call it a World Boss.” Quentin shook his head in disbelief. “Sheesh.”
I watched as Rhys and Gregory took the lead of a group charging right at it. The Basilisk lowered its head down and scooped up some of Zealots into its mouth. Just one bite was enough to split the Zealots in two and make a mess of them.
“Holy shit!” Quentin yelled.
Blood gushed from the Basilisk’s mouth as it chewed. The screams of the Zealots were cut off as their Recall Boxes sent them to the Med Bay instantly.
“What’s the plan?” Quentin asked.
“Rhys said we’re supposed to stay back,” Paige said. “We should wait for them to topple the Basilisk then take the moment to strike.”
“From here, that sounds like a good idea,” Nina said. “We can collect a lot of Mana beating all of these lizards.”
“It is a good idea,” I said. I watched Rhys continue to lead the charge as everybody focused on taking down the Basilisk’s legs. “But I’ve got an even better idea.”
“I already know what you’re thinking.” Quentin slammed his fist on his shield. “I’ll lead the way.”
Nina took a deep breath and nodded. Paige swallowed and smiled to hide the obvious reluctance in her eyes.
I gave him the order. “Clear the path, Q.”
Quentin activated his Mana Barrier and the blue energy formed around his shield. “Follow me!” He ran forward as the Mana created a blue aura all around him. He toppled every lizard in his path, making them quick work for Paige, Nina and me. We cut forced our way toward the other side of the valley where everybody was engaged with the Basilisk.
Up close, the beast was even more terrifying. It raised its head up and screamed to make the entire valley quake.
“Keep going! Take its legs!”
Rhys shouted his commands and everybody followed. The Harbingers and Gunrunners worked together, focusing their fire on all eight of the Basilisk’s limbs. Striders raced by, slicing at the limbs before running away from its swipes. The Zealots were more reckless. Their swings were hard but immobilized them long enough for the Basilisk to easily swipe back. Sharp claws rended their armor and send them to the Med Bay.
I kept my focus as more Cavaliers ran up alongside me. Quentin cleared the path until we were right next to one of the Basilisk’s hind legs.
“Let’s go!” I shouted.
Paige, Nina, Quentin and I worked with the group of Cavaliers to hammer away at the beast’s limb. Trying to take it down was like hacking at a massive tree trunk.
The sustained assault eventually grabbed the Basilisk’s attention. It turned its head toward us with surprising speed.
“Watch out!”
I grabbed Paige and dived to the grass. But the other Cavaliers weren’t as fortunate. They were scooped into its mouth and met the same bloody end as everything else that ended up between its teeth.
“Get underneath it!” I yelled.
“Underneath?” Quentin said. “Are you crazy?”
“That’s its weak point.”
Quentin shook away his reluctance and moved closer to the Basilisk. The beast was big enough we could walk beneath it without having to duck. I looked up and saw the white flesh more vulnerable than the rest of its green scales.
“You sure this’ll work?” Quentin said.
“Only one way to find out.” I thrust up into the Basilisk’s flesh. There was no resistance as the tip of my saber pierced its soft belly. Paige followed my lead. Nina stabbed with both katanas and ran forward, splitting open as much of the Basilisk as she could. Quentin hammered up, trying to carve into it with the sharp ends of his shield.
I activated an Upper Thrust and the blue aura around my blade burned brighter. The Basilisk didn’t budge but my body moved up to push my blade in even deeper. Black blood spilled in every direction like oil. The warm fluid sprayed against my face, forcing my eyes closed. The noxious, rotten scent made me gag but I gritted my teeth and kept thrusting.
The Basilisk shifted and screamed again.
“I don’t think it’s safe to be standing around underneath this thing for much longer,” Nina said.
“Agreed.” I looked down and saw the black blood drenching the grass around us.
We raced out from underneath the Basilisk just as it fell to the ground.
“Turn it over!” Rhys shouted his orders to the dozens of cadets still remaining.
The Vanguards and Zealots worked in unison, charging at the beast from the same side in an attempt to knock it over. Their efforts made the Basilisk wobble on unsteady limbs.
“Keep going!” Rhys yelled.
Quentin joined in on their attempts. The Gunrunners and Harbingers kept firing. They kept going until the Basilisk was toppled, sinking the bone spikes on its back into the grass. Its belly exposed, everybody cheered.
But the celebration didn’t last for very long. The basilisk’s eyes began to glow white with smoke coming out of them.
“Look out!” Quentin moved in front of Paige, Nina and me and raised his shield up just as massive white beams of energy shot out.
The other Vanguards put their shields up to block the attack but they weren’t able to guard everybody. Those who couldn’t get out of the way took the full brunt of the blast. The cadets screamed as they turned gray like cement was covering their bodies and holding them in place. They stood frozen in position before they exploded into pieces and their remains were recalled to the Med Bay.
“Finish this thing off!” Rhys shouted. “Take its HP down!”
Nina joined the other Striders as they leaped into the air and pounced on its exposed belly. Dozens of katanas found their mark as the blades spilled more of the black blood. The other remaining cadets continued their assault.
The Basilisk writhed in pain at the attacks from every direction. It shook the ground as its limbs flailed with dangerous swipes of its long claws. Paige and I worked together, leaping onto the beast and sinking our blades into the soft, white flesh of its stomach. Quentin stayed ready to raise his shield up in case of another unexpected attack.
But even the giant beast couldn’t take it. Its body moved with less energy as more blood leaked from it. Its cries grew weaker. The life slowly faded from it until a dazzling explosion of Mana filled the air to replace the pool of blood.
Rhys immediately rushed up with his communicator and began collecting as much of the Mana as he could. “It’s mine! I’m the Apex! Gimme what I earned!” Despite Rhys’s demands, everybody followed his lead and did their best to take their share. Even with how much Mana was on the battlefield, it was all recovered in only a few moments.
Nina walked up to me. The redhead looked as exhausted as anybody, her pale skin glistenin
g underneath the sun and her cheeks red.
Paige was just as tired. The wind whipped the hair away from her face to show the fatigue in her eyes.
Quentin put his hands on his hips and watched the last of the Mana being picked up. “Crazy,” he said. “Less than half of us are left.”
“To the victor go the spoils,” Nina said.
“Mana’s nice. I could go for a pizza. Or a burger.”
“It’s our first World Boss,” I said. “Why not both?”
“I won’t argue with that.”
“Of course, it’ll have to be in my dorm room.”
“There room for one more?” Paige asked.
I looked at her and put a hand on her shoulder. “It wouldn’t be a celebration without you.”
26: Raid Results
Red Mana 4,700
Blue Mana 4,450
Green Mana 1,225
There was more Mana than I expected. I didn’t get any Cores but considering my numbers were bigger than I’d ever seen, my next power boost was going to be my largest ever.
Of course, there was still the matter of dealing with my suspension. Right after the Basilisk fell, I was only given a brief visit to the Med Bay before being escorted back to my dorm room. The confinements of my ‘cell’ were a lot more tolerable with some basic Internet access and a window to enjoy the scenery.
Every other cadet spent that same night in the Central Square. I swore I could hear the celebration in my dorm room. Not that I cared too much. Nina and Quentin were there to keep me company along with Paige.
The normally demure Cavalier had a big smile on her face as she sipped on a latte. “I can’t believe it,” she said. “We were actually on the battlefield when we took down a World Boss. And we did some damage to it.”
“We did more than some damage to it,” Quentin said as he took a chunk out of his burger. “We were giving that thing the business. Spilling its guts all over the place. It’s a good thing they turn into Mana when they’re dead because I’d be washing the stink off of me for days.”
“You still washed though, didn’t you?” Nina raised an eyebrow at him.