by Nikita Thorn
Right at the instance border, Seiki watched in fascination. He could not see each of the troops’ resource bars, but with these rapid exchanges of both personal and unit abilities, the four players were now low on energy. The two Fuoka Army players, although in the mid-20s, were still slightly out-leveled, especially since Aina was injured to start with. Rieko, even without her troops, was successfully whittling down their health with the short bouts of Life Drain she could get out between defensive moves.
“Takeru, heals?” Aina gasped as she jumped back, presumably trying to lessen the effect of Life Drain by putting some more distance between her and the obake.
The kitsune glanced at his clan mate, raising his hand to cast a spell. It was cut short by Rieko’s Soul Freeze that caught him in mid-motion. He gritted his teeth as his life suddenly dropped by a large chunk from what Seiki could only guess was Life Steal, another infamous obake ability. Using Dash to break out of the paralysis, Takeru landed back on the ground and turned back into human form as he attempted to fulfill Aina’s request once more.
Another Life Steal robbed another fifth of health from him, and Takeru collapsed as his life sharply dropped below ten percent.
With her left hand channeling Freeze on the kitsune, Rieko smiled as she raised her right index finger to stop Aina. “Easy, now.”
Aina paused in the middle of her draw as she saw that her clan mate was now trapped on the grass, unable to move from the neck down.
“Doesn’t Life Steal have a bloody lockout?” Takeru muttered.
“I got it enhanced,” said Rieko, with a hint of satisfaction. “Three charges.”
That was perhaps a warning. She had used two in succession, and this meant she could now instantly kill Takeru if she wished to.
“Call back your troops,” said Youta angrily. His archers were taking heavy damage from direct clashes with Takeru’s kitsune unit.
Takeru smirked. “Sorry, my guys and gals fight to the death.”
Youta grunted as he turned back and started firing shots into the kitsune’s troops. He was a little too late, though, since at melee range, the kitsune unit was at an advantage and had pretty much killed all his archers.
“Youta, leave the NPCs!” cried Rieko.
Aina had started letting loose normal arrows at the obake, and Takeru took this chance to break out of the Freeze once more. But before this could turn the tide of the battle, from the treeline, a dagger shot through the air in a long straight path. Aina gasped as it cut her on her wrist, forcing her to drop her silver bow. From the precision of the move, it was Disarm.
Youta saw this chance and aimed and shot a low arrow, hitting the bow on the ground several feet away from the ryoushi girl.
Takeru was in the middle of his leap when Rieko renewed her Freeze on him. With an annoyed grunt, he dropped back onto the ground.
“You’re welcome,” said a male voice from within the dark.
Rieko smiled, her hand still raised to maintain the paralysis on the kitsune.
Out of the forest, Kojiro of the Rogami Clan [Level 23] slowly appeared, and Seiki’s heart quickened at the sight. The samurai was dressed in random Shinshioka armor pieces, and behind him were his troops, more than fifty strong.
“Looks like I’m just in time.” Kojiro slowly grabbed the gigantic rectangular blade, the infamous Oni Cleaver, from his back.
It had been a close fight before, but with the addition of a Rogami member, Seiki knew it was utterly hopeless now for the Fuoka Army. Drawing a deep breath, he slowly took a step back into the instance.
“Guys,” he said quietly to his unit, his eyes still on the additional Rogami member. “I’m going to have to do something pretty stupid, and I might have to ask you to die with me.”
“Chief,” said Genta. “Our lives are yours.”
“Thank you,” said Seiki. Taking a cautious step back out to continue observing the situation, he could see Rieko taking a small sip from a potion bottle, filling her energy in order to keep up her paralyzing Freeze. “Don’t you remember what happened last time when you tried invading us?”
Even on the brink of death, Takeru grinned. “All I remember is my rare Grim Reaper splashing Rogami blood all over the place.”
Rieko was not amused. “That’s some selective memory you’ve got,” she said. “Last time I recall was when we caught you in our treasure room picking locks.”
Takeru scoffed. “We were looking for what was ours in the first place.”
Rieko ignored his statement as she glanced at Kojiro. “Want to use that blade of yours?”
The samurai frowned. “Yes, considering that this bastard killed nearly half my unit,” he said. “But the week-long lockout penalty?”
Seiki suddenly understood why they were all taking their sweet time. The Out of Line debuff applied to whoever killed another player outside the West Gate and prevented those affected from joining War Games.
“Since when do you do war?” muttered Rieko, before a thought occurred to her and an impenetrable smile reappeared on her lips. “How about this, Aina.” She turned to the ryoushi girl, her tone now civil. “Pick up your bow and kill your fox friend here. Take the war lock-out penalty for us, and we’ll consider us even.”
Aina scoffed.
“Ai-chan,” said Takeru, sounding solemn. “It’s been nice knowing you. And you’re one damn fine woman, if you ask me. Keep me in your thoughts and prayers while I visit the great Kitsune Spirit.”
Aina shot her clan mate a dark look. “This is not the time, Takeru.”
The kitsune chuckled, before letting out a cry of protest as Rieko landed a kick on his side. “Hey, hey, hey, that’s not very lady-like. No wonder you can’t find a boyfriend.”
Rieko rolled her eyes before turning her attention back to Aina. “Or, we’ll kill you right now, and then I’ll try to break my record of keeping your friend here alive hovering at 4% health for a very long time. Last time it was, what, eight minutes, with our little thief here?” Her lips curled in a cold smile.
Seiki clenched his fists, feeling his skin prickling like before important matches where theatrics from the other side had gone a little too far. It was all a game, a different kind of game now, but one nonetheless. Exhaling slowly through his nose, he stepped back into the instance and addressed the old beggar by the fire.
“Slot upgrades, please. Twice. Range.”
Are you sure you want to spend 6 War Coins to upgrade your [Standard Slot] into a [Formation Slot]?
Are you sure you want to spend 13 War Coins to upgrade your [Formation Slot] into a [Formation Slot of Range]?
Seiki mentally confirmed, his sight fixed on the Rogami members outside. “New formation,” he said, stepping to one side with his right foot and swinging out his Hikari as he demonstrated Sweeping Blade to his unit.
Formation discovered! Without a free slot available, this formation will overwrite the existing formation saved in your available [Formation Slot of Range]. Would you like to save this formation for future use at the cost of 1 War Coin?
“Yes,” said Seiki.
Formation saved. Please name this formation.
“Stun,” said Seiki.
[Formation Slot of Range] – Stun: Level 2 Formation. Sweeping Blade. 15% extra power. 20% extra range.
Seiki then stepped through the instance boundary.
Aina had grabbed her bow and aimed at Rieko. “Thief?” she cried. “It’s you who hired the Shadow Manor to steal the key and then tried to pin it on the White Cranes. You started this.”
“It’s not them,” Seiki said.
No one had been expecting an outsider, and Seiki did not know how the phasing was handled, but he must have appeared out of nowhere as the players from both clans jumped.
Aina stared at him in confusion.
“It’s really not them,” said Seiki to Aina, nodding toward the Rogami members. “As you can see, they’re more bullies than schemers.
”
Rieko finally recognized him. “So it’s really you.” She shook her head in disbelief. “I thought I saw a flash. Why are you here?” She then scoffed, with a hint of amusement. “Don’t tell me the Fuoka Army is trying to recruit you, too?”
“Three on three,” Seiki said, smiling as he glanced at Kojiro and his troops. “Makes it fairer.”
No one seemed to have expected that answer, and Rieko simply stared at him.
Kojiro sneered. “Look at your level—”
“Remember last time?” Seiki raised his voice, keeping his tone as casual as he could. Theatrics had never been his strength, but he guessed it was a little easier when it was completely true.
The Rogami samurai’s eyes hardened. “Let me kill this one,” he said.
Seiki directly met his gaze. “If you think you can.” He knew the longer this dragged out, the more chances there was for the Fuoka Army to recover, and the more energy Rieko had to waste on keeping her Soul Freeze up on the kitsune. In secret, Seiki tried inviting both Aina and Takeru to a group again, but the prompts went unanswered.
Aina turned towards him and shook her head. “Save yourself.” She seemed to have managed to place him now and recognized he was a friend.
Rieko suddenly smiled. “Aina, I’ve got a better deal for you.” She nodded toward Seiki. “Kill him, and both you and your fox friend can walk out of this.”
Aina spun around to scrutinize the obake. “What?”
Just then, something gently pricked Seiki’s mind.
Takeru of the Fuoka Army is looking intently at you!
Taking advantage of the second when Rieko turned her attention to the ryoushi, Seiki shifted his gaze to the kitsune on the ground. Their eyes met, and a voice spoke soundlessly in his head.
Takeru of the Fuoka Army [Level 24]: I need twenty more seconds.
“You heard me, Aina,” said Rieko, losing her patience. “Five seconds to decide. Five, four—”
“Okay, I’ll do it,” said Takeru, still looking directly at Seiki.
Takeru of the Fuoka Army [Level 24]: Then if you can keep Kojiro busy for a minute I can take care of these freaks.
This was Telepathy, Seiki figured out, a non-combat Free Slot ability. He had been monitoring the players’ health and energy, and he noticed that the telepathic messages took a decent amount of energy.
Unfortunately, Rieko had noticed, too, and a brief stream of black smoke flowed from her right hand toward the kitsune. “No tricks, fox boy.”
Takeru grunted as his health dropped below eight percent, the threshold where light-headedness started to kick in. “I was just saying sorry I’ve gotta do it, no hard feelings and stuff.”
The obake rolled her eyes. “Yeah, right. Never mind. Just kill her, Youta. I’ll kill this one myself when I’m done with him.”
“Fine.” Youta grabbed an arrow and aimed. Before he could release, a flash of metal flew from Aina’s hand and slashed the ryoushi on the wrist. Everyone had Disarm in their Free Slot after all.
Hissing, Youta bent down to pick up his bow, as Aina dashed off to pick up hers, just as fresh chaos broke out.
Kojiro smirked, swinging his Oni Cleaver through the air to warm up.
“This way, Kojiro.” Seiki lifted his voice, distracting the samurai before he could join in the fight. “Or are you scared and would rather stay close to your clan mates?”
Theatrics worked extremely well on those not entirely aware of what it was. “You’re going to regret that,” Kojiro growled as he burst forward, brandishing the gigantic blade. His unit followed closely in a roar of battle cries.
Out of the corner of his eyes, Seiki saw a flash of a majestic fox where Takeru had been a second ago, glowing bright red, its large fan-shaped tail raised high as it leapt up from the ground.
Rieko’s surprised cry was drowned out by Kojiro’s unit of fifty rushing toward Seiki. Trusting Takeru to do whatever he had to, Seiki turned his attention to the incoming horde of soldiers. He knew well his four against fifty was beyond hopeless, not to mention that they were severely out-leveled in the first place… but it was melee against melee, and positioning was all that mattered.
Taking a calming breath, Seiki forced himself to wait. Again, it was all about timing.
The first of Kojiro’s men came within range, and Seiki yelled, as loudly as he could, “Stun!”
Noticing the command, Kojiro halted for a second as he tried to stay out of range, inadvertently causing his unit to do the same. This was the chance for Seiki to follow through with his plan. The ability, although named such, was, of course, not a stun, but Sweeping Blade. A curved line, visible only to Seiki, lit up on the ground in front of him. Without time to experiment, he confirmed the position of the mental guide, and his unit, forming a line, ran into position and struck out with their sword in a wide sweep.
Similar to the class ability, the unit’s Sweeping Blade formation was an area attack. While not particularly strong, it was most useful for its knockback effect.
The command took two unit energy points, which meant he had two available in succession. Even before his unit had finished the first, Seiki had already confirmed the second guide, and the villagers spun around and unleashed another Sweeping Blade formation at the incoming soldiers.
Helped by the extra power and range from the unit’s upgraded Formation Slot, the move was just enough to open up a straight small path through the charging swordsmen. And that was all Seiki needed. Ducking low, he dashed forward toward Kojiro at the back of the group.
“Dismissed!” he shouted to his unit as soon as they finished the two moves. They stood no chance against Kojiro’s men at this stage. One of the samurai’s men had already landed a hit on Rumi, killing her in one blow. Seiki only hoped that dismissing them would give them a better chance to fade away from the combat.
Avoiding the sea of swishing swords coming from the confused troops, who had not had time to react, Seiki shot straight toward Kojiro. The samurai cussed as he realized he had been fooled to expect a Vertical Spike formation. But it was too late.
By now, Seiki knew that the man’s Oni Cleaver was unwieldy at close range, and he chose to stay low on his approach. Before the samurai could bring down his gigantic rectangular blade in an attack, Seiki slammed his left arm into Kojiro’s leg, locked it securely below the man’s knee and immediately burst out in a Slide. Released energy shot him ahead, and Kojiro cried out as the momentum tipped him forward and slammed him on his face.
Seiki had intentionally kept both his charges of Slide ready, and now he mapped them out as long as possible, his arm keeping Kojiro trapped as he dragged his old foe along the ground. The edge of the cliff drew up ahead of them, a white shore under the moonlight in front of the dark abyss beyond.
Kojiro had finally guessed Seiki’s intention, and he kicked out his right leg in alarm as he tried to stop the movement. But Seiki had spared no energy, and within seconds, they had burst through the confused group of soldiers. Kojiro had already let go of his Oni Cleaver, and was clawing at the dirt. Using the last of his energy to speed up as much as he could, Seiki abruptly canceled the move, freed his arm from Kojiro and rolled to the side.
The timing was a little off, since Seiki had chosen to err on the side of overshooting his mark and killing both himself and the samurai rather than allowing the latter a chance to steady himself. They rolled uncontrollably toward the cliff, and Seiki grabbed blindly at the long grass, digging his fingers into the earth.
Slightly ahead of him, Kojiro yelled as he slid toward the edge. Right at the last second, he managed to grab onto a rock jutting out. But before the man could completely stop his tumble, Seiki twisted his hips and aimed a strong kick at the man’s wrist. Even without Disarm, basic physics worked the same way.
Their eyes met for a split second, just as Kojiro lost his grip. Seiki saw pure bewilderment mixed in with anger, and perhaps a glimpse of fright, before the Rogami
swordsman toppled over the edge of the cliff and disappeared.
From below, Kojiro’s cry faded as he fell, before it was cut short, presumably upon his death from fall damage. Footsteps sounded, and Seiki turned to face the samurai’s unit of fifty men, who were running toward him with their automatic attacks. Scrambling to his feet, Seiki reached for his sword.
The fifty masterless swordsmen stopped short a few feet away from him, a blank look washing over their faces. In War Games, remaining players could claim the troops of dead party members and give them simple commands. Whether because this rule did not apply in the open world, or whether it had been because neither of the other Rogami members had noticed, the leaderless unit suddenly turned around, before running back toward the tree line.
Drawing a deep breath in relief, Seiki looked back at his own unit and the Fuoka Army players.
Takeru’s attack had apparently taken them by surprise, and Youta the ryoushi was now dead on the ground. Rieko, out of energy, was at a sliver of her health, which had faded her body to the point of near invisibility, but a cold smile was still on her lips.
“Very nice, fox boy,” she said. “Got a new lockout-reducing enhance on your Nine-Tails and you saved it until now.”
Takeru simply returned the smile.
Aina already had an arrow nocked, aimed at Rieko. “Now this is the kind of lockout penalty I’ll gladly take any day.”
Rieko snorted, and Aina released, shooting the arrow through the obake’s throat, which took the last of her health and dispersed her body into a puff of smoke.
Gazing at the small sphere of cloud lingering above the ground, which obake left in place of a corpse, Seiki finally noticed how quiet the ledge had gotten. The only thing he could hear was blood pounding in his ears.
Of the NPCs, only two of Aina’s unit members were still alive. Seiki searched for his own troops, but found only Genta, who now had less than a third of his health. The man’s solemn look confirmed that none of the other villagers survived the clash with Kojiro’s men, and Seiki heaved a sigh. This was to be expected, perhaps, going after a unit eight levels above his own.