Sparta peaked out of one window, she stood in the corner of the carriage as the skies outside lit up like a warzone. Above her Birse, Skill, Death, Cherry and Woody defended the carriage as the griffin riders swooped in close and Avians grouped up far away to cast magic.
Sly was in his Devil form flying around the enemy's backline and killing their Avian mages, with his tail wrapped around Soren and using him like a weapon, Kyle on his shoulders wielding a single cannon due to low mana, the group of three massacred the enemy like animals entering a slaughter house.
She noticed the assassin Jacky was nowhere to be seen, the blast of shadows he had sent had dissipated into nothing. Sparta didn't know any part of their plan, they hadn't let her in on anything except 'We're going on a roadtrip' and something about 'Choosing a side'.
But…she hadn't expected full out war.
In her eyes it was all too late to back out now, she had passed their test by surviving through fifty three levels of their dungeon and having to be pulled out of the fifty fort level due to her 'Taking too damn long to die'.
She was part of this now, was her thought as she looked at the inside of the carriage. Seren, Steph, Cherry and the strange Devil stood around a large aqublue crystal she now knew to be a dungeon core. Seren and Steph were flowing mana out of the core and preparing to cast a spell, Cherry and Sparta were supposed to watch their backs as they did so.
Dagon was staring out of the front window longingly at the large black barrier still a distance away.
The carriage suddenly shuddered violently.
"Keep that damn barrier up Woody!" Shouted Birse.
"Tell Sly to keep those damn mages off my case then scrub!" Woody responded.
"Death stop flaying those big ass fire balls around so much! It's making the griffins uneasy!" Ch shouted back.
"Sure b! I'll just shoot rainbows out like the other guy then!" Replied Death sarcastically.
"You can do that?" Asked Woody.
Sparta groaned as she held her face, she was a part of this now.
Jacky sighed as he watched the carriage fly further away while the forces of Barik failed to capture it. He stood high up on a tree branch at the edge of the forest, the ball of shadows nothing more than a fake. Birse's plan for him wasn't the most sound ("Take off the mask he says, they don't know what I look like or what my name is he says…") sighing once more he took off his mask and cloak which hid his identity from others not in the guild
Opening his inventory Jacky equipped some brighter brown leather armour and a white cloak then proceeded to leaving the guild.
You have left the guild [RedHawkDown] of your own volition.
He leaped off the branch and landed standing at the edge of the burning camp. No mask hid his features now, short dark-green hair, dark-brown eyes and cat ears.
Jacky looked around for his next course of action, infiltrating one of the larger guilds. Through the chaos and fire many adventurers and soldiers ran around to snuff them out but none fell under Jacky's list of targets except for two.
From the forest two adventurers stepped out, one was helping the other who was currently unconscious.
("Apokalypse leader and sub leader, they'll do.") Jacky thought as he jogged over to them "Need a hand?" he asked with fake worry.
Karnage glanced at him then at Zaahr "Yeah…" she handed him Zaahr and he lift her up to carry her in his arms, she was too busy gazing off at the airborne battle.
Jacky glanced between the unconscious young woman in his arms and the astonished young woman staring off in the distance in front of him ("Okay, the fuck do I do now?...") "Uhh… should we find a healer?".
"No she'll be fine, just exhausted." Karnage wiped then slapped her face to snap out of her daze, she walked off into the burning camp "We'll take her to our tent, let her rest."
Jacky raised a brow and followed her ("I think I'll go look for Dherik or Regina…").
Karnage lead him to the other side of camp as adventurers ran by carrying buckets of water, soldiers ran around carrying messages and Dwarves stood around staring in depression at the destruction of many of their constructs.
Stopping by a tent she held it open as Jacky walked in and lay Zaahr down on a headrest inside. A single mana lantern lit up the fairly spacious inside of the tent, about six by six meters and seven high.
Karnage stared out the tent briefly before walking in and kneeling down next to her unconscious friend.
Jacky scratched his head at the awkward silence "I'll be l-"
"You're not in a guild?" Karnage asked him as he lay standing by the exit.
"No my guild was taken in by Eternium and I didn't want to join them." Jacky responded with the previously agreed on reply to that question.
"Why not?" Karnage continued.
Jacky shrugged "I dislike the leadership, hero or not Zeeke's an ass." he stated plainly.
Karnage snorted "Agreed", she continued to gaze down at her friend with a distant look.
Moments passed as Jacky eyed the exit, just as he was about to declare his leave again Karnage spoke.
"What do think of our current situation? About this war?" she asked while studying his expression.
Jacky looked at her in legitimate surprise "You mean about the heroes and Devils?", Karnage nodded causing him to sigh "This country is broken up into too many factions, the churches that worship the selfish gods, the royal military that look for control of the country, the alliance trying to bring everyone together and us adventurers scattered all over the place.
Honestly? I don't care who wins, I just want all this to end so I can go home. This isn't my war, it's just an obstacle."
"So you would join the Devil's side if the opportunity arose?" Karnage asked.
"Maybe, I don't know." replied Jacky "Would you?" he then asked.
Karnage looked down at her unconscious friend "I…"
Birse stood beside Death and Cherry focusing on his magic as squads of griffins and Avians swarmed all around them, most of them injured and staring at their flying ball of death in fear. Woody stood behind them on his knees, rays of light constantly being expelled from his horn powering the barrier protecting them. All the while Skill stood beside Woody firing magic enchanted arrows at far away targets.
His plan was going through within acceptable margins, the enemy was broken, scattered and tired while they were still far from weary. Moral was low with Barik's forces, a mere dozen adventurers had easily broken through their defences and were on the verge of escape.
RedHawkDown's moral on the other hand was never a statistic to keep watch on in the first place to Birse, each member was hardened by their own lives and slightly off the rails of sanity to begin with.
Everything was going fine. Then the sky shuddered as did the carriage.
Reality ripped apart in front of them as Draxxer leaped out of the rift and severed the chains holding the lead griffin and the carriage together. The carriage continued forward forcing him to slash through the barrier and grab hold of the carriage's side, he pulled himself up to the roof.
Woody fell back as his barrier was easily shattered "Fuck! Not my fault!", his magic no match for the old Hero of the blessed blade and master Beast of Chaos.
CH flew around with the dispositioned griffin up to the only one holding up the carriage, it was freaking out and losing altitude. He switched over to it and proceeded to try and get it under control.
Draxxer stretched his neck around as he glared at the four adventurers on the roof with him "This ends now."
Birse smirked back "Boys, throw him off."
"Might of the beast, strength of the colossus, imbue me to protect! Beast out!" Cherry chanted causing his mastery of the Guardian class to activate. His already large body grew larger as the appearance of a black furred grizzly took over, he still stood on his hind legs like a bipedal humanoid and his plate armour and war hammer had somehow grown with him.
Cherry charged the general causing the grizzled warrior to leap back in surprise, the Bearkin was faster than apparently possible and smacked Draxxer downwards with his large paw.
Draxxer spun as he fell and slashed the air in front of him causing another rift to rip open, the exit appeared behind Cherry as the warrior slammed into his back and stabbed down. Cherry roared out in pain as both of them plummeted off the carriage.
"Fuck! Death on me!" Birse ordered as he leaped after them, the carriage was still quickly losing altitude and they were closing in on the tree tops.
Cherry crashed down into the snow face down but immediately stood up, before he could shake off Draxxer from his back the warrior leaped off leaving a small stab wound under the Bearkin's left shoulder.
Cherry turned around and glared at Draxxer as Birse and Death fell to his side.
Death held his Bo staff with both hands and chanted "Martial ways of the sun transform my body through your infernal cleansing, burn away my puny flesh, melt away my fragile bones, replace it all with fire! One with fire!" his entire body was engulfed by yellow and crimson flames as his flesh melted away into a skeleton which then burnt down into ash.
All that was left of Death was a humanoid fire elemental holding a gold trimmed black Bo staff, his humanoid form and glowing crimson red eyes among the flames the only indication of sentience.
Birse gestured at his two guildmates "What is this Blade? Have you come to stop us from having a right to pick a side?"
Draxxer grimaced "It seems to me you have already chosen Birse. If this is about the late payment I told you it-"
Birse snorted and began to chuckle "Payment? Oh no, no no. It has little to do with your inability to pay me. We're simply not as blind and incapable as you and your comrades were when you arrived on Chaoz. We're very aware of our choices, you chose the Gods and failed, we chose ourselves and we will succeed."
"Succeed at what? What is your goal?" Draxxer asked as he pointed his blade at them, he stood a dozen meters away from their position.
"I can diverge one of our goals, sending back the adventurers who do not wish to stay. I understand that to do so, we need to finish this grand quest? Then we'll just have to ask the one that started the quest on how to finish it." Birse explained with a shrug and a smirk.
"You can aid us in defeating the wretched bitch herself, that is how this grand quest ends!" Draxxer exclaimed.
Birse shook his head "You and what army? That riffraff back there? At most you might push them out of Barik, then what? All the Elves, Orcs and Ogres can do is keep them out of their own land, what can a small alliance of almost extinct races accomplish that they cannot?"
Draxxer gripped his sword tighter "So you would feed billions of lives to the slaughter, a redo of what happened on Ruk?"
"Under what circumstances are we talking about though? You cannot keep blindly blaming the Dezol for what they did to Ruk without even telling us why they did it. You can tell us why though, can't you?" Birse's smirk grew into a wicked grin.
Draxxer furrowed his brows "I do not know what you are talking about."
Birse chuckled at his response "My sources tell me otherwise oh grand Hero. The history of this world is quiet intriguing, mostly the empires that lead it before the Elven. The history Human, Beastkin , Mer, Dwarf and Fae alike strive to keep in the shadows. Why else would such a large force wish the destruction of such a small stretch of land compared to what they already own?"
"How…how did you…" Draxxer's eyes widened in surprise.
"How does not matter, the real question is why. Why do you keep this from us? From your own people? From this country's people? Does the young Empress know? I know the churches do, I know the alliance knows too." Birse's expression turned cold and rigid as he stared at Draxxer who's expression fell apart.
"Also, what would happen if they all found out? The real reason the military fights, the real reason the Devils want this kingdom. How their selfish Heroes ignore it all, cover it up and fight anyway. For what? Revenge?"
"No, for justice." Draxxer replied.
All three adventurers snorted and laughed at his response, "Sure bud, whatever helps you sleep at night!" exclaimed Death.
"You'd never understand, foolish children still stuck inside your game-like mentality." Draxxer responded then began to chant "Arclight rays of reality bend to my will" the light seemed to bend around him forming an eerily thin aura. "Laws of existence ripple and bend to my touch." He reached out for the light as his skin cracked and formed violet runic inscriptions all over his visible body.
"Ascendance of Chaos!" Draxxer ended his chant, "You don't understand the true meaning of loss." rapid bursts of mana began to continuously expel from his body.
Birse replied with a smirk and began to chant just as Draxxer did "Chilling grasp of the invisible beast engulf me, show me true sight, show me the next step, show me everything now and before. Kage no kōkei…" he briefly closed his eyes before opening them back wide and changed. Grey lines of mana formed around his eye sockets as a flame like shadow constantly spewed out of each, his eyes had gone pitch black with a white slit in the middle.
Author: This gonna be good
Cherry and Death spread out as they slowly approached Draxxer, Birse stood back and vigilantly watched the fight.
"Cher parry left." said Birse moments before Draxxer disappeared with a blast of snow, Cherry did so and parried Draxxer's too fast to see lunge. "Death flame breath upwards." Ordered Birse as Draxxer disappeared from Cherry and appeared slashing down onto Death who looked up and spewed fire at the oncoming attack.
Draxxer was sent back reeling, his body covered in still smoking burn marks. He looked up at Birse "How did you know?...", Draxxer was moving too fast for anybody's eyes to follow but Birse seemed to know exactly what he'd do the moment he did it.
Birse smirked "That won't work, oh that won't either and neither will the part after." he spoke mockingly.
Draxxer slashed at the air in front of him sending a rippling wave of violet mana at Birse who simply crouched under it, he disappeared then reappeared stabbing down at Birse's back as the shadows below him rose to life. A large hand made of shadows grew out of Birse's back and grabbed Draxxer's sword before a second from the ground punched him in the gut forcing him to back off.
"I told you, it won't work." Birse stated as he stood up, a second hand of shadow appearing by his side. The hands were smaller than usual, about two meters in width but with a long curving arm making them much longer and flexible.
"Future sight?" Draxxer grimaced and raised his sword in front of himself "Doesn't matter if you're not quick enough to react to what you see! Chaos rush!" the runes on his body flared yellow as black lightning surged throughout his body.
Birse smirked "Not quick enough?" he stepped back just as Draxxer appeared slashing up and down several times, "Time is not relative, only sight." Birse replied as both arms were already at his back blocking Draxxer's stab, forcing the general to fall back and consider his options.
Indeed time wasn't relevant to Birse's mastery skill, aptly named Shadow sight but in a different language due to Birse's secretive nature. Through his eyes he saw not just the near future but present and past as if watching a video recording of it all, he could fast forward, rewind and pause.
Shadow sight changed as the actions taken by him, the observer, changed from what he'd normally do without but this took a couple moments to 'update'. As such this allowed Birse to predict his opponent's attacks before even they knew what they were about to do but when he changed his own actions to reflect those attacks the 'future' changed and therefore what he saw also needed to change.
Birse chuckled as he watched through his Shadow sight, the next events unfolding clearly in his eyes ("If only Draxxer learned to switch it up a bit, Shadow sight is utterly useless against wild attacks like Sly's.") he thought as he watched the general's expression turn to a frown as he thought over his next move.
"Oh please do, fill this area with rifts, tear up the ground, uproot the trees. Try as you might, there is nothing I cannot see coming." Birse exclaimed with a mocking tone, "Death fireball below" he then ordered just as Draxxer slashed open a rift in front of himself.
Death leaped up and shot a fireball out of his staff down at the ground where the rift's exit appeared, Draxxer disappeared from the rift's entrance as the fireball flew out.
"Hiding? Seriously?" said Cherry with a deep guttural voice as he searched the forest around them.
Birse sighed and pointed at one of the trees "Sure looks like it", he then signalled at Death to the tree's left.
Cherry charged the tree and swung his war hammer around it, Draxxer leaped left and out of the way just as two fireballs collided with him. Both flaming balls of mana exploded and sent him crashing back, he stood up from the steaming snow and glared at Birse.
"Chaos charge." Draxxer chanted causing the runes on his body to turn red, he lowered his stance and aimed his sword with both hands from his left. "Chaos falls." He then chanted causing a violet inferno to come alive all around him.
"Death flamebreath, Cher hammer throw." said Birse as the violet flames around Draxxer began to flow into his sword.
Death rushed in breathing fire upon Draxxer's position causing his violet flames to dissipate with the attack, Cherry followed by briefly spinning in place before launching his War hammer at Draxxer.
Draxxer grimaced and parried the flying war hammer with his half flaming violet sword, his eyes then opened wide in surprise "Im-possible..".
"Quite possible actually." responded Birse as he pulled out his gauntlet from Draxxer's back "I will admit, your strength is higher than Cherry's and magical power stronger than Death's. But when it comes down to it neither matter if you cannot protect yourself with means other than speed and sword countering. Combat is nothing more than a game for me, a first person strategy game. And I'm pretty damn good at those."
Blood and tendrils of shadow leaked out of the fist sized hole in Draxxer's back, the general fell to his knees as Cherry stepped up to him and retrieved his war hammer from the ground. Cherry raised the hammer high as he stared down at the kneeling soldier, grasping at his chest from the pain.
"You…cannot kill me…not…indefinitely!" Draxxer exclaimed in between gasps.
Birse crouched down to his right and smiled coldly "Wrong.", Cherry's war hammer came down on the warrior once, twice, thrice, it took four smashing attacks with a giant war hammer wielded by an even more of a giant Bearkin to kill Draxxer.
"Cher…" Birse looked up at him still crouched down next to the squashed corpse of the general, blood and gore all over him.
"Sup?" Cherry responded with a smirk as he heaved his war hammer over the shoulder.
"You know, I didn't say kill him yet. Also…" Birse raised his hand up towards Cherry as blood dripped down "You could have at least warned me I was about to partake in a blood bath. Fucking literally."
"All according to plan then?" Cherry joked as Birse stood up.
Birse looked up as the carriage slowly drifted down, the sole griffin barely able to hold it up on it's own "Lilior did you get it?" he shouted up at the dungeon core.
"Yes master Birse, General Draxxer's soul is within my grasp. What shall I do with it though?" Lilior asked as her voice echoed out of the carriage.
"Prepare him for questioning, I have many things to ask our great hero." Birse replied with a wicked grin.
"Okay! The prisoner will be prepared for interrogation!" Lilior responded innocently.