20 Chapter 20
— Kakuei —
"DIMENSIONAL SLASH!" Joni and Vampira shouted as they cut through the remaining forces of the second-most powerful guild in Asgard, Slaine.
"Nice," I sang and clapped behind them. It really shows what you both can do when you work together."
"Bite me," Vampira growled, and Joni barked out in laughter.
"Oh, come on, Vampira, you must admit, we look good together."
"Tch, as if I'd be caught dead around you." Vampira snorted back, making Joni grab his heart in mock hurt.
"My mistress, does thy loyal squire desirable, whatever shall I do!"
Though Vampira's face was expressionless, considering her character couldn't produce emotions, it was clear that she was unamused by Joni's joking.
"... I'm sorry?"
Vampira walked down the hallway leading to the treasury before turning back around to us.
"You better be."
With those words, she continued walking to the treasury and stopped to cut down the vault door before walking in.
"She's totally into you." I prodded Joni, sending a smirk emoji and a wagging eyebrow emoji.
"Yeah, keep thinking that." Joni laughed as he followed the vampire woman.
I will continue to think that. Joni and Vampira is a ship I'm willing to die on, and perhaps all they need is a permanent vacation from our shitty world to figure that out for themselves.
As I entered the treasury, my thoughts of the New World flowed. It wasn't that far off, only four years, give or take, and so much still needed to be done.
More than that, I still needed to devise a definitive plan to keep players within the guild engaged whenever the clock ran down.
I won't lie and claim to like every member of the guild, but I do feel as though everyone deserves to escape that hellish world we are damned to live in daily.
So, I have a few plans in mind to keep them, but I'd be a fool to think everyone would actually stick around, especially once this raid is finished and we move on to our next and final goal within Yggdrasil.
Fighting the full complete World Eater, Maliketh The Destroyer, and clearing the game, once and for all.
We had fought a fragment of him earlier in the game, the fragment being much like how my parallel bodies work, weakening him, but at the end of the day, no one has even come close to beating him since the game started, and our guild hasn't even made a solid attempt yet.
I let out a sigh, which earned the attention of both World Champions beside me, but they didn't comment; they likely assumed I was tired from the full day of fighting, which wasn't incorrect.
The end of this war was in sight, and it was only a matter of time before Asgard crumbled and the raiding party was wiped out.
— AngelBright —
Metaphorical sweat dripped down his brow as his character dropped to a knee.
They had done it. They fought through many floors and finally made it to the eighth floor.
Their forces were in shambles, with little under one hundred players remaining. All of their NPCs had been targeted and wiped out long ago. The tomb was so well guarded and jammed the game's communication system for enemy combatants, so their party would unlikely receive any reinforcements.
As AngelBright stared at the massive door before him, he gulped down the metaphorical lump that had formed in his throat—the Eighth Floor.
There was only one more after this, and the forces shouldn't be much stronger on the last floor compared to the second to last, but AngelBright couldn't help but feel an ominous fear when it came to this floor.
He knew that even if they got through this floor, most, if not all, of the party would be done for.
"We must push forward." AngelBright turned around toward his party and held his blade high. "This is the final leg; after this, it's easy sailing, I'm sure! Let us fight on!"
""RAAAAAHHHHHH!"" The group shouted, hyped up by the Seraphim leader's quick speech.
*BOOM*
They blasted down the massive door to the eighth floor and ran in, letting out a powerful battle cry as they went.
Upon entering, they all slowed a bit. Their roars of hype-filled battle lust started dying as they looked at their surroundings.
An empty graveyard.
Tombstones lay around as far as the eye could see. Admittedly, this wasn't very far, considering the thick fog blocked and clouded their vision.
"Boss, this fog is messing us up; what do we do?"
"Cast wind magic," AngelBright ordered calmly, and three magic casters stepped forward and did as he ordered. Upon doing it, the fog cleared for a few seconds before circling them again.
"Tch." The Raid Leader scowled. "Cast enhancement buffs on all of us; we're going in."
"Right!"
They began their slow tread through the graveyard. Everyone made sure not to make a sound, whether it was to avoid alerting any players that could be ready for them or because of their nerves, no one knew, but silence rang within the graveyard that screamed 'Death.'
— Ulbert Alain Odle —
"What do you think?"
Ulbert stared at the crystal ball that showed the raiding party stalking through the fog. His character looked over to Touch Me, who was standing beside him.
"They've already lost," Ulbert answered back curtly.
A short response, but endlessly true. The moment they entered the floor, they lost. Victim was already aggroed and was preparing what would inevitably be this raiding party's doom.
"Agreed." Touch Me sighed. "I'm just glad this is finally over. Even if I disagree with the means, ending this as soon as possible was for the best."
"I'll never understand your cowardice, Touch Me."
"Cowardice?" Touch Me asked, and though his character's expression didn't change, it was obvious to Ulbert that the insectoid was raising an eyebrow. "Forgive me; I didn't know it was cowardice to avoid needless conflict."
"It is, especially when the conflict benefits the guild as a whole," Ulbert replied without skipping a beat.
"I won't get into this argument with you again, Ulbert. Just… end this." Touch Me sighed.
"Oh… I plan on it."
— AngelBright —
As they moved slowly, AngelBright had to admit; he was even more scared shitless that absolutely nothing was happening.
Had they already exhausted the power of Nazarick?
They had taken down so many powerful NPCs that, honestly, he wouldn't be surprised, but he couldn't calm down, considering that this could all just be a psychological ploy by Hell's Paradise to let their guard down.
There was really no time for relaxation, which terrifiedthe leader of Seraphim.
"EsAeLc eSeHt dEkCiW sLuOs, dNa ReViLeD sUoEtHgIr tNeMhSiNuP-"
The entire raiding party paused in their forward motion and looked around frantically. That voice… it was fucking terrifying!
It was broken, scratchy, and most of all, fucking loud!
"Boss, what is that?!"
"How the hell would I know?!" AngelBright shouted in anger and fear. Whatever that… thingwas doing would certainly spell the end of their raid. The way it spoke would suggest it was an incantation, but AngelBright didn't recognize the spell at all.
"Well, we need to do some-"
*SHING*
The angel's body shattered into pieces of light, and where he once stood was now a red-haired woman wearing a half mask covering the top part of her face.
[Rubedo (Lvl. 100)]
[Guild: Hell's Paradise (Rank: Nazarick's Strongest NPC) (NPC)]
"ATTACK!" AngelBright wasted no time ordering, and after a few moments of the others gathering themselves, they began their attack on the red-haired powerhouse.
The NPC didn't remain still; she quickly dodged out of the way and cut through another party member with a series of quick slashes. In the blink of an eye, the party member's body dissipated.
"Boss!"
"Hit it with everything you got!" AngelBright shouted back with gritted teeth. He wanted to save his justice stamps for KakueiSolos, but with how things were going, he had to use them against this powerful NPC.
The leader of Seraphim drew his blade and winded it back. He watched as Rubedo cut through his forces like clockwork with minimal effort. Her attack patterns weren't even the slightest bit discernible, and it only took a few hits before they were sent to oblivion.
This attack had to hit; it had to work, or this raid was finished!
"Eat this! Dimensional Slash!"
A golden aura surrounded the most powerful Archangel and launched toward the beautiful red-headed NPC.
*BOOOOOMMMMMMM*
The attack connected, and a resounding explosion ensued.
The fog around cleared and was replaced with smoke from the destruction.
AngelBright's blood ran cold as he looked at the NPC before him as the smoke cleared.
[Rubedo (Lvl. 100)]
[Guild: Hell's Paradise (Rank: Nazarick's Strongest NPC) (NPC)]
[HP: ?/?]
[MP: ?/?]
Right about now… that was the moment AngelBright and the rest of the raiding party realized-
They fucked up.
— Chapter End —
