by RaZiel
" " indicates speech.
' ' indicates thoughts.
Disclaimer: I'm pretty sure that Ragnarok Online is owned by the Gravity corporation, if it isn't... then I still don't own it, so don't bother me 'bout it okay?
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The monk slowly rose to his feet as he observed the events taking place around him.
The others were having trouble.
To his right, he saw that Heliox and Orion had already been taken down by the Lord of Death, while Chico and Pipex still danced around the attacks. However, the strain of battle showed as they were ambushed from behind by a trio of Zombie Masters. The assassins fought bravely, but in the end the combined might of their opponents overcame theirs, and they were finally subdued.
Though it pained him to do so, Grebent realized he had a window of opportunity now that the creatures were rejoicing in their kill. Focusing all of his magical power into his Arc Wand, he let loose with a devastating Lord of Vermillion spell.
The massive eruption of flame exploded with a vengeance, succeeding in killing the monsters, but the wizard did not see the result of his efforts, having fallen into unconsciousness out of sheer exhaustion.
The bodies of hundreds of warriors littered the field, and Saga had to fight the urge to vomit when he finally realised the extent of the battle being waged.
Fear invaded him completely as he looked over the corpses of warriors he had known. Knights and Crusaders were thrown haphazardly across the ground, the Peco Pecos they had ridden were now sqwaking in their death throes as they unsuccessfully tried to shake their dead masters from their backs. A couple of low-level priests and acolytes who tried to steer clear of the fighting assisted those who still lived.
An gut wrenching scream brought his attention towards the left side of the battlefield.
"NOOO!!!!"
He was close enough to see the mutilated carcass of a falcon fall from the Orc Lord's open hand.
Artorius, the hunter, suddenly exploded into a frenzy of motion. Driven by grief, he fired an unending volley of fire-enchanted arrows from his bow.
"ARROW SHOWER!"
The Orc Lord roared in pain as the projectiles hit home, and immediately ordered the mob of Orc Archers to destroy the human who dared attack him.
Knowing that the creature was hurt brought a glimmer of hope to the party of defenders. Kris wasted no time in jumping into the fray, immediately taking out one of the lesser Orcs, twin Jurs flashing. Gaara followed the assassin's example, as he delivered the full extent of his combos upon a helpless Orc Archer who was mesmerised by the glow of the monk's spirit spheres.
Artorius continued shooting arrow after arrow, relentlessly exhausting all of his spiritual power in order to perform the Double Strafe technique. The hulking green behemoth tried to advance towards the enraged hunter, but the power behind each hit kept pushing him back.
Suddenly, Artorius' hand met nothing but air as he reached for another arrow inside the quiver slung across his back. He desperately began looking around, hoping to find something he could use, when his gaze met that of the wizard, KaelX. The hunter gave the barest nod, but the wizard understood. Both guildsmen shared an unspoken message.
Artorius thrust his right hand into the pouch tied on his belt and removed a rarely used Stiletto. The blade had been reinforced by a number of blacksmiths and it had gotten him out of tight spots before. With a powerful yell, the hunter broke out in a run towards the Orc Lord, dagger in hand. The monster realized he wasn't being attacked anymore and also began to close in on his opponent.
With all the strength he could muster, Artorius plunged the Stiletto into the creature's neck just as his back broke due to the tremendous pressure exerted by the bear hug in which the Orc Lord had trapped him.
"STORM GUST!!!"
The devastating spell buffeted both warriors and encased them in a single block of ice as a blizzard raged around the battlefield. The wizard began chanting once again, concentrating all of his remaining energy into his final spell.
"JUPITER THUNDER!!!"
A bolt of lightning fell from the heavens and crashed right into the encased warriors, obliterating everything in its path.
The exhausted wizard fell to his knees and mourned the sacrifice of his friend.
Saga tore his eyes from the wizard's slumped form and stared straight ahead.
'What the hell am I doing here?' he thought to himself while surveying the disasters going on around him, 'I've only been a monk for a couple of months, I'm nowhere near ready for this!'
It was true, Saga had been an acolyte up until the date of his eighteenth birthday, two months past. His mother had pushed him to become a priest like his father had been, but he had lost his faith in the gods ever since that fateful day five years before.
His father, one of the most powerful high priests there had ever been in Midgard, had joined a party that had set out to cleanse the Glast Heim Churchyard. The single surviving rogue had told everyone how the story went. The army of Zombie and Skeleton Prisoners had proven to be no match against the combined might of the warriors, especially when Tyr, Saga's father, casted his Manus Exorcismus. But the group had not counted on the appearance of the Dark Lord, who along with two of his Dark Illusions, wreaked havok amongst the warriors.
The rogue had told Saga that his father had been the last one standing, and that he had managed to vanquish the demon using his Holy Light spell. But he had been unable to stop the Dark Lord from summoning a rain of meteors, that ultimately spelled doom for the high priest.
The news of his death devastated Saga's entire family. His mother became very ill and had not been able to leave the house since. His sister renounced her legacy, and became an assassin, one of the most ruthless fighters of Prontera.
The task of following in his father's footsteps had fallen to Saga who, unable to bear the weight of priesthood, decided to devote what little faith he had left into his own physical abilities, becoming a monk.
Soon after he advanced into the second job category, he had been approached by the Guild Master of Bad Guys, the most powerful guild in all of Midgard. His father had been part of that guild, and the members thought it fitting that his son should take his place. So the unnamed Assassin, one of the most mysteriousfighters Saga had ever known, invited him into the guild.
'Guilds no longer mean anything,' thought Saga as he saw fighters working together. People from opposing guilds helped each other in order to defeat the menace threatening to destroy everything. The party leaders gave the orders, and the rest obeyed, there was no room for discord, or pride. Only the desperate fight for survival.
He remembered, just a few weeks back, his first Guild War. He had been sent to the back, to guard the castle's Emperium as the last line of defense. Basically, he was sent to the place of less danger. However, the High Templars had managed to break through their defenses and he had been forced to yield far too easily. He could still see the brutality of the attacks between rivals.
The castle had been lost, but the Guild Master had been able to recover it at the last instant, by outmanouevering the defenders and destroying the crystal before the time ran out.
Shaking himself out of the reverie, he looked ahead and wondered how the hell he got chosen for this particular party.
Right in front of him, were five warriors, each dealing with his or her own battle.
Rinoa, the priest, had her hands full dealing with Osiris and his band of followers. The ancient mummy was proving to be quite a challenge for the young woman.
To the side, Ciel was pummeling the Drake with her arrows. The sniper's falcon was proving to be invaluable as it took care of the main part of the mob that followed the undead corsair around.
Lasto was hacking away at Mistress with his Pike. The Sky Petites were doing quite a number on the Knight, but he deftly utilized white potions to replenish his health.
Bunny the whitesmith was locked in fierce battle with an exact duplicate of himself. So far, the Doppleganger had been able to emulate his every move, and the fight was at a standstill.
Directly ahead of him, the unnamed assassin was dancing around the Eddga's blows. Not even the mob of Lieb Omal who protected the tiger had been able to touch the agile warrior who responded to every attack with a damaging critical strike, quickly and decisively crippling his opponents.
Slowly but surely, the five warriors began to overcome their respective targets.
Saga watched in awe as the fighters performed their deadly dance. He had been thrown aside early on in the battle and had been spared the brunt of the attack. The initial wave of High Orcs paid little attention to the people who were lying on the ground, so he was able to emerge from the fray with little more than superficial injuries.
"MANUS EXORCISMUS!!!"
The most powerful priest offensive spell exploded beneath Osiris and his party of Ancient Mummies, turning the creatures into dust. The exhausted priest dropped to her knees in a effort to catch her breath, while the others continued fighting.
"SHARP SHOOTING!!!"
Having previously empowered herself by using True Sight, Ciel tensed a Silver Arrow on her bow and concentrated every ounce of spiritual energy into it. She let it fly, and the projectile embedded itself in the middle of the Drake's head, effectively slaying the undead pirate.
"BRANDISH SPEAR!!!"
Lasto was running out of white potions, so he decided to concentrate all of his remaining energy into one final, desperate attack. The Pike swung true, and his enemies were destroyed by the brutal attack. Completely worn out, the knight collapsed atop his trusted Peco Peco. Confident his part in the battle was over.
"MAMMONITE!!!"
There was only one difference between the Doppleganger and the real whitesmith. The passion shown in battle. It was that very same passion that allowed Bunny to defeat the shapeshifting creature, as the fake's Two-handed Axe cracked under the strain.
As one, all of the fighters turned to look at the leader, who was still locked in a heated battle.
"METEOR ASSAULT!!!"
The area around the assassin cross exploded in darkness as he performed the most powerful technique in his arsenal, slaying both the Leib Omal and the Eddga.
"It's finally over," he said, as he rose to his feet, "we've managed to protect this side."
The Oracle, Loli Ruri, had predicted that Ragnarok was coming near. The end of the world had arrived, and every fighter in Midgard was prepared for the final battle.
For three days war had waged in the plains of Prontera. All of the human armies had gathered to protect the most powerful city in the whole reign, managing to hold invaders off.
Every single monster leader or commander had risen from its dwelling with an unquenchable thirst for conquest, and the humans had suffered heavy casualties. Now, it seemed, the humans had finally been able to thwart destiny and stop judgement day.
Rinoa was the first to fall.
With no warning whatsoever, the priest was crushed by a gigantic hand that appeared out of nowhere. The warriors, shocked at the unexplainable happening, were unprepared for a second strike that took out the sniper.
The remaining three quickly fled to a more advantageous position as they tried to identify what was attacking them.
The knight was slain quickly and painlessly.
It wasn't his fault, his Peco Peco was scared out of its mind and, in a histerical fit, dropped its rider onto the ground.
'How could I be so careless?' the assassin thought as he laid eyes on their newest antagonist, 'I should have known we'd face him eventually.'
With a roar, the Fenris wolf launched itself towards the whitesmith. The enourmous canine moved with ludicrous speed, and Bunny just barely rolled out of the way, his cart left behind.
The assassin signalled the whitesmith, and both of them attacked in unison, Axe and Katar blurring into motion.
Even though they had managed to pierce the wolf's thick hide, their attacks barely fazed the God of Mischief's offspring, who merely shrugged them off.
"You cannot hope to defeat me mortals!!!" it shouted, "For I am destined to bring about the end of the world!!!"
In an instant, it had moved, and the whitesmith now lay upon the ground, neck twisted at an odd angle.
The assassin fought like it had never fought before, displaying speed and dexterity unheard of before. However, he too fell against the overwhelming might of the Fenris wolf.
'He killed them... He just... killed them all...' Saga was living out his worse nightmare. The dreaded Fenris wolf was free from the chains that bound him and had just killed the most powerful fighters Prontera ever had.
'I've got to stop him,' he thought, knowing he was the last line of defense now, and the fate of the world rested atop his shoulders, 'but how?'
A bolt of lightning fell right in front of him, splitting the ground open and revealing a strange looking hammer that was embedded into the soil below.
He tentatively reached out and grabbed hold of the handle, and was suddenly flooded with unimaginalble power. He felt like a god! Suddenly a voice rang inside his head.
"Listen to me young one, in times of great need, my father has been known to lift the enchantment on this magical hammer to allow humans to weild its awesome powers. Do not take this gift lightly for you are our only hope. I can only wish Mjolnir serves you as it has served me."
With a powerful cry, Saga exploded into the Fury state, consuming the five spirit spheres he had collected before the battle, and threw himself towards the Wolf, intent on finishing him off quickly.
A powerful backhand sent him flying towards the castle wall, where he became embedded, unable to move.
'I'm sorry, I just can't do it alone...' he thought as he watched, helplessly, while the Fenris Wolf advanced towards the city.
'You are not alone my son,' said a voice deep within the recesses of his mind.
'Father?' he responded incredulously.
'Your companions are with you,' the voice responded as Saga watched, dumbfounded, while coloured spheres of light emerged from the fallen fighters' bodies and gathered round him, 'they are granting you their power, don't dissapoint them.'
Saga eased himself out of the wall and looked towards the creature who stood before him. The spirits of the fallen warriors coalesced around the hammer he gripped tightly in his right hand.
The wolf neared, and the monk whispered.
"Final attack..."
Just as the beast reared back to finish the fighter off, an aura of power exploded from within the monk as he yelled out his final battle cry.
"ASURA STRIKE!!!"
Every ounce of spiritual and physical energy Saga could muster was put into that final blow. The Thunder God's hammer channeled the energies of the six warriors, and delivered a devastating hit, right to the side of the wolf's head.
It was over.
Ragnarok had been prevented. The Fenris Wolf had been slain. People rejoiced in the streets of Prontera.
A lone figure remained at the Cemetery, staring at the tombstone which held the bodies of the five who had fought alongside him.
A hand fell on his shoulder, as Saga turned to see the newcomer. His sister, Shaina, stood in front of him, cllad in her usual assassin attire. It was at that point, when the dam broke, and the monk collapsed into desperate sobs, right onto the arms of his older sister. Unable to do anything but mourn for the deceased.
Fin.
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Author's note:
I wrote this for a contest in my RO server. I had a bit of a writer's block recently so readers of everything else I post please bear with me. Anyway, the character names are of the people from that server...
Comments, flames? e-mail me at or .