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The beefy monk paced the grassy ground while supervising his two subordinates. He had a nondescript brown Sweet Gent perched on his skull, enveloping half of his face in the shadows. Though half hidden, one could see his face creased together in a grim look. His fingers were red from abrasions and ugly scars marred his hands from fighting with his Kaiser Knuckle fist weapon.

Tien looked up from his feet to once more supervise the two's progress. The two, who were brothers, hacked away relentlessly at any willow which happened to be in sight. Although they were working hard, or appeared to be, the State Overlord guild master was not at all pleased at the result. His face creased even more, this time into a scowl.

"Did you hear me not? I demand more! More! Do you realize how much time have we left?" yelled Tien, grabbing both the knights' cloak with each hand. Since they were in the Payon vicinity, a handful of archers diverted their attention from their training to the punishment, some discussing casually while others merely laughed at two grown men receiving a harsh scolding from someone physically stronger than they are.

The brothers were provoked, but they dare not voice their displeasure. Putting their defiance aside, they went back to their willow hunt after their leader's reprimand. Before the two knights left, they had only produced four miserable brown sticks. Grumbling in frustration, he summoned both knights to return to him.

"I'm raising both your taxes to the guild, as punishment for your slow pace and becoming the source of my frustration," Tien said without any trace of pardon, then circling the entrance area with his index finger, encompassing it. "I bet those low-life novices fighting for their lives with a fabre there can do better than you two. Now get your armored butts back to our base!" With that said he whipped out a blue gemstone and opened a warp portal. Whispering his destination, he stepped into the blue pillar and vanished.

The brothers vanished shortly after their leader, each using a butterfly wing as their mode of transportation.

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"Maybe we should look for Skull?" Pay asked, worried that he would not turn up for the battle rather than his safety. Manald was just as frantic as her guild mate was, as she paced the wooden floor up and down for the twenty-seventh time.

"He keeps disappearing like a spoiled four year old. He's probably at Sbanhealt now for all ya know, preparing to slay his long-time nemesis," Piffy said, trying to console the hunter and priestess. That, however, was not his main purpose. He actually wanted Manald to stop pacing the floor, which aggravated his growing giddiness. Still frowning over the slight damage of the door, the alchemist secured the bottles which hung loosely at his thick belt.

"Don't you feel constricted? You might want to get a bigger belt for your inflating belly," Nimmber joked, endeavoring to liven up the gloomy mood due to Skull's absence.

The alchemist wanted to come up with a sharp rejoinder, but Cerberus cut him short, asking him to lie down on his bed to rest more, in case his yet-to-recover nose bled again.

"We shall take our leave in five minutes," Cerberus announced during his warm-ups. He took a few test slashes at the air with his Firebrand, then with his ice falchion, readying himself for the grand, final guild war. He was a unique knight, without a doubt, distinguishing himself from others. Instead of equipping himself with a sword and shield like almost every knight did, he wielded two swords, namely firebrand and ice falchion, often assailing his enemies with bolts of fire and hoarfrost simultaneously which erupts from the magically enchanted swords during critical situations.

Meanwhile, Manald sat with her eyes closed in concentration, making use of the five minutes to replenish her energy needed for spell casting later. Pay was putting on his bow thimble, his recent purchase, then started counting the number of arrows he had in stock due to the boredom. Apparently Nimmber was bored stiff too, for she was leaping about, peering into the kitchen, which was unusually dark even though the sun was shining brightly. Piffy then sat up from his bed suddenly, yelling for the frivolous rogue to back off; otherwise she would end up just like Cerberus a few years back. The recall of the accident embarrassed the experienced knight, much to the other's amusement.

"We better go, the announcer is hurrying the absent guilds again," Cerberus said.

The rest stood up, walking after their leader who was already running to their base. Except for Sagizelus. The wizard complained about stomach upsets, urging the others to leave without him, and that he would arrive in time to participate in the fight. Before Piffy left though, the alchemist warned Sagi about going into his workshop. The wizard gave him a smile, then headed to the toilet and waited. He waited a few minutes after he heard the click of the door being closed, making sure that nobody returned. He then climbed atop the toilet bowl, reaching his hands up to the window and unlatched it. When he saw the window, he decided to escape through it rather than exiting through the main door, for fear of being seen by his guild mates, who would ask him to join them. Then, his schemes would flop just like that. He took precaution in everything he did, regardless of his speech or actions, so there was lesser risk that his plans would be revealed and get himself exposed. They might probably make clean work of him, just like how he "made clean work of the Phreeoni".

He was relieved to find the window wide enough for him to exit. He immediately pulled the windows apart, leaping through it, and landed smoothly on his booted feet. Noting a large dent in the wall, he used it as a foothold and hoisted himself up. He then proceeded to close the window, therefore erasing all evidence of his movements. Smiling at his own intelligence, he started to the Creamhilt base once more.

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"The wizard should be here by now," Tien muttered impatiently. He pushed a guard aside, staring into the distance, hoping to catch a hint of his arrival.

A blonde huntress emerged by the stairs, walking behind the impatient Tien with a ballista in her hand, trying to strap the heavy war crossbow onto her back Placing a hand on his shoulders, she whispered seductively into his ears.

"You should get back in, why bother yourself with such trivial matters, especially this up-to-no-good wizard. I must admit though, he's rather... attractive."

Tien turned his head sideways, glaring at huntress who came to bother him every five minutes. Removing her hands from his shoulders, he resumed his stare towards the entrance, anticipating the wizard's arrival.

Flashing him a cheeky grin, she said, "I'm just referring to his powers."

Finding no entertainment, she gave a playful jab in Tien's ribs, much to his annoyance. She then left, walking past the exhausted guards, instantly perking them up as her well curved behinds drew leering gazes.

Sagi bought himself a few dozens of fly wings, teleporting himself around the large arena housing five castle bases, namely Creamhilt, Sbanhealt, Lazgirees, Squalgul and Guindull. He hoped against hope that he would not appear in his guild base, or worse, right in front of his guild. Crushing a wing in his palm, he let himself enter the realm of teleportation and out he came, falling face first into concrete floor. After a brief reconnaissance, he was surprised at his luck. He recognized the familiar Creamhilt castle by the State Overlord logo and their flag design.

He walked through corridors, descended the stairs and turned into corners without faltering. It was as if this was where he resided in his life. Finally he spotted Tien when he reached a balcony, a blonde huntress standing beside him and whispered into his ears. He recognized the huntress, Elemire, notorious for her flirtatious behavior. She was not only an attractive hunter, she was skillful with her bow and her aim was deadly, never failing to miss her targeted spot.

He shook his head at the intimacy of her behavior. Elemire shortly left the apparently irritated monk, who was looking ahead. Sagi guessed that he was expecting him, and then gathered up his long robes before quickening his pace.

"Tien."

The monk whipped around to face the sudden call, slightly surprised at Sagi's unexpected appearance. Or rather, appeared at the unexpected place.

"You have come," Tien said, his face ever impassive.

Sagi looked straight into his eyes, suddenly realizing the helplessness of this dysfunctional guild. They only managed to survive because of Sagi's efforts. The wizard had reminded them on occasions not to place their dependency solely on him, for he is not an official member of the guild. On top of that, he will not be present on every occasion to aid them.

Since this was the final round of guild wars, Sagi realized the importance of it. This time, he decided to aid them directly, to make State Overlord known, to make their presence felt after this war. He took matters into his own hands, forsaking his guild, all the while making plans for their antagonist discreetly.

He dwelled on the past relationship of both guilds, which used to be united, a contrast to the ongoing hostility currently. A few years back, the Avengers was not as popular, not to mention, less capable of achieving easy wins unlike now. The head of the guild was a priest then, known as Holan Hosbane. They intensified their training by tenfold under Holan's suggestion and management, soon, the Avenger shot to fame due to a spectacular defeat over the supposedly strongest guild in Prontera.

Recruits for the guild escalated together with their fame. Just overnight, over thirty new recruits were drafted into Avengers, the overwhelming response posing as a difficulty for the day, for there was much dilemma going on. A few weeks later, the guild was so large that it split into two branches excluding the main, with Sagi put in charge of one.

Either due to their incompetence or for no apparent reason, the latter more reasonable, the branch Sagi was in charge of was often neglected over the years. At first Sagi opposed the idea fiercely, but the members had ceased heeding his warnings and acted at their own pleasure. They demonstrated their discontent by assaulting the other branch without mercy, forcing the survivors fleeing. Holan Hosbane sent his best warriors to stop their outrageous assault, either by force or by talks. Apparently his efforts were futile, for the branch retaliated, with more might. The well-respective priest had completely lost control over this incident, despite the dispatching of his ferocious men. About two nights later, Holan was discovered dead on his bed, apparently slain in the middle of the night by some assassin of the branch.

Sagi became the mediator, but somehow he felt drawn to State Overlord. He sensed their urgency, sensed that they need more powers. All these while, the wizard's loyalties remained divided. He felt tired of it occasionally, having to be in both guilds at the same time, coming up with ploys for the Overlords and playing the loyal member of Avenger. One day, he must decide where his loyalties should lie. The final rounds of the guild war gave him a notion that that particular day would just be the day of his choice, his exposure.

The demise of the priest, a motivational figure for other members to excel, did not seem to bode well for the branch, which had since formed a guild of their own, proclaiming themselves as the State Overlord. Cerberus, the undefeated knight known for his long dedication to Avenger, was voted to helm the guild. Ever since, these two guilds had dueled and combated each other, their rivalry still going on until now.

"I need the rest to be present," Tien said. It was as if everyone else heard his summon. Elemire joined the wizard and the monk first, before the brothers, Agis and Wart, materialized into view, several brown sticks gripped in their gauntleted hands. Tien's face turned sour upon seeing the brown sticks, reminding him of their inefficiency. He had expected many more than what the brothers had collected. But he had to admit those were a little unusual, it looked slightly thicker than normal ones and suddenly he squinted when there was a very brief flash of light, for he thought that the sticks had glowed. Shaking the uneasiness away, he looked up to see that Galor and Opium, their blacksmith, was already present during his scrutiny on the glowing sticks.

"Von's working on it now," Galor reported.

"Good. This is your final chance to slay your little 'brother-in-law', Galor. Don't fail me. Carry on with your assigned task," the monk said, concentrating his thoughts somewhere else rather than their feud.

"Tien, the zeny's delivered. They looked agreeable to our proposal for alliance," Opium said.

"Just as I expected from that mercenary bunch," the monk replied with a smirk. "What about the assault on Sbanhealt?"

"They too agreed on it. We'll follow up their attack."

"Very well. Now we shall witness the annihilation of Cerberus and his Avengers," the monk said, letting out his guffaw.

Meanwhile, a blare of a horn alerted the city of Prontera, indicating the commencing of the final, yet destructive, guild wars.