12
Both guilds came out just in time to see the four demonic knights escape through the portal, leaving behind their trademark mobs.
Groups of nightmares, zombies and goblins hurtled towards the astounded forces of Prontera, colliding into them while they were still in a state of shock. Larzen and Smith hollered the army into action. Both warlords had wanted to regroup before attacking, however, the attack was too sudden to even plan anything. The demons gained an upper-hand, cutting through the scattered groups of knights. The Prontera army, especially the priests, was baffled by the fact that the sacred aura did nothing to drive the demons back. The aura could thoroughly weaken the four great demonic knights, but why not these insignificant minions?
The Avenger wasted no time. The group ran past the Overlords, heading northwards to even the odds. Suddenly, the army countered with renewed strength. Their numerous wounds and gashes, loss of blood did not seem to hinder their fierce fight. Larzen looked over to spot the source spurring the injured forces on.
Sure enough, the renowned Avenger ran forward into the mob of demons, much to their relieve. More war cries echoed the heavily damaged streets, and they fought ever more fiercely.
Cerberus unsheathed both blades during his charge and sliced the first goblin upon contact. Blood spewed from the goblin's chest wound, then it fell limp. The Fireblend and Ice Falchion worked furiously, opening up wounds and severing limbs off the demons. A zombie swung its fist at the knight, and it was detached from the wrist almost instantly when the Fireblend struck it. A mix of black and red blood stained the knight's face and his skin in between the armor gaps. Pausing to look at the situation, he saw Smith grinning at him, the warlord coated in the same mix of black and red blood.
As if to boast the powers of his two swords, he held it up in a criss-cross fashion, then swung downwards in an arc. Bolts of flames and hoarfrost ejected from the swords, raining over the mobs, causing them to howl in pain before death claimed their lives.
"Surround them! They're dying fast!" Smith yelled.
Pay stayed away, but in range of the ongoing battle. Fitting two oridecon arrows to his Arbalest, he let loose it. Both oridecon-tipped arrows etched deep into a zombie's skull, killing it instantly. The hunter watched the battle for a little while before withdrawing arrows from another quiver. Realizing that most of them had no elemental enchanted weapons, they could not touch the ghostly horses even if they were to hit it a million times.
He notched silver arrows onto his bow, then fired without stopping. The holy enchanted arrows struck true, felling more horses, taking the situation under control. A group of four nightmares suddenly dissipated when a series of silver bolts flew. Spinning around, Pay saw a gorgeous huntress standing behind where he was, preparing to fire another series of silver bolts from her magnificent ballista.
The hunter found himself staring at the huntress, her flawless face.
"Huh? Where'd you get that?"
"What? This?" she said, holding up her crossbow.
He finally plucked his eyes off her face, then went to inspect the ballista.
"Err… Yeah. The only way to get it is to kill the Dark Lord, which many find impossible. How'd you do that?"
The huntress flashed him a mischievous grin and brushed aside a stray lock of blonde hair.
"That's for you to find out."
Turning back to the battle, she fired another series of four silver bolts, eliminating four more nightmares tightly grouped together.
"Oh, by the way," she said, assuming a seductive pose. "Name's Elemire. What's your's?"
Pay swallowed hard, trying to concentrate on the battle.
"Yes I know. You're from the Overlords."
"You haven't answered my question, you sweet little thing," she replied, putting an arm around the hunter.
Pay, suddenly remembering that she was from the Overlords, decided to avoid further contact with her. He removed her arm from him, firing a silver arrow at a nearby nightmare.
"Don't fool around, Elemire. Or else I'll turn nasty."
The huntress giggled to herself as she watched Pay leave for another vantage point. Fitting a silver bolts to her ballista, she released it, the bolt striking a nightmare in between the eyes, dissipating it.
The Overlords, too, had participated in the battle, raising the morale of the troops further. All the nightmares had dissipated, all work of Pay and the huntress, Elemire. Only a few scores of goblins and zombies remained, and they were being wiped out quickly.
An unexpected swipe of katars slew two goblins decapitating it. The red-tipped Infiltrators danced at shadowy speed, leaving disembodied limbs in its wake. Skull leaped out from the walls, stabbing a zombie deep in its gut. Withdrawing his right katar as quick as he stabbed the zombie, he plunged it into another zombie's face, punching a hole in it. The left katar cut off a goblin's axe-arm, and it went for the heart of the goblin.
But before the left katar hit, the blade of an Excalibur impaled through the chest from behind. A gauntleted hand grabbed the corpse by the head and flung it away, revealing the face of Galor.
Skull felt his temper get the better of him. Clenching his teeth together, he sheathed his katars away to control himself. Revenge must be taken against this man, but not now. Not at this point of time. Not when his life was concerned. Making up his mind to avenge his sister some other time after this battle, the assassin turned to leave, but stopped when the crusader spoke up.
"Turning your back on me, Immuonnas? Afraid that you might snap and get executed? Oh, how saddening will that be for your pretty priestess friend there," he mocked, directing his gaze at Manald, who was chanting spells to ward off attacks from the undead zombies. "I don't see why she's caring so much for a worthless being, but I must admit though, she looks cute. Might look even better than Inneavil after she's undressed…"
"Don't you dare lay your hands on her, Galor," he whispered in a murderous tone, whipping out his Infiltrators.
Skull leaped onto the crusader, hoping to launch a pre-emptive strike, catching him off guard. But Galor had already expected this. He brought his Excalibur up, fending off the assassin's right katar. Slashing the blade sideways, he wanted to aim for Skull's shoulder, but the assassin had already vanished.
Galor fell as soon as he whipped around, Skull tackling his knees. The enraged assassin, reminded of his sister, completely lost control over himself, letting the accumulated fury take over him. He slashed downwards towards the skull of Galor, but was deflected by the Excalibur raised horizontally above the crusader. Galor got back to his feet, just in time to fend off another attack targeted at his ribs.
Kicking aside a dead goblin, Skull advanced again, lashing out his left katar in a fake attack. Galor fell for the ruse and brought up his shield, but the attack never came. It was too late by the time he realized it. Skull sliced his shield arm with his right katar, drawing a deep gash along the forearm. Dropping the shield in pain, he sidestepped when a katar flew his way. Wincing in the searing pain from the forearm wound, he knew he was done for. The acute, biting pain made him realized that the assassin's katars were tipped with venom, the numbness in his arm confirming his thoughts.
He made a weak attempt to stab Skull squarely in the chest, only to have his sword arm trapped in an arm-lock. A fist slugged him in the jaw, loosening a tooth. The Excalibur clattered onto the floor when Skull applied more pressure on the arm, then swung his foot in Galor's abdomen. The kick sent Galor falling onto his side, the crusader clutching his stomach and writhed. Blood from the broken tooth dripped down his chin, the man lying semi-consciously.
"No! Skull, stop!"
Skull looked up when his katars were about to bury deep into the crusader's chest. He recognized the voice, even in his state of fury. Manald's voice, firm yet pleasant, suddenly jolted him from his uncontrollable state, vapourizing a portion of his fury.
His head throbbed painfully, the excruciating headache almost desecrating his brains. Each throb made him writhe on the floor in agony, his breaths coming out in strangled cries. He extracted the Infiltrators off his forcefully, his fingers blistered from it. The assassin made an effort to crawl up, but his body won't budge, the pain in his head commanding him to stay down.
He tugged at his silver hair as his vision dimmed slightly. The world seemed to rotate and spun around him, the earth seemed to ripple. For some reason, images of his sister flashed through his mind, calling to him.
"Inneavil… Sister…"
A hand tilted his head up, another hand shook him.
"What happened? Wake up Skull, I'm Manald, not your sister."
Skull opened his eyes slowly, and looked into the face of the priestess.
"I… Ugh… My head hurts."
He felt a soft, reassuring hand touch his forehead, a soft refreshing breeze blowing his face. The pain began to recede slowly as the cool breeze rushed mildly past him, rejuvenating him. Feeling his consciousness restored back to him, he sat up and retrieved his Infiltrators.
"Wh… What are you doing here?"
"I had to! What were you doing fighting with Galor!? You're going to be expelled or executed if seen!" Manald said worriedly.
What the priestess said reminded Skull of his fight with Galor. Scanning the area, he saw Galor still lying semi-conscious, two knights and a monk trying to sober him up. The monk fixed his stare on him, a nasty snarl on his face.
"You're over, Skull. The king said no turning against each other! This is it."
Tien commanded the two knights to support the unsteady crusader, then returned to the battle. Manald then helped him up, bringing him away from the battle.
"Why are you so stubborn? You heard the king himself! He meant serious business!" Manald snapped.
Skull remained silent, his right hand pressed against his forehead. His head started to hurt again, when Galor's words reverberated in his head.
'I don't see why she's caring so much for a worthless being, but I must admit though, she looks cute. Might look better than Inneavil if she's undressed…'
His temples started throbbing at a faster pace, making him feel nauseous. The vertigo caused him to push Manald away, the priestess landing roughly, her arm scraped against the broken weapons and debris from damaged properties. Blood flowed out from the fresh wound, the priestess bewildered at Skull's strange behavior. Fuming, she stood up and ran for the church to seek treatment. 'You don't have to push me if you don't need my help,' she thought angrily as she ran.
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"Go on, this is your chance for redemption."
"What?" the crusader said, his head still dizzy.
"This is a good opportunity. Look, he lost his focus. He's in pain. Just sneak behind him and make it a quick one."
"The king forbade this!"
"We'll cover up for you. Besides, I've got bribes. Get going."
The crusader picked up the Excalibur, then nodded confidently at the monk.
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Manald ran past the battle, then into the church. Immersed in her thoughts, she did not realize a priest standing by the door, and knocked into him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't see you, Tesse," the priestess apologized with embarrassment.
"Ahh, no problem. You look distracted," the priest smiled widely.
Manald walked down the red-carpeted hall, and took a seat at a bench. The priest, by the name of Tesse, followed behind and sat beside her. He stopped smiling when he noticed her blood stained robes, which led his gaze to her injured arm. He reached out and took her arm, his brows furrowed.
"What happened? Who did this?"
She withdrew her bleeding arm from Tesse's hands, then thought of a quick lie.
"A goblin. Don't worry, Tesse, its nothing serious," she said, managing a smile.
Tesse sighed deeply and crossed his arms.
"Actually, you don't have to cover for him. I saw everything out there. I suggest you cut down on your contact with him, he has a disordered state of mind!"
"I'm worried for him, Tesse. Because of his sister's death, he loses control over himself when he sees Galor."
Manald, well aware that her admirer was jealous of Skull, turned to leave but a hand held her back.
"At least let me heal that wound of your's," Tesse offered.
"Nah, I can handle it myself. Thanks anyway, God bless you."
With that said, she strode off to her chamber.
'Why do you defend him? He's an assassin! A sinister being!' the sullen priest thought.
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The chants continued for a moment longer, then stopped. The wizard wearing black robes shot his fingers out, bolts of lightning electrocuting his targets. Six goblins fell just from that series of lightning bolts, their charred corpse producing a pungent smell. Sagizeulus chanted again, this time in a lower tone. Stone spikes ejected from the earth, impaling a few zombies and sent a couple of goblins flying in the air.
'How could they made their escape!? Did you seal them up properly? Or you could not bear to see them die?'
The incantations grew faster, and more magical bolts destroyed the mobs of demonic spawns.
'If they don't die, you shall.'
Sweat poured down his pale cheeks as he waggled his fingers furiously. Globes of electricity surrounded the demons, the force of the magic blasting them back quite a distance.
'You had better think of something else, mister wizard. You got us into this, by hook or by crook, you will wipe them off the face of Rune-Midgard.'
Sagi crumbled onto the floor, exhausted from the spells he cast. The spells had sucked out a large portion of his energy, leaving him in a distraught state. He thought back to what the Overlords told him before they left for the battle, which loaded mass amount of troubles into him. Wiping off sweat with his sleeve, he tried standing up, but deprivation of energy made his legs wobbly.
"For goodness sake, stay where you are!"
Nimmber ran over to the wizard, offering assistance. But the wizard dismissed it with a wave of his hand, telling her to return to the battle.
"Watch out!" Sagi shouted when a goblin snuck up behind the rogue. Sensing immediate danger, she wanted to hide, but that would take a while, leaving her vulnerable for attack.
The wizard, mustering up the last of his energies, trapped the goblin in a case of ice. Feeling his heart wrenched and twisted from over-casting spells beyond his limitations, he collapsed. Whipping out her zeny knife, Nimmber plunged it into the skull of the frozen goblin.
"Hey don't die out here man… even though I know you're the culprit of the ice walls. Nobody believes my tale though. But anyway, thanks for saving my life."
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'You worthless being.'
'Might look better than Inneavil after she's undressed.'
Those words rang in repetition through the assassin's mind, driving him into a state of fury again. Ignoring the pain in his head, he scrambled about, desperately looking for Galor. But the crusader was nowhere to be found. Everywhere around him were piles of goblins corpse, ashes from dissipated nightmares.
"Come on out!"
He cried out, but no sound came out. His vision blurred once again, every figure he saw was just a mere grey shade. The world spun continuously, the landscape looked as if it shifted. Everywhere became red, the once white cobbled streets, the buildings, the skies, everything was red. There was only one thing in his mind, to find and kill Galor. His sister's image and voice assailed him, sending him into a frenzy.
"Come on out!" he screamed again, but it sounded muffled.
He ran forward, plunging his right katar into one unfortunate goblin in his way. The force was so immense that the head flew off it's neck and the body split into half. Then, he saw a figure pointing and running towards him.
'Galor! You're finally here! Come on!" his head screamed silently.
Pay saw the ambush and made a dash his assassin guild mate. He pointed behind Skull to warn him of the danger, but he did not seem to listen. Knowing that he would not reach there in time, he raised his bow, aiming for the fast advancing figure behind Skull. However, before he released the bowstring though, Skull emerged right in front of him, swiping away the Arbalest.
"Die, Galor!"
Swinging his Infiltrators for the kill, something sharp and powerful plunged deep into his back and through his gut, stopping the killing move. Pay fell back and stared in disbelieve and horror as Galor's Excalibur was buried into the assassin's body, the garment soon painted red all over. The crusader sneered as he prepared for a second stab, but an arrow whizzed past and struck the sword.
The force sent the blade flying away from the crusader's hands. Pay readied another arrow aimed at the crusader's heart, warning him not to advance any further. The hunter expected Skull to fall, instead, a swift spin and a leap brought him within striking range of Galor. He swung his right arm with such a speed that could match those of the Doppelganger, and that was all he needed. The slice of the right katar went through the armor and bit deep into the flesh, drawing a deep wound that extended from Galor's right shoulder all the way to his heart.
The armor broke and fell off the crusader's body, the white tights underneath it now completely red. The hideous wound had blood spurting everywhere, the assassin's face a mask of crimson. Pay stared open-mouthed, his hands trembling from the sight. He could have sworn that the cut was so deep that he saw the bones.
Galor made no noise. His eyes closed, and he fell. Tien and his guild, except for Elemire, ran to the scene in time to see the crusader fall. Tien turned the body around, putting a finger beneath his nose.
"He's dead…"
Most of the army had already crowded around the scene, a hot discussion rising among them, saying that Skull was the murderer. The bribes of Tien confirmed their speculations, driving at the point that he was to be executed and the king must be informed.
Skull lay a few meters from the corpse, unconscious from the loss of blood. The battle was over, the Prontera knights slaying the last score of goblins. Cerberus was the first of the Avenger to be informed of this. He broke past the crowd and tended to Skull, a pool of blood around him. The fringe of his silver hair was stained with his own and Galor's blood.
"Pay, what happened?" Cerberus asked in bewilderment.
The hunter shifted his stare to Cerberus, maintaining the same expression.
"He… err… he was…"
"What!?"
"He did it to defend himself. Skull was innocent! Galor attacked him first!"
"Damn! Go get the rest."
Pay nodded and ran, looking for the rest of the Avenger.