Chapter 37 : Threat revealed
Hey guys Agithos here for a chapter twice the size of a normal one because I have too much to write and I don't know when to stop.
Meanwhile, The void, Mickael POV
One step after another, we approached the mansion. We didn't know what we could find in this giant building but one thing was sure : Whatever we could find inside would potentially change everything in this apocalyptic war. I was in the front of the expedition team, side by side with Blazette and Korian. Shara and Vanessa were right behind us, the little silverfish girl analyzing and drawing the mansion on a piece of paper as she was walking.
"So this is the void, huh ?" I thought as I stared at some white particle slowly floating in the air. I tried to grab it with my hand but it was like trying to catch a fly around your living room. It looked like it was actively trying to avoid my hand "What are these things ?
"Do you really want to know ?" Notch answered.
"Yeaahh, no...I guess not..." I retracted my hand away from the white particle.
"Where are we ? What is this place ?" Korian spoke to herself, not really expecting anyone to answer.
"We are in the void." I responded, stomping on the bedrock ground.
"You have to be joking." The zombie pigman girl's eyes widened.
"Trust me, I wish I was." I simply replied.
We approached the castle all the way up the gigantic front gates which seemed to be made of obsidian Everything was silent : No living or even dead apart from us was seen walking on this bedrock island. This alone would bring a sense of tension to most soldiers, even back on Earth.
"I didn't sign for this shit." I heard one of them grumbled as he was dragging his feet on the ground.
"Neither did I when I became a warrior, soldier. Now be quiet, something could be listening." Korian glarred at the young enderman behind her before returning her focus to the gate "Let's enter."
Along with a few members of the team, we pushed the door apart. It ground with a loud noise, making us all freeze in our tracks.
"Well crap...there goes our infiltration attempt." I thought, unsheathing Nightfall.
We expected a swarm of mobs but, to our surprise and our relief, nothing came to attack us. I opened the door a little more and took a peek inside. The room was huge with statues and banners on the sides. The red carpet on the floor was leading to a big staircase at the far end of the room. I stayed there, scanning the room for a full minute before I turned to Blazette.
"Room clear, let's go."
She nodded and went to inform Korian who had moved to the end of the group to secure our back. One by one, we quickly, but slowly, entered inside the giant mansion and quickly secured a small perimeter around the entrance. I noticed Shara looking around frantically and trying to draw everything single detail about this giant hall room, from the faces of the statues to the marking of the cobblestone stairs.
Carefully scanning our surroundings, we still couldn't hear a single sound apart from the ones we were making. A moment later, Korian sighed :
"There is nothing here." She sheathed her sword "Let's take a few minutes to breathe before we move. Mugs, Pilfer, you watch the front door. If anything attacks, we may have to get out quickly." She turned to two endermen.
"Yes, captain." They both replied as they placed themselves as ordered.
That being said, I retracted my arm blade into its armor and walked to the zombie captain girl.
"So, what now ?" I asked.
"Given the size of this mansion, we will form three groups : Blazette, you will explore this floor. I'll take my soldiers and Shara to into the upper floors." She explained.
"I am fine with that." The blaze girl replied before turning around and giving a naughty smile to the other members "Hey everyone, who want to explore with this sexy blaze girl ?"
Just as expected, all the male members of the group began to raise their hand and begging Blazette to take them with her, making Korian facepalm at the sight of this mascarade.
"And there, I thought I had successfully trained them to be better than this..." She sighed "I'll have to knock some sense out to them later."
"So, what about me ?" I rose my hand a little. In response, she pointed to a set of stairs I didn't see which was going down.
"With the remaining members of the group, you will go to the basement. Maybe we will be able to learn something." She finished.
"Great, I am going to find myself in another basement" I thought sarcastically. "Some time above ground would be nice as well, you know..."
"..."
"If you want to say something, just say it."
"I am just thinking...this energy I am feeling...It's familiar."
"Dangerous or not ?" I asked.
"It's the same type of energy than what I felt with the remnants coming from the nether star. However, it is much more...active."
"Do you think it may be another nether star ?" I asked, becoming a little worried.
"If it is, then I fear the worst about what is actually happening inside this mansion." He answered with a serious voice.
"Only one way to find out..." I replied, looking at the staircase.
A few minutes later, The mansion, Blazette POV
"Are all the groups formed ?" Korian spoke up after the whole team had finally been split up into three.
"Mine is done." I replied, floating in the air "What about you, hot stuff ?"
"Same for me. I am ready to go whenever you are." He responded, his little cave spider protégé at his side.
"Then let's go, we will meet back here as soon as we are done. Move out." The zombie pigman captain said as she began to walk away with her small army following her. Mickael did the same and went down into the basement, leaving my group as well as myself alone in the main hall.
"Alright everyone..." I began as I turned to my soldiers "The first one to find a valuable piece of information will receive a kiss, two if you are a girl." I then winked at them. Sure enough, they all began to search for anything interesting.
"Yes, still got it." I grinned internally, knowing my seduction skill was still top-notch.
I watched as my soldiers searched everything in the main hall. However, it was quite empty apart from a few statues and paintings.
"Princess ?" One of the soldiers came to me "We didn't found anything here. Should we move on to the next room ?" He then asked, pointing at a door on the left side on the room.
"Yes." I nodded. I didn't want to waste any more time as it was against us at the moment.
I regrouped my soldiers and we open the door. Being stunned would be an understatement, this room was bigger than the ball room I had in father's castle which was already pretty big for what it was. This one was gigantic with big obsidian pillars on both sides and, in the middle of it, a giant table could be seen, plit in two pieces from the middle. On the roof was a massive hole, leading to the outside.
"Wow..." One of the females soldier next to me spoke up in amazement "It's so big. I wonder what was its purpose."
"Maybe a sort of meeting room ?" Another soldier answered.
I approached the table. Nothing was on it but as someone who lives in the nether, something was really strange. It had been made in nether bricks along with the chairs which were all broken into pieces. Even tough these furnitures seemed old, probably hundreds if not thousands years old, the passageof time only couldn't have deteriorated them to this point.. Even the pillars themselves looked ancient. I could even see cracks in some of the obsidian blocks, something that would never happen by itself. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a group of five men going at the far end of the room.
"Do you guys smell that ?" One of them asked, pinching his nose "Smells like rotten meat mixed with eggs."
"I see you are talking from experience." The soldier next to him laughed.
"Shut up Greg." The first one replied before going toward one of the far end pillars "It seems to come from around he-OH MY NOTCH !" He screamed.
Hearing the scream, we all quickly turned to the group to see what was going on. Acting on instinct, some of my soldiers even drew their swords.
"Are you alright, pal ?" The soldier known as Greg asked before also disappearing behind the pillar "PRINCESS ? YOU SHOULD COME SEE THIS !"
Leaving the pillar I was observing alone, I rushed the group. As I approached them, a foul smell came into my nose confirming what I heard earlier.
"What is happening here ?" I asked to Greg.
"Milady, we found something. You should take a look at it." He replied as I followed him.
My eyes widened in horror at what I saw. Behing this pillar, in a dark corner at the far end on this gigantic room was a pile of bodies, not just any bodies. Their skin were green as grass and their eyes as dark as coal.
"Are those 'zombies' ?" I asked myself, remembering how the hot stuff called them before turning to the soldier "Are they dead ? Did you check ?"
"Well...no, Milady. However, judging by what I have seen, if they were alive, they would be alive and trying to eat us, right ?" He replied, a little unsure of himself.
He had a point. Every creatures we had encountered so far were all driven by bloodlust, not caring a single bit about discretion and Mickael never talk about one playing dead. However, I couldn't let this pass, I wanted to be sure. I prepared a fireball and threw at the mass of corpses. One of the 'zombies' took fire but didn't make a single sound. A few seconds later, the fire died out, leaving the burned corpse of this monster behind it.
"I guess they really are dead." I thought "But if they are...What killed them ?"
"So, Milady...What do we do now ?"
"Let's leave this room and explore the rest of this floor." I answered "I shall report what we found to Korian once we meet with them." I responded.
"Understood."
That being said, we walked away from this hill of green monsters and returned back to the entrance of the room. As we approached the door, I immediatly stopped in my tracks upon seeing a small part of one of the chairs seemingly moving on its own.
"Milady..." One of the endermen from my group spoke up. I could even hear some soldiers drawing out their swords.
"I know, I felt it too..." I replied, frowning "Something is coming."
A few seconds later, we could hear heavy footsteps coming toward our position. I could see the ground slightly shaking and the same foul smell from earlier came into my nose.
"Is this one of those green monsters ?" I though as I looked back at the pile of corpses at the far end of the room "No...the footsteps are too heavy. It can't be them, unless..."
My thoughts were interrupted as the footsteps stopped right in front of the door. The smell was stronger than ever and we could hear some kind of growling just outside the room.
"Dont...make...a noise." I told my soldiers as the creature behind the door was sniffing the air.
We all stayed still, waiting for the creature and hopping it hadn't noticed us. Unfortunatly, one of the cold ones was too anxious in front of this situation. He began to back away until he tripped on the back of one of the chairs. One of his teammates next to him tried to catch him but it was too late. The cold one fell on his back, creating a loud noise as his iron armor collided with the ground. A second later, a loud roar from other side of the door came into our ears.
"Notch damn it." I glarred before turning to my group "FALL BACK !"
"MILADY, GET DOWN !" I heard as I was tackled onto the ground by one of female adventurers just a moment before I saw the door flying above my head, knocking a few soldiers on the way.
I looked up to find myself face to face with the unknown creature. It was one of those zombies but this one was different from those I had seen so far. It was twice the size of a normal zombie and at least three times bulkier...A monster among monsters. In addition of making the door fly across the room, it had also destroyed a good portion of the wall.
"So, it is one of these..." I glarred as I remembered the giant skeleton we fought during our defense of the Magma Cubes' capital.
"Are you alright, Milady ?" My savior asked as she helped me back on my feet.
"Yes, thank you." I nodded "Everyone. Stay on your guard. This monster is far more dangerous than any of you had to fought in your villages."
Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw the huge monster raising its arms before smashing them on the floor, creating a shockwave heading to our direction. I pushed the woman away before flying high in the air.
"EVERYONE, STAND BACK !" I shouted as I prepared two fireballs in my hands "Alright, let's see what you are made of, cold one."
I threw my projectiles at the zombie who didn't make the effort to try and dodge my fireballs. The giant monster simply put its arm in front of itself, protecting its chest. The fire projectile arrived straight into his arms making his flesh catch fire.
"How do you like that, you monster ?"
"Grrr...RAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" The monster didn't answer and simply roared at me with such a loud voice we had to cover our ears to prevent them fom bursting out.
"Ugh...Even Charloette didn't scream like that." I thought as the monster finally calmed down "Alright, let's show him who the..."
"AAAAHH. GET OFF ME ! GET OFF ! AAARRRG !" Someone screamed in the back of our group.
I turned around and my eyes widened in horror as one of those green smaller zombies had pinned one of my men on the group and had bitten his neck, bitting through his armor and tearing apart his throat. However, it wasn't the only one...One by one, all those monsters we thought dead began to move closer and closer to us. Even the one I had burnt was crawling toward our position.
"It...I can't be..." I stood there speechless. The table had turned. We were now surrounded, outnumbered and underpowered "The big one doesn't seem to have a ranged weapon so if I can take it out by myself, we may have a..."
"MILADY, WATCH OUT !" One of my soldiers shouted at me.
"What..." I just had the time to turn my head around to see the monster at my height, his arms raised above its head. I gasped in pain as I felt two massive fists crashing into my back and sending me plummeting toward the ground at great speed. Fortunatly, I was caught by an enderman who had teleported on my path.
"Are you alright ?" He asked me.
"Yeah, thanks." I thanked him as I floated back into the air. "Concentrate your forces on the small zombies."
"But, what about that giant monster ?"
I prepared a fireball in my right hand and took one of my flying rods with the other.
"I am taking care of it." I rushed toward the giant zombie.
Meanwhile, Upper floor, Korian POV
"It's too calm...I don't like this." I said as we were walking into a long and big hallway lit by some redstone torches hanging on the walls.
It had been at least ten minutes since we arrived into the upper floor of this castle and we still hadn't found anything that could help us. This castle was dead silent, only the sounds of our feet walking on the floor was coming into our ears. As a soldier, it was highly unerving. I was leading my fifhteen soldiers's group with Shara behind as she continued to analyse the journal they found in Ashshore.
"According to the scout team's story, they stumbled upon some kind of throne room further down the hallway." My little silverfish friend spoke up.
"Did they find anything in here ?" I asked.
"I don't know. I can't find any details about it..." She replied.
"Then I guess we will have to take a look into it ourselves." I responded, pushing a small door to the side, revealing a small empty room with just a sort of old bed inside.
The more I thought about it, the more strange this whole castle was. For this kind of building to be old and abandonned for seemingly thousands of years, it was supringly well maintained. Even though, Nether bricks blocs are really resistant, I expected a lot more broken ones and destroyed furnitures.
"We are coming close." Shara said as she pointed at the end of the hallway where a massive wooden door was standing.
Upon arriving in front of it, I fell in awe at its imposing size. It was twelve blocks high and eight blocks wide made mostly of wodden planks as well as obsidian on the sides and middle of the door.
"Get yourself ready, soldiers. Who knows what could be waiting behind this door..." I turned to them before facing Shara "Whatever happens, stay close to me. If things goes wrong, I want you to flee and try to regroup with the other team. Understood ?"
"Y-Yes..." The little silverfish girl replied, unsure of herself.
I nodded, smiled and slowly opened the door. It was kind of heavy but as much as I though. It made a loud noise as, like the front door of the castle, this one ground on the floor. One by one, we quietly but quickly entered into the room. As I was waiting for the rest of the group, I took a good look around the place.
The room was big, the floor was made of wooden planks and the wall of cobblestones. Two libraries were on the sides going all the way across the room and three large windows could be seen overlooking the outside. slightly raised by some stairs, a throne made of whole gold blocks as well as a red carpet leading to it from the door.
"Looks like no one is here..." The soldier at my right said as he was about to sheath back his sword
"It appears you are wrong, young mob. I was expecting you." A dark, slightly distorded voice spoke up from behind the golden throne.
A figure appeared from behind the throne and our eyes widened in horror. A middle-aged looking man with brown hair and beard was standing in front of us, his eyes as white as a block of quarzt staring right into our souls.
"No...that's impossible..." I thought as my hands began to shake a little. Never before this had happened to me since I became a full-fledged warrior but I couldn't help it, not in front of...it "A-Are you..." I spoke up, trying to regain my composure.
"Herobrine ? Yes. That would be me." The old god smiled as he went to sit on his golden throne "So tell me, to what do I owe the pleasure of your visit? Maybe to try to kill me ? Or maybe to see if I even exist ?"
I began to glare at him but before I could say anything, one of the members of my group, a female skeleton archer ran right next to me, his bow drawn back.
"THAT'S FOR MY LITTLE SISTER, YOU BASTARD !" She yelled.
"HERMIONE, STOP !" I tried to grab her arms.
Too late, she fired her projectile before I could reach her. The arrow flew across the room and arrived into the old god's chest, right where the heart is supposed to be. A smile appeared one the archer's face but quickly died down when she saw Herobrine sighing and looking at the arrow before pulling it out of his chest easily. She watched in horror as his wound healed in mere seconds, leaving only a small hole in his clothe.
"Coated with poison, huh ?" The old god looked at the arrow where a green fluid was covering the sharp end "I suppose it could have killed a mere mortal in just a few seconds. Unfortunatly for you..." A wicked grin appeared on his face "I am not one of them."
The old god took the arrow with two fingers before throwing it back at astonishing speed toward the young female archer. She didn't have the time to react before the arrow went right through her chest and finished its course in the leg of her teammate behind her. Hermione threw up some blood and her body fell on the floor, lifeless. The man behind her was not better as the poison coated on the arrow was taking effect. His eyes rolled backward and his body began to spam.
"Notch damn it..." I glarred "Is this the power of a god ?"
"Korian..." I turned around and saw Shara, on the verge of tears. She was looking at the poisoned member as others were trying to administer him first aid.
Her eyes were telling me everything I needed to know, she was terrified. Of course she was, Shara was just a child, a genius, yes, but still a child who had never seen death this close before. Meanwhile, two of my zombie pigmen rushed straight toward Herobrine.
"YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR THAT !" The first one said as he jumped.
"Oh, really ?" Herobrine smiled "Then, go ahead, I am waiting."
The zombie pigman's sword stroke down on the old god, making a deep slash on his chest. Like with the arrow from before, the wound healed itself almost instantly.
"Disappointing..." Herobrine sighed "You don't mind if I attack back, do you ?"
The zombie pigman didn't have the time to react. In a fraction of a second, a shining blue sword appeared in the evil god hand and the zombie pigman was stabbed into the back, his body falling loudly on the floor. As for the second pigman, as soon as he reached Herobrine, he was grabbed by the throat and thrown outside, through the window. We heard him scream for a few seconds before everything went silent.
"Such a shame, I really liked this window." He said as he looked at the four glass blocks he just destroyed "I am going to repair it. In the meantime, why don't you entertain our guests ?" He then continued as he snapped his fingers
As we wondered what he was meaning by that, I heard something moving above us. I looked up and saw a lime-colored creature falling toward us. I grabbed Shara by the waist and jumped out of the way. When the creature touched the ground, it created a small explosion all around it, sending the closest soldiers flying all around. I let go of Shara and took a good look at the creature in front of us.
It seemed like a mutated version of the four-legged explosive monsters I already fought in the overworld. This one was much larger with longer limb and a longer neck, The face, however, was unchanged.
"It will be done, Masssster." The monster hissed.
Meanwhile, The basement, Mickael POV
"Nothing there too." An enderman spoke up after searching one of the cells of the basement.
"Notch, are you sure about what you are saying ?" I asked him.
"Certain, this is the same energy I felt before I died. It can't be a coincidence, but I surely hope that I am wrong. !" He replied, sure of himself.
"Alright, if you say so." I responded before turning toward the group under my command "Let's go a little further."
Vanessa yawned and joined my side.
"Did you find anything ?" She asked.
"Nope, not at the moment." I answered.
There was a moment of silence before she spoke up once again.
"Mike ?" I could heard she was quite hesitant "Can I ask you something a little...personnal ?"
"Hum...sure ?" I raised an eyebrow, waiting for her question.
"Well...When you came back to life...you said you were coming from another world. Does that mean you will leave us once you beat Herobrine ?"
I sighed and looked at the ground. That question was to be expected at some point and I'll have to make a choice when everything will be over.
"Mike ?" She asked again.
"I-I don't know..." I finally answered "This world isn't the one I grew up in. I had a peaceful life back home and my friends are probably still looking for me as we speak. However, in this world, I have all of you as my friends and I even found...love. I want to go back home, to my own world but I also don't want to leave you guys."
"Well, I think I can safely say that none of us wants you to leave, not even me." She nudged my side, making me chuckle. "Jokes aside, even if you still want to leave, you are one of my best friend and I will support your choice." She finished as she gave me a thumbs up.
"Thanks Vanessa. It means a lot to me." I smiled at her for a second "I...I still don't know how I should tell Ayumi about this...or even if I should tell her in the first place."
"What makes you think she hadn't figured it out on her own ?"
"What ?" I stopped dead in my tracks.
"I mean...If I asked myself this question. Maybe she did too, don't you think ?" She turned to me.
"But...But, she would have told me about it, right ?" I began to sweat.
"Maybe she doesn't want to influence you ?" She rubbed her chin before a wide smile appeared on her face "Oh well, you won't know unless you ask."
"I-I just don't want her to..."
"Mickael...Something is wrong." Notch spoke up inside of my mind.
"What is happening ?" I replied, a little annoyed by this interruption.
"I found the source of this energy" He responded "I suggest you to hurry up. I don't like what I am feeling."
"Where is it ?" I asked.
"It's coming from the far end of this corridor." He answered. I could feel the worry growing within him.
Listening to that voice in my head, I made a sign to the rest of group to get a move on. A minute later, we arrived in front of a small iron door with a lever on the block next to it.
"Is this the place ?" I asked.
"Yes."
I pulled on the lever and the door opened. Shooting a glance inside, I realized the room seemed gigantic, larger than any that I have seen, even in the game. It was also really dark and the only source of light I could distinguish was coming from the ceiling. From our point of view, we were on a sort of balcony with two set of stairs on each side, leading to the room floor. Seeing no monster in sight, I made a signal for the others that it was safe to go in. When we entered inside, we scattered around the balcony to secure the perimeter.
Oh no..." I heard the god say inside my head only a few seconds later.
"What ?" I asked as I was still facing the corridor to bring up the rear.
"Sir, I think you should take a look at this." A soldier said as he called out to me while pointing into the room.
With Vanessa right behind me, I rejoined him. I was shocked by what I saw. Fifty blocks underneath, hundreds of table were scattered around the place, most of them with people lying on them. They were all connected by some white link of magic. Following the trail, I looked up and I finally saw the reason of the faint light in the room. Floating high into the air, a white crystal was shining like an enchanted item.
"A nether star...and an active one at that." I stated, remembering how the first few mobs came to exist "Notch, don't tell me it's what I think it is."
"I am afraid so, Mickael." He replied with a deadly serious voice.
"Mike, what is happening to them ?" The little cave spider girl next to me asked as I gritted my teeth.
"They are being transformed." I answered truthfully just before a black portal appeared at the far end of the room "What is that ?"
My question was answered a few second later we saw a small monster army passing through, mostly composed of zombies, spiders and skeletons. There was aproximatly fifthy of them. My eyes widened when I noticed they were all dragging something behind them : bodies or more exactly...corpses, and not just of humans. I could also see some mobs among this massacre. We watched as they placed the differents corpses on the free tables. Immediatly, a white link errupted from the floating nether and connected to their bodies.
"Do you think this portal leads to the overworld ?" Vanessa asked.
"It seems so. That must be how they collect the corpses of people." I answered, a little doubtfull
I looked at the Nether star and pulled out my pistol.
"If I destroy this right here, right now. It will completely stop the transformation process." I thought as I aimed at the crystal "I just hope we won't get spotted by those mobs."
Suddenly, the ground began to shake and loud explosions were heard coming from the floors above.
"What in the nether was that ?" A enderman asked just before dodging an arrow that would have arrived in his neck.
I looked back at the small monster army to see the skeletons aiming towards us and the other monsters crawling toward our position.
"I have a bad feeling about this." I spoke up "We already found what we were looking for. Let's rejoin the two other groups and get the hell out of here."
A few of them nodded and we rushed back to the entrance of the mansion.
"Brother..." I heard Notch say as we ran away.
Meanwhile, Main floor, Unknow POV
"AAAAAARG !" A soldier screamed as he was sent flying into the wall by an explosion. The smoke cleared out to reveal the mutant creeper, unscathed.
"Korian..." A little silverfish girl spoke up
"Stand back, Shara !" The zombie pigman girl replied between grunts of pain. Numerous flesh wounds were on her body and she was a hundred percent sure she had, a least, one cracked rib.
However, despite her injuries, Korian was still standing, her sword still in hand. Three-quarters of her group had been annihilated by this monstuosity.
"Can we...Can we really beat this thing ?" Korian thought as she held her bleeding arm just before another one of her warriors was headbutted by the creature, pinning him on the floor and crushing his ribs.
"Captain, we are getting completely beaten. We need to fall back or none of us will make it out alive to tell the tale." A soldier spoke up as two of them joined her side.
"We can't, If we fall back now, the other groups will be trapped with these two monsters inside." Korian replied as I pointed at the evil god that was watching the scene in front of him, occasionally yawning.
"Then take the kiddo with you. We will hold them long enough so you can all regroup and get the nether out of there." The second one responded "Remember, captain, if we all die here, we would have done this for nothing." He then said before charging once again toward the giant creature.
"Wait, Rancie !" Korian called to him.
"It's has been an honor serving under your orders, captain." The first one smiled as he rejoined the fight.
Korian watched as her remaining warriors threw themselves againt the mutated creeper, trying to do as much damage as they could before being killed. She felt a tug on her arm and she turned around to see Shara, her eyes full on tears. Remembering the reason why her soldiers, the ones she had taken under wings after The magma cube's captial's incident, were still fighting, she grabbed Shara by the waist and put her on her back. Her eyes now filled with determination, she took one last glance at the fight before rushing to the door.
"I am proud of you soldiers. I promise I will not let you down." She though as she exited the throne and ran at full speed into the big hallway towards the entrance. As she was approaching the staircase leading to the first floor, she could feel the ground slightly shaking, as if something heavy was running down there "Don't tell me..."
Korian quickly ran down the stairs and finally arrived in the main hall of the mansion. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the carnage inside. most of the wall had been cracked and some of them had been completely destroyed. She looked at the floor and noticed five bodies, lying in a pool of their own blood. Another one was lying against a wall. She could hear him grunt in pain, meaning he was still alive.
"Soldier." She called as she ran to him "What happened here ? Where is princess Blazette ?"
"Captain...W-We were attacked...by a...giant green humanoid monster...and a bunch of smaller ones. We...managed to take care of those "zombies" but the giant one was too much for us to handle..." He answered between occasional cough of blood "The...princess is still fighting it with the...rest of the group."
"Where is she now ?" The zombie pigman girl asked.
Immediatly after asking her question, she felt the ground shaking once again, getting stronger with every second passing. She heard some mufled voices coming from the other side of the wall on the opposite side of her. Suddenly, a mighty roar came into her ears before the wall was destroyed by something big. Through the pieces of blocks and the dust, she could see a silouhette flying across the hall and colliding into the wall next to her.
"Bastard..." The figure glared with a feminine voice as she wiped the blood from its mouth "Why don't you go down ?"
"Princess Blazette ?" Korian asked as she recognized her golden hair and the rods flying all around her. She looked tired an in pain as blood was tickling down her forehead.
"Korian ?" Blazette replied "What are you...No, we will talk later. We have another thing to take care of."
They turned around the saw the mutant zombie slowly coming through the wall, his right hand holding the lower portion of a human body that had been cut in half, his other hand holding the upper portion.
"Notch damn it." The blaze girl thought as glarred at the mutant.
The mutant roared before throwing the two parts of the human bodies at the girls. Blazette flew back into the air while Korian took a hold of the human adventurer and jumped out of the way breaking eye contact with the mutant zombie for just a few second but that was more than enough. Following his rage and primary instincts, the zombie rushed to the zombie pigman girl who didn't have the time to react as she was hit by the creature's massive fist.
"AAARG !" She yelled in pain, feeling the bone his her hips brake with a loud noise.
The force of the blow sent her flying against the big entrance door. Her vision was blurry from the crash and she could feel blood flowing in her mouth.
"Are you alright...Shara ?" She asked but she received no answer "Shara ?"
She couldn't feel the silverfish girl on her back anymore. She looked around and saw her, lying on the floor in the center of the room, barely conscious. The monster was slowly coming closer and closer. Blazette tried to stop the monster with fireballs but she was grabbed by the mutant by the arm and thrown through a wall like a ragdoll.
"SHARA !" Korian screamed hoping it could reach the child's ears "I have to move."
She tried to get on her feet but her broken bone and the pain caused by it made her unable to do so. Next to her, she noticed the corpses of Mugs and Pilfer, the two endermen who were supposed to guard the door so they could make a quick escape if they had too. Their ribcages had been crushed and blood was tickling from their mouths. There was nothing she could do for them now. However, their deaths might be her salvation.
"I am sorry. I hope you will forgive me." Korian thought as she crawled up to them.
She looked at her silverfish friend to see she was slowly regaining her senses. She took a glance at her surroundings and spotted the mutant zombie just a few feet in front of her. She wanted to scream, she wanted to call for help, she wanted to flee but her body was simply paralysed by the monster that was at least, five time her size. Korian's heart skipped a beat, she didn't have time anymore. Fighting through the pain, she finally arrived next the closest enderman and opened his mouth wide.
"Here we go." She gulped before sticking her hand down into his throat "It should be somewhere around...AH !" Korian thought as she touched a round object deep into the oesophagus. She grabbed it and pulled the object outside.
She looked at what she just grabbed. Covered in blood, an enderpearl was there, in the palm of her hand. Wasting no time, she threw it at Shara's feet just as the monster was raising it's massive fist above the little silverfish girl. A second later, she found herself in front of Shara and the zombie pigman girl placed herself on her to protect her little protege with her own body. Her chest was on fire du to the teleportation, it was taking all of her will to not just pass out from the pain she was experiencing.
"Korian..." Shara began to cry.
"Shhh...It will be...alright..." She replied as she began to cough up some blood which arrived on the little girl's face.
The captain looked back at the creature one last time to see the mutant zombie bringing his arms down. She just hoped her body would enough to protect Shara long enough for the last group to come back, save her and get out. She closed her eyes and braced herself for the impact.
*BANG*
A sound resembling a small tnt resonated into the hall. Korian, surprised by the sound looked up to see Mickael, a small black object in his hand, aiming it toward the giant creature. She turned around to see the mutant zombie bleeding heavily from one eye.
"Just a little higher." Mickael thought as he reajusted his aim.
"ROOOOOAAAAAAAR !" The monster roared at the top of its lungs.
*BANG*
Another shot from the human's Five-Seven made its way straight through the monster's brain. The bullet exited the head and finished its course into the wall behind. The monster stopped roaring and staggered for a few seconds before falling on his back. That being done, Mickael took a deep breath and looked into his magazine : Only three bullets were remaining. Meanwhile, Korian was stunned, she had never seen a weapon this powerful, let alone hear about one.
"W-What was that ?" She asked herself as the eyepatched man put his firearm away.
"Captain !" A soldier next to him rushed to Korian and helped her sit on the ground "Are you alright ? What happened here ? What was that creature ?"
"I-I am fine..." She said, coughing "I wouldn't have been able to say the same thing if you didn't come."
"I hope my book didn't get damaged or you will regret it." Vanessa glared as she helped Shara get on her feet. However, as soon the face of the crying silverfish girl, she began to panic "Y-You know what ? F-fine. It's not a problem. I can get another one."
"Vanessa and the tactfulness..." Mickael facepalmed mentally before turning to his group "Take care of the wounded and we will get our asses out of this mansion."
"WHERE IS THAT SON OF A DIRT BLOCK ?" They heard someone shout from the other room. They turned around to see Blazette floating to them, her eyes filled with rage "I'LL BURN THIS COLD ONE SO HARD, IT WILL THINK LAVA IS COLD WATER !"
She was in bad shape, blood was flowing out of the wound on her forehead, forcing her to close her right eye. Her left arm was also bent in an awkward angle.
"Glad to see you alive, Blazette !" Mickael walked to her as he pointed at the body of the mutant zombie behind him "Don't worry about that. We already took care of it."
"Is that you, hot stuff ?" She touched his face "I am sorry, my vision is a bit blurry because of the blood."
"Yep, that's me." Mickael smiled "Come on, let's get you patched up so we can finally get out of there."
"Mickael, wait !" Korian called him "Herobrine...He...He is here, in this mansion. We all fell into a trap."
"What ?" Mickael's eyes opened wide.
"She is right...I can sense him...He is coming." Notch warned.
"Ooooh, and to think I wanted to make it a surprise..." A deep and slightly distorded voice spoke up echoed within the hallway. They turned to the source of the voice and saw the evil god, sitting at the bottom of the staircase leading to the upper floor. "It's nice to see you again, Mickael Tabor, human from another world. How do like my gift ?"
In a fraction of a second, Mickael pulled out his firearm and aimed at Herobrine's head before firing. The trajectory was perfect but, at the last second, Herobrine dodged the invisible projectile with godlike speed.
"Such trick won't work twice." Herobrine frowned before teleporting just a few feet in front of us. Most of the remaining soldiers drew their swords and began to surround the old god, pointing their weapons at him "I suggest you put these weapons down before you hurt yourself."
"H-How are you still alive ?" Shara asked, shaking in fear and hiding behind Vanessa "Notch killed you thousands of years ago."
"That's a common misconception, little mob." Herobrine replied with a maleficient grin "You see, I was never truly dead. While my body was indeed destroyed. I managed to seal my soul inside a nether star. I have waited there, stuck in this castle for thousands of years until the some mobs found me and brang me back into their city. I hid my identity and promised them power in exchange for my freedom. When they accepted, I absorbed their souls to make me a new body and they became the first soldiers of my new army."
"YOU TRICKED THEM !" Korian shouted at him from anger.
"Tricked, you say ?" The god raised an eyebrow "Why ? I didn't lie to them. They are more powerful under my rule than they would have ever been when they were alive. They are now immortal and a single scratch from them can lead to death."
"Bastard..." Mickael glared, his pistol still aimed at Herobrine's head.
"For three hundred years, I have waited and gathered corpses for me to use and transform. For three hundred years, I have been planning this revenge and will not let a bunch of mere mortals destroy everything, and that counts for you too, brother. I know you can hear me and I can hear you too."
"I just have one question...Why, brother ? Why destroy everything we had created together ?" Notch asked inside of Mickael's mind.
"Together, you say ?" Herobrine responded before laughing like a madman "HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...That's not what the history books say. I read every one of them and all talked about how great you were but, for me, I was just the little brother, following his older brother like a good little lapdog. Just admit it."
Every soldiers around the old were confused. From their point of view, the evil god was speaking to himself like a crazy old man. Only those that knew about Mickael's secrets knew what was going on.
"That's-That's not true, brother." Notch replied back.
"DON'T LIE TO ME !" Herobrine screamed, clearly angered "You...You were always the people's favorite. Whenever we did something 'together', you would get all the fame and thanks of the population. I was bound to be in your shadow for all eternity and when...when I finally made something to be remembered for, you destroyed it. A hundred years old work, and you almost killed me in the process. That's why I won't stop at anything to achieve my goal."
"I..I am sorry...I didn't know." Notch's voice was full with genuine sadness.
"That's a little too late for that, don't you think ?" Herobrine replied as a diamond sword appeared in his hands "No matter, you will all be dead soon anyway. The era of Minecraft as you know it is coming to an end."
Faster than the eyes could see, the god stabbed the soldier next to him before beheading the one behind. The rest of the soldiers took a step back but Herobrine seemed to teleport everywhere like an enderman. Seeing the soldier next to him getting cut in half, one of the warrior began to panic. He dropped his weapon and began to run away only to collide with something soft only a meter away. He looked up to see the giant zombie from earlier, standing on both of its feet.
"WHAT THE..." He was interrupted as he was crushed by the zombie's fists.
"I can't get a good aim." Mickael thought as he was still holding his Five-Seven.
"Forget about him, Mickael. You are not strong enough as you are now." Notch spoke up "You have to get away from here."
"He is right here." Mickael argued "A single bullet in the head and everything will be over."
"You are not in a position of power, Mickael. Your chances of victory are close to zero."
"Fine..." Mickael gritted his teeth before speaking out loud "EVERYONE, FULL RETREAT. WE HAVE TO GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE !"
"You don't have to tell us twice !" A young skeleton archer replied as he headed to the entrance. However, as soon as he opened the door, he was greeted by a monster standing just in front of him.
"Hello there...let'sssss play." The four-legged creature spoke up before hitting the archer straight in the chest with its head, sending the soldier flying across the hallway.
"Sir, the exit is blocked. We are trapped." Another warrior stated.
"God damn it." Mickael spoke up "Notch, is there another way ?"
"..." There was no answer from the old god.
"NOTCH !"
"Y-Yes...I am sorry...There may be one. Do you remember the portal in the basement ?" Notch asked and Mickael nodded "If you can use it, maybe you will be able to return to the overworld."
"We will be dead if we stay here so that's our best bet." He replied "TO THE BASEMENT, GO !"
One by one, the remaining soldiers followed the human's order and ran down the staircase.
"Korian, what the hell are you doing ?" Mickael asked as she saw her, one of her arm into the other dead enderman's throat.
"I am grabbing something that could save us all." She replied as she pulled out her arm, her hand holding a medium-sized green pearl.
That being done, Mickael helped her get on her feet and they both joined the others in the corridor. They could hear the screams of the soldiers that decided to stay behind to buy some times for the rest or those unlucky enough to get caught by either of their enemies.
"DON'T STOP RUNNING !" Blazette shouted to the remaining soldiers.
A minute later, the survivors finally arrived on the balcony. Their eyes widened as we saw what was waiting for us inside the room itself. Whereas there was 'only fifty' of those monsters, they were now ten times that amount. With just a group of fifhteen remaining soldiers, fighting the army head on was simply suicide.
"Mickael, on your six !" Notch spoke up inside of Mickael's mind.
Reacting by instinct, Mickael turned around just in time to dodge an arrow that would have arrived straight into his back.
"You didn't think it would be that easy, did you ?" They heard the evil god spoke up from the far end of the corridor.
"There is no way we are going to get through. We are doomed." A warrior panicked.
"Are you alright, Shara ?" Vanessa asked.
"Y-Yeah..." She simply replied "What are we going to do now ?"
"I have a plan." Korian answered as she tightened her hold on the enderpearl "Everyone, grab onto me."
Everyone did as told as the zombie pigman girl raised her uninjured arm and threw it as far as she could. The pearl flew high into the sky and arrived a a few meters away from the portal.
"Get ready. That last run is going to be tough." The captain spoke right before the group was teleported right into the army.
Immediately, they got surrounded by the monsters. The exit was close and yet so far away. Just a few meters was separating them from their freedom. Despite the nausea he was feeling and the pain in his chest, Mickael unsheathed Nightfall, Mickael grabbed Vanessa with one arm and slashed at everything monstrous in sight. He could feel zombies trying to grab him and arrows trying to penetrate is armor. Blazette was flying in the air, shooting fireball and trying to create a way out for everyone else. As for Korian, already injured, her legs gave up upon teleporting. She tried to get back on her feet but she simply couldn't feel them anymore.
"GO GO GO !" Mickael shouted as he behead a zombie trying to grab a soldier before pulling him out of the mass.
"ARG !" Korian grunted in pain as crawled on the floor "GET OFF ME !" She shouted as a zombie pinned her and was trying to bite her neck.
A stab to the head with her golden sword later, she was finally free and she felt herself being dragged toward the portal.
"Are you alright ?" A soldier asked her
"Shara ? Where is Shara ?" The zombie pigman girl replied as she couldn't see her anywhere. She began to panic, thinking the little silverfish girl might have been trapped in the mass of monster.
"I am here." The little silverfish girl smiled proudly as her head popped out of a nearby stone block "Being a silverfish is useful sometimes." Korian sighed in relief and hugged her little protege.
"Through the portal !" Mickael ordered before going through himself. He shoot one last glance at the balcony to see Herobrine and the two mutants staring at them.
One by one, the survivors disappeared through the portal, leaving the old god and his creations alone. Herobrine chuckled and turned his back on the portal.
"Do we go after them, Masssster ?" The mutant creeper asked as the zombie simply growled.
"No need to. They will come back here soon enough." Herobrine replied "It's about time we reveal ourselves to the world anyway."
"I felt it...his hatred...his anger...his fear..." Herobrine thought as he walked back to his throne room.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the portal, the group found themselves on some kind of big valley next to some hills. They could feel the grass on their skin and the birds singing on the trees. The sky was orange and the sun was slowly rising above the horizon, indicating it was dawn. The temperature was also a lot more tolerable, at least, for some of them.
"ACHOOO !" Blazette sneezed as she was floating into the air.
"Are we back in the overworld ?" Vanessa asked as the sudden light was blinding her.
"Seems like it." Mickael went on his feet "Is everyone alright ?"
"Denni and Brand didn't make it to the portal. As for Greg, he was too much injured, his body didn't handle the teleportation." A young woman with brown haire replied.
They all sighed and looked at each other with sad eyes. Korian was staring at the ground at her feet. Out of the eighty five warriors, mobs and adventurers that took part into this expedition under her orders, only twelve of them had managed to get out alive, including Mickael, Blazette, the two kids and herself. On the top of that, more than half of them were badly wounded.
"So...what now ?" A soldier asked, lying one the ground.
"We need to warn our kings about what we found here." The zombie pigman girl answered as Shara was taking care of her many wound "We have to tell them Herobrine is re-OUCH."
"I am sorry !" Shara gasped as she thought she had tightened the bandage on her wound a little too much "Are you alright ?"
"Yes, don't worry." Korian passed her hand in the little silverfish girl's hair "I am alright."
"We have to figure out where we ended up." Mickael took a look around at his surroudings.
Blazette nodded and flew high into the hair.
"I can see a pillar of smoke over there. It...looks something big had been burning recently." The blaze girl stated as she pointed in the direction of the rising sun. She frowned as she was trying to see what had happened "I think it's a village."
"Then let's go. They might need help and we could learn where we were teleported." The eyepatched man spoke up before turning to Blazette. "How far it is ?"
"I can't say for sure...maybe a few hundred blocks at most..." She answered as she floated back towards us.
Helping the most serious injured survivors, the group made their way toward the village. It took them almost half a hour to reach it and when they arrived, they were shocked to see a destroyed vilage : Most of the houses had been burned and were on the verge of breaking down. Some, who they guessed were the former inhabitants, were standing at the entrance of the small town, looking at the damages. Other were simply leaving the scene.
"Who are you ? What are you doing here ?" An old man asked as he saw they walking up to the village.
"We are soldiers of the alliance. We saw some smoke and decided to investigate. What happened here ?" Mickael asked, looking at a middle-aged woman crying on her knees.
"We were attacked by those creatures. They came from the blackness of the night. They killed almost everyone and took the corpses with them." He then sighed "The village is lost. There is nothing left."
"Wait, could you tell us where we are ?"
"You are in front of Ironshear...or what it used to be." The old man replied with sadness in his eyes.
"Ironshear ? That means we are quite close to the human capital. We would be able to warn the emperor and take care of the woundeds" Blazette thought before she floated to this old man "We have to talk to the emperor. Could you lend us some horses, if you have any ?"
"Judging by the wounds on your bodies, it looks like you went to the nether and back." The old man replied.
"Even that may be an understatement..." Mickael sighed in his head.
"Well, I have a few of my own. I guess I can give them to you if you need them that much." He rubbed his chin.
"Thank you a lot." Blaze replied as she watched the old man leave.
A few minutes later, he came back with four horses quite well maintained. They already had a saddle on them, ready to be ridden on. With three of them on each of the four animals, there was enough space for everyone to fit. After thanking the man, they began to leave to village toward the human capital.
"Hey, Blazette, do you know how long this will take ?" Korian asked the blaze girl who had finally her head bandaged.
"No more than a day. We are fairly close so, if everything goes well, we should be there by dusk." She replied.
Suddenly, there was a loud thunder into the sky even though the sky was clear and the sun could be seen through the clouds. The group turned around and their eyes widened in horror when they noticed a black portal appearing into the sky.
"WHAT THE NETHER IN THAT ?" A soldier asked, visibly afraid.
"I have a bad feeling about this..." Mickael thought.
"So do I." Notch responded.
As second later, they saw a block passing through the portal. And another one, and another one until a whole island was visible, floating into the sky.
"Impossible..."
High into the air, a bedrock island was flying. A familiar mansion could be seen on the top of it. Even the horses were getting nervous as they could also feel something was wrong, and it wasn't going to go any better.
"We have to get out of there." Korian spoke up from her horse.
"That would actually be a great idea..." Blazette replied.
With that being said, the group fled the scene, galloping away at full speed toward the human capital. Looking back one last time, Vanessa could see a figure standing on the balcony with two monsters at his side, looking down at them.
Meanwhile, Home, Ari POV
Ever since Vanessa followed Mickael into the Nether, I have been waking up every morning, hopping she would be in the bed next mine, only to have this slight hope shattered. It was still pretty early, most of us were probably still sleeping. Sighing, I got out of my bed and went outside my room. Feeling a little hungry, I went into the kitchen to grab something to eat...a cookie or two wouldn't hurt.
"Huh ?" I asked myself as I looked through the room's window and saw Ayumi outside.
She was staring at Mickael's former grave. We had refilled the hole but we never really took the time to remove the cross we had made. We left it there, as a reminder of what happened back there and it was now partially hidden in the grass. I slowly exited the house and walked to her.
"Ayumi ?" I spoke up as I arrived at her side "Are you alright ?"
"Yes..." She replied with a small voice "I am just thinking..."
"About what ?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"About...that night where he was killed..." She said as she brushed the grass away, showing the carving on the cross 'Rest in Aether' "I realized that...everything could be over in just a instant...that one of us could not make it to the end. It could me, him or even you."
I rolled my eyes and flicked her forehead.
"Don't say things like that, for Notch's sake. Of course we are all going to make it. We always does." I scolded her before a big grin appeared on my face, hopping it would cheer her up.
"I hope you are right." She replied as I saw a small smile forming at the corner of her mouth.
"Yeah...me too..." I thought as I looked at the sun slowly going up above the horizon.
TO BE CONTINUED...So that's the end of this long chapter, guys. I hope you liked it. So, as always PM or review to tell me what you think of the story : good or bad. And if you have any suggestion for the story, feel free to contact me. See you guys next time (^_^)/
