AN: This is very much a transition Chapter moving things into place. I know last Chapter was pretty dark in a 'holy shit, Cobb's messed up' kind of way, but, as Cobb said, it was a Dark Moment. A mistake. He's tormented by what he did to Jade and wishes things could be different, but they're not, and being in prison, riddled with potion effects is his comeuppance.

Disclaimer: I don't own Minecraft. If I did, I'd add instant bridges.

Chapter 221

The Hackers Cometh

[Baltic]

Just what happened over there? I thought to myself as I saw the group return from the Cadboro Bridge. The engineers, Witige, and I had waited on one side of the bridge while the battle raged. I caught the high-pitched whistle of rockets and an explosion, then the small airship flew in from the north and was now heading south. I didn't like the look of it, and my fears proved true when I saw our forces return with Trish and the cowboy's horses, but with a few members missing. Lenz. Z7. Cobb.

Belenzia was the first to approach the Paragons returning back, all of them looking worse for wear. They clearly suffered a loss.

"We saw the airship fly by. What the heck happened out there?"

"Where's Lenz and Z7?" Ines chimed in.

Trenay swept past their questions and went straight for me, a map in her clutches. "They took Cobb."

My heart plummeted. "...No."

"They were stronger than we anticipated. You were right about the cowboy with them. He had reflexes as good as Z7, and archery skills rivaling Lenz's. A former Bird of Prey. Alfonso_Bialetti. He and Trish covered each other perfectly, and Trish had more powerful effects in that artifact then we thought. She paralyzed Cobb, they boarded that airship with him, and they took off. Likely to Nitebane."

I leaned against a support tower to brace myself. This news was the worst outcome imaginable, and what I feared would result if Cobb pursued a bounty hunter. The Paragons who had been on the bridge, and therefore in the fight, looked ashamed and angry to have lost. They were looking to Trenay and Baltic, ready for any action and expecting us to pursue the airship.

It wasn't that simple. Most of them didn't know Carys' orders.

"What about Lenz and Z7?" Ines repeated, her face showing concern for the two. She needn't have worried, for Shroud pointed to the wooded slope. There, two dripping wet Crafters dragged themselves up - Z7 doing most of the dragging as Lenz was catatonic. "They fell in? Oh, Lenz." Ines and Arwen rushed over and Z7 let them take the engineer off her hands so she could approach the group.

"Urhsvinzm?" She asked, her eyes looking around. When she saw no sign of Cobb, her gaze went to the airship getting further and further away. She glowered through her wet curtain of hair. "Ivzwrmt Izrmyld gllp srn."

"I've already messaged Jillian and Carys." Trenay reported, the words making me wince. "I told them the situation and requested Jillian apprehend Trish when she comes to turn in Cobb's bounty."

"We're not going after him?" Heather asked.

"There's no need to." Trenay assured. "Cobb'll be fine. The bounty is only for if they bring him in alive. He might get roughed up, but it's nothing compared to his draconian endurance training."

"But... But the Hackers!" Heather exclaimed in worry. "Have you forgotten an army of Griefers is on its way to Nitebane, led by a Hacker or two? Cobb'll get stuck in the middle of it, and he's a Hacker Slayer the Hack Clan wouldn't mind obliterating all memory of! He's heading right for the lion's den!"

"Jillian is readying Nitebane's defenses as we speak. She has a whole kingdom to fight with, and maybe Cobb can help her out. It would do her good having a Hacker Slayer aiding her. Jillian can take him from Trish, turn him loose, and that'll be-"

"I wish you hadn't messaged them." I cut Trenay off with a strained expression. "Jillian won't turn him loose."

"...Why not?" Dwight asked.

I chose not to answer right away, instead waiting for Carys' reply to come back. Trenay was eager to translate, but as she received the message and spoke it aloud, she faltered with growing bewilderment.

"Your report is appreciated, Trenay. I have received it loud and clear, and I advise you to continue on your mission to Oak Docks. As for Cobb, Jillian is to... to..." Trenay blinked, stunned. "Jillian is to keep him locked up and out of the way - and the Beginners left unaware of his imprisonment - until the Endward Cult has been dealt with."

A silence settled over the group as they processed what they had heard. Disbelief showed on many faces over Carys' cold dismissal of Cobb's capture and wanting to isolate him from the coming conflict. The assassins and I were the only ones unsurprised by her orders, having heard them weeks in advance.

Lenz began to stir, the news coming to him as if from a faraway tunnel and snapping him out of his catatonia. "Cobbert...?"

"WHAT!?" Perry's voice broke the silence like a dam bursting, and suddenly protests started flooding out from everyone.

"She can't be serious!" Witige protested.

"Is this about revenge for Mr. Piggles? This is too far!" Heather argued.

"She expects us to go on our merry way and let him rot in a cell?" Luis couldn't believe it.

"He's a fighter. He wouldn't want to sit in a cell." Dwight said.

"What is Carys thinking?" Wing questioned. "Is her grudge with Cobb that important?"

"No way Jillian will go for this. No way-" Trenay's refusals died on her lips when a new message came in from Nitebane. "No..."

Heather swiped the map from her hands and translated since Trenay was too appalled for words. Heather's face twisted in disgust.

"I never intended to turn him loose. Cobb is a liability to the Paragons. He cost us the Asmodeus and Carys' identity as the Angel of Death. Containing him is the only sensible thing to do." Heather grimaced. "I will pay Trish the thousand emeralds. Additionally, I will request her aid in repelling the Hackers. She's proven she can wield the Vivlio Zythopoiias with great skill. Her aid would prove invaluable against them. More so than Cobb's. Are you fucking shitting me?"

Heather started dropping and picking up the map, sending her own heated message to Jillian and Carys both. I looked away to the south, the airship carrying Trish and Cobb almost out of sight.

Heather spoke her message aloud. "This is Heather. Carys. Jillian. Trish killed our people at Rosses Point with that artifact and for petty reasons. Cobb's saved our lives and prioritized our mission. He's willing to collaborate with us despite all we've done. We can't just lock him up! He's our ally!"

The message came back fast and to the point. From Carys herself.

"That massterbaitor is only allying himself with us to take out the bigger threat, and even then, I don't doubt he'll turn on us when it suits him. We both knew this alliance was a short-term deal and he himself fucked up and got himself caught. Screw him. He kept you all alive out of spite, to one-up me. Not because he cared. The only thing he fights for is his friends, so he should have no problem being locked away while his friends help us crush the Cult. Since he's the only one in jeopardy, he can't complain we're putting his friends at risk. He'd be glad to be the one in prison, knowing it's not one of his friends behind bars."

"Carys..." Perry muttered despite his glorious leader being unable to hear it.

"This is a direct order to Baltic." I stiffened as Carys' message went on. "You are to leave Cobb to the consequences of his own inane actions, you are to continue your mission to Oak Docks without delay, and I will take immense satisfaction knowing that massterbaitor is out of my way and behind bars where he can't screw anything up further! Is that clear?"

I took out my map and sent my own reply.

"Transparently."

I stowed the map away and sighed while the surrounding Paragons looked more dispirited than ever.

"How can they do this?" Trenay asked in disbelief. "How can Jillian do this? Trish killed our people. Yet she wants to ask her for help?"

"Jillian has an army to face." I explained. "She has no idea the powers to expect from the Hackers leading it. She's right to use any advantage she can find."

"Then get Cobb in there!" Perry shouted. "We've seen him fight those criminals! He's killed a Hacker! He's unpredictable! Why not get him to help!?"

"And Carys is thinking we'd be okay letting an ally get locked up?" Dwight questioned. "Can you believe it?"

"...Baltic." Doyle spoke up. "Perhaps it's best we tell them the truth."

"What truth?" Lenz asked.

At once, everyone was looking at me. I closed my eyes, seeing there was no other choice but to admit what my orders were.

"Back in Ringwood, when we first split up," I began, "Carys sent Z7 and her assassins to shadow us. They also came with a set of orders that only Shroud, Doyle, Aurand, and I were privy to."

"Oh no..." Trenay breathed out, her head falling into her hands.

"Carys' orders," I went on, "were based on the understanding that we'd be passing close to Nitebane, and that Cobb - a wanted man - would become a target for bounty hunters. We were ordered to let him or Lenz be apprehended and taken to Nitebane for imprisonment. There, they could be kept in check and watched. Right where Carys knew where to find them." I opened my eyes and saw how ashamed my words made the Paragons feel. Even the engineers who didn't know what was happening looked disgusted to hear Carys' intentions. "We weren't to tell the Beginners with Carys what had happened. We were simply supposed to go on to Oak Docks if either Cobb or Lenz were captured. Carys didn't want us to lift a finger if they got caught." I turned to Lenz when I was done. "I'm sorry."

It was hard to tell what Lenz was thinking behind those tinted glasses of his. He obviously couldn't be happy to hear Carys would have happily allowed him and Cobb to be imprisoned, but he had only a resting frown on his face for us to interpret how he felt about it.

I was ashamed to say I supported Carys' orders at one point. It was before I learned that Cobb wasn't as heartless as Carys led the Paragons to believe, before I realized how similar he and Carys were. They were both nice people at their core who had been subjected to unspeakable, unforgivable events. It was why I covered for him when he tried to blow us all up.

At some point, we all just sort of gelled. Relations between Paragon and Beginner were good. Cobb was fighting for others and even encouraging us to get stronger and forge deeper bonds. It made me forget Carys' orders. I tried to keep Cobb away from Bounty hunters precisely to avoid a situation like this. But it backfired.

"...She ordered you to let Bounty hunters take Cobbert?" Lenz asked, his question breaking my train of thought.

I nodded. "Yes."

"But... that's not what happened." Lenz's blunt statement made me pause. "You tried to talk him out of it. None of the ones who knew those orders tried to talk him into doing this. This was Cobbert's choice."

Shroud, Aurand, and Doyle looked between themselves.

"Why?" Lenz asked simply. "If these were your orders, why did you not follow them?"

"Well..." Shroud rubbed his neck. "I dunno. I was just thinking... considering how Cobb fought... maybe he'd be better as an ally."

"It didn't seem necessary. Locking him up." Aurand added.

"We all sort of put those orders in the back of our minds because..." Doyle trailed off uncertainly.

"...Because Cobb is one of us." I finished, the admission coming easy. "Cobb is one of us."

Lenz nodded. "Then you know what needs to be done."

"...Yeah." I spoke with growing confidence. I had to psych myself up for this. "Yeah, we're doing it."

"We better be going after him." Heather insisted, Luis nodding to show his support. "I owe Cobb my life."

"I owe him too." Luis added, his hand reaching up to hold Heather's. "I owe him more than he knows."

"I haven't paid him back for that spar." Perry grunted.

"Dv tlrmt zugvi gsv urhsvinzm li dszg? Dsb wlvh gsrh vevm mvvw wrhxfhhrmt? Dv tlggz yzro srn lfg. Hrnkov zh gszg." Z7 commented, her words making Lenz smile.

Trenay sighed. "We'll be running straight into an all out war with Hackers and Griefers. Carys won't be happy seeing our map blips heading to Nitebane..." She stowed her map away and flashed a wry grin. "But what the heck? Let's go get him."

"If you're going, then I guess we will too." Ines voiced for the engineers. "If Nitebane survives this, it'll make for a good refuge. I've always wanted to see the Mob Grinders they're famous for."

One by one, the Paragons voiced their support in pursuing Cobb to Nitebane. Carys would be livid, but there was little she could do to stop us on the other side of Minecraftia. We'd just make sure not to answer her angry messages as they came in. Besides, I had already invested too much in Cobb. Through him, I could see hope for Carys' case. I wasn't about to let all that good faith rot away in a cell just so Carys could have her petty victory.

Carys said it herself. It was in our best interest to have the greatest weapons at our disposal against the Endward Cult. Cobb was one of those secret weapons.

"One small problem." Witige raised a hand. "Trish has an airship and will reach Nitebane at least ten days ahead of us. By then, the army of Griefers will have already started their assault on the capital. How are we going to get there in time?"

"Easy." Lenz turned to his fellow engineers with an eager grin, the four of them saying the exact same words at the exact same time.

""""TNT Cannon! JINX! DOUBLE JINX! TRIPLE JINX! Alright, let's stop.""""

"...A cannon?"

"Start gathering sand and gunpowder." Belenzia ordered the Paragons. "The four of us will handle the rest. Time you boys see where we engineers excel."

[Lenz]

A Creeper died as my arrow found its head. Its corpse vanished into oblivion. I went over and grabbed its dropped gunpowder and whatever EXP it left.

We split off into teams of two to hunt for Creepers underground. Trenay and Wing, Heather and Luis, Doyle and Shroud, Z7 and I. Aurand, Dwight, and Perry - the muscle - were relegated to gathering sand on the beach. It was the easier job. There was sand aplenty. Gunpowder was harder to come by. Though Baltic and Witige offered their alchemical stores to craft the TNT, Trenay told them off saying their full potion support mattered more. That left hunting Creepers as the only alternative. I joined up only after the engineers and I finished the frame of the TNT cannon and arranged for the supplies to make up to two more. Even though every wasted moment was a moment Cobbert moved further away, I told myself there was no need to rush. TNT Cannons were laborious to calibrate but could teleport a Crafter instantaneously. Much faster than an airship. Also dangerous. Best case you blow yourself up, worst case you overshoot and hit the Border. If not for four seasoned redstone alumni working on it, I daresay I might have been worried.

Nitebane's terrain would be a problem, though. The topography was made up of those tall, stone juts that stuck out at various angles. Firing an ender pearl through that would be impossible. Closest we could get to Nitebane would be the outskirts of the biome. Then we would have to leg it and hope not to run into the Griefers' army.

As I pulled my bowstring and fired at another Creeper that crossed my path, I began thinking more on my bow, and the battle on the bridge. Alfonso_Bialetti. Another former Bird of Prey, and quite the formidable one. He could intercept arrows like me. He could shoot as good as me. He could shoot upside-down more than me. He could even Quickdraw better than me. The moment he drew those two crossbows and performed those quick reloads simply by slamming them into his belt before withdrawing them again. He made his own style of Quickdraw, the Mocha Snipe. He fired almost as fast as a dispenser turret. My eyes bore witness to it all.

But there was one thing about it I noticed.

"(Z7?)" I called to her in Jibberish.

"(Yeah?)"

"(Alfonso could draw faster... because he bent his knees forward... and leaned slightly back.)"

Z7 raised a brow. "(Did he? I didn't notice.)"

"(He used that same posture whenever he was doing a Quickdraw. It looked awkward... but I think... I think it made him faster.)" I took out my loaded crossbow in a Quickdraw like Z7 had taught me and stuck an arrow in a cavern wall. Then I reloaded the mechanism with a new arrow and did the exact same draw, but with my knees bent slightly forward and my spine leaning back like Alfonso. It was awkward and uncomfortable, but my draw doubled in speed, the arrow firing as soon as it cleared my belt. "(Dispensers! It does! Why did you never tell me this is an option?)"

"(Because it shouldn't be.)" Z7 sheathed a dagger before drawing it in a throw that joined my arrow on the cavern wall. Then she did the same thing while leaning back with her knees bent. "(See? There's no difference.)"

"(But there is a difference for the crossbow.)" I did another Quickdraw just to verify. "(What is the difference? Why does one draw faster?)"

"(If I had to guess...)" She hummed as she examined her dagger and my crossbow. "(I'd say it's due to the shape.)"

"(The shape?)"

"(Yeah. Daggers are straight, but your arm has to do the full swing drawing it if you want it to fly with any lethal force. Crossbow is different. It's not straight but bent. It's at an angle and can be better drawn if your body is bent at that same angle.)"

"(...You're right.)" I muttered as if experiencing an epiphany. "(And since the crossbow's mechanism retains all the force, I do not need the full swing to have my projectile make the distance.)" I reloaded my crossbow and took another practice shot. "(I do not even need to draw it to eye level. I can fire as soon as the tip of the arrow clears the lip of my belt pocket. No wonder Alfonso angled his body. It minimizes the time needed to fully pull out the crossbow.)"

The crossbow was not as encumbered as a dagger, as we came to realize. Z7 would not have been aware of this as crossbows were new and she specialized in drawing daggers. Bending the body at an angle would not help her draw, but it would certainly help mine.

"(I am going to remember this.)" I told her, holstering my crossbow before retrieving my arrows.

"(You really do have good eyes to have caught all that in the midst of battle.)" Z7 complimented before grinning. "(Or maybe you were just slacking off.)"

She regretted her teasing the moment she saw how it depressed me. I sagged with the weight of my poor showing on the bridge.

"(I was just joking-)"

"(No, you are right. I messed up. I promised you all that my Thalassophobia would not affect anyone but getting knocked off that bridge drew you out of the fight and sent Cobbert into a reckless fury. It was a pivotal moment, and Trish took full advantage.)"

Had I not been in peril, Cobbert would not have rushed Trish, and Z7 would have been in the fight for longer. She was the only one who evaded all of Trish's potion beams and not use her alotted milk. She was the best fighter to keep Trish in check, and if I had been a better archer, I could have kept Alfonso in check.

Alfonso_Bialetti. The Mocha Snipe. A fromer Bird of Prey like Mastah Veronica or Chen_Tzuyu. He seemed a master of Quickdraw. A prodigy who applied it to crossbows and perfected it in a matter of weeks. He intercepted my rocket without even having to look, and his archery was able to cover Trish perfectly, creating a sort of projectile defense for the Berserker. To take out Trish, we had to take out Alfonso first.

As for Trish, there was something else my eyes caught during the fight. Something to do with the Vivlio Zythopoiias.

"(That look.)" Z7 chimed in on my thoughts. "(That focused look on your face. You think of something?)"

"(Maybe.)" I spoke. "(It is just that... when you are hitting someone with an infinite Potion of Poison, would you go for Poison I or Poison II?)"

"(Poison II.)" She answered.

"(Why?)"

"(It would drain their Health faster.)"

"(Right. So then why not use Poison III or IV?)"

"(What do you mean? There is no Poison III or IV.)"

"(Yet there is Blindness? That is an effect I have never heard of, have you?)" Z7's silence said it all. "(The Vivlio Zythopoiias can only access potion effects that exist. That means there must be ways to get all these effects naturally. We just have not found them yet.)"

"(Alright, but what does any of this have to do with beating Trish?)"

"(The Vivlio Zythopoiias cannot make Poison III or IV. The highest she afflicted me with was Poison II because that it the highest tier of poison in Minecraftia. She cannot afflict people with that which does not exist.)"

"(So then...?)" Z7 trailed off.

"(The buffs she used on herself also exist naturally and cannot exceed the tier they are set at in the world.)" I explained my theory. Without further knowledge, it would only be theory. Even her Haste effect was something natural like what we got from that beacon in the Scouts' End City base. "(And unlike a Hacker's Regen, her potion buffs have to have a weakness. A vulnerability.)"

"(I see. No matter how infinite her Regeneration lasts, it doesn't heal immediately like what the Hackers have. It's gradual. Still,)" she sighed, "(it's an awful lot of defenses to get over. She took a rocket and one of Cobb's crystals to the face and dusted it off.)"

"(We just need to break it down one effect at a time.)" I said, feeling like going over this more with Baltic and Witige. No better expert on potions than those alchemists.

"(Don't think you have to redeem yourself here.)" Z7 assuaged me. "(You're upset you lost, but so are the rest of us. We were all beaten by Trish and Alfonso, so don't shoulder the redemption alone. We'll all be working to avenge ourselves. We'll all be thinking on a strategy.)" She nudged my shoulder. "(We'll get 'em next time.)"

"(Next time.)" I nodded. "(Next time. Why not try saying that in common? Next time sounds like this.) Next time. Next time. Next time."

Z7's face screwed up in concentration. "Ne... neeeee... neeeeeekts... t-ty... tyme. Nekts tyme?"

"You got it! Next time."

"Nekts tyme."

"Next time." I said to myself as I felt a bit better about the fight. I did not know how or when we would have a chance for a rematch if Trish decided to help repel the Hackers and Griefers but being ill-prepared resulted in Cobbert's capture. We had to be ready for Trish and Alfonso if a confrontation presented itself.

[Baltic]

"We're really going to disobey a direct order from Carys."

It was Witige who posed the statement of disbelief, but I could tell a lot of the Paragons were thinking the same thing. Everyone had returned from their excursions with sand and gunpowder in hands. It had taken the whole day and night, and then the morning and late afternoon to gather all the necessary resources while the engineers fine-tuned the TNT cannon that would either blast us to Nitebane in a matter of days or blow us up in a matter of seconds.

"Yes. We are." I nodded. The Paragons all respected Carys. She was a powerful leader with a drive they couldn't help but admire. However, for her to leave Cobb to rot in prison was an act of pettiness too great to tolerate. She had gone into this alliance making everyone think she was making a sacrifice to join hands with an enemy to conquer a greater enemy, but instead she was finding ways to screw him over and have his friends remain working for her. It didn't sit well with anyone.

On the other hand, Carys was not one to be disobeyed. Insubordination was cruelly punished, and if she were here, Baltic wasn't sure his past with the Angel of Death would have spared him her wrath. She'd see it as a mutiny. A betrayal.

"She'll be livid." Dwight pointed out. "I for one won't want to be in arm's reach of her once she sees we're not heading to Oak Docks."

"She cannot do a thing about it." Lenz said firmly. "Not while she is on the other side of Minecraftia. She cannot stop us."

"She could put up roadblocks, though." Trenay commented. "Her and Jillian both. They could make it difficult for us to enter Nitebane. What is that woman thinking arbitrarily locking Cobb up like that? He can help."

"How hard is it to get into Nitebane?" Lenz asked. "I read books on the Mob Grinder moat encircling the capital. Is there any way to get around on our own?"

"We have ways, yeah. Ways the Griefers won't know about but I'm sure Jillian will have her people watching." Trenay sighed. "What do you think, Baltic? Think we could get away with stowing our maps away and telling Carys we're going into the Nether for the next five or six days?"

"No chance. She'll guess something is up so soon after losing Cobb." I told her. The idea was a good one. Since our map blips approaching Nitebane would tip Carys and Jillian off and get them to roadblock us from freeing Cobb, we could hide our maps in a chest and say we're in the Nether to excuse the vanished blips and cover our movements. The only problem was that Carys and Jillian would never fall for that. "Our blips need to be seen going to Oak Docks so as to not raise any alarms."

"Then why don't we send someone to do just that?" Shroud suggested. "Get someone to carry all our maps to Oak Docks. Make it look like we're following orders while the rest of us go to Nitebane."

That wasn't such a bad idea. We'd look like we were following orders, and Carys and Jillian wouldn't suspect a thing. We still had Trish and Alfonso's horses. We could send up to two Paragons to Oak Docks to throw off Carys and scout ahead to prepare our arrival.

"That could work, but it'd mean leaving one or two of us to Oak Docks while the rest of us go to Nitebane." Trenay voiced out before looking to the gathered Paragons. "Whoever goes to Oak Docks will be avoiding a war. Any volunteers?"

I saw the stunned awe on Lenz's face when no Paragon - not a single one - volunteered to take the easy job and leave the rest to a bloody battlefield. Hackers and an army of Griefers awaited them if they went to Nitebane, and yet nobody wanted to miss out.

I smiled proudly. The Beginners had their pride, but the Paragons had their own. They were a hardened guild of avengers ready for anything.

Trenay sighed. "Someone has to go. Two someone's since going alone into the Eastern Division's territory is too dangerous."

"More dangerous than getting in the middle of a war for a fisherman?" Doyle asked dryly.

"Why don't you go to Oak Docks? You could set up a base for us."

"I'm not deviating from Nitebane. End of story." Trenay put her foot down. "I want to know what Jillian is thinking in that beret-wearing, blonde head of hers."

"I'm going too." I resolved myself. I never had the chance to tell Cobb he was one of us. I didn't know when I started thinking it, but now that he was away it made me realize more and more how much having him around was a comfort. His was a good presence to have around. Knowing Jillian would throw him in jail and make him think he wasn't one of us made me feel a swell of shame. I had to get there and show we hadn't abandoned him.

"Ru Ovma tlvh, R tl." Z7 spoke determinedly. She wasn't about to back down, but she was also our best fighter. We couldn't leave her out of Nitebane.

"Why not send two of the redstone engineers?" Shroud suggested. "They're non-combatants. They shouldn't be anywhere near Nitebane right now."

"We have our own way of fighting, thank you very much." Belenzia said sounding affronted. "You plebs don't recognize how powerful redstone can be, especially in terms of siege defense. The Brimstone Bastion of Exter boasted hundreds of turrets, cannons, and other assault weaponry."

"Hackers or not, we want to see Nitebane's EXP factories with our own eyes." Ines added. "If the kingdom falls, this could be our last chance."

"Jillian won't let the kingdom fall." Trenay assured.

"We're going." Arwen made their stance clear. "You may well need us if you're lacking in siege defense."

"Well, we need someone to take our maps to Oak Docks." Heather stressed. "Otherwise, Carys and Jillian will bar our entry into Lunar Castle."

It was a decided fact, and yet still nobody volunteered to take the maps. Perry, Heather, Luis, Wing, Dwight, Witige, Aurand, Doyle, Shroud. Two of them had to be sent away to Oak Docks on the horses. I didn't feel right ordering anyone to go as if they were less important. Everyone very well knew we could die in this fight.

In the end, we settled on a raffle and let chance decide who was to be sent to Oak Docks and avoid the war. The engineers rigged up a dispenser and each of the nine Paragons to choose from placed a unique item in each of the nine slots. The dispenser would spit two out at random and the respective Paragons would go without complaint.

The dispenser clicked twice with a few flicks of a lever. First Aurand, then Luis.

"No! I don't accept this!" Luis argued. "Heather can't go without me!"

"Luis..." Heather cradled his cheek tenderly. "I'll be fine. I'll have everyone covering me."

"But you won't have me." He countered, grabbing her hand and kissing it. "I want to look after you. If I go to Oak Docks, I-I don't know what I'll do. Just thinking about you every day. Wondering if you're hurt or worse and worrying - constantly worrying-"

"I owe Cobb for both of us." Heather told him. "I have to go help him."

"I owe him too. We're only together because he talked sense into me." Luis gnashed his teeth. "I can't just go to Oak Docks while you're-"

"I'll take his place."

Luis whirled on Wing's raised hand. His friend looked torn to take the safe route, but he was doing it for the sake of Heather and Luis.

"Wing... brother..."

"I'll take his place to Oak Docks." Wing repeated, stepping forward with Aurand. He made sure to grip Luis' arm as he passed, his eyes locking with his friend's. "You just take care of your girl out there, yeah?"

"...Yeah. I'll die before I let anything happen to her." Luis swore.

"None of that." Heather swatted his arm. "We'll cover each other." She looked at Wing, her eyes shining with gratitude as she mouthed a 'thank you'. Wing nodded in understanding.

With our pair decided, Aurand and Wing mounted the two horses, their backpacks filled with the linked maps of every Paragon of our group. They promised to report regularly to Carys and Jillian to maintain the illusion for as long as possible. Even Lenz handed his map over, knowing the Beginners with Carys would draw attention if they saw his blip heading to Nitebane instead of Oak Docks. I was sure Carys was already concocting some ridiculous excuse as to why Cobb's blip had vanished. We saw the two off and they set their horses at a gallop east across the Cadboro Bridge.

[Lenz]

The engineers had already finished the cannon design as well as secured the supplies for two more. I took the liberty of crafting more max damage fireworks knowing I might need them in Nitebane. Based on our calculations, we were sure it would be enough to reach the outskirts of the stone jut biome that Nitebane was nestled within. Cobbert and the bounty hunter already had a day's head start in their airship. It was time to go.

"It's all ready." Arwen reported nervously. "Do you all have some form of landing strategy?" In reply, Baltic and Witige held up Potions of Slow Falling. They would ease our descent in the event our propelled pearls hit a tree or man-made structure. Little chance of that considering we would be warping across a meadow. "Good. I suppose the only real concern is landing in the middle of the Griefer army."

"That won't be a problem." Trenay informed. "The army is already in the stone jut biome and approaching from the west. We'll be coming in from the north, northwest. If this cannon can reach, you could also fire us across the ocean. The coastline hooks to the cliffs of Nitebane. Could be a straight shot across the water with enough-"

"We are not going over the water."

"Alright. I was just spitballing..." Trenay backed down.

I told myself it was because such a distance was too far to accurately calculate and not because I did not want to risk ending up to my neck in a fathom-deep abyss.

"Is this contraption really gonna work? I don't wanna go splat or boom."

"Oh, ye of little faith. You won't go splat or boom." Belenzia told Dwight. "Now who wants to be first?" Everyone but Dwight, including myself, stepped back. "Good, a volunteer." Dwight did a double take as he observed his surroundings before he was doused in a Splash Potion of Slow Falling. He grumbled something obscene before getting dragged off by Belenzia. "Oh, quit your bellyaching. Just think of it like you're a 520-caliber grapeshot cannonball."

"If I die, you stay away from my funeral."

Dwight got into position and took out his ender pearl while Arwen and Ines poured the water and arranged the TNT. I could tell the Paragon was shaking, but he forced himself to remain calm as they did their work.

"(I'm sure glad I'm not the one going first.)" Z7 commented in-between bites of cake.

"(Relax. It is perfectly safe - You still have cake left?)" She nodded. "(Can I have some?)" I reached for some, but she whipped my wrist away with her long hair and shielded it from me. She was hoarding it. "(Come on! I am out of food.)"

"(No. Mine.)"

"(...Either this is the cake you took from the cake button in our base or the one in Herobrine's bunker. How is it yours?)"

"(Finders, keepers. Loses, weepers.)" She said childishly. "(I'm almost out. You got pumpkin seeds, right? Go grow some pies or something.)"

I was not a farmer, but I was fairly certain pies did not work like that. I tried to sneak my hand in for some of the cake she had placed on a tree stump, but I thought better of it when four daggers slammed into the wood a millimeter from and between my outstretched fingers. I thought Z7 did five finger fillet in her free time.

"(Try saying this word.) Stingy. Stingy."

"Ss... ssstiiiinnn... stin... jee... stinjee. (What's the actual word?)"

"(That is not important.)"

"Everyone stand back!" Ines called out before flicking the lever. The redstone lit up and the blocks of TNT became primed, flashing white as the seconds ticked.

"Throw your pearl at the space in three... two... one... NOW!"

Dwight flung the pearl as hard as he could, the tremendous explosion following moments later. His ender pearl zoomed away at top speed like it was carried off by a gust of wind moving at the speed of light. For most Paragons it vanished out of sight, but I was able to watch its flight for a few seconds more before it reached too great a distance for even me. The worst part was over. Dwight shuffled in place nervously while he waited for the warp before vanishing twenty seconds later. There was no way to tell how far he landed since he did not have a linked map, but we assumed the warp had been on target and a success.

"Okay, who's next?"

And so, our party of one Beginner, three engineers, and ten Paragons spent the rest of the day warping across miles of Nitebane's territory with TNT cannons. Ines, Belenzia, and Arwen were brilliant with their calculations, being precise enough to land us in the same general area so that we were not more than twenty meters apart. I would expect no less from college alumni. We reached the edge of the stone jut biome by midnight. Ironically, we were probably ahead of Trish's airship by half a day. It was of little help, however, as we had no bearing on which direction they would come from. They could hug the coast or fly over the ocean. We were stuck on foot from here out.

We made camp under one of the stone juts. Perry did not skimp out on endurance training in Cobbert's absence; he grabbed Witige and went off the practice before bed. The next morning, I also continued my training under Mastah Z7's tutelage, trading Quickdraw lessons for teaching her how to speak common. The draw speed on my crossbow was starting to match Z7's while I used Alfonso's leaning trick. Sometimes I even outdid her.

Navigating the massive stone juts sticking out of the terrain was something of a problem. Floyd and Soul always complained that the rocky ground was murder on their ankles and knees, and I found them to be right. The land was sharp and uneven. I found myself going up a sharp incline of a jut only to torture my knees shimmying down a decline. I hardly had time to talk as most of my focus went towards making sure I did not twist an ankle.

"The effects Trish employed." I broached the topic. "Health Boost, Resistance, Absorption. What do they do and where do they come from?"

"Well Absorption isn't anything new." Witige explained. "It pads the Health Meter with extra Hearts. Gold in color. Two per tier level of Absorption. The gold Hearts are whittled away first when you take damage, and they don't regenerate. Most people get the effect low tier off a golden apple, but a rare enchanted golden apple yields the highest Absorption tier of IV. I'm assuming that's what Trish had on during the fight."

Absorption IV meant she could add eight gold Hearts to her Health Meter. That nearly doubled it, and that was without factoring in Health Boost. Still, knowing the Hearts could not regenerate was an interesting tidbit.

"I don't know a thing about Health Boost." Baltic replied helplessly. "It's an effect I've never heard of. All I can assume is that it gave Trish more Health to work with since she endured a close-range explosion from Cobb's _." Baltic found himself unable to say the word 'End Crystal' because of Landon's censor.

He was right about Health Boost. The only thing similar to it would be Nowhere's Severe Shield. It gave him four times the amount of Health. If Trish had as many Hearts to overcome, the rematch would be an uphill battle. I at least knew that Health Boost was not a Bounty Day discovered effect since the Severe Shield was imbued with it since before Herobrine went crazy. So where did it come from and how much of it did the Vivlio Zythopoiias have access to? I did not pay close enough attention to the Health Meter on Trish's arm. Next time, I would watch it like an eagle.

"Resistance." I switched topics. "I gather it is a defensive effect?"

"Now that one, I have more info about." Baltic spoke eagerly. "Used to only come off an enchanted golden apple as Resistance I, but, since the Bounty Days, it can now be the result of the new Potion of the Turtle Master. I had my team in Nitebane look into it for me after Gunnah used it in his fight with Carys. Made from a turtle shell of all things. Potion ingredients never cease to amaze me." He shook his head amusedly. "The potion grants the drinker astonishing defensive power, reduces all incoming damage by 80%, but with the trade-off of being as slow as a turtle. Trish doesn't have to deal with the unsavory trade-off thanks to her artifact. She can enjoy all the defensive prowess of Resistance IV without any of the loss of mobility of Slowness VI."

"But she can have access to Slowness VI." I stressed, feeling more than a little hopeless. "If Slowness VI can be attained, that is the highest tier she can use on us." We could kiss evasion goodbye if she hit us with that. Turtles could not dodge bullets. "How can we get around her artifact?"

"We could try to ambush her." Witige suggested. "Hit her before she has the chance to buff herself."

"We could not ambush her while invisible!" I shouted, my words shutting him down. "Alfonso saw to that, and he will see to it again. He is too vigilant. I would not be surprised if she partnered with him for that reason alone." Having Alfonso as a guardian helped Trish cover her weaknesses. They complement each other too well."

Ideally, we had to throw everything we had at Trish to put a dent in her Resistance IV effect. Not just End Crystals or rockets, no, we needed melee damage, lingering potions, tipped arrows, fall damage. Whatever could cause damage, we had to use.

"Whittling down her Absorption Hearts is a good place to start." Baltic advised. "They'll stay gone and won't regenerate. Not unless she recasts the buff. We can also work to hinder her with potions. She can't dispel them without leaving herself vulnerable."

The most that would do was negate Swiftness with Slowness and Strength with Weakness. Poison would not do anything against her Resistance and Regeneration effects. Plus, whatever we hit her with would expire before her infinite effects ended. That went double for Alfonso should she choose to buff him like she did on the bridge.

"I'm not sure I want an alchemist going toe to toe with her." Trenay interjected. "Especially not an old timer like you."

"This old timer still has a case of old man strength lest you forget. I can fight."

"If you say so."

"Why are you all planning to fight Trish anyway?" Arwen asked. "Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't Queen Jillian planning to cut a deal with her to repel the Hackers? I get that this woman killed your fellow guild mates and humiliated you in combat, but maybe you could rein in the animosity until after she deals with the Hackers?"

"She hasn't even gotten to Nitebane to give Jillian an answer. The airship will take another day or two to reach Lunar Castle." Trenay clicked her tongue. "Something's been feeling off this whole time and I think I just got it. It's strange not having the maps. I'm too used to having a daily stream of information come in." She contemplated. "I won't know how Jillian is faring. I won't know if the Hackers attacked yet. I won't know what Carys is up to. I feel so left in the dark."

"It is worse for Cobbert, I imagine." I noted sadly. "He is blind. Nobody is more in the dark than him."

"I'm sure Jillian will tell him we continued to Oak Docks without him." Baltic noted sourly. "Even if it's for a while, I don't like him thinking we abandoned him. When we meet back up, I'm going to make it clear that he's one of us."

"Carys and Jillian won't be pleased."

"Well, they'll just have to live with it." Baltic scowled before his expression softened. "You think Cobb will forgive us, Lenz?"

Considering he as good as told the Hack Clan that Carys_Angel killed their brethren, there were mistakes on both sides that Cobbert would have to forgive just to save face. Baltic and the rest did not know that, though. If they did, they might have second thoughts about rescuing Cobbert. Baltic was looking for reassurance, however, so I gave him some.

"Cobbert is a Beginner." I told him proudly. "That word holds weight. It means something. It means that no matter what, come hell or... high water..." I shuddered. "No Beginner will ever let you down. Things will work out. You will see. We just need to get to Nitebane to work them all out."

[Kalmarin]

Noman was the first to notice when a map blip blinked out for the Beginners' linked map. He came to Albert and I, Floyd and Soul in tow, and requested we send a map message to figure out what happened. Of course, this had been after Carys received Trenay's report and gave us explicit orders to leave them blissfully unaware of the fisherman's present predicament. Carys said she'd come up with a story to tell the Beginners, so I waited obediently and let her address them. I half wondered what she'd say.

"The idiot got captured by a Berserker."

I... wasn't expecting honesty, honestly.

"What?" Floyd asked. "Captured?"

"What happened? Your guys just let him get taken!?" Soul raged. Carys shot him a flat look, unimpressed by his attempt at intimidation.

"This Berserker had an artifact. The Vivlio Zythopoiias." Carys explained, her words making Noman perk up noticeably. "Apparently Cobbert got a bit cocky and thought he could steal from the bounty hunter. He got stolen instead. My people did their best, but he got taken into an airship. They're heading south to Nitebane now to cash him in."

"Are your people going to do anything?" Floyd asked.

"Unfortunately, yes." Carys let out an annoyed sigh that would have fooled me if I didn't already know her true intentions for the fisherman. "As entertaining as it would be to keep him locked up, he's no good to me in a cell. Jillian will pay the bounty and have him turned over and released."

Lie. Cobb was never going to get released. Not until the Endward Cult was beaten, and not on favorable terms for any of the Beginners. Jillian always said every good lie held a kernel of truth to it. Carys was being truthful on everything besides Cobb's release. Made it more believable.

And yet, this was the same kind of manipulation I remember her using on Pheodora and Alexandra. Keeping them close so she could sway them to her side and use them. It was no different to how she was assuaging the Beginners to keep them as a fighting force that took orders from her.

"But Baltic's group cannot deviate from their mission." Carys continued, a hand on her hip. "I ordered them to continue to Oak Docks without the annoyance."

"So that's it, then?" Soul asked. "He's off the mission?"

"What do you want me to say?" Carys rounded on the axe-wielder. "That massterbaitor got a little too big for his britches and thought he could grab an artifact without even consulting me. He could have dragged my Paragons into a massacre. He can cool his head as a prisoner for a few days. Meanwhile Jillian has to shell out emeralds to cover him. He's lucky that's the only horrible thing he has to deal with."

The Beginners backed down following her justified outburst. Since Cobb was going to be freed, they left it at that and didn't press her.

He wouldn't be freed. He'd be kept caged like a zoo animal.

When they turned to leave, I caught Carys' satisfied smile over fooling them.

It didn't sit well with me.

[Lunar Castle]

Captain Attila returned from the Nether with her team of thirty Crafters. These Crafters were a mix of civilians turned fighters - remnants of the other skyscraper communities - and members of Teams Alpha, Beta, and Delta. The purpose of their Nether excursion was to secure alchemy ingredients. The war was sure to be a grueling battle of attrition, and Jillian wanted as much potion support prepared as Nitebane could muster.

The Nether Portal was located in the gardens of the courtyard, and the band of thirty filed out quietly. Team Beta was relegated to the tiresome task of taking the potion supplies to the land bridges.

The man-made crevice acting as the capital's border and a deterrent for Mobs and enemies had been mined out centuries ago and made into a kill floor for the EXP factories. The only way to cross them was by a number of land bridges that spanned the crevice. However, ever since taking the throne, Jillian had ordered the land bridges reinforced with stone brick walls. Now they were defendable, and a good place to fight Griefers from. With the ocean at their back, Nitebane's capital would be spared for as long as those walls held. The cliffs had to be watched if any smart Griefers tried for a flank, but Attila was certain they didn't have the brains to pull of such a maneuver.

Attila was a bundle of nerves right now. Jillian needed a Captain and claimed she was the only one who could meet the requirements. Nitebane was still in the process of choosing a second Captain; She was the only one. She managed her skyscraper community in the past, but commanding the guards was another story, especially in the face of an army of seven-thousand Griefers.

She couldn't let the Griefers win, though. Nitebane was finally turning around, and it cost all of her community dying to the cult for her to see it. Things would go right back to that hopeless hellscape if the Griefers won. She would defend Jillian and Nitebane with her life.

Attila walked to the Map Room to go over their defenses one last time. It used to be a war room, but now it existed as Jillian's central hub for receiving intelligence across Minecraftia. It was full of Team Delta members and had a large map along the wall that showed all the lookouts the Paragons had.

"We'll post Team Delta archers on the wall and Team Alpha fighters on these land bridges." She told a guard while she pointed to the map.

"Yes, Captain. Per your orders, we rigged every land bridge with TNT. Should the Griefers advance too close, we can always detonate them and drop a large portion of our enemies into the crevice."

"Blow up all but one so the Griefers still have a way in. We can keep them at our front that way, and the land bridge's width will limit our foes into a force more easily manageable. Have you shut the EXP factories down?"

"Yes, ma'am. We also used the bones and gunpowder from the amassed drops to make those explosive rockets Jillian told us about. Even better, we tested them with Multishot and found we could fire three for the price of one."

"Excellent! Load our best archers with as many of those rockets as you can make. Team Alpha will know to back up when we're about to fire. Thise Griefers won't know what hit them."

While Attila was busy planning in Jillian's stead, the Queen returned to the Great Chamber with a sum of twenty-thousand emeralds and a set of enchanted diamond gear in her pack.

"It's done." Jillian announced, showing Trish the goods. Alfonso watched his partner's eyes light up greedily before she snatched the proffered items.

"Blast Resistance IV on everything." Her grin widened. "And Unbreaking III? My my, you spoil me."

"No sense doing things in half-measure." Jillian folded her arms. "You'll need that Unbreaking as I expect a harsh, prolonged fight. It's to protect you, after all."

What Jillian didn't tell Trish is that one of the two approaching Hackers had been identified by name, Rrhys, and that Kal had informed her that this Hacker had a power to erode the durability of items at an accelerated pace as well as an ability that negated potion effects, good and bad. Unbreaking III diamond armor usually held out for half a year, but against Rrhys it would last maybe ten minutes. The artifact and its infinite effects would also be useless, making Rrhys the most challenging of the two Hackers. The armor wasn't important, though. Making Trish feel safe mattered more so that she would actually go through with this. She could win against one with the Vivlio Zythopoiias alone, but if the armor gave her courage, then Jillian would happily shell out some enchantments. And speaking of shelling out, Trish needed another Inventory just to hold onto the twenty-thousand emeralds Jillian was paying her.

"Thirty-four stacks of emerald blocks, another forty-six blocks, and then the two leftover emeralds." Trish counted them all while salivating. "This is embarrassing, but I don't know if that's twenty-thousand exactly. Eheh."

"It's right." Alfonso calculated.

"Sweet! Alfonso, lend me your ender chest space." Trish picked up a bundle of her wealth and stowed it away in her ender chest. Alfonso sighed but did the same. With this and Cobb's bounty, she was twenty-one thousand emeralds richer.

"The EXP and trade deals will be granted after the threat is dealt with, but I hope this is enough to show you our sincerity."

"Ho, yeah! Sincerity delivered." Trish laughed, pulling on her new diamond gear without a second to waste. "God, I feel like a badass. Everything's going my way!"

"Captain Attila is going over battle plans in the Map Room." Jillian informed. "I suggest you listen to them so you don't mistakenly get caught up in our maneuvers."

"Nah, I'm good." Trish turned her down. "Just point me at those Hackers and I'll do the rest."

Jillian thought it foolish to disregard a chance to coordinate with the people on her side, but she figured Trish would be reckless with the buffs she had at her disposal, so she let it go. "Will Alfonso wish to join our archers on the walls?"

"Alfonso sticks with me. We're a dynamic duo." Trish said firmly, almost possessively.

"As you wish." Jillian nodded. "Be on standby for now. We want to see what the Hackers and Griefers will do. There's a good chance the Hackers will stay back and let the Griefers do most of the fighting for a while."

"Hey, you're the one paying. You say, I do." Trish saluted playfully.

"Alright, then." Jillian nodded once. "Ready yourselves. Any last-minute prep should be done now. If you'll excuse me..."

As Jillian left the Great Chamber, Alfonso tipped his gambler hat back to look at Trish. Only when the Queen's footsteps died away did he ask his question.

"We really doing this?"

Trish shot him a flat look. "Of course we're not doing this. They're Hackers. Do I have to spell it out?"

Alfonso tipped his hat back to cover his eyes. "That's what I figured."

He was more relieved than disgusted.

[Cobb]

Ugh. Nose itches again.

I was right where I was left. Nobody moved me while I got a bit of sleep on the cold, stone floor. Stuck in a cell, riddled with debilitating effects.

With my vision blinded, all my other senses became more pronounced. It was because of this that I heard the distant roar beyond my lowly prison cell. It sounded like a bunch of people letting out a unified war cry. Thousands, probably.

"The heck was that?"

"Quiet, prisoner."

Someone else was here? A guard maybe? Despite Jillian saying guards weren't needed, it seemed she was playing it safe with me.

"Hey, if I have to use the bathroom-?"

"Do it right there." A different guard said coldly. "Wallow in your own filth like a pig."

Okay, that was just cruel. "There's such a thing as basic human dignities, people."

"I said quiet!"

My weary sigh turned into an agonized groan as my guts clenched and unclenched.

I can't believe - well, no, I can believe Carys would do this - but Baltic? I thought we were cool. I thought he wanted us to work together, and I tried like I told him. The past few weeks it felt like I was getting closer with the Paragons. Even Lenz got all buddy buddy with the Jibberwoman. Did Baltic just put up an act?

Jillian's words had thoroughly demoralized me. Nobody was coming to my rescue, and I was going to spend Herobrine knows how long stuck in a cell, writhing in poisoned, starved, withered, blinded agony, and Baltic was fine with that.

Why wouldn't he be? He was following Carys' orders. He was to let me get caught.

'Please reconsider, Cobb. This isn't a battle you have to fight. We can all just walk by, get to Oak Docks, and continue our mission - the reason we came all this way. Forget about Trish. Forget about the book.'

But then, why did he say that?

Baltic had tried to talk me out of the confrontation with Trish. He alone kept stubbornly opposing the decision. Why would he do that if his orders told him otherwise?

Unless... unless he really wasn't okay with it.

'If you wish to become a better liar, you must remember that all great lies, at their core, hold a kernel of truth.'

'Part of what you're saying needs to have a basis of truth in order to help convince you that it's real. When telling a convincing lie, the first person you have to deceive is yourself.'

Jillian had said that. Every good lie needed a truth at its heart. Something believable at its core that made you disregard all the false details.

Baltic being ordered to let me get captured sounded like something Carys would do, but, based off the time I spent with him, being okay with it was something Baltic would never do. Even if Carys ordered him to be okay with it, he'd never be okay with it. Neither would Heather or Trenay or Perry or Witige.

Thinking more on it, without Jillian around to beat me down with her psychological mind games, she probably lied about them being okay with it. No, she definitely lied. She probably got an earful from Baltic demanding my release but for Carys and Jillian stonewalling him.

It felt like useless information in hindsight - I was trapped in a cell whether he protested or not - but the idea that Jillian was lying to keep me dispirited and make me feel like I was alone, it lit a defiant flame inside of me. A flame separate from the inferno that was my hatred for Carys for keeping me in that cell in a suspended state of agony.

"She's lying." I mumbled to myself, the words stoking that defiant flame that felt warmer and stronger than my anger. "She's lying about Baltic. She's lying."

I heard the wooden doors creak open. A pair of footsteps entered.

"Cherish." One of my guards greeted. "Shift change?"

"Shift change." Came a melodious female voice.

"Good. This seems like a chore task." The same guard complained as he stepped away from my cell. "Guy can't move. What is Jillian afraid of?"

"I'm sure she has her reasons. Rumor has it there's been an intelligence leak. Spies and whatnot."

"Seriously?" The other guard asked in disbelief. "As if we didn't have enough on our plate. That roar was our guys psyching themselves up, right?"

"Right. The Griefers are marching up now. Action should be starting soon." A different guard I didn't recognize said.

"Alright, thanks for letting us know."

The guards swapped shifts and I heard the doors close, and a pair of footsteps die out.

Several long moments passed in silence before I caught the perplexing sound of my cell door opening up. "Watch the door." The female hissed. One pair of footsteps went over to the far side of the room by the wooden doors while another set approached my defenseless body.

Oh God, were these some wronged Paragons here to exact a pound of flesh from the big bad Endward Cult Executive? What else could it be? I really didn't want to start off my morning getting beat up.

I braced myself for a blunt punch or kick, or the sharp edge of a sword, or even the white-hot fire of a flint and steel. Instead, I got a gentle head pat.

"You poor thing. Paralyzed and blind." The melodious voice spoke soothingly, her hand combing through my hair. "You must truly be suffering behind these bars. Let me see if I can't make it more tolerable."

I caught a whiff of cooked meat before a bowl of something warm was pressed to my lips. I gulped it down greedily, my starved stomach taking over bodily functions to scarf the delicious food down. It was the most delicious food I had ever tasted, but how much of that was the hunger talking? I tasted chunks of rabbit, potatoes, carrots, and mushrooms, and when the bowl was empty, it was replaced with a slice of watermelon that I sank my teeth into messily. I didn't care that my face was getting filthy. I was starving!

"I do hope you remember my voice more than the food I'm giving you, but I suppose I should be more lenient considering your position." The female spoke before continuing to feed me. "I think it's just cruel how Jillian put you in here to suffer without the bare minimum of human necessities." She brought out cooked mutton, pumpkin pies, bread, and some dried, salty snack that smelled of seaweed but tasted like caviar to my empty stomach. She also held up a bottle of water to my lips and eased it down my throat as I drank.

Only after my Hunger Meter was - for the moment - full, she took the bowls and bottles, wiped my face with a piece of paper, and then disposed of all evidence she had fed me.

"Now that you've been wined and dined," she went on, "allow me to introduce myself. My name is Cherish. Cherish_Smile. I'd like you to remember that name, King_Cobb. I'd like you to remember the name and voice attached to the one that fed you."

"...Yeah. Sure." I agreed, somewhat bemused. Who was she?

"I'd also prefer you keep this a secret from Jillian and anyone else." Cherish continued seriously. "After all, I may get into trouble, and you won't get any more food. Neither of us want that, right?"

"Right." I agreed cautiously. "Who are you?"

"Cherish_Smile. Weren't you paying attention?"

"Okay, but why feed me if it gets you in trouble?" Not just her but her friend watching the door. "You Paragons? Guards? Civilians?"

"Let's just call us well-intentioned strangers and leave it at that." Cherish dismissed casually. "Don't think too much on it right now, King_Cobb. Just know you've caught our eye. One of ten, mind you." She giggled as if privy to an inside joke. "We'll talk more tomorrow. Don't forget. Cherish_Smile. The one with the voice like velvet."

She whispered the last bit into my ear, making me shiver. She then left my cell, shut the iron door behind her, and I assume took up a guard position with the other guy.

I remained silent, asking them no further questions until the guards changed and Cherish and her friend left. I didn't bring up a word to the new guards about what Cherish and her friend did. Their feeding me left me with a lot to ponder on. Jillian seemed like a strict woman - a Wynn wannabe - that ran a tight ship. Nobody would disobey her like Cherish. Plus, neither Paragon nor Nitebane guard would feed a suspected Endward Cult Executive or care about the suffering of one.

But then if Cherish wasn't a Paragon or guard, what the hell was she?

Guess I'll find out tomorrow. I thought before my once full Hunger Meter emptied away. My innards twisted. Hopefully she brings more food...

[Nitebane: Warfront]

Thousands of Griefers marched across the stone ground, their footsteps joining together into an impressive din that the Paragons and guards had to shout over just to hear one another. The Griefer army marched under and around the tall stone juts protruding at different angles as they approached the capital. As they drew close, they spread out into a large wave to cover every edge of the crevice acting as the capital's border. Tens of hundreds of Griefers garbed in leather, iron, gold, chain, and diamond, wielding axes, swords, shields, bows, shovels, hoes, pickaxes, crossbows, and anything else they got their slapdash little hands on. The people of Minecraftia had been their arms supplier. What they wielded, they killed and stole off of hard-working Crafters - people that chose to make something of this life, only to have it stolen away.

Griefers were not strong, but they were plentiful. Quantity was a quality of its own, as they say, and any Crafter staring down an army of over seven-thousand would feel inadequate about their own abilities.

Not one Griefer dared to cross the land bridges yet. They saw the walls set up between them and the capital, and the hundreds of archers and fighters stood atop and before them and recognized a long siege when they saw one.

That's why they watched their two lords step up first.

The first was a small man. He had green-yellow, spiky hair, swept to the right. His eyes were teal with the traditional black Hacker lines stretched vertically over his eyelids. He wore a dark purple punk skater hoodie with the hood drawn up, a mauve sweater underneath. He also wore black shorts as well as knee pads and elbow pads on his arms and legs. He had black shoelaced high top sneakers, and a mauve belt and backpack. His name was Rrhys.

The second man was tall and muscular with a square jaw. He had long, greasy black hair, gray eyes with black Hacker lines, and tan skin. He wore a green vest with beige lining and trimmings. The vest was open to reveal defined pectorals. He also wore green shorts and black boots. His backpack and belt were navy green, and his name was Llewellyn.

"Seems they knew we were coming, brother." Llewellyn commented.

"Makes things interesting, don't ya think?" Rrhys gave a cat-like smile. "When was the last time we got exercise?"

"Crushing ants isn't exercise." Llewellyn wrinkled his nose. "Not even an anthill of them. What you call exercise, I call wasted effort."

"We both know this isn't exercise. We know what this is for." Rrhys said seriously. "Ocan and Urson are dead and Poulsen is missing. These bugs think themselves at our level just because of a few lucky breaks. And Carys_Angel is at the heart of it all." Rrhys' lips stretched into a malevolent smile. "Let's see how long it takes for them to give her up." He then stalked towards the central land bridge to expedite things.

The guards and members of Team Alpha, Beta, Gamma, and Epsilon on the ground brandished their swords, axes, and shields upon Rrhys' casual approach. The Team Delta archers on the wall, meanwhile, pulled bowstrings taut as they aimed at the sole man walking the land bridge towards them. They knew what he was.

Attila, terrified out of her damn mind yet determined to hold onto what she had left, pushed past to the front of their defending force and mustered up all her courage to project strength to those behind her.

"I am Captain Attila_Akrasia! You are infringing on Nitebane's land!" She warned the Hacker. "Take your army of Griefers and leave immediately! If not, none of you will survive the full might of Nitebane crashing down upon you!" The force behind her roared their assent, banging swords against shields as if daring an attack.

Rrhys was unphased. "I've considered your kind offer and I'm thinking up an answer somewhere between no motherfucking way and go fucking fuck yourself!" He shouted back, his words making the defenders tense and the Griefers jeer in amusement. "BUT! Being the magnanimous God that I am, I have a counteroffer that should satisfy everyone." Rrhys made sure to tilt his head up as he addressed the crowd. "One of you - just one - stands guilty of murdering our brethren. Bring Carys_Angel forward." The name made Attila and the Paragons flinch while leaving the guards - the surviving inhabitants of Nitebane turned soldiers - bewildered. They had no knowledge of Carys doing anything when the story was that Jillian slayed Ocan and Urson. To them, Carys was just a dangerous outlaw, a wanted criminal of Ringwood. "Deliver her to us so that we may exact our long overdue revenge. Turn on her and turn her over to us. You do that," Rrhys waved a hand, "and we'll give you a day's head start to clear out of here before we retake this dump you call a capital. It's really starting to clean up." He added with a smug smile.

The demand for Carys may have caught her on the backfoot (and Jillian would most definitely be informed), but fleeing Nitebane was out of the question, and Attila felt confident the soldiers behind her felt the same.

"We have no Carys_Angel here. This land is ours! We will not be fleeing anywhere-"

"What you do next determines whether you and the people behind you live to see another sunrise!" Rrhys shouted over her, his voice carrying a very real threat. Dark Hacker smoke gushed out of his eyes and cloaked his body in an inky miasma, dying his sclerae black and making his teal eyes stand out in sharp contrast. "You want to see all these people die? They will! This land will be covered in fallen gear, and, if you're still alive, you'll think back to this moment and damn yourself for ever turning down our mercy! One last time! One-time deal! Surrender Carys or face extermination!"

Though Attila was terrified and knew well enough what Hackers were capable of after living in the ruins of Nitebane for so long, she stood tall in defiance, brushed her long, curly hair out of her eyes, and gave her answer.

"This is our home. Attack and you shall find the people of Nitebine are hardier than your past victims!"

"YEAAAAAH!" The soldiers behind her rallied. Their roar was deafening and made more than a few Griefers shuffle in place worriedly. Rrhys narrowed his eyes at the amassed force as if trying to memorize every name and face for later.

"So be it." He raised one hand high, the Griefers tracking it eagerly before it fell forward. "ATTACK!"

The Griefers let loose their own battle cry as they surged across each individual land bridge. They parted around Rrhys as he slinked back to rejoin his brother, but then rejoined into a wave of piecemeal geared attackers set to crash against Nitebane's walls. Before they got that far, they were met by Captain Attila and the combined forces of Paragons and Nitebane citizens turned soldiers. The battlefield was filled with the sounds of crashing blades, the dull thuds of shields, shouting, painful cries, and death wails. Arrows flew from the walls as Team Delta archers fired at Griefers further back that made them trip or stop to nurse wounds.

"Where's the Hacker!?" Attila screamed to her archers in between sword swings. "Keep eyes on the Hackers!"

The Hackers did not involve themselves in the initial bloodbath. Figuring a ploy of some kind, they wisely hung back and sent their horde of Griefers forward to probe Nitebane's defenses. Although they didn't care whether their forces died or not, the Hackers decided to move things along from a distance if the fighting became too monotonous, or jump in when they felt like it.

In terms of numbers, the Griefers had over seven-thousand, probably closer to eight-thousand, while Nitebane's forces numbered at forty-five-hundred - a combination of Nitebane's survivors and Paragons. The Griefers' number advantage paled in comparison to the advantage of Nitebane's defendable position as well as the superior quality of fighters. The Griefers would need twice as many fighters as they had to take the capital. However, the Griefers also had reinforcements in the form of traveling Griefers hearing of the siege and rushing to take part. They came from all across Minecraftia to join the attack, assured that the Hackers would lead them to victory. The longer the battle lasted, the more fighters the Griefers would possess.

For now, Nitebane was overwhelmingly winning. The land bridges funneled the Griefers so that only twenty or thirty could fight twenty or thirty Nitebane fighters. The superior Nitebane forces could win such one-on-one fights. The bridges took away the Griefers' number advantage, and if the Nitebane fighters ever got tired, they could switch out with the fighters behind them. Hundreds of Griefers were slain in the initial battles while Nitebane's fighters suffered at most twenty casualties, all of which were Nitebane survivors.

However, while Attila was fighting on the central land bridge, things took a sudden turn when the ground crumbled away. The bridge everyone was fighting on disintegrated as if it was being mined by an invisible pickaxe at an accelerated speed.

"It's Llewellyn!" Attila screamed over the chaos as Griefers and Nitebane fighters fell into the crevice without a land bridge to stand on. The whole bridge had crumbled like a cookie. Attila herself fell, but she had been briefed on Llewellyn's Hack by Kalmarin. She and many of the falling fighters had countermeasures set up. Potions of Slow Falling, buckets of water, ender pearls, Feather Falling enchanted boots, cobwebs, hay bales. They employed all manner of items to cushion their landing into the crevice while the unprepared Griefers fell to their deaths and exploded in bursts of EXP and gear. The Hacker had eliminated one of the entryways into the capital to try and rack up casualties.

Jillian and Attila had a similar idea while planning their defenses.

Figuring now was as good a time as any, Jillian set down the red fireworks and let them soar out of the crevice and into the sky for everyone to see. The first signal. The Nitebane fighters fell back and allowed the Griefers to advance across every land bridge. Meanwhile, on the crevice floor made of hoppers, Attila and the Nitebane troops that survived the fall moved to a cavern that held a ladder back up to their side of the crevice. Attila had everyone else head up before her, and she set off the yellow firework - the second signal - when half of the ones that fell had climbed up.

Upon her yellow firework signal, members of Team Delta with Flame enchanted bows took up position on the walls, their arrows aimed at the land bridges now overrun with Griefers. The enemy was raucous in their assumed victory, more joining them on the land bridges as they advanced and were shot down by the new rocket crossbows wielded by Team Delta. The rockets killed Griefers in waves, holding them at bay for Attila to deliver her final signal.

Once all the troops that fell had climbed the ladder out of the crevice, and once Attila had deemed the line having held out for as long as it could, the Captain set down the final green firework. It shot into the air in an explosion of green sparks and signaled the archers with Flame bows to fire at the exposed TNT in the land bridges. The fiery arrows found their targets, the TNT priming and flashing white for a few seconds before exploding and setting off all the other TNT blocks backed into the land bridges. The result was every land bridge into Nitebane being blasted apart, and the Griefers overrunning them being engulfed in deadly explosions that either killed them instantly or weakened them and destroyed their foothold so that the fall into the crevice would finish the job. Over a thousand Griefers fell into that crevice, the hoppers designed to gather Mob drops sucking up their gear. The EXP orbs floated aimlessly along that valley of death, the Griefers being too inexperienced to plan measures for fall damage.

Attila had hoped to catch one of the Hackers up in that, but she was pleased to wipe out a sizable portion of the Griefers' forces and take away the only avenues into Nitebane in one fell swoop.

Attila climbed the ladder to the top and rejoined the forces on the wall. On the other side of the crevice, she watched in amusement as the army of Griefers were left flummoxed and helpless at the gulf stretched before them. The crevice now acted as a moat, and anybody that tried to bridge across would get shot down by archers. Same story if they tried to ender pearl.

"We should be safe for a while." A Paragon commented to the Captain. He was breathless having climbed up the ladder. "It'll take those blockheads a while to make a path across, and they'll likely lose some men in... the..." He trailed off as a figure swathed in inky blackness stepped forward. Llewellyn.

The Hacker looked at the crevice before him with a mildly annoyed expression. He then turned around towards one of the tall, large stone juts sticking out of the ground. The Griefers bowed reverently and made way as he passed, many of them muttering words of worship. Llewellyn didn't care for any of it. He tolerated the Griefers' existence only because Entity 303 felt an inexplicable attachment towards them. They were useless, however, making him lend a hand. He was not their servant.

Llewellyn walked up to the stone jut with smoke swirling around his body and he had his eyelids fly open as he flexed his Hack and stared at the stone jut which crumbled under his gaze. SpeedMine enabled him to mine blocks at an accelerated speed, and AutoMine allowed him to mine blocks just by looking at them. Combined, he could make the ground crumble away in seconds, level the very skyscrapers that towered over Nitebane, and rescue any standing structure to blocks in his Inventory.

Llewellyn collected all the cobblestone he mined from that stone jut before he returned to the crevice with blocks in hand. He placed the first down on his side of the crevice, then, with a flourish of smoke from his arms, built a solid line of blocks stretching all the way to the other end of the crevice. A FastPlace Hack. The Nitebane soldiers on their end recoiled at the sudden bridge, even as Llewellyn made four more lines of cobblestone which connected into a five-meter-wide bridge.

Attila broke out into a cold sweat. Kalmarin never mentioned that FastPlace Hack. Seems Llewellyn leveled up in Kal's absence from the Clan.

"Damnit! Archers! Focus on the bridges!" Attila commanded as Griefers overran the bridges their God had conjured up for them. Any time Llewellyn wanted to make a new bridge, he would go reduce a stone jut to stacks of cobblestone and use that to build bridges across at different spots. Nitebane's forces had their hands full with the first one, though they soon placed buckets of lava and cobwebs to slow down the Griefers' advance. Crossbows fired rockets stuffed with firework stars to cause the most amount of damage to the largest radius, wiping out dozens of Griefers at a time, but there was a limit to the rockets. They could not be fired forever.

The Griefers fired back in turn with bows and arrows. Nitebane's forces blocked with their shields, but that only allowed the advancing Griefers to get closer. Soon, it was back to the melee combat that started the war, Nitebane's forces and the Griefers clashing brutally. Swords and axes scraped, blunt weapons were swung, armor was dented, shields broke, bowstrings snapped, bottles crashed. It was absolute madness, and Captain Attila was in the thick of it, running around with Swiftness enhanced speed and setting down TNT to blow up small pockets of Griefers.

Despite it all, Nitebane's defenders held their ground. The Griefers could not all rush at once given the narrowness of Llewellyn's bridges. He could have expanded them to turn the whole crevice into a plain of cobblestone, but he chose to let the Griefers fight without wasting any further effort. He and Rrhys stood at the back and watched Griefer after Griefer throw themselves at the defenders.

The fighting lasted all afternoon, then continued throughout the night. Neither side relented, and, although many Griefers were slain, they tired the defenders out and made an easier time for the fresh arrivals to break through the capital's walls.

Inventory (Cobb): 1 Leather Tunic [Dyed Green]

[EXP: 37]

Inventory (Lenz): 1 Chainmail Helmet, 1 Dragon Head, 1 Chainmail Chestplate, 1 Chainmail Leggings, 1 Chainmail Boots, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Totem of Undying, 11 Ender Pearls, 1 Bucket, 1 Compass, 1 Bow, 1 Bow [Infinity], 1 Crossbow, 42 Arrows, 14 Firework Rockets {Flight Duration: 1, Small Ball x 7, Gray x 7}, 2 Firework Rockets {Flight Duration: 1, Large Ball x 7, Gray x 7}, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 62 Dark Oak Planks, 57 Chorus Fruit, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Daymonte Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Akasha Entry Pass}, 1 Red Shulker Box {Pocket Box}, 1 Gray Shulker Box {Pocket Box}

Red Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Shears, 1 Lever, 9 Redstone Torches, 8 Redstone Repeaters, 3 Redstone Comparators, 18 Blocks of Redstone, 2 Hoppers, 3 Pistons, 2 Sticky Pistons, 1 Book {Airship Piloting 101}, 2 Fire Charges, 36 Charcoal, 4 Torches, 32 Pumpkin Seeds, 1 Book {Redstone Textbook}, 1 Book {Notebook}

Gray Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 1 Crossbow, 56 Arrows of Poison {0:11}, 64 Arrows of Harming II, 60 Arrows of Harming II, 54 Arrows of Weakness {0:30}, 51 Arrows of Slowness {0:30}, 64 Arrows of Fire Resistance {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Healing II, 64 Arrows of Invisibility {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Leaping {1:00}, 64 Arrows of Slow Falling {0:30}, 64 Arrows of Night Vision {1:00}, 63 Arrows of Strength II {0:12}, 64 Arrows of Swiftness {1:00}, 63 Arrows of Swiftness II {0:11}, 64 Arrows of Water Breathing {1:00}

[EXP: 25]

Inventory (Baltic): 1 Iron Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Sword [Sharpness II, Unbreaking III], 1 Shield, 1 Bow, 1 Diamond Pickaxe [Silk Touch I, Mending I, Unbreaking II], 10 Arrows, 3 Brewing Stands, 1 Water Bucket, 28 Bones, 1 Ender Chest, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 20 Emeralds, 18 Cooked Chicken, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Slowness {1:00}, 1 Lingering Potion of Healing II {0:05}, 1 Lingering Potion of Regeneration II {0:05}, 1 Splash Potion of Swiftness II {1:30}, 1 Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}

Blue Shulker Box {Pocket Box}: 58 Glass Bottles, 64 Dragon's Breath, 61 Dragon's Breath, 39 Blaze Powder, 34 Nether Warts, 30 Soul Sand, 63 Phantom Membranes, 64 Blaze Rods, 20 Fermented Spider Eyes, 51 Carrots, 50 Melon Slices, 55 Rabbit's Feet, 49 Gold Ingots, 1 Gold Nugget, 52 Gunpowder, 54 Redstone Dust, 49 Glowstone Dust, 53 Ghast Tears, 53 Sugar

[EXP: 32]

Inventory (Z7): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Dagger, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 32 Cobblestone, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 21 Charcoal, 14 Torches, 9 Oak Wood Planks, 1 Cake, 9 Baked Potatoes, 1 Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Potion of Swiftness II {1:30}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 1 Purple Shulker Box {Pocket Box}

[EXP: 47]

Inventory (Floyd): 1 Mob Head {Creeper}, 1 Iron Sword, 1 Diamond Helmet [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Diamond Leggings [Projectile Protection IV], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 1 Shears, 2 Iron Ingots, 14 Steak, 2 Sticks, 29 Coal, 20 Torches, 1 Fishing Rod, 1 Furnace, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Minecart, 1 Bed, 1 Boat, 1 Diamond Boots [Projectile Protection IV], 16 Gunpowder, 16 Ender Pearls, 2 Ender Pearls, 1 Splash Potion of Invisibility {8:00}, 1 Bucket, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}

[EXP: 44]

Inventory (Soul): 1 Diamond Axe [Sharpness V], 1 Iron Pickaxe, 62 Iron Ingots, 20 Flint, 12 Gold Ingots, 1 Shears, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Iron Chestplate, 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection IV, Feather Falling IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Crafting Table, 1 Jukebox, 1 Music Disc {chirp}, 1 Bed, 1 Furnace, 1 Steak, 24 Torches, 34 White Wool, 61 Cobblestone, 32 Jungle Wood Planks, 1 Armor Stand, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Ringwood Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Exter Entry Pass}

[EXP: 41]

Cat-Face the Cat

Christopher Squawken the Parrot

Inventory (Noman): 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness I], 1 Diamond Chestplate {Severe Shield}, 1 Leather Boots {Bottes Zephyr} [Dyed White], 1 Iron Helmet, 1 Diamond Chestplate, 1 Iron Leggings, 1 Iron Boots, 1 Iron Chestplate, 1 Iron Pickaxe, 60 Nether Warts, 20 Soul Sand, 3 Steak, 1 Flint and Steel, 1 Shears, 10 Cobwebs, 1 Milk Bucket, 1 Water Bucket, 5 Buckets, 1 Bed, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Brewing Stand, 33 Glass Bottles, 4 Packed Ice, 1 Ender Chest, 16 Ender Pearls, 4 Ender Pearls, 3 Phantom Membranes, 61 Glowstone Dust, 29 Gunpowder, 18 Redstone Dust, 61 Blaze Powder, 62 Gold Nuggets, 61 Brown Mushrooms, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Zeppil Entry Pass}, 1 Paper {Exter Entry Pass}, 1 Map {Minecraftia}, 1 Book {The Art of Peace}, 1 Enchanted Golden Apple

[EXP: 35]

Inventory (Kalmarin): 1 Diamond Helmet [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Chestplate [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Leggings [Protection IV, Unbreaking III], 1 Diamond Boots [Protection III, Unbreaking III], 1 Mob Head {Skeleton}, 1 Diamond Sword [Sharpness III, Unbreaking I], 1 Map {Paragon Minecraftia}, 1 Book {Citizenship Information}, 1 Paper {Gold Citizenship Pass}, 26 Cooked Chicken, 30 Apples, 1 Bow [Power I], 36 Arrows, 12 Ender Pearls, 1 Bed, 1 Crafting Table, 1 Furnace, 40 Torches, 31 Sand, 12 Cobblestone, 21 Oak Wood Planks, 1 Water Bucket, 1 Lava Bucket, 1 Milk Bucket, 43 Coal, 1 Clock, 1 Compass, 1 Iron Pickaxe [Unbreaking I], 1 Wooden Pickaxe {Old Reliable} [Unbreaking III, Efficiency V], 1 Book {Meetup}

[EXP: 37]

AN: The battle's on!

I just want to make one thing clear that one of Rrhys' hacks, Durability Erosion, is a Hack that wasn't on my list of Hacks. I'm sure there's a minecraft Hack that exists that allows the user to drain the durability on an opponent's armor and weapons (everything exists if you look hard enough), but it wasn't amongst the sizable list of Hacks I reference, or maybe something like it was, and I just tweaked it to make it more of a threat. I dunno.

The designs of Rrhys and LLewellyn are based off Reese Chloris from RWBY and Xin Fu from Avatar the Last Airbender. Why these two? Well, Rrhys Durability Erosion reminded me of Chlorine gas, which is why I gave him green-yellow hair, but I also wanted to go for a punk hoodie look. Llewellyn is basically just an earthbender so I picked Xin Fu because he's intimidating and tall. Coulda easily been THE BOULDER though (Avatar fans know what's up).Didn't give the Hackers a last name because we haven't really seen many single name characters, but when choosing their names, I really wanted to go for the double letter motif for the start of their names. Reminds me of the spanish alphabet where they use double letters for certain pronunciations.

Also, Attila is back. She was an OC character from the Nitebane Arc that later joined up with the Paragons. She's a Captain now and helping Jillian with the defense. Hopefully she won't follow my trend with viewer submitted characters and die a fruitless death. (^_^)

FAV. FOLLOW. REVIEW. PM. FORUM. DISCORD.