Chapter 2
Sjin cheered and rallied his troops on as they decimated the Duncan clones.
"Yeah, kill those rude dudes!" he chanted from above the scene of the battle, where he pulled out his Head-Hunter Crossbow and loaded it with a spitfire bolt. He carefully took aim and took out the remaining wolf man in one shot.
The battle continued to go well, as the army of Sjinterfel lost one troop for every five Duncan clones that were killed. Sjin was about to land so that he could help with the final push when in the distance, more Duncan clones could be seen marching. In their ranks were five more wolf men. These Duncan clones all had better weaponry and armour than the previous ones. Sjin stopped his descent and flew back up in order to get a better view.
"Shit," he muttered, as the clones drew nearer. He pulled out another spitfire bolt and loaded it in his Crossbow. He fired at a random Clone; the bolt struck and took it out in one shot. The army of Sjinterfel ran towards the clone army, where they were quickly torn apart. Sjin tried to call them back, but he couldn't repack them fast enough. There was no hope of saving them. Sjin decided that it would be easier to leave them so that Turps could resurrect them.
Sjin attempted to pick off the clones at a distance with his Crossbow, but there were so many of them that he was only able to take out two wolf men and a small group of clones by the time his own army had been whittled down to three remaining soldiers. He was about to load another bolt, when in the distance, he could see something hurtling towards him at an extremely high speed. He just had time to switch from The Head-Hunter Crossbow to The Sword of Sjinterfel. Sjin had just a split second to notice that the thing that had been hurtling towards him looked just like Duncan, (except for the fact the he was covered in blood instead of Flux) when it hit him with a Draconic Evolution staff. At the moment of contact, Sjin was sent hurtling from the sky towards the ground. Sjin was sent skidding along the ground, leaving a trail from the point where he hit the ground to where he came to stop. Sjin's overly enchanted Terrasteel armour had been shattered, despite the mana rings (which had been nearly full) and enchantments.
Sjin attempted to stand, but he was heavily wounded. Despite the extra health given to him by the rings he had obtained from The Gaia Guardian II, Sjin's health had been shattered down to half a heart. His hunger was almost empty. Sjin regretted not keeping a closer eye on it.
"If I survive this, I'll always make sure to keep my hunger at full," He thought.
Sjin finally managed to stand, and as he did so, the last few fragments of his once beautiful Terrasteel armour fell to the ground. Despite his wings not being a physical part of him, Sjin could feel them ache. The Sword of Sjinterfel and Head-Hunter Crossbow were on the floor in front of him; battered and worn, but not broken. For this, Sjin was thankful; he wasn't completely unarmed.
The Duncan who had struck him with the Staff was now descending to the ground slowly; he did not appear to have any wings. As he did so, Sjin began to take notice of his surroundings. The army of Sjinterfel was all gone. All that was left of Duncan army was a gravely wounded wolf man, and a few Duncan clones, who were trying to pet the wolf man.
"You fought well," Complimented the head Duncan, "But your efforts were fruitless. Your army is dead, as your allies shall soon be,"
Before Sjin could make a retort, a familiar voice called from the distance.
"Boss!" it called, "is it safe now?"
Sjin couldn't help but notice that it sounded eerily like Kim.
"Yes, Specimen 5," replied Head-Duncan.
"Can I have an actual name? Specimen 5 or just 'five' is so boring," She complained as she flew nearer.
"Whatever, I don't care. Do whatever you want. Just don't expect me to remember it,"
Specimen 5 was now hovering above her boss. She looked almost exactly like Kim, except that she was much more fluxed.
"Humph," she huffed, "It's boring here. I'm going to play with the dinosaurs. Not that Oberon can stop me now,"
"Why? What did you do to Oberon?" Sjin attempted to shout, but instead it was more of a croak.
"Irrelevant," stated 'boss', "Five, go do whatever you want, just don't disturb me,"
"Yippee!" Specimen 5 Cheered.
"Sorry about that," said 'boss', "Five was extremely rude there."
"Yeah, like hitting me with that staff isn't rude at all," Sjin muttered under his breath.
The one known as 'boss' ignored this comment and continued to speak:
"I am Lalnable Hector. Scientist, Inventor of amazing things, mod manipulator, and master of cloning,"
He caught Sjin eyeing up the weapons strewn over the ground.
"Don't bother. I will be able to kill you before you can pick either of those toys up,"
"Why don't you just kill me now?" asked Sjin.
"Because you are fascinating," explained Lalnable, "You seem to be skilled with ancient warfare. I was able to see you perform some pretty amazing feats with it before you destroyed the Dolly Mia I planted in your tavern,"
"That was yours?" gasped Sjin.
Lalnable seemed to not hear this and so continued with his speech.
"Why did you help the Duncan and Kim at the last minute?"
Upon hearing this, Sjin cast his mind back a few weeks.
Just after the Flux-Buddies had left from checking if their army was done yet, Sjin was making his way into his castle to decide what he was going to do with it next. He was in the courtyard when he heard a familiar voice.
"Hello, Sjin," greeted Eldraphyn.
"Oh, hey," replied Sjin.
"What did those two want?" She inquired.
"A while ago, they asked me to build them an army and they came to see if I had," Explained Sjin.
"I am guessing that you did not," said Eldraphyn.
"Hit the nail on the head," said Sjin.
"What did they want an army for?" asked Eldraphyn.
"To defeat some dude named Lol-able Hector and a Kim clone who calls herself subject 4, or something. I didn't really pay attention," Sjin said, lazily.
"Do you mean Lalnable Hector?" asked Eldraphyn, her eyes growing wide with fear.
"I think that was it," recollected Sjin "Is he a really bad dude, or something?"
"He is a monster who knows no bounds. He calls himself a scientist, when in fact, he is a madman. He is cannibal and will eat anything that seems vaguely edible. His 'experiments' know no ethical boundaries. He experiments with cloning, and doesn't care how many subjects die. He has no regard for life and must be stopped,"
"But can't Duncan and Kim beat him on their own?" complained Sjin, "They have good weapons and armour,"
"Your friends must need your help if they are willing to ask for it. I strongly advise that you help them," said Eldraphyn in a manner more insisting than usual, "He poses a threat to not only to your friends, but to everything, including your kingdom."
"I guess I kind of do owe them," admitted Sjin, "I have done some pretty mean things to them,"
"Like what?" interrogated Eldraphyn.
Sjin then described everything he had done to Duncan and Kim. He described what happened when he first met Kim, took her on as his apprentice, and blew her up. He also went into detail about imprisoning Duncan in Azkabang.
"Wait a second!" said Eldraphyn as Sjin finished his account of the Magic Police, "You knew another version of the one you call 'Duncan'?"
"Yeah, it was weird," said Sjin, "He looked exactly like my Duncan, except that he was wearing a lab coat instead of the Magic Police outfit,"
"It is likely that every Duncan you have known is a clone of Lalnable Hector. The reason they do not work for him is because Hector has considered them 'failures'," said Eldraphyn
"I have my reasons," Sjin plainly stated.
"Fine then," said Lalnable, "I can make you a better offer than the 'Flux-Buddies' can ever make you; Infinite power and Wisdom. Your kingdom shall become an empire that spans across space, time, and servers,"
Sjin was shocked at this sudden change from Lalnable attempting to kill him, to being offered power.
"So how about it?" offered Lalnable, "I can grant you power mere mortals can't even dream of,"
"Why do you want me?" Sjin asked, dubious of what the madman offered.
"Because you are the only one left who I haven't made an enemy out of yet," said Lalnable, "You see, I want to get back to Yoglabs, but first I want the DNA of every Yoglab's Guinea pigs. That way, I can create a far more varied clone army and take over from that idiot, Xephos."
"What the fuck is Yoglabs?" asked Sjin.
"It is where you came from. I is the home of innovation, where the only limit is your limited imagination" said Lalnable, "Xephos, or 'Lewis' as you know him is the head of Yoglabs. It was my job to clone all of its Guinea pigs for experiments."
"But I'm not a clone!" argued Sjin.
"Fool! Almost everyone you know is a clone; Duncan, Hannah, Lewis, Simon, Nilesy. I'm not exactly sure where Kim came from, but she provided exactly what I needed to create a servant,"
"You could choose any of them, so why me?" reiterated Sjin.
"My decision has nothing to do with you specifically," said Lalnable, "It's just because you happen to be the one I met first,"
"Well that's just insulting," said Sjin, "So here's my answer!"
This had been Sjin's plan all along; to talk to Lalnable long enough for him to his guard, so that Sjin could strike. Sjin grabbed The Sword of Sjinterfel from the ground and took a strike at Lalnable; however, before the strike could connect with the mad scientist, Lalnable blocked Sjin's attack and laughed.
"You really thought that would work on me? How sad," he mocked, "Now before I kill you I want you to answer one more question for me."
"What would that be?" grunted Sjin, as he tried to keep Lalnable from delivering the final blow by pushing back with his sword.
"You seem to be a man of good standing, so why are you helping the 'Goddess', Renzovia?" Lalnable asked.
"What would you understand about doing a good deed for someone else?" answered Sjin.
"Oh…" realised Lalnable, "So you don't know yet. How interesting…"
"Realised what?" demanded Sjin.
"You'll see soon enough," answered Lalnable, "Well, there's no point wasting my time here anymore,"
With that, Lalnable stopped pushing against Sjin's sword, and twisted it. This caused Sjin to lose his grip on the dark blade and drop it.
"You have made a poor decision, Sir Sjin," said Lalnable in a mocking tone as he raised his staff above his head to make the final blow more dramatic, "Oh yes, don't go thinking that you will respawn back home nice and safely, Because I have taken over from that foolish vampire, Kirin Dave. The server is now on hard-core mod until I say otherwise."
Sjin closed his eyes and looked down as he prepared himself for death, he heard the Draconic Evolution staff slice through the air above him. Just before he expected the end of the staff to hit him, he heard had a distinctive 'clang', as if something blocked the strike. He looked up and opened his eyes to see that The Purple Knight had thrown himself in front of Sjin, and was now on one knee and using his own pink blade to block Lalnable's attack.
"Run, Sjin," he ordered, but Sjin just stood there looking dumbfounded, "Take flight and go," He insisted again, as he blocked and parried each of Lalnable's attacks.
Sjin quickly grabbed his sword and crossbow, and took flight. Initially, he wanted to head straight back to Sjinterfel, but quickly realised that Lalnable already knew its location. As he was about to fly away, Sjin looked back at The Purple Knight and wondered why he helped like that. The tide of the fight was quickly turning against The Purple Knight, so Sjin decided to pay him back. He loaded The Head-Hunter Crossbow with a standard bolt and fired at Lalnable. It hit the Scientist in his left shoulder, it bounced off and didn't do much damage but it was enough to cause Lalnable to miss when he attempted to block The Purple Knight's Elementium sword. The Purple Knight's attack hit Lalnable full on in the chest, knocking him off balance. Seeing that his work was done, The Purple Knight ran from the scene as quickly as he possibly could. Sjin saw that his new ally was safe, so he flew at top speed away from Lalnable. Sjin didn't dare go back to Sjinterfel, so he flew in a random direction and prayed that he would find safety.
"You're not getting away that easily!" Lalnable growled. He shot into the air with lightning fast speed. He sped straight towards Sjin, in hope that he could use the same tactic again; unfortunately for him, this time, Sjin was prepared. He positioned himself in front of the furious scientist, pulled out his Ender-dark blade, and held it in front of him, with the point towards Lalnable. Sjin braced himself just as Lalnable's head slammed into the blade. At the moment of impact, a crack appeared both at the point of the sword's whitened tip, and in the air above Lalnable's head.
"Good thing I gave my armour the invisibility enchantment, or it would look even uglier than usual," commented Lalnable.
Sjin ignored this and struck Lalnable again, not doing as much damage as before, but still strong enough to do half a heart of damage.
Before the fight could start again, a purple figure appeared at Lalnable's side.
"Hey, boss!" greeted Specimen 5.
"What is it now, 5?" asked demanded Hector, clearly irritated at being interrupted again.
"I know where the Flux buddies are!" she exclaimed proudly.
"Perfect! Good job 5," complimented Lalnable, "Let's get our stuff and prepare for the slaughter,"
Specimen 5 childishly clapped her hands and giggled, "I can't wait! I hope they put up a nice fight, killing villagers does get boring after a while!"
Lalnable turned from Specimen 5 to face Sjin and said: "Well, you disappointed me, Sjin. I hoped buttering you up with bullshit comments about Ancient Warfare would persuade you to help me. 5 Do whatever you want with him, and then meet me back at the base."
"Hey! Come back!" yelled Sjin, as Lalnable flew away.
"Ooh! I can't wait to have fun with you!" giggled Specimen 5, "I won't need to use my good weapon, so I'll use my soy sword."
Before Sjin could react, Specimen 5 pulled out a sword and lunged at Sjin. Luckily, he managed to block with his own sword before she could hit him.
"Play fair!" grumbled 5.
"You're trying to kill me! Why would I let you hit me?" argued Sjin.
"STAB!" screamed Specimen 5, as she stabbed Sjin with her sword.
Sjin gasped and heaved as he fought for breath. He felt his entire weight suddenly press against the blade as his wings failed and gravity once again had its hold on him. Just as he thought the pain couldn't get worse, Specimen 5 pulled the translucent blade out of his chest. He fell to the ground. As he bled, Sjin was quickly laying in a pool of his own blood. He continued to cough and spit up blood as Specimen 5 watched and laughed at his agony.
"Oh, wow! You bleed a lot!" she noted as she descended to the ground, "Boss will love this."
Specimen 5 knelt down and filled some glass bottles with Sjin's blood.
"Mmm...Tasty!" Specimen 5 said as she licked the blood off her hand.
"You...Bitch..." croaked Sjin.
Specimen 5 laughed at him and just flew away to join Lalnable.
The next few hours were a blur as Sjin slipped in and out of consciousness.
Pain...Sleep...Pain...Sleep...A golden figure landing in front of him...Pain...The figure getting closer...Sleep...Deep Sleep...
Sjin awoke in a familiar place. At first, he couldn't quite place where he was, until he realised that he was in The Laughing Demon Tavern.
He tried to sit up, but a sharp pain in his chest which suddenly caused him to lie back down.
"Okay, think," thought Sjin, "I was stabbed by Kim? No, Specimen 5. I passed out, woke up, saw a golden figure, and then passed out again. Now I'm here..."
A familiar figure entered the room. He had red hair and was wearing an apron. He was grubby and blackened from spending most of his time working with the smeltery.
"My lord," greeted Berym.
"Hey, Berym," replied Sjin, "What happened? How did I get home?"
"Lady Eldraphyn came to visit while you were gone. When she found out that you were facing off against this 'Lalnable Hector', she immediately rushed to your aid. It seems that she got to you just in time," Explained Berym.
"Where is she now?" asked Sjin.
"She went back to Alfheim to retrieve something she hoped would help with your recuperation," answered Berym, "I also repaired your sword and made you some more bolts for your crossbow," he added.
"Thanks a lot, Berym," thanked Sjin.
"No problem, my lord. Lady Eldraphyn should be here soon," said Berym, "I'm going back to the smeltery, let me know if you need anything."
"Thanks," said Sjin, as Berym left him.
Within minutes, Sjin had fallen asleep once again…