A/N: As per usual: Images of some of the monsters can be found at the puzzle and dragons database. I greatly appreciate any and all reviews, critiques, suggestions, stuff like that. You can even PM me! Wow! And reviews are like coffee because, well, I had something clever I was going to write... Haha.
I sincerely hope you all enjoy the latest chapter.
"The corporation is what pulled our country out of the dirt. Enemies simply dug the grave as we tore ourselves apart. We were buried because we did not make the necessary sacrifices. We will be sure to get it right this time." -Thomas Malkin
Chapter 8- Return
The Virtual World
Pirugan Continent, Demeter Forest/Special Dungeon
In-Game Timer: Day 4
3:04 PM
Leilan and Ray halted in their tracks as they entered a dimly lit, massive chamber. The previous caverns in the dungeon had been devoid of life, which put Ray and Leilan even more on guard as they proceeded into the chamber. It was hard to miss the individual waiting for them on the opposite side of the room.
The armored knight rose from his crouched position and proceeded towards Leilan and Ray at a slow, even pace. He did not draw his broadsword from the scabbard on his back, but his imposing presence was more than enough to exact its will on Ray.
Ray worked to control his trembling limbs, but he was only partially successful. He and Leilan were in a dungeon that he now knew was far beyond their abilities. It was way too early to be attempting a dungeon of this caliber. But he had given in to Leilan's insistence.
He glanced at his partner. His trembling ceased as he became distracted by Leilan's expression.
She stared open-mouthed at the golden knight who had now cleared half the distance between them. It was like she was in a daze. Her eyes widened in disbelief.
Ray managed to find his voice. "Leilan, what's the matter?"
"Verche," Leilan breathed. Her voice was barely audible.
That one name took Ray off guard. She said the name as if she knew Verche; not just his name, but personally. So it really was Verche. A god monster. In the previous game, he wasn't necessarily considered to be a particularly strong god, but even if this held true to this world, he was still far beyond their current level. Ray didn't know how to take Leilan's response.
"Do you know him or something?" Ray asked.
Leilan let out a slow breath before answering, "Yes. But please leave the rest of your questions for later." She cursed. It was an unfortunate situation. She didn't want to fight Verche. He was one of her comrades.
Ray could read the worry on her face. She didn't seem like the type to express her emotions so plainly. Ray knew that he needed to step up. It was his turn to assume the air of calm collectedness for his partner. If she continued with this current mental state, they didn't have a prayer of surviving this battle.
"If we beat Verche he should drop as an egg," Ray said. "Then he will hatch from the egg and we can add him to our team."
Leilan tore her eyes away from Verche. She was grateful for Ray's assurances and nodded her appreciation. The logic of his words cooled her mind and she was able to return to her normal self. Mostly. Given the fact that she had to practically kill her comrade would never return her to a fully keen mindset. But it was far better than before. By defeating Verche, he would be released from whatever controlled him to become an ally once more.
Ray reasoned that Verche would drop as an egg, but even he was unsure. Normally, at least one monster would drop as an egg in a dungeon, and upon completion of the dungeon, that monster could be added to the team. Over the past few days of exploring dungeons, not a single monster had dropped. He didn't know what this meant, but he prayed that this didn't hold true for god monsters as well. After all, how else would he be able to eventually reach a full team of monsters? Verche had to drop. He had to.
Seattle, Washington
United States
May 25, 2020
Real World Time- 3:42 PM
A man wearing a beanie hat and an Avenged Sevenfold shirt walked through the halls of the massive corporate building. The south wing of the building was bustling with employees from all of the various tech departments. He didn't particularly care for all of the cacophony and the closed spaces that the crowds caused from being so packed together. However, the chaos was enough to draw any suspicious eyes away from him. He was a little out of place with his informal attire, but the IT department was known for its lenient dress code.
The information he had gleaned from a few hours ago put him in an uncomfortable state of mind. One of the men in the black suits had summoned him to one of the rooms where a young male Player was choosing his monster partner before entering the virtual world. The Player had told him that one of the monsters he wanted to choose was missing from the roster. It was strange to think that someone could make such a mistake, especially since most of the work was automated for all of the tasks leading up to entry.
After fixing the issue, he had asked the Player for his name and returned to his station. With some digging around with the files that Emily Tanner had given him, he confirmed that the Player was indeed Ray Andylon, the SSS rank that was mentioned in a prior conversation.
Ray was a SSS rank, and the monster that was his first choice had been missing from the roster. Coincidence? Absolutely not. The enemy was aware of Ray Andylon now, and since they had taken such measures to impede his progress, it could be safely assumed that they saw him as a potential threat; which meant Ray actually could be a possible ally in the future. He wasn't part of the enemy plan, but which side Ray would take was still unknown. He couldn't be trusted just yet.
The crowd of people began to thin out as he took a left down a side hallway and entered a small plaza with multiple elevators lining the walls. He had analyzed the layout of the building countless times to make sure he knew which elevator would present him with the least resistance depending upon the number of individuals that passed through his route.
As he was about to enter one of the elevators, he felt the vibration of his phone in a pocket of his jeans. He pulled it out and saw Emily's name on the caller ID. There were only two other people who had access to his secure line, but he still found himself breathing a sigh of relief when he recognized the number. He glanced up warily and observed the people around him. The area was still pretty loud and he noticed a corner next to an ATM machine that was a safe span from prying ears.
He answered the call and heard Emily's voice. "Everything good so far Rick?"
"Yeah. We're good. I'm at the first elevator. Are you in position?"
There was a shuffling on her end before she answered. Rick waited for her response, but her hesitation began to instigate worry.
Finally, she responded, "All good now."
"Okay, I'm about to enter the first elevator. Wait about five minutes after I hang up and then put the cameras I listed on the loop. I only need maybe a fifteen minute window."
"Got it. Be careful."
"Will do."
He hung up and proceeded back to the first elevator. Luckily, the elevator was crowded, making it easier to blend in so he wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb. His luck held out as most of the people of the elevator exited on the same floor that he did. Now it was time to reach the second elevator.
The halls were still painted with the same plain white color that made the building feel like some sort of hospital. The white also made the men in black stand out even more, making them extra intimidating. He walked past them and assumed an air of calm to indicate he was used to the atmosphere. The men paid him no mind as he turned the last corner to reach the last elevator.
He fished into his pocket for the keycard that would give him access to the elevator. He swore vehemently as his sweaty hand got stuck in the pocket with the keycard wedged between his fingers at an awkward angle. He hated jeans. The pockets were so damn small. He couldn't afford any delays, especially with the time constraint he had given Emily.
As he managed to wiggle his hand out of the pocket with the keycard, he heard a voice behind him that practically made him jump out of his skin. He turned to the voice faster than what would appear normal and saw a man in what appeared to be a lab coat eyeing him up and down. The man adjusted his spectacles and addressed him again.
"This is a restricted area. You mind telling me what you're doing up here?"
Rick froze at the question. He had an excuse made up in case this sort of situation should arise, but he found that his words were caught in his throat. His mouth opened but no words came out.
The man in the lab coat sighed. "IT department right? You recluses seem to have a hard time with people outside your little niche."
Rick thanked his lucky stars that this man had completely misunderstood his panic for simple social anxiety. The man saw Rick as one of the stereotypical antisocial tech geeks.
This stroke of luck was enough to calm him down so he could speak somewhat coherently.
"I'm, uh, looking for the third computer terminal area for the PADW project that's going on. The guys running it wanted me to, um, check out a small bug in one of the links or something."
The man in the lab coat cocked an eyebrow at this. "Then why are you heading to the Cell Lab?"
Rick turned back to the elevator and read the placard that was lined over the top. The words read: Cellular Reproduction/Growth Testing Lab 2B
Rick let out a nervous laugh and put his face in the palm of his hand. He shook his head and slapped himself on the forehead.
"I always seem to get lost in this stupid building. I can't stand this layout."
The man with the spectacles laughed with genuine humor. "Yeah, I hear yah on that one. This is my area of expertise and I still get lost from time to time." He threw a thumb over his shoulder in the other direction. "The elevator you're looking for is that way. Just one wrong turn that's all."
Rick nodded his appreciation and moved to pass him, but the man stopped him with a sidestep that caught Rick by surprise.
"I gotta ask," the man said. There didn't seem to be any indication that he suspected Rick of anything judging by his tone.
"You guys know stuff about all these apps and stuff right?" He pulled out his cellphone and looked around to make sure nobody was watching. He saw that Rick noticed this and shrugged. "Those guys in black are real hard-asses. Cellphones are restricted in this area, but it's not like anybody had a problem with it before until those guys showed up."
He opened up an app on his phone and Rick saw that it was the Puzzle and Dragons Viewer app.
The man handed the phone to Rick. "I'm trying to figure out how to pull up the split-screen setting so I can watch two Players at once, but the app doesn't come with a guide. Maybe you know how to do it?"
Rick sighed with relief, but this guy was going to give him a heart attack if he kept holding Rick up. The clock was ticking, and Emily would be putting the cameras into a loop soon. He was losing a lot of time.
Fixing the man's problem turned out to be relatively easy and Rick was grateful that the man had no further questions to ask him. The man gave Rick an appreciative slap on the back and went back to his work.
Rick quickened his pace to the opposite elevator and unconsciously gave one of the men in black a nod of greeting. The man made no indication that he noticed the gesture.
He placed the keycard over the scanner and the elevator doors parted. The elevator descended several floors below the base of the building and came to a smooth halt. The doors slid open to reveal a long hallway that intersected with two diverging stairways that led further downwards.
Rick checked his watch and cursed. He was already three minutes past the time he had told Emily to set the cameras. Now he was really cutting it close.
Rick had instructed Emily to set specific cameras to play the same footage over and over to avoid detection. He wished he had told her that all of the cameras would be put on loop simultaneously. If someone were to be walking past a camera at that time, their image would be played over and over. That would certainly seem strange to the security officers on duty.
There were only a few corporate employees down in this area, but even so, he limited himself to a brisk walk so he wouldn't draw any unwanted attention. A few passersby glanced at him curiously, but most of them paid him no mind as they continued examining documents on their clipboards or whatever else required their attention.
Rick hung the next right and took the stairway down two steps at a time when he was out of sight. As he rounded another bend he came upon a solid metal door. Another keycard scanner was planted in the wall next to the door handle with a numerical, holographic keyboard underneath. A second device with a small glass dome stuck out of the wall with a cylindrical device inside.
Rick produced another keycard from his pocket and the scanner accepted it with a short ping and a green light. He then typed in the numerical code and the scanner presented the same positive response. The next step, the retinal scanner, was going to be much trickier.
He pulled both of his sneakers off and examined the soles to find the loose bit of leather that would open the hidden compartments underneath. He wiggled the tip of his nail into one of the grooves in the bottom of the shoe and peeled back the rubber. This same process was repeated on the other shoe and he pulled out the contents hidden inside. The last piece he needed was in the tongue of one of the shoes, and so he dug his nail into the lightly stitched fabric where he had previously torn a barely- noticeable gap. A tiny plastic rod was inside, barely longer than an inch. The four other pieces from the soles of his shoes had two smooth planes and a rounded side. Rick placed all four pieces beside each other and held them together with the fingers on one hand. When they were all evenly placed together on their flat sides, he inserted the plastic rod through them and he heard a satisfying click as it attached the other pieces together, much like a three-dimensional puzzle.
The resulting sphere was slightly smaller than the size of a ping pong ball. It was nearly white all around with a blue hue and a circle of inky black at its center. It looked exactly like a human eyeball, and for all intents and purposes, it was. An artificial eye.
Rick took a deep breath and held the iris over the retinal scanner. He felt his sweat sticking to his skin when the scanner did not respond. He wondered if it had rejected the artificial eye. It could have been sending out an alert to security right now.
After a few more seconds, the familiar ping sounded and the third green light turned on. Rick breathed a huge sigh of relief.
You truly were a genius Takamura.
A female voice welcomed him to the mainframe, "Welcome, CEO Akio Kurosaki. For security purposes, this visit will be recorded in the Head Officer database for future reference."
Rick ignored the female voice and entered the mainframe. He was running short on time. It was going to be very close.
The Virtual World
Pirugan Continent, Demeter Forest/Special Dungeon
In-Game Timer: Day 4
3:08 PM
The knight who was once known as Verche deflected a hesitant strike from the emotionally shaken Leilan. It was out of character for her to be overwhelmed by something as detrimental as emotion in a fight. Her face didn't show it, but an internal battle was being waged.
Ray knew there was no possible way they could achieve victory with both their mindsets in turmoil. Leilan did not want to kill her comrade, even though Ray had insisted that he would drop as an egg and be reborn as his old self. Based upon their fights in the previous dungeons, he felt she somehow knew that this was not a guarantee. It was a possibility. Ray could be revived upon death and so could Leilan because she was his monster partner. There was no evidence that this would prove the same for a monster that was bound to a dungeon. And with Ray's own mental problems, the fight was already out of their favor.
Leilan side-stepped a second strike from Verche, but it forced her back on her heels, which gave Verche an opening to whirl about with his sword to slice along the outside of her thigh. She clenched her teeth in pain as she fought to reestablish her stance by allowing her momentum to roll over her heels. This motion enabled her to land on her toes, and she pushed off her balanced foot to dodge a second attack. Verche's sword grazed along her ankle, but it was nothing that would cause too much damage to her health.
Ray examined Verche's information as soon as his analysis was complete.
Monster: Godly Knight of the Sky, Verche/Attribute: Light/Sub-Attribute: Light/Health: Unknown/ATK: Unknown/DEF: Unknown/Active Skill: Light Orb Change/Active Skill: Weapons of Light
The analysis didn't provide any useful information. Most of it was common knowledge. Ray had no idea how much damage they could sustain from Verche's attacks. He didn't even know how much damage was needed to pierce his defenses or how much health he had. The explanation of the second active skill was rather vague. It simply said that Verche could call upon light weapons. Ray couldn't know what to expect from such a vague description.
Ray examined the board of orbs in front of him. He had been given a terrible board. Most of the orbs were water, wood, and dark. The only orbs useful to him were the few fire and light orbs available. He needed to make sure that he cleared out as much of the used space as possible so that the next board was more favorable.
He picked up a water orb with his finger and made as many combinations as he could to get rid of the useless orbs. He became distracted by a cry of pain from Leilan and he involuntarily glanced up to see how much danger she was in. The motion of his head forced his upper body to follow it, and the finger that was moving the orbs accidentally lifted from the holographic screen, ending Ray's time for matching orbs indefinitely.
Ray stared in dismay at the board as it closed up. Trepidation transformed to anger as he punched the database on his wrist. He had messed up again, and it would probably cost them dearly. Leilan had hardly any power to fight off Verche.
But now was not the time to wallow in self-pity.
Leilan backed away from a concentrated thrust from Verche that was accompanied with a short jab from one of his wings. He was expertly using his wings as a weapon when the opportunity presented itself. Verche's broadsword was overwhelming, and Leilan noticed Verche attempting to insert his sword into the curve of her weapon, which would then give him some control of her upper body so he could form an opening in her stance for his wings to penetrate without any risk of damage. The swift blows of the wings did not decrease her health much, but that was not the purpose of these attacks. They were meant to force her back on her heels for yet another strike from the broadsword.
Leilan noticed Ray out of the corner of her eye as he finished a board of orbs. He had the same expression on his face from the battle at the outpost and in the past dungeons. He was losing control.
Verche took advantage of this distraction and leveled his wrist just as he saw Leilan's eyes dart to the side. He pointed the small shield on his arm directly at Leilan's upper body, just below the neckline. The small shield on his wrist launched itself at Leilan and he rushed forward immediately after the dangerous projectile locked onto its target.
Leilan barely noticed the swirling missile as she tore her attention away from her partner. Her arm had relaxed along with her diverted attention, which forced her to lose that precious half of a second that was needed to block the speeding shield. The shield glanced off the pole of her halberd with a metallic clang and angled itself towards her shoulder. The shield collided and destroyed her shaky defensive stance, bringing one of her legs back so that she now faced Verche sideways.
Verche had already closed the distance with a rebound offensive. There was no way for Leilan to bring up her halberd in time. It was now held in her arm that was opposite from Verche with the curved blade scraping the ground at an awkward angle. Leilan braced herself for the attack.
As Verche prepared to slice through Leilan's body, a familiar figure jumped in front of her.
"Activate puzzle mode!" Ray shouted.
The bluish barrier appeared around him and enacted its exterior force. Anything within the circumference of the barrier was forced outwards; this included Leilan, who felt herself being pushed back along the ground outside of the barrier.
Verche, already in the midst of his swing, could not possibly halt his motion. The broadsword collided with the barrier and the blue hue began to bend and shape like waves beating within a closed space. This moment was fleeting, and the barrier reinstated itself into its perfect, smooth semi-circle. Ray felt the energy of the sword's blow against the barrier seep into him. It was a strange lukewarm feeling that spread throughout his body. Then, the energy recollected itself according to Ray's will.
All that was on Ray's mind was hurting Verche. The energy understood this and concentrated itself at eye level within the barrier. The cerulean hue morphed into a swirling lime green, and then, it launched itself at Ray's assailant.
Verche lifted his sword to deflect the beam of green. His shield was now gone after its attack on Leilan. A portion of the beam split against the edge of Verche's sword and arced towards the ceiling which fractured into a hail of stone. The other half of the beam drove its way into Verche's chest armor and plunged him into the ground. He angled his body in an attempt to put himself into a gramby roll that would focus his direction towards his shoulder to bring him upright. A stray rock that had fallen from the ceiling mocked this plan. Verche's shoulder made heavy contact with the edge of the rock and sent him sprawling sideways in an uncontrollable spin. Verche landed flat on his chest in a heap of debris. Many of the sharp points of the jagged rock found creases in Verche's armor and drove through. The wounds were shallow, but they inflicted plenty of pain nonetheless. It was enough to provide Ray and Leilan a brief respite.
The beam from the barrier had taken Ray by surprise, but he didn't take the time to admire the damage he had dealt to Verche. The board was ready again. Leilan was still in the midst of using the meager energy he had given her earlier, so the new board would not actually distribute the energy until a later time in the fight. They would have to stall as long as possible until the time came when Leilan could enact an effective counter-offensive.
Before he placed his finger on the board he heard Leilan's voice behind him, "Don't think."
Ray turned to her in surprise. She was in a poor state from her one-sided clashes with Verche. Blood had already begun to crawl down the side of her leg and the most recent blow to her shoulder was turning a nasty purple color. Despite all of this, her expression appeared to me more damaged than her actual body. The sight of her in such a weakened state made Ray's body feel sick, as if he was sharing in her hurt. It wasn't guilt. It was something else he couldn't quite place.
"Remember what I told you," Leilan said. There was a renewed confidence in her tone. "Don't think. Just act."
Ray turned away from her and stared at the board. He didn't understand how she could assume such a confident posture with the way the fight was going. They were, for lack of a better word, getting their asses kicked. Her words didn't fully sink in until her next statement.
"You did well in the Departure Tower."
Ray regarded her with a confounded look.
Leilan just smiled.
Her expression confused him. He somehow managed to find his voice, "Y-you were watching me? How?"
Leilan ignored the question and strode around the barrier to stand in front of him. "Now's not the time."
Ray looked past her and saw that Verche was now rising and already had his sword at the ready.
"No thinking," Leilan repeated.
Ray nodded weakly and stared down at the board of orbs. He didn't take his gaze from it as he thought back to Leilan's bouts with Verche.
Ray selected a light orb and spoke, "I got it. And you take the same advice."
It was Leilan's turn to be taken aback. Her bewilderment was brief, but Ray's comment was enough. He was correct. She had to believe that he was right about Verche returning as his normal self.
And besides, if they didn't defeat him now, what other group might come along to defeat him? Would they be friends or foes?
And what if nobody else did discover this dungeon? Would she just leave Verche here to rot in this dungeon alone never to see the light of day? He would be deprived of the precious light that might as well have been his life. She would never be able to forgive herself.
Leilan took a deep breath. "Thank you, Ray."
With that last word, Leilan firmly grasped the pole of her weapon and rushed forward with new-found vigor. She would save Verche and they would get the hell out of this forsaken dungeon.
Seattle, Washington
United States
May 25, 2020
Real World Time- 3:47 PM
Rick weaved his way around the seemingly endless rows of consoles and computers that littered the large control room. The mainframe was connected to multiple servers that were currently dark and unused. The virtual world was currently running on a LAN network so that nobody from the outside could gain access. There were only certain areas that the virtual world could be accessed: the Gamemaster's control room, the Players' login points, and the mainframe.
The Gamemaster's control room was full of only people with direct authorization from the Gamemaster himself, or from corporate CEOs such as Kurosaki, Alsheimer, and Malkin. Getting into the control room was impossible given Rick's current falsified status. There was no way he could fake his information in-person to break through such a high level on the chain of command.
The Players' login points were also not an option. The headgear that sent them to the virtual world was programmed to admit very specific individuals. The headgears were personalized and only admitted the individual assigned to it. When Players logged out from time to time, the headgear and console would be scanned to allow updates to the game. The risk was far too great and nobody could be trusted just yet.
The only place left that could fulfill his needs was the mainframe. Only the corporate CEOs were permitted to enter this area. Some high-level security personnel were given clearance as well, but only with corporate approval that came straight from the top and with an escort.
Rick examined the various consoles. Much of them involved the classified records of Future Artificial Networking: some high security applications, consumer statistics, and other hidden processes. Rick would have loved to take the time to hack into the secrets of the corporation if he hadn't been given is strict time frame.
Rick finally found a section of the massive mainframe that he was searching for and he pulled out his phone. He opened the small compartment underneath the phone's base that held the USB wireless adapter. Rick had made a few modifications to the adapter and enhanced the signal to also provide access to only a single device. The wireless signal would not be detected by any other devices. He hoped. It was impossible to tell what security measures were in place for this project in cyberspace. Technology had provided too many variables over the past years.
The USB ports were actually inside a pull-out section of the mainframe, and he carefully slid it out to reveal dozens of areas for his adapter to connect. He traced his finger along them and stumbled upon the female port he was searching for.
Rick connected the wireless adapter to the USB port. He then opened an application to examine the signal to see if it had gone active. After a few seconds, the cellphone confirmed that the adapter was connected. He was thankful that he had decided against making this application of his own design available to the public.
Now all that was left was to confirm that his laptop miles away was able to receive the signal. The signal had to be immensely powerful, and he hoped that the adapter had enough strength. Upping the reach of the signal had been a major pain in the ass.
The time on Rick's phone indicated that he only had a few minutes to spare. He chuckled and thought that he must have set some kind of record.
Rick shoved his phone back into his pocket and pushed the pull-out shelf of the mainframe into its previous position. He was glad to see that the wireless adapter was concealed. It was likely that nobody would find it as long as he/she wasn't searching for it specifically. There was also probably no reason for this section of the mainframe to be used since everything was on the LAN network.
He hurried out of the room and took the stairs more cautiously this time around. There were still only a few people in the area and they ignored him altogether.
Rick called for the elevator and shifted back and forth on his toes and heels nervously. Just before the elevator arrived, he noticed an employee in one of the offices watching a video on his laptop. A young man in dark attire and a female wielding a halberd were locked in combat against a dangerous knight in gold armor.
Rick stared at the screen for a moment. He recognized that young man.
As the elevator doors opened the familiar face hit him. It was Ray Andylon.
The Virtual World
Pirugan Continent, Demeter Forest/Special Dungeon
In-Game Timer: Day 4
3:12 PM
Ray placed his finger on the light orb he had chosen that would bring the rest of the orbs together.
No thinking. Just see.
He shut out the battle that was going on in front of him. As of right now, he was not a part of it. All that should concern him was the board of orbs laid out in front of him. What happened after was after.
He stared at the board and took in the different positions of all the orbs. He had done well to clear off the dark and water orbs. Some wood orbs still remained, but they were not too detrimental. After a few seconds, he gasped as he saw a path that he could take the light orb along that would form...
Ray moved the orb faster than he ever had since entering the new world. He saw it. He saw the path. The path that would lead to the power Leilan needed. The combos formed naturally. The movements were smooth. As the orbs faded to nothingness, more fell from above, creating even more combinations in a number of successful skyfalls. The number of combos reached five, seven, nine, and then, miraculously, it reached the double-digits. The number twelve stared back at him, and it distributed energy with the contribution of each combination. This power intensified and closed in on itself as the board turned gray and locked.
How much power had he really given her? Ray was not sure, but they would find out once a new board of orbs was ready.
Leilan did well to hold Verche back. She even managed to counter a few attacks with her own that put Verche on a brief defensive. Her strikes were precise and calculated once again, her stance firm and without a single misstep as she planned her next attack whilst in mid-strike.
Verche reoriented himself as the blade of Leilan's halberd glanced off his wrist armor and scraped along his arm. His willingness to allow the blade to cut into his exposed flesh took Leilan by surprise. Her forward momentum was enough for Verche to place the tip of his blade right in her path of movement.
Before Leilan's body drove into the blade, the power generated by Ray surged into her. An outward force that resulted pushed Verche back, his armored feet skid along the ground as he attempted to retain his stance.
Leilan's back arched and her body trembled as this new, overwhelming energy swelled and dispersed through her limbs.
This power. The power of the orbs. It had exceeded all of her expectations. Her mind and body just simply hadn't been ready for it.
If she could receive such power from this Player even without her leader skill, then what other potential did he have hidden away?
These Players...Leilan thought.
They were the key to everything. With them, they could win the coming battles. They could win this war. She could save Verche.
As the power subsided, Leilan stared at her hands and saw the orange and crimson aura that emanated from them. She grabbed her halberd and the flames from her hands seeped into the weapon. The blade soon resembled a similar quality.
The knight who was once Verche took a controlled step back, not the least bit intimidated by Leilan's astounding display. He drove his broadsword into the stone floor. As he did so, a force akin to Leilan's rushed throughout the room and nearly threw his adversaries off their feet. A board of orbs consisting of weapon symbols appeared, and he went to work matching them before Leilan and Ray could collect themselves.
Verche finished the board with a total of six combinations. Six pillars of light appeared from the ceiling and an assortment of weapons drove themselves into the floor.
Ray was just barely able to discern the board that Verche had formed. The skill was completely unexpected and was nothing like the active skills he was accustomed to.
"Leilan, what the hell kind of skill is that?" he shouted in disbelief.
Before Leilan could respond, Verche grabbed the first weapon firmly and launched himself at her, beating his wings more furiously than ever. The scythe that Verche wielded grazed along Leilan's side as she redirected it with her halberd. The blade of the scythe cut across behind her as she extended her arm out to distance it. As she did so, she beat her wings once to lift her from the ground and drove both feet into Verche's head. Even as Verche reared back from the blow, Leilan executed a graceful back flip. She landed as Verche was about to hit the ground, swung her halberd in a downward arc, and dug the blade of her halberd into Verche's chest. Verche grunted as the blade attempted to cut through the resisting armor.
The halberd sliced into the armor in a shower of sparks and screaming metal. But even the concentrated power in the blade was not enough to pierce all the way through.
Verche made a quick sign with his fingers that went unnoticed by Leilan, and before she could even respond, a short sword, from out of nowhere, impaled her right shoulder.
Leilan's eyes widened and she let out a pained gasp as the short sword violently pierced through her flesh. It penetrated all the way to the hilt where it was forced to halt its skewer; however, the driving force still remained. The sword carried Leilan straight back as if nothing had interrupted its flight. Leilan felt a sensation as if she were weightless and the sword drove her into the opposite wall in a shower of eradicated stone.
Ray had already been on the move to flank their opponent as Verche initiated the sneak-attack on Leilan. As Verche rose from the ground, Ray swung his katana downward, only for it to be intercepted by Verche's wrist guards. Verche crossed his other wrist underneath to halt the weight Ray was distributing to the blade.
A monster was just simply too powerful for a Player. Especially a god-type monster.
Verche forced his arms out wide and pushed Ray's blade a sufficient distance so he could roll to the side and reestablish his stance. He discarded the scythe in favor of a weapon more suited to his style: an enhanced broadsword.
Ray glanced over at where Leilan sat gripping the sword driven into her shoulder. She was obviously in terrible shape after that last devastating attack.
Just a little longer, he thought desperately. Just a little longer and the next board will be ready. I should be able to heal her with some heart orbs.
Verche interrupted his thoughts with a quick thrust of his sword that Ray dodged with his quick reflexes. A second strike glanced off the side of his katana, but it unexpectedly changed course and drove itself into his leading foot.
Ray stared down at his impaled foot in disbelief as blood seeped out of the tear in his leather boot where the weapon was lodged. He didn't scream. He didn't make a sound. But the pain was unlike anything he had ever felt; worse than when he had fractured his wrist falling off his bike, more excruciating than when he had taken a line drive to the face at baseball practice, more than any of it. The pain threshold in this world was lowered. He had known that since the Departure Tower. But this...
His eyes were drawn back impulsively to Leilan who was now rising unsteadily to her feet.
The pain began to numb. As it dissipated, Ray could see a slight shift in Verche's weight. He was leaning further forward on the hilt of his blade. It drove the sword deeper into Ray's foot, but Verche was also moving his upper body towards him.
Ray looked down at the leather straps attached to his wrist. He had forgotten what his second weapon choice had been up until now.
Aw what the hell, he thought desperately.
Ray flicked the switch between his thumb and pointer finger and the hidden blade appeared from the metal compartment beneath his wrist. He simultaneously lashed out with a desperate right hook and drove the blade through the crease between Verche's helmet and the pauldrons attached to his shoulders. The spurting blood was confirmation that the blade had cut into its intended target.
Verche groaned as he instinctively reached with his hand to stifle the wound. As Verche fell forward, Ray lifted his opposite knee and drove it into his already damaged helmet. With the wound in his neck and this second disorienting blow, Verche reeled back and his grip loosened on his weapon.
Ray saw his opportunity. He pulled the blade out of his foot and managed to ignore the catastrophic pain. His adrenaline seemed to pump more as he quelled the hurt. But he made the same mistake as Leilan. Seizing this opportunity and witnessing the collapse of his opponent's defense unwittingly fed his confidence. He failed to notice the movement of Verche's fingers as he fell.
Before Ray could drive his sword through Verche, the tip of a spear entered his back.
Leilan saw the spear that drove into Ray. Ray turned his head and stared down at the spear in disbelief. His sword fell from his grasp to clatter on the floor. The resounding metal echoed in the silence that followed. He touched the area where the spear had penetrated and stared at his blood-stained hand. Upon seeing the blood, he collapsed.
Leilan tested her wings and found that they at least still retained their strength. She didn't bother to remove the short sword that still penetrated her shoulder. She pushed off the wall and flew furiously for Verche, her halberd supported by her one working arm.
Leilan let out a gasp as Verche prepared to finish off her partner.
Then, suddenly, Verche was flying backwards through the air in the opposite direction. He landed a few yards away from Leilan's position and she redirected her course.
Leilan could now see what had thrown Verche back. Ray's barrier was in effect and the green aura that had exacted the force began to dissipate. Leilan laughed with relief as Ray rose unsteadily to his feet. The barrier had also pushed the spear out of his back. Anything hostile within a Player barrier was forcibly removed.
"Leilan!" Ray shouted with what energy he could muster.
She turned to him in mid-flight and saw him pressing some unseen button on his database. At the same time she felt a throbbing sensation from her halberd.
This is.
She landed a short distance from Verche who was already charging forward. She drove the blade of her halberd into the stone floor. "Initiate active skill Southern Seven-Star Formation!"
The floor seemed to erupt beneath her as seven glowing objects burst forth from the stone. They shined brilliantly in the chamber for a short time before entering Leilan and the halberd that was still embedded in the stone.
She tapped into the ability of one of the shining objects and the short sword in her shoulder eased itself out of her body and fell to the floor. The wound bled for a brief time before being sealed by another one of the gleaming stars. Her health was not even close to being fully recovered, but she felt it would be enough.
A holographic board appeared in front of her face. She could see the orbs moving over each other to form combinations that would soon provide their power. Her ability had also turned all of the orbs on Ray's board into light, wood, and fire orbs. Luckily for them, the vast majority of these orbs were light and fire, perfect for Leilan's main and sub-attribute.
They moved at an incredible speed.
Verche had nearly closed the distance between them.
So this is what you can really do for me Ray, Leilan thought.
The orbs completed their work and the power entered Leilan's body once again. It was even greater than before. And this time she was ready for it.
The outward force from the orbs did not deter Verche in the least this time. He charged through it unfazed and prepared to subdue Leilan with a two-handed strike from his sword.
Leilan swung her halberd as he came within reach. The halberd collided with the sword briefly for just a split-second. And then, after some resistance, the sword shattered into hundreds of shards of metal and dancing light particles. The halberd continued its way towards Verche and completely sliced through his body armor. A brutal gash from shoulder to opposite thigh spurted a fountain of blood as the blade cut deep into his flesh.
Leilan finished the swing and averted her eyes as the gold knight fell to his knees. Verche wordlessly stared down at the lethal wound. He quivered in this stance for a short time and turned his head to Leilan.
Leilan heard a muffled voice from the knight's helmet, "I'm sorry, Leilan."
He collapsed face-down on the bloodied floor.
Leilan also fell to her knees and rested her halberd gently on the ground next to her. She leaned forward and used her trembling hands to support her.
I'm so sorry Verche.
