Chrome and his party patrolled the borders of Lindas, taking out any enemies that they came across along the way. By midday, they were beginning to get worn down. Each of the four had taken at least two breaks by that point but spending almost twelve hours fighting had worn them down mentally. The event had proven useful though, each of the party members had already risen a level.
Chrome danced around the sword swing from a skeleton before severing the undead creature's spine with his own sword. He blocked an attack from another with his shield before using said shield to knock its skull clean off. The swordsman watched as the skull bounced down the path then shattered with a smile of grim satisfaction. He turned to see Vakross perfectly execute a series of blows that finished off the weakened form of a much taller, club-wielding skeleton.
A wide swing from Arcadia's axe shattered three skeletons all at once, reducing them to a mixed pile of bones on the pathway before they shattered. Kotetsu ducked a horizontal swing from the sword of another. As he rose, he jammed his dagger between two of its ribs, shattering them before his palm flung through the gap and destroyed the enemy's spine.
The party regrouped and Arcadia glanced up at the time on her HUD. She muttered a curse before turning to the others. "Sorry, I have to log out, I'm expecting a delivery soon," the teacher said. Chrome nodded and she ran back to her student's house before logging out.
"What now? Should we continue fighting without her?" Vakross asked, looking around for any signs of movement.
"That's kinda risky isn't it? I mean Arcadia is our main powerhouse. If we came across something big we'd probably be in trouble," Kotetsu pointed out.
"True. I suppose it couldn't hurt to take a break till she gets back," Chrome said as he sheathed his sword. He immediately regretted the decision when a group of twelve players suddenly emerged from various hiding places around the party of three. Chrome's eyes flitted between each of them as he redrew his sword and noticed one thing they each had in common. A certain mark on each of their bodies. "DGamers…," Chrome muttered to himself.
"Well hello there, Death Hunter Chrome," the obvious leader of the group said, stepping forward. Chrome knew he was the leader simply from his equipment. The man that stepped forward was far better equipped than his allies. He wore a set of rather heavy looking black armour with purple trimmings. The spaulders of the armour had large spikes on them, as did the knees of his greaves. A long, red cape fluttered behind the man as he walked. His black hair was spiked and he kept a stubble of the same colour.
In his right hand was a long-handled war hammer, the end of which was shaped like dragon's head. On his left arm was a large triangular shaped shield, with his arm bent it pointed towards the ground, the straight edge towards the sky. His shield was a dull grey with the DGamer mark taking up most of the face.
"Rather extravagant looking aren't you?" Chrome said, locking eyes with the man. The DGamer smirked, his black eyes staring back at Chrome.
"My name is Kurogane and I lead the Death Gamer guild known as the Death Blade Alliance," the hammer user explained.
"Should I care? Cause I'm really not in the mood to."
"Arrogant, just as the reports explained."
"Arrogant? No, just really bored of you guys."
"Well don't worry too much about it, after this you'll be bowing down every time a DGamer comes within a mile."
Chrome took a moment to examine Kurogane further. His equipment was quite impressive looking, this meant there was a good chance that this guy was a higher level than him. Not to mention Kurogane had eleven companions while he only had two. No matter which way he looked at it, this was a very bad situation.
"So what is it you want then? Revenge?" Chrome asked.
"That's more or less the idea," Kurogane replied.
"You realise there's not much point to that right? Unlike you losers I'll just log back in if I'm defeated, I really don't care."
"We know that. But we have ways of making sure you know not to screw with the DGamers." Chrome watched as a smirk came across Kurogane's lips. There wasn't much choice here, they'd have to fight.
"Chrome," Vakross said, moving up next to the sword and shield user. "If you can hold him off, Kotetsu and I can probably make a big enough break in their lines for the three of us to escape."
"I don't plan on running away from this. You reap what you sow right? I caused this little problem to grow so now I need to cut it down," Chrome said in response.
"If you lose here you'll probably be kicked out of the event. From what I heard, PKing is allowed in this event so they won't become red players or anything, you'll just be logged out and eliminated from the event."
"What's the matter Vakross, are you scared of a challenge?"
"Hardly, in any normal situation I'd welcome this. But even I'm not stupid enough to throw away the rewards for all this just because of some stupid grudge these guys have." A grin spread across Chrome's face.
"I guess I'm just insane then," Chrome remarked, pointing his sword straight at Kurogane. The guild leader raised his left hand and his allies leapt into action. Chrome took barely a second to breathe before going into battle.
His shield deflected the thrust of a spear before he stepped towards his opponent. The Amethyst Edge flickered forward, opening a gash in the spear user's hip. Before the DGamer was able to use his spear again, Chrome spun on the spot, delivering a powerful downwards slash onto his opponent's arm, severing it just above the wrist. There was a short scream before Chrome delivered a lightning fast three-hit combo that ended the DGamer's life.
Kotetsu's eyes flickered between the two men approaching him with two-handed swords. A bead of sweat rolled down his face as he developed a strategy in his mind. He spun to the side of the first swordsman's attack, his hand flinging out from his right hip and sending three throwing darts into his opponent's stomach. The swordsman fell to the ground as paralysis overcame his body.
Kotetsu looked now to the second swordsman who charged at him. A simple backflip enabled him to dodge the slow sword attack. As soon as the dagger user hit the ground he was charging at his opponent. His dagger blade went red and Kotetsu hurled the heavy weapon into his opponent's chest. He then charged forward and went low with a sweeping kick. As his opponent began to fall forward, Kotetsu yanked his dagger free and then delivered a powerful palm strike to the swordsman's chest, sending him flying back as the Swirling Dragon skill ended.
Vakross stood calm with his eyes closed as a scimitar wielding player approached him with a twisted grin. He took a single deep breath as the player drew ever closer. The DGamer let out a maniacal laugh as his blade went yellow and he raised his sword high. Vakross' katana flickered green for a brief instant before delivering an upwards slash at impossible speed that sent the DGamer's scimitar spiralling away. Vakross continued with a three-hit combo that sent his opponent to the ground. When Vakross' katana pointed toward his opponent's throat, the DGamer let out a squeal and slithered away from the weapon before getting up and running away.
Kurogane watched as the three players dispatched his guild members with relative ease. "Freakin' idiots… I guess it's my fault for bringing the lower level members," he sighed, rolling his shoulders a few times. He glanced over at Chrome who was facing away him, locked in a battle with a DGamer wielding a battle-axe. Kurogane smiled and began his approach towards his target.
"Hold it!" a voice called out. The battle came to a halt and Kurogane looked around for the owner of the voice. He didn't have to look for long before a figure seemed to fall from the sky and land with a heavy crash in front of him.
The figure was down on one knee, holding a spear in front of him, the end on the ground with the point facing the sky. He wore a long, red scarf that whipped around behind him as he slowly rose. He was dressed in a set of sleek, cobalt armour that shone in the afternoon sun. His blonde hair was tied back in a long ponytail with a few strands dangling between his eyes. As he stood straight he flung his spear down and to the side dramatically as his free hand brushed his bangs from his eyes. "Totally worth it," he said with a content grin as his HP decreased slightly from his dramatic falling entry.
"Where the hell did you come from?!" Kurogane yelled, breaking the silence that had enveloped the motionless group of players. The newcomer raised his hand slowly and then dramatically pointed to a tall tree to the left. Kurogane's jaw dropped when he realised this spearman had fallen at least eight to nine metres. "Who the freakin' hell are you?"
"I am the blade that watches from the dark, the embodiment of justice that hunts down evil wherever it may lurk. Hunter of darkness, envoy of the heavens," the spearman spoke in a melodic tone. All eyes were on him now as his introduction carried on, that red scarf fluttering in the wind. "The name's Hakuya and I'm here to kick your cheating ass," he said with a grin. Chrome watched as Kurogane almost fell over from the cheesy routine.
"W-what… I don't even…," Kurogane stammered, trying to find the words he wanted. He let out an irritated growl and slammed his hammer into the ground. "What the hell do you want weirdo?"
"Like I said, you were about to do something cowardly and I decided to stop you," Hakuya explained, his body completely relaxed, no tension in his muscles.
"Cowardly? Do tell what I was doing," Kurogane said, watching the nonchalant spearman.
"You were going to ambush that sword and shield user there while he was distracted with your axe-wielding buddy there."
"So you thought you'd come interfere and try to stop me?"
"Yeah, I was pretty cool huh?" A huge grin spread across Hakuya's face.
"I'm gonna fucking kill you!" Kurogane roared, raising his hammer and swinging it straight down. There was a large crash and an explosion of debris as the weapon shattered the path where Hakuya had jumped away from.
"Swing a little faster next time, oh and get yourself some mints I think your breath dropped my HP a little," Haukya remarked as he landed in a squat. Kurogane let out another animalistic roar as he charged at Hakuya again. This time the spearman stepped to the side of his opponent's attack before smacking Kurogane on the head with the shaft of his spear.
"Cocky bastard!" Kurogane yelled, as he tried to strike Hakuya with his shield. The spearman jumped back with a small laugh, landing about a metre away. Hakuya chose this time to go on the offensive. He dashed forward and delivered four lighting fast thrusts towards Kurogane.
Even though the hammer user blocked the attacks with his shield, it was enough to stagger him for a few seconds. In those few seconds, Hakuya swept Kurogane's feet out from under him with his spear and then unleashed another volley of thrusts into the larger player's breastplate. Kurogane's HP depleted quickly and as the shaft of Hakuya's weapon smashed into his cheek, said HP bar fell into the red.
"So… is that it?" Hakuya asked, resting the point of his weapon on the bridge of Kurogane's nose. Kurogane growled and pulled out a teleport crystal, quickly muttering the name of a town and disappearing. His allies followed suit seconds later. Chrome and his party watched as Hakuya stood straight up, stretched his back and drove his spear into the ground. He turned to Chrome with a calm smile on his face and leant on his spear. "Well, that was fun wasn't it?"
"Who… are you?" Chrome asked, unsure of any intelligent things to say after witnessing such a display.
"Do we really have to go through that again? I'm pretty sure I was loud enough for you guys to hear," Hakuya commented, flicking his bangs from his eyes elegantly.
"S-sorry, I guess not," Chrome said, sheathing his weapon. Vakross and Kotetsu did the same, all three approaching their saviour.
"Those DGamers sure seemed to have it in for you, what'd you do to them?"
"I may or may not have killed a few of them."
"Yeah that'll do it."
"Thanks for saving us, I didn't even notice that Kurogane guy coming towards me."
"Well you seemed like you were in trouble and what kind of hero of justice ignores someone in need?" Hakuya asked with a grin.
"You're still going on with that hero of justice stuff?" Vakross asked, raising an eyebrow. "I can't tell if you're carefree or a complete idiot."
"Well whatever, I did my job, so I'm outta here I guess," Hakuya said, pulling his spear from the ground and putting it on his back. As he turned away from the party and began to walk away, Arcadia's voice rang out.
"Hey, are you guys okay?" she called, running towards them.
"Well hello," Hakuya said, spinning on one heel. Chrome didn't even have time to blink before the spearman was standing before Arcadia, bowing slightly. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance princess, you may call me Hakuya."
"Yeah, outta my way," Arcadia said, bashing Hakuya aside and running down to Chrome and the others. "What happened here? Are all of you okay?" she asked, glancing between her comrades.
"A group of DGamers attacked us led by some really strong looking guy named Kurogane," Kotetsu explained, looking around at what until just a few moments ago had recently been a battlefield.
"Where are they then? Don't tell me you fought them off," Arcadia said.
"We fought off a few, but that guy showed up and saved us," Chrome explained, motioning to Hakuya. Arcadia turned and the nonchalant spearman waved at her with a happy smile.
"You're kidding right? That guy took down a whole group of DGamers?" Arcadia asked.
"No, he just took out Kurogane, the rest fled when he did," Chrome said.
"Well as long as you're all okay."
"We're fine, don't worry."
The party watched as Haukya approached them, his arms folded. "Well kiddies, I've got monsters to kill and money to earn so I'll be seeing you all later," he said as he neared them. "Especially you," he said, grabbing Arcadia and giving her a quick kiss on the cheek before walking away, leaving the axe-wielding teacher bright red and completely stunned.
"Well, he was… interesting," Kotetsu said before the party began returning to Chrome's house.
"Next time I see him… I'll kill him," Arcadia scowled as she turned and walked away with the others.