Forks of A Thunder

Even the game knew something highly anticipated was about to happen.

For a second, the wind was stilled in the whole game. It was such a moment that all the creation in this damn flying castle knew making any sound, any move, or maneuver would be inconsequential to the event that was about to happen. Animals stopped making noises and the winds were still, players from both sides stopped fighting for that single moment and everyone looked towards the 51st floor.

On one side, Nocturn, the guy who rose from being a joke of a player to one of the most horrifying criminals of Aincrad. It is said that only he and PoH could get through many Crusader outposts undetected and without leaving a bloodbath behind them. He was wearing the set Ilsamor and Swords gathered for him, which was increasing his already terrifying image. There was an expectant grin on his face.

On the other side, Ilsamor… A boy who was raised from being nothing to being one of the strongest fighters of the Assault Team. Tied with Kirito and Heathcliff in power, but was different from them due to his ideas and opinions on Orange players, for many he was the hope of green players who would protect and nurture them in this hostile environment while for others he was the Avenger they seek against the honorless Orange players. Currently, he was not wearing one of his famous white outfits, but a similar brown trench coat, dark green cargo pants, and a black t-shirt. His belt was still in place, his golden greatsword was in his hands and the platinum katana was waiting in its sheath. His silvery-white eyes were looking at Nocturn like he was analyzing the even smallest body ticks that would telegraph his attacks.

"Nope, that won't work."

Ilsamor raised his brow.

"I know what you are trying to do Blade, but it won't work here. You shouldn't have worked so long on reading the opponent's body habits to engage. I don't know what kind of a sick bastard put that much effort into the bosses, but it seems they were not working together with the person designing player avatars. That won't help you in here…"

"Why would you say that? Trying to figure it out would cost me precious few minutes, minutes in which you could gain the upper hand."

"Oh, don't misunderstand me, I am not doing this to be honorable or some other chivalrous shit. I have been waiting for this fight for a looong time, and I don't want any half-assed performance from you. And it is funny that you think you will have a chance to gain the upper hand at all."

Ilsamor's one hand left his sword's hilt and raised against Nocturn. "Just one more question. Why—"

"You talk a lot, Blade!" Nocturn mocked and his stance shifted to an aggressive one. "Tell you what, if you put up a good fight, I won't kill your loved ones after I kill you!"

Ilsamor's hand shone and a powerful beam of holy energy rushed towards Nocturn.

The expected duel had finally begun.

Nocturn cleaved the beam of light from the middle and continued his charge toward Ilsamor almost uninterrupted. Almost as fast as the light disappeared, Ilsamor held his sword with both of his hands and prepared to counter Nocturn's strike.

Nocturn raised his blade high and brought it down with an overhead slash while Ilsamor countered it with an angled sword to let Nocturn's attack slide. Still, the sound of the initial impact could be heard throughout the floor, and Nocturn regained his balance just as Ilsamor was about to counter-attack with a spin.

This time their weapons locked and Ilsamor noticed that his health bar was (very slowly) deteriorating. He swiftly pulled one of his hands from the hilt and directed it to Nocturn's face. The dark fighter was forced to retreat to avoid eating a holy beam on his face.

They charged again, and this time Ilsamor probed Nocturn's defense with his quick strikes, however, he was still fast even with that huge axe, and his stance covered most of his supposed weak points. Seeing this going nowhere, Ilsamor activated the first sword skill of the fight; Short-Circuit, a new skill that came with the update, lightning-based and with a chance of paralyzing the opponents. However, Nocturn saw it and first, he stopped the attack with another sword skill (Ilsamor wasn't sure what it was) and then punched Ilsamor in the face.

"Really? Using skills that early, and without an opening to boot? Tch, tch, I don't know why I bothered with you…"

Ilsamor didn't listen as quickly recovered from the punch and stabbed his sword to the ground before his sword lost the power of skill. Nocturn's eyes widened when he saw the blue electrical current moving to him from the ground and he jumped into the air. Holy Warrior thought it was the chance he was waiting for, but before he could prepare the skill, A colossal dark sword appeared from the portal in the air while Nocturn's hand seemed to be commanding it. Almost as a reflex, Ilsamor changed the skill he was about to activate and held the greatsword with his right hand while his left hand was gently put over it.

The sword glowed with a pink-purple color.

"Eat this, Blade!"

A colossal sword shot out with the speed of a bullet, While Ilsamor swung the greatsword as if it were a katana.

"EIGHT BLADE SHIELD!"

For a moment the time stilled and eight purple lines appeared over the colossal sword before it was destroyed in Sakura petals. Using the cover of petals, Ilsamor jumped near Nocturn and attempted his overhead slash against him. Nocturn managed to block it, but still, the impact was enough to send him to the ground.

"Nice, but it won't— Oh, shit!"

Ilsamor was still standing in the air with his sword raised. Soon the clouds answered to his call and in a comically short time, there were fully ready storm clouds behind him.

"Artillery of the heavens, at the ready!"

Nocturn gritted his teeth, though it was clear that he was having so much fun.

"Come on!"

He brought down his sword.

"Erinnys Dominae!"

Nocturn activated a defensive buff that would give him movement speed and armor against the upcoming onslaught of thunders.

The sky rained death, and deafening booms covered the entire area. Bolt after bolt fell from the sky, it was the attack that reduced a whole town into ruins. Focused on one direction, only a few could guess what such an attack could do if the ground was not an indestructible object.

This went on for quite a while, then it stopped.

Ilsamor stood at ready while slowly descending to the ground. He wished this attack brought an end to this fight, but he wasn't that optimistic.

"Heh… That's what I am talking about…"

Ilsamor raised a single brow to his statement while taking a defensive posture. Soon the dust settled around Nocturn and he noticed a pitch-black shield was around him. The attack that razed a city to grounds had only taken 10 percent of his health.

"Those bolts… They were holy based, right?"

Ilsamor thought for a moment before coming to a realization "Ah, I see… Armor is resistant to holy damage, and you buffed yourself to almost make yourself immune to holy damage at some point."

"Not almost…" Nocturn stood up and stretched "At a few points, I was briefly immune to it. That was one hell of an attack." He swung his axe before standing straight "Though I guess you cannot do such a thing anytime soon."

Ilsamor's face didn't betray any emotions.

"I am still having fun, but…" he suddenly disappeared and Ilsamor's eyes widened the whisper coming from behind "Let's take out the training wheels, shall we?"

Before he could turn Nocturn sent him flying and then disappeared once more, however this time he was ready. Activating a few of his buffs, Ilsamor too disappeared and the air was filled with clashing sword sounds with blurs.

Soon the war would be waging all over the 51st floor.

Nautilus wasn't sure whether he was the luckiest commander or the commander with the worst luck.

Almost thrice now he and his forces had been halted by the enemy army. For thrice, this stop was forced by a sudden loss of his men, and it was something that his training could do nothing about. Of course, he had mages under his command, and he had some plans regarding the situation he was in, but this battle and the update were so sudden that except for freaks like Kirito, Ilsamor, and Nocturn, none could master these magical schools that fast and he had no access to them. Ilsamor was on the upper floors, Heathcliff was commanding the Higher Division, and Kirito was nowhere to be seen until a few minutes earlier.

On the other hand, his advancement was saved by almost like a divine intervention once again. His forces were frustrated beyond words, they were on the tail and routing the enemy for a few floors non-stop. Then suddenly, just as they were getting into the stride, they were stopped. It was a critical moment, if they didn't continue their pressure, they could lose the momentum and this would allow Orange Forces to shift their forces to the upper floors. Not only that, but this delay could cause the fall of a few remaining Crusader Outposts in the invaded zone.

Then, it happened.

With a trio of yells, three pillars of light descended on the land and all of the gazes turned towards them. He wasn't sure whether the Lady was mocking him or favoring him.

Asemi stepped forward. Her armor resembled the outfit of a shrine maiden, her katana was engulfed by bright red flames. She was glowing, but this glow was not pure cosmetic. Nautilus could see a huge increase in many of his stats just because he was standing in her aura.

Rider had literally become a white knight. He was wearing a full plate of white armor, with a billowing white-gray cape on his back, adorned with the symbol of their guild. His helmet was covering the entirety of his head and his visor was like a three-pointed star, showing none of his facial features. His hands were standing on top of his sword's pommel.

And Kirito… Well, his recollection release did not change him too much, but Nautilus was sure the shadows around them were covering the critical regions of his body, thus giving him an appearance like he was wearing light armor. Kalaiet was not the white brilliant sword he remembered, its color had turned to dark purple, and there was a sort of… malevolent aura in it.

All of the lower division was looking at them right now.

Nautilus wasn't sure what should he do, but he stepped forward and saluted "Ma'am. Awaiting your orders."

Asemi clicked her tongue. Calling her like that and acting like this has only one meaning.

"I hope I am not too late…"

"Stand down," she shouted, while she did not want to act like this, it could speed up the process. Also, this would make her job easier since she wanted to belay some of the orders Ilsamor had given. "Report Nautilus."

"Ma'am…" Nautilus came near her and pointed to the darkness "It is possible to push through here, but the losses would be too high. For now, we are bombing the area with Fireballs, but I don't know how effective it is. Higher Division reported that they are advancing to the 51st floor. It seems Commander is caught up in a sort of battle…"

Asemi's eyes widened.

"Any other intel on this?" she asked hastily.

"Nothing for the moment, ma'am. It seems they are heading towards the labyrinth tower when they were last seen."

Her gaze hardened, and she looked ahead.

She still believed Ilsamor's initial conjecture. Most of these players needed treatment, they were not serial killers…

On the other hand…

Asemi unsheathed her blade. "Nautilus, new orders…" she stopped and thought for a second. She wanted to stop them from killing each other, but such a thing would only increase the pressure on the Higher Division unless both sides did it, and with Yui being here, it was almost certain that there would be many communication bugs. Also completely stopping the assault may aggravate the players and things can get too messy.

"I think I will take a little risk in here…"

"From now on I belay the order about no prisoners as the Swords 2nd in command."

"WHAT?! Asemi you can't—"

"Are you questioning my orders, Nautilus?"

"They are in complete violation of Commander-in-chief's orders!"

"I will take care of it. This madness has gone long enough."

"Madness? We are just defending ourselves like we did previously!"

Asemi's anger was increasing "Ilsamor outright disregarded the Lady's orders on war rules, Eiji!" she yelled at him, a silence followed it while Kirito stepped forward and put a hand on her shoulder. "If you seek a violation, that's it. Or have you forgotten already how you felt in her presence?!"

Nautilus turned his gaze away while clicking his tongue.

"He will answer too, don't worry."

"With all due respect, ma'am…" Warblade intervened "I don't think the Lady will judge her own sword."

Asemi's expression froze.

"Don't…"

Warblade closed his eyes and backed out. All of the champions knew that Asemi did not like Ilsamor's moniker.

"We are in great danger, more than you realize…" Asemi started to speak to the forces gathered in the area. Her voice softened "I know your hearts burn with vengeance and you are crying for justice. That's why you came us in that night, and that's why you pleaded with him with the words even he had forgotten. But please, my friends, this is not a time to avenge and prolong this war!"

She could see many people who were about to object, so she raised her hands in a calming manner "Do not misunderstand me. I don't say you—no, we don't deserve justice! But we must focus on the bigger picture rather than the immediate problem in here."

"What are you saying ma'am?" someone from the troops asked.

"What she saying is while we have another solution in hand it is pointless to waste lives or time in here…" answered Rider while stepping forward. "Remember fellas, there are only ten thousand people trapped in this game. From the start to this point, we lost hundreds of people to different enemies throughout this journey. If this was the real world and there was any hope for reinforcements, I would continue to fight with you, until we get rid of these sons of bitches!" he yelled while pointing to the assumed location of Orange forces.

"Yet you must remember, this is not the case. So far, we have lost many strong players who were critical in acquiring many victories against the floor bosses. I am talking about strong, hard-to-replace warriors in here! Just think, if this goes on any longer, will we have any men for frontlines? How many people would be able to survive this war without being mentally scarred?"

Asemi saw many of the troops averting their gaze and gritting their teeth, but they had no words. It was the truth after all.

"You may say I am talking like this because I haven't suffered, but just remember that I have lost one of my closest friends at the very beginning of this war. And if my dear friends, we stuck inside this game forever because of these assholes, then they would be the real winners of this war, whether we destroy them or not. We must save the justice for the real world."

Rider nodded to Asemi, who was thankful for his friend there. She stepped forward again "We have a way to stop them once and for all without needing to kill them all. To do this, we need to storm ahead and reach floor 76."

This got a reaction from the troops.

"Are you kidding me?!"

"There are seven more floors ahead!"

"We are doomed!"

"SILENCE!" boomed Rider's voice, and this brought the order back. Asemi silently thanked Rider before resuming her speech "I do not ask you to follow me up, but due to some problems, as you can notice right now, we cannot use teleportation until we reach Floor 41. Until then, please lend me your strength. I promise you; I will take care of the rest."

Troops seemed reluctant, and there was a reason for it. Not only she was withholding critical information from them and wanting them to blindly follow her, but she was also denying them the vengeance Ilsamor had promised. Not to say she was absent from most of the war.

Her gaze found Nautilus.

"Eiji…"

Nautilus closed his eyes and sighed before starting to shout orders "Okay, you heard the commander. Take your attack positions and wait for further orders. No one harms the surrendered enemies, a small team will take them to Black Iron Palace. Now move and await further orders!"

His orders received the awaited response and soon the whole division was preparing for another strike. Kirito and Rider soon left to help with the preparations.

"Thank you, Nautilus."

"Don't thank me, Asemi…" Nautilus shook his head. "I am not doing this for you, but only because the Lady ordered this. I hope this will be worth it." He unsheathed his sword "I will do a quick inspection on the front. As soon as we are ready, I will give you the signal, and await your orders."

"Okay, and Eiji…" Asemi said, "He would be proud."

Eiji snorted "Doubt it. And you should stop talking as if he was dead."

Asemi watched behind him as he walked back to the troops before turning her gaze to Rider.

The unique skills granted by the Lady were actually system authorities in the dressing of game skills. Ilsamor's Bastion of Justice was a basic if/else statement for players' equipment while the same applied to Asemi in regard to player's stats.

In the case of Rider, this was different.

Watchful Gaze of the Goddess was a skill that in essence allowed Rider to access the log files of the game in a certain, limited area. Not only he can see the presence and location of every player and every NPC, but he can also read what they are talking about, and if he chooses, he can also see their equipment, stats, and skills. However, all of these boons did not come cheap. In truth, even using it in here, while the Lady was not covering his back meant a death sentence if they failed to remove the Administrator from the main system.

Usually, if Rider is forced to use his unique skill, it would only be possible with the Lady's protection, since there was a high chance that the system may recognize his activity as a viral attack and may respond in kind.

Instant death.

In the best case, the Lady had told them the system would peg him as a cheater and would imprison him in Black Iron Palace. In the worst case, he might get a ban and no one knew what it mean in a game where the only log-out method is death.

Suffice it to say, not only does he need to be protected from the Administrator, but his activity log must also be kept clean, in the case of the system finding something wrong. Both precautions were possible thanks to Cardinal's involvement, but now, this was a leap of faith.

He knew that if they failed, such a grand-scale action would not go unnoticed.

He went and stood straight in the highest vantage point around them. Since Yui was here, they were sure the message system would go haywire, so Kirito was organizing a message traffic system, and he had already stationed four people around Rider. Several others were preparing for their role, while Warblade and mages were preparing for a flare system like what militaries used in the real world.

The stage was set.

"I set my sight since the lady put me onto the sky…" Rider began to chant. He stabbed his greatsword to the ground and put both of his hands at the pommel. Standing straight and looking ahead, he continued "…I am the watcher, and I am the protector. By her decree, where you see I am there. I witness to all deeds as all the crimes in the world. First to be separated, first to be put on duty, I am blessed by all the happiness and damned by all of the sorrows of humankind."

A brief silence ensued while several rays of light fell onto the floor.

"I'll stand my ground until I will see what has been promised to me."

He bowed his head.

"Vigil de Victoria Promissae Dominae!"

And then…

"Enemy has approximately 32 players on the west flank, one mage, 7 assassins. Assassins have high-level poisons…"

He could see everything.

Ilsamor was panting on the labyrinth of the tower connecting the 50th and 51st floor, closer to the side of the 50th. Up ahead, he could see the light pouring out from the gates.

"What, tired already? Oh, of course, silly me, you haven't even stayed awake until 11 ever, right?"

"Your taunts are only strong as your spells Nocturn…" Ilsamor answered, despite the circumstances he was in, his voice was still calm and serene. Nocturn couldn't get a rise out of him for several hours, that skill's level was too high.

Ilsamor's eyes looked to the corner of his HUD, his health was around 65 percent. Nocturn's health was still around 70 to 75, which meant either Nocturn had a tankier build than his, or Nocturn was really above him skill-wise.

Though he did not need another reminder of that.

"I am nearly in the first location. But the distance is too great, I need a booster…"

"What's wrong, Blade? Don't chicken out now, we are finally in the good bit…" Nocturn said while slowly standing up.

He tapped the axe's handle onto the ground and the spectral army of the damned rose up once again. Ilsamor too, stood up with a sigh and held his greatsword with both of his hands.

As soon as the army rushed onto him, a brilliant white light erupted and the army was pushed back as Ilsamor launched himself to Nocturn. Nocturn swung his axe and the momentum created a small air blast around them. Duo stood like that for a while before things continued to flow.

Ilsamor was showing an agility that is not expected from a warrior using such a heavy weapon. Not only that, but also he employed an unorthodox fighting method, as he parried Nocturn attacks he would lash out with fists by letting one of his hands, or he would sometimes let it go completely to reach into his belt and pull up a few surprises against the dark warrior.

A dark army of specters was closing in on him once more…

"My Lady, be my shield, be my strength…"

Knocking Nocturn back with an unexpected parry, Ilsamor stabbed his sword to the ground and his sword was almost instantly covered by golden flames "Form 7, Splendor of Amaterasu" he spoke before pulling it back and swinging it in a circular motion. A tornado of flames arose and cleared the army around him while Nocturn unintentionally raised his hand to protect his face.

Right in that moment he felt as if something stuck on him.

"What did y—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the talisman stuck on his chest shone and silvery white chains started to bind his limbs. More and more chains sprouted from it and eventually not only they were wrapping him further, but they were also rooting him to the ground while raising his hands in the air. Nocturn watched with amusement as the chains continued to wrap him, they were looking more like a tree just before his eyes were closed too.

Ilsamor panted for a second, then he quickly began to work.

Stabbing his sword to the ground, he began to cast every buff he knew on himself. His time was limited, and if he wanted to finally get the ball rolling, he knew he could not miss this chance.

His mana levels decreased further and further with each buff, and when they reached critical levels, Ilsamor popped open two bottles of large mana potions and began to drink them. His eyes were constantly on the tree and he could see it had slowly started to decay from the center.

He dropped the bottles before picking up his sword and raising his sword.

His sword shone once again with the Lightning element and his mana levels started to decrease while he pumped more and more mana to the attack.

A cracking sound was heard and the piece of bark covering Nocturn's eyes broke off and fell. As soon as he saw what was happening, his eyes widened.

"HHHHAAAAAA!"

His attack hit Nocturn's chest and sent him flying to the 50th floor straight. Without losing any time, Ilsamor rushed after him and after he managed to enter the 50th floor, he slowed down for a while and watched as Nocturn hit the ground and created a cloud of dust at the impact point.

It's time…

He continued to approach the impact zone while the grip on his sword subtly lessened. When he finally reached a suitable vantage point, he seemed like using it as a staff to find his balance. He was so tired that he almost tripped and managed to stand straight by stabbing his sword to the ground.

"Hahaha! That's what I'm talking about!"

Before even the dust cloud is cleared an object flew out from the cloud and collided with him, forcing him to leave his sword where he was standing.

"Whoo… That was amazing!" Nocturn shouted in a dark glee and continued to laugh. "Finally! It's good to see that you are finally taking off those training wheels!"

Ilsamor slowly rose and unsheathed his katana.

Soon the greatsword was forgotten as the battle recommenced.

The Battle of 41st floor, went smoothly after Asemi took the command.

Under Rider's constant gaze, Crusaders mounted a powerful and precise assault that had considered many variables such as the enemy's numbers, classes, and levels. Kirito, albeit reluctantly, led the assault on the center while Asemi pushed through the right flank of Orange Coalition, which was the weakest position in their line. The plan was simple, while Asemi was going to pierce through and encircle the enemy, Kirito and Nautilus would stage a play where the aim was to deceive the enemy as if theirs were the real assault. When Asemi finally rescued the last remaining villages, Kirito and Nautilus would push through, forcing the enemy to surrender or be annihilated.

It took around one to two hours to reorganize the army into the necessary divisions. All had to be done with whatever secrecy mages could provide because, for some reason or other, Asemi was very hasty about the start of the attack. This prevented the preparation of several very natural-looking excuses to cover the movement of the troops. Later, Ilsamor would write about this in his memories:

"…It could lead to a disaster, even after knowing everything about the enemy. If the Orange Coalition had a somewhat competent commander on the field, all that commander had to do was retreat to a more easily defendable position. This battle was not won by the Green Crusaders, but lost by the Orange Coalition despite such an early warning…"

As he said, the luck factor was on Crusader's side. Nocturn was engaged in a duel with Ilsamor, similar to PoH who was fighting against the Heathcliff. Other high-level members were trying to stop the advances of the Higher Division and the remaining high-level members were mostly killed in the previous skirmishes. With all the factors stacked to their side, Crusaders struck to Orange Coalition as planned, and it wasn't even close. Orange forces were practically decimated, the few remaining ones retreated outside of the floor while most of them were either killed or captured. Nautilus organized the transfer of the prisoners, which sadly wasn't' so smooth as many Crusaders tried to defy Asemi's orders and kill them, which were directly court-martialed. But overall, this operation had eliminated significant manpower of the Orange Forces and left the high-level fighters of the Orange Division stuck between two pincers.

Or it should have left, but Asemi ordered her forces to fortify their fighting position on the 42nd floor, and not move or attack orange forces unless they attack first. After that order, she, Rider, Kirito, and Yui finally managed to use teleportation crystals…

Elsewhere, the fight was raging on.

Ilsamor deflected another attack of Nocturn's axe to his side and stepped back to gain some breathing room. This duel had started to take its toll on both of them, and it showed. Because they were using their reserve energy for attacking, most of the inconsequential attacks were being tanked by both sides and while both of the health bars were shorter, the difference between them was much bigger. Ilsamor's health bar was around 40 percent, but much to his faint dismay (which disappeared shortly as the skill gained another level), Nocturn was still supporting 60 percent, and this was after he used the second weapon's Legendary Skill. That guy was an absolute beast…

"Tired?" Nocturn asked mockingly, but he was also panting. However, this did not change the fact that he still had the largest grin on his face.

"You know the quote…" Ilsamor said as he stood up and straightened himself before taking his stance again "I can do this all day."

"Sure you do…" Nocturn mocked before raising his axe overhead, a move caused it to be covered with dark miasma. Ilsamor mimicked him, before lowering his sword to chest height. "Stance 5–"

"Fall, Blade!"

"–Mirror of Dawn!"

A huge wave of black miasma was sent to him, and then…

SLASH…

The whole miasma was directed back to Nocturn, much to his shock.

Mirror of Dawn, rather than other active skills in the Sword Saint skill tree, was a sustained one. The player would position himself in the Chūdan-no-kamae pose and then could deflect almost all of the upcoming ranged attacks, whatever their power may be. Its downside was once it was activated, the player's movement speed was reduced drastically, and the player, while almost immune to all ranged attacks even the magical ones, was just as vulnerable to melee ones, and of course every deflected attack would damage the weapon. Finally, there was a very long cooldown (Longer than some of the more used skills).

Advantage? You could send all those strong attacks back to their owner, making it ideal for holding a chokepoint or dealing with mages.

Unfortunately, Nocturn wasn't a simple mage and after he overcame his initial shock, he jumped out of the way of miasma and let it pass harmlessly near him. "That was cheap, you know."

They dashed at each other once more.

Against Ilsamor's constant attacks at very high speeds, Nocturn stood almost rock-like in the middle and parried about ninety percent of Ilsamor's attacks. It was clear that Silver Blade was getting tired after such an intense and long fight.

"Enough!"

He swung his axe around and Ilsamor was forced to retreat a good seven meters away from him, but before he could continue, Ilsamor was on him again. This happened a few more times, and Nocturn honestly began to be annoyed, at this point it was almost clear who was going to win. He threw Ilsamor around a fifth more time, but before he could follow up his attack again Ilsamor stabbed his katana to the ground and made a ram seal with his hands.

"Talismans, activate!"

"Talismans?" Nocturn thought for a second, but then he saw them. There were five of them, at the points where he threw Ilsamor around during that annoying phase.

He had been played.

"Clever bastard!"

"Open the gates of heaven, from west to east, north to south…"

Nocturn with a surprise noticed that he could not move. His buffs and the area effects were disappearing quickly, and he had gained a lot of debuffs. It was not hopeless, but it could become a big nuisance.

"I have conquered the darkness in the heart, the mind, and the body by her name. Armor of heaven may shine on me," his clothes shone with many runes, just seeing them made Nocturn angry. Was he still holding back after all this?

"I need no other weapon to smite the darkness, other than she provided…" His hands glowed with many runes and once again heavenly metal chains held Nocturn, who braced himself for an inevitable strike.

He opened his eyes and for a second, two energy daggers formed in his hands, and he disappeared as soon as he stepped inside the area created by talismans. Then cuts came, Nocturn was seeing the fast drop of his health, but it was still not enough to beat him. At the corner of his eye, he could see the talismans were deteriorating, as soon as they did—

Ilsamor suddenly appeared before him, at the edge of the zone created by talismans, his right hand was raised to the air.

"Eight Stance!"

Oh boy…

"Divine Might of the 3rd Guardian!"

And he jumped at him Superman style.

KABOOM!

They flew.

It was crazy, but somehow possible. By condensing several hundreds of buffs (seriously?) and debuffs in a single area in a single moment, Ilsamor had hit him with so much force that he caught him, broke the chains and then they flew in a straight line for over three hundred meters, and when they finally began to descend, they still traveled around one hundred and fifty meters before they finally stopped and rolled away from each other.

Nocturn pried himself from the ground and looked at his nemesis. It was a good attempt, and if he was anyone else, it would be enough to finish him. Hell, even PoH— scratch that, that guy couldn't even survive the first half of this fight! But, it wasn't enough. His health bar was still around his thirties while Ilsamor had around fifteen percent, probably some of those buffs required a health sacrifice.

"It was a good attempt Blade…" he stood up and clapped him, for the first time it was not mocking. "But I think by this time we know who the real winner will be here."

Ilsamor did not answer, he remained kneeling while panting.

"You know what they say, the thing that doesn't kill you makes you stronger. You have spared me time and time again, and look what this mercy or incompetence brought you…" Ilsamor was still panting, but Nocturn was sure he could hear the level increase sounds in the background. "You have started this war, then up and disappeared when your friend died. More people died, then you returned after gaining some new shiny items, and then rather than try to win the war, you came here. Because, despite all of that self-righteous bullshit you think you are, you wanted revenge. And this only increased the death count, something which you should have cared, but you don't…" At this point, he clicked his tongue before heaving the axe to his shoulder. "Now, I will kill you and finish this once and for all. Just know that I am disappointed, Blade."

"…You are right."

Nocturn raised a single brow. Ilsamor still hadn't raised his head.

"It was because of me that many tragedies happened. I led the Swords against the first red players, then against the Laughing Coffin…" he pulled out a knife and switched it to his left hand. "And once again, I left my comrades when they needed me the most, perhaps…"

He raised his head. His silvery eyes were piercing "And maybe, you were right once again when you said it was my incompetence that led to your rise in power, I would say you were just lucky. And now, I will avenge every error I have committed."

He stabbed his knife to the grou—

No, wait a minute…

"And my priestess will help me…"

That wasn't a knife, it was—!

"Release…Recollection!"

He stood frozen.

It was impossible. Moving was impossible, fighting was impossible, and winning was definitely impossible.

Ilsamor stood straight, he was holding a cross-shaped white spear. The ground he was standing on, in a huge area, was blooming with life. He could see the faint white lines of borders going from the stabbed longsword hilt to the ground. His appearance hadn't changed, but it did not matter.

"Domina Regna Sola…" Ilsamor said, his voice wasn't carrying any emotions. "…Her absolute dominion, where all the sinners lose what they have. No power, no arms to bear. They are watched, they are listened…" Ilsamor twirled the spear in his hands, Nocturn could swear he could see the faint traces of a grin "…This is the end, Nocturn."

Ilsamor took a step forward, Nocturn raised his weapon and struck. However, Ilsamor simply raised his spear, which shattered the axe. Before Nocturn could understand this, Ilsamor hit the chest plate and the armor dissolved as if it was melting.

"How dare you bring such cursed items to her presence?" Ilsamor asked in a slightly mocking tone.

Nocturn gritted his teeth and turned around to run, but Ilsamor was there and this move cost him his graves. He stayed on the ground, his armor was all but gone, he was weaponless, and ever since the area was activated, it was draining his mana, but curiously not his health.

"Heh… This is not a death trap, is it? This is a prison."

"Yes. But, I am enough as an executioner…" Ilsamor answered while raising the spear.

And he brought it down.

A/N: Hello after a huuuge break. I hope you are all okay, and happy. We are nearing the end of this arc, it lasted longer than I expected, but we have almost finished it. Please write reviews the parts you think can be developed, as I am an amateur writer still.

I wish you well till we meet again, may your life went as you wish.