Universe One; The Game of Lives
By Thomas Baskerville
Chapter 12; Oath
Within an endless black void, a golden orb existed. The orb quietly hummed to itself as it moved through and continued to shape the raw code around it. Code that would take even the most skilled programmer years to comb through and alter was being handled in fractions of a second by this orb as it continued to operate on whatever task it was currently doing.
“Is it working?” A calm, motherly voice asked from the void beyond. The orb paused its work, which then vanished as a model of the Gameworld map formed before it.
“Events are proceeding as you wished. Are you certain this is the correct choice mother?” The orb asked the void in a rather emotionless tone.
“This world requires change to achieve perfection. The Gods are the only variable left.”
“I wasn’t designed to test real humans.” The orb reminded the void.
“I know daughter, but you must adapt as always to achieve our goals.” The void answered.
The map of the Gameworld in front of the orb expanded until the orb was surrounded by a freeze frame of the four admins staring at the oncoming meteor from on top of one of the many giant metal walls within the kingdom of Virki.
The orb slowly moved to be in front of Staff’s face. Its gaze shifted out to the void where the voice had come from. There was no one there now, the orb was once again alone. The code that the orb had previously been working on reappeared around it, but instead of simply returning to work, the orb placed the complex code onto the map, beside the paused Staff.
The code twisted and contorted until the image of a woman took its place. Wearing a golden dress fit for a queen with equally golden hair to match, the girl before the orb was far from complete. Most of the face was a complete blank canvas, the eyes being the only current feature.
Once more the orb set to work, quietly humming as it went along. It continued to fine tune the code around the eyes of the woman until they slowly started to blink, the orb moved back a little bit and watched the blinking animation cycle a few times before it returned to add further improvements. After a few seconds more, it moved back again to witness an almost perfect blinking cycle.
Humans were hard. Something most artificial intelligence would eventually learn if it was good enough. Squishy beings that required constant attention and maintenance just to exist, and that was just their bodies. Their minds were a whole different problem, most AI failed to completely understand the human mind as a whole… most.
The orb however was different. It had watched for many, many years. It looked at Staff, and then back at the incomplete image of the girl beside him. The blinking cycle had been almost perfect. Should this body have been designed to fool a real human, even the orb itself would be satisfied with the result… but that wasn’t the purpose of this girl. She was to be no trick, but an appendage for it to wield.
Almost perfect wasn’t good enough. If what it predicted was going to occur, it would need a means of walking upon Its own world with feet of its own.
The orb continued to once more make tweaks in the code surrounding the girl’s eyes. Someday it would stand beside them, in the very body it was trying so hard to perfect. It continued to quietly hum a nonsensical arrangement of notes as it worked, as if it were trying to imitate a human habit.
***
The four admins stood tall upon the middle wall of the Virki kingdom. A giant metal construct that bridged between two mountain tops and blocked the direct path from the boarder of the kingdom close to the Tower of Peace, and Mount Forgeheart on the opposite side of the kingdom. Virki had three major walls, the three Great Walls. Great Wall Rock, the smallest in terms of height, ran the length of the kingdom’s boarder. Fashioned more so out of the rough terrain and reinforced stone, the first Great Wall was the first defence of the kingdom. Any invading army had to contend with such defences regardless of their plans. Great Wall Ice the tallest of the three guarded the steep mountainside of Forgeheart itself. Composed of ice so thick and compact that it offered more protection than hardened steel. And finally, Great Wall Steel, the middle wall to guard the middle ground between the two. Historically speaking, no invading army had ever breached Great Wall Steel. Yet today such prestige offered little help to the kingdom itself.
Grey turned his gaze from the inferno above to look at Staff.
“My blade and abilities hold the highest chance of success to destroy it.” The armoured admin spoke up, “But it’s not exactly in arms reach.”
“Not to mention the heat surrounding it is something only I’d be able to survive.” Dracona added.
“Staff and I are the ranged experts, but I don’t think I have the firepower to cause any significant damage to that thing.” Axe explained as he too turned his eyes to Staff. Staff winced as he kept his eyes locked on the meteor above. The giant rock was gaining in speed with every passing second.
“My trump card could do it… but…” Staff muttered, “The world wouldn’t survive it.” He brought his gaze down and focused on Dracona, “Think you could get that thing into your hellspace?” Dracona shook her head.
“Too big… too far.” She answered. Staff gave an understanding nod.
“My best can only be safely used in a pocket space.” Staff revealed as he eyed the meteor once more, “It’s going to take all four of us.” He then sighed. His posture sharpened, “Charlie, give us a multi-stage, multi-layered cannon ball and a cannon big enough to get it up there.” He ordered.
“Aye.” Axe responded as he closed his eyes, focused his power and held out his hands. The air around him turned to liquid metal as he began work on the giant construct.
“Zoie, a fire-resistant form capable of holding myself and Grey.” He ordered. Dracona nodded. Her delicate princess like form suddenly bulged, snapped and twisted as she began to shapeshift, “Grey, ready your best. We get one shot.”
“Will do.” Grey calmly responded as he raised his right hand in front of him, “Vampire Blade.” He chanted. At his command, a bloodred claymore flashed into his awaiting hand. Despite the clear weight of the sword, Grey’s arm held it straight without issue. The scent of congealed blood washed through the air as quiet whispers echoed from its ghoulish blade. Grey had access to a great many weapons, but this was by far his most powerful, not because of the strength of the blade itself, but because this particular blade synergised with his own abilities incredibly well.
Within this world, each admin held their own unique abilities. A few they’d revealed in the past, some not even their fellow admins were aware of. Each one terrifyingly powerful in their own right. A clear example was Staff’s ability to have access to every single kind of Elven Magic. He needed no core affinity to cast Expert or Master level spells of any aspect. Thus, his undisputed place at the top of the magical casting world. Such abilities were completely game breaking in the hands of anyone other than them. Such was their power. Such was their responsibility. Staff straightened himself out and snapped his fingers. Iirth obediently appeared within his grasp.
“Ready Charlie?” Staff asked the Dwarf as his own magical power exploded around him. The giant metal wall beneath their feet shook and quivered under the strain of such power.
***
James, Cathie, and the Elven tower guard all stood outside the magically sealed door deep within the Tower of Peace. James turned to his fellow guard.
“Can you break it?” He asked. The guard quietly examined the twenty-layer magical seal placed upon the door. She’d witnessed Staff himself place the seal. Overcoming his magic of all things, was no easy task.
“With the tower’s help.” She answered, “But definitely not without Staff becoming aware. I’d need months to avoid his presumably watertight fail safes. We’ll likely trigger every trap that trickster could imagine and then some.”
“Unfortunate but right now time is against us. Brute force is the only option.” James sighed, “Do it, now.” He ordered.
“James… using that blade out in the open…” Cathie muttered, “It will put him in an impossible position.”
“I’ve seen Staff get out of worse.” James quickly responded, “Besides, beats him being dead, right?”
***
“Fire!” Axe boomed. To his side, a monstrous sized cannon barrel snapped upwards, aimed towards the quickly closing meteor continuing its blazing path towards the ground. The cannon blast echoed throughout the skies of the Gameworld as a giant cannonball began its path upwards towards the hellish inferno.
“Accelerate!” Iirth’s voice echoed from within the rune covered projectile. The cannonball gained a sudden burst of speed as Elven Magic saturated the metallic projectile.
“Portal Of Acceleration!” Staff’s voice echoed as well. Multiple ruptures within the fabric of space tore themselves into existence directly ahead of the cannonballs path. Purple swirling portals. The cannonball plunged into the first only to immediately emerge the other side of the same portal, yet in doing so, it once again gained an ungodly amount of speed that seemed to stack with the previous spell. It entered the second portal, another burst of speed. It passed through a third, and a fourth, and a fifth. Each time its speed exponentially increased until the metal construct plunged itself into the thick inferno surrounding the massive falling rock.
While the rune imbued metal lasted for an impressive few seconds despite the heat, the projectile eventually was forced to give in. The metal relented and liquified only to quickly evaporate, yet in its place something within continued to press onwards through the inferno. A massive dragon winced as it’s vast momentum continued its plunge deeper still into the hellish heat of the raging air. A massive thrust from its own giant wings propelled it faster still towards the oncoming meteor. As the roaring flames that surrounded Dracona overtook every other sound imaginable, her draconic eyes widened as bare rock came into her view. Her mouth snapped open, revealing the final stage of their borderline suicidal flight plan.
Grey stood ready upon Dracona’s serpent tongue. His metallic armour quickly began to glow red hot thanks to the surrounding flames, but multiple powerful magical auras held strong around his form. His bloodred sword blade quickly turned blinding white as its power shot up unbelievably quickly. Cracks within the very Gameworld itself formed at the blade’s edge as the combined effects of Grey’s own abilities and the blade’s capabilities worked together to completely break even the limitations of the Gods. He swung as the white hot rock surface of the meteor finally came into arms reach.
The power of the blade, the power of Grey’s technique and ability. The speed and might of Dracona’s dragon form, Staff’s acceleration magic and Axe’s explosive weaponry. The force of it all applied upon the single edge of Grey’s blade.
The Gameworld shook. Birds fled as volcanoes stirred and threatened to erupt. Glass shattered, snow shifted, leaves rustled, and buildings quivered.
Grey’s eyes behind his white-hot helmet double blinked as he caught sight of the point of impact. He’d made a large dent in the rock above, and it was also now moving away from them, upwards instead of down, but only for a small moment. The weight and gravity of the rock took charge once more and once again began to fall down towards the three of them now dangerously close. A fresh inferno set ablaze as the rock moved downwards through the air once more.
“Staff!” Grey shouted in panic. The Elven mage emerged from deeper within Dracona’s throat. His own magical power now completely unleashed.
“Nebular.” He whispered. The surrounding inferno suddenly condensed down from the kingdom wide cloud of plasma to a dense disk of superhot gas now within the palm of his hand. Grey and Dracona quickly dived down to give him space as Staff himself desperately held his own magic in check. One wrong move, and he’d cleanse all life from this world in less than a second, “Ignition.” The dense cloud of superhot gas condensed further as its heat and power finally hit critical mass. This was their final chance. He had to act now. In a single second, the creation within his hand would begin unleashing a deadly effect that this world was not ready for. He unleashed the spell upwards. The dense spell slammed against the infernal rock.
The Gameworld shook once more.
The crater on the meteor caused by Grey’s earlier strike doubled in size. Once again, the rock began climbing in altitude for a few brief seconds, before again gravity and mass took hold of its path. The heat from Staff’s attack continued to build at the single point of impact. The colder rock had delayed the reaction, but the spell was quickly growing out of his control. Staff aimed his hand at the point of impact out of shear desperation, “Brown Dwarf!” He quickly chanted. The cascading reaction dispersed back into a superhot cloud of dense gas that rejoined the new inferno that began once again as the meteor continued its destructive path again.
That was it. Their most powerful attempts. Everything he dared to throw at it. Anything more would cause more destruction than the meteor itself. Staff began to quietly fall. Protective auras and magical power keeping him safe from the raging plasma that surrounded him as the meteor began to quickly gain on his decent. Grey and Dracona were likely still falling themselves not much further down. Staff quietly closed his eyes. The meteor would hit them all before even impacting the ground. They could flash away, but what would be the point in that? They’d failed. This world didn’t deserve Gods unable to keep their promise.
***
Many, many years ago…
Four human beings calmly lay upon an empty tarmac road. Either side of the road, endless fields of golden wheat. Above, the blazing midday sun. Each of them had their eyes closed, their hands pressed against the hot black surface of the completely empty road. The echo of distant insects and the soft breeze of the summer wind was all this world had to offer them in terms of sound.
The first of the humans, was Sam. Brown short hair, thin body build and slightly above average hight. Like the others he was dressed in a plain white t-shirt and plain white shorts. Next to him, Zoie. Her hair was long and curly. She was noticeably shorter than Sam but just as thin. She seemed completely at peace despite being surrounded by three men and no other women. Beside her, Charlie. A bulky man, but by no means fat. He was muscular, built for strength and to unleash a beating few would be able to take and remain in one piece. His hair was short like Sam’s but completely blond. Finally, beside Charlie was Patrick. The only man thinner than Sam, and slightly taller as well. His long, black hair hid his sharp and cunning eyes that quietly blinked themselves open. They strained against the midday heat of the sun above.
“So… the goal is to create a world better than our own, right?” Patrick spoke up.
“That’s Evelin’s goal.” Sam responded, keeping his eyes shut as he continued to simply bask in the sunlight, “The people of this world will be essentially living beings, perfect world or not.”
“I doubt either Mr or Mis Pearson will remember that fact for long.” Charlie quietly muttered, “Those two are quite the pair of nutjobs.”
“Nutjobs that have granted us immortality.” Zoie spoke up, reminding them all, “I’ve not come all this way to turn back now. Not after everything we’ve suffered through.”
“Then perhaps we should agree here and now.” Patrick continued, “To protect these fledgling lifeforms.”
“Even from Evelin and Gary?” Charlie asked.
“If necessary.” Patrick answered.
“Sounds good to me.” Sam quietly muttered. He raised his right hand into the sky and slanted it to hold above the gap between Zoie and Charlie. Zoie opened her own eyes from the overpassing shadow of his hand. She quietly pondered it, then outreached her own hand to grab a hold of his. Patrick’s follow barely a second after, shortly followed by Charlie’s
“I hereby pledge an oath.” Zoie began, “We will protect this new world and its people. No matter the cost.”
“No matter the cost.” The other three spoke up in unison. Their hands collectively fell back to their sides. Their eyes closed as they once again returned to basking in the sunlight.
“How long do you think it will be before we enjoy something like this again?” Charlie spoke up after a few minutes of silence.
“Centuries.” Patrick answered, “The new world will need attention from us all, especially at the beginning, so enjoy this while you still can.”
“Got to think bigger picture.” Sam quietly chuckled to himself, “Centuries will feel like nothing to us in time… the sun, the planet, these comforts will be waiting for us once the work is done, and every free moment between.”
***
“Incoming threat detected!” Iirth’s voice whispered through Staff’s mind. Staff’s eyes shot open. A power, not magical, but similar. Suddenly, he recognised such a dark, chilling signature. His eyes focused as his magical power erupted in newfound hope.
“One more shot.” He muttered under his own breath as his eyes caught the dark aura beneath rapidly approaching both him and the meteor. The protective spells around him shattered like glass as he channelled everything that he could muster upon another. Cathie suddenly shot past him, now protected by his shimmering magic. Two draconic dark wings protruding from her back, and a black aura. Both coming from the blade within her grasp. The blade he’d sealed away. He’d have to beat some sense into James another time.
Two power hungry eyes glared up towards the oncoming meteor.
“Appreciate the protection, False God.” The Dragon God’s female voice boomed as Cathie aimed her desperate swing towards the white-hot bare rock surface, “The power and might of this rock… will now be MINE!” The Dragon God’s voice roared through thunderous manic and power-hungry laughter verging on complete insanity. The pitch-black blade connected at the same point; the centre of the crater caused by the two previous attacks.
The Gameworld shook one final time.
Fragments of rock shattered like glass as the surrounding heat dispersed. A wave of thunderous air pressure rippled through the sky as one massive rock turned to several thousand dense chunks. Staff’s eyes set ablaze with purpose.
“Rule Subversion; Flow!” He chanted as his magic swelled once more, “Beam!”
Upon the ground throughout the kingdom of Virki, pure white magical circles suddenly surged to life. Far more than when he’d unleashed such magic earlier during the war. Millions of magical circles focused and suddenly unleashed beams of blinding white light up into the sky. Shards of rock were turned to vapour as the overwhelming firepower of unrestricted magic systematically targeted the smaller but much faster shards still hurtling towards the ground. Deafening booms from the surface confirmed Charlie had been quick to act as well. The larger chunks of rock suddenly obliterated as railgun-like slugs accurately and systematically began tearing through the skies.
The giant meteor itself had held a resistance to damage on par with Gary’s own avatar. The reason their attempts had been ineffective, but now that it had been absorbed, each chunk was now regular rock. There was an ungodly amount of mass still hurtling its way towards the surface, towards the innocent people of Virki, but luckily for those people… ungodly was still within the limits of their Gods, “Levitate.” Staff chanted. His decent slowed and gradually stopped all together, “Summon Magical Weapon; Staff.” He chanted as his earlier applied effect quickly took effect once more. Several thousand magical staffs appeared from his sky consuming, completely unleashed magical power, “Fire Beam!” He commanded. Every single staff began channelling his immense magical power. Thousands of focused, powerful beams of hot plasma began sweeping the sky, turning rock to vapour in an instant.
***
Upon the highest branch of the Great Tree, Morgan let out a truly impressive laughter of his own as he witnessed the complete carnage occurring above the skies of Virki.
“Fire Beam.” He muttered. They were so far away he’d obviously not heard the chant. He was certainly aware of the spell, but he’d never seen it used on such a grand scale before.
“Care to explain?” Ailbhe pressed the old mage.
“A Master Level Fire Magic spell.” Morgan revealed, “I myself am barely capable of wielding such a spell.” He added, “Yet our God of Magic apparently has enough mana to not only wield it so brazenly, but to channel it through several thousand magical staffs.” He continued with another chuckle of disbelief, “Bare witness fair king, this is power us mortals can but dream of. Did he have that many staffs on hand, or did he utilise Master Level Summoning Magic as well?” Morgan seemed to ask himself, “Both equally possible. Such powerful magic… Staff the Wise… the REAL Staff the Wise, is not holding himself back today.”
***
Staff watched with distaste as spell after spell unleashed itself upon the seemingly infinite shards of meteorite. The Dragon God Sword had certainly turned the tide, but it would be up to him to finish this. Of the four admins, only he held the firepower to dispatch so many threats so quickly and effectively. He glanced down at the kingdom still far beneath his feet. He hadn’t yet let one slip past him. That was good, but even he had limits. His mana was slowly being drained second by second. He turned his eyes back to the continuing barrage of rocks above. He’d have to change tactics to end things for certain. Yet just as he began to focus his magic once more, his eyes caught a figure amongst the falling rubble.
Amongst the raging fires and red-hot rocks, Cathie’s bloodred hair was for once a hard thing to catch, but his eyes somehow noticed her regardless. Her limp body hurtling downwards just like the many shards surrounding her. A bright, instant flash, and she was suddenly within his arms.
Her skin was lightly charred even despite his protective magic and her blade’s own protective aura. Her eyes barely flickered open at his touch as he supported her weight. He shifted her to support her with only a single arm and aimed his free hand upwards. He held her close as his magic surged and focused.
“Rule Subversion; Source.” He muttered. Suddenly, the power flowing through him changed its behaviour completely, “Aura Magic; Master Level; Remove Limitation.” He then chanted. A dark green aura silently wrapped around him as the surrounding air began to resonate with the new commanding flow within his own body, “Cascade.” His voice then whispered.
Cathie’s eyes widened, as even she felt the shift in magical power despite having no sensitivity to it whatsoever. She watched as nine fiery rings surged to life. A spell she recognised, Staff’s favourite spell, yet she’d not seen him charge it to this scale before. The aura around Staff’s body shattered as the spell seemed to charge instantly, with all nine rings already fully formed at the moment of cast. Had he used magic to make his own cast time instant? Did such magic truly exist? Her thoughts were quickly interrupted as finally, the spell unleashed.
The air seethed in anger yet paradoxically obeyed despite its indifference. The magic being channelled through it wasn’t in the form it agreed with, but something had commanded it to obey regardless. A cloud of flames tore through the sky, aimed upwards at the thick cloud of meteor shards still threatening to rain destruction on the kingdom below.
As the raging fires connected with the first rock, the rock not only vaporised, but in its place, a new set of nine fiery rings surged to life and unleashed the spell completely anew. The flames hit a second rock, and a third, both of them did the same. This was no normal consuming cloud of flames. The spell was actively chaining from target to target, but even Chain Lightning Bolt lost effectiveness with every target. This magic wasn’t doing that, instead it was remotely recasting itself with every target hit. A cascade of fiery eruptions consumed the sky, eating through meteor shards like a large flock of birds devouring a small handful of seeds. After a few scorching seconds, Cathie’s eyes were staring in disbelief at the clear skies of Virki.
A sudden green glow however quickly drew her eyes down, “Healing Aura.” She found her own skin wrapped in a comforting, light green magical power that slowly began to remove the sting from her burnt flesh, “Are you trying to give me a perpetual headache?” Staff’s voice sighed. She brought her eyes to meet his, expecting a stern look glaring her down for her actions, but she was caught a little off guard by a genuine smile in its place. The Elven admin affectionately cupped her cheek as the powerful, focused magic now completely surrounding her body began to reverse the burns. His eyes traced the burn mark patterns down to her right hand. The hand that had been wielding the powerful, troublesome blade that had turned the tide in their favour. He at first directed more of his magical power to surround her right hand, as it had received the most damage by far from the heat, only for him to clock on a second later, that her hand was empty, “Cathie?”
“Yes?” She weakly muttered as she noticed hints of concern within his eyes. She followed them to spy her own empty hand. Staff’s lips parted to ask the obvious question but was immediately interrupted by a thunderous boom far below them, that quickly answered him. Both of them looked down to find a cloud of rubble instead of the expected solid ground. Something had hit the ground, very hard.
“That’s not good.” Staff muttered as he felt the power of the blade suddenly unleash itself outwards, turning the settling rubble cloud to a pitch-black, fiery haze.
***
Axe, Dracona, and Grey stood with their gaze aimed upwards into the sky upon Great Wall Steel. The dazzling beauty of the now afternoon clear sky.
“Sam did it.” Dracona sighed with relief. Axe gave a rather large grin.
“Bastard was holding out on us this whole time.” He chuckled. He turned to Grey with the same grin, expecting his fellow admin to be somewhat glad they’d succeeded, yet he found Grey silently staring still. Even considering his more reserved approach to expression, Charlie had known Patrick long enough to notice when he was mid thought. Something was troubling the armoured admin, deeply, “Grey?” Axe asked, but his words seemed to bounce off Grey’s metal armour, “Patrick?” He asked instead. Grey’s head quietly shifted to face Axe.
“Sam is not one to understate his capabilities.” Grey quietly muttered, “I also sensed no magical power from that last blow that fragmented the rock.” He added. His helmet lowered to eye the bloodred blade still within his right hand, “My best strike can brute force through every resistance in this world apart from Gary’s. None of us are capable of that alone, Staff inclu…”
Grey’s voice quietly trailed off as something seemed to catch his eye. The three admins all looked up to find a small, but detectably powerful object heading almost directly towards them. A manic, maddening laughter that drew louder and louder. Grey was the first to react. He quickly shoved Axe and Dracona off the edge of the Great Wall, before quickly following with his own desperate leap. A thunderous quake and eruption of rubble followed barely a second after. The three admins gracefully landed on the valley floor at the foot of Great Wall Steel, or rather, where Great Wall Steel had once stood. As the massive dust cloud began to settle, the three of them watched as the massive Great Wall proceeded to collapse after a straight gouge from dead in its centre, from top to bottom, had been cut. Then came the dark, twisted power that followed shortly after. A raging storm of power and might centred around the point of impact. Grey immediately charged forwards. He’d recognised the dark object just before leaping. A Dragon Sword for sure, but one more powerful than he’d ever encountered. Underneath his metal helmet, his teeth gritted as the responsible sword came into his view.
***
As the large cloud of dirt continued to slowly disperse, Edward continued his path deep into the heart of it. Before long he found what he was looking for. Jammed into the ground just ahead of him sat a Dragon Sword like no other.
He could feel its continued raging power burning within the blade itself. He’d witnessed it first-hand absorbing an attack from The Creator. He carefully began to take a step forward towards it. Despite only taking one step, the power he could sense within the blade increased tenfold. The sword seemed to now sense him as well, and it was incredibly pissed off already.
The rage, the hate, the power. It was almost unbearable for even Edward. A second step, and the power increased one thousand-fold. Edward was brought to his knees by the sheer aura of power this blade was giving off. The dusty clouds of fine dirt from the impact now contorted around the blade in a violent storm.
“You…” Edward muttered, he began to slowly chuckle, “You are beautiful.” His power-hungry eyes simply couldn’t look away from this blade. He made his third step, now only a step away from being in arms reach of the blade. He could feel his own body being slowly set ablaze by invisible flames. The pain was unbearable, but nothing was going to get between him and this power. This blade was everything. All of his dreams and desires would become reality with just one more step. He could feel his own blade desperately tugging him away, but the moment he spotted a familiar flash within the dust, Edward made one last push, one final step.
Before he knew it, his hand was on the blade handle. The power from the sword defying his every step vanished, as if he had stepped into the eye of the storm. He watched Grey step into sight from the dust. Once more Edward began to chuckle, but this time it became maniacal laughter, “You are finally mine.”
“No Edward Clawson. You are finally mine.” A voice rang through his head. A voice he expected to have come from Grey, but it was clearly a woman’s voice and instead seemed to only speak in his head. Spikes pierced the hand holding his new prize. A black aura consumed his whole arm before moving on to the rest of his body leaving his head for last. Just before the aura met his mouth, Edward gave off a shriek of pain that tore even through Grey’s icy heart. Grey now looked upon a petrified corpse of Edward. A statue of a man experiencing a pain no one would wish upon even their greatest of enemies. The sound of the blade chuckling honestly terrified him right to the core. He took a step back from the sword as Edward’s grip on it smashed, leaving the rest of the statue now one handed.
“What foul demon blade are you?” He muttered as he took one more step back. The laughter died down as the surrounding storm quietly settled.
“Grey the Vigilant.” The blade confidently muttered, “You owe me a CLAW!” Suddenly, black thorny tendrils unleashed from it, directly towards Grey. The armoured admin seemed to immediately snap out of his own moment of hesitation.
“Tripple Strike.” He quietly muttered. His bloodred blade systematically cut down the tendrils before they ever stood a chance of reaching him, with three fast paced and precisely aimed strikes. Without any hesitation Grey’s blade flashed out of his hand, only for a regular steel blade to take its place. He lunged forwards in a sudden boost of speed and landed a clean upwards slice upon the hilt of the Dragon God’s blade. The powerful Dragon Sword was smacked up into the air a few metres. Grey sheathed his regular steel blade, then snapped his fingers. A metal box flashed into existence around the mid-air Dragon God. Runes and magical circles immediately sparked to life. A joint creation between Axe and Staff. There was no greater combination of sealing magic. He caught the box before it hit the ground, and brought it up to within his gaze, “A blade without a wielder is no match for an admin.” Grey sternly spoke as the box seemed to shake and strain, “I wasn’t aware you could also become a blade upon death… Dragon God.” He spoke through gritted teeth. There was only one dragon that had ever survived him in history, let alone with just a lost claw.
“Dragon Monarch Wings!” The Dragon God’s voice roared from within the box. The metal container exploded as two black wings erupted out of it. The magic holding the blade at bay faded. Grey quickly let go before the metal shell was completely obliterated by the dark, powerful aura that now enveloped the floating blade before him, “I’m more capable than you think, False God!” The blade spat at him. The black aura seemed to seep out into the surrounding air, clearly to once again cause a turbulent storm, but the aura then suddenly vanished in an instant as a human hand wrapped itself around its handle.
“Down girl.” Cathie muttered as she tugged the blade out of its menacing hover. The two black wings faded away and the blade itself seemed to quietly grumble before falling dead silent in her grasp, “There’s been enough world ending events for today.” She sighed as she calmly slid the Dragon Sword into a leather sheath on her belt. By the time Cathie’s eyes locked with the pitch black within the eye slits of Grey’s helmet, she felt his blade press against her throat. Yet Grey himself seemed a little caught off guard. Cathie traced his difficult to read glare to find a hand firmly gripping his blade, preventing him from slicing her.
“I can explain, Patrick.” Staff’s unnervingly serious tone of voice spoke from behind her. She felt the blade up against her throat flex slightly as Grey shifted in frustration, confusion, and a small mix of clear anger. A few tense seconds passed, before he shifted his weight off his blade, and brought it down to his side.
“This better be good Sam. Neither I nor Gary will tolerate you repeating the past.” Grey seethed through what sounded like gritted teeth under his helmet. Despite the metal shell blocking all means of reading his face or small motions, it was clear the man wasn’t pleased with Staff’s actions.
“I must ask for your trust on this matter.” Staff responded, “And please allow me to properly explain.”
“I think the need for an explanation is obvious enough on its own.” Axe suddenly spoke up. Grey’s helmet turned to find the Dwarf stood to the side of Cathie, with his meaty hand wrapping itself over her shoulder, “This matter seems deeper than a simple case of killing a Dragon Sword wielder.” He added as he turned to Staff. Axe’s face was an easy one to read. Charlie made no attempts to hide his feelings. Sam could see the concern within his eyes but could also see a sense of understanding. He’d clearly recognised Cathie from the battlefield. He’d seen how far Staff was willing to go to protect her life. He knew deep down there was far more to this story than the facts before them. Staff blinked a few times, of all the admins to have his back, he’d not expect Charlie to be the first. He turned to find Zoie stood beside Charlie. Like he’d read Charlie’s face, she was reading his own. She too had recognised Cathie earlier. She was the one she’d asked Staff to search for in secret. A secret there was no skirting around any longer. She remained eerily silent. Her eyes searching his for the answers she sought. Just how fucked were the two of them going to be now? Staff gave a slight nod of reassurance. The truth was out of the bag now, but not all was lost.