The air in the Death Hunter Faction house was dead still. The very air seemed so tense that nothing moved. Not one soul in the room could tear their eyes off of the one girl in the room. The plating on her body despite being in civilian form remained a murky, bloody, red in the dim light.
"Arthur is coming for your head Sil." Bell said again making sure that her words sunk in.
I shook my head as I crouched on the floor. My thoughts were a mess. I was almost overloaded with questions that I wanted to ask. More like scream them. But right now I had other problems.
"What's his rank?" I asked as I rubbed my forehead in frustration. Some things really didn't add up. But in the end we really couldn't do much about being a target. But we weren't going to dissappear without a fight either.
"Who's?" Bell said with a confused look.
I lifted my head and looked at her. "Arthur's"
She shook her head. "You stand no chance Sil. Not even a sliver. He's A rank. You had a hard enough time facing a Medusa who was C Rank. Not to mention all his skills are debuff based and you have no counter measures." She went on to explain how he would wipe the floor with me if given the chance.
"Good. Now I know something about him. Lily?" I said turning in the middle of Bells ranting.
She shook her head. "We have a few countermeasures in case something comes to this. But nowhere enough for a full frontal assault. And that is Arthur's primary tactic." She replied as she clenched her hands in frustration.
"Not to mention he will be bringing the heavy hitters from the warrior faction when he does. That means he's bringing Odin, Hercules, Agni, and Ratatoskr[1]. And they are mostly B ranks looking to be A ranks soon." At that point she flopped down and slouched against the wall.
"We spent 10 years building this place up from nothing. And when we have the chance to grow further they want to squash us. We have almost no chances and little hope of doing anything more than die." Lily sniffled as tears fell to the floor.
An awkward sad silence filled the room. Even Bell seemed put out. Lily felt a hand on her shoulder. "Why you giving up now boss?" Henry's voice echoed through the house.
"I never knew you to be the type to just let others walk all over you. And that was even before we became a faction." He said gesturing to the house and all of us within.
Lily just shook her head. "What's the point. We've already lost before we even started. Odin's ability sees through things with his crow familiars. Ratatoskr can slip through space no matter the obstacle. Hercules can buff his team's strength to the point they can rip apart someone with their bare hands. And Agni can utilize magma and flames to practically reduce enemies to cinders. To make matters worse he can heal with the embers that remain. What chances do all of us death gods have?" Lily said as she continued to look down.
I took a deep breath and retreated into my thoughts. Each of them had a specialty and utilized it in a group setting. Though I didn't hear Arthur's abilities and his was a mystery that would unfold. All I knew was that he used debuffs.
But that was all I needed to know for the time being.
As I was in my thoughts Henry had picked up Lily and set her on the couch. Bell had gotten out of the way as a courtesy. Beth remained silent as she stood in the corner. I suddenly felt an idea begin to form.
"So... as a team they're unbeatable." I hummed out and Beth nodded. I held I fist in front of me almost inspecting it.
"Then how about we seperate them?" I said splaying my hand open exposing my individual fingers.
"Just like a fist. Fingers are strong together." I said making the fist again. "But fingers alone are much weaker." I said spreading my hand out looking at everyone. Lily sniffled. "What?" She said looking toward me.
"We take them on individually. They may be unbeatable together but alone they only have themselves. If each of us takes on one of them then that makes things more even." I said looking back at her.
"Is there any way to seperate them when they attack? Like one on one PvP? We can press our personal advantages better that way." I asked as a better plan formed in my head.
When I was on Mars and gaming it was a common PvP tactic. Seperate strong teams and take out the strongest link. This would make it easier to deal with strong forces. Especially ones stronger than you.
"We're gonna press them into the ground. And make it so noone tries this again." I said as a cocky grin spread across my face.
A WEEK LATER
"Boss! We found their Faction House!" A scarlet colored man shouted as he approached Arthur's tent. His body was covered in flame tattoos and he had bangles the shape of frozen flames that glowed a burning orange. The glow shifting much like living fire.
"Thank you Erin." Arthur said as he straightened himself from observing the floor maps.
"Assemble the team and we'll head there right away." He said calmly as he turned to look at a newly posted picture of the newspaper debuting the Death Hunters Win.
"This time you won't escape." He hissed as he turned and strode out the tent. His form shrank into that of a civilian. He bore shoulder plates of crimson gold. His face was decorated with a gold beard and blonde hair that waved as he walked. The elegance in his stride was obvious. He almost seemed a royal with his stride. Upright. Chest out. Back straight.
Throughout the warrior floor his team began to assemble beside him as he walked. Their civilian forms showing what they obviously were. A lion's head adorned one man's shoulder as large bulging muscles stretched his 5'6 frame. Hercules.
Another was covered in fur all over and had what seemed to be an acorn hanging from his neck. Energy crackled from his small 4'2 body. Ratatoskr.
Then came Odin. A white eye patch crossed his face where his right eye would have been. A tattoo of a raven showed across his bare shoulder. A bangle with a horse on it rattled at his ankle while a bracelet with a spear looking ornament hung from his right wrist.
Then of course came Agni. The heat eminating as he walked left small scorch marks on the ground.
Odin seemed lost in thought as they all approached the elevator between the floors. "Bell. Where'd you go?" He whispered to himself.
When they entered the elevator Agni pushed the button for floor 36 and the doors closed.
At the Faction House
"So... This is the faction house? Looks a little... Odd." Arthur said. Everyone's face held a slight grimace with exception to Odin. He blushed slightly at the sight of it. Death had never held an appeal to him before. But whoever designed this place made it look nice.
(I want to meet the person who did this.) He thought as his heart sped up. From the skull gushing flower petals to the beautiful grassland style roof with the cute leaping goats. It was beautiful to him. Everything seemed to scream "Welcome! Come and Play!"
But everybody else shivered at it. It was too flamboyant for their tastes. Too pink and flowery to be the gloomy Death Hunter Faction. "This person truly understands camouflage." Arthur, Agni, Hercules, and Rat thought in sync.
Keeping in mind that that flamboyant someone sneezed strongly inside the house at their thoughts of him.
Arthur looked at Agni. "You're sure this place is it?" He said pointing a thumb at the house.
Agni grimaced a little. "Our lookouts noticed Lily walking in and out over the past couple days for very long periods of time. That and her other faction members are still inside." He said rubbing the back of his head.
Arthur shook his head in agitation as he walked up to the house. "Might as well try. You will be punished if this was the wrong house Erin." He said as he placed his hand on the front door.
"Initiate Faction Battle." He said loudly.
The air suddenly vibrated as the house and the 5 people in front of it dissappeared.
The people reappeared in a dark dome shaped room splitting off into five red doors. Each door had a white symbol for the individual within. A jackal, A skull, A plant, A vibrant pink scythe and sword, and finally a sobbing woman.
Arthur and the others were taken back by the sudden change in their surroundings as they looked around. Their Battleforms erupting from their bodies.
"What in blue blazes is this?" Agni said as his battle form oozed heat. His twin heads looking about in confusion. Rings of fire surrounded his wrists and ankles. His magma filled veins were swelled up on his arms and neck lining his crimson flesh with gold lines that eminated heat.
Odins spear tapped the ground strongly as his furred cloak swayed. His great bearded face seemed emotionless as he glared at his surroundings with his lone eye. He remained silent as a raven croaked from his shoulder and swiveled its head at the surroundings. A horse with eight legs stood beside him. It's white coat and mane standing out dramatically against the darkness.
Suddenly a large squirrel standing at 3'5 landed on the horses back. Sparks zipping along the white stripe going down its back. An acorn shaped shield hung from its back as a mace swung from its side also looking like it was made from acorns attached to a small branch.
"It looks like they were expecting us." He chittered. His voice squeaky and very similar to what a squirrel might sound like if it could speak.
A large oaken club smacked the ground as a man covered in a lion's skin stood tall observing one door in particular. Bulging muscles and furocious eyes peaked out from beneath the lion's head. Seeming almost hungry for violence.
"Let's just pick a door and beat the shit out of what's behind it. I'm itching for some fun." He growled as he swung his club onto his shoulder.
Arthur planted a hand on his shoulder. "No. That's what they want. They are splitting us up on purpose. They expect to beat us in single combat. So we should plan this out before we act. Each door symbolizes the person behind it. We should expect this. As such I'll take on Lily. She's a little weaker than myself and I can take her out. Everybody else should be easy pickings for the rest of you since you're B-ranks. So pick wisely. I'll see you after this."
He approached the door with a flower on it and stood before it. Rat went and stood before the door with a skull. Agni went for the weeping lady. Odin stood before the scythe and sword. And Hercules stood before the Jackal.
"Alright team! Go!" Arthur shouted as the each opened their chosen door. Each experienced a unique feeling as they entered. Rat entered his door and felt an icy chill as he came face to face with a floating skeletal grim reaper.
Agni felt like he was almost suffocating as he entered a room filled with a choking miasma like mist.
Odin entered a shadow filled room where a man sat in an elegant seat sipping a cup of tea.
But Hercules and Arthur experienced the worst shock.
Hercules chose the Jackal because he wanted to see Anubis's abilities and crush him like an ant. But before him was a room filled with plant life. Blooming flowers and the strong scent of honey and pomegranates. And in the middle was a throne of skulls. And on it sat Lily looking like a ruler who could annihilate him with a glance.
Arthur growled as he came face to face with a sandstone brick room covered in scarabs and in the center, sitting on a sarcophagus, was Anubis.
"So. What took you so long?" Anubis said with a cocky grin.