"As I was saying, I'm glad I've met you all guys.." Ken muttered. "It's not every time we can meet good guys like the bunch of you.."
Brent felt chills on his back. They have gone through tough times with Hachiro and now is when the time hits his peak.
"I never regretted meeting you guys.." Ken murmured.
A sudden gust of dry wind pass through them, slapping them with reality.
Brent grit his teeth. "I'll be treating you with a buck, right?" He muttered. "We can't lose this game"
"Ahh, we really can't." Ken answered and raised his guard.
Brent pointed his round sword to the silhouette that is approaching them form the forest. "Especially, not to that guy."
"Ahh." Ken replied with a deep sigh and raised his guard.
The shadow turned into the man they don't want to see as their enemy. His purple shield illuminates with a golden light erases the darkness that veils him in the dark forest. He carries a sword in one hand and every step he takes is bold as if telling the two of their own defeat. His grin spells everything what he is about to do.
"I'd like to test that confidence of yours…" the familiar enigmatic voice talked to them like an old friend. "You wont lose to me, huh?" his look is enough to intimidate them.
"Huh.." Ken acted confident but deep inside he knew, his innards are trembling. "We wont let you decide the pace, Yuri." He said.
"But why are you here. You're supposed to be going to the port, right?" Brent tried to ask. "Is this the thing you call betrayal?"
"Betrayal?" Yuri exclaimed with arms open. "Definitely not!" he said with excitement. "This is it, you know. This is it!"
"This is what?!" Ken stepped forward, activating his spell. Plasma Field!
A visible ring of blue light appeared on the ground and he unleashed an attack that hit the creeps that suddenly appeared from the forest.
"Not bad, wierdo.." Yuri sneered. "But not quite! Last Word!"
Brent jumped away from the range of the attack and escaped the stun. "That wont work, bastard!" he exclaimed and jumped to engage the man in melee combat.
"I wonder…" Yuri muttered and showed an attack position and clashed weapons with Brent.
"Damn you.." Brent said and stayed on the defensive. "Ken! Some help is much appreciated here!"
"I'm on it!" Ken leaped from Yuri's back and they scuffle in the forest area.
"You haven't answered my question yet, Yuri, you bastard!" Brent continued to swing his blades. Mana Break!
Yuri was stunned and was taken aback; his defense was suddenly shattered. He let go of his shield and his armor was scratched. "Curse you!" he glared at Brent. "I have nothing to say to cowards like you. You are not even from GSTech! You are not worthy opponents! If I'm to choose, I'd like to have a fight with your treasured friend. I'd like him to taste defeat like those guys from GSSTI!"
They continued to cross arms. Branches and roots break from the pressure of their attacks. Loose attacks hit the surrounding area leaving out huge debris and uneven grounds.
"Ahh. It's true that we're not from GSTech but we have the right to stand here and fight. We've proven our worth—both in Numbres and here in Scorpio." Ken madly replied. "And I wont let you get to Markus!"
"Don't get carried away, Ken." Brent warned and stood in front of his friend. "I guess he's doing it on purpose."
"Ehh, you're quite observant, Brent. I gave you my praise, but it's too late!" Yuri said and suddenly, Ken dropped to the ground, curling in pain.
"Wait!" Brent leaped towards his friend and kneeled beside him. "What happened?"
"Ahhh!!" Ken continued to squeal. A purple curse mark appeared on his arm.
"What did you do you bastard?!" Brent blurted in rage.
"What, you say?" Yuri slowly walked to their left; staring at the two on the ground. "I've casted my spell a little while ago. I thought I can get the 2 of you but it seemed that guy is the only one who's struck."
"Curse you!!" Brent glared charged to an attack. Blink!
Brent teleported right in front of Yuri and landed a clean hit to his torso. Even with an uneven footing, he casted his magic resistance spell to deflect an attack from his opponent.
Ken stood wobbling, weak, but his eyes were filled with strength, and unleashed his spell.
Eye of Storm! Ken screamed as he shot his last reserves of mana after the death blow he received from Yuri who drained his intelligence, strength, and mana.
Lightning gushed from the ground around the ring of blue light. "Take that you Traitor!" Ken exclaimed.
The lightning stopped and the two found themselves catching their breaths outside the explosion. Ken fell to his knees.
"That…" Ken took a deep breath. "That was insane. I wonder if we got him for good." He continued with a worn out voice.
"I hope so.." Brent replied with an exhausted voice. "I hope he just remain dead."
Arcane Curse. A sudden drop of power hit Brent and Ken, draining their lifeline, making them unable to move.
"What the—" Brent said but the words never came out from his mouth. They only heard silence.
Global Silence. Yuri casted.
Even the wind around them and the volcanoes erupting fell silent.
The gust of wind, dust, smoke and mist that covered the space where the lightning struck remained unfazed until a quick shadow tore from it and landed a decisive blow.
Brent tried to scream. A warning for his friend but he was too late. When his voice got out from his mouth, Ken fell to the ground.
"Nooooo!!!" Brent cried in despair.
An Ally has been slain
Cloaked in rage, he unconsciously charged towards Yuri but the guy happily evaded each of his tacks. "Why do you have to kill him?!!!! Why? We only wanted to see a friend and help him out from here, but now…" he attacks were slowly depleting.
Yuri stopped Brent's blade with one hand and glared at him. "My sword felt so right on his gut." He said with amusement, his eyes showed how he felt. "I wonder if you will give the same feels."
Brent lost his will to fight and dropped his other hand. He felt the weight under his foot and his mind went blank. He was rendered immobile.
This is our end. Brent thought and slowly, he closed his eyes. Sorry Markus, we haven't been of help.
The Bottom Tower has fallen
...….
"Those updates about the fights made me tremble.." Dave muttered as he dashed from their tower towards east.
"The last thing we new is that the bottom tower is under attack. I hope we still can make it." Jayson said as he kept his pace with Dave's.
"Is it okay that we left the middle tower without any guard? What if someone will attack it from nowhere?" Dave uttered. He jumped pass from root to rocks to roots.
"I dunno." Jayson replied. "It was just an instinct; MY instinct that we should head to the bottom tower. Besides, if any of us remained at the middle tower, I'm not confident I can defend it on my own if it was me."
"I don't have any good feelings at any direction." Dave muttered. "I doubt if I can do it alone as well."
"I know.." Jayson said. "But, I have a feeling that Yuri is headed that way."
"Yuri.." Dave mumbled. "I don't want that guy near to any of our teammates."
"He's the one we should be wary of. If that's the case, the guys there must have had a hard time dealing with him." Jayson said.
"What if we chose the wrong way? What if he went to the girls' side?!" Dave paused for a moment and hesitated. "They'll—"
"Tsk. Don't jinx us bastard." Jayson glared at him "Why can't we know who's attacking who." he complained as he continued his dash. "And we don't know who dies as well."
A loud lighting was heard near their position. The two paused from running and looked to where the attack came from.
"It's headed that way!" Jayson pointed to their northeast. "Let's go!"
"I just hope it's not from our side…" Dave saw the light out from the forest. "We took the right shortcut." He's brimmed with excitement.
But that feeling suddenly vanished when he saw someone tore the smog and stabbed his friend on the gut. Dave suddenly heard Brent's cries as he jumped to attack their foe. He was too stunned to move from his position.
An Ally has been slain
"Dave!" Jayson poked him and he realized who they have to fight and who they have to save. "We still can make it."
The Bottom Tower has fallen
Dave gathered his thoughts and took a deep breath before he gripped his sword and charged for an attack. "Ahh… Let's go!"
...…
Brent closed his eyes and accepted his defeat. This is my end
"Let go of him you bastard!" But he heard the familiar voice shouting from nowhere and hope was lit back on his mind.
Don't tell me. Brent thought turned his head to his left and he felt a spark of hope.
"Brent!" Dave exclaimed as he leaped between the two and took Brent away from Yuri. "Are you alright?" he asked.
Brent's eyes was filled with despair and loss. He looked at Dave with remorse and said, "I couldn't save him.." he muttered. He lost all his will to fight.
They looked at the other side and saw Ken lying on the ground.
"Don't tell me—" Dave asked in disbelief.
Brent just grit his teeth and looked down. "I hate to admit it but that guy is super strong. He's not just good in this game, he's also good in using cheats…using hacks. I saw his do something that Markus can only do; specially when he has that fox."
"Ahh…we've been told that he's on par with Hachiro." Dave said. "But that doesn't mean he can't be defeated." He added. "Even Marky has his own weakness."
"Dave.." Brent said and somehow, the darkness in his face lightened.
"You still can stand?" Dave asked. "I need you to do something."
"Uhm. I can still manage." Brent replied.
"Take Ken and return to the base. We'll take care of Yuri." Dave instructed.
He looked at his friend with unease. "That's impossible. Even if you team up with Jayson, you can't defeat that monster." Brent imposed "If it's true that he's on par with Hachiro, that's no where we can reach his level! He's impossible to deal with. We've lost Ken, I don't want to lose any friend anymore."
"He's not entirely lost. He's still there, right?!" Dave gripped Brent's wrist and stared at him. "Look at me." He directed and Brent did what he's told. "Hachiro made a promise to bring everyone back. He's got something on his mind; he can get pass through this obstacle. You just have to believe in him. You've done your part; we just have to do ours."
"But—" Brent tried to argue "How about their towers? We still need to destroy them!"
"We'll do what we can. We'll destroy it eventually."
"That's impossible. You can't do it by yourselves." Brent exclaimed. "Did we just come here to become a burden again. We can't do a single decent thing."
"Being alive is a decent thing; Sacrificing one's life is another. But if you have to choose between living and dying, you have to choose the former. You can do more things with that choice."
Brent stared at Dave's eyes with brimming hope. They really are best friends. I can't wear the same confidence they have.
"Go get Ken and bring him to the base. Wait for us there, we'll eventually go there to get out from here. We'll all get out from here." Dave stood and readied his sword. "We always have that saving back of that bastard, Brent. Just trust him; he'll meet the ends." He said and charged towards Yuri.
Blink!
...….
He's have the same circuit-like pattern on his neck. Jayson muttered on his head as he kept on avoiding Yuri's attack.
"Dave!" Jayson exclaimed.
"Hai!" Dave charged to Yuri and made him defensive.
"You two are quite annoying. I don't have time to play with weak bastards.." Yuri's eyes glared with hatred.
Is that how you look when you have someone controlling your will? Jayson thought.
"Weak, you say?" Dave muttered and set the ground on fire. Scorching Earth!
Yuri leaped and went to a treetop. "Let's see…Why not we play chase and see if you can catch me.." he grinned and ran towards the west. "I'll destroy your towers on the way!!! Yihaaa!"
"Like the hell I will let you!" Jayson said and followed Yuri's trail.
"Just try and I will make you regret it, idiot!" Dave screamed and ran after them.
...….
"This can't be happening!!" Tori screamed as she envelopes with a blinding light.
They caught her off guard just as planned. When Tori undone her Shadow realm, she appeared right where Sandra and Kath expected her to show up—at the right side of their tower.
"That's just amazing, Sandra! You told me to find a nice spot to aim my arrow but you did most of the job done. Your Exorcism damages the tower and draining Tori's health with your Spirit Siphon." Sandra whispered to herself as she readied to attack with her Marksmanship. "Not to mention, you damaged the tower at about 47% with just your attacks."
"Take care of the rest, Sandra!" Kath exclaimed. She kept her spell active and she saw Tori's lifeline getting low.
"Ahh!" Sandra exclaimed and aimed her shot. "We'll get through this together!"
Marksmanship! "I will end you with this Tori. No matter what your reason is, I still wont waver. If you stand against Hachiro, I don't have a choice but to remove you!" Frost Arrow!
"Noooo!!!" Tori exclaimed as she received the waves of attack that they prepared for her. "I wont let you end it like this!" she released her last power as her last hit to her enemies. Jex!
Sandra was bewildered with Tori's attack she didn't see or felt where the power she accumulated and released after her last struggle.
"What was that about?" Sandra felt reassured but her carelessness caught her off guard. She stood from her position and saw what she least expected.
An Ally has been slain
An Enemy has been slain
The Enemy Top tower has fallen
She saw Kath lying on the ground with a huge root struck on her back. A bug as big as a volleyball flies above her head.
"That's impossible.." Sandra muttered and ran to Kath's side. "Oi, Kath.. wake up.." she said desperately. "Didn't we agreed that we'll get through this together?!" she kneeled beside her. "You said you'll still have to apologize to Hachiro."
She saw the last message she sent to their network.
"Take care of the rest 😊." Her tears covered her eyes.