Jakery rallied Hedix, Decka, and Quinn by his side. The Infinus warriors that remained outside were enraged more than ever, waiting for the command of their leader.
"TECONIA! (WAR!)" Jakery's voice thundered.
Infinus warriors charged forward, their footsteps thundered over the ground outside of the stronghold. It was as if a triumphant and menacing piece of music was playing while they approached.
They flooded inside the courtyard, clearing out any Light Legion warriors foolish enough to still fight against them.
The elites calmly made their way through the courtyard, watching the chaos around them as they looked for any notable targets.
Jakery's eyes met a Zegus standing on top of a ramp. He was holding a heavy mace made for breaking armor and bone alike, while wearing the signature Light Legion colors and logo.
This Zegus wore an armor set from the stalker archetype. Making the armor look tighter, smoother, and cleaner. Despite the color changes, Jakery still noticed the family the armor belonged to.
What threatened him the most was the helmet. It had a gold crown wrapped around its head, while what appeared to be gold blood slid down the crown, painting the pure white helmet a different color.
His first response was to challenge the Zegus. This elite seemed very important with how his armor looked like. Kas wouldn't allow anyone to modify an armor set this much without them being a feared name.
Jakery charged up the ramp, both of his daggers hot in his hands. They plotted various ways to rip into the elite's flesh and the injuries they could make.
But Jakery wasn't on the same page as his daggers, he simply wanted to spill a little of the elite's blood onto a certain object he had hidden behind an armor plate.
"How brave, you've come to challenge my stronghold?" the elite's words stopped Jakery's advances.
"To you, I might seem brave. But to me, you seem like an idiot for standing here and wanting to combat us!" he snapped back.
The elite tilted his head and gripped his mace tighter. "You sound like one of those traitors... yeah, yeah, you do. You're one of the Coros brothers, aren't you?"
"You can read my name after you kill me!" Jakery stopped the conversation.
Electricity engulfed Jakery, making himself seem like a walking light show. Something the elite found to be very amusing.
"How interesting. You got a Third Rule? Well, it looks like I'll be earning mine today via killing a Third Rule user..." the elite taunted Jakery.
Jakery leapt up in hopes of stabbing the elite with both of his daggers. But that was no use. He caught Jakery's hands using the mace's handle.
Then the elite redirected Jakery's body against a nearby wall, where he bashed Jakery on. The Zesher retreated his daggers and tried to recover. But the elite didn't want it to happen.
He used the bottom side of the mace's handle to beat Jakery's helmet with. The beating was hard enough to make him fall to his knees.
"Too bad, little traitor..." the elite grimly commented.
He brought the mace's head down on Jakery's back. The blow made a dent on Jakery's armor, and even seriously injured him.
A deadly surge of electricity pulsed through his veins, creating a shield for him to safely rest behind. Except that's what Jakery believed. The elite effortlessly brought the mace down again.
"AUGH!" Jakery called out in pain.
Now being flat on the combat worn stone floor of the stronghold, Jakery realized he was too confident in his abilities as a combatant. He wasn't the kind and loving boy that grew up beside Ether.
This 'Jakery' was a replica of himself, one made during the heat of combat. One he didn't want to let control him forever.
"Look's like I will be reading your name after I kill you. I'll get a good position with Kas after your death is carried out!" the elite laughed.
He was too busy with the downed Jakery to realize the incoming opponent. A much larger and stronger combatant rose to combat the elite.
Decka used his shield to push the elite away from Jakery's body. But the elite resisted. His boots metallically screeched as they scrapped against the floor.
"My! Decka, what has happened to you? Did you seriously betray us for that little boy? Always knew you weren't trustworthy," the elite reacted.
"Verick, you know full well why I stopped fighting alongside Kas. If he treats us that way, why should we keep fighting for him? He doesn't even fight himself!" Decka responded.
Jakery struggled to get back up while the two elites fought with each other. But he mustered all his strength to fulfill Ether's wish.
"It's how he humbles us. Why should he encourage those who try to break the mold of 'a faceless warrior?'" Verick forced Decka's shield down. "If he gave us titles, then we would grow prideful and greedy, don't you think?"
Decka struggled to keep control of his shield. He could see his own face through the reflections of the gold blood trials on Verick's face.
Sweat and anger covered his usually calm face. Decka was aware of the consequences he would be facing if the Light Legion caught him or any of the other traitors.
Now that Verick has seen the colors and logos of the Infinus Legion, he could give all that information to the Light Legion. Making him more dangerous than ever.
This duel between two former allies became more important than ever. If Decka won, the Infinus Legion would remain safe from the Light Legion's wrath.
But if Verick won, then all that information would be the end of the Infinus Legion.
Jakery fought his way back on his feet, hoping to break up the power struggle between the two elites. His daggers decided where they wanted to dig into and launched themselves at it.
The stalker armor brushed off the two daggers as if it was rain. Verick felt the attack. He turned his head and decided on his next target.
Verick used one foot to step on Decka's shield, then used the mace to turn around and throw Jakery backwards. He then turned his focus back on Decka, who was trying to push him off.
Before Verick could bring his mace down on Decka's exposed face, he managed to tilt the shield enough to change Verick's balance.
The elite tumbled forward and landed their hip against the sharp edges of Decka's shield. Then he slid off the side. His armor was badly damaged from the sharper and stronger material Decka's shield was made from.
Verick quickly recovered, and grabbed the side of Decka's shield. Forcing it away from Decka, then punched him in the stomach.
"YOU FUCKER!" Decka clearly felt the pain.
Verick grabbed his mace and brought it down on Decka's shoulder. Right as the mace impacted, Decka covered the shoulder with his shield. Stopping some of the damage.
But it still damaged him a lot. Decka dropped down on two knees, waiting for Verick's next move. He rose the mace once more, ready to execute the traitor.
Then Jakery interfered by driving one of his daggers inside the open wounds of the armor. Blood attached itself to Jakery's dagger as it exited. This was exactly what Jakery wanted.
He quickly retreated and took out an object from behind one of his armor plates. It was a symbol, one that had Verick's blood poured on top of it.
Jakery threw it at the elite and waited for his response.
Verick caught the symbol. He studied every part of it in amazement. This symbol was the Symbol of Legion Conflict, the same one Quill gave Ether when they first met.
"Interesting... what's your Legion's name?" the elite asked Jakery.
His helmet menacingly stared at Verick. "Infinus," Jakery answered.
Verick honored the meaning of the symbol and backed off. Now Verick was the messenger of the symbol. He needed to bring it back to Dire, Kas, and Alise for them to officially start the war.
Jakery allowed Verick to walk off without anymore injuries. He watched Ether's wish come true. The dawn of the Infinus - Light Legion War had opened up.
Imbushko was no longer safe for anyone to travel through, because it was now a war zone.