"You were always my favorite." Kyo smiled and it caught Gulliver's attention.
"He actually smiled." Gullifer stated. "Aldran, he smiled. I thought his face was always stuck in a frown." He chuckled and smirked.
"I heard that," Kyo growled. His sword sliced through flesh and bones.
Aldran ignored both of their little squabbles and kept on attacking. With the two headed manslaughter's health rapidly deteriorating, he swung his sword and sliced off one of its heads.
"Not bad." Gullifer laughed. He was busily fending off the small fries that had tried to sneak up on them but failed. Back against back, both Gullifer and Aldran fought together in perfect sync. When one side attacked, the other defended. If one went ahead, he would come back in the nick of time to protect the other. They were known as a perfect complementary pair of fighters and were called the Lightning Duo.
Kyo grunted with annoyance. Once again he shouted, "Challenge of the Beast." The manslaughters in his vicinity were caught in the spell and turned towards Kyo like bees attracted to a sweet flower.
"Kyo!" shouted Fielian in worry. She rushed over to his side.
"The idiot has done it again." Aldran sighed. His white gryphon slashed through the manslaughters left and right. "Let's go save him before he does something even more stupid."
"Why?" Gullifer asked, confused. "It's his own damn fault."
"We need every able man for the oncoming wave. Right now we only have two major guilds here in the city. Jergorien left with the other four guilds to quickly search for the answer. We cannot lose any more people. We don't know if the guilds will arrive in time, even though the deadline is at 3am." Aldran took out another one like it was butter.
"Wouldn't it be better if we had gone to search for the answer? We were the ones who finished the Seed Shard quest," Gullifer asked with slight disappointment in his voice.
"True, but for some reason Jergorien got it instead. It does not matter. We will be the ones to defeat this raid," said Aldran confidently.
Gullifer sighed. "I follow your lead." He motioned him forward with his sword.
Both Aldran and Gullifer jumped into the fight defending Kyo and Fielian. It was a grand display of power. Kyo with his brute strength held back the two-headed manslaughter with Aldran. The guild mates and the guards of the city helped push back the swarms with Fielian and Gullifer taking the lead.
With a loud cry, Kyo and Aldran simultaneously attacked in a crisscross motion and wiped out the two-headed monster. A cry of joy sounded out from the people. Already, a majority of the manslaughters were slain, and only a handful remained. Small groups went out to battle the last surviving few.
The crowd cheered with victory as they chanted the names of Hercules and KillemAll guilds. Their praises rang with power and clarity as Aldran held up one of the monster's heads and Kyo held up another. They stood proudly upon the fallen beast.
"Tch, I could have killed it without your help," stated Kyo arrogantly.
"If you say so," Aldran replied, ignoring Kyo's disgruntled outburst.
People screamed with more excitement and looked upon them with awe. A couple burst into tears with happiness and fell to the ground.
Zero was busily finishing off another straggling manslaughter. Already his kill count was around 250. Now it had become 251. He was taking advantage of the bet that Aldran had forgotten about while Aldran was basking in his glory. He knew that the way to win was to get every single one till the end of the mission. Leaving even one behind could be disastrous because of the growth rate of these monsters. Another two-headed manslaughter could be born from negligence.
Not only that, he had gained ten levels through the fights, and he was getting closer and closer to his goals.
There were now only three monsters left. He didn't see them anywhere nor could he find any. He passed the roaring crowds that surrounded Aldran and Kyo, trying to find them. It was difficult to even use his nose because of the stench of the dead, especially the pungent smell that the manslaughters gave off.
"This is more difficult than I thought," said Zero. His nose was hurting from the strong smell. Bodies were littered everywhere from players, NPCs, and monsters. It was a graveyard.
"What have you done?" an unknown voice whispered in his ears. Jumping back, Zero and Agnis were both startled by the appearance of an unknown enemy so close to them.
"Zero!" Agnis yelled. Her sword gleamed dangerously under the moonlight. Sparks appeared from clashing metal on metal as Agnis defended both of them in the nick of time and the figure disappeared back into the darkness.
"What have you all done to my children?" An unholy cry rang out across the field. The being appeared and disappeared like wisp of smoke in different locations. "What have you done?" The voice trailed off from one place to another.
The players and NPCs turned their heads in confusion, wondering where it was coming from. Its booming voice echoed into the dark night.
"What have you done to my children?" it cried out in an agonizing voice. A dark gust of wind blew across the field in waves. People stumbled backwards and onto the ground.
"So it's you!" The voice singled out the KillemAll and Hercules guilds. "It's you who have done this! I curse you all to fall into eternal slumber!"
A green fog washed over the players. One by one, the people who were invited into a party with KillemAll and Hercules guild members fell to the ground sleeping in stupor. Even the NPCs that were down on the ground fell asleep. No one moved nor woke up. The green smog reached the foot of the city wall. It licked at the walls with ghastly green tendrils but failed to infiltrate the city.
It slowly faded out and disappeared. Complete silence filled the air. Coughing out loud, Zero opened his eyes. What lay before him were players and NPCs alike falling into a deep coma-like sleep.
"Agnis?" he called out while walking through the field, making sure she was okay.
"Yeah?" she replied in between coughs. "What was that?"
"I don't know, but I think we are in deep trouble," Zero's voice whispered while he slinked through the darkness trying not to create noise. He looked for a place to hide. Not too far from him was a tall grassy area that he could hide in.
"What do you mean?" she asked loudly.
"Shh!" Zero walked in and crouched down into the tall grass, hiding their forms.
Agnis covered her mouth and hugged closely to his body. She opened her hands and whispered, "What's going on?"
"It seems everyone is sleeping."
"What?" She gasped a bit too loud and then tried to cover her outburst with her hands.
"Listen." Zero strained his ear and could hear shouting. He slowly began to move towards the direction of the sound.
"Aldran!" Gullifer yelled out, calling for his leader. "Aldran!"
"Quite down, Gullifer. I'm alright."
"What's going on? What just happened? Why are we the only ones still standing?"
"I don't know. It seems everyone is asleep. Even Kyo. This is a predicament."
Zero peeked out of the tall grass, observing what would happen next. Agnis sat quietly listening in on the conversation.
Thousands of bats flew in and gathered in front of both Aldran and Gullifer, all converging into one. A shadowy humanoid silhouette shimmered into existence. Appearing before them was Dion, with his head held high, his skin milky white, and his black and purple gothic coat fluttering behind him. He was a proud member of the ancient race of vampires. Gone was his clown-like outfit; instead a princely demeanor was in place.
"I see a couple has remained still standing. I am impressed you are able to resist." Dion floated down onto the ground magically.
"Who are you?" Aldran eyed him warily.
"I am Dion, the father of all these creatures." Dion's hands motioned towards all the dead manslaughters. "You and your people have slain my children." His voice rang with pure malice.
"You attacked us first. We only protected ourselves. Leave. You are not wanted here." Aldran faced Dion, unafraid of what was going to come next.
Dion threw back his head, laughing.
"Humans. All you do is threaten me with empty words. You have no one here to protect you." Dion cackled with laughter.
"He has me here," replied Gullifer. He stepped forward to face Dion with sword drawn.
"You think just two will be enough to defeat me?" Dion grinned from ear to ear. "How typical of you humans. You're either brave or a fool." He stepped forwards towards them. With each step he took, he radiated with power. Aldran and Gullifer stepped backwards in unease, but then stopped to stand their ground.
Gullifer rushed forward with his sword drawn. Both contacted at the same time. Aldran sent out his magical attack, and a gryphon-shaped white aura burst forth from his sword and screeched with anger. It slashed towards Dion with power.
"Is that all you've got?" Dion swiped Gullifer like it was nothing. Gullifer stumbled forward and was kicked in the back.
"Demonic Pet!" yelled Dion. With a sweeping motion, Dion brought forth an equivalent monstrous creature that clashed with Aldran's gryphon, each furiously tearing into each other's throat. Black and white colors swirled angrily, creating a small electric storm around them. In a flash both dispersed into thin air.
"And here I thought you two were special because you survived my lullaby." Dion's voice was filled with displeasure. Both Aldran and Gullifer attacked simultaneously, combining their attacks together one after another.
Agnis whispered into Zero's ears. "We need to help them," she said worriedly.
"I know. Stay hidden and attack when you have an opening," Zero replied. Agnis quietly slipped off his back and crouched down, hidden. She carefully pulled out her bow and nocked it, ready to fire.
This might not be a good idea, but what choice do we have? he thought, slinking slowly like a cat through the grass. If we don't help soon we are all going to be in trouble.
Zero lunged forward with claws outstretched towards Dion. He followed right behind one of Aldran's magical attacks.
"Another has escaped my power?" Dion said and tured towards Zero and Agnis.
Zero's sharp claws clanged against Dion's metal sword. With every ounce of strength Zero pushed hard at Dion, snarling and snapping at his throat. With a powerful gust of wind, Dion pushed Zero back.
At the moment of disengagement between Zero and Dion, Agnis fired magical wind arrows in his direction one after another. Each was coated thickly with wind magic making it speed up faster and faster. But Dion easily sidestepped out of harm's way, and on the last arrow he grasped one from midair and redirected it toward Zero. Its speed amplified with even more power than before, everything all happening in under a minute.
Shit, Zero thought as he watched the oncoming attack while he was still falling backwards from the blast. It was impossible to move out of harm's way. He slightly shifted his body in midair, and the arrow took a chunk of his skin. He fell down with a loud thud, unmoving. Dion sent a powerful blast of dark energy towards Zero.
With a loud bang, a black crackling energy rippled through Zero's body. He screamed out in pain. The electrifying static shock stunned him for a moment.