Chapter 24 - John

Swords clashed as a black great sword met an white long sword. A bolt of purple flames shot past the man in black armor as he swiftly dodged.

"GOD!" He shouted, as the see through blue face turned towards the prince, "Kill him."

The white knight looked at his prince and leapt to save him, the wall behind him stretched outward enveloping the prince into the wall. He screamed out in horror and his mouth was quickly covered.

A blade landed into the mid back of the white knight as he ran at the wall. The large great sword, the black knight used, now embedded into the white knights back, caused him to collapse on the ground in agony.

"WHY!" The black helmet commanded, slamming his heavy boots into the screaming knights head.

"WHY WHY WHY!"

By the time he came too, the previous white knight's head was now a human paste.

"God," A saddened voice asked looking at the blue figures head in the air. "Why did they do this?"

"Because," the featureless face responded, "the games are now afoot."

"The games?" The black knight asked looking at where the prince now wall sat, "what he do just now?"

"He used something called Lyther, an offensive ability given by a multitude of the deities of lust. The games are something else though. You are a pawn used to test other pawns, that is why I've awakened you. I was once like you, so rose up and become a king."

"I don't want that God, you know that. You've tried for so long to get me to fight back. Only reason I joined these stupid games is because of our deal. Now tell me where my family is."

"Fine, they are on the other side of the well."

"Well?" He asked moving the remaining dead girls bodies to a pile and starting a fire.

"Yeah, you're in a well, a device set up by the gods to fuel talent so they can auction them off. If you go into a well, you'd end up in the 'true' world so to speak. You came into being due to the installation of the system."

"So my family is on this true world?"

"Basically, when your town was ransacked by bandits it was actually people from this world, but sense no one knew of their existence, it became the blame of bandits."

"How do I get to this world?" The black knight asked leaving behind the burning pile of bodies and walking off down the hall.

"I can lead you there, BUT to pass over you'd need to give your whole being to me. I promise not to do anything bad, your physical form won't last during the flip so I need to reinforce it." The blue light said before disappearing into a sparkle of blue dust in the wind.

———————

An empty expansive hole filled his vision as he looked down into it

"This the right well?" A figure who'd owed by an enormous backpack asked.

"No, that's just a regular well. The real thing is two feet to your left." A small mechanical lizard said wriggling its way out of the backpack. "It's amazing how you missed it in the first place."

Turning he noticed a hole leading into the abyss. The hole itself was only as big as a house, but it had stairs leading down.

"Time for our journey," a more chipper knight said, "I can finally say hello to my kids. They are on the other side correct.

"I haven't lied to you, nor do I plan to in the future." The mech said perching on top of his helm. "It'll be a hassle to get them, but that's what I'm here for."

——————-

A bear of a man in a kevlar vest fired an automatic rifle down at a group of chittering spiders which died from each precise shot.

He held a hand over a bloody wound and grimaced, "Guess I won't be able to meet back up with you guys. I'll be leaving first."

He peered over the make shift bunker he made to hide himself and saw a small light.

"Hey, who are you. No one should be down here," looking down at his wound, "You got any medical equipment?"

The figure didn't respond but got close enough to see. A figure in black armor with red highlights, a large obsidian great-sword on his back covered by a backpack larger than himself. The light emanated from a flame produced from a small figure on the helmet. Everything caked in a thick layer of blood.

"Seems you brought a whole store down with ya bud," the large man said, "Wouldn't happen to have medical supplies in there?"

"I heard you the first time," the new man stated slinging the backpack off his back, "How long have you been down here…"

"Johnathon, and it's been around ten twenty years." He said I uncomfortably, "Who sent you down? From what I remember only I volunteered to take this sisyphean task, but I am glad you came."

"He sent me," the new comer said setting down a robotic lizard, "You can call him ACE or dickhead, whatever works for you."

The hurt man let out a hearty laugh then winced covering the now bandaged injury.

"Why on earth did you come down this hell well?" Johnathon asked, "This is the only infinite well, and I was tasked with its defense? OHHH, is this the yearly check in? Seems a bit late, but you came at the right time."

Finishing that though an alarm went off on his watch, "Oh, sorry to bother, but times up. We'll have company soon. Places people."

He walked over to a hole in the barrier where he would be able shoot out of. Along the entire perimeter of this makeshift wall was multiple firing holes which were now taken up by duplicates of Johnathon spinning a finger in the air.

"Places people," they said.

As if on that cue, a cacophony of monstrous noises echoed in the chamber around them.

"If run straight," John said pointing farther down the path, "You'll find the stairs up, I hope to see you sooner than this time," he said letting out a boisterous laugh then firing his weapon.

The sounds of weapon fire filled the air as a black knight searched through a seemingly endless backpack.

"You find it yet?" The lizard asked climbing up the knight to sit back on his helm, "If I knew you'd pack this much I wouldn't have put it in first."

"Found it," the knight said pulling out a small bit of metal, "Bottoms up."

Tossing the metal over his head, a smaller mechanical lizard leapt up and ate it in one fell swoop.

The small lizard began to bulk and expand outward. His back ripped open as two boney wings shot out. The once small lizard now filled the entire corridor in his new dragon like form.

Fire shot over a Johnathons head obliterating the lizard covered in crystalline shards he was firing at. That Johnathon spun on his heels and started firing at the mechanical dragon.

"Wont do any good," the dragon snarl, "Just focus on these lowly creatures in front of you."

The dragon took off and dove into a forming crowd of monsters. Devils, demons, and creatures of hell came running out of an abyssal hole that formed in front of this make shift barricade.

The creatures were quickly subdued from the combined power of a mechanical dragon a an army of gun men, all of which disappeared behind different terrain as the round ended.

"What was that?" A knight asked poking a small fire he created during the fight.

"My ability, something I'm very proud of. But I didn't learn of it until a buddy of mine told me of it. He's a bit eccentric but he's a good kid." The burly man said sitting down next to the fire, "Better yet, the hell is that thing."

John pointed towards the dragon who proceeded to flick him off, "I got a name pal, ACE, a second I saved your ass so I think a thanks is in order."

"I mean, thanks ACE, but, I don't even know. You were a lizard, and now you're a talking dragon."

"I could talk as a lizard, but we didn't know who you were yet."

"Can we get going," a voice cut in ending the small talk. "My family is up there and I need to apparently save them."

"You heading back up?" John asked grabbing the rifle he put down finishing the wave. "I'll join you back up, it's been a while. We can walk and talk."