Mikel, shocked by the fact that everyone else in the room disappeared the moment the countdown hit one, stood there looking at Galliard who stared back at him with a smile on his face.
"Are you surprised?" Galliard asked.
"Should I not be?"
"You're still here because you have an important role to play."
"Role?"
"Mikel Raven; a rising star in the gaming world and a multiple-time MMA champion. Even though you had one of the strangest switches in careers I've ever seen, it'll be a lie to say I'm not a fan."
"So you kept me here because you wanted an autograph?" Mikel asked with an annoyed expression.
"You wish," Galliard scoffed. "If anything, you should be asking for an autograph from me."
"I'll rather not get an autograph from my kidnapper and possible murderer, even though I'm actually a fan."
"Fair enough," Galliard smiled. "Anyway, congratulations on killing the necromancer. I never would've imagined that you would do it, talk less of actually doing it alone. You definitely deserve my praise."
"Thanks, but no thanks," Mikel said with a deeply irritated expression.
He was a big fan of Galliard and would hold respect for a man who could achieve all that he had, but his respect for him had gone out the window after everything that had happened so far.
"Your reaction was within my expectations. It doesn't matter anyway, I left you a little gift in-game to help you with your task."
Mikel squinted his eyes as he looked at Galliard with cautious curiosity before he asked, "Why?"
"Because I have a knack for supporting the villains."
"But I'm not a villain."
Mikel watched as a mischievous smile formed on Galliard's lips, and after a couple minutes of confusion, everything clicked and Mikel's eyes widened upon realization.
"That's right Mikel, since you were the one who defeated the necromancer in battle, you will take his place and fight against the ones who wish to kill you."
"You expect me to fight against forty-nine of the best players of Beltimus online?! Are you crazy?! That's impossible! I'll lose!" Mikel shouted in a panic.
"Technically you have to kill them, but let's not get into the details. Don't worry too much, you have a whole army to aid you in your fight. It should be easy."
"I don't think you understand, these guys are really good at what they do. Not to mention that I'll also be fighting against the entirety of the kingdom of Beltimus. You're basically asking me to die!"
"It's sad to watch you lose your cool. In fact, it's unbearable, so let's get on with this." Galliard shook his head sadly. "You don't have to destroy Beltimus. Just kill the others and you'll be free to leave."
"Kill? You want me to commit murder?"
"Basically, yes. I thought we've gone over this?"
"What kind of sick game are you playing? Does human life mean nothing to you?" Mikel was growing angry.
"To be honest, not really. I've seen and experienced a lot in my lifetime. This is nothing compared to that."
"So sending fifty people to go kill themselves is nothing to you?!"
"You ask too many questions," Galliard sighed. "Good luck. I'm rooting for you," With those words, he tapped on the panel and Mikel felt a tremor go through his body.
He looked down at his arms and saw them glitch but return to normal soon after.
"What's happening?" Galliard had his brows furrowed as he looked at the panel and interacted with it in a frenzy.
"Looks like your plan won't work after all," Mikel laughed as he relished seeing Galliard panicking.
"You idiot! WHAT DID YOU DO?!"
Mikel flinched at the pure anger communicated through Galliard's question. It was clear that something was seriously wrong, but Mikel tried his best to stay calm.
"Are you blaming me for your own mishap? That's the most incompetent thing you could possibly do." Mikel snapped back. "Unfortunately, I didn't do anything, so keep your blame game to yourself."
"No you idiot, did you do anything when you clicked on the link that brought you here?".
"No, I did not."
"Are you sure? You should remember or you may lose your life!"
"Is that a threat?" Mikel frowned. There was nothing he hated more than being threatened. It was a clear show of disrespect.
"You fool! It's not a threat, but an actual fact! What did you do?!"
"Apart from turning off my computer, nothing else." Mikel finally said when he saw the seriousness of the situation.
"You did what?!"
"Bro, would you stop fucking shouting? Your voice is echoing and I'm having a headache." Mikel held his head with a look of discomfort.
Galliard sighed as he regained his calm, "You've messed up everything." Four more panels appeared in front of Galliard and he clicked on all five of them aggressively as he moved from one to another.
"You can't be serious. I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one who turned off their computer when this happened."
"No, but you're the only one whose link was more special than the others. I did not account for the fact that you would disrupt the electricity supply, so that means things wouldn't work out as I planned." Galliard shook his head as all five panels disappeared.
"Good. Plans like yours don't deserve to work out."
"Oh, don't get me wrong, the plan in general will still be in play. Just a few details have turned hazy, but nonetheless, this will still be fun," Galliard smiled.
Mikel immediately got a bad feeling. He was about to speak when he felt a tremor similar to the last one, wash over his body.
His body glitched and he felt himself losing sense of reality, but just before he lost it completely, he heard Galliard's voice.
"Your mission remains the same; kill them all."
****
Darkness.
Silence.
Calm.
Nothingness.
Suddenly... sound.
It started with a dull boom that shook the ground and caused Mikel's very being to vibrate.
'Why can't I see anything?' Mikel thought.
It was strange. He also couldn't feel anything either. Nothing felt real and yet everything felt real at the same time.
After a while, the sounds intensified.
Screams and grunts of fury and pain, clanging sounds that created a picture of a sword battle in Mikel's head, explosions and tremors, and clattering sounds that were too familiar.
'Wait, those clattering sounds... could it be..?'
Mikel tried to filter out the other sounds so he could properly hear the clattering. They sounded so familiar. He was sure had heard it before, it sounded like bones rubbing and hitting against each other as— wait? Could it be skeletons?!
BOOM!
Mikel was thrown off balance by a sudden vibration. The moment he fell on his back, he regained sight.
After only a few seconds of having it back, he wished to be blind again.
In the skies above was a terrifying sight of an abnormally large skeleton of a snake. It was making its way out of the ground and even though it wasn't out completely, it was still able to meet the fleet of airships that was hundreds of meters up.
A small screen appeared next to the snake and airships, showing their information.
[Name: Great undead Python (Elite)
Lvl: ??
HP: ??/??]
[Name: Beltimian grand airship
Class: SSS
Durability: 67%]
[Name: Beltimian 1st class airship
Class: A
Durability: 31%]
The undead Python was making quick work of the airships despite how many times they fired at it from their magic cannons.
Beltimian airships were a great part of Beltimus' aerial attack force. Because of the high cost of making them, they only released the airships during large-scale battles.
That meant that right now, Mikel was on a battlefield!
A conclusion he should've come to moments ago.
Mikel slowly sat up and all around him were skeletons and humans fighting each other. The skeletons wore leather armor and held swords, spears, shields, bows, maces, and many different types of melee and ranged weapons. Far in the back were other skeletons that wore tattered mage robes and held staffs with purple orbs that levitated slightly above them.
Battlefields like this were ones Mikel recognized well. The humans wore the white and gold armor of the kingdom of Beltimus and fought strong and hard against the skeletons of the necromancer's horde.
Speaking of the necromancer, Mikel suddenly remembered what happened with Galliard. Apparently, he was supposed to be the necromancer, but Mikel knew very well that the necromancer would never expose himself the way he was right now.
This meant only one thing...
"AHHHH!"
Mikel suddenly heard a scream and saw a Beltimian soldier running toward him with his sword held high and ready to swing down.
In a panic, Mikel rolled away and quickly jumped up away from the soldier.
The soldier kept coming at him and swinging his sword at Mikel's head in an attempt to strike him down, but the latter moved quickly.
Mikel felt restrictions in his movements that made him feel sluggish as he moved away from the soldier.
"You're not a speed type, so how are you able to move so fluidly?" The soldier asked as he stopped and looked at Mikel in surprise.
'What do you mean by move so fluidly?! The most important thing here is that you're trying to kill me!' Mikel tried to say, but when he opened his mouth, he realized that no words left it. He then tried to feel his tongue and to his greatest surprise, it wasn't there!
Fear filled Mikel's mind as he raised his hands to his face and his suspicions were confirmed.
Those bones did not lie, Mikel Raven was now a skeleton.
As his mind tried to properly process what was going on, Mikel looked up to see a sword swinging down at his head!
BANG!
[Live(s): 1/2 => 0/2]