Tetsu targets the lich using the [Eye] rune placed on the camera. The lich erases the rune with relative ease but overlooks the Rune hidden on its staff's sole.
"You," the lich points its staff at the cameraman, and the globe at the top captures his image. With deliberate slowness, the lich drives its long nails into the globe and utters, "Mine."
The space around the cameraman freezes, ensnaring him, as Xomes catapults the Zeeches forward, and zombies encircle him with measured steps. Even the ants, Raptors, and Claytron seize the opportunity, converging from all directions.
For the first time, the cameraman relinquishes his camera and slips out of his sneakers. Tetsu observes the unfolding events in four cinematic reels as if he flipped through a picture book. In one frame, the cameraman lands barefoot; in the next clip, stretches his back; then, surveys the multitude of enemies; and finally, he's back with his camera, his surroundings void of creatures and trees.
"What just happened?" Tetsu turns to the lich, who appears more befuddled than himself. Long intrigued by the cameraman's class or level, concealed behind a shroud skill, Tetsu hesitates to probe further. With every moment bringing life and death closer, he dared not risk losing half or his entire mana pool to quench his curiosity.
"One day," Tetsu vows, pointing a finger at the cameraman, who has already vanished.
"You," the lich growls at Tetsu.
"No, thanks," Tetsu retorts, snatching the staff away from the lich and stashing it inside the bag. The lich loses its powers and slumps to the ground, and a devious grin spreads across Tetsu's face. Since then he ventured around the battlefield collecting more staff.
———<>|*|<>———
"That wretched human," Mor hisses, blinking away from the shared visions and redirecting the army's course.
"What happened?" Val inquires.
"Nothing, my lord. We have everything under control."
———<>|*|<>———
A zombie bites a lich and gazes at it in bewilderment.
"What are you doing?" the general lich chastises, striking the zombie with its staff. The zombie defies orders and blocks the staff. In a swift motion, defying a zombie's normal sluggish speed, it snatches and throws the lich's staff along with its arm.
"Thanks," Tetsu catches the zombie's arm and bids them farewell. "Ew." He discards both items into the backpack, his devious smile widening. Thus began the saga of the undead snatcher who pilfered the dead.
———<>|*|<>———
"A breach!" the scout Krantz's voice blared through the speaker.
"Move..." Krovath shoved Tarah aside and rushed to the balcony.
The central chest, linked to the scavenger's backpacks used for plundering spoils of war, now disgorged undead.
"No one can survive in such a chaotic space," Krovath exclaimed, incredulous at the sight.
"Survive... living creatures can't," Tarah corrected, sinking to her knees. "They're the undead. What do we do?"
Krovath shook her out of her stupor. "Now is not the time, lieutenant."
"Battle? Battle formations," she snapped back into action, issuing rapid instructions.
Though the undead were few, their strategic placement, deadly skills, frenzied attack pattern, and the element of surprise allowed them to sow chaos. It mattered little to them whether they were within one of the strongest forts in the tutorial or facing one of the mightiest forces in the multiverse. To them, their backers might as well be Noors; they were still mere fodder, nothing more.
"They lack technique," Tarah yelled. "Just cut them down and seal the portal to that backpack."
"Seal all the damn chests," Krovath countered, overriding her command.
———<>|*|<>———
"In you go," Tetsu giggled, chasing after the Zeeches, his arch-nemesis. "Come to PAPAa..."
———<>|*|<>———
"You assured us everything was under control." Despite Val's calming silvery eyes, Mor sensed his furious gaze.
"W-w-we thought it was. We can handle it-H-him," Mor stammered, rising higher into the air. "H-how did you find out?"
"—Someone stole my axe and hurled it..." Val's words get stuck in his throat as crimson veins suffuse his silvery eyes. "They took MY Horr'er..." His gaze shifts toward the forest, the calm silvery hue gone, and tinged with a crimson fury instead.
———<>|*|<>———
Tetsu perched himself atop the backpack like a bird, adorned with a devilish expression. "It went right in," he chuckled, locking eyes with the lich. With a silent incantation and a wave of its staff, the lich vanished. "I can still see you, Ya kNoW... come to papa!"
———<>|*|<>———
"Zeeches!" the scout's voice reverberated through the speakers, amplified to the maximum.
"Hold your ground, men," Tarah's voice somehow rose above the chaos. "Front unit, fall back. Long-range troops, encircle them."
"Someone close the damn treasure chest!" Krovath's voice thundered above Tarah's. The army momentarily paused to heed his call before resuming their retreat, ignoring their king's command.
"You," Krovath hurled a pebble at the cameraman. "Stop recording and do something useful."
The cameraman takes a lazy step to the right, sidestepping a pebble that seems to approach him in slow motion. He then pans the camera towards the Krantz, capturing the furious King for a moment before redirecting the camera to the exhilarating action sequence.
"Squads four and seven, flank at Delta 4-dash-O. One, two, and three, charge at Tee O-dash-11," Tarah commands, activating a skill as her invisible squadrons blanket the battlefield, transforming it into a sprawling chessboard with countless strategic possibilities.
With meticulous precision, she positions the squads like chess pieces, orchestrating their movements with pinpoint placements. "Five, six, provide support," she orders.
The attack group forms a formidable tank, spearheading the charge and impaling the undead with their lances, while the support unit corrals the stragglers and the flank group safeguards their vulnerable spots.
Their coordinated advance is relentless, executing military formations with practiced ease, overcoming every obstacle in their path, and contrasting the undead's brute force. However, the tide turns when a formidable entity joins the undead ranks.
The attack squad aims their strongest assault at the treasure chest's door, intending to shatter the chains and seal it shut with force, but their efforts are thwarted when a massive, tattered hand emerges, halting their lance in its tracks and sending the entire group reeling from the sudden obstruction.
It was then they understood the true meaning of strength and witnessed the unyielding depth of horror.
"We cannot defeat that," the army wavers.
"It's still a mindless beast," Tarah shouts defiantly. "Bring it down!"
"A lich!" Scout cries out at the dreaded sorcerer that crawls out behind the Horr'er.
"It's without a staff." Tarah attempts to bolster morale.
The Lich, a manifestation of true terror, levitates upright, a tad bit disoriented from the transition. It extends a hand towards the chest, summoning a staff with a flick of its fingers.
"It's as if you're breathing life into negativity or are way too positive that negative spawns instead of what you desire," Krovath observes grimly, eyeing Tarah.
The camera focus shifts to the balcony, zooming in on the couple.
"I swear to my Order, I will hunt you down," Krovath vows, glaring at the cameraman.
The Lich, Mor's second to command, takes the King's threat to heart and challenges the massive monitor to do his worst. "Bring it on," Lala sneers.
———<>|*|<>———
"I'll dispatch of him first, and then you're next," Val growls, exhaling putrid miasma toward Mor. "I've lost both my axes and my corpses. I can't even summon them anymore."
"Grant me one last chance, your grace," Mor pleads, dropping to his knees.
Val lifts his legs to smash Mor's head, but at the last moment, the lich moves and peers into the distance. Another shared vision flashed in its eyes. "Our army!?"
"NOW WHAT?"
"They are engaging the Krantz's army on the other side."
"How did they get there?"
"It must be the backpacks," Mor wonders aloud.
Val drags Mor closer by its staff and threatens to snap it in half. "Make sense—" He stops and glances in the same direction Mor did. "My axes." He gapes.
"That stupid human thought he got us, but now we have them." Mor snickers. "Our summons is ready too."
The center humongous coffin seeps into the floor, creating a massive tomb with steps leading to the underworld.
"The world shall fall." Mor completes the spell, and the ground shakes from the frenzied undead army spurring out of the tomb.
"Good." Val nods. "Aim for the human."
"Human? Why?"
"Two hives and one dictator. They are not working together. They are working for him. Have you figured out at least half of the stunts the human has pulled out thus far?"
"N-n-No...!" Mor bows, embarrassed.
"And you are from the top mages in the multiverse." Val scoffs. "Converge the armies on him. We need him alive to identify which faction is targeting our Order. This conflict isn't something that has started here, and nor will it end here."
"Why don't we just kill him and be done with it?"
"We need to know who can manipulate so many pieces and with such ease. Their order is someone we better not make an enemy out of. Do not kill." Val glares.
———<>|*|<>———
"Inky pinky pony." Tetsu chants, unable to pick his next heading. Every direction led him to trouble, so he left fate to chance and this childish chant. "Hey, donkey, can't you see Father is busy?" He opens the backpack, which swallows another Zeech. "Yum says the vacuum monster. Hahaha."
The other Zeech lurches forward. Either for revenge or the usual tendency to attack life. Tetsu suspected it was the latter, but didn't want to find out, so he checked his finger which stopped and now pointed northwest.
"I am going right." Tetsu blinks to spot an army on the right. "Of fucking course." He sighs. "I need more chaos." He waves at the cameramen to follow. "Hope he sells those recordings." He stuffs another Litch into his backpack, chugs down a Krantz-made stamina potion, and drops another point into luck. "Four super hacks down... I better fucking survive this with some massive, mind-blowing gains."
"Face me, you coward!" a Draugr yells.
Tetsu peeks from behind a skeleton and finds the draugr is only at level five. "Fine," he shrugs, heading toward the Draugr. Sixty meters away, he twists, hurling the backpack at the Draugr.
"I've seen this move," the Draugr guffaws.
"Oh, no you didn't."
═─┈─{═E═}─┈─═