by Cheek, Jason
“So what, you halfling lordling,” Edwin spat at me again, “it ain’t like I’ve never seen you raise zombies before. What of it?” His face turned hard. “You going to kill me? Than do it, it’s not like you can kill me more than once.”
“That’s was your second mistake,” I said with a smile.
“Second mistake,” the mercenary said, looking at me like I was an idiot. “What does that even mean?”
“It means your first mistake was ever betraying and hurting me and my people in the first place,” I snarled, as my voice turned hard. “Kill him.”
Watching an undead pet slaughter the nearly same level enemy is a gruesome experience and took nearly a full minute, before the man’s gurgling screams finally died away. Ignoring the angry muttering going on behind me at killing both mercenaries without getting the information I needed, I began casting Resurrection. A minute later, Edwin’s body jerked back to life as I began hitting him with Regeneration spells.
“Why-why am I alive?” Edwin screamed in abject terror, as he saw Helgath and me standing over him with the zombie Orson eagerly snapping his jaws in anticipation.
Behind me, the angry muttering of the guards had instantly disappeared. In its place, I felt what I could only describe as a palpable feeling of dread coming from the Royal Guards watching in silence. While Helgath, Fylreh, Neysa, and my companions didn’t bat an eye at my actions, surprisingly enough, the ex-Skirmishers didn’t either. The harshness of their lives since becoming homeless had hardened them in ways that their old colleagues could never understand.
“You see,” I calmly said to the horrified man, “I can Resurrect you and kill you as many times as I need until you give me the information I want. Hell, I could even just heal you continuously, it’s really all up to you.” The more I spoke, the larger the Mercenary’s eyes got as it dawned on him what I meant.
‘I thought you could only resurrect people of The World once every twelve hours?’ Helgath mentally asked in confusion at hearing my words.
‘He doesn’t know that, does he,’ I replied back, giving her a mental shrug. In that moment, the surge of respect that flared from the Half-Orc over our link was nearly overwhelming as I patted her hand and returned my focus to the mercenary in front of me.
“All that I promise is that I will give you a quick death if you tell me what I want to know,” I said, as my heart raged in fury at everything these mercenaries had done to hurt the people of The World.
“You’re despicable,” the mercenary said in a hollow voice, “but I won’t betray all of the Iron Falcon Mercenary families that you slaughtered in cold blood.” A snarl formed on the man’s face. “Do what you must, but you’re never getting the information you need!”
“I slaughtered your families?” I asked in confusion. “How?”
“You destroyed Telrain,” Edwin accused with a haunted look in his eyes. “My entire family was slaughtered when you destroyed the city. Whatever will I had to live for died with the deaths of my wife and children.” He glared up at me from his knees. “At least, the Chaos Storm Alliance had kept their promise that my family would be spared.”
“They did nothing of the sort,” I incredulously said, as my companions instantly began to join the conversation.
“You’re such a blind idiot,” Neristhana said, as she walked up behind me to look the mercenary in the eye. “Star made sure to evacuate all the townspeople because he knew the Chaos Storm Alliance would destroy Telrain before they’d let him rescue Prince and Princess Isolde!”
“I’m the one that pulled Lord Ironwolf’s burned body out of the incendiary line that was left over from the meteor crater,” Helgath angrily added. “He made himself the target so that everyone could reach safety.”
“Lord Ironwolf even had as many people Resurrected from the pit that your masters discarded their used up toys into,” Brenna said to the man with haunted eyes.
“Not only that,” Ulia stepped up behind me, “he had us rescue all of the townsfolk and children the night before from the work camps that had been set up around the city by your precious Chaos Storm Alliance.”
“Where do you think all of those Battle Priests, Guardian Knights, Royal Army, and crafters came from that arrived the other day?” Guard Leader Cleaver asked, knowing that the mercenary must have seen the new arrivals that had come in the other day. The entire city of Palnisdale had been in an uproar about the news they’d brought.
“I don’t understand,” Edwin said, tears of relief running down his cheeks as he realized the truth of our words. “But why would Milo lie to us?” The mercenary asked as he looked between us. “Why would he want to destroy Palnisdale too if our families were already saved?”
“I’m trying to save them,” I corrected the man, as the rage I felt towards him diminished somewhat. “I’ve had all of the survivors brought to Darom and plan on bringing them back to the safety of my lands and BrokenFang Hold, but the Chaos Storm Alliance is doing everything they can to stop us.”
“I wonder if he’s a Dil-Hilth like General DeKhayed was?” Fylreh asked, as everyone looked over at her in horror.
“General DeKhayed was a Dil-Hilth?” Edwin asked in confusion, as he looked around in surprise at the Royal Guards for confirmation.
“Yeah, we cleaned the remains of the creature up ourselves,” a guard behind Guard Leader Cleaver said, as several of the men and women around him nodded in agreement. “We had to burn the parts that remained,” he looked toward the zombie mercenary somewhat uncomfortably, “you know, after the zombies did their thing.”
“He’s probably infected with a seed-worm,” Helgath said out loud.
“It’s the only thing that makes any sense,” Neristhana agreed next to me. “Otherwise, why else would he be doing all of this?”
“We stayed at his residence within the city to await the signal for our attack,” Edwin said, as his eyes took on a haunted look. “We were told not to explore, but several of us saw the horrors in the basement.” He closed his eyes as a visible shiver went down his spine. “By then, we were already so far down the path of self-destruction that we didn’t even consider that he might be a monster.”
“Thank you for saving my family, Lord Ironwolf,” Edwin said, hanging his head in shame. “Would you let me return to your service and make amends for what I’ve done?” There was a stunned silence around us as every eye turned towards me to see what I would say. Without waiting for my reply, he continued. “Either way, I’ll tell you what you want to know about the attack but please-” the man’s voice died away as he looked up at me pleadingly.
“I promise you that I will look after your family as my own,” I said in a heavy voice, “but I will not take you or any of the Iron Falcon Mercenaries back.” Seeing the conflicted looks in everyone but Fylreh and Helgath’s eyes, I explained my decision.
“You could’ve decided to rescue your families on your own, but you let Milo Hawkins tell you differently. Instead, you let thousands of innocent men, women, and children be slaughtered and tortured to further the Chaos Storm Alliances goals. Because of your actions, thousand more will suffer here in Palnisdale and throughout this entire region.” Edwin’s head hung further and further down as I laid out the true breadth of their crimes due to the Iron Falcon Mercenaries inaction.
In a voice that brooked no argument, I repeated my first promise to him. “As I promised you before, I will give you a clean death and the knowledge that your family is safe. Further, I give my word that I will do all that I can to keep them safe in the future, but you must tell me what I want to know.”
Blubbering in shame, Edwin opened his eyes and began telling me everything I wanted to know about how Milo was going to dress the mercenaries up as guards and ambush the gate guards by surprise. How they’d been hurrying to get to the rallying point for the attack when they were captured. To the best of his knowledge, the attack could very well be happening now. The only question was how long Milo would hold off the attack
for them to arrive.
As Edwin came to the end of his spiel and hung his head in anguish, I quietly ended his life with one strike of the Vicious Executioner's Axe of Cruelty, before doing the same with zombie Orson. While Helgath quietly kneeled down to gather up the mercenary’s soul stone, I turned back to the drawn faces looking back at me. There was a newfound respect and fear in the faces of the Royal Guards as I noticed that Guard Leader Cleaver had ordered the hostlers to bring everyone’s mounts out. While it was the right call, I was still buckass naked along with most of my companions.
“If your people can guard the courtyard, I’ll take the guards I have with me to stop the attack,” Guard Leader Cleaver began to say, as I saw the disapproving frowns on my people’s faces. While I appreciated the man’s intent, I honestly didn’t see these level forty Royal Guards doing well against Milo Hawkins and his desperate people. That wasn’t even considering that he was more than likely some kind of Dil-Hilth.
“We’re going,” Neristhana said, as my companions nodded in agreement. Before I could say anything, all of them began pushing the Royal Guards aside and taking their mounts. In a flash, everyone was ready to go.
“There’s no time to argue,” Helgath agreed, as she leaped atop Neysa’s back. “No seed-worms can be left to hatch inside this city.”
“If you’ll take the time to gear up,” a flustered Guard Leader Cleaver argued, “then the rest of us can join you?”
“Fuck that shit!” I said, climbing on Neysa’s back. “I’m not about to risk having another Elite Dil-Hilth loose in the city.”
Thrusting my hips out quickly to slink my junk out of the way, I settled on the Silver Dire Wolf’s back as I took my normal spot behind Helgath. It was somewhat of a struggle while having my hands full as I did my best not to catch her with the axe and sword in my hands. It was one thing to be doing a naked raid for fun when you were max level, but it was an entirely different story when you were still leveling up and going into a possible boss fight.
“We’ve got this,” I said, feeling somewhat giddy in spite of my complaints as my naked and semi-naked companions formed up around me, while our level 48 Elite Orc Warrior Zombies massed up behind us.
I couldn’t help the adrenaline pumping through my veins. While I was worried for my companions, there was something about riding into battle naked that was utterly ridiculous and exciting. Besides that, we had a mini-army between the nine of us and our nineteen zombies. Glancing around at my companions, I could see that the feeling was surprisingly mutual as I turned back to Guard Leader Cleaver.
“Keep your people here and send a messenger to the guard groups in the city to get them headed toward the gate and the walls,” I said, as I heard a commotion behind me. To my surprise, I saw the five, now naked, ex-skirmishers climbing up behind Ulia, Keela, Rayne, Brenna, and Neristhana as a handful of grinning guards around the courtyard tossed their weapons up to the men.
“We’re going with you, Overlord Ironwolf,” Gregory said, flashing me a grin as Ulia gave me a “why not” shrug.
“I see that,” I said still not understanding what I was seeing, “but why are you naked too?”
“Those rags weren’t doing much as it was,” the too thin man that my Identify informed me was, Hartley Warner - ex-Royal Skirmisher Level 48, said as the crew saluted me with their borrowed swords. “Besides, Overlord Ironwolf, it just seemed right.”
“Respect, gentlemen,” I said, saluting the men back. Feeling my intent, Neysa began trotting towards the gate as I held the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden over my head and shouted. “Let’s ride!”
Chapter Thirty-Nine
(Second Assault Group: Star’s naked raid)
Players and people of The World jumped out of our way as we went ripping down Main Street, heading towards the gates at a full gallop while whooping it up like a bunch of fools. In all honesty, I was happy the ex-skirmishers had come with us since it meant I wasn’t the only swinging dick in the group. While most players just watched in dumbfounded amazement, a number of the veteran MMO players began stripping off their gear and yelling out “Naked Raid!” as their teams began chasing after us. As we were neared the gate, we could hear that the fighting had already started.
At a glance, Milo Hawkins had dressed his people up in Royal Guard uniforms and used the tactic to give his people the edge when they’d triggered their surprise attack. Out of the fifty Royal Guards that had been assigned to guard the gate, all but eight were already down. I saw Guard Leader Stonier holding the line before the gatehouse against seventy Iron Falcon Mercenaries. The incredulous looks on everyone’s faces when my Regeneration spells swept over the defenders was a thing of beauty as Neysa crashed into their rear a second later.
The Iron Falcon Mercenaries didn’t stand a chance as the twenty-two Elite Orc Warriors crashed into their ranks like a wrecking ball. Massive fists crushed through the defenders shields while their swords uselessly thrust into their dead bodies. The mercenary ranks were thrown into complete confusion. One second, they’d been about to overwhelm the gatehouse and the next they were being attacked from two sides. Most were initially tackled to the ground or yanked off their feet as the undead horde went into a feeding frenzy.
None of us riding stayed on our mounts once the battle started. Slipping from Neysa’s back as the Silver Dire Wolf began shredding a mercenary with her claws, Helgath and I began working our way towards Milo as we regained control over the undead and began using them like a wedge to make a path through his people. Behind us, Gregory rushed the line side-by-side with Ulia as they began hacking for all they were worth. Neristhana and Hartley dismounted next to us as Fylreh joined Neysa in hacking the enemy apart with her dual scimitars instead of her bow. Keela was fighting a step behind another ex-skirmisher. As the man began working the enemies down in front of him, she blasted them from behind with her Enhanced Shadow Blasts. Rayne and Brenna were happily supporting Keela from the far side with their new friends.
The fighting wasn’t anything terribly difficult. Most of my party were holding back until the zombies knocked the enemy mercenaries down before we attacked. As the owner of the zombie sent their zombie forward to drag down another mercenary, they would finish off the wounded target with relative ease. It was clear to see that the end was near as the naked players came screaming in behind us. Within seconds, the remaining mercenaries were being bodily dragged to the ground by five to six players. As the mercenaries folded like a cheap umbrella, I saw Milo’s enraged eyes focus on Helgath and me as the naked horde rushed forward.
“I’ll kill all of you maggots!” Milo bellowed, as he began picking newfars up by the face or neck and throwing them away like they were nothing. Whole groups of newfars were mowed down by the irregular missiles, but instead of being upset, the men and women laughed like it was a joke as they climbed back to their feet and charged again. As I finally made it up to Milo, he snarled at me in hate.
“It doesn’t matter if you kill me or not,” Milo shrieked, as our blades began clanging against one another. “Palnisdale will die tonight one way or another!” As if to prove his point, the city’s alarm bells began to ring out as shouts of Orcs attacking the wall echoed out around us.
“Not on my watch,” I snarled back, fighting for my life. Without the additional bonuses from my gear, I found myself struggling to stand against Milo’s powerful attacks as he hammered at my head and shoulders. “Besides that,” I snarled, ducking a strike that nearly decapitated me, “your master, or whatever, Grimblood Dickhead is dead!”
“What?” Milo screeched incredulously, as I did my best to deflect the hammering blows coming in at me with both my axe and sword. Each strike drove me back from the force of the blows. “A weakling like you could never beat a supreme-”
“Dil-Hilth?” I shouted back, as Helgath struck with her daggers in a series of blazingly fast combinations at his forearms and legs. “Trust me when I say, he went down like a little bitch!”
As Mil
o bellowed in outrage, Helgath jumped back and blasted him in the face with an Enhanced Shadow Blast a split-second before Neysa’s jaws snagged him by the back of the head. Before the asshole could react, she jerked her head side-to-side as if she were breaking a Giant Rat’s neck. Unable to get any force behind his weakening slashes at the Silver Dire Wolf’s head, he dropped his sword to claw at her muzzle.
Not to be outdone, Neysa slammed Milo’s body into the ground as she began shredding his lower torso with all four of her razor-sharp claws. The man’s muffled agonized shrieks stopped after a minute. It was over a few seconds later as the Silver Dire Wolf yanked Milo’s head completely off. Immediately, a system message popped open before my eyes.
Congratulations! You have successfully completed the Secret Quest Stop the Dil-Hilth Insider Threat to the City of Palnisdale. You have gained 5000 Experience Points. You have gained 500 to Reputation. In recognition for removing the evil threat within their midst, the citizens of Palnisdale have become your willing vassals and you have gained increased respect from the Royal Forces inside the city. Your status has been updated to, Scourge of the Dil-Hilth Race. How the city of Palnisdale excels or declines is now determined by the policies that you set. Additional opportunities may become available depending on the decisions that you make.
Dismissing the window, I looked down at the shredded body as the rest of the team came wandering over while naked players began dancing over the corpses of the dead laughing their asses off.
“I guess I have you to thank for the timely help, Overlord Ironwolf?” Guard Leader Stonier asked, as she came walking up to me. Looking me up and down, she incredulously shook her head and muttered. “Is the whole naked thing something Half-Elves regularly do or was this a special occasion?” Seeing my hesitant look, she cracked a smile. “Not that I’m complaining about the show, mind you, but you have to admit it’s somewhat odd.”
