The True Enemy Revealed

by Jason Cheek

  “You’re not Startum,” the man said with obvious disdain.

  “And you’re no Detonado, imagine that.” Thomas shot back

  “At level 32 I doubt you’ll be worth any style points.” Apoxsee sneered as he looked Thomas up and down in disgust, completely ignoring the battle raging around him.

  “Whatever dickless, but before we get to dance, you’ll have to deal with my friends first.” Thomas shot back with an unimpressed snort as the level 32 feral zombies began charging the other guild leader in ones and twos.

  At first, the dickhead managed to easily handle the attacks by severing off a leg or an arm with a quick swing or two of his oversized sword. That was, until he realized that the creatures weren’t going down. There was only eight feral zombies attacking him, but the cocky shit was suddenly forced to get serious as they began hammering at his Flame Shield. Leaping ten feet into the air, Apoxsee’s blade slashed out quick as lightning three times as fiery arcs as wide as the blade’s swing shot out from the warrior to slam into the human zombies’ torsos. The undead creatures’ flesh sizzled and popped as the fire blades left deep wounds that did little to no actual damage. As Apoxsee was trying to figure out what the hell was up with his attacks, the remaining five zombies rushed him.

  This time, Apoxsee shot forward and dropped to his knees, sliding underneath the undead creatures’ gasping arms while his two-handed blade sliced through the zombies’ legs like a hot knife through butter. The ferals’ bodies split apart as they tried to change directions to chase their target down, only to find their legs were missing. Unconcerned, they hurriedly began crawling after the human using their hands as legs with their jaws snapping hungrily. As Apoxsee turned to face the remaining three feral creatures chasing after him, Thomas swore up a storm in raid chat.

  “He’s a freaking level 42 DPS warrior with nightmare stats! I need an assessment of what we can expect!” Thomas shouted as he began moving forward with his shield ready. He needed to get into position. “As soon as the zombie wave hits, the Cobra Kai groups and mine will take on this asshole. Everyone else, move out into the raid and get as many kills as you can. Let’s get moving people!”

  “The super leap is a new class skill.” Matt called out in full analysis mode as he moved to the far right of the Dread Pack guild leader. “Call it a level 40 special attack. The slide attack is a known level 35 skill for the DPS Warrior class.”

  “Fourth special attack, Flame Blades, designate as a non-AOE.” Terry’s voice reported in a monotone as the tank groups began moving into position. Without hesitation, she led her group to the far left of their target. “Fifth special attack, Flame Knockback, designate as a close-range AOE. Preliminary distance set at a ten yard radius with an unknown cooldown. Classifying both as advanced skills of the Flame Shield branch.”

  Apoxsee danced out of the way of two of the zombies’ slashing claws. Hopping over another two undead without legs that tried to ram him, his bastard sword hacked the last zombie’s head clear off its neck. With a shout of triumph, the DPS warrior super-leaped away as he twisted around in the air spinning the massive blade like a cocky bastard.

  “Dammit! He’s taking those feral zombies out too fast!” Thomas cursed under his breath as he caught Sarka’s eyes. “Change of plans, you’re heading in with us, Sarka. Phoenix, you’re on your own. Zhou, you’re with Terry.”

  “Where do you want me?” Sarka answered without hesitation as she saw his grim face. Before Thomas could answer, Phoenix’s voice cut him off.

  “You’re sending me alone in the center of that mess?” she asked in a higher octave, uncomfortably eyeing the seething mass of players fighting for their lives against the horde of feral zombies.

  “See if you can get around to the backside.” Thomas said, addressing Sarka before pointedly meeting the red-headed barbarian’s green eyes as he cocked his head to the side. “You know the deal, right?”

  “Yeah, I’ve done this before.” Phoenix groaned, taking a tighter grip on her two-handed axe as she muttered under her breath. “I just hate the dying like a dog part.”

  “Then try not to die so much,” Kenzie said, giving Phoenix a shit eating grin while the barbarian flipped her off.

  “Once the zombies are past, we’ll head in together. Matt, Terry, try to restrict his movement. Just don’t get into the range of that AOE unless he blasts us. We’ll switch up if that happens. Thompson and Yun, do your best to keep us alive.”

  Both men sounded off with an affirmative as the next wave of zombies rushed past. There was supposed to be a hundred and seventy-six of them in all, but felt like a shit-ton more as the nearly naked crowd of player-zombies raced past in the narrow street like a herd of cattle. Thomas caught a glimpse of the pissed-off look on Apoxsee’s face a split-second before he was mowed-down by the new wave of undead. Surging forward in their ferocious rush, they tore into the handful of Dread Pack members that had fought their way back to their feet. Most lost their Flame Shields within seconds as they were dragged to the ground shrieking in fear.

  Sarka was just making her way to the backside of the DPS Warrior when another explosion rocked the street. Rocked was somewhat of a misnomer, since there was no shockwave associated with the intense sound. Undead bounced off the walls and the warriors’ shields as everything in a ten-foot radius was blasted away from the pissed off guild leader. While the bodies were still raining to the ground around them, Thomas’ rose from his crouch and started forward.

  “Let’s move out people!” his voice cracked like a whip in local raid chat. “Go … go … go!”

  “I’m going to enjoy ripping your head off and shitting down your throat!” Apoxsee shrieked, climbing to his feet. Pointing his two-handed blade at Thomas’ face, he ripped off the wax seal from a health potion and sucked it down, giving them an ugly grin.

  “Whatever A-poco.” Thomas shouted back unconcerned as the zombies began rising back to their feet.

  “It’s Apoxsee you idiot!” the man screamed in exasperation as the zombies began rushing back in to attack. Thomas and his zombie led the charge backed up by Kenzie and two other zombies as Unalia released one of her arrow-storms at the asshat. With a growl, the DPS Warrior leaped away dodging the worst of the damage as his Flame Shield sputtered out. Redirecting his jump in mid-leap by using a zombie’s head, he slammed his two-handed blade into Thomas’ shield in a leaping dive.

  Thomas had only a split-second to react as he angled his shield as much as possible to deflect the overwhelming blow. Even so, he was blasted off his feet as he hit the ground rolling. Kenzie dove past the DPS Warrior, slashing at his face, but a lightning fast dodge took him out of the short sword’s range.

  Unfortunately for Kenzie, his sword was already in motion as he brought it up and around in a tight arc to catch the rogue in mid-air. Thankfully the blow wasn’t moving fast enough to slice her in half, but it still broke a few ribs as she was batted across the street from the force of the strike. The team’s zombies’ clawed at Apoxsee’s arms and legs as he leaped away heading for Sarka.

  Sarka team’s three zombies were already lunging forward as the DPS Warrior landed. That was the only thing that saved the woman from the Flame Blades that came blasting out from Apoxsee’s sword as it blurred in her direction. Throwing her shield up at the last second, Sarka ducked under the searing blasts as she knocked the bastard sword aside with her blade. Her follow-up Shield Blast only hit air as Apoxsee leaped over her head and slashed at her back. As she staggered from the blow, he was already lining up for his next strike.

  With his bastard sword leading the way, the DPS Warrior landed in front of Matt as his blade smashed into the warrior’s shield like a battering ram. Matt never had a chance as he was blasted off his feet. Darkhorse, who was behind the Cobra Kai twin, saw what was happening and had his zombie pet latch onto the slippery bastard’s back. As the undead pet began ripping into Apoxsee’s neck, he crouched down and rammed his bastard sword through the zombie’s s
kull. A quick twist was all it took to snap the zombie’s head off.

  Darkhorse’s eyes widened in shock as the zombie fell away. There was no pulling back from the blade combo he’d aimed at the man’s bare back as Apoxsee shot back to his feet in the blink of an eye and did a super-leap backwards. At the same time, the DPS Warrior slashed out with his bastard sword, catching Darkhorse with a diagonal strike across his body, gutting him from groin to neck with one blow.

  Staggering to a stop, the rogue looked down at his shredded armor in shock as his intestines tumbled to the cold cobblestones in front of him. Everyone in the raid watched in horror as Darkhorse collapsed to his knees while his weapons clattered to the ground. Looking up at Thomas in silent dread, the rogue’s mouth wordlessly opened and closed as his Hit Points plummeted to zero in the blink of an eye. As a gravestone appeared on top of his body a second later, the Dread Pack Leader’s taunting laugh came to their ears as his Flame Shield flared back to life.

  “I’m going to enjoy killing all of you slowly!”

  ***

  Ahead of us, I saw the Dark Elves disappear into the apartment buildings maybe twenty yards back from the rear of the Dread Pack’s raid. None of them were looking behind them as they fought their separate battles against the feral zombies crashing into their lines. It took us another thirty seconds to hit that same twenty yard mark, but by then the Shadow Scouts had already reached the rooftops and were getting into position for the attack.

  Once again, I was feeling the loss of my Leeching Hand-Axe of Severing as I gripped the Dark Blade of Lord Kayden tightly. There was just something about the heft of a war axe in your hand when crashing into the back of a line of warriors like this that a sword couldn’t quite match. The shield, surprisingly enough, felt just right as I began picking up speed.

  Behind me, the surviving Royal Army and Darom Guards followed me with determined faces as they kept with the brutal pace. Although my mana was nearly empty, I’d been able to thankfully heal the last of the wounded with Helgath’s support on our way down the hill. Hopefully, this force would be enough to deliver the knock-out blow we needed to take the Dread Pack bastards down for good.

  “Get at least one hit on your enemies as you run past!” I called out in local raid chat. “Whatever you do, make sure you don’t slow down! We need to run these assholes into the ground if we’re going to have any chance to win this!”

  All that could be heard was everyone’s harsh breathing as we closed the last ten yards. I heard Scout Captain Dherler’s order to fire a moment before black arrows began raining down into the separate groups of the Dread Pack players fighting zombies. At first, they didn’t even realize they were under attack, since they were in the middle of fighting the hordes of undead that had pushed into their ranks. As Flame Shields began to fizzle out in the enemy ranks ahead of us, I triggered Holy Shield and Ice Barrier a few seconds before I crashed into the backs’ of the enemy with my sword leading the way.

  The momentum of my leaping, Sneak Attack drove nearly eight of the Dread Pack players ahead of me to the ground as I bowled into their formation full tilt. The target of my attack cried out as his Hit Points dropped by half while I jumped back to my feet. The downed newfar cried out in fear as they tried to get back to their feet, but already the troopers behind me were running through their ranks while slashing at their backs. Although these attacks were only Backstabs, by the tenth soldier running past there wasn’t a player left alive as the quick moving charge slammed into the rear of the next formation.

  We took out forty players in thirty seconds, before we were faced with groups that still had their Flame Shields up. These players were all still fighting the zombies from Thomas’ raid. With a thought, I sent my zombies racing forward as I called out in local raid chat to send the zombies in. Instantly, the pack of zombies surged ahead to slam into the back of the Dread Pack lines. We joined them a few seconds later as my line of troopers crashed into the melee.

  This was where shit really got real as the fight turned into one massive hackfest. The sounds of metal on metal filled the air as shields blocked and swords slashed through armor, while the screams of the living and dying cried out from numerous voices. Waves of heat washed across our lines as Flame Blasts were turned against us at point blank range, only to be silenced moments later from the black arrows of our Shadow Scout Forces sniping from the rooftops.

  Groups of zombies would shoot ahead of us to tackle players to the ground as our lines merged into a grappling mass of bloody sweaty bodies striving to win. Even though a number of troopers were brought down during the initial rush, there were too many of us to fight as player after player was hacked to death by the enraged troopers looking for revenge against their hated enemy.

  In moments, we were sweeping up the stragglers in our path, leaving a swath of dead players and zombies strewn behind us as we pushed through the heart of the enemy formation. Many of my troopers rushed out to help our people battling the smaller groups of newfar on our flanks as I led the main force forward. The intense action was hard to follow as I caught sporadic sightings of my companions fighting for their lives.

  In one flash, I saw Ryane and Ulia working with a squad of troopers to take down a group of the Dread Pack players. They’d been cutting through the swordsmen like reapers of death as the bodies piled around them, but as soon as Keela and Brenna took down the lead newfar’s Flame Shield, Ryane and Ulia brought down the pain. As their blades brought down the leader, the surviving troopers pushed in for the kill. I didn’t see what happened after that, since I was pulled into my own battle.

  Blasting and cutting my way through the players before me, I caught a glimpse of Neristhana leading a group of soldiers in a desperate fight against an ox-like newfar. The big bastard was the size of one of the Hardrotturg Mortician brothers. As the soldiers brought down his Flame Shield, I saw Neristhana leap up behind the Dread Pack player’s back and sink her axe deep into the man’s meaty neck. That was the break the rest of the soldiers needed. As the newfar dropped to his knees clutching at his throat, the soldiers group tackled him to the ground as their blades repeatedly pierced the man’s body.

  Fighting our way through a thick line of the Dread Pack players being torn apart by zombies, I stumbled into a section of the street that was carpeted with the remains of corpses and gravestones. Looking around for new enemies, I caught sight of a handful of my friends fighting for their lives against a bare-chested warrior covered in blood. The man wore a blood-red overcoat that fluttered around him like a cloak as he flung around a massive two-handed bastard sword like it was light as a feather. Even as I was focusing on the enemy with my Identify, I saw Terry get blasted off her feet from a two-handed blow as the Flame Shield aura seared her skin.

  Before I could do anything, the bastard did some sort of super-leap into the air. Fiery blades shot from the swipes of his two-handed sword while he swung the blade in midair as the warrior woman howled in agony still trying to climb to her feet. Before she could get her shield up, the man landed beside her and took her head off with one final swipe of his massive blade. As he turned around to face a battered Zhou, I saw the man’s information appear over his head: Apoxsee Neoauspex, Level 42 Flame Shield Mage.

  I immediately recognized the name from my earlier discussion with Amron Bungholio on the docks. This was the Dread Pack’s Guild Leader. Frowning at the sight of what had to be the parts of nearly forty zombies scattered across the street along with the rest of my friends’ bodies, my mind switched into overdrive. The man was obviously no joke in combat. Darkhorse and Thomas laid in a pool of their own pools of blood from where they’d been cut down. Half of Matt’s burned corpse could be seen sticking out from one of the apartment’s busted doors on the far side of the street. The only two fighters left on their feet was Sarka and Zhou, who looked to be on their last legs. While Kenzie laid on the ground playing dead.

  Glancing behind me, I saw Helgath and Fylreh both standing at my back ready t
o fight with a mixed group of Royal Army and Darom Guards being led by Butcher, Justin, and Troy behind them. The rest of our forces were either finishing off the Dread Pack stragglers or waiting for the newfar to respawn. While I still had a powerful force at my call, I didn’t hold out any hope they could turn the tide of this battle, since the Dread Pack’s guild leader still had almost all of his full two thousand Hit Points available and had already devastated a much larger and tougher force than what I had with me now. If I used the rest of my surviving troopers to attack, we ran a strong risk of not having enough forces left to take out the respawns.

  Turning back to the battle, I saw that the women’s health bars were already back up to half from what had to be a Regeneration spell ticking away. A quick scan of the rooftops gave me a glimpse of Thompson, Yun, and Unalia carefully eyeing the fight. From the damage around them, it looked like this asshole had been sending blasts there way too. As the arrogant prick began circling Sarka and Zhou like a predator at the edge of his Flame Aura, the golden glow of a Holy Shield spell snapped into place around both women as the DPS Warrior glared up at the two Priests and spat.

  “Don’t worry little mice, I’ll be coming for you next!” he tauntingly called out. “But first, I’m going to give your women a good pounding.”

  While the man talked big, I could tell he was keeping a careful watch out for Unalia’s arrow-storm. Raising my arms to stop everyone from advancing, I hurriedly messaged Scout Captain Dherler to send me five Shadow Scouts for each rooftop behind me and to let Ayda know that I needed her, before switching raid chats and messaging my people.

  “How bad is it looking?” I asked, twenty yards back from the unfolding drama.