Zectas Volume VI: The Delusive Realm of Mictlan

by John Nest

  As they advanced farther, Smoke spotted a wide silhouette up ahead. He guessed that it was an army, but did not know whether they were friendly or not.

  “Igniz, can you light that up,” said Smoke, pointing at the group in question.

  In an instant, sixteen flying flame-swords flew over the unknown division.

  Somewhat illuminated, Smoke saw Tritank’s army huddled together in a circle. They were led by a fat Sonstwelter Captain.

  “Hey!” shouted Smoke to the fat Knight. “Have your men go westward. One of the OlegHai Generals is there.”

  “And who are you supposed to be?” asked the fat Knight, indignant.

  “I’m Faux,” answered Smoke quickly. “One of the Generals for the Vitzytl Kingdom.”

  “Hmph! Sorry, no can do,” said the fat Knight, shaking his head. “Tritank left Captain Gras in charge of this army.”

  “And which one is Captain Gras?” asked Smoke, looking behind the fat Knight.

  “Why, me of course!” retorted Gras.

  “Eh?” asked Smoke, confused. “Anyway, let’s go. Lead your men out of here.”

  “Like I said, no can do!” replied Gras, louder. “We’re staying right here. Tritank said to hold this ground. No one’s gonna make us move, not the Orks and especially not some unknown General wanna be.”

  Daga then jumped from Igniz’s shoulders onto Smoke’s. “Forget about them. Meneur needs us!”

  “Right,” said Smoke, nodding his head. “Forward!” Not bothering to waste any more time with Gras.

  After ten minutes and two hundred Ork grunts felled, Smoke and his men reached the boundary of the Ponderous Mist.

  It was then that he saw the grim development of the battlefield. ‘What a mess!’ was his immediate thought. He used his Telefax Vision to get a clearer picture.

  A medium-sized twister was in the east. Ork grunts, wagons, hell boars, and dirus wolves were picked up by the turbulent winds. He surmised that Ouragan and Chrys were probably fighting there.

  Smoke then turned his attention over to the fallen effigies. The ruins of the former Kings of Sawtorn held firm and blocked the valley’s passage. He could see that the Knights were still holding their ground. Whereas, the Wizards and Priests located above them continued their ranged support. That was probably the only part of the plan that was going well for them at the moment.

  Then, a large movement near the mountaintop caught Smoke’s attention. The commotion was near Prince Matalim’s flamboyant Tent. A myriad of elemental spells continuously came out from the Wizards stationed outside the Prince’s Shelter. But thousands of Orks on top of dirus wolves and hell boars were easily breaking through the Knights, Priests, and Wizards who were posted near the barricades protecting the Prince.

  Smoke closed his eyes and his eyebrows crossed. He was weighing the option on whether to help Prince Matalim or to go to Meneur.

  Then, for once, Smoke was pleased to see the sight of the otherwise irritable Tritank. The pompous Sonstwelter was on top of his newly subjugated wyvern. He was flying over the Orks threatening Prince Matalim’s tent. Tritank then covered the Orks in Ponderous Mist.

  “Daga, where to?” asked Smoke, his objective focused.

  “That way,” squeaked Daga, pointing over to the section of the Horde near the collapsed megaliths.

  Smoke sighted a banner within the Ork Horde and headed straight for it, but was stopped by Daga.

  “No, that’s just a decoy,” said Daga. “Dastard is somewhere to the right of that banner.”

  Smoke clicked his tongue. “Sneaky Orks,” he said and changed the direction of his OrkElf army.

  “Igniz, take the lead,” said Smoke.

  Equipped with a fiery flamberge on his right and a dreadful ax on his left, Igniz sliced through the Orks blocking their path. He then used the wide arc of the Maniaxe and created a wide gap in the Orks formation.

  “Split into five lines,” said Smoke to his troops. He stood still while the OrkElves got into a square position.

  He had the ground he stood on rise upward, creating an earth-pillar at the center of this new formation. Once completed, he then created an earth-spike wall which only left the front open. He had one of the Ork Priestesses cover the OrkElves near the wall, while the other was sent with Igniz in the front lines.

  “Forward!” said Smoke and slowly added more earth-spikes to the sides as they did so.

  Ten minutes had already passed, but Smoke and his men had only moved a hundred meters.

  Smoke, who still remained at the center of their movable-barracks, oversaw the fighting on all three sides. He disregarded the front and entrusted it to Igniz.

  Then, one of the OrkElves from the front lines ran up to him. “Sir!” called out the OrkElf. “Excuse me. But Sir Ilad is having a difficult time advancing.”

  Smoke looked to the front and his eyes widened. He saw Igniz was up against four Orks wielding massive claymores. These jade giants were equipped with weapons that rivaled those of Ork Colonels— Wertlosmorder and Wertlosrauber.

  Thankfully, the MaduHai Priestess named Sauf was good at her job. Igniz’s life bar remained above 75% as she positioned herself behind the incarnated symbiote.

  “Everyone, hold your ground!” shouted Smoke. “Fatay nairs Wertlosvati!” he chanted.

  At once, the OrkElves cried out their war mantra. “Fatay nairs Wertlosvati! Fatay nairs Wertlosvati!”

  Smoke left his earth-pillar and glided towards Igniz. But before he descended he heard Igniz call out.

  “Look up ahead,” yelled Igniz, pointing at the cold mist farther away. “Go help Meneur, I got this.”

  Smoke checked Igniz’s life bar and found it at full capacity. ‘Yes, Sauf is a dependable healer.’

  Suddenly, Daga jumped off Smoke. “Go!” she screamed as she fell. She landed on one of the claymore-wielding Orks and bit his ear.

  Grabbing this opening, Igniz charged forward with the maniaxe and knocked all of them backward. Daga sprinted towards the Ork Priestess as Igniz used his flamberge’s Incinerator ability. A flaming sphere of the fiery shards engulfed the four Orks and Igniz.

  “Daga, make sure both of you stay alive!” said Smoke as he glided towards the cold fog.

  * * * * * *

  From above, Smoke could see the Orks who tried to touch the mist were frozen solid. He also saw a shape hidden within it—a mound of ice.

  However, there was a small opening at the epicenter of the frozen ridge.

  Without hesitation, Smoke dove in. The moment he entered through the hole, he felt his body stiffen. The air was below freezing. He created a spherical Manatl to protect himself from the cold. Before, he would have used flames to warm himself up, but he could no longer do that now.

  Inside, he found hundreds of Ork grunts frozen solid. There were even a few hell boars caught by Meneur’s freezing spell. They were still alive, but all of their life bars were below 5%.

  At the center of the freezing mist, he found Meneur impaled by a peculiar weapon. She was standing next to a large block of ice twice her height.

  “You made it,” whispered Meneur, the mark of dried-up blood left on the sides of her mouth.

  “What happened?” asked Smoke, canceling his spherical Manatl and rushing next to her. Upon closer inspection, he found that the owner of the unusual weapon was stuck inside the block of ice.

  “That’s Dastard,” said Meneur faintly, pointing at the frozen Ork next to her. “Fumbled—big time,” she added, her eyes whitened.

  Smoke sensed that it was not caused by her blindness, rather it was due to Meneur’s life bar which displayed 3%.

  He then turned to Dastard and found that the OlegHai General’s life bar displayed (485,000/1,500,000 HP).

  “Don’t worry about it,” he said, taking out a pompom juice and forcing the healing drink down Meneur’s throat. “We’ll finish him together.”

  “Never mind the drink!” angrily said Meneur. “Hit him now!”

  “No
, we need to heal you—” began Smoke, but was slapped by Meneur.

  “I said… kill him!” she screamed. “While I still have the power to hold him,” she added slowly, her voice wavered.

  Smoke stepped back and took in a deep breath to clear his head. He needed an attack that would finish the job but he also had to account for Meneur’s safety.

  “Alright. You ready?” Smoke asked Meneur.

  “Do it already!” replied Meneur.

  Smoke launched a thick earth-spike, with the intent to impale Dastard and simultaneously free Meneur.

  However, the moment the earth-spike broke through the block of ice, Dastard’s sword shifted and pulled Meneur along with him. The Ork General had evaded Smoke’s attack and escaped.

  As the peculiar sword revealed its true shape, Meneur’s life bar was drained to zero. A thick blunt blade with a hook at its tip, a blade-crescent for its guard, and a metal stake for its hilt.

  Meneur’s lifeless body fell to the ground. As it started to fade out to nothingness, the OlegHai spoke. “Thanks!” sneered Dastard. “She almost got me there,” he added, standing up to his full height and revealing a second hook sword.

  The OlegHai General towered over Smoke at two and a half meters. Yet, he was lean compared to Wertlosvati. His tusks were also shorter but his hair was longer which covered his face.

  “Shouldn’t have underestimated her just because she’s blind now,” said Dastard, who spoke fluent Lacerta. “Anyway, who are you supposed to be, DarkElf?” He paused as if he recognized Smoke. “Oh, wait… I know! You must be Faux! The smartass who thought he could defeat the Horde.”

  Smoke immediately put up his spherical Manatl and tightened his grip on the clay staff.

  Dastard charged at Smoke and attacked the manatl.

  SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD SCHILD

  Sparks flew out of the hook swords as it made contact with Smoke’s barrier. His clay staff began to glow as it stored the OlegHai’s attacks.

  Yet, after only four strikes, Dastard stopped attacking. “So, you’re really a Manatl user.”

  Dastard leaped backward. “Thought you could hit me with that charged attack, huh?” He laughed. “Sorry, but I’m not an idiot.”

  The OlegHai General began to leave. When he reached farther away, he stopped. “See you around, Boangi,” he said to Smoke. “Feel free to stay inside your cozy Manatl while I lead my Orks to victory,” he added and started walking again.

  Standing in the same spot, Smoke observed Dastard’s actions. The OlegHai General casually strolled onward, about to exit Meneur’s frozen cavern.

  Smoke then stared at the now empty space where Meneur’s body vanished. He took out a jar of pompom juice and finished it in one gulp.

  “Fatay nairs Wertlosvati!” called out Smoke.

  “Whoa! You know Orkish?” asked Dastard, turning around. “Call me impressed,” he added, pointing his twin hook swords at Smoke. “But Wertlosvati being dead, is a good thing. A Horde with many leaders is fast, but a Horde with one is unstoppable.”

  Dastard chuckled. “Heck, now I only have to kill Snide and I’ll be the ruler of the Ork Hor—”

  The OlegHai General stopped mid-sentence and dodged backward as Smoke attacked him with two earth-spikes from the ground.

  “Tsk tsk tsk. That’s not fair,” complained Dastard. “You get to attack me, but I can’t hit you. Besides, Meneur already injured me badly,” he reasoned farther, indicating that his life bar was already at 32%. “Get out of your Manatl and I’ll fight you.”

  Smoke ignored Dastard and launched eight more earth-spikes. But Dastard easily evaded all of them.

  “Am not sticking around for that kind of fight,” said Dastard and started running for the exit.

  Smoke erected four earth-spikes to block the Ork’s path.

  Dastard laughed and struck two earth-spikes with his hook swords. The earth-spikes crumbled as it met the blunt force of the Ork’s blades. He then bounced over the torn-down earth-spikes and was about to leave when he heard Smoke call out.

  “Wait!” said Smoke, canceling his Manatl sphere. “How’s this?”

  “Hmm… Don’t know,” said Dastard. “You could just put it up again.”

  Smoke threw the sacred clay staff near Dastard’s feet. “There! Satisfied?” he asked, tightening his Gauntlets of Orcinol.

  “Well, I’ll be!” exclaimed Dastard. “You’re really looking down on me, huh?”

  Dastard got off the broken earth-spikes and walked slowly towards Smoke. His twin hook swords made an irksome sound as it scratched against the ground.

  Then, when Dastard got closer, the OlegHai General charged at Smoke.

  In response, Smoke sent up eight earth-spikes. All of which were pulverized by Dastard’s hook swords.

  Needing to create some distance between them, Smoke leaped back as he prepared to launch another attack. But the metal stake at the hilt of Dastard’s hook swords suddenly slashed his left shoulder, sending him sprawling on his back.

  Confused at how the Ork cleared such a large distance between, Smoke looked up. He saw that Dastard had linked the twin swords by their hooks, greatly extending the reach of the weapon.

  Dastard spun the hook swords around one more time before he grabbed the second one by its handle, holding each blade with one hand. “Looks like I got you there,” sneered Dastard.

  Ignoring the pain, Smoke formed a fist with his right hand. Eight earth-spears were crafted in mid-air and flew straight for Dastard.

  Leading with the crescent guards, Dastard deflected the earth-spears one by one. He only stopped on the last one and caught it by the hooks of his sword. He pivoted his body around and sent the caught earth-spear back at Smoke.

  In response, Smoke simply opened his palms and disintegrated the earth-spear into dust.

  Unexpectedly, Dastard popped up in front of Smoke. With one swipe of his thick blade, he caught Smoke’s left leg by the hook. He pulled Smoke towards him and pierced the metal stake of his second sword into Smoke’s shoulder.

  Simultaneously, an earth-spike struck Dastard’s groin. The OlegHai jumped backward and avoided from being impaled.

  Smoke clutched the wound on his shoulder. He wanted to assess Dastard’s fighting ability and gauge the damage of the hook swords. He thought he had the advantage, what with the OlegHai already being injured. But only after taking two hits, his life bar was reduced to 65%. None of his ranged earth-spikes struck the Ork. Yet, the blunt hook swords packed more punch than he thought. Three more attacks from those thick blades would surely claim his life. Moreover, there was another thing that bothered him. His body was already shivering. It was so cold Smoke could see his breath.

  “Oh-ho! What’s this? No resistance to Ice, huh?” mocked Dastard, extending his swords and embraced the freezing wind. “Not to brag, but I’ve been in this situation before,” he added pointing around the ice cavern Meneur created. “And I won last time too.”

  Needing to recover both his life and mana bars, Smoke hid inside an earth-dome.

  CRACK CRACK CRACK

  “Aww. I like this one!” jeered Dastard from outside as he whacked his hook swords against Smoke’s earth-dome. “Won’t you come out and play.”

  Smoke gulped down another pompom jar. He only had one left. As he tightened his Gauntlets of Orcinol, the earth-dome crumbled. He used his Serval Shoes’ Trailblazer ability and escaped Dastard’s reach.

  “Now, that’s lame!” said Dastard, threatening Smoke with one of his hook swords. “Why would you want to warm up a perfectly cool place like this.”

  Without another word, Smoke used the increased movement speed from the Trailblazer and ran circles around Dastard, leaving a wall of flames in his wake.

  “What? You just gonna run around?” asked Dastard, trying to follow Smoke’s movement in the flames. “Come on, Boangi. Show me what you go—”

  Dastard’s face flew backward as his neck was forcibly twisted by Smoke’s right cross.

&n
bsp; Smoke used his Hyper Jump Ability and hopped out of his circular fire wall. Sharp spikes protruded out of Smoke’s knuckles as he activated the gauntlet’s Panthera Claws ability, increasing both his attack speed and damage. His fists disappeared into a blur.

  Dastard tried to counter with his crescent guard, but Smoke used the Ork’s stomach as a foothold and leaped back into the flames.

  The OlegHai General extended his hook sword into the path of the Trailblazer, but Smoke sprang out to punch him in the face instead. After just two brawls, Smoke reduced Dastard’s life bar from 30% to 10%.

  Dastard stumbled back to the center of the circular flames. He connected his twin swords by the hooks and in a circular motion attacked the wall of flames with the metal-stake on the hilt.

  Once again, Smoke hopped out and evaded the Ork’s hook sword. However, this time, he was stabbed in the back by the metal-stake. Dastard changed the trajectory of the hilt as he pulled the sword back towards him.

  Forcibly flying towards Dastard, Smoke felt the Ork’s crescent guard pierced his chest.

  Dastard lifted him up and twisted his sword, inflicting more damage. Smoke’s life bar instantly fell to 50%.

  “Got you now, Boangi!” jeered Dastard.

  The circular flames from Smoke’s Trailblazer ebbed. A bleeding Smoke looked down at Dastard and said. “No, I got you.”

  Smoke used the flames from his Trailblazer and melded it with the earth. A massive magma-hand came out from underneath Dastard and squeezed him to death.

  A choking Dastard released his grip on his hook sword, which made Smoke fall to the ground.

  THUD

  Dastard’s green skin turned black and the smell of burning flesh filled the ice cavern.

  Smoke got out a healing salve and applied it on his chest. He looked up and watched as the last hit points of Dastard was crushed out of him.

  A notification window popped up and confirmed that it was over.

  + You’ve dealt a fatal blow to the OlegHai General: Dastard

  + You’ve killed the OlegHai General: Dastard

  + You’ve gained 4,000,000 EXP

  + You’ve gained a level.