MMORPG: Shattered Land

0:00:00

As the timer stopped, a notification appeared before the three men.

(The Area around Great Falls City is Sealed. Dying in this Area will cause a loss of Level and enter a weakened state for 5 Hours. Logging out will be considered as dead. Battle will Last for 6 hours. If Player Midnight Solitudes War Party cannot defeat City Lordess Oudyn Player Midnight Solitude will be considered Defeated.)

6:00:00

"Those are some rough stipulations," Cold Mist grunted.

"Well, we know the plan at least," Super Nova replied cheerily.

"Elizabeth has rubbed off on you," Marius said, "Well, let's begin."

"What do you mean by that? Super Nova asked curiously.

"You are charmingly cheery. If you were a girl it would be quite an attractive trait," Marius replied. "But as a guy, it doesn't have quite the same effect."

Together, they rose up, seated on their Mounts and flew towards the City. In an instant, they passed the City Walls and the First line of defense.

"Are those Players mounting a defense?" Super Nova asked.

Marius did not bother replying.

He gave his Drake a mental command to descent and unleashed his Howling Wolf Pet. An instant later, his Pet attacked, summoning 20 Obsidian Ranked Howling Wolves to tear through the Player's defensive lines.

Suddenly a great force struck the Drake, almost reducing its Health to zero.

Without a second thought, Marius recalled his Mount and plunged into a group of Players. A moment later he had carved through them, leaving a path of light streams where hits Targets once stood.

"It's a Mini-Boss," Cold Mist yelled, a wave of flames burst through the Player Ranks, sending forth another wave of Light Streams.

Marius looked around and found the Mini-Boss. It was a female figure in golden armor and Wings protruding from her back.

Idunn Level 90 - Demon King Rank

Health: 300,000

Mana: 100,000

"Target her, and kill her as quickly as possible," Marius commanded as he made a beeline towards her.

There were both Players and Level 90 Demon King Ranked Guards that surrounded the Mini-Boss. But Marius didn't care as he slashed his way through the ranks.

"You dare attack Great Falls City? Die Human," Iduun shouted as she raised her hands to cast a spell.

However, Marius beat her to it, casting Restraining Shadow and Burning Haze on her.

"Do it NOW!" Marius shouted and sudden two powerful ranged attacks struck Iduun dealing massive amounts of damage.

When Marius got into Range he also released his own Weapon Skill, Void Sword, that eliminated the last of Iduuns Health and wiped out her.

Marius felt a thrill as he saw Iduun burst into a stream of light. But that elation did not last long.

"Here comes another one," Cold Mist warned.

Marius looked up and saw her. She looked much like Iduun but held a giant hammer in one hand with a shield in the other.

Thorys Level 90 - Demon King Rank

Health: 600,000

Mana: 150,000

Marius dashed forward to meet her, launching his own skill's to tear through the Players and Guards.

"How dare you kill my sister," Thorys screamed and lightning sparked off her hammer and shield.

"Watch out for pierce damage," Super Nova yelled as he suddenly appeared, interrupting the Mini-Bosses attack.

Taking advantage of the opening, Marius recalled his Howling Wolf and swapped his Pets, summoning his Support Pet, Elder Hawk.

Elder Hawk - Demon King Rank Level 50

Health : 4,000

Mana: 1,600

Attack: 200

Defense: 200

Intelligence: 1,100

Spirit: 260

Dexterity: 200

Skills: (Elder's Blessing - Increases all stats of Allies by 120% for 60 seconds)

(Elder's Curse - Decrease all stats of Enemies by 130% for 60 seconds)

Marius had his Elder Hawk launch both its skills and joined Super Nova in attacking Thorys. With their steady rhythm, they chipped away the Mini-Bosses Health. But even then Thorys was a dangerous foe. Her shield would block damage entirely so only one of them could damage her at a time. While the other had to contend with her hammer which would deal a Fatal Damage if it hit.

But between the two of them, they brought her down and turned her into a stream of light

"I never thought they'd have a female Thor," Super Nova said thoughtfully. "Your friend is really quite generous."

Marius smiled. "She was quite nice to look at." Sharing a cheeky grin they continued their slaughter

3:00:00

Halfway through the battle, there was a radical change of the battle.

Marius was exhausted but Super Nova and Cold Mist were invigorated by the combat. While Marius was slowly becoming duller and more prone to mistiming his attacks, those two became sharper with each passing moment.

"Oh to be young," Marius lamented as he tore through another defensive line of Players.

"Marius, the Player's are retreating, It's just the Guards and the Mini-Bosses left on the field."

Marius nodded in exhaustion. He summoned his Drake and returned to the sky. It had fully recovered from the damage it had sustained while storing away safely in Marius' Mount Slot.

"How many Bosses are left?" Marius asked.

"We've gone through four," Cold Mist replied. he had taken the least damage in this battle, taking the role of Long-Ranged magic support.

"There should only be one Mini-Boss left before the City Lord shows herself," Super Nova added. "How are you holding up?"

"Not well," Marius replied honestly. There was no point in lying at a critical point like this.

"We can make it," Cold Mist urged, 'Hang in there old man, we're not done with you yet."

"Yeah, we can't have you running out of steam yet," Super Nova encouraged.

Though they spoke supportively, Marius could hear the strain in their voices. They wanted him to stop and just let this battle end in their defeat. They wanted him to rest and to not pass away in front of them.

Yet they persevered.

They pushed him to keep going.

Because that's what he wanted.

And Marius was proud of them.

"Hey Cold Mist," Marius replied "Imagine if we actually win this thing. You could make this your Guild's City Base, couldn't you? Wouldn't that be an amazing gift to your fiancée?"

"Yeah," Super Nova chimed in. "You can think of it as a wedding gift from both of us."

"Both of us?" Marius asked.

"Well, we found the Order," Super Nova reminded him.

The three grinned. Win this? It would be historical if they did.

With their spirits slightly raised, they returned to the battle.

The fifth Mini-Boss was Freya appeared.

Freya - Level 90 Demon King Rank

Health: 1,500,000

Mana: 1,500,000

"Damn," Super Nova swore. "Do we really need to kill her?"

"Midnight, you are far too cruel." Cold Mist added.

Marius smirked. "Typical young bucks, going soft for a pretty face."

Marius had to admit, Freya's avatar was incredibly beautiful. But that wouldn't be enough for either him nor Cold Mist or Super Nova to be distracted.

"You dared to kill my daughters?" Freya boomed. "I will teach you why you should never oppose the Valkyries.

Her body shone with a radiant light becoming brighter and more dazzling.

"Super Nova," Marius shouted.

In an instant, Super Nova had vanished, his Drake vanishing with him.

"No!" He shouted a moment later. "That light does massive damage, I'm almost dead."

Marius heard the warning and flew straight into the light, straight towards the center.

"Restraining Shadow" he shouted as the spell snaked forward to find it's target. A moment later his Health started falling fast.

"Full Moon" he cast this spell and saw his Health recover.

Just in time, the radiant light faded and Marius caught up with Super Nova.

"Thanks for the heal," he said gratefully. His Health was almost half full.

Marius nodded as they started attacking Freya. They made sure to interrupt her, keeping her from performing any more Skills.

Behind them, a storm of Fire Balls rained down, burning the surrounding guards to ash.

"You know," Super Nova said, "I'm glad we added this guy to our team.

Marius smiled in agreement. Having a Professional fighting alongside them truly was a saving grace.

"Haha, glad to know I'm appreciated." Cold Mist laughed as he joined the fray.

"I'll keep debuffing her," Marius shouted. "You two finish her off."

Marius cast Burning Haze and watched in awe as Freya's Health plummeted.

Around them, their Pets were running rampant, tearing into the Guards as if they were children, and the Guards were candy.

"You know, these Customized weapons are kinda good," Marius said tiredly.

"I hear you can Embed special stones into them," Super Nova said jokingly.

"It's true. I've never seen such overpowered weapons," Cold Mist added, "It really does feel like we're cheating."

"Hush young man," Marius replied cheekily. "It's only cheating if you get caught. Then it's called Creative Business sense."

"I just calling it playing the game the ways it was made to be played," Super Nova stated.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but my inventory is getting pretty full. And look at all this experience. I've already leveled up three times." Cold Mist continued.

Around them, the Guards were wiped out and they were now alone.

Marius felt a breath shudder in his chest. He was in the one City he had yet to explore and he was visiting as an invader. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

But he did know that he was losing consciousness. The edges of his vision were becoming blurred and even the chatting between Super Nova and Cold Mist was difficult to hear. As if they were far away.

"Marius?" Super Nova shouted, snapping Marius back into focus.

Ahead of them, Marius saw their final challenge. The City Lordess, Oudyn.

She wore a simple battledress made of leather that looked like it was made from dragon scales. In her hands were two bloodied axes though Marius assumed it was a Storyline concept. Her face was old and grey, with an eyepatch covering her left socket. Marius felt even he looked younger than her.

Oudyn - Level 100 Demon King Rank

Health: 3,000,000

Mana: 3,000,000

Super Nova took a step back. "This one is way stronger than the others," he mumbled.

"Really? Cold Mist said in amazement. "I thought Final Endgame Bosses were meant to the weakest of them all."

Marius did not chirp in. He was having a hard time keeping his eyes open, let alone forming complete thoughts.

"Well illustrious leader, how do you plan we handle her?" Cold Mist asked.

Marius barely formed the thoughts as he cast 'Restraining Shadow' and 'Burning Haze'. the two skills caught the Boss and held her in place but Marius did not think it would last very long. Then he cast 'Honed Edged' and 'One with the Sword'

His power instantly grew as his stats increased by 500% and his overall damage increased by 300%.

"Midnight?" Cold Mist stepped back as Marius worked.

Finally, he cast 'Blade Aura', 'Void Sword', 'Moonlight Slash and 'Crescent Moon Sword'.

With the launching of all his most powerful attacks, the three watched as Oudyns Health plummeted to 50%.

"Holy damn," Cold Mist cursed. He had never seen that much damage done to a Boss so quickly.

"Marius!" Super Nova shouted, bring Cold Mist out of his daze.

Once the Skills had been launched, Marius lost all sense of himself. All he remembered was that his fatigue suddenly faded away as the darkness folded him up and swept him away.

His last thought was regret that the 5% Fatal Blow did not activate.