The Achievement Junkie

"Black… lightning? And it's not striking the ground?"

Argyle replied, "No, it's coursing through the clouds without harming anything in the city."

"Argyle, gather your guild and send them through the portal." Tralon stood up and retrieved his usual staff. "Make haste, Argyle."

"Tralon, I can't just--"

"If you want your guild to survive, then send everyone through the portal immediately," stated Tralon. "I'll be leaving first to prepare the guild to receive your people."

"But Tralon--"

"Hurry up!"

A powerful pulse of spatial energy erupted from the platform, startling Argyle and Baral as Tralon disappeared. Left with only Tralon's warning, Argyle left with a hard decision to make.

"Argyle…" Noticing the panic in Argyle's face, Baral spoke up, "Do you trust Tralon?"

"I'd trust him more than anyone, second only to…" Catching himself before admitting his unconditional trust to Jack, Argyle looked back at his manager. "Tralon's experience speaks volumes and hardly anyone in Kartonia can compete with his insight."

"If you trust his insight so much, they why do you doubt his warning?" questioned Baral. "If Tralon was so worried about what's coming, then why shouldn't we be worried? He just left to prepare for our entire guild's arrival, Argyle. Do you think he would say that jokingly?"

"No… Call the other managers and order an immediate evacuation of the guild through the teleportation circle," replied Argyle, regaining some of his natural confidence.

"And our storages?"

"Each manager is already in charge of one storage, so they should also take care of those treasures during a crisis," Argyle stated. "I'll let you handle the restricted storage, Baral. I've got something to take care of."

"I'll handle it proudly, Argyle." With a quick bow, Baral jumped into action. He called the other managers as he hurried to the restricted storage."

Argyle took a deep breath and did something no guild member was suspecting.

Once Argyle had exited the concealed courtyard, the swordsman charged through the roof of his guild house. Rather than wind through the halls and avoid colliding into other guild members, Argyle sprinted across the rooftops toward his destination. It didn't take him long at top speed, seeing the Heavenly Palace Inn's sign from the rooftops.

The swordsman quickly dropped to the ground and let himself inside.

"Oh, Argyle. Long time no--"

"Marisha, get your husband and parents together now," Argyle stated clearly but not too loudly.

Thrown for a loop, Marisha put down the menus in her hand and asked, "What's going on?"

"I'm not sure, but Tralon's worried about those clouds, so we should as well." Argyle hurried inside to the room where he would typically find his occasional drinking buddy. "Is Zariff in his booth?"

"No, he's out doing a delivery. At least tell me what--"

"Wait, he's got Jack's pact too, right?" Argyle mumbled to himself, stopping in place and not taking in what Marisha was shouting at him.

'Zariff, can you hear me?'

'Argyle? Is that you? When did you make a pact with Jack?' Surprised yet happy, Zariff replied.

Argyle sighed in relief. 'Zariff, hurry to my guild house and join the evacuation. I'll lead your wife and her parent there now.'

Sensing Argyle's urgency yet not comprehending the situation, Zariff questioned, 'Whoa, whoa, what's going on, Argyle? Did you say your guild is evacuating?'

'Tralon just created a teleportation circle there,' replied Argyle. 'My guild will be using that to escape to Trodar. I'll bring your wife and her parents with me now, so hurry and get there while you can.'

'But what's going--'

'Zariff, I honestly don't know anything. All I know is that Tralon insisted that my guild should escape to Trodar while they were still alive.'

'Then… This has something to do with those clouds? That black lightning does give me chills…' Zariff couldn't help but remember the black storm clouds that Jack had summoned to reveal the hidden syndicate members in Reinolt. They were eerily similar, yet there were far too many of those clouds to count. 'He didn't mention anything about the syndicate, did he?'

Intrigued, Argyle answered, 'No, why do you ask that?'

'That black lightning looks like the same Jack used to identify syndicate members,' replied Zariff with a sigh. 'Let's meet at your place. Take care of my wife!'

As Zariff ended the conversation, he took a deep breath while staring up at the dark, dismal sky. Once he exhaled, Zariff grunted and burst forward at peak speed. Offering delivery to the other side of town was something he already hated, even for the extra fee, and being separated from his family right then was even worse.

Argyle nodded and turned to Marisha. "You and your parents are coming with me right now. Are you coming willingly or not?"

"That…" Marisha wanted to scream at Argyle for such a comment, but the degree of seriousness in Argyle's eyes gave her chills. "I'll… go get my mom and dad."

"If you and they aren't back in one minute, then I'll bring them myself," stated Argyle, not giving Marisha or her parents any leeway. "Once we're at the guild, then we'll meet up with Zariff. He should be on his way now."

"But how--"

"Fifty-nine… Fifty-eight…"

Not wasting any more time bickering, Marisha dropped everything and hurried to the kitchen. A few loud voices were heard as well as a few thuds, but the three of them hurried to meet Argyle at the front.

Noticing the red handprint on Rayard's cheek, he chuckled. "Now, we'll leave for the Fat Goose immediately. And I know you're all over lv. 20, so don't you dare move slowly."

"Argyle, what's--"

"I'll explain at the Fat Goose!" shouted Argyle, cutting off Martha from asking more. He then threw the door open and stepped out, waiting for the others to abandon their guests and run beside him.

They left begrudgingly, but the looks on their faces started to change as the black lightning was growing larger and larger. Though it only ran through the clouds at the moment, it was growing visibly stronger at an alarming rate. Most of the civilians outside were already startled by the sudden storm, but that frightening black lightning was forcing everyone to realize that something unimaginable was about to happen.

"Federal City!"

A voice abruptly shouted as if coming from above the clouds. "You house the greatest offenders within your city, which we have come to purge. Should you join our purge, you shall avoid extermination. Should you interfere, you will be exterminated. Should you do nothing… then good luck to you!"

The voice started laughing wildly as the black lightning grew more ferocious. Finally, a single bolt struck down on the city, reducing a few buildings to rubble and fire.

Worried beyond belief, Marisha saw the not too distant flames rising from the rubble and was shaken by that powerful lightning. "This…"

"Just hurry to the Fat Goose!" Argyle shouted as the others were now willingly following him with great haste. "Forget the lightning, I'll handle it if necessary."

That laughter still rang out throughout the city, terrorizing the inhabitants of the world's greatest megacity as bolt after bolt of that lightning destroyed the city bit by bit. "Where are your heroes? Where's the association to stop us? As our greatest foes, we've come to finish the fight that they started a thousand years ago!"

"If that's so, then show yourself!" A new voice rang out, reverberating through the city to match the despicable laughter. "If you want to fight, then fight!"

"Lorwynn… Finally, you've shown up to the party," laughed the crazy voice. "Are you ready for our showdown? Or will you run away like last time?"

"Silence, Hadurt!" Lorwynn barked, slowing levitating up toward the sky for the city to see. "You've forced my hand this time, so I've no choice but to render you lifeless this time."