The Achievement Junkie

As dark waves of death struck the battlefield below, the syndicate members pushed even harder to enter their assigned buildings.

Sadly for Golden Haven, the invaders that arrived late to the Fat Goose were forced to fight elsewhere. And what target would be better than an auction house? By then, it was clear that Kaldor wasn't in Federal City at the time, meaning that Golden Haven's strongest man wasn't there to save his guild.

Cannor was already at the end of his rope. The invaders were just toying with him now. They would deal him a heavy blow to send Cannor flying and then they would walk up to him, patiently waiting for him to get back up and repeat the cycle. Soon, a circle gathered around him so that different invaders could take turns beating on him.

At the same time, Golden Haven's storages had already been breached.

Celestial Crane left behind a few storages as well, but all of their high-level items were nowhere to be found. And searching the Fat Goose was impossible as it was eradicated along with all of the invaders who had chased Argyle into the Fat Goose.

With such rotten results from their raid thus far, the invaders made sure to pillage Golden Haven for everything it had. They slew every member along the way, only playing with the managers who could withstand more than a single blow. But even the managers could only take so much. They too started to die off, eventually leaving Cannor as the sole remnant of Golden Haven.

Surrounded by attackers and given no chance to escape, Cannor tried his best to ignore his bloody wounds and his broken left arm.

"You… How dare you!!" Cannor shouted with all his dying fervor. With his one good arm, Cannor charged his strongest attack.

One of the invaders stepped into the circle, which quickly reclosed to create a makeshift gladiatorial pit. That invader was the first to pin Cannor and the one had broken his arm. The invader spoke loudly with a proud grin, "As a fellow berserker, I'll face you. But take this first, as you've earned my respect."

A high potion fell to the ground in front of Cannor. But the enraged berserker stomped on it as he charged the invader.

"So be it…" Preparing his own attack, the invader leaped into the air and brought his sword down on Cannor.

The clash was quick. Cannor was forced to his knees by the attack as his right arm broke from the impact. The invader gave Cannor a sug look and added, "If you had at least been honorable and made this a duel, I would've finished you honorably. But now…"

With a swing of his greatsword, the invader slashed Cannor across the chest. The manager's organs started to fall out as the attack went just deep enough to cut Cannor open without touching his vital organs.

"Now I'll show you disrespect for disrespecting me," the invader finished his earlier thought. "Men, you may do what you wish."

Stepping back out of the circle, the syndicate berserker let the other blood-crazed men tear the manager to pieces. Not paying attention to Cannor's final cries, the berserker nonchalantly smiled when he noticed Hadurt's attacks reflecting into the marketplace below. Then, he spotted the fight between the association and his fellow invaders. Spotting what seemed like a good foe, the berserker darted out from the wreckage of Golden Haven and reentered the chaotic battlefield.

As his new opponent slew an invader, the berserker charged him with a regular wing of his sword. That opponent easily batted the sword away and looked curiously at the berserker.

"I'm not looking for playthings, I'm after a battle!" shouted the berserker, keeping his calm smile.

Annoyed at the berserker's desire for a fair fight, the barbarian swung his greataxe in fury. When the berserker dodged it but didn't return with an attack, the barbarian shouted, "You invade our home and desire a fair fight? Ridiculous!"

"It doesn't fave to be fair, I just want someone who can attack properly," taunted the berserker, finally launching a true attack.

The energy covered weapons clashed, pushing both men back. Grunting unhappily, the barbarian slid back a couple of meters. With a half-satisfied smile on his face, the berserker took a single step back.

"You're strong enough, I guess," stated the berserker, getting a better feel for the barbarian's strength. "Give me all you've got or you'll only give me a warm-up."

Furious, the barbarian prepared another attack with all his strength. His axe turned dark brown, mimicking stone that had been compacted indefinitely. When it clashed against the berserker's sword, the berserker finally showed a full smile.

"That's more like it!" Dark blue energy coated the berserker's blade. It started to look like blackened ice, as if it were hard enough to break even glaciers. "Let's go again."

The two men clashed again and again. Both attacks proved powerful but the condensed energy gathered around the axe started to show some cracks. But before the barbarian could fix that, the berserker was already attacking again to chip away at it more and more.

"Come on, don't end it like this," stated the berserker, not letting up or giving the barbarian a chance to breathe.

More focused than ever, the barbarian groaned as he blocked blow after blow. He understood that if the tempo of the battle didn't change, his attack would shatter and leave him vulnerable.

"Enough!"

A new voice appeared as the berserker looked to his right. But as the berserker turned his face, a fist immediately connected. Blown back a few meters, the berserker tumbled and managed to end up on his knees with his sword holding him up.

"If you needed help, you should've asked." A second association member was now standing beside the barbarian. "For now, we'll face this man together."

"But--"

"This berserker is most likely a chief in the syndicate, if not a regent," stated the monk, getting the barbarian to shut up. "It will take at least two of you councilmen to face him, so it's best for a guardian to face him. If you argue, then I'll face him alone."

"You're confident enough to fight me alone?" the berserker chuckled as he walked back to his opponents. "Then you'd better be at least a guardian to talk that big."

"Come!" shouted the monk, not denying his status in the association.

The berserker smiled wide and sharpened his gaze. Finally, he could feel the thrill of battle that he was searching for in this fight.

"Since you've come…" The berserker then swung his ice-coated sword over and over, creating waves of sword and ice energy. "Then I won't hold back anymore."

Thrusting a flurry of fists forward, the monk shattered the sword attacks aimed for him, but the barbarian couldn't keep up. After breaking one of the attacks aimed for him, the barbarian was hit by the second and lost an arm to the third. Having lost half of his battle strength, it was clear to the barbarian that he unlucky to fight such a foe.

"I'll take care of this," stated the monk. "Do what you can elsewhere. Leave him to me."

"Care to relocate?" The berserker pointed his massive blade toward the center of the marketplace, where most of Hadurt's remnant attacks were landing.

"Since you offered it, I'll oblige," replied the monk, jumping directly into that storm of attacks.

The berserker followed suit, not backing down either. Both men had similar thoughts to their leaders overhead, not wanting their fight to kill their own men.

Some of the larger buildings in the area started to break apart, splintering debris every which way as the other guardians of the association found the regents of the syndicate. Now, each of the most powerful characters in the full-scale battle would be forced to go all-out.