“Is that true, Honduria really is planning to attack Caerheim?”

“Yea, I am in the area and all the civilians have already been ushered to Rydelin and Torintu. There is even a Joint Operation in progress based on the defence of the frontlines against Honduria’s army. “

“I am from Honduria’s side. There is certainly no Joint Operation for participating in the invasion though. I wonder what the King is thinking.”

“There are rumours saying that Honduria is only putting on a show of force. It will not be an all-out invasion, because seriously I doubt Caerheim can withstand the full might of Honduria’s players. So in the meta-view of this, it is only a one-sided defence mission.”

“I am going to complain. How could Yashita Corps show blatant favouritism to Caerheim players?”

“Wait… Derrilene is here! She is the commander of the Joint Operation right? Let’s ask her for more details!”

The class was expectedly abuzz with the news of Honduria’s sudden plans for invasion, just like various gaming journalism outlets on the net the night before. In fact, abuzz was more like an understatement. The internet was metaphorically on fire with discussion regarding the advent of this news, with some even describing it as an ‘event’ of sorts.

Indeed, such a happening had been unprecedented in the history of gaming, with an invasion initiated entirely based on the NPC’s will. For Sebast who actually bothered to read the history of Agaia and learnt of the founding of Caerheim, he was not so surprised by the initiation but was instead more curious regarding the motivation of Honduria; He had always been interested in this kind of political manoeuvring even if it came from NPCs in a game. Idly, Sebast wondered how far ahead Trigent, Lord of Caerheim, could have planned for this.

“Ah!” Something suddenly hit him. “Is this the reason for Shadun’s quest?”

He had always thought that the bard’s quest was weird, giving so much experience and gold for a simple letter delivery. However, now that such a matter had come to light, it all began to make sense if Trigent had asked a player for a secret delivery to Torintu so as to inform Mayor Filand about the evacuation plan. The intricacy blew Sebast’s mind away.

“Hey there, what are you thinking?” A voice came as a familiar face sat himself beside Sebast. It was Wong Xiangjun.

“Not joining your clique?” Sebast asked without looking at him in the face.

Xiangjun gave a flippant laugh in reply, “Well Derrilene is being mobbed by the other classmates so I thought I could find a breather here.”

“I see.”

“So what do you think of this new event?” Of course, Xiangjun is referring to the hot topic currently. “I think I am going to help defend Loyderidge even though my level might not be high enough to be of great impact. I heard that Honduria’s guards are at least level 80 each.”

This was also another reason why the event was so sensationalistic. Against a fledgling new country with only a handful of level 100 players, an army of level 80s and above could prove to be more than a match for Caerheim. Given that the NPC soldiers within each country follow the same rule where they level up as independent units from level 1 and gain experience from fights and training under the kingdom players, the average level of Caerheim’s army is at a mere 50s and can only provide as much help as being a support unit.

“So what is your level?”

“61. What about yours?”

“48.”

What he got from the other male is a look of disbelief. “Wow, you must be really hard-core to have levelled up this much within such a short period of time. You might even catch up to me soon. I guess you are joining this joint operation then?”

“No.” Xiangjun’s face visibly fell. “I am stuck somewhere for the moment so I can’t join.”

“I guess that can’t be helped.”

Sebast shrugged. It was at this point of time the professor entered the room, causing the students to return to their seats for the start of the lecture.

…………..

Back in Ages Online, Beast was having a really difficult time trying to remain undetected. Kiki worriedly moved alongside, safe because of her stealth skill, but Beast himself did not have that for insurance. His physical body was still out there in the open, hidden only due to the terrain and environmental factors.

“Seems that you are getting along fine with the worms now.”

The assassin girl rolled her eyes at that comment, before showing a look of disgust.

“Alright, alright. Bad joke.”

“Concentrate on staying undetected.” She hissed, before lunging out at an unsuspecting lone Lurker that had strayed too far away into their vicinity. Within the period of a second, a chain of three strikes lashed out in quick succession and obliterated the worm in a blink of an eye. Moments later, Kiki shimmered as she went back into stealth mode again.

Watching from the side-lines, Beast marvelled at the combo with envy. If only he himself had something similar to use instead of these rag-tag skills he had picked up with little to no synergy. That would have been very much welcomed. Sighing to himself, Beast left the shadows of the stalagmite he was behind during this brief window of opportunity and re-entered another, slowly moving forward towards the inner end of the caverns. The process would repeat itself several times, until finally the both of them knew that they were near.

The bright blue crystals that adorned the walls had turned black, their glow dead. The mana within them had long since been drained to oblivion. The number of Lurkers that prowled the vicinity had also increased exponentially, only offset by the fact that without the glow of the crystals to illuminate the area there were more hiding places for Beast to stealth in now.

High above a pile of rotting hobgoblin corpses in the furthest end of the cavern, a skeletal figure stood with green and black light pulsing from its fingers. From the distance, Beast could barely make out the faint numbers that adorned the creature’s head; Level 90. It was the highest levelled enemy he would have ever faced since the start of the game. With every wave of its hands, maggots came pouring out from the orifices of the corpses before writhing and metamorphosing into the familiar Lurker enemies that had plagued them throughout the way. It was through this horrifying scene that Beast cemented his assumption of Savathrox to be something like a Lich-Necromancer hybrid.

“Uyeargh” Beast snapped his head towards the sound, just in time to see Kiki throw up her stomach at the sickening sight. Though she was technically invisible, she was not inaudible. Her act of belching instantly alerted the entire cavern to their presence.

“Holy…”

“Intruders!” Savathrox screeched in an unearthly voice. “So the Lanos Knights have decided to stop their cowardly turtling! Find them and kill them!”

Beast looked accusingly at the assassin girl, who could only bite her tongue in response.

With Savathrox’s command, his legion of Lurkers immediately swarmed the area. Despite the increased advantage in hiding, it was only a matter of time before Beast was discovered. “Damn it Kiki….I need you to… Kiki?”

The assassin girl had conveniently disappeared, leaving Beast all alone.

“Ok think Beast, think!” He would have to settle the issue with Kiki later. Now was the time where he had to think of a way to avoid detection, or at least go out in a blaze of glory. Especially when Savathrox was almost twice his current level, if there was anything at all that could give him the advantage in this up-coming battle, he would have to seize it. With that in mind, he quickly went through all the information he had regarding this matter.

Savathrox was a lich who have sent Lurkers against the Lanos Knights underground in the catacombs since eons ago, which were only countered by the presence of the Antroach. The Lurkers were highly effective against spectres, but not living beings which meant he could possibly hold out for a while in combat. Wait… something was not right here. Why would Savathrox be content to futilely send Lurkers after Earth Lake even when he knew the Antroach is guarding it and continuously do so for over hundreds of years? Although NPCs in game have no concept of levels, would it not be better if Savathrox would remove the Antroach himself, which he could definitely do so, and then send the Lurkers in?

He accused the Lanos Knights of turtling, but the lich was also guilty of it himself.

If NPCs could think logically, and they had repeatedly demonstrated themselves to be able to do so, then something else must have been in place that had prevented Savathrox from just handling the Lanos problem himself. Even now, he was only content to let his Lurkers search instead of descending down upon him in full-fledge boss mode.

All the pieces to the puzzle led to a single conclusion: Savathrox could not move. His legs seemed to be free of restraints but for some reason he could not move away from his original spot.

He could still fire off his spells though, as Beast found out the hard way. It was only the sudden intense heat that radiated on his back that prompted him to dive out of the way before the stalagmite he was hiding behind burst into green fire. All at once, the Lurkers converged into his position before he could re-gather his senses and began to attack.

“Bloodline Aura!” Beast hastily yelled as he entered combat, fending off the worms that would leap at his face. In the distance, the green glow flashed bright as several more of the necrotic blasts were launched onto Beast’s position and arced down from the sky like artillery fire.

“They send only a human boy? How the mighty Lanos Knights had fallen!” The echoes of Savathrox’s taunt reverberated through the caverns, but Beast was only concerned about clearing the mob of Lurkers in time before the blast spells impact. If only he had an area-of-effect move of some sort, it would have made this much easier. Something like the spells Vanadic had in his tome during the memory sequence.

Air Burst would have been very handy right now.

Glancing at the melted mess of rock and worms that had been his hiding spot, Beast subconsciously wished that he could do something to that effect too. Suddenly, he had a realisation.

“So… it is this kind of battle huh.”

In the games of old, it was extremely well-known and joked about that spells and attacks from the same side as you could not affect your teammates, otherwise known as friendly fire protection. It was supposedly done to protect against deliberate griefers who would team-kill and ruin games just for their own laughs. However in Ages Online where the real world is simulated down to the tiniest degree, there are only minimal safeguards in place for aura-type moves like the time with Shadun’s malboro singing mostly due to a need to preserve the party system and the bard’s skill viability whereas all other forms of offensive attacks were not protected against. Naturally, this applied to the NPCs as well.

With the last few second of his Bloodline Aura, Beast used his strength of leap away from his original spot just in time as the first necrotic blast crashed down onto his location. The green fired burned and ate away at the horde of Lurkers that had been engaged in battle with Beast a while before, leaving only charred carcasses behind.

Beast was right; it was that kind of battle. Realistically speaking, he could have brought an army from Earth Lake down here to battle against the Lurkers but this being Ages Online, had many different ways to solve a problem than simple brute strength. In this case, it would be using the enemy’s limitation and strength against him. With a simple bait and switch tactic, Beast drew most of the Lurkers in the caverns before him and systematically eliminated them with Savathrox’s own spells until the once teeming Crystal caverns were now empty and bare. Savathrox, on the other hand could only shriek in fury.

“Human boy! You think you might have the last laugh but my Lurkers are endless! Endless!” With a wave of its abominable hands, the Lich strived to create more worms from his throne of corpses, only for a sharp knife to suddenly pierce his back and stopping him mid-spell.

Kiki! She had not abandoned him after all. Inwardly, Beast could not help but feel a little guilty that he thought so lightly of the girl even after all their time together.

Savathrox was not pleased with the attack.

“Foolish girl!” A blast of green flames burst from his skeletal back, flinging the surprised assassin with such force that she crashed into the far wall. It was his mistake. While he was occupied with Kiki, what Savathrox had not noticed was that Beast, having already cleared the area of the Lurkers, had already closed the distance. A dim red aura outlined the Lore Keeper who held his fist up high glowing white with mana as it bashed the side of the Lich’s skull.

You have activated Predator Sense!

+30% damage

Because the latter was not aware of his enemy, it counted as breaking stealth for Beast, which activated his Predator sense for an additional 30% damage. In addition to Kiki’s prior backstab, it took down at least a tenth of Savathrox health. Considering that they were only two people, it was uplifting for Beast’s morale to see that health bar drop; that 10% damage increase from the Insect Sunshine Surprise really shone here.

With this kind of damage, it would soon be over if he were to repeat the pattern several more times. Smirking in assured victory, Beast gave the lich another kick for good measure.

“Fools!!” A green sickly aura burst from Savathrox again, propelling Beast all the way back to his starting point.

-350 HP

You have been afflicted by Exhaust.

Movement speed -50%.

“Oh crap!”

In an instant a rainstorm of necrotic blasts hurtled through the air onto Beast’s position. With the movement debuff as well as the dense striking zones, Beast found it extremely difficult to dodge every single one of the blast and got to experience first-hand how painful they felt.

-522 HP

-541 HP

-580 HP

“Damn. Damn. Damn. Damn.” That was like more than half his health gone in one move.

As the attack end, Beast picked himself up from amidst the destruction and gulped down a healing potion to mend the damage. Judging by the intensity, he had no doubt that it should be one of Savathrox’s ultimate moves, but there was no time to ponder. Once again, Savathrox raised hundreds of Lurkers from his throne, sending them all to attack Beast as his green fire burned through the air once more. Then, Beast fell back into his routine of drawing all of them into his path as the Necrotic Blasts finished them off for him.

This time round, he was concocting a plan.

When he was up close and personal with the Lich, he noticed two things that might be useful for the ongoing battle. One, there was a magic circle at Savathrox’s feet, and a ring was set into place such that it completes the magical array. Beast assumed that it was the seal that held the lich in place.

Best not to touch that.

Secondly, directly above Savathrox was a vicious-looking crystal stalactite that had been drained black of its mana. If he were to hazard a guess, the lich might have been using it as a conduit of some sort to access the rest of the crystals on the cavern walls, but that was beside the point.

“My Lurkers! Arise! Kill him!” It was the cue for the next phase of attack, and also Kiki’s cue to interrupt him. Right on target, a knife struck the Lich’s back followed by a well-timed follow-up on Beast’s part, causing his health to decrease even further. The caverns shook from the tantrums Savathrox was throwing.

Beast inwardly marvelled at their own combat ability. Even though they were technically operating by themselves, they could still cooperate to this degree of finesse. It takes a certain amount of synergy and compatibility between them to understand what the current plan was even without saying it. The necrotic burst came again, followed by a rainstorm of green fire. Beast tried his best to avoid them and drank a potion afterwards for some healing.

“Kiki.” Beast spoke into the air, certain that the girl could hear him. He had deliberately positioned himself so that he would be flung in the same direction as the assassin, therefore ensuring that he would end up in the same area as her. “The stalactite. I will go for it.”

“How?” She was indeed around, but Beast just could not seem to find her.

“I will shoot it.” Blue power enveloped his hands as he said. He had drained all his mana into this one attack.

“Okay.”

It was all that was said between them.

The dance with the worms continued until the one point of time in which Savathrox was vulnerable. “Kill them all Lurkers! Feed on their flesh and gnaw on their bones!”

“NOW!”

Everything happened at once. Kiki struck her knife into Savathrox, while Beast gathered all his mana into his hands and fired them towards the stalactite. He dazedly watched as the blue ball of energy crashed into the base, causing the dead crystal to flash blue for a split-second. Then cracks erupted from the impact point, coursing its way across the crystalline structure. Without its support holding it to the ceiling of the cavern, the stalactite began its free-fall towards the Lich below.

If the Lich still had eyes instead of empty holes, one would have observed them widening in surprise and horror. He raised up his hand to fire a Necrotic blast to break the stalactite but was too late. There was a thunderous boom as the structure crashed down upon the immobile Savathrox before the stress from the impact caused the entire crystal to fragment and break into millions of pieces where it stood.

If Beast was not in a life-or-death situation right now, he would even say that the scene of the aftermaths was beautiful.

Did they do it? Was Savathrox dead? Was it enough?”

After ten whole seconds of nothing, the clouds of dust dissipated, revealing a lich alive, but worse for wear. His health bar had gone down by more than a half, and he was utterly livid too.

“Damn humans! Curse you in the Sundering’s name!”

And the Lurkers were raised anew. So it was not enough after all, but the results were more than Beast could ask for. With a grin, he lapsed back into his routine of kiting. There was an increase in Savathrox’s rate of fire, but with that minor victory in place, he felt that he could handle it.

All they needed was to repeat this a few more times, and the Lich will be down for good.

“My Lurkers! They will never be fully gone!”

“Anytime now…” Beast was prepared to take the opening again should Kiki give it to him.

This time however, there was no backstabbing to interrupt him. Kiki was painfully absent and without taking damage, Savathrox was free to continue onto his next phase of attack. As new worms poured out the corpses and Beast reverted back into his kiting routine, he bleakly wondered when it would end, and what happened to Kiki.

“Where is she? Had she already been killed during the stalactite sequence?”

His question was answered however when suddenly, a knife came from behind and plunge itself into his back after he was preoccupied with an obstructing Lurker for far too long.

You have been backstabbed!

-1500 HP

Pain shot across his body like electricity while his nerves pulsed as though they were on fire.

“K-kiki?” He turned his head, unable to believe what was happening.

What greeted him was a mockery of the girl he once knew, an empty smile on her face.

Author's Notes:

Here is a christmas present!