“Good night to everyone- “A torrent of arrows and spells poured in the well-groomed mage’s direction immediately. There was a brief flash of light before the man vanished and reappeared some distance away from his original spot. “Hey! At least let me finish!”

He flicked his hair backwards, dropping his smile in favour of a smug grin. “All your base are belong to us.”

With a loud resounding boom, the barricaded west gate blew apart in a whirlwind of fire and wood. Frantic faces were revealed from behind the burning wreckage, not knowing how the man had managed to destroy the gate without so much as casting a single spell. Fyrzen slowly strolled towards the exposed gateway. With every step forward, those responsible for holding the gate retreated back in fear.

“Continue shooting at him! Everyone except the archers and mages back down from the walls. Blockade the west gate. Prevent that man from entering Loyderidge!”

“Denied!” Fyrzen cheerily responded. A wall of blazing flames sprouted around him in an instant, swallowing all the projectiles in its hungry swirl. Without breaking his pace, he continued on his path towards the terrified crowd.

“Oh? What is this?”

A well-built NPC soldier stepped out into the gateway with the intention of blocking the mage. Even though he, as an artificial construct, had no concept of levels, he knew that the man before him was several more times more powerful than he was. He wanted to flee, but his honor and duty to his country prevented him from doing so. Raising his shield up high in a show of defiance, he planted his feet on the ground, determined not to give way to this invader. Several other soldiers joined him and though Beast could see that they were all trembling in their boots, he could not help but admire them for their courage.

Fyrzen pointed at the well-built NPC as he shook his head in mock disapproval. “Tsk tsk. What a pity. I could use some of you patriotic soldiers back in Heilandar.”

Everyone ignored Fyrzen’s comment, because they were all now focusing their attention on the well-built NPC in the middle of the formation. The poor soldier was glowing bright red to the confusion of him and everyone around him. Time seemed to slow as the glow intensity became bright and brighter…

Beast found his voice to scream. “GET AWAY-“

Boom!

The man exploded with the force of a fragmentation grenade, searing flesh and severing bone before disintegrating into data. The line of soldiers had been blown apart. Several female players screamed and ran off; others vomited at the scene. Within a matter of minutes, most of the players have already fled the ground, leaving only NPC soldiers behind.

Beast watched, mortified.

This man, he was terrorizing them. That spell just now had been one of the staples in the Magician’s spell arsenal – Detonation, of the fire element. It was a slow and low damage spell, but its main gimmick was that it has no projectile and thus could not be dodged. There was also the skill Silent Casting, which allows a magician to cast without words with the only exceptions being ultimate spells of the respective elemental tree. Most mages made sure to learn it because it gives an advantage during player versus player but the requirements for it are pretty steep and Invocation does not apply to spell used silently.

Beast was sure that those were what Fyrzen used.

But somehow the way he did it, as well as the extent of power behind it made the act infinitely more terrifying than normal.

This was what the guild Qqers was capable of. This was what a magician specializing in the pure offensive was capable of. With just one single person, with just a wave of his magic prowess, the entire west wall defense crumbled. Nobody could stand a chance against this person of mass destruction, a one man army in the very sense of the word.

“Beast. We need to fall back.”

“Beast! We need to stop him!”

Both Shadun and Naomi voices rang beside his ears simultaneously, shaking Beast out of his stupor. Then they turned to each other.

“No. We need to regroup.” Despite his relatively calm behavior, Beast could tell that Shadun was badly shaken by Fyrzen’s display. What happened to the Bard who charged at three elite bandits like it was nothing back in the past? Never mind, that was probably a poor comparison.

Naomi on the other hand was in her battle mode. “No! We have to defeat him or he will kill everyone here!”

“Stop.”

It was Knight Gordo. Putting his hand on Beast’s shoulder, the knight continued, addressing the three of them. “I hate to send non-combatants into battle, but please head to the East Gate and request help from Commander Lifey.”

“What about the mage?” Naomi asked, her eyes blazing with worry.

“I will stall for time.”

“No! You will die!”

Gordo gave Naomi a battle-weary smile. “Anything for my country.” Rising up to his full height, an order rang out as clear as day.

“Man the walls! Form defensive lines! Do not let him past! Attack him if you see an opening!”

“But he does not have any opening sir!” One of the archers shouted back. Judging from his demeanor, he appeared to be one of the few players who have not yet fled. “And he is already at the gate!”

As he spoke, the remnants of the west gate were blasted away and Fyrzen strode through. They were out of time.

“Aveye, take your post. As for openings … I will make one.”

Without so much as a hint of hesitation, Gordo jumped from his vantage point down into the PKer’s path and drew his sword. Fyrzen halted, his face betraying a curious expression at the new development.

“Oh? The commander decided to fight. Could you make a difference though?”

Gordo merely charged and swung his blade without any intentions for pre-battle banter. The opponent was a magician, and magicians were renowned to be extremely fragile at melee range. Therefore it was Gordo’s plan to break the distance within the first few moments and bring the fight up to him. However, before his sword could even reach the mage, Fyrzen had already teleported away to the side. More specifically, the fire magus teleported to his side.

“Holocaust.” He whispered into the commander’s ear, despite already demonstrating that it was not necessary for him to say the spell name. Gordo’s eyes widened in fear even as the very same flames used to block the projectiles earlier swirled out of the magician’s body in a hungry whirlwind and swallowed him whole.

“No!” Several gasps were heard from the militia, including Naomi.

Fyrzen smirked in satisfaction. The smirk was however broken almost immediately when an armoured fist broke through the cascade of red and smashed right across his face. With his concentration shattered, the tornado of fire fizzled out, revealing a knight worse for wear but still alive. Gathering his strength again, Gordo pushed his blade forward for a thrust which was blocked solely by a thin film of blue that suddenly appeared and enveloped the magus’ body. The impact point flashed briefly while Fyrzen gave a mock sigh of relief.

Several more arrows and spells flew and rebounded off the blue shield, eliciting an annoyed look from the PKer.

“I can’t believe I activated Mana Shield for the likes of you bugs. Damn ScrubLord, he told me it would be a cakewalk. He never said anything about a Royal Knight.” A fire ball burst into life in Fyrzen’s palms as he turned to face the Militia commander. Determined eyes stared into merciless ones, each battling for psychological supremacy within the second their line of sight locked.

“Guys, let’s go.” Beast called. The heat from the ball was particularly intense and could be felt even from the distance they were in, making Beast uncomfortable. If Gordo was letting them run on borrowed time, then they should not waste any more of it. Furthermore it was the perfect distraction for them to break off from the engagement un-noticed.

“Shadun.” The bard gave a thumb up to signal his readiness.

“Nao…mi?”

The bard’s thumb flipped to the side, drawing Beast’s intention to where it was pointing at.

Right in front of his very eyes, Beast’s dojo master rushed into the fray between Gordo and Fyrzen, delivering a surprise kick to the magus’ hand and knocked his aim awry. The fireball flew a wayward arc and smashed into a cottage, exploding skywards in a pillar of fire. Jaws dropped and many more eyes widened in disbelief at the bold, almost suicidal move on Naomi’s part. Beast wanted to bash his head in on one of the pieces of wood lying nearby.

“Shadun, you go on ahead. Run to the East Gate.” The incredulity and defeat in his voice had yet to dissipate.

“What about you?”

“I have to help her.”

The bard gave a look of understanding and sympathy before he slipped away from the commotion, just as Fyrzen spun around to the culprit that disrupted him.

“What the hell? Who the f*ck are you?”

Like trying to swat a fly, Fyrzen’s hand moved in to smack the girl, bursting into flames as it did so. Everyone expected the level 22 to die from as much as a slight touch, but Naomi cleanly evaded the strike with a simple shift of her own weight. Fyrzen frowned. After a short delay of surprise, Fyrzen struck again but Naomi avoided it the second time by a hairline breadth using the same principle as she had avoided the first.

Pinpoint precision. Every attack made by Fyrzen was dodged at the very last second with minimal movements. Even when he flashed out a particularly vicious looking dagger for extra reach, it made no difference.

He could not touch her.

Aside from the background noise of war filtering in from the other gates, the West Gate was all quiet. Beast, like many others, was dumbfounded at the sight before them. Was it because she had pumped all her stats into dexterity? No, Fyrzen was clearly much faster than Naomi and yet she was avoiding his attacks with no problem.

Even if Beast knew that it was her martial background helping, it was still uncanny.

The first one to recover his senses was Gordo. Seizing the chance given to him by Naomi, he slashed his sword at Fyrzen’s exposed back, drawing the mage’s attention back to himself. Concurrently, a volley of arrows and spells slammed into Fyrzen’s side, causing the blue film to flicker madly from the mitigated damage.

“DON’T MOCK ME!” His laidback façade had been ripped into shreds by now. Howling in rage, the man swerved around and blasted Gordo away with the spell originally intended for Naomi. “Pests… should just die!”

Even as Gordo crashed into a brick wall from the force of the blow and was buried by the rubble, a second volley of attacks was already flying Fyrzen’s way. With the cackle of a madman, Fyrzen made no effort to evade the rain of projectiles incoming his way, instead lapsing into an ominous chant.

“The Fire God rages …”

Beast paled. It was an ultimate spell, and there was nobody here who could deal enough damage through the Mana Shield in time to interrupt him. He had Mana Drain, but he was too far away to activate it in time.

So he did the only thing he could – he sprinted.

“…The living flame hungers for sustenance. Ashes to ashes, dust to dust! Devour, feral fire! NOVA CONFLAGRATION!”

Naomi had jumped to the side to give way for range attacks earlier. When Fyrzen stopped attacking and red energy started to revolve around the PKer like an intense vortex of lava, she did not understand what was going to happen. It took the frantic dive for cover of the surrounding people as well as the line formations suddenly breaking ranks in panic to hint at the disaster about to happen. It prompted her instincts to carry her away from ground zero as fast as possible.

But it was not enough. A spheroid of fiery destruction exploded out with Fyrzen at its center, consuming everything in its path as the pressure from within surged outwards with overwhelming force. Even as Naomi struggled to flee, the blast radius caught up within a split second surrounding her in a sea of red. She had expected to die. Therefore she did not expect Beast to appear in front of her, carrying a slab of broken stone and diverting away the path of the flames.

‘Beast!”

-601 HP

You have been Burnt! (First Degree)

“Get down and heal me goddamnit.” Even with Chi Fortify mitigating some damage, it was still not enough to ensure his safety. Luckily he had a ready-made cleric with him.

-594 HP

You have been Burnt! (Second Degree)

-100 HP/second

“O-Okay! Taerra’s Blessing! Heal! Cure!”

For an entire period of three seconds, Naomi was continuously healing Beast’s burns as they form from the heat. By the time the spell ended, the make-shift stone shield was mostly red. With a groan, Beast pushed the hot stone away and crumbled to the ground in pain. Looking at Naomi who was taking care of his charred arm using her powers, Beast noted that she was relatively unharmed.

Good. He mentally made a note that this would be the first and last time he would save his master from trouble ever again.

Around the west gate, it was as though the immediate radius had been devastated by a bomb. Pavements cracked. Buildings were totally razed to the ground, while those still standing were a burning wreck. Defenders still alive tossed and turned on the ground trying to put out the fire on their bodies as others began emerging from their hiding places, glancing sadly at the unlucky ones who had hidden behind flimsy protection and thus perished.

“Fire Pul-” The dreaded voice saying a spell alerted everyone back to the existence of the Qqer, Fyrzen.

Then, a droplet fell. And another.

Soon, the city of Loyderidge wet with rain.

“Tsk.” Fyrzen clicked his tongue. With the onset of rain, his fire spells would be severely hindered. The fire he had set on buildings and people were already extinguished.

His carefully combed hair was now in a dripping mess and the blue film surrounding him had lost its original shine. Even if he was an advanced class magician, his mana was not limitless. With the amount of flashy spells that he was casting and the damage he was taking, it was bound to run out sooner or later. This would be a good time to break the fangs of the beast.

“Naomi, go treat the others. I am okay. Most important thing is to find Knight Gordo.” As the highest level out of them all, Gordo was essential to their victory as well to the whole Militia in general. Hopefully he should not have died yet, given that the rubble that he fell under would have acted as shielding during the blast. Right now, Beast’s only objective was to render Fyrzen ineffective and for that to happen, he would have to deprive him of a mage’s most essential reserve –mana.

Spotting the archer player from before still alive, he shouted to get his attention. “Hey! Aveye right? Rally those who are still alive and pelt him with arrows!”

“R-right!” Within seconds, a new volley of attacks hurtled towards the magus, pinning him down on his location. It was not pinning per say, for Fyrzen had adopted a weird pose, currently looking up at the dark clouds overhead with his hands outstretched. He was totally unconcerned about the projectiles bouncing off his ailing mana shield.

“-Borean Wind-“

Now, it was his time to shine. Dashing towards Fyrzen, Beast closed the distance in a matter of strides.

“-hailstorm of-“

What was that? It sounded familiar. He was within range.

“Mana Drain!“

“-swallows the land! Freeze! Absolute-”

Horror etched itself on Beast’s face when he recognized the incantation. It was the same spell that the mage in Corelia had tried to use on him! He had totally forgotten that Fyrzen specialized in both fire and ice. With so much water around them due to the rain, there would be unlimited collateral damages. None of them would be assured their lives.

Seeing no other way out, Beast followed his instincts. Infusing all of his mana into his punch, he smashed his hand with all his power into Fyrzen’s jaw. The blue film of energy clashed violently with his blue knuckles. For a moment there, he thought his attack would fail but suddenly the blue film spluttered and died, giving way to his fist.

A combination of Mana Drain, Mana shield damage and his own spell cost had eaten up all of Fyrzen’s mana.

Snap! The audible sound of a jaw fracturing echoed throughout western Loyderidge, breaking the incantation of ice with silence. An instant later, arrows buried themselves deep into the mage’s back. Beast stumbled backwards, even as more attacks struck the mana-less Fyrzen, rapidly decreasing his health. Lines of soldiers reformed around the mage, encircling him and cutting off any means of retreat.

With his jaws broken and mana drained, Fyrzen could only glare at those around him. It burned with resentment, but it was useless now. He was a de-fanged beast. Even if he wanted to escape, he could not.

A continuous stream of attacks from almost everyone in the militia promptly reduced his health to zero.

Thus, Fyrzen died and his skeleton laid there on the blackened ground giving the middle finger to the militia of Loyderidge. Despite the victory, nobody celebrated. They were still reminded of the close call that they had with regards to one PKer Fyrzen where just a single magician was enough to reduce them to near-collapse. Many picked themselves up in silence while some went to help the injured. Naomi and a couple of other NPCs were digging out the still alive Knight Gordo.

It was a sorry sight, but regardless they had won the battle.

“Oh? Nice ring.” On one of the middle fingers was a well-carved ring set with an amethyst stone. Beast carefully removed it from the bone.

Guard Ring of Protection

Ring, Equipment, Rare

A ring said to protect the wearer from harm. The magic infused into this ring when it was crafted lessens the impact of all received attacks. It had been encrusted with an amethyst for additional poison resistance.

Durability: 12/30

Value: 135g

Level Restriction: 68

Crafted by Olurin

When Equipped:

-15% damage from all sources (before other damage mitigation)

+25% resistance to poison

It was a good piece of equipment with a relatively high level restriction. Pity he could not use it either way. Shrugging, Beast pocketed the ring. Maybe he will find someone who could.

An image of a certain girl came to mind.

“Where are you now?” He asked the rain.