The Gold Phoenix guild made it to the foot of the castle, stopping towards the entrance. They weren’t sure how to get in, debating between just storming through or finding a guard to let them in. Snow felt a sharp pain on her hands that had the mark. It lingered for a moment, but before She could do anything about it, the iron gates squeaked open. The sun was shining hotly down upon them with a vengeance, making many sweat from the heat.

Even Snow cursed under her breath as the armor she had worn was slightly stuffy. Internally, she personally reminded herself to enchant the armor with more cooling magic.

A rush of cold air blew through, bringing with it an unusual chilling feeling. It was welcoming, letting it wipe away her sweat, but just as quickly as it cooled them, their instincts screamed to be careful.

Mike took the first step, leading the group through the gate.

Large, neatly cut bushes and trees that were single filed greeted them with unusual creatures. Some were monsters that she had never seen before. What was striking out of them was that the longer they walked down this path, more trees were becoming more sinister in appearance.

“What is with the designer,” said Mike. “Does he or she like devils?”

“I hope not,” Angie bluntly replied. Shewas closely following Snow with her hands wrapped around her arm and snuggly made herself comfortable.

“Tell that to the designer…”

“I would if I could.” Mike, half-heartedly laughed.

Their continued path had grotesque statues of devils that were becoming much more lifelike in appearance. Many wondered if the monster statue would jump out to kill them.

The door groaned opened, welcoming them into the very darkness that seemed to simmer with heat and a foul smell of egg. A sharp intake of breath could be heard from the others as they wanted to gag at the awful smell.

“Let’s go, ladies.” Mike strutted through, even though he wasn’t happy with inhaling the disgusting air. “We get through this quickly, we can get out of here faster.”

Everyone’s feet scurried forward in a bit more of a hurry than before as if they were taking a cue at his words.

“Are you okay?” Snow asked; she was walking next to Dairen, who seemed a bit pale.

Dairen nodded, his hand raised up to cover his nose. “I’ll get over it, just give me a moment to get used to it.”

“Okay,” said Snow.

They continued even further through the darkness, wondering when the lights would finally turn on. It didn’t take much magic for the torches to turn on.

The entrance had a more medieval feel, with its high rise arches that towered over them like stars. There were hundreds of gargoyle statues looking down from above. Their cold stone gazes made them feel watched.

With a pitter-patter of their feet, the group slowly moved forward. Lights of small orb magic danced around them, keeping the darkness at bay. But even still, it was not enough as they all felt the chilling feeling of an unwanted energy screaming at them to leave. It was an unconscious gut feeling, getting stronger and stronger as they stepped quietly with their weapons drawn.

Snow skimmed the area, carefully taking her steps. Thick curtains covered all the windows, making it pitch black. Suddenly, out of thin air, magic zipped through the very castle, pulling the curtains back. Morning lights trickled in, casting the very ground with sunlight.

Gasps of amazement littered everyone’s lips as the beauty of the interior castle wall was lit. Thick pillars were decorated heavily with floral designs- gargoyles that looked intimidating before had a softer appearance. Beautiful chandeliers that they had never noticed before were present swinging gently back and forth.

Near every pillar were two medieval suits of black armor, standing ready in guard. Even the floor that looked pale and decrypted changed to a mosaic pattern of geometric shapes.

“So beautiful,” Angie spoked out, gasping every few seconds at the beauty at hand. She couldn’t peel her eyes away.

“Stay alert,” Snow's voice loudly spoke, she had a strange feeling that they were being welcomed into the castle. She didn’t know what was going on and who was making the magical energy flow disproportionately through the very walls.

“I know.” Angie shimmied even closer to Snow. “I just think it's really amazing here.”

Dairen said skeptically. “Usually, something bad happens when things just magically light up like this.”

Mike grunted, “I agree with the pretty boy here.”

“A what?” Dairen gave Mike an unusual confused expression that made Mike grin.

“Nothing,” Mike joked.

Silence followed between the two. Even their own guildmates sighed, shaking their head at their guild master lame joke.

Dairen said, “We are in the castle that spirited away over a thousand people.”

“So, your point?.”

Dairen’s shoulder slumped, shaking his head at his friend. “Forget it. Why do I even try?”

“Because you like me.”

“Right….”

Dairen gave up, trying to understand Mike as many others. He was truly an oddball of a guild master and a friend. Trying to decipher him was trying to solve a Rubix cube in under ten seconds.

“It's starting!” Jacob, who was entirely silent throughout the whole conversation and a RedVelvet guild member, started to hyperventilate.

“What has started?” Dairen asked, his hand reached back as he knocked an arrow in his bow.

“The raid.” Jacob's voice gave a chilling demeanor. Everyone attentively stared around, waiting for the danger that lies ahead.

A grinding sound of metal against metal rubbed against each other. Their clanking sound became louder, echoing throughout the room roaring.

“Above us!” Jacob yelled, startling everyone to gaze upwards.

The gargoyles broke apart their stone cages, coming to life as their metallic skin shined in the light.

“Gargoyles?!” Dairen had called out, his arrow doused in darkness shot through the air and straight into the very gargoyle’s themselves. The arrows pierced through, crumpling up the metal gargoyles in one burst.

“Nice shot,” Mike yelled with vigor. He faced the next gargoyle that flew downwards to scoop him up into the air. With a vicious slam into the side as if he was struck with a baseball bat, Mike sliced through the gargoyle in half. His sword glowed beautifully with electric magic, making it look like an electric eel.

Many of their guildsmen were in awe at how quickly both Dairen and Mike had split the monsters in half. They cheered and followed their guild leaders example, using magic and force in one swift blow. When some of them tangoed with the gargoyle with pure strength, their weapons bounced off their metal skin, barely grazing them.

Snow’s white armor snapped into position. Her magical tattoo glowed, summoning up her tail, helmet, and claw, which she always summoned up last as she felt stuffy with all three of them on. She felt the power from her magical energy spiking, working with her in excitement.

Snow, too, felt out her magical power, summoning it to her own cause. She didn’t use any of her two powerful magical spells she knew: resurrection and Holy Redemption, mostly because of the amount of magic that it would drain from her compared to a lot more lighter magical spells.

With the amount of power that she had, she worded, “Area Mana Buff.”

A douse of blue energy spread out from her fingertips, settling down to every Guild member in the guild, she sharply helped invigorate the Player’s Mana spells, making them twice as potent as before.

With the magic settling down, Snow went to work herself. She moved with precision, dancing around the gargoyles swooping attacks. She felt her instincts screaming with danger. With a quick flurry of steps, she spun her body into a roundhouse kick.

Her talons on her feet hooked onto the gargoyle's shoulder, smashing it down onto the ground with one fluid kick.

The gargoyles head crunched onto the ground, leaving a part of its skull caved in. Snow’s sword swished around her, lopping off its head as the gargoyle shuddered and went silent.

Her tail snatched another off in the air, curling it around the gargoyle’s feet. She slammed it down, cutting off its wings and with it, its ability tofly away. Throughout the whole fight, Snow mercilessly pegged down the gargoyles without stopping.

The cold aura around her intensified with her sparkling smile that screamed out death to her enemies. While her own teammates thought she was having fun, and they vigorously fought alongside her with a lot more gusto than before.

Magic cast all around them as the gargoyles were pulled, cut, or even shot down with magical powers.

A blood bath ensued, but none was injured as they dominated their enemies without much difficulty.

Even Jacob was amazed at the guild's strength as he assumed that they wouldn’t be able to overcome four hundred Players as they had trouble before. With a bit more vigor that he didn’t think he had before, he charged alongside the others as they continued to wipe out the monsters before them.