The sky darkened as the cloud was slowly moving toward Bastal. Beneath the dark clouds, thousands of Dark Army were marching. In a few minutes, they finally arrived near the town. Once they stopped, a woman on a steed drew her sword.

Dark gray skinned, ponytail long white hair with black circlet adorned her head, red and violet heterochromia eyes, and she was wearing dark blue light armor.

Cyllia

Dark Army Legion Commander

She smiled once she was seeing Bastal with thousands of defenders that could be seen on the wall. They were all quiet and the silence ruled the atmosphere. Once the dark clouds reached Bastal, Dark Army's Horn could be heard simultaneously.

Bwooooong bwoong bwong

Bwoooooooooong...

Cyllia raised her sword and the Dark Army began to scream and charge toward Bastal.

Everyone became tense. If their heart beat was loud as a drum, the whole city would be really noisy. They were all anxious while waiting for a command.

Using voice amplifier spell, the ones in command began to speak.

"Get ready!" Kimchi said with intense tone.

"Everyone! Let's survive together!!!" Taiyo shouted.

"Don't rush forward recklessly. Just keep calm and support each other." JassJuss said calmly.

Ranged units readied themselves and waiting for the next command to attack. The Dark Army got closer and closer. Some brought ladders, some brought huge blunts and aimed for the gate. They were all smiling creepily.

"FIRE!!!"

"AIM FOR THE LADDERS!"

All ranged units attacked at the same time. Arrows and spells were thrown, and they were all AoE skills.

KABOOOM! KABOOM! KABOOM!

THWACK! THWACK! THWACK!

The Dark Army number was decreased simultaneously. However, there were still many who survived.

Ping! Ping! ping!

Clank! Clank! Clack!

Some used their shield and barrier to parry the attack, and some evaded them. Then, some began to leap far forward toward the wall. Once they were right in front of the wall, they jumped up and some were running upwards on the wall.

"OH Shi-!!"

"Quick! Kill them!"

Everyone on the wall panicked. They rushed to kill them, but some of them already reached the top. Unfortunately, more were coming and they couldn't hold them any longer.

CHOP!

Slash!

"Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrgh!!!"

"Help!"

Slash!

HACK!

One by one, everyone on the wall died. And some of them turned into the Dark Army. Soon after that, the Dark Army was already in front of the gate as well. Even though the gate was enchanted with protection, they could still break it with ease.

"THE GATE IS BREACHED!"

"DEFEND!!!"

"PROTECT THE GATE!!"

"SUPPORT THE WALL!!!"

Tanks and melee hitters began to defend the gate and wall. AoE skills and spells were casted.

Multiple fire appeared in the sky and rained upon the Dark Army. At the same time, something near the gate suddenly exploded and made a shockwave which dealt damage to the surrounding area. Then, lightning was casted from one's staff and it hit multiple Dark Armies in second. There was also a tremor and it created the ground shook. It stunned anyone within the area of effect. Not only magic, there were some who armed with two-handed weapon and they used power cleave to kill multiple Dark Armies at once.

Single target powerful skills were also being used to finish off the Dark Army.

"Triple Slash!"

"Fatal Stab!"

"Thunder Crash!"

In the middle of battlefield, golems and monsters were also being called by Summoners.

Gaooooooooooooohhhhhhhh!!!

Groaaaaaaaaaaa!!!

Unlike the previous war, they could be able to hold the Dark Army for a long time. Could it be the hope that Aradun gave? Or perhaps, it was just their own power because they were all now united and fighting together.

"Taunting Light!" Taiyo shouted as he raised his katana into the sky with his right hand. The katana shined and the Dark Armies who were within ten meters around him immediately turned their head toward him. And at that moment, they were all rushing to attack him.

He smiled and readied his big shield. "Sun's Protection!" His body was covered in reddish yellow aura. And when the Dark Armies got near him, they were all got burned. It was a skill which made three-meter area around him scorching in heat.

Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash! Slash!

Kimchi swung his swords and killed dozens of Dark Armies who got pulled by Taiyo in minutes. However, more were coming and tried to attack Kimchi while he was caught off guard. He evaded their attack swiftly, but one suddenly got behind him and the attack couldn't be avoided.

Swoosh~ Thwack!

An arrow came out of nowhere and pierced the Dark Army's head. Kimchi smiled as he looked at JassJuss who kept firing arrows from the rear, and then he rushed forward again.

With those three Guild Masters, everyone easily killed the Dark Army and kept them not far from the gate. Unfortunately, that power and hope were crushed once Cyllia came. She entered Bastal with her steed and killed multiple defenders in one swing of her sword. Once she swung her sword, there was a chain magic attack which was spreading to nearby players and defenders. And they were instantly got killed.

Not only Cyllia, her steed was also strong. Dragon-headed dark violet horse-like creature with glowing green eyes. The steed could breathe poison cloud and everyone who touched it was debuffed with fatal poison.

"Dammit! That Commander will eventually wipe us out!" Taiyo ranted.

"I'll try to fight her." Kimchi said as he cut off Dark Army Soldier's head.

"I can cover you from the back, but the problem is also with that poison horse thing." JassJuss said while shooting her arrows from the rear.

"Don't worry, I can handle the poison. I'll take care of it." Taiyo immediately rushed toward Cyllia's steed. Then he raised his shield and it shined brightly. "Shining Sun!"

Ten meters wide area in front of Taiyo was illuminated and the Dark Army got blinded for a while. It was the opportunity for players and defenders to attack. After that, the Dark Army who got blinded immediately rushed toward Taiyo, including Cyllia's Steed.

Once Taiyo got the steed's attention, he lured it away from Cyllia. She noticed that and tried to pursue them, but then Kimchi intervened by attacking her.

Clank!

Kimchi smiled as his sword got parried, then he began his multiple continuous attack.

Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank! Clank!

They danced within the battlefield, and each of the parried attacks made an addition to the melody of war.

"Arrow Rain!"

Arrows were falling from the sky and piercing dozens of Dark Armies. JassJuss cleared the enemies around them so they could solo Cyllia and her steed.

They fought about an hour. But still, they could only cut 5% of their HP. Unfortunately, Kimchi's HP gradually decreased because of unknown magic damage coming from Cyllia. Also, Cyllia's steed could penetrate Taiyo's defense easily with its toxicity.

"Keep healing me!" Taiyo shouted.

Even though the healers healed them simultaneously, they couldn't even land a great amount of damage to Cyllia and her steed. And when some people tried to help Kimchi, Cyllia's damage increased. It also triggered the AoE magic damage that spread around the one who got hit.

"Goddammit! She's specialized in AoE!" Kimchi cursed. "Everyone go back!"

"I can't hold any longer! The poison will kill me!" Taiyo shouted.

"Just retreat! I'll cover you two!" JassJuss shouted.

Thus, they retreated back toward the rear while JassJuss kept firing so they didn't pursue.

As they couldn't stop Cyllia and her steed, they were slowly got pushed back. Eventually, the Dark Army reached Bastal's Keep. And the Three Princesses could be seen up above, concerned about the situation.

Then, sound of horns could be heard from afar.

Zwuuuoong Zwuooong Dun Dun Dun

Zwuuuoong Zwuooong Dun Dun Dun

A legion of army entered Bastal from south gate.

It was Karmia!

"They're coming!"

"Wait... Is that? Oh my God! That's my friend over there!"

"Those players are here! So it's really true!"

Furthermore, the players who became the Dark Army before were also within the marching army!

As Aradun's expected, their curse lifted once their character as Dark Army was dead and they could login again soon after. In the real world, everyone whose characters became Dark Army kept trying to log in until they succeeded.

With the new reinforcements, they could hold the Dark Army once again. Not only that, the Three Princesses were also joining the fight alongside Wizard King of Karmia, Oz Kadon.

The First Princess, Alicia, was raising a White Staff on her hands. It shined brightly and ray of lights penetrating the dark cloud in the sky. The lights were showering the Dark Armies, and they instantly got burned without a trace.

They slowly disappeared while they were shrieking.

"Kaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhkkkkk!!"

Meanwhile the Wizard King, Oz Kadon, opened a White Tome and chanted some words. Then, within a vast area around him, the Dark Army got multiple debuffs which significantly decreased their stats. Moreover, it also blessed the others with buffs.

Alkronia and Karmia, with the power of their artifacts which proficient in magic, were sweeping a lot of Dark Army at ease. However, Cyllia chanted something and they all got cleansed from the debuffs. Furthermore, they seemed getting stronger as well.

Alicia noticed it, so she raised the White Staff and it shined brightly. A beam of light coming from the sky and fell down right toward Cyllia. At the same time, Oz Kadon opened the White Tome and chanted the words in it. Multiple magic orbs appeared around Cyllia and they were all powerful debuffs to weaken her. However, Cyllia didn't got burned by the light. She calmly swung her sword, then all the magic orbs exploded.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

Strangely, both artifacts couldn't affect the Dark Commander. Therefore, Oz Kadon chanted some words and a wide magic circle appeared below Cyllia. Then, instantly, a wide beam of light was blasted from the magic circle and shot toward the sky. It created a massive hole on the dark cloud.

BAZZOOOOOOOOM!!!

Once the light faded, they could see a lone shadow within it. Cyllia was still standing as she smiled playfully. Oz Kadon's powerful magic could only hold her for a few seconds, yet it didn't even put a scratch on her. It was then they realized that The Dark Commander Cyllia had Magical Damage Nullification.

Cyllia then rushed toward Oz Kadon who were still frozen in disbelief. When he came to his sense, it was too late to dodge the attack so he made mana barrier in second.

Fwooooosh! Crash!

It immediately got shattered by Cyllia's magic. Once she got closer, she swung her sword with a wide smile on her face. Suddenly, an arcane bolt was shot from somewhere up above. With her instinct, Cyllia raised her hand to block it.

BOOM!

The magic left a burn on her hand which she used to block, and her expression became bitter. She then looked toward the attacker. In the sky, the caster looked down on her with a smirk.

It was Eleya Nel'Thas, and she brought an army of elves with her.

・・・

Meanwhile in Gordull Hills.

The ambush was done successfully. They could be able to kill about half of them during the surprise attack. Furthermore, Randolph sliced the Dark Army like butter with Golden Sword on his hand. It was the power of Ghaldaran artifact which was brought by the dying man. It boosted the user's physical strength to their maximum potential.

But of course, even if they decreased their number significantly, the Dark Army was still an enemy that couldn't be taken easily. Especially their Commander.

Dark gray skinned, short white hair, yellow and red heterochromia eyes, and he was wearing dark red light armor which showed some of his skin. Though he didn't all covered in armor, his appearance was still frightening. He was over two meters tall and had big muscular body.

Ke'Bal

Dark Army Legion Commander

Seeing the Dark Commander showed himself on the battlefield, Randolph rushed toward him. He was fast, and he reached Ke'Bal in seconds. Once their gap became a meter, he swung his sword furiously. However, Ke'Bal noticed him and reacted with his instinct.

Clank! Clack! Clank!

Ke'bal parried the Golden Sword with his bare hands!

It was as if his hands were made of steel. Randolph was perplexed, but he couldn't take his guard off and kept attacking. Still, he couldn't even cut the commander's skin with the Golden Sword.

It was because The Dark Commander had Physical Damage Nullification.

Regardless, he didn't give up and kept fighting. He tried to hold him alone so everyone could fight the Dark Army without worry.

Meanwhile, a hundred meters behind Randolph, BlackMamba swiftly moved and swung his dagger. The ones who got hit by his dagger instantly got a fatal poison debuff which slowly decreased their health and movement speed.

Not far from BlackMamba's location, Zhulong jumped five meters up. Then he fell down and punched the ground.

KABOOOM!

A five-meter radius crater was made, and the Dark armies within the radius got stunned. Suddenly, they were all frozen and died. Aradun followed them from behind while kept casting his spells.

"Look..." Zhulong said and pointed up ahead.

Aradun and BlackMamba immediately looked toward the location. They saw Randolph and Ke'Bal were fighting.

"Should we help?" BlackMamba asked.

"The Commander, huh..." Aradun pondered.

"We already killed the Captains." Zhulong said while punching the Dark Armies. "The Commander shouldn't be that hard."

The tip of Aradun's lips went up. "Fine. Let's kill him!"

Hearing that, Zhulong and BlackMamba also smiled. And so, the three Guild Masters decided to help the King who fought alone.

"Heroes!" Randolph exclaimed as he was surprised by the unexpected backup. But then he smiled and rushed toward Ke'Bal with them.

Randolph, Zhulong and BlackMamba fought Ke'Bal in close combat while Aradun kept throwing spells and debuffs from behind. Their actions made everyone became more motivated and fought with all their might. And they all believed in their power that they could win the war easily.

Zhulong swiftly attacked with his fists while BlackMamba was swinging his dagger relentlessly. Moreover, Randolph was ready to attack once he got the opportunity. Because of that, Ke'Bal couldn't parry all the attacks and got hit several times.

Your damage has been nullified

Your damage has been nullified

Your damage has been nullified

However, it was all being nullified.

They didn't give up yet. Zhulong was covered with aura and his movement became faster. Moreover, each of his hit became stronger. He kept attacking and when the opportunity came, he threw his fist as hard as he could, right on Ke'Bal's face. Furthermore, BlackMamba also used his poison dagger and thrust it toward Ke'Bal bare skin.

BANG!

PING!

Both of them were shocked. Their eyes widened as they felt like they were hitting a hard steel. Zhulong's fist was stopped immediately while BlackMamba's dagger couldn't even penetrate Ke'bal's bare skin.

"The fuck! I can't deal damage to him at all!" Zhulong exclaimed. "Even with my skills!"

"Same here! My dagger can't even penetrate his bare skin!" BlackMamba said as he gritted his teeth. "Moreover, all my poison can only deal two digit numbers."

"I see... He has physical damage immunity and can be able to decrease poison damage significantly." Aradun narrowed his eyes. "This is troublesome. Only my magic can hurt him. But still, the damage isn't that much."

Suddenly, Ke'Bal's eyes turned toward Aradun. He aimed Aradun who were specialized in magic first and ignored Randolph, Zhulong and BlackMamba who didn't deal much damage to him.

Aradun was caught off guard by Ke'Bal sudden unexpected pattern. He immediately made an ice wall to hold him up. However, it instantly shattered as the Commander charged through it.

Aradun blinked away and about to throw ice spells toward his previous location. But suddenly, Ke'Bal was already in front of him. Aradun eyes widened and he got hit right on his gut.

"Guaaakkkh!!!!"

He was thrown several meters back and got stunned.

Once Ke'Bal put Aradun down, he then aimed for BlackMamba and Zhulong. Even though they were experienced martial artists, they couldn't read Ke'Bal attack at all. He was just playing with them all along. And he was already bored, so he decided to end them quickly.

There was no hope in fighting the Commander, and they saw their members decreased a lot. They eventually decided to retreat back to the rear and focus on dealing with the Dark Army. Once again, Randolph was fighting alone against Commander Ke'Bal. Slowly, they were being pushed back and the situation were flipped.

It was then, the reinforcements came.

Duruuunnn Duruuuunnn

Gwooooooonggg

Empress Irelia sprinted and leaped to quickly help Randolph.

"I don't remember asking for your help." Randolph said.

"Don't get me wrong, Prince Randolph. You look pathetic when you're fighting alone." Irelia replied in a mocking tone.

"Tsk! I'll show you I can beat him with this Golden Sword."

Randolph then rushed in anger and attacked Ke'Bal furiously. Seeing that, Irelia smirked. Then she was also rushing forward to attack. And so, the three of them were dancing on the battlefield.

Though Ke'Bal didn't feel hurt, he was still being pushed back. When his guard was down because of parrying continuous attack from Randolph and Irelia, Juvaldo's Ruler, Deltros, suddenly appeared without him noticing.

Deltros used Golden Gauntlet, one of the artifacts, and unleashed its power. He punched Ke'Bal right on the chest and a giant explosion of shockwave followed.

KABOOOOOMMMM!!!

As the cloud of dust faded, Deltros eyes widened. Ke'Bal was standing still as his fist was blocked by his left hand. The Dark Commander smiled widely. He pulled Deltros's hand and lifted him up. Then he slammed him on the ground and a crater was made. Ke'Bal then choked Deltros and lifted him once again. This time, he released the choke and instantly threw a punch at Deltros right on his gut.

BANG!

His armor got a wide bent and he got thrown back more than a hundred meters.

Suddenly, Ke'Bal rushed toward Irelia who was still puzzled by the unexpected event. Randolph immediately protected her and took the hit instead. However, Ke'Bal didn't end his attack there. He kept punching Randolph multiple times and made several bents on his armor. In a few minutes, Randolph got beaten and could hardly move anymore. Empress Irelia tried to help, but she got the same fate as him.

Even the three powerful rulers with two kingdom artifacts couldn't beat the Dark Commander.

Randolph knelt down and drenched in his own blood. He saw Ke'Bal slowly approached Irelia. With all his power left, he dragged his feet and stopped between them.

Once Ke'Bal was right in front of him, he stopped and gazed toward his face. Randolph was also looking straight at him. However, there was a dim light of hope in his eyes. The Dark Commander scoffed and smirked. Without hesitation, he threw his last powerful punch to end Randolph.

KRAKABOOM!!!

But then, at the same time, a flash of thunder brightened the battlefield. Moreover, his punch was stopped by a bare hand that came out of nowhere.

The owner of that hand was Vallas.

He looked straight at the Dark Commander with furious storm in his eyes.

・・・

Outside of Wildcliff

Atalancia and Savanh were ready to engage into the battlefield. Their number exceeded twenty thousand strong. Meanwhile on Dalgor side, only 14 people were present, including me.

I took a deep breath and called the Dimensional Cubic.

"Alright..."

As I was about to open the portal, Hagwim opened his mouth.

"Wait a minute, laddie..."

I turned my head toward him.

"Are you sure you're going to open a portal right there?" He asked as he pointed somewhere else. "Not right there."

Confused, I couldn't respond what he was trying to say.

"I mean... What if hordes of Orcs begin to swarm out of the portal over there and attack us. Maybe they even try to conquer Heallance!"

'D-did he just...'

I looked at him as I was a bit shocked by his words. But then, he smiled widely and laughed.

"Burhahahahaha.... It's a joke, laddie. You look really tense. Just relax a bit, will ya?"

"I-I see... Haha..." I let out a fake laugh.

"Ah I'm terribly sorry for my terrible humor." Hagwim sighed.

"No. It's fine. I'm a bit relaxed now. Thanks..." I smiled widely.

He also smiled and nodded. I thought he was about to break the fourth wall for a moment. Well, there was someone who already broke it.

I looked at Mirage who was beside me. She raised her hand beside her lips and whispered something to me.

"I told him about that story..." She chuckled silently, showing her teeth while her eyes formed two crescent moons.

'I see...' I let out a sigh and smiled.

Thus, I began to open the portal to Dalgor. My heart was beating fast. I tried to calm myself down and gather my courage. Then I turned around and shouted toward them all.

"Soldiers of Savanh and Atalancia!" I could see their eyes focused toward me. I took a deep breath and continued. "Mirage and I will go first to Tandor!"

They responded by hitting their weapons and shields onto the ground. As they were silent, I opened my mouth again.

"The next portal I open will summon you all to Tandor. So please get ready and prepared all the time!"

They made a loud noise as I turned around. Before I went in, Hagwim called me.

"Zeroth laddie." He looked at me straight in the eye. "You memorize them all, right? There should be less aggressive monsters since we already cleared the path yesterday. And that will take you at least half a day to Tandor. You need to go fast, laddie. The Dark Army can reach Tandor at any moment. I hope we're not too late."

"Don't worry." I said as I tapped his shoulder, then I nodded lightly. "We will definitely make it."

The tip of his lips went up and he nodded back at me. "Godspeed, laddie."

I casted Wind Blessing to Mirage and myself. Then, both of us began to leap inside the portal.

・・・

Navencore Tandor Kingdom

Only a few was within the fortress. They shook as they saw thousands of army outside the wall, especially the wandering bards. It was really unfortunate for them. They just got there and immediately soon after that, the city was locked down as a serious threat was spotted outside. They were trembling to the point that they couldn't play their instruments.

The loud noise created by the Dark Army spread fear to all over the city. When the fragile defense lost hope, someone saw something strange outside the wall and shouted.

"Who is that!?"

"What!?"

"Over there!"

Everyone's gaze immediately turned toward the location that one of the defenders pointed at.

A man with black full body armor was walking toward thousands of Dark Armies.

Seeing that, the Dark Army laughed. They blew the horn and immediately rushed toward him. But suddenly, a massive portal opened behind him.

The King of Atalancia emerged from it, bringing thousands army of Sea-Kin. The hopeless soldiers within the fortress and the Dark Army were surprised even more when they saw another army came out of the portal.

This time, the King of Savanh appeared from the portal. He was also bringing thousands of Beast-Kin who were ready to war. And then the portal closed once a short Dark Knight with two humans and four elves stepped out of it.

Seeing the very scenery, everyone was perplexed and confused. Even the Dark Armies were suddenly stopped, they were all shocked with the unexpected reinforcements.

As the horns were blown, the man in black full body armor smiled. And then he rushed toward the Dark Army followed by Savanh and Atalancia behind him.