As Arthur steps through the hole in the gate, several knights follow. The opening in the gate glows and rays of light project out of it. Arthur’s knights continue to file through the breach until a few players attempt to follow.

A system message appears on Tripper’s HUD and he opens it, seeing several other players do the same.

[Quest Activated: Free King’s Court] displays across his vision with some transparency along with a ten second countdown timer. Tripper accepts and walks through, Z and the rest of the party follow him in.

The party is joined by the rest of the players as they move forward cautiously, with the others filtering in as smaller groups or pairs. After crossing the threshold, arrows and fire spells begin raining down upon them, with a gap in the projectiles coming up ahead where Arthur and his knights were covered by a shield cast by their mages.

Some players are struck and killed, respawning at the doorway to the dungeon and running to catch up. Some of the excitement gets to them, putting a perk in their step and making them joke around as they flung spells around to fire back at the enemies launching attacks.

A group of enemy knights and archers rush toward Arthur’s group and a man with long brown hair and a golden sword, Lancelot, rushes forward, making quick work of them with a shout. As he slashed through the enemy forces, blood spattered his gleaming steel armor, flecks of red covering his gauntlets and chest as if drops of paint.

Arthur’s party rushes ahead and into the central courtyard, where a large amount of soldiers are waiting around a defensive tower with a balcony and two sets of ornate stairways leading around it and to the top. Joined by the players, the knights from Camelot quickly overtake the courtyard as Arthur fights his way to the balcony before cutting the leader, a rogue wizard, in half with Excalibur.

A few of his bodyguards, orcs, put up some resistance but are easily subdued or killed. The remaining enemies surrender or are put down, and disappear. Arthur stands in the center of the balcony, sword pressed into the floor at his feet and with his hands resting upon the pommel. He surveys the crowd of his knights and the many players.

A silence fell as everyone turned their eyes to the king and he cleared his throat.

“Rejoice, brave warriors! On this day, we have dealt a heavy blow to the enemy. King’s Court is once again ruled by the people and for the people!” Arthur said, pausing, the sun gleaming on his shining armor and the jewels adorning Excalibur’s hilt, “While King’s Court is free, others still suffer. Do not be discouraged by the work that has yet to be done!

Together, we can free the rest of the noble land of Experia and bring peace and prosperity to our people. Will you take this charge and go forth to free the land?”

The players and knights cheered, the taste of their victory still fresh upon their lips. Tripper and Z looked around, a concerned expression on both of their faces. Tripper gathered Jag and Rae with Z and they started edging toward the back of the courtyard.

“What’s up Trip?” Rae whispered.

“Something doesn’t feel right. No one knows if the no-log is still going or not but they’re all acting like it’s over,” Tripper said.

“Yeah,” Jag said, “I was there for hours, if it was just the way the first real quest chain started then everyone should’ve started it at the same time for some kind of server event. This isn’t that.”

“Oh,” Rae said, then got quiet again, the excitement left her face.

In the front, Arthur continued to speak, with different knights of the Round Table gathering players together for expeditions to towns. While he gave directions and organized parties, the sunlight dims as if a cloud had passed in front of it and the torches and fires in the courtyard blow out.

A sinister feminine laugh echoes through King’s Court and a cold wind blows through, trailed by a slowly forming mist. A robed woman materialized from within the mist behind Arthur.

The knights nearest to Arthur try to block her from attacking their king but she brushed them aside with a flick of her wrist. Their bodies flew away, flung like ragdolls.

The woman’s dark hair blew with a charged tension, as if touched by some form of unnatural magic. Her robes showed her to be a powerful sorceress, combining rune-engraved leather with enchanted steel and pieces of a red-gold wood. In one hand she held a small wand, each finger wearing a magical ring.

After she cast the knights aside, Arthur turned around to strike her with Excalibur. She bocked the blade with her other arm, a twisted magical limb that looked like a dragon’s claw. Arthur renews his attack, swinging the blade from a different angle and trying to slam into her and knock her back. She dodged, stepping backwards before ducking below the swinging sword and slamming him into the balcony’s rail.

Arthur shouts and twirls around, trying to slash at her head, then kicks her. She caught the foot aimed at her with her thigh and human hand, then twists it, spinning Arthur and knocking him to the ground. On his knees, he launched himself towards his enemy, tackling her. A shimmer separates them, slowly pushing him back. Taking the blade in hand, the sorceress’s hand glows red, heating the metal and forcing Arthur to drop the sword. She kicked him, knocking the breath out of him and grips his head by the hair, turning him to face the crowd.

Then, the sorceress shoved her draconian hand through Arthur’s chest, erupting out of his ribcage and holding his heart in a fist. The King’s eyes grew wide from the shock and his form grew pale, as if the colors themselves were leeching out. A blue tinge flowed around his heart.

She ripped her arm back out, still holding his heart, and threw Arthur’s body off of the balcony and onto the ground by the players. Lancelot cried out, angered and grieving but her eyes glowed and he is shoved to the ground as if pressed by an invisible hand.

“I am Morgan le Fae, daughter of Uther Pendragon, Ruler of Avalon. With this death, I claim what is mine by conquest and birthright!” the sorceress said.

The air hung heavy as Morgan le Fae stepped forward on the balcony. Arthur’s body laid still below her on the ground.

The witch surveyed the crowded players and Lancelot, the knight was still pressed into the flagstones of the courtyard by the force of her spell.

“Heroes,” Morgan laughed, “We find ourselves at a strange moment of time. Even Arthur, King of a Golden Age, struggled to fight through this city. His loss of strength is the result of a larger problem.”

Morgan looked at the players below her, “The larger problem is you, you weakling warriors more concerned with gold and glory than injustice. I have come to right those wrongs. I will correct the corruption of Camelot. Join me and rise, become the heroes you all believe yourselves to be, or fight me and fade from existence.”

The crowd was silent, a cloud of dread hovered over everyone.

“Bend the knee,” Morgan said.

After a few seconds, the sound of armor clanking as it bumped into other bits and pieces of metal came through and a short player with green hair and a small sword walks forward, posture defiant. His ID tag hovered over his head reading [Twixter].

Despite the seriousness of the moment, a few players giggled at his name.

“We are knights, defenders,” Twixter said, “We do not bow to murderers or thieves. We will not join you just because you think you’re hot shit.”

The crowd laughed a little at Twixter’s speech but a look from the sorceress silenced them quickly.

Morgan yawned and cracked her neck, Twixter disappeared in a flash of light but the witch simply looked bored. She raises her dragon claw arm and all of the players are lifted from the ground.

Tripper felt like a butcher’s hook had caught him in the gut and pulled him as he rose from the ground. Rae and Z looked panicked. Jag gagged at the sensation, turning pale.

As the players are lifted off of the ground, Lancelot manages to pull himself up form the stone, leaning on his sword. A shadow detached from Morgan and floats over to Lancelot, solidifying in front of him.

A large armored form takes hold, a boss tag identifying him floats over his head. Named as [Mordred, the Pale Herald], he kicks Lancelot back to the ground. In one hand, he holds a massive sword, with a shield in the other. Mordred’s black armor is rusted, the finish matted and lacking the shine of clean steel.

Lancelot’s sword ignited as he recognizes the warrior. The knight rises, berserker rage flowing through him and giving him strength. Flames lit up within his eyes and he cracked his neck and back before slipping into a fighter’s stance.

Mordred turned to him and a grin flickered across his mouth before hardening into a thin line.

“Go forth,” Mordred commands, the mist across the ground erupts into creatures and demons, who then fled from the city and out of the city’s gates.

Lancelot rushed towards Mordred, slashing at the creatures pouring out of the ground. As Mordred blocked the first of the knight’s strikes, the players in Morgan’s grip are forcibly teleported across the world of Experia.

Tripper’s party is disbanded as the teleport takes effect. The last thing he sees before being forced away was the same blue fade out from when Z and Rae had tried to log out with him earlier. Once again, he shattered as the game system deconstructed his form for teleportation.