Zareth was single mindedly blasting the golem cave bats from the sky, when all of a sudden the black lake exploded outwards. Large vestiges of the black body of water flew into the air and served as a deterent to many of the bats, as flying becomes infinitely more difficult if your wings are wet. However this was not the focus as a figure clad in wind and lightning rushed towards Zareth screaming like the world was about to end. Of course that figure is me.
"Run Zareth Run!!"
That sounded familiar, but I didn"t have time to remember where I might have heard that from. I turned back to look at the ma.s.sive tentacle following me, and shuddered as I remembered the feeling of those things grabbing me. But what really unsettled me was the level of the b.l.o.o.d.y monster, at the moment it was the only thing that was showing above it"s head in bright red letters, as if to warn any player who would be stupid enough to tango with it as this stage.
(Level 150)
Injuring it the first time was mostly due to luck and the fact that Sky as a weapon was quite superior and had access to unique abilities that would put a dent even on the strongest metal....provided I"m strong enough to utilize it. I s.h.i.+fted Sky into her helmet form as running with her staff form and the egg seed wasn"t doing wonders for my speed.
Zareth turned around and went up the stairs, but I caught and overtook the dwarf, seemingly not caring about his welfare as I ran with all my might towards the entrance of the stairwell that led back to the temple above. I turned back to look, only for Zareth to zoom past me, his metal boots on fire as they left a blazing trail in their wake. My storm dance skill just went into cool down, if not there"s no way he would have been able to move past me like that.
Anyway it wasn"t the issue of Zareth moving past me that worried me, it was the horde of bats right behind him, and the two ma.s.sive tentacles following as well. These monsters really don"t want us leaving with this egg, which was too bad for them, because I"m not leaving it behind either. I turned back, ignoring everything behind me and placed all my focus on escaping this place.
My thighs burned with exhaustion as even with all my strength and stamina, the rate with which I was going up these stairs was beyond insane. Half a minute later I saw Zareth at the end of the stair well or rather the beginning; trying to break through the stone slab that seemed to have blocked and trapped us down here. As I got closer the egg flashed and there was a dull rumble as the slab began to slide to the side, only it was in a painfully slow manner, and both Zareth and I would be nothing but corpses by the time it was fully open.
"Get Out Of The Way!" I shouted at Zareth as I inclined my head, much in the manner you would expect an elephant to do when it wants to use it"s tusk to attack. My head was aiming at the still opening slab, and I had every intention of ramming into it. (STORM DANCE!) Wind and lightning gathered around my body as my speed and attack increased exponentially and I shot towards the slab. (LUNAR STRIKE!!)*BOOOOM!*
The slab blasted outwards, sending rubble and fragments of concrete flying into the air. My vision went blank for a moment as I crashed on top of the altar, dislodging the trident in the process.
My head was ringing and my sights were swimming with a variety of colors while it seemed as if every sound I was hearing was amplified. Thankfully my dazed state didn"t last very long and I came out of it just in time to evade a bat that had dive-bombed me. Seems these particular breed of bats don"t fear the sun as much(which should be expected, they"re golems after all.)
I picked the trident up, and at the same time I felt the island begin to shake and rumble, Zareth was in the sky, his boots trailing fire as he went wild on the two ma.s.sive tentacles that stretched out of the hole in the ground (formerly the stairwell to the nursery.) I bent my head and frowned as the claws of one of the bats sc.r.a.pped across my helmet raising sparks. I placed the trident on my back, right Besides my quiver as I turned, pulling the Katana out in one fluid motion.
(LIGHTNING BLADE!)
One of the bats fell in half, both sides moving past me as I turned to look up at Zareth. The wind was picking up, and the rumbling of the island was getting more and more obvious, so much so that getting a stable footing was a little bit too hard. A system message rose up, but I ignored it as I flapped my wings and took to the air, cutting through another cave bat. But right at that moment, a flaming ball flew right over our head and smashed into one of the statues.
A blue light rose up and defended the statue, but I quickly noticed that there were more and more of those fire b.a.l.l.s coming towards us. Zareth also noticed as he ignored the tentacles and swiped his lance sideways, creating a wave of fire that intercepted the incoming fireb.a.l.l.s and destroyed them midflight. One of the fireb.a.l.l.s survived, but rather than hit any other structure, it heavily smacked into the black tentacles with red suckers currently approaching Zareth from behind. I sliced the Katana in my hand just as an unG.o.dly screech filled the air and the tentacles quickly retracted back into the ground.
"The Dragon G.o.d guild is here." Zareth said to me as he came to hover by my side, a casual swipe of his destroying a pair of bats. I looked back at him with a dull look and replied "obviously."
"The island is sinking too slow, they"ll destroy it before even ten meters of it gets into the water." Zareth said to me as we watched the ma.s.sive fleet of enemy s.h.i.+ps heading towards the island.
"That"s a real problem.....go over there and buy me some time. Create a big distraction, just enough for me to get the Acheron into position. We"ll hold them off while the island sinks, it should give them more time and prevent it"s destruction." I said to Zareth.
"But what if they have submarines?" he asked me with a worried tone in their voice.
"then that"s their funeral, even I am not so stupid as to fight hundreds of aquatic individuals, under water. That"s suicide, even if you have a submarine. Plus with or without the trident, the island has really good defenses. And the trident"s call of the ocean, or rather call of water skill is still active. The island will be fine, we just have to take the fight to them." I said to him as I flapped my wings and went straight towards the sh.o.r.e, with Zareth blazing past me, flames coming out from under his boots like the bottom of a rocket.
The bats were hot on our heels as I headed for the sh.o.r.e while Zareth made a beeline for the players of the Dragon G.o.d guild. The bats tried to keep up, but with each second that pa.s.sed, I drew farther and farther away from them, until they finally decided to turn back. At this point I had already reached the sh.o.r.e, which was currently under attack from a small team of players.
I noticed that there were quite a few people on the Acheron too, keeping Qitar occupied and preventing her from properly utilizing the s.h.i.+p"s a.r.s.enal to get rid of them. I s.h.i.+fted Sky back into her bow form and sheathed the Katana, I made my perch on top of a street lamp and then started taking the players out, aiming for those who were unprotected around their head area.
*feeew! Thud! Feew! Thud! Feew feew feew! Thud, thud, THUD!*
By the time they realized what was going on, five of them had already fallen, and enough of them were off Qitar that she was able to bring the full fire power of the Acheron to bear. After that five seconds was just too much for her to use in getting rid of them as the turrets spat out fire and death with extreme prejudice.
I landed in the midst of the other races, right beside Persephone who swiftly stabbed a pair of ice daggers into the skull of the final player. I turned to the people around and said.
"The island is sinking, just like your high priestess entrusted us, it"s new home would be the bottom of the sea. It would keep you guys safe from the incursion of the dragon G.o.d guild, however with the bombardment the island is currently experiencing, it might not even survive long enough to get half way submerged. But don"t worry, the crew of the Acheron will keep them off you for as long as we can, and if you encounter an underwater a.s.sault, I expect you to use the resources at your disposal and fight!" Then I turned to Nereid elder, who"s family and younger generation I"ve brought here all the way from the Jitusat ocean.
"Old man this is goodbye. I hope you and the kids would be able to have a much more safer and fruitful life within the sea. It should feel more like home to you guys than hanging around the surface with the constant threat of death." I said to him as I took his weathered blue bony hands in mine.
"You"re a good man Captain Aá Seven, no matter what the universe says, you will forever remain the great benefactor of the Nereids of Njord. I"m sure some day very soon, our valiant lord would reward you greatly. May the wind be ever in your sails young captain, and may the blood of your enemies fill your cups. Go do what you need to do, and the blessings of Njord be with you."
As soon as he finished speaking, I gave him a kind smile as I flapped my wings and landed on the deck of the Acheron. I turned to look at Persephone who was also saying her good byes. It stands to reason that she was also going to be coming with us, she"s a dragon Avatar too anyway. I turned and saw Dinah poking her head out of the s.h.i.+p"s interior, even with flames flying over our head I walked to her and asked.
"What"s the most secure area of the s.h.i.+p?"
"That would be the engine room captain." I then thrust the egg seed into her hands and said. "keep this there, and make sure no one gets to it. It"s worth a hundred of our lives." Maybe there was no need to be so dramatic, but I couldn"t help myself, and she knew it too as she gave me a raised eyebrow and said. "Seriously?"
"Just keep it there Dinah! Please." I begged her.
"Alright fine! I will, you don"t have to be so glum about it. By the way where"s Zareth?" she asked, when suddenly….
*ROOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRR!!!!*
I pointed my fingers up at the ma.s.sive red dragon that was spewing fire over the ocean and scorching s.h.i.+ps and players to cinders. Dinah had her mouth opened wide in shock, but a little push from me helped her close it as I directed her back into the s.h.i.+p. While Zareth turning into a dragon was a surprising turn of events, I sort of suspected it for quite a while anyway.
I turned and watched as Persephone got on top of the s.h.i.+p and walked towards me with a serious look on her face. Honestly I don"t think the look had changed since we met, almost as if it was frozen to her face, so this was the legendary ice cold beauty.....neat.
"Darke full speed ahead against those fleets, Qitar all guns at the ready and please oh please! Charge up the Ion f.u.c.king! Pulse Cannon and BLOW! THOSE! f.u.c.kING! Ff.u.c.kER! TO! THY! KINGDOM! COME!!!"