Chapter 23

Hail Thee The Coming God!

“Don’t get cocky!” Cramer screamed and he grabbed Siva’s his fist and him, delivered a head butt, and then kicked his right flank. Transcendence was still in effect but it seemed that the two minutes felt like an eternity as he felt the fatigue from the received attacks.

His gums were bleeding, his cheeks were sore, but the masked intruder is still standing, with a smile and his mask torn apart.

Finally, the mask started to crumble, falling down in a slow manner. Their positions were now reversed, with the barely unconscious girl behind him, Cramer bid no care as his only goal now is how to defeat the strongest man he had ever faced.

But just as the last piece of his mask fell down, the Gonn archer saw a smile on his face.

And at the next moment came the sinister laugh.

That laughter, that manner, that smile, that crazy way of fighting, that shaking shoulder, those clothes, that face, it really is him. There is no doubt about it.

Never make contact with him?

Screw that, I can beat him! I will show them all that I am the strongest in the Tower of Sol.

And just as he had that decision, he heard the girl’s voice.

“R-Rex…?”

The laughter stopped and a voice spoke. “Hm?”

And at the next instant, the sound of the falling finally reached their ears. And there was also the sound of another female voice.

“Get of their now!” When they looked up, a Wyvern with the flag of media was sky diving towards them.

In reaction, Cramer grabbed the girl and threw her up just in time that the Wyvern’s legs caught her as he dived and recovered. The large monster and its rider got passed them and they were the only people left in there.

But before the monster and its rider take her away, she summoned all her strength and screamed his name.

“REEEEEEXXX…”

***

He could even barely stand, and yet he was standing.

The sight of a strong enemy in front of him made his heart pump so much adrenaline through his projected body that he felt everything around him happening in a dream world within an existing dream world.

Still, he could sense that someone called his name.

Who was that? Who called me? Nah…just a dream.

He looked up, panting, and let the air entered his lungs, saw a large bird like creature flying away with a white colored something on its legs.

He thinks that the girl was screaming something but Siva couldn’t get what it was as the only presence left in his mind was the strong presence being emitted by this person. In front of him was a presence and he must destroy that presence with his hands.

And so he laughed again then smiled.

Taking a small step forward, he lunged an attack to the large man. His enemy, in turn, had a smile so large he also met with his supreme weapon.

His Halberd swung but Siva ducked to dodge. The momentum of the swing outbalanced the Gonn but he used that chance to use the halberd as a base, directed the outbalanced force to strike the ground behind him and raised his leg to kick The Destroyer chest.

Siva was caught off guard and stumbled, feeling the pain coming from his chest. But he persisted and just took a step back, kicked the ground again, and gave the man two counters on his left flank and face.

“Gah!” The man let out a painful sound and twisted his body to deliver a left punch to The Destroyer. “You will fall here!”

“Never!” Siva replied and summoned the Ender’s new form, Black Ender, that surprised the man.

He swung the black and white sword that rattled the defending Cramer and his defensive stance was beaten back with a dull sound.

300m until the ship finally crashes down, the two was still fighting and there seemed to be no signs of the two stopping no matter what. And so they kept on exchanging attacks, using everything they had until they were exhausted.

The sword that rang a dull sound sent tremors on Cramer’s handle. It had a blunt sound that could say the man who sent that attack had the very intention of a good slice of his arm.

But that’s not what actually made Cramer rattle, it was actually the sight of the sword.

It literally looked like a weapon for killing monsters, not humans, and up until now, The Destroyer had never used anything else but his fists to fight. And with this realization, he stepped back and stood his ground, bared his legs and gritted his teeth.

Cramer roared angrily as he lunged at Siva, thrusting the halberd with an anvil form that Siva defended from using his sword.

Every swing doesn’t have the former elegant form of a warrior, and the sword with a blunt sound, remained unmoving and defiant. Cramer continued to swing, and took his breath steadily as him and The Destroyer took this chance to break up.

“How much…” Cramer yelled. “How much more do you have up your sleeve?!”

This roar was from anger. He’s been giving it his all in this fight and yet after all these time, he was yet to see the peak of his enemy’s powers. No. Actually, he’s not an enemy, he was somehow a comrade of sorts, one that has the same passion to fights as he has.

But the man did not answer. Instead, he raised his hand that made Cramer shiver again. But this time, he felt that the sinister smile on Siva’s face was that same smile he saw in the video on the HQ that day.

This is just a game…right?

Even if he had that thought, Cramer still felt a shiver that traveled from his nape to his head then to his back.

That kind of crazy smile, a smile that told him of an assured victory, it was taunting him. This defenseless form, he can make it. Because he’s originally an archer!

At that moment, the darkness befall on them as the ship’s shadow finally ate everything around their small selves. And as soon as he thought of that, he changed his weapon on his bow and swiftly pulled an arrow aiming at Siva.

Just as he was about to fully pull the arrow and release it, he heard that one single line.

“…kill them all, Raijin.”

And then his view was dyed in white along with the pain of being electrocuted. But it did not last very long for in just a few moments after the pain…

[You are dead!]

[Game Over!]

***

It only was a moment of destruction.

A blue strike from afar but a bright white of terror as seen from close by. The ship that was the ruins of the former TGG-PIRANHA had its stern destroyed by that bright light. An explosion occurred that came along with the lightning and it wasn’t even a second more as the thunder hit their eardrums.

It was a devastating attack that can’t be explained by any other normal players, except maybe to those who had achieved the stage where they can use Ultimate Skills. But even so, those who knew the concept of the US, there was nothing of this magnitude that could be explained by Terran science.

There hasn’t even been a player who could actually destroy a whole ship with a single attack.

From afar, at the Miranda’s main deck, Rafaela was seeing this scenario from the live feed from Kathleen Brew’s cameras. Three of those were destroyed since they were caught in the range of the lightning attack.

“It’s still as beautifully vexing as before…” She said and wore a smile.

Though a little wounded, but she was generally fine with nothing to be worried about. Behind her were tied up people, carried by moving corpses on their dead and stinking shoulders.

‘What was that?’

‘Wait, I can’t see!’

‘Is that him?! It’s him again, right?’

‘Let us go!’

‘Please don’t kill us! Please!’

‘I still haven’t got an S-ranked weapon!’

The tied up Air Infantry Units were crying, pleading, screaming for help, and begging Rafaela to let them go.

It was certainly a sight, Rafaela thought, but her eyes were focused on the view of the barren battlefield of what’s supposed to be where three people were fighting before. But now, there was nothing there. Not even the TGG-PIRANHA that’s supposed to be lying there now.

She bit her lips as four zombies offered themselves to become her throne.

“What was that just now?” Asked the AIU captain.

“That’s my King.” She happily, temptingly, giggly replied. “Oh, he’s so strong it makes me hot.”

All the men gulped as the action that accompanied the words were very eye-catching. And right at that very moment, all the pleading of the men stopped. So in turn, all the envious and furious women are the ones who was shouting to let them go.

***

The third lightning strike came as the most powerful one as of yet. Maybe because it was the one with the longest preparation than the first two. But Siva, as soon as he won back his consciousness from that attack, got a jolt from the list of items in his vision.

That attack just now had just depleted him of his last E-grenade. But there was one item in his lower right vision that says that he just received killed another user and his items were in his loot inventory.

And as soon as he looked up front, there was some sort of shining floating thing in there, teasing his eyes to pick it up.

“Is it a MOD?”

He glared on it and approached it. When he touched it, the item vanished and was registered on his loot inventory.

Then…then that just now…

He wasn’t feeling regret or anything of the sort. If he was actually feeling anything, it was a mix of confusion and happiness over the fact that he just got mixed up in another problem he ignited again. Conscious of the wind touching his face, he summoned his Character Window and accessed his personal inventory, then took one of his reserved red and black custom dominos then wore it with a single click.

Looking around, Siva saw the half exploded remains of the TGG-PIRANHA and its sparking bulging wires and metallic parts.

The sky was still filled with the warring forces of the Titans and the Sylphs and he also saw how much his HP had depleted to 13%. He quickly drank two red potions and recovered, then two manna potions, and recharged the Power Drive of his Dragunov.

And at that moment, something caught his eyes in the general direction of the Mooran Wall.

There was a big silhouette of a ship hovering above it and it seemed that no body else was minding it, or, maybe no one was actually able to detect that something of that size had already sneaked in. Unless that ship was part of the Sylph’s forces, then that would explain why its being ignored.

On his right side, in the western horizon, the last line of the TGG offensive along with the snail moving ship, the Camarilla, from high above the sky, appeared with its majestic size. While the Sylph forces’ last defensive party were rushing from the general left.

Siva felt disoriented as the hazed vision made him dizzy and he kneeled down and almost dropped the Dragon Ender on his right hand. And it was there that he noticed, the silhouette of the large ship rose higher and disappeared through the clouds.

Right after that…

“You seem weakened. Are you alright?”

Siva turned around and saw a man in his pure black wardrobe, approaching to his direction from 20m away.

Naturally, Siva felt something shivery in him and so he raised his trembling guard against him. The man stopped coming from around 10m away and he bade a gesture that he doesn’t mean any harm.

“I was just passing by. The name’s Rogue, by the way. So, you are the infamous…Destroyer…not much of a threat as I have recalled your fans calling you.”

Irritated, Siva lowered his center of gravity and did a stance where the blade rested ready on his lower right flank. “What do you want?”

“Peace.” The man said and stroked his clean cut hair as he kicked a rock on the ground. And as he looked around them, “You see, I’m on a quest. And I needed that fort down. And basing on your name and your…er, actions, I guess you also have the same quest as I do, hm?”

Siva felt confused as he tried to keep his footing up and steady but exerting that enough effort and drive was giving him headache and his hazy vision wasn’t helping at all.

“I don’t care who you are. But I’ll fight you if you are asking for it.”

And as Siva poised to launch an attack, “Hold it.” five jet black balls floated around him and the man’s right hand prompted him to stop. “I don’t want to fight a weak man. And I honestly would like for you to first get rid of your mental fatigue before you fight me.”

“Then get away from me!”

“Well, I was actually here to invite you to stop the meddling and just join me on the cause. But looking at you now, it seems that we are standing on different grounds. It’s a pity…really.”

The man’s relaxed posture was intimidating and the black balls floating around him doubled their numbers that bid an sign that Siva was on the wrong side of the table. This made him become more cautious and gritted his teeth in case a sudden attack.

But then, Siva remembered what the man had said.

“Are you…perhaps the instigator of this war?”

The man looked at him sharply and his handsome face bid a sinister grin.

“I wouldn’t call it instigation. Rather, call it an art.”

“Bullsh*t! Do you know just how many people had been driven to misery because of this?! This world was supposed to be a place for them to enjoy! And because of this war, they had no choice but to find revenge for their fallen comrades!”

Though Siva’s anger aroused his senses, Rogue was still unaffected and remained calm while still donning his casual intimidation.

“Every world has their own wickedness, my friend, and it just seems that this world had inherited the other side’s wickedness too. It just so happens that this world had a price for being wicked and only the strong and most wicked ones can survive this attack.”

Wide eyed, Siva’s surprised reaction made Rogue smile and his words bid an ominous feeling slightly at the same level as Augustus’s businessman aura.

“This attack…? What do you mean?”

Rogue stretched his arms apart and two of the ten floating balls became a platform that he stepped on. In the next moment, he rose a few feet up and looked like some floating vampire with a handsome face, clean cut black hair, but without the bloodsucking fangs.

“You’re The Destroyer, right? You should know it already…”

As Rogue rose higher and higher, the jet black balls lined together and formed his giant right arm. The hand then pointed on the direction of the fortress and Siva’s eyes widened in shock as the giant right hand became a cannon’s bore along with the whole arm.

Bright bluish light charged up on the muzzle and the small pebbles around Siva rose and got crushed on its magnetic field. Even him felt that there was a strong force coming from the large cannon.

A few moments later, Siva felt a cold chill run down his spine and he quickly used his sword to protect himself when Rogue fired the cannon.

He was blown away by the heated particles that cut the space between Rogue and the Mooran Castle.

Explosions occurred on everything on its path and the two kilometer distance was easily erased and left with nothing but ravaged lands. Infantry units, monster rides, tanks, even the walls, they were all reduced to a devastated nature and the rumbling echoes of deaths rang on Siva’s ears.

When the pillar of light disappeared, Mooran was already in ruins. And right above them, both TGG and Sylphiadora air units were shot down from the sky from an unknown attacker and Siva remembered that large silhouette that rose up high before.

“Hahaha…I was waiting for this one shot! It really pays everything that had happened so far. Thanks to your meddling and your assistance, I was able to finish the second stage of my quest very easily. Hahaha…”

The floating Rogue was laughing when his attack had succeeded. The large jet black cannon had reduced back to its arm form and he was laughing like a maniac while stepping and floating on the black discs.

“You!” Siva shouted when he recovered. “Why are you doing this?”

“Why I do this? For fun! What else there is?”

“No! There is more than just fun in this!” Siva poised to striked with the Dragon Ender. “Destruction of such places! Is ruining the fun of others fun to you?”

That remark made Rogue frown. “You dare tell me that?! You who also have just killed countless innocent users with your uncontrollable lust for violence! You dare tell me what was fun and not?!”

Siva was taken aback. He has nothing to answer back at him. It was true that when he enters that realm of darkness, his consciousness forgets how to think in a rational way and just destroys everything that was in front of him. He was aware of this, and even though he had a valid for doing so, he still can’t find that as an excuse to answer back at Rogue.

And as such, Rogue had a mocking smile as he told Siva:

“So your name was The Destroyer? Clever. Since as far as my understanding of your name goes, shouldn’t you be destroying things, or worlds, not actually try to stop it? Isn’t that what you and your name should be?”

Siva glared at him and even through his mask, their visions met and the two continued glaring at each other until the sound of a warship approached their location.

This made Rogue look up and he waved a hand as farewell as he began to float up again.

And as if sensing that he was trying to escape, Siva stepped forth and yelled. “Who are you? What are you planning to do?”

Then Rogue looked down on him. “Hmm…I should be the one asking you that. What are you going to do next?” And he smiled as a Teleportation Device had appeared on his hand. With no wasted time, he pressed the switch and he was engulfed in the blue and white lines of the teleport sequence. But before he was fully dematerialized, he told Siva, “I will see you again.”

At the next moment, Siva was left with the view of the clear blue sky, recalling Rogue’s last words, and bidding the abrupt end of the seven hours war.

Siva was left there looking up, wondering how these events will effect the future. And while he was left there in a dazed state, the Miranda, the Camarilla, and another unfamiliar ship floated above as he was left with no choice but to protect his identity with his oh so ever reliable, the ragged cloak.