Chapter Eight: Deliverance

“Everyone gather around and sharpen your swords or take Mana Pills, hurry there are people rushing this way!” I quickly pull out my Sharpening Stone and glide it across my blade.

“Battle Formations!” Juzo yells, taking up front guard with me.

“Assassin Squad hide in the trees to the left just in case.” I say, nodding at them, “On my signal.”

“Got it boss!” They cloak themselves and disappear.

I close my eyes and listen, about forty but their footsteps don't sound like monsters, the clanking of armor. They should appear in a few moments, “Hold your fire! We are the Earth Kingdom Vanguard, there was a distress signal from this forest, the Dark Lord has been attacking low level areas as of late, it is a miracle that you have survived at all. Who is in charge?” A woman's voice from the treeline but there is not a single person to be seen.

“Wow the Earth Kingdom?!” One of the tanks yells.

“We're saved!” Another one says.

“Keep your guard up. Pass the word. Juzo I'll check it out.” I quickly whisper.

“Got it. You heard the guy, pass it on. Be careful Leader.” Juzo bumps my fist and I step towards the treeline.

“My name is Umbra! Dragon Slayer class, show yourselves!” I have this sinking feeling in my gut.

“Void Shot.” I hear silently whispered, I cover my face with my left arm and brace for impact.

“Shields up!” I say as a volley of at least two hundred black arrows are shot into my chest, only to do no damage and shatter into tiny fragments, “Show yourself!” I yell as she growls in frustration.

“How did such a low level Adventurer get that type of armor!” Gleaming purple eyes are all we can see through the darkness of the treeline. A tall slender woman with massive black horns steps forward, her skin is very pale and she wears black armor, a jagged long sword in her hand. Nekra level 60 The rest of her group emerge as well, the same purple eyes and features, but massive beasts almost that of orcs standing eight feet tall all level 60 as well, “The Earth, Fire and Water Kingdoms have fallen to the hands of the Dark Lord. All Adventurers will be hunted and destroyed. Come to our side Dragon Slayer and you will be made commander of the main army.”

“I will never betray my fellow Adventurers!” I clutch my sword, most of us are barely level fifteen now. We need a plan quick.

She lets out a ghoulish laugh, “Oh Dragon Slayer I assure you one day you'll betray everyone you love, come with us or we will destroy everyone here!”

A slight nudge on my shoulder, “Traps are set, there are mine shafts behind us we can retreat to, or we stay and fight it's your call leader.” The voice of one of the assassins.

“Give word to everyone for retreat. I'll stall a bit longer.” I whisper then use party chat telepathy to tell the others, “And what if I join you?”

She moves her lips, rows of sharp teeth reveal an ominous smile, “Then you will have unimaginable power.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, now!” Blinding light and a binding tar along with smokescreen cover the enemies, “Everyone run!”

The ranged fighters are already gone, the tanks have heavy armor so it's hard for them to run fast, I can hear the traps being quickly destroyed, they're catching up fast. I turn around to face them, Juzo and the Assassin Squad stop as well, “You guys keep going I'll hold them!”

“We'll fight with you!” Juzo says.

The masked man that sold us the armor appears in front of me with a massive Greatsword in hand, “All of you continue to the mines, find your way to the Light Kingdom it's on the border of the Dark Kingdom. Air Kingdom has fallen as well. Light is the stronghold. Lead your people to safety and don't make the same mistakes as me Umbra. Join my guild and also my party so I can reach you faster.” He sends me two invites and I accept, a white dragon appears next to my name.

“Light Kingdom Guild.” I clutch my sword again, “You can't fight them all by yourself!” I take two steps forward but he quickly puts his hand up.

“Barrier!” A massive wall of energy rises into the sky, “Fight hard, I'll see you again one day.” He instantly vanishes and the sound of clashing swords fills the air.

“Let's keep going Leader!” Juzo pats my back and we run to the mines where everyone is waiting in formation right outside.

“They're not following us! Light Kingdom is the destination, it's near the Dark Kingdom. Air Kingdom has fallen as well! We must stick together and fight, and rescue any Adventurer we see! But the number one rule is we must survive!” I say and they all cheer, “Let's head into the mines and close the entrance!” The Assassin Squad walks next to Juzo and I up front, Azula collapses the entrance and everyone has their Glow Stones on, I reach into my Satchel to get mine but my hand touches what seems to be a wooden crate, “Juzo can you give me some light please?”

“Yeah sure, woah that satchel’s black isn't ours brown?” He shines his Glow Stone closer.

“Yeah, that level sixty must have switched ours.” I shine the light, “No way. This is a room piled to the top with crates, Food Pills, Stamina Pills, Mana and Health Pills, a pile of Flashbang, then a crate labeled Forbidden Fruit. Everyone we have supplies! We don't have time to split items between everyone so let's hurry onwards before the enemies catch up!” I reach into the satchel and grab what feels like a Glow Stone. It reads Everglow Stone, the light it gives off is so bright. I put it on my shoulder and we walk into the winding tunnel system.

Deeper and deeper it goes and there is no enemy for the time being but we are all on edge and prepared to fight, “Assassin Squad, what are your names?” I ask the five walking next to me.

They turn and smile at the same time, “Name’s Carbon. And there's only one of me, one of my skills is Clone, nice to meet you Umbra.” He shakes my hand.

“Nice to meet you too.” A small rock falls from the ceiling and before I know what’s happening I draw my sword and cut it five times in a single moment. My body feels stronger and faster, “What the?”

“No freaking way! Look at your level!” Juzo screams, his voice echoes throughout the cavern.

“How? What the hell.” I'm at level sixty now, “Exp. Share through the party. Woah I should upgrade my skills I guess, that level sixty that saved us had me join his party and guild, I wonder what’s next?”

“Umbra can you hear me?” A voice in my head, the voice of the man.

“Yeah I can, what do you need?” I say out loud.

“What do you mean?” Juzo asks, scratching his head.

“Juzo it's the level sixty in party chat.” Juzo nods and keeps guard as I continue talking.

“Listen and listen very closely, I need you to add Juzo, Eva and Azula to the party so I can max them out. Then you four will train hard. You four will be the last hope. Do you trust me?” His voice seems frantic and scared.

“Yeah I trust you.” I add the three to the party.

“Thank you, wait two minutes.” He inhales sharply.

“Okay I will.”

“Ta.” All is silent on his side for the longest time.

“Woah!” Azula yells, “This is crazy.”

Her level is at max, “Oh nice!” Eva flies around filled with happiness.

“We can protect everyone now!” Juzo clenches his fists.

“Okay I'm back, two portals will appear, your squad will walk into the one on the right, the others to the left.” Immediately two portals appear in front of us.

“Should we blindly trust this?” Juzo asks, rubbing his chin.

“He saved us and got us to max level why shouldn't we?” I stare at the spiraling portal.

“Just a feeling I guess.” Juzo takes a deep breath.

“I'll go check it out.” Carbon sends one of his clones through and we stand there in silence, “Everything's fine, it's a massive warzone. A kingdom made of shimmering gold, it's fine. I'll take charge and protect this group, I assume you four have another battle to be at.” He nods and bumps my fist.

“Be careful, I'll see you soon enough. Okay everyone through this portal! Fight hard! You're in good hands okay?” They all cheer loudly.

“Wait before they go there's a Forbidden Fruit crate in the pouch, it gives temporary max level to any player for two days. Have them take it.” The level sixty quickly says, his voice seems out of breath.

“Got it. Everyone this fruit gives you max level for two days! Fight hard!” I hand them the crate and they all begin to walk into the portal.

With everyone gone Carbon gives one last look back, “Fight hard and fight strong, no matter what path life may take us. We will meet eventually. I promise you. Leader.” He gives a thumbs up and walks through the portal. It disappears and the four of us quickly shuffle through our skill trees and max out everything, there's so much to choose from and so much to do. We sit there for the longest time.

“You can fix whatever you need later... It's time to go, please.” The voice says and we get up quickly.

“Time to go then.” We step through the portal and are surrounded by a room of gleaming diamonds, the level sixty is sitting on the floor with his armor broken and sword missing. He holds his right thigh to stop the bleeding, his left leg and arm are missing.

“Heal!” Eva screams but it has no effect, “Why isn't it working!? Heal! Heal!”

“Eva, it won't work because I'm not the main body, just a clone.” He coughs violently as blood falls through the mouthpiece of his helmet, his face is still covered but I can see a single red eye through a crack in the helmet, an eye that looks familiar, “I'll use my magic to seal you in a training space for five years, it will be five minutes here. Your body will grow five times faster as well, your physical bodies will become strong and tough. Once you come back I will send you to the one-hundred level dungeon of the Dark Lord. You will find him at the very top. Train hard okay, the future is in your hands. I'll be destroying your Greater Magic Satchels as well, so you can teach yourself how to survive. When you return you'll be so strong you won't need them.” More blood falls through his helmet as he coughs violently.

“Believe in us!” I say as we hand him our satchels.

He points his hand toward the wall, “Zeitkammer!” A red portal appears, “Hurry I can only hold it open for five minutes.”

“We will train hard!” I say rushing through.

“Thank you.” Azula says.

“Leave it to us!” Eva rushes in.

“I will fight as hard as I can!” Juzo appears as well and the portal closes behind us.