In the blackness from the log out effect, Tripper shattered. His mind held itself together through a sense of confusion.

The darkness surrounded him, forcing him to compress. An unfamiliar pressure compounded around him until suddenly he was pushed back into the world.

A ringing sound filled his ears, like the effect of a flashbang. Disoriented, the light was too bright. Faded shouts and screams came from all around, his vision blurred and wobbly. Tripper felt the urge to vomit as he stumbled forward, bodies pressing against him. Everything sharpened without warning, the shouts becoming commands and the blurred sights around him focusing in as a raging battlefield.

Balls of flaming pitch and clouds of arrows poured over the earth and people around him, masses of armored knights running forward and falling before they could press further. A large stone castle loomed overhead, red pennants hanging from the walls of the fortress with golden dragons emblazoned in the center.

Tripper looked around himself in confusion, seeing players and NPCs racing around each other. Blue lights flickered all over the battlefield in random locations, showing where players would arrive, then shatter into pixels as they were killed, only to be resurrected in a different location after a few seconds.

Health bars formed green, yellow and red ribbons over everyone’s heads as their health dropped and when they were resurrected. Single arrows or falling boulders flung from the castle walls killed players in single hits, adding to the hysteria on the field as players died, returned and died again, repeating the spawning process without a chance to get their bearings. Tripper walked around, dazed, unsure of what to do or what was happening.

A phalanx of silver and gold armored knights with red and blue banners made their way across the field, silent amidst the chaos surrounding them. Behind the first line of soldiers, a crowd of cavalry trotted in step, as if the battlefield around them was taking place on another plane of existence. Their strides did not falter for a moment as they continued across the field.

The warriors unsheathe their swords and brace themselves as a dark cloud of smoke moves unnaturally toward them from the castle. Beasts erupt from the cloud, but they strike against the knight's swords and screech in pain. The knights fight, slashing and hacking to try and break through the assault that surrounded them but they are soon fatigued. The creatures overtake them and a dark flame bursts from the ground briefly before turning into a thick fog.

The knights are swallowed in a cloud of unholy magic, their screams echoing through as the only sign of their death. The cloud faded soon after, disappearing and leaving no physical remnants behind.

Tripper looked at the castle and watched black-armored knights and demonic creatures stream froth from the gate, attacking players and NPC knights alike, blood soaking their swords and claws, fire leaking from their mouths and eyes.

The castle is labeled with an ID tag, [King’s Court].

A few players attempted to fight back, only to shatter back into pixels and resurrect somewhere else, then try again.

Some hung back, adjusting to the onslaught of noise and projectiles.

A war horn blew behind them, ringing out clearly over the din of bloodshed and magic, while bolts of lightning flew past the first few lines of soldiers. The sound of someone shouting his name caught his attention and he whirled around, eyes frenzied as he searched for the source.

Z and Rae ran toward him, grime and blood dotting their faces and armor.

“Trip!” Z shouted, “Get over here!”

An arrow whizzes past Z and towards Rae but a crossbow bolt knocks it aside with unnatural accuracy. Jaggernaut jogs up, out of breath but with a wicked smile on his face and a gleam of excitement in his eyes.

“Hey guys! What took you so long?” Jag asks, out of breath.

“We just tried to log out for the night! What the fuck is this shit?” Z shouts over the din of the battlefield.

“Yeah! Apparently logging out isn’t a thing right now. Welcome to King’s Court!” he says before turning and firing a bolt at a shadow creature rising out of the ground behind them, “Guys, we should probably move or we’ll be sitting ducks!”

The party gets going, weaving around fallen soldiers and confused players, looking for a spot to take shelter from the battle. They decide to rest behind a chunk of castle wall that got flung to the field by a catapult.

“Is this normal for a game like this?!” Rae asks, almost screaming.

Z gives her a look as if she’s stupid.

“No, this is very much not normal, Rae. Really? Why would this ever be normal in a game?” Z asked.

“You played the beta! How am I supposed to know?” she shouts back, tears starting to build in her eyes, “I just wanted to go home!”

Z’s expression softens and he gives her a hug, “Sorry sis, this is crazy. I don’t know what’s happening here, nothing in the beta was like this.”

“Yeah, the beta was mostly like what we were all doing before, but with better leveling rates to try out other skills for bugs. Nothing like this friggin castle siege,” Jag said, aggreging with Z.

“Have you been here since you tried to log out before? That was hours ago,” Tripper asked Jag.

He nodded quickly and started loading some more bolts into his crossbows.

“Yeah, been here for hours. I guess I did something bad because I’m not getting pizza,” he joked weakly.

Another war horn sounded across the battlefield and the party got up to see what was going on around them.

A large group of players had moved to the back edge of the battlefield to avoid most of the incoming fire and were picking off enemies as they approached. A column of knights all blowing war horns strode onto the field wearing gold armor with red highlights inlaid into the different metal pieces.

At the columns head strode a man wearing gold and blue armor, a crown on his head and an almost painfully beautiful sword in hand. They begin making their way towards King’s Court and as he got closer, he shouted a war cry and charged.

Everyone in the vicinity is suddenly affected by a status buff, [Pendragon’s Charge], and their health and mana are reset to full value. In the corner of their HUD, a small shield icon pops up, flashing gold and reading “Armor and damage increased by 15%.”

The new group of knights led by the man in gold and blue rushes into the fray, breaking through the masses of enemy knights and creatures and charged toward the castle gates. He raised his sword and swung it down sharply.

A gust of air flew outward from the blade and cut a path through the masses of enemies standing in their way. Caught up in the moment, small groups of players join the charge, entering the battle along with the knights.

Tripper and the rest of his party join the surge of players and NPCs and make their way towards King’s Court. Some of the knights at the front of the group move ahead of the rest, swords flashing, with a few mages behind them for support.

While some get killed by arrows or spells raining down from the walls above, the players with ranged attacks begin firing back at the enemies above.

A party of mages from the back come forward chanting and cast a shield aura, protecting two knights who are carrying a battering ram to bust open the gate. They are joined by two Preservers casting healing auras and support spells to increase the mana regeneration of the mages flinging spells.

Z and Tripper look at each other and nod before charging forward. A giant, wild-haired Spellblade followed them, war cry having left his lips with a roar. He charges forward, hefting an enormous hammer as they charge. Tripper’s spells had no effect on the gate but the push with the other players cleared enough room to get the battering ram right to the arch that held the keep’s gateway.

The knights with the ram shout and began slamming the heavy wood and stone column into the door repeatedly.

Eventually they managed to dent and then splinter through the thick wooden planks, showing layer after layer of oak.

Stamina low, the knights prepare to slam the ram in one more time but the armored man leading the soldiers steps forward with his sword sheathed. He turned to the large Spellblade.

“Noble warrior, may I have the honor of borrowing your hammer?” he asked.

Caught off guard, the player stammers.

“I promise you, as Arthur Pendragon, King of Camelot, Knight Protector of the Nine Realms that with your aid, I will bring us victory. What say you, sir?” Arthur said.

The man simply hands the large hammer to the king and takes a step back.

Arthur motions for the crowd around him to back up a few steps, then hefts the hammer as if it weighs nothing. He roars, lifting the weapon over his head.

[Pendragon’s Charge] refreshes and he slams the hammer into the wood in front of him. The planks splinter, crashing apart with force and flying backward into the archway. Sawdust falls in a cloud, obscuring the warriors’ vision slightly.

A slight halo surrounds Arthur as he hands the hammer back to its owner and draws Excalibur again. Lifting the sword again he rallies the players and his remaining knights.

“Onward men, for Camelot!” he yells, before running into the breach.