Tier had rolled forward in avoidance of the incoming attack. Normally it won’t be necessary since Zackhs had already turned to a shadow to block it for the hunter. However, Tier knew he had to quickly retaliate because their opponents were fellow players. As what had been shown on his minimap, there were three of them; an elven rogue named Blade_Z who clashed with Zackhs, Grisna the dwarven priest, and a human warlock named Lullaby.

“That was fast of you,” Blade_Z snickered at Zackhs. He quickly strode backwards to avoid Zackhs’ countering slash. Yet, he was unable to predict the incoming arrow from Tier’s [Eagle Aim].

“[Bulwark of Northern Lights]!”

The sure hit arrow hit an unmovable wall. Grisna had stepped forward and empowered himself with a wall of aurora-like light. He then quickly casted light shields on his fellow level 59 allies.

“Dwarven, Discipline…” Renma whispered under his breath. “They could be as strong as paladins.”

“I… I think we better move away,” Grisna said to his companions. “There is no point attacking them, they might want to join Clashing Realms like us.”

“Noope,” Blade_Z dashed swifty passing Grisna and around towards Renma. “We need more PvP achievement to be accepted to one of the divisions.”

Realising the rogue’s intent, Tier quickly aimed a [Ankle Break] at him.

“Stop being too meek, Grisna. Go, Shawdy. [Burdening Thoughts].”

A demon made from blob of shadow with detached arms - named Shawdy - attacked Zackhs. At the same time, Tier felt his vision blurred and his body was too heavy to move even an inch.

“People say, target the healers, but I say, target the damage dealer first!”

Blade_Z quickly changed his course towards Tier who tried his best to turn his upper body to properly aim. Not taking any chances, the rogue threw blinding dust at Tier, completely rendering him helpless.

“[Purification]! [Flash Mend]!”

Renma’s spell had brought a breath of fresh air to Tier, unshackling all the things that disabled the hunter. He saw his adversary was too close, yet Tier had enough dexterity to make the aim.

“[Mimic switch: Rhino]!”

As Tier released his arrow, the trumpeting sound of the angry rhino silhouette above him had accompanied the event of Blood_Z’s body thrown back significantly in the mid air by the arrow. Right after the rogue crash landed on the ground, a shadowy arm grabbed and dragged him, then slammed him hard in front of Zackhs.

“Run, buddies, let me handle this, [Blinding Shadow]!”

Zackhs thrusted his claymore to the ground, releasing a wave of dark matter that blinded their opponents and pushed them back significantly. Judging from the harshness of the effect, Tier understood that the disabling effect was the kind that got their effectiveness reduced or the entire effect disappeared if the victim received damage.

In the meantime, Renma quickly healed him. But also questioned in protest, “What are you talking about? We’ll take them down here!”

However, the avenger just shook his head sullenly, “Even if we win, one or two of you might die, we can’t let that happen. We can’t waste your death count, not if you are being bothered by the griefers.”

It must be fun to have the strength to protect others.

Tier watched the avenger sternly. He vaguely remembered what Zackhs had said when they first met. “How many times have you died, Zackhs?” he asked.

The avenger just shook his head in a dismissive smile.

I hope we can fight side by side in Clashing Realms. It’s a promise that I will make it.

“My guess is four, because you are dumb enough to sacrifice yourself to cover your teammates’ stupidity,” Tier groaned.

Again, Zackhs just replied with a forced positive smile. This made Tier and Renma exchange looks. Both knew what to do, and thus they prepared for combat.

“All this time we got handicap in PvPs,” Renma said. “I’m itching for some fair fight. We have spare deaths, Zackhs. Like they said, we might also need some PvP points to get elected to a division.”

The visage of the handsome avenger turned surprised when he looked at the two. He smiled again, but this time was his ever confident one. “A mock battle it is,” Zackhs said with all his positivity returned.

On the other side of the field, Tier suddenly heard their adversary was bickering with each other. “You heard them now, Grisna?” Blade_Z groaned. “They are ready to fight for the same spot. Are you satisfied now?”

“I…”

Seeming impatient with the dwarf’s indecisiveness, Lullaby hissed, “Don’t you want it too? Revenge at Vertoc for blaming and throwing us out of Raegantz Clashing Realms team for his mistakes?”

“Vertoc?” Tier mumbled in disbelief. His thoughts started to wander about the possibility of someone else using the same in-game name as his past team mates. Though, from glimpses of what the Lullaby had said, Tier couldn’t shake the feeling that this might be the same Vertoc. “He’s in Clashing Realms?”

The hunter was unable to gather his thoughts before Grisna finally stood up, raised his hand, and summoned a wave of healing lights to his surroundings.

Tier snapped out from his surprise and quickly applied [Mark of Prey] to Blade_Z who was being charged by Zackhs. Surprisingly, the trio took several steps back to avoid Zackhs attack. This caused Tier to step forward in order to keep them in his range.

To avoid them taking another step back, Tier utilised [Insularis Assault] to slow them down, only to be blocked by Grisna’s [Bulkwark of Northern Lights]. And once again, the trio chose to step back.

Sensing a trap, both Tier and Zackhs stopped. Tier quickly scanned the area for the potential of anything that could turn the tide of the fight if they pressed forward. But he found none.

“Well, at least that’s enough distance,” Lullaby giggled.

She commanded her demon to strike at Zackhs even though it was being bombarded by Tier’s arrows when it dashed closer. And at that time Tier felt something was amiss but he couldn’t fathom what.

“[Dimensional Reversion!]”

As Lullaby shouted her ability, Shawdy’s two detached arms flew aside and grew much bigger. Then, both hit Tier and Zackhs with a blinding speed. Tier felt no pain. Yet, what happened was much worse.

Both he and Zackhs had switched places with the trio.

“Damnit! [Ankle Break]”

Tier turned and quickly shot at Blade_Z’s ankle, but Lullaby and Shawdy were free to attack Renma who was stranded alone on the far side of the fight. The hunter groaned in frustration as he shot several poisonous arrows at the warlock. It was a rather vain attempt as Grisna could easily block it with his light shielding spell and debuff cleanser.

Zackhs stepped forward and tried to use his [Gripping Shadow] to save Renma. However, accompanied by an apology, Grisna lunged forward to match him and casted a light shield wall to block any projectile coming towards his friends’ direction. The ability somehow reminded Tier of Manna’s [Soul-saving Arc]. No wonder these dwarven discipline priests were said to be as strong as paladins. Grisna could even match Zackhs in close combat in a battle of mace against claymore.

Tier took a step back, gathering his mind while unleashing arrows at Grisna, and realised the only chance he had to help Renma would only be available at later level. Supposedly he could use an ability named [Breakthrough] to shoot through magical shields. Too bad it was only available at level 60.

Worse is that now he couldn’t move closer physically due to Grisna’s persistence to keep him and Zackhs away. Tier could only worriedly glanced at Renma. The rakhs priest stood his ground utilising his defensive spells. Vaguely, Tier saw something like a mini [Guarding Radiance] present in both Renma’s hands, which were used to parry physical attacks by Blade_Z. Then, in the midst of the chaos, Tier heard Renma’s chanting in his head. And by the looks of the others, he was not the only one who heard it.

From dust to dust,

All dawn ends with dusk,

O’ Bravely Benevolent Guide of Souls,

The One braved infestation of thousand fouls,

Who cradled the soils of our origin,

Who tether our souls through good and sin.

We tread wide and far,

Yet You always know who we truly are.

Guide us in our plight,

Lend me Your might,

And in Your name I shall plead,

O’ Malak al Mawt.

“[Archangel Form: Azrael]!”

There was a momentary void of time and space right at the end of Renma’s chant and shout. His ceremonial axe and tome danced around one another then merged into a big scythe. As Renma grabbed the new weapon, his flesh burned by the blinding light of white holy fire.

Finally, when the flow of time returned, there was nothing left of Renma but long dark robes and a skeleton.

Renma’s new form had caused Lullaby and Blade_Z to step back instinctively. Tier never thought such a form and name could actually bring fear to the opponent. But he knew very well that the form was not about offence. Heck, even in his past discussion with Renma, the form was robbed of any direct offensive capabilities.

Tier must act now!

“[Mass Purification]!”

Renma swung his scythe in a wide arc. A soothing shockwave followed suit, spreading in all directions and removing any buffs and debuffs. Including the light wall made by Grisna.

“[Gripping Shadow]!”

“[Mamba’s Assault]!”

Zackhs and Tier won’t waste any more moment to quickly secure Renma and disabled Blade_Z. The avenger then quickly sprung forward and blocked any advances made by Lullaby and Shawdy. Tier himself casted [Mark of Prey] at Grisna, then dashed and smacked the dwarf with his iron staff. Without his buff, the dwarf was rather easy to push away. And to ensure his victory, Tier unleashed a poisonous arrow, [Hemorrhagic Venom], that reduces the effect of healing and changed to [Mimic: Hornets].

“I could fly, you know,” Renma said proudly while casting all sorts of shield to Tier and Zackhs.

Unhappy with such an attitude, Tier roared, “It was reflex, okay! [Eagle Aim].”

“Okay, chill, man, chill.”

The battle quickly turned to their favour, as Zackhs skillfully held off the remaining two while Tier was able to handle Grisna. Renma’s transformation itself was critical in ensuring their victory. Though he had no offensive capability at all, the much lowered cooldown of [Purification] was a key factor in putting Grisna’s power at bay. On the other hand, the faster casting of healing and shields had enabled Zackhs to rampage more recklessly at his adversaries, which in turn let him do more damage. Also there was one other factor that helped.

“You won’t take Grisna! [Final Corruption]!”

“Aby, no!”

In one desperate attempt to help the cornered dwarven priest, Lullaby seemed to sacrifice all of her remaining MP to make Shawdy fly high and turn into a dark drill that flew towards Tier.

The hunter was ready to jump away, but he doubted that such sacrificial ability would be that easy to avoid. He decided to keep attacking and leave the defences to Renma. Which definitely didn’t disappoint him this time.

“Behold, my latest creation, [Guarding Radiance]....”

“That won’t work, you dumb boar….”

“... tetra layers! Mwahahahahahaha!”

Tier was shocked at the mention of the layers and also Renma’s annoying laughter. Between him and Shawdy’s drill, appeared four jumbo sized [Guarding Radiance]. Each shield that was broken by the shadow drill had caused it to lose momentum and finally dissipated when it hit the last shield.

“Gotta say it’s a cool one,” Tier said lazily. His eyes glanced at Lullaby. She seemed stressed and hopeless. Her final attempt was thwarted by Renma and her demon was gone. Blade_Z was still trying his best to get past Zackhs, to no avail. As for Grisna, Tier was about to deal the final blow. Or perhaps not.

Changing to [Mimic: Rhino], Tier used [Eagle Aim] to throw his staff at Grisna, throwing the dwarf’s body to slam on a tree. Then he dashed at the dwarf, stomped on the dwarf’s chest, and drew his bow to aim at the head. This one final shot would kill the dwarf. But Tier was not keen at doing it.

“Stand down! Nobody needs to spend their death quota here!” Tier roared a warning, accompanied by the trumpeting roar of the rhino silhouette above him.

The fight stopped right there. Lullaby seemed like she was about to say something, but just fell down to her knees. For Blade_Z he stared with disbelief at Tier and the other two.

“Perhaps Vertoc was right,” he sighed as he dropped his dagger and raised his hand to surrender.

Satisfied with the response of the other two, Tier glared back at Grisna who stared at him in return.

“You can get your acknowledgement if you release that arrow,” Grisna said. “Better chance for you to join a division.”

“At the cost of your chance to enter Clashing Realms?” Tier questioned. “I won’t, especially since you seem to have a further goal there.”

Grisna shook his head, chuckled, “There is no way we could beat Vertoc, not at this level. He might be right for kicking us out. Perhaps we should just give up, it’s just a game.”

A long sleeping flame burned in Tier’s heart at the mention of the name and what had been done. “It’s precisely because it’s a game that you’re supposed to be given more chances here than the real world,” Tier assured. He put away his bow and offered a helping hand to the priest. “With all opportunities being closed, how could you even improve? At least try to give that guy a beating or two in Clashing Realms.”

There was a weird glee that Tier felt swelling in his heart as he said those words. Was he actually enjoying this because he thought he helped others or was it because he just wanted another revenge at Vertoc if he was really the same person from years ago?

Tier didn’t know, but as for now, he let those emotions be. One thing that is certain is that, as the dwarf shook his hand, he now befriended another person who was the victim of a similar situation.