Inner Eye (I)

Zero stood speechless at the memory that was shown before him and the group of players and NPC's. They were shocked to the core that their once beloved hero was now a vile monster that terrorized the city walls.

Why? Zero was lost with words. Why is she attacking us? Is this how all heroes might end up? Zero thought. He thought all legendary figures had some kind of happy endings, but the scene before him was not the case. He wondered if his legend would be fabricated just like the memory that happened before him.

Who were the demons that attacked the wedding, and what happened to the other heroe's? Were they really killed off? Zero did not know the answer. It was a question that would forever be left hanging until he dived deeper into the game.

'Now that the fighters from the city knew they were battling their legendary hero, their motivation ebbed. Their swords had less driving power, and they felt sadness, horror, and betrayal. They could not believe what unfolded in front of them. The great majority wished dearly it was all just an illusion, but the memory was just as real. They could not escape the fight, but instead must push forward and kill the beloved hero.

The guilds had no such reservations. With a roaring cry, the Grand Legion was the first guild to enter without any hesitation. Coming from the horizon, thousands of Grand Legion, BlackTurret, Rangerz, Zoulz, and Zenith guild members rushed in from behind the undead land sharks from the east side. Their flags flapping behind them differentiated between groups. The BlackTurrets' uniform color was red and silver, Rangerz was green and gold, Zoulz was purple, red, and white, Zenith was orange and black, and Grand Legion was seagreen blue with bits of white.

They swarmed on their foes like ants on prey. They charged nonstop. It was a march of destruction with every single guild member above level 140 and some over 150. The entire Grand Legion guild was veteran players that had played the game since the beginning of the beta period. Their strength was considered unrivaled until the rise of the WaterRose guild, who were equivalently strong and could take on each other head to head.

Standing upon the highest hill, Jergorien stood watching on his brown horse. His cold, solid demeanor stared straight ahead towards the city walls. His muscular human body seemed larger than the rest of the people surrounding him. His crusader shield was strapped to his back, making him look larger. His unique black armor with red accents gleamed dangerously, making him look like death himself. His unmoving attitude sat proudly with his vice captain Reiwin at his side riding a pony. Reiwin was a dwarf that was a bit taller than normal dwarves. This difference between them made Jergorien look even bigger than usual.

"Do not stop here! Get them before they get us!" Jergorien shouted. He reined his horse in.

The players before him stormed in non-stop like a tsunami that overcame its obstacle. They caught the undead land sharks by surprise, and the monsters turned around and bulldozed forward. Their chattering bones clicked against each other and their wild screams resounded with fury. It was a clash between the living and the dead, an onslaught of brutal power that wiped out one third of the dead in matter of minutes. Bones were scattered everywhere, and land shark bodies were ripped into shreds. It was a violent overthrow.

Reiwin bellowed out a laugh. His armored body shook even though he was covered head-to-toe with heavy armor. He was differentiated from his other guild mates by unusually large gauntlets that looked too big for his arms. There were no other weapons strapped to his back or any other special weapons hidden in his armor.

"I can't wait till we join the fight. Why are we not going in?" Reiwin punched his hands together.

Jergorien sat silently on his horse, watching the battle unfold. The undead land sharks regenerated from the attacks that the players gave. The shadowy apparitions moved onto the next host of dead manslaughters that lay scattered on the ground. Even the bodies of the dead players that were left behind were occupied instantly.

"Oh ho, it seems like we're having a bit of difficulty. Those apparitions really do come back by taking over another host," Reiwin lamented. "Either way, this is not a problem. I'm going to go on and have some fun."

"No."

"What, why?" Reiwin stopped himself from letting the pony run forward and instead turned around to look at Jergorien. "I don't understand."

For a moment Jergorien did not answer.

Reiwin sighed and shook his head. "We are going to miss all the fun."

"No. We'll go in shortly. Follow behind me and cover me."

Jergorien spurred the horse forward. Reiwin followed right behind him with no questions asked. With full speed, both rode into the dense crowd of undead land sharks. It was a rough clash between jaws and swords. Jergorien pulled out his heavy sword that was as long as his body. His sword was like no other. Its jet black and blue body matched perfectly with his armor, and the hilt of his sword had a sun-like design with pure gold lines that ran down its blood groove. It glowed magically like hot molten lava.

Jergorien swung his sword, leaving behind a trail of aftereffect images. The aftereffect image made it look like there was more than one sword. With each swing of his sword from left to right, the undead land sharks fell like flies.

Over in the town square, Zero could only watch with fascination the scene that played out before them. He didn't take part, but only listened. The songs from priests and the bishops had reached their climax. Many who sang stopped because their voices became hoarse; their dry throats making it difficult even to speak. This event was an opportunity that allowed Zero to reach his goal: level 150. He had less than 10 levels left, and it was a grueling task to reach his requirement.

As fewer and fewer people sang, the sound-like barrier began to weaken. With every lost voice, the enemy came closer. The voiceless people in the town square heard the yells and shouts from the people who still had their voices as they passed on the news from one another. They heard murmurs of Grand Legion's return.

"Grand Legion is here. They must've found the answer!" People excitedly chattered loudly amongst each other.

"Let's go!" Groups of people ran forward, streaming out towards the gate. They passed through the barrier as if it was nothing and clashed amongst the dead.

With a final wavering breath, all the bishops stopped singing. Their voices were hoarse and their breathing was heavy. The wall of sound slowly disappeared, letting in the stench of decay. The residents had to hold their breath to keep the smell from overpowering their senses.

The swarms of the undead clashed against the barrier and broke through. Even Lilith, who had been caged in by the barrier, was free. She roared a powerful wave that pushed back the surrounding army of NPCs that were attacking her on all sides. With a sharp inhale, she threw up heavy molten lava around her and onto the side of the city wall. Hot sticky lava ran down the wall and created a slope. It cooled down and allowed the undead land sharks to scale the walls and enter the city.

Fights were breaking out left and right, and there was chaos everywhere. Undead land sharks were broken down by the guild members, and shadowy apparitions appeared from the broken bodies. They transferred to dead manslaughters or fallen comrades, creating an endless number of foes. Lilith ran around amok, spewing out molten lava left and right, wreaking havoc and destruction upon the people.

Zero and Agnis were amongst a large group located in the interior of the walls fighting the undead land sharks. They managed to scale up the wall and continue fighting from their improved vantage point.

"Zero, move back!" Agnis yelled. She fired wind arrows one after another. Each exploded on impact and made the bones and decayed flesh erupts into thousands of pieces. Agnis and Zero were fighting side by side, each fending off three undead on their own.

Zero's flame burned bright red, but the undead land sharks did not fall. They attacked non-stop, even though it burned their flesh and bones. These undead monsters were the worst foe for him.

He did not try to use his teeth to rip apart the undead. The stench of days-old rot was too horrifying. His stomach rolled at the thought of it in his mouth, making him want to hurl. The only weapon he had was his claws. With each jump, tumble, and roll, he slashed down upon the undead land sharks and chipped away their health.

His slash towards one of the undead land sharks brought it down to the ground and in that moment a ghastly apparition appeared like smoke hovering over its body. Zero took this chance and aimed towards the apparition, and blew a torrent of fire.

But the fire went through and did not harm the apparition. Instead the apparition passed through his body in a rush. He felt as if someone threw a bucket of cold water down his body from head to toe. He shivered and landed on all fours.

"Agnis, we've got a problem," Zero yelled. A large undead land shark bulldozed forward. Zero dodged an attack to the right, where he almost got chomped in one bite.

"I know. I'm busy right now," she replied. She fired a couple more wind arrows and took a step back. She changed her weapon into a sword while in the process of putting her bow away.

The ghostly apparition zipped away and moved into another dead human host.

You're so useless, said a voice in his head. Do you need the great ring Sylph to help you out? The ring noisily chattered, breaking Zero's concentration.

"Anytime now," Zero replied in a hurry. He was holding back the undead land shark's gaping jaws from biting into him. He used his claws to keep the mouth open, and the horrible stench of rotting flesh made him want to throw up when he inhaled to breathe out fire. With every ounce of breath he could muster, he blew fire into its gaping mouth. The undead land shark's belly grew and grew until it burst, burning the flesh away.

Today I feel generous so I'll give you something good, Sylph stated haughtily. You can bow down to me and call me Your Highness.

"Are you out of your mind? We don't have time for this."

I meant what I said. Sylph was not giving up his argument.

"Forget it. I can take care of these undead land sharks the same way that I just did."

Zero bounded forward. He had to time every attack for the precise moment when the undead land shark had its mouth gaping open. But during that moment, he had his head almost bitten off.

Aw, come on. You're so boring.

"That's a matter of opinion." Zero had to duck and roll into a ball, hitting the building wall and making him dizzy.

"Duck!" Agnis blurted out at the top of her lungs. She was fending off two undead land sharks by herself. Her blade cut through the head of the undead land sharks that were behind Zero. Zero barely dodged the swing, getting some of his fur cut off. The headless undead land sharks reeled backwards, trying to keep from tipping over. Agnis was onto the undead land shark like a bloodhound, never letting her prey go.

You're no fun, Sylph whined, highly disappointed. A simple strength boosting and a decrease-in-'agility spell were cast on Zero.

"This is not helpful," Zero retorted. One misstep and he could have gotten his left leg bitten off.

The sound of a horn blared throughout the field and over the city wall. The undead land sharks froze and then banged their heads into the ground as if they were trying to get the sound out of their heads. They roared and trampled around the city walls, destroying everything that they saw. Once again the horn blew, and the undead turned around and headed towards the sound.