WebNovels

Chapter 183 - Sanctuary (3)

A/N: Enjoy chap. AND LEAVE A REVIEW!!!! Throw some stones too.

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Hundreds of sparrows screamed across the lunar flats, engines biting the cold air and spitting dust as the players streaked through the Ocean of Storms. Then, their HUDs blinked—clean prompts stacking in the top left, lines drawing themselves across the Moon like thin chalk.

[Mission: Princes of the Sword]

[Objective: TRACK FAINT LIGHT SIGNATURES ACROSS OCEAN OF STORMS.]

A cluster of Waypoints pulsed and shifted as new pings came in. Dozens of fireteams peeled off from the crowd, and groups of players scattered towards the closest map ping. The remaining players drove straight across the lunar dunes, hounding the barren sands to search for any clues they could find.

"Nothing on the left!" Waffles called out, eyes sweeping to the radar. "I'm going to the next checkpoint."

"Copy," BearSpray barked back. He and Gandalf swerved to the right, starting to track another waypoint.

TheOneWhoKnocks and Undecided shot forward, trailing the largest group of players that had decided to explore the southern front of the desert.

Tens of players had already reached across the map, at the northern peaks of the Ocean Storms. They swept through the barren dunes, icons moving like a school on the radar. As the players scattered everywhere in the Ocean of storms, their maps pinged constantly.

Faint traces of light popped up one after the other, and they left nothing to chance, hounding even the slightest trail they could find. But as their search continued, and hundreds swarmed the barren lunar plains, something finally shifted in the air.

Something, sinister.

Ahead, Hellmouth stirred awake. A sickly green fire bloomed around it, licking its black walls and scarring a dreadful brand into the horizon. The wicked viridian hue slowly seeped into the Moon's air, staining everything green.

The air tensed, a harrowing storm was brewing above, and as it roared, all eyes were drawn to the gates of Hellmouth. An instant passed, the flames roared, circled the skies, and the gates snapped open.

[A few minutes earlier, Hellmouth Gate]

Void and the others rode the spine road straight to the gate. Tevis coasted in slowly and killed his engine early, eyes on the lip. Levi rolled his shoulders and tightened the wrap at his wrist, a dagger conjured in his hand. Bandit and Cory checked their belts and clips. On the side, Pahanin stood tall; he rested his chin on the Hive blade he'd taken from Garok, his face unreadable.

Void swung off the Sparrow and faced them. "Whatever happens," he said, steady, "do not follow me inside." He looked past them to the flats. "They're going to throw Hive at the gate. A lot. You hold this line and keep the new lights breathing."

Tevis nodded once. "We'll hold it."

Levi just dipped his helm, Bandit and Cory gave him a small nod, and Pahanin didn't speak. He shot Void a glare, a silence hung between them, finallyPahanins blinked slowly, he turned away from the gates, and his shoulders rose.

Void took a breath; the words unspoken had said far more than enough. "Hang tight, I'll be back when it gets loud."

He turned and stepped into the gate. Pale light broke around him and pulled into a line. In the next blink, he was gone.

The five stood a heartbeat longer in the wind, then moved. Tevis laid out a field of tripwires, and Bandit set out incendiary mines under the gates. Cory tugged at the shadows, creating dark puddles in the corners to stash his ammo. Bandit held his guns akimbo, and Levi stretched his legs.

Pahanin paced the perimeter, sharply eyeing the New Lights in the distance and then a rumble reverberated through the ground.

They all snapped towards the gate, their light flared.

"Eyes up," Tevis whispered, an onyx dagger shimmered in his grip. "First wave is never the worst."

[Ocean of Storms — Players]

The hunt rolled on. Ghosts floated out, eyes narrowed to working points. Small grids touched down, sampling dust for what only Guardians could leave behind.

"Oi! I got something!" BBearSprayecstatically barked, howling on the team comms as players rushed past him, picking up the same trail. "Marker's southeast! Follow me."

"Let's go!" Undecided said, whipping his sparrow around, thrusters flaring to full power as he shot through the desert. Inches behind him were TheOneWhoKnocks, Gandalf, IEatPaint and Waffles. The five guardians raced towards the new mark:r; A dark crater in the distance, a spot where the Moon's skin had caved in.

A riveting pulse rattled through their bones. The closer they got, the stronger the dark became. 

"We're definitely on the right track, no f*cking way all this is to hide nothing", Gandalf groaned, his HUD blackened with an oppressive darkness weighing him down.

"Damn right!" Waffles hissed, darting to the front. 

When the five guardians reached the end of the marker, they spotted other fireteams leaping into the dark crater. But Waffles hesitated, her sparrow skidded to a halt. She peered down, and an ominous chill brushed past her face; her heart dropped to her stomach.

She gulped, cold sweat ran down her spine, and her eyes shifted back, but a blur streaked past her, "Wha-"

"WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

She whipped around, IEatPaint howled and dove straight into the eerie pit, disappearing from the map.

"WHAT!"Waffles's jaw dropped.

Gandalf took in a breath, "F*ck it." He shot towards the crater and jumped off his sparrow. Undecided and TheOneWhoKnocks shook their heads. 

"We don't have time for all that, lock in, man." TheOneWhoKnocks retorted as he dragged Waffles to the pit.

"BUT!" She struggled against his grip, "That shi* is scary!" 

"No balls!" Undecided barked and leapt forward.

"OF COURSE NOT!" Waffles grunted as her toes dug into the dirt, barely stopping herself from falling in.

TheOneWhoKnocks cursed under his breath. He slid back and ran into her, nudging her enough to fall in. "F*ck, there's no time!" 

"Y-You BASTAR....." Waffles finally tipped over, falling into the abyss as her words drowned out.

TheOneWhoKnocks exhaled a sigh, and with a dash, he leapt towards the crater.

Their HUDs pulsed.

The world shifted, and everything restructured around them. Moments later, the empty darkness was given form as their figures appeared at the bottom. The bottom of the basin wasn't empty. Instead, it was akin to a sloped tunnel that slid into the mouth of a cave. One that hadn't taken in open air for centuries.

The mission HUD blinked.

[Objective Updated: Investigate the mysterious crater!!

"AAHHhh!" Waffles slammed into the ground, her entire screen shook red, nd a warning flared to her right as she tumbled to her feet.

[No Respawning Allowed!]

She hissed, "What the f*ck?" Her eyes flicked up, "Where...the," Waffles looked around, but everything was pitch black. Waffles glanced down to find mossy cavern rock at her feet, the dark tunnel narrowed up ahead, ending at a wall. To her side was a puddle of darkness that seemed to lead further inside.

"Where even....are we?" She whispered to herself, shifting uneasily. 

Then, the dark flickered above her.TheOneWhoKnocks darted down, landing on his feet. He stood and immediately equipped his gun. With a quick scan of the room, he stepped into the water, "Let's go!"

Waffles gulped dryly. She dipped one toe into the murky water, and it crawled and clung to her feet. "Euhghh", she sighed and eventually equipped her hand cannon and started wading through the water.

The two moved, following the trace on their blinking maps until they reached a room that felt like it had been carved by a hand and a rugged blade. Bone-cages hung from the ceiling. Runes crawled along the floor like old scars.

TheOneWhoKnocks and Waffles crept closer to the entrance. They spotted Undecided, Gandalf, BearSpray and IEatPaint silently crouching by the maw of the cave.

"Took your damn time," IEatPaint grunted, nervously eyeing the room.

"Chill out, we're here now." Waffles shook her head, trying to peek into what he was looking at.

"Shhhh", Undecided hurriedly shushed her and frantically looked back at the empty room.

Gandalf leaned closer, "We just saw two fireteams wipe out here. They got cooked."

TheOneWhoKnocks's eyes narrowed, "By what?"

"Don't fcking know, but if you die here, you start from the beginning of the map." IEatPaint cursed, "The runback will be crazy."

The players spoke in whispers, uneasily gathering by the door till they formed a basic plan. Once they were ready, Gandalf scooted closer to the room and hopped in, while the rest scattered to the sides to dodge aggro.

Instantly, at the far end, something stood up out of the shadow, a gleaming, grim blade pulsed in its group.

Their HUDs blinked, and a large health bar took over their screen.

[Sword Prince, Yurok]

"Motherfu-" Gandalf eyed the hulking prince as it hurled the giant blade on its shoulder.

The Prince howled. The room shook, and the dark bellowed as thralls by the dozen clawed their way out of the walls. Yurok raised the blade and drove it down; shock ran across the floor like a dark tide, and as the ripples shook the air.

Chaos ensued.

[Hellmouth Gate]

They felt the change before they saw it. Something big shifted underneath them and rushed to the surface.

Tevis set his feet. "This is it! Hold the line."

The first Thrall wave came thin and fast. Acolytes poured through a fracture, and Bandit jolted to the right and chucked a mine into the gaps. Cory darted, guns blazing, as he cleared the numbers. Pahanin didn't waste any movement; He wielded the large hive blade and cleaved through those that surged forward.

"Second wave," Levi said. "It's something heavier!"

Knights broke out of the dust, crushing the ground with their stygian shields. The legion kicked up dirt as they rushed out. Tevis answered their charge with a smoke bomb. A dense plume of smoke erupted.

The Nightstalkers flickered through the smoke, darting from one spot to the other as they ravaged the Knights. 

At the side, Pahanin exhaled a sharp breath, and silver spectres flickered from his figure, forming into clones that cut down the Hive in a frenzy. Their battle went long time, and both sides fought tooth and nail.

But the Guardians prevailed. With a final sweep of his sword, Pahanin slashed the last Knight in half and dug his sword into the ground. He panted for breath and looked down at his arms. A strange bout of weakness seemed to grip him.

Pahanin glanced around, and the Nightstalkers didn't seem to fare any better.

As he looked into the distance, his eyes narrowed. A few kilometres out, a dense black fog had begun to condense and spread.

It didn't blow. It gathered—out past the far ridge, low, hugging the ground, thick and dark as inked wet wool. It moved with intent and didn't care about the wind. As it rolled on, it swallowed everything in its path, slowly hurdling towards them.

Levi eyed the approaching fog "What—"

"Don't go any closer," Pahanin said, voice flat and close. "Don't even look at it."

Tevis pulled back, "Why?

"That fog....It's alive." Pahanin said. "It burns anything it touches. Also serves as an abyss for them to summon more Hive."

Bandit and Cory exchanged a quick look and stepped back.

Cory fidgeted, shadows curling around him, "Who stops that?"

"Void," Pahanin said. "He's inside. Whoever made that fog is there too. If anything, he's the only one who can stop it."

They nodded and didn't ask more. The Nightstalkers believed what Pahanin had said, not because of what they knew, but because of their hunch. Because their instincts screamed that Void truly was the one they had to trust.

"Alright, eyes front. I can feel something rising." Tevis said. "Third wave."

They didn't hesitate and turned their back on the fog. 

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