The Heart is a Void: Ashes to Ashes

Chapter 51: Throne of Blood, Crown of Thorns

"Why do we have to go through these bloody trees, while the rest of the army walks leisurely down the path?" asked [The Fountain] Guild's leader, the level 68 [Arkyle]. His majestic, deep brown [Mayoral Horse], a reward for leading a major Guild, was finding it a pain to navigate the dense trees North-East of Kruxol.

"While our troops have accomplished most objectives, DeathGang members have holed up on several high ledges and abandoned buildings, and are aiming fire along the path," explained [BushMan], a [The Fountain] Guild elite, "The entrances to these buildings are rigged with explosions, and there are some DeathGang members guarding narrow passages like stairways, so it's been difficult for our troops to dislodge these and ensure safe passage. Since you are our leader, and FGRT warned us to keep you out of combat, we are taking this path because there are no good sniping platforms here."

"I have to show up at some point, or our men will mutiny. Most of them would rather wait in safety, rather than going out to a painful war."

"Yes, they were whining in the Guild chat."

"Oh, I know it. I stopped reading it, I couldn't put up with that."

BushMan laughed into his sleeve. "At least we managed to take the abandoned village. Joshua was reporting excitedly on it in Guild chat. There were a few casualties, but not as many as you'd expect."

"What about the fighting up North? I saw lots of people saying it was brutal, and some people saying to desert the fight."

"I thought you said you weren't reading the Guild chat?"

Arkyle laughed loudly. "Oh, and is the mist becoming thicker here? What a nuisance."

"It's OK, our men were just on the path East of here and reported no fire from this side of the path. If there were DeathGang here, they'd have revealed themselves. It's just a short patch of mist, we'll be out of it in a minute or so."

The two Guildmates didn't realise that a DeathGang scout had overheard them from a nearby tree, and was frantically relaying Arkyle's co-ordinates to DicingDevil in a private chat restricted to DeathGang generals and trusted scouts.

On DicingDevil's instructions, Crucis lined up with a couple of bulky DeathGang spearmen, and waited near the trees. DicingDevil waited with a small group slightly further towards the East. The group from [The Fountain] would have to split up slightly as they made their way around the trees, and this would be an opportune time to strike. Since the game typically allowed for a maximum of three people to attack a single player at once in the wild, except in large-scale wartime combat between two groups of 30+, DicingDevil had instructed the group to keep at least two people attacking Arkyle at once.

As Arkyle's horse clopped impatiently past the edge of the labyrinthine trees, Arkyle smiled and steadied the horse into a comfortable trot to rest after the arduous journey so far.

However, he was surprised by a glint of gold emerging out of the black, and soon found that a spear had lodged itself heavily in his shoulder. He grunted slightly, and then flinched backwards as another spear came angling for his throat. While he dodged this spear, the sudden movement threw Arkyle off-balance, and the spearman deftly took advantage of this by re-routing his spear to bluntly hit Arkyle's helmet with its side. This blow sent Arkyle collapsing off his horse, and DicingDevil easily dragged him to the rough, stony ground.

Arkyle's horse fled wildly into the mist, forcing his allies to leap out of the way. Meanwhile, the DeathGang group crowded decidedly around Arkyle.

DicingDevil stabbed fiercely around the back of Arkyle's neck as they both fell to the ground, and tried to apply a [Chokehold]. These stabs were enough to reduce Arkyle to 87% HP. However, the Guild Leader steadily wrestled DicingDevil away from himself, and used his superior Strength to throw DicingDevil off. Arkyle rose mightily to his feet, but found himself under assault by a spearman from DeathGang. A spear landed on Arkyle's left shoulder just beside the neck, and Arkyle cried out in frustration. Crucis attempted to catch Arkyle in a [Chokehold], but was easily elbowed aside by the higher-level Guild Leader.

However, Arkyle was having difficulty fighting the spearman. While Arkyle could parry occasional blows, he was too far from the spearman to attack with a sword, and couldn't move forwards without becoming a target. The spearman took advantage of this situation, drawing blood with a flurry of harsh spear thrusts near Arkyle's neck. However, hope came for Arkyle when a [The Fountain] member nearby braved the DeathGang convoy and grabbed the spearman's arm from behind. Safer now, Arkyle ran forwards and slashed at the spearman's chest, ripping a wide gash and reducing the spearman to 45% HP. Though the spearman was wearing low-level armour, Arkyle's silver-grey [Blade of the Master] tore right through the armour. A few DeathGang players were hesitant on seeing the power of this level 68 player.

A calm thrust through the spearman's shoulder and a slash across the neck were enough to kill this spearman. As a level 39 DeathGang member tried to jump at Arkyle from behind, the Guild Leader elegantly spun and impaled this DeathGang player's upper chest with the sword. The player went down to 10% HP, and was killed by a heavy slash from a [The Fountain] player behind him who was fighting through the DeathGang mob.

As Arkyle withdrew his sword from the dead DeathGang player, Crucis took advantage of this delay by using his own sword to strike at Arkyle's wrists with an [Overhead slash]. This only left a slight cut on the higher-level player, but the jolt from the strike was enough to temporarily delay Arkyle's attempt to pull out his sword.

In the meantime, Crucis used [Half-swording] and ran up to Arkyle, then stabbed firmly into the bleeding wound which the spearman had torn towards the bottom of the throat. This pulled the wound wider, and Crucis, still holding his sword with one hand halfway up its blade, used [Slice] to spread the wound across the bottom of Arkyle's throat.

Arkyle roared in frustration, but the pain made it difficult for him to withdraw his sword's blade from the fallen DeathGang member. In frustration, he leaned back and used [Hilt Blow] to bluntly push the hilt of his blade into Crucis' chest, sending Crucis reeling backwards at 75% HP. While Arkyle hadn't been able to withdraw his sword's blade, by tilting his sword like a lever he was able to use the hilt as a weapon, though not to strike as hard as he would have liked.

Arkyle successfully withdrew his sword, then extended it venomously at the approaching DicingDevil. DicingDevil halted immediately to avoid running into the sword, but as he tried to maneouevre around it Arkyle easily used another [Hilt blow] to strike the side of DicingDevil's face and send the DeathGang general to the ground.

Crucis recovered and struck with a horizontal [Slash] aimed at Arkyle's neck, but Arkyle easily blocked it. However, Crucis noticed that Arkyle did not attempt to counter-attack, so Crucis used [Uncrossing of Blades] and followed up with another [Slash] towards the side of Arkyle's head, where Arkyle's helmet was beginning to slip off.

As Arkyle parried this, and prepared to thrust his sword at Crucis, Crucis used [Dodge Step] to swiftly backstep out of range. Arkyle's [Lunge] landed short of Crucis, and a dagger struck Arkyle's outstretched arm as PrisonNation approached to help. The sting was almost enough for Arkyle to loose grip of the blade. However, as PrisonNation lunged towards Arkyle's neck with a [Silent Stab], Arkyle twisted his wrist and slashed a thick gash on the side of PrisonNation's face. Grimacing, PrisonNation stifled a scream and plunged his dagger into Arkyle's neck, then followed this up with a violent [Ripper] that slashed across the neck. PrisonNation's dagger was covered with blood, as Arkyle angrily beheaded him. Arkyle was now down to 55% HP.

While Arkyle was distracted, Crucis had used [Stealth Cloak] to sneak up behind Arkyle. Placing a [Chokehold] on Arkyle's wounded neck, Crucis managed to worsen the bleeding with a [Black Spot] low on the front of the neck. As Arkyle begun to try and shove Crucis off, Crucis used a firm [Stunning Dagger] into the neck, paralysing Arkyle and giving Crucis more time to strike. Crucis felt a few cuts digging into his back as players from [The Fountain] fought their way through to protect their leader, and Crucis' HP had dropped to 60%.

Crucis tightened his grip, and began using [The Ripper] to slash a deeper wound low on the front of Arkyle's neck. Arkyle gurgled slightly, and was down to 35% HP, with many stacks of the [Bleeding] effect gradually depleting his HP.

However, Crucis felt a sudden jolt as a [The Fountain] player closed in behid him, and kneed him hard near the spine. Crucis fell sharply forwards to the ground, losing his grip on Arkyle. As he reached the ground, Crucis frantically kicked at Arkyle's feet while grabbing at them, sending Arkyle toppling to the ground as DicingDevil pounced on his neck.

DicingDevil's dagger tore savagely at Arkyle's throat, as he clung steadfastly to Arkyle's head. Although a few [The Fountain] players were closing in, and spraying harsh sword blows over DicingDevil's back, DicingDevil hung tenaciously on to Arkyle until the Leader was down to just 10% HP.

Crucis tried to get to his feet, but saw BushMan leering over him with a slightly frightened expression, and kicking him back down to the ground. BushMan had only 40% HP remaining, so due to the [Nightmare] effect his accuracy would be lowered substantially. As BushMan fended off a DeathGang member behind him, and raised his sword to stab down at Crucis, Crucis saw that a DeathGang spearman was fighting fiercely to his right and holding a long spear horizontally. Crucis swiftly bent his knees and half-lept-half-rolled to the right, past the spearman's legs, and saw as BushMan's stab got caught up in the spear and was deflected to the side.

As the spearman's enemy was swiftly killed from behind by another DeathGang member, the spearman angrily stabbed BushMan, cutting a deep gash just below his throat. Seeing that BushMan was a high-ranking [The Fountain] member, a DeathGang Assassin grabbed him from behind while the spearman held onto BushMan by the scruff of the neck and stabbed harshly at BushMan's throat until he died. A few [The Fountain] players backed off on seeing the spearman's strength, and Crucis heard a DeathGang member from nearby shout out the spearman's name, "Good job, [Farskays]!"

Using [Stealth Cloak], Crucis managed to get to his feet, and ran up to Arkyle. DicingDevil was ailing on just 5% HP after a series of deep cuts to his back from [The Fountain] members, and Arkyle had finally managed to shove him off. Arkyle was now reared over DicingDevil's body on the ground, leering menacingly. However, this was disturbed by a [Stunning Dagger] from Crucis on the back of Arkyle's left shoulder.

As Arkyle was briefly paralysed, Crucis placed a [Chokehold] and invited DicingDevil to strike. DicingDevil used a slightly loose [Silent Stab] to cut another small wound low on Arkyle's bleeding throat, reducing the Leader to 6% HP. Arkyle sneered, then stabbed harshly with his sword towards DicingDevil's throat. This blow missed slightly, and instead struck near the shoulder, but it was enough to kill DicingDevil.

A [The Fountain] player kicked Crucis off Arkyle, and Arkyle rose mightily over DicingDevil's still corpse. Crucis attempted to strike with a dagger, but Arkyle parried and then counter-attacked with a hasty, wild sword lunge towards the retreatingCrucis. Crucis managed to deflect this downwards with his dagger's blade, but it still struck him harshly above the knee and drew blood. Crucis buckled slightly, now on 30% HP, felt a harsh sword slash from a [The Fountain] member behind him slit a gash in his shoulder. When Arkyle saw Crucis' slight limp, he barged furiously forwards at Crucis.

Crucis, however, saw that Arkyle was low on HP and knew that there was a chance of taking down this powerful foe. As more [The Fountain] players were closing in, the area nearby was getting crowded. This would make it difficult for Arkyle to swing his sword freely. As such, Crucis backstepped uneasily into a thick part of the fight, taking a couple of light hits, then used [Figure Blur] as Arkyle caught up. In the mist, Crucis was difficult to see during the [Figure Blur], and he used this to cast [Agile Step] and run behind Arkyle's left shoulder. He slid easily past the nearby fighters.

As Arkyle sensed him and tried to swing his sword in a wide, 270-degree arc to strike behind the shoulder, Arkyle found it difficult to maneouevre his sword past the crowds of fighters around him and found his sword and arms caught up on nearby fighters. Crucis used this opportunity to grab Arkyle in a [Chokehold] and use [Stunning Dagger], reducing Arkyle to 4% HP. Crucis noticed that Arkyle's HP recovered more quickly than most players, probably due to a combination of high Constitution and HP regeneration boosts. The [Bleeding] status partially counter-acted this regeneration, however.

While Arkyle was paralysed, Farskays sensed an opportunity and struck with a spear thrust that cut Arkyle beneath the neck. Farskays was being impeded by another enemy behind him, so his strike was skewed slightly lower. Nonethess, Arkyle was now down to 3% HP.

Crucis struck with [Black Spot], to deepen the bleeding, but Arkyle ran forwards and struck a ringing [Slash] to the neck of Farskays, followed by a [Lunge] to the chest which killed the spearman. Crucis didn't recall Arkyle being this agile before. Regardless, he advanced on Arkyle, only to be met with a harsh, but shallow slash to the chest which reduced Crucis to 6% HP. This cut a light cut across his chest, that bled slightly. Arkyle was tiring and finding it difficult to breathe, however, and there was a slight lifelessness to his sword strikes by now.

Impatient, Crucis used [Sword hold] to grab Arkyle's sword halfway up in the aftermath of the slash. As Arkyle tried to wrestle his sword free, Crucis lunged in with his dagger in a desperate assault. Most of the DeathGang group were dead by now, and, while Arkyle was probably a goner, Crucis did not want the DeathGang member to slip through the net.

A [Panoramic Strike] stabbing low on Arkyle's throat caused blood to flow freely. Arkyle easily freed his sword from Crucis' grip, and prepared to cut at Crucis' flank. However, Crucis followed up with a frantic [Silent Stab] to the wound on Arkyle's throat, and Arkyle died with a soft, gurgling scream. Arkyle's sword only managed to lightly graze Crucis' left side, before falling to the ground with the heavy warrior's body. The battle nearby seemed to almost halt for a few seconds, as players looked on in shock at the body of the mighty player.

Arkyle would never revive. Crucis figured that FGRT may have been hiding this fact from Arkyle slightly, in order to prevent the influential Guild Leader from turning turtle and fearing for his life. All the same, he might have granted Arkyle gear to boost Constitution and HP regeneration. Since Arkyle's horse was faster than other mounts at this stage, this would make Arkyle difficult to cut down in a battle. Crucis bore this stratagem in mind, because, while he could still respawn for now, a time might come when that is no longer possible.

Crucis saw that he was on 2% HP, and surrounded by [The Fountain] members. He knew that he had no chance to survive, but he would rather not be subjected to a painful, measured death by vengeful enemies. Instead, he plunged into the thick of the fighting. A few sword cuts to his shoulders and sides left him at 0% HP, and he fell dead soaked in blood.

"I will be avenged. Lucifer dwells in us all. That's it."

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