“So, you found a guild base? That could do us some good, I mean, we are a guild with no guild base. And with a base to call ‘home’, we can definitely become much stronger.” Morovith said, thinking about the prospect of having a guild base of their own and as the guild leader, it was his responsibility to lead his guild to prosperity. “Tell us about it, what have you been able to identify, Veyr-Kael?” He asked, wanting to know everything he could before going into this unknown area.
Veyr-Kael was an Alchemical Golem; he had always hidden his avatars face perfectly under a cloth-like mask. His clothes consisted of black ninja attire with dark yellow trim and a single horn on his head that curved slightly as it went out with the same yellow design as the ones on his clothes, perhaps 6’0 to 6’2 tall with a decently muscular physical build. His combat style focused on speed, precision and stealth, like a real-life ninja. Probably the calmest and most outgoing member of the guild and the best at finding hidden areas, items, traps, rooms and more. Recon, assassination, espionage, sabotage and everything alike was always his preferred method in which he played, and he was pretty darn good at it too.
“A large castle, along with a much larger estate. Guarded by perhaps 10 thousand skeletons on the North and South entrances, 15 thousand lesser zombies on the West and East sides. Each direction has perhaps 5 elder liches each.” He said with absolute certainty. He knew what he saw and he trusted his allies, his friends, his comrades to understand on what to do with this information.
“Undead?” Morovith questioned, in truth, it probably wasn’t the best kind of creatures for them to fight. Most of the people of this already small guild were undead themselves, not to mention absolutely none had access to Holy Magic, meaning that an assault like this wouldn’t be as easy as it could be, making being overrun a small yet existent possibility. “That could be a problem, but if I can use ‘Undead Monarch’ with enough close by, I should be capable of turning a few of them to our side. Hmmm…” There was a tense few seconds of silence before he continues. “Alright, we’ll attack from the South and split into 2 groups to go West and Wast, moving up North to claim the outside and isolate the inside castle. Have you been able to investigate what is on the inside?”
Very-Kael shook his head, a definite no, then again, it wasn’t unlikely he could’ve gone inside without setting off an entire defence, especially with higher tier stealth-based spells, but the lack of guarantee wasn’t worth the risk.
“You know, this is probably going to be pretty easy.” Zerinia said, floating far above the castle next to Morovith, intending to assist him where needed. “I mean, these are just weaker life forms. Perhaps I should launch an AoE attack from above?”
“That won’t be necessary, but there’s something I need to tell you.” He said, his tone serious, like he was about to say something incredibly important. “I’m stepping down as the leader of the guild.”
Zerinia stared at him in shock, the mere sentence sounded stupid, to give up that level of power in your own guild was just silly to even think about. “What?! Why?!”
“I have a life outside of this game, I have more and more responsibilities that I don’t want to have, issues that will remove my time from this game, more so than I want to. With that in mind, it doesn’t change how much I care about I care about we will build, and if that means I must step back and let go so that we are not held back, that our guild has the ability to thrive. Then I will do it without a second thought.” He said with a calculated tone, this was him speaking from the deepest of his heart. “And in my place, I want you to replace instead, you’re strong, better listener than me and people stand with you much easier.”
“I…don’t know what to say.” Zerinia responded, staring at him like if he did so long enough, an answer would come to mind.
“Then don’t, we have a new castle to obtain.” He said, Zerinia could tell that behind the screen, behind the avatar of the unfeeling Arch lich, he was smiling lightly, not an ear-to-ear grin, but a small one that said he was tired, that he was exhausted, a thank you. “I will obviously still be here, standing amongst you as a fellow guildmate, just with less responsibility. And who knows, this time things can be different from ‘Spellhold Tower’, right?”
There was an uncomfortable silence for a few seconds at Morovith’s words, a quiet agony they both shared, maybe this too was why Morovith stepping down from Guild master. A guilt of losing something he was meant to protect for people who he cared for, who relied on him. A second home they had spend months of sweat and tears into building, only for it to be lost, causing many of their friends to leave and many of which quit the game permanently.
“Anyway, we should get to work…Undead Monarch!” He yelled out, the spell releasing an aura that usually wouldn’t do anything to anyone, but to undead monsters, it allowed Morovith to dominate those too much weaker than himself, and so did the many undead skeletons and zombies did so, mercilessly attacking the others unaffected they had considered their allies just a few seconds ago.
It was mere minutes until all the outside was eliminated of threats, either destroyed or under the control of Morovith. Leaving the inside of the castle unexplored and ready for the taking. Whereas other 3, Oni Kurogane, Dullahan Arawn and Alchemical Golem Veyr-Kael, we’re slowly fighting their way through, their defence too great for such weak enemies to break through. Soon to regroup outside the entrance, entering the building in which they would explore, gain items and eventually reach the boss room.
The final area was a great throne room, the halls in which had dark walls with detailed paintings, the ceiling had a few chandeliers. The carpet was blood red and floor underneath black and shining. The pillars that stood between the floor and the ceiling stood close to the walls, acting as environmental shields between the enemies of the castle and those who inhabit it. And furthest away from them was a throne which reached the high ceilings of the room and on it was a beautiful woman, she had a red dress with unnaturally pale skin and blood red eyes and a cold empty look that showed no signs of emotion in their wake. She slowly stood up and walked forward a few steps before speaking in a tone that was most pleasant to the ears but held a manipulation of cruel, undead power you couldn’t address without knowing what she was, like Zerinia, a True Elder Vampire.
“So, you are the adventurers that have come to kill me then, the Grand Vovea?” She asked, watching the five intruders that dared enter her home. “For your actions, you shall be punished with nothing but death. Primordial Elemental!”
The words echoes through the hall as she summoned 4 elementals, consisting of Fire, Lightning, Ice and Water. Each a great monster in it’s own right with varying appearances and characteristics, all with the same goal of destroying their summoners enemies, these fellow monstrous intruders.
“Well, that’s one way to prepare a final battle.” Said the Oni of the group, Kurogane, unsheathing his blade, a Mythical Ranked item called ‘Bane of Godkin’, which seemed to glisten in the light provided by the flame elemental beast, his guild members quickly following suit.