Rise Online: Return of the Legendary Player

Chapter 722 Crater

The higher demons, seeing the sudden appearance of the human army all over the city, let out shrill howls that echoed through the deserted streets and split up to conquer.

Zalthar, seeing that he wouldn't be helped, decided to use his fury and turned into a tornado of flames, which made all the players around him move away, but many didn't manage to escape in time and were swallowed up by the hottest flame in hell.

For his part, Dathan conjured a shield of light that protected many from the scorching heat.

Up ahead, Lysan emerged from the shadows, her sharp claws ready to tear into one of the Sentinel Guild Tanks, but she was intercepted by Cephal, who grabbed her arm and a smile appeared.

"Huh! Get out of my way, I'll get to the capitol!" Cephal said, which made Lysan smile too, because there was a match for her.

The battle soon spread throughout the city, which roared around them, a whirlwind of magic, steel and fury. The players fought bravely, every blow, every spell cast, in an effort to defeat the demons and free the city from their evil influence. The night was alive with the sound of clashing swords, the crackle of flames and the crash of spells.

The conflict was fierce and relentless, just as they had hoped.

And amidst all the chaos of the war, in a dark alley stood Bloody Lily, clad in a hood. She was panting, because she had to not only evade the visions of the demons, but also the other players. With her hands on her knees, she took a deep breath and said:

"It looks like I've somehow managed to get out of the platoon without anyone noticing. Now I just need to locate myself in the city."

As luck would have it, although the Royal Capital was very large, its rustic architecture with its tall buildings made of stone provided an environment conducive to climbing, and from Bloody Lily it was possible to see the tip of a church tower, where she could climb up and locate herself to find out exactly where the capitol is.

"All right..." She said, adjusting her posture. "I have no time to waste. Kaizen has entrusted this duty to me."

Then Bloody Lily began to run through the city's dark alleyways, her rapid footsteps echoing only as whispers on the city's worn cobblestones.

The air of the city was charged with the smell of smoke and sulphur, and everywhere you could hear screams and explosions, as well as the roars of demons.

It wasn't long before Bloody Lily found the church, rising majestically against the night sky. Blood Lily smiled to herself; the tower was her point of reference. With surprising agility for someone wearing such heavy armor, she began to scale the stone wall of the church. Her fingers found the cracks in the worn stones, and she used her large legs to propel herself upwards in an acrobatic manner.

From the top of the tower, Bloody Lily had a clear, panoramic view of the city. As imagined, the streets were full of conflict, and one of the demons was even more so than the buildings, transformed into an ice dragon that froze everything it touched. However, when Bloody Lily realized that she was getting distracted, she shook her head and looked around again, and then she finally found the capitol mentioned by Kaizen to her left.

"It's over there." she muttered to herself, her eyes sparking with determination. She knew this was her chance to make a difference. "There are still three demons there, though." She realized.

Bloody Lily remained paralyzed for a brief moment, her body tense as a bow before releasing the arrow. The chill in her spine and anxiety from before persisted, but now, amid the fear, there was also a spark of hope, mainly because of the words of courage Kaizen had said to her. However, before she could even move a muscle, suddenly an intense light tore through the veil of night like a sharp blade and brought with it a state of surprise that was repeated throughout the city, paralyzing everyone.

Her eyes narrowed to understand what was happening on the horizon. The flash unfolded in vibrant colors, reflected in the church's stained glass windows like a surreal tapestry.

The bang that followed, like the roar of a celestial beast, made the ancient walls of the church tremble in a frightening way. Every stone, every inch of the tile under Bloody Lily's feet seemed fragile with the fury unleashed outside.

Bloody Lily was thrown backwards by the force of the impact wave, but managed to hold on, and when the shockwave passed, everyone looked at the site of the explosion and saw that the entire capitol had disappeared, along with part of the city center.

The deafening sound of the explosion was still ringing in Bloody Lily's ears when she stood up. Her eyes were wide with surprise, her mind struggling to comprehend the magnitude of what had just happened. Her heart was pounding furiously in her chest as she ran towards the site of the explosion.

'Kaizen said he was going to run as fast as possible to the capitol to cover me. Could he have been hit by the explosion?" she wondered.

However, when Bloody Lily arrived at the site of the explosion, she quickly realized she was wrong and hid in the wreckage of the buildings, camouflaged by the darkness and confusion that still reigned in the air. Her keen eyes caught a scene that left her breathless as she approached, but she needed to check, so she lifted her head just a little, enough to look over a fallen wall to see what was happening in the large empty crater that had formed where the capitol had stood.

Then she had no more doubts. In front of her stood the mighty Zylok, the First Bishop of the Eye of Hermodr, and opposite him stood a demon, a huge being with imposing horns and fiery eyes that caused terror just to look at. The dark aura surrounding the two combatants was extremely oppressive, as if it were a sin to breathe in their presence.

"Do you dare break your contract, Zylok?" The demon asked, and Zylok, a tall man with gray hair and beard, drove his sword into the dirt floor, looking seriously at the demon.

"This isn't a breach of contract, it's just a betrayal. As long as I can remember, I haven't put any clause in the contract that forbids me from joining my former enemies." Zylok said with a modest but debauched tone.

The demon let out a guttural laugh, a laugh that sent shivers down Bloody Lily's spine. "Don't be silly! You know you can't beat us alone!"

Zylok raised his head haughtily, his eyes meeting the demon's with an intensity that cut through the air. "Beat you? Humph! Believe it or not, but killing you will be the easy part."

The demon snarled, its flames dancing around it as it prepared to attack. "Surtr will not forgive you for such an affront."

"And I don't intend to ask forgiveness for that, now shut up and die." Zylok raised his sword again and when he aimed the tip of it forward, a beam of light shot out from the tip, hitting the demon and throwing him dozens of meters backwards.

Zylok knew that this wasn't enough to beat the demon yet, but he didn't follow to pressure it. Instead, Zylok looked with the corners of his eyes in the direction where the Bloody Lily was hiding, which made it instinctively hide, then he smiled with the corner of his mouth and said:

"Wait a little longer, it's not time yet. The strongest demon is protecting the portal right now. Where is Kaizen?"

Still trembling slightly with fear, she took a deep breath and answered. "I don't know exactly, but he's coming down the main street. He shouldn't be long."

"Humph. When he gets here, I'll probably be on the other side of town, I'll try to draw as much attention away from here as possible, and then you'll have your chance. Don't miss it."

She nodded, although he couldn't see her, but he heard her. He then advanced against the demon he was fighting.

Bloody Lily looked at her hand and realized that it was shaking. At that moment, she clenched her fist and held it with her other hand in an attempt to stop it from shaking.

'Why am I so nervous? It's just a game...' She tried to convince herself, but in the end it wasn't just a game to her, it never had been, because being a good player in Rise Online was one of the most important things in her life and if she died or made a mistake now, it could mean the end of everything. 'No, it's too much pressure for one person. How can Kaizen feel that and still keep moving forward?'

…

Edited by: DrHitsuji

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