The dwarf was rummaging through the contents of a wooden crate to find another bottle of wine. Meanwhile, Arlen checked the elasticity of his golden bow by pulling and releasing the string.
The half-elf swung the silver spear in the air, and the orc seemed to be meditating. The rest of the three humans put on the black helmets hiding their faces.
As they were preparing, the orc abruptly opened his eyes. Michael looked at the green skinned orc taking out a jade stone from one of the ouches hanging around his waist. Despite the orc's two short tusks sticking out of his mouth and the hulking muscular size, he looked gentle and calm, unlike the rest.
Ding!
Ding!
Ding!
The jade stone flickered, pulsating energy blasts.
"Our girl?" asked Hunter as the orc nodded,
Finally, Hunter stopped sharpening his sword and walked toward the table,
"Is everything ready Monolith?"
"Yes," A whisper of a girl sounded from the jade stone,
"Tell me he's there," asked Hunter,
"Yes, he is there. I think he's going to hold a meeting with his minions soon. So come faster," The girl rushed Hunter,
"We are closer than you think Monolith. Arlen, what's our ETA?" Hunter turned his gaze to the elf,
"Three minutes,"
"Three minutes Monolith. Where is he now?" Hunter asked the girl who is called Monolith. Michael floated so close to the orc and the stone that he could hear the girl panting. She sounded like she had finished a heavy workout,
"Getting dressed. Come quickly. Shit, I have to go," The jade stone suddenly lost all its glow as Hunter sighed,
"Let's go and get out girl back team," he cracked his neck and sheathed his swords back into the sheathes,
Michael looked through the window and saw the majestic gray castle standing beneath the mighty mountain. The castle they were traveling to had seven solid, round towers that were both a defensive and decoration aspect of the elegant castle. All seven towers were connected by towering, narrow walls made of what seemed to be gray marble.
Stylish windows scattered thinly across the walls in an asymmetric pattern, along with symmetric crenelations for archers and artillery.
Michael floated towards the windows and was genuinely stunned by the forest outside the castle gates. The forest was lit up with bioluminescent creatures and trees, adding to the castle's atmosphere. After seeing the colorful bioluminescent trees, flowers, and veins in the forest, Michael understood how those neon lights were created.
He looked around the castle through the window to see signs of expansion as some parts were clearly built more recently than others. There were still many construction sites near the castle, along with stacks of gray marble stones, clay, and carriages. It was apparent whoever inhabited the castle had planned to expand it.
The airship Michael was on gradually got closer to the castle. It slowly ascended higher to the point that Michael could see a glass door on the roof flanked by four towers.
"It's showtime," Hunter cracked his fist as the wooden floor in front of them slid open.
Without wasting any time, Hunter jumped through the opening followed by the dwarf. Then, one by one, all the team members jumped out of the ship, diving towards the castle opening.
"Let's see Hunter in action," At last, Michael exited the ship through the opening and followed the team. Since the ship was huge in size, all the archers in the tower noticed it. Besides, Michael could see guards patrolling the castle walls chaotically running around the place. To Michael, it seemed like the guards were caught off guard.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
While diving down, Arlen fired arrow after arrow at each archer in the tower in mid-air.
"He's good," Michael praised the elf's archery skills. Each arrow he fired went straight through his targets' heads. Without inhuman skills, it would be impossible to hit the targets while diving through the air and facing the wind resistance.
Of course, Gaya could do the same. When it comes to archery, she surpassed Michael. That didn't mean Michael was behind her in the accuracy department. What made Gaya a better archer was her talent for calculating wind resistance. Michael could easily buy an archery book and match her skills if he wanted. But for now, Michael chose not to spend badass points and decided to save them.
"Stop them!"
"Why are our defenses down?"
"What the fuck happened to the defense arrays?"
Michael heard the soldiers in the castle shouting in utter confusion. Soon, a line of archers rushed out of the tower and took aim at Hunter and his group.
"Fire!"
As countless arrows soared through the air, the Orc closed his eyes,
"Solar Barrage," Ogrul growled.
In a blink of an eye, Michael saw a shield made of sparkling golden energy materialize in front of them. Hunter and the others quickly moved closer together and flew behind the shield as the arrows hit the shield and the shield turned each and every arrow into a pile of ash.
"FLAME LASH!" When Hunter and his group got closer to the line of archers, Habrot the dwarf cast a spell, swinging the heavy ax in his hand. Michael saw a wave of fire shooting out of Habrot's ax to the soldiers flanking the entryway into the castle.
As soon as the fire wave hit the soldiers, the wave cut the soldiers in halves.contemporary romance
Clang!
When they got closer to the square entryway made of glass, Ogrul slowed down, falling behind. In contrast, Hunter just closed his fist, extended his arm, shattered through the glass, and landed directly on the throne hall.
"Pyro thorns!"
As soon as they landed on the throne hall, Ogrul waved his hand, casting a spell that created hundreds of fiery thorns on the floor.
"AHHHH!" an overly loyal archer jumped through the broken entryway only to be burnt to death by the thorns made of blood-red fire.
The throne hall contained polished braziers encompassing each of the fourteen obsidian columns that lit up the lower levels of the throne hall and blanketed everything in a warm glow. The relatively modest chandeliers hanging from the embowed ceiling danced in the flickering light. At the same time, gargoyles and statuettes looked down upon the marble floor of this majestic hall.
The cobalt rug caught on fire due to the fiery thorns sticking through them. The rug on fire ran from the throne down through the center. It split into two paths leading out while matching black banners containing the head of a crimson red lion with adorned tapestries draped from the walls. Between each banner stood a tall candle, all but a few had been lit and in turn, illuminated the mosaics of a black-haired man below them.
Michael followed the burning rug and saw a towering throne made of black metal and skulls on an elevated platform. The throne was engraved with skulls and bones, making it look like it was made of hundreds of skulls and bones. The rug on fire encircled the throne and through the flames, Michael saw a young man sitting on the throne, resting his head on his fist.
Despite the chaos and the fire around him, Michael didn't see any signs of shock or fear on that young man's face.
Michael lost his focus on the young man when several soldiers wearing black steampunk frock suits rushed into the throne hall.
"Ogrul!" Arlen shouted as the orc quickly took out the dark crystal from his pouch and shattered the crystal on the ground.
As soon as Ogrul shattered the crystal, Michael saw a dark wave blasting everyone in the throne hall except the young man on the throne.
Cling!
Hunter unsheathed his two swords and dashed at the guards. While looking at the soldiers who wore black steampunk frock coats, he couldn't help praising their fashion sense. Coupled with the fedora hat on their heads, they looked like the soldiers of a mafia family.
But they soon lost their hats along with their heads when Hunter weeded their heads like a weed with his two swords. His fast, deadly, and precise sword work wreaked havoc among the soldiers.
"FLAME LASH!" The dwarf cast the spell yet again as a lash made of fire cut the soldiers who tried to dash at them in halves. In a matter of a few seconds, Hunter had reduced the number of soldiers by half.
He was a killing machine and every time he swung his swords, he took a life or two. Every single one in Hunter's team massacred the soldiers so effortlessly. Ogrul had his hands towards the sky as Michael noticed a sliver of light shooting out of his chest and going into the floor.
If he was right, the silver of light was the energy of this universe. In simple words, Michael's universe had Arch energy, and Hunter's universe had Astral energy.
After several minutes, the hall had countless heads rolling around and headless bodies. The previously marble floor was flooded with thick blood. When the rug finished burning, and the fiery thrones disappeared, there was no one in the hall but Hunter, his group, and the young man on the throne.
FLing!
Hunter flicked his wrist, scattering the blood on his two swords before sheathing them.
Looking at the young man on the throne, Hunter cracked his neck.
"You messed with the wrong Hunter bitch," Hunter snickered as Ogrul waved his hand, swirling like a tornado.
While the orc was swirling, Michael saw a golden parchment materializing in his hand. Soon, the orc tore the parchment in half as a golden light shot out of the parchment enveloping the entire throne hall and everyone in it.
The next moment, Michael saw a vortex opening above them and felt he was being sucked into the vortex. Then, in a few blinks of an eye, everyone in the throne hall just vanished into thin air.
done.co