Zectas Volume VI: The Delusive Realm of Mictlan Read online

  ZECTAS VOLUME SIX

  The Delusive Realm of Mictlan

  This book is dedicated to you,

  a constant companion is always better than any gift.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 01 – Assembled Reinforcements

  Chapter 02 – Insipid Circumstance

  Chapter 03 – Different Perspective

  Chapter 04 – Swamp Meet

  Chapter 05 – War Preparations

  Chapter 06 – Grave Misuderstanding

  Chapter 07 – Reckoning Day

  Chapter 08 – Affected World

  Chapter 09 – Delusive Mictlan

  Chapter 10 – Paroxysmal Arrangements

  Side Story – Adapting Times

  Smoke and Sierra's Status Windows

  Appendix

  Chapter One:

  Assembled Reinforcements

  A fiery image of a DarkElf began to materialize in front of a well-guarded cave. This was the headquarters of the OrkElf rebels, Diebe Den.

  ‘Looks like Cynar got an upgrade on their equipment,’ surmised Smoke. He saw young OrkElves, barely in their early twenties, wielding broadswords and round shields. Then, there were the older ones carrying two-handed glaives, their muscles more defined.

  Before Smoke could even speak, sixteen of the well-armed OrkElves rushed towards him. Eight OrkElves with shields and swords guarded the ones brandishing the glaives from behind them.

  “I’m a friend!” cried out Smoke, and raised both hands. “Tell Cynar that Faux is here.”

  The OrkElves lowered their stance, planting their feet firmly in their place. Their weapons still trained at Smoke’s body.

  “It’s alright,” said a familiar voice which from within the cave. “You can put down your weapons,” added the voice who was obstructed by the OrkElves.

  At once, the armed guards who confined Smoke lowered their weapons and stepped away from him.

  Parting their way, Smoke finally saw a Flame Knight donning a silver armor. He easily recognized him to be Blaise, Cynar’s right-hand man.

  “Hey, is Cynar around?” asked Smoke. “I have some information that I’m sure he would love to hear!”

  “It’s not related to how our captive nobles escaped, is it?” asked Blaise. “Now, that’s certainly something I’m interested in.”

  “I can’t believe how you got Cynar to believe in you,” said Blaise. “In all my years of being with him. This is the first time I’ve seen him this hoodwinked.”

  “Mm…” replied Smoke, shaking his head defensively. “Don’t know what you’re talking about.”

  “Sure! Of course, you don’t,” said an antagonizing Blaise. He walked over to Smoke and angrily pointed at him. “How many years do you think I had to work as a slave for one of those royal nobles? What kind of missions do you think they had me do while I was under their service?”

  Smoke did not respond, slightly confused at what the silver Flame Knight was getting at.

  “I endured all of that! In order to assure Cynar’s rise into power,” added Blaise. “And now, you, appear out of nowhere and expect Cynar to listen to you?”

  “That’s enough!” exclaimed Cynar, who stepped out from the depths of Diebe Den.

  With one glance, Smoke recognized that the masked OrkElf Assassin had changed. He had an aura of power about him.

  “Blaise, I told you to forget about those children already,” said Cynar. “And can you get over how many times you’ve sacrificed for our cause? Don’t think that you’re the only one who had to suffer to get to where we are.”

  The Flame Knight backed off, he turned around while shaking his head in disapproval.

  Cynar removed his mask and smiled at Smoke. “Welcome back, Faux!” said the OrkElf Assassin and offered him his hand.

  Smoke smiled back behind his Paradox Mask and said. “Good to see you again, but we have to hurry.”

  “Huh? Why?” asked Cynar, confused.

  “I know where Wertlosvati is,” replied Smoke. “How many of your men can you—”

  Smoke was not allowed to finish his question, as Cynar suddenly appeared in front of him.

  The OrkElf Assassin pointed a black knife at Smoke’s neck and said. “You better not be joking.”

  “I’m not!” exclaimed Smoke. He firmly held Cynar’s arm, preventing the blade to go any further. “He’s attacking Vectas City as we speak,” he added.

  Without waiting for any more confirmation, Cynar yelled out a series of commands. “Sound the horns!” he cried out. “Priority one is here! This is not a drill!”

  One of the guards standing outside the cave blew on the horn of an ancient bison.

  TOTOOOOTT TOTTOTTOOOOOOT TOTOOOOTT TOTTOTTOOOOOOT

  Less than a few seconds later, a thunderous galloping sound came from a different side of Diebe Den.

  ‘Looks like they also improved the cave,’ thought Smoke, grinning at the incoming dirus wolves before him.

  From the new exit of the cave, he saw hundreds of dirus wolves come out, each one of them mounted by two OrkElves.

  Two unmounted dirus wolves came rushing forward towards Cynar and Blaise. As soon as the mounts got closer, the two OrkElf leaders sprang on their respective steeds.

  “Faux, you can ride with me,” offered Cynar. “Tell us where Wertlosvati is.”

  “Thanks, but I’ll just lead you from above,” said Smoke. He leaped up and opened his hooded cloak. Without a word, he glided towards Vectas City.

  “Faux? You can fly? Since when did you—” called out Cynar from behind him, as the army of OrkElves chased after him.

  Glancing below, he roughly estimated three-thousand dirus wolves. Smoke’s current top speed is 210 kilometers per hour. However, in order for the OrkElf army to follow him, he decided to reduce his speed by a fourth.

  “Vectas City Location!” called out Smoke while gliding.

  An information window instantly popped up.

  MAP LOCATION: Vectas City

  Coordinates: Latitude: -15°23′ S, Longitude: -11°35′ W

  Note: One hundred kilometers away from current location.

  ‘At this rate, it will take us at least an hour to get there,’ calculated Smoke.

  “Hey, Faux!” called out Blaise from below. “Is that the fastest you can go? Because my wolf is already complaining. Hoffart is not used to running this slow!”

  “Are you sure?” asked a skeptical Smoke. He observed the horde of OrkElves on dirus wolves and saw that their mounts were not bothered by the pace at all.

  “Alright, let’s go!” yelled Smoke, and increased his speed.

  They picked up a large cloud of dust, as they traversed the sandy plains with great haste.

  Occasionally, there were coalitions of sand cheetahs that tried to attack them, but Smoke casually dug trenches too wide for the sand cheetahs to leap across.

  By neglecting any of the incoming aggressive monsters their way, Smoke and the OrkElf army reached the outskirts of Vectas City in only forty minutes.

  A relieved Smoke was grinning behind his mask. From his point of view, he saw a city on top of a hill, with its walls still intact and four breathtaking ballistae still installed on top of its walls.

  ‘Phew! Looks like we made it in time,’ thought Smoke. ‘Vectas looks even smaller than Centzo City,’ he mused, thinking that this was the smallest city he had seen so far inside the game.

  “Faux, stop!” called out Blaise, and ordered the army to do the same. “Most of our mounts have already spent half their stamina getting here this quick,” he explained, patting Hoffart’s head.

  “You were the one who told me to g
o fast,” countered Smoke, as he hovered directly above both Cynar and Blaise.

  “Alright, let’s focus on where our enemy is,” said Cynar. “Normally, I wouldn’t even defend this city, but seeing as Wertlosvati is here, I’ll make this one exception.”

  “So? Where are they, Faux?” asked Cynar. “Where is the Ork Horde? Where is Wertlosvati!”

  “I don’t know,” replied Smoke, looking around at all directions. “Maybe, we arrived before they—”

  Before Smoke could finish talking, the walls of Vectas City before them crumbled to the ground.

  Hundreds of Orks were seen running wild in the city streets. Hundreds of Sonstwelter Merchant stalls laid to waste, as their broken pieces scattered on the ground.

  Several of the green giants were busy loading their mounts with sacks. All of which were clearly filled with loot.

  Yet, the most disturbing sight of all was that of the captured Zectians. Even though they were in the streets, the Orks began to rip off their clothes.

  “Don’t worry,” said Cynar. “We’ll save them,” he said and led a blitzing charge for the broken wall.

  With most of the Orks preoccupied with their spoils, Smoke and the OrkElves reached them without being noticed.

  SHINK SLINK SHUNK

  Numerous broad swords and spears resonated, as Smoke and the OrkElves outnumbered the UrukHai in the area by 6,000 to 2,000.

  The OrkElves riding in tandem displayed how well they were trained. Focusing on one Ork, the driver of the dirus wolf engaged from the front, while the passenger stepped on the Ork’s shoulder and clung to the neck, simultaneously stabbing the back.

  Of course, the OrkElf leaders would not be outdone by their underlings!

  Blaise faced the UrukHais by himself. Equipped with his Salamander’s Tongue, he swiftly took out his flamberge from its scabbard. Thus, revealing its blade to be covered in orange flames. While mounted, he was evenly matched with the height of the green giants. He swung his fiery flamberge across the Ork’s neck, igniting him into flames. After he finished with one, the Flame Knight hurried to hunt down his next Ork.

  Meanwhile, Cynar dismounted from his dirus wolf. Moving in a black blur, the OrkElf Assassin slit the throats of all the UrukHais he encountered. He left them to die, with their life bars steadily diminishing, inflicted with the Bleeding and Poisoned status.

  On the other hand, a flying Smoke carefully chose his targets. He focused on the Orks who had captured Zectian Elves. Using his Synergized state, he gathered his mana into his palms and created a big whirling flame in front of him. After he finished the ability requirements, he let out thirty-two flame-swords at once. Each one given a simple instruction, to pierce the UrukHai it was set upon.

  In less than twenty minutes, Smoke and the OrkElves killed all two-thousand Orks in the immediate area.

  Without bothering to pick up the dropped loot by the Orks, Smoke flew upward and scanned the city. Using his Telefax Vision, he saw that the rest of Vectas was in a similar state. Looking further inward, he finally saw the brunt of the Ork Horde. It was surrounding the city’s castle. The Breathtaking Ballistae on the castle walls, let out a continuous volley of green balls of poison at the invading Orks below. However, it proved to be ineffective against them. The interlopers simply stood back up after being hit.

  “Wertlosvati is about to break down the final walls of the city,” said Smoke, pointing towards the Duke’s Castle.

  “Then, what are we waiting for?” said Cynar. “Men, onward!”

  * * * * * *

  “Green Prime Wizard, open gates of yours. Allow us entrance to yours!” yelled Wertlosvati at the flying Chrysopelea.

  “Why would I do that? When you are about to surrender,” replied Chrys. “As we speak, the Mages inside are creating a powerful spell to kill you all.”

  Wertlosvati chuckled loudly. “Kaningi boangi, makatoni patyoni kunin tanir nilar!”

  Thousands of Orks laughed after their General explained Chrysopelea’s bluff.

  “Guess surrender we better be doing,” replied Wertlosvati. “But, Orks said to be boangi. Oh, sorry, I meaning stupid. Stupid that we fear no death or empty threats of yours.”

  “Also, do yours Sonstwelter know how to count?” asked the UrukHai General.

  Chrys did not reply but merely furrowed his eyebrows.

  “Do yours not see? We are more than ten-thousand Orks here,” said Wertlosvati. “Thousands more ransacking the city now,” the Ork then strongly shook his head. “Why you asking us surrender?” he sarcastically laughed.

  Turning to face his UrukHai army, Wertlosvati screamed out. “UrukHai, sakaanir nakamor!”

  Without delay, the Orks beside Wertlosvati began to scale the castle walls.

  In response, Chrys flew down and braved the thrown mallets and axes at him. He spread his arms apart and created a powerful wind from both palms.

  Suddenly, Chrys’ spiraling winds began to merge, increasing its speed even further. Loose rocks and branches flew towards the swirling tornado as they were picked up by the strong winds.

  However, only the orange hairs of the UrukHai were pulled by Chrys’ sudden air vortex. Their grips on the castle walls remained firm.

  Chrys then yelled out from within his cyclone. “Mages, now!”

  FUG VLUG FUG VLUG FUG VLUG FUG

  A rain of fireballs, comets, and flame arrows fell down on the climbing green giants. Each fiery attack had doubled its size, buffed by Chrys’ chaotic winds.

  One by one, the Orks clinging on the walls were dropped, but this was only for the ones near the tornado. The UrukHais outside the range, steadily continued upward, unaffected by the elemental magics launched at them.

  With several Orks reaching near the top, Warrior Guards switched out the place of the Mages. There were less than a thousand of these melee fighters, but they were the city’s last line of defense.

  Without warning, the bricks on the walls began to stick out, critically striking the Orks’ faces. Either their eyes, nose, or mouth, whichever part the brick hit, blood was sure to come out.

  A flying Smoke hovered a hundred meters left from Chrysopelea’s tornado, manipulating the fragments of the wall to obey his bidding.

  The targeted UrukHais lost their grips. Their wanton cheers vanished, replaced only with screams of falling to the ground. Due to their high life bars, more than half of them survived. Yet, the stragglers were only spared 20% of their maximum HP.

  “Chrys!” shouted Smoke over to the twister, with the Vectas Prime Wizard in it. “Move to your right!”

  “Faux? Is that really you?” asked Chrys from within the spinning vortex. “How in the world did you get here?”

  “Never mind that,” replied Smoke. “Let’s just spread out and stop any Orks from climbing over the walls.”

  “But attacking them while they’re climbing would allow us to face them at their most vulnerable,” answered Chrys. “I know that you have an impressive amount of mana, but even, you, can’t keep the Orks from climbing forever.”

  “I don’t plan to,” said Smoke. “We just have to drop them down so that they could deal with them,” he explained, pointing down at Cynar and his army of OrkElves.

  “Where in the… How did you—” babbled Chrys but stopped himself. The troubled expression on his face conveyed the alarming reality. Even with the OrkElf reinforcements, they were still outnumbered.

  “Stop hesitating,” called out Smoke. “And just fight!”

  “Like we have a choice! Let’s do this!” replied Chrys with gusto, and his cyclone shifted farther the opposite side of Smoke.

  Spreading themselves to cover almost 80% of the wall, both Smoke and Chrys sent thousands of UrukHais downward, severely injuring them from attacks and the hard fall on the ground.

  * * * * * *

  Smoke placed his trust on Cynar, that he would lead his men to finish off the fallen green giants, but the OrkElf Assassin had other things in mind.

  “Charge!
Charge! Charge! No one stop for anything!” commanded Cynar, riding his dirus wolf at full speed. “Wertlosvati’s head will roll today!” he added with angst.

  “Cynar, wait!” called out Blaise from behind. “We might get locked in if we continue with this madness!”

  Cynar did not budge. Instead, he increased the pace of his mount’s gallop even further.

  “We need to thin out their numbers!” Blaise explained while riding after Cynar.

  But still, Cynar continued on, focused on his horrific monster of a father.

  “Are you even listening? Going in like this doesn’t assure us of Wertlosvati’s death,” argued Blaise. “This only guarantees us of an early entrance to Mictlan!”

  Throwing paralysis darts with astounding speed, Cynar momentarily incapacitated the UrukHai blocking their way.

  Blaise unleashed his flamberge. Red flames wildly spewed out from its blade, as if searching for flesh to devour. With a single strike on the backs of the Orks, his salamander tongue slew the green giants. For those who were fortunate enough to survive, they were inflicted with the Burned status. The life bars of the charred Orks steadily depleted. The OrkElves under the Flame Knight’s command synergized with his fiery attacks. They slashed their broad swords at the Orks and opened a path for Cynar to pass through.

  As they rode fifty-meters deeper into the throng of Orks, the strength of their enemies exponentially grew. Yet, despite their slower advance, Cynar remained unchanged. It was then that Blaise angrily yelled out. “Cynar, stop! We need a plan!”

  Blaise’s flaming sword still held its fury, but his men had lost their fire. Most of them were panting heavily, trying to catch their breath.

  Instead of listening to Blaise, Cynar clutched more paralysis darts in his hands. With blitzing hand movement, targeting the Orks blocking his path to Wertlosvati.

  “Fine! Run to your own death!” exclaimed an infuriated Blaise. “But you’re not taking my men with you!”

  “Inferno Squad, move left towards the wall!” Blaise commanded.