บท 92: Circus Tent (III)
"Anyways...did we find anything?" Mike broke their conversation, bringing everyone to attention back at him.
"Yes." Red raised her hand. With a puff of her cheek, she cutely spoke. "I noticed some of the barriers on the outside are a lot stronger than the ones on the inside." She said confidently.
Snow couldn't help but nod in agreement. It took a while to search for the holes in the wall.
Frankly, Snow went off her guts. Even though there were more times, she would have skipped it entirely if it wasn't for the Player that was thrown against the barrier.
"I also found a way to break through the inner barrier to pull out our people. The barrier is at its weakest when something impacts it from the other side, but the amount of power that one can do is only a few. Red, Rodney, Rye, and I are the only ones who should have enough magic to break a hole. Someone needs to strike at it at the same time to breakthrough." Snow knew this would work, but having a split-second decision to send an arrow at the same time something hits the barrier was difficult.
No, it was almost impossible without perfect control. Was she confident enough to match her power without harming the other person? Doubtful.
Snow quickly looked around for Rye. She had forgotten about him until now as Rye was leaned against the wall near the entrance.
Rye yawned, scratching his chin. He was lazily gazing around, not caring what was happening.
Of course, Snow should have known that Rye wouldn't care as much. Vampires tended not to care as much unless they were put in a precarious or dangerous situation. Plus, they weren't a big fan of humans except for lunch on them for a bit when they were hungry.
A loud gasp could be heard from the viewers. Snow snapped her attention to the center. One of the Players slew one of their comrades.
"Oh, my god." A player shouted out in an outburst. "He killed his teammate."
As the only Player standing in the middle of the arena, the giant goblin that had grown to a Goblin Champion had stopped moving as if magic tied its very body.
"Very good." The Clown clapped his hand furiously, enjoying the predicament that had transpired.
With a flick of his hand, the Clown pulled the Player out from the barrier. He threw him towards the exit.
"This is what I am talking about." The Clown was almost jumping up in jitters of excitement. "Keep this up; the more you kill your brethren, the higher the chance of all of you guys going out. See that?"
The Clown pointed over his head where an invisible clock was situated. With a click, the large hand moved towards the first number, where the number twelve was situated.
"The hand must cycle around six times. When it hits the sixth twelve, you will all be free." With a jolly smile, he showed off his crooked teeth. "Isn't it a good thing to be given a chance? Kill a few to save the rest?"
Such words were laced with poison as the heaviness was true. To sacrifice a few to save the whole, it was a never-ending cycle of morality that bogged down many people. Even Snow felt the weight of the words before her as she did not want to slay another. The choice that she would have would present its ugly head to her when she appeared on the stage to fight the monster was high.
The ripple of the Clown's words were like a lightning bolt, making everyone realize that they were being played by the Clown.
Without any time to think further, the next twelve were brought forward. The remaining Players and Hunters watched with silence as they were all on the edge of their chair, wondering what people would do.
Snow realized that Tommy was pulled into the center. He glanced up at Snow.
"I'll work with you guys from the outside." Tommy words entered only through Snow's ears.
With a nod, she agreed. Already, a good third of the people were outside waiting for everyone else.
Everything happened in a blink of an eye. The monster's body burst into a fizzle of energy, leaving behind everyone stunned. Tommy slew the beast. A roar of cheer erupted, allowing the people who were teamed up with him to sigh in relief. Immediately, they were sent away as another group was chosen.
Six times did the number of Players that passed through reached with no deaths, which didn't allow the goblin to grow further in strength. It was as if a lucky streak was happening. One after the other, they exited the tent with exhilaration, but as time crawled by, the lucky streak took a sharp nosedive.
Snow saw the sharp turn of events. Players started to slay their own moving the clock further towards the countdown that the Clown wanted. More and more fights broke out as fear laced people's very souls.
Everyone was diligently watching to find a strike to the barrier, but it seemed fate wasn't going to budge in their favor as the Goblin champion grew stronger into a Goblin Overload.
It's bulking body slimmed down instead of growing in size, becoming quick on its feet. One after another, it beheaded its opponents effortlessly, growing in strength.
Players turned upon each other to get out of the chaos that ensued. Until finally, Dairen was pulled in. The count was down to seventy kills, and the last three were left before it hit the number 12 one last time.
"Dairen?!" Snow shouted.
Dairen gave her a nodding silence as he faced the opponent before him.
"Let's hope he's going to be alright." Red was biting her nails, knowing full well that it could be any one of their turns. The amount of power that the monster was growing to the point that everyone could feel the level of danger that it would be.
"Look at this." The Clown excitedly pointed out. "Three more kills, and you will all leave this area."
The realization of what the Clown had said dawn on them. Some of Dairen's teammates were sizing each other up in the hopes to not get killed by their own.
Dairen observed, circling his prey. The other five members weren't his but Heavenly's guild. They wearily watched, waiting for the Goblin Overload to make a move. With a thundering roar, it smashed its shield into the sword, banging it as a lure.
The first unfortunate soul got distracted too easily, losing his focus for a brief moment. A wild smash came raining down from the side, squashing the Player in half.
A burst of fire flew through the air, smashing into the side.
"No! Garid!" A young female shouted hysterically. She threw another after another in wild vigor in the hopes to overwhelm the Goblin Overload.
"Aw, but it's okay. If any of you kill three more, the next soul will be a hero." The Clown egged them on.
With a shrug of his shoulder, the Goblin overload brushed off the fire. Instead, the sword flew out from the fire and struck straight into the unsuspecting head. She dropped down dead. With a burst of speed, the Goblin Overload raced towards his fallen sword as black energy seeped into his very skin.
Dairen made contact in mid-air, throwing the monster back. With a grunt, it snapped its ugly jaws in anger for stopping its progress. He didn't care. Once again, he flew towards the Goblin Overlord in the hopes of overpowering him. It was a temporary stalemate. Whenever the Goblin Overlord tried to get to the next available Player, he would be immediately stopped by Dairen.
Many watched with bated breath, groaning or cheering every time he stalled the monster's attack.
For a while, the back and forth struggle persisted. Until finally, Dairen slipped up, allowing the Goblin Overlord to kick him squarely in the stomach as he flew a good distance away.
Dairen cursed in pain, and he knew any further would overpower him. They were equal in strength.
"We can't win this." A crazed expression appeared in the other Player's expression. He started to laugh maniacally and jibber at himself. "If I kill you, I will be able to live."
"Stop. We can win this." Dairen shouted, in the hopes to snap out the Player, but he wouldn't listen. Dairen got up, trying not to show his pain.
In a dash, the Player rushed towards a female player with his sword in hand.
The Goblin Overlord watched with enthusiasm as it grunted with laughter, enjoying the show that was brought before him. He didn't attack because the Clown didn't let him as usual. It brought more joy to the Clown when such things happened.
"If you die. I'll live." With a burst of maniacal laughter, the Player appeared behind the female's back in a flash.
Everything happened in a blink of an eye.
Dairen's hand slid across the man's throat as the Player dropped down dead.
Snow was stunned at the decisiveness of his actions. It wasn't like Dairen to raise his hand against another man to the point of killing them on the spot. What had changed? She had thought he would usually disable them like he always did. From there, Snow was even more baffled by his next action.
With a heavy breath, Dairen stood over the body with disgust. Pricking his fingers, it dropped onto the dead man's flesh. The bloodied red jewel touched the man's flesh. In an instant, the blood disappeared into the body. Suddenly as if it was possessed, the body squirmed and convulsed. Eventually, a scorching scream erupted from the man's mouth.
"What-?" Mike was baffled at how quickly this event was turning. A flicker of confusion and a bit of fear doused in his eyes.
"Necromancy." Tamaki hissed, eyeing Dairen as if he was an abomination.
"Rise." Dairen's commanding boom echoed in everyone's heart. They all could feel the death that wrapped around him and his abomination creation that was close to the skill Resurrection.
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BlackSnowAngel
BlackSnowAngel I had the first arc proofread. You can get the full pdf version downloaded for your own leisure at the www.enlightendragons.com website. It's my personal blog.
Also, a special announcement is posted on it regarding all past and future stories. You can see some rough sketch of a character name Aurelius.
https://enlightendragons.com/2020/05/16/special-update-announcement/
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