Chương 99: 12 waves (I)
Snow watched as the ferry slowly chugged away. She turned around, not looking back. She knew that if she kept staying here, she would kick herself for not getting on.
The air around the Players was dark and dreary. They knew what it meant to be unable to get on the ferry, as this could be the end of their lives. Some had fought to get on but were reprimanded. Even the ones that slew their own brethren weren't allowed on the ship as if they were cast aside.
A rising sense of anger and jealousy was present in the Players.
Many shouted and cursed, but they couldn't do anything as they could not gain the tokens to get on or were strong enough to follow. Rodney made sure of that as he screened each person.
A young man, named Rycon, was in his twenties and stood in the middle of the crowd. He didn't have strong armor, but the people knew who he was. His chirpy attitude brought a few disgruntled shouts that worsened the mood as they started to condone for his failures.
"Everybody calm down." The young man tried to get everyone's attention. "It's not over yet."
"Yea, right, captain. You've been thrown away like paper." One of the Players shouted out.
"It's not true. I have been sent here to make sure that we make it out or meet up with the others." Ryan said, trying his best to calm the disgruntled remarks.
At first, the others thought over what he had said, but more people spoke out. Many were worried about what would happen next. Others tried to leave but were stopped by an invisible barrier and were brought back to the front.
Snow walked over, watching the whole thing play out. She wanted to know what the others thought before she acted as she was not the type to just announce herself.
The outcry of the Players was drastically falling as they had no way out. Some even fell to the ground, crying, thinking that they were trapped inside the barrier for good.
"Saintess, did you get left behind?" One of the Players asked out in concern. His voice caught the other surrounding Players, realizing that she was still here.
Eventually, the other Players noticed that Snow was left behind. This shocked many, for they had thought that she had already left with the main force. For a moment, they thought she was an illusion cast by the Gnome.
The dark mood started to die down. They gathered around her in happiness and disbelief that the central team had left Snow behind.
"No." Snow cut the bud before a nasty rumor could start. She didn't want to leave any blame against the ones that went ahead. "I decided to stay behind."
"Why?" One of them cried out, wondering what her intentions were.
"To take you all with me to the next level. I know I am not a super-powered woman, but I will do my best to help you guys as much as possible." Snow's voice gave out with a force that surprised her. "We need all of you guys to succeed." She was sure of this. The previous dungeon had proven it so that even if there were powerful Players, it didn't mean they were all supermen who could take out their foe with one blow.
"The Saintess has spoken." One of them shouted.
The murmurs of the Players resounded out into the group. They gathered around her, cheering her title, which Snow had a slight headache for. If she couldn't quell the name, she would use it to spur the people forward.
"What is this?" The Gnome spoke out with disgust, looking back at the three hundred Players that were left behind. "Some kind of cult?"
The Players quickly surrounded Snow as they protected her.
"What are these losers doing here causing a scene? Instead, you should be worried about yourself in the next couple of minutes." The Gnome didn't have it with their strange charade. He ignored them as he kept talking, "Now, there are about three hundred and thirty-two of you guys here.
Let's make this simple, alright?"
With a snap of a finger, the Gnome called upon the forces of the dead. Out from under the ground, the undead popped out like weeds, groaning and moaning as they pulled themselves out from the ground.
"This place was once full of life, but not anymore. Instead, they will play with you guys. You can get out of here if you kill all the waves of monsters, and in total, there are twelve." The Gnome winked, dancing on the muscle man's shoulder. "Let's get the game start!"
The Gnome clapped and danced, wagging his butt at rest.
"With me!" Snow shouted. Her magical tattoo changed and morphed into the dragon helmet. It was different from the past as it was matched perfectly with her white armor. The long elegant horn curved upwards as a beautiful tribal gold pattern was engraved down its right cheek. Sharp gold claws elongated onto her hands, and a thick white tail smashed into the ground.
She glowed with a purified light, dousing her allies with magical energy that helped focus their mind.
The black sword that she had on her hips was lifted over her head, holding it aloft for all to see. The sword blazed gold, peeling away the black paint and changing it to pure white. "For victory!"
An arrow whizzed past her; she paid it no mind as another bounced off her helmet.
The skeletons warriors gathered around them, charging at her with their sword in hand. Snow jumped into the waves with a flashing light, bellowing: "For victory!"
Snow turned her back onto the Players. Three hundred Players roared in unison, following behind her like a wave. They were ecstatic as they felt the pull of her will driving them forward together in unison.
A whoosh of adrenaline rushed through Snow's body. Her sword swung, hitting metal against bone. The skeleton broke in half, losing their head as it crumbled onto the ground with a clatter. She didn't stop as her eyes blazed gold.
With each swing, she fell down a few more as the magic around her body burned with light. The undead were no match for her holy light, bringing even more excitement to the Players as they light up with passion.
"Priestess, watch out!" Rycon shouted.
Snow parried the oncoming thrust from her blindspot with a flick of her wrist. Her tail grabbed onto the skeleton's arm, pulling it down onto the ground. She swung, disabling the skeleton with one swing, and she even broke its arm. With a loud smash, her tail destroyed the body in half, leaving the skeleton onto the ground.
With a flag of white and gold flames of light streaming from her body, Snow jumped and kicked another down onto the ground. She crouched and tensed as she struck the ground. The impact caused a few loose dirt to fly up into the air.
She loosed a quick smile, which brought a few glances at her. Her real smile barely appeared on her face, and the effect that it took was surprisingly scary but beautiful to the Players. They thought her receptionist smile was horrifying, but the casual smile that she had now was ten times worse. For her free spirit and her furious fight in the heat of battle was a contradiction in itself.
There has been a saying that one would become so engrossed in their enlightenment that all else was no more. Snow was at that moment, where everything hummed with life.
Snow was excited. The power ran through her so fluidly that she didn't realize how much control she had. It was almost too easy as her body was reinforced with magic, giving her the extra boost needed to fly to her next target.
Snow ducked under a shield, her sword popped off another skeleton's head. It struck and clattered on the ground and rolled towards a skeleton who tripped and fell.
A line of archers on the battlefield sent a volley of shots at Snow and her surrounding Players. Her tail unconsciously whipped above her head, taking a few out before it hit, but a few did bounce off her armor. Some unlucky landed on the Players as they fell down onto the ground in pain.
It occurred to Snow, as it had several times before, that the skeletons were like paper. She was the perfect counter to these streams of undead that came at her relentlessly. Her smile grew brighter at the thrill of conquering this scenario.
The skeleton reactions seem slow and clumsy to Snow as she dashed through the ranks, cutting them down like lightning. She was a blur of motion that many had a hard time following, even for the skeleton that charged at her, bumbled in their own legs, and missed.
Ryan swept around her, taking out the stray that she had missed. He tried his best to fill out the holes that could bring disaster to his people.
Snow slowed a bit down because she knew that she couldn't expand all her energy here. Instead, she allowed a few Players to take her place as she darted in and out to take out the ones that could kill a few.
Eventually, all the skeletons were destroyed, leaving behind a few injured Players. Snow sheathed her weapon and took a good look at her Player's before her. They didn't do as half bad as she had expected. Most of the Players that were left behind were still considered skilled.
Snow's presence was like a neverending beacon that powered the Player into a frenzy. Even when the first swarm of skeletons came and a short break ensued, but not even five minutes later, another wave came. This time, a bigger force than before.
For three straight waves, the battle continued.
Snow could see that the Player's were getting tired. The amount of movement that they had to do was a lot more than the other fights that had been done as the skeleton warriors and archers were like an endless stream that did not want to stop.
She had to pick up a bit of pace, taking down as many as she could. The scratches and cuts that accumulated on her body were none compared to the others. Taking a quick step back to allow the others to protect her, Snow summoned up a large amount of magical energy.
"Area heals!" Snow shouted. A holy light glittered down from the sky, healing the Players in one go. Their wounds closed, their drained stamina lessened, and they could once again feel the power to continue forward.
In exchange, Snow felt her magical energy-draining as some of the wounds that the Players sustained were a lot heavier than she thought. Even still, that did not run her dry as she still felt the endless magical energy inside her, bubbling in excitement to be let out once again.
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