In the early morning light, the sun shone on A beautiful white citadel. So clean were it's surfaces, it almost shined like it held a sun of its own. The citadel was located in the middle of a colourful city, with rooftops all different shades of purple and red. From an above view it looked like a sea of roses. The city was ringed by a large Outer Wall. Every inch of the top of the walls were covered with soldiers. Majority holding ranged weapons, some held long ladder-pushing spears and swords in the other hand.

 

Outside the wall was an army of epic proportion. Looking like a black wave, covering the once beautiful pastures. After every step the army took, the soil was turned a sickly black rot. Like the very earth was poisoned by their presence. The army was a mix of undead, from skeletal soldiers in rusted weapons and armour to large abominations made of a patchwork of body parts. At the back of the undead legions was an army of humans, consisting of soldiers in obsidian armour and black robed sorcerers.

 

The army had been attacking the walls of the painted City for over a day now and starting to gain more ground atop the walls with every push. Four men stood atop the citadel's highest balcony. They gazed upon the army preparing for another push. Their faces were the very picture of worry as they argued.

 

"Bloody Leonard! His undead army is never ending and with him providing his mana in a shared pool with the necromancers, they just continue to summon more undead the more our soldiers die!"

 

"The only way to break this siege is to sally forth. We must kill Leonard and his necromancers!"

 

"How do we do that you suppose!? Our armies have been destroyed in our last attempt and we have used up all the favor our Gods were willing to lend us. Besides a few thousand NPC soldiers and guild members, we only have the mercenary companies left. Not to mention the price to make them sally forth is astronomical ,as even they know it will be suicide!"

 

"Plus, there is only one man strong enough to have a chance of killing Leonard and his price is the highest of them all"

 

The four men turned to look at a man sitting on the balcony with them. He was in full plate armour. You couldn't see his face as he was wearing his [Legendary] Winged crusader helmet. Only the soft glow from a pair of purple coloured eyes could be seen in the visor's opening. A large Great Sword was held in his hands point down. Its silver surface glowed with tiny little runes etched all over the blade.

 

The oldest of the four decided to stop the group's bickering.

 

"Enough! This is the last city of our combined territories. Although Leonard has beaten our armies again and again. He is not without loss himself. His personal Death Knight guard has only 500 left. We all know how much money we have all invested in this war, in-game funds and our real-world wealth too. What's a little more to be able to turn this thing around?"

 

The rest of the men reluctantly nodded in agreement.

 

"Good! I will use my last [Meteor shower] Scroll to create an opening for 1000 mercenaries to break through. They need to create an opening in the enemy's army for [Gabriel] to safely make it to Leonard. You three must hold the walls with all your might in the meantime."

 

All the men nodded and after ironing out a couple more details, they headed off to do their individual tasks as the oldest of the four approached the great-sword wielding man.

 

"What say you, Gabriel. You must have heard the plan. Can it be done? Can you kill Leonard?"

 

The armoured man didn't look at the man talking to him, he just answered.

 

"Will you accept my price?" Gabriel said in gruff voice.

 

"Yes, half will be sent to your account now and half upon completion." The older man replied with a pained face.

 

The armored man, finally moved. He stood up and approached the edge of the balcony. His large frame almost blocking the view of the battle.

 

"Consider it done. I will be at the portcullis waiting for the others. Tell them to hurry up" Gabriel coldly ordered.

 

With that he jumped off the balcony, shooting down towards the empty streets like a rocket. His feet slammed into the ground creating cracks from his powerful impact before striding to the walls like he didn't just jump from a 500 foot drop.

 

1000 Mercenaries were at the front gates atop powerful warhorses. All holding different weapons and equipment. Some of the best mercenaries in [Valhalla] can be found within this group. Once Gabriel entered the scene, the men moved their horses to the side as he walked into the gathering. Never stopping his confident strides to the front.

 

Once at the front, he let out a sharp whistle as an animal came trotting over, it looked like a mixture of dragon and horse. Covered head to toe in powerful armour.

 

Gabriel jumped into the saddle and held his great sword across the pommel. In his hands the massive sword looked as light as a feather.

 

From outside the walls came the loud sounds of something impacting the ground, creating tremors felt through the whole city and scaring some of the less-trained horses. The loud impacts continued for 30 seconds before the gate was raised.

 

"Charge!!!" One of the older mercenaries at the front of the group yelled.

 

The mercenaries used a triangle formation, with Gabriel at the point. Piercing through the droves of Undead in front like a hot knife through butter. They made quick progress before reaching the Ghoul Behemoths.

 

"Loose Formation!" Gabriel commanded.

 

Scattering to reduce the powerful attacks of the large creatures. The mercenaries number started to steadily decline. Gabriel had not moved from his position and continued to charge at full speed in a straight line. Causally swinging his sword every now and then, reaping a life every time his attack landed.

 

600 mercenaries including Gabriel reached the backlines and met an equally fierce charge from Leonard's personal elite guard; the infamous Death Knights. On their undead horses and with Obsidian coloured armour they looked menacing. The two groups slammed into each other, as people were knocked off their horses and spells flew at each other from opposing mage units.

 

Gabriel kept moving forwards, as everyone else around him entered a chaotic melee. He only had eyes for one man, standing atop a raised platform. Covered in black and red armour with a large skull adorned on his chest plate. Crossed behind the skull was a lightning bolt and hammer in a X position. Menacing spikes rising out of his pauldrons and on his wrist guard. Gave the man quite the intimidating presence.

 

With a greatsword of his own, he watched Gabriel approach and leapt off the platform as he barreled towards Gabriel atop his mount. Noticing the hulking figure coming towards him. Gabriel stood on his saddle and jumped. Using the momentum of his mounts charge to propel himself straight at the incoming Leonard.

 

With a swing of their mighty swords, they met in blade to blade with a mighty clang. Now locked in a X position, both of them stalled in midair for a second before being blown back by the others force. Gabriel landed a couple of meters away with a gentle flip. When he looked up, he noticed the spiked armoured Leonard doing the same and landing smoothly on his own feet. They both gazed at each other for a brief moment, before firing off their most powerful skills.

 

Gabriel pointed his great sword forwards in a two handed grip. Activating his [Legendary] skill [Dragon’s breath]. His silver great sword started to glow a deep red, starting from the hilt and moving up to the tip. Once the red hit the tip, a gout of fire shout out towards Leonard. The fire became larger the further it went from the blade. Appearing like a twister wreathed in deep red flames.

On Leonard’s side, he stabbed his great sword in the ground and pointed two hands forward with open palms. Leonard activated his [Legendary] spell [Rivers of Styx]. Leonard summoned a stream of corrupted water, complete with flesh and bones mixed in. The water was a dark yellow, almost like pjs and filled the air with the stench of rotting flesh. The stream barreled towards Gabriel's oncoming flames.

 

The two attacks met in the middle and slammed into each other. The force carried the attacks up and into the air. The two powerful skills stayed at the same distance and were trying to over power the other. Finally when neither made any ground, Gabriel and Leonard both cancelled their skills.

 

Both men stared at each other and seemed to come to a silent aggreement. They picked up their swords and strode steadily towards each other. Dragging their greatswords behind them, leaving long furrows in the dirt as they walked.

 

The spiked-armoured man finally spoke the first words between them, breaking the instilling silence.

 

"You shouldn't have come here Gabriel. I told you not to take up arms against me, time and time again. If you just accepted my offer this could have all gone a different way!” Leonard said in his loud over-bearing voice.

 

"Accepting your offer was just putting a collar around my throat. I would have become your faithful hound. Nothing more! You would have never given me what I was due!" Gabriel bellowed.

 

"You Fool! I have my principles as well. I couldn't shame my family over a mistake!" Leonard said.

 

"A mistake.... that's a nice way to put it Leonard. It doesn't matter now, I have already put the whole mess behind me. Now killing you is just business" Gabriel scoffed at the word 'mistake', his voice turning emotionless by the end.

 

Gabriel raised his greatsword to the sky.

 

"[Thor]! Lend me your strength as your faithful champion!" Gabriel bellowed to the sky above.

 

A large dark cloud formed above Gabriel. Blue streaks of lightning shot between the clouds, looking like the very sky was forming cracks. A loud rumble swept across the battlefield, accompanied by the sound of glass breaking. A huge blue and violet coloured lightning bolt fell from the sky. Striking down on Gabriel and wrapping around his body. His greatsword was now covered in snakes of lightning, as it coiled around the blade.

 

Leonard slammed his own greatsword into the ground, point down.

 

"My lady [Hel]! Grant your obedient servant the power to crush my enemies!" Leonard roared.

 

Pairs of ghastly hands rose from the ground, grabbing onto Leonard's ankles. Faces of tortured souls from the depths of the underworld appeared next. They let out soul-piercing wails from their elongated mouths, breathing out blackened flames unto Leonard. It covered his body from head to toe. The flames were not hot but gave off a bone-chilling cold. As the ground froze beneath Leonards armored covered boots.

 

The slit in Gabriel's helmet started to give off a piercing purple as he watched the display. The light from his eyes became so bright, it was almost blinding.

 

They both charged, wreathed in their new Godly elements. The two looked like a ball of black flames and violet lightning hurtling towards each other. Any spectators could barely make out the features of the two combatants, as their respective elements met first. Giving off a macabre of lights and sounds. They slammed their swords against each other again and again. Kicking up dirt and debris in their wake. Everyone else locked in combat gave the two titans fighting a wide berth. As a casual swing from either of them, could bring anyone else's HP plummeting down.

 

The two were even for the most part, Gabriel seemed to be slightly faster but Leonard was stronger. Their elements were also equally matched in strength, as the lightning from Gabriel tried to pierce thorough the black flames. While Leonard's flames tried to consume Gabriel's body.

 

The ground was littered with frost and scorch marks. Their battle continued for a solid 15 minutes before Gabriel slipped past an over extended swing by Leonard. Gabriel got within Leonard's guard and pulled out a gold encrusted dagger that had a strong holy aura surrounding it.

 

Leonard eyes widened at the sight of the blade; he however was not quick enough to avoid the dagger. Gabriel stabbed straight through the spiked-armour and slammed the blade directly in Leonard's heart. The dagger seemed to turn into dust after being used, leaving only a bloody hole in Leonard's chest.

 

Gabriel disengaged and took a couple of steps back as Leonard dropped to his knees. He checked his status screen and noticed his massive HP pool was dropping fast. Leonard stared hard at Gabriel and seemed to finally come to a decision.

 

"You are a fool Gab. You are powerful in Deliverance Online I will give you that but you are just one man. You know the four-guild alliance won't be able to stop my army today, even with my death. Using the [God-slaying] Dagger to kill me though has made me truly furious. I didn't want to resort to underhanded tactics to beat you but you have left me no choice!" Leonard snarled before talking into his PM for a moment.

 

He looked at Gabriel with sad eyes and said before his HP bottomed out.

 

"You should have just joined me boy, now you will never see the light of day again and there will be no Gods to save you in the place I plan on putting you." Leonard said with a voice laced with pity.

 

Gabriel had a look of confusion on his face as Leonard's body toppled over. The last words of Leonard were ominous. The battle still raged around him, though for Gabriel his job was done. Gabriel was about to call his mount, when he got a system message, that made Gabriel's face pale.

 

[You are being ejected from Deliverance Online. The emergency sign-out process has begun. Please hold for 5 seconds]

 

Gabriel had his mouth agape before he softly muttered.

 

"Oh shit, it's a trap"