Chapter 303: Mine

The voice of the arena announcer echoed through the stadium, conveying the events to the match over the messy mix of sounds. Serenity’s attempts to calm the crowd with music, mixed in with the crowds yelling in disdain for one another. Everyone wanted to blame everyone else for the invasion that had just started, and few were interested in the match, but that changed with the announcer's voice.

Quiet began to creep over them slowly as many onlookers turned their attention to see what was happening. They caught the final glimpses of both Pyri and Sylvia’s bodies disintegrating from the arena match, eliminated.

“You aint the only one with wings.” Seraxus grinned with pride as he settled back onto the ground in front of Aegis, pulling his black bat-like wings inward. “I just got mine, but, yo, you gotta admit I’m already pretty good with em, eh? Check it!” He suddenly extended the wings and flicked them in Darkshot’s direction, releasing a black wave of energy towards him.

Aegis’ eyes went wide, he saw Darkshot too engaged with Zuon to possibly have a chance at dodging, and even if he’d wanted to, the wave was too wide. 

Aegis dug his own wings into the ground and then used them to propel himself forward with incredible speed to intercept the wave diagonally, positioning himself between Darkshot and it, and bracing it.

You take 0 shadow damage.

Before the wave had even hit him, but the moment he’d started moving, Seraxus had turned and swung his sword downward in the opposite direction, aiming at Rakkan and his echoes.

Once the flash of light and shadow faded from the impact of the first wave on Aegis’ shield, he spotted the second soaring through the arena towards Rakkan and quickly wiggled his fingers to create a guard, blocking it.

You take 0 shadow damage.

“Dang. You’re fast for a defensive healer type. Most with your archetype are a bit clunky and slow—easy to out maneuver. I guess the leather armor has somethin’ to do with it, eh? Not a bad build…” Seraxus commented as he started pacing in front of Aegis. Aegis, on the other hand, said nothing. He was eying every single movement and tell that Seraxus was giving him in order to anticipate what he’d try next. 

Aegis could hear the sounds of his party members fighting - the blasts of music mixed in with Darkshot’s spells, the shadow stepping sound of Lina as she jumped around Hajax, and the thuds and clanks of Rakkan and Gambit. He couldn’t turn to look at any of them, though, and relied only on his interface to keep track of their resources.

They were taking hits, but nothing that aura of healing wasn’t going to be able to handle so far. 

“Aite. Let’s have some fun with these bad boys, shall we?” Seraxus cheered to his massive audience of viewers. As he spoke, he winked in the direction of the livestreaming icon floating above him, then extended his wings out wide.”Tryin’ to hit this guy is fun and all, but we’ve got some good music playin’. It’d be better if we made him dance, right?” Seraxus laughed, then waved his wings out towards Lina and Rakkan, while swinging his sword in Darkshot’s direction.

Simultaneously, three black waves of magical shadow energy shot out from him in different directions. Aegis reacted quickly, blocking one with his shield and the other two with guard so that they couldn’t get far. Despite having watched the analyst's video on Seraxus’ movements, he knew nothing about how Seraxus was going to move or attack now simply because of the wings' existence. He was having to rely solely on his character's speed and his own reaction time, which made him just barely block the waves before they were able to hit any of his companions.

Immediately after he blocked them, though, Seraxus jumped into the air at the center of the arena and sent three more waves at them from different angles, around Aegis’ defenses.

Aegis quickly reacted by jumping into the air as well to block the one nearest to him that was flying to Darkshot, then recast a guard in front of where Lina was fighting Hajax, and Gambit was fighting Rakkan.

“Doesn’t that attack have a cooldown? Or a mana cost?” Aegis grumbled in annoyance as his feet and Seraxus’ touched back onto the tiled floor of the arena.

“Hah!” Seraxus jeered. “Bro, I’m the Avatar of Hatred now. You think I gotta worry ‘bout shit like cooldowns? Ain't no way!” He laughed, followed by three more black waves being shot out from new angles. Aegis had to quickly prevent any from getting past his defenses, but managed. 

“Step, 1, 2, 3,” Seraxus taunted as he fired off three more, forcing Aegis to ‘dance’ to his attacks and block them again. The moment Aegis jumped and double guarded, Seraxus started laughing at him hysterically. “Yo he even synched up with Serenity’s music that time. He’s a good dancer.” He spoke to his audience.

Despite the mockery, though, the crowd of the stadium remained attentive. Hae-won was beginning to cast the fight, her commentary explaining what was happening for the spectators in the stand. Serenity was playing her heart out, doing her best to affect Seraxus’ wings, but it just wasn’t enough. Makaroth and Lilya, too, took note of this as they watched the scene unfold in silence. 

“You realize, if I stop blocking your attacks, they’ll kill your party members too, right?” Aegis glared at him.

“Eh, maybe.” Seraxus shrugged nonchalantly. “Difference between me ‘n you is, I don’t need ‘em to win. You, on the other hand, can’t kill shit without your buddies' help.” Seraxus chuckled. “So ya see, I ain’t even gotta beat you and that silly shield. I just gotta kill your friends.” He grinned before shooting more waves out at them, this time much more quickly.

Aegis managed to block all three, but Seraxus sped up and fired another set almost immediately after, then another, and another. Just as Seraxus stopped talking in-between his attacks and got serious, Aegis too had to move to keep up and ‘dance’ to his rhythm. It was manageable, at least.

That is until there was a sudden violent quaking that shook not just the stadium, but the entirety of the island of Tarolas. The shaking was too intense to have been caused by the destruction of a single island stone—Aegis could only theorize that two had been destroyed simultaneously as he lost his footing, stumbling out of the path of one black wave and mis-aiming his guards.

Combatant Darkshot has been defeated.
Combatant Rakkan has been defeated.

Aegis failed to block all three strikes due to the quake, but Lina was able to react quick enough and shadow step over the one that was flying towards her. 

“Aha, dang, that’s unlucky timing bro!” Seraxus mocked as both Darkshot and Rakkan’s bodies began to fade from the arena, and Lina shadow stepped to get near Aegis with her daggers drawn. 

She said nothing to him, but the two exchanged anxious looks before they moved closer together defensively. As they did, Hajax, Zuon and Gambit began to converge on them from around the arena, moving closer to Seraxus to be at his side as he stood in the center with his floating weapons and spread wings. 

It only took a few seconds after the announcer’s voice spoke out, and the audience lost interest in the match. They once again began yelling at Makaroth and the other VGN players, blaming them for the state of things. They were angry not just of the wings on Seraxus’ back, but the now on-going invasion that was taking place on the rest of the island. 

With their yelling, shouting, and bickering getting lower and louder, Serenity’s music was drowned out once again, leaving her efforts to be in vain.

Aegis took stock of all this. He eyed his opponents in the arena, and the events transpiring in the stands around them. 

  “Tough luck, Mr. Harbinger of light. But looks like you ain't gonna be the hero that saves the day this time. There ain't no hero in my story.” He cheered excitedly, getting smiles from his 3 party members as they lined up beside him.  Aegis didn’t respond, but instead closed his eyes and took a deep breath to clear his head before opening them again. 

“I can’t protect you from them. Not forever. Dragging this out is pointless, it’ll only give them more time to figure out your movements and playstyle.” Aegis whispered to Lina.

“I think I can dodge them on my own. They are fast, but…”

“No. There’s no point. From this position, we can’t win. As long as he has those wings and can fire those wide, long range shadow waves, this is unwinnable.” Aegis tilted his head down as he continued to think, while Seraxus and his party were busy speaking to his audience rather than going in for the kill on Aegis and Lina.

“So what do we do?” Lina asked.

“I…” Aegis hesitated, looking around for a solution desperately, but finding none, until his eyes landed on Makaroth in the stands. In that moment, Makaroth was looking back at him, and for a brief second they were staring right at each other. Makaroth had a look of concern on his face, and something about it just pissed Aegis the hell off.

“Shadow steal voice amplification from Zuon and cast it on me.” Aegis turned to Lina.

“Huh?” Lina looked at him confused. “What is that going to…?”

“Just trust me.” Aegis replied. “Once you’ve done it, let them take you out, don’t reveal to them any more of how you play. They may not look like it,” Aegis turned to look at their opponents once more as they were staring intensely at the pair, “But they’re smart. They’re watching every movement we make and are learning how we play.”

“Are you sure?” Lina asked to confirm.

“Yeah.” He nodded back. Lina wasted no more time and threw a smoke bomb at Seraxus and his companions, then shadowstepped into it. A second after she had, Hajax was able to remove the smoke and make Lina visible. In that time, she shot the dark tendrils out from the shadows they cast beneath themselves, ripping the skill out of Zuon.

Once he had stolen it, she turned to face Aegis and shot the spell out towards him, casting voice amplification a second before Seraxus reached out and grabbed Lina by the arm, so that she couldn’t shadowstep away.

“Ay yo Aegis, I got yer-” He started speaking in a taunting voice, as they surrounded the grappled Lina, but Lina didn’t let them finish. She smirked at Seraxus with a devilish grin before tapping her interface.

Combatant Lina has forfeited.

This act alone gave pause to Seraxus and his group, and they all turned to look at Aegis.

“What’d she steal?” Seraxus asked.

“Voice amplification.” Zuon replied quickly. Aegis took a fighting stance as all four enemies postured to attack him, weapons and fists at the ready. 

“If they were only paying attention…” Hae-won sighed in frustration to herself, not being heard over the angry mob, for she noticed something that none of them had.

It was four on one, but the last act of Lina had somehow put Seraxus and his entire party on edge. It was as if they were now taking Aegis much more seriously than they had been before, and the reason was simple.

“He’s plannin’ somethin.” Seraxus explained to the others. “We all studied him, right? This guy’s a schemer. So whatever he’s plannin’, don’t let him do it. Kill him quick.” Seraxus ordered them, and they all nodded along. 

Voice Amplification(Shadow Steal)

Amplify the sound of your voice, increasing its distance traveled and volume to allow others to hear you clearly from great distances. Distance, clarity and mana cost increase with each skill level.

Duration: 10 Minutes remaining

Source: Lina(Zuon)

Just as Aegis eyed the buff on his peripheral vision, the attacks came at him. He dug his heels into the sand, flicked his wings out, lifted his shield and claw, and prepared. It started with Gambit casting his monk spirit realm around them, allowing him to jump behind Aegis and form his spectral arms to increase the amount of punches he could throw out.

Following this, Zuon began firing off musical notes and multi shots, and a cascade of projectiles showered down around Aegis. Then came Seraxus. His floating weapons, his wings, and his black blade struck at Aegis from the front.

Aegis wiggled his fingers to cancel the aura of light and replace it with aura of beauty, so that he was recovering both health and stamina passively. The result of this action meant that the arena was flooded with black mist emanating from the Sword of hatred, but Aegis’ wings of light were enough to keep it clear from his immediate surroundings. 

Despite their increased aggression, the group cycled their attacks cautiously so as to not accidentally get caught up in Aegis’ virabhadra attack. They were not yet sure what he was planning with Lina’s last desperate act, but they were all very much aware of Aegis’ most dangerous offensive cooldown of which had yet to use, and the more damage they managed to deal to him the more threatening it became.

As minutes passed, though, Aegis didn’t use it. He held onto it and instead focused everything he had on dodging or blocking the black sword, and deflecting as many of the other attacks as possible.

He wasn’t able to get them all. Given that he’d been having trouble just keeping up with Seraxus by himself, it was impossible for him to keep up with all three, but his high level mithral gear began to do some heavy lifting. 

He wasn’t taking that much damage from their attacks, and was able to cast healing on himself to supplement his auras while dodging. His maneuvers and movements began to look ridiculous as he got used to their attacking styles.

Seraxus, who was desperately trying to end the match, continuously maneuvered his black sword around Aegis by using switch with his floating weapons. Aegis, however, made sure to never lose track of its position and always block the sword with his Star of Light shield, rather than try to rely on his wings.

This resulted in Aegis revealing to his opponents the purpose of all the straps he had Yuki and Tullan put on the back of the shield. He began to, like he did back in the FFA match, change what limb he was using to hold the shield. He rotated it from left arm, to right arm, to even sliding his leather shoes into the straps to kick the shield backward and brace a strike.

At this point, Aegis had spent so much time with a shield on his arm that it felt like another limb, and his use of it far surpassed any other skill or ability he had available to him.

“It’s just one fricken guy, just kill him.” Hajax shouted in annoyance at his companions. He was hanging back to not get in the way, but was slowly getting more and more frustrated as it dragged out. 

The match went past the 5 minute mark, and Aegis continued to hold his ground despite the healing penalty that was imposed on the combatants.

“What’s your plan? Bore us to death?” Seraxus sneered after another failed attack from his sword of hatred. Aegis didn’t respond, though, and instead remained completely silent, eying the duration of the voice amplification buff as it counted down in his peripheral vision.

Each time Aegis blocked a strike from Seraxus’ sword with his shield, it released a blinding flash of light and shadow. And each time, it drew more and more attention from the stands onto the match. Slowly, the bickering died down as all eyes were forced to focus on the flashes of light.

Slowly, the broadcasters from other news broadcasts, and the viewers of his and Aegis’ livestream stopped yelling, pointing blame, and complaining about who had caused the mess, and how much they felt betrayed. Slowly, they were all watching Aegis, amazed at what they were seeing.

For the first time since the sword’s inception, someone was standing up to Seraxus and holding their ground. And not just Seraxus, but his nearly full party of players. And he was doing it on his own, without taking any breaks or making any mistakes. 

Unlike with Feng’s illusions and trickery, it was much easier for the world to grasp what Aegis was doing, because every single time Aegis blocked the sword, the blinding flash let the world know he had done it.

It wasn’t until the 4th island stone was destroyed that Seraxus’ noticed. The quaking began, shaking the stadium around them violently, but eventually settled. In that time, all of Seraxus’ party disengaged from Aegis to avoid potentially being hit by a virabhadra, but it never came.

Instead, what followed the shaking was silence. It was then that Seraxus realized that, despite not doing anything offensively to Seraxus and his group, Aegis had gotten everyone’s attention.

“Good. Now you’re all finally listening.” Aegis noticed the silence too, and his voice amplified to carry not just through the stadium, but out of the arena and across a good section of Storm Top as well. The viewers of both his stream, Seraxus’, Makaroth’s, Feng’s, Serenity’s and the many others could hear him loud and clear.

“Seraxus told the truth. But only part of it.” Aegis backed up, jumping from his opponents to get some distance. “Makaroth and I, we don’t get along at all. That’s why I renamed myself from Winter. I wanted to get to the top and crush him on my own, but he didn’t like that, not one bit. So you know what? He waited until I was logged out on my birthday, then ferried this idiot to my island to burn my city down.” Aegis pointed aggressively at Seraxus, who smirked and shrugged.

“Look at him, all proud of how he got to be Makaroth’s lapdog, and be his good lil puppy. I bet he threw you a nice treat for that, EH!?” Aegis shouted at Seraxus, knocking the smirk off his face really quick. “Then, get this, Makaroth staged it so he’d swoop in and save me from Seraxus. They arranged all that, to put on a good show for you all. But no no no, that was not enough. There’s way more.” Aegis turned to see Makaroth looking down with wide eyes of disbelief at him, and a hint of confusion.

“Once they had this nice stage all set, they didn’t want to risk letting me show up to ruin their fun. So they hired the Shattered Pirates to take us out on my way back from the advanced quest. When they failed, the pirates took the blame for Makaroth. I don’t have proof, but I just know he’s the one who hired them to attack us. But they failed, they didn’t stop me.”

“Next, he used his VGN buddies to fill up all tournament slots for the month leading up to the preliminaries, just to prevent me and my party members from earning points to qualify. If anyone tried to sign up for one of those matches, you’ll know what I’m talking about. They were all booked, because of him.” Aegis pointed at Makaroth.

“When I found a way around this, to earn points to qualify by participating in FFA brawls, they also discovered this workaround and flooded the signups for those as well, including in hiring 13 mercenary players to team up against me and Finley, so that I couldn’t qualify. But, that didn’t stop me.”

“So guess what he did next? He hired the Shattered Pirates to attack Kalmoore and burn all of our airships to the ground, paying off some of the top guild leaders to participate in the attack. These same guild leaders then defected to Tarolas and Savringard, leaking my secrets on where to find mithral. But he couldn’t have anticipated I had a dragon.” Aegis pointed up to Ysil’mareina soaring and roaring high in the sky above them. “So, that didn’t stop me either.”

“And now I’m here. And it’s not because I have a grudge against this petty, sad excuse for a parent.” Aegis pointed at Makaroth once more. “It’s because of this guy.” He turned his finger and gaze back to Seraxus. “I don’t care about Daehyun’s island. I don’t care about if he sinks Savringard, or Lanusk, or if Feng gets all the mithral swords he wants from Jensora. I don’t even care about Makaroth and this dumb show he tried to put on. The only thing I care about is getting revenge for what he did to Rakkan.”

“But as long as he has those wings, I can’t beat him. Because of you absolute, selfish, brainless morons!” Aegis shouted angrily at the audience, shocking them with gasps and wide eyes. He didn’t just motion to the audience in the stands, but his livestream viewers. “You’re all getting pissy, spreading hatred, and giving this guy wings. LIKE ANY OF YOU HAVE A RIGHT TO BE PISSED OFF. I’M THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO SHOULD BE PISSED OFF. So do me a favor, and shut the hell up. If you can’t not be angry, then just log out of the game world and watch from outside the simulation, so you stop feeding him power for his wings. I don’t care what island you’re on, you’re all making him stronger for shit you don’t even partially understand.”

“Because all of this hatred and anger swirling around, it does not belong to you. It’s mine.” Aegis finished, breathing heavily after having released his true feelings. There was a moment of silence as everyone looked at him with dumbfounded expressions, which further annoyed him still. “Did I stutter? I said log your dumbasses out of the game if you can’t control your emotions. That means you guys, and you guys. All of you. Unless of course, you want all your islands to sink into the abyss?” Aegis asked, and this time, he got a reaction. 

To the amazement of Makaroth, Hae-won, Serenity, and many others, countless numbers of players who were standing in the audience began to log out. And it didn’t stop there—those who were watching the match unfold from their livestream viewers across the entire Shattered World started to log out. From Kalmoore, to Lanusk, to Savringard, and many others. 

All of those that were feeding in negative emotions into Seraxus’ sword began to leave, and as they did, the glistening ebony wings lost their shine. The black mist emanating from the sword lessened, but it didn’t stop completely.

“Hah. That was your scheme? Yell at everyone? That ain’t gonna make you win this match, bro.” Seraxus mocked as he started stomping towards Aegis once more, sword at the ready.

“That’s fine.” Aegis shook his head dismissively. “You need to win every fight from now on.” Aegis turned to glare at Seraxus with the most aggressive eyes he could muster. “I only need to win one.”

Combatant Aegis has forfeited.