New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live



From outside the darkness of the coliseum, Phoenix and Violette were winding down from their Aether-fuelled rampage, and about to rejoin the group of players on the ground. Said group, which was currently looking at the aftermath of the duo, slack-jawed and at a loss for words.

The marketplace they had been standing in the center of was a wreck.

It was like a volcano had blown up, burning the place to the ground, only to be washed away by a tsunami, and burned again in a never-ending cycle of absolute destruction.

Even SharpTusk, who had been told of the magical prowess of the two officers around a cold pint in the bars of Bastion City, could hardly believe his eyes right now.

"Whoever told me how these women had fought was wholly mistaken. He understated their power. Phoenix and Violette are not powerful mages. They are walking Armageddons…"

Meat-Shield, who had heard of this before, too, from the few players who had been present in the siege of Bastion City, nodded his head in shock. The recounting he had heard as well couldn't do justice to the destruction Phoenix and Violette had just unleashed.

There were few undead remaining after what just happened, and those that still moved were still advancing on them, no fear present in their eyes. But what little of them remained could hardly be a threat to the group of players.

Phoenix landed in the middle of the circle formation, her flames flickering out as sweat formed on her forehead, evaporating before it could drip. The steam coming off of her was thick, and her panting and red face made it obvious she had gone over her limitations.

Violette stretched her watery form into the circle as well, first enveloping Phoenix's steaming body before changing back into herself. The water that wrapped around Phoenix boiled almost instantly, before cooling her down as Violette took back form.

Phoenix looked at the little girl, who was shaky on her legs.

"Thanks, sweety. I needed that."

Violette nodded her head, looking dazed. It was easy to see she was also on the verge of collapsing.

Violette had used almost her entire mana pool to keep herself in water form, and her regen was now working overtime, just to fill back up, before she lost consciousness from mana deprivation.

Jeanne d'Arc whispered a soft incantation and a soft breeze washed over the two of them, making their minds clear out a bit.

Looking at her mana bar, Phoenix saw that her mana regeneration had doubled in speed, and she could already feel the weakness washing away from her mind and body.

She gazed at Jeanne, smiling softly.

"That's a useful skill to have. How often can you use it?"

Jeanne smiled back wryly.

"I'm sorry. I only have two charges of that per day. That was it."

Phoenix shook her head slightly.

"Don't worry about it, then. I asked just to know."

Around them, the battle was still ongoing, albeit at a much slower pace. Undead monsters were still coming from the side streets, their pace only slowed, not stopped.

She didn't know how many of them remained, but she had a feeling the end of this wave was nowhere near.

The cawing in the distance was also getting louder by the second, meaning whatever birds were making this noise, were getting near.

"Brace for aerial assault! Casters! Eyes to the sky!"

Phoenix may be tired and lacking mana to cast any powerful spells right now, but her commanding ability remained unaffected. She knew splitting the party's focus in two like this was subpar, but the melee players could hardly do anything about birds coming at them.

It was the casters' job to deal with those foes.

Only Jeanne d'Arc kept her eyes level, as she couldn't attack, anyway. At best, she could give a good whacking to anything that came close, to buy some time, but no more.

Twinxie, Peaceful Grove and Violette raised their gaze upward, just as the skies darkened. Above the marketplace, a flock of mixed birds started clotting out the sun as they circled the area, cawing madly.

Phoenix's face paled a bit.

'This is too much… I think we went atomic too soon…' she thought, realizing her mistake.

But a surge of mana from behind her grabbed her attention. Turning her head toward Peaceful Grove, Phoenix finally understood why the druid woman had been keeping her spells small.

The woman was chanting softly to herself, her eyes closed, hands clasped around her staff, as the amber head on top of it shone in golden rays.

After chanting for a few seconds, Peaceful Grove opened her eyes, coated in golden hues, and muttered, "Wrath of the Forest: Insect Swarm."

Phoenix could hear a faint buzzing sound, which was growing louder by the second, the air itself shaking slightly. From the south, a vision that marked her forever appeared.

A dark wave was coasting over the walls of this city, no end to it in sight, flying over the buildings and filling the streets as it made its way toward them. The closer it got, the more Phoenix shivered in disgust.

A wave of millions upon millions of flying bugs was swarming together. Wasps, bees, flying ants, locusts, and so many more bugs with wings, all grouped together, answering the druid's call to fight.

If any religious person were to see this, they would think god had struck again, to punish the wicked. The wave of buzzing insects crashed into the humongous flock of birds, the cawing intensifying.

Phoenix didn't know if she should shoot fire up there to help, or if she should focus back down on the ground threat. But the druid looked at her.

"I can call in over ten million insects at once. They'll deal with the flying threats. Leave this to me."

Her calm tone, face still devoid of emotion, disturbed Phoenix a bit. But she wouldn't take refuse help, even if it came from such repugnant things as bugs.

"Alright then. Casters, back up the front line! We're moving out!"

Phoenix guessed it was best to move toward where Astaroth had gone if they could. He might need help later, and it was their job to help him.

'Let's just hope he's okay.'

Astaroth's icon had gone grey for a while, not long after he bolted off to the East. His health was unmoving, and so was his mana, and this worried her.

There was no way Astaroth was fighting and not losing any health or mana. So he had to be in a zone that cut contact.

She only hoped they got to him and found him alive. If he were to turn to an undead, they were as good as done here.

Or if he died and got kicked out of the dungeon, there was no guarantee he could go back in, leaving them alone to face a foe that killed him.

Phoenix kept her worries to herself, hiding her emotions as best she could, and pushed the group Eastward.

'Please be safe…'

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