As soon as he accepted the invitation, a party list appeared in Severance's field of view. To his surprise, it didn't just have Awesome Dude's name, but two others as well. There was Siegfried the Third and Saffron the Second. Siegfried was the warrior who'd stood up to Kobha, while Saffron was the one who'd just been Revived.
It felt weird to be in a party with Elionans who weren't of his clan. Severance briefly wondered if Maun or even Olen would be angry. Then he mentally shrugged away that thought. It was just a party. Why would they care about that?
"Do you know these guys?" he asked Awesome Dude, keeping his voice low.
"They're from my clan, the Eternal Champions," Awesome Dude helpfully explained. "Siegfried and Saffron are pretty cool guys. I've helped them out before."
+1 Wisdom
Congratulations, Severance! You have reached Level 26.
You have unassigned skills.
The notification appeared, just as Awesome Dude waggled his limp arm. "Hey, can you fix this?"
It wasn't a good time to worry about new skills, although Severance already had half a mind to risk it anyway. He had a feeling that Purify would be a good skill to learn right about now. First though, he'd get his friend fixed up.
"Yeah, sure." He lifted his war fans, preparing to cast Mend.
"Feh!" Kobha the Chosen snarled. He blurred, before vanishing in a way that reminded Severance of Maun.
"Look out!" With a warning cry, Siegfried lunged towards Severance and Awesome Dude.
In response, Awesome Dude's eyes widened. He wheeled and flung himself at Severance, tackling him to the ground. Severance's face got shoved into hard-packed dirt. "Oof!"
Metal clashed overhead, once, twice, and a third time before a wordless curse rang out. The heavy weight bearing down upon Severance shifted, translating into a knee that dug into his lower back.
"Get off," Severance grunted. He pressed his palms flat against the ground in an attempt to push himself up.
"Hehe, sorry," came Awesome Dude's cheerful voice. The knee pressed down briefly before Awesome Dude managed to extricate himself. "That Kobha guy moves pretty quick, you know. You gotta watch out."
On either side of them, Kobha and Siegfried engaged in a stare-off, circling each other like prowling panthers. Severance found himself sitting in the middle, and he absolutely did not want to be caught in another clash.
He hastily got to his feet and moved back. A sudden roar alerted him to Kopa, who charged over with sheer rage contorting his features into something animalistic.
"I got it!" Awesome Dude immediately clapped his hands together into a familiar praying manner. Well, one hand kind of weakly slapped against the other as he had to jerk his shoulder in order to get his limp arm to flop upwards. Somehow he managed, his good hand grasping onto the dead one in an impressive feat. He concentrated, remaining motionless while Kopa stampeded the last few feet.
"Lullaby!" Awesome Dude shouted.
At once Kopa skidded to a stop, outstretched hands mere inches from Severance. He swayed, chin dropping to his chest, eyes sliding halfway shut. A guttural snore burst from somewhere deep within his chest.
Severance let out a disbelieving laugh. "That actually worked?"
"Best skill in the game," Awesome Dude proudly came to stand beside him. "Though it doesn't always work. It's like a 50/50 chance with these guys. And it's totally useless against monsters. But it's awesome when it does work, right?"
If it hadn't worked, Severance was pretty sure he'd be Reviving back in the city center. He shook his head wordlessly.
A health bar flashed vibrant red in the party list.
Severance's head jerked around, eyes narrowing in the source. Saffron, the Champion he'd Revived, stumbled back into a cloud of foul orange smoke, one arm raised to cover his own nose and mouth. The third Chosen, Kova, threw small thin blades after him. Most soared harmlessly into the smoke, but a lucky one or two managed to nick Saffron.
"Mend," Severance softly said, while slashing one fan through the air. Healing winds gusted towards Saffron. It tore into the orange smoke and found its target within. In one surge, Saffron's health soared into orange.
"Whoa!" Awesome Dude trotted around Severance, looking him up and down. Severance gave him a sideways glance, wondering what had the weird Shade so excited now. Maybe he was impressed by the powerful healing skill? "I just realized you got a new coat!"
Or not.
Severance's hand twitched, almost throwing off his next skill cast. "Kopa's going to wake up soon," he warned.
Awesome Dude just grinned. "Don't worry. I'll just put him back to sleep. It's all good."
"Mend," Severance sighed. There was a 50/50 chance that it wouldn't work again. But whatever. He was more than happy to let Awesome Dude deal with his own mess. As for his own part, Saffron was now safely in the green.
He then glanced at Awesome Dude's arm, a hint of frown in his expression. Things were under control at the moment, so he might as well take care of that. It looked awful. Awesome Dude's entire arm had turned grey and it looked more dead than alive. The wound itself was entirely black, oozing a gray pus instead of blood.
The flashing indicator beside the Shade's name in the party list indicated it was a poison debuff of sorts, but what kind of nasty poison exactly did Kobha have on his blade? Severance had never seen anything like it.
"Mend," he murmured, and watched as the gentle light swirled around Awesome Dude's damaged arm. Like usual, it soaked into the affected flesh, closing the blackened wound. Yet it didn't seem to touch the gray cast left behind by the injury. Neither did the poison debuff fade from Awesome Dude's name.
Severance frowned. Maybe he could try-
The world lit up in a brilliant flash of light. A wall of heat slammed into him, filling Severance's vision in soundless white.
When he next blinked, he lay flat on his back, staring up at swirling gray smoke while an acrid burnt stench filled his nostrils. A few flecks of snow floated in his vision. He had to blink a couple more times to be rid of them.
Dazed, he pushed himself to a sitting position. What just happened?
"Sev! You gotta get up!" Awesome Dude's voice sounded so far away. And then it wasn't, because Awesome Dude was right there in front of him, facing away from him, both claw blades desperately holding off what could only be a giant meat cleaver. Whatever had knocked Severance flat had gotten him as well, because he looked rough, with clothes torn and blood seeping down his face.
Both Awesome Dude's and Siegfried's health bars were orange and dropping fast. Saffron's sat empty, grayed out. He was officially dead. Again.
Severance glanced up, saw the wielder of the meat cleaver snarling, and he scrambled to his feet. His jaw almost dropped at the sight of several more Chosen swarming into the street.
That wasn't good.
Awesome Dude threw off the cleaver with a grunt of effort. "Venom Claw!"
He slipped in under the cleaver and swiped his claws through the Chosen's large belly. Flesh split apart, a sickly burst of greenish mist rising from the wound.
The Chosen sank to his knees, his giant cleaver slipping from lax fingers to clatter onto the ground. Severance was trying very hard not to stare at the soft pink intestines peeking through the horrendous wound.
"Where'd these guys come from?" Awesome Dude asked, as if he were a mere bystander rather than a participant. The fact he'd disemboweled a man didn't appear to register.
The sight was so surreal that Severance's brain nearly shorted out. Chosen ran towards them, a few stopping to help Kobha, who'd been badly hurt by the Eternal Champion, Siegfried the Third.
Siegfried himself was at the far end of the street, his back against the wall as he stoically defended himself against three other Chosen. He had a slender throwing knife in one hand and a heavy, nicked axe in the other.
We're going to die, Severance thought faintly. His defense skills were horribly lacking, and Awesome Dude would last maybe two seconds against the horde of irrational Chosen. Nothing they could do would save them at this point.
"Wow, there's a lot of them!" Awesome Dude grinned, and he smacked his two claw blades together. The clash of metal created sparks. "This is gonna be fun!" And then he bounded forward once more, charging headlong into the crowd.
Severance groaned. His friend was insane. He almost couldn't bring himself to watch the unfolding disaster. And what a disaster it was.
Movement flashed across his peripheral vision. That was all he glimpsed before Awesome Dude was deleted in an instant.
His name in the party list turned gray and dark, just like Saffron's.
Severance's eyes grew wide. The Shade hadn't even reached the Chosen. He hung limply from a spear that protruded through his chest. And behind him, holding said spear effortlessly with a single hand, stood a tall and ominous figure.
Blackened metal formed an intricate armor that clung to a masculine form; the newcomer was a tall and lean predator that was nothing like Severance had seen before. Even the spear was a savage thing, taller than the warrior himself, all sharp lines and cruel edges.
With the face hidden behind an angular helmet, it was impossible to see who it was. Not that Severance wanted to. He stared at his friend's limp body, stunned into silence as the tall warrior tilted his spear downwards.
Gravity helped Awesome Dude's body to slide to the end, where it plopped unceremoniously onto the ground. With a savage swipe to the side, the warrior shook the worst of the blood free from his weapon. Then his helmet head turned to face Severance.
Panic clawed at his ribcage like a wild beast, yet Severance might as well have been a tree rooted to the ground. There was a strange name appearing over the warrior's head in Elionan gray: Knight Sessh.
A Knight? Severance almost choked. What kind of knight was this?
The helmet shifted ever so slightly, the chin lowering a fraction of an inch. A terrible sense of doom suddenly descended upon Severance. His hands tightened unconsciously around the cold metal of his closed war fans.
He blinked.
A shadow fell over him, and Sessh was right there, the frighteningly sharp point of his spear reaching out to close the remaining distance between them.
That was when a loud shout rang across the street. A dark wall appeared right in front of Severance, blocking off his entire view. Metal crunched and Severance flinched, eyes squeezing shut.
Yet nothing touched him. He heard only a dull clang then scrape as another attack was diverted. Only then did he cautiously open his eyes.
The wall before him was not an actual wall, but someone's heavily armored back. Severance lifted his gaze to the area above his rescuer's head. It was a player named Ironhide.
Ironhide threw a quick glance over his shoulder, revealing a scarred chin and serious brown eyes. "You alright?"
It took some effort, but Severance nodded, even though he was still trying to process what was happening. Where had this player come from?
"Good." Ironhide abruptly lifted his shield. "Shield Block."
He grunted as a terrific impact jolted his shield, yet he didn't even budge as he absorbed the blow. Then he immediately sidestepped around Severance, catching another lunge attack from Sessh. The impact forced him back a bit, but he held firm.
It made Severance wonder just what level this Ironhide guy was at to be able to take so little damage from someone who'd just one-shot killed Awesome Dude.
Ironhide caught Severance's eye, jerking his scarred chin towards the rest of the street. "Revive our friends, please." With another grunt, he slammed his sword against Sessh's spear in a perfect parry, shoving the spear aside. "Don't worry about the rest, we'll keep them busy."
We? Severance moved back, away from Ironhide and Sessh, while taking stock of his surroundings. Just as more Chosen appeared, so had more Eternal Champions, recognizable by the wolf motif on their gray uniform-like clothing. Champions clashed with Chosen, and Severance spotted both players and Elionans in the mix, although the latter far outnumbered the former.
He spotted one Champion being pushed back by a pair of Chosen. Blood splattered the ground beneath him. Severance didn't even think. He unfurled a fan, letting green wind swirl about him.
"Mend!"
The Champion grunted, and the blood quit dripping. With renewed strength, he took one heavy step forward, shoving against the blades he'd blocked with his own.
A growl from Sessh was the only warning Severance got. The strange Knight slammed the butt of his spear in the ground, using it to pole-vault right over Ironhide's head. That left nothing in his way, and he lunged at Severance.
Apparently Sessh took great offence to the idea of anyone being healed.
Severance blurted, "Ward!"
At the same instant, Ironhide spun around and hurled his shield towards him. "Shelter," he growled. His shield reached Severance just in time to catch Sessh's spear, diverting its path slightly and lessening much of its strength.
Severance flung himself back, tripping over his own feet in the process and falling onto his butt. The spear's tip punctured his Ward like it was paper, yet it barely kissed the top of Severance's forehead. Blood spurted like a waterfall, painting half of his vision red.
And then Ironhide was there once more, placing his bulk between them. Thoroughly displeased, Sessh snarled like wolf, launching a flurry of savage attacks at the tank.
Even though he was terrified, Severance felt an immense wave of relief. This Ironhide person was such a great guy. He totally deserved a raise, if his clan paid him. And if they didn't pay him, they needed to start.
With this half-delirious thought, Severance stood unsteadily. He squinted through one eye, the other completely drenched in blood, and sought out Awesome Dude's body.
It would have been easier if the Shade had chosen to re-spawn at the city center, but it appeared he was waiting for Severance to Revive him instead. Although, considering how confusing the streets of Two Bridges were, maybe waiting for a Revive was the best choice.
More Eternal Champions had joined the fight, turning the tide against the Chosen. Apart from Sessh, who was a terrifying force on his own, it looked like the rest would fall back in a matter of time.
Severance tip-toed across the street towards Awesome Dude, wincing at the sounds of enraged battle behind him. He'd just have to trust that Ironhide would do his part and keep Sessh busy.
Once he had Awesome Dude in his sights, he planted a Radiant Dome over them both, and stood within it. While he cast Revive, it could heal some of the damage he'd taken.
It felt like an eternity that he stood motionless with energy gathering into his war fans. Every moment he expected to have a spear thrust through his chest, and every moment that it didn't happen, he grew more and more tense.
Finally it was enough, and he let the skill free. As it curled around Awesome Dude's body, Severance set down another Radiant Dome, and trotted off to find the other dead person his party. But not without casting an uneasy glance around the street.
Many Elionans had fallen, their blood and torn flesh turning the street into a gruesome battlefield. A few violet stars started to flicker amongst the fallen, warning that they would soon begin to fade away.
The sight of so much careless death turned his stomach, and he hastily forced his attention to the task at hand. Find Saffron. Revive Saffron. And then... well, he'd worry about what that afterwards.
If Sessh didn't kill him first.