[Side Story]
[Ragnar, Sumeri, and Nikolai]
"What are they doing?"
"Why aren't they coming after us?"
"Are they waiting, too?"
"Don't tell me they have more tricks up their sleeves?"
"What's happening over there?" Invayne asked one of her members.
"They seem to be waiting for something," the member replied.
Invayne narrowed her eyes at Sumeri. "What is she doing? Is she reading something in her hand?"
Upon Invayne's voice, a member of the Black Lion spotted the woman with fiery red hair standing behind Ragnar and Nikolai.
Then his voice trembled with urgency. "Not good. She appears to be reading a scroll!"
"A scroll?" Invayne asked.
"Magic scrolls that take time to cast but have devastating effects."
"Don't we have those too?" Invayne questioned, her eyes widening.
The players glanced at each other, their expressions filled with realization. They did have similar scrolls, but there had been no order to use them.
They had tried using them in the previous fight, but it proved futile due to the tree granting life to Ragnar and his group.
But in the chaos of the retreat, the idea slipped from their minds, and no orders were given to employ those powerful scrolls.
"Bunch of morons! Use them! Now!" Invayne shouted in frustration.
Just as they were about to use their scrolls, someone shouted in their ranks.
"Look! The tree is disappearing!" a player exclaimed, their voice filled with alarm.
The battlefield crackled with tension as the ancient tree, once a formidable shield, began to dissolve before their eyes.
Invayne's eyes sparkled with glee and her smile stretched to the limits. "Attack now! This is our chance!" she bellowed, her voice echoing over the chaos of battle.
Black Lion, emboldened by the disappearance of their enemy's protective sanctuary, surged forward. They closed in on Ragnar and Nikolai, their weapons drawn and face twisted with malice. Victory seemed within their grasp.
However, just as they were mere meters away from Ragnar and Nikolai, the sky above them fractured with blinding brilliance. A searing beam of light shot down, piercing the earth with an intensity that left them momentarily blind and disoriented.
A portal, shimmering with ethereal energies, ripped open in the ceiling. From within the celestial gateway descended an entity, a giant elf with an aura of otherworldly power.
It was none other than the Heavenly Huntress Atalanta, a legendary figure of immense might and wisdom.
The battlefield fell silent for a heartbeat as both sides registered the arrival of this divine being. Whispers of awe and disbelief rippled through the ranks of the Black Lion.
Invayne's eyes widened. This was the first time that she had witness something like this. Her voice barely more than a shocked whisper.
"W-what is that thing?"
Her eyes then moved to Sumeri and realized that it was the scroll she was chanting a while ago.
Sumeri seemed to knew that she was watching and she met her gaze and smirk.
That bitch! Invayne gritted her teeth and shouted at her members. "Are the scrolls not ready yet?"
Black Lion could only shed their tears in grievances. The scroll could take one to five minutes, depending on the grade of the scroll.
What's more, it should be read without interruptions or the scroll might not work if a caster sidetrack and uttered a different word.
They didn't know where World Conqueror had gotten that kind of legend grade scroll to even summon a goddess, but it was too late to stop it now once it was casted.
"Cast barrier on us!"
"Healers, heal us!"
"Where the fuck are the support?! We're getting butchered here!"
The legend-grade scroll, a relic of immense power, had allowed Ragnar and the others to summon Atalanta into the battlefield.
Of course, the scroll came from none other than that Queen of Elves herself for completing a world quest.
The outcome was catastrophic for Black Lion. Atalanta's presence alone seemed to command the very elements.
A gust of wind swept through the battleground, carrying with it the scent of fresh rain and the promise of an impending storm.
With a graceful motion, Atalanta raised her hand, and the very earth trembled beneath her command. Vines burst forth from the ground, entangling Black Lion in a natural prison, rendering them immobile.
"Face the wrath of the Elves," Atalanta's voice was like distant thunder, and reverberated through the air.
With a mere gesture, she conjured a torrential rain that enveloped Black Lion, drowning their battle cries in the deluge.
Black Lion was once so sure of their victory, but now found themselves helpless before the might of the Heavenly Huntress.
Their weapons fell from nerveless fingers as they were ensnared by the very earth they had stood upon.
Desperation and fear filled their eyes as they realized the dire mistake they had made in underestimating their opponents.
In the midst of the chaos, Invayne's voice rose, a scream of frustration and disbelief, lost in the roaring winds and pouring rain.
The battle had shifted drastically, and the tides had turned in the most unexpected and devastating manner.
Black Lion now faced the wrath of a celestial entity, and their chances of victory seemed to wither like leaves in a storm.
As the dust settled and the rain gradually subsided, Atalanta gradually disappeared. The aftermath of her devastating spells became painfully clear. The once-mighty Black Lion now stood reduced to a mere ten players, their faces etched with disbelief and defeat.
They couldn't believe that a mere scroll could wipe out their entire force with minutes.
Ragnar and the others moved swiftly. Their weapons gleamed as they closed in on the remaining members of the opposing team.
There would be no survivor today.
"You should have accepted my offer in the first place," Sumeri said with a laugh. "Now there's no escape but death for all of you."
Invayne found herself standing amidst the ruins of her once-mighty guild, her heart pounding in her chest.
She was the last one left, the remnants of her pride and power gone. Her gaze flickered between the advancing figures of Ragnar and his companions, her hands clenched around her weapon.
"You think this is the end?" she hissed, her voice laced with defiance. "There will always be a next time. This isn't over! I will have the whole bulk of Black Lion kill all of you!"
Sumeri laughed. "Go ahead then. Bring along Scar with you, too, but the outcome will still be the same."
With a swift motion, Sumeri conjured a flame and engulfed Invayne within its might.
Invayne's defiance turned into a gasp of pain. She fell to the ground, defeated and broken, her once-proud guild scattered and defeated around her.
