As soon as the shield collapsed, it released a huge shock wave!
Ceasar immediately used a lightning attack Skill, which blasted him through the enemy's ranks and positioned him right behind them. He raised his huge hammer and gave a violent blow to one of the soldiers' heads, exploding it.
He then followed up with an attack against the soldier's right-side teammate, who was panicking at Ceasar's sudden appearance! The soldier tried to reposition, but Ceasar's attack speed was incredible and his hammer ripped through the poor man's stomach like a hot iron through butter.
However, these were elite warriors. In the short time Ceasar wiped out two of their comrades, the closest soldiers drew their combat sabers. Though most of the common Federation army had been trained only to use firearms, the Special Forces could fight in melee as well as they could at range!
The ten closest soldiers pointed their blue swords towards Ceasar, but their target had already reacted. Ceasar used a boost skill to rise up and then violently smash downward, destroying the floor underneath him and around him. Part of the floor collapsed, sending several soldiers screaming down below and making it impossible for the Special Forces to swarm him.
On the other side, Lucifer materialized behind a line of soldiers. He transformed his hand into a cannon of concentrated light that blasted through the armor and flesh of the distracted soldiers.
The enemy was now surrounded. They quickly reformed their ranks, standing with their backs to one another. Several tried to shoot back at Lucifer with their plasma weapons, but he dodged the blasts effortlessly, as though he were only an immaterial apparition.
Several of the soldiers immediately understood that, even if they'd wiped out most of their targets, they stood no chance at all against those who had survived. Not if Lucifer was an example of their power! These soldiers immediately began rappelling downward into the hole Ceasar had made, determined to escape.
Apophis wasn't surprised by the power of either Ceasar or Lucifer. He'd already fought them, after all. However, when the player Arthas began to fight, Apophis was quite surprised by what happened.
The name "Arthas" was a reference to the infamous Lich King of World of Warcraft, of course. Therefore, Apophis assumed this player was of negative alignment. However, surprisingly, Arthas's class was Hunter, rather than the Warrior class Apophis expected. Also surprising was that Arthas's race was Space Human, which was a relatively weak race for someone belonging to the 7 Gods.
Moreover, Arthas's Skills gave Apophis a shiver of fear. Once the first lifeless corpses of the Special Forces soldiers fell to the ground, Arthas simply raised his arms, and the soldiers stood up as undead. No matter what their physical state was, whether they were missing arms, legs, or even a head, they obeyed his command. Like a true necromancer, Arthas transformed the dead humans into zombies.
Apophis didn't understand how this was possible. Necromancy was a branch of the Esper Talent Tree, not one available to Hunters. In addition, ~~Zombification~~ cost a lot of Energy to begin with, and this cost rose drastically when it was used on high-Rank NPCs like these.
Therefore, it seemed impossible that Arthas was simply using that Skill, or even the normal methods of Necromancy. Likely, he had a special Legendary Skill or item which granted him these powers… or had even found a way to exploit some backdoor or flaw in the game.
Regardless, it was good to have Arthas on the Eternals' side. Not only could he create unlimited troops from dead enemies, but turning soldiers against their former allies was a huge blow against the morale of even highly trained Special Forces.
But something else disturbed Apophis even more than Arthas's fighting ability.
Unlike almost all the other members of the 7 Gods, Arthas was an extremely quiet player who didn't make a huge deal out of his fame. During the different meetings Apophis had seen him in, Arthas had never spoken out loud. Apophis knew from experience that silent players were much more dangerous than players who talked all the time…
He had the feeling that Arthas was hiding something. What was it?
***
The battle continued for about ten minutes.
The human Special Forces, despite their superior numbers and experience, simply couldn't stop the surge of power displayed by the Eternals who had survived their attack. Soon, every corridor of the surrounding area was filled with dismembered men who had tried to flee. The windows and walls were painted with their blood.
Across the street, a unit of Special Forces snipers were watching the scene with long-range X-ray scopes. When they could see no sign of life from inside, one sniper stepped out and turned to a man dressed in bionic armor and a cape. "No more enemy presence detected, Captain."
The man nodded and turned to the other Special Forces behind him. "Units 112 and 113, go check the building for any signs of—"
But before he could finish, the ground turned scarlet and a massive explosion wiped out the fifty men of Unit 112!
As the smoke cleared, two purple eyes pierced the smoke. A dark-skinned, white-haired man came into view, wielding a black sword. It was Apophis, covered in blazing black flames!
Apophis simply pointed his left finger at the surviving soldiers and ignited them with black flame. The corrosive power was like a swarm of flesh-eating insects, and they screamed in agony as they died.
Joker, who had accompanied Apophis to clean up the building, was fascinated by Apophis's flame skill. He wanted to know everything about how this power worked, but of course knew that a rival such as Apophis would never reveal the truth and he'd only look foolish for asking.
After the last of the Special Forces was dead, Apophis then sent a message to Lotus. "The last building is cleaned."
"Good!" she answered. "What is the plan now?"
Apophis answered, "Order all the players in the temple area to take refuge in the sewers of Terra. They're quite easy to access."
Lotus answered at once, "The sewers?! Are you high on something? We would risk being trapped like rats. I assume you have some further plan?"
Apophis answered, "Yes, of course! It'd take too long to explain, so please just give the order to take refuge in the sewers."
Lotus hissed when she read this, but she trusted Apophis and his tactical sense. Even when he seemed to be insanely arrogant and thoughtless, his plans always seemed to work out in the end. She'd seen this firsthand during the Cronos I war, after all. And, well, her own recent plan hadn't exactly been as successful as she'd hoped.
So, Lotus sent a message to the planet's general chat channel. "This is the Supreme Commander of the Coalition Forces! The Imperials have surrounded the Temple of Valor district! All players who want to survive must immediately go to the sewers of Terra, where they will be safe!"
Of course, no player knew why Lotus had ordered such a thing. The sewers of Terra were huge in total area, but each corridor and connecting area was quite narrow. It was the perfect place to eliminate enemies with explosives and anti-personal grenades. Was that really the best place for them to go?
But soon after, Azerof's fleet breached the atmosphere and dropped into aerial bombardment range, especially above the huge area bordering the Valor Temple. The players in the middle of the fight against the Imperial infantry were suddenly interrupted by the salvo of howitzer shots!
The zone was quickly ravaged. The players had no choice but to try to survive as best as they could. Those who managed to survive made their ways to the sewers and entered.
Apophis and Joker, who saw the gunfire around them coming at them, jumped off the roof of the building and landed below. "Come on," said Apophis, and sprinted for the nearest sewer entrance.
***
Aratar System (Federation of United Planets) — Aratar I Space Station
Grand Admiral Oskiol landed with all his officers in the space station, which was currently the military headquarters of the Federation Resistance forces..
The grand admiral sat down at a chair in a small office room and took a deep breath. "What a disaster..."
After a moment's rest, he slowly began to review the military reports which had been piling up. They described the chaotic situation that had taken over all the human territories of the remaining Federation, the civil war raging in all four corners of the galactic nation.
"Never in history has mankind faced such a catastrophic situation," he muttered.
Like all those of the Egalitarian philosophy which was supported by the Federation, Oskiol believed that human civilization had to accept and integrate all extra-human species into society in order. This was their only hope to remain strong in the face of great powers such as the Holy Elf Empire and the Orc Empire, with whom the Federation shared a complicated relationship.
That was due to long-past centuries of Zetark/human domination, of course. In particular, the shared borders between all these nations made even ordinary peace a tenuous situation.
Oskiol was most worried about the potential for a neighboring nation to intervene in the human civil war. No matter the outcome of the civil war itself, this would have catastrophic consequences for human independence in the future, since humans as a race were so individually weak. The Federation's values and culture would vanish as humans became second-class subjects to a foreign nation.
Though Oskiol valued the alien cultures which existed inside the Federation, this was still the worst scenario he could imagine. Therefore, he tried to prevent as much information from flowing to the neighboring nations as possible. He didn't want to create the possibility of Elves or Orcs trying to insert themselves into the war.
However, the Battle of Terra had been impossible to suppress.
The grand admiral rubbed his head and sighed. Since the death of Chancellor Souley, he was de facto head of the Federation and head of hundreds of solar systems and planets. He was now responsible not only for humans but for the lives of billions of non-humans. If he decided to surrender, it would undoubtedly be the beginning of a great xeno genocide. He simply could not resign himself to this, despite the evidence of an upcoming defeat...
Suddenly, a knock came at the door...
Oskiol raised his head. "Enter."
A familiar man in uniform entered the room and stood at attention.
Oskiol raised his eyebrows in disbelief. "Colonel Zariel?! You're alive?!"
The man smiled… and his face and body warped in a sickening fashion.
Soon, the form of Colonel Zariel had been replaced by a massive man in armor. His head seemed to be strangely shaped, but it was difficult to tell behind the golden mask which hid his face.
Oskiol, shocked, stood up from his desk and took a step back. "Who are you?!"
The man answered calmly, "I am an Eternal. My name is DungEater."
