A/N: Enjoy chap.
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The player sprinted into the arena. Hundreds had gathered as the last trace pulsed hard in everyone's HUD, a clean white arrow pointing down.
[FINAL TARGET: BANUK, UR PRINCE]
The floor was cut into ribs and pits. Banuk rose in the centre on a slab, a cloak of bones billowing at his back. His stiff helm was studded with dark stones. A green aura sat tight against his armour, shimmering brightly.
"He's invulnerable, hold the fcking rockets!" Undecided immediately barked, whipping back to look at BearSpray.
Two rockets shot past him as he locked eyes with his team, "ARE YOU F*CKED?" Undecided groaned.
"I PANICKED, ok." Gandalf cursed under his breath. He immediately switched back to his pulse rifle. Just then, the ground shook.
Banuk dug his sword into the rock, a fiendish fire rippled outwards, and the arena trembled. Two runic sigils burned into the dirt, and from within them, two Knights with gleaming blades rose.
"Shut the f*ck up! Lock in." Waffles are already shooting at the Knights.
Banuk lifted his sword again. He swung forward wildly and rushed through the field.
TheOneWhoKnocks and IEatPaint leapt to the sides as the boss barely grazed their sides. "We'll hold aggro dogs! Get his shield of..."
BearSpray rolled to dodge the Knight's sweeping blade and chucked a grenade at its feet, "What do you mean, take it off? I don't know the mechanics!"
"Figure it out," TheOneWhoKnocks called out. He switched to his revolver and shot two rounds into Banuk's back, and the boss raged, only seeing red. He rushed towards him, and the chase continued.
Inches away from charging into TheOneWhoKnocks, IEatPaint fired and drew the boss towards the left. He deftly slid under a swing and put two rounds into a knee joint, but there was no damage dealt.
On the other side, BearSpray, IloveLoot and Waffles tackled one of the Knights. ILoveLoot emptied a magazine into the Knight, and the Knight buckled. Waffles floated up, a Novabomb cradled in her palms as she chucked it down.
"GO go!" Dumbledore joined in the fray and pulled all his rockets. He shot towards the Knights, not letting them move.
As the Knight finally fell, its sword hit stone, but instead of dropping, the sword glowed and hovered in the air.
Their HUDs blinked brightly.
[HIVE SWORD AVAILABLE — HOLD TO WIELD]
"Holy shi*" Gandalf didn't hesitate and immediately equipped the sword. An energy rippled through him, and strength coursed in his veins. He stepped forward and slashed and cut the air open with a wave of energy.
"I got it!" Waffles chimed up, "Lo,ot get the second sword!"
ILoveLoot "On it!" He triggered his golden gun and attacked the second Knight. Everyone immediately joined in. Gandalf swung his sword wildly, each hit easily cutting through the knight's defences. Dumbledore triggered his Novabomb and slammed it down on the Knight.
The dust settled, and the Knight scattered into dust, leaving its sword behind.
Undecided flickered towards the sword and equipped it immediately.
"Attack the boss! The sword will take the shield out." Waffles pivoted towards the boss, she whipped around to spot TheOneWhoKnocks and IEatPaint zig-zagging through the arena as they barely dodged Banuk's relentless attacks.
"HURRY UP, DOGS!" IEatPaint barked. He conjured a barricade, but Banuk slammed his sword right on top of his head, crushing the titan with a single blow.
As the boss moved, a ghost wisped up at IEatPaint's location.
[Guardian Down!]
"Go!" TheOneWhoKnocks snapped, he ran towards the revive and chucked two smoke grenades.
As Banuk aggrod behind him, Gandalf rushed towards him and swung. The power of the sword colored the floor green, and as Undecided joined in, the two ruthlessly tore through the boss's viridian shield.
IEatPaint shimmered back to life. He rolled to the side and readied himself for the next step.
Banuk shrieked, his shield cracked open.
"DOG him!" Undecided barked.
The next instant, IEatPaint triggered his thundercrash and shot straight towards Banuk's head.
He collided with a slam, and the boss shrieked.
Waffles' rocket took Banuk in the chest and kept going. BearSpray dashed in, throwing everything he had.
Banuk staggered, threw up a hand, and the field began to coil back. Gandalf and Undecided were already on him, Hive blades chopping into the newly formed shield.
"Now!" Undecided said, he swung once more, and the shield cracked open.
The arena flickered. Hundreds of other guardians spawned in, joining their mission. With the fight already started, they had joined just at the right time.
Seeing the boss vulnerable. Everyone knew they only had one job.
They emptied everything that mattered.
Supers, rockets, empowered melees, and entire magazines. Even special ammo. Nothing was left to chance. Banuk was ruthlessly pelted with every single ability of every single guardian present in his arena.
And an instant later, his helm cracked. Banuk dropped to his knees, the stones fell out and skipped across the slab like dead eyes. As he dropped, his grip on his sword loosened.
Finally, Banuk fell face-first into the dirt.
[BANUK, UR PRINCE — DEFEATED][OBJECTIVE UPDATED: ELIMINATE THE SWARM PRINCES (6/6)]
Silence held for half a heartbeat. Then the Hellmouth answered.
A shriek ripped up from the deep, denser than before, carrying a bruise of metal under the sound. It went through armour and into bone. The arena shook. Sand spilt off ledges in sheets.
Every HUD snapped to the pit map.
And a cutscene played.
The core view showed the emerald sword chained over the chasm. With no princes left to hold their oaths, the chain flickered. The emerald blade quivered once, hard enough to warp the image. Fissures ran along its surface, bright and fast. A crack opened from guard to tip like a new mouth.
The sword shrieked, its guttural cries seemed to shake the Lunar surface. And then.
The sword broke.
Green shards flared, turned black, and powdered out before they could fall. Dust fell like dark snow, and the sword scattered into nothing.
[QUEST COMPLETE: PRINCES OF THE SWORD][REWARD: LEVEL UP]
[LEVEL 20 ACHIEVED]
BearSpray whooped, breathless. "We actually did it."
"Hell yes," Waffles barked, helmet knocking into Gandalf's shoulder.
IEatPaint leaned back onto the rock and crouched down. ILoveLoot spun in place once, laughed. TheOneWhoKnocks blew out a breath he hadn't realised he was holding.
They didn't return to orbit right away. They stood there for a moment in the heat-fog and static, letting the noise run out of them. It had been one of the hardest pushes they'd taken. One of the longest missions they'd ever done.
"Picture, take a picture!" Dumbledore said.
"Relax." BearSpray hopped towards the front and immediately took a snapshot of the view, capturing everyone deflated on the ground after the boss fight, "I got everything recorded." He smiled.
"You better tag me, you dog." TheOneWhoKnocks chuckled.
"Me too," Waffles spoke up.
"I told you, I will!" BearSpray shook his head and began typing out the title of his new video.
—
[Hellmouth Gates]
The last ogre still lay where it fell, ribs caved in from Levi's heel and three mines. The wind blowing up from the core had thinned; now, only a faint jet. The ground shook from deep below.
All five guardians jolted and looked inside.
Down in the pit, a green spark juddered, flared, and died. An instant later, sound crawled up the tunnel—the metal-soaked shriek of something old letting go. The air snapped and rippled to the surface. And in the core, the emerald sword cracked and blew out into dark dust that never hit the floor.
Bandit let out a breath he didn't know he'd held. Cory leaned on a knee, helmet tilted, just listening to the quiet like it was a new sound.
Levi's eyes narrowed. He searched for movement in the core below, but he couldn't see that far.
"Void," he said into comms. "Answer."
But only static responded.
Tevis wiped the edge of his onyx blade and then stopped halfway. He turned to the pits' direction. Tevis looked at Levi, his brows furrowed. He leaned closer and swallowed.
Pahanin flipped a cover on his forearm and pressed two recessed points. A thin, mean light woke under the metal—the locator chip blinked up. "He's still inside," he said, voice scraped down to calm.
"Is he moving?" Tevis asked.
Pahanin didn't answer right away. He observed the chip's location for a few seconds. Pahanin swiped on his wrist, and a holographic map projected into the air. It showed the chip still inside Hellmouth's core.
"Can't tell. The readings aren't clear."
"Check his vitals." Bandit chimed up, a strange uneasiness crawling up his spine.
Pahanin tapped the tab, cycling the readouts. The last line glowed blue.
Light: ——
Pahanin's skin prickled, his hair stood on end as he felt his jaw go tight. He paused.
"No movement", he said and then his lips trembled. "No...no light."
Levi's breath hitched; he raised his brows, and it slowly turned into a wry laugh that had no humour. "No. No. Relax. He probably just turned it off. He does that. You know he does that."
Bandit looked at the pit and then nodded at Levi, "I think the distance is messing with the readings. He'll ping back in a second."
Cory didn't speak. He let his hand slide down his sides. His face turned grim as he slowly looked at Levi and Bandit.
Tevis stood there with the sword low. His thoughts raced, and his eyes gleamed as he pushed the words out. "Hold position," he said. "We give him time."
An instant turned into a second, and seconds rolled to minutes. Until finally, Levi tried the comms again. "Void says something. Oi, you there?" He sharply listened to static, praying he could make anything out.
He looked at Pahanin without meaning to. "Check again."
Pahanin checked again. Same dot. Same depth. Same blue line. The longer he stared, the more it felt like standing in a room where someone had just left and the door was still swinging. "It hasn't moved," he said. He didn't say the other thing.
Tevis felt his throat close. He unclenched his jaw.
Pahanin slowly looked around, a small burn flared in his chest, and a sour pit formed in his throat. He stepped to the lip of Hellmouth and leaned out like a diver. His fingers closed tightly on the hilt of his sword.
A strange sensation clawed at him—Void was the only one who knew who he was. Without him, Pahanin was nothing, just a ghost of the past. His chest tightened. Pahanin took another step forward.
Levi moved without thinking. He hooked Pahanin around the chest and yanked him back so hard that both their heels dug trenches. "Don't," he said, arms locked. "Don't you do that."
"Let go," Pahanin snapped, voice raw. He twisted, tried to break the hold with a turn and a knee. Levi took the knee on a plate and held on. Pahanin roard, his blade already drawn before he knew what had happened; Bandit stepped in and took his wrist, cleanly swiping the sword from his hands.
"Don't," Levi said again, quieter. "You jump, you won't even die near him. He wouldn't want that."
"He wouldn't want to die at all, LET ME GO." Pahanin bit out, struggling like a man drowning on dry land.
Tevis didn't touch him. He stepped in front where Pahanin could see him. "Listen to me," he said.
"I taught that idiot to come back from worse than this, and he kept listening long after most stop. But if anyone believes he walks out, it's us." He tapped Pahanin's breastplate with two fingers, a small click, a habit from a hundred briefings. "We need to keep doing that job."
Pahanin's breath sawed. His shoulders went rigid, then slackened a degree under Levi's grip. He looked past Tevis at the mouth and saw nothing move. The quiet wasn't proof. It felt like a verdict anyway.
Levi loosened his arms a fraction but didn't step away. "He'll be back", he said, admitting it like it hurt. "I know he will"
Bandit released Pahanin's wrist slowly. Cory eased off his elbow, returning his blade.
Tevis drew a breath that scraped. It tasted like dust and bad air. He turned toward the Sparrows. "Nightstalkers," he said, voice steady because it had to be. "Back to Sanctuary. Now."
No one argued. No one agreed out loud. They moved because moving was the only thing left that didn't feel like breaking.
Engines lit raw in the cold. Levi waited half a beat until Pahanin mounted up behind him and then shot towards the base. Cory and Bandit fell in without a word. Tevis paused, hesitated and took one last look into the gate.
His heart stirred, his eyes widened. Almost as if he expected Void to pop out just at the last second.
But the black gave nothing back. No sound, no movement. Just emptiness.
Tevis's face turned pale. His breathing grew heavier. He kicked off on his sparrow and raced away.
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