The air in the Butcher's basement was heavy. The people there exchanged uncomfortable glances as they shivered endlessly.
This mana was giving them the creeps!
The magic circle was full of dark swirling energy, so thick it formed an impenetrable fog. It had wholly swallowed their leader!
He had bravely gone inside, and now there was no trace of him. All they knew was that the malevolent aura was getting stronger and stronger. Did this mean that the devil was winning?!
They dreaded this outcome, but all signs pointed to it!
That's when it happened. The mana billowed and then suddenly exploded!
It was as if a bomb had been thrown inside as the fog cleared for an instant. Inside was Jack's bloodied body. Was he still alive?!
He looked like he was suffering endlessly!
He wriggled in incredible pain, his face twisting in silent screams. Their heart clenched as they felt his pain. It was an unimaginable one!
The mana then engulfed him again, eager to devour his essence.
Bubblegum's gaze turned resolute. If she dashed in there, she'd be able to feed him a healing potion.
She understood that she'd be attacked by the devil, but so what?! She didn't feel good just watching him suffer without doing anything! She would go in!
Inside the magic circle, a devil was smiling….
━━━━━━ POV ━━━━━━━
Guarding a single house shouldn't have been hard, right?
The village wasn't a PVP area, and all the D.L. members had to do was body block the shop. Who would stop them? Certainly not the ex-village chief! After all, he was now stuck in a potato bag.
Their current job was more of a formality.
They were here because the Demon King didn't want them to mess up his ritual. They were like kids told to play outside.
Still, they couldn't help but glance behind them with wonder. Whatever he was doing inside was undoubtedly related to the Exalted Hunting Lord. They were just unsure of his entire purpose.
Everything should have stayed calm, so very quiet, but then all Hell broke loose.
— BOOM!!!—
" WHAT?!?"
They heard an explosion inside. Then a second later, dark smoke began to seep out of the building.
As soon as they touched this energy, they felt sick. This thing was worse than old dishwater! Fuck!
What the fuck was happening in there?! The mana stuck to them, making them cramp in disgust. But it was only the beginning.
[New Event Quest!]
[Evil Looms At The Butcher Shop!]
[An Heretic Is Summoning a Devil!]
[Will You Stop Him And Save The Village?]
[Y / N ?]
The D.L. member's faces suddenly fell. What the actual fuck?! Their leader wasn't just doing a demonic spell, but summoning the entity whole?!
As for the instant quest….
"Bitch! Who are you calling a heretic?!"
"Biased as fuck system, go fuck yourself!"
"Quick, open your friend list! Summon our people!!!"
They instantly organized themselves under CPR dude's lead, but it would take a while for the reinforcements to come.
On the horizon, there were already players swarming their ways.
"Tch— the I.R.L. fuckers are already here!"
"Of course! They're always trying to play heroes!"
"They really look like locust! There's so fucking many of them!"
The enemies were already pointing at the D.L. members, recognizing some of them as they got their weapons out, preparing for a strike.
They were more than glad to have a quest to exterminate their arch-nemesis! In their eyes, the Demonic Legion was a bunch of unruly bastards following a madman.
Then again, they were kinda right… hence what made D.L. great!
A man had already stepped forward to lead them:
"Brothers and sisters, today we eradicate evil! As soon as the village chief arrives, we will charge forth and bring justice unto—"
His heated speech was suddenly interrupted. For some reason, the D.L. members were all clowning around.
"Pfft— hahaha!"
"This dude better be patient!"
"What?! Not the village chief! Noooo!"
"Guys, don't make fun of them. They can revere an exhibitionist if they want."
They were having lots of fun, but they suddenly had to stop laughing. What the hell?! Their names had just turned red.
This meant that they'd have higher chances to drop their items on death. Fuck, this was getting serious!
Damn, how were they the bad guys? They were freeing the village from the joust of a tyrant— that was their narrative at least.
Seeing their enemy's red names finally gave the I.R.L peeps some courage.
"Look, everyone, even the game is on our side! Let's cleanse the world of their vile presence!!" The representative courageously shouted before adding:
"Everyone, show those evil bastards the result of your training! While they were gallivanting in the forest, we grew stronger and stronger! It's time for reckoning!!"
That's when the sea of players charged forward.
D.L. VS I.R.L.
Experience VS Zerg.
Demonic VS Self-Righteous
For the first time, they would fight on a massive scale.
For the first time, this wouldn't end with just banter and a few random duels.
For the first time, blood would flow. At this rate, it would paint the entire village crimson.
D.L. was strong. They were veterans that had been playing the game since launch. They were the ones that had been part of the Chicken Event: the OG players.
But I.R.L. was so damn numerous! 90% of Noobs would join them as soon as they stepped in Infinite. They had so many members that their charge made the ground shake.
Yet this wasn't enough to scare the proud D.L. members:
"Hahaha! Men, tonight we feast!" CPR dude bellowed.
"Let them come! I hunger for more!"
"Let's fight those sons of bitches!"
"Let's fuck them up!"
As the bastards were reaching them, CPR dude gave one last shout, one endlessly repeated.
"Fight them all! Fuck them up! Feast on their blood!"
"Fight Them All! Fuck Them Up! Feast On Their Blood!"
"FIGHT THEM ALL! FUCK THEM UP! FEAST ON THEIR BLOOD!"
With every repetition, it got louder and louder. All until it was deafening. It drowned the I.R.L. members' shouts and made it seem like the few defenders were legion.
Then they all clashed.
Weapons were swung, and spells were flung. Flashes of silver and transcendent blue filled the battlefield, and everything turned so damn chaotic!
The sea of attackers pushed into the resistance, and they seemed unstoppable.
The Demonic Legion was outnumbered 5 to 1, with the enemy forces growing by the second. The Training Grounds was the enemy's base, and it was right next to the village.
But so fucking what?!
They'd fight together, always! Fear? What was that?
The D.L. members felt their blades dig into the flesh, enjoyed crushing the opponents, heard their companions' shouts, and felt their blood boiling.
At this moment, they felt fucking alive. Killing those bastards was so damn fun!
Their bodies were full of wounds, yet they were laughing:
"This is the fucking best!"
"My blade wants more! Even more! Come!!!"
"Is that all you can do?! What time is it, amateur hour?!"
The I.R.L. members' confidence was crumbling. The D.L. peeps had not only endured the first assault, but they had even counterattacked! They were all fucking madmen!!
Sure, their HP had gone down a lot, but so what?! Most players would have been recoiling from the fear, pain, or given up from being outnumbered.
What fucking gave them such courage?!
The D.L. membered saw the hesitation in their enemies' eyes and how shaken they were. The few had greater momentum than the many.
The sea of attackers unconsciously took a step back.
So what if the defenders were weaker? They would hold their ground, no matter what. They would never cower. Otherwise, how could they face their leader?
Even now, a dark aura seeped from the building. It enveloped the D.L. members. It should have been crushing their spirits, but somehow they endured.
It even gave them an unfathomable aura.
More and more players came over. The I.R.L. troops grew stronger, the bystanders decisively decided not to fuck with D.L., and the NPC stood on the side, sighing. This was a matter between braves.
By now, the ratio of enemy to ally was 10 to 1, but it didn't matter to them. The Demon King was counting on them, and they would hold the fucking line.
They found themselves chanting, "Fight them all! Fuck them up! Feast on their blood!". They were ready for the second wave.
Some had even taken butcher knives out. They were freaking ready!!!