August 18th, 2301
"To be honest," Alo says, "I can't wait to get off this ocean."
"Fair enough. Our boats are, like, a major problem," Rachel agrees. "We have enough ballistas for only one more fight. We have enough food, though. And we look good on supplies for now," I say.
"We just have to kill this little mermaid right? How hard do you expect it to be?" Pranav jokes.
"The faster the better," says Cecelia, agreeing with Alo.
Siren Queen Demigoddess.
Sess on his pink dolphin, and the others pop up between the ships. "How's the recon?" I ask.
"Underwater city," he replies. "No—underwater country." "Alright," I say briskly, "Everyone suit up."
***
"Listen up!" I yell routinely. "You guys know the drill! In and out! The faster we get this done, the faster we get off this ocean!" Everyone nods. I jump off and stiffen my body like I'm in a coffin, hugging my arms and keeping my legs together. I sink in far into the warm water and begin flying down.
It's such an awesome sight—a humongous underwater country. It stretches 25 miles all the way back to the Wood-rank quests—just like the Lost City of Atlantis. Ancient Greek architecture brings so much nostalgia from back in college when I took Greek, Norse, and Egyptian Mythology with Essej. I don't know how I passed with a B average because in a class of 400, I slept next to a focused Essej and eyed his paper every exam.
Rays of sunlight touch the ocean floor, easily illuminating everything. We assemble at the steps of a temple.
"Alright," I begin. "This place is practically a country, but the demigoddess starts here. We're gonna have to search and located. Pair up with anyone who can shoot a signal: Wizards, Snipers, Sorcerers, and the Priestesses. You see a glimpse of the Queen, you retreat and signal. Wait for all 30 of us to help, don't be a hero."
Everyone nods and pairs up. I partner up with Pranav. The ones that don't pair up gather in a group, but stay close behind as backup. Nav and I begin exploring our sector of the battlefield, admiring its beauty and epicness—the pillars and columns, statues and tributes, the broken down architecture. Barrels and food carts lay on the ocean floor, leaving the trace of a forgotten civilization. The fish are the citizens now. They swim in schools whichever way they please.
"To think this is a video game," Pranav scoffs in awe.
"I feel you, man. The devs literally spent decades on this," I agree. "I swear, I'm not sure if I even want to leave this place," Pranav says.
"I'm serious man. Sometimes, this place is just so euphoric it spiritually hurts to leave. My entire life flashed before my eyes when I saw the reef."
He gets it.
"Some of the greatest memories of my life have been in this game," I admit, "But I don't see me coming back once this is over. Besides, I got kids waiting."
Pranav grins. "You better let me meet those little punks." I grin. "Hey, I haven't even met those little punks yet."
He stops me in my tracks, raising his scythe in front of me. His jovial expression turns into his war face. I look far, far ahead to see the figure of a woman sitting on her throne at the end of the city. She looks familiar. A health bar of 100x floats above her.
Pranav raises his free hand upwards and shoots a pulse of dark energy which explodes before it reaches the surface. Quickly, pairs begin moving towards us. A Priestess fires a ball of light which explodes. Havanna reaches us.
YOU ARE READING
To Kill Gods or Die Trying
Fantasy---HIGHEST RANKING #17 IN FANTASY--- At the official release of the first-ever fully immersive Virtual Reality, an unnamed cyber-terrorist has hacked into the main software of the game. Players are not able to log out and return to reality, and ar...
