Heaven's Sword Online- Book One of the Alta Luna Saga

Episode 12: City Under Siege

The young man resembling my dead friend runs toward the now crumbling walls as an army of imps marches into the town. The new attackers are taller and more muscular than the creatures we met when we had arrived. In fact, they look like a hybrid of ogre and imp.

The smaller breed from yesterday scurry from behind the larger sub-species, rushing toward us at breakneck speed.

"We got to stop them," I yell.

Alla steps forward and pierces through several of the creatures stupid enough to swarm her.

Tae-young grins as shadows surround her. She vanishes and reappears behind enemy lines, cutting through the tiny creatures.

The larger ones that broke through the wall stop and strike the ground with all their might, sending a powerful shockwave throughout the town. Building uproot from their foundations, water from the fountain in the center of the plaza erupts with the might of a geyser. All of us try to move against the waves threatening to send us falling down.

"This is bad," Lua says.

I turn to look at her. "Can't you help us?"

She shakes her head. "Sorry, but this I can't. This is where your real challenge begins. Good luck, and my we see each other on the third day." She vanishes without another word.

"Great," I say, balancing myself as the aftershocks start to die down. What do we do now?

The weapon clerk summons a pure black axe and throws it at one of the ogre-imps, cutting its head off with relative ease. The axe swings back into the grip of his hand, as if it were a boomerang.

"That's awesome!" Rin yells, all shiny eyed.

The Ivan-look-alike smiles. "Thanks. But now isn't the time to fanboy." He directs a hand at the forces advancing behind the remaining ogre-imps. These are green skinned humanoids as tall as Rin, four-feet. In their hands are black wooden scepters with orbs on top of them that resemble the night sky.

A brilliant orange glow erupts from the scepters. Beams of concentrated energy strikes my group as we make our way toward the orge-imps.

Adriana is sent back by the force, but Tae-young catches her. "You alright?" she asks.

My neighbor nods.

Tae-young glares at the mage-imps. "Stay back, I'll handle them."

That girl sure can be heroic. With my left hand, I grasp the chain of my weapon and charge into battle without a plan.

"Wait!" Ivan 2.0 says. He holds out the chain that he had shown me at the shop. "Take this, it'll be more effective against those big guys."

With a grin, I take it. "Thanks, Iv." With a slight blush, I move away from him. Did I actually just do that? Did I actually just call him after my best friend? Hope he doesn't think I'm weird.

"Hey!" he yells, running after me, dodging mage-imp fire.

I swing my chain over one of the orge-imps, impaling the mage-imp that had attacked him. "We should focus on the match on hand."

He chuckles. "Right. Though, I'm curious as to how you know my name.

My eyes widen. Wait, his name is Iv? That's...

Suddenly metal strikes metal. I look up and see IV shielding me against one of the ogre-imps' axes. My lip quivers as I try to call out to him. Blood is rolling down his left arm. After what feels like forever, my body finally moves. The golden blade impales the beast through the heart, sending it lumbering into its slow allies.

I quickly look back at Iv as he summons a potion and pours it over the wound. "Don't give me that look. This isn't your fault," he says, trying his best to smile past the pain.

No... this can't be. Why is he still in pain? Oh God, don't tell me that this is going to end up like that anime. I... I can't lose my friends.

"I'll take him," Lua says, manifesting in front of me as she shields us against the ogre-imps' slow but powerful attacks. "You shouldn't get distracted in the battlefield." She looked down at Iv. "That goes for both of you."

"Sorry Ms.," he says with a playful but pained smile.

The goddess sighs. "Manuel, go and fight!" The barrier shrunk until I was outside of it."

I send my weapon flying straight into the closest imp. Black blood gushes out and splatters my face. Wiping it away, I stab move opponents while Tae-young backs me up with her arrows of darkness and shadowy vines.

Meanwhile, the other guilds battle the imps starting to break in from nearby areas.

"They're going to overwhelm the wall soon," Alla yells as she joins me. With her polearm, she stabs through one of the ogre-imps.

Lightning falls overhead, turning the mage-imps into char. Behind me is Adriana, her face filled with determination as electricity flies around her wheelchair.

My eyes dart around for Rin. I spot him slicing through the imp army like a samurai from the movies, blood splattered clothes and face included. With a twist, he cuts down one of the small, weak imps that tries to sneak up on him.

I return my eyes back to the imps in front of me. Thankfully Alla has taken down the vast majority of them.

"We might just have done it," I say, smiling.

Adriana patted my shoulder as if in agreement. However, our early victory dance comes to a halt as frightening shrieks silence everyone. All of the guilds turn toward Lua who is screaming in pain as a tall, slender, female imp with a scepter grabs her by the hair.

"Where did she come from?" Rin asks as he fells the final imp.

Iv stands up, his arm healed completely. "Unhand her," he yells, raising his axe.

The female imp chuckles as she gathers energy into the palm of her free hand. Lua screams as the energy touches her face.

"Lua!" I yell. Why... Why isn't she doing anything to protect herself?
"She can't," Iv says as he grips his ax tightly. "Nor can I. We're powerless against her... This is it."

"This is what?" I yell.

"She's the boss. The NPCs can't interfere," Rin says, stepped forward. He grins as he wipes the black blood from his face. "This is what I've been waiting for, a challenge."

Alla and Tae-young flash the same smile.

"Don't think that you can do it by yourselves," Iv says as he grimaces. "You all must work together. And I don't just mean your guild."

The witch sends a black flare at Iv, and Lua. Instantly the two vanish.

"You're done for," she says. "I'll destroy you all and take Lua's place as Goddess of the Moon!"

"What did you do with Iv and Lua?" I scream, throwing my weapon at her. The blade fails to impale her, merely scratching her left cheek.

The imp-witch glares at me. "You'll be the first one! The first one to die!" A brilliant dark green light consumes her. Once the light vanishes, various imp-witches dot the city. "You can't hope to defeat me, not now that I have Lua's power!"

Damn, this game's plot feels so contrived. But still, I have to save them. I close my eyes as my guild members surround me. "Go ahead, we'll see who kills who!" I yell as soon as I open my eyes.