[Player, the 'War on the Void' has progressed towards its final battle. Order or chaos, light or darkness, who will emerge victorious? Follow your tasks and lead your faction to victory!]
Suddenly C's notification appeared in front of everyone. Only now did the players realize that the blue bar had been completely filled. It was time for the final battle!
"Righteous warriors! Follow me into battle!"
At that moment Golden Tiger let out a thunderous roar. The soldiers echoed it and began their charge towards the enemy. The players didn't receive another task yet and were allowed to watch the show.
Golden Tiger and Orion rushed at the front of their respective armies like a harbinger of light and a fallen angel, confronting each other with hatred. They were the first to clash. Two overbearing golden swords crossed with two furious black claws. Time seemed to stand still for a moment before a massive shockwave followed, pushing back everyone else. Both warriors realised that they affected their armies and tacitly rushed towards the sky, continuing their fight at a higher altitude.
Next came the clash of commander-level figures. Therim's narrowed eyes scanned the battlefield. Here in hell the light was dim, and the grass was black. It was a paradise of shadows. Before Therim could find Iss'ir, the shadow demon was the first to reveal himself. The shadows of the surroundings suddenly gathered at an insane speed. They transformed into dark chains which shot into the air, trying to bind Therim in place.
Even the powerful mage was caught off guard by the sneak attack. He waved his staff, and a cocoon of golden light surrounded him for protection. The chain crashed into the cocoon, wrapping around it. Fluctuations of magic shook the air as the two spells struggled against each other. The golden cocoon soon showed some cracks.
"Help Therim!"
The surrounding commanders also noticed what was happening. Yet they were occupied with their own battles. Suddenly a multi-coloured light erupted somewhere. A terrifying meteor burning with evil flames was reflected back to its caster, who evaded in horror. And where the multicoloured light had been a figure showed itself. With a snake's tail and a rooster's head wearing a majestic crown who else could it be but King of Basilisks Lennreo?
After pushing back his enemy Lennreo didn't chase his advantage. Instead, he turned towards Therim. Multicoloured light erupted from his eyes, crashing into the shadow chains, forcefully tearing them apart.
Therim was free from the shackles. He wasted no time thanking Lennreo and instead directed his staff towards a seemingly empty spot in front of him. A massive magic circle formed in the air, shooting down a golden pillar of light like heavenly punishment. From the seemingly empty spot shadows escaped in all directions, regathering somewhere else, taking the appearance of Iss'ir. The shadow demon swayed for a moment, wiping away the blood on his mouth. Obviously, he didn't escape unscathed.
However, Therim didn't appear too happy about it. He could feel how much stronger Iss'ir was now that they were in his territory. Although the few shadow chains just now wouldn't have been able to seriously injure Therim, he did find it difficult to escape.
The battles at the commander level were extremely fast-paced. The players found it difficult to keep up. Most people would focus on a few of the NPCs they knew from before the war. Braag had shining eyes as he stared at a certain dwarf piloting what looked a bit like a flying truck. It was an extremely sturdy metal bunker armed with weapons everywhere, resembling a moving fortress.
The dwarf going by the nickname Maniac of Ferrol was a controversial figure who got famous in a single battle. Two hundred years ago a mining expedition led by him discovered a mineral vein of a previously unknown material in the Eastern Mountains. However, the mineral carried an enormous amount of energy which attracted a horde of Giant Frost Worms. These worms are a scourge of the Eastern Mountains and the sworn enemy of dwarves simply because they feed on mineral veins, using the energy to fuel their rapid reproduction.
All alone deep into the Eastern Mountains, close to the Eastern Domain of the End, the situation looked dire for the mining expedition. However, at that time the Maniac of Ferrol proved his astounding genius for the first time. He used the new mineral to develop a super version of a bomb launcher, producing numerous weapons, bombing the Giant Frost Worms until nothing was left. Even to this day one could admire the giant craters in that part of the Eastern Mountains.
Since then, the Maniac of Ferrol had only improved his creations. Now in the war between order and chaos he fired with reckless abandon, disregarding the cost, single-handedly holding back three command-level figures of the chaos faction. However, although his enemies took a defensive position right now, they knew that it was only a matter of patience. Such a bombardment couldn't be kept up forever.
However, not only the order faction had its fierce figures. Somewhere else a burly demon with a height of a small hill swung his mighty fists, causing booming noises. This was God of Fists Berro're, known as the number one physical body in the world. The only thing more overbearing than his body was his arrogance, evident by daring to give himself the title of a god, an immense provocation to the entire order faction.
But the God of Fists was indeed formidable. Once, the order faction made a plan to build a forward stronghold at a certain pass in the Southern Chaotic Mountain Range. It was Berro're alone who pushed an entire army together with its commander back, destroying the plan single-handedly. Many chaos faction players revered the God of Fists thinking how awesome it would be to be in the same position one day.
Other than these few, there were naturally other outstanding figures as well. Chieftain Ogruz battled Dragon Slayer Velge. Great Archmage Ephnior, whom Liam had once visited, rained down spells on a dark elven mage. Scholar Virtue of the World, a rare titled scholar of the Xia Dynasty and teacher of Scholar Feng, held back a tall shroom demon with merely his words. Holy nephilim Bevrio was in a stalemate against Wraith Ghost King Derylen.
All in all, it was a fascinating spectacle which the players watched with great enthusiasm. Fortune turned left and right, eagerly recording everything, asking Liam and Silver Blade to introduce the various strong figures. Because of the show delivered by the commanders, the clash of the armies below didn't draw much attention although it was quite intense. For now, the order faction had the upper hand. They had disciplined, trained armies like the empire's soldiers, who were highly effective in cleaning up the chaotic crowd that was the chaos faction army.
Meanwhile the chaos faction relied on some stronger-than-average warriors to hold against the order faction. Especially some monsters like ogres, which were walking siege engines, were able to cause the order faction some trouble. At this moment various preparations achieved by the players' efforts over the last few weeks came into play. Forgotten artifacts like the Sun of Lumor, powerful and rare spell scrolls, and reclusive heroes made their appearance.
"It's so amazing. I never would have realised the power of these top-notch NPCs."
"This elven princess looks so amazing even in battle. I think I have fallen in love."
"I think that demon is more my type…"
Immediately the girl who said that received strange glances from her friends.
"Don't think about switching sides now!"
"Hmpf. Can't a girl dream a bit? Look at all the boys over there who are drooling from watching all the succubae…"
"You got a point…"
The girl's friend looked around and couldn't help but facepalm noticing the many lecherous stares.
Similar scenes happened everywhere among the crowd of players. Just as they got comfortable in their role as spectators, the players were surprised when they finally received a task.
[Current Task: The final battle has started. But defeating the enemy is not your objective. Your order faction came to free someone. A massive void curtain, with void energy too dense to cross, serves as a jail. Find the cores stabilizing the void curtain and destroy them!
Current level of completion: -
Current reward: -]
Mixed emotions hit the order faction players as they received their task. The massive void curtain was quite intimidating just looking at it. On top of that it didn't take a genius to figure out that the chaos faction players would be tasked with stopping them. Could they really accomplish such a task under the double threat?
Just as the first players were about to move, another notification appeared, and the players suddenly found a new item in their inventories. It was an inconspicuous stone compass. Liam's friends were surprised as they recognized it as the familiar void compass.
"Eh, they made a compass for everyone and even improved it?"
"Mhm. Seems like it. Now it can point towards the void core and shield against void damage for a while. Amazing."
Cyclone and Balm were quite impressed as they read the compass's description. With this improved tool in hand, they were a lot more confident. Perhaps the task was not impossible after all.