Trails - Chapter 20

Team Diablo 9th Round Tournament Roster

Opponents - The Dragon Team

Map - Ruined City

Modifiers - Timed Explosives, No Contestant Maps

Number of Participants - Eighteen (Nine from Team Diablo; Nine from Dragon Team)

Win Condition - Eliminate all members of the other team

Good luck and have fun,

Headmistress Kasmine.

The ruined city, true to its name, was home to thousands of demolished and destroyed buildings, all of which were covered in sand and dust making it look like it had been destroyed a millennium ago.

Eric and the rest of his team had been spawned on the top floor of a shaking skyscraper that felt like it was going to collapse at any moment, its metal supports creaking, threatening to break at any moment.

Thank God I don’t have a fear of heights, Eric thought, looking out of a broken window.

A strong gust of wind hit the building which made the building groan.

Be more grateful that you can fly, Lucifer noted.

“You know, I was kinda hoping that it would’ve been a winter city than a desert one,” Connor mumbled.

“Why? Don’t like the heat?” Ajax teased.

“It’s not that. I just think that a snow covered city would look cooler.”

Kaida smacked him on the back of the head. “Unless you have anything useful to say, please be quiet. Eric, got any ideas for how we’re going to play this one?”

“A few,” Eric replied, moving towards her and the rest of the team gathered around them. “Evony, Laila; what could you guys see?”

“Dust and ruins, I imagine,” Connor muttered, making Kaida hit him again.

“Aside from a few other skyscrapers like this one, nothing else stood out to me,” Evony admitted. “The terrain seems to be flat for the most part, although there are a couple of craters on the outskirts of the city.”

“Laila?”

“Same,” She replied. “I also imagine that the enemy team will have spawned in a building identical to ours as well to keep things fair.”

“Okay,” Eric muttered, staring at the ground in deep thought.

Nothing stood out in the terrain from their position, meaning that Eric and the others had no idea what else was out there and, without their handheld maps, it made it impossible to head to specific areas where they had an advantage. Thanks to Ajax’s craftsmanship, they now had earpieces that they could use to communicate to one another but, unfortunately, they didn’t have a gigantic range at just under a mile.

At the very least, they knew the elementals that the Dragon used and their names which was more of an advantage that they had then when they fought Osiris’s team. Hrag the Fire Dragon, Damini the Lightning Dragon, Guntur the Thunder Dragon, Payas the Aqua Dragon, Da the Boulder Dragon, Kori the Ice Dragon, Sagnik the Inferno Dragon, Holt the Earth Dragon, and, their leader, Axisam the Elemental Dragon.

Unlike Eric’s team however, they could all fight together in a battle and they could combine their powers together for devastating effect.

While they were all about as strong, perhaps a little stronger, than Kaida, the biggest problem and their strongest member was their leader, Axisam, who had become so strong with her Dragon that she could use Drakhan Armour, one of the rarest gifts on the planet.

Drakhan Armour was the final form of the most powerful Dragon Users and it was so rare that there had only been thirty seven people in recorded history to have ever achieved that power. The armour only appeared when the user’s soul and the dragon’s become one and a suit of dragon scale armour materialises over them, enhancing their physical and magical abilities like a God Armour. However, while strong, unlike God Armours, they couldn’t evolve; their power never increased or decreased.

If Eric or Connor had fully mastered their Armours, then Axisam wouldn’t have stood a chance against them but, because they still hadn’t fully evolved his Armour, there was a good chance that Axisam could beat him in a fight, especially if she was backed up by her team.

“Damn,” He whispered, clicking his tongue.

“That’s not a good way to start a planning brief,” Kiara mused. She then flew around Kaida’s hand which went for her. “Are we screwed then?”

“No, but we’re certainly at a disadvantage. If we knew the layout of the map, we could figure out good places to control or areas where one or more of our team would have an advantage because of the terrain. Unfortunately, the only ones in this situation who have any kind of advantage would be Connor and I.”

“Why?”

“Because, in a city like this, we can go all out without worry.”

“That also means their heavy hitters can too,” Jasmine noted.

“Axisam, huh?” Kiara mumbled. “She’s going to be a problem.”

“One hopefully Connor and Eric can deal with,” Ajax said.

“…Do Jasmine and Evony not have an advantage as snipers?” Elthia inquired.

“No, unfortunately, because all the buildings are like this, old and broken,” Eric said. “If they were to take up a sniper’s position in any of these buildings, they could easily be taken out by the enemy team, a strong gust of wind or the timed explosives.”

“The explosives will be a pain to deal with,” Connor added. “Ajax, how big have they been in previous years?”

“Um, about this big,” Ajax replied, stretching his hands apart wide enough to fit a large briefcase. “They’re hidden all over the map and are difficult to tamper with, so most people run away when they find them.”

“Could we use them to our advantage?” Evony wondered. “Maybe use them as a trap of some kind?”

“It’ll be tough.”

“Why?”

“The timing on the bombs are random each year and, what’s worse, they don’t have timers on them so the only way to figure the timings out is to let some of them detonate and time the explosions.”

“Given the size of the map, that would be difficult to do,” Laila said.

“Everyone except Laila and Evony; check this floor and the two below it for any bombs,” Eric ordered. “If you find any, let us know through the radio and we’ll evacuate this place and regroup outside.”

“Roger that!” They all yelled, quickly exiting the room.

“Should we split into smaller teams again?” Laila questioned.

“I think that might be the best solution,” Eric said.

“Hmm, that’s still dangerous, especially at this stage in the Tournament,” Evony said, frowning and crossing her arms. “I know that you and Connor struggle to properly fight around the rest of us but, if the enemy team all stick together, they’ll wipe us out.”

“Agreed, but we need information as well on the map,” Laila interrupted. “If we can find a good spot to hold, we can lure them in and take them down.”

“That’s what I’m hoping for,” Eric admitted.

“Hmm, that would be ideal but still.” Evony hummed softly. “I don’t know. If you want to go with that, then that’s fine.”

“We’ll do that this time and then, once we’re done, we can go and start practicing more with Connor and I fighting alongside you guys.”

“Okay.”

Laila nodded in agreement.

“Evony, if I should go down, you’re in charge,” Eric suddenly sprung on her.

“Huh? Where’d that come from?” Evony demanded. “We’ve never done something like that before.”

“And it was dumb of us not to. A team leader needs a second in command and, no offense to you Evony, but Laila’s a more versatile fighter whereas you can stand back and assess the situation more clearly.”

“I mean, I’ll do it if you die but you’d better not,” Evony sternly told him. “You’re still our biggest gun.”

“I know.”

“Then good.”

“Uh, Eric, question,” Kiara asked over the radio.

“This better be important, Kiara,” Eric wearily replied.

“Hey! What’s with that tone?”

“Nothing. So, what’s up?”

“While I don’t like that tone, this is important. So, how big do you think an explosion from a briefcase sized bomb would do?”

Eric felt a cold sweat trickle down his back.

“Pretty big,” He whimpered.

“Ah, okay,” Kiara calmly replied. Then, she screamed, “Everybody out! There’s one on the twenty-fifth floor!”

Laila grabbed Evony, dropped into her shadow and teleported down the stairs where, upon finding Jasmine, took her into her shadow as well, then quickly descended the building. Eric and Connor both ran out of the windows on their floors and they landed perfectly fine on the ground, leaving large craters where they landed. Kiara flew up to Elthia, took her hand, flew with her to Kaida, took her hand too, and then flew the three of them to safety.

As soon as they and the others had left the building, it exploded behind them, spewing debris in every direction and the skyscrapers crumbled into itself and ended up as a pile of dust and rubble.

They had made it to a safe distance away from the building and none of them were seriously injured but, at the same time, they were in awe and terror of the explosion that had erupted behind them.

“From now on, if you’ve got something important to say, say it right away,” Eric chided Kiara, lightly chopping her on the head.

“Sorry,” She whispered.

They saw in the distance all across the city several other explosions on the same scale, all of which turned buildings into piles of concrete and metal.

“Several of them at once, huh?” Jasmine mumbled.

“This…could be bad,” Connor said.

“That’s actually quite rare,” Ajax informed them. “Most of the time when they have timed explosives as the modifier, they only have ten or twelve in total and are set to detonate at different times to one another. Given that about a dozen of them just went off at once, there must be a hundred plus explosives all around the city.”

“Great, so everywhere we go could kill us,” Kaida groaned.

“It seems that splitting up really is the best option,” Evony said with a small sigh. “Given that so many explosives could be hidden all around us at once and even one could wipe out most of us, then dividing into smaller teams and going our own ways would be for the best.”

“Right,” Eric agreed. “Jasmine, Evony, Laila; you three will go down the West side, sticking close to the craters. With them on your flank, you shouldn’t have to worry about being attacked from that side. Kaida, Elthia; you guys head through the main part of the city, see if you can’t find a good centralised location for us to hold. Ajax, go with them but stay to their flank. If you see someone, call out to them and then you guys can ambush them. Kiara, do the same thing but on the other flank. Connor and I will head down the East side. Any questions?”

“Just one,” Jasmine said. “If any of us other than you or Connor encounter Axisam, what do we do?”

“Run and call for help.”

“Or drop a building on her,” Connor said.

“Or throw one of the bombs at her and pray it explodes,” Laila added.

“Right. Forget I asked,” Jasmine mumbled.

***

After walking carefully through the city for a few minutes, Ajax came to a dead stop inside a destroyed building. He deployed his shield and sword and waited for the moment when the enemy’s attack would begin.

A large rock was flung at him and he slid beneath it, the boulder passing over his head. Small chunks of concrete flew at him and Ajax narrowly avoided them, taking cover behind a knocked over pillar. The pillar lifted up and another boulder was thrown at him, forcing Ajax to roll to the side and then jump forward to dodge the pillar which was tossed at him. Two smaller rocks shot at him and Ajax could only raise his shield to protect himself.

They broke against it and smashed Ajax’s shield. He retracted it, deployed a second sword, and ran up the half broken stairs, avoiding rocks that kept being thrown at him. Ajax reached the second floor and saw, crouched on the rooftop, a short blonde boy with his dragon deployed behind him which looked like it was a living volcano.

Inferno, huh? Ajax noted.

Another rock flew at him and Ajax rolled beneath it and then threw the sword in his left hand at the boy. The blade missed but the boy still shrieked in fear and fell backwards, almost off the rooftop. Ajax then deployed his spear and threw it at the boy, but the dragon flew in front of him and swiped it out of the air, sending it onto the ground.

Ajax deployed two more swords, then ran over to the wall, kicked off it and leapt towards the roof, digging his blades into the wall and sticking them deep into it. Then, before the Inferno dragon could strike, Ajax heaved himself up onto the rooftop, deployed a second spear and thrust it into the boy’s chest.

The boy tried to scream but the pain and shock was too much for him.

Before the boy could send his dragon to attack him, Ajax kicked the boy off the rooftop and onto the streets below, cracking his back and he shattered into glass.

Dragon Team, eight players remaining.

“Yes!” Ajax cheered. “First blood!”

Whilst laughing smugly to himself, Ajax failed to notice the concrete pillar thrown at him, smashing like a train into his side and killing him instantly.

Team Diablo, eight players remaining.

***

Alexis couldn’t help but sigh when she saw her brother so easily, and embarrassingly, defeated.

“You idiot,” She groaned, planting her face into her hand.

***

“Mutual wipe out?” Kaida mumbled.

“…Who do you think it was?” Elthia whispered.

“Not sure. Hopefully, not the guy on our flank.”

“…Yeah.”

Kaida felt the heat of the opponent’s dragon before she actually saw it.

Instinctively, she raised her dragon around her but, unfortunately, she couldn’t wrap it around Elthia as well, leaving the other girl to struggle against the flames alone. Elthia raised a barrier around herself, trying to keep back the flames but they were too intense and hot for her to handle, quickly draining her of breathable air.

“Elthia!” Kaida screamed.

She narrowed her eyes and, using her dragon, pushed back the flames around them. Her dragon flew protectively in front of them as Elthia collapsed onto the floor, struggling to catch her breath.

“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” Kaida quickly asked, scanning the area for the enemy Dragon User.

“I’m…fine,” Elthia coughed, grasping her throat. She took a deep breath and then weakly said, “On your…left…”

Kaida’s eyes widened and then she smiled. “Roger that!”

Kaida spun on her heel and thrust her hand out towards a nearby building, sending her dragon flying towards it. It smashed through the building, reducing it to ruins, and Kaida heard someone cry out in pain.

“Got you!”

Kaida commanded her dragon to strike down at the rubble, slicing and carving through it to get to the person trapped beneath it. After a few quick and powerful slashes, she heard the sound of glass shattering.

Dragon team, seven players remaining.

“Ajax, this is Kaida!” She said, pressing down on her earpiece. “We’ve been attacked by the enemy and need support. Over.”

No response.

The ground beneath them shook and wooden branches shot out of the ground, impaling both girls in multiple places across their body.

Team Diablo, seven players remaining.

Kaida threw up blood, ten branches stabbing through her chest and limbs, but, even as she was dying, she could still fight. Kaida scowled at the Dragon User who had appeared, their dragon guarding their back, and Kaida’s dragon let out a terrifying roar. It soared like a bullet towards them and bit the head off the Dragon User.

Kaida smiled weakly as blood trickled down her lips.

Two…for two…

Team Diablo, six players remaining.

Dragon Team, six players remaining.

***

“Hmm, it seems like everyone else is having so much fun,” Kiara mused. She skipped down the barren high street and huffed. “Ah, I want to fight someone! Where is anyone?” She cupped her hands around her mouth and took a deep breath. “Hello? Allies? Enemies? Where is anyone?”

Her voice echoed unanswered down the streets.

With a small sigh, Kiara continued to skip down the street, finding a large, mostly destroyed, shopping centre. It was flooded but not to the point where the only way through it was swimming; if she stood in it, it would reach her ankles.

“This is why I shouldn’t wear heels,” She moaned.

The water crackled with yellow energy and Kiara instinctively leapt into the air, hovering above the water as it sparked furiously below her.

“Damn, she can fly?” A voice cried.

Kiara giggled, her aura forming around here. “Lightning, I presume?”

Several bolts of lightning zoomed towards Kiara; she flicked her arm in front of her and a black barrier materialised before her. It bounced the bolts back to where they came from and they exploded a nearby shop. Kiara narrowed her eyes and they changed to pure red; they caught a tall figure was running away from the shop.

Kiara giggled and zoomed behind him. “Found you.”

Before she could strike, Kiara was hit in the side by a concentrated pillar of water, knocking her out off the air and slamming her into the ground. Damini spun on his heel, stuck his hands into the water and electrocuted all of the water within the shopping centre. Kiara was barely able to get back into the air in time.

She thrust her hand towards Damini, conjuring a black rune, and fired a black beam at him. Damini summoned his dragon, sweeping it in front of him and it absorbed the attack but the dragon disintegrated. The water beneath her shot up and forced Kiara into the ceiling, hitting her back hard against it and then letting her crumple onto the floor.

Two against one, huh? Kiara thought, flying back up and away from the water. She touched her transmitter but it had taken in too much water and was useless. Can I beat them as I am now?

Two more lightning bolts flew at her which Kiara weaved between, but three pillars of water hit her back, knocking her towards the ground. Kiara recovered and shot like a bullet towards Damini.

It was clear what the pair were trying to do; they were trying to take her down in a single attack.

If Kiara was in the water and was hit by one of the lightning bolts, she would be fried in an instant. Failing that, they would douse her in water and a bolt would take care of her that way.

“No other choice, then,” She whispered.

Even though she knew she couldn’t control her powers properly in her human form, Kiara had to tap into the full extent of her powers in order to win.

She raised her wrist to her fangs and dug them into her flesh, stifling a small scream. Kiara made sure that her teeth were firmly sunk into her wrist, severing all of the blood vessels within, and then she pulled her head backwards. She ripped the skin off her flesh and an ocean of blood spilled from her arm.

Kiara had only ever transformed into her true Vampire form once before and, afterwards, she had sworn never to do it again.

I’m sorry, Eleanor, Kiara whispered.

Her back snapped back and her hair glowed a deep red. The whites of her eyes turned crimson with small black dots at the centre. Her fingernails extended into five inch long claws, her teeth glistening with blood, and her fangs grew a few centimetres. Wings forced their way out of her back and she let out a blood curdling scream which echoed throughout the shopping centre.

Her mind went blank and then became dyed with blood, her thoughts slipping and fading and being replaced with much darker and crueller ones.

“Ah, it feels so good,” Kiara whispered, smiling evil at her claws. She clicked her neck and glared at Damini like a hunter finding its prey.

A tidal wave washed over her, drenching her from head to toe, and Damini struck, electrocuting the entire shopping centre.

When the water fell however, Kiara remained standing and undamaged.

“Huh?” She mused, a disappointed look on her face. “Was that it?”

Damini and Payas were frozen in place, in shock from what they were seeing.

Neither of them had ever seen a Vampire’s true form before and, like Drakhan Armours, not everyone could do it and it terrified them that Kiara had transformed into a monster like that before their very eyes.

Payas thrust his hands forwards and all of the water in the centre formed into a hurricane that slammed into Kiara’s chest. However, the water simply fell lifelessly onto the ground. Damini sent a storm of lightning bolts towards Kiara, but a red barrier absorbed all of the bolts. It then flowed into Kiara’s veins and they glowed the same colour.

Kiara seemingly disappeared before their eyes and then reappeared in front of Payas’s eyes. She stabbed him through the chest with her fist, destroying his spine and tossed him onto the ground. Damini roared at her and shot thirty bolts at Kiara, all of which she took head on. The lightning was absorbed by her blood red aura and converted into Mana within her body.

She jumped at Damini, grabbed his face and slammed him onto the ground, breaking his back.

“Good, you’re both still alive,” Kiara whispered, giggling madly to herself. “Good. It wouldn’t be any fun if you died so easily.”

She lifted Damini into the air and threw him beside Payas; both of them were still alive but were unable to move.

“Now then,” Kiara crouched down and bent over Damini, bringing her face close to his and taking a long, deep breath in. “Your blood smell delicious.” Damini winced and stifled a scream, making Kiara laugh. She stroked her face and purred, “Ah, that’s the face I wanted to see!”

Her fangs extended and she went to bite into his neck, but the building around them became engulfed in an inferno. The building fell on top of her and the Dragons, killing them all.

Team Diablo, five players remaining.

Dragon Team, four players remaining.

***

Kasmine glared viciously at Kiara as the building fell on top of her.

After seeing that, despite her previous warnings, Kiara had still gone out of control and tapped into a part of her powers she couldn’t control, she had ordered Teeq to set off the next set of bombs early, disguising Kiara’s disqualification as a random death within the game.

As soon as Kiara had transformed into her true form, Teeq had prevented the spectators from seeing what she was doing.

“Are you sure that no one saw?” Kasmine asked, her rage seeping through each word.

“Yes,” Teeq answered confidently. “However, changing the timers on the bombs complicates things a little.”

“Set all of the timers to a reduced time and make it seem like we had always intended to have them go off like that. That should satisfy most people.”

“Understood.”

Kasmine clicked her tongue and stormed off. “That idiot!”

***

After walking across the map for the best parts of ten minutes, Evony, Jasmine and Laila had decided to rest in a ruined building next to the city’s park. They were all sat around on the ground, each looking out a different entrance, and each of them ready to strike at a moment’s notice.

“Another series of mutual wipe outs?” Evony questioned, stunned at how the match was progressing.

Even though the bomb that had detonated near them was over two hundred metres away, they had still felt the shockwaves of it and seen the explosion.

“A bomb, perhaps?” Laila suggested.

“Most likely,” Jasmine agreed. She sighed and stood up, brushing the dust off her skirt. “So? What do we do now?”

“For now, let’s stay here and see if we can’t catch one or two of them with our trap,” Evony said. “Laila.”

She nodded, dropped into her own shadow and teleported her way up onto the rooftop. Less than five seconds later, she returned and simply nodded at them, a cold look in her eyes.

“Show time,” Jasmine mused.

***

Guntur, the Thunder Dragon, Kori the Ice Dragon, and Da the Earth Dragon, had found the park simply by chance as they were wandering aimlessly.

“This looks like a good place to set up an ambush,” Guntur said. He confidently strolled towards the entrance, Da close behind him; Kori, however, was hesitating. “What’s wrong?”

“If we know it’s a good place for an ambush, so do our enemies,” Kori replied, scanning the nearby rooftops for contacts.

Guntur snorted. “Even if they did, they’re no match for us. Now, come on!”

With a weary sigh, Kori followed after them and the three dragons walked into the park, with Kori checking the rooftops and buildings and Da checking the streets, and Guntur was listening out for any sounds that could indicate that someone was nearby.

However, even though they had been scanning the area carefully, none of them had been paying close enough attention to the ground where they were walking.

As soon as they had entered into the park, a series of miniscule mines exploded behind them, launching them forwards and sending an army of shrapnel and dirt at them. Guntur was able to send a shockwave backwards, blasting the scraps heading for him away but the other two hadn’t been as lucky.

Da had taken several large pieces to the back and Kori had taken a few smaller pieces as well, leaving them wounded and dazed.

Jasmine popped up from a nearby destroyed car and fired her machineguns at them. The bullets smashed into Guntur’s ribs and made him howl in pain. He glared at her, summoned his dragon behind him, smashed his palm against the ground and unleash a powerful shockwave towards her, breaking the ground between them and sending Jasmine through the air. Jasmine hit the ground hard, smashing her back against the concrete stairs behind her, and Kori summoned his dragon, readying his attack against her.

He thrust his hand towards her and several thin ice spikes flew at her. Jasmine tried to get up and run away from them, but she could barely stand after Guntur’s attack. She turned and dove at the last second but the spikes stabbed her in the back and in her arms, pinning her to the ground.

Evony loosed an arrow at the dragons which then split into three separate ones. The arrows glided towards them and exploded, encasing them in a ball of fire. Da had reacted quickly enough to encase himself in a wall of dirt and rock, but the other two had been badly wounded by the attack and were lying on the floor.

“You bitch!” Da screamed, his wall returning into dirt, conjuring his dragon behind him.

It flew into the ground and it triggered an earthquake, making the ground split wide open between him and Evony and the building that she was in began to collapse. Evony swerved and rolled around the falling ceiling pieces but one fell against her back, breaking her quiver and cutting her back, scattering her arrows and blood onto the ground.

Laila appeared behind Da, leapt out of his shadow and stabbed him in the back of the head, instantly killing him.

Dragon Team, three players remaining.

Before his team could recover from Evony’s arrows, she ran over to Kori and slit his throat.

Dragon Team, two players remaining.

She went to stab Guntur in the neck but he launched a shockwave behind him, forcing Laila to dive into her own shadow and quickly teleport away from him.

“Damn you!” He hissed, trying to push himself back up onto his feet, but he couldn’t. He had taken too much damage. “In that case!”

Guntur let out a mighty roar, as did his dragon, and he smashed both his fists into the ground, unleashing a gigantic shockwave around them, destroying the already cracked and broken streets even further and levelling the buildings around them. However, because the blast had such a large impact, the ground beneath him sunk into the earth and took him with it.

Dragon Team, one player remaining.

“A suicide attack?” Laila muttered.

Laila went to retreat from the collapsing park but then realised that neither Evony nor Jasmine were in the condition to get out of the blast area alone. She took a sharp breath, fell into her shadow and quickly teleported to Evony, dragging her with her through the shadows to Jasmine and then, with both of them in her hands, Laila teleported fifty metres away from the park as it sunk into Guntur’s gigantic crater.

Once she knew that they were safe, Laila collapsed onto her knees and clutched her chest.

She had over exerted herself and was drained of both her physical and magical energy.

“Are…you two…alright?” Laila asked, struggling to catch her breath.

“Yeah, thanks to you,” Evony said. She tried to sit up but groaned at the strong sensation of pain against her back. She reached to her back and patted it down, wincing as she did. “I’ve lost my quiver and split my back open.”

Jasmine hissed and stood back up, before leaning against a wall. “Yeah, well, at least you didn’t smash yours against concrete. If I didn’t have my gear on, I probably would’ve broken it.”

Evony grunted. “Small victories, eh? How are the cuts?”

“Small and thin; nothing I haven’t had before.”

“Don’t they hurt?”

Jasmine shook her head. “My old teacher taught me how to ignore pains like these long ago,” She mumbled, closing her eyes and placing her back against the wall. “So, leader, what now?”

“Rest up and recover,” Evony said, swallowing hard. “There’s only one of them left and Connor and Eric can handle her.”

Laila frowned and folded her arms.

I’m not too sure about that.

***

“Damn, that was quick,” Connor said.

“Yeah,” Eric agreed, scanning the rooftops. “So, it’s definitely Axisam who’s the last one standing, right?”

“Without a doubt. Meaning that we need to do our fair share of the work.”

“Still, we have no idea where she is.”

“Forget where she is. Where the hell are we?”

Like the rest of their team, Eric and Connor had been wandering aimlessly for a while and, unlike the others, they still hadn’t seen, let alone heard, anyone else near them. No sounds of movement, flying, jumping or fighting.

It was all silent and that terrified Eric.

“You still can’t fly yet, right?” Connor asked.

“Yeah,” Eric said, stopping and raising his hand up. “The guys would’ve told us if they’d spotted her already, so we head to the tallest building we can find and see if we can spot-”

Eric never got to finish his sentence.

Axisam had fallen out of the air on top of him, driving her fist through his skull, killing him and creating a gigantic crater in the ground, causing Connor to lose his footing and fall onto the ground. Before he could even process what had happened to him, Axisam had spun her foot into the side of his neck, snapping it and kicking the head off Connor’s body.

Team Diablo, three players remaining.

Axisam was wearing a solid golden dragon scale armour, covering every inch of skin on her body. Her head was that of a dragon, but her body was that of a human. Razor sharp teeth lined her jaw; claws that could shred through flesh, steel and bone sat at the ends of her feet and hands.

It was her Drakhan Armour, the power which had allowed her to one shot both Eric and Connor.

Axisam grinned beneath her armour and flicked her wrists a few times. “Huh? Is that all they had in them? Disappointing.”