Eternal Dream

Black Star was standing together with his guildmates before a massive and imposing estate: the Palace of the Damned, as players liked to call it.

He was equipped with his best gear: a dark green leather armor made of dragon-hide, his beloved legendary bow, and a variety of destructive arrows for every type of enemy. His bag was filled with various scrolls and potions. One can never be too prepared for a dungeon, and most of all against the strongest boss in the game. Just thinking about the penalty of death made Black Star sweat. But he wasn't alone in this regard, as everyone brought out their best equipment today and were afraid of losing it.

Today history shall be made in the World of Magecraft, and even in the realms of gaming. The top guilds have decided to combine their powers and assembled their best players to raid the Palace of the Damned, kill that accursed witch, plunder her treasures, and raze the entire place to the ground.

It wasn't the first time the guilds tried to take down that bitch, but the results so far were catastrophic, as each guild has been fighting on its own.

The palace itself, even though grand and beautiful, was nothing more than a deceiving front. The true challenges were the seven floors underground. Each floor was more difficult to defeat than the previous one, and so far no one has ever made it past the third one.

When Black Star remembered that witch's mocking laughter while bullying him when he was only an ignorant newbie, he started to boil with rage. He had to pay his humiliation back a thousand times over at all costs. But thinking about their previous encounter, he forced himself to calm down. As the main team's raid leader, he needed to keep his wits at all times to properly direct his party in any situation.

"Are the other guilds all here?" Black Star asked.

"All but Hall of Fame," replied a rogue by his side.

Black Star furrowed his brows, he didn't have a good feeling about this. "Is there any news of them?"

"No, there is no communication from their side."

"What the hell are they doing? Are they bailing on us?" Black Star started to get irritated again. He opened his friends list and tried to contact the leader of Hall of Fame himself, but wasn't successful either.

"Has anyone heard anything from Hall of Fame?" he asked in the group channel exclusive for raid leaders and guild masters.

"Nothing so far."

"Tch, these damned bastards are way too arrogant! They truly think they are the best in the world. Hehe, can't wait to see how many of them will be alive after this raid is over."

"Although they are c.o.c.ky, you cannot disparage their achievements in the arena."

"Pah! There is a big difference between PvP and PvE! So what if they are good in the arena? This is a large scale raid! Even for us, it will be a new experience!"

"Well, it will be interesting at the very least."

"Say, do you think her cult will appear today?"

"Damn, I almost forgot about them!"

"It would be weird if these lunatics don't show up to protect their goddess."

"Boy, as if dealing with that witch wasn't hard enough already…"

"Isn't that exactly the reason why we decided to band together for once in the first place?"

"Hey, Hall of Fame is finally here!"

Black Star looked around at that moment and saw a group of people slowly approaching them. Hall of Fame, although small in the count of members compared to the other guilds, couldn't be underestimated, for they were one of the best PvP guilds in the world. They would definitely be a great help in today's venture, especially against the bitch's fan club, or so the other guilds said.

"Wow, nice party you guys have here," said Silverblade, the leader of Hall of Fame.

"You're late!" screamed Balroth, the guild master of Raging Storm.

"Now now, no need to be so angry. We're here now, aren't we? Let's go and have some fun!" Silverblade chuckled.

"Bastard!"

"Why haven't you notified us of your delay?" asked Black Star.

"Simply because I didn't feel like it! Happy now? Look, you could keep asking pointless questions, or we could go and do what we're all here for. What do you say?" said Silver Blade.

Black Star looked at him and shook his head. He wasn't all to keen on inviting them in the first place, but the majority of guilds voted for them. With no other choice, he could only relent and hope that their arrogance wouldn't get in the way.

"Everyone, get in formation!" ordered Black Star. His guild moved accordingly without delay or unrest, clearly a group of experienced players. Tanks moved to the front lines, melee classes right behind them, healers stayed in the middle of the party and ranged damage dealers positioned themselves at the backline.

Suddenly, a man clad in a set of golden-white armor flew in front of the army, catching everyone's attention. "Everyone…I am sure almost all of you here have become a victim of that evil witch at some point during the last 6 years..." he said. The members of Hall of Fame only sneered in response.

"Who is that?" asked a player below.

"The Guild Master of Sanctuary, Sunwalker," answered a friend of his.

"…she tricked us, manipulated us, killed and robbed us, she even built that bloody castle of hers with our stolen gold! But no more! Today we shall have our revenge! Today we shall pay back all the humiliation and suffering we endured! Today we shall purge the evil from this world!" Sunwalker became more and more fervent as he continued, and the audience roared in excitement.

"Kill her!"

"Burn her alive!"

"It is time, my brethren. Charge!" screamed Sunwalker as he flew straight towards the palace. The other guilds moved right after him in an orderly fashion.

"Tch, f.u.c.k.i.n.g role-play nerds…" grumbled Black Star. "Move out!"

Thousand of players stormed the gates of the palace, and the guards couldn't even react before they were obliterated by countless spells. Statues sprang to life to ward off the intruders, but they could not stop them all, as the rest just ran past them. The first wave of careless players was killed by the defensive spells around the mansion. But the dead would not lie down for long, as the healers raised them back up.

The core teams smoothly reached the palace. They were already familiar with the defensive mechanisms and the guards' abilities, so it didn't take them long to arrive in the main hall, where the entrance to the underground floors lay. At that moment, spells and arrows shot from all sides at them.

"Protect the Queen!"

"Kill these impudent bastards!"

Thousand of players rushed at the guild alliance from every direction, both outside and inside the palace.

"The Cult is here! Attack!"

Chaos ensued as both sides clashed. Blood splattered across the walls, HP-bar's sank at an alarming rate, screams and explosions echoed through the air.

"Don't bother with them!" Silverblade screamed suddenly. "Hall of Fame will take care of these scrubs! You lot go and clear the underground floors!"

The guild masters and raid leaders looked at each other and nodded. They had to defeat the witch as fast as possible because this wasn't a regular dungeon and she wasn't bound by its rules. This was an open-world scenario comparable to a guild war, where all possibilities are open.

The core teams proceeded towards the entrance of the underground levels, and the rest of the army stayed back to help Hall of Fame hold back the Cults' members.

The first two floors didn't pose a problem, as everyone has already cleared it once before, but the next five floors were brutal. Dead bodies now decorated the ground. Most potions and scrolls were spent. The constant tension and necessary concentration slowly but surely took a great toll on them, as their faces were filled with exhaustion and their movements grew sluggish.

After a hard battle, the guardians of the sixth floor were about to fall. Just a little bit more, and they could finally rip that bitch apart. But suddenly, screams and sounds of fighting could be heard from the backline.

Black Star turned around when a sword suddenly impaled him through his heart. He was shocked. Silverblade stood right in front of him, holding the sword that pierced him. Behind him were the dead bodies of Black Star's comrades and the members of the Cult and Hall of Fame rapidly approaching.

Black Star reacted fast and jumped back before he could receive another blow, but Silverblade didn't ease his assault. The other members of the alliance noticed the ambush and tried to fight back, but that just increased the burden on the front line, who was still dealing with the guardians.

"What the hell are you guys doing?1" screamed Balroth.

"It's Hall of Fame, they betrayed us! They are working together with the Cult!"

"What?!"

"What is the meaning of this?!" shouted Black Star. "Wait, have you been planning this from the beginning? You have always been working for her, haven't you?!"

"Smart," grinned Silverblade. "But I am not here to talk!" he screamed with laughter and attacked again.

The alliance had a difficult time fighting against two enemies at once, even with their larger numbers. After one hour, the guardians were slain, and so were most members of both sides.

"You sons of a bitches!" cursed Black Star, his health almost reaching zero.

"Hehe, why so serious? This is just a game. It's all about having fun!" chuckled Silverblade, his condition not much better.

Suddenly, a clear and lovely female voice reached their ears, but Black Star only got shivers from it. "Nicely said. I am sure you wouldn't mind having me join you, right?"

They both looked up at the same time. A beautiful woman was floating above them, and behind her five giant meteors appeared out of nowhere.

"NOOOOOO!!!" all the survivors of the previous battle screamed at once and tried to run away, but it was already too late. The meteors descended. Fire, smoke, and ash filled the space as everything collapsed. The last thing Black Star could remember was that typical, mocking laughter of that evil witch.

Alisa walked out of the underground and took a look around. "Seems like I need to renovate again," she chuckled.