New Eden: Live to Play, Play to Live

"What do you mean? There is only the enemy and yo–oh. Ohhhh… Oups?"

Leon shrugged his shoulders, realizing his mistake. But he didn't look remorseful in the slightest.

Astaroth kicked the ground next to him, before opening his guild chat.

'All fighters in the inner wall trap zone need to retreat. I repeat. Retreat now.'

His message confused many of the players at first, but when they heard the sudden howl of monsters coming closer and closer, combined with screams of pain and terror coming from out the walls, they obeyed.

Athena, still perched up at the highest point of the tree, saw various monsters rushing out of the forest in all directions. Scanning them, she noticed all of their grades and gulped.

She hurriedly reported back to Astaroth and Phoenix.

'I see five zone bosses, from all directions, most of them at the elite grade, one at the rare grade. What is happening?'

Astaroth pulled his face down in annoyance. He turned his head to look at Leon.

"You better make sure they don't reach further than the trap zone we built. Our newly constructed structures are inside those walls. Don't let our efforts become wasted."

Leon scratched the back of his head.

"I'm sorry. I thought this would help. I'll stop any of them as soon as they are in the trap zone. Although, I'm sure this will put the invaders in a bind, too."

"It better," Astaroth replied, grumbling.

Athena kept observing the movement of the monsters, and from the reports she sent, Astaroth was at least partly satisfied. The sieging guilds all tried to stop the monsters from plowing through their zones, taking heavy casualties, as well as losing resources.

Now, it would depend on how Leon could contain them, if they would also pay a price. He hoped the guardian was strong enough to contain them, with his new strength.

Because it would hurt them even more if he failed to contain even one.

***

Deep in the southern forest around the Bastion, Azamus was repositioning himself. After the trap zone had been confirmed, and all the action had moved inside the walls, his spot at the north wasn't good anymore.

So he moved back to behind his guild forces, close to where the mobile graveyard was set. From there, he could see his new target better.

As he aimed his rifle at the top of the tree and peered through his scope, he locked his gaze on an elf girl who was scouting out the area. He grinned as he adjusted his distance and height readers.

Since the tournament, Azamus had changed his scope, so he could get more accurate measures as he aimed. It was common for snipers in the military to have spotters with them, but Azamus didn't want the hassle of having a player tag along with him.

So, instead, he modified his scope. He had brought it to an enchanter in the gnome kingdoms that could engrave a distance scanner and a topographical measurer.

With this, he could have accurate distance and gravitic readings that would ensure a more precise shot. He also crafted a little gizmo that resembled a wind spinner, so he could have readings of wind speeds and directions.

With all this, he was making his very-long distance shots much more accurate. Azamus was an incredible shot, by many measures, but shooting a target miles away was not something just anyone could pull off.

But with all the right tools, it made his job much easier. After adjusting his scope with all his new calculations, he was certain to hit.

He breathed in and was about to breathe out when a low growl disturbed him. Holding his breath, Azamus turned his head slowly.

In the branches of the tree next to his, a pair of green eyes were staring at him. Attached to these eyes was a massive black puma, easily the size of a car.

'Fuck,' he mentally cursed.

The puma was already in a pouncing position.

Azamus knew he had to act fast. Trying to spin his gun and aim the puma, the beast lunged at him.

Azamus managed to fire one shot, hitting the beast in the abdomen, but that was too little too late. Nearby, the players respawning in the graveyard heard screams of pain, as the gnome was being torn to shreds in the forest.

But as they were about to run back to the fortress, a large black form jumped in between them and the battlefield.

Looking at it, many of the freshly respawned players pulled out their weapons. But this graveyard wasn't populated only by respawning players.

Inside a mausoleum in the middle of it, two players were kneeling in front of a large stone cross. Hearing the screams, one of them opened his eyes.

"I'll go see what's happening," he said to the other.

Rising to his feet, he walked out of the mausoleum. He came face to face with the large feline.

Gulping loudly, he realized where the screams came from. Remnant pixels were still rising from the ground, where pools of blood could be seen.

The player rapidly pushed the stone doors shut, sealing the mausoleum, before pulling out a small red gun. The puma jumped on him, starting to bite and claw him.

As his health was rapidly zeroing, the player shot the gun in the air. A ball of bright red flames shot up into the sky, before exploding in a red flash.

Athena, from her scouting spot, could easily spot the flare. She used her sonar ability and rapidly determined where that came from.

With a wide grin, she pulled out a wooden case from her inventory. This case had arrived not too long ago, with a message specifying it was for her.

Opening it, she pulled out the arrow that had a red tip. She nocked the arrow, opening her messaging interface for the officer chat.

'To all free officers, you soon will hear a loud whistle. The provenance of this whistle is the reason the siege is still ongoing. Find it and destroy or capture it.'

Sending the message, Athena closed her eyes. She honed in on the structure her echolocation had pinpointed and loosed the arrow.

It disappeared from in front of her, reappearing right before the mausoleum doors, before the arrow shattered on the stone.

*WHEEEEEE!!!*

Three officers snapped their heads in the whistle's direction simultaneously.

'There you are!' they all thought at the same time.