The 11th God

Battle of the Factions Arc: Fantasia

The introduction part was tiring if I would be honest. Dio introduced more than 20 factions who are participating in the tournament including our faction, the Edgeseekers. The main reason why I agreed with Elio and Dio in participating with this event is because I want to help them achieve what they want.

"But how about you Al, what is it that you want?"

There was a voice that suddenly whispered in my ears. I looked around checking who might have possibly whispered, but the voice doesn't sound familiar. There were no any other person beside me except Elio and Diether. It seems rather odd that I heard someone whisper inside me while not seeing anyone near me. It might be just my head messing around with me because I am tired but the voice was right. What is it that I really want?

We are still inside the guild with Elio planning out what and how should we do during the event. Elio is explaining how each known faction fight and move. He must've studied their movements already from observations on past events, but I am really impressed by how he is explaining each and everything. He reached one point and topic which caught my attention.

"The event will be composed of 4 different battle types: Elimination, Crystal Vanguard, Fortress Defense and lastly, Midnight Shootout." he stated

All the said event types were very random, unknown and unfamiliar to me. I have not the slightest idea on what each of them is about. Elio should be explaining them but the fact that the tournament is divided into four different parts is what shocked me the most.

"The very first round will be Elimination. During the elimination round, two random factions will be chosen to fight against each other. The losing faction will be immediately kicked out of the tournament bracket. The elimination round will end once half of the total factions are kicked out of the bracket and that's when the next round will begin." Elio explained.

"The next round will be Midnight Shootout. Midnight shootout is an easy round. This doesn't require you to damage your opponents instead, both of you will have the same goal. The goal of the both teams is to shoot the stars as many as you can in the given time. The team with the highest amount of stars shot will be the considered winner." Elio continued.

"What do you mean by stars?" I asked him.

"Stars are what they call it. They are the flying orbs that will be spawned during the event. They move really really quick and they have a chance of evading the attacks fired at them due to their agility and speed however their biggest weakness are explosion attacks. In this battle mode, all types of spells are allowed except movement spells. So explosions and projectiles are basically the best way to win. However, buffs are still allowed as long as it doesn't affect your position to where you are shooting." he continued explaining.

"The next one is the Crystal Vanguard. The hardest round of all."

"Crystal Vanguard is a battle mode wherein one member will be a representative of a faction that will be competing in Crystal Vanguard. In Crystal Vanguard, the chosen representative will be give one crystal to protect. During the event, all players from each team must do their best to protect their own crystal while trying to destroy the crystal of other representatives. In this mode, all representatives from each guild will be competing at the same time in just one map. Take note however that even if you defeat the holder of the crystal, if their crystal is not destroyed then the player is still not considered as defeated." 

"Lastly, in Fortress Defense, just like in Crystal Vanguard there can only be one representative per faction team. The main goal in Fortress Defense is to defend it against a surrounding horde of monsters. While monsters are coming towards your fortress, there will also be random events that will also destroy your fortress so you must make sure that you're really doing well. A fortress will just be a small campsite." he continued explaining.

"That is one hell of a stupid battle mode." Diether said.

"I find it really really fun to be honest." Elio replied.

"How are they identify who won if both sides are able to protect their fortress?" I asked Elio.

"There is no time limit in Fortress Defense. Whoever is able to defeat the horde of monsters faster and gives up the last will be the winner." he explained

"See? Just like what I said, so troublesome." Diether said.

"You never really said the word troublesome." Elio said.

"My point remains the same, genius." Diether told Elio.

"Anyways, do you have any other questions Al?" Elio asked me.

I shook my head at Elio and gave him a sign of 'none anymore'.

"Well I guess we should start planning out now about how should we fight in the event." Elio said.

"Does fighting really require a plan?" Diether said.

"Says the guy who is always conscious of everything." Elio teased.

"I guess Elio does have a point. I mean after all, all of our opponents are famous and strong people. Basically fighting without any information about them will only lead us to our defeat and I know how much you guys wanted to win this." I told them.

"So now what is the plan exactly?" Diether asked.

"Elio knows more about this than I do so even though I'm the leader, I don't think I'd be really really helpful in planning this one out." I told them.

"How about you tell us on which event should we fight especially in Midnight Shootout, Crystal Vanguard and Fortress Defense?" Elio asked me.

"I guess I can." I told them.

Knowing how both of them fights from the past days I've been with them, this might be easy. I've been with Elio and Diether for days now and we've been doing quests constantly that I get to watch how each of them move.

Starting with Elio, he is the type of guy who gets really aggressive at the very start. Putting Elio in a offense-based battle would be really good. Not to mention, Elio is really good at summoning so he will be the perfect guy to place in an offense-based battle. Diether on the other side mains the art of support so he would be the best backup in a battle. However, if I'd leave Elio fighting on Midnight Shootout, would Diether do well defending his fortress in Fortress Defense?

"You shouldn't doubt your members Al." Elio told me.

He is right. I shouldn't really doubt my teammates but I am just being conscious of whatever might happen to them.

"I guess I already had it planned then." I told them.

"I'll be putting Elio in Midnight Shootout, Diether in Fortress Defense and I'll be competing in Crystal Vanguard." I told them.

They were a bit shocked from what I said. Maybe after all I'm not that good in planning but I really did my best in planning. I really used my knowledge about them in order for me to plan this out. Although it's not a hundred percent sure that we will win, I know that all of us will be doing our very best to win this event. 

"I'm sorry if it sounds bad." I told them.

"No no no! It all sounds good. We were just shocked to how you smoothly planned this out without doubting for longer than 5 seconds." Elio told me.

"But he doubted for a second" Diether said.

We all laughed with Diether while he was left wondering to why we are probably laughing, but we spent the night inside the guild. Each faction inside the guild are given a room. The room most of the time serves as our meeting room and for other uses too.

We used the room given to us to spend the night. Elio was worried that we might not be able to arrive on time if we are going to sleep by the treehouse tonight since the time was unknown and that Dio is really strict when it comes to time. The event was said to being anytime soon, so it may be today, tonight, tomorrow or the coming day.

However, we got no rest at all.

I mean we did get some, but not enough for us to recover all of our energies back because the alarm already started. It has currently been going on right now for about 10 seconds and all the three of us are just in our beds, sitting and probably wondering why at this time.

Our sleep were just about 4 hours long, and 4-hour rest is enough to recover the energy of a person who used his body all day doing quests and missions.

But Elio was not like how I expected him after waking up. His energy is doubled as earlier as if he didn't do anything for the whole day but rest. Diether on the other side is just on his bed, hugging his pillow while looking at Elio with his slightly closed eyes and frowning face.

"What the hell is wrong with this guy?" Diether said.

But we were all having fun that we forgot the event had already started. We heard a rumbling sound at the floor and tons of shouts and screams outside our room. It seems like Elio is not the only one excited for the event. The energy outside seemed livelier than it was during the anomaly of abilities event.

I'm not going to lie, I'm still not ready for this. I am still at my bed wondering how is this going to happen. However, every time I look at Elio, I just see him as a hyped person, excited for what is about to come, ready for whatever is bound to happen like he knows what will happen, and that whatever might happen is in our favour.

Elio has this positivity inside him that always keeps him so hyped and energetic. He had never been negative in his life.

"What are you two still doing sitting in your beds? Come on now! Get up or else we are not going to make it towards the meeting place. Can't you guys hear the crowd outside? There is like an endless stampede out there! Come on now get up!" Elio said as he grab the short limbs of Diether.

Diether went up along with the pull of Elio. He had seemed to be a little bit awakened by Elio's pull. He starting grabbing his backpack however, instead of putting it behind him, he ended up grabbing it in front of him while his eyes continuously open and shut.

"What are you doing staring there Al? Come on now let's go! You don't want to be late." Elio said.

I smiled at him and immediately grabbed my stuff. We all three went outside while Elio still carry the left arm of Diether who seems like is still half-asleep. 

Upon going out of the room, there were still a few crowd of people that are rushing downstairs towards the meeting place. There were some shouting their faction names while some are just murmuring a bunch of random words. Heavy footsteps can still be heard while we're outside. Thankfully, we aren't bumping into any other people, we wouldn't really want to waste our time having a dispute with someone else, not to mention most of the people here inside the guild are actually big. When I say big, they are really really big. Their broad biceps and body makes up for the lack of their height. Although they might not be that short, you will still call them big for the size of their body.

A few minutes later we were able to go downstairs. We are not the last one to go downstairs, but we are one of the few who came down last. Elio didn't change his mood, he still has this hyped up aura inside him.

Upon reaching the outside of the guild house, we were all shocked with what we saw. Everybody was astounded and left standing in awe as we gaze upon what we see in front of us.

"The Fantasia." I heard Elio mutter.