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Dergonu got a reaction from kingdomcome for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 3!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
Chapter 2:
Chapter 3: (Word count, 4439)
The last GM standing chapter 3:
On the third day of battle, the sun was blazing hot. The dark clouds that had been hovering over the battlefield for two days straight were nowhere to be seen. The base of team Nosbeleed, which was turned into a charred wasteland after the previous day's battle, was abandoned. The battle had been pushed further and further away from the forest and open plains, and a group of warriors found themselves in a harsh desert, being tormented by heat under the scorching sun.
...
Trying to get away from their pursuers, Kiriririri and Nebjula from team Nosebleed were running through the desert at full speed. Because of the protective shield granted to them by their commander, the heat didn't mean too much, but fatigue was taking its toll on their bodies. They had been running for hours already, and it was only a matter of time now; their tail would soon catch up to them, and they would have to fight. And sure enough, after a few more minutes, the outline of a person could be seen appearing in front of them. Coming to a complete stop, the two team Nosebleed warriors prepared for battle. Their pursuers soon came to a halt as well, their weapons shining brightly in the sun.
"Ohh, I see our prey has stopped running. What's the matter, tired?" Pouting her lips whilst making an intimidating face, the woman in the group presented her weapon in a taunting manner; a sickle. The curved blade of the weapon was forged in a deep black metal. The tip of the sickle was jagged, with several small razor sharp edges that were there in order to inflict as much damage as possible. It allowed the weapon to function as a stabbing tool as well as a cutting blade. The woman was wearing the green garb standard for Down's army. Interestingly enough though, behind her, two more warriors were approaching, but they were clad in the red armor of Kaguya's army. To her left was another one of her teammates. Had Kaguya's soldiers been sent after Down's soldiers?.. There was also one more person who had appeared in front of Kiri and Nebjula, another one of Kaguya's men. In order to cover both their sides, Nebjula and Kiriririri stood back to back, weapons at a ready. The situation was quite chaotic, and the only way to identify who was who, was by the color of their armor.
The female soldier from team Down took a step forward and smiled at Kiriririri.
"So, which one of you will be my playmate? Oh, wait! I haven't introduced myself yet, how rude." Taking a step back again and bowing gracefully, the woman's hair swayed in the harsh wind. She was paying no mind to the two enemies who had appeared behind her.
"My name is Kawasumi. It's a pleasure to meet you gentlemen. Now, I'll start by cutting up you!" Just as she finished her sentence, Kawasumi charged forward, her sickle heading for Kiriririri's neck. Kiri quickly parried the attack by charging his fist with energy and striking at the approaching weapon. The sound of his fist colliding with the steel was deafening, but neither party cared. They launched attack after attack at each other, completely ignoring their surroundings. Kawasumi laughed joyfully during the fight, seemingly having a fun time. Kiri was focused, not saying a word.
Nebjula, who was standing behind Kiri as Kawasumi attacked, quickly got his weapons ready and struck at the opponent in front of him. Zebhra from team Kaguya who was holding a sword, blocked the first mace hit, and jumped to the side to retaliate. The thin blade moved quickly, and Nebjula barely managed to stop it with his maces. Unleashing a flurry of attacks at Nebjula, Zebhra moved forward, not giving Nebjula a chance to strike back. At the same time, one of the men in the back came forward, joining the fight. The desert was soon turned into a big mess of a battle; green, pink and red clashing in an epic fight.
A shadow quickly moved towards Kiririri, and he only managed to dodge it by a hair. Looking to his left, Kiriririri spotted a man in red armor with his hand extended towards him. A big red magic circle was floating in front of his hand, and the shadow that had attacked him appeared to have been made by it. Beside him was a another one of Kaguya's soldiers, standing with his arms crossed. Was he not going to attack?
"Hahaha, this is magnificent!" Shouting in a wild voice, Kawasumi rapidly struck at Kiri with her sickle, each blow being blocked by Kiri's fists. Then several knives made out of shadow quickly flew towards him again, sent out by the magician standing in the back.
He was able to hit them in mid air, stopping them from doing any damage, whilst still fending off Kawasumi's sickle.
"You really are good. I'll make sure I kill you slowly as a reward." A wicked smile spread across her lips, and she took a few steps backwards, distancing herself from her foe. Then she readied her sickle again and leapt forward.
Meanwhile, Nebjula was busy fighting off an onslaught of magical attacks as well as a flurry of sword cuts. The attackers from Kaguya's army who had appeared behind him both seemed to use magic. The shadow user who was fighting Kiri and Kawasumi was Jade, and the one attacking Nebjula was Nimbus. One of the oncoming lightning bolts got past Nebjula's guard and struck his chest. It was blocked by his barrier, but it had been worn down by running in the blazing sun for hours, and it still hurt quite a bit.
"Damnit..." He needed a way to get some distance from the sword-wielding Zebhra in order to attack Nimbus who was attacking with lightning magic. This was easier said than done though ...
"Wohoooo! YEAH!" Suddenly, a surreal voice came from behind, and a man wearing a green garb ran past Nebjula at a crazy speed and rushed through the oncoming magic attacks. He brushed them off like they were nothing and quickly reached the two long range attackers. In his hand was a cleaver, stained with dried blood. It was the man who had been standing next to Kawasumi earlier.
"Nohman has arrived!" Loudly declaring his name, he swung his weapon violently at the two, making them scatter. Still fending off Zebhra's sword, Nebjula tried to get a closer look at the battle between Kawasumi and Kiriririri.
Kiriririri was still fighting off the relentless attacks with ease. Kawasumi's sickle moved through the air so fast, it was hard for Nebjula to follow it, but Kiri was still able to parry and retaliate using his fists. Now that Jade's magic had been interrupted, it was easier for Kiri to move around freely.
"Take this, and this and this and this and this!!!" Striking at the barrier protecting Nimbus, Nohman brutally attacked it again and again. His battle style was vicious and reckless, but it was quite effective. In seconds, Nimbus' barrier shattered, and he had no way to stop the cleaver. Just as Nohman lifted his weapon in order to finish off his victim, Jade fired several knives made of shadow at him. Quickly turning around and hitting every single one of them out of the air, Nohman shook his head.
"Two against one... Hm. Well, whatever. This will be fun." Smiling from ear to ear, Nohman advanced on Jade this time. Jumping slightly in order to avoid the lightning bolt coming from behind, he turned his body mid air and struck upwards, hitting Jade's right arm. A barrier blocked the hit, but he still did some damage. As he landed, Nohman spun around swiftly and launched at Jade again. But this time, the lightning bolts were moving a little too fast, and two of them pierced Nohman's chest, sending waves of pain through his body. Nohman lost his balance and tumbled to the ground. Still, he wasn't done yet. Violently striking at the foot in front of him, Nohman's cleaver made a deep cut in Nimbus' foot.
"GHAAAA!" A loud scream was heard throughout the blazing hot desert.
"Damn you!" Shouting at the fallen attacker, Jade fired several knives at his exposed back. But, before they hit, something hard hit him in the side. Missing his target ever so slightly because of the sudden attack, Jade stumbled backwards and slowly got back on his feet. Nebjula was standing in front of him, clutching his two maces.
...
Team Nosebleed, Kiriririri vs Team Kaguya Zebhra and team Down Kawasumi
Suddenly feeling oncoming danger from behind him, Kiri turned his body sideways in an awkward manner. Then, a sword struck in the place he had just been. The sickle that Kawasumi was swinging around like a lunatic also swept right past him, missing his arm by mere inches. Kicking the ground behind him hard, Kiri leapt forward and hit Zebhra in the chest. He attempted to block the sudden attack with his sword, but Kiri's fist was faster. Lifting his right arm slightly, Kiri then caught the sickle quickly advancing towards him in his palm, strengthening his skin with energy in order for it not to cut him. He then kicked at Kawasumi's legs, making her fall over. Kiri was currently fighting two enemies, one from team Down and one from team Kaguya. Nebjula had gotten wounded in the fight against Zebhra, and Kiri had taken over for him. Instead, Nebjula had moved over to the fight where Nohman was on the verge of being killed by the two magicians from Kaguya's team. He would be of more use there. He had sustained a deep cut over his back, making sudden movements really difficult. But in a close combat situation versus magicians that liked long range battles, he would hopefully be fine. It seemed impossible for him to retreat in the chaotic situation, and so he had instead moved over to a different battle. It was becoming difficult for everyone to determine friend from foe, and a wild free for all like battle was underway.
Zebhra and Kawasumi were both standing again, and charged at Kiri; it seemed they had decided, he was the biggest threat. Nimbly dodging the oncoming blades, Kiri turned his body around and preformed a roundhouse kick that struck Zebhra in the chin, bringing him to the ground. He didn't have time to let his guard down though, with two attackers being present, and paid the price for it. Lightly jumping up into the air, he brought his hardened fist down towards Zebhra's head, but before it hit, Kawasumi moved in. Her sickle cut through Kiri's barrier and left him with a small wound on his left side.
Stepping on Zebhra wo was still on the ground, Kawasumi moved in closer.
Zebhra angrily made it back to his feet and approached as well, but he still did not attack Kawasumi. He was dead set on taking out Kiri.
In order to win Kiri had to act fast. Seeing as the two weren't actually teammates, their attacks weren't very well synchronized, and they would still be wary of each other. He had to use this to his advantage. The two of them raised their weapons and approached Kiri.
"... Now!" Moving forward and grabbing both weapons in mid air, Kiri used the rest of his strength to protect his palms from the sharp blades. He then moved forward, advancing past the two attackers, turned around and brought his fist forward with all his might. It struck Zebhra in the neck, and an ominous snap sound followed. Zebhra fell to the ground, his head dangling about without the proper support from his broken spine.
"Haha, look at it wobble!!!" Laughing sadistically whilst looking at the spectacle, Kawasumi yanked her blade out of Kiri's hand and cut at his chest. No longer able to summon any strength, Kiri had no way to defend himself. The blade cut through his chest, destroying his lungs. Kawasumi pushed him to the ground and got on top of his bleeding chest, bringing her face close to Kiri's.
"Sleep well sweetheart." Placing the tip of her blade on Kiri's temple, she slowly put pressure on it. The jagged spike started making its way through the skin and after a few seconds of intense pain, Kiri closed his eyes for good.
Team Kaguya, Zebhra- DEAD END
Team Nosebleed, Kiriririri (REAL) - DEAD END
Team Kaguya Nimbus and Jade, vs Team Down Nohman and Team Nosebleed's Nebjula
"Whooohooooooo!" Swinging his cleaver at Nimbus like a madman, Nohman charged forward. Nimbus was having trouble moving because of his wounded foot, but managed to dodge the attacks. Nohman had sustained quite a lot of damage previously as well, and so he wasn't moving as fast anymore. Still, he didn't seem to care one bit.
"I'm going to cut your throat open and watch the blood soil the sand!" Nohman shouted as he switched between deflecting magic and striking at Nimbus. Meanwhile, the wounded Nebjula was fighting Jade, who had sustained a broken arm from Nebjula's earlier attack. Finally, Kawasumi was busy cutting Kiri's corpse open, not caring about the fight going on behind her. Her green armor was stained completely with fresh blood.
Jade was using his magic to both deflect attacks and retaliate, making his energy drain at a rapid pace. Lucky for him, Nebjula's back had sustained a serious wound, and he was moving rather sluggishly.
I'll have to finish this in a few attacks, or I'm going to run out of energy. Jade thought to himself.
Sending two large spikes of shadow towards Nebjula, Jade took advantage of the time Nebjula needed to dodge, and started chanting in order to strengthen his next, final attack.
"Make those who oppose your ways,
wither before your gaze...
Eyes of evil, hands of darkness, gazing, clawing...
Continuing his chant, Jade brought his hand together and aimed them at Nebjula, who was running towards Jade with his maces raised. A magic circle appeared between the two and black light particles started forming around Jade's hands.
"Turn their bones to dust and their heart to sand,
become their nightmare,
...the bane of man."
As he finished chanting, a wave of darkness washed over the place where he stood, and the ground beneath Nebjula's feet split open. A large hand made of pure darkness gripped his entire body tightly, and held him in place. The pain of having pressure put on his open wound rendered him defenseless, and there was nothing he could do against the overpowering magic.
Several red eyes appeared from the darkness below, probably belonging to whatever creature had seized Nebjula. Slowly squeezing the life out of its prey, the hand gripped Nebjula tighter, and the sound of bones breaking made a chill go down Jade's spine. It didn't take long for the monstrous hand to crush every bone in Nebjula's body. After releasing the magic, Jade collapsed on the spot, having used up way too much energy. As his consciousness faded, he caught a glimpse of the fight still taking place some distance away, between Nohman and Nimbus. Both parties were still standing. As for Nebjula, the remnants of his body was brought back into the shadows by the devilish hand, and he was never to be seen again...
Team Nosebleed, Nebjula- (CLONE) DEAD END
"Die, you glorified light bulb!" Shouting at Nimbus, Nohman chopped vigorously at his target with decreasing accuracy. The two gaping holes in his chest had started to really slow down his movements, but in return, Nimbus had also received a long cut to his left arm, leaving him with only one functional arm and leg. No longer capable of moving much, he had resorted to using his energy for making his own shields as well as attacking his opponent with electricity. Each time Nohman struck Nimbus' shield, Nimbus felt that the strength in each blow was decreasing. He only had to hold out longer than his opponent. Probably realizing his dire state, Nohman gritted his teeth.
"You little ... If I am going down here, I'll make damn sure you die as well." Suddenly throwing his cleaver onto the ground, Nohman reached inside his garb and brought out a small dagger.
What could he accomplish with that? Nimbus wondered.
Getting ready for a possible surprise attack, he strengthened his shield. Then, Nohman did something quite surprising. Turning the dagger around, he thrust it into his own chest. Then, he uttered a small chant in a weak voice:
"I will be, the one who makes...
a world of pain, where no one wakes...
Once they hear, the voice of death,
the two will draw, their final breath..."
When Nimbus realized what Nohman was doing, it was already too late. Nohman's skin started glowing, and soon it started breaking apart. A green light shone through the cracks, and after a few seconds the battlefield was enveloped in a massive explosion.
It was a spell that, in return for giving up one's own life, granted massive amounts of energy for a final attack. Such an attack was designed for one simple purpose: to take out whoever else it can in the process losing your own life.
A massive crater was the only thing that remained of Nohman, but...
"Tch, what a pain." Holding his passed out teammate under his arm, Nimbus looked at the crater. He had moved quickly, snatched the unconscious body of Jade, then he had escaped before the explosion went off. It was an act impossible for most people, but Nimbus had used a last resort given to him by Kaguya himself; a way to stop time for a couple of seconds. Once used, he was no longer capable of repeating it. It was a gift granted to Nimbus because he excelled at magic, and so he was the one best suited for using it. And it had ended up saving the lives of himself and his teammate, Jade. The violent explosion that Nohman had set off would destroy anything in its path.
"Did that crazy bitch make it out alive?" Looking down at the crater from afar one last time, Nimbus started making his way back to Kaguya's base.
Team down, Nohman- DEAD END
Team Down, Kawasumi- ???
_________________________________________________________________
Walking along the outskirts of the desert, Mitchhamilton and Satsuki were looking for their teammates, Kiriririri and Nebjula when they saw a massive explosion. A figure clad in pure red was making its way out of the chaos, and was headed in their direction. Mitch reacted quickly, recognizing the figure as someone from Kaguya's army. He grasped his spear and hurled it at the rapidly approaching target. The person, who Mitch had first mistaken for a team Kaguya member, was actually wearing Down's garbs, but they were completely stained in wet blood. The woman managed to nimbly avoid the spear, and kept running. Following her general's example, Satsuki moved towards the enemy.
"Tch, can't a lady get a second of peace around here?" The team Down member was a woman, completely covered in blood from top to toe. Whatever had happened could have been linked to her own teammates, and so Satsuki wanted to interrogate the woman. But, in order to do that, she first had to defeat her. Preparing for combat, Satsuki drew both her twin axes from behind her back. The axes were small and compact, like hatchets used for chopping down trees, but they were solid steel and sharp as could be.
"Little lady, I am in a hurry, so please move."
Not listening to the woman, Satsuki charged just as her general Mitch was making his way over to join the fight. Satsuki jumped up in the air and swung her hatchet down towards the woman's head, but instead of hitting her flesh, a powerful force threw Satsuki back. Mitch, who had arrived at the scene as well, was also blown back by a sudden invisible force.
"Kawasumi, go back to base. I'll handle these two."
Satsuki could hear the voice of a man through the ringing in her ears. Lifting her chin up, she spotted the retreating figure of the woman. It seemed someone from her team had shown up in order to help bring their wounded back to base.
"Tch. Mitch, what do we do? Do we chase her?" Turning to her general for advice, a sudden shiver went down Satsuki's spine.
"LOOK OUT!" She shouted and jumped forward, grabbing a hold of Mitch. Barely managing to push him to the ground in time, several kunai knives flew past their heads and hit the ground behind them. Right after, an approaching enemy in a green garb rushed forward with a katana. Clutching her axes, Satsuki stood up and blocked the blade, staring straight into the face of Down's general, Tiagofvarela. Mitch quickly got to his feet and struck at Tiago's body with his spear. Sidestepping in order to avoid the attack, Tiago let go of his katana for a second, then snatched it out of the air before it hit the ground. Striking at Satsuki with great force, he swung his katana up in an arc. The blade made a whistling sound as it cut through the air, and the impact from the blow made Satsuki's arms burn. She managed to block it, but this was an enemy she was not capable of fighting on her own; that much was obvious. Luckily, it was two against one. The two started attacking Tiago in rapid succession. Every time one attacked, the other one would strike from a different direction, making it hard to block the oncoming attacks. Also, Mitch's spear made for a great medium ranged weapon, where as Satsuki was striking from close range, making the attacks even harder to predict. As a spear thrust was blocked, two chops from Satsuki's axes followed. Still, Tiago spun around swiftly, his katana moving so fast, it was like it became one with the air itself. The sound of steel clashing with steel and the constant footsteps of the three was all that one could hear. Tiago ducked in order to avoid the approaching axes, and used his katana to knock the spear thrust out of the way, then he launched his body forward. Pointing his katana at Mitch's chest, he took advantage of Mitch's poor close combat compatibility and the katana dug into Mitchhamilton's shoulder as Mitch did his best to steer the blade from his heart.
"GRAAHH!" Mitch screamed as he clutched his bleeding shoulder, and Satsuki quickly ran up to him to check on his condition. Tiago followed up with another attack, this time a diagonal cut, but Satsuki's axe parried the strike. She tried retaliating, but Tiago was able to keep her at a distance. Without the aid from Mitch's spear keeping him at bay, getting close to Tiago was a challenge for Satsuki. Every time she tried advancing, he would swing his katana quickly towards her body, forcing her to retreat or dodge.
"Time to end this." Tiago suddenly sped up his movements, stepping forward and clutched his katana with both hands. He then preformed another cut from above, but with much more force than before. The heavy attack made Satsuki's hands falter, and the sharp edge of the katana cut a deep gash in Satsuki's face, slicing all the way from her left eye down to her cheekbone.
"Satsuki!!!" Panicking, Mitch charged back into the fight, wielding his spear with only one hand.
"RAAAAAAARGH!" He Thrust at Tiago with all his might in the hope of pushing him back, but instead Tiago moved his body to the left, avoiding the spear, and stabbed at Mitch with his katana. Mitch, who was approaching at a great speed, was incapable of stopping and was impaled on the blade. Tiago started turning the katana around inside of Mitch's chest, making large amounts of blood spill out from his mouth and from the open wound.
"D-DAMNIT! DIE!" Charging towards Tiago whilst clutching her wounded eye, Satsuki tried to hit Tiago with her hatchet, but it was a futile effort. Tiago grabbed her arm mid air, not even needing a weapon to stop the attack, and snatched her axe out of her hand. He then used her own weapon to cut open her throat. Mitch, who still wasn't dead, tried to summon some strength to use magic, but before he could do anything, Tiago pulled his katana out of Mitch's chest and spun around. The blade flew through the air and connected with Mitch's neck, separating his head from his shoulders...
Team Nosebleed, Satsuki (CLONE) and Mitchhamilton (REAL) DEAD END
...
Satsuki had slowly bled out on the ground, and Mitch could not be brought back because he already lost a life the previous day. Nosebleed was looking at the figures of his four fallen soldiers. Nebjula and Satsuki had been clones, but it was still a tough loss. Kiriririri and Mitchhamilton had been two of his best fighters, and both were gone for good. Clutching his fists tightly, Nosebleed looked up at the sky; starting right at the shimmering sun.
The figure of a reaper holding a scythe was barely visible on the horizon. It was watching him from the distance, it's yellow eyes glowed faintly. It was the same creature that had stopped him previously when he fought with Down. He had noticed it then, this ... thing, used to be 12Kami, the member who disappeared on the first day of battle. For what purpose was he created? For what reason was here there, watching Nosebleed's every move?
Turning his back to the reaper, Nosebleed brought the corpses of his comrades back to his new base, preparing himself and his soldiers for the next day of battle. The coming days would be even harsher and more grueling than ever before, that he could tell...
_________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Nebjula, (CLONE), Satsuki, (CLONE), Mitchhamilton (REAL), Kiriririri (REAL).
Team Down: Nohman
Team Kaguya: Zebhra
_________________________________________________________________
___________________________________________________________________________
List of currently remaining members!!
#Team Nosebleed: Members, Satsuki (-1 life), Valmore , Deep Blue (-1 life) , Nebjula (-1life) , kingdomcome
#Team Down: Members, Tiagofvarela (- 1 life) , Babiker , Maxel , Fred the Barber , Totodile , FinalChaos , Kawasumi , Flutterz , Turnip Sensei
#Team Kaguya: Members, Dergonu , Nimbus, Gijimu, Greenshadow622 (- 1 life) , Eclipsed, Duyy , Jade
___________________________________________________________________________
TO BE CONTINUED!
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Dergonu got a reaction from XReaper for a blog entry, OTL (One Thousand Lies) review
So I know @Deep Blue made one of these a little while ago, but I really wanted to get one out myself as well. (I am also including pictures. You are too lazy man! ) Now that the game is released, I feel it really deserves some coverage!
(Note that I read the beta version, and so some improvements will have been made to the final release. Also, I wrote this review in a littel bit of a subjective style, really because I want to get through my personal feelings that I experienced when I read the VN. It might make the review seem slightly biased, but I hope this doesn´t make the review seem less serious. I played the game with a completely objective state of mind, and this is just my honest opinion of the game. Anyways, on to the review:)
One thousand lies is a 5-10 hour OELVN made by Keinart Lobre, (@Keinart.) The VN is about a group of friends goofing around as they get closer to graduating from high-school, though there is a lot more to the novel than what initially meets the eye.
(Note, the novel has both a Spanish and English version. I read and proofread the English version.)
In One Thousand Lies we meet Ciaràn Endyein, a slightly delinquent-like teenager who, along with his best friend Ausse Ealdwine, pull of silly yet harmless shenanigans that always end up getting them in trouble. The two are also accompanied by the pretty and intelligent Ziva Shani, who constantly try to psychoanalyze Endyein.
At the beggining of the story, Endyein recieves a strange, mysterious email, telling him to go to a certain place without any more detailed instructions. The sender appears to have stolen a package Endyein was waiting for, so confused and angry, he decides to do what the email says. (With some persuasion from his friends.) This sends him down a fairly heavy psychological, yet heartwarming and slice of life-like journey.
Story and writing
The story in the game starts of really light and funny. It´s a slice of life story that has refreshing and entertaining humor; it doesn´t use overused clichès that you have seen 100 times before. As you get further into the story, you will start to notice that not everything is exactly how it seems. It´s hard to talk about this without spoiling the entire story, so we are going to keep it short. The story is well written, has pretty good pacing and does a good job of hiding the real kicker until the very end.
The writing in the novel is, like I´ve already mentioned, really good. It is every editor´s dream, going through a novel that has essentially no mistakes, and that doesn´t repeat itself over and over, but instead offers new, refreshing words and phrases for each sentence. The language was almost a little bit too complex at times, as I felt it was unnecessary to use such big words for a normal, every-day setting. Still, the novel does use a lot of psychology terms and the likes, so it´s not like a complex language is a bad thing for it.
There isn´t much else to say about the story, as the novel is quite short, and giving any more information could possibly spoil it. All in all, story and writing is very well done, and deserves a good 9/10 rating.
Characters and art
The characters in the novel are all diverse and interesting in their own way. You have Ausse, the slightly dumb but lovable rich kid who might or might not be the MC´s friend because of his financial situation.
Ziva, the beautiful and determined female friend who constantly gets on the MC´s nerves when she tries to diagnose him with different psychological disorders.
Claire, the cute and shy girl who only opens up when in the presence of Endyein.
Luce, the playful and energic joker who always has a funny remark that will put the MC in his place.
And finally Diniz The Sloth. (I think that title should be sufficent in describing him.)
Each character has nice and well drawn sprites with several facial expressions that feels natural.
The CG in the game is very pretty, though certain facial features gets a little less "natural" in the CGs compared to the character sprites, especially Luce´s. Regardless of this though, the CG is very nice and well made.
The backgrounds are kind of like a painted sketch, which is a unique but interesting style that I personally found quite enjoyable.
The only complaint I would have about the characters is that Diniz seems to have very little screen time compared to the others, and therefore he has little time to become a part of the main cast.
Characters, 9/10,
Art 7.5/10
Music and atmosphere
The music in the novel is pretty good overall and seeing as the game is not voiced, this is a good thing. There are several comfortable soundtracks that helps bring out the emotion reflected in the scene, especially during the more enigmatic and mysterious situations the novel has to offer.
The music did not take me by storm, but it still did its job very well in filling the "silence" when playing the unvoiced game.
Not much more to say about it. Music gets a 6.5/10 score from me.
The atmosphere in the game is quite hard to put into words. During the reading experience, it is obvious that there is something there that is more than just a few teenagers messing around. There is some kind of heavy undertone in the writing that clearly tries to tell you something more, but its written in such a way that what exactly that is, doesnt become apperant until the very end. I think that the way this was done is really quite impressive. Each character has a part to him or her that helps hint to this, and each scene does put out tiny clues, though in the end, figuring out what the cause of such an atmosphere is before the credits roll is not easy.
This part of the game gets a clear 10/10 rating from me. It was quite the ride.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, OTL is an entertaining and innovative OELVN that doesnt try to do all those things we have already seen in Japanese VNs, but instead it uses original humor, exceptional writing and an interesting and thrilling psychological aspect to make the entire reading experience a blast.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this, and simply voulenteered to proofread / test the game because of Deep Blue´s interest in it. Needless to say, I was not dissapointed.
Final rating: 9/10.
Here is a link to the thread for the game here on Fuwanovel:
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Dergonu reacted to niku for a blog entry, SC2VN [Game Review (VN)]
Game Information
Title: SC2VN
Genre: Visual Novel (ADV)
Platform: Windows PC
Year of release: 2015
Developer: TEAM.ELEVEN:ELEVEN
Review
If you ask me to think of an impressive feat performed by a human, it would most likely be related to gaming. I'm not huge on traditional sports. Growing up I was always the nerdy kid who was picked last for the football (soccer) and floorball teams every break during elementary school. It also happens that the game that made the 5 year old me a gamer in 1996 was Warcraft II, a real-time strategy game. For many years growing up, I almost exclusively played different RTS games, one of them being Starcraft. I was never any good back then and I'm probably even worse nowadays, relatively speaking.
I found it beyond cool to learn that someone made a visual novel with Starcraft as its focal point. I read that it was a short one so I decided to jump in without reading any reviews or trying to learn whether or not I would enjoy it. SC2VN, of course, is a very peculiar visual novel in terms of theme. It is set against the Korean pro-gaming scene, professional Starcraft II specifically. Somehow I find it very exciting with meta-geekery like this. A video game about gaming, that's right up my alley. Just like Genshiken, a manga about otaku culture, or GameCenterCX for Nintendo DS, SC2VN offers a glimpse into nerdhood in the by now mythical Eden of pop culture that is East Asia. I'm aware a lot of people consider Akiba a sort of Mecca for geek stuff but surely the place to be when it comes to competitive gaming culture is Seoul with its eSports bars, PC bangs and never ending tournaments. Admittedly I have often caught myself fantasizing about living in the east, be it hanging out with my imaginary friends at PC cafes in China and Korea or arcades in Japan.
The game starts with you, a male or female (whichever one you pick) Starcraft II player aspiring to go pro, leaving your home country for South Korea. I found the premise and sometimes also the presentation of it reminiscent of shounen anime such as Hikaru no Go or Bakuman. Certain segments in particular seem to imply that you will become the best (like no one ever was) through the power of friendship and never giving up. There's also some very standard manga character archetypes, especially the former Starcraft champion tsundere girl. That said, there is no romance in this VN and I'd say that's a fortunate omission as it would've severely crippled the realism that, despite shounen tendencies, is always present. SC2VN at times paints a very bleak picture of a hopeless, uphill climb to the top in an industry that doesn't pay as well or has the opportunity for career that other walks of life have. The writing is concise and kept me interested at all times, there isn't much in terms of bloat conversations but the writer(s) still manage to flesh out the characters surprisingly well. I had judged, if you will, most characters in more ways than just “I like” or “gtfo” by the mid point of the VN. It took me a little over 4 hours to get to the true end but I imagine it would be quicker for most people as I'm a fairly slow reader.
I do personally watch Starcraft e-sport and play the occasional game myself but I don't think that's a prerequisite for enjoying this game. It looks far more at the players and their lives as eSports athletes than the game itself and its mechanics. There's also a glossary included in the game for Korean and Starcraft-specific terms used throughout the story. Perhaps the decisions you need to make could be a bit tricky as they're all gameplay decisions but every bad end in the game happens just a few pages after you made the wrong pick so going by trial and error wouldn't be very cumbersome.
All in all I recommend this game, in particular to people who are curious about the Korean gaming scene. Honestly I feel this game has the potential to bring two subsets of gamers closer. Its a perfect entry point for an RTS player to get into visual novels or vice versa, a VN fan looking to get into RTS games.
Over and out.
-
Dergonu got a reaction from Deep Blue for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 2!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
The Last GM Standing - Day 2:
Team Down's base
Down was leaning over several graves, looking down at the faces of his fallen comrades. Heavy raindrops fell from the dark sky, hammering against the green barrier that protected the graveyard. Down did not want the ground where his brave warriors were put to rest disturbed, and had put up a protective shield around it. The previous day's battle had claimed the lives of four of his soldiers. Tiagofvarela, Down's general, had been resurrected because of his position as general, but the other three were never coming back. The state that he had found them in had been absolutely horrifying. MoeKyun was completely unrecognizable, with a crushed cranium. Funyarinpa had his entire rib cage split open. Nashetania was burned to a crisp, and lastly Tiagofvarela was completely gone; made into a puppet by Nosebleed and his general.
"I won't ever forgive you for this." Cursing his enemies, Down turned around to face his remaining forces. Not a hint of fear could be seen on their faces. In its place he could see anger, hatred and a lust for revenge. Their weapons glistened in the faint moonlight, creating a heavy atmosphere that carried death and destruction. Upon losing so many of his warriors on the first day, Down had decided to take direct action. He would not sit by and watch more of his men fall while he himself sat around idly. Breaking the sullen silence with a voice that carried authority and bravery, Down spoke up:
"Today we will avenge our fallen! The reaper of death will no longer look to us for its victims! It will follow us, but the blood that it feeds on will be that of our enemies! Today, we bring down the evils that waits beyond those mountains!"
Raising his arm and pointing towards the huge volcano that towered some distance from them, Down pridefully drew his weapon. It was a gigantic two-handed sword, with a hilt long as a grown man's arm. The blade was forged in a green metal, Down's team color, and the massive weapon made the ground beneath Down's feet crack open from the sheer amount of power it held.
"TO WAAAAR!" Down shouted just as a lightning bolt struck the ground next to their barrier. The sudden roar of the thunder made his men flinch, but they soon joined in.
"TO WAAAAAR!" As the voices of Down's army rang throughout the mountains, a dark shadow spread across the centre of the battlefield.
Team Kaguya had already set off, and they were approaching Nosebleed's base with great speed. Team Down were headed for Nosebleed's base as well, and moved swiftly through the storm. Nosebleed himself had prepared for battle, sensing that a great danger was approaching.
Soon the three armies would clash, marking the start of the most fierce battle yet. Who would come out victorious? How many would die before the winner was crowned?
- The Last GM Standing, Chapter 2 -
The Cloaked Reaper
The sound of footsteps rapidly approaching could be heard in the distance. The ground under Mitchhamilton's feet shook as the two armies approached from the east and the west. There was no cover anywhere, just a huge open field that went on for a kilometer. No matter what, a stealthy approach was impossible. Clutching his gilded spear in his hand, Mitch took a look around. Two clones were at a ready, weapons drawn, and the rest of Nosebleed's army was spread out across the area; ready for the battle that was to come. Nosebleed himself had marched out to face off against Down, who had charged in ahead of his troops. As the two clashed, a massive shockwave had swept all the trees and vegetation completely off the face of the earth. What remained was charred ground, like something out of an old apocalypse movie.
It didn't take long for the first attacker to appear. Swiftly running towards them, three figures clad in Down's green garb drew their weapons. It wasn't possible for Mitch to see who the attackers were from the distance, but that didn't matter. Signaling the clones at his side, he sent them out to face off against the unknown assailants. The two instantly faced off against an opponent each, leaving only one attacker still on his way towards Mitch.
"Well then, let's do this." As he said that, Mitch tightly gripped his spear and hurled it with great velocity at the approaching enemy. The spear made an intimidating sound as it flew through the air, and a loud clink signaling the clashing of steel resounded throughout the battlefield. The spear had not hit its target, but instead it had been stopped by the attacker's weapon.
"Tch. Reappear!" Commanding his spear to once again appear in his hand, Mitch opened his palm, and a pink magic circle shimmered brightly, making the spear teleport back to him. Grasping it tightly once more, he jumped at his opponent.
"Neat trick you have there." The attacker said as he deflected Mitch's attack. His weapon was a big cleaver; the kind that a butcher would use. He wielded it in his right hand, and his left hand was hidden within his cloak. Did he have another weapon concealed there? Making sure not to get too close, Mitch continued to stab at his opponent with his spear.
"Seems I caught a general. Not bad." A mischievous smile on his opponents face made the hair on Mitch's arms stand up. It was a chilling sight; the sight of someone who enjoys battle. That in itself made the blood in Mitchhamilton's body boil. This was a worthy opponent.
"Break!" Taking a quick step back, Mitch snapped his fingers and the ground beneath his opponents feet cracked open. It wasn't a deep hole, but it was enough so that he might break a leg or sustain moderate damage. But instead of falling into the trap, the opponent grabbed a hold of Mitch's spear with his bare hand, and nimbly pushed himself backwards. He landed safely a few yards behind the hole. The hand he had used to grip the spear was bleeding fiercely, but it didn't look like the attacker minded at all.
"State your name!" Mitch called out as he tried to identify his opponent. It was a man he had seen before, there was no doubt about it, but he had trouble remembering his name.
"Nohman. Remember it, because it will be the last name you ever hear!" Charging straight at Mitch, Nohman shifted his cleaver to his other hand and hit Mitch's shoulder hard. Because of his spear being a long range weapon, it was hard to deflect such an attack. The barrier protecting Mitch made the cleaver bounce back, but he could feel the energy draining from his protective shield. Such a strong blow ...
The two clashed again and again, each time they deflected each other's attacks with precision. In the form of skill they were equally matched, but Mitch was at a disadvantage because of his long range weapon. Every time he managed to push Nohman back, he would come charging forward again.
"This is bad. At this rate, he is going to defeat me. I have to get some distance between us again." Thinking to himself, Mitch tried to find an opening that would allow him to move away from his opponent. He couldn't use too much magic, as every time he did, it put a great deal of strain on his body. Seeing as he was already getting tired, it would have to be an absolute last resort. The attacks coming from Nohman were relentless. Every time he struck at Mitch, he hit in a slightly different spot, with slightly different strength. It made calculating where and when his next attack would occur nearly impossible. All that Mitch was able to do was block the oncoming attacks.
"Are you getting tired general?" Nohman taunted Mitch as he continued to strike at his torso. A few of the attacks went through Mitch's guard and hit his barrier, but most of them were deflected.
"There really is no other way, is there?" Deciding that he had to resort to his final trump card, Mitch completely let go of his spear and extended his right arm so that it was pointing right at Nohman's chest. Probably realizing what Mitch was doing, Nohman suddenly jumped sideways in fear of an oncoming attack. But he had instead walked right into Mitch's trap. Using his left hand, he pointed two of his fingers towards Nohman's new location. Channeling all the remaining strength in his body, two magic circles appeared in front of his extended fingers. Shortly after, two beams of energy shot out, moving quickly towards his defenseless opponent. The first beam hit right below Nohman's collarbone, the other one hitting him in the right shoulder. Both went straight through his barrier and burned their way through the skin, leaving behind large holes in his body.
Not wasting any time, Mitch moved backwards and grabbed his spear that was on the ground. Finally getting some distance, he prepared for one final attack. But... Something felt a little strange. His stomach was tingling, and his body wouldn't move. Looking down at his own torso, Mitch saw great amounts of crimson blood running down his legs, down onto the charred ground.
"W-What..?" In a weak voice, Mitch questioned what had happened. Falling to his knees, he used what remaining strength he had in order to stay conscious. A shadow moved in front of him. It started talking as it presented a cleaver stained with blood. Unable to decipher the meaning of the man's words due to his fading conscience, Mitch collapsed on the spot. He was already beyond saving...
Team Nosebleed, Mitchhamilton- DEAD END
...
"My oh my, it seems it works." Looking down at the dead general, Nohman cleaned his bloody cleaver with the edge of his clothing. A few seconds earlier, Mitchhamilton had attacked Nohman with all his remaining strength, hoping to take him down in one attack. Problem was, the man Mitch was attacking was just a doppelganger. Mitch had not noticed it during Nohman's relentless assault, but right before Mitch dropped his spear, Nohman had used some of his strength to create a clone of himself. He suspected Mitch might be up to something, and took some precautions. Right after Mitch had gone to pick up his spear after he attacked Nohman's doppelganger, Nohman had cut Mitch's stomach open with his blade. The cut had gone all the way back to his spine, nearly cutting Mitch in half.
"Rest in peace, general." With those words, Nohman left the area and looked around for new prey.
___________________________________________________________________________
A few hundred meters away, Team Kaguya's temporary command post
Moving quickly towards Kaguya's base, several hooded men in pink cloaks were running towards VirginSmasher's location. He counted four attackers in total. By his side was Kaguya, his fearless leader, wearing a long white jacket that simply hung from his shoulders. His arms weren't in the sleeves, yet the jacket stuck to his body perfectly, as if it was fastened by some invisible force. Unlike his soldiers, Kaguya was not wearing any armor, but instead he wore a long jacket with red writing on the back. He was seemingly unarmed, and paid no attention to the battles raging around him. Kaguya's tactic was simple. March out and make it seem like he was attacking. Then, pull back ever so slightly and wait for Down and Nosebleed to wipe each other out. Although it had worked at first, Nosebleed had now sent a few of his soldiers out to face off against Kaguya's army. As he noticed the approaching enemies, Kaguya sighed and shook his head.
"Just when I had some peace and quiet. Ugh, you, kill those morons." Waving his hand casually at VirginSmasher, Kaguya turned around and carelessly walked away.
"V-Very well sir!" Grasping his bow tightly, VirginSmasher drew four arrows at once, strung the bow, and fired. The arrows flew towards their targets with great speed and accuracy. Why were they not dodging? The arrows simply hit the four men, bringing them to a halt as they all fell to the ground, motionless. Was that it? He had at least expected their barriers to deflect the first shot, but there was absolutely no resistance at all.
"Was the shots simply stronger than they had imagined?.." Wondering what exactly had happened, VirginSmasher drew another arrow and carefully started to approached the fallen enemies. There was blood flowing from their heads, and each one of the bodies lay perfectly still.
"Freeze."
A sudden chilling voice coming from behind made VirginSmasher quickly spin around. As he moved his legs backwards to get some distance from his target, his body started aching. The temperature suddenly plummeted, and a thin layer of ice started appearing all over his body.
"Crap, magic?" Trying to shake of the ice that was restricting his body, VirginSmasher made sure to stay in motion so that the frost couldn't settle. He had been reckless. It was such an obvious distraction, and yet he had approached it without taking any real precautions. Just as he expected, the four men he had shot down earlier were now gone. Most likely it had been some form of magic as well. Whoever he was fighting clearly prefer magic over a physical confrontation.
"W-Who's there?!" Calling out to the mysterious opponent through clenched teeth, VirginSmasher tried to get a look at the man's face. The man moved his hands slowly towards his hood and removed it.
"Deep Blue huh?" VirginSmasher recognized the man as Nosebleed's soldier Deep Blue.
Not bothering to give an answer, Deep Blue launched his body forward and hit VirginSmasher right in the chest. The ice that had restricted his body broke off forcefully, sending strong waves of pain through his entire being. A thin layer of skin was ripped off along with the ice.
"GAAARGH..." Letting out a pained scream, VirginSmasher kicked at his opponent blindly with all his might. His leg hit something and he heard a light groan. This gave him time to awkwardly get back on his feet. His vision was blurry and his arms, legs and torso hurt like hell. Trying to string his bow with his weak arms, he aimed towards the general direction of his target and prepared to attack. He did not have time to look for a specific target; a general outline of Deep Blue's figure was the best he could do. Firing the first arrow, VirginSmasher quickly moved his hand behind his back to reach for another one. Trouble was, his quiver was gone.
"Tch. Did I lose it in the fall earlier?" Clicking his tongue and whispering to himself, he tried to move backwards to look for his quiver. Sadly for him, Deep Blue had recovered from the attack and was once again approaching. VirginSmasher's vision was still quite poor from the damage sustained in his fall, so he wasn't able to see if the arrow had hit or not. Moreover, it became impossible to see where his opponent would be striking him next.
"Ice bullets!" Deep Blue shouted and a few seconds after, a strong impact in his abdomen sent VirginSmasher flying once again.
"W-What a stupid name for an attack..." He managed to squeeze out before he hit the ground. As his body hit the hard ground beneath him, his consciousness faded for a few seconds.
...
Deep Blue's perspective:
I had fired four ice bullets at my target, though because of the arrow sticking out of my shoulder, my aim had been a little off. Only one of the bullets had hit, not making the impact hard enough to be lethal. It seemed he had been knocked unconscious though.
"Stupid brat..." I shook my head and moved over towards the fallen warrior. He was quite cocky, something that annoyed me. There was no room for such an attitude on the battlefield.
He had also been way too easy to trick, as a simple illusion had made him approach his enemy despite being a bowman. Such foolishness would be the end of him.
Creating a spike of ice in my hand, I leant down towards the fallen soldier and brought it towards his heart. I would be merciful. One stab to the heart would kill him in a few seconds.
"Good night." With those words I put some force into my hand and thrust the spike into his chest.
"Gnnnnng..." Groaning from the pain of being stabbed, his body started thrashing about. The barrier still protecting him was surprisingly strong, making the initial blow not enough to break the skin. I put some more force into it, but the barrier still wouldn't give in.
"W-What the hell?"
"Sorry. That kid gets a second chance. I liked his guts." A voice coming seemingly from nowhere made Deep Blue stop in his tracks. I-It couldn't be ... Was that Kaguya? Had he entered the battle himself already?
I better retreat for now... As I thought that, I got up and started running back the way I came.
...
"Come on kid, get up." Kaguya was standing over the fallen VirginSmasher, extending his hand to help him up. It was a surprising move, considering Kaguya's personality, but VirginSmasher would never turn down the help of his commander. Gratefully accepting the help, VirginSmasher got to his feet.
"Now go on, make yourself useful. He still hasn't gotten far. Take him out with one shot." Pointing towards the figure of Deep Blue, Kaguya turned around and started walking away. That was all the help he would get, huh? Still, it was all he needed.
"Let's do this."
VirginSmasher still had no arrows, and his target was getting further and further away. Any more than that and he would be out of range. He had to get his quiver back for starters. Spotting it about 5 meters away, VirginSmasher reluctantly moved his still painful body towards it. The arrows were all spread across the ground, some broken in the fall. It took a few seconds to find an arrow with no damage.
Getting into position, he strung his bow and carefully drew his breath. Then, he let the air out just as he fired the arrow. It flew through the air, whistling, as it made its way towards Deep Blue. The arrow then pierced his head, making Deep Blue fall to the ground.
Deep Blue, Team Nosebleed- (CLONE) DEAD END
...
...
...
"Phew... Kaguya, I hit him." Turning around to inform his commander of the kill, VirginSmasher instead ended up freezing up in shock. Kaguya was no longer behind him, but instead he was staring down the length of a gilded spear that was aimed right at his heart. It was precisely the same place Deep Blue had try to stab him just minutes earlier.
"Sorry kid, you got some bad luck." With those words, the attacker, Mitchhamilton sent his spear forward, crushing the remaining strength in VirginSmasher's barrier. The feeling of his ribs being broken and his heart stopping was the last thing he remembered. After that, everything went black.
VirginSmasher, Team Kaguya- DEAD END
Turning around in surprise at the sudden feeling of losing one of his warriors, Kaguya looked towards the place he had just helped VirginSmasher and saw several soldiers in black and pink cloaks. Where had they come from?! He had not noticed their arrival at all.
Despite having given him a second chance, VirginSmasher hadn't been able to do much at all.
"Hmph, what a waste." The soldiers from Nosebleed's team quickly surrounded Kaguya and pointed their weapons at him.
"This is the end Kaguya." The one who spoke up was Nosebleed's general, Mitchhamilton. From what Kaguya had heard, he had fallen in battle earlier. He must have been resurrected by Nosebleed right after.
"Haha. Right, end. Ok. Give me your best shot then." Lifting his arms in the air sarcastically, Kaguya simply stared back at the men with a carefree look.
"Tch, you bastard!" Stabbing Kaguya with his spear, Mitchhamilton was the first one to act. The spear tickled a little bit, but did not inflict any damage. Probably surprised at the inefficiency of his attack, Mitch ended up staring at his own weapon in shock for a few seconds.
"Alright, is the fun over? I'm going to go stand over there. You guys enjoy." Leaving his opponents behind, Kaguya simply walked away. One of the attackers seemed angered at his carefree attitude in such a situation and jumped at Kaguya. He never got close though. As his sword was moving through the air, a bolt of lightning shot out from the distance, knocking the blade along with its wielder back.
Three of Kaguya's soldiers, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and his general Greenshadow622 quickly came to their commander's aid.
"Took you guys long enough." Kaguya said in an emotionless voice as he walked away from the battle.
...
On the open field, six figures were visible. Three of the warriors were from Kaguya's team, and the other three from nosebleed's. Among the six were, from team Nosebleed: Mitchhamilton, Nebjula and Kiriririri. Kiriririri was unarmed, using his fists as weapons. Mitchhamilton held a long, gilded spear and Nebjula was holding two small maces, one in each hand. From Team Kaguya was, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and Greenshadow622. Velociraptor had a leather glove with metal claws, Hitoribocchi had a greataxe that he wielded with ease using only one hand, and Greenshadow622 had a black longsword and a big round shield. The atmosphere was heavy as the brave soldiers stared at each other. No one wanted to make the first move. As they stood there, waiting for their opponents to act, a dark cloud slowly covered the entire battlefield. Blocking the sun completely, a suffocating darkness consumed the area. As no one had yet spoken a word, a heavy silence was slowly driving them all crazy.
A great battle was approaching...
___________________________________________________________________________
A few km away, in the aftermath of Nosebleed and Down's scuffle
Arcadeotic from team Kaguya was sitting on the charred ground, resting his tired body. Just minutes ago the two commanders, Down and Nosebleed, had been fighting each other. Compared to the strength of foot soldiers such as himself, their powers were from a completely different world. It took almost all his strength just to remain standing during their battle. They had struck at each other with weapons, fists and powerful magic, and each move had sent waves of energy throughout the surrounding area, leaving it a barren wasteland. The surreal duel had lasted a while but it was suddenly interrupted when ... That arrived. Standing in the centre of the battlefield with shimmering yellow eyes, a man clad in a black robe looked at the two commanders menacingly. In his hand was a big scythe, making him look like the grim reaper himself. The most surprising thing of all, he had stopped the two monster's attacks with his bare hands. What or who was that?
It seemed that the answer to that wouldn't come quite yet. As quickly as it had appeared, it once again vanished into thin air. But right before it did, something rather strange happened. The two commanders, that just seconds ago had been going at each other's throats, turned around and simply left. This was quite weird, and also a little unfortunate. If the two leaders had taken each other out, then Kaguya would have been the winner right then and there.
Seeing a sudden swift movement in the corner of his eye, Arc jumped sideways and grabbed his weapon, expecting a hostile. This was a good decision. Several kunai knives had suddenly hit the ground right where Arc was previously sitting. The kunai knives were coated in a strange, clear liquid, most likely poison. The kunai themselves were shimmering slightly in a deep green metal. Did that mean that the assailant was from team Down? Either way, it would be dangerous to be caught off guard for even a second against such a weapon. Just one cut and the poison would enter your veins. The most worrying part of it all though, was that his opponent was nowhere to be seen. Grasping his naginata tightly, Arc moved around in a circle, carefully looking around for his opponent. Among the displayed weapons during the combat preparations first day, he had picked something a little more unique; a naginata. It seemed that his opponent, whoever he was, had also picked something a little different. A naginata makes for a medium range weapon that can deflect swords and the likes with ease, but a fight against someone with a throwing weapon could prove tricky. It is not as easy to move the naginata around to deflect oncoming throwing knives, making it a poor weapon for defending against his opponent's attacks. Moreover, he could not see his opponent, meaning he would already be at a disadvantage once the next attack came. Still, he would not give up. He would not want to disappoint his commander. Taking a deep breath and focusing on his surroundings, Arcadeotic kept looking around for his enemy...
...
Still under the effect of his invisibility magic, Tiagofvarela moved quietly towards his opponent. The few kunai knives he had thrown earlier had missed by a hair. Now all he had left was his katana. His enemy, Arcadeotic from team Kaguya seemed to be quite the tough opponent. Despite not seeing Tiago at all until the second he attacked, Arc had managed to dodge all of the kunai knives completely. The poison that the knives were coated in would have killed him instantly if they even just nicked the skin.
Complimenting Arc's impressive reflexes silently in his head, Tiago made his move. The spell he was being hidden by only lasted while he was not putting any real strain on his body. Essentially what that meant was, if he attacked someone or did anything that required him to use his muscles beyond just simple movements, the effect would disappear.
Charging right at Arc, Tiago brought his katana down towards Arc's exposed back. Just like when he threw the kunai knives, Arc managed to notice Tiago just in the nick of time and turned around to deflect the attack. Sadly, because of his weapon being rather poorly matched in close combat, Tiago managed to cut Arc over his left shoulder. Using the opening this created to his advantage, Tiago spun around, nimbly moving out of the naginata's reach and cut at Arc's body once again. The previous cut had hit a barrier, but this one did not. Cutting through the soft skin on Arc's back, the katana made large amounts of blood stain Tiago's clothes in an ominous shade of red.
"Gaaaah!" Falling to his knees whilst letting out a pained scream, Arcadeotic lost his grip on the naginata and was completely defenseless. The katana had cut rather deep, most likely doing some damage to the spinal cord. The fight was over.
"Sorry, it really is nothing personal." With those words, Tiago swung his katana at Arc's neck, cutting through his carotid artery.
After a few seconds, Arc's lifeless body collapsed on the ground.
Team Kaguya, Arcadeotic- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The sound of steel colliding with steel resounded throughout the open field. The sound was something one would not find anywhere else but on a battlefield such as this. This was a place of war. A place of death and pain. Among the six fighters who were lunging at each other with an intent to kill, only three would make it out alive.
...
Nebjula, Team Nosebleed vs Velociraptor team Kaguya
Striking at Velociraptor with his two maces, Nebjula put a great deal of strength into his legs and sharply moved forward. The violent attack took Velociraptor by surprise, and one of Nebjula's maces hit him in the stomach. His barrier barely managed to block most of the damage, but the impact still stent a tremor through his body. Because of his rather short range weapon made for assassinations, Velociraptor was having a hard time getting any attacks in at all. He had fought someone with a similar, brutal weapon before, but unlike the heavy battleaxe that he had faced then, these two maces were swift and relentless. Nebjula lifted one of the small but deadly maces above his head and brought it down towards Velociraptor. At the same time, he used the other mace to lunge at Velociraptor from the left side, making it hard for him to move around to dodge. The blow from above barely missed, but the second strike from the left collided with Velociraptor's cheek and knocked him down to the ground.
"D-Damnit!" Cursing to himself, Velociraptor did the best he could to stand up again, but the last attack had left him dizzy and disoriented. Not being able to figure out what way was up and what was down, he was unable to get back on his feet.
"No, no, NO! I can't lose like this! Damnit!" Not knowing what else to do, Velociraptor started yelling at himself.
Not long after, two maces swept through the air and struck him in the head. The ends of the maces did not have spikes like some others do, but in return they had a sharp edge on both sides of the top, making it a fearful weapon. The sharp metal edges bored into Velociraptor's skull, breaking through the bone with ease. After a gruesome sound of bone cracking, the area become completely silent. ..
Team Kaguya, Velociraptor- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Hitoribocchi team Kaguya vs Mitchhamilton team Nosebleed
"Raaaaaawr!" Swinging his greataxe down with all his might, Hitoribocchi attacked Mitchhamilton for what felt like the hundredth time. Each time he did, Mitchhamilton managed to block the attack and retaliate with a stab of his own. The spear was an unbelievably annoying adversary, as if Hito stepped a little too far back, he would be right in its kill zone. But if he stayed too close, it would be impossible for him to use his massive axe, meaning he would be as good as unarmed. The greataxe was a gigantic weapon, with a long blade smith with solid and thick metal. The spear that Mitch was using was rather thin and frail looking in comparison, so why was it that he was capable of blocking the powerful attacks with such ease?!
"You annoying little ... Take this!" Changing up his attack pattern once more, Hito turned his axe around in the air, trying to hit Mitch in the head with the flat side. It would be impossible to completely stop the attack with just a thin spear. The large piece of metal approached Mitch with great speed, and sure enough, he was unable to stop the impact with his spear alone. Being knocked off his feet, Mitch stumbled to the ground.
"This time I will carve you in half!" Lifting the axe above his head, Hito used both his hands to grip the handle, and whilst summoning all the strength in his body, he struck at Mitch. There was, of course, no way for him to block such a ruthless attack. But, Mitch did not need to block it. All he had to do was dodge. Rolling to the side just in time, the axe hit the ground, making a loud bang that made Mitch's ears ring. Since he had lost his spear whilst dodging the axe, Mitch had no weapon. The deafening roar of Hito's axe crashing down right next to his ear had made Mitch dizzy, but he fought through it and got to his feet. Kicking Hito in the chest with great force, he managed to separate Hito from his weapon too. They were now both unarmed.
"Yaaa!" Swiftly rushing towards Hito, Mitch moved his head down in order to dodge Hito's oncoming fist and rammed into his opponent with his shoulder. As he brought him to the ground, Mitch sat on top of his chest and locked his arms down with his own knees. Then, he started punching at Hito's face brutally. A few of the punches got stopped by the barrier protecting Hito, but after a some more hits, it gave in and Mitch's fists hit flesh and bone. Ruthlessly punching his opponent's face for a long time, Mitch started to notice that his hands were bleeding. When he finally snapped back to reality, the figure before him was no longer recognizable as a human being...
Team Kaguya, Hitoribocchi-DEAD END
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Kiriririri Team Nosebleed vs Greenshadow622, Team Kaguya
Greenshadow622 was carefully eying his opponent, waiting for him to make a move. Kiriririri was standing a few meters away with his fists raised, but he did not make a single movement. It had been like this for over a minute already. Greenshadow was getting agitated, but he remained adamant; he would not make the first move. His sword was raised slightly, pointing towards Kiri, and his shield was covering his chest region defensively. He was holding his shield about 15 cm out from his body, which meant Kiri had to strike at Greenshadow's feet or his back in order to get a clean hit. It would be rather difficult. For an opponent using only his fists, this was an unwinnable confrontation. Sadly for Greenshadow, Kiri was no longer alone. Two of his teammates had just finished up their fights, and approached Greenshadow with their weapons raised. Nebjula and Mitchhamilton had apparently defeated Greenshadow's comrades, and were turning to him next.
"Hmph. It can't be helped. Get it over with, you pathetic weaklings. I might die here, but it sure as hell won't be without putting up a proper fight." Nebjula flinched slightly at Greenshadow's words, probably due to the determination and pride still left in his voice despite the situation. Nebjula slowly raised his weapons and got in a battle stance... Then, he charged. Following Nebjula's example, Kiri and Mitch also attacked Greenshadow simultaneously. One of Nebjula's maces was blocked by Greenshadow's shield. He then twisted his body sideways, avoiding the oncoming spear thrust from Mitch's direction. Retaliating by stabbing at Mitch with his sword, Greenshadow was handling the attacks from two sides with ease. Trouble was, there was a third attacked. One of Kiriririri's fists bored into Greenshadow's ribs, crushing his barrier and pushing him to the ground. Once he was on the ground he knew that it was a lost cause. Still, he would continue fighting until his limbs were incapable of moving. Fists, maces and a spear kept on hitting him as he lay there, but he would not give up. Using his shield to deflect some of the attacks and his sword to push back the attackers, Greenshadow kept up his resistance for several minutes. All three of his attackers sustained cuts during the battle. But, in the end, there was no way he could come out alive. Who dealt the final blow was impossible to tell, but after a little while, Greenshadow stopped moving. His entire body was stained with blood, covered completely in broken bones, deep cuts and large bruises.
Team Kaguya, Greenshadow622-DEAD END
The cloaked reaper was standing alone in the darkness, staring down at the battlefield below him. He was imprisoned in a strange room with no furniture, no doors and no windows. It was a place of eternal night, where no stars would ever shine. For the entire duration of the battle, he had been locked up. He did not know why and he did not know how. The only thing he knew was; someone were controlling him. A dark, scary voice spoke in his head every now and then. It would call out to him and make him feel utter despair and dread. There was nowhere to run, nothing he could do...
"Prevent the commanders from fighting each other until the end, that is your purpose. That is the only reason you still live." The voice once again spoke to him and sent a powerful chill down his spine.
He could do nothing but nod his head in agreement...
"V-Very well..."
....
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Deep Blue (CLONE), Mitchhamilton (General, -1 life),
Team Down:
Team Kaguya: VirginSmasher, Arcadeotic, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi, Greenshadow622 (General, -1 life)
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To be continued.
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List of currently remaining members!!
#Team Nosebleed: Members, Mitchhamilton (- 1 life) , Kiriririri - (1 life) , Satsuki , Valmore , Deep Blue (-1 life) , Nebjula , kingdomcome
#Team Down: Members, Tiagofvarela (- 1 life) , Babiker , Maxel , Fred the Barber , Nohman , Totodile , FinalChaos , Kawasumi , Flutterz , Turnip Sensei
#Team Kaguya: Members, Dergonu , Nimbus, Gijimu, Greenshadow622 (- 1 life) , Eclipsed, Zebhra , Duyy , Jade
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Dergonu got a reaction from gijimu for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 2!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
The Last GM Standing - Day 2:
Team Down's base
Down was leaning over several graves, looking down at the faces of his fallen comrades. Heavy raindrops fell from the dark sky, hammering against the green barrier that protected the graveyard. Down did not want the ground where his brave warriors were put to rest disturbed, and had put up a protective shield around it. The previous day's battle had claimed the lives of four of his soldiers. Tiagofvarela, Down's general, had been resurrected because of his position as general, but the other three were never coming back. The state that he had found them in had been absolutely horrifying. MoeKyun was completely unrecognizable, with a crushed cranium. Funyarinpa had his entire rib cage split open. Nashetania was burned to a crisp, and lastly Tiagofvarela was completely gone; made into a puppet by Nosebleed and his general.
"I won't ever forgive you for this." Cursing his enemies, Down turned around to face his remaining forces. Not a hint of fear could be seen on their faces. In its place he could see anger, hatred and a lust for revenge. Their weapons glistened in the faint moonlight, creating a heavy atmosphere that carried death and destruction. Upon losing so many of his warriors on the first day, Down had decided to take direct action. He would not sit by and watch more of his men fall while he himself sat around idly. Breaking the sullen silence with a voice that carried authority and bravery, Down spoke up:
"Today we will avenge our fallen! The reaper of death will no longer look to us for its victims! It will follow us, but the blood that it feeds on will be that of our enemies! Today, we bring down the evils that waits beyond those mountains!"
Raising his arm and pointing towards the huge volcano that towered some distance from them, Down pridefully drew his weapon. It was a gigantic two-handed sword, with a hilt long as a grown man's arm. The blade was forged in a green metal, Down's team color, and the massive weapon made the ground beneath Down's feet crack open from the sheer amount of power it held.
"TO WAAAAR!" Down shouted just as a lightning bolt struck the ground next to their barrier. The sudden roar of the thunder made his men flinch, but they soon joined in.
"TO WAAAAAR!" As the voices of Down's army rang throughout the mountains, a dark shadow spread across the centre of the battlefield.
Team Kaguya had already set off, and they were approaching Nosebleed's base with great speed. Team Down were headed for Nosebleed's base as well, and moved swiftly through the storm. Nosebleed himself had prepared for battle, sensing that a great danger was approaching.
Soon the three armies would clash, marking the start of the most fierce battle yet. Who would come out victorious? How many would die before the winner was crowned?
- The Last GM Standing, Chapter 2 -
The Cloaked Reaper
The sound of footsteps rapidly approaching could be heard in the distance. The ground under Mitchhamilton's feet shook as the two armies approached from the east and the west. There was no cover anywhere, just a huge open field that went on for a kilometer. No matter what, a stealthy approach was impossible. Clutching his gilded spear in his hand, Mitch took a look around. Two clones were at a ready, weapons drawn, and the rest of Nosebleed's army was spread out across the area; ready for the battle that was to come. Nosebleed himself had marched out to face off against Down, who had charged in ahead of his troops. As the two clashed, a massive shockwave had swept all the trees and vegetation completely off the face of the earth. What remained was charred ground, like something out of an old apocalypse movie.
It didn't take long for the first attacker to appear. Swiftly running towards them, three figures clad in Down's green garb drew their weapons. It wasn't possible for Mitch to see who the attackers were from the distance, but that didn't matter. Signaling the clones at his side, he sent them out to face off against the unknown assailants. The two instantly faced off against an opponent each, leaving only one attacker still on his way towards Mitch.
"Well then, let's do this." As he said that, Mitch tightly gripped his spear and hurled it with great velocity at the approaching enemy. The spear made an intimidating sound as it flew through the air, and a loud clink signaling the clashing of steel resounded throughout the battlefield. The spear had not hit its target, but instead it had been stopped by the attacker's weapon.
"Tch. Reappear!" Commanding his spear to once again appear in his hand, Mitch opened his palm, and a pink magic circle shimmered brightly, making the spear teleport back to him. Grasping it tightly once more, he jumped at his opponent.
"Neat trick you have there." The attacker said as he deflected Mitch's attack. His weapon was a big cleaver; the kind that a butcher would use. He wielded it in his right hand, and his left hand was hidden within his cloak. Did he have another weapon concealed there? Making sure not to get too close, Mitch continued to stab at his opponent with his spear.
"Seems I caught a general. Not bad." A mischievous smile on his opponents face made the hair on Mitch's arms stand up. It was a chilling sight; the sight of someone who enjoys battle. That in itself made the blood in Mitchhamilton's body boil. This was a worthy opponent.
"Break!" Taking a quick step back, Mitch snapped his fingers and the ground beneath his opponents feet cracked open. It wasn't a deep hole, but it was enough so that he might break a leg or sustain moderate damage. But instead of falling into the trap, the opponent grabbed a hold of Mitch's spear with his bare hand, and nimbly pushed himself backwards. He landed safely a few yards behind the hole. The hand he had used to grip the spear was bleeding fiercely, but it didn't look like the attacker minded at all.
"State your name!" Mitch called out as he tried to identify his opponent. It was a man he had seen before, there was no doubt about it, but he had trouble remembering his name.
"Nohman. Remember it, because it will be the last name you ever hear!" Charging straight at Mitch, Nohman shifted his cleaver to his other hand and hit Mitch's shoulder hard. Because of his spear being a long range weapon, it was hard to deflect such an attack. The barrier protecting Mitch made the cleaver bounce back, but he could feel the energy draining from his protective shield. Such a strong blow ...
The two clashed again and again, each time they deflected each other's attacks with precision. In the form of skill they were equally matched, but Mitch was at a disadvantage because of his long range weapon. Every time he managed to push Nohman back, he would come charging forward again.
"This is bad. At this rate, he is going to defeat me. I have to get some distance between us again." Thinking to himself, Mitch tried to find an opening that would allow him to move away from his opponent. He couldn't use too much magic, as every time he did, it put a great deal of strain on his body. Seeing as he was already getting tired, it would have to be an absolute last resort. The attacks coming from Nohman were relentless. Every time he struck at Mitch, he hit in a slightly different spot, with slightly different strength. It made calculating where and when his next attack would occur nearly impossible. All that Mitch was able to do was block the oncoming attacks.
"Are you getting tired general?" Nohman taunted Mitch as he continued to strike at his torso. A few of the attacks went through Mitch's guard and hit his barrier, but most of them were deflected.
"There really is no other way, is there?" Deciding that he had to resort to his final trump card, Mitch completely let go of his spear and extended his right arm so that it was pointing right at Nohman's chest. Probably realizing what Mitch was doing, Nohman suddenly jumped sideways in fear of an oncoming attack. But he had instead walked right into Mitch's trap. Using his left hand, he pointed two of his fingers towards Nohman's new location. Channeling all the remaining strength in his body, two magic circles appeared in front of his extended fingers. Shortly after, two beams of energy shot out, moving quickly towards his defenseless opponent. The first beam hit right below Nohman's collarbone, the other one hitting him in the right shoulder. Both went straight through his barrier and burned their way through the skin, leaving behind large holes in his body.
Not wasting any time, Mitch moved backwards and grabbed his spear that was on the ground. Finally getting some distance, he prepared for one final attack. But... Something felt a little strange. His stomach was tingling, and his body wouldn't move. Looking down at his own torso, Mitch saw great amounts of crimson blood running down his legs, down onto the charred ground.
"W-What..?" In a weak voice, Mitch questioned what had happened. Falling to his knees, he used what remaining strength he had in order to stay conscious. A shadow moved in front of him. It started talking as it presented a cleaver stained with blood. Unable to decipher the meaning of the man's words due to his fading conscience, Mitch collapsed on the spot. He was already beyond saving...
Team Nosebleed, Mitchhamilton- DEAD END
...
"My oh my, it seems it works." Looking down at the dead general, Nohman cleaned his bloody cleaver with the edge of his clothing. A few seconds earlier, Mitchhamilton had attacked Nohman with all his remaining strength, hoping to take him down in one attack. Problem was, the man Mitch was attacking was just a doppelganger. Mitch had not noticed it during Nohman's relentless assault, but right before Mitch dropped his spear, Nohman had used some of his strength to create a clone of himself. He suspected Mitch might be up to something, and took some precautions. Right after Mitch had gone to pick up his spear after he attacked Nohman's doppelganger, Nohman had cut Mitch's stomach open with his blade. The cut had gone all the way back to his spine, nearly cutting Mitch in half.
"Rest in peace, general." With those words, Nohman left the area and looked around for new prey.
___________________________________________________________________________
A few hundred meters away, Team Kaguya's temporary command post
Moving quickly towards Kaguya's base, several hooded men in pink cloaks were running towards VirginSmasher's location. He counted four attackers in total. By his side was Kaguya, his fearless leader, wearing a long white jacket that simply hung from his shoulders. His arms weren't in the sleeves, yet the jacket stuck to his body perfectly, as if it was fastened by some invisible force. Unlike his soldiers, Kaguya was not wearing any armor, but instead he wore a long jacket with red writing on the back. He was seemingly unarmed, and paid no attention to the battles raging around him. Kaguya's tactic was simple. March out and make it seem like he was attacking. Then, pull back ever so slightly and wait for Down and Nosebleed to wipe each other out. Although it had worked at first, Nosebleed had now sent a few of his soldiers out to face off against Kaguya's army. As he noticed the approaching enemies, Kaguya sighed and shook his head.
"Just when I had some peace and quiet. Ugh, you, kill those morons." Waving his hand casually at VirginSmasher, Kaguya turned around and carelessly walked away.
"V-Very well sir!" Grasping his bow tightly, VirginSmasher drew four arrows at once, strung the bow, and fired. The arrows flew towards their targets with great speed and accuracy. Why were they not dodging? The arrows simply hit the four men, bringing them to a halt as they all fell to the ground, motionless. Was that it? He had at least expected their barriers to deflect the first shot, but there was absolutely no resistance at all.
"Was the shots simply stronger than they had imagined?.." Wondering what exactly had happened, VirginSmasher drew another arrow and carefully started to approached the fallen enemies. There was blood flowing from their heads, and each one of the bodies lay perfectly still.
"Freeze."
A sudden chilling voice coming from behind made VirginSmasher quickly spin around. As he moved his legs backwards to get some distance from his target, his body started aching. The temperature suddenly plummeted, and a thin layer of ice started appearing all over his body.
"Crap, magic?" Trying to shake of the ice that was restricting his body, VirginSmasher made sure to stay in motion so that the frost couldn't settle. He had been reckless. It was such an obvious distraction, and yet he had approached it without taking any real precautions. Just as he expected, the four men he had shot down earlier were now gone. Most likely it had been some form of magic as well. Whoever he was fighting clearly prefer magic over a physical confrontation.
"W-Who's there?!" Calling out to the mysterious opponent through clenched teeth, VirginSmasher tried to get a look at the man's face. The man moved his hands slowly towards his hood and removed it.
"Deep Blue huh?" VirginSmasher recognized the man as Nosebleed's soldier Deep Blue.
Not bothering to give an answer, Deep Blue launched his body forward and hit VirginSmasher right in the chest. The ice that had restricted his body broke off forcefully, sending strong waves of pain through his entire being. A thin layer of skin was ripped off along with the ice.
"GAAARGH..." Letting out a pained scream, VirginSmasher kicked at his opponent blindly with all his might. His leg hit something and he heard a light groan. This gave him time to awkwardly get back on his feet. His vision was blurry and his arms, legs and torso hurt like hell. Trying to string his bow with his weak arms, he aimed towards the general direction of his target and prepared to attack. He did not have time to look for a specific target; a general outline of Deep Blue's figure was the best he could do. Firing the first arrow, VirginSmasher quickly moved his hand behind his back to reach for another one. Trouble was, his quiver was gone.
"Tch. Did I lose it in the fall earlier?" Clicking his tongue and whispering to himself, he tried to move backwards to look for his quiver. Sadly for him, Deep Blue had recovered from the attack and was once again approaching. VirginSmasher's vision was still quite poor from the damage sustained in his fall, so he wasn't able to see if the arrow had hit or not. Moreover, it became impossible to see where his opponent would be striking him next.
"Ice bullets!" Deep Blue shouted and a few seconds after, a strong impact in his abdomen sent VirginSmasher flying once again.
"W-What a stupid name for an attack..." He managed to squeeze out before he hit the ground. As his body hit the hard ground beneath him, his consciousness faded for a few seconds.
...
Deep Blue's perspective:
I had fired four ice bullets at my target, though because of the arrow sticking out of my shoulder, my aim had been a little off. Only one of the bullets had hit, not making the impact hard enough to be lethal. It seemed he had been knocked unconscious though.
"Stupid brat..." I shook my head and moved over towards the fallen warrior. He was quite cocky, something that annoyed me. There was no room for such an attitude on the battlefield.
He had also been way too easy to trick, as a simple illusion had made him approach his enemy despite being a bowman. Such foolishness would be the end of him.
Creating a spike of ice in my hand, I leant down towards the fallen soldier and brought it towards his heart. I would be merciful. One stab to the heart would kill him in a few seconds.
"Good night." With those words I put some force into my hand and thrust the spike into his chest.
"Gnnnnng..." Groaning from the pain of being stabbed, his body started thrashing about. The barrier still protecting him was surprisingly strong, making the initial blow not enough to break the skin. I put some more force into it, but the barrier still wouldn't give in.
"W-What the hell?"
"Sorry. That kid gets a second chance. I liked his guts." A voice coming seemingly from nowhere made Deep Blue stop in his tracks. I-It couldn't be ... Was that Kaguya? Had he entered the battle himself already?
I better retreat for now... As I thought that, I got up and started running back the way I came.
...
"Come on kid, get up." Kaguya was standing over the fallen VirginSmasher, extending his hand to help him up. It was a surprising move, considering Kaguya's personality, but VirginSmasher would never turn down the help of his commander. Gratefully accepting the help, VirginSmasher got to his feet.
"Now go on, make yourself useful. He still hasn't gotten far. Take him out with one shot." Pointing towards the figure of Deep Blue, Kaguya turned around and started walking away. That was all the help he would get, huh? Still, it was all he needed.
"Let's do this."
VirginSmasher still had no arrows, and his target was getting further and further away. Any more than that and he would be out of range. He had to get his quiver back for starters. Spotting it about 5 meters away, VirginSmasher reluctantly moved his still painful body towards it. The arrows were all spread across the ground, some broken in the fall. It took a few seconds to find an arrow with no damage.
Getting into position, he strung his bow and carefully drew his breath. Then, he let the air out just as he fired the arrow. It flew through the air, whistling, as it made its way towards Deep Blue. The arrow then pierced his head, making Deep Blue fall to the ground.
Deep Blue, Team Nosebleed- (CLONE) DEAD END
...
...
...
"Phew... Kaguya, I hit him." Turning around to inform his commander of the kill, VirginSmasher instead ended up freezing up in shock. Kaguya was no longer behind him, but instead he was staring down the length of a gilded spear that was aimed right at his heart. It was precisely the same place Deep Blue had try to stab him just minutes earlier.
"Sorry kid, you got some bad luck." With those words, the attacker, Mitchhamilton sent his spear forward, crushing the remaining strength in VirginSmasher's barrier. The feeling of his ribs being broken and his heart stopping was the last thing he remembered. After that, everything went black.
VirginSmasher, Team Kaguya- DEAD END
Turning around in surprise at the sudden feeling of losing one of his warriors, Kaguya looked towards the place he had just helped VirginSmasher and saw several soldiers in black and pink cloaks. Where had they come from?! He had not noticed their arrival at all.
Despite having given him a second chance, VirginSmasher hadn't been able to do much at all.
"Hmph, what a waste." The soldiers from Nosebleed's team quickly surrounded Kaguya and pointed their weapons at him.
"This is the end Kaguya." The one who spoke up was Nosebleed's general, Mitchhamilton. From what Kaguya had heard, he had fallen in battle earlier. He must have been resurrected by Nosebleed right after.
"Haha. Right, end. Ok. Give me your best shot then." Lifting his arms in the air sarcastically, Kaguya simply stared back at the men with a carefree look.
"Tch, you bastard!" Stabbing Kaguya with his spear, Mitchhamilton was the first one to act. The spear tickled a little bit, but did not inflict any damage. Probably surprised at the inefficiency of his attack, Mitch ended up staring at his own weapon in shock for a few seconds.
"Alright, is the fun over? I'm going to go stand over there. You guys enjoy." Leaving his opponents behind, Kaguya simply walked away. One of the attackers seemed angered at his carefree attitude in such a situation and jumped at Kaguya. He never got close though. As his sword was moving through the air, a bolt of lightning shot out from the distance, knocking the blade along with its wielder back.
Three of Kaguya's soldiers, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and his general Greenshadow622 quickly came to their commander's aid.
"Took you guys long enough." Kaguya said in an emotionless voice as he walked away from the battle.
...
On the open field, six figures were visible. Three of the warriors were from Kaguya's team, and the other three from nosebleed's. Among the six were, from team Nosebleed: Mitchhamilton, Nebjula and Kiriririri. Kiriririri was unarmed, using his fists as weapons. Mitchhamilton held a long, gilded spear and Nebjula was holding two small maces, one in each hand. From Team Kaguya was, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and Greenshadow622. Velociraptor had a leather glove with metal claws, Hitoribocchi had a greataxe that he wielded with ease using only one hand, and Greenshadow622 had a black longsword and a big round shield. The atmosphere was heavy as the brave soldiers stared at each other. No one wanted to make the first move. As they stood there, waiting for their opponents to act, a dark cloud slowly covered the entire battlefield. Blocking the sun completely, a suffocating darkness consumed the area. As no one had yet spoken a word, a heavy silence was slowly driving them all crazy.
A great battle was approaching...
___________________________________________________________________________
A few km away, in the aftermath of Nosebleed and Down's scuffle
Arcadeotic from team Kaguya was sitting on the charred ground, resting his tired body. Just minutes ago the two commanders, Down and Nosebleed, had been fighting each other. Compared to the strength of foot soldiers such as himself, their powers were from a completely different world. It took almost all his strength just to remain standing during their battle. They had struck at each other with weapons, fists and powerful magic, and each move had sent waves of energy throughout the surrounding area, leaving it a barren wasteland. The surreal duel had lasted a while but it was suddenly interrupted when ... That arrived. Standing in the centre of the battlefield with shimmering yellow eyes, a man clad in a black robe looked at the two commanders menacingly. In his hand was a big scythe, making him look like the grim reaper himself. The most surprising thing of all, he had stopped the two monster's attacks with his bare hands. What or who was that?
It seemed that the answer to that wouldn't come quite yet. As quickly as it had appeared, it once again vanished into thin air. But right before it did, something rather strange happened. The two commanders, that just seconds ago had been going at each other's throats, turned around and simply left. This was quite weird, and also a little unfortunate. If the two leaders had taken each other out, then Kaguya would have been the winner right then and there.
Seeing a sudden swift movement in the corner of his eye, Arc jumped sideways and grabbed his weapon, expecting a hostile. This was a good decision. Several kunai knives had suddenly hit the ground right where Arc was previously sitting. The kunai knives were coated in a strange, clear liquid, most likely poison. The kunai themselves were shimmering slightly in a deep green metal. Did that mean that the assailant was from team Down? Either way, it would be dangerous to be caught off guard for even a second against such a weapon. Just one cut and the poison would enter your veins. The most worrying part of it all though, was that his opponent was nowhere to be seen. Grasping his naginata tightly, Arc moved around in a circle, carefully looking around for his opponent. Among the displayed weapons during the combat preparations first day, he had picked something a little more unique; a naginata. It seemed that his opponent, whoever he was, had also picked something a little different. A naginata makes for a medium range weapon that can deflect swords and the likes with ease, but a fight against someone with a throwing weapon could prove tricky. It is not as easy to move the naginata around to deflect oncoming throwing knives, making it a poor weapon for defending against his opponent's attacks. Moreover, he could not see his opponent, meaning he would already be at a disadvantage once the next attack came. Still, he would not give up. He would not want to disappoint his commander. Taking a deep breath and focusing on his surroundings, Arcadeotic kept looking around for his enemy...
...
Still under the effect of his invisibility magic, Tiagofvarela moved quietly towards his opponent. The few kunai knives he had thrown earlier had missed by a hair. Now all he had left was his katana. His enemy, Arcadeotic from team Kaguya seemed to be quite the tough opponent. Despite not seeing Tiago at all until the second he attacked, Arc had managed to dodge all of the kunai knives completely. The poison that the knives were coated in would have killed him instantly if they even just nicked the skin.
Complimenting Arc's impressive reflexes silently in his head, Tiago made his move. The spell he was being hidden by only lasted while he was not putting any real strain on his body. Essentially what that meant was, if he attacked someone or did anything that required him to use his muscles beyond just simple movements, the effect would disappear.
Charging right at Arc, Tiago brought his katana down towards Arc's exposed back. Just like when he threw the kunai knives, Arc managed to notice Tiago just in the nick of time and turned around to deflect the attack. Sadly, because of his weapon being rather poorly matched in close combat, Tiago managed to cut Arc over his left shoulder. Using the opening this created to his advantage, Tiago spun around, nimbly moving out of the naginata's reach and cut at Arc's body once again. The previous cut had hit a barrier, but this one did not. Cutting through the soft skin on Arc's back, the katana made large amounts of blood stain Tiago's clothes in an ominous shade of red.
"Gaaaah!" Falling to his knees whilst letting out a pained scream, Arcadeotic lost his grip on the naginata and was completely defenseless. The katana had cut rather deep, most likely doing some damage to the spinal cord. The fight was over.
"Sorry, it really is nothing personal." With those words, Tiago swung his katana at Arc's neck, cutting through his carotid artery.
After a few seconds, Arc's lifeless body collapsed on the ground.
Team Kaguya, Arcadeotic- DEAD END
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The sound of steel colliding with steel resounded throughout the open field. The sound was something one would not find anywhere else but on a battlefield such as this. This was a place of war. A place of death and pain. Among the six fighters who were lunging at each other with an intent to kill, only three would make it out alive.
...
Nebjula, Team Nosebleed vs Velociraptor team Kaguya
Striking at Velociraptor with his two maces, Nebjula put a great deal of strength into his legs and sharply moved forward. The violent attack took Velociraptor by surprise, and one of Nebjula's maces hit him in the stomach. His barrier barely managed to block most of the damage, but the impact still stent a tremor through his body. Because of his rather short range weapon made for assassinations, Velociraptor was having a hard time getting any attacks in at all. He had fought someone with a similar, brutal weapon before, but unlike the heavy battleaxe that he had faced then, these two maces were swift and relentless. Nebjula lifted one of the small but deadly maces above his head and brought it down towards Velociraptor. At the same time, he used the other mace to lunge at Velociraptor from the left side, making it hard for him to move around to dodge. The blow from above barely missed, but the second strike from the left collided with Velociraptor's cheek and knocked him down to the ground.
"D-Damnit!" Cursing to himself, Velociraptor did the best he could to stand up again, but the last attack had left him dizzy and disoriented. Not being able to figure out what way was up and what was down, he was unable to get back on his feet.
"No, no, NO! I can't lose like this! Damnit!" Not knowing what else to do, Velociraptor started yelling at himself.
Not long after, two maces swept through the air and struck him in the head. The ends of the maces did not have spikes like some others do, but in return they had a sharp edge on both sides of the top, making it a fearful weapon. The sharp metal edges bored into Velociraptor's skull, breaking through the bone with ease. After a gruesome sound of bone cracking, the area become completely silent. ..
Team Kaguya, Velociraptor- DEAD END
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Hitoribocchi team Kaguya vs Mitchhamilton team Nosebleed
"Raaaaaawr!" Swinging his greataxe down with all his might, Hitoribocchi attacked Mitchhamilton for what felt like the hundredth time. Each time he did, Mitchhamilton managed to block the attack and retaliate with a stab of his own. The spear was an unbelievably annoying adversary, as if Hito stepped a little too far back, he would be right in its kill zone. But if he stayed too close, it would be impossible for him to use his massive axe, meaning he would be as good as unarmed. The greataxe was a gigantic weapon, with a long blade smith with solid and thick metal. The spear that Mitch was using was rather thin and frail looking in comparison, so why was it that he was capable of blocking the powerful attacks with such ease?!
"You annoying little ... Take this!" Changing up his attack pattern once more, Hito turned his axe around in the air, trying to hit Mitch in the head with the flat side. It would be impossible to completely stop the attack with just a thin spear. The large piece of metal approached Mitch with great speed, and sure enough, he was unable to stop the impact with his spear alone. Being knocked off his feet, Mitch stumbled to the ground.
"This time I will carve you in half!" Lifting the axe above his head, Hito used both his hands to grip the handle, and whilst summoning all the strength in his body, he struck at Mitch. There was, of course, no way for him to block such a ruthless attack. But, Mitch did not need to block it. All he had to do was dodge. Rolling to the side just in time, the axe hit the ground, making a loud bang that made Mitch's ears ring. Since he had lost his spear whilst dodging the axe, Mitch had no weapon. The deafening roar of Hito's axe crashing down right next to his ear had made Mitch dizzy, but he fought through it and got to his feet. Kicking Hito in the chest with great force, he managed to separate Hito from his weapon too. They were now both unarmed.
"Yaaa!" Swiftly rushing towards Hito, Mitch moved his head down in order to dodge Hito's oncoming fist and rammed into his opponent with his shoulder. As he brought him to the ground, Mitch sat on top of his chest and locked his arms down with his own knees. Then, he started punching at Hito's face brutally. A few of the punches got stopped by the barrier protecting Hito, but after a some more hits, it gave in and Mitch's fists hit flesh and bone. Ruthlessly punching his opponent's face for a long time, Mitch started to notice that his hands were bleeding. When he finally snapped back to reality, the figure before him was no longer recognizable as a human being...
Team Kaguya, Hitoribocchi-DEAD END
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Kiriririri Team Nosebleed vs Greenshadow622, Team Kaguya
Greenshadow622 was carefully eying his opponent, waiting for him to make a move. Kiriririri was standing a few meters away with his fists raised, but he did not make a single movement. It had been like this for over a minute already. Greenshadow was getting agitated, but he remained adamant; he would not make the first move. His sword was raised slightly, pointing towards Kiri, and his shield was covering his chest region defensively. He was holding his shield about 15 cm out from his body, which meant Kiri had to strike at Greenshadow's feet or his back in order to get a clean hit. It would be rather difficult. For an opponent using only his fists, this was an unwinnable confrontation. Sadly for Greenshadow, Kiri was no longer alone. Two of his teammates had just finished up their fights, and approached Greenshadow with their weapons raised. Nebjula and Mitchhamilton had apparently defeated Greenshadow's comrades, and were turning to him next.
"Hmph. It can't be helped. Get it over with, you pathetic weaklings. I might die here, but it sure as hell won't be without putting up a proper fight." Nebjula flinched slightly at Greenshadow's words, probably due to the determination and pride still left in his voice despite the situation. Nebjula slowly raised his weapons and got in a battle stance... Then, he charged. Following Nebjula's example, Kiri and Mitch also attacked Greenshadow simultaneously. One of Nebjula's maces was blocked by Greenshadow's shield. He then twisted his body sideways, avoiding the oncoming spear thrust from Mitch's direction. Retaliating by stabbing at Mitch with his sword, Greenshadow was handling the attacks from two sides with ease. Trouble was, there was a third attacked. One of Kiriririri's fists bored into Greenshadow's ribs, crushing his barrier and pushing him to the ground. Once he was on the ground he knew that it was a lost cause. Still, he would continue fighting until his limbs were incapable of moving. Fists, maces and a spear kept on hitting him as he lay there, but he would not give up. Using his shield to deflect some of the attacks and his sword to push back the attackers, Greenshadow kept up his resistance for several minutes. All three of his attackers sustained cuts during the battle. But, in the end, there was no way he could come out alive. Who dealt the final blow was impossible to tell, but after a little while, Greenshadow stopped moving. His entire body was stained with blood, covered completely in broken bones, deep cuts and large bruises.
Team Kaguya, Greenshadow622-DEAD END
The cloaked reaper was standing alone in the darkness, staring down at the battlefield below him. He was imprisoned in a strange room with no furniture, no doors and no windows. It was a place of eternal night, where no stars would ever shine. For the entire duration of the battle, he had been locked up. He did not know why and he did not know how. The only thing he knew was; someone were controlling him. A dark, scary voice spoke in his head every now and then. It would call out to him and make him feel utter despair and dread. There was nowhere to run, nothing he could do...
"Prevent the commanders from fighting each other until the end, that is your purpose. That is the only reason you still live." The voice once again spoke to him and sent a powerful chill down his spine.
He could do nothing but nod his head in agreement...
"V-Very well..."
....
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Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Deep Blue (CLONE), Mitchhamilton (General, -1 life),
Team Down:
Team Kaguya: VirginSmasher, Arcadeotic, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi, Greenshadow622 (General, -1 life)
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To be continued.
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List of currently remaining members!!
#Team Nosebleed: Members, Mitchhamilton (- 1 life) , Kiriririri - (1 life) , Satsuki , Valmore , Deep Blue (-1 life) , Nebjula , kingdomcome
#Team Down: Members, Tiagofvarela (- 1 life) , Babiker , Maxel , Fred the Barber , Nohman , Totodile , FinalChaos , Kawasumi , Flutterz , Turnip Sensei
#Team Kaguya: Members, Dergonu , Nimbus, Gijimu, Greenshadow622 (- 1 life) , Eclipsed, Zebhra , Duyy , Jade
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Dergonu got a reaction from Zebhra for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 2!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapters in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
The Last GM Standing - Day 2:
Team Down's base
Down was leaning over several graves, looking down at the faces of his fallen comrades. Heavy raindrops fell from the dark sky, hammering against the green barrier that protected the graveyard. Down did not want the ground where his brave warriors were put to rest disturbed, and had put up a protective shield around it. The previous day's battle had claimed the lives of four of his soldiers. Tiagofvarela, Down's general, had been resurrected because of his position as general, but the other three were never coming back. The state that he had found them in had been absolutely horrifying. MoeKyun was completely unrecognizable, with a crushed cranium. Funyarinpa had his entire rib cage split open. Nashetania was burned to a crisp, and lastly Tiagofvarela was completely gone; made into a puppet by Nosebleed and his general.
"I won't ever forgive you for this." Cursing his enemies, Down turned around to face his remaining forces. Not a hint of fear could be seen on their faces. In its place he could see anger, hatred and a lust for revenge. Their weapons glistened in the faint moonlight, creating a heavy atmosphere that carried death and destruction. Upon losing so many of his warriors on the first day, Down had decided to take direct action. He would not sit by and watch more of his men fall while he himself sat around idly. Breaking the sullen silence with a voice that carried authority and bravery, Down spoke up:
"Today we will avenge our fallen! The reaper of death will no longer look to us for its victims! It will follow us, but the blood that it feeds on will be that of our enemies! Today, we bring down the evils that waits beyond those mountains!"
Raising his arm and pointing towards the huge volcano that towered some distance from them, Down pridefully drew his weapon. It was a gigantic two-handed sword, with a hilt long as a grown man's arm. The blade was forged in a green metal, Down's team color, and the massive weapon made the ground beneath Down's feet crack open from the sheer amount of power it held.
"TO WAAAAR!" Down shouted just as a lightning bolt struck the ground next to their barrier. The sudden roar of the thunder made his men flinch, but they soon joined in.
"TO WAAAAAR!" As the voices of Down's army rang throughout the mountains, a dark shadow spread across the centre of the battlefield.
Team Kaguya had already set off, and they were approaching Nosebleed's base with great speed. Team Down were headed for Nosebleed's base as well, and moved swiftly through the storm. Nosebleed himself had prepared for battle, sensing that a great danger was approaching.
Soon the three armies would clash, marking the start of the most fierce battle yet. Who would come out victorious? How many would die before the winner was crowned?
- The Last GM Standing, Chapter 2 -
The Cloaked Reaper
The sound of footsteps rapidly approaching could be heard in the distance. The ground under Mitchhamilton's feet shook as the two armies approached from the east and the west. There was no cover anywhere, just a huge open field that went on for a kilometer. No matter what, a stealthy approach was impossible. Clutching his gilded spear in his hand, Mitch took a look around. Two clones were at a ready, weapons drawn, and the rest of Nosebleed's army was spread out across the area; ready for the battle that was to come. Nosebleed himself had marched out to face off against Down, who had charged in ahead of his troops. As the two clashed, a massive shockwave had swept all the trees and vegetation completely off the face of the earth. What remained was charred ground, like something out of an old apocalypse movie.
It didn't take long for the first attacker to appear. Swiftly running towards them, three figures clad in Down's green garb drew their weapons. It wasn't possible for Mitch to see who the attackers were from the distance, but that didn't matter. Signaling the clones at his side, he sent them out to face off against the unknown assailants. The two instantly faced off against an opponent each, leaving only one attacker still on his way towards Mitch.
"Well then, let's do this." As he said that, Mitch tightly gripped his spear and hurled it with great velocity at the approaching enemy. The spear made an intimidating sound as it flew through the air, and a loud clink signaling the clashing of steel resounded throughout the battlefield. The spear had not hit its target, but instead it had been stopped by the attacker's weapon.
"Tch. Reappear!" Commanding his spear to once again appear in his hand, Mitch opened his palm, and a pink magic circle shimmered brightly, making the spear teleport back to him. Grasping it tightly once more, he jumped at his opponent.
"Neat trick you have there." The attacker said as he deflected Mitch's attack. His weapon was a big cleaver; the kind that a butcher would use. He wielded it in his right hand, and his left hand was hidden within his cloak. Did he have another weapon concealed there? Making sure not to get too close, Mitch continued to stab at his opponent with his spear.
"Seems I caught a general. Not bad." A mischievous smile on his opponents face made the hair on Mitch's arms stand up. It was a chilling sight; the sight of someone who enjoys battle. That in itself made the blood in Mitchhamilton's body boil. This was a worthy opponent.
"Break!" Taking a quick step back, Mitch snapped his fingers and the ground beneath his opponents feet cracked open. It wasn't a deep hole, but it was enough so that he might break a leg or sustain moderate damage. But instead of falling into the trap, the opponent grabbed a hold of Mitch's spear with his bare hand, and nimbly pushed himself backwards. He landed safely a few yards behind the hole. The hand he had used to grip the spear was bleeding fiercely, but it didn't look like the attacker minded at all.
"State your name!" Mitch called out as he tried to identify his opponent. It was a man he had seen before, there was no doubt about it, but he had trouble remembering his name.
"Nohman. Remember it, because it will be the last name you ever hear!" Charging straight at Mitch, Nohman shifted his cleaver to his other hand and hit Mitch's shoulder hard. Because of his spear being a long range weapon, it was hard to deflect such an attack. The barrier protecting Mitch made the cleaver bounce back, but he could feel the energy draining from his protective shield. Such a strong blow ...
The two clashed again and again, each time they deflected each other's attacks with precision. In the form of skill they were equally matched, but Mitch was at a disadvantage because of his long range weapon. Every time he managed to push Nohman back, he would come charging forward again.
"This is bad. At this rate, he is going to defeat me. I have to get some distance between us again." Thinking to himself, Mitch tried to find an opening that would allow him to move away from his opponent. He couldn't use too much magic, as every time he did, it put a great deal of strain on his body. Seeing as he was already getting tired, it would have to be an absolute last resort. The attacks coming from Nohman were relentless. Every time he struck at Mitch, he hit in a slightly different spot, with slightly different strength. It made calculating where and when his next attack would occur nearly impossible. All that Mitch was able to do was block the oncoming attacks.
"Are you getting tired general?" Nohman taunted Mitch as he continued to strike at his torso. A few of the attacks went through Mitch's guard and hit his barrier, but most of them were deflected.
"There really is no other way, is there?" Deciding that he had to resort to his final trump card, Mitch completely let go of his spear and extended his right arm so that it was pointing right at Nohman's chest. Probably realizing what Mitch was doing, Nohman suddenly jumped sideways in fear of an oncoming attack. But he had instead walked right into Mitch's trap. Using his left hand, he pointed two of his fingers towards Nohman's new location. Channeling all the remaining strength in his body, two magic circles appeared in front of his extended fingers. Shortly after, two beams of energy shot out, moving quickly towards his defenseless opponent. The first beam hit right below Nohman's collarbone, the other one hitting him in the right shoulder. Both went straight through his barrier and burned their way through the skin, leaving behind large holes in his body.
Not wasting any time, Mitch moved backwards and grabbed his spear that was on the ground. Finally getting some distance, he prepared for one final attack. But... Something felt a little strange. His stomach was tingling, and his body wouldn't move. Looking down at his own torso, Mitch saw great amounts of crimson blood running down his legs, down onto the charred ground.
"W-What..?" In a weak voice, Mitch questioned what had happened. Falling to his knees, he used what remaining strength he had in order to stay conscious. A shadow moved in front of him. It started talking as it presented a cleaver stained with blood. Unable to decipher the meaning of the man's words due to his fading conscience, Mitch collapsed on the spot. He was already beyond saving...
Team Nosebleed, Mitchhamilton- DEAD END
...
"My oh my, it seems it works." Looking down at the dead general, Nohman cleaned his bloody cleaver with the edge of his clothing. A few seconds earlier, Mitchhamilton had attacked Nohman with all his remaining strength, hoping to take him down in one attack. Problem was, the man Mitch was attacking was just a doppelganger. Mitch had not noticed it during Nohman's relentless assault, but right before Mitch dropped his spear, Nohman had used some of his strength to create a clone of himself. He suspected Mitch might be up to something, and took some precautions. Right after Mitch had gone to pick up his spear after he attacked Nohman's doppelganger, Nohman had cut Mitch's stomach open with his blade. The cut had gone all the way back to his spine, nearly cutting Mitch in half.
"Rest in peace, general." With those words, Nohman left the area and looked around for new prey.
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A few hundred meters away, Team Kaguya's temporary command post
Moving quickly towards Kaguya's base, several hooded men in pink cloaks were running towards VirginSmasher's location. He counted four attackers in total. By his side was Kaguya, his fearless leader, wearing a long white jacket that simply hung from his shoulders. His arms weren't in the sleeves, yet the jacket stuck to his body perfectly, as if it was fastened by some invisible force. Unlike his soldiers, Kaguya was not wearing any armor, but instead he wore a long jacket with red writing on the back. He was seemingly unarmed, and paid no attention to the battles raging around him. Kaguya's tactic was simple. March out and make it seem like he was attacking. Then, pull back ever so slightly and wait for Down and Nosebleed to wipe each other out. Although it had worked at first, Nosebleed had now sent a few of his soldiers out to face off against Kaguya's army. As he noticed the approaching enemies, Kaguya sighed and shook his head.
"Just when I had some peace and quiet. Ugh, you, kill those morons." Waving his hand casually at VirginSmasher, Kaguya turned around and carelessly walked away.
"V-Very well sir!" Grasping his bow tightly, VirginSmasher drew four arrows at once, strung the bow, and fired. The arrows flew towards their targets with great speed and accuracy. Why were they not dodging? The arrows simply hit the four men, bringing them to a halt as they all fell to the ground, motionless. Was that it? He had at least expected their barriers to deflect the first shot, but there was absolutely no resistance at all.
"Was the shots simply stronger than they had imagined?.." Wondering what exactly had happened, VirginSmasher drew another arrow and carefully started to approached the fallen enemies. There was blood flowing from their heads, and each one of the bodies lay perfectly still.
"Freeze."
A sudden chilling voice coming from behind made VirginSmasher quickly spin around. As he moved his legs backwards to get some distance from his target, his body started aching. The temperature suddenly plummeted, and a thin layer of ice started appearing all over his body.
"Crap, magic?" Trying to shake of the ice that was restricting his body, VirginSmasher made sure to stay in motion so that the frost couldn't settle. He had been reckless. It was such an obvious distraction, and yet he had approached it without taking any real precautions. Just as he expected, the four men he had shot down earlier were now gone. Most likely it had been some form of magic as well. Whoever he was fighting clearly prefer magic over a physical confrontation.
"W-Who's there?!" Calling out to the mysterious opponent through clenched teeth, VirginSmasher tried to get a look at the man's face. The man moved his hands slowly towards his hood and removed it.
"Deep Blue huh?" VirginSmasher recognized the man as Nosebleed's soldier Deep Blue.
Not bothering to give an answer, Deep Blue launched his body forward and hit VirginSmasher right in the chest. The ice that had restricted his body broke off forcefully, sending strong waves of pain through his entire being. A thin layer of skin was ripped off along with the ice.
"GAAARGH..." Letting out a pained scream, VirginSmasher kicked at his opponent blindly with all his might. His leg hit something and he heard a light groan. This gave him time to awkwardly get back on his feet. His vision was blurry and his arms, legs and torso hurt like hell. Trying to string his bow with his weak arms, he aimed towards the general direction of his target and prepared to attack. He did not have time to look for a specific target; a general outline of Deep Blue's figure was the best he could do. Firing the first arrow, VirginSmasher quickly moved his hand behind his back to reach for another one. Trouble was, his quiver was gone.
"Tch. Did I lose it in the fall earlier?" Clicking his tongue and whispering to himself, he tried to move backwards to look for his quiver. Sadly for him, Deep Blue had recovered from the attack and was once again approaching. VirginSmasher's vision was still quite poor from the damage sustained in his fall, so he wasn't able to see if the arrow had hit or not. Moreover, it became impossible to see where his opponent would be striking him next.
"Ice bullets!" Deep Blue shouted and a few seconds after, a strong impact in his abdomen sent VirginSmasher flying once again.
"W-What a stupid name for an attack..." He managed to squeeze out before he hit the ground. As his body hit the hard ground beneath him, his consciousness faded for a few seconds.
...
Deep Blue's perspective:
I had fired four ice bullets at my target, though because of the arrow sticking out of my shoulder, my aim had been a little off. Only one of the bullets had hit, not making the impact hard enough to be lethal. It seemed he had been knocked unconscious though.
"Stupid brat..." I shook my head and moved over towards the fallen warrior. He was quite cocky, something that annoyed me. There was no room for such an attitude on the battlefield.
He had also been way too easy to trick, as a simple illusion had made him approach his enemy despite being a bowman. Such foolishness would be the end of him.
Creating a spike of ice in my hand, I leant down towards the fallen soldier and brought it towards his heart. I would be merciful. One stab to the heart would kill him in a few seconds.
"Good night." With those words I put some force into my hand and thrust the spike into his chest.
"Gnnnnng..." Groaning from the pain of being stabbed, his body started thrashing about. The barrier still protecting him was surprisingly strong, making the initial blow not enough to break the skin. I put some more force into it, but the barrier still wouldn't give in.
"W-What the hell?"
"Sorry. That kid gets a second chance. I liked his guts." A voice coming seemingly from nowhere made Deep Blue stop in his tracks. I-It couldn't be ... Was that Kaguya? Had he entered the battle himself already?
I better retreat for now... As I thought that, I got up and started running back the way I came.
...
"Come on kid, get up." Kaguya was standing over the fallen VirginSmasher, extending his hand to help him up. It was a surprising move, considering Kaguya's personality, but VirginSmasher would never turn down the help of his commander. Gratefully accepting the help, VirginSmasher got to his feet.
"Now go on, make yourself useful. He still hasn't gotten far. Take him out with one shot." Pointing towards the figure of Deep Blue, Kaguya turned around and started walking away. That was all the help he would get, huh? Still, it was all he needed.
"Let's do this."
VirginSmasher still had no arrows, and his target was getting further and further away. Any more than that and he would be out of range. He had to get his quiver back for starters. Spotting it about 5 meters away, VirginSmasher reluctantly moved his still painful body towards it. The arrows were all spread across the ground, some broken in the fall. It took a few seconds to find an arrow with no damage.
Getting into position, he strung his bow and carefully drew his breath. Then, he let the air out just as he fired the arrow. It flew through the air, whistling, as it made its way towards Deep Blue. The arrow then pierced his head, making Deep Blue fall to the ground.
Deep Blue, Team Nosebleed- (CLONE) DEAD END
...
...
...
"Phew... Kaguya, I hit him." Turning around to inform his commander of the kill, VirginSmasher instead ended up freezing up in shock. Kaguya was no longer behind him, but instead he was staring down the length of a gilded spear that was aimed right at his heart. It was precisely the same place Deep Blue had try to stab him just minutes earlier.
"Sorry kid, you got some bad luck." With those words, the attacker, Mitchhamilton sent his spear forward, crushing the remaining strength in VirginSmasher's barrier. The feeling of his ribs being broken and his heart stopping was the last thing he remembered. After that, everything went black.
VirginSmasher, Team Kaguya- DEAD END
Turning around in surprise at the sudden feeling of losing one of his warriors, Kaguya looked towards the place he had just helped VirginSmasher and saw several soldiers in black and pink cloaks. Where had they come from?! He had not noticed their arrival at all.
Despite having given him a second chance, VirginSmasher hadn't been able to do much at all.
"Hmph, what a waste." The soldiers from Nosebleed's team quickly surrounded Kaguya and pointed their weapons at him.
"This is the end Kaguya." The one who spoke up was Nosebleed's general, Mitchhamilton. From what Kaguya had heard, he had fallen in battle earlier. He must have been resurrected by Nosebleed right after.
"Haha. Right, end. Ok. Give me your best shot then." Lifting his arms in the air sarcastically, Kaguya simply stared back at the men with a carefree look.
"Tch, you bastard!" Stabbing Kaguya with his spear, Mitchhamilton was the first one to act. The spear tickled a little bit, but did not inflict any damage. Probably surprised at the inefficiency of his attack, Mitch ended up staring at his own weapon in shock for a few seconds.
"Alright, is the fun over? I'm going to go stand over there. You guys enjoy." Leaving his opponents behind, Kaguya simply walked away. One of the attackers seemed angered at his carefree attitude in such a situation and jumped at Kaguya. He never got close though. As his sword was moving through the air, a bolt of lightning shot out from the distance, knocking the blade along with its wielder back.
Three of Kaguya's soldiers, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and his general Greenshadow622 quickly came to their commander's aid.
"Took you guys long enough." Kaguya said in an emotionless voice as he walked away from the battle.
...
On the open field, six figures were visible. Three of the warriors were from Kaguya's team, and the other three from nosebleed's. Among the six were, from team Nosebleed: Mitchhamilton, Nebjula and Kiriririri. Kiriririri was unarmed, using his fists as weapons. Mitchhamilton held a long, gilded spear and Nebjula was holding two small maces, one in each hand. From Team Kaguya was, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi and Greenshadow622. Velociraptor had a leather glove with metal claws, Hitoribocchi had a greataxe that he wielded with ease using only one hand, and Greenshadow622 had a black longsword and a big round shield. The atmosphere was heavy as the brave soldiers stared at each other. No one wanted to make the first move. As they stood there, waiting for their opponents to act, a dark cloud slowly covered the entire battlefield. Blocking the sun completely, a suffocating darkness consumed the area. As no one had yet spoken a word, a heavy silence was slowly driving them all crazy.
A great battle was approaching...
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A few km away, in the aftermath of Nosebleed and Down's scuffle
Arcadeotic from team Kaguya was sitting on the charred ground, resting his tired body. Just minutes ago the two commanders, Down and Nosebleed, had been fighting each other. Compared to the strength of foot soldiers such as himself, their powers were from a completely different world. It took almost all his strength just to remain standing during their battle. They had struck at each other with weapons, fists and powerful magic, and each move had sent waves of energy throughout the surrounding area, leaving it a barren wasteland. The surreal duel had lasted a while but it was suddenly interrupted when ... That arrived. Standing in the centre of the battlefield with shimmering yellow eyes, a man clad in a black robe looked at the two commanders menacingly. In his hand was a big scythe, making him look like the grim reaper himself. The most surprising thing of all, he had stopped the two monster's attacks with his bare hands. What or who was that?
It seemed that the answer to that wouldn't come quite yet. As quickly as it had appeared, it once again vanished into thin air. But right before it did, something rather strange happened. The two commanders, that just seconds ago had been going at each other's throats, turned around and simply left. This was quite weird, and also a little unfortunate. If the two leaders had taken each other out, then Kaguya would have been the winner right then and there.
Seeing a sudden swift movement in the corner of his eye, Arc jumped sideways and grabbed his weapon, expecting a hostile. This was a good decision. Several kunai knives had suddenly hit the ground right where Arc was previously sitting. The kunai knives were coated in a strange, clear liquid, most likely poison. The kunai themselves were shimmering slightly in a deep green metal. Did that mean that the assailant was from team Down? Either way, it would be dangerous to be caught off guard for even a second against such a weapon. Just one cut and the poison would enter your veins. The most worrying part of it all though, was that his opponent was nowhere to be seen. Grasping his naginata tightly, Arc moved around in a circle, carefully looking around for his opponent. Among the displayed weapons during the combat preparations first day, he had picked something a little more unique; a naginata. It seemed that his opponent, whoever he was, had also picked something a little different. A naginata makes for a medium range weapon that can deflect swords and the likes with ease, but a fight against someone with a throwing weapon could prove tricky. It is not as easy to move the naginata around to deflect oncoming throwing knives, making it a poor weapon for defending against his opponent's attacks. Moreover, he could not see his opponent, meaning he would already be at a disadvantage once the next attack came. Still, he would not give up. He would not want to disappoint his commander. Taking a deep breath and focusing on his surroundings, Arcadeotic kept looking around for his enemy...
...
Still under the effect of his invisibility magic, Tiagofvarela moved quietly towards his opponent. The few kunai knives he had thrown earlier had missed by a hair. Now all he had left was his katana. His enemy, Arcadeotic from team Kaguya seemed to be quite the tough opponent. Despite not seeing Tiago at all until the second he attacked, Arc had managed to dodge all of the kunai knives completely. The poison that the knives were coated in would have killed him instantly if they even just nicked the skin.
Complimenting Arc's impressive reflexes silently in his head, Tiago made his move. The spell he was being hidden by only lasted while he was not putting any real strain on his body. Essentially what that meant was, if he attacked someone or did anything that required him to use his muscles beyond just simple movements, the effect would disappear.
Charging right at Arc, Tiago brought his katana down towards Arc's exposed back. Just like when he threw the kunai knives, Arc managed to notice Tiago just in the nick of time and turned around to deflect the attack. Sadly, because of his weapon being rather poorly matched in close combat, Tiago managed to cut Arc over his left shoulder. Using the opening this created to his advantage, Tiago spun around, nimbly moving out of the naginata's reach and cut at Arc's body once again. The previous cut had hit a barrier, but this one did not. Cutting through the soft skin on Arc's back, the katana made large amounts of blood stain Tiago's clothes in an ominous shade of red.
"Gaaaah!" Falling to his knees whilst letting out a pained scream, Arcadeotic lost his grip on the naginata and was completely defenseless. The katana had cut rather deep, most likely doing some damage to the spinal cord. The fight was over.
"Sorry, it really is nothing personal." With those words, Tiago swung his katana at Arc's neck, cutting through his carotid artery.
After a few seconds, Arc's lifeless body collapsed on the ground.
Team Kaguya, Arcadeotic- DEAD END
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The sound of steel colliding with steel resounded throughout the open field. The sound was something one would not find anywhere else but on a battlefield such as this. This was a place of war. A place of death and pain. Among the six fighters who were lunging at each other with an intent to kill, only three would make it out alive.
...
Nebjula, Team Nosebleed vs Velociraptor team Kaguya
Striking at Velociraptor with his two maces, Nebjula put a great deal of strength into his legs and sharply moved forward. The violent attack took Velociraptor by surprise, and one of Nebjula's maces hit him in the stomach. His barrier barely managed to block most of the damage, but the impact still stent a tremor through his body. Because of his rather short range weapon made for assassinations, Velociraptor was having a hard time getting any attacks in at all. He had fought someone with a similar, brutal weapon before, but unlike the heavy battleaxe that he had faced then, these two maces were swift and relentless. Nebjula lifted one of the small but deadly maces above his head and brought it down towards Velociraptor. At the same time, he used the other mace to lunge at Velociraptor from the left side, making it hard for him to move around to dodge. The blow from above barely missed, but the second strike from the left collided with Velociraptor's cheek and knocked him down to the ground.
"D-Damnit!" Cursing to himself, Velociraptor did the best he could to stand up again, but the last attack had left him dizzy and disoriented. Not being able to figure out what way was up and what was down, he was unable to get back on his feet.
"No, no, NO! I can't lose like this! Damnit!" Not knowing what else to do, Velociraptor started yelling at himself.
Not long after, two maces swept through the air and struck him in the head. The ends of the maces did not have spikes like some others do, but in return they had a sharp edge on both sides of the top, making it a fearful weapon. The sharp metal edges bored into Velociraptor's skull, breaking through the bone with ease. After a gruesome sound of bone cracking, the area become completely silent. ..
Team Kaguya, Velociraptor- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Hitoribocchi team Kaguya vs Mitchhamilton team Nosebleed
"Raaaaaawr!" Swinging his greataxe down with all his might, Hitoribocchi attacked Mitchhamilton for what felt like the hundredth time. Each time he did, Mitchhamilton managed to block the attack and retaliate with a stab of his own. The spear was an unbelievably annoying adversary, as if Hito stepped a little too far back, he would be right in its kill zone. But if he stayed too close, it would be impossible for him to use his massive axe, meaning he would be as good as unarmed. The greataxe was a gigantic weapon, with a long blade smith with solid and thick metal. The spear that Mitch was using was rather thin and frail looking in comparison, so why was it that he was capable of blocking the powerful attacks with such ease?!
"You annoying little ... Take this!" Changing up his attack pattern once more, Hito turned his axe around in the air, trying to hit Mitch in the head with the flat side. It would be impossible to completely stop the attack with just a thin spear. The large piece of metal approached Mitch with great speed, and sure enough, he was unable to stop the impact with his spear alone. Being knocked off his feet, Mitch stumbled to the ground.
"This time I will carve you in half!" Lifting the axe above his head, Hito used both his hands to grip the handle, and whilst summoning all the strength in his body, he struck at Mitch. There was, of course, no way for him to block such a ruthless attack. But, Mitch did not need to block it. All he had to do was dodge. Rolling to the side just in time, the axe hit the ground, making a loud bang that made Mitch's ears ring. Since he had lost his spear whilst dodging the axe, Mitch had no weapon. The deafening roar of Hito's axe crashing down right next to his ear had made Mitch dizzy, but he fought through it and got to his feet. Kicking Hito in the chest with great force, he managed to separate Hito from his weapon too. They were now both unarmed.
"Yaaa!" Swiftly rushing towards Hito, Mitch moved his head down in order to dodge Hito's oncoming fist and rammed into his opponent with his shoulder. As he brought him to the ground, Mitch sat on top of his chest and locked his arms down with his own knees. Then, he started punching at Hito's face brutally. A few of the punches got stopped by the barrier protecting Hito, but after a some more hits, it gave in and Mitch's fists hit flesh and bone. Ruthlessly punching his opponent's face for a long time, Mitch started to notice that his hands were bleeding. When he finally snapped back to reality, the figure before him was no longer recognizable as a human being...
Team Kaguya, Hitoribocchi-DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Kiriririri Team Nosebleed vs Greenshadow622, Team Kaguya
Greenshadow622 was carefully eying his opponent, waiting for him to make a move. Kiriririri was standing a few meters away with his fists raised, but he did not make a single movement. It had been like this for over a minute already. Greenshadow was getting agitated, but he remained adamant; he would not make the first move. His sword was raised slightly, pointing towards Kiri, and his shield was covering his chest region defensively. He was holding his shield about 15 cm out from his body, which meant Kiri had to strike at Greenshadow's feet or his back in order to get a clean hit. It would be rather difficult. For an opponent using only his fists, this was an unwinnable confrontation. Sadly for Greenshadow, Kiri was no longer alone. Two of his teammates had just finished up their fights, and approached Greenshadow with their weapons raised. Nebjula and Mitchhamilton had apparently defeated Greenshadow's comrades, and were turning to him next.
"Hmph. It can't be helped. Get it over with, you pathetic weaklings. I might die here, but it sure as hell won't be without putting up a proper fight." Nebjula flinched slightly at Greenshadow's words, probably due to the determination and pride still left in his voice despite the situation. Nebjula slowly raised his weapons and got in a battle stance... Then, he charged. Following Nebjula's example, Kiri and Mitch also attacked Greenshadow simultaneously. One of Nebjula's maces was blocked by Greenshadow's shield. He then twisted his body sideways, avoiding the oncoming spear thrust from Mitch's direction. Retaliating by stabbing at Mitch with his sword, Greenshadow was handling the attacks from two sides with ease. Trouble was, there was a third attacked. One of Kiriririri's fists bored into Greenshadow's ribs, crushing his barrier and pushing him to the ground. Once he was on the ground he knew that it was a lost cause. Still, he would continue fighting until his limbs were incapable of moving. Fists, maces and a spear kept on hitting him as he lay there, but he would not give up. Using his shield to deflect some of the attacks and his sword to push back the attackers, Greenshadow kept up his resistance for several minutes. All three of his attackers sustained cuts during the battle. But, in the end, there was no way he could come out alive. Who dealt the final blow was impossible to tell, but after a little while, Greenshadow stopped moving. His entire body was stained with blood, covered completely in broken bones, deep cuts and large bruises.
Team Kaguya, Greenshadow622-DEAD END
The cloaked reaper was standing alone in the darkness, staring down at the battlefield below him. He was imprisoned in a strange room with no furniture, no doors and no windows. It was a place of eternal night, where no stars would ever shine. For the entire duration of the battle, he had been locked up. He did not know why and he did not know how. The only thing he knew was; someone were controlling him. A dark, scary voice spoke in his head every now and then. It would call out to him and make him feel utter despair and dread. There was nowhere to run, nothing he could do...
"Prevent the commanders from fighting each other until the end, that is your purpose. That is the only reason you still live." The voice once again spoke to him and sent a powerful chill down his spine.
He could do nothing but nod his head in agreement...
"V-Very well..."
....
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Deep Blue (CLONE), Mitchhamilton (General, -1 life),
Team Down:
Team Kaguya: VirginSmasher, Arcadeotic, Velociraptor, Hitoribocchi, Greenshadow622 (General, -1 life)
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued.
__________________________________________________________________________________
List of currently remaining members!!
#Team Nosebleed: Members, Mitchhamilton (- 1 life) , Kiriririri - (1 life) , Satsuki , Valmore , Deep Blue (-1 life) , Nebjula , kingdomcome
#Team Down: Members, Tiagofvarela (- 1 life) , Babiker , Maxel , Fred the Barber , Nohman , Totodile , FinalChaos , Kawasumi , Flutterz , Turnip Sensei
#Team Kaguya: Members, Dergonu , Nimbus, Gijimu, Greenshadow622 (- 1 life) , Eclipsed, Zebhra , Duyy , Jade
__________________________________________________________________________________
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Dergonu got a reaction from AaronIsCrunchy for a blog entry, OTL (One Thousand Lies) review
So I know @Deep Blue made one of these a little while ago, but I really wanted to get one out myself as well. (I am also including pictures. You are too lazy man! ) Now that the game is released, I feel it really deserves some coverage!
(Note that I read the beta version, and so some improvements will have been made to the final release. Also, I wrote this review in a littel bit of a subjective style, really because I want to get through my personal feelings that I experienced when I read the VN. It might make the review seem slightly biased, but I hope this doesn´t make the review seem less serious. I played the game with a completely objective state of mind, and this is just my honest opinion of the game. Anyways, on to the review:)
One thousand lies is a 5-10 hour OELVN made by Keinart Lobre, (@Keinart.) The VN is about a group of friends goofing around as they get closer to graduating from high-school, though there is a lot more to the novel than what initially meets the eye.
(Note, the novel has both a Spanish and English version. I read and proofread the English version.)
In One Thousand Lies we meet Ciaràn Endyein, a slightly delinquent-like teenager who, along with his best friend Ausse Ealdwine, pull of silly yet harmless shenanigans that always end up getting them in trouble. The two are also accompanied by the pretty and intelligent Ziva Shani, who constantly try to psychoanalyze Endyein.
At the beggining of the story, Endyein recieves a strange, mysterious email, telling him to go to a certain place without any more detailed instructions. The sender appears to have stolen a package Endyein was waiting for, so confused and angry, he decides to do what the email says. (With some persuasion from his friends.) This sends him down a fairly heavy psychological, yet heartwarming and slice of life-like journey.
Story and writing
The story in the game starts of really light and funny. It´s a slice of life story that has refreshing and entertaining humor; it doesn´t use overused clichès that you have seen 100 times before. As you get further into the story, you will start to notice that not everything is exactly how it seems. It´s hard to talk about this without spoiling the entire story, so we are going to keep it short. The story is well written, has pretty good pacing and does a good job of hiding the real kicker until the very end.
The writing in the novel is, like I´ve already mentioned, really good. It is every editor´s dream, going through a novel that has essentially no mistakes, and that doesn´t repeat itself over and over, but instead offers new, refreshing words and phrases for each sentence. The language was almost a little bit too complex at times, as I felt it was unnecessary to use such big words for a normal, every-day setting. Still, the novel does use a lot of psychology terms and the likes, so it´s not like a complex language is a bad thing for it.
There isn´t much else to say about the story, as the novel is quite short, and giving any more information could possibly spoil it. All in all, story and writing is very well done, and deserves a good 9/10 rating.
Characters and art
The characters in the novel are all diverse and interesting in their own way. You have Ausse, the slightly dumb but lovable rich kid who might or might not be the MC´s friend because of his financial situation.
Ziva, the beautiful and determined female friend who constantly gets on the MC´s nerves when she tries to diagnose him with different psychological disorders.
Claire, the cute and shy girl who only opens up when in the presence of Endyein.
Luce, the playful and energic joker who always has a funny remark that will put the MC in his place.
And finally Diniz The Sloth. (I think that title should be sufficent in describing him.)
Each character has nice and well drawn sprites with several facial expressions that feels natural.
The CG in the game is very pretty, though certain facial features gets a little less "natural" in the CGs compared to the character sprites, especially Luce´s. Regardless of this though, the CG is very nice and well made.
The backgrounds are kind of like a painted sketch, which is a unique but interesting style that I personally found quite enjoyable.
The only complaint I would have about the characters is that Diniz seems to have very little screen time compared to the others, and therefore he has little time to become a part of the main cast.
Characters, 9/10,
Art 7.5/10
Music and atmosphere
The music in the novel is pretty good overall and seeing as the game is not voiced, this is a good thing. There are several comfortable soundtracks that helps bring out the emotion reflected in the scene, especially during the more enigmatic and mysterious situations the novel has to offer.
The music did not take me by storm, but it still did its job very well in filling the "silence" when playing the unvoiced game.
Not much more to say about it. Music gets a 6.5/10 score from me.
The atmosphere in the game is quite hard to put into words. During the reading experience, it is obvious that there is something there that is more than just a few teenagers messing around. There is some kind of heavy undertone in the writing that clearly tries to tell you something more, but its written in such a way that what exactly that is, doesnt become apperant until the very end. I think that the way this was done is really quite impressive. Each character has a part to him or her that helps hint to this, and each scene does put out tiny clues, though in the end, figuring out what the cause of such an atmosphere is before the credits roll is not easy.
This part of the game gets a clear 10/10 rating from me. It was quite the ride.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, OTL is an entertaining and innovative OELVN that doesnt try to do all those things we have already seen in Japanese VNs, but instead it uses original humor, exceptional writing and an interesting and thrilling psychological aspect to make the entire reading experience a blast.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this, and simply voulenteered to proofread / test the game because of Deep Blue´s interest in it. Needless to say, I was not dissapointed.
Final rating: 9/10.
Here is a link to the thread for the game here on Fuwanovel:
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Dergonu got a reaction from Deep Blue for a blog entry, OTL (One Thousand Lies) review
So I know @Deep Blue made one of these a little while ago, but I really wanted to get one out myself as well. (I am also including pictures. You are too lazy man! ) Now that the game is released, I feel it really deserves some coverage!
(Note that I read the beta version, and so some improvements will have been made to the final release. Also, I wrote this review in a littel bit of a subjective style, really because I want to get through my personal feelings that I experienced when I read the VN. It might make the review seem slightly biased, but I hope this doesn´t make the review seem less serious. I played the game with a completely objective state of mind, and this is just my honest opinion of the game. Anyways, on to the review:)
One thousand lies is a 5-10 hour OELVN made by Keinart Lobre, (@Keinart.) The VN is about a group of friends goofing around as they get closer to graduating from high-school, though there is a lot more to the novel than what initially meets the eye.
(Note, the novel has both a Spanish and English version. I read and proofread the English version.)
In One Thousand Lies we meet Ciaràn Endyein, a slightly delinquent-like teenager who, along with his best friend Ausse Ealdwine, pull of silly yet harmless shenanigans that always end up getting them in trouble. The two are also accompanied by the pretty and intelligent Ziva Shani, who constantly try to psychoanalyze Endyein.
At the beggining of the story, Endyein recieves a strange, mysterious email, telling him to go to a certain place without any more detailed instructions. The sender appears to have stolen a package Endyein was waiting for, so confused and angry, he decides to do what the email says. (With some persuasion from his friends.) This sends him down a fairly heavy psychological, yet heartwarming and slice of life-like journey.
Story and writing
The story in the game starts of really light and funny. It´s a slice of life story that has refreshing and entertaining humor; it doesn´t use overused clichès that you have seen 100 times before. As you get further into the story, you will start to notice that not everything is exactly how it seems. It´s hard to talk about this without spoiling the entire story, so we are going to keep it short. The story is well written, has pretty good pacing and does a good job of hiding the real kicker until the very end.
The writing in the novel is, like I´ve already mentioned, really good. It is every editor´s dream, going through a novel that has essentially no mistakes, and that doesn´t repeat itself over and over, but instead offers new, refreshing words and phrases for each sentence. The language was almost a little bit too complex at times, as I felt it was unnecessary to use such big words for a normal, every-day setting. Still, the novel does use a lot of psychology terms and the likes, so it´s not like a complex language is a bad thing for it.
There isn´t much else to say about the story, as the novel is quite short, and giving any more information could possibly spoil it. All in all, story and writing is very well done, and deserves a good 9/10 rating.
Characters and art
The characters in the novel are all diverse and interesting in their own way. You have Ausse, the slightly dumb but lovable rich kid who might or might not be the MC´s friend because of his financial situation.
Ziva, the beautiful and determined female friend who constantly gets on the MC´s nerves when she tries to diagnose him with different psychological disorders.
Claire, the cute and shy girl who only opens up when in the presence of Endyein.
Luce, the playful and energic joker who always has a funny remark that will put the MC in his place.
And finally Diniz The Sloth. (I think that title should be sufficent in describing him.)
Each character has nice and well drawn sprites with several facial expressions that feels natural.
The CG in the game is very pretty, though certain facial features gets a little less "natural" in the CGs compared to the character sprites, especially Luce´s. Regardless of this though, the CG is very nice and well made.
The backgrounds are kind of like a painted sketch, which is a unique but interesting style that I personally found quite enjoyable.
The only complaint I would have about the characters is that Diniz seems to have very little screen time compared to the others, and therefore he has little time to become a part of the main cast.
Characters, 9/10,
Art 7.5/10
Music and atmosphere
The music in the novel is pretty good overall and seeing as the game is not voiced, this is a good thing. There are several comfortable soundtracks that helps bring out the emotion reflected in the scene, especially during the more enigmatic and mysterious situations the novel has to offer.
The music did not take me by storm, but it still did its job very well in filling the "silence" when playing the unvoiced game.
Not much more to say about it. Music gets a 6.5/10 score from me.
The atmosphere in the game is quite hard to put into words. During the reading experience, it is obvious that there is something there that is more than just a few teenagers messing around. There is some kind of heavy undertone in the writing that clearly tries to tell you something more, but its written in such a way that what exactly that is, doesnt become apperant until the very end. I think that the way this was done is really quite impressive. Each character has a part to him or her that helps hint to this, and each scene does put out tiny clues, though in the end, figuring out what the cause of such an atmosphere is before the credits roll is not easy.
This part of the game gets a clear 10/10 rating from me. It was quite the ride.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, OTL is an entertaining and innovative OELVN that doesnt try to do all those things we have already seen in Japanese VNs, but instead it uses original humor, exceptional writing and an interesting and thrilling psychological aspect to make the entire reading experience a blast.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this, and simply voulenteered to proofread / test the game because of Deep Blue´s interest in it. Needless to say, I was not dissapointed.
Final rating: 9/10.
Here is a link to the thread for the game here on Fuwanovel:
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Dergonu got a reaction from Keinart for a blog entry, OTL (One Thousand Lies) review
So I know @Deep Blue made one of these a little while ago, but I really wanted to get one out myself as well. (I am also including pictures. You are too lazy man! ) Now that the game is released, I feel it really deserves some coverage!
(Note that I read the beta version, and so some improvements will have been made to the final release. Also, I wrote this review in a littel bit of a subjective style, really because I want to get through my personal feelings that I experienced when I read the VN. It might make the review seem slightly biased, but I hope this doesn´t make the review seem less serious. I played the game with a completely objective state of mind, and this is just my honest opinion of the game. Anyways, on to the review:)
One thousand lies is a 5-10 hour OELVN made by Keinart Lobre, (@Keinart.) The VN is about a group of friends goofing around as they get closer to graduating from high-school, though there is a lot more to the novel than what initially meets the eye.
(Note, the novel has both a Spanish and English version. I read and proofread the English version.)
In One Thousand Lies we meet Ciaràn Endyein, a slightly delinquent-like teenager who, along with his best friend Ausse Ealdwine, pull of silly yet harmless shenanigans that always end up getting them in trouble. The two are also accompanied by the pretty and intelligent Ziva Shani, who constantly try to psychoanalyze Endyein.
At the beggining of the story, Endyein recieves a strange, mysterious email, telling him to go to a certain place without any more detailed instructions. The sender appears to have stolen a package Endyein was waiting for, so confused and angry, he decides to do what the email says. (With some persuasion from his friends.) This sends him down a fairly heavy psychological, yet heartwarming and slice of life-like journey.
Story and writing
The story in the game starts of really light and funny. It´s a slice of life story that has refreshing and entertaining humor; it doesn´t use overused clichès that you have seen 100 times before. As you get further into the story, you will start to notice that not everything is exactly how it seems. It´s hard to talk about this without spoiling the entire story, so we are going to keep it short. The story is well written, has pretty good pacing and does a good job of hiding the real kicker until the very end.
The writing in the novel is, like I´ve already mentioned, really good. It is every editor´s dream, going through a novel that has essentially no mistakes, and that doesn´t repeat itself over and over, but instead offers new, refreshing words and phrases for each sentence. The language was almost a little bit too complex at times, as I felt it was unnecessary to use such big words for a normal, every-day setting. Still, the novel does use a lot of psychology terms and the likes, so it´s not like a complex language is a bad thing for it.
There isn´t much else to say about the story, as the novel is quite short, and giving any more information could possibly spoil it. All in all, story and writing is very well done, and deserves a good 9/10 rating.
Characters and art
The characters in the novel are all diverse and interesting in their own way. You have Ausse, the slightly dumb but lovable rich kid who might or might not be the MC´s friend because of his financial situation.
Ziva, the beautiful and determined female friend who constantly gets on the MC´s nerves when she tries to diagnose him with different psychological disorders.
Claire, the cute and shy girl who only opens up when in the presence of Endyein.
Luce, the playful and energic joker who always has a funny remark that will put the MC in his place.
And finally Diniz The Sloth. (I think that title should be sufficent in describing him.)
Each character has nice and well drawn sprites with several facial expressions that feels natural.
The CG in the game is very pretty, though certain facial features gets a little less "natural" in the CGs compared to the character sprites, especially Luce´s. Regardless of this though, the CG is very nice and well made.
The backgrounds are kind of like a painted sketch, which is a unique but interesting style that I personally found quite enjoyable.
The only complaint I would have about the characters is that Diniz seems to have very little screen time compared to the others, and therefore he has little time to become a part of the main cast.
Characters, 9/10,
Art 7.5/10
Music and atmosphere
The music in the novel is pretty good overall and seeing as the game is not voiced, this is a good thing. There are several comfortable soundtracks that helps bring out the emotion reflected in the scene, especially during the more enigmatic and mysterious situations the novel has to offer.
The music did not take me by storm, but it still did its job very well in filling the "silence" when playing the unvoiced game.
Not much more to say about it. Music gets a 6.5/10 score from me.
The atmosphere in the game is quite hard to put into words. During the reading experience, it is obvious that there is something there that is more than just a few teenagers messing around. There is some kind of heavy undertone in the writing that clearly tries to tell you something more, but its written in such a way that what exactly that is, doesnt become apperant until the very end. I think that the way this was done is really quite impressive. Each character has a part to him or her that helps hint to this, and each scene does put out tiny clues, though in the end, figuring out what the cause of such an atmosphere is before the credits roll is not easy.
This part of the game gets a clear 10/10 rating from me. It was quite the ride.
Conclusion:
In conclusion, OTL is an entertaining and innovative OELVN that doesnt try to do all those things we have already seen in Japanese VNs, but instead it uses original humor, exceptional writing and an interesting and thrilling psychological aspect to make the entire reading experience a blast.
I had no idea what I was getting into when I started reading this, and simply voulenteered to proofread / test the game because of Deep Blue´s interest in it. Needless to say, I was not dissapointed.
Final rating: 9/10.
Here is a link to the thread for the game here on Fuwanovel:
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Dergonu got a reaction from Duyy for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from kingdomcome for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from Nebjula for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from VirginSmasher for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from Funyarinpa for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from Nimbus for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from gijimu for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from Zebhra for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
___________________________________________________________________________
"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
___________________________________________________________________________
Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
___________________________________________________________________________
* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
___________________________________________________________________________
Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
-
Dergonu got a reaction from Arcadeotic for a blog entry, The Last GM Standing - Chapter 1!
The last GM standing Q&A:
Link to the thread:
Would you rather read the chapter in a PDF document? Click here!
Chapter 1:
20/03-2016, Location: Fuwanovel headquarters
Nayleen and Tay were relaxing in their seats, exhausted after a long day of work.
The past few weeks had taken a toll on them, but they were staying strong, keeping Fuwanovel safe from DDOS attacks and global mods breaking stuff.
As they fall asleep, gathering their strength for another day of defending the forum, a shadow glides into the room. The shadow moves quickly, slithering across the floor, sneaking up behind Nayleen's chair.
The shadow splits in two as it reaches its target. One part wraps itself around Nayleen, the other moves over to Tay and wraps itself around him.
...
The next day.
Nayleen looks over at Tay with a mischievous smile on his face.
"The global mods have gotten too soft lately. I think it's time we taught them a lesson."
Tay turns his head, meeting Nayleen's gaze.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
Nayleen looks down at the chess board in front of him. This was no ordinary chess board. Each piece on the board represents certain members of the Fuwanovel forum. In addition, there was three sets of pieces, meaning there was a total of three kings.
Picking up two of the kings with the tip of his fingers, Nayleen breaks them in half.
"Three global mods, only one can remain in their position."
Tay nods, letting out a subtle, evil laugh.
"Who will come out alive?"
Nayleen joins in.
"Who will come out as the winner?"
He turned his gaze towards the broken chess pieces that had fallen to the floor.
"Now then... How will this end?"
Their laughter continued into the night, as the two made preparations for the fight that was to come.
..........
Chapter 1
The three armies
It was a cold day. A dark sky filled with clouds that never seemed to disappear was hanging over the battlefield. It was quiet; so quiet that one could hear the heartbeats of the people around you. The battlefield was a huge piece of land that went on for miles and miles. With terrain ranging from harsh deserts to big forests and steep waterfalls, it was truly an overwhelming place. Standing in a line in front of their commander, Kaguya's forces were prepared for battle. It had been four hours since the battle had started, and yet no one had reached Kaguya's base yet.
He thought it was a good idea to remain in his base and wait for someone to attack, instead of wasting his fighter's energy by charging through the huge landmass. It was possible that the other moderators were thinking the same, and if that was the case, the day would end without a drop of blood being spilled. Thinking back on the previous day, Kaguya rubbed his temples in anger and exhaustion.
The three global moderators had suddenly been summoned by the admins. They had no idea what was going on, and they did not have the time to ask. The second they were teleported to the administrator's location, they realized something was amiss. In front of them were huge racks filled with weapons, armor and the likes. Ranging from big swords, crossbows, shields and kunai knives, it was quite a scary sight. Next to the equipment there was a grand, black stone tablet with red letters written across it. It read:
"The time has come.
Three global moderators, only one can remain.
Recruit those you can from the forum within the next hour, prepare for battle with the equipment before you and then ...
Go to war.
Good luck."
Neither one of the moderators knew what to do. They stood still, immobilized by confusion and fear. They were sure this had to be some kind of a twisted joke.
"Alright, this is stupid. What the hell is going on?" Breaking the silence, Kaguya shouted that as he surveyed his surroundings.
A dark voice suddenly echoed through the area. It was impossible to tell where the voice came from; it was a thundering roar that made all the moderators flinch.
"Select your fighters, or face the consequences! This is not a joke. This is a matter of life and death!"
The sudden overpowering voice made the mods even more uneasy, but they still didn't act. This was a mistake.
Suddenly, a strange black sphere appeared before them. It was about the size of a football, and for a few seconds it merely floated in mid air. It gave of a strange crackling noise, similar to an electric current. Slowly but surely, the sphere started increasing in size, until it was big enough to fit a small car. Then, a big rift of pure white light split the sphere in two, and the figures of two people suddenly appeared in its stead. It took a few seconds for the moderators to recognize the people in front of them, but they soon realized, they were Fuwanovel members; 12kami and XionsProphecy. They both look terrified, as if they had just seen the devil himself.
XionsProphecy took a step forward and approached Kaguya.
"W-What is going on?! Where am I?!"
Before Kaguya had the time to respond, the overpowering voice once again erupted throughout the area.
"You will do as we say, or the consequences will be grave!"
And with that, a red magic circle appeared under the feet of XionsProphecy and a pillar of fire burst out beneath him. The sound of his screams and the smell of burning flesh made all the people present stare at the spectacle in shock. Terrified he would be next, 12Kami tried to run away, but chains sprouted from the ground and wrapped around him violently.
"Now, what will you do?"
"S-Stop it!" Nosebleed shouted.
"... Very well. If you are ready to begin, let me explain the rules. Each one of the moderators can recruit members from the forum to join their ranks. The moderators can use their own powers any way they want. Make your own fighters stronger by lending them your strength, directly attack your opponents army, make shields protecting your warriors. The game will be over once only one global moderator remains. Oh, and one last thing. You can name one of your fighters a general. This person will have ... A second chance at life, should something tragic occur." As the voice finished explaining the rules, an evil laughter followed. Soon after, all that was left was dead silence.
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"That was four hours ago, huh..." Kaguya whispered to himself as he looked at the quiet battlefield.
In the end, no one knows what happened to 12Kami. Was he killed too? Was he released?
When the moderators chose their armies, only a handful of the forum's members were selected. It seemed that only the ones who volunteered for the battle could be picked.
Looking over the warriors in front of him, Kaguya made a decision; he had waited long enough.
"You two, move out!"
The two soldiers saluted, and then they sprinted into the darkness of the forest ahead.
........
Eight warriors were scattered across the battlefield on the first day. Among them were team Down's soldiers Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Fred the Barber, their general Tiagofvarela and Moekyun. From team Kaguya, Dergonu and Velociraptor were deployed, and from team Nosebleed, only < ?? >was sent out to fight.
........
In a forest, 2 km from Kaguya's base
Dergonu and Velociraptor were headed for Down's territory, when a sudden fireball shot out from the depths of the forest. Barely dodging it by a hair, the two were separated from each other. Losing track of Velociraptor, Dergonu turned to face the person who fired the fireball. He was protected by Kaguya's armor, but the amount of energy put into each warrior's shield was small, meaning he couldn't take more than one or two of those attacks. Who had fired it? Was it someone from Nosebleed's team or Down?
"Who's there?!" Calling out for the person hiding in the darkness, Dergonu readied his mace. The weapon of his choice had been a huge metal mace, almost as big as himself, with menacing spikes. It was a weapon he couldn't dream of lifting without the strength given to him by his commander, Kaguya.
A shadow suddenly burst out from the forest. Before Dergonu could react, two throwing knives collided with his armor. Both of them hit right around the heart, but they were stopped by the thick, red armor. Not wasting any time, the attacker nimbly closed in the distance. It took a second for Dergonu to recognize the attacker due to their speed, but he soon saw that is was MoeKyun from Down's army. The shimmering green garb he wore had several chains filled with throwing knives. Reaching for two more, MoeKyun made sure to stay so close to Dergonu that swinging his mace was impossible. Taking the opportunity when Dergonu was unable to do anything, MoeKyun stabbed at Dergonu's armor repeatedly. It didn't take long for the attacks to completely remove the protective shield made by Kaguya, and the knives started poking small holes in Dergonu's armor.
"Tch." Clicking his tongue, Dergonu tried to think of a way to get out of the situation. But before he could think of anything, one of MoeKyun's knives hit Dergonu's collarbone, sending a sharp pain through his body. Taking a step back and readying his knife, MoeKyun was preparing to deliver the final blow, when he suddenly froze up. Turning his head to depths of the forest from which he came, his mouth dropped open in surprise.
"N-No way ... G-General..."
Not wasting any time, Dergonu used the chance to take a step backwards and swung his mace straight at MoeKyun's chest. A green barrier deflected the hit and made sure the mace didn't break the skin, but MoeKyun was knocked down from the impact. Landing on the ground with the air knocked out of his lungs, he never stood a chance. The giant mace came down, hitting his head. Once again, Down's protective barrier blocked the attack, but every part of Moekyun's body felt like it was lit on fire from the pain.
"This time..." As he said that, Dergonu lifted the mace over his head one last time and brought it down on MoeKyun. What followed was a gruesome crack like sound, like breaking a branch of a tree.
Team Down MoeKyun- DEAD END
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A few minutes earlier, 100 meters from Nosebleed's base.
Down's general, Tiagofvarela, was making his way towards Nosebleed's base. Compared to Down and Kaguya, Nosebleed had a significantly smaller army, and so Down thought it was best to target him first. Because of this, Down had sent his strongest fighter in an ambush. If Nosebleed wanted to participate in the fight, he had to send several of his forces out into the battle, meaning his base would be exposed. It would be a fast, quick attack. Take out whoever is there and get the hell out. For his weapon, Tiago had chosen a long katana, which rested in a sheath strapped to his left side. He was wearing a green garb, woven by powerful silk threads imbued by Down's own energy. His garb was slightly different from the others in Down's army. This one was specially created for the general. The biggest difference was the big crest on the chest and back, with the word leader written in kanji.
As he spotted Nosebleed's base, Tiago took a deep breath and drew his katana. The blade was about a meter long, with beautiful markings.
"Let's do this."
Preparing for his attack, Tiago steeled his nerves and readied his blade. Then, he charged.
"Perish."
A soft whisper suddenly reached Tiago's ear, and a strong sense of despair washed over him. The voice sent a chill down his spine. It was as if the voice literally grabbed a hold of him, preventing him from moving. Before he could do anything, a man in a pink and black cloak stood before him. It was impossible to identify who it was, as the large cloak covered his head and body completely. The man simply snapped his fingers, and a huge explosion knocked Tiago several meters back. He felt his barrier slowly draining. Whoever attacked him was truly powerful.
"How did he notice me?!" He asked himself, trying to calm his hammering heartbeat.
"Game over." Suddenly, a different voice could be heard behind Tiago, and something cold cut through his chest. Looking down at his own body, he saw a long spear sticking out of his stomach.
"W-Who..?"
He never got the answer to that question. Tiago's body fell to the ground, lifeless.
Team Down, Tiagofvarela- DEAD END
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The volcanic region, 3 km from Down's base
Fred the Barber from team Down was positioned behind a large rock. The area around him was filled with smoke, ash and fire, and the only thing stopping him from being burned alive was his commander's protective garb. This was a volcano located a few km away from Down's base. Fred had been in a battle with one of Nosebleed's men for several minutes, when he suddenly felt it. His general, Tiagofvarela, had fallen. Hit by the sudden shock of losing one of his leaders, he fled from the battle in order to gather his thoughts. It was a strange feeling. Tiago had been his friend, and in this crazy battle, he had been his general. A powerful sadness welled up in him as he shook his head, holding back his tears. Why? Why was this happening? Just a day ago they were messing around on the forum, having fun like any other day. And now? Now they were here, caught in some insane death game.
"I ... I want this to be over." He whispered as he placed his hand on his forehead and closed his eyes.
"Then die."
A sudden hostile voice made Fred jump backwards, and just as he opened his eyes, he saw a fist slam into the rock he was leaning against, crushing it into small rubble. It was him; the fighter from nosebleed's army that he had been in a scuffle with a few minutes ago. Because of his cloak which covered every part of his body, it was impossible to identify who the attacker was. The cloak was black, with pink markings all over. The attacker was unarmed, but his hands glowed in a bright purple light. Clearly, he was using his energy to make his punches stronger. Whoever this person was, he was powerful. Had they underestimated team Nosebleed? Fred's general had fallen in nosebleed's territory, and this person was clearly using energy to make his fists into lethal killing machines. How could Fred fight such a fearful foe in his current state?
"No... I can do this. I have to avenge Tiago!" Encouraging himself, Fred got to his feet and readied his weapon. It was dagger with a fairly long, curved blade. The tip was emitting a faint green glow and the blade itself was black as the night. Of all the weapons on the weapon racks, this was the only thing Fred felt comfortable wielding. Carefully taking a stance preparing for the fight, Fred calmed his breathing and grasped his dagger tightly.
The attacker moved first. His movements were really fast and precise. Fred managed to dodge the first punch, but the second one followed right after. The assailant's fist hit Fred in the left flank, causing him to fall backwards. But as his body fell to the ground he moved his arm holding the dagger downwards and cut a deep gash in the attacker's cloak. It didn't look like the blade pierced his flesh, but Fred felt the resistance of his opponents barrier. He had done some damage to it at the very least. The problem was that he had taken a strong hit himself, and wasn't able to move very well. His opponent quickly regained his posture and moved in for the kill. Just then, an arrow flew past Fred's cheek and hit the attacker in the stomach. The impact of the arrow sent him flying.
"You okay Fred?"
Turning his head to see who had come to help him, he was met by Funyarinpa's gentle smile. In his hands was a beautiful green longbow.
"Come on. Let's retreat for now. Whoever that guy is, he isn't normal."
As he said that, Funya reached out for Fred's hand and helped him up.
Tilting his head slightly, Fred wondered what Funya meant.
"Isn't normal? I think we can take him if it's the two of us."
Funya simply shook his head in response.
"I got word from Down to come and get you. There is something wrong with Nosebleed's army. We have to go back to the base and ..." Before he could finish his sentence, a purple light flew past Fred's field of vision and collided with Funya. His bow was crushed into pieces and Funya was knocked down, his barrier broken.
"FUNYA!" Screaming for his fallen comrade, Fred turned to face the attacker. It was the same cloaked man from before. The arrow was still sticking out of his chest but he moved around like it was nothing.
"..." The man said nothing, but approached Fred with his fists raised. The purple light which surrounded his hands flickered about intimidatingly.
The man jumped at Fred, knocking him to the ground. After that, he made sure to grab Fred's blade and throw it away.
"..." The man still didn't say anything, but Fred could see a hint of an evil smile under the darkness of the attacker's hood.
Raising his fists above his head, he prepared to bash Fred's head in. But he had made one miscalculation. The arrow that was sticking out of his chest was within Fred's reach. Fred had merely pretended to be defenseless when he lost his dagger to get an opening. Grabbing the arrow with all his might, Fred pulled it out of the man's chest and thrust it upwards into his throat. The arrowhead pierced his Adam's apple and blood started spewing out from the open wound.
Making a disgusting gurgling sound, the man slowly lost all strength in his body. The endless stream of blood poured out, staining Fred's clothing in red.
After defeating his opponent, Fred checked on Funya. He was too late. The attacker had crushed his entire rib cage, and one of the bone splinters had hit his heart.
"Who ... WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!" Screaming in anger, Fred ripped off the attacker's hood. All he could do once he removed the hood was gasp, and fall to his knees.
"W-What the fuck..?"
Lying on the scorched ground in front of him was ...
Team Down, Funyarinpa- DEAD END.
Team Nosebleed, < ?? > - DEAD END.
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Meanwhile, at Nosebleed's base
"Hmm, it seems our puppet has been destroyed."
"Aww, I thought it would at least take out a few more enemies before it broke."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter, it did its job just fine. Now we know ... They work."
Three men were sitting around a fire with their weapons next to them. They wore black cloaks with pink symbols; the armor given to them by their commander, Nosebleed.
The three men were chosen as guards, and were protecting the base of Nosebleed. Nosebleed's army consisted of about half the number of warriors that Down and Kaguya had, but Nosebleed had a trick up his sleeve.
Using the life force of the fallen general from Down's army, Tiago, he had created clones of his own warriors. These warriors were as strong as Tiago himself, and took the place of his own fighters on the battlefield. They didn't have the extra life that came with the role of general, but other than that, they were powerful and loyal. Each clone was linked to one of Nosebleed's soldiers.
The one that had been killed in battle had been the clone of Kiriririri, but Nosebleed had made the clone itself wear the face of Tiago. That would assure him an edge in any fight versus a team Down member. Sadly, that trick only worked once, as the body of Tiago himself had been used to create the clone. All the other clones were identical to the person they copied. Basically, it was as if nosebleed literally had two of each of his fighters, except for Kiriririri who had just lost his clone.
With this, the difference in numbers between the three armies meant nothing.
A sly smile spread across Nosebleed's face as he looked at his own general, Mitchhamilton. He held a long, golden spear stained with blood.
"Now... Who is next?"
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* Quick note, the clones in Nosebleed's army works just like a normal fighter.
This was done so that each commander has the same amount of fighters, making the first week of the RNG rolls completely even. Each clone will die just like a normal team member, though the person won't get a DEAD END unless he has lost his clone already. (Like Kiriririri has now.)
Mitchhamilton, Nosebleed's general, does NOT get a clone, as he is a general and already has 2 lives.
___________________________________________________________________________
A forest, about 2 km from Kaguya's base
Having lost sight of his comrade, Dergonu, Velociraptor was making his way through the forest. Who had attacked them? Was it an attacker from Nosebleed or Down's army? Well, it didn't matter. All he could do now was search for his opponent and hope that Dergonu hadn't fallen in the time they were separated.
"Hm?" As he was running through the dense forest, Velociraptor spotted a strange light about 30 meters away. Was it an enemy? The light seemed to be flickering ever so slightly, though because of the tree cover it was hard to see what it was. Preparing for a potential fight, Velo readied his weapon and ran towards the source. He was surprised to find a member of Down's army sleeping near a fire. Was he for real..? Not only had he approached Kaguya's territory, he had lit a fire and then he went to sleep?! Who the hell was this guy?!
Taking a step closer, he saw that the fighter was Nashetania.
"Hmph... A free kill I guess." Whispering to himself, he readied his weapon. It was an extension of his hand; a glove with long, sharp claws. Each claw was at least 10 cm long. The glove itself was made out of tough leather, and the claws were metal. Lifting the glove above his head, he brought it down on Nash, who was sleeping peacefully. Or so Velo thought. As the glove was about to make contact with Nash, he quickly spun around and brought his fist upward. It hit Velo right in the face, making him stagger backwards.
"Well would you look at that. Like a moth to a flame." Nash moved his hand behind his back and brought out a large battleaxe from inside his garb.
"RAAAWR!" Jumping forward, Nash struck at Velo with full force. Barely dodging the attack, Velo sidestepped and cut at Nashetania's exposed back. The claws hit, but something tough was stopping them from doing any damage.
"Damnit, a barrier?"
Putting some distance between them, Velo ran a few steps backwards, positioning himself behind the fire Nash had lit.
"You can't cut me! Down gave me the strongest barrier among all his men! No matter how many times you hit me, a blade won't ever cut through it!"
After taunting Velo, Nash launched another attack, swinging his battleaxe around like a madman. Velo was faster and had a lighter weapon, but just like Nash had said, his attacks were useless against the barrier.
Had this been Down's tactic? Draw someone in close to his soldier, then have him crush the attacker when he least expects it? Seeing has he had put so much energy into the barrier protecting Nash, it must have been the plan all along.
"Damnit..."
If only Dergonu was with him they would have the upper hand, but because of the attack earlier, they were separated in the forest.
"What's the matter? Tired?" Smiling from ear to ear, Nash relentlessly attacked Velo with his battleaxe. A few of the attacks hit, sending strong waves of numb pain through Velo's body.
"Think! THINK!!! How can I beat him?!" Trying to figure out a way to win, Velo looked around.
"An opening!" As Nash yelled that, he spun around quickly and his battleaxe hit Velo in the chest, sending him flying over to the fire. He landed hard, most likely breaking a few bones in the process.
Had Nash been the one who attacked them earlier? Was his plan to split them up, then draw them in one by one with the use of the campfire? ...
Wait a minute... Fire! Nash had said that no blades could cut through his barrier. Could that mean it had little defense against magic? Was that the reason he was trying to lure his attacker into close combat?
"DIE!" Running towards Velo who had fallen to the ground, Nash prepared to crush his defenseless prey with a final attack.
"Now or never!" Velo brought his hands together and focused all his remaining strength on tapping the flames from the campfire besides him. Just the act of moving his arms hurt like hell, but he had no choice but to fight through the pain. As Nash was about to strike, Velo released all the flames in a vortex that wrapped itself around Nash. The flames ate through his barrier like it was nothing, and soon started burning away his flesh. Screaming and swinging his battleaxe around like a lunatic, Nash moved around desperately. In order to not get caught in the frenzy, Velo crawled away, sinking his glove's claws into the soft ground and pulling his body forward.
"I ... Lost..." With those final words, the burning figure collapsed.
Team Down, Nashetania- DEAD END
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Deaths this week:
Team Nosebleed: Kiriririri (clone)
Team Down: Nashetania, Funyarinpa, Tiagofvarela, Moekyun,
Team Kaguya: None
___________________________________________________________________________
To be continued ...
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Dergonu reacted to Eclipsed for a blog entry, Pink Saga
The Saga of PINK
The following is meant to serve as background information for Eclipsed's Danganronpa Steam Giveaway. Try your luck at it, if you dare
Question for Giveaway: "Who is the mastermind, The Ultimate Pink?"
Old Stuff:
~~
Chapter 1 - The Death of Louise?
~~
Chapter 2 - The PINK SAGA Begins! ~~ Chapter 3 - The Best Pink I
~~
Chapter 4 - The Best Pink II
~~
Chapter 5 - The Best Pink III
~~
Chapter 6 - The Ultimate Pink
Chapter 7 - The Fuwans
Louise couldn't let it end there. With the last of her strength, she soaked her finger with her own blood and began etching her last words onto the ground.
"Hoh... is this your final act of defiance, my precious Louise?" I kneeled over beside her and read the phrase out loud. "LITTLE... GOB...? That's your dying message?" Poor Louise. I was expecting something far more ominous, far more significant. Not that I knew what a 'Gob' was, anyway. Probably some alien cousin to Nana's pet Meda-Q.
I looked at Louise one last time. She wasn't breathing anymore... I ran my fingers through her hair affectionately. "Good bye, Louise."
"Now then..." I stood up. "It appears the Morphogenetic Field has been accessed... by them..." I put on my gas mask and took off into the shadows as I prepared to make my final stand as the Ultimate Pink.
"The Fuwans."
...
...
...
~~
@Clephas0 <AbsoluteZeroStomach> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@Dergonu <Lucy Giveaway Winner> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@Ekuripsu <Clipsy-chan> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@Flutters <TheTrueKudster> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@Half-Life <Decay> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@OriginalRen <Most Original Guy> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@SoliduBattuManu <Solidbatman's clone> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@Tiagfvarela <Tiag > Tiago> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
@ZenonThePhiloftheFutureDelicious <Disney Fanboy Ex-Sachi Fate-Geeker> has accessed the Morphogenetic Field
The Nine Chosen Heroes have finally arrived!!!
Can you solve the mystery behind the Ultimate Pink before they do?
~~
Because I'll be busy for the rest of the week I'm cutting this short
The mastermind, Ultimate Pink, is me Eclipsed
Louise's dying message, LITTLE BOG unscrambles into BLOG TITLE
>>THE ECLIPSED
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Dergonu got a reaction from TheUnknownMercenary for a blog entry, Beat Blades Haruka Review
Beat Blades Haruka review,
By Dergonu, Fuwanovel
Beat Blades Haruka is a gameplay oriented nukige released by Alice Soft, which was recently translated and licensed by Mangagamer. The game offers 150 H-scenes, ranging from normal vanilla scenes to darker things like rape and beastiality. The game's appeal is clearly rooted in it's H-content, but does that mean that's everything the game has to offer?
In Beat Blades Haruka you play as Ikusabe Takamaru, a boy who desperately wants a girlfriend. His friend, Narika, keeps getting in the way of his possible romances, something that irritates him quite a bit. But soon, his fairly normal life of being rejected by women and half-assing himself through school quickly comes to a halt when the beautiful ninja Haruka, who has traveled to our time from the past, suddenly appears in Takamaru's life.
Chasing the evil Noroi who has lept through time with his follwers in order to turn the world into chaos, Haruka and her fellow Cresent moon members turn to Takamaru for help. It turns out, Takamaru is a descendant of the Dragonian, meaning he has the power to transfer strength to the blades of the crescent moon. (The blades being female ninjas.) This power, SP, is transfered from the Dragonian to the blades by ... Having sex.
Takamaru's mission is to use the blades at his disposal to fight the four Tetra Sealers, Noroi's most powerful subordinates, take down the towers which connect to Noroi's realm, and to stop him once and for all.
During the game, the player gets a whole lot of choices that will allow them to take full control of their destiny. Will you be the good guy, fighting to stop Noroi? Or will you give in to your dark desires, using the blades as tools for your own pleasure and gain?
Offering a large variety of different endings, Beat Blades Haruka is a very unique gameplay nukige that allows its player to choose a lot more than just a singular ending, but they have the ability to impact the very way the entire game is played.
The gameplay:
During the story, a big part of your time will be spent preparing your heroines for battle. During the gameplay parts of the VN, you will be matched up against an enemy. You can spend SP, (sex power), that you accumulate through dragon syngery, (sex), to unleash powerful attacks against your opponent, and you train your heroines stats through either dragon synergy, training, castle raids or defeating enemies. The lower your stats are compared to your opponent, the harder it is to win. The stats highlited in blue, like the defense in this picture, means the stat is underleveled compared to your opponent, and the chances of winning are smaller. By losing a fight against a male Kainin, one of Noroi's lieutenants, the heroine will be raped and an option to skip the following rape H-scene will appear. (Unless you disable that feature in the option menu.)
The gameplay is entertaining, though it is a little difficult at first. Getting used to what all the different stats does is a little bit hard and overwhelming, and the stats are also a little poorly balanced. For instance, by stacking a large amount of reflex, you will be able to sweep through the game, as your character will essentially never miss, and she will also dodge a lot of the opponent's attacks. But if it's the other way around, and your reflex stat is low but your other stats are high, you still wont do much damage, as most of your attacks will be dodged. Basically, there is too much focus on reflex, something that makes combat a little bit imbalanced at certain points in the game. Your opponents gets really strong in the late game, meaning their reflex stats are high, and so if you didn't train your heroine correctly, a bad end is waiting for you. (If you are defeated by a sealer, you get a bad end and a game over.)
Still, these flaws aside, the gameplay is enjoyable. It's fun training up your heroine, either choosing to clear out the streets to protect the people like the good guy, or simply being an asshole and having your heroine raped over and over. (This increases her stats a great deal, however it gives you + brutality, and if the heroine is raped too much, it can lead to a brutal bad ending.) The variety offered to you makes playing the game a second, third or fourth time fun.
The phase system, Libido and your dice
While we are still on the gameplay part of the VN, there is a few things to note. The game itself is split into four parts, 3 phases and then actual story. The 3 phases are morning, afternoon and night phase. Between these phases the game's story progresses, and you see normal VN style dialogue as well as choices that you can use to impact the story, as well as your heroine's stats.
During the morning and afternoon phase, you either train up your heroine by having sex, raise your libido or rest, in order to get more dice recovered. The night phase is spent actually fighting your opponents, and going on castle raids.
(What exactly are these dice and how do they work?)
The dice system in Beat Blades Haruka is what let's you make your "moves" in the phases. You get X amount of dice each day, based of your dice recovery. You can have a maximum of 8 dice at a time. The dice can be a number between 1 and 6, and the dice itself is used to "pay for" actions. As an example, if you want to sleep with haruka to increase some of her stats and her SP, you have to "pay" some dice. The lower levels of dragon synergy are cheaper, but give less stats, the higher levels are more expensive but give you more stats. The system is very forgiving. If you roll a 7 on something that needs 8 to complete, 7 will be subtracted from the action, so that in the next phase, it will only cost 1 dice. The dice itself is based off RNG, though do note that it is essentially impossible to soft reset for. Still, with the way the system is made, soft reseting for dice is not even needed, so there is nothing to worry about there. If you do it right, completing the game in the 99 days given to you is a walk in the park.
Lastly, libido is a strange stat. It is what makes your dice recovery higher. Every 10 points of libido, your dice recovery goes up by 1. What does this mean? It means that after the night phase, you will get back X dice. So if you have a dice recovery of 5, the next day following a night phase, you are given 5 dice. Raising your libido is simple, and is done by either having sex with a female Kainin, choosing an option at a choice screen with (libido) next to it, or just clicking "raise libido".
The game's value beyond H-content?
We have already talked about the gameplay side of the game. It's entertaining, though very repetative and it's also focused strongly around H-scenes. (In order to prepare your heroine for a battle you have to have sex, and if you lose a battle, you get into a rape scene. H is a big part of this nukige, obviously.)
But what about the story itself? Music, art, characters and such. What is the value of the game outside just the H-scenes?
The character designs and art in the game is overall very nice. A lot of work seems to have been put into each character's design, though the personalities of the the main characters are fairly bland and simple. Most work seems to have been put into the kainins and tetra sealers. They are all very badass, pretty, hot, what have you. Each one of them has many small details that stand out, and are just overall very well made. The main characters are by no means poorly designed, but in comparison they do fall a little short.
The art itself is very nice, with animated cut-scenes, well drawn backgrounds and detailed character sprites.
The music in the VN is pretty good, offering a variety of tracks for different situations that fits well with the atmosphere of the scene.
The story itself is what it is. The game does take itself seriously; it's not like it just jokes around and put all focus on H. The story is decent. There is moments where it will take you by suprise, certain moments that are more emotional than others, though the actual story is fairly short. The main focus of the dialogue aspects of the game lies in the different scenes you can get with the heroines and side characters by making choices. If you focus on one girl a lot, increasing her love hearts in the game, you will go on dates with her and get close with her. If you are an asshole and just have your blades raped and defeated, you will get unique scenes that deal with this.
The actual main story that remains the same through all playthroughs is therefore minimal, as the game wants to keep the focus on your choices as the player. This is both a flaw and a strength in the VN. It's a flaw because it means that ultimately, the story itself is slightly underwhelming and short, but it's also a strength because it does mean the player feel like he or she is more in control of the outcome.
All in all Beat Blades Haruka is a solid VN, offering unique and entertaining gameplay, a big variety of choices that lets the player impact the game's ending, though it does lack some impact in its delivery of the story.
+ Entertaining gameplay
+ Good art, music and character designs
+ A huge variety of choices that let's the player choose how the game is played
- Slightly underwhelming main story
- The main characters are a little bland and some more time should have been put into them
- The stat system is a little imbalanced
-
Dergonu got a reaction from LoganW for a blog entry, Beat Blades Haruka Review
Beat Blades Haruka review,
By Dergonu, Fuwanovel
Beat Blades Haruka is a gameplay oriented nukige released by Alice Soft, which was recently translated and licensed by Mangagamer. The game offers 150 H-scenes, ranging from normal vanilla scenes to darker things like rape and beastiality. The game's appeal is clearly rooted in it's H-content, but does that mean that's everything the game has to offer?
In Beat Blades Haruka you play as Ikusabe Takamaru, a boy who desperately wants a girlfriend. His friend, Narika, keeps getting in the way of his possible romances, something that irritates him quite a bit. But soon, his fairly normal life of being rejected by women and half-assing himself through school quickly comes to a halt when the beautiful ninja Haruka, who has traveled to our time from the past, suddenly appears in Takamaru's life.
Chasing the evil Noroi who has lept through time with his follwers in order to turn the world into chaos, Haruka and her fellow Cresent moon members turn to Takamaru for help. It turns out, Takamaru is a descendant of the Dragonian, meaning he has the power to transfer strength to the blades of the crescent moon. (The blades being female ninjas.) This power, SP, is transfered from the Dragonian to the blades by ... Having sex.
Takamaru's mission is to use the blades at his disposal to fight the four Tetra Sealers, Noroi's most powerful subordinates, take down the towers which connect to Noroi's realm, and to stop him once and for all.
During the game, the player gets a whole lot of choices that will allow them to take full control of their destiny. Will you be the good guy, fighting to stop Noroi? Or will you give in to your dark desires, using the blades as tools for your own pleasure and gain?
Offering a large variety of different endings, Beat Blades Haruka is a very unique gameplay nukige that allows its player to choose a lot more than just a singular ending, but they have the ability to impact the very way the entire game is played.
The gameplay:
During the story, a big part of your time will be spent preparing your heroines for battle. During the gameplay parts of the VN, you will be matched up against an enemy. You can spend SP, (sex power), that you accumulate through dragon syngery, (sex), to unleash powerful attacks against your opponent, and you train your heroines stats through either dragon synergy, training, castle raids or defeating enemies. The lower your stats are compared to your opponent, the harder it is to win. The stats highlited in blue, like the defense in this picture, means the stat is underleveled compared to your opponent, and the chances of winning are smaller. By losing a fight against a male Kainin, one of Noroi's lieutenants, the heroine will be raped and an option to skip the following rape H-scene will appear. (Unless you disable that feature in the option menu.)
The gameplay is entertaining, though it is a little difficult at first. Getting used to what all the different stats does is a little bit hard and overwhelming, and the stats are also a little poorly balanced. For instance, by stacking a large amount of reflex, you will be able to sweep through the game, as your character will essentially never miss, and she will also dodge a lot of the opponent's attacks. But if it's the other way around, and your reflex stat is low but your other stats are high, you still wont do much damage, as most of your attacks will be dodged. Basically, there is too much focus on reflex, something that makes combat a little bit imbalanced at certain points in the game. Your opponents gets really strong in the late game, meaning their reflex stats are high, and so if you didn't train your heroine correctly, a bad end is waiting for you. (If you are defeated by a sealer, you get a bad end and a game over.)
Still, these flaws aside, the gameplay is enjoyable. It's fun training up your heroine, either choosing to clear out the streets to protect the people like the good guy, or simply being an asshole and having your heroine raped over and over. (This increases her stats a great deal, however it gives you + brutality, and if the heroine is raped too much, it can lead to a brutal bad ending.) The variety offered to you makes playing the game a second, third or fourth time fun.
The phase system, Libido and your dice
While we are still on the gameplay part of the VN, there is a few things to note. The game itself is split into four parts, 3 phases and then actual story. The 3 phases are morning, afternoon and night phase. Between these phases the game's story progresses, and you see normal VN style dialogue as well as choices that you can use to impact the story, as well as your heroine's stats.
During the morning and afternoon phase, you either train up your heroine by having sex, raise your libido or rest, in order to get more dice recovered. The night phase is spent actually fighting your opponents, and going on castle raids.
(What exactly are these dice and how do they work?)
The dice system in Beat Blades Haruka is what let's you make your "moves" in the phases. You get X amount of dice each day, based of your dice recovery. You can have a maximum of 8 dice at a time. The dice can be a number between 1 and 6, and the dice itself is used to "pay for" actions. As an example, if you want to sleep with haruka to increase some of her stats and her SP, you have to "pay" some dice. The lower levels of dragon synergy are cheaper, but give less stats, the higher levels are more expensive but give you more stats. The system is very forgiving. If you roll a 7 on something that needs 8 to complete, 7 will be subtracted from the action, so that in the next phase, it will only cost 1 dice. The dice itself is based off RNG, though do note that it is essentially impossible to soft reset for. Still, with the way the system is made, soft reseting for dice is not even needed, so there is nothing to worry about there. If you do it right, completing the game in the 99 days given to you is a walk in the park.
Lastly, libido is a strange stat. It is what makes your dice recovery higher. Every 10 points of libido, your dice recovery goes up by 1. What does this mean? It means that after the night phase, you will get back X dice. So if you have a dice recovery of 5, the next day following a night phase, you are given 5 dice. Raising your libido is simple, and is done by either having sex with a female Kainin, choosing an option at a choice screen with (libido) next to it, or just clicking "raise libido".
The game's value beyond H-content?
We have already talked about the gameplay side of the game. It's entertaining, though very repetative and it's also focused strongly around H-scenes. (In order to prepare your heroine for a battle you have to have sex, and if you lose a battle, you get into a rape scene. H is a big part of this nukige, obviously.)
But what about the story itself? Music, art, characters and such. What is the value of the game outside just the H-scenes?
The character designs and art in the game is overall very nice. A lot of work seems to have been put into each character's design, though the personalities of the the main characters are fairly bland and simple. Most work seems to have been put into the kainins and tetra sealers. They are all very badass, pretty, hot, what have you. Each one of them has many small details that stand out, and are just overall very well made. The main characters are by no means poorly designed, but in comparison they do fall a little short.
The art itself is very nice, with animated cut-scenes, well drawn backgrounds and detailed character sprites.
The music in the VN is pretty good, offering a variety of tracks for different situations that fits well with the atmosphere of the scene.
The story itself is what it is. The game does take itself seriously; it's not like it just jokes around and put all focus on H. The story is decent. There is moments where it will take you by suprise, certain moments that are more emotional than others, though the actual story is fairly short. The main focus of the dialogue aspects of the game lies in the different scenes you can get with the heroines and side characters by making choices. If you focus on one girl a lot, increasing her love hearts in the game, you will go on dates with her and get close with her. If you are an asshole and just have your blades raped and defeated, you will get unique scenes that deal with this.
The actual main story that remains the same through all playthroughs is therefore minimal, as the game wants to keep the focus on your choices as the player. This is both a flaw and a strength in the VN. It's a flaw because it means that ultimately, the story itself is slightly underwhelming and short, but it's also a strength because it does mean the player feel like he or she is more in control of the outcome.
All in all Beat Blades Haruka is a solid VN, offering unique and entertaining gameplay, a big variety of choices that lets the player impact the game's ending, though it does lack some impact in its delivery of the story.
+ Entertaining gameplay
+ Good art, music and character designs
+ A huge variety of choices that let's the player choose how the game is played
- Slightly underwhelming main story
- The main characters are a little bland and some more time should have been put into them
- The stat system is a little imbalanced
-
Dergonu got a reaction from FrozenRaven for a blog entry, Beat Blades Haruka Review
Beat Blades Haruka review,
By Dergonu, Fuwanovel
Beat Blades Haruka is a gameplay oriented nukige released by Alice Soft, which was recently translated and licensed by Mangagamer. The game offers 150 H-scenes, ranging from normal vanilla scenes to darker things like rape and beastiality. The game's appeal is clearly rooted in it's H-content, but does that mean that's everything the game has to offer?
In Beat Blades Haruka you play as Ikusabe Takamaru, a boy who desperately wants a girlfriend. His friend, Narika, keeps getting in the way of his possible romances, something that irritates him quite a bit. But soon, his fairly normal life of being rejected by women and half-assing himself through school quickly comes to a halt when the beautiful ninja Haruka, who has traveled to our time from the past, suddenly appears in Takamaru's life.
Chasing the evil Noroi who has lept through time with his follwers in order to turn the world into chaos, Haruka and her fellow Cresent moon members turn to Takamaru for help. It turns out, Takamaru is a descendant of the Dragonian, meaning he has the power to transfer strength to the blades of the crescent moon. (The blades being female ninjas.) This power, SP, is transfered from the Dragonian to the blades by ... Having sex.
Takamaru's mission is to use the blades at his disposal to fight the four Tetra Sealers, Noroi's most powerful subordinates, take down the towers which connect to Noroi's realm, and to stop him once and for all.
During the game, the player gets a whole lot of choices that will allow them to take full control of their destiny. Will you be the good guy, fighting to stop Noroi? Or will you give in to your dark desires, using the blades as tools for your own pleasure and gain?
Offering a large variety of different endings, Beat Blades Haruka is a very unique gameplay nukige that allows its player to choose a lot more than just a singular ending, but they have the ability to impact the very way the entire game is played.
The gameplay:
During the story, a big part of your time will be spent preparing your heroines for battle. During the gameplay parts of the VN, you will be matched up against an enemy. You can spend SP, (sex power), that you accumulate through dragon syngery, (sex), to unleash powerful attacks against your opponent, and you train your heroines stats through either dragon synergy, training, castle raids or defeating enemies. The lower your stats are compared to your opponent, the harder it is to win. The stats highlited in blue, like the defense in this picture, means the stat is underleveled compared to your opponent, and the chances of winning are smaller. By losing a fight against a male Kainin, one of Noroi's lieutenants, the heroine will be raped and an option to skip the following rape H-scene will appear. (Unless you disable that feature in the option menu.)
The gameplay is entertaining, though it is a little difficult at first. Getting used to what all the different stats does is a little bit hard and overwhelming, and the stats are also a little poorly balanced. For instance, by stacking a large amount of reflex, you will be able to sweep through the game, as your character will essentially never miss, and she will also dodge a lot of the opponent's attacks. But if it's the other way around, and your reflex stat is low but your other stats are high, you still wont do much damage, as most of your attacks will be dodged. Basically, there is too much focus on reflex, something that makes combat a little bit imbalanced at certain points in the game. Your opponents gets really strong in the late game, meaning their reflex stats are high, and so if you didn't train your heroine correctly, a bad end is waiting for you. (If you are defeated by a sealer, you get a bad end and a game over.)
Still, these flaws aside, the gameplay is enjoyable. It's fun training up your heroine, either choosing to clear out the streets to protect the people like the good guy, or simply being an asshole and having your heroine raped over and over. (This increases her stats a great deal, however it gives you + brutality, and if the heroine is raped too much, it can lead to a brutal bad ending.) The variety offered to you makes playing the game a second, third or fourth time fun.
The phase system, Libido and your dice
While we are still on the gameplay part of the VN, there is a few things to note. The game itself is split into four parts, 3 phases and then actual story. The 3 phases are morning, afternoon and night phase. Between these phases the game's story progresses, and you see normal VN style dialogue as well as choices that you can use to impact the story, as well as your heroine's stats.
During the morning and afternoon phase, you either train up your heroine by having sex, raise your libido or rest, in order to get more dice recovered. The night phase is spent actually fighting your opponents, and going on castle raids.
(What exactly are these dice and how do they work?)
The dice system in Beat Blades Haruka is what let's you make your "moves" in the phases. You get X amount of dice each day, based of your dice recovery. You can have a maximum of 8 dice at a time. The dice can be a number between 1 and 6, and the dice itself is used to "pay for" actions. As an example, if you want to sleep with haruka to increase some of her stats and her SP, you have to "pay" some dice. The lower levels of dragon synergy are cheaper, but give less stats, the higher levels are more expensive but give you more stats. The system is very forgiving. If you roll a 7 on something that needs 8 to complete, 7 will be subtracted from the action, so that in the next phase, it will only cost 1 dice. The dice itself is based off RNG, though do note that it is essentially impossible to soft reset for. Still, with the way the system is made, soft reseting for dice is not even needed, so there is nothing to worry about there. If you do it right, completing the game in the 99 days given to you is a walk in the park.
Lastly, libido is a strange stat. It is what makes your dice recovery higher. Every 10 points of libido, your dice recovery goes up by 1. What does this mean? It means that after the night phase, you will get back X dice. So if you have a dice recovery of 5, the next day following a night phase, you are given 5 dice. Raising your libido is simple, and is done by either having sex with a female Kainin, choosing an option at a choice screen with (libido) next to it, or just clicking "raise libido".
The game's value beyond H-content?
We have already talked about the gameplay side of the game. It's entertaining, though very repetative and it's also focused strongly around H-scenes. (In order to prepare your heroine for a battle you have to have sex, and if you lose a battle, you get into a rape scene. H is a big part of this nukige, obviously.)
But what about the story itself? Music, art, characters and such. What is the value of the game outside just the H-scenes?
The character designs and art in the game is overall very nice. A lot of work seems to have been put into each character's design, though the personalities of the the main characters are fairly bland and simple. Most work seems to have been put into the kainins and tetra sealers. They are all very badass, pretty, hot, what have you. Each one of them has many small details that stand out, and are just overall very well made. The main characters are by no means poorly designed, but in comparison they do fall a little short.
The art itself is very nice, with animated cut-scenes, well drawn backgrounds and detailed character sprites.
The music in the VN is pretty good, offering a variety of tracks for different situations that fits well with the atmosphere of the scene.
The story itself is what it is. The game does take itself seriously; it's not like it just jokes around and put all focus on H. The story is decent. There is moments where it will take you by suprise, certain moments that are more emotional than others, though the actual story is fairly short. The main focus of the dialogue aspects of the game lies in the different scenes you can get with the heroines and side characters by making choices. If you focus on one girl a lot, increasing her love hearts in the game, you will go on dates with her and get close with her. If you are an asshole and just have your blades raped and defeated, you will get unique scenes that deal with this.
The actual main story that remains the same through all playthroughs is therefore minimal, as the game wants to keep the focus on your choices as the player. This is both a flaw and a strength in the VN. It's a flaw because it means that ultimately, the story itself is slightly underwhelming and short, but it's also a strength because it does mean the player feel like he or she is more in control of the outcome.
All in all Beat Blades Haruka is a solid VN, offering unique and entertaining gameplay, a big variety of choices that lets the player impact the game's ending, though it does lack some impact in its delivery of the story.
+ Entertaining gameplay
+ Good art, music and character designs
+ A huge variety of choices that let's the player choose how the game is played
- Slightly underwhelming main story
- The main characters are a little bland and some more time should have been put into them
- The stat system is a little imbalanced
-
Dergonu got a reaction from Deep Blue for a blog entry, Beat Blades Haruka Review
Beat Blades Haruka review,
By Dergonu, Fuwanovel
Beat Blades Haruka is a gameplay oriented nukige released by Alice Soft, which was recently translated and licensed by Mangagamer. The game offers 150 H-scenes, ranging from normal vanilla scenes to darker things like rape and beastiality. The game's appeal is clearly rooted in it's H-content, but does that mean that's everything the game has to offer?
In Beat Blades Haruka you play as Ikusabe Takamaru, a boy who desperately wants a girlfriend. His friend, Narika, keeps getting in the way of his possible romances, something that irritates him quite a bit. But soon, his fairly normal life of being rejected by women and half-assing himself through school quickly comes to a halt when the beautiful ninja Haruka, who has traveled to our time from the past, suddenly appears in Takamaru's life.
Chasing the evil Noroi who has lept through time with his follwers in order to turn the world into chaos, Haruka and her fellow Cresent moon members turn to Takamaru for help. It turns out, Takamaru is a descendant of the Dragonian, meaning he has the power to transfer strength to the blades of the crescent moon. (The blades being female ninjas.) This power, SP, is transfered from the Dragonian to the blades by ... Having sex.
Takamaru's mission is to use the blades at his disposal to fight the four Tetra Sealers, Noroi's most powerful subordinates, take down the towers which connect to Noroi's realm, and to stop him once and for all.
During the game, the player gets a whole lot of choices that will allow them to take full control of their destiny. Will you be the good guy, fighting to stop Noroi? Or will you give in to your dark desires, using the blades as tools for your own pleasure and gain?
Offering a large variety of different endings, Beat Blades Haruka is a very unique gameplay nukige that allows its player to choose a lot more than just a singular ending, but they have the ability to impact the very way the entire game is played.
The gameplay:
During the story, a big part of your time will be spent preparing your heroines for battle. During the gameplay parts of the VN, you will be matched up against an enemy. You can spend SP, (sex power), that you accumulate through dragon syngery, (sex), to unleash powerful attacks against your opponent, and you train your heroines stats through either dragon synergy, training, castle raids or defeating enemies. The lower your stats are compared to your opponent, the harder it is to win. The stats highlited in blue, like the defense in this picture, means the stat is underleveled compared to your opponent, and the chances of winning are smaller. By losing a fight against a male Kainin, one of Noroi's lieutenants, the heroine will be raped and an option to skip the following rape H-scene will appear. (Unless you disable that feature in the option menu.)
The gameplay is entertaining, though it is a little difficult at first. Getting used to what all the different stats does is a little bit hard and overwhelming, and the stats are also a little poorly balanced. For instance, by stacking a large amount of reflex, you will be able to sweep through the game, as your character will essentially never miss, and she will also dodge a lot of the opponent's attacks. But if it's the other way around, and your reflex stat is low but your other stats are high, you still wont do much damage, as most of your attacks will be dodged. Basically, there is too much focus on reflex, something that makes combat a little bit imbalanced at certain points in the game. Your opponents gets really strong in the late game, meaning their reflex stats are high, and so if you didn't train your heroine correctly, a bad end is waiting for you. (If you are defeated by a sealer, you get a bad end and a game over.)
Still, these flaws aside, the gameplay is enjoyable. It's fun training up your heroine, either choosing to clear out the streets to protect the people like the good guy, or simply being an asshole and having your heroine raped over and over. (This increases her stats a great deal, however it gives you + brutality, and if the heroine is raped too much, it can lead to a brutal bad ending.) The variety offered to you makes playing the game a second, third or fourth time fun.
The phase system, Libido and your dice
While we are still on the gameplay part of the VN, there is a few things to note. The game itself is split into four parts, 3 phases and then actual story. The 3 phases are morning, afternoon and night phase. Between these phases the game's story progresses, and you see normal VN style dialogue as well as choices that you can use to impact the story, as well as your heroine's stats.
During the morning and afternoon phase, you either train up your heroine by having sex, raise your libido or rest, in order to get more dice recovered. The night phase is spent actually fighting your opponents, and going on castle raids.
(What exactly are these dice and how do they work?)
The dice system in Beat Blades Haruka is what let's you make your "moves" in the phases. You get X amount of dice each day, based of your dice recovery. You can have a maximum of 8 dice at a time. The dice can be a number between 1 and 6, and the dice itself is used to "pay for" actions. As an example, if you want to sleep with haruka to increase some of her stats and her SP, you have to "pay" some dice. The lower levels of dragon synergy are cheaper, but give less stats, the higher levels are more expensive but give you more stats. The system is very forgiving. If you roll a 7 on something that needs 8 to complete, 7 will be subtracted from the action, so that in the next phase, it will only cost 1 dice. The dice itself is based off RNG, though do note that it is essentially impossible to soft reset for. Still, with the way the system is made, soft reseting for dice is not even needed, so there is nothing to worry about there. If you do it right, completing the game in the 99 days given to you is a walk in the park.
Lastly, libido is a strange stat. It is what makes your dice recovery higher. Every 10 points of libido, your dice recovery goes up by 1. What does this mean? It means that after the night phase, you will get back X dice. So if you have a dice recovery of 5, the next day following a night phase, you are given 5 dice. Raising your libido is simple, and is done by either having sex with a female Kainin, choosing an option at a choice screen with (libido) next to it, or just clicking "raise libido".
The game's value beyond H-content?
We have already talked about the gameplay side of the game. It's entertaining, though very repetative and it's also focused strongly around H-scenes. (In order to prepare your heroine for a battle you have to have sex, and if you lose a battle, you get into a rape scene. H is a big part of this nukige, obviously.)
But what about the story itself? Music, art, characters and such. What is the value of the game outside just the H-scenes?
The character designs and art in the game is overall very nice. A lot of work seems to have been put into each character's design, though the personalities of the the main characters are fairly bland and simple. Most work seems to have been put into the kainins and tetra sealers. They are all very badass, pretty, hot, what have you. Each one of them has many small details that stand out, and are just overall very well made. The main characters are by no means poorly designed, but in comparison they do fall a little short.
The art itself is very nice, with animated cut-scenes, well drawn backgrounds and detailed character sprites.
The music in the VN is pretty good, offering a variety of tracks for different situations that fits well with the atmosphere of the scene.
The story itself is what it is. The game does take itself seriously; it's not like it just jokes around and put all focus on H. The story is decent. There is moments where it will take you by suprise, certain moments that are more emotional than others, though the actual story is fairly short. The main focus of the dialogue aspects of the game lies in the different scenes you can get with the heroines and side characters by making choices. If you focus on one girl a lot, increasing her love hearts in the game, you will go on dates with her and get close with her. If you are an asshole and just have your blades raped and defeated, you will get unique scenes that deal with this.
The actual main story that remains the same through all playthroughs is therefore minimal, as the game wants to keep the focus on your choices as the player. This is both a flaw and a strength in the VN. It's a flaw because it means that ultimately, the story itself is slightly underwhelming and short, but it's also a strength because it does mean the player feel like he or she is more in control of the outcome.
All in all Beat Blades Haruka is a solid VN, offering unique and entertaining gameplay, a big variety of choices that lets the player impact the game's ending, though it does lack some impact in its delivery of the story.
+ Entertaining gameplay
+ Good art, music and character designs
+ A huge variety of choices that let's the player choose how the game is played
- Slightly underwhelming main story
- The main characters are a little bland and some more time should have been put into them
- The stat system is a little imbalanced
-
Dergonu reacted to Deep Blue for a blog entry, One thousand lies Review
So this time I will review this doujin freeware kinetic visual novel created by Keinart Lobre which I enjoyed it a lot and I thought it needed a review for how good it was. I'm kinda lazy so this will be a pure text review and nothing more (sorry maybe I'll add some pics in the future xD )
The story follows the life of Ciarán Endyein and his friends, Ciarán is in last year of high school, a few month from graduation. He spend his time doing jokes and pranks with his friends Ziva Shani a wanna be psychologist transfer student girl that constantly tries to psychoanalyze Ciarán and his long time friend Ausse Ealdwine a pervert guy who only thinks about women all the time.
Ciarán is what you can call a pragmatic person, one that is constantly saying witty comments or full of irony, teasing his friends, doing crazy stuffs, starting speeches for no reason which always end in a comical way, he calls himself the Joker or clown of the class along with his friends. He reminded me a lot to Morita Kenichi from Sharin no Kuni and that's always a good thing because there is a serious lack of those types of characters in visual novels.
He is also a writer, he usually writes things in his little notebook that is always carrying around with him and because of this Ziva is always trying to analyze the reason behind that.
Little spoilers ahead:
The story really begins when he tells his friends some story about certain figure that he bought and got lost in the middle of the delivery and someone sent him an email about it, a really weird blackmail email which is not clear if it is actually a threat , some kind of joke or actually someone crazy writing nonsense.
End of spoilers
In the process of finding the real culprit behind that email Ciarán meets two new characters, a little girl (the loli) called Claire Argyris which is an airhead, a bit shy, constantly lost in her own world, saying things out of place but that from time to time will leave Ciarán speechless because she is not what it seems and last Luce Aurea, she is a kinda a tomboy but not to an extreme, I don't want to reveal too much about this character or Claire either. (There is another character but I can't say anything about him xD )
So far you might think that this is your typical visual novel, some slice of life with comedy but there is more than meets the eye, aside from the excellent comedy (yes it is actually really funny, most of the time with good humor) and the good pace that this novel has because it doesn't get boring through out the 10 or more hours that the novel last, there are times when the characters have this conversations about life, happiness, things they want to be, expectation from others, a bit of philosophy in the middle that reminded me a lot to subarashiki hibi WARNING: RANTS ABOUT SUBAHIBI AHEAD (if you don't like to read bad things about it don't read it.) XD this time it made sense and it wasn't forced than your throat in the most boring and weird way with scenes that went on and on and on just to get to the freaking point >_> END OF THE RANTS. The characters are well developed and all of them are very interesting, all of them with their own motivation and purposes, they are not there just to fill the gap, for example Claire is not the "loli" type just because the writer wanted a loli type between the girls.
The music was good I think there are like 33 tracks and some of them are really good and stuck with me even after I finished reading the novel.
About the art it was good too, maybe it lacked on the GCs a little bit but it is understandable, still the few once that you will encounter are really well done and they are in my opinion perfectly placed for moments that really deserve it. The sprites of the characters are good too, the artist is Bonkiru he is really talented ( image not from the vn xD ), so you can expect to see some good art.
After reading the novel I had to re-read it again, yes it is that type of novel where you need to read it a second time because you discover new things that you missed the first time(specially to make sense some parts of the plot) and since I read it in Spanish the first time I did it in English the second, which brings me to the language topic, the translation was done pretty smooth, there were some jokes here and there that they didn't translate 100% but they were still funny.
Overall I think this is one of those few exception to the OELVNs, it doesn't try to copy or mimic the Japanese visual novels, it's not about a Japanese boy (thanks good!) and even if the main character is in high school you wont find the cliche plot from the jap vns, it's also not a harem, yes even if it looks like one it is not.
Right now is on BETA but the developer is asking for some help (he needs proofreaders) so maybe you want to wait until it's release or read it right now, either way I'm sure it wont disappoint you.
Link to the thread of the novel
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Dergonu reacted to Arcadeotic for a blog entry, Update on the Translation
So, I've finally attained access to the Dev Board Blogs
What does this mean exactly?
Well it means that my TL Updates will be directed there instead of here
It's been fun, but now this'll just be my personal blog
Cheers