Ultimate Assassin Saga: Woodlands

"Fight well, my Lord." Rachel said with a grin before turning away from him and hefting her Pulse Rifle. She placed the butt of the weapon against her shoulder and she joined her brethren on the front line, creating a line of Rifles on one side of the village so as not to hit the Demon when the battle commenced.

The Warrior Lord quickly sheathed his broadsword and he set about activating his Pulse Rifle. Once he heard the familiar whine of the weapon powering up, he began to look for a good spot to make a roost to deal with this battle. Deciding on one of the empty roofs - there were other snipers on other roofs - he leaped up on the top of the roof and he lay down on his stomach, aiming the weapon at the place where the Demon was facing, knowing that they were going to be coming through that area.

"Come on out you bastards." Acre ground out angrily and his finger tightened on the trigger of his weapon. He could feel the power of the Pulse Rifle flowing through him, its innate imbued magic coursing through his veins and making him feel even more powerful. There was no way the Undead, no matter their number, were going to get through every single Pulse Rifle to do any damage. Even if they did get through the Pulse Rifles, they would still have to deal with the blades of the Warriors.

Just as that thought crossed his mind, he saw it. The Undead were emerging from the Jungle beyond in a tight formation that flanked from one side to the other. They'd created a powerful line of warriors, and as the Undead walked further towards the village, he saw other lines behind the previous one's, almost like they were being lead by a military mind, but that was impossible. They were just Undead creature's after all and there was no way the Undead could be controlled.

Suddenly, a battle cry filled the village and he knew who it was that had let loose the cry: Acheron. Just as the cry had loosed from his lips, he leaped forward, plunging into the Undead and his Diamond Blade began to swung swiftly through the numbers of animated corpses. The Star Elf watched in amazement as scores of the Undead fell in the first few seconds, but the deeper that Acheron moved, the more he missed and they were gathering around behind him to come at him from the other side.

He wasn't going to allow that.

The Warrior Lord held the Pulse Rifle tight to his shoulder and he stared down the sight at one of the Undead. To make sure he didn't miss, he hit a button on the side of the Pulse Rifle, and immediately, a small green screen appeared front of where his eyes were, zooming in on the battle. He sighted the first of the Undead, waiting until it had lined up perfectly and he pulled the trigger. He watched as the silver bolt of magic flew across the ground and slammed into the back of the Zombie's head, causing it to explode into hundreds of tiny pieces.

As the first of his shots struck one of the Undead, a volley of shots erupted from the other snipers on the roofs and the Undead began to fall in tandem. Seeing this, Acre grinned widely and he knew that the battle would be over very soon. To help it along though, he continued to aim and fire, bolts of energy flying from his Rifle to down each of the Undead that he could. Several minutes passed of non-stop firing, but the crowd of Undead didn't seem to be narrowing at all. If anything, they seemed to be multiplying and that couldn't be good.

The Star Elf pulled the trigger once again, but to his surprise, nothing happened. Cursing, he looked at the energy gage at the side of the rifle and he saw that it had been completely depleted. This was the only downside of Pulse Rifles. You only had one thousand shots contained in the energy crystals and then you had to change them out. Unfortunately, he didn't have any charged energy crystals with him so he couldn't change the crystal and keep firing. He would have to do this the old fashioned way.

With blades.

He threw the Pulse Rifle to the side and he quickly got to his feet. Drawing his broadsword, he leaped off of the top of the hut, and when his booted feet touched the ground, he ran as fast as he could across the ground. The Undead seemed to have noticed him because they turned right as he arrived and was bringing his sword down in a hacking blow, splitting the skull of one of the Undead.

Skidding to a stop, the Warrior Lord hefted his broadsword and he watched as the Undead came at him. He'd done what he'd intended to at least. He'd gotten the Undead to take their attention away from Acheron and come after him instead. Acheron needed all the time that he could get to kill as many as he possibly could. It wouldn't do for the man to die because there were too many behind him.

He turned his head just as an arrow flew past his head and sent one of the Undead sprawling to the ground. Frowning, he turned his head and searched for the one who had fired the arrow. Fifty feet away and kneeling on the ground with a short bow held in front of her face was his second in command, Rachel. When she lowered the bow, she nodded with a grin on her face before she pulled another arrow from the quiver on her back and she started firing again, sending the Undead sprawling once more.

With that, Acre knew the truth: they could win this battle.

XXXXXXXXXX

Rachel fired again and again, her arrows flying into the field of Undead. She watched with some pride as each arrow struck home and sent a Zombie back to its grave. Of all things that could be said for her, one was definitely that she was an expert marksman and there was no one better. However, this wasn't about her. This was about saving Acheron.

She'd still been angry with him when the battle started, but because she had yet to be able to confront him, she'd decided it was best that he survive the battle. They had much to talk about after all. She wasn't in love with him, but she didn't care to be treated like a common whore who spread her legs for just anyone either. She was a lady who'd chosen a lover and had that lover choose her back. That was all there was too it so she would not have him treat her like some common hooker.

To scold him, he would have to make it through this battle first.

She could see Acheron deep among the Zombies, his Diamond Blade a mere blur as he swung it this way and then that way, Zombies falling as quickly as they came at him. He was the one in the very middle of the battle and the Undead were all swarming him, but they couldn't get close enough to overtake him. If they did, there would be no way he would survive. Even the strongest could be taken down by sheer numbers and the Undead definitely had the numbers.

The Star Elf noticed that other people had joined the battle and were helping to fight off the Undead. Some had bows and were firing arrows deep into the hoard, getting lucky with their strikes mostly. Others were charging the lines with swords, hammers, axes, daggers, and spears. All in all, they were doing a very good job at repelling the Undead so far, but there seemed to be no end to their numbers.

Lucky for the Archers, their quivers were magicked to never run out of arrows so they could fight on as long as needed. With that thought in mind, the Warrior woman reached down and drew another arrow, knocking it back in her bow. Lifting the bow, she aimed and let it fly, the arrow flying true to her mark. She didn't even watch as the arrow struck and took down its mark. No, she was too busy knocking another arrow back and repeating the process.

"We seem to be getting nowhere with this." called a familiar feminine voice from her right side and she cut her eyes over to where the voice had come from. Sure enough, kneeling with a bow held in her hands was the Princess of the Star Elves, Leera. Her eyes cut over to the woman that she was talking to and there was a very grim look on her face. "There are already too many and they just keep coming. What are we going to do?"

Even though she was sure the younger woman's question was a rhetorical one, it was a good one. She'd noticed the same things that the Princess had noticed. The Zombies just seemed to keep appearing with no end in sight and eventually the Elves were going to run out of luck. Sooner or later, a Zombie was going to break the line, and once one did, others would follow until they were a swarm upon the village.

"Just keep firing and pray that it turns out okay." Rachel answered even as she knocked back another arrow, aimed, and fired. The arrow flew swift and true to its mark, exploding the head of a Zombie. The Zombie fell to the ground, no longer moving anymore, but once that one fell, three more took its place, moaning and groaning with their need to feast on live flesh.

The Star Elf woman fired more and more arrows, but she knew it was futile. For every member of the Undead they felled, three more took its place. They simply couldn't kill them fast enough with their arrows to make a dent in their numbers and the swarm was bound to overwhelm the blade-based warriors soon enough. Just when she was ready to give up, it happened.

A roar of battle sounded from behind them, and even though she knew that battle roar all too well, she turned her head to see what it was. Running at full speed through the village came the other twelve Warrior Lords, their heavy weapons drawn and ready to do battle. At the head of twelve Warrior Lords was King Taro wielding a broadsword in one hand and a hand axe in his other hand.

The thirteen powerful warriors rushed past the archer line with their heavy weaponry and heavy armor, heading right for the Undead. They crashed into the Undead, their weapons swinging downward and taking out more than three Zombies with each strike. Just seeing these warriors enter the battle brought hope to her and she smiled as she raised her short bow once again, knocking an arrow back in the bow.

With a smile, Rachel took aim and fired once again, her hope renewed in the battle.

XXXXXXXXXX

Taro, King of the Star Elves, fought hard with his weapons cleaving, striking, and slaughtering the Undead as he fought. He sliced the throat of one of the Undead with his hand axe and plunged his broadsword into the chest of the Zombie right next to it. Pulling his sword free, he blocked the attack from another zombie with his hand axe, and once his sword was free, he swung it, cleaving the Zombie's head from its body.

It had been a long time since he'd been in a battle, but he hadn't lost any of his skill in battle. His blades were still razor sharp and his skills even sharper. He moved so quickly despite his weapons that he was a whirl of movement, blocking, parrying, and counterattacking so fast that the Undead couldn't hope to catch up with him. And he wasn't the only great warrior that had joined the fray.

The thirteen Warrior Lords were attacking the Undead as well, their blades, hammers, and spears slicing apart the Undead before they could react. He turned his head just in time to see one of the Warrior Lords bring his War Hammer down on the skull of a Zombie, shattering it to pieces with just the one blow. Another of the Lords swung his double headed javelin in a tight circle around him, disemboweling every Undead member around him. To see these men battle was a truly beautiful sight.

The Elf King blocked another strike from a Zombie and brought the hand axe down on it, slicing its skull from one side to the other. The creature fell to the ground in its death, but it was replaced by another who only met the same fate. The battle was going much better for the Star Elves now that the thirteen had all joined the fight and now that they had the King in the battle as well. Just because he was the King of the Star Elves didn't mean that he didn't know how to fight. In fact, to defend oneself was something you had to know to be the King anyway.

He turned his head when he saw a Zombie swinging at him from behind, but he couldn't get turned in time. Cursing himself for allowing himself to grow lax, he realized that he was going to die and there was nothing he could do to stop it. Before the Zombie could hit him however, its head exploded in a series of blood, bone, and dead brain matter. Cutting his eyes to where the arrow had come from, he saw Rachel and he saw her smile at him, nodding her head. Then, she knocked her next arrow, took aim, and fired again, felling another Zombie.

"Men!" Taro cried out to the thirteen Warrior Lords, knowing that they would hear him. Once he'd gotten far enough away from the Zombies, he brought his weapons to bare in front of him, crossing the blood soaked weapons in front of his face. "Enchant your weapons!"

With that, both his broadsword and his hand axe began to shimmer with blue fire. The shimmering magic appeared as dangerous as it was, and when he brought his weapons down by his sides, they continued to shimmer. He noted that the other thirteen Warrior Lords had done the same, their weapons shimmering with different elemental magical powers and they were already darting into battle, sending waves of powerful magic flying forth to cut down dozens of the Undead with a single swing.

Seeing an empty space, the Elf King pointed his broadsword and his hand axe at the Undead. Saying a single word of power, the blue shimmering fire shot from his blades and began to envelop the Zombies, turning them to ash the moment it touched them. Attack finished, he lowered the still shimmering weapons and he dove forward, slicing through the remaining Zombies, the blue fire turning them to ash with every single slash. The hoard of Zombies were starting to thin and he knew that they had this battle won.

Taro fought on.

XXXXXXXXXX

Acheron paid no mind to anything but the battle going on around him. His focus was solely on the Undead that surrounded him and tried to kill him, focusing on parrying before counterattacking the strikes against him. His mind was blank of everything else as he fought, using his senses to fight these creatures properly and missing completely the other people that had joined the battle.

The Chaos Demon didn't notice when the thirteen Warrior Lords joined the battle and he didn't notice when they used their enchanted blades to slice through the Zombies, turning them to ash. Nothing matter but survival and that was all that he focused on right now. That was what kept his Diamond Blade swinging, slashing through the flesh of the Undead that came to close to him.

The groaning and wailing sounds of the Zombies didn't worry him as he pressed on, his razor sharp blade slicing easily through the undead flesh of the enemy. He'd yet to be injured by any of these creatures and it wasn't very likely that it would happen. They were just mindless creatures who fought without a plan and without feeling. It was because of this that they would lose.

No matter their number, they would lose because they weren't fighting for anything. However, the Command Assassin and the Star Elves were fighting for something. They were fighting for survival and that was the number one reason that they would survive.

Seeing one of the Undead coming from his side, he lifted his left hand and pointed it at the creature. A bolt of lightning flew from his hand and charred the creature to the bone, effectively ending its threat to him. When the bones of the creature collapsed to the ground, he turned and brought his sword down, slicing through the chest of another Zombie, blood flying everywhere before it flew backwards under the force of the strike. When it hit the ground, it never got back up.

Tired of wasting time, the Chaos Demon leaped high into the air, and seeing that none of his allies were in the vicinity, he pointed his left palm down at the Zombies who were all looking up at him. Suddenly, a blast of pure force flew forth from his hand and slammed down on the Zombies beneath him, flattening them instantly. More than fifty had fallen victim to this attack, and if he didn't have allies among the others, he would've repeated the attack. While still in the air, he noticed that the Zombies were no longer coming out of nowhere to replace one another and he began to believe that this was the last of them.

Good, he could use the break.

The moment his booted feet touched the ground, the Command Assassin straightened and he intended on ending this battle as soon as he possibly could. Before that could happen though, he heard a bone chilling scream from deep in the Whispering Jungle and he stopped, turning to look back to where the scream had come from. He knew what kind of creature made that cry, but he didn't want to believe it. He didn't know if they could handle one of those creatures, but it would seem that they were about to find out.

Acheron watched as the last of the Zombies were felled, but he knew that it wasn't over. The Star Elves were straightening and ready to return to their village, but he knew that he could let them do that. They had to still be ready for a battle because there was still a battle to be fought.

"That battle isn't over." Acheron cried out to the Star Elves, stopping their celebration immediately. They turned to look at them with varying expressions of surprise, disbelief, and other grim looks on their faces. Some didn't look like they understood, but they would soon enough. "There's still an Undead Dragon out there and it's coming this way. I heard it just before the battle was finished and now I can sense it coming this way."

There were murmurs of disbelief among the Star Elves as well as exclamations of fear. It was obvious that none of them wanted to fight a Dragon, but they weren't going to have much choice. It was coming this way and it was hell bent on destroying them all. If the Dragon came into the village, the village would be destroyed, that much he knew. So, they would have to take the battle to the Dragon.

Without a word, the Chaos Demon turned away from the Star Elves and he stared at the tree line. Taking a deep breath to calm his nerves, he reached out with his aura and he sensed the Dragon once again. Feeling that it was more than five miles away, he felt comfortable in saying that he could fight the creature and kill it without the village being destroyed. However, he would have to get to the creature before it got any closer, and with that thought in mind, he darted forward into the Whispering Jungle beyond.

The Command Assassin didn't care if he was going it alone, he wasn't going to allow the Dragon into the village to destroy it. If he had to give his life to protect the Star Elves, he would. He didn't want to die, but he knew that things sometimes happened and there was nothing you could really do about it. However, he didn't honestly think that he was going to die.

Shaking off those thoughts, Acheron leaped into the air and he landed on one of the tree branches of the many trees. Then, he leaped to the next tree and the next, so on and so forth. He was quickly nothing more than a black and silver blur racing through the Whispering Jungle, the presence of the Undead Dragon getting closer with each tree he leaped to. Instead of being afraid like another person would be, he was invigorated and he actually looked forward to the upcoming battle.

As he got withing a mile of the Dragon, he began to leap further up into the trees, knowing that the Dragon would most likely be flying. Dragons were large creatures and he didn't imagine that an Undead Dragon would be much smaller. Such a large creature would be flying above the trees, not moving between them and hindering their progress because the trees were too close together. The Dragon would be in the sky and he knew it.

With one last leap, the Chaos Demon broke through the tops of the trees and he landed on the tip of one of the trees. Standing there, he turned his eyes to the sky and he began to search. The light from the sun hindered him a little bit, but not much. Then, that was when he saw it: the large black dot that was growing steadily larger as it descended.