Fallen Fate Online

"Alright, break's over." Roland said seriously as he looked ahead into the darkness, "I could be wrong, but something tells me we have one last challenge ahead of us. Don't forget, we're not doing this for the rewards, we're doing this for the villagers! Chaos Hearth is a threat to them all!"

The knights nodded and headed forward. The torches still burned, though rather dimly, but it was enough to illuminate the path ahead.

Occasionally flowers bloomed on the walls of the cave, but there were no monsters near them, seemingly their group was the only one in this cave.

"Stop." Roland said suddenly as his gaze grew serious.

"Hmm? What's wrong?" Zayne gave him a questioning look.

"Haven't you figured that out yet? The caves are over, we've come to something more..." Roland muttered, picked up a rock from the ground, and threw it forward.

Everyone heard a strange faint sound, which eventually began to reappear, but with less force until it disappeared completely.

"Is that an echo?" Harald muttered, "Damn, so there's a vast hall ahead or something, it looks dangerous..."

"Yes. Our torches won't be able to illuminate such an area, if there are enemies out there waiting for the moment to attack us, there's nothing we can do, we'll be defenseless." Roland frowned trying to figure out a plan.

"In that case, what should we do?" Zayne tilted his head, "Is that all the torches we have?"

"I have an idea..." Elin said uncertainly as she raised her hand.

Everyone looked at her with curiosity.

"My new bow... From the Treasure Bos also dropped ten arrows and they are special. I can show you what's ahead so we can make a decision." Elin spoke with a serious look as she pulled an arrow from the quiver.

Roland smiled, "Good, that's it. Go ahead, do it." Roland stepped aside and gestured for the others to do the same.

Elin slowly drew the bowstring, it was obvious that it was hard for her to do because of the great weight of the bow and the length of the arrow, but she could not fail now, so soon she was ready.

'Hmm? Why isn't she shooting?' Zayne was puzzled since he realized that in just a little longer Elin would no more be able to hold the bow in her hands.

Suddenly her eyes sparkled as blue streams headed towards the crystal arrow, gradually filling it and making it glow brightly.

Trink!

At the same moment, Elin lowered the bowstring, launching the arrow. The crystal arrow flew like a bright star through the darkness, illuminating all around as Roland's keen eye, saw several dark silhouettes standing at the walls of the cave.

'Damn, that's pretty beautiful. Looks like I didn't give her the bow for anything, she got right into it.' Zayne said to himself as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"That's not all." Elin smirked as the arrow cracked, then it shattered into many shards flying away.

Dozens of crystal shards lodged in the walls, illuminating most of the cave since each of the shards shone much brighter than a normal torch.

"Shit. I knew there was something here." Roland muttered looking at the monsters in the dark corners of the hall.

The crystals didn't illuminate the whole area, but definitely most of it and it was enough for the knights to see their opponents.

"Fuck... How many are there? Ten? No, there's certainly more than thirty." Harald muttered with a dazed look as a wave of shivers went through his body.

"Well... that number of opponents is actually stressful, but what is it?" Zayne pointed forward as his eyes narrowed.

At the end of the cave, where there were no more passageways, was a massive red bud with a dark silhouette that in a heartbeat was revealed by the bright light from the crystal. It was a monster, taller and stronger than the others. On its arms were two crystal blades and its claws were long and sharp. Unlike the other monsters, this one had a tail, with a crystal tip that swayed slowly from side to side.

"Is he asleep?" Elin muttered with wide eyes.

"Yeah, I guess so." Roland nodded.

"What are we going to do? These monsters are in no hurry to attack us, but if we go any further they'll probably rush on us." Harald asked with a serious expression.

Roland was silent for a while until he said, "Agh, we have no choice but to go ahead anyway. This monster is definitely their leader and if we beat them it will be the end of Chaos Hearth. Get ready, this is going to be a serious battle."

Step. Step. Step.

Roland stepped forward, drawing his sword from its sheath as the sound of his footsteps echoed around, attracting the monsters' attention to him.

"I don't know when your leader will wake up, but I hope it happens after your heads fall at my feet!" Roland said with an ice-cold look before sprinting forward.

At the same moment, the knights followed him with menacing faces, clutching their swords tightly in their hands. They all knew the monsters were strong, but they were not going to back down. Each knight was ready to fight with his commander to the very end.

"ROOOOAAAAAARRRRR!!!" The monsters roared furiously, pouncing on the knights.

The monsters' sharp claws rushed toward the knights' heads but were stopped by their swords, causing sparks to fly from the collision.

"Fine! Let's show what we can do!" Harald exclaimed, clenching his fists tightly and attacking one of the monsters.

Crackling.

Roland swung his sword with a calm look, severing the monster's head in front of him and walking away from the drops of blood falling on him as suddenly a dark silhouette appeared behind him, aiming a sharp crystal at his neck.

'Shit! I didn't see it!' Roland turned sharply, preparing to defend himself as his eyes went wide since, at the very last moment, a white flash flew in front of him, passing over the monster's head at great speed, literally exploding it.

Roland's shocked, bloodied face turned and looked at Elin, who was smiling slyly, confidently holding a bow in her hands.

"Commander, you don't have to worry about your safety. I've got your back!" Elin smirked.

Roland nodded, returning to the battle.

Everyone fought furiously, some knights were already seriously wounded, but no one was out but one person.

Zayne stood in one place, staring blankly at the tailed monster like a statue, something seemed to catch his attention so strongly that everything around him disappeared, just didn't matter.

Whooooooooosh.

A single monster appeared next to Zayne, no one noticed it since everyone was focused on the fight, so the monster could have attacked Zayne and easily killed him. The monster opened its jaw wide, letting out its long tongue, preparing to devour Zayne, but it stopped at the last moment, as if because of the direction of Zayne's gaze, who didn't even pay attention to the monster.

'Hah, you're not like the others, you're different.' Zayne inwardly muttered looking at the tailed one, as a smirk appeared on his face, 'You're pretty scary, aren't you?'

At the same moment, the many flowers in the cave began to bloom, as if preparing for their leader's move.