THIS SERVER SUCKS I REGRET LOVING ALL MY FANS

Aeon marched along the road through the misty jungle. Azul and Dante were right behind him, sulking in the intense sunlight.
“Augh... I'm tired... Can't we move any faster?!” Azul groaned. Her legs were numb from walking, and she felt as if her back was on the verge of breaking in half.
“Hey, shut up! I’m just as tired and beaten up as you are.” Dante hissed at Azul. His body was just as broken and twisted, after the three had suffered an abysmal defeat in their last battle.
“Guys, we’re nearly there! Once we arrive, we can finally sleep on real beds again!” Aeon turned around to look at his companions, only to find disappointment when they were still bickering.
“Come on, I was trying to save your life from that crazy bitch with the chains! I didn’t have a choice!”
“And I’d rather have died than have you violate me while I was unconscious!”
“For goodness’ sake, Azul! How can you be so blinded by such trivial matters?”
“Putting your hands on people without consent is not a trivial matter!”
“I had no intention of doing so!”

“Calm down, you two. We have to keep moving.” spoke the bladesinger, under his hood. His sudden change in tone brought concern to the arguing youth behind him, as they grew quiet.
“... Why are we even going to Troms anyway? It’s so far away from everywhere else...” complained Azul, one last time. Dante glared at her in annoyance, only for her to glare back.
“The only other city that isn’t completely destroyed is Nemract, and that’s even further back. Our best bet right now is Troms, right?” Aeon said with a sigh, as he continued on walking with a concerned expression on his face. He could still remember the image of the corrupted Akyro vividly in his head, as well as the warning she had given them.
“Fine, you’re right… I hate it when you’re right.” Azul sighed, begrudgingly dragging herself across the jungle path. The normally hazardous routes through the greenery and creepers were surprisingly empty. Not a single monster nor human could be spotted on sight.

« ! »​

Something had prompted Aeon to halt in his tracks.
“What? What is it?”
It was then, that they found the lifeless body of an armored soldier, a massive lance of ice creating a gash in her chest. The three came to a halt immediately, awestruck by the sight of such a grisly wound.
“Yeesh. That must’ve been a horrible way to die.” Dante remarked, a disturbed expression on his face.
“Dear god… who did this to her?” Azul added, bending down to take a closer look. Ice had frozen the blood around the wound into fierce red crystals, and her skin was freezing cold to the touch.
“... No...” Aeon muttered, upon realizing that the body they had found would only be the first yet.

“No… no, no no no no...” Aeon mumbled in desperation. Without another word, he sprinted towards a path that crossed through the lake, leading to the entrance of Troms.
“Wait! Where are you going?!” Dante yelled after him, rushing to catch up with him while Azul followed suit.
Civilian carcasses were scattered across the lakeside, either crushed into a horrid mess of blood & bones or impaled by large fragments of ice. The lake itself had been painted a deep crimson from the blood of slain townspeople. Smoke bellowed from the center of Troms, as the walls crumbled in their stead, failing to defend against the previous assault. Aeon stopped in his tracks, falling onto his knees as Dante and Azul finally caught up to him, staring in horror. Troms, the impenetrable fortress of the jungle, had fallen.

“WHY?! Why does this keep happening?!” Aeon cried out, his voice reverberating throughout the valley. It was clear to the bladesinger’s companions that the most strained of them all was him, unable to keep a facade of composure after so many horrifying losses. Aeon pounded the ground with his fists, sorrow and frustration clouding his better judgement in the face of others. Azul turned to face Dante, but was unable to think of anything to say before turning back to face her crestfallen friend.

But while the three stood there, wallowing in defeat at the sight of such destruction, something was spying on Aeon from amongst the rubble. With a huge leap that caused rocks to fly in all directions, an enormous creature launched into the air. Dante’s ears perked up, as he raised his head to see that a gigantic mass was about to come crashing down onto them from the sky.

“Aeon! Get out of the way!” Dante shouted, before the bladesinger could even see what was about to attack him. But he hadn’t been able to finish his sentence until all hell broke loose. Like a meteor, the giant figure came crashing down onto the jungle ground, leaving behind a scorching crater and a plume of black smoke.

“AEON!” Azul let out a cry in terror, as the masculine figure turned to face the other two, who were petrified at the sight.

When the dust cleared, a metal-clad behemoth was standing in the blast zone, wearing a dark armor covered with dirt and stained with blood.
On his left hand, he wore a huge gauntlet, sprouting metal pipes and a strange meter in the middle. With every move, the giant machination exerted large puffs of steam. His dark red hair looked as if his hair was covered with blood. Once he stood up, the man’s height was visibly similar to one of the tall structures, prior to their destruction.

Aeon however, was nowhere to be found. But from behind the figure, a cloud of reflective dust revealed a dagger. The bladesinger leaped into the air and struck at the behemoth’s right shoulder.

“Take this, you monster!” Aeon shouted, unleashed his attack. Not even the slightest wince. The giant stood as still as a rock, even with a sharp blade buried deep into his flesh.
“... Oh god." These were the only two words he could speak, as the bladesinger soon stared straight into a pair of bloodshot red eyes.
Turning its head around to rear its piercing line of sight, the giant megalith raised his right hand up, grabbed onto Aeon’s cloak and flung him away like a ragdoll, sending him flying towards a pile of rubble.

“AAaAAaAAAaaAAaAaAAAAAaaaAAHhHhHHHHhHHhhHhHHHHhHHhHHhHHhhHhHh-”
Upon making contact, the bladesinger had the wind knocked out of his lungs, unable to scream if he wanted to. The dagger however, was still stuck in the metal giant’s armor. Taking advantage of the situation, the monster yanked the ribbon with his left hand and pulled Aeon back, building up pressure in his left gauntlet for a powerful follow-up attack.
“GET OVER HERE!”

As the flimsy bladesinger came reeling back for seconds, the giant delivered a devastating punch right into Aeon's gut with his right hand, as steam exploded all over. Knocking the wind out of the bladesinger, the giant withdrew his massive hand, as the bladesinger tumbled onto the ground, motionless. With one fell swoop, the giant had single-handedly put his unfortunate victim into total submission. Raising his right leg high into the air, the colossus prepared to stomp Aeon's head clean off, a murderous expression plastered over his face.

“Get away from him, you bastard!”
Suddenly, a fiery projectile blasted the back of the ironclad goliath’s head, and several hard slashes bounced off his leg. Dante and Azul had finally stepped in. Shaking it off like small pebbles against several layers of obsidian, the colossal figure turned around, growling aggressively as he picked up velocity. Slowly but surely, he came careening towards his new, inexperienced challengers, shattering the ground under his feet with every stomp.

“Get some.” Dante muttered under his breath, slowly stepping back while preparing to launch another incendiary blast at the juggernaut. Even though the fiery explosions went straight to his face, there was no sign of the giant machination slowing down, his fury powering him through all obstacles.

“PREPARE TO BE BURIED!”
“Scatter!”

The half-enderman dove in the direction of the collapsed houses, while the young assassin hastily rushed towards higher ground. Upon reaching the vicinity of the two, the juggernaut leaped high into the air and slammed onto the ground with his palms, creating a miniature earthquake.
“Aaaah!”
The intense seismic disturbance caused Azul to lose her balance and fall flat on her back, skidding across the rubble as the ground beneath her shattered.

“Hang in there, Azul! I’ll get Aeon out of here first!”
Luckily, Dante had managed to stay on his feet. He immediately teleported behind the juggernaut, and ran for the decommissioned bladesinger instead of attempting a surprise attack. While pulling out his fists, the giant’s massive gauntlet just barely missed Dante’s head as his hand swooped by reflexively, instead crashing into a nearby tree. The half-enderman grabbed the bladesinger by his cloak, and tried to pull him back up to his feet. Unfortunately, Aeon was dead weight.
"Come on, Aeon, snap out of it! We have to get out you of here." Dante shook the bladesinger so hard that he woke up on cue, dazed and still gripping his chest from the knockout blow.
“Auughh…”
“I said, snap out of it!” The half-enderman delivered a hard and brisk slap across Aeon’s face, but it was futile. No amount of shock could possibly bring the bladesinger to his senses so easily.

But amidst the chaos, something caught all three of them off-guard. Dante looked up to the sky, and saw snow beginning to fall. He held out his hand in curiosity, while the rest of the snowfall piled on the ground quickly. But soon, the sky began to darken into the color of obsidian. The few snowflakes that had gathered on the half-enderman’s palm had become jet black, much to his frightful realization. The weather grew colder and colder, surpassing even the frigid temperatures of Nesaak. The dark winter had claimed Troms, and soon endless hordes of corrupted would follow.
"If it weren’t any clearer until now, we are in serious danger! We gotta get the hell out of here, right now!" Dante growled, tugging on Aeon's cloak as he desperately dragged him across the cold grass with a tight grip. The barely conscious bladesinger twitched and convulsed, as he struggled to even move his head.

The dark frost only added to the chaos, reducing their vision to the point where it was impossible to see beyond five meters ahead. Suddenly, a giant metallic hand swooped by from behind the mounds of black snow, and forcibly grabbed Dante by the head.

“WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU’RE OFF TO, RUNT?!”
“AAaaAAaaAUUuGhHH!”
He could felt his skull slowly crushing under the pressure, letting out a loud cry of pain as he began ascending higher and higher off the ground, much to the metal giant’s violent pleasure. Aeon slumped to the ground again, only able to stare hazily as his friend was subjected to the torment of his enemy.

“LET ME GO! NNRAAaaAAaaAUUuGhHH!”
The cries of pain from the Dernic assassin reverberated throughout the corridors of Troms, as his eyes and jaw began to distort violently from the pressure. Blood streaked across his face, flowing from the metallic grip that dug through his skin.

“What’s happening?” Azul whimpered shakingly. Both her hands gripping onto the small dagger of hers, trembling under the snow, and fear. Before the girl could move to Dante’s aid, a strong gust of wind pushed her backwards. She attempted to tread onwards, but the wind continued to pick up speed. With her small slim figure, she was no match for such a tremendous force. It pushed her off her feet, as she lost balance and fell down onto her back. Before she could see it coming, Azul’s legs were anchored to the ground by a layer of clear blue ice.

“Wait…. Since when did-” The girl gasped in horror. Before she could finish, a sharp blue blur flew grazed the assassin’s shoulder. It pierced through the snow, revealing the figure of a lance, before shattering upon contact with the earth beneath.
“AAHH!” The ice shards ricocheted off the walls of a nearby building, piercing Azul’s skin upon contact. They were unbearably cold, even at the slightest touch. Even using all her might, the young girl couldn’t do anything. The rigid ice had shackled her hands and feet to the cracked stone ground. She was helpless.

From afar, Azul could detect a silhouette approaching her. The shadow seemed to be another survivor, but a crystalline object told another story. The last rays of sunlight reflected from the crystal, blinding Azul’s eyes through the mist. Once the light had faded, her eyes widened, as a massive spear was now approaching her, similar to the ones she had recollected from before. Without a doubt, the young assassin knew her attacker was another of the corrupted. But try all she might, she couldn’t escape from the shackles.

This… this is where it all ends… isn’t it…?
Aeon… Dante… if only… we had... more time... together...

Gritting her teeth and tightly shutting her eyes, Azul braced herself for the finishing blow, expecting nothing but a painful end. She could only think of her only two friends that she had ever made in her short life of bitter loneliness and hardship, shedding tears of despair at the face of her imminent demise.