Everlast Online

The guild war between Walpurgis and Wolf Fang arrived quicker than most had expected.

As each day passed more and more people began to talk about it, the war even receiving new coverage thanks to the soaring popularity of ELO that made game events just as relevant as real world ones.

With the first guild war between relevant guilds people began to discuss the possibility of real war being fought in VR; people began to bet on the outcome; children debated enthusiastically about how much fun they would have; and older crowds scorned others for caring so much despite being well invested themselves.

The strangest thing was that [Walpurgis VS Wolf Fang] was not the first guild war, nor was it a guild war between mega guilds. And yet, in a paradoxical way, it would likely define how all future guild wars would be fought - a responsibility that had always been given to the most powerful guilds at the time.

Under normal circumstances Walpurgis would be a mundane and unimpressive group, no different than any other guild established in ELO. It was only its leader, Smokey - the player perceived to be above all others - that made anyone care.

Wolf Fang as well was not too impressive. They were a guild of mercenaries that filled in slots for other guilds when they were understaffed for an important raid - Wolf Fang was of course the best and most well known, but they were still just mercenaries at the end of the day.

Camelot had provided many ways to watch the matches and events.

All events would be directly streamed to the forums that were free for anyone to watch, but they had also approved the request made by one of the largest video-game streaming sites to have it uploaded to their site as well. For those playing ELO, they could actually view the games in person if one could call it that. Their avatars would be transported to a viewing area that could not interfere with the game but would always have a near perfect view - much like a stadium with private and public viewing areas.

Liz was ready to begin, she had already designated who would be playing for each round and was simply waiting at her meeting table with her guild members for the timer to hit zero. She had even recalled all of her undead after she began to wonder whether or not she would have access to them in the event space should they not have been stored prior; there were some other worries on her part after those actions, like the reappearance of the holy magicians, but she had seen neither hide nor hair of them since her first death.

As she waited in silence the final system screen appeared, Liz steeled her resolve and prepared for the transport.

As the timer reached its end Liz felt a similar, yet different feeling overwhelm her.

She felt weightless as a universe seemed to pass her by. It was just like when her character had been first created, only rougher; the first time was like a gentle, guiding hand while the second was closer to a rough tug pulling her as it pleased.

Soon her vision cleared up and she found herself in a completely different place.

As she looked around she found that it was similar to pictures she had seen of old roman colosseums, large and daunting stone walls towered over her as though she was an animal in a cage; seating laid atop that very wall with a number of large sections completely isolated from others - private areas that would keep out the common folk.

Despite her discomfort Liz enjoyed the sight; the slight smell of blood in the air; the feeling of the wind as it blew dust around. Everything felt so... Real. This was nothing new of course, but it was the first time Liz had directly seen ELO copy something from real life that she could know for certain was a real replication of the past.

After her moment of awe, Liz realised she was alone, her guild nowhere in sight. She didn't feel too worried, but it was unnerving to find herself isolated in such a place; however, she soon saw another person.

A large, red-skinned man with threatening horns protruding from his forehead. His muscular body could not be hidden behind the loose clothes he wore, tribalistic tattoos covering both his exposed arms and running up his neck with sharp teeth on clear display as he grinned widely at Liz.

An ogre? Liz thought, seemingly recognising the monster. Guess he's the boss of Wolf Fang then. Got a pretty good race too.

Liz had seen ogres in ELO, but not red ones. The ones she had seen were similar in colour to goblins and were noticeably less muscular than the red ogre in front of her.

It did not take long for echoes of noise to ripple through the stadium, each of the seats being filled with an uncountable number of fans - uncountable not due to their number, but the strange haziness that blocked Liz from seeing them clearly in the stands.

Yet even this could not keep her attention long as a powerful aura washed over the arena with even the ogre feeling it. It was something Liz had become familiar with, having met with such a feeling twice already.

It was like the air, no, the world around her had become just slightly out of place; that tiny amount more chaotic. It was a familiar feeling, but not identical to those she had felt previously.

The first time she had felt such an aura was when creating her character, but that time was much sweeter, like Liz had fallen asleep in a bed of honey.

The second time was upon the manifestation of Ouroboros, but that time was much more sinister; Liz didn't feel that whatever was approaching was out to harm her even if it was clearly much stronger.

"... An immortal..." Liz muttered.

In a burst of lights, like fireworks appearing right in front of her face, a figure appeared. One dressed similarly to how Nina did, a jester with flamboyant clothing and colours.

"Ta-Da!" He yelled, shaking his hands and creating confetti from nowhere as he floated through the air. He appeared to be a young child, a young boy, with a large grin while lounging around, "Who's ready for war!?"

With his yell, cheers rippled through the stadium. Liz could hear whispers that whoever this was did not appear in any of the previous guild wars and began to wonder if that was a good or bad thing.

"Why it's a great thing, little one." Liz heard a sultry voice whisper into her ear, she jumped away; finding a beautiful woman with long, flowing red hair and curves that would put any woman to shame. Her lips were decorated in pink lipstick that complimented her hair and a smile that would cause even the most stoic men to swoon, "It means I find you interesting enough to visit in person."

Just as that boy had been, the woman was the centre of the chaotic aura; causing even more confusion for Liz as the boy was gone completely.

"He's not gone, dear." The woman said, her voice changing as she did, "I just got bored of that shape."

By the end of her sentence she was no longer a she, but a large and muscular man; it was only as they changed right in front of her that Liz realised all three figures were wearing the same clothes: An excessively extravagant jester costume.

The muscular man winked at Liz before floating back into the sky, a microphone appearing in his hands as she addressed the crowd.

"Welcome mortals to a guild war that actually matters!" He yelled, shifting back into the shape of the little boy that had first appeared, "I shall be your MC for this wonderful event, but I'm sure your feeble little minds are wondering who exactly that is!"

Cheers and shouts of agreement came in response, the boy soaking them all in with his wide grin.

"Well, get ready to tremble with excitement!" He called out, playing even more into the theatrics as he curled into a ball in the air, "For I am, the one, the only, the beautiful, the talented, the amazing, the intelligent..."

He continued to list positive attributes for a minute longer and caused the crowd to become more and more restless with annoyance.

"... The deadly and merciful: LOKI, God of Mischief and Trickery!" With his final shout, the entire crowd was silenced before erupting into raucous cheering and excitement. 

The players of ELO knew of the existence of gods within ELO, but not a single one of them had even come close to seeing one, let alone meeting them.

The cheering continued as Loki seemed to bask in all of the attention, laughing and smiling as the crowd became louder and louder before he finally silenced them all in another display of fireworks, one displaying his exact image into the sky above the colosseum.

"Now, my lovely, little mortals, you may be wondering why the god of tricks and fun is overlooking a war like this instead of someone more fitting; say, that uptight asshole, Ares, or even someone like Gaia who cares a lot for you worthless ants." Loki's voice was tinged with the slightest amount of venom, the air of the colosseum becoming sinister and silent, "Well of course the answer is... I wanted to piss off my stuck up brother and dad since they're on the verge of an actual war! isn't that fuckin' dumb!?"

His laughter echoed through the colosseum as it once again changed along with his form, the crowd joined in a few moments after.

The chaotic aura makes sense. Liz thought, still not entirely comfortable to come into direct contact with another immortal creature. Even Ouroboros had been sealed and could barely exert any of his power, but Loki seemed entirely unrestrained.

The world was in awe as what was already an important event in ELO had revealed the first confirmed sighting of a divine being, most not having witnessed Gaia while creating their character.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha!..." Loki's laughter soon came to a stop as they began to do their job as an MC, "And so we begin it all, the battle between two mortals just the slightest bit more impressive than the rest and their factions too."

"On this side, the littlest undead at barely a metre tall is the ominous and wicked Abandoned Doll: Smokey Silver!!." Loki floated over to Liz, making a big show of the difference in their heights with a hand she made Liz's introduction, "What she lacks in physicality and ability to get onto the big-girl rides at theme parks she more than makes up for in her magic and summoning; Little Smokey being a terror inducing necromancer!"

Cheers echoed through the crowd again as those who wanted Walpurgis to win showed their support; and right as the crowd began to quiet down Loki floated over to the only other person in the arena, beginning his introduction.

"And in opposition to her, we have this hunk of red meat right here! No bones, no organs, no brains! Just muscles powered by pure stupidity: WOLF!" Loki's introduction once again received a wave of laughter as they sat themselves down on Wolf's shoulder, literally sprawling their entire body over his head and shoulders, "With arms like his he'd probably be able to punch through solid steel, but don't ask him how to spell it or you might be the next target of his muscles and magic; Wolf here wielding the power of a battle mage!"

Even more cheers rippled through the stadium as everyone agreed that Loki seemed to make things that much more fun; at least for those who could compare it to the previous guild wars they had seen.

Just as perfectly timed as before, Loki continued to introduce the game.

"And now we decided our opening act!" With a click of their fingers an impossibly large, golden roulette machine appeared above them; diamonds and other gems coating everywhere across its surface, "Let's see what's going on!"

With another click of their fingers the handle of the machine crashed down and the machine began to spin; different icons for the three different events flashing by, but with another picture Liz didn't quite recognise mixed in.

With a rumbling crack, each of the three slots came to a stop; the first event chosen:

"And there we have it folks!" Loki called out.

"We start with the EQUALISER!"

Meanwhile at Camelot a video of an exceptionally beautiful woman dressed in green looked at a video of the guild war with wide eyes.

"WHAT THE FUCK ARE THEY DOING THERE!"