Orc Wars 2 : Lazarus

Chapter 53 - Invading Lazarus' City

Frostblade, Paladin level 66 surveyed the battle field. Everywhere he looked, chaos reigned. The numbers still favoured their side but the gatekeeper was putting up quite a resistance. The initial plan was simple. The Warlocks were to blast the Shield and bring it down. Paladins, Barbarians, Thieves and Priests/Priestesses to secure the perimeter (secure the city and grave site). The two Assassins had the honour of killing the gatekeeper. They had orders to keep killing Lazarus until he levelled down at least two levels. Everyone was ready, everything was to be done quickly. It should have been over in a couple of hours.

The mission had failed.

Who knew mad gatekeeper would have friends with him? Crazy friends who were willing to risk their own lives and sacrifice their armies for him. Couldn't they see the might of his allied forces? They were one hundred thousand strong. Each had brought along five thousand assorted troops for the siege.

To their horror, they had recognised Isis the famed Priestess and Valentine the notorious Thief when they had peeked over the parapet. There were fans of the Gatekeepers among his team. He himself was a fan of several gatekeepers, too bad there was not a Paladin among them. Two gatekeepers plus who knew how many other Heroes were in there with Lazarus.

With the help of Isis, Lazarus had withstood his Warlocks. Four against two, he thought. Only Isis and Lazarus would be linked to the Shield, right? Why didn't they die? Were the gatekeepers that strong? Were they invincible? No, he didn't believe that. Did Valentine help in some way? And then the unimaginable happened. The four Warlocks on his side had died! The City Shield had remained intact.

That shook their confidence. The sixteen Heroes left exchanged uneasy glances. Morale plummeted in their ranks.

"We still have the larger force." The Paladin quickly quelled the restless mumblings. "Remember your orders!"

Luckily, the four warlocks were brought back to life in almost immediately. Hidden to one side, they had come through. The Shield had exploded magnificently.

However, it was the smaller explosion on the wall above the main gates that had truly caught their attention. All eyes stared at that brilliant spot until the glaring light faded. There was a sudden hush as an awed respectful silence rippled throughout the sea of enemies.

Lazarus the legendary Gatekeeper had died.

Frostblade couldn't help but feel a bit sad. It was not fair. They were cheating, but he kept his peace. He was a soldier. His job was to follow orders... and these orders did not just come from the Games Master. They came from the Director herself.

The Paladin drew in a breath, but before he could shout the command to attack, Infantry charged out to attack the troops stationed nearest the City. The Warlocks' soldiers were hit, they were the closest. Wow, that Lazarus really didn't waste any time. He must have put a plan in place in case the Shield went down.

Then armies arrived from all over. He counted five. Five! That meant there were five other lords with Lazarus, didn't it? A huge force came from the direction of the Priestess's City. He gulped nervously. Another force came from the Thief's. Isis and Valentine!! The gatekeepers were helping out. The other three armies were the norm of a normal Players', ranging from 4,500 to 5,500 units.

Now, everyone was engaged in battle. Battle cries and shouts could be heard above the din of clanging weapons. Valentine and Isis' Beasts roared as they attacked. The enemy panicked, they did not have Beasts. None of them had reached level 70. None of them had unlocked those ferocious fighting units. Frostblade was sure they would eventually vanquish the resistance. The attacking forces still had the bigger army. It would just cost them more casualties and take a little longer than expected.