n

n

nAfter a five-day break, Inferno went back to work. Nix released Jiggs from his petrified state before stopping to see how Barnabas and Nightmare were doing. His stablehand Rand was sitting on the fourth rail of the corral.

n

"Hey, Boss.

"

n

"How's Nightmare doing?

"

nRand shook her head slightly.

"It's like you said, she's in heat. All indicators point to her being bred... I'm just not sure how.

"

nNix chuckled and kept walking toward the Keep.

"I'll explain how everything works later.

"

nRand stared at her boss as he walked away before feeling her face slowly turn red.

"I know how that works,

" muttered to herself before looking at Barnabas.

"He's got no thingie!

"

nLeva was waiting near the entrance to the Dragon Fir tree. Her dark eyes followed Nix's every step.

"I've got preliminary scouting reports from Colonial and Oasis.

"

nNix's hud buzzed for a moment.

"Sounds good. I'll look at them in a bit.

" The Inferno Leader offered Leva a smile and then opened the door for her.

"After you.

"

nThe first level of the TOC was divided into three nearly identical sections. Rows of tables and chairs surrounded a central area where the Command staff could give briefings. Most of the seats were already filled when Nix walked in. Semmi, Jun Li, Commander Mtui, and War Leader Mortimus stood in front of a large circular platform where a holographic map of Colonial was displayed.

n

/Inferno: Nix: Take your seats and pay attention. We have our work cut out for us.

nNix paused until he had everyone's attention.

"Let me start by introducing the tasks of our key players. Warleader Mortimus will be heading up the Everspire Offensive. The Titan clans have the strength and manpower to deal directly with the threat to their lands. Unless they ask for assistance, we will leave that to them for now.

"

nMortimus raised a large hand.

"I'll give a short briefing when Nix finishes up the overview. The Everspire Offensive will be on the second floor.

"

nNix gestured toward Commander Mtui.

"Commander Mtui will be in charge of logistics. This means cycling fighters and supplies where we need them.

"

nMtui bowed slightly.

"Logistics will be on the third floor.

"

nNix uploaded the data Leva gave him to the displayed holo-map.

"As you can see, the major landmasses in Colonial all have a monster mark on them. This signifies what I'm going to refer to as a regional boss. There are four of these guys in Colonial; located in Jhabi, Escavar, the Central Kingdom, and Broyan.

" The Inferno leader turned toward Leva and gestured for her to take over.

nLeva's dark eyes stared at the members of Inferno for a moment before she stepped forward.

"The regional bosses are very strong, too strong for the 50 level heroes who make up most Colonial. A few guilds attempted to take them down, but they were wiped out.

"

n

"Our objectives have names.

" Nix highlighted the regional bosses;

"Barrot, Chenzo, Lessard, and Parux.

"

nCommander Mtui held up his hand.

"May I ask a question?

"

nLeva nodded.

"Of course.

"

nMtui placed camp markings on the map close to the bosses.

"What are the Colonial Guilds doing now?

"

n

"The Regional bosses are surrounded by low and mid-level creatures. The guilds have been thinning them out.

"

n

"We need to establish footholds for these guilds.

" Mtui pointed to the marks he made on the map.

"We'll set up war camps and steady supply lines. That will give the guilds a chance to hunt.

"

nNix studied the map, the monster mark for Broyan was actually in the water between Safarza, Broyan, and Glory city.

"Are the oceans freezing? Why is this regional boss here?

"

nLeva nodded.

"The oceans in close vicinity to the regional bosses have frozen over. This also happened between North and South Jhabi.

"

nNix zoomed in on Glory City.

"Our first objective in Colonial is Barrot. We'll take back Glory City and clean out the trash from Safarza and Broyan.

"

nMtui opened his personal hud.

"I'll establish the Warcamp for Safarza immediately.

"

n

/Inferno: Semmi: Most of the major cities have been overrun; however, we were able to evac the non-combatants to the Nether.

n

/Inferno: Jun Li: We haven't mentioned Oasis. That's because Inferno has decided to take back Colonial first. Southern Ain'Dhassi and the Izzin territory are the only allied holdings left in Oasis. The 12 Pillars are in Avalon; they will start clearing out the Oasis trash.

n

/Inferno: Ronnie: No word from Parliament?

n

/Inferno: Jun Li: No.

n

/Inferno: Fajii: What about Raine? And the Fir'Dhassi?

n

/Inferno: Jun Li: Nothing.

nWhisper Fajii to Nix We can't let anything happen to Raine.

nWhisper Nix to Fajii I won't. She's resourceful; the Fir'Dhassi aren't helpless. I'll go get her myself if we don't get word from her.

nNix held up his hand to get everyone's attention.

"We'll be breaking off into ten-person teams to take down the Regional bosses. All available combatants are to standby here in the TOC on the Fourth or Fifth level. If you're someplace else, then you won't get a spot on the offensive.

"

n***************

nChiba threw an arm around Nix's shoulder.

"I missed my apprentice!

"

nNix shrugged out of her grip.

"You seemed pretty content to help Mtui in the Bone Fortress!

"

nChiba's old face broke into a creepy smile.

"After this is over, I'll want a favor from you.

"

nNix shook his head.

"Denied.

"

nInferno: Nix: We'll be in five-person groups for hunting. Once the surrounding mobs are cleared away, the two groups will unite and take down Barrot.

nAlpha

nNix

nChiba

nBeta

nRabi

nWind

nBravo

nSemmi

nPon

nJun Li

nRonnie

nNezbit

n

/Inferno: Semmi: We'll give the guilds a chance to get some xp before we clean up. Two days and we're going in. Until then, feel free to roam the area around our target. Any intel you can gather might be useful.

n

/Inferno: Nix: We will switch out people for the next boss, so if you aren't picked this time, don't be alarmed.

n

/Inferno: Jun Li: If you see the mid-tier guilds struggling, feel free to give them a hand.

n

/Inferno: Nix: On the last note, my Breach Commander abilities will be blocked again in two weeks. Leva and Commander Mtui will be assuming all Breach requests.

n***********

n0100, North of the Safarza War Camp

nNix watched as the mid-tier guilds continued to cycle in and out of the War Camp. The Ice Howlers gave off great experience and loot for the mid-tier groups.

n

"Slow going. It takes an entire group of mid-tier to deal with one Howler.

" Del spoke from beside him.

n

"It's perfect. These guys are grinding. With so many groups out there, they should be pretty far in two days.

" Nix stealthed and left the camp at a trot, followed closely by the Orion.

nOver the next few hours, Nix and Del would help out the occasional group that looked as if they might wipe. It was a couple of easy hours of sword and claw fighting.

nNix paused and checked his map. They moved into the cliff paths that bordered Northern Safarza. Tracks on the snow indicated that there was a large pack of Ice Howlers close by.

nDragon Eyes

nNix leaned back against the frozen rock wall that looked down on the path where the two of them had walked almost an hour before. A handful of Ice Howlers had picked up their trail and were giving chase. Instead of waiting, Nix jumped the 10 meters to the frozen path below them.

nHe hit the ground in a roll and came up with both bone hilts.

"Looking for us?

" Nix pushed Emerald Fury flames into the bone hilts, causing both of them to vibrate in his hand.

nThe front two charged immediately, but before the trailers could follow, a black Orion landed nimbly in front of them.

nNix stepped around the first howler's attack, slashing at his throat while piercing the second's heart with a direct thrust. The first howler's head flopped onto the ground in a spray of crimson, while the second exhaled its fetid breath in Nix's face before dying while still standing.

nDel took a minute to finish off the last three; the help she expected from Nix hadn't come.

"Something up, Nix?

"

nNix nodded. Since Del was tearing through them, instead of lending a hand, he tried to witness the phenomena he noticed during his kills.

"It isn't visible unless Dragon Eyes is active; when one of these creatures is killed, a bit of their energy escapes.

"

nDel used the snow to wipe the blood from her paws.

"Escapes into the air?

"

n

"Kinda... Nix pointed North.

"These were tiny streamers, barely even noticeable.

"

nFrenzy has sent you a friend request.

nNix's face broke into a wide grin as he accepted the friend request.

nWhisper: Frenzy to Nix Are you going to help me or what?

nNix's laughter carried on the wind, alerting several nearby Ice Howler to his presence. He activated his Emerald Fury aura, lighting up the night like a bonfire.

"Time to play, Del.

"

nNix kept the small clearing saturated in flames; the Howlers strong enough to make it to them were easily cut down by sword and claw. The duo tore through the pack of thirty like you'd expect from an elite pair. The entire time, the Inferno Leader wore an ear-to-ear grin.

nDel rubbed her wet nose against his arm.

"Have you finally gone crazy?

"

n

"What's that mean?

" Nix rested a hand on her head.

"Sometimes funny things happen.

" He walked toward the opening of a large cave and raised his voice.

"All clear!

"

nA woman dressed in black exited the cave a moment later; she had two skeleton guards that followed her movement. She frowned at the Inferno Leader.

"You lied to me! But... under the circumstances, I forgive you.

"

nNix chuckled at the necromancer's expression.

"I didn't think you were actually stuck in a cave in Safarza.

"

n

"I told you I was!

" The mid-tier Salamander Guild Leader gave him the stink eye.

"Thank you.

"

nNix shrugged slightly.

"Welcome, Yams.

"

n