The Nexus

The ground began to violently quake outside of the castle as large cracks slowly split the earth like a giant spiderweb. As the cracks grew in size, the houses that surrounded the castle fell into the black chasm.

"Shit!" Batu fell to the ground as the castle shook.

"Ah!" Louise screamed. She hugged tightly onto Batu as the shaking grew even stronger.

Rubble and small stones fell from the ceiling, and ancient portraits that lined the wall crashed onto the ground.

"This is all yer fault, ya rat-faced bastard!" Chin shouted at Jack. Now they were all going to die. If Chin happened to meet Jack again in the afterlife, he was definitely going to beat him up.

"Now, now, this unexpected event was merely a... miscalculation," Jack tried to laugh it off.

The demons roared as they tried to escape armageddon, only to fall right into the chasm. One-by-one, pieces of mountain-sized rocks broke away and disappeared into the darkness.

As the King of Kinsisle perished, so to his kingdom. Into the nothingness below where it will all lay to rest for eternity. What was left was his castle which served as a tomb for the fallen king.

Then, the earthquake stopped.

It was eerily quiet as all the players slowly got back up onto their feet. They breathed out sighs of relief when the storm finally passed. It was fortunate that no one died.

"Holy shit, I thought I was going to die."

"To be honest, I kinda shat my pants just now."

"Bro, get away from us."

"I couldn't help it, guys..."

Suddenly, an all too familiar holographic screen appeared over everyone's heads, and Azrael's voice boomed throughout the throne room.

[It's good to see all of you again! I'm sure you all miss me. Unfortunately, there seems to be about less than half of you left. It just breaks my heart that the rest couldn't be here to enjoy this wonderful moment.]

Azrael drooped his shoulders, showing his most sincere sadness for those who died. A few seconds later, he sprung right back up to his normal, joyful character.

[Oh, well! Anyways, I'm here to congratulate on the spectacular performance that you all have displayed today! The Creator was very pleased with the outcome!]

'This psychotic asshole,' Batu grit his teeth. This monster didn't have any remorse, whatsoever; no, he didn't even care at all.

[What's wrong? You guys don't seem to be in high spirits. Perhaps, this event wasn't very entertaining. But, do not worry, players! There will be future game events that will be much better than this.

But, as of now, I think you all deserve a nice and relaxing break, yeah? I'm sure you do, and that's what I will be explaining today.

Due to the infinite generosity and kindness of The Creator, he has created a place where all players can reside after they complete each main game event! How Spectacular!]

A new world to relax in? In a death game? Yeah, that does not sound fishy.

Not at all.

Batu honestly couldn't tell whether Azrael was telling the truth or just playing some cruel joke on everyone.

[The place you will reside in is called, 'The Nexus.' You will be spending the remaining of your days there until you either die or you've beaten the game.

There will be a 1 week intermission until the next game event begins! Until then, I will see you all next time!

Oh, wait! I almost forgot to mention: a surprise function will be unlocked once you arrive at The Nexus.

Alright, then, ta-ta!]

And just like, Azrael left as fast as he appeared. As soon as he was gone, many of the players began talking shit about the masked man. Of course they would; he had started this whole death game mess.

"Who was that masked guy?" Louise suddenly asked, a frown marred her face.

"That was Azrael; he was that weird, psychotic guy I was talkin' about earlier," he answered with a grim tone.

"Dare I say he's even worse than Jacky boy here?" Chin gave Jack a long side glance.

"Say... I heard Santa was missing an elf last night; he had a jolly red beard and about this tall," Jack dropped his hand below his waist, clearly mocking Chin.

"I swear to God, I'mma kill ya one day!" Chin shouted in anger much to Jack's delight.

A bright white light suddenly enveloped everyone in the room, and in a blink of an eye, they disappeared, leaving the fallen kingdom to rest for eternity.

Soon, the white light faded away, and they found themselves in an open area surrounded by beautiful architecture.

If Batu could describe this place, it was like a fantasy world but with modern technology, because that was exactly what he saw. It was exotic, yet breathtaking.

There were a wide variety of people in this place. Humans, elves, beastmen, you name it. Some wore armor both metal and cloth, and some dressed in regular, everyday clothes.

'They might be players as well,' Batu thought to himself.

"Wow..." Louise muttered out loud. The buildings were so elegant and beautiful here. It felt like she was back in her world. But, everything here was much more advanced than back at home.

They weren't the only group of players here. Just beside them, three more groups of players appeared as white beams of light vanished around them. These players were just as confused as they were.

"Welcome, new players!" Four women in black suits greeted all of them in unison.

"My name is Emiko, a servant of Uriel," A woman with a silver pony tail and square glasses bowed her head.

"H-hello, my name is Ava, s-servant of Ariel," she spoke in a quiet tone. The woman, no, girl had soft orange hair that was tied into twin pigtails, and her eyes were like beautiful emeralds. She was also the shortest of the four.

"Charlotte; servant of Muriel," she simply said in monotone. Charlotte was cool and reserved with short, blue hair and a pair of bright sapphire eyes.

"And I'm Lu Mei, a servant of Azrael; remember it," a woman with hair as bright as flames spoke. Her golden eyes were like burning suns; full of energy.

The sleeves of her suit were ripped off, exposing her lean muscles. "I welcome you newbies into your new hell."

Adjusting her glasses, Emiko spoke again, "As our duty, we are here to guide and accommodate you in The Nexus where you will be staying until either you've either beaten the game or upon death."

"And don't think we're just here to babysit you!" Lu Mei yelled out. "It's a dog-eat-dog world here, so you'll have to learn how to survive out here on your own!"

"Anyways," Emiko cleared her throat. "Each group will follow one of us. Those who had Uriel as a host will come with me; Ariel with Ava, Muriel with Charlotte and Azrael with Lu Mei."

And so, the group of players split up, going to their designated guides. It seemed that Batu was going to be stuck with that feisty redhead as a guide.