Resolve

"Wen, the bombs have been planted. They're waiting for your signal," Frisk informed Wen.

"Great job. Now we wait for Cecil to arrive. Once Cecil reaches our location, he will be too busy with us to head back.," replied Wen.

Wen, Garth, and Tank were with their army of NPCs and players lined up and ready for battle. They numbered to about 250 in all. The artillery group composed of their best sharpshooters was lined up behind the front lines, taking cover in trenches reminiscent of World War I warfare. Ileanna and Li Yuan briefed the members of their strategy. Lastly, their dragon army stayed hidden in sight, only to be brought out when healing is needed or when the enemy summons spawner portals.

"They're approaching!" Alice shouted from above. She was riding on Kimmy the flying carp and using binoculars to stay on the lookout.

"How many?" Wen asked.

"Cecil and... and army of undead!?"

"Any subordinates?"

"I see about 20 people who look human."

"Focus on those 20 people. Take them down first!" Wen instructed the others.

"Cool. I didn't know I was signing up for a zombie apocalypse war," said Tank as he sharpened his sword with a whetstone.

In about a few seconds, the enemy was in sight. Cecil's undead army outnumbered them considerably, but that didn't make them feel discouraged. When they reached a certain portion of the map, Wen gave a signal. Almost immediately, bombs detonated underneath the enemy, forming craters that caused several skeleton soldiers to fall in. Cecil himself almost fell inside. A few of his subordinates were caught in the trap.

Cecil cursed. "Landmines?"

The bombs didn't stop detonating. By the time the enemy got through the barrage, their number was effectively cut in half. By this time, they were in the range of the artillery. Bullets and arrows rained on the enemy. Cecil deflected the incoming attacks with a wind spell. The projectiles merely dropped without hitting their target.

"Do you really intend to fight me, Wen? Let's see your resolve!" Cecil shouted with a loud voice.

Cecil planted his hands on the ground. A high and thick wall made of earth rose up in between Cecil's army and theirs. Tank attempted to punch through it, but it was too thick and sturdy.

Wen cursed and signaled the artillery group. Using crossbows, they shot arrows with ropes tied to them and climbed to the top of the wall. The dragons followed and picked up the remaining players.

No wall was going to stop them.

"Frisk, tell Sphinx to detonate the bombs," Wen instructed as he got on a dragon. "And tell the Noctis Noir girls to get moving to the top."

***

"What in the world was that?" Jasmine held on to a tree to keep her footing. The ground trembled for a few seconds earlier.

"Whatever is happening down there must be pretty intense," said Sphinx.

"Are we missing all the action?" Epsilon wondered.

"Wen said to detonate the bombs," Frisk's voice was on.

"Alright!" Sphinx cheered. "We finally get some action here."

Epsilon laughed like a villain. "Time to sow destruction!"

"Finally... It's my time to shine!" Frisk was excited.

Inside the headquarters, the bombs went off one by one. This alerted the enemy players left inside. They were about to send a message to the rest of the members outside the base when suddenly...

"Ladies and gentlemen of the crazy Cecil cult, you are listening to Frisk Radio!"

Their communication lines were breached by a strange man!

"I dedicate this song to all the lovely ladies out there." Music started playing. Frisk sang his heart out. He thought he sounded like one of those cool idol celebrities when he really just sounded like a dying animal.

"What is this noise!?" The players covered their ears.

"We can't get in touch with Cecil and Vi."

"Let's exit the base!"

The moment they made it outside, they encountered two assassins and a dark mage with a giant marionette.

"Marionette, crush!" Razette Epsilon, who was by now full of bottled up blood lust, unleashed her deadly energy and rushed at them like an atomic bomb. They were all defeated in an instant, to her disappointment. "Humph. Weaklings. I need more people to destroy."

"Woah, woah. Hold it there, Epsi," Sphinx tried to calm her down. "We can either ambush Vi's group or aid Wen and the others. I think we did enough damage here."

"I vote ambush." Epsilon cracked her knuckles. "I've been wanting to give Vi a good beating."

***

Lyngvi stood in front of a pile of dead NPCs. They had been fooled. He expected this to happen, yet he allowed himself to fall for their trap.

"Tell base to look out for any suspicious activity," Lyngvi instructed one of the subordinates with him.

"Base isn't responding. I only hear a faint sound of a banshee screaming."

Lyngvi's expression turned serious. "Something must have happened back at headquarters. Let's head back..."

"Aah!" Suddenly, one of his men was dragged deep inside the woods and silenced.

"They're here!" Lyngvi warned his men.

"Help!" Another one followed.

It continued until Lyngvi managed to stop one and draw out the culprit.

The dark mage Razette Epsilon stepped out of a bush looking like she just acquired a weapon of mass destruction. Her smile was sinister like the villain of any superhero movie. "Yo, Ling Ling."

"It's you again," said Lyngvi with a frown.

"Stubborn, aren't you? Even after Tank forgave you and Lyria went easy on you... You still chose this path."

Lyngvi was silent. He couldn't really say no to Cecil without getting killed. After all, he didn't have his abilities when Cecil rescued him from prison.

"Where is Lyria?" He changed the topic.

"I might tell you if you surrender." Epsilon smirked.

Lyngvi laughed. "Are you alone?"

Epsilon shrugged. "Who knows?"

Jasmine and Sphinx came out of nowhere and attacked Lyngvi at the same time. Lyngvi lifted his hands and instinctively blocked both their attacks. He did a counterattack that sent both assassins flying. Sphinx landed on a bush while Jasmine hit a tree trunk.

"I guess you've got company," said Lyngvi.

Epsilon playfully spun her scythe before pointing the tip of her blade at the celebrity idol. "Let's end this once and for all."

Jasmine and Sphinx recovered quickly and readied to aid in the fight.

"Three against one isn't fair," Lyngvi commented.

Epsilon rolled her eyes. "Oh please. You outnumbered us before we took down your underlings."

Lyngvi had no choice. He had to face his former allies in another battle.