Evolution: A Warlock’s Rise To Power

A little brown bird flew through a window and landed on the table besides Dunnowhosthis as he finished his current alchemical concoction.

"I have something I need you to make. You owe me a favor."

"I won't argue, I do owe you one. What do you need?"

***

Silent was back in the dark stone room. In the doorway stood Bone Crusher.

"If you don't agree to marry me, things are going to get ugly."

"That will never happen. Do your worst."

"Fine, when my people are done with that warlock, I will have them turn their attention to the Cloud Saint Guild. Do you think her second rate organization will be able to last for long against the combined might of the guilds under the Winged Tiger Corporation? I will take everything your sister has away from her."

Silent didn't respond right away. As much as she wanted to see her sister succeeded, she wasn't going to sell herself to give her a better chance. If she gave in, then Bone Crusher would know that he could always find something to pressure her.

"Hmpf, what makes you think you will last long enough to threaten anybody?"

"Do you still think that your precious warlock is going to come and save you? He ran into hiding with his tail between his legs. Nobody has seen him; he won't be coming for you. Everyone I hired to keep him busy has done nothing all day simply because that coward is too afraid to show his face."

Silent could hear somebody running down the hallway.

"Boss, Lucan was spotted in the city! Somehow he slipped past the people we had stationed at the teleporters of nearby cities."

"What!"

*Slam*

Silent could only hear muffled darkness after she was locked into the dark prison cell. She smirked and pulled a fork out of her waistband. She had secretly snatched it during lunch and stashed it in her pants.

***

"Where was he spotted?" Bone Crusher asked as he made his way into the command room of the guild headquarters.

"A low-level player spotted him in the eastern trade district. After receiving the warning from earlier, he immediately left and chose not to tail him, so as to not spook the warlock."

"Good, that was the right call. Send somebody over level 150 to keep an eye on him."

"I already dispatched someone and I have a death squad ready to move once you give the order."

"Let's wait until we get some eyes on him. I want to know what he is up too."

A mid-level player came running into the room.

"I have a report. Lucan was just spotted in the eastern crafting district."

"Hmm, he is moving fast." Bone Crusher said. "Update the player we sent and tell him to change direction and head to the crafting district."

"Yes boss."

There was a pause as he contacted the player.

"Boss, the player we sent to tail him said he has eyes on Lucan… in the northern trade district."

Another player came in to report.

"Boss, we found him in the southern district."

"Guild leader, we found him in the garden district."

"Bone, I just got a report that Lucan is in the western district."

"He is near the stables."

"…"

"…"

Realization struck Bone Crusher. "I know what this is. They are illusions, only one of them is real. Send out players to follow all of them. They will have to attack at the same time to make sure he doesn't escape."

Bone Crusher's subordinate nodded and order a player over level 150 to follow each Lucan.

Elder Beneil walked into the room. "I hear the warlock has managed to infiltrate into the city. Are you even guarding the gates?"

"He has been seen in the city, but it is not known if he has infiltrated. He is a master of illusion, so we are not entirely sure."

"Pathetic, what are you good for. Have you gotten Jenna to agree to marry you yet?"

Bone Crusher sighed. "No matter what I say, she doesn't care."

"If she doesn't want to marry you, then make sure that the warlock doesn't want to marry her."

[File transfer complete]

Bone Crusher opened his computer interface to view the file that Elder Beneil had just sent him.

His face was covered in shock as he viewed the thirty second video clip.

"This..."

"Last month, I had it removed from the internet and media when Holly's ex-boyfriend tried to blackmail her. Holly is the only one who knows about this, she hid it from her family. You can show it to the warlock and say it is Jenna that is in that bed with that man. No one can tell the difference between those twins anyway. Let's see if he still wants to be with her when he sees the date on that video. Then she will have no one else to turn to but you."

"Elder Beneil, isn't this too much?"

"If you want to succeed in business, no measure is too much."

"Guild leader, sorry to interrupt, but we have eyes on over 45 different Lucan's, each has a high level player following them. We are left with only 30 high level players in the headquarters. Should I call back the dungeon teams?"

"Yes, just to be safe, get everyone here."

The player began to contact the different groups of high-level players that were out raiding dungeons and ordered them to return to the guild headquarters.

"Are you that worried about a single warlock?" Elder Beneil asked.

"Our city is stronger than a tier three fortress. I am not worried that we will fall, but that warlock is tricky, I don't want him to cause havoc and alarm our partners. It is best to deal with him quickly."

"BONE CRUSHER!!!!! LET SILENT GO!!! THIS IS YOUR ONLY WARNNING!!!" Said a booming voice that echoed through the city.

Bone Crusher and the others ran out onto the balcony to see Lucan floating on a broom above the center of the city.

"KILL HIM!!!" Bone crusher yelled.

20 arrows flew towards the figure in the sky while the players in hiding jumped out at the other Lucan's spread across the city.

"Boss, we think the Lucan in the sky is the real one. An invisible barrier blocked all the arrows while the players following the other ones reported that their attacks went straight through their targets."

"Quickly get them to come back to the center of the city. Ignore the illusions."

"THERE IS ONLY ONE PATH FOR THOSE WHO OPOSSE ME!!! DEATH AND CARNAGE!!!"

A black book appeared before Lucan. It opened and the pages began to flip on their own. Settling on the right page, the text pulsed and released a flash of magic into the sky.

Thick clouds began to form a thousand feet in the air in the center of the city. The white clouds quickly tuned dark as they blocked out the sun. A fridge air caused the temperature to plummet.

Over one hundred players were charging towards Lucan, led by twenty high level players. The cold winds whipping through the streets knocked them off balance and slowed their pace as it became hard to move when a freezing rain began to fall.

The warlock in the sky sneered at the players running down the street towards him.

As their leader drew close, he raised his staff and prepared to launch a spell.

Before he could cast, a bolt of lightning struck down from the cloud above. The discharge of energy launched him backwards, sending him crashing through a stone wall of a nearby building.

The players near the impact of the bolt fell over backwards while covering their blinded eyes.

Before they could get up, another bolt of lightning fell, blasting a hole through a three-story building and catching it on fire.

*BOOM*

Thunder roared, deafening them. The shockwave of the third lightning bolt knocked them off their feet again. They stumbled around blind and deaf.

Bone Crusher screamed. "KILL HIM!!! HE IS DESTROYING THE CENTRAL MARKET!!! KILL HIM NOW!!!!"

The warlock on the broom kept an unchanging expression and stared at the guild leader in hate and anger.

*Boom* *Clink* *Clink* *Clink* *Boom*

Hail the size of golf balls began to fall with the lightning. The balls of ice pelted the players as they tried to crawl indoors. Windows shattered, stalls on the street were crushed, and roofs began to crack while the citizens tried to flee.

*Boom*

A bolt of lightning struck the center structural beam of an auction house. The building shook from the pounding of the hail and collapsed on the players who had just retread inside.

"KILL HIM NOW!!!!" Bone Crusher screamed.

Another wave of arrows flew from the headquarters towards the warlock in the sky. As they approached the edge of the storm, the winds speed increased. The arrows were plucked from their path and thrown aside. Through the mixture of freezing rain, snow, and hail, all visibility was lost.

*Boom*

Lightning continued to fall on the builds while the thunder shook the structures to their foundation.