Dalgaard’s group - with Kaldalis in tow - emerged from the jungle on the eastern side of the camp. As soon as they got out of the trees and into the clearing, the sounds of combat were audible around the corner of the Jormongumo’s defensive wall.

“Perfect,” Dalgaard said, gesturing up at the wall. “We trained them well, didn’t we?”

Kaldalis followed the gesture and quickly realized what they meant. There were no guards here. No lookouts to raise the alarm about the force flanking them. Dalgaard’s periodic raids had been an act of tactical conditioning. The Jormongumo sent everything to the front at the first sign, because the raiders had only ever come as one small group, attacking from one side. With their numbers falling and the stakes rising, they had grown sloppy. They’d amassed all their resources to answer the familiar threat, and taken no precautions against a change of plans.

“As soon as we’re in sight,” Voker said, “I’m going hard and I’m going fast.”

Myrin snorted at that, but he ignored her.

Their group approached the corner, the sounds of battle growing louder until Voker decided he was in view of the Jormongumo and started to sprint heedlessly towards the fight.

The battle lines looked a lot different from what Kaldalis remembered the last time, though that may have been from his viewpoint being on the ground now. The Jormongumo seemed much more formidable now that they were visibly towering over the adventurers. What’s more, they looked to be better-armed than what Kaldalis had seen before. None of them were relying on their claws and fangs, instead all bearing manufactured weapons.

Were their numbers so thinned that they finally had as many weapons as they had warriors? Or had they anticipated Kaldalis’s betrayal and prepared themselves for a decisive final battle?

Just the same, if they’d anticipated him leading Dalgaard back with an army, they hadn’t anticipated the flank. Shouts of alarm came quickly from the wall, and the Jormongumo scrambled to split their forces and intercept them.

They were too slow.

Voker - with Dalgaard and Kaldalis right behind - was past the perimeter and behind their lines, rushing the gate.

For a brief moment, Kaldalis looked up and met Ara’s eyes. She was standing on the wall right where they’d stood together just an hour or so ago. As soon as she saw him, her eyes went dark, and six more opened on her face. Kaldalis felt a stab of fear at the sight of it, but the expression on her face was not rage. It was fear. She saw her death coming - once and for all - and she was afraid.

Ara leaped off the wall, passing out of sight, and a handful of Jormongumo lunged into the way, blocking entrance to the ruined town. They were in their monstrous forms, but they wore no armor. Some carried weapons, but others held tools like shovels and shears.

These were the civilians, not the guards.

Innocent, regardless of their heritage.

These were the exact people that he had sought to protect, and they were throwing their lives in his path to Ara.

And to Dalgaard, their army, and their mercenaries, they were just monsters to be slain.

They could easily be overrun with strength and steel. But to keep them alive, Kaldalis had to use his brains. He wished he had a month to plan. Or a holocaust cloak and a wheelbarrow. In the absence of such tools, he would have to improvise.

“My men are here!” Kaldalis bellowed. “I am here! But soon you will not be here!”

Despite the animosity between them, Voker whooped out a laugh at that before adding: “all your worst nightmares are about to come true!”

“No survivors!” Dalgaard screamed right as Voker met the line of hapless - and visibly terrified - civilians.

The fight for the gate was brief. Despite Dalgaard’s threat to leave no survivors, no attempt was made to pursue those who broke and fled. Voker danced around the battlefield gathering the foes up and the remaining mercenaries overwhelmed their paltry defenses, sending them running once they were wounded enough that the aggro system would let them.

Kaldalis held back, staying his hand, and so did Balrim and Myrin. The last thing he wanted was to accidentally kill an innocent seamstress or gardener who had been dragged into a fight that should have been between Dalgaard and Ara alone. Myrin looked antsy to see everyone around them engaged in combat while she stood with her hands in her pockets, but she was following Kaldalis’s lead.

“They’re all heading north,” Voker snapped as the last was run off. “Probably all huddled together neatly for us. We can finish them off. These were chumps, let’s make them into chunks.”

“No,” Kaldalis said quickly, turning to Dalgaard. “We aren’t here to bleed them anymore. We’re here to end this. To the center of town. The big building. Ara will be there.”

Once more, he was pulling that guess out of his ass, but it felt right. What he knew about her from their earlier encounters was not foolproof, but he had a good idea of her character. She’d seen her death coming for her. If fear overcame sense, she would instinctively gravitate towards safety - the tablet - whether or not she logically knew it wouldn’t help her anymore.

“As he says,” Dalgaard snapped at Voker. “To the big building. Once this is over, we’ll have all the death we can stomach.” They smirked. “Well, we will. We all know your appetite for it is a bit heartier than most.”

There wasn’t time for a good laugh at the joke. The third group Dalgaard had designated - the one that was neither Voker’s mercenaries or the initial raid feint - were watching their back, preventing the Jormongumo fighters from closing in behind them. They didn’t have all day to stand in the cleared gate and make fun of Voker.

The ruined town was empty now. It reminded Kaldalis of what it had looked like when Onirioago had led them here to put an end to the attacks on Cotanaku. He’d just been marched through here as a prisoner earlier today and seen it full of life. Had it been so heavily populated this whole time? Were the civilians that good at hiding, or had Ara evacuated them? It couldn’t have been a game mechanic; they didn’t have the same system-generated quest to clear out the settlement as the first time.

Despite that, there was a similar encounter waiting for them outside the large building where the tablet waited. Three Jormongumo, well-armed and fully armored, waiting to bar their way. Only this time, they weren’t just monsters to Kaldalis’s eyes. They were people. More than that, Kaldalis recognized one of them. The one on the left was the woman who had led the group who had stood against Ara. If there was an ally to be found amongst these monsters, that was her.

“Stand down,” Kaldalis said quickly to Voker and Dalgaard. “I think I can handle this one.”

“I’m not giving you all the glory,” Voker snapped.

“Easy there, dumbass,” Kaldalis said, pulling out his spear and making a show of handing it to Balrim. “I’m going to try this rad new weapon. You should try it sometime. I call it my fucking brain.”

“Stand back,” the Jormongumo in the center snapped as Kaldalis stepped forward. “You go no farther while I draw breath!”

Kaldalis looked at her for a moment, and then looked back at the raid group assembled behind him. Despite the eight-armed monsters’ imposing visages threatening statures, it was very clear how this was going to end if it came to combat.

“I’m not here to kill you,” Kaldalis said, raising his empty hands to show that he was unarmed. “I’m here to help you. This doesn’t have to end in violence.”

“How dare you!” the woman on the left snapped, slithering up beside the leader. “How dare you prove me right? Ara put her faith in you, as did we all, and this is the result? Treachery? Betrayal?”

“That’s not what this is!” Kaldalis said. “If I was here for betrayal, the civilians you threw in our path would be dead. The fighters at the front would be hunting for kills instead of letting you run when wounded.” He gestured back towards where Balrim stood. “I’d have my spear in hand and be smacking you down with it! Just listen to me for one second.”

“You were the chosen one,” she yelled back, obviously not ready to listen to what he had to say. “The prophecies said you would deliver us from extinction, not deliver our doom right into our hearts!”

“That’s what I’m here for, I promise,” Kaldalis said, putting a hand to his heart. “I’m here to bring balance to you, not leave you in darkness! You wanted the violence and death to end. This is your chance. Surrender, and we can discuss terms. Your prophecy calls for a sacrifice, right? This is it. Lay down your arms. Stand aside. Let it end.”

Despite her fury, the Jormongumo hesitated. At the mention of the prophecy the other two had started, but he’d said the words he needed to break through to the one focused on him in fury. That may have been the magic word to turn this fight into a dialogue. Maybe this could end without-

“Now!” Dalgaard snapped.

While all eyes had been on Kaldalis, Voker had circled around to the flank, and now lunged out at the Jormongumo. His blade jabbed into the side of the one on the far right, and while she was stunned and startled by the unexpected attack, he danced past her to attack the one in the center, drawing her aggro as well.

The rest of the mercenaries surged forward, having used the brief distraction to form ranks and prepare their movement skills to let them close the distance. In seconds, the tension that had been teetering towards surrender had exploded into battle.

“Traitor!” the Jormongumo on the left shrieked, her hesitation replaced by rage all over again. She lunged straight for Kaldalis.

So much for a dialogue.