There was no stunned silence in response to Dawnbreaker’s words. None of us were idiots, and we were here for a reason. Dawnbreaker was not successfully placed under Lord Ignatius’ thrall, which meant that we all had a job to do.

Everyone kicked into gear, two dozen people each playing their part. I saw Petrov’s ice start to grow denser around Dawnbreaker again, I heard Petrov start chanting his buffs, and Adia readied her knives.

Lord Ignatius rose and backed away. Forming a fist with his left hand, he activated five rings on his fingers. Five overlapping layers of shimmering, blue shields appeared around his body, coating every inch of his skin.

I felt some of the tension in my chest fade. Of course, Lord Ignatius would be prepared.

The ten of us standing by Lord Ignatius started to retreat with him. But before we could even take our first step, Dawnbreaker moved.

The first thing I noticed was that her unisuit suddenly appeared around her, fully encompassing her.

Silver spikes jutted out of her unisuit, cracking the block of ice that trapped the majority of her body.

It only took a split second for the ice to shatter. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Petrov go pale.

The moment she was free, a dozen attacks rained on her.

She ignored almost all of them, letting them land on her fully formed armor, sidestepping only Hank’s hammer.

Then she lashed out with her right arm. As the arm moved, the armor around it grew, forming a whip that extended forward like a continuation of her arm.

A dozen blades and spells met with the whip, but nothing could deter it.

I was reminded of what Samantha had said—as long as it was connected to Dawnbreaker, it could reinforce itself.

The whip flew towards Amos, who was standing next to me. Amos sliced at it quickly and frantically, but the whip ignored Amos’s blade, and the blade was unable to cut through the whip.

The whip reached its full length, right above Dawnbreaker’s sword and pouch.

Then, the end of the whip forked into two different ends, one wrapping around the sword, and the other wrapping around the pouch.

I joined in with my attacks as well, landing a heavy blow on Dawnbreaker’s whip, but the armor didn’t seem close to running out of fluid. It felt like hitting a metal wall.

This whole time, a dozen more attacks were flying Dawnbreaker’s direction. She just dodged what she could, and tanked what she couldn’t. Her whole body was once again covered in her silver armor, and none of our attacks could crack it.

With a quick flip of her wrist, and a sudden crack from the tip of the whip, Dawnbreaker’s whip recoiled back into her armor, leaving Dawnbreaker, standing surrounded, now holding her pouch and sword.

With a sudden jump, Dawnbreaker launched herself directly towards Lord Ignatius, who had moved towards the exit behind his throne.

Again, we were ready for her. Swords slashed against her, knives pelted her, and arrows glanced off her armor. We jostled against each other, eager to block her path.

But Dawnbreaker’s jump didn’t end.

She sped up, flying even faster through the air towards Lord Ignatius.

Of course she can fucking fly, I thought, moving to intercept her.

With a combination of added Agility and Strength, I jumped high into the air, swinging my blade toward her, but Dawnbreaker just parried with her blade, knocking me forcefully to the ground, and continued barreling past me.

Dawnbreaker’s brief, flying leap carried her past Lord Ignatius as well, placing her right in front of Lord Ignatius’ exit.

Samantha said.

Rather than strike at the shields, Dawnbreaker sent out a thick tendril of her suit, about a foot in diameter, and it wrapped around Lord Ignatius’ chest like a boa constrictor.

At the same time, Adia, Amos, and Hank placed themselves between Dawnbreaker and Lord Ignatius.

Three tentacles formed out of Dawnbreaker’s armor, one for each of the people that stood between her and Lord Ignatius.

Hank fell first, the tentacle wrapping around his legs and hanging him off his feet.

Then Amos—the tentacle targeting him split into several different tentacles, grabbing his wrists, ankles, and neck.

Adia was able to dodge and evade the split tentacle that was targeting her, but this enabled Dawnbreaker to charge forwards to Lord Ignatius.

She ran directly through a flurry of icicles to reach Lord Ignatius, barely hesitating as they pinged off of her armor.

With a loud crack, I heard the first layer of Lord Ignatius’ shield fail, due to the thick tentacle that was compressing around his chest.

Then, Dawnbreaker struck, a full-force blow on Lord Ignatius, holding him in place with the snake-like armor, and the second layer of his shield fell.

“Jarek!” Adia shouted. “What are you waiting for?”

Samantha said, unhesitatingly.

It was an unfamiliar command, but I did it.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Lord Ignatius fumbling with his Interdimensional Pouch. But the thick snake-like extension of Dawnbreaker’s suit tightened and shook.

The third shield broke.

Everyone else was launching their strongest attacks against Dawnbreaker, but she was like a tree weathering a storm. Her armor was growing patchy in some parts, but I still couldn’t see any signs of blood.

And then my mind clicked back into place. It was as though a lever had been pulled in my brain, and I saw the whole world in a new light. Lord Ignatius had been mind-controlling all of us. Samantha had been right all along. And she had set me up, so perfectly, for this moment.

I glanced at my sword, and then back at Lord Ignatius’ failing shield.

It’s like I’m a tool. A tool for Samantha, or a tool for Lord Ignatius.

“Jarek!” Lord Ignatius sounded panicked. He glanced at me, his normally sunken eyes bulging slightly. “Save me!”

Samantha said.

Dawnbreaker struck a full-force blow once again, and with a crack, the fourth layer of the shield around Lord Ignatius failed, leaving only one shield left.

Except it’s not a choice, I shot back angrily. You are giving me the illusion of control.

If she had broken me free just now, that meant she could have helped me escape at any moment.

Even as I thought that, I knew what I had to do. If Lord Ignatius survived, I would be mind-controlled again, and maybe permanently.

Better the devil you know.

I swung my sword with a heavy heart.

The Vampiric Blade shattered the blue shield that protected Lord Ignatius. It continued past the shield, directly slicing off Lord Ignatius’ head.

The whole room froze.

Congratulations for—

I dismissed the notification with a brief thought. I could check it later.

The whole room was deathly silent.

“Well, I’ve got to say I didn’t see that coming,” Dawnbreaker said, retracting her tentacles and letting her helmet disappear into the rest of her armor. She bent down and picked up Lord Ignatius’ Interdimensional Pouch with her left hand, and the book that appeared over his body.

She still held her sword pointed at me, though. “How long were you free?”

“I…I don’t know.” My brain was whirling, and I didn’t know what to say. Should I lie? Should I tell the truth? What was the truth?

Dawnbreaker arched an eyebrow.

“I’ve never been free,” I muttered.

“That’s cryptic,” Dawnbreaker said snidely. “Tell me something useful. No, never-mind. You’re the new Zone Lord, right? I want you to transfer Zone leadership to me, now. As a sign of good faith.”

Dawnbreaker offered her hand to me. Her hand was covered in the sleek, silver armor, but the armor still allowed for each finger to be clearly visible and move independently.

Samantha said, immediately.

And then what? I shot back. I have no friends, no allies. Nobody trusts me. I’m not going to kill the person who has the greatest chance to protect our world.

Samantha countered.

Once again, to my mild annoyance, I found myself repeating Samantha’s suggestions. “I’ll trade you. You give me the pouch, and I’ll give you the title.”

“Sure,” Dawnbreaker said, tossing the pouch to a confused-looking Adia.

“She can give you the pouch once you give me the Zone Lord title,” Dawnbreaker said.

I shook hands with Dawnbreaker, transferring the Zone Lord title to her.

Then I turned to Adia.

But instead of handing the pouch to me, Adia dumped its contents onto the ground. Piles of jewels, Mana Shards, crafting materials, rare scrolls and talismans, and so much more appeared in front of us.

“That is so… you, Jarek,” Adia said, sounding somewhat sad. “Always looking for the best way to come out ahead. Did you even think some of this might have belonged to us, once? Or that we have a right to this, as well?”

I glanced around at the angry, greedy eyes around me, suddenly realizing that I had no chance at all gaining the contents of Lord Ignatius’ pouch.

I was annoyed—annoyed at myself for not predicting what Adia would do, and annoyed at Dawnbreaker for setting this situation up.

“Before anybody moves,” Dawnbreaker said, flashing her aura again, and everyone froze in place. “I think it’s time somebody explained what’s been going on here. Why is there a fortress built into the mountain? Who’s the dead guy?”

Glancing around the room, I could see eyes glistening with tears, angry faces, and pure shock.

Parker stepped forward, raising his hands above his head and dropping to both knees. “My name is Parker, and let me tell you a story. A thousand years ago…”