“Ready?” I asked the gathered warriors.

After receiving a few half-hearted replies, I just shook my head and went over the ‘plan’ a final time. We had set up in a semi-circle around the dungeon’s entrance, just like the larger army had done. I couldn’t exactly call this plan creative, but hey, it was effective, at least.

Supposedly, our scouts had encountered some enemies close to the exit, so the first groups were bound to arrive any second now. Thankfully, sending any meaningful force through a dungeon was seen as impossible, and the fact that our opponents were limited to tier 3 also helped. Unfortunately, Ash hadn’t seen fit to spare me any tier 4’s for our side either. Seeing as I had already gotten two killed by myself, that hadn’t come as a surprise.

In simpler terms, we were about to fight an equal number, equal strength battle. I could work with that.

I had ordered some extra traps to be set up around the perimeter. Those, combined with the undead our necromancers had summoned, would hopefully take care of any stragglers that evaded our notice.

My final check-up was interrupted as a classer stormed into my tent, breathing heavily. One of my scouts, I recognized.

‘Any news?” I asked absentmindedly while the scout caught his breath.

“The first groups have arrived! They’re currently engaging our forces.”

A few of my guards shared panicked looks as the scout shared the news, not having expected the situation to evolve that quickly.

Taking control of the situation, I issued everyone their orders.

“Let’s go.” I said lazily, as if I was about to do my chores. I was hoping my confidence would rouse my men’s spirits. Most of my soldiers this time weren’t that experienced yet, which meant that they weren’t as tough, mentally, as some of the veterans that were currently fighting on the main front. I had been given the younger tier 3 and 2s, and they would have to be enough. If they weren’t, I could make up the difference, I thought, somewhat arrogantly.

Moments later, I left my temporary tent and joined the other classers near the dungeon, where a heated skirmish had erupted. It resembled the fighting going on at the main front, though smaller in scale in every way. Only a few hundred of us were surrounding the few dozen on their side, since their groups left the dungeon separately. That was the issue with dungeons, the soldiers had to be split into groups to pass through, and they didn’t all reach the exit at the same time.

It still confused me. Why would the abyss watcher even send people into the dungeon if they would only be slaughtered?

Still, people on both sides were dying.

I stopped hesitating and threw myself into the battle, my chains decimating tier 1 and 2 opponents. Thankfully, both sides used coloured clothing. That way I knew I wasn’t cutting any allies apart.

At first, my slaughter went unimpeded and tier 1 and 2 classers died a dozen at a time, which thinned out the herd. Eventually, though, a team of tier 3s got to me and started blocking my wild strikes. Our fight devolved into a rhythmic back and forth from there, them not having the skills to defeat me, and me not having the stats to overwhelm their superior numbers.

While I held them off, though, my own tier 3s got to work and annihilated everyone below their own tier.

As they slaughtered more classers, more and more exited the dungeon and replaced them, quickly evening out the numbers again.

Like this, the skirmish escalated further and further. Soon enough, several hundred people were fighting on either side. Even worse, we weren’t getting any reinforcements to replace our fallen comrades.

As the battle progressed, I kept hold of my senses, though. I wouldn’t lose myself to the bloodlust a second time, not while everyone was relying on me.

I was surprised by the tier 3s that were holding me off with an overloaded orb, sending him reeling. I followed up my attack with a sword arc, which cleanly separated his body into two halves. His companions, momentarily caught off guard, weren’t ready for the combo I unleashed afterward. I activated a curse mark and sent three successive chains into the wound, which enlarged the mark and allowed it to corrode their tank, armor and all.

From there, I mopped up their spellcaster and spear-wielding warrior, before throwing myself back into the thick of it. More men and women fell to my sword, my skills, and sometimes just my hands.

Yet, I was still being overwhelmed by their sheer numbers. My allies were holding strong near the fortifications, but here in the middle of the opposing army, I was alone.

That would have been a problem... but now it was a blessing.

My essence erupted into a dome that followed my movement, blinding every surrounding enemy. Now that I had no allies to take care of, as I had had when I fought the golden guard, there was nobody and nothing to stop me.

Surprised shouts sounded from around me, the abyss watcher’s men being blinded for what was probably the first time. They lost their composure, and became pitifully weak now that they had lost their sight.

Thankfully, I hadn’t encountered any truly experienced tier 3 yet. Middling tier 3s were on par with me when it came to stats, for now, but peak tier 3s could overpower me. In this swarm of inexperienced weaklings, though, I felt like the sole predator.

The battle continued like this for another hour. The abyss goons never figured out a counter to my essence, but their numbers hadn’t dwindled much either. People kept streaming out of the caverns, catching up to their compatriots.

With their strengthened numbers, many enemies were starting to pile up around our fortifications. I had sent for reinforcements a while back, but none had answered my call. Our situation was getting grimmer and grimmer until, eventually, my worst nightmare came true.

The sounds of battle suddenly stilled. Both sides paused and started to look up to the sky, where a strange ball of light was growing. Its dark-blue sheen hid the identity of its creator, but I didn’t need sight to find out who was about to join the battle.

My mana sense was enough for that, and it was telling me that a tier 5 classer was at the center of the growing ball of energy.

Then, the orb started to fall to the ground. I had just enough time to apparate behind our fortifications before it landed, creating an immense shockwave under its sheer weight.

I appeared behind our fortifications, but the hastily built wooden walls were launched into the air by the shockwave, which I barely avoided in the half-second it took for me to rematerialize. All I saw was half a ton of wood passing through my intangible body, before the shockwave passed me and the dust settled.

With wide eyes, I took in the destroyed battlefield. A giant crater had appeared at its centre, while everything that had stood upright now... didn’t. Trees had toppled, tents had flown into the wind and landed somewhere in the distance, and bodies had been flung or simply disintegrated...

Of the six-hundred classers that had been fighting here with everything on the line, only a few dozen were still alive, though their mangled bodies were just barely breathing.

I realized that I was alone.

The orb of power slowly dissipated, revealing one of the abyss watcher’s generals. He looked like a knight made out of obsidian-colored stone, of a similar make as the golems. I recognized this general as the one that had been wounded before the start of the war, though?! Ash had said he had killed him!

I sighed. I stood no chance against him. But I didn’t want to die either... All I could do was stall for time and hope Ash caught on to his enemy’s deceit.

“I’m pretty sure you were supposed to be dead...” I shouted jokingly, trying to show more confidence than I felt.

The general turned and set his sights on me. He grunted and muttered something.

“I thought that got all of them...” I thought I heard him say. The way his deep-blue, glowing eyes scanned my body made me feel like I was an ant before a giant. In a sense, that comparison was apt.

Trying to keep his attention, I tried again.

“Not exactly sporting of you to kill your own men, you know...” I called out.

A twisted smile appeared on his face, and his body suddenly shifted through space. In a single moment, he stood before me, though his legs hadn’t moved. Instead, space itself had shifted around his form, twisted to make him move.

Now, he was only standing a single meter away from me, regarding me with a menacing demeanor, as if he wanted to play with his food, first.

“They were weak!” he shouted suddenly, his booming voice nearly bursting my ears. “But you! You are strong! You should have chosen our side!”

“No chance of that happening anymore?” I asked with a small smile.

His face became neutral for a moment, before turning into a sadistic, twisted smile.

“No.” He said lowly, “I don’t need cowards.”

He lifted his hand, and dark blue mana started to coil in his palm, the mana turning into a twisted, odd shape. This was it. I was staring at the wave of mana that would destroy my body in one blow. So much destructive energy, concentrated in one palm.

My time had come, it seemed. Was this worth it? I closed my eyes. I had no regrets.

As my mind became calm, preparing itself for my inevitable death, a child’s voice suddenly broke the tension of the silent battlefield.

“Arthur isn’t a coward!” the small, female voice shouted at the top of its lungs.

My eyes widened in panic and I looked over my shoulder. Sure enough, it was Maria.

“GET OUT OF HERE! RUN!” I shouted by instinct, too scared to act rationally. At any other time, I might have wondered why I prioritized this small child’s life over my own, but for once, I didn’t. For once, I felt like I didn’t need to question my priorities. Who cared if they weren’t as pragmatic as they were in the past...

At any other time, I might have noticed these changes occurring within myself, but as space itself twisted around the tier 5’s stony form, I couldn’t even think straight.

I drew my sword and was about to apparate, but felt my limbs lock in place before I could do so. Blue rings had surrounded them, as well as my torso and neck. Strangely, my mana felt sluggish, like it was asleep. I couldn’t even create a sword arc, couldn’t form an overloaded orb or a laser...

I could only watch as the stone knight picked Maria up by the neck and regarded her coldly as he choked the life out of her slowly. She struggled, oh she struggled, but her little limbs couldn’t budge the general.

His head tilted to the left, as if he was wondering about something, while Maria’s face slowly turned blue.

“So this is the dry man’s infamous daughter? Strange... You’ve been locked in the tallest tower for a few years, so I’d never seen you before. I thought you would be... bigger. But... you’re not. You’re tiny, even! Just. An. Ant. I wonder how your father will react when he finds your corpse. Oh wait, he’ll die before ever waking up. What a shame.” He muttered.

“Let her go, you monster! Take me instead!” I screamed, my throat feeling hoarse. But he wasn’t listening.

“I suppose...” he slowly drawled, still looking in the other direction. “I’ll have to settle for seeing your eyes dim as this little ant stops breathing!” he spoke, before erupting into quiet giggles.

His head spun 180 degrees and he looked me dead in the eyes. This time, his smile was so wide that his head had separated into two pieces.

“It’s always so fun to guess, you know! I bet... another thirty seconds. What do you bet?”

Maria’s struggle was stopping, and she was hardly moving...

Tears were streaming down my face, the frustration of it all... of my weakness, getting to me. I couldn’t respond.

“Bet.” He said again.

My throat was soar.

“Bet!” he shouted.

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

“BET!” he screamed, snarling.

I tried to speak. I moved my mouth, but the band around my neck tightened. No sound came out.

Until, suddenly, another voice spoke in my stead.

“Let’s raise the stakes a little...” the voice spoke. “You unhand my daughter, and I’ll make your death slightly less painful.”

I recognised that voice. I tried to speak. This time, I succeeded.

“Save her...” was what finally came out of my mouth, though I passed out right after.