The morning dawned, crisp and cold, but a sense of impending doom hung over Zeke and his people. Beside him were thousands of kobolds and beastkin, with hundreds of humans interspersed. Some of the latter wore the armor of Knights, but most had donned the cyclops-skin armor so prevalent amongst the rest of the army. Zeke didn’t expect many of those to survive the coming clash, and he’d cautioned against the former peasants’ inclusion. They weren’t ready, and everyone knew it. Yet, they had insisted on battling for their honor as well as the vengeance of an oppressed people who finally had the chance to fight back against their former masters.

Zeke couldn’t deny them that opportunity. Even if he’d wanted to, that choice would have alienated those people and spread discontent among the population. That, more than anything, meant that he had no choice but to allow for their inclusion. Hopefully, they would lean on the much more experienced kobolds and former Knights.

The beastkin were a much more mixed bag. Some were reasonably strong, approaching the level of legionnaires. They’d worked hard to attain even that minimal degree of power, and Zeke applauded those efforts. However, he knew that most, like the population of peasants, were in no condition to meaningfully contribute to the coming battle. But as was the case with those peasants, Zeke felt obligated to allow the beastkin to join the army and exact some measure of revenge against the people who’d kept them enslaved for so long.

Zeke expected it to go poorly for them, which was why he’d resisted the idea of including them in the much stronger kobold lines. Because of the techniques and tactics Silik had developed, the kobolds were much more powerful than the sum of their parts. They worked together, creating a unified front via collective skills like [Shield Wall], where each individual supported the others. It was like a chain, and the comparatively weaker and less cooperative humans and beastkin were the weak links.

Yet, Silik had insisted that they could absorb the weaknesses and remain unaffected. Zeke chose to trust the big general’s judgement. After all, he’d put Silik in charge of the army for a reason, and he knew it would undermine the general’s authority of Zeke began to question Silik’s decisions.

A few hundred yards behind the amassed warriors were the spiritweavers and other support personnel. They were guarded by a token force that would act as a reserve if things turned in the Knights’ favor. The centaurs and the rangers were nowhere to be seen.

They had their own tasks, after all.

Zeke turned his attention to the enemy. Across a field of swaying grass, nearly a mile away, stood a line of Knights in glistening armor. Most were mounted, each on a pristine white horse, but there were plenty of foot soldiers as well. And behind the Knights were hundreds of ranged attackers as well as priests that acted as healers. Some even had domains meant to enhance the force beyond their normal capabilities.

But Zeke only had eyes for the figure at the center of the line.

Even from so far away, the man stood out. If Zeke hadn’t seen plenty of actual giants, he wouldn’t have hesitated to bestow that label upon Lord Karik. He eschewed a mount, which, according to Adara, was borne of necessity as well as pride. Karik was too large for any normal horse, so he’d never developed the knack. Instead, in battle, he depended on his own two legs, often boasting that no horse was fit to carry him.

With his power, nobody had ever disagreed.

“That’s an intimidating force,” Eveline remarked.

“It is,” Zeke agreed.

“Do you think it will work?”

He couldn’t contain a mental shrug. “I think so, but I’m not exactly unbiased,” he admitted. “There’s a lot that could go wrong, even if everything works exactly as we intend.”

“What can go wrong, will.”

“A bit pessimistic, don’t you think?”

Eveline said, “I prefer to think of it as unabashed realism.”

Regardless of what Eveline called it, Zeke knew that the chances of everything going perfectly were slim. Perhaps even nonexistent. That was the one thing he’d learned while fighting the war against Adontis – no battle plan lasted past first contact. That was why he and the war leaders he had chosen only ever designed plans in terms of broad strokes. Anything else was focusing on needless details that would change the moment they engaged the enemy.

However, Zeke had a couple of advantages – one that he’d yet to reveal, and another that he’d purposefully withheld from the last few battles – in his back pocket. Hopefully, that would prove the difference they needed to win the battle.

“You also outnumber them,” Evelin remarked.

“On the surface, yeah. But realistically? Most of those numbers are hollow.”

Indeed, while there were a lot of individuals on his side, he could only count on the kobolds. The rest were enthusiastic about fighting, but they lacked the discipline of a cohesive fighting force. The result was that the seven thousand Knights across the field likely represented more collective power than Zeke had on his side. He could only hope that his presence would be enough to tip the balance in their favor.

With that in mind, Zeke activated one of his advantages by embracing his twin domains, [Aura of Desolation] and [Burden of Sovereignty]. When he released the skills, runes of hellfire burst into being across each soldier’s skin and their eyes began to glow with red-and-black light. More importantly, their collective posture shifted with the influx of power. Zeke had no idea what the hard numbers would be, but based on all of his testing, he estimated that his twin domains raised the stats of his soldiers by at least a third.

“Probably more,” Eveline said.

“I’d prefer to underestimate than give the skills too much credit.”

“Fair enough,” she stated.

The two domains were a constant drain on Zeke’s mana, but he had plenty to spare. Most of his skills cost very little to use, so he felt that he could afford to be judicious with the utilization of [Aura of Desolation] and [Burden of Sovereignty].

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But he wasn’t finished.

As the two domains enhanced him and his people, Zeke used [Triune Colossus] as well. His body transformed, taking on the sleek, metallic shape that came from fueling the skill with unattuned mana. He knew the two other versions would be necessary during the fight, but he wanted to keep them in reserve until he knew what response was necessary.

“The demonic version is always better at everything. I don’t know why you resist it.”

“Because it makes me go crazy,” he said. “And my body can’t really handle such a concentrated influx of corruption.”

“That’s what the rapid healing is for. Honestly, with [Aura of Desolation] generating so much demonic mana, you should be using that version of [Triune Colossus] more often.”

“Your comments have been noted.”

They’d had that conversation a few times since he’d first acquired [Hell on Earth], which had subsequently evolved into [Aura of Desolation]. The problem was that, while Eveline’s argument made sense, she had a tendency to ignore the corruption-induced rage that came from fueling [Triune Colossus] with demonic mana. In fact, she regarded it as, at worst, a minor inconvenience, and at times, she considered it a boon. Zeke pointedly did not, which was the source of the disagreement.

That wasn’t to say that he wouldn’t use it, of course. He would, but only if he was forced by evolving circumstances to do so. Otherwise, he preferred to keep it in reserve.

For a different reason, he also eschewed copious use of the earthen form of the skill. It was stronger and more durable, but to achieve those traits, it gave up quite a bit of agility and dexterity. That version of the skill was useful, but Zeke preferred the unattuned version because it was, in a lot of ways, a jack of all trades.

On top of that, it was also most resistant to his Will, which had infected his domain, lending it power but also coming with a significant burden on Zeke’s body and soul. After spending months inoculating himself to his Path of Arcane Destruction, he could endure the trickle that laced [Aura of Desolation], but utilizing the unattuned version of [Triune Colossus] meant that he was able to do so much more efficiently.

That was enough to make it his preferred form.

“I think it’s funny that you include your natural cambion form in that mix, and still choose to be a colossus,” Eveline said.

“It’s more powerful.”

Her only response was, “Indeed.”

Once his skills fully took hold, Zeke raised his recently summoned hammer high into the air.

“You should give a speech,” Eveline said.

“I’m not giving a speech,” he responded in his head.

“Why not? It would get them all fired up.”

“First of all, I doubt they would hear me,” he stated. “Second, I’m terrible at speeches. You know this. It’s better to lead by example than to try to be a motivational speaker.”

“I think you’re just scared.”

“That too,” he acknowledged. He could charge into battle without hesitation, but the idea of speaking in front of thousands of people – even ones who practically worshipped him – was a little too daunting for his taste. So, rather than speaking and letting everyone see how anxious the act made him, he’d decided to channel the strong, silent leader archetype. Hopefully, that would be enough.

In any event, the moment his hammer was raised, the kobolds let out a collective shout. Then, everyone advanced as one. However, they didn’t sprint into battle. Rather, they stepped forward slowly and deliberately, holding their large tower shields – which were a new addition – in front of them.

Zeke strode forward among them.

That’s when the Knights charged, leveling their lances at the disciplined army of kobolds along the way. The thunder of hooves swept over the battlefield as the Knights raced across the field of swaying grass.

It was perfect terrain for a charge.

Yet, the kobolds were prepared. Just before the Knights reached them, the strongest centurions braced for impact while the weaker legionnaires thrust long pikes between the gaps. At the same time, the centurions activated their collective [Shield Wall] skill, and a barrier of pure mana swept across the physical wall of tower shields.

So, when the Knights hit, and with a thunderous impact, the kobolds were in a perfect position to resist. In addition, their pikes, which had been carved from the incredibly durable cyclops bones, were much longer than the cavalry’s lances. As such, they had to go through a forest of long spears before they could even reach the wall of shields.

The results were predictable.

With so much momentum behind them, the horses couldn’t slow down before slamming into the kobolds’ bristling wall of sharpened bones. The beasts screamed in agony as the pikes ripped through their chests, staining their glistening white coats with deep red. Their riders fared no better, and the sudden cessation of momentum sent them flying from their saddles to crash into the [Shield Wall].

But that was only the first line.

Even as those sacrificial Knights bore the brunt of the impact, their comrades raced through the gaps and charged into the kobold’s line with an immense impact that shattered the skill. The kobolds fought back, stabbing out with shorter spears and sending beams of light to ricochet off the Knights’ enchanted armor.

The enhancements of Zeke’s domains were effective, and he knew they were probably the only reason the kobolds survived first contact. Yet, it wasn’t enough to completely bridge the gap.

That had always been inevitable, though. For all of their growth, the kobolds were still a work in progress. And from everything Zeke had heard of Karik in his men, they were some of the best the Knights of Adontis had to offer. As such, Zeke and his people had made their plans with their force’s inferiority in mind.

Zeke could only hope that the strategy they had developed would be enough to bridge that gap. But for now, he had other things on his mind as he waded into battle alongside his kobold army.

He had one job, and it was a familiar one.

If his people couldn’t stand up to the run-of-the-mill Knights, then they had no chance against their leader. Zeke’s only responsibility – aside from using his domains to enhance his troops – was to occupy Karik’s attention so that the rest of the plan could play out absent the hulking man’s interference.

So, Zeke only had eyes for his opponent.

In his unattuned form, he was a few feet taller than Karik, but from a sheer perspective of presence, the Knight’s leader seemed to loom over the battle. And fortunately, he was as wholly focused on Zeke as Zeke was on him. Not a surprise, considering that anyone with half a brain could recognize that he was a huge contributing factor in the kobolds’ power. Without him, they would lose.

It was as simple as that, and Karik recognized that reality.

With a roar, Karik raced forward, his enormous sword held like a baseball bat. When he reached Zeke, he wasted no time before swinging it with all the considerable force he could muster. The great slab of metal lit up with some sort of skill, and Zeke could feel the metaphysical weight of it bearing down on him as the blade swept toward him. Indeed, it was so powerful that he half expected the air to ignite with its passage.

It also came much more quickly than he’d expected. Karik moved so much faster than any man his size could have managed, so Zeke only barely got the haft of Voromir up in time to block it.

It did not go well.

Zeke rocketed backwards, bowling his kobolds over along the way, and his momentum didn’t stop until he’d gone nearly fifty feet. When he looked at his hammer, though, that was when he truly understood the stakes.

Voromir had been through a lot over the years, and the weapon had never been found wanting. However, when Zeke looked at the rune-inscribed bone haft of his hammer, he saw a small notch where the sword had made its impact. That really drove the weight of the Knight’s attack home.

If it had hit him, Zeke knew it would have shattered his metallic body. Obviously, Eveline’s judgement had been spot on when she’d said that anyone who reached even a few steps beyond level seventy-five would present a different tier of challenge.

Zeke picked himself up, and as he faced off against the bear-like Knight, he couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of excitement. After all, it was a rare occasion when he found an opponent who could truly challenge him, and he was eager to see how he stacked up. So, with that enthusiasm dancing in his mind, Zeke stepped forward to meet the Knight.