We approach the camp and I can already feel the electricity in the air.

Lord Xavier is front and center just like I figured, but next to him is not General Lyons. I check the soldier’s info on my HUD and see he is a Captain named Manders—a tall bearded dude that looks a match for my brother in the physique department. Still no sign of Braxus, but one look at that tent, where an entire rear guard is set up, and I have a good idea of where he may be hiding.

Gilly has a look of discernment on her face as she walks at my side, perhaps trying to pick him out from the crowd of the hundred or so soldiers lined up behind Xavier. Good thinking. He could easily be hiding there as well. Val Helena steps forward confidently on my left with Maxis on my right; the two of them flanking Gilly and I like an honor guard.

I stop about thirty feet away and jerk my chin at Xavier. “Where’s your boss, fat man?”

The mage looks shocked for a second but then his brows lower into a scowl. “You have some bravado to be speaking to me like that. But I’ve seen you’ve grown in strength, young Reece. Don’t think that gives you any kind of advantage, boy. We all have…”

Lightning crackles from his fingers as he says it. He can probably see my new level and by looking at him I see he’s now level 86. But he still has no idea just how powerful I’ve become. He will soon though. I slip on the Witch Spider’s Ring and endure the bit of poison as my hitpoints flash.

You take -50 poison damage.

HP 1712/1762

“We sent word that I want a parlay with Braxus,” I say. “So where is he?”

“Your parlay will be with me,” Xavier says. “I represent the king in his stead. Have you come to surrender?”

“Fat chance, fat ass,” Maxis says with a smirk. “Now get that stupid prick out here.”

“It seems you do not understand your predicament.” Xavier’s scowl deepens. “We are merely an advanced team. King Braxus travels with the main forces but a few days hence. I encourage you to barter for your lives here and now…with me. I doubt the king would be so generous considering what you did to him.”

Thoughts of me vainly assassinating him, or what I thought was him flash through my mind. Even if it had been just a clone, perhaps he still felt every bit of pain from my attack. I have to admit, there’s a bit of satisfaction in that.

“So I guess we wait,” I say. “Two days is it? Or was it three? Or a week?”

Xavier chuckles and for an instant I notice his eyes flick ever so slightly to the side.

Your Awareness increases by 0.1!

His eyes linger there off focus for a moment. As if listening to something. Or someone.

Just as I figured.

“Guys, we’re going to have to root him out,” I say through the chat. “No way would Braxus let this guy speak for him. Braxus is communicating with him. Which means he’s nearby.”

“The real him or a clone?” Val Helena asks through the chat.

“I’m betting on the latter,” Maxis says.

“Even so,” I say. “There’s only one way to draw him out.”

I check my HP bar and see I’m down to 2/3’s already.

I grin at Xavier. “How about I offer you the chance to surrender instead?”

Xavier smirks. “Perhaps you’ve grown delusional as well as more powerful. Your city—if I could even call it that—is in near ruin. Those beasts will perhaps tear you apart before King Braxus does. If you surrender now, the king might be gracious enough to even acquire it as part of his domain. Of course that would mean you becoming part of his property as well.”

“Yeah,” I say. “Not happening.”

I prepare myself for what’s coming next.

“Get ready, Lady Diana,” I say in the chat and then cry aloud. “Diana! Now!”

Lord Xavier and the captain next to him stiffen as we charge forward, releasing battle cries, materializing our weapons. Lady Diana appears ahead of us, emerging from my invisibility spell with her sword raised high. She’s mere feet from the mage and her shout draws his attention in a flash.

Lady Diana uses Battle Herald!

Lord Xavier is Stunned!

Captain Manders is Stunned!

The AOE stun buys her a few more seconds to close in, but the effect wares and a green light pulses from the ring on Xavier’s hand. Lady Diana freezes, stopping just a few feet short of running the fat man through.

“Blast it!” she yells.

The slower reacting NPCs spring to life, the company of soldiers drawing a hundred swords at once. We’re four people against an entire platoon now and one of our own has just been taken hostage.

It’s all gone to pot.

Or so I want Xavier to think.

You take -50 poison damage.

HP 912/1762

“Guys stop! Pull back!” I scream as convincingly as I can while raising my arms. “He’s got Diana.” My friends halt behind me, as I dematerialize my weapons. “Damn it…the armor didn’t work.”

Xavier lets out haughty laugh. “You ridiculous fool. Did you honestly think merely covering the control garments with armor would protect her?”

I use my best acting skills to look dumb and infuriated. “No, but the magic should have.”

“All right just relax, Xavier,” Val Helena says, mimicking my brother with a slowdown gesture. “You let her go and we’ll back off.”

“Oh really?” a voice says. “Do you think you still have that option?”

The obnoxious voice permeates the air and from within the ranks of soldiers, King Braxus appears.

I grin inwardly.

“There we go, guys,” I say through the chat. “What did I tell you? Like clockwork.”

Gilly had good instincts to be searching for him within the platoon of soldiers, but dressed as he is, in leather armor and a matching skullcap, it was perhaps near impossible to spot him from amongst them, especially as even his name reads simply as Soldier now.

I try to look fearful as he steps forward and almost let my disdain slip as Xavier forces Lady Diana to turn about and face us.

“On your knees,” she says in her mind controlled voice. “All of you.”

We do so and I raise my hands in submission.

“Looks like you’re back to square one,” Braxus says with a slick grin as he removes the skullcap to reveal his platinum blond hair. It must be some form as masking item too, because his true identity reappears on his nametag as well. He stops next to Diana and with a glow from the emerald embedded in his gauntlet clad hand, he forces the knight to stoop and kiss him gingerly on the cheek.

“Nice to have you all back where you belong,” he says leering at her in a way that makes my stomach sick. He then looks to me. “Guess you don’t learn from your mistakes, do you, dumb ass?”

I check his character.

Name: Braxus

Race: Human

Class: Ruler

Level: 85

Guild: Era of Empire

Darn, I can’t tell if he’s a clone or not. He revealed himself only after we were put at a disadvantage, so there is a chance he might be the real deal, but I’m not betting on it. He was cagey before, and me killing him last time would only reinforce that.

Still, he’s here now and I get to say to him what I really want.

“Listen to me clearly…” I level my eyes at him and inside I feel the stone cold resolve I’ve fostered while living in new London. “Things have advanced and there is no more time for petty revenge or whatever the hell it is that continues to drive you. Our world is under thread from forces you don’t understand and our home is on the brink of disaster.”

He scoffs. “Yeah…like that crappy town of yours, over there?”

I’m probably wasting my time with him, but it needs to be said regardless.

You take -50 poison damage.

HP 562/1762

“I don’t like you Braxus,” I say, ignoring his insult. “But you may have skills we’ll need in the future. So I offer you…this one time…a truce.”

“A truce?” He smirks. “Are you kidding me? I’m in control here, not you.”

“I’m only going to give you this one chance,” I say as I level my eyes at him again. “After this…I will destroy you if you continue stand in our way. So what’s it going to be?”

Xavier and Braxus share a glance with the captain and together the three men begin to laugh. The platoon of soldiers laughs with them, as Braxus eggs them on, stirring them up like a crowd at a football game. I wait for them to finish and eventually Braxus turns about to face me.

“I don’t know how powerful you think you’ve become, Reece,” he says my name with disdain. “But I’m going to teach you a lesson in battle strategy. Never try to bluff when you have no cards to play. It’s just going to make me crushing you and your pathetic little group all the more satisfying.”

“Thanks for the tip.” I eye my HP bar and see it sitting at 15% and slowly dropping.

Just a little bit more…

“I’ll be sure to spare a few of you though.” He then points to Gilly. “Starting with that one right there. I can’t wait to see you in green, babe.”

I grin back at him. “You know, I was kind of hoping you’d say something like that. It’s going to make this next part a lot easier.”

“Yeah keep talking your nonsense,” he says with bravado, but I notice his eyes shifting uneasily under my glare. “Xavier, show this fool who is in control.”

“I’ll start with this one,” Lady Diana says, controlled by Xavier like a puppet as she brandishes her long sword towards me. “Come kill one of your own, if you’ve suddenly grown so bold.”

I look to the platoon of soldiers. “I apologize to you all of in advance, but I point needs to be made.”

My HPs flash into the red at 10% and I launch forward with an explosive yell.

“Zenkai!”

You use Zenkai!

You have gained the effect of Kono-Zemsu!

A burst of bright light flashes around me as my level jumps to 99. My stats and HP max out and the world freezes as my speed more than triples. I dash across the distance between myself and Lord Xavier with a Charge Strike, swapping my Particle Beam Emitter for the Level 99 Murakumo Blade.

I disarm Xavier with a strike from my Zanbatō, severing his ring hand. The fat man doesn’t even have time to scream in reaction before I’m already moving on to Braxus to do the same, once again taking his arm by cutting off his control gauntlet.

Twin screams of horror echo about me as time catches up. Xavier falls to the ground starring incomprehensible at his stumped hand. I would have taken satisfaction in killing him, but he’s needed for the next part of the plan.

“Last chance,” I say to Braxus, pointing my Murakumo at him, the six foot long blade glowing with power. “Surrender your kingdom, or watch me destroy it all.”

His eyes are wild with shock and pain, clutching his arm. “How did you do that? What the hell!”

I watch the seconds count down on my 1 minute timer. “I’m waiting.”

Defiance then fills his eyes. “You can go to hell. Attack! Kill him! Kill them all!”

The mass of soldiers charge at me as Braxus runs between them, hiding himself within their ranks. I yell at them with a War Cry.

“Fight me now! All of you!”

Their swords and arrows strike me, but do little to dent my massive HP bar. I counterattack with my twin blades, huge like scythes of death in my hands. I attack six times in the space of a second, killing a solider with each strike. The XP scrolls onto my HUD nonstop as I continue my assault.

A horn sounds and out of the tent, another platoon of soldier along with a dozen giants appear. My heart jumps a little as the odds shift. Even in Kono Zemzu form I’m not sure if I can defeat all of them.

Not with the time I have.

I check my timer.

Kono-Zemsu Form: 0:51

Behind me I hear my friends engaging, Maxis and Val Helena tanking while Gilly backs them up with healing magic and Holy Burst spells. I continue to fight, not even trying to dodge as I hack through the mass of soldiers swarming around me.

You defeated the Company Swordsman!

You gain 6400 experience points.

You gain 1 Exceedance.

You defeated the Company Swordsman!

You gain 6400 experience points. You gain 1 Exceedance.

Exceedance? What the heck is that?

I then notice a new meter on my HUD, a gauge that is filling with yellow every time I slay a soldier. It’s sitting at 8%, but jumps to 11% as I take down a few more.

“Reece, there are too many of them!” Val Helena shouts through the chat. “We should retreat before they flank us.”

I then notice that the rear guard is doing just that, circling us and cutting off our means of escape. But I didn’t come here to escape. I came here to prove a point. I check my abilities as I plow through the droves of soldiers and mages casting crystal spear spells at me.

Level 87 Shuriken : Ranged Attack, Stuns Enemy

Level 90 Cyclone Shadow: AEO Lunge – Pulls Enemies

Level 95 Shadow Walk: Self Teleport between Shadows

Level 97 Shadow Drain: Self Buff – Absorb 20% of damage done as HP

Level 99 Muteki no Shi : +50% to all stats, immune to CC for 30 seconds

Yes! They’re all there and available for me to use. I recalled trying to use Shadow Copy II before, but Shadow Copy is a spell and not an ability like these. It was no wonder I couldn’t use it. But I was able to use it in that virtual space where everything seemed available, but not here in the real world. I guess I’ll need to find a scroll of Shadow Copy II somewhere to use it.

But shadow copy is not what I need now.

I need AOE damage.

Tons of it.

I activate my Shadow Drain ability and my katanas glow with a purple hue. My HP bar which was lagging towards 60%, suddenly jumps to 80% as I chop away at my foes, trading damage for health. I eye the level 90 ability that I didn’t have much interest in before, but now I view it with tantalizing excitement.

I activate Cyclone Shadow and the world spins as I dash forward in a twirl. The air behind me fills with purple tendrils of dark energy and as I plunge through the mass of soldiers. They get caught in the vortex and scream out as the tendrils whip them with ethereal damage.

Company Swordsman is pulled!

Company Swordsman takes 4999 Dark damage!

You defeated the Company Swordsman!

You gain 6400 experience points.

You gain 1 Exceedance.

The spam continues to scroll up my HUD. I must kill over thirty of them by the time I come to a stop about fifty feet away, leaving a path of death and destruction in my wake.

“Holy crap that was cool!” Gilly shouts through the chat. “What was that, Reece?”

“Cyclone Shadow,” I say.

“Well do it again,” she says. “Like a lot!”

I check the timer and see it has a 15 second cool down. I check my Kono Zemsu timer as well.

Kono-Zemsu Form: 0:36

Almost half spent and still over three quarters of an army to kill.

I keep myself as buffed as I can, chopping through and gaining XP. I use Cyclone Shadow once more and a chime goes off on my HUD.

Exceedance Stage 1: Reached!

The yellow bar stays full and a new bar starts filling with green below it.

Exceedance Stage 2: 0%

Exceedance Stage 2: 1%

Stages?

I then notice two new options highlighted below the gauge.

I don’t know what they do exactly, but my instincts tell me to press extend and the yellow bar discharges with a flash.

You use Extend!

+15 Seconds to Kono Zemsu Form!

Kono-Zemsu Form: 0:47

Heck yeah!

A feeling of limitless power fills me as barrel through Braxus’ soldier and giants with newfound vigor. I decimate their ranks with Cyclone Shadow, filling the Exceedance gauge with over a hundred kills and then use Extend again. I’m nearly temped to try and fill the second stage gauge just to see what it does, but the bar fills much more slowly than stage one, and I can’t risk losing my Kono Zemsu form right now. I finish off the last squad of soldiers and my Kono Zemsu nearly runs out as I bounce down to 23 seconds on the timer but I get off a last Extend that pops me back up to 38.

Just enough time.

As my friends polish off the last of the soldiers I spot the one figure I’m looking for. Braxus. He’s pinned against the side of the tent, clutching his arm. Next to him is Lord Xavier and just in front of them is a trio of loyal mages, vainly putting up a fight against Lady Diana.

They’re still a distance from me, but looking down at my shadow, I see another opportunity to test drive a future ability. Not knowing what to expect I activate Shadow Walk and the entire world suddenly turns black and white…only the colors are inverse. Light for shadow and shadow for light. Where the shadows were hard to see before, they are now brilliant pools of luminescence. Intuitively I run towards the shadow lining the edge of Braxus’ tent.

A timer begins counting down and I realize my time in this place is limited. The world seems frozen outside, but I can’t interact with it save for these shadows. I don’t want to think what might happen if I don’t reach one of them before the timer runs out. The thought makes me redouble my efforts to reach my destination. While I can run I don’t seem to have access to any of my other abilities and reach just before the timer expires.

I reemerge just behind Braxus and use the element of surprise to land a double backstab onto the two mages that are remaining, the third already having been dispatched by Lady Diana. They expire quickly and I spin to place my massive Murakumo blade against Braxus’ throat.

“Take that as a lesson to never underestimate me again,” I say to him with cold steel in my eyes. His stare is filled with incomprehension and fright. A new look for him—the look of someone who is in way over their head…and knows it. I make sure to end the conversation before my Kono Zemsu timer expires. “Bring your whole army next time. And yourself. If you’re man enough.”

With that I decapitate him and his body bursts into nano dust.

You defeat Braxus!

You gain 12000 experience points.

Lady Diana huffs with exertion next to me, catching her breath. “Another imposter. The blasted coward.”

“Yeah I figured as much,” I say.

“W-what have you done?” Xavier says with a stutter, still clutching the stump of his severed hand. “How have you achieved this?”

I look down at the cowering fat man and grimace. “That’s not important for you to know. In fact, it’s not important for you to know anything right now.” I look to Diana. “Would you mind knocking him out please?”

“Gladly.” The knight grins and gives Xavier a swift boot to the head.

Lady Diana uses Subduing Blow!

Lord Xavier is asleep.

My rest of my friends finally catch up with us and Gilly tackles me with an embrace. “Holy crap, Reece! You’re a freaking god now!” She laughs with giddy excitement as awe fills her big green eyes. “Incredible!”

Val Helena stares at me mystified. “I’ve never seen anything like that before…”

“Yeah you just took out a whole army by yourself,” Maxis says. “What the hell did you do?”

I tell them what happened, breaking down the new Exceedance mechanic I found, or perhaps unlocked.

“So you can keep your god form going forever?” Gilly asks incredulously.

I shrug. “I dunno… with enough low HP mobs to kill I guess.”

“It was impressive,” Lady Diana says. “And I thank you for not dragging that out for too long. Being under that spell again was a nightmare.”

“Don’t worry,” I say and nudge Lord Xavier’s unconscious form. “You’ll be able to reciprocate the gesture soon enough.”

“Well I think we just found our solution to the Goblin Queen,” Maxis says. “You can just god mode all of them.”

I sigh and check my Zenkai cooldown.

Zenkai 99:57:25

“Not quite,” I say. “Will need about four days to cast it again and those trolls are a lot stronger than those soldiers were. I was lucky there were only a dozen giants, because they really slowed down the chain effect.”

“So what’s the plan now?” Lady Diana asks.

I ponder that a moment. “I didn’t think the real Braxus would come here, so it remains the same. We wait for him to return with his full army.”

“You think he will?” Val Helena says. “After seeing what you can do now?” She then frowns. “Maybe we should have kept it under wraps a bit longer.”

“Nah,” I say. “He’ll probably take more time coming here now. Gather all his forces. Or even more powerful ones. Braxus is a guy who doesn’t like to lose. At least now with this advanced team gone, we can focus on rebuilding and defending against the Goblin Queen.”

“Fair enough,” Lady Diana says and then frowns. “But I’m not getting this plan of yours. You actually want Braxus to come back here with a more powerful army?”

I grin. “How else are we going to defeat the Goblin Queen’s masses and get through those mines? But that’s phase two. And I’ll need to do some serious leveling to pull it off. We all will.” I then look to the Goblin Queen’s domain and the hundreds of high level mobs there. “And thankfully we have one heck of an XP ground to make it happen.”

“You want us to level on those things?” Maxis says.

“What choice do we have?” I say. “We’ll be fighting them anyway way to defend the town, right? Might as well profit from it.”

“I say we have less than a week before Braxus might returns,” Lady Diana says. “Will your plan be ready by then?”

“It’ll have to be,” I say. “But I’ll need to unlock a new job and some more abilities first.”

“We’ll need to keep Brookrun safe till then,” Val Helena says. “Hopefully Rembrandt and Becky will return with some firepower and reinforcements soon.”

I nod. “I’m more worried about the Goblin Queen herself to be honest. She’s probably a level 99 legendary mob by now. Tougher than anything we’ve fought before. Even once we get through her army we’ll still need to deal with her.” I then think back to when I killed her before and those words she spoke to me before she died. “She’ll probably be gunning for a rematch with me too.”

Gilly folds her arms. “I suppose we won’t know until Aiko comes back from her recon mission.” She then smiles at me. “Until then…I guess we all have some serious leveling and base building to do.”