My skin instantly chills as we materialize upon the central node within Stormwall castle. Overhead, a brilliant blue sky give the image of a perfect summer day but the frigid air speaks otherwise. As I glance about a shiver runs through me and this time not just from the cold.

We’re smack dab in the center of the bustling city we visited some weeks ago, but the place seems deserted now. Where the central market place was once thriving, now it’s a ghost town and what few townspeople I see, scurry out of the glare of the city guards that patrol the place like prison guards.

“Yikes, what happened here?” Gilly says in a whisper next to me.

She, along with Aiko are invisible, thanks to my Shadow Wall spell. The only thing that appeared when we arrived was a brief burst of light from Gilly’s teleport spell as we materialized, but thankfully no one seems to have noticed it.

“Braxus’ army is what happened,” Aiko says. “That clown probably liquidated every asset he had to come fight us.”

That much was probably true. I never gave thought to where Braxus’ power actually came from. Just like everything within the game system, power came at a price. Unfortunately it looked like his citizens of Stormwall were paying the brunt of it now.

“All the more reason for us to dethrone him,” I say. “Let’s find some cover and figure out how to get to his antechamber.”

We dash across the barren streets and find an alleyway out of sight of the guards and I drop the Shadow Wall spell. Gilly and Aiko emerge before me and I have to admit that both of them look stunning; each in the own unique ways. Aiko is back in her ninja garb again, sleek and sharp. The sight takes me back to when I first encountered her in this very same place, a dangerous femme fatale with a tongue as sharp as her blades. Gilly on the other hand has swapped out of her crafting coveralls and donned her brilliant white and red mage gear again. She’s come a long way too from when we were first here too—doubled in strength at least. But I can see uncertainty in the quiver of green eyes as well.

“Don’t worry,” I tell her. “This is all going to work out fine.”

Or so I hope.

Aiko has come to back me up. With only half my stats and abilities due to the Imposter ability, her presence is needed more than ever. In my mind’s eye, I also have a view from my point of view back in Brookrun Village. It’s a bit trippy to be controlling a second me, but it seems I can only control one persona at a time with any kind of proficiency. It’s a bit like driving one car and then leaving it parked while I hop out of the driver’s seat to go drive another; and then back and forth again. I have a lot more respect for Rembrandt now, who was controlling several scores of duplicates simultaneously.

Rembrandt…I sure hope he and Becky are safe and perhaps already on their way back from New London. Plan or not, we could definitely use their help right now. Especially for what was still yet to come…the battle with the Goblin Queen.

Back in Brookrun, I see Lady Diana conversing with General Lyons, shouting down to him from atop the defense wall. She’s trying to arrange a cease fire so we can parley, just as we had planned. Or at least, that’s what I think is happening. It’s a bit like being in a dream state, I can only hear only muted details and see fuzzy images, but it seems like she’s making headway.

“We need to hurry,” I say. “I can only control one of me while the other me turns into a vegetable. And I need my mind back there in Brookrun when Braxus comes to accept our surrender.”

“Our fake surrender,” Gilly reminds me with a grin. “Don’t worry, I’ll protect your other you back home. Stay safe.” She drops party and then gives me a quick peck on the cheek.

“What? No kiss for me?” Aiko says with a grin.

“Mwah!” Gilly says playfully as she blows Aiko a kiss from her hand. “You stay safe too, Aiko. And make sure you give Braxus and extra kick in the nads from me, okay?”

Aiko tosses her head back with one of her cackle laughs. “You got it.”

Gilly then raises her arms and a magical wind blows her robes as she casts her teleport spell again.

“You guys hurry to the antechamber,” Gilly says as her body begins to fade away in sparkles. “I think the party’s about to start soon.”

* * *

Reaching the Antechamber goes easier than I expected. Using the city map provided by Lady Diana, Aiko and I easily skirt around the city guards and make our way to the central palace. On the way I’m again reminded of the toll Braxus’ rule has taken on the city. Food stalls lay empty and long lines of citizens queue up for bowls of disgusting looking gruel that’s being dished out by the city guards. I can’t help but feel somewhat responsible for it all. Braxus’ obsession with me has caused all of this and I can’t allow it to go on for a single day more.

Scaling the castle with Wall Run, Aiko and I slip onto a balcony on the uppermost floor of the palace. Through a barred window, I can see what looks to be Braxus’ bed chamber and upon the far wall a vault like door that has to be the entrance to the antechamber.

“Ugh,” Aiko says. “Just seeing this room again makes me sick.”

Another detail I had forgotten. Aiko was Braxus’ slave for a while and I can’t imagine what grotesque memories she has of this place. I change the subject quickly to keep her mind off of it.

“How do we get inside?” I ask.

“Easy,” she says and buffs herself with Shadow Magic.

Aiko uses Shadow Step!

Aiko uses Charge Strike!

In a flash she teleports inside the room with a burst of purple energy, performing a Charge Strike straight through the security bars. She then grins at me from inside before turning about to pick the lock on the bars and opens the window to let me inside. “See?”

“Nice,” I say and scan about the room.

It’s the picture of opulence, at least for a fantasy world. Four poster bed, bear skin rug and a gold chandelier dangling from the ceiling. The closed double doors no doubt have guards posted outside as per Lady Diana’s briefing on the palace security, but we got past them just fine.

“I think he’s definitely here,” Aiko says and nods towards a tray of food left just outside the vault like antechamber door. “Now we just need to wait.”

“Indeed,” I say and close my eyes to focus on my duplicate back in Brookrun. “Now it’s all up to my other me, to get Braxus to come outside.”

* * *

The world shifts with a nauseating blur as my consciousness focuses back to Brookrun. Arrows whistles past my head and I’m vaguely aware that I’m being carried on someone’s back. The odd sensation, which sort of reminds me of when I passed through those spheres back in the labyrinth, finally clears and I find myself in the middle of a melee atop Val Helena’s shoulders.

“What happened?” I shout into the giantess’s ear as she clears a pack of soldiers trying to climb over the defense wall with a swing of her massive axe.

“You’re awake!” she screams back in surprise. “About time!”

“What happened?” I say again.

“Braxus rejected the offer!”

I look around and see all of my friends engaged in combat of some kind. Maxis is atop the edge of the wall, knocking soldiers off with punches and kicks while Gilly is topping up his constantly dropping HP with healing spells. Lady Diana is doing much the same, only every few moments she stops to puppeteer Lord Xavier into casting a shower of crystal spears down into his former comrades within General Lyon’s advancing army.

“Let me down,” I say. “I can fight.”

She does so but gives me a wary look. “Didn’t you say you were at half ability levels now?”

I check my status and confirm it. Although the stats show the same number, in brackets next to them is a 50% indicator in red. I’m effectively level 49 again.

“Yo!” Maxis shouts to me. “What’s the plan now, man? We can’t keep this up!”

“That goes for both fronts!” Gilly yells as she cast a Great Heal on our party. “The East Wall is down to 37%. Blacktop won’t be able to hold back the trolls much longer!”

As if on cue, the ground shakes beneath us violently and I see one of the mammoths plow into the side of the wall, tossing stone high into the air. It loses 1% integrity on my HUD. Only 39% left. We’re screwed. I was hoping Braxus’ ego would easily lure him into a chance to gloat over me with an easy victory.

But it seems he’s either grown more cautious…or more exacting in his revenge.

He wants to wipe us out.

I stare out over the sea of soldiers and wonder if I’ve just made a grave miscalculation. I try to get myself inside his head for a moment. Maybe intimidating him with my Kono Zemsu ability wasn’t the best idea. He knows my strength now and probably figures the surrender is another ploy. I’ve also overvalued the weakened condition of Brookrun in his eyes. I thought seeing us under siege from two sides would be convincing enough to make him believe we’re desperate to do anything to save the town. And indeed we are. But clearly the condition of Brookrun means nothing to him.

It’s me he wants to see about to fall, not Brookrun.

It’s me he needs to see standing on my last legs and begging for life.

Only then will he acknowledge that he has finally won.

I blow out a sigh and realize what I need to do.

“Don’t follow me,” I say in party chat as I clamber atop the wall.

“Reece, what are you doing?” Val Helena cries.

“Our surrender needs to be real,” I say. “And for that…I need to try and kill him.”

One last time.