The sea of trees, all ablaze in a harrowing sight in which many still trapped inside couldn't manage to escape, filled the young elf's eyes with terror and rage.

A crying sadness surrounded his heart as the once proud member of the village turned and ran from the place he had called home. At 60 years old, Eduine could be compared to a teenager by human standards. His usually pale skin was darkened by soot and ash as he ran through the night. So too was his hair, gone was its vibrant lustre. The usually tied braids were covered in falling ash and had turned a scruffy grey.

The humans had attacked while the elves slept, and not just with a few, but many. A large force, one spanning more humans than Eduine had ever seen before, tore through his village with fire magic and arrows of the same nature, destroying everything it touched as the elves fought back in vain.

Their village had of course been prepared to be attacked in such ways. Living in the forest meant fire was a constant danger and most mages in the villages were trained in the use of water magic as a means to combat it. However, the elven water mages could not rival the sheer numbers the humans had brought to the woods, and their village was burnt to the ground. Lost to nature and to Eduine.

Eduine wasn't there to witness the end of it though. He was running south as fast as his legs could take him and wasn't stopping for anyone. He had an arrow in one leg and a nasty gash in the other. He wasn't expecting to reach another village, not with his injuries. Eduine's will to live was all that kept him going. He kept running until his legs stiffened up, yet he kept going. He ran and hobbled as fast and as far as his physically superior body was capable of. All until he ran through what he thought was a barrier.

Although, it wasn't a barrier. It was something he had never felt before, and in his deteriorating state, he thought it was more akin to a domain. Like someone owned the area in an incontestable way. It wasn't a visible barrier. Nothing the eye could see and it wasn't able to repel others, since Eduine had hobbled right in, but it was still there nonetheless.

Baffled by the strange barrier, Eduine passed out as adrenaline began leaving his system. Collapsing where he stood, the last thing the young elf heard were the voices of angels.

"Another elf? At least this one's too injured to be crazy. What should we do with him, girls?"

"Not interested," one of them answered as if she thought nothing of him or his plight to get there.

"Whatever you want to do, Abi." Another girl, referring to the first who spoke as Abi, chirped in merrily.

"We should take him to Tilly. She can heal him and then we can go get lunch," a third girl added, much to the satisfaction of Eduine's dwindling consciousness. Healing does sound rather nice right around now, he thought.

"He doesn't look very tasty," the last speaker then quickly added in a disappointed tone, leaving Eduine to dream about flesh-eating monsters and all other manners of ghoulies.

Until he woke up that was.

Eduine the Elf

After talking to the elf, whose name is Eduine, but is happy with me calling him Ed, it sounds like our future is pretty much set in stone. Then, after having further talks with Edward Gorn, I'm sure we will be at war with the King himself within the week.

Shit just got real.

Apparently the King has gone mad, or there is a Demon controlling him, or something like that. Neither one of them have hard facts on the matter. Either way, the King had ordered Lord Gorn to attack the elven forest himself as he was the closest city to their woodland home. If you don't count me in the mix, that is.

Edward refused, obviously, since Gorn was wiped out and made his way south with Minister Herald, Dum and Dee. The two Assassins bringing them here to safety. Or as safe as they can be considering what's coming in the next week.

Edward Gorn is actually a better person than I might have given him credit for. Most of the scummy people on this continent would have probably done as they were ordered even if they hadn't wanted to. Armies are like that sometimes. Unquestionable loyalty even in face of atrocious acts.

Then again, no one was expecting the King to actually set a dragon loose on Gorn. There hadn't been any indication that the King even had access to Dragons, let alone the power or ability to control them. Although, the dragon attack could just be one major coincidence, however unlikely that sounds.

Weirder things have happened recently.

Anyway, Edward had already sent his people away. Off to the place the merchant had talked about after he had decided to disobey the King's order, which showed great foresight on his part as well, I should add. Maybe I need to take a page out of his book, or better yet, I should ask him to come work for me. My foresight might as well be nonexistent with the amount of stupid shit I seem to stumble into on a daily basis.

Like the exact predicament I'm in now, for example. If I hadn't met Wheeler, he would have never traveled to Gorn to boast of a new mountain town that is safe and secluded. Which would have led Edward Gorn scattering his citizens in the Alona region instead of sending them my way. That would have meant no refugees for me and no DP farm, but I wouldn't have to be getting ready for invasion if that was the case. However, I wouldn't be where I am today without the DP farm... I mean, my citizens.

Sure the King of Tira is on his way south to Varona, but he doesn't know anything about us. No one knows anything about us except for what Wheeler tells them, and if anything, the King will probably think we're just another city in the sticks, surrounded by forests and a crazy-looking mountain to boot. Low on every resource needed due to our poorly-secluded location, but fortunately for us that couldn't be further from the truth.

Even if he were to send an advance party, he wouldn't learn much as none of them would return. And what could he learn from long-range scouting? That Varona is actually a pretty place full of untold beauty that doesn't deserve to be destroyed?

Maybe. Those scouts might not return either depending on how far into the forest they get. Then again, it won't mean a thing if the King is actually being possessed by a Demon. That was what the elf had said. The 'Demon King' was at the forefront of the attack on his village, slaughtering as many people as he could and letting none escape.

I've never actually met a demon before, and in fact I'm probably the closest thing to one that I know of, but I'm pretty sure they only care about one thing. Power.

This time, I might have a genuine reason to worry. I know every time I've done so in the past I've proven to look the fool. Most recently the Dragon incident springs to mind, but I squash the memory down and keep going. Not just a Demon possessing a King, but a Demon King. I might be reading more into Ed's version of the story than Edward's, but it's concerning my survival. I can't help but think the worst.

I know I'm pretty damn strong these days, but even in my fight with the Lazy God, I still relied on Light. There were some good bonuses that came with doing so, the main being Light's evolution, but what does that say about me and my confidence? That don't I trust my own power any more, or that have I got so used to relying on others that it's my go to move now?

It's like I've started delegating my fights to other people. Have I gotten so used to shirking responsibility that I can't even fight for myself? No. That's not right. It can't be. I try to think of the last fight I actually participated in myself and the one that comes to mind is my fight with Kal in the Core Room. That was actually a long time ago...

Snapping out of that daydream before shit turns melancholic, I focus on the task at hand. The King wiped out Gorn with his Dragon and moved the army south-west to attack the elves' forest. If there's no change in his movements, that means his army will continue south in our direction and that they'll be here in less than a week's time.

That's some bullshit right there. My city is finally kicking ass in terms of individual growth and the DP factory is stronger than ever. As nervous as I am, I'm not about to go and let some asshole King take what's mine. Not after all the effort I've put in to make sure everything runs smoothly, with as little effort as needed on my part. There's no way I'm going to give that up now.

Dungeon Core Abi Level 59:

3047/41600XP until next level

59 Floors

469 Rooms

872 Tunnels

24,457 Monsters

9 Contracted Monsters

11,138 Traps

343,878DP Available

So yeah. I don't look often, but that's what I'm talking about. My level almost matches my body. I feel as though I should be a 75, at least. Also, my DP is the absolute bomb. That's all thanks to my Overstock skill hitting max level. I can hold and retain any points I get without worrying about them disappearing. I still can't believe there's a maximum amount that Cores are limited to per level. I would have been screwed if I hadn't unlocked that skill early on.

Between Tune, Orad and Varona, I'm raking in just over 100,000DP a day. Orad and Tune both contribute a modest 20,000 points each from their respective populations, but all the rest comes from Varona and the progress of my citizens clearly shows. Higher levels mean more points.

I'm at that stage where I can purchase and alter anything I want, but my city is flourishing right now so I'm reluctant to change how things work in Varona. The citizens have grown used to embracing the odd life style that's supported here and I would rather leave it at that than risk damaging it. Plus, I've got two other cities to test shit out on now. That's definitely where I'll start making changes.

That said, that's a task for future Abi. Abi the King Slayer, if she lives long enough to brag about it. Abi the Present needs to get her shit together and stop thinking about things that aren't going to help her win the fight.

Should I just throw Light at them? I don't actually think his level would save the Master Assassin against an onslaught of troops raining down on him. At some point quantity will overwhelm quality as the latter will end up being worn down. Although, I'm pretty sure Noir would jump in there to help if I asked him too. His level is like 90 something if I remember rightly. I could also forbid Becca from fighting. That would make the Rebellion Dragon want to participate even more knowing that I don't want her to.

We'll see how it goes. I was panicking before, but now that I've had a quick look at my status, we're fine.

I'm calm.

If they're trying to win by strength in numbers then they've already lost. I have 24,000 family members, and a couple dozen of them are Dragons. Not to mention that half of the citizens of Varona are battle-ready which equates to another 10,000 troops made up of adventurers and guards. I could also summon another 12,000 Assassins with the points I have extra, shoring my own forces up to almost 50,000. Either that or I could summon more Dragons. However, that plan has its own drawbacks.

Either way, there's no way I can lose this fight. Right?