… However, we would eventually learn that not all of Besti was subsumed by Vir or Dryadal. One remnant of beastborn somehow managed to escape to the east into the [Demon Lord’s] territory.

Yes, I am not sure what could have possessed them to take that action, but I cannot argue that it was effective in its own way.

They were completely cut off from the rest of civilization, but they somehow managed to survive in the scorching heat of the desert.

They are… a peculiar people, even to this day.

Excerpt from A Brief History of Placeholder, Volume 1. Chapter 14

-----

I ran.

Not exactly something new, but it still felt novel after spending the last 14 years [Sneaking] around.

It also seemed to take about half the stamina it used to. It took me a while to dial in exactly how fast I could go and break even with the new reduction (and the ridiculous amount of stamina being level 25 gave me), but as soon as I got that figured out, I ate up the ground at a near-sprint.

My initial plan was to make it to the Besti deathlands, and the first undead obelisk before summoning my daves. I figured that if most of the undead were busy invading Vir and Dryadal that I’d be able to take on whatever dregs they left on the eastern front alone.

However, my plans got derailed swiftly one dark and moonless night as I made my way through the desert.

“Defend the obelisk with your life!” I heard a faint shout from over the sand dunes to my left.

That was enough to grab my attention and a welcome break from the monotony, so I sprinted that way and saw a curious sight.

Several pools of water were scattered about, and they even had a bit of greenery around them. At the middle pool, there was a group of about a dozen beastborn men and women defending an obelisk.

All of that was fairly normal. However, there were almost too many weird parts to keep track of.

First, it was a black obelisk, which, unless a new faction popped up that I didn’t know about, meant that they were currently defending my territory.

Second, other monsters were fighting alongside them. Specifically sand wolves and giant scorpions. Given that I could tell that things were uneasy between them, even from that great a distance meant something unusual was up.

But that left the weirdest observation. Not a single one of the beastborn had a weapon. They all were fighting with punches and kicks.

“Was that an [Air Strike]?” I muttered to myself as I watched one of the beastborn annihilate a sand wolf with a single kick.

I shook my head as if to shake off my stupor. Right, people in danger. Don’t just stand here.

I sprinted in their direction as I tried to get a handle on the situation.

“[Identify],” I cast at one of the hostile sand wolves.

Level 10 zombie sand wolf, eh? Looks like I found the [Necromancer’s] forces sooner than I thought.

My nonchalant observation was soon interrupted.

“Scorpion!” one of the beastborn yelled. A grey scorpion with sagging pincers charged into them and scattered them like bowling pins.

One of my monster scorpions moved to engage it and jabbed it with its stinger, but the undead scorpion didn’t seem to care. The zombie jabbed it back and must have stunned it as it stopped moving. After that, it was on it with its pincers, and I was sure that if I didn’t do anything, we’d have 2 zombie scorpions to deal with.

“[Summon Dave]!” I cast more out of reflex than anything. I punched the slimeball with an [Air Strike] just like I always did.

However, my [Martial Arts] and [Elemental Strike] levels were uhh… not what I was used to.

Instead of hitting the scorpion in the face, the dave went high and splatted against its raised stinger. And when I say splatted, I mean it. The poor dave dissolved without even getting to do any damage.

I briefly remembered my disdain towards the [Skill/Level Downscaling] perk.

“Oh, so that’s why that could be helpful,” I muttered.

I shook off my brief moment of confusion and sprinted down the dunes towards the zombies. I ignored the System notification that I got as I did.

System: Zone entered, The Oasis. Faction - Demon Lord

Well, if that ranged attack won’t work… “[Heal]!” I cast.

I immediately felt something was wrong. I was overcome by nausea, even as the healing light sped across the distance and entered the zombie scorpion.

I stopped in place, doubled over, and dry retched.

No damage. No status effect. I quickly assessed myself. Is healing magic just really that toxic to me?

To make matters worse, the undead scorpion barely seemed phased by my spell. It was soon joined by a second, and together the friendly monster didn’t stand a chance.

It went down under a barrage of stinger strikes and pincer attacks, and it came back up as an undead. The newly reinforced trio of scorpions immediately turned towards the beastborn guarding the obelisk.

“Not on my watch,” I clenched my teeth and forced myself upright. Just need to buy some time to get there!

I flooded my [Demon Lord] aura over the area. I was hoping it would cow the monsters a bit.

It didn’t.

As one, all of the gathered zombies turned and looked in my direction. They paused for only a brief moment before charging me.

“Well, that works too,” I muttered as I put my fists up.

Then, they were on me.

The zombie sand wolves were faster and reached me first. However, I stood my ground and met them with [Air Strike] after [Air Strike] that turned them into fine particulate matter.

However, their suicidal charge did have a purpose as it allowed the scorpion trio to take up positions surrounding me.

Too smart for normal zombies. The heart must be close enough to control them. I thought as I had a momentary lull in the attack.

I stood there, slowly pivoting around to keep my eye on them as I waited.

More zombie sand wolves kept trickling in as I waited.

They’re waiting for enough reinforcements. I realized as we continued our stalemate. They’ll probably all go in at the same time when they have enough.

However, they weren’t going to be the ones to break the impasse. My spell was off cooldown.

“[Summon Dave],” I whispered as the ball of slime appeared in my hand. “Eat this!” I shouted as I chucked it into the face of one of the zombie scorpions. I then immediately [Flash Stepped] in the opposite direction and began laying into a different one with [Earth Strikes].

As the first scorpion began frantically and uselessly, trying to get the acid monster off its face, the rest of the zombie forces were stunned into inaction for a few precious moments. That gave me enough of a window to really stack up the stagger effect on my chosen enemy. The poor monster tried to defend itself with its pincers and stinger, but I simply batted those away and continued my assault. In just a few seconds, it was swaying enough that it was barely staying upright even with multiple legs.

Then the rest of the horde finally came to their senses and charged.

I turned my back to the staggering enemy and met the others head-on. A single sweeping [Air Strike] kick dusted the first three enemies that leaped at me, and a pivot and an elbow strike took care of the fourth.

I kept my back to the slowly recovering scorpion and took down 5 more sand wolves as another scorpion approached. It lashed out with its stinger, but I batted it away with an [Air Strike] that sent it back a few feet.

However, ignoring the first scorpion for so long was a mistake. It finally landed a glancing strike with its stinger on my shoulder, and that was nearly enough to turn things into a disaster.

System: You are stunned and are unable to act

Really?

Seeing its opportunity, the other scorpion quickly closed in and grabbed both of my still-raised arms in a pincer each.

System: You are grappled and cannot move

There was a part of me that wondered how I was unlucky enough that [Status Effect Resistance] didn’t kick in at that most critical of moments, but I didn’t have long to complain.

System: You are no longer stunned

I just have to deal with this pincer attack. I chuckled as both scorpions tried and failed to stun me again.

Yes, I was relaxed enough to make puns to myself. I figured worst-case scenario was madness form would show up, and that was if my next hair-brained scheme didn’t work out.

“Here goes,” I grunted. Then I lifted with all my might.

It’s a pity that zombies don’t have much in the way of facial expressions. Otherwise, I’m pretty sure I would’ve seen shock as I bodily lifted it off the ground by its pincers.

“Try this on for size!” I shouted as I arched my back, flipped the scorpion over me, and slammed it bodily into the one behind me.

Both enemies went to the ground in a heap as I got back upright.

I guess I can cross “suplex a giant scorpion” off my bucket list. I snorted. That particular entry went directly under “punch a constellation in the face.”

However, I couldn’t just stand there admiring my wrestling move as they started to regain their multiple feet, so I had an idea.

I sprinted up to the heap and [Air Strike] punched it.

It knocked both scorpions backward a few feet, but that was all that I needed. I sprinted after the entangled enemies and just kept punching them along.

“C-C-C-Combo!” I laughed hysterically as I continued punching several tons of scorpion across the desert in the most physics-defying stunt I’d pulled to date.

The sand wolves didn’t take my attack lying down, but the fact that I one-shot them meant that there wasn’t much they could do to stop me. Eventually, the scorpion I was punching died, and I looted it.

That left the no-longer-staggered scorpion to face me. However, that was over just as quick.

“[Summon Dave],” I cast. I tossed it on the scorpion’s face and walked away. “Oh, make sure to destroy the bodies when you’re done, daves!” I shouted to my summons as I walked towards the people I’d seen earlier.

It was a good thing I headed that way immediately. The beastborn had arrayed themselves in a defensive circle, and several sand wolves and a scorpion from my faction were eying them warily.

I whistled loudly. “Stand down. They aren’t hostile,” I shouted. At the very least, my monsters took a less hostile-looking stance and walked in my direction. The latter part was because I had activated my [General] skill, [Form Army].

System: Choose army name

Hmm. I’m going to be using these guys to take down a heart of undeath. Soo…

“Heartbreaker,” I whispered.

System: Heartbreaker army has been created for the Demon Lord Faction

However, the beastborn were looking a bit uneasy.

“Show yourself!” a man with tiger stripes shouted. However, he was silenced by a hand on his arm.

“We thank you for the timely assistance, but could you show us your face?” a confident-looking young woman with bunny ears sticking through a small silver crown strode forward.

There were a couple of things I realized at that moment. First, the people I was talking to were all desert-dwellers, if their loose-fitting white and tan garb was any indication. Second, they had some torches scattered around in the area, and I was out of range of the light, which I hadn’t even noticed because of my [Dark Vision]. Third, the fact that I was the [Demon Lord] was probably not going to win me any points.

“Uh, sure,” I said as I walked into the light.

There was no reaction to my horns, which was a bit unusual for me. However, several of them locked onto my face.

“Red eyes,” I heard one of them whisper.

The group was all back on high alert except for the woman in front of me.

“I am Lilly Besti. [Princess] of the Martial Tribe of Besti and leader of this group,” she stated. As she did, she pressed her two fists together and gave a small bow. “Who am I addressing?”

I was caught off-guard by her polite, or at least I was assuming it was polite, greeting.

“Oh… Uhh, I’m Ti-,” I started. However, I realized mid-introduction what an idiot I was about to be. “Rone.” I finished. “I’m Tyrone.”

She gave me a quizzical look and glanced downward at a ring on her finger that was now shining red.

Oh frick. Is that what I think it is?

“Two plus two is four,” I continued. The ring turned blue. “And the moon is made out of cheese.” It turned red again. Yup. Truth stone. Frick.

Lilly scowled. “I suppose you have seen through the illusion protecting my truth stone then, Tyrone,” she said. She gave a slight hand gesture, and the rest of the gathered beastborn started slowly moving to encircle me.

“Look,” I sighed. “I’m not here to fight you or anyone in Besti.” The ring initially showed blue, but it changed to a purplish red as I realized something. “Actually, let me clarify. I don’t want to fight anyone in Besti, but the [Necromancer].”

She held up a hand to stop her fighters.

“Truly?” she asked. She tried to hide the incredulity in her voice but didn’t quite succeed. Shaking her head, she continued. “I find your claims hard to believe, [Demon Lord],” she practically spit the last words.

“It’s the truth, though,” I said. “I was headed this way to take down the [Necromancer]. I have no plans on attacking you unless you attack me first.” As I said that, I put my hands up in a defensive position.

“Then why lie about who you are?” she asked.

“I’ve found that going around and introducing yourself as the [Demon Lord] is generally not a good first impression,” I deadpanned.

There was the slightest hint of a smile at that.

“That is understandable. I would scarcely want to inherit a position from your predecessor,” she stated.

My predecessor? My eyes widened. That’s right! They don’t know that the previous [Demon Lord] was still just me!

“Forgive me for my earlier lies,” I replied once I had my plan of attack figured out. I gave her a slight bow similar to the one she had given me, with my fists pressed into each other. “Similar to the previous [Demon Lord], I am also named Titus. I am traveling to Besti to destroy the [Necromancer] and his undead.”

“He lies! Everyone knows that the [Demon Lord] and the [Necromancer] joined forces to take down our homeland!” the tiger-striped man interjected.

“Silence,” she replied calmly with a look in his direction. “We have seen proof of their enmity because why else would the undead attack this zone when it is under the [Demon Lord’s] control?” That seemed to shut him up for a moment, so she continued. “So, why this sudden assault on the [Necromancer]?”

I shrugged. “I guess there are two reasons for that. First, his forces are threatening Vir and some people who are dear to me-”

“Wait, Vir still stands?” I heard one of them whisper to another. There was also a somewhat visible shock that went through the group.

However, I didn’t let that distract me. “Second, I want to fix the mistakes of the past [Demon Lord]. He seems to have made quite a mess of things.”

“Quite a mess!?” the man with tiger stripes shouted. “Do you have any idea what he did to us!?”

“The man himself?” I asked. “Technically, not much… At least, that’s what I gather from the history I read. It was mostly the undead and the monsters that did you in, right?”

“No. You aren’t just responsible for driving us from our home,” the man seethed. “We escaped the undead and survived the blistering heat to found this oasis. We claimed it as our own and thought that we might finally have peace.” He growled. “Then your monsters came and attacked and took even this place from us!”

Oh, this used to be a town until I took it over? I asked myself. I wasn’t sure what to say to the irate man before me, so I just went with the first thing that came to mind.

“I’m sorry that happened,” I finally said. “However, that was before my time, so there wasn’t much I could really do.”

That was not a 100% truthful wording, and Lilly’s ring started to reflect that. I hastily continued. “But I’m here now. I’m here to help and to push back against the [Necromancer]. I would rather not fight you,” I looked over at Lilly. “But that decision is up to you, [Princess].”

She seemed like she was weighing her options. I was content to let her do that… Until a boss health bar appeared titled “Heart of Undeath.”

“Son of a birch!” I attempted to swear. “With me!” I shouted to my army as I sprinted up the sand dune in the direction I assumed the heart was coming from.

I was hoping for a bit more time before it got there, but sure enough, I saw the disgusting boss far off in the distance. It was almost a speck at that range, but I could still tell it was inching along, and it was surrounded by a horde of zombies.

I saw zombified sand wolves, scorpions, and even an assortment of normal wolves and bears. I didn’t even bother doing a headcount; the number of enemies coming at me was in the hundreds, if not the thousands.

I looked over at my dozen or so monsters.

“Not nearly enough,” I muttered. I looked back down the dune at the beastborn, who had barely moved from around the obelisk.

I’m not going to lie. There was a brief moment where the thought crossed my mind that I could just abandon them. With the current odds, it wasn’t looking good for us. I could come back for the heart when I was more prepared and had an army of daves in tow.

I banished that thought as quickly as it had come. If they were serious about defending that obelisk with their lives, that meant that this area had to be important to them.

“Wait,” I said to myself. “The obelisk!” I sprinted back down, ignoring the monsters who had to turn around to follow me again.

“You’re a [Princess], right?” I asked Lilly. “Can you claim the obelisk?”

She gave me a perplexed look. “We rarely claim this obelisk. All it does is invite more monsters to attack this area.”

“Exactly!” I shouted. “We have hundreds of zombies incoming. We need all the help we can get!”

She looked back and forth between the other gathered people who gave her noncommittal shrugs at best.

“Very well,” she sighed. “I suppose it could not make things any worse.” She walked up to the obelisk and then said, “Claim.”

System: Zone, The Oasis, has been claimed by the Martial Tribe of Besti

The jet-black obelisk turned to a dark yellow, and I thought we were in business.

Any second now. I thought to myself. Any second.

“No monster wave?” I asked. Then I had a realization. I turned to Lilly. “Wait, where’s the nearest zone from here?”

“About 2 days at a brisk pace,” she said. “Why do you ask?”

Frick. I thought to myself as I started pacing. It’s too far away. Apparently, when it said adjacent, it meant it.

However, Lilly snapped me out of my pondering.

“Titus, what are your monsters doing?” she asked.

I looked over at them and realized that half of the sand wolves were making a beeline for the obelisk, and the other half had turned tail and ran.

I glanced back at the obelisk and then vaguely remembered something. Oh, right. Didn’t town obelisks repel monsters?

“The zone faction change is freaking them out. I’m going to just reclaim the obelisk, okay?” I asked. I started walking in that direction, but Mr. Tiger-stripes got in my way. I simply [Flash Stepped] past him and claimed the obelisk.

System: Zone, The Oasis, has been claimed by the Demon Lord Faction

“How dare you!” he shouted and ran two steps after me with his fists raised. Two steps was all he got.

“Jerric!” Lilly snapped. “Stand. Down.”

“But-“ the man I now knew as Jerric stammered.

“We have all seen how high-level [Martial Artists] move, have we not?” Lilly asked. “What level would you place Titus at?”

“Level 15, maybe level 16?” he faltered.

“Wrong,” she stated flatly. “I admit, my estimation was also in the high teens until I saw him run. His movement is sloppy and unrefined-“

“Hey!” I interjected, but she ignored me and continued.

“-but like his predecessor, his speed places him well above that, and I took the liberty of [Identifying] him. Go ahead, Jerric. Cast the spell as well,” she finished.

“[Identify],” Jerric cast. He turned white as a sheet, which was impressive with his tiger stripes.

“I take your silence as agreement with my actions,” she stated. “Tell me, Jerric. You should know this from experience. How many [Martial Artists] or [Monks] does it take to defeat someone who is at the peak level?”

“Dozens more than we have here. As the [Grand Martial Elder] has shown us time and time again,” he faltered.

“Precisely,” Lilly continued.

She turned to me and once again pressed her fists together, but this time she gave a deeper bow.

“I thank you for your patience with this imbecile and for the rudeness you have been shown. I would like to humbly request your aid in repelling the undead threat from this region that is under your ownership,” she stated.

And I, bringing out my utmost of courtly etiquette, replied, “Oh, uhh. Sure. I was planning to do that anyway.”

She stood back upright. “Very well. My warriors and I are at your disposal.” She hesitated. “Assuming, of course, that you have a plan of action.”

“I’m working on it,” I grumbled and nearly went back to pacing. Undead heart and hundreds of zombies vs. a dozen [Martial Artists], a dozen monsters, and a [Demon Lord]. “So it’ll be a fair fight,” I muttered to myself.

Shaking that particular video game cutscene out of my head, I realized that I really didn’t want to be a part of a fair fight. Which is why I immediately took steps to cheat.

“If you do not have a plan, I could always take-“ Lilly started.

“No need,” I said as I finished figuring out my basic strategy. “First off, does anyone here have [Enhanced Party]?” I asked.

They all looked at Lilly.

“Alright, that answers that. Party invite, please,” I said.

She gave me an invite. Jerric looked like he was about to protest, but she silenced him with nothing more than a withering glare.

I did my best to hide my grimace at what I saw.

No one higher than level 13. Lilly was the highest level, and she was a level 13 [Monk]. The rest were between 10 and 12. At least everyone here’s upgraded their class.

I gathered my army up and took stock. I had a single scorpion, 15 sand wolves, and a group of 11 [Monks] that were all sitting at about half stamina.

Asking about their capabilities, I learned that the [Monks] had no other skills besides [Athletics], [Martial Arts], and [Elemental Strike]. They also didn’t have any items in their inventory that would be useful.

I was mostly in the same boat item-wise. Apparently, crazy Titus went through my potions like he went through the dragons… meaning there was a single stamina potion left that was only half-full. Though, speaking of dragons, I did still have literal tons of their bones sitting in my inventory…

I was exceedingly grateful that hearts of undeath were so slow as I finished my preparations.

I split off two sand wolves and the sand scorpion from the rest of the group and gave them their own orders. The rest of us went to the top of the sand dune and did our best to make a defensive structure out of nothing more than oversized bones. Calling them walls would be a bit generous, but we did get enough placed down to hopefully funnel the zombies into us and not let them surround us.

And then, all too soon, the heart was in position. It was time.

“Beginning the first phase, everyone ready?” I asked. The gathered [Monks] nodded or sent their assent via the party.

“Here we go then… [Hell Blaze],” I cast. The blackish-red orb flew true and coated the heart in its flames.

The boss’s HP bar dropped less than a tenth of the way, but it was definitely enough to get its attention. An ungodly screech went up from the horde, and we were charged by dozens of zombified sand wolves.

“Here they come!” I called to the waiting party. That was a bit needless with the party perk in play, but given their relatively reduced visibility compared to mine, I figured any sort of heads up would be welcome.

Somehow, our makeshift barricades did their job, and all the wolves charged straight up the incline at us.

Our formation wasn’t terribly exciting. It was basically just a line of [Monks] with me at the front and center to try to take on the bulk of the incoming attack.

That first wave went about as well for the zombies as you would expect when all of us possessed an ability that instantly dusted any sand wolf it hit.

Not that it would have gone as smoothly without me there, of course. Twice, I had to [Flash Step] over to help a side that was getting overrun, and even without that, I’m pretty sure that I defeated almost the same number of mobs as the rest of them combined.

Put more positively, that did mean that it was basically half of a wave that I didn’t have to kill personally, so I was willing to take it.

When the last wolf was vaporized, I took quick stock of the party. I was not happy with some of the resource bars I saw.

“Felix, Andrea, you’re done. Get out of here,” I ordered. Both began to protest, but I cut them off. “Felix, you’re at a quarter HP. Another hit from a sand wolf, and we’re gonna have to kill whatever the hail type of zombie a beastborn [Monk] turns into.” I turned to look at Andrea. “And as for you, you barely have any SP left. In other words, basically the same problem as him just a different resource. Both of you, get to safety, so we don’t have to worry about trying to drag you out of here.”

They looked to Lilly, who gave a curt nod.

However, she also gave another set of orders to them as for where exactly they were supposed to fall back to.

I frowned when I picked up on it.

“There’s a decent chance that will get them killed,” I flatly stated to the [Princess].

“I am well aware,” she responded in kind. “I am also aware that it is only a matter of time before you will be the only one left with the stamina remaining to fight. I know that I, too, will run out of stamina before the heart of undeath is defeated. I will fall back and join the others when that occurs.”

“You’re crazy,” I muttered. “Why go to all of this trouble for a zone you don’t even own.”

Her eyes flashed with anger. “I will forgive you for that once as it was a statement of ignorance. This oasis is our lifeblood. If the undead taints these waters, the last tribe of Besti shall be no more.”

Some of the others overheard us, and so Lilly raised her voice to a shout. “We will give our lives before we see the second fall of Besti! For the tribe!”

“For the tribe, and the [Princess]!” came the resounding reply.

Well, I’m glad they’re all fired up. I just wish they weren’t so eager to throw their lives away. That makes it a bit harder to keep them alive.

However, I didn’t have long to ruminate. My spell had been off cooldown for a bit, and I was wasting precious time. I ensured that everyone was ready, and then I went for it again.

“[Hell Blaze],” I cast. Once more, my flame spell flew true and dropped the boss’s HP bar down another tenth.

The next wave of monsters was a bit dicier. It sent regular wolves and alpha wolves in addition to the sand ones. That wasn’t a problem for me as I still one-shot the normal ones (and three-shot the alphas), but things ended up a bit frantic because the [Monks] didn’t have the same privilege.

An alpha took one distracted [Monk] to the ground, and he was almost a goner then and there. I only managed to save his life because [Flash Step] was off cooldown.

I reappeared next to the enemy, killed it with three quick [Fire Strike] jabs, and then looted it. However, I was a bit too late, given his HP.

“Anyone have any potions!?” I shouted, both aloud and through the party. The answer came quickly, and they basically had nothing to use to heal him. That meant it was up to me.

I batted 3 more sand wolves as I mentally prepared myself.

“[Heal],” I cast through grit teeth.

The nausea was terrible, but I managed to fight through it. However, for the next few moments it was all I could do to stay in place and kill the enemies coming right at me. That wasn’t going to cut it since there was a group of 6 alphas on the way.

“Reserves!” I called out. That was the cue for my pitiful sand wolf army to come out. They bounded up the dunes from behind us and made quick work of the alphas.

However, that was about all they were good for. Once it turned into a clash of sand wolf vs. sand wolf, my army was cut down and became the enemy’s reinforcements.

Fortunately, sand wolves were a lot easier for the [Monks] to deal with than alphas, so that sacrifice got us through the end of the wave.

“I think it’s time for you all to get out of here,” I called out once things finally died down. I was still sitting at near-full HP and more than half SP. Meanwhile, the rest of them were running on fumes.

“Agreed,” was all a heavy-breathing Lilly replied. They all walked off slowly towards the obelisk.

As they did, I did a quick check of my stamina and of the encroaching army.

I think it should be enough. I may have to cheese out a few moments of rest in between, but as long as I keep them far enough away from the heart, I should win this.

I gave the party a bit to get into position. Then, once I got the all-clear from them, I readied myself for the next wave.

“[Hell Blaze],” I cast. It flew true, and the boss’s HP dropped.

Unfortunately, this time it wasn’t taking the bait.

“Come on,” I muttered as it continued inching closer to us.

I waited the tortuously long minute cooldown for [Hell Blaze] to be back up, and then I cast it again.

Same deal as last time. The boss was now a bit above half HP, it didn’t send any monsters, and I was now nearly out of mana.

Frick! I attempted to swear internally. It called my bluff!

I knew that I wouldn’t be able to just kill it from range with that single spell, but I was hoping that it didn’t know that. If it was convinced that I could kill it from a distance, it would have no choice but to commit all of its monsters to take me out.

However, [Hell Blaze] had a hefty mana cost and a long cooldown. It wasn’t some cheap spell that I could just sit and cast all day.

“Wait,” I muttered. “Cheap spell… Cast all day…” My palm met my forehead with enough force to do a bit of HP damage. “I’m a frickin’ idiot,” I muttered.

I sprinted towards the obelisk.

The party almost rioted at that point. Me heading back past them was most certainly not the original plan, but I managed to get it across what I was doing, and the complaints died down.

I reached the obelisk in record time and put my hand on it.

“Upgrade, spells, purchase [Mage Bolt],” I said. I didn’t even wait for the confirmation before turning back around and sprinting the way I’d come.

I was down to 5 spell points, and I was desperately hoping that [Restore] wouldn’t cost more than that, or future Titus was going to feel like an idiot.

Either way, I made it back to the top of the dune and then took aim at the heart.

“[Mage Bolt]! [Mage Bolt]! [Mage Bolt]!” I began casting.

The first shot went wide to the right. The second hit the sand near the bottom of the heart. The third was on target, so I tried dialing it in from there.

“[Mage Bolt], [Mage Bolt], [Mage Molt>,” the first two went on target, and the third fizzled. In addition to getting myself tongue-tied, I did end up finding out that [Mage Bolt] does have a cooldown. That, combined with the fact that one or two of my bolts had a slight delay before firing, meant that it also had a cast time.

I eventually got it dialed in and managed to cast it evenly about once a second.

We’d done tests before, and I distinctly remembered that [Mage Bolt] only does 4 damage a hit. However, 4 damage a second was still a bit too much for the heart to be comfortable with. It kept only a few undead as guards, primarily bears. The rest charged me.

In most of my previous mass-battles, I had established a sort of rhythm. Pause in between punches, capitalize on the enemy’s lack of coordination, and make use of my auras to shape the battle.

This fight was nothing like those.

I didn’t dare pause or rest, or I would find myself crushed under the sheer weight of numbers coming at me. I didn’t have any lack of coordination to capitalize on because the heart was keeping them aligned with its wishes perfectly. And lastly, the auras that I had relied on to save my life were useless. The [Demon Lord] aura didn’t do anything, and I wasn’t willing to try the madness one.

All of that being said, it might sound like the situation was bleak. However, the surprising thing was that it wasn’t. I may have been hard-pressed, but I was still much faster than the zombies that were attacking me.

I led them in circles as I slew them and used [Flash Step] to get myself out of any jams.

I might be able to just take them all here. I thought to myself idly as I slew yet another alpha wolf.

I didn’t realize how close the heart was getting.

A zombified bear behind me roared and went onto its hind legs. Its paw swiped down at me.

I blocked the attack with a [Fire Strike] with my forearm. I quickly followed that up with 6 more quick [Fire Strike] punches that made the zombie go limp.

However, before I could loot it, the bear reanimated and batted me across the desert sand.

I took one look at the heart approaching with its honor guard of bears and took my only good option. I beat a hasty retreat towards the obelisk.

I [Flash Stepped] as far as I could past a group that tried to block my retreat, and I made it down the sand dune without issue.

I reached the obelisk, put my back up to it, and prepared for phase two of the fight.

Except there was one issue. No zombies were coming.

“Oh, right. Have to threaten the heart,” I muttered to myself. I needed line of sight on the heart and realized I had a decent way of getting that.

“Up we go,” I said to myself once [Flash Step] was back up. Just like the walls of Vir, I took a couple running steps up the side of the obelisk and the [Flash Stepped] to grab the top. I yanked myself up just as the heart crested the hill.

“[Mage Bolt], [Mage Bolt], [Mage Bolt],” I began casting once again.

My bolts landed true, and I began chipping away at the boss’s HP once again.

The heart wasn’t about to take that lying down.

It sent another wave at me, but this one was almost hilarious to watch. The zombies charged me and then freaked out once they got closer. I had wolves frantically circling the obelisk as I continued plinking at their master with the weakest spell in existence.

Eventually, it wisened up and had its zombies make a ramp using their bodies. That at least let them get to me. However, I simply batted away whatever came up the ramp and continued my [Mage Bolt] assault between attacks.

Come on. I thought as I looked at the group of bears that were its last remaining guards. Send them. You know you have to.

Another minute and the heart finally caved. The bears came for me.

Hold. I thought as they approached.

100 yards away.

Hold.

50.

Hold.

The bears started up the grotesque ramp, and it was time.

“Now!” I shouted to what was left of my army.

My two remaining sand wolves charged in with a dave each riding on their backs. Simultaneously, a scorpion and nearly a dozen [Monks] burst out of the sand near the heart.

The boss knew it was in trouble. It tried to recall all of its monsters, but it was too late. I sprinted and [Flash Stepped] down the ramp and got between the heart and the horde. I [Air Strike] kicked one of the bears back and got it tangled up with the others, and that was about all that was needed.

It turns out a group of a dozen [Monks] can do a lot of damage to a stationary target when they’re sufficiently motivated. The daves didn’t even reach the heart before it was slain.

From there, it was clean-up. Without an intelligence to guide them, the remaining zombies were a piece of cake. I mopped them up somewhat lackadaisically over the next few minutes.

None of them even went for the [Monks]. Whether that was because I flared my aura every so often or because they were too stupid, I wasn’t sure. Either way, it was nice to not have to worry about them dying on me.

Soon enough, the last zombie was slain and looted.

“Phew,” I said. “That went a lot better than I expected.” As I said that, I turned to look at the party.

All of them were bowing deeply.

“You have our deepest gratitude for saving this oasis, [Demon Lord] Titus,” Lilly said.

I awkwardly scratched my head. “Uhh. Yeah. Don’t mention it,” I replied.

Thankfully, they took that as their cue to stop bowing, or I would have felt even more awkward.

“I have seen with my own eyes the valor of the new [Demon Lord]. So, by the authority granted to me as [Princess] of Besti, I would like to offer you and your faction a truce,” she stated.

I had to keep myself from chuckling.

Wonderful bit of political maneuvering there. A truce didn’t really offer me much. However, it would be huge for them, and I had no reason to refuse.

Well… I didn’t have a reason to refuse.

System: Truce failed. The Demon Lord Faction is locked as an enemy of all factions

“You get the same message?” I asked Lilly.

“Truly, your faction must remain an enemy of all?” she asked.

I sighed. “Yup. Looks like it. Oh well, at least that includes the undead.” I left the party and gave a sharp whistle to my 5 remaining monsters. “Well, I’m off then. Thanks for your help.”

The [Monks] gave me a surprised look.

“You are leaving already?” Lilly asked. “I was going to invite you to visit our tribe. I am sure the [Grand Martial Elder] would love to meet you.”

I shook my head. “No thanks. If the undead have already expanded this far, I need to get moving.” I looked at the pitiful remains of my army. “And to summon a lot more monsters,” I muttered.

She nodded. “Very well, we shall not keep you if that is your desire,” Lilly replied. She gave another bow with her hands pressed together. “Farewell, Titus.”

The rest of the [Monks] followed suit. Meanwhile, I simply waved and then walked off with the first rays of morning to my back.