After Ada was done speaking, Aaron grabbed the crystal from Karolina's hand. Before she had a chance to complain, he was speaking rapidly into the communicator, trying to get more information from the scout.

As Aaron got information on what the attack looked like, Karolina looked at Thomas and Selena. Thomas looked resigned to the coming conflict, while Selena was expressionless. Karolina looked at Selena’s soul, and found that the woman was once again terrified. She found herself wishing, yet again, that Selena would start actually showing what she was feeling.

Selena rushed off without another word to heal everyone that was injured, while Thomas just stared off into the distance. Karolina looked around, feeling useless.

She couldn't do much until the monsters actually arrived. She didn't know any of these people, didn't know their strengths and weaknesses as she knew her team’s.

She was a fighter, and a good one at that, but she wasn't sure how to prepare for this fight. It was then, staring into a sea of exhausted faces that she didn’t recognize, that she realized how hollow her goals of becoming leader of the camp were.

She didn’t know anyone in camp besides her team, and she hadn’t cared to get to know them. She had banked on getting some leadership skill that would somehow make it possible for her to become in charge of camp instead of actually working towards it.

She could have gotten to know key members of the camp or interjected herself more into the leadership process, but she hadn’t. And that’s because, she realized, doing that didn’t interest her.

Honestly, the only thing that she enjoyed doing so far had been fighting, but she couldn’t do just that. She still wanted to improve people’s lives, and just fighting for its own sake didn’t accomplish that at all.

So, she wanted to improve people’s lives, but she didn’t want to do it by being the leader of the camp. Which of course begged the question—what did she want to do?

“I don’t know how much longer I can do this,” Thomas said, interrupting her train of thought.

She turned to him, wondering what he was talking about.

“Thus far, fighting monsters hasn’t been too dangerous. It’s almost been kind of fun. There may have been a few close calls, and we may have gotten a little hurt, but we’ve always been fine in the end. Nobody’s ever died. But now…” he trailed off.

“Now…?” she prompted. She felt like she knew what he was working towards, but she needed him to say it.

“Now it feels too dangerous, too real. Those people are dead, really dead, and this doesn’t feel fun anymore. It just feels terrifying. I’m sorry that I’m not as brave as you,” he said.

“It’s okay that you’re scared. I get scared too, sometimes,” she said. She remembered the terror of seeing the kobold ready to attack her, knowing there was nothing she could do to save herself. “I can protect you,” she said, hoping that she was telling him the truth.

“Did you protect them?” he asked, gesturing at the rest of the camp.

She stared at him. She couldn’t believe he said that. Of course she couldn’t protect everyone in camp, especially when she hadn’t even been aware that they needed it.

“I’m sorry,” Thomas said after seeing the look on her face. “I’m just… I’m just tired.”

“It’s okay,” she said halfheartedly. “Anyway, it’s not like we really have a choice right now. We have to fight to stay alive, after all.”

“Yeah,” Thomas said despondently.

“I’m gonna go talk to Aaron, see if there’s anything I can do to help before they get here,” Karolina said.

Even if she wasn't really sure how she could help right now, Aaron could probably point her in the right direction. If nothing else, he could tell her what happened to Buckley.

Thomas gave her a nod, and then returned to staring off into the distance. She hurried over to Aaron, who was still speaking rapidly into her communication crystal. She tapped him on his shoulder and he spun around, looking irritated.

“Aaron, what can I do to help prepare?” she asked. She was ashamed that she needed to ask for direction, but saving people’s lives was more important right now than protecting her pride.

“Well, the monsters are going to head our way soon, so we don’t have a lot of time before they’re here. We need to organize these people and get everyone to fight if we’re going to have a chance,” he said.

“There’s no chance of outrunning the monsters?” she asked, but she didn’t have much hope. Direwolves, even ones without a movement skill, were fast.

“No, that’s not feasible. If we all split up, they’ll all get run down and die alone. We can’t hide in any of the buildings either; the monsters would break down anywhere we tried to hide and overwhelm us with numbers. The stronger people would probably survive, but the majority of the camp would die. We need a plan,” he said.

Karolina examined the center of camp, frantically trying to figure out how they could use the area to their advantage. The center of camp wasn’t very large, in the grand scheme of things. It was just a grassy circular area surrounded by eight cabins.

Between each pair of buildings was a path leading back into the rest of the camp. Each of these paths was another way for monsters to get in, but thankfully they were narrow enough that only one or two monsters could get in at a time.

Ada had mentioned that there were a lot of monsters coming, and Karolina knew that if they got surrounded, even by a bunch of weak monsters, they would die. The best way she could think of to avoid being overwhelmed was to prevent the monsters from even getting in. If everyone held the entrances, then any numerical advantage that the monsters had wouldn’t matter, as they would only be able to attack a few at a time.

She quickly shared her idea with Aaron. It probably wasn’t the best plan in the world, but it was the best she could think of on short notice.

“Good enough, but we need everyone to work together for it to have a chance of working. For that we need Mr. Buckley,” he said,

“Buckley? Why can’t you—” she started.

“I’m not a leader,” he said firmly. “Not like he is. Can you get him? He’s in his house. I tried to get him to come out, but…” he trailed off.

He’s hiding and hoping that the problem goes away, she thought but didn’t say. “Sure, I can try to get him,” she responded.

“Thanks,” Aaron said, looking more hopeful.

She hurried over to Buckley’s house, wondering why she was doing this. Sure, Buckley was charismatic, but he was also a coward. Would he really be willing and able to convince people to stand and fight?

Also, she couldn’t help but feel that Aaron was underselling himself. He might not have the presence and public speaking abilities of Buckley, but he was well-known in camp and had an intensity that made people want to listen to him.

She briefly considered getting Selena instead, but she didn’t think the other woman would be able to help. She was in no state to give any kind of speech, and her persona didn’t lend itself well to the kind of grand speeches that Buckley did. Plus, she wasn’t sure if she wanted to help Selena take power anyway. Buckley was the better choice.

Anyway, it was too late for second thoughts, as she was already at his house. She knocked on the door firmly, then let herself in without waiting for a response. She didn’t have any time to waste.

Buckley was sitting in the corner of the main room, knees up to his chest. He looked up when she entered the room, but didn’t say anything. His soul looked shrunken in shame and fear. She hurried over to him.

“Buckley, we need your help to convince people to stand and fight,” she said. Maybe the direct route would work.

He said nothing for a moment. “I’m sure that Aaron can handle it, he’s a good kid,” he said eventually.

“No, we need you,” she said. “Aaron can’t do it.”

He looked away from her to the Gilded Sword, which was hanging up on his wall. “Stand and fight? How can I ask people to do something that I can’t do? I know I might look impressive,” he said, gesturing at his shining chain-mail armor, “but I’ve never actually fought anything in my life.”

She wasn’t going to tell him that she had already suspected that. “They still need you,” she repeated, not sure what else to say.

She could see in his soul that he wanted to be convinced. He wanted so badly to be brave, but a fresh wave of fear swept over him.

“I just want to see my wife and children again,” he said softly. “Why did this have to happen to me?”

Karolina was struck by how old he looked. He normally looked so full of life, but the politician was showing every bit of his age now.

She didn’t know what to say to him. She also wanted to see her parents again, and if she died here then that would never happen. But she couldn’t stop thinking of all the other people out there, the people who also had families, who would die if she didn’t help.

Karolina grabbed the Gilded Sword off the wall and put it in Buckley’s lap. “I know you’re afraid, but so is everyone else. People are going to die and you can help save them. Be the man that you want to be, that your family would want you to be, and help them,” she said.

At first, she didn’t think that her impassioned plea had been effective. His soul was still wracked with fear and doubt, but as she watched she saw it begin to firm up. He had made a decision.

She smiled, pleased, when she saw him grab the sword and stand up. He still looked scared, but as she watched his confident facade began to fall into place again. Before long, he looked like the confident leader that they needed him to be.

She could tell that he was faking his confidence, but wasn’t that what bravery was? Doing something despite being afraid?

“Thank you for the help,” he said. He took in a deep breath, and gave a brilliant smile. “I’m ready to lead.”

Without further ado, they both walked out of the cabin. Aaron, who seemed to be trying to convince a magician of something, hurriedly ended his conversation and walked over to them. Karolina gave a little wave as she walked away, confident that Aaron could handle telling Buckley what they needed him to do.

Karolina looked around and saw that the majority of people were just milling around. The news that there were more monsters coming didn’t seem to have spread to them. She felt sorry for them, having survived one attack only to be told that another one is coming. She was going to do her absolute best to keep them all safe.

The old table that Buckley had placed in the center of the area on the first day was still there. Everyone turned to look at Buckley as he climbed on top of the table. Karolina felt a flash of nostalgia at the familiar sight.

“Today is a grim day. Our camp has been brutally attacked by monsters. I regret having to inform you that this dark day is not over yet. More monsters are coming to attack us,” Buckley said somberly. He paused for a few moments, letting the crowd start to murmur.

“However, this attack will be different!” he exclaimed, silencing the crowd and focusing their attention on him. “We are all together now, and we are prepared to stand and fight! Before, they attacked us when we were at our weakest—now we are at our strongest! We can hold the monsters back at each of the entrances and stop them from killing a single additional person,” he said, getting more passionate as his speech went on.

Karolina let her attention drift away from Buckley’s speech. It seemed to be inspiring the people who were left, which was what they needed, but she didn’t need to be convinced to stand and fight.

She wondered if her plan would work. If even one group failed to hold its entrance, all would be lost. Having a plan with so many points of failure wasn’t smart, but she hadn’t been able to think of anything else. No, it should be fine. Even the weaker members of the camp were able to fight a few monsters at a time, right?

She was shaken out of her contemplation by the sound of ragged cheering coming from the crowd. It seemed that Buckley was done talking. It had been a short speech, but apparently effective.

She stepped towards the northmost entrance, noticing that the others were also starting to move towards the edge of the area. After a few seconds, she had arrived at the alleyway. Ada had said the monsters were coming from the north, so she would hopefully face the largest amount of monsters.

She took a deep breath, then set her feet shoulder width apart. She looked around and found that others were taking similar actions. Thomas was standing at the entrance to her right, while Aaron was to her left. Selena was hanging back in the crowd, ready to heal anyone who needed it.

Farther away, she saw Buckley clapping a warrior on the shoulder. The man was only level one, but Buckley seemed to be giving him the encouragement he needed to fight anyway. As she looked around, it seemed that every entrance was covered; Buckley must have been very convincing.

Everyone who wasn’t going to fight seemed to be heading into cabins near the center, leaving a few people standing nervously in the center. Presumably, they were there so they could reinforce anyone who needed help. Selena stood with the reinforcements, ready to heal anyone who needed it.

She turned to Thomas to say something, maybe encourage him, but before she had a chance to say anything she saw him release a mana bolt down his alleyway. The monsters had finally arrived. She didn’t have any more time to look around at anyone else; she needed to focus on her fight.

She quickly turned back to her own entrance and observed the tide of monsters coming down the narrow path. She barely had time to activate her Mana Armor and take a deep breath before they were on her.

Karolina stood strong, the vivid blue of her Mana Armor giving her confidence. She stepped back and avoided a goblin’s desperate swipe, not even needing to use Combat Perception, then reached forward and grabbed its arm with both hands.

She broke its arm with a sickening snap, then shoved the monster backward. The goblin hurtled backwards, slamming into the monsters behind it.

She stepped forward confidently, each punch and kick killing another monster. She felt unstoppable. Her mouth stretched upwards into a smile. This, destroying her enemies, this was right. This was what she was always supposed to do.

She was invincible.

Until, of course, a goblin landed a lucky strike. She was focusing on killing a direwolf when a goblin came at her from the side and managed to stab her Mana Armor in the chest. It shattered instantly, already weakened from a number of indirect hits.

She fell back, letting out a muffled curse. The monsters were all weak; the problem was that there were so many of them. At least she seemed to be thinning the crowd. As she activated her Mana Armor again, she saw that the amount of new monsters seemed to be dwindling.

She was more cautious as she engaged the monsters again. She didn’t have enough mana to use Mana Armor again if her current armor broke. She carefully sidestepped a direwolf’s lunge, then caught a goblin’s wrist and knocked the dagger out of its hand.

She fell into a rhythm, dodging or blocking one blow before retaliating with a fatal strike. The narrow confines of the alleyway meant that she only had to face a few monsters at a time, so she was able to kill them one by one.

The flow of monsters started to flow to a trickle, and then finally stopped. There were only a few monsters, a goblin and two direwolves, left. She was almost done.

The goblin charged at her, letting out an inarticulate yell, the two direwolves following behind the ugly green monster. She tried to toss the body of a goblin at them, but her fingers slipped off of the bloody corpse before she could get a good grip. She looked at her bloody hands in disgust, already regretting touching the dead goblin.

Before she had a chance to try anything else, they were upon her. She easily dodged the goblin's wild strike with the aid of Combat Perception, but she couldn't counter-attack as the direwolves were right behind the monster. She danced backwards, barely avoiding their snapping jaws.

She tried to attack again, but she had to dodge backwards to avoid getting hit. This was getting annoying.

She looked at the monsters, then glanced at her barely damaged Mana Armor. She could kill them even if she wasn’t careful. Why was she wasting her time? Other people might need her help.

She stepped into one of the direwolf’s bites, letting it glance off her mana armor. She crushed its skull with a single hit.

She avoided another of the goblin's slashes, then hurriedly grabbed the goblin's arm and wrenched the green monster into the path of the remaining direwolf's attack. The direwolf reared back to avoid biting the goblin.

She felt the goblin's arm break with a sickening snap. They were such fragile little monsters. She released the monster for the moment, then turned to the direwolf. It tried to dodge her punch, but she was fast enough to hit it regardless. After killing the direwolf, she ended the goblin’s suffering with a Strong Blow-powered kick.

She stepped back, breathing heavily. She had done it. She had killed all of the monsters trying to get past her. Now she was the only living thing in the entire alleyway.

She looked at the narrow path. It used to look calm and peaceful. Now, it was strewn with the corpses of monsters. They were piled up on top of each other, bloody and twisted and crushed.

She felt her stomach churn, and she barely managed to hold in her vomit. Killing monsters had never bothered her before, but then again, she had never seen this many mutilated bodies before.

She took a deep breath, and looked away from the destruction. She had needed to kill them. If she hadn’t, they would have killed her and others. That didn’t stop the sight from being upsetting, however. She needed to get out of here.

She backed up another step and almost tripped over the corpse of a goblin, barely managing to catch herself before she fell. She was glad that hadn’t happened while she was still fighting—that would have been a disaster.

Even though she was tired, she couldn’t just sit here and do nothing. Other people might need her help. She hurried back out to the main area, and saw a battle that was going far better than she had feared.

The monsters didn’t seem to have broken through anywhere. It looked like one or two of the defenders had died, but the reinforcements had filled in and kept fighting to keep the monsters back.

Even more surprising than the plan’s success was that she could see Buckley fighting. He wasn't standing at his entrance alone, there was a warrior there with him, but he was actually standing up and fighting. She didn’t think she’d ever see the day.

She should go help someone. From the looks of it, no one else had had to deal with as many monsters as she had, but that didn’t mean that anyone else was done or that everyone was doing well. Before she had a chance to pick someone to help, disaster struck.

At the entrance next to Buckley’s entrance, an Archer and a Warrior were keeping the monsters at bay. At least, they were, until the warrior slipped on the corpse of a direwolf. Before he even had a chance to yell, a goblin sliced his throat open.

The archer turned to run, but a direwolf tackled her to the ground before she got more than a few steps. Monsters poured through the entrance into the center of camp, completely unopposed.

Karolina sprinted towards the breach, but she was on the opposite side of the center of camp. She wouldn’t make it before more people died. But, as it turned out, she might not be necessary to avert the worst case scenario.

As she ran toward them, she saw Buckley leaving his warrior ally to handle their entrance while he hurried over to the breached entrance. She also saw the last reinforcements, a Warrior and a Magician, running over to the entrance.

Buckley raised the Gilded Sword above his head, releasing a fast-moving wave of golden energy from the item. When the energy passed through people, they gained a dim golden glow and started moving faster and hitting harder. The light didn’t seem to help the monsters it hit, luckily. Karolina guessed that Buckley had just used some sort of skill to empower the people around him so they could contain the monsters.

The three of them, Buckley and the other reinforcements, reached the monsters within a few seconds. They started to push the monsters back to the alleyway, but Buckley was clearly inexperienced and exhausted. Even though Karolina was still far away, she could see how sloppy his blows were.

She pushed herself to go faster, determined to reach them so she could help. She couldn’t help but feel that something terrible was about to happen. The three fighters seemed to be winning, slowly killing monsters and pushing towards the entrance, but she couldn’t shake the feeling.

Buckley abruptly burst into a run, wildly sweeping his sword in large motions to try to keep the monsters at bay as he charged into the crowd. What was he thinking? Karolina looked to where he was running, and saw why Buckley was putting himself in so much danger—the archer was still alive.

The archer who had tried to run and then been tackled by a direwolf was somehow still alive. The woman had gotten out from under the direwolf, and was frantically using her bow to try to keep the monsters at bay. Buckley must have noticed that she wasn’t going to last long, and was desperately trying to reach her before she died.

Karolina pushed herself to run faster. She was only seconds away, but even that might be too much time. She couldn’t see this situation ending well.

Just as Buckley was about to reach the archer, a direwolf ripped a chunk of flesh out of his leg. He let out a yell and stumbled, but he kept going and managed to reach the woman. Karolina had never thought that Buckley would impress her, but she found herself admiring his determination.

Buckley yelled something at the archer, then turned back towards the Magician and Warrior who were trying to reach them. He tried to take a step forward, but his injured leg buckled under him, his form being swallowed up by the crowd of monsters.

Karolina finally reached the monsters, and crashed through them, trying desperately to reach them in time. She slammed into a goblin and shoved it to the side, hoping that she wasn’t too late. The archer was still standing, barely, but Buckley still hadn’t gotten up.

She kicked aside a direwolf, and finally saw what she had feared—Buckley’s dead body, covered in bloody stab wounds.

She froze. Buckley couldn’t be dead. She had just been talking with him. He had finally stepped up and been a real leader. He couldn’t die now, it didn’t make sense. He couldn’t be dead.

A direwolf slammed into her, shaking her out of her thoughts. She stumbled backwards, but managed to keep her footing. She couldn’t freak out now. Even if she couldn’t save Buckley, she could still save the archer.

She rushed over to the woman. She was covered in scratches and cuts and her bow was a shattered wreck, but she was miraculously still alive. Karolina pushed the woman onward, and managed to get her safely out of the crowd.

The instant the archer was safe, Karolina leapt back into the fray. She crushed the skull of a direwolf with her fist, then spun and kicked a goblin’s chest in. She used her Combat Perception like never before, switching the skill’s focus to a new weapon every second, ensuring that she remained untouched.

She was a maelstrom of violence and fury. She hadn’t even liked Buckley, not really, but he hadn’t deserved to die. Killing these monsters wasn’t going to make up for her failure, but it might make her feel better. It needed to make her feel better.

After only a minute or so of fighting, all of the monsters that had got out of the alleyway were dead. Karolina looked down at her bloody fists and the scattered corpses she had created, breathing heavily. She didn’t feel better.

The warrior and magician covered the entrance to make sure that no other monsters could get into the main area. Karolina looked around to see if she could help anywhere else, but it wasn’t necessary. The attack was finished, with only a few stragglers that still needed to be swept up.

The camp was safe, but James Buckley was dead.