“Cadre! Fly behind behind the battlements and recuperate!” Aleria felt her blade slice through the flesh of a now one-winged harpy. It let out a pained squawk as it flailed in free-fall.

As a dozen winged humans, clad in golden light flew past her, following her orders, Aleria grimaced. Is this really all that remain of my sisters?

While many had fallen through years of constant attrition, she had still entered this battle with well over a hundred. This single battlefield had devoured more of her valkyrie than the past 10 years of fighting combined.

Her gaze turned on another incoming tide of hideous harpies, glaring in a way that would freeze even the most confident of individuals. If I get rid of this next group quick, then my sisters can get enough rest before the next fight.

With her course decided, Aleria sheathed her sword in a swift practiced motion before extending her arms. Golden circles, etched with profound runes, coalesced around her hands, built by gathering motes of golden light, while four majestic golden-feathered wings spread wide behind her, like a radar attempting to establish communications.

“O Great Light Spirit Freya~” she chanted, “Please grant thy eldest thee power to protect thy sisters”—

Circles grew, overlapped and then combined into one, as an aura greater than her own brightened the world by itself.

—“[Searing Light]!”

Light leapt out the magic circle, flashing bright, blinding everyone in range, including her.

As darkness graced sight all Aleria could rely on were the other four senses: Shrill shrieks and sizzling flesh deafened the ears; cooked bird and melted steel assaulted the nose; physical warmth tickled the skin, while a psychological chill ran up the spine.

And when light returned, there was only silence.

Blackened and bloodied skies, dyed with the red-hue of war and thick smoke, were all that remained of the incoming tide.

Light fried harpy is finger-licking good. Aleria thought with a satisfied smirk, in that moment, her gruff experienced warrior atmosphere disappeared, revealing an innocent lady taking amusement from some untold joke. However, this only lasted but a second before the commanding aura returned and her surroundings became the sole focus.

After checking for any stranglers—or heaven forbid—another wave, Aleria allowed herself to glide to the battlements below where her Cadre and exhausted defenders gained a much needed reprieve.

When feet touched stone—taking care to avoid any puddles of blood—her wings disappeared into motes of light. Aleria then felt a rush of energy enter her body coming from the direction of the blast-zone; Essence, she thought as she brought up her status screen. Did I level up?

[[STATUS]]

Name: Aleria Marshall

Title: Leader Slayer (B)

Race: Human

Level: 237 (Rank 5)

Classes (1):

* Four-Winged Valkyrie:A (6),

* Sword Grandmaster:C (35),

* Light Summoner:E (30),

* etc (165)

…

It seemed she had indeed leveled. Aleria began to scroll through the status screen line by line, ignoring everything. There was only one thing she wanted to know; something she checked with each level-up, even though she knew the futility. Crossing her fingers, she willed the full class list open.

Squire:F [Locked] (50) appeared in her vision.

Still locked.

Her mind willed the status screen closed as her eyes shut and mind lamented lost opportunities—or rather—a destroyed dream. It never gets any easier.

Yet another dying scream and the continuation of other sounds of war brought her attention back to the present. No use caring about the past. Aleria looked over her Cadre and the area of wall she had been assigned to defend by the so called ‘heroes of humanity’ with a grim expression; especially not now, when there is no future.

Her Cadre had taken a beating. They were all covered in blood, whether their own, or their foes. Their golden auras, which should wrap around them in protective cocoons, flickered at varying frequencies. Some had even spluttered out completely.

The wall, and those who defended it, weren’t any better. None were not bloodied, many had some form of injury, and some were missing limbs. Piles of corpses formed hills in front of the wall, which—if Aleria didn’t know better—would make her question whether the defenders were making it easier for the enemy to scale the wall. Are we really that pressed that we can’t even burn corpses anymore?

No matter if they were her Cadre or the defenders, all had two things in common. One, they were all exhausted. Some could barely stand, let alone be able to hold their weapons and fight off another assault.

However, this wasn’t what concerned Aleria the most. What had gained her full attention, was the second observation: They had all lost hope.

No matter whether they were experienced Cadre, seasoned veteran, or blooded recruit, they had all lost hope. Their despair was palpable. Aleria found this atmosphere contagious as she started to feel her own hope receding.

How did it come to this? She thought as her gaze wandered.

All along the wall armies clashed. On one side were an assortment of savage beasts, but in reality they were other native inhabitants of this Integrated world, plucked off their own worlds and tossed into this one. Just like humanity had.

This united menagerie of monsters and demi-humans all had one thing in common, a sticking point which led to this union force—they had been snubbed in some way by humanity.

On the other side lay humanity and their final army, the last protection against certain extinction. Even with the benefits of defensive fortifications they were hopelessly outmatched and outnumbered. Humanity barely amounted to a tenth of the enemy army, and that estimate included the injured and even those who will never fight again.

Both armies had taken heavy casualties today, more than any other day. That was why Aleria knew this would be the final battle.

Between both armies, on the plain below the wall, the powerhouses of humanity fought their equivalents amongst enemy ranks. Their battles were explosive, destroying large swaths of land, while any stray attack decimated anyone unlucky enough to be nearby.

I should be down there. Aleria thought. She could be considered one of the strongest amongst humanity—at least what was left of them—but she wasn’t down there, instead she was up here. ‘We need someone to watch the skies, you're perfect for that…’ Hmph, still don’t have the decency to tell the truth, even at the end, she thought amusedly.

She had never been well liked by anyone equal or stronger than her, and if she were honest, nobody weaker either. Such feelings were mutual. Whether it was because of her fluctuating personalities, her aspirations and dreams, simple jealousy, or something else entirely—for some reason—people always seemed to have something against her.

I bet they wish they had me with them now.

Both sides combatants were about equal in both number and power—a result of typical human atrocities, assassinating the original powerhouses of rival factions—leading to the current situation where neither could gain an advantage. However, that was only if one didn’t look back, as further behind the enemy army sat the true enemy.

Invaders who had set about forming this allied army, and unleashed it upon humanity.

A dozen massive scaled lizards, with equally large wings, watched the fight unfolding before them, just as they had for the war’s entirety. They appeared similar to fairytale dragons and, as fiction portrayed them, just as lazy. None seemed to deem it necessary to get involved in this never-ending war, but Aleria knew that if—No—when they did, it would end in an instant.

[Vilsyra | Lvl 307 (Tier 7) | Two-Headed Green Dragon Noble],

[Dedrerasz | Lvl 298 (Tier 6) | Red Dragon General]

Arrayed in front of these behemoths lay a second army, obviously been made in the image of their draconian masters. Their bodies built for war: muted gray scales as hard as plate protected them; thick tail jutted out their behind; dragon-like jaws lined with razor-sharp teeth. The only difference were the lack of wings, and that they stood upright on two muscled legs with powerful clawed feet.

[Drake-kin Elite | Lvl 163 (Tier 4)],

[Drake-kin Boss | Lvl 167 (Tier 4)],

[Drake-kin Rare | Lvl 151 (Tier 3)],

[Irshioz | LVL 203 (Tier 5) | Dragon-kin Leader]

Above them all, lay an even larger dragon. A four-headed black scaled monstrosity to be exact. It draped itself over a towering mountain that seemed to follow the dragon around, allowing the being to use it like a throne. Nobody could read the monster’s status but Aleria didn’t need to see a name-tag, level, or race to understand that it was the strongest existence in this world. Just through existing it gave off an overwhelming aura that could be felt across the entire continent, at this distance, it felt suffocating.

It had only shown itself once before today, in the beginning of the hundredth year after Integration. When every life-form living in the world received notice from Akasha—the System which now oversees everything—that the next stage had begun; the so-called Over-world Integration.

That dragon had been the first through the breach, visible to all whom watched the massive rift open in the sky. The fact it was here now, when humanity wouldn’t last much longer, was a bad omen if Aleria had seen one.

Today would be the day the true enemy of humanity made their move.

No—an enemy to all this world’s inhabitants. If that rabble down there seriously believe they gained safety through bowing their heads, then they have another thing coming. Aleria only felt disdain for the enemy inhabitant army.

Shaking her head, she turned to regard her resting Cadre and all the soldiers whom were still capable. Even if they despair, Aleria wouldn’t allow them to go down without a fight.

“Listen up!” As she spoke, her Cadre, through years of following her, straightened up and focused immediately. The other soldiers, however, took a while to get a hold of themselves, but they did too.

“Today will be the day we all die.” Hearing such bluntness they all shifted through expressions at a rapid pace. From confused about what she said, to bewildered that she would even say such thing, then back to despair—but Aleria wouldn’t let them. She hadn’t finished yet.

“We were the ones whom held back the entire world for 5 years when they began turning on us! Even before then we fought on-and-on for 10 more when those dragons invaded! 15 years… 15 years we have been fighting! We may not have been winning. We may have despaired. But we still fought!”

Aleria felt her love of fighting and blood-lusty nature—something she tried to keep buried—leak into her speech. In this moment in time, however, this seemed like a good thing, as she could see reminiscence from those who listened and underneath that, their blood boiled for battle once more.

“Are you lot going to stop fighting!? Now, when we are all at the end of the line!? I won’t! Will you!?” Aleria questioned like a drill instructor

Hearing the responding roars of ‘no’s’ and ‘never’s’ Aleria knew she had succeeded. They would keep fighting until they fell.

She was suddenly reminded with a popular sentiment conceptualized in many of her favorite fantasy novels, where heroic knights always beat the odds and win: ‘As long as you keep on fighting there will always be hope.’ Greatest of all were these tales were of King Arthur, her favorite of favorites.

However, Aleria couldn’t say she believed in those stories anymore, not now. She wasn’t a naive little girl anymore after all. But, especially because I’m no Knight.

With a bitter, and sad, smile she prepared for her last stand. Her very own Camlann.

She was interrupted, however, when one of the dormant dragons took to the sky. This simple action had everyone tracking the massive flying monster as it swooped down and landed amongst the powerhouses, scattering mud and debris into both armies.

All fighting across the battlefield ceased when the dragon proceeded to decimate, devour, and destroy each and every one of the strongest their world had to offer.

Silence reigned the once chaotic slaughter-field when only the dragon remained.

Every natives’ eye—no matter human, demi-human, or monster—stared at the invading dragons, their dragon-kin army, and the lazying multi-headed dragon boss. No sounds or words were uttered as confusion, terror, and despair held the area in a cruel grip which would never let go.

Aleria realized this would be where it ends. With the dragons making their move, nothing could stand against them. And as she expected, they weren’t going to keep those whom lowered their heads around.

There never was any way out, for any who lived in this world.

If only the world stood united. If the constant war’s, skirmishes and disagreements hadn’t taken the lives of the strongest. Then maybe we could’ve defended our mutual world from invasion.

A booming voice rumbled across the area. “Your pathetic fight now bores me.” One of the multi-headed dragon’s four heads reared up, its gaze seemed able to penetrate into the soul. “I must say, however, that 15 years of holding my interest is a new record, congratulations! Your reward shall be… ” The other three heads followed in rumbling out it’s next proclamation; “a quick and sudden death.”

As it finished monologuing, immense power gathered in the mouths of each head as they branched out like a fan, presumably so its attack could cover more ground.

Quick and sudden indeed. Aleria noted as agony, both physical and emotional, lanced through her as four end-bringing beams of destruction tore everything apart.

It all vanished upon being swallowed. Humanity’s strongest heroes, their final armies, the last of the defenses, even the enemy they’d been fighting the last 15 years and living with 100 years prior.

Aleria watched this end play out. She was numb to it all by now, years of non-stop conflict would do that to anyone. She supposed she should feel more, but did she really care about humanity? She used to, she must’ve, but that ended a long time ago. She changed, how could anyone not, after being shown what humans could, and would do, given fantastical powers. Even she wasn’t immune to mankind’s selfishness.

Now it all came to a conclusion, like some sick experiment had been completed and was now being disposed of. Humanity had reveled in power for too long, grown complacent in its perceived authority, and now this was the final result.

We never even stood a chance, did we? How could any world survive this power? Aleria smiled a bitter smile as she watched it all return to nothing. She knew she was next, her powerful blue and gold plate amour had already began to warp under the extreme heat. She only lasted this long because of her high level and abnormal magic resistance.

I wonder how things could have been—Aleria closed her eyes, awaiting fate—If I hadn’t failed that year.

Then… destruction turned peaceful.