Helbron Ghaldaran

The streets were packed with people. Guards, civilians, and players were rushing toward several direction, but most of them were going north.

It was all because the guards who stationed at the north gate spotted an army marched toward the city. And the news spread like a wildfire, creating an uproar within the city.

It was the same within the Keep, the counselor and a few nobles who didn't go to the war against Alkronia were panicking.

"What should we do? We are now defenseless!"

"We have the heroes... But I don't know if it's enough to defeat them."

"Damned Alkronia! The army in Tagran must be a decoy. They aimed for our capital city from the start."

"I hope His Majesty realized it by now and immediately teleport back."

"However, if the enemies reach this castle first, it will be the end!"

"Then... Protecting the teleport crystal will be our utmost priority." The counselor said. "I hope the heroes will successfully defend this city."

With that, all the soldiers were called to the castle to defend the teleport crystal. Only a few were sent to the north wall.

Presently, there were around seven thousand players in Ghaldaran. They were all anxious and really nervous. Of course, the day to finally join the great war against the Dark Army was here. It was the event they were waiting for.

A party of Northern Star Guild was one of them.

"Aradun... Do we really have to do this?"

"It cannot be helped. We have to let them take the front line... And what we need to do right now is to observe."

"R-right... It's about that thing..."

"If that thing really happens, we need to rethink about everything."

Another party of Top Ten Guilds called Black Lotus was there as well.

"Uhh... It seems Northern Star is thinking the same thing."

"The situation is out of hand after all. Look at those sacrificial lambs. Hahaha..."

"I guess. We can only watch the war for now."

However, both of them seemed just watching from afar. It made some other players to get away and keep their distance from the north wall as well. Thus, they became the talk of the players.

"Look..."

"Northern Star and Black Lotus. They are far in the back...so they really let us to farm the contribution point first, huh?"

"Nah... I bet it's because of the New Titans livestreaming."

"Oh the rumor about them being wiped out?"

"Yeah. They're being careful. I'm also planning to keep my distance and be in a safe position, so I can farm as much points as possible. I'm not greedy, ya know..."

"I see... You're right. Staying alive while slowly kill the Dark Army will be more convenient than die multiple times, it will be pain in the ass to get back and forth into the battlefield."

"Y-you're right... Hahaha..."

Some followed their action.

"What? The Top Ten Guilds are far in the back... Shall we get back as well?"

"Dammit! Those frickin rumors making us cowards. We need to protect the NPC! Otherwise, this game will be ended sooner than my sleeping time."

Some were not going back at all.

"Hey, isn't that Aradun?"

"Yeah... What a coward."

"It seems their plan didn't go well. Hahaha..."

"What do you mean?"

"You don't know about the hoax?"

"What hoax?"

"About the Dark Army wiped out New Titans and Skythrone parties."

"Really? I thought that was real."

"You really believe that shit? The livestream ended when the Dark Army showed up. It's clearly a false information so they can capitalize the contribution point all by themselves. But it seems Heallace players really want to join the war. It's the main event you know... It's their lost."

"Hmmm... It's still doesn't make sense for me. They can join the front line even if that plan is failed, right?"

"Alright. How about this... Recently there is a new ridiculous rumor to make the player hesitate or even terrified to join the war."

"What is it?"

"Look it for yourself. You will laughing out loud at that shit. There's even tons of memes of that. Hahahaha..."

Some were badmouthing them.

"Strange..."

"What?"

"The Top Ten Guilds. They're only two parties."

"Maybe the other members are still inside their Guild Hall. They are in this city after all."

"It's the main event, you know. How could you just wait at your own base and not going to see the epic war?"

"Right... It is strange indeed."

And some questioned their suspicious action.

Suddenly, a loud horn could be heard from north.

Bwooooong bwoong bwong

Bwoooooooooong...

The Dark Army finally came.

Approximately around ten thousand strong. Among them, some ladders were brought. There were several heavy armored trolls as well. Three meters tall with huge clubs on their hand.

Everybody immediately went silent.

Some eyes widened. Some jaws dropped. Some gulped their own saliva. They were all really nervous.

Even though they were all together, they didn't have someone in command. Some of them joined the war individually. Some with their own party. Some with their guilds. Regardless, as MMORPG players, they knew each other very well.

They could understand their own position even without communicating a single word.

Tanks were ready in front of the gate. Warriors and rogues were right behind them. Archers and mages were ready on the walls and towers. And lastly, healers were also present in the back.

They were all ready.

Bwooooong bwoong bwoong

Bwoooooooooooooong...

As the Dark Army's horns were blaring once more, they began to rush toward the northern wall. And the war had started.

Spells were casted and arrows were shot. Despite some of them fell by the continuous ranged attacks, the Dark Army kept moving forward. They brought the ladders onto the wall. But of course, the players couldn't let that to happen.

"Aim for the ladders!"

They successfully took down several of them. However, another batch replaced their role and they eventually put the ladders onto the wall. Thus, some of them leapt up at ease.

Meanwhile, the heavy armored trolls easily moved forward by deflecting the range attacks. They rammed onto the gate, and some were swinging their clubs. So, the players tried another method instead.

"Debuff them!"

"Right! Slow them down!"

"Break their armor!"

"Decrease their STR!"

Regardless of debuff barage, the Dark Army slowly reached the battlements. Archers and mages immediately went back. Then, melee hitters exchanged their position.

Between merlons, they pushed and kicked the Dark Army down, and some of them attempted to get rid of the ladders.

"Gahahahaha!!! Stupid monsters! Stay down!"

Some of them also attacked and successfully killed the Dark Army.

You have acquired 1 contribution point!

You have acquired 1 contribution point!

You have acquired 1 contribution point!

"YEAAAHHH!!!"

Unfortunately, the battlements soon filled with the Dark Army. They were flowing in like a stream between merlons. And so the players were being pushed back. Some of them were killed in the process.

And at that moment, an unexpected event was happening.

The players that got killed soon being resurrected on the spot, and their skin turned pitch black.

Witnessing the unbelievable scene in front of them, the players were shocked and terrified. The feeling of losing their own character began to haunt them. How could they not? They were afraid that the character they were built up to this point would be gone in seconds.

"How is this possible?"

"The legend about heroes cannot be corrupted is a fucking lie!?"

"This is absurd! Is this even a game anymore!?"

"The hoax is true!?"

"FUCK! I'm outta here! I don't want my character gone yet!"

The gate was broken, so was their teamwork. The tanks who were not supposed to be afraid were trembling in fear. Their formation was scattered within seconds.

Even though some healers did their best to keep some players alive, it was a pointless efforts. Most players were all busy to run away and find a safe place to teleport.

The ones on the rear were confused by the front line's behavior at first, but the information was traveling fast. And they soon easily got away as they were far in the back.

Still, there were also some who stayed and kept fighting.

"Cover them to retreat!"

"Healers! Heal the tanks so they can buy some time!"

"Don't worry I got your back! I will debuff them!"

During the chaotic moment, Aradun calmly wrote something on a book he held.

"Aradun... That..."

"Yeah... Just like what you are seeing. The Dark Army indeed can corrupt us players."

"Isn't that ridiculous!?"

"Hahahaha..." Aradun could only laugh. "Kojima really likes to troll his players. There must be away to stop this. And we need that information ASAP. For now, let's teleport to Dome and regroup with the others."

"Alright..."

Seeing the Northern Star teleported away, Black Lotus party was wavering.

"Do we need to retreat as well?"

"Shouldn't we kill some at least? What if we can win this? We can gain a lot of contribution points."

"Well, even if we're losing, we can still farm some points."

"If we're dead, we're done, man... This is too risky... Also, we're here to scout if the rumor is true or not. We got the information so we have to go back now."

"C'mon dude... Let us attack from afar."

"Fine. But don't expect us melee hitters rushing in."

"Yeah yeah don't worry... We'll keep our distance."

Unfortunately, their late participation didn't change anything. The Dark Army grew stronger, and the players numbers drastically decreased. In half a day, the Dark Army reached the castle and destroyed the teleport crystal.

Thus, Helbron was no longer Human's territory.

Helbron has fallen!

The Dark Army has occupied Helbron!

・・・

King Randolph and Empress Irelia successfully escaped from the Dark Army. They also brought about a thousand soldiers with them.

"I think this is far enough. Let's immediately use teleport scroll to go back to Helbron." Randolph then handed one over to Irelia. "Here... Or maybe you want to go back to Alkronia instead?"

"No... We have something to discuss regarding of the Dark Army." She said as she took the scroll.

"Give the scrolls to Alkronia soldiers!" Randolph commanded.

Once all the soldiers readied their scrolls, Randolph began to order them again.

"Open the scroll now!"

On Randolph's cue, they opened the scroll in unison. However, nothing happened. The scroll did not activate and no magic circle created below them. Everyone was confused.

"What?"

"Why doesn't it work?"

Some rerolled and reopened the scroll, but it wasn't activated at all.

Randolph and Irelia immediately knew what was going on.

"Don't tell me..." Randolph gritted his teeth. "Is it the Dark Army!?"

Irelia then took another Teleport Scroll out and quickly opened it. Unfortunately, it was also the same. It did nothing.

"Alkronia seems to be under attack as well." She said as she sighed and closed her eyes.

"Goddammit!" Randolph cursed.

"Let's rush to Ghaldaran quickly." Irelia suggested. "We might still have time."

"Impossible! From here, it's a week travel to Helbron by foot."

"Then, we have to reinforce Roland Fortress. Defend and counter."

Randolph looked at her sharply. "Don't order me around! It's already too late to defend!"

Seeing hate within his eyes, Empress Irelia immediately understand his feelings.

"I see... You still hate me because of your mother..." She sighed. "However, you need to put your feelings aside. You have to think and quickly make decision."

Randolph then averted his gaze and threw his face away.

"We don't have much time to resolve our affair. We need to save your kingdom first. We still have hope."

"There's no hope. My kingdom has fallen because of me."

"Your Kingdom is not fallen yet. Defend your southern territory at all cost!"

"They probably have IT already! GHALDARAN HAS FALLEN!"

Hearing that, all the soldiers lost their morale. They mourned about their family. Soon, sorrow filled the atmosphere in seconds.

Looking at the situation, Irelia tried to stay strong.

"A king shouldn't act that way, Prince Randolph! Give your people hope! Even if we are in turmoil!"

"Instead of worrying about my kingdom, shouldn't you be concerned about yours? You seem don't really care ab-"

SLAP!

Irelia slapped Randolph. "Here I thought you already changed when you saved my life."

Frustrated, Randolph then drew his sword and pointed it at Empress Irelia. However, she didn't budge an inch. She just looked at him without expression. Seeing her immovable eyes, he gritted his teeth and put the sword down. He slowly fell on his knees.

Empress Irelia then turned around toward the soldiers that looked confused by their actions.

"Protectors of Heallance!" She shouted. "We do still have hope. What we truly need right now is to stand together. Even if we are born in different kingdoms, we are all Human. We were once under the same banner, hand in hand to support each other. And now we shall do it once more. But first, we have to save Ghaldaran. And then... We will save Heallance. What say you!?"

They were all in doubt at first, especially Ghaldaran Soldiers who were still confused by their King's sorrow. However, they also wanted to hold tight the string of hope that was about to snap. They immediately filled their heart with determination. They decided to believe in Empress Irelia's words. As one started to make a noise, everyone followed.

"FOR GHALDARAN!"

"FOR ALKRONIA!"

"FOR HEALLANCE!"

Empress Irelia smiled toward the changed atmosphere.

"Now. Does anyone of you —Ghaldaran Soldiers— have Roland Fortress Teleport Scroll?"

"Yes, Your Highness."

"Good. Please give your spare to my soldiers. And If anyone could share with me, I would appreciate it."

A soldier immediately ran toward her. Then he knelt down and gave her his spare.

"Your highness..."

"Thank you..." Irelia said as she took the scroll.

The soldier then stood and one could see he was smiling through his helmet opening. Then he went back to his place again.

Irelia then turned toward Randolph.

"I believe you have one as well. You can do whatever you want. Staying here with all your sadness, or standing with hope and fight with us..."

Randolph stayed still, kneeling down while looking at the ground. As the Empress about to turn around, Randolph opened his mouth.

"Fine!" He stood. "You want me to have hope? Then I will hold onto that hope!"

He sheathed his sword back to its scabbard, took out the scroll and immediately opened it.

Startled, Irelia then shouted.

"Randolph! What are you trying to do!?"

However, her words didn't reach him. He already vanished within the air.

Irelia then turned her head toward the soldiers.

"Open the scroll now!"

With her command, everyone immediately opened the scroll in unison and teleported away. Therefore, the land they were at became empty in seconds.

Roland Fortress Ghaldaran

Two soldiers who guarded the teleport room got startled when the teleport crystal shined. And then, their heart skipped a beat as King Randolph appeared.

"Your Majesty!" They shouted.

"How many men are here?" He asked as he walked out the room.

"Roughly about five hundreds men, My King." One of the soldiers answered as they followed him.

"I see..."

'That's not enough.' He thought.

"Pardon my rudeness, Your Majesty. May I know why did you ask our number? Is the war against Alkronia didn't go well?"

"The situation is way more dire than that. The capital city is now under attack."

"I-is that true!? T-then the caravan we just spotted north ahead is the people who escaped from Helbron." The soldier said as he was shocked.

The other groaned and said, "Urrghh... Damned Alkronia!"

"It's not Alkronia." Randolph immediately responded. "It's the Dark Army. The real Dark Army."

Hearing that, the soldiers shuddered and fear was crawling all over their skin.

"Tell the Captain to send some soldiers to gather men in nearby villages. Also, I want two of you go to the command room later. I want you two to do a special quest for me."

"It shall be done, Your Majesty!"

As they were about to leave, Randolph opened his mouth again.

"Also..."

"Y-yes, My King..."

"Around a thousand soldiers will be teleported here soon. There are Alkronian soldiers among them, with their Empress as well."

Hearing that, the two gulped their own saliva in unison.

"Treat them well..."

"Y-yes, Your Highness..."

Inside the Command Room, Randolph sat down and fell into his thoughts. He tried to stay collected and resolve the puzzles of his internal affairs.

'Right. This is happening because of that man. That damned Falter... He's using me to dethrone my bloodline. What's his goal? The throne? Everyone will definitely oppose it. Is he cooperating with the Dark Army? Wait... That means the Dark Army who attacked his territory was a distraction to make us hate Alkronia. So that we would wage war and then became the sacrifice to reinforce the Dark Army strength!'

His eyes then widened.

'Father knew about this... But I...killed him...'

He stood and kicked the wall. "Goddammit!"

Crack!

As the wall cracked a little, the door opened. Randolph took a deep breath to calm his mind down, then turned his head toward the door. He saw Empress Irelia entered the room.

"What are you trying to do, Prince Randolph?"

"Stop addressing me that. I am the King of Ghaldaran." He said as he sat down back to his seat.

"Do you plan to recklessly take over Helbron? I suggest you not to do that. We don't know the enemy exact number yet, but if it's the same with the ones in Tagran, then...it will be a suicide."

Randolph looked at her sharply. "This is my Kingdom. I'm the the one who is ruling over it right now. Go back to your kingdom and save it from doom."

It was understandable since he was still young and inexperienced. The Empress could forgive his inconsideration. However, for his people, an order was an order. They would jump off the cliff if their King did it. She didn't want that to happen. After all, she wanted to unite all human kingdoms under the same banner. And to make that happen, Ghaldaran needed to be saved first.

Unfortunately, she knew that no matter what she said, Randolph would ignore it. The one she saw when he saved her was just an illusion, a kind action in dire situation. Moreover, his manner was justifiable because one mistake she did in the past regarding his mother, the Queen of Ghaldaran.

Randolph was clearly stressed over everything he went through. Thus, she left the room without words.

Watching her out, Randolph took a deep breath. He made a fist, folded his fingers tightly as his eyes were glaring sharply.

'Father... I'm going to prove to this world, that I can be a better King than you. Even more than that... I will slaughter the Dark Army with my own power.'

・・・

Maltaria Alkronia

War had started as the horns were blaring.

Unlike Ghaldaran which was still trying to defend their capital city, Alkronia evacuated all their people to south instead. The three Princesses decided to give Maltaria's fate to the Heroes. They also let some of their soldiers to help them while scouting the situation.

Of course, one would say it was a cowardly move. But in this case, it was a wise decision. They were falling back to make a well-cooked strategy to reinforce their defense and counterattack.

During the war, players in Alkronia just witnessed the fact that the Dark Army could corrupt them. However, most of them didn't waver. They had more teamwork here than in Ghaldaran.

But still, there was always an odd within them.

Two robed figures were following a heavy armored Gigant who recklessly rushed toward the front line. Therefore, one of them tried to warn him.

"Please don't go forward by yourself!" Said a robed Aphu as he struggled to follow the Gigant.

"I can do it alone even without your help. I can solo this easily." The Gigant responded.

"If we don't heal you, you were already dead a long time ago!" A robed elf argued.

"You noobs... I have healing skill that keeps me alive. Pfft... I don't need useless healers. Go heal someone else!"

Frustrated, both of them left him alone and helped everyone else.

The Gigant kept going forward while killing the Dark Army on his way.

"What a joke. Only weak noobs get killed by them. Hahaha..."

Eventually, he reached the front line. He shoved one of the tank and pulled him back.

"Get outta my way noob!"

"Wha-?"

The tank fell on his butt, then a female Elf in his party immediately helped him stood.

"What is wrong with that guy?" Asked the Elf in a bit raised tone.

"I don't know..."

"Let me heal and buff you."

"Thanks..."

The Gigant became more reckless. Then, suddenly, one of the Dark Army appeared out of nowhere and thrusted their sword.

STAB!

You have received a critical hit!

You have received 4952 damage from Dark Army Soldier

Dark Corruption's effect can be felt

He was instantly in critical condition. As he was using his healing skill, his HP went down again.

"What?"

Startled, he ran away from the Dark Army who attacked him. As his healing skill wasn't on cooldown anymore, he used it again.

You used Giant's Regeneration

2000 HP has been healed

You have received 250 damage from Dark Corruption

But still, his HP was going down again every five seconds. Frustrated by the debuff, he tried to use another skill to remove it.

You used Giant's Immunity

However, it did nothing. The debuff wasn't worn off.

"Fucking debuff!"

Panicked, he looked for the two healers while kept healing himself. When his mana almost ran out, he finally found them.

"Oiii! Stupid healers! Heal me you bastards!" He shouted as he tried to came closer while parrying attacks.

"Hmmm... You said it yourself that you don't need healers." The robed elf responded.

"Fucking selfish bastards. Heal me and cleanse my debuff!"

"Not my problem. Just use your own skill." The Aphu said as he waved his hand.

"Useless stupid supports! I'm gonna hunt you noobs!"

Angered, he turned around and rushed toward them. As he was about to attack them, the Dark Army backstabbed him.

"Gaaaargghhh!!! Shitty bastard! Heal me!!!"

"Nah... I'm low on mana..." The robed Elf smirked.

"Stupid shits! Just you wait! I will kill both of you!"

"We will be waiting..." The robed Aphu responded playfully.

"Fucking Tras-"

The Gigant got bumped and fell hard on the ground, so he died instantly. Soon, he was raised again as the Dark Army.

"Eeekkk!" The robed Aphu squeaked. "Now that he's one of them, he looks really scary."

"Let's fallback before he targets us." The robed Elf tapped his shoulder and ran away.

"R-right." The robed Aphu answered as he immediately followed him.

Slowly, the players being pushed toward the southern part of the city. They knew that they couldn't win, so they intentionally did kiting strategy and retreat afterwards.

The method was suggested as Mongol and Dungeon Hunter had an emergency meeting. Thankfully, other players in Alkronia could cooperate well with those two Top Ten Guilds despite the rumors.

Thus, they executed the plan safely so they could gain a lot of contribution points together.

Several hours had passed, and day almost turned into night.

Within the streets and alleways, fire walls created and burned dozens. Ice spikes were shot and froze an area. Stones and boulders were tossed and stunned a horde. Some even hit buildings and Maltaria slowly became ruins.

Swords stabbed and shields bashed.

Hundreds of the Dark Army died, but their numbers soon regenerated as they killed the players. They kept moving forward, pushing the tanks back and killed the melee hitters easily. However, Kimchi was an exception.

He was dancing among the crowds, creating red flowers in the air as he went through the Dark Army. But then, thousand arrows raining from the sky. Regardless, it didn't end his waltz. He kept moving while avoiding the arrows.

Soon, a powerful arrow was shot and pierced through five Dark Army. As the power weakened, it knocked back the sixth and pinned him onto the wall.

It was JassJuss. She pulled her bow string elegantly, and then shot the arrow graciously.

They fought until they had no potions left and their mana sucked dry. As the night came, it would be a disadvantage for the players. So they were immediately falling back as the sky got darkened. Then, the survivors would retreat outside the city and teleport away.

The war ended in a day, and the Dark Army finally took over Maltaria.

Maltaria has fallen!

The Dark Army has occupied Maltaria!

・・・

Wildcliff

Wild Gathering was held.

Feleon was sitting on his seat with Wukaka by his side.

On the other side, Neptos and Syrenia were sitting on big stones which were placed by using earth magic. Even though they were on their seats, they were still taller than Wildcliff's wall.

Mirage, Lumi and I were sitting on the front row between Beastkin and Sea-kin.

And in the middle of the place, Hagwim unrolled a big map on a wide stone table. As the former commander of Dalgor, he was experienced and capable enough to become our Strategist. Thus, without introduction, he began to read enemy's movement by looking at the map. Since it was urgent, especially because of our encounter with Beleth and Uruzak, his manner was acceptable.

Everyone became nervous and their expression turned serious after Hagwim opened his mouth.

"Alright. From what I gather... The Dark Army will not just attack one place at a time. They will be spread from west to east, attacking multiple places at once. Both Alkronia and Ghaldaran will be surprised by their strength. So...their capital city will definitely fall by the first wave."

I could hear several people let out a troubled sigh.

"However, later they will help each other fighting against the Dark Army. Karmia will help Alkronia's defense in Bastal. Juvaldo will help Ghaldaran's defense in Roland. And I'm sure they will be able to hold the Dark Army within two or three waves with the help of summoned heroes before they can counterattack. Unfortunately, the problem is... Their aim seems to infiltrate the middle land." Hagwim then pointed at a certain place on the map. "Yes, their target is this place..."

"Tandor? Their Keep is surrounded by mountains, and it surely has the best defense of all Human Kingdoms. In the past, none could penetrate their walls." Feleon responded. "Regardless, they've lost and weakened because of the last war between humans. They're indeed defenseless with the twins as the new rulers."

"I agree that the succession of defending Bastal in Alkronia and Roland in Ghaldaran is determined. However, isn't it a bit of disadvantage to occupy the middle land? We can easily surround them, and attack them at once." Syrenia gave her opinion.

"Of course, the successful defense will raise their morale a bit. However, morale alone is not enough. Dark Army can corrupt us. The fear of being corrupted... It becomes the Dark Army strength to manipulate the tide of war." Hagwim answered. "With Tandor as their heart, they will easily get access to every Human Kingdoms."

"They have the summoned heroes, they cannot be corrupted easily." Neptos gave an argument.

Hagwim then looked at me.

"Zeroth laddie. Do you know the overall power of summoned heroes?"

I gulped as everyone gaze was on me.

"Umm... I think... Each one of them, at least...has more than half...of your strength. Maybe...they've become stronger now."

"Then... It is not enough to defeat their main units." Hagwim turned his head toward Feleon, and then toward Neptos. "You know very well the core power of Dark Army. Not only their numbers, each one of them was strong. And don't forget about their beasts."

Neptos sighed. "It is quite ironic. Because of their own desire, Tandor, the central core of humanity's land, has become their own weakness."

"Right." Feleon agreed. "If the Dark Army succeed, we will surely have no control over the war."

"That's why, I suggest for our utmost objective is that we shall prioritize to defend Tandor." Hagwim suggested.

"It is indeed a good plan. However, after hearing the strength of summoned heroes from Zeroth, I become doubtful about them defending Alkronia and Ghaldaran. Is this really the right decision?" Syrenia asked. "It could be a trap so that we will be surrounded by them if we defend Tandor."

"That is true..." Hagwim couldn't say anything anymore.

"We are back to square one again..." Neptos sighed.

"We are useless without them..." Feleon sighed.

Hagwim also sighed and looked down. "Yeah... I wish Vallas and Nel'Thas were here..."

As he mentioned them, they suddenly became down and uncertain. From what I gathered, it seemed the one who called Nel'Thas was their strategist. With his elven eyes, he could forsee everything, so their plan could go smoothly.

However, they also couldn't take Hagwim lightly. He was the most experienced one among them who knew well about war. Even so, we didn't know what the Dark Army was up to. One wrong move, they would be corrupted and Heallance would be game over.

We were trapped within indecisiveness.

Suddenly, flaps of wings could be heard in the sky, and a cry of eagle was heard.

I looked up and saw a big eagle was flying down toward us. As he roosted, he immediately bowed toward Feleon.

"Your Majesty..."

"Speak."

"The storm is coming... It was split and heading toward three locations. Ten thousands strong each for Alkronia and Ghaldaran. Meanwhile, their main units of five thousands strong was heading toward Tagran. I went back as fast as I could, flying above Alkronia and Karmia. They seemed ignorant of the upcoming storm."

Hearing the big eagle's report, everyone got their hopes up as his words proved Hagwim's prediction was right. It was exactly what he said, that the Dark Army would attack three places at once. And their main power was marching toward Tagran which later could continue further south to Tandor.

Even though everyone was happy, they became down again as they were still thinking what Syrenia had said. The whole set up could be leading to our doom.

At that moment, I wanted to ask about something. However, it could be a dumb question to them. I hesitated like always. My heart pumped fast as I knew that the crowd would look at me. Their eyes would only focus on me.

I grabbed my knees tightly. Then suddenly, I felt Mirage's hand was on mine. I looked at her. She gave me a little smile and nodded.

'That's right. I want to change into a better person in this world.'

I gathered my courage, then I raised my hand and opened my mouth.

"E-excuse me..."

As expected, everyone immediately turned their gaze toward me.

"Oh... Zeroth laddie... Do you have something to say?"

"Y-yes... I uhh... I want to ask something..."

"Sure. Go ahead..."

"If like, just as you said, having the power to be resurrected, and negating Dark Army's corruption...If those are not enough to defeat them... Then, how did you all do it in the past? Did they have a weakness? If so, they must have the same weakness right now, right? The same with Beleth and Uruzak."

I could see Hagwim, Feleon and Neptos became serious.

"Indeed." Hagwim responded as he put his hand on his beard. "What was it again?"

"Immorality..." Neptos answered.

"Right... Beleth gained his power with..." Feleon sighed and closed his eyes. "Lust."

"The more of them conducted those unsightly act, the more they got stronger." Neptos stroke his beard.

"Rather than an act, it's more like a ritual for them." Feleon added.

'So it's the same in here as well, huh? Back in the real world, Beleth is known as the Demon of Love. But of course, that is a blatant lie of a demon. Love is just a deception as the real intention behind it...is Lust.'

"I remember now... Back then I got an information that Beleth was summoned into this world by such shameless ritual." Hagwim scoffed. Then he suddenly smiled in joy as he realized something. "Right... This is it. Vallas and Nel'Thas used to be far ahead in the battlefield. Perhaps, this is what they were aiming for. So... What we need to do is reaching for their rear, to stop the ritual...and kill their mages."

"Alright. It seems Hagwim is right. There's no time to be pessimistic. We might still have a chance. And first of all, we need to put our fear away. Just like what Vallas ever said...'You don't need a reason to help someone. Just be brave and put your fears away.'" Feleon said in a loud voice. "We have the advantage. It's Tandor we're defending. The Impenetrable Wall of Tandor. It doesn't matter how many of them will surround us. We will defend it at all cost."

Thus, everyone nodded and agreed to help the defenseless Tandor.

・・・

Within a corridor, Mirage and I strolled back to our room, while Lumi followed us by flying. But then, I had something in mind. I looked toward Lumi and called her.

"Lumi..."

"Yes?"

"Can I ask you something?"

"Of course!" She flew closer and then sat on my right shoulder.

"You said that you didn't know how to close the portal. You can do dimensional spell, right?"

"You're right. But... The spell I know will close the portal I just created by itself when I go through it. Moreover... The portal you created was waaaaayy to big. It is hard even for oldies to handle it."

"Oldies?"

"Well... I am still young. Two hundreds old to be exact. I still lack the knowledge about dimensional spell. Ehehe..."

"I see... So you only know one spell?"

I could see she averted her gaze as she hid her lips.

"Uh huh..." She answered softly and nodded.

"Well then, what are you going to do now?"

"Umm... I think I'm gonna stick with you for now..." She said as she played with her fingers.

"O-"

"Oooh is that a garden!? Look at those cutie flowies!"

As Lumi saw Wildcliff Castle's garden, she immediately flew straight over there before I could respond.

"Ehehehehe..." I heard Mirage was giggling behind me. "She is really cute, isn't she?"

I sighed. "She's gonna be a troublemaker."

"Anyway, Zeroth..."

"Hmm?" I turned around toward her.

"Are you going somewhere else?"

I paused for a moment. Then I answered, "Yeah.. I think... I plan to grind my skills."

"I see... Alright then. I'm going back to my room. Good luck." She gently smiled at me before she left.

I could understand her. We went through several events without rest. Though I really wanted to get back and laid my body down as well, I wouldn't be able to sleep. Considering that soon enough I would go to war, the thought made me restless.

Therefore, it was about time for me to raise my stats and level up my skills.

I found a place behind Wildcliff Castle, a plot beside a wide grassy field. The breeze was pleasant and refreshing. After I took a deep breath, I began to take out my smithing tools.

Misty also came out from my body, so I gave it a chunk of iron ore to eat. The lil spider was gnawing the ore while I was repairing my equipment and thinking of inventing new ones.

Fighting the Main Units of the Dark Army would be really difficult. I had to equip better gears to survive, so I was drawing multiple designs for myself and Mirage. And they were full body armor. I had an idea to make them light yet durable and easy to move around.

However, no matter what I made, they were either too heavy or easily got bent by enchanted sword.

I could make a set of light armor similar to the ones I used at the moment, but it wasn't enough. I needed more stats.

'Dammit...'

This made me realize I might be lacking a lot of knowledge to be an artisan. Thus, I just experimented a lot while grinding.

Unfortunately, the materials were the problem as well.

'Hahh...' I sighed. 'It would be great if I could find any flexible materials. I think I'll farm them first.'

I had a plan to farm them in Atalancia and Savanh. But mostly, I would spend my time more in Atalancia. Underwater seemed to be a good place to raise my stats.

'Alright. Plan is set. For now, let's just use all the materials I have to raise my artisan skills.'

Suddenly, I heard Misty purred strangely as it scratched my feet. I turned my gaze down and saw a metallic colored shirt on the ground.

'Eh?' I was confused as I picked it. 'I'm sure I didn't make this.'

I used Astral Eyes to see its description.

Iron Shirt (Unique) Quality B Type Clothes Restriction 10 STR Durability 220/220

A woven shirt made by thin iron thread that was produced by Phantasmagoria. The durability is the same as iron even though it looks like a common fabric shirt.

Effect:

+200 P. Def

+20 VIT

I scoffed while I was amazed. It was basically an advanced chainmail. However, it was considered as normal clothes instead of armor. Moreover, it even gave the user pretty good effects.

"Did you make this, Misty? Can you show me again?"

It purred and showed me how the spider made the shirt. Misty was producing web with its spinneret and put it on a wide stone nearby.

With its agile legs, Misty picked the web and was moving left and right, weaving the iron shirt passionately.

Once it was done, Misty crawled onto my lap and scratched my black shirt I was wearing. It was then I realized it.

As if a dad that was proud of his child, I patted Misty gently and praised the lil spider.

"Nice spider, good spider. You are amazing!" I was smiling widely.

Curious, I checked Misty's skill window and read them all.

I found out that the copy of myself as the phantom was an illusion created by its mist. It could only create one illusion at a time though. Still, it was good enough as a decoy.

Then I read its weaving skills, so I tried to draw an armor design on paper and showed it to Misty. However, it stayed still and looked at me confused.

Then I tried to order Misty to use its skill. First, I asked the spider to create mist and dissipate it. Afterward, I commaded it to use its weaving skill and pointed at the drawing. Unfortunately, the method failed.

I didn't understand how it could get what I said when I commanded it to use its active skills, but not its passive ones.

'Uhh... There has to be a way to make it understand. But how?'

And then I drew a simple shirt and pants, and I showed it to Misty. The spider suddenly moved and made them in minutes.

'I see...'

Armor was made by tempering minerals, while clothes was made by weaving fabric. Now it made sense to me.

Misty skill was weaving, not blacksmithing. So it was logical that it couldn't understand how to make armor which was really complex in design. Still, it was really useful because, technically, it could make a flexible iron fabric which later I could modify to be a full body armor. And so, with the help of Misty, I crafted my first Unique rarity armor.

Well, only the armor. Gloves, pants and the boots were Rare. I was satisfied with my achievement nonetheless. And I was excited to test the set against field monsters.

As I was about to leave, I saw Hagwim walked toward me with a wide smile on his face.