When our group ran into the street, we were met with utter pandemonium. There were many citizens of Southampton on the streets fighting against the raiders, who were easily distinguishable by the metallic slave collars around their necks.

I took a moment to decide what to do first. Should I stay and help protect these people here? Or should I go straight to the ships? I wanted to reach the pirate ships ASAP because they were the bigger threat to Southampton. But the people I saw on the streets were clearly non-combatants and they were having difficulties repelling the raiders.

Ultimately, I decided to do both at the same time. I could not, in good conscience, leave the commoners unprotected from the raiders. As a Player Character who aspired for kingship, it was my solemn duty to protect the commoners. If I turned away from the common folk in their time of need, then I was no longer qualified to pursue the crown.

I quickly turned around to my companions. "We're going to head for the pier. But on our way there, we'll try to put down as many raiders as we can without killing them," I ordered.

Van saluted me and he ran toward the thickest group of raiders in the area. The paladin had faith that I would make the right decision and his faith had been rewarded.

I decided to follow the paladin in order to protect his back.

The rest of my party quickly followed us.

With a tremendous warcry, Van slammed his huge tower shield into a group of raiders, stunning them. He immediately followed up by bashing their skulls with his mace.

I was glad to see that the paladin was following my order and knocking his enemies unconscious rather than slaying them outright. I quickly removed the scabbard from my belt and attacked the nearest raiders while my long sword was sheathed. I focused exclusively on covering Van's backside and fighting defensively.

I allowed the paladin to take the lead on where to go because he was a soldier and he knew what the objective was--to make our way to the pier. I trusted him to make the best decisions to reach the pier. After all, being a strong leader meant allowing others to take the lead when the situation required it and I believed that now was such a situation.

From the halting movements of the raiders, I had to agree with Bernetta's speculation that the raiders were being mind-controlled because they were acting like puppets being controlled by an unseen puppeteer. Their movements were only marginally faster than a zombie's. I took full advantage of their slow movements and dodged, ducked, and evaded their attacks. Whenever I saw an opening, I countered with a blow to the back of the head to knock my opponent unconscious.

The majority of the enslaved were low-level commoners lacking any fighting skills. Yes, they were armed with swords but their swings were clumsy and off-balanced. In fact, my challenge in these fights was figuring out how to avoid killing them with my superior swordsmanship.

Thus, I didn't need to burn up my Stamina on sword skills to fight them. However, I was getting an excellent physical workout. I was perspiring heavily but I couldn't pause from my fighting to wipe the sweat from my face.

After the first minute of fighting, Kalistra quickly came to a similar realization that I did. She saw that these raiders were no threat to me and left my side to attack nearby groups. Taking advantage of the enormous mismatch between her speed and their slowness, the cat girl was taking more raiders out of the fight than the combined efforts of Van and me.

Bernetta and Rijana left the fighting to us while they focused, instead, on hog-tying the unconscious raiders and securing them as prisoners. Soon, the streets were filled with such prisoners.

The Elven siblings worked in tandem to protect the city residents from the solo raiders. Unfortunately, they were not as skilled in knocking out their opponents and thus, only half their opponents survived.

We spent the next hour carving a path toward the pier while the drumming continued in the distance. Subconsciously, we coordinated our fighting using the steady beat of the drums: beat, slash, beat, duck, beat, parry, etc.

When we finally reached the pier, the fighting became far more intense. The reason? Magic. Members of the Magic Guild were trading spells with the raiders seeking to maintain their beachhead on the pier. The result was a frightening exchange of magic such as fireballs and lightning bolts.

In fact, as I approached the pier I had to duck on occasion to avoid being hit with a spell.

Unfortunately, the errant and misfired spells were striking the buildings and innocent bystanders alike. Some of the nearby buildings and warehouses had caught fire and the non-combatants were busy trying to put them out. Even worse, the concentration of bodies was attracting the attention of the pirate raiders. This resulted in an almost comical scene of a wall of defenders pushing back against the collared attackers as commoners were busy tossing buckets of water to douse the flames.

While it would have been much easier if we had a water mage flood the burning buildings, I understood that the Magic Guild couldn't divert any mana away from the pirates at the pier.

I took a moment to assess the situation. The fighting between the pirates and the Magic Guild had reached a stalemate. However, the fires were still burning uncontrollably despite the best efforts of the city residents to fight the fires. It would be a true pyrrhic victory if the Magic Guild won the fight but Southampton was burned down in the process. Thus, the priority now was to lend the guild a hand to vanquish the pirates ASAP.

I turned toward my companions. I pointed a finger at the pirates on the pier. "We have to defeat them before Southampton completely burns down. Fight to kill," I ordered.

My companions nodded in understanding. We could no longer afford to be merciful to our enemies.

Van yelled a battle cry and charged!

I had been too busy to bother looking at my stockpile of in-game messages. But I felt my body becoming lighter and stronger; it was no doubt due to the effect of the paladin's battle cry.

We slammed into the pirates at the pier like a big wrecking ball and we immediately broke their defensive line. The next five minutes was a blur of sword clashes and screams of triumph and pain.

My world became a singular focus on my sword and my enemies. They were noticeably stronger and faster than the opponents I had fought earlier. I was forced to use both my sword skills and my magic in order to stay alive and keep fighting. But our party's entry into the fighting at the pier was having a real effect--we were winning. And in a few more minutes, all the pirates will be defeated.

Abruptly, I heard a scream inside my head: "Creeeeeeeeuu!" My world turned black for a split second and then I regained focus. I quickly surveyed my surroundings and I was shocked by the scene: Everyone had dropped to the ground and was unconscious. Everyone except me and the creature standing a few yards from me: a little green man!

The alien was perhaps four feet tall and its big black eyes widened in surprise when it saw me still standing. It wore a metal bracelet on its left wrist. Suddenly, the creature started tapping on the bracelet with its delicate but nimble fingers.

I immediately charged at the alien. Before I reached it, I felt another blast of pain inside my head. "Creeeeeeeeuu!" I realized what it was--a mind blast! Yet somehow, the blast was not effective against me. When I stood before the creature, it immediately backed away.

Soon, the alien stood right at the edge of the pier and there was nowhere left to go.

With an evil grin, I punched the alien in the face, knocking it unconscious.

The little green man fell backward into the water.

As I stood at the edge of the pier, I was VERY tempted to simply let the alien drown. But that would be an evil act; allowing it to die when I could save it would result in my personal alignment shifting away from Lawful Neutral down to Neutral. That, in turn, would jeopardize my pursuit of kingship. I had no choice but to save the alien slavemaster.

Gently setting my potions bag on the pier, I jumped into the water. Thankfully, I was able to locate the alien quickly and dragged it back to the surface. I tossed its body onto the pier and then pulled myself up as well.

As I huffed and puffed while on the dock, I looked around and saw that the people were still out cold. Dang! Even worse, buildings were still burning but now, there was no one conscious to fight the fire. I sat on the pier and retrieved my potions bag.

Soon, the little green man opened its eyes and stared at me.

"Don't you dare use your mind blast at me again!" I warned. I backed up my threat with a raised fist.

"Croooooooouuu!" the creature cried out and put its hands together as if to beg me for mercy.

As I slowly dropped my fist, I suddenly felt a foreign presence in my mind. Before I could punch the alien again, I heard a voice in my mind. "I mean no harm!"

The alien was still laying on its back on the dock. It had not moved from its position. However, its eyes stared directly into mine.

"Why are you inside my mind?" I asked. Instinctively, I knew that the alien was female. I placed the symbol of Jasla in my mind and used her Charm Opposite Sex ability on the alien. I crossed my fingers and hoped that it will work on the alien.

The alien stared at me for a long moment and then it blinked its eyes. Its mouth turned into a broad smile. "Exalted One, I created a mental link with you in order to increase the efficiency of our communication. My vocal cords lack the range necessary to speak in your language."

"If you try anything funny, I will toss you back into the water!" I threatened.

"I can't swim!" The alien's eyes widened with fear.

"I know," I grinned evilly. I had a suspicion where the alien came from. I quickly thought of the cigar ships I had fought while piloting the saucer-shaped ship. I was unexpectedly drafted to defend Planet Earth while exploring the Ph'laen Ruins a few days ago. The robot, Z, had named the invaders as "Zorxilix." Hoping to test if the alien was able to read my surface thoughts, I asked, "Are you the Zorxilix?"

The creature was surprised. Its big head nodded. "How do you know the name of my species?"

"I fought off your invasion of Planet Earth and learned of your name at that time." I was happy to learn that the alien's telepathic ability was limited to only speaking. Otherwise, it would have seen my space battle against its comrades.

Its eyes narrowed for a moment. "But that was on Dimension 3651."

"What dimension are we currently on?"

"Dimension 6285."

"I was originally from the other dimension. I was brought here against my will," I replied. I saw no harm in revealing this fact to the alien.

"You are a Dimension Walker," it replied with shock and awe. "No wonder my mind blast doesn't work against you. It has been calibrated strictly for the inhabitants of this dimension."

"What is your name and why are you here?" I asked. I was relieved to learn that its mind blast was not effective against me. Otherwise, I would be out cold by now just like everybody else.

"We have no names. My individual designation is Fe329a893e. We are here to gather supplies."

"I'll just call you 'Fe.'" I pointed at the bracelet. "You enslave humans."

"Livestock."

I was almost overcome with fury. The answer had just revealed how the Zorxilix saw us: as an inferior species and maybe even food. "Do you eat us?"

"Qwaroo-qwoo-qwoo." Fe's body shook. "We are not barbaric like humans. We don't consume meat. We use humans as labor. Just like how you to treat horses and cows."

"Why would you use us for labor?" I asked.

Fe blinked its eyes. "Isn't it obvious, Exalted One?" the alien scolded me gently. "Our bodies are clearly inferior to yours."

I almost facepalmed. "Sorry," I apologized sheepishly. "How long will these people be out?" I asked. I was surprised to see that they were still unconscious.

"23 minutes local time."

I was astonished. "You knocked everyone out for a half hour?" My eyes quickly glanced at the still-burning buildings. If a wind strong blew, the fire would spread!

"Not everyone," Fe said pointedly.

"Are there any more Zorxilix on your ships?" I asked while pointing at the two ships in the water nearby.

The alien shook her head. "I was a scout. I was sent here on a fact-finding mission."

"To learn what?"

"What happened to the Zorxilixian unit sent to conquer this land."

Suddenly, a strong wind blew through the harbor and provided more fuel to the flames. The fire immediately spread to other buildings.

There was no one awake to help me. I had only one alternative. "Musa! Bane! I humbly ask for your aid!" I yelled out.

The two gods quickly arrived. A lightning bolt struck the sea and there was a blinding flash of light. Musa hovered above the water and slowly flew across the sea. She landed on the pier.

A moment later, Bane came out of the flames. He flapped his demonic wings and landed next to his consort. He looked at his surroundings and nodded with approval at the chaotic scene. "It's not too late to change your alignment."

Musa slapped the back of his head. "We agreed that Lawrence would become the Champion of Order," she reminded him with a stern tone of voice.

He pouted.

The Lawful Goddess of Magic and Inspiration smiled at me. "It has been a while since we talked, my child. I wish you would call me out more often," she said.

"The Gamemaster will not approve of your incessant interference," Bane warned.

"But he's my follower," she argued.

"Our follower," he retorted. With a snap of his fingers, he compelled me to raise my left forearm and pull down my sleeve. My divine marks glowed brightly.

Fe reached out with her mind to establish mental links to the two newcomers. She received a shock through the link and her body started shaking violently.

Musa immediately severed the link. "That was foolish," the Goddess said with a frown.

Bane smirked. "Without the aid of our divine marks, you cannot link directly with us. The energy feedback will be too great for your mortal body to accept." The Chaotic Demigod turned toward me. "You summoned us to take away this invader?"

I shook my head. "I need your help to put out the fire. And maybe awaken everyone."

The demon lord grabbed the unconscious alien by her skull. "I'll take her away anyway. Her presence will attract unwanted attention." With a snap of his fingers, a portal to the Plane of Fire appeared before us. He tossed Fe through like a bowling ball.

Musa raised a finger. Storm clouds gathered above us and then the heavy rain started pouring down on us.

To my relief, the fires were put out by the rain. Additionally, people were starting to stir awake.

I turned toward the two Gods and bowed deeply. "Thank you for your assistance. How many I repay you in return?" I asked.

Bane smiled broadly. "You know~"

Abruptly, Musa pinched his ear. "You watched over our daughter while she was exploring the Ph'laen Ruins. We owed you a favor." She finally released her consort's ear. "It's time to leave." With a puff, she disappeared.

"See you around, kiddo," Bane grinned and walked through the portal. It closed behind him.

Kalistra ran up to me. She smelled the brimstone and her nose twitched. Her body became tense. "Is there a demon around?"

"No," I shook my head. I saw that everyone was slowly getting off the ground. I wiped raindrops from my face. "Let's go back to the tavern," I ordered.