“This is Jaywalker 2-1, we are surrounded. They are rising back up! All of them! We are trying to regroup with the rest of Jaywalker! Fallback! Somebody bring forward flamethrowers teams on the flanks. Request Legionnaires for assistance!”

“This is Rebel 3-3, Echo 4 Delta! We’re being ambushed by a horde of… Some kind of monster! Some of them are over 8 feet tall, multiple rounds needed to neutralize! They are firing magic blasts and are bombarding us! We have multiple casualties including our CO, and we’re being pushed back! Requesting assistance! Greg! Keep shooting them, hold them back!! Everyone else, focus your fire on their heads! Prioritize the ones that are about to launch their fire- Oh shit, INCOMING! Get clear, get clear!”

“This is Ironhide 3-1, calling all friendly callsigns in the area. My platoon is being ambushed by what looks to be demons! Ironhide 3-3 just received a mobility kill, and we’re cut off! I say again, we’re cut off! We’re holding our ground for now, but we’re running low on 25mm and TOW missiles. Is there anyone who can assist? Over.”

“Overlord, this is Talon 1-1. My flight is being harassed by flocks of what appear to be Gargoyle-like creatures! Our door gunners are doing their best to shoot them down, but the skies are swarming with those things, and they are bombarding us with some type of breath attack. Airspace over Sadera is contested, we must pull back. Shit! Some of them have latched onto Talon 1-2! Talon 1-2, shake them off! Fuck! They’re ripping off your tail! 1-2, land your bird now!!”

“Fuck! Fuck! I can’t! I lost my vertical control! Mayday! Mayday! Talon 1-2, we’re going down! I say again, Talon 1-2 goin- Ahh! Fuck! Get it- Get these fuckers off me! AHHH!!!”

“Talon 1-2 is down, I repeat tal-”

“Talon 1-1 come in. Talon, do you copy?”

***

--- Outskirts of Sadera ---

Date: August 7th, 2026

Hanging high above the sky, the yellow light from the hot blazing flare had been beating down on the open grass field. Soldiers of both worlds sat by and waited to see if they would be summoned to storm the city of Sadera, the capital of the crumbling Empire. Devoid of shade, the waiting soldiers found whatever they could to stay cool.

Kilometers outside the city, a long line of soldiers, equipment, and hardware were positioned to assault the city if requested. As the invasion of the city unfolded, it became clear that no one will be needed, and boredom unfolded among the ranks.

To help pass the time, each side started to mingle amongst themselves. As the flare moved higher into the blue cloudless sky, General Krysist noticed a few Republicans and Terrans starting to engage in conversation. Some of the encounters had been groups arguing regarding past battles and the differences in politics between the two worlds. On the other hand, other groups joined in each other's games of cards and dice or sports.

Regardless of what world a warrior was from, it was clear that all warriors spoke the same language. One of them being the anger of being left out of a battle. Being put on the sidelines as if they were no longer needed.

"In my entire life, I had never sat out a battle," Krysist said as he put away his leather water pouch after wiping the sweat from his forehead. "I have never been more humiliated in my life."

"Stop being dramatic; it does not suit you," Malena said. "And I highly doubt this is the most humiliating moment of your life."

Krysist gave the warrior bunny a glare which she only responded with a challenging smirk.

She helped save him from the Ticerat prison from a plot to trade him to Zorzal. At the time, he had no idea why the Ticerat were so desperate to hand him over to the emperor until his sister told him. During his recovery, for some reason, she had been by his side at the hospital for the better part of a month. While he hated to say it, the truth was that she was correct and that he was being dramatic.

Placing his hand on what reminded him of his armless arm, reminding himself of his most significant defeat. "I am a General. I march soldiers into battle. I do not like standing around."

“I understand that feeling all too well. But as my late master used to say, ‘you have to be patient. Wait for your opening and then strike.’ Our moment will come. In the meantime, keep your blade sharp and steady,” Malena reassured him.

While gazing toward Sadera, he saw lights appear and disappear from explosions and magical strikes. The zooming sound of nearby artillery fired from a cannon to support the invading infantry. Helicopters and airplanes flew above the buildings, firing at enemy targets; however, from this range, they only looked like black spots.

Looking at the ex-mercenary warrior bunny, Krysist asked, "Why are you here, little bunny? I highly doubt you are being paid at this point."

"Do I have to be paid to be here?" Malena asked.

"Then you are here to watch the city that destroyed your kind’s livelihood burn," Krysist said. "Cold, but I can understand."

"I was not in the Bunny Burrow when it fell," Malena said. "My mother and I were never welcomed there. I never had a stake in that conflict. My loyalty has always been with my current clan."

“And once again, the question has not been answered,” Krysist said.

This time Malena glared at him, looking away in disgust for some reason. "Once all of this is over my clan will split apart. To be honest I already see everyone going their own way. I hoped to stop it but I no longer see that as a possibility now. So, I figured I would join this campaign and see what opportunities it might bring."

"An opportunist I see," Krysist said. “I understand though.”

As the conversation continued, Krysist noticed an American soldier strangely staring toward the capital city. Soldiers playing games, gossiping about their women and adventurers suddenly stopped what they were doing. One by one everyone stopped whatever they were doing and gazed east.

Out of nowhere, soldiers began to cheer. The word ‘Liberty’ started spreading throughout the ranks. The codeword meant that the emperor was dead.

“So, they, did it?” Malena asked.

“It seems so. So much for that opportunity to strike,” Krysist said. “So, Jackson Sharpe killed that little bastard of an Emperor. The war is finally over. Too bad, I wish I was there to see it or even personally execute him myself.” He let out an annoyed sigh.

“You should have been the one who killed him,” Malena said. “After what they had done to you. Blood is paid with blood.”

“Never would happen,” Krysist said. “Even though I would have done anything for that opportunity, the powers at play would never allow one of us that honor. Besides, this war may be ending, but my war with the Oprichnina has only begun.”

“Then allow me to accompany you for that,” Malena offered.

Krysist looked over at her and gave a slight nod before being interrupted.

“General,” Frayen said. "Look there, by the Tower of Idos. That shimmering green light forming at the top."

Looking toward the city again, Krysist saw what the Apostle was referring to. A strange green light hung above the city, like a lonely star above the sky. While everyone gazed at the light, Krysist could only wonder what it could mean as it was not there a moment ago.

He wondered if it was a new NATO weapon. From his experience during the Elies Campaign, he noticed that NATO weapons emitted light once fired. However, if the emperor was dead, there would be no reason to employ a new weapon as the war was closing. And a strange light above the city, he could not think of an application for such a weapon.

"How interesting," Krysist mumbled before turning toward his Apostle. "What do you think of this?"

"I have never seen anything like this before," Frayen said. "I need more information before I can form a theory."

"Then let's see if all this… technology these people rely upon has any answers." Krysist quickly turned toward the rear of the formation.

"Wait, where are you going?" Malena asked, chasing after him.

"To the Den for answers."

As Krysist moved through the formations, passing more soldiers who were reacting to the strange green light above Sadera. Once reaching the commander post nicknamed the Den, he approached the large tent with two guards with patches that said 'MP.'

"The bunny and pointy-ear elf are here with me," Krysist said while he bypassed them as they knew better than to stop him.

"General, what is the status of the attack?" Krysist saw Lieutenant General Charles Stanford looking toward the main screen with a half dozen smaller ones around the main one. There is this look of shock and horror across his and his staff's faces. "Did the League defeat our forces?"

"No, but something much worse is happening. See for yourself," Stanford said.

Walking over to what the Terrans called a monitor, Krysist expected to see League forces standing over Terran bodies, celebrating their victory. What he saw on the screen was unimaginable. While laughable, the look on Stanford's face didn't tell a story of a great win but a great defeat, so he was forced to assume the worst. However, what he saw made him wish it was only the League defeating Terran and Republican forces. At least that could have been dealt with later.

On the seven screens, corpses were shown rising from the ground and attacking. Terrans, Legionaries, Royal Guards, civilians, and anyone killed during the assault or bitten by these corpses all swarmed anything alive. In addition, giant black-organic-looking monsters summoned from the ground had joined in on the attack and begun attacking everything that moved.

"Can you tell me what is happening?" Stanford asked.

“Besides the fact that the dead are rising as ghouls, most likely some kind of powerful necromancy magic, those tall black abominations are none other than the demons,” Frayen answered.

"Demons?!" Stanford slowly replied. "So, you're telling me what happened in Rondel wasn't an isolated incident?"

"Apparently not," Frayen replied. "This is Darlko’s doing. Somehow, they have found a way to summon Demons. And these are not just basic summons that are temporary and can be commanded. Maybe teleportation might be a better term than summoning or a combination of the two? Interesting."

Silencing the apostle's small rant, Krysist said, "Regardless of how the enemy has made their move, the question is why?" Analyzing the Livestream, he noticed a strange man hovering next to the tower. Where the green light was. He told the operator to freeze the stream. "Who is that?"

"That is Valker, the leader of Darlko and Lord of the Phantoms," Frayen said. "Some time ago Lelei and I faced him at one of his research facilities. He was doing some kind of research on my body. DARPA could not figure out what they were trying to do, it is clear it is related to this moment. Question is, how is he doing this."

"I recall Lelei talked to me about that event." Frayen then pointed to the Demon head that Valker was holding. "This must be how they summoned the Balrog. Darlko must have discovered a Demon corpse in the Arrun Labyrinth."

“It doesn’t matter right now,” Stanford said. “How do we stop this?”

“Simple.” Krysist reached to his hip and unhook his helmet. He slowly placed it over his head and tightened the strap with one hand. “We march in there and meet this new enemy head-on.”

As Stanford began giving new orders to send reinforcements and whatever assistance they could muster, Krysist exited the command tent.

Krysist marched to the front of the army. Seeing the smoke and dark clouds above the city, he walked up to an Abrams tank and climbed on it. For a moment, he struggled to get up with his one arm but then Malena jumped up and helped him up. To his annoyance, he accepted the offer.

Once he gained his footing, Krysist gained everyone's attention and gave a short speech.

“My fellow warriors. Today, we are witnessing events that neither of our worlds has foreseen. I am not going to lie; the gods have challenged the Realm of Men and they have sided with the forces of darkness. The legend says two thousand years ago a Demon army came through the Gate and tried to conquer all of the known worlds. We defeated them then and we will defeat them again here.”

He then pulled his sword from his sheath and aimed it toward the capital city. “My fellow warriors, our comrades are facing the ultimate threat and they need our help. I will not be on standby on the sidelines as our comrades fight for their lives. Both Republicans and Terrans, are fighting for their lives and for the sake of this world. Charge now and we will repulse these demons back into the abyss like our ancestors once did. Come forth my warriors, let's save this world again!”

--- Royal District ---

What was intended to be an invasion to bring an end to war turned into a battle for survival. The fall of the League was now a struggle against an army of ghouls and demons that were summoned by the Dalko lord, Valker.

With the continuation of the blood rain falling across the city, the ground was stained red. Uniforms, and weapons alike were soaked as soldiers were forced to adapt to these strange conditions.

Taking advantage of the boxed in nature of the royal plaza, the Rangers and Republican forces dug in as they realized that they were surrounded. Sharpe quickly devised a plan to hunker down and become a rallying point for any allied forces that were nearby; a somewhat safe zone until a better plan could be figured out.

Taking a quick mental inventory, Sharpe accounted for Pina's Knights and her Legionaries, Delilah’s bunnies, his and Johnson's Vanguard teams, plus three more Vanguard teams who managed to reach their position, however with losses.

Surrounded, every officer and NCO rushed along the battered lines, maintaining order, and preventing any gaps from forming. The ghouls amassed and rushed toward them along with a huge group of humanoid demons and some slow-moving giant demons.

With only myths and legends from Rory and Lelei, there had been only a limited amount of information on how deadly these monsters were. Unlike most lifeforms who react to pain and wounds, these demons, aside from their abnormally tough skins, ignored any damage that was inflicted by their rifles, or at least none that Sharpe could visually see. While the Rangers had killed a few, it had taken far more bullets than he would have liked, creating concern they would run out of ammo before help could arrive.

Sharpe saw a lot of activity in the direction where Vanguard-5 should be. "Bailey, status?"

"Pinned sir," Bailey responded. "Everyone we killed is now trying to kill us. Found the remnants of Vanguard-4. We're trying to get to the surface."

“Roger,” Sharpe replied. “We are coming to your position.”

“Vanguard-Actual, this is Vanguard-Lead, requesting fire support,” Sharpe said.

There is a short delay with a disappointing response by Captain Sarah Sharpe, “Request is on queue. However, I wouldn’t expect it anytime soon. Everyone is requesting every assist and there isn’t enough to go around. Every unit is being engaged and bogged down.”

“You can't even get me one strafing run?”

“Negative. Literally, everything is queued up to six deep. Even if there's one available, we don't know how to direct them to you. Not with those Gargoyles swarming the skies. Just hang in there. I'll get you something the moment one is available. I promise.”

Looking toward the city from the royal plaza, Sharpe saw skirmishes scattered throughout the city. Artillery landed throughout the suburbs and markets as soldiers tried to use that as a shield. The airspace around the city wasn’t much better as their helicopters were busy fighting these gargoyles and some of them managed to take down some gunships and transport helicopters.

“Actual, keep the IRS in our position. I want no surprises.”

After figuring out the distance between their position and Vanguard-5, Sharpe gathered Rory, eight Rose Knights, and Legionaries, plus six Rangers. Placing Pina and Johnson in command in the plaza area, they headed out.

The Rangers took center while the Legionaries and Knights positioned themselves on the outside. With their heavy armor and shields, they are to be the barrier to keep the ghouls and the demons away as the Rangers used their range weapons to snipe anything that approached. Rory remained in the lead clearing a path for the group so they would not be overwhelmed.

Beefeater, taking command of the legionaries, said, “Keep those shields to the side. Whatever you do, maintain the shield wall. If anything gets close, cut them down but do not leave the formation.”

“That being said, be careful what you aim at,” Andrew added. “Don’t waste your ammo. Only attack the ones that are getting close.”

“Beefeater,” Sharpe said. “When we get to the stairway, I want you to form a perimeter while we get Bailey's team. Rory, you take the lead and make sure we don’t get swarmed”

As they passed through the remainder of the Imperial Senate building, they found ghouls everywhere. Over in the distance by some rubble, the group could see a group of ghouls consuming civilians who were probably trapped. The ones that remained intact were transformed into ghouls, themselves.

Elsewhere throughout the Royal District, they could hear screams from trapped civilians and soldiers, probably being swarmed and slaughtered. Sharpe saw in the eyes of his team that they wanted to go off and help, especially the Knights and Legionaries as this was their home; however, he knew they couldn't. Going after Bailey was already high risk and going further would probably get everyone here killed. The only option now was survival.

As the rescue team advanced, Rory and the Legionaries had no issue cutting down anything in their path with their weapons. Unfortunately, one was killed by an ambushing demon. With everyone they killed, it seemed that another one appeared.

“The stairway is around the corner,” Sarah said. “Take that left and you are good.”

Acknowledging the directions, the team stopped at the corner. Seeing two Rangers from Vanguard-5 protecting the entrance of the stairway, Sharpe, Andrew, and two Rangers turned the corner and opened fire, clearing a path for Beefeater’s group to form a perimeter.

One by one, the ghouls were picked off until they turned to face them. Once the ghouls started approaching their position, the Legionaries and Knights charged toward the remainder, cutting them down.

“Hold fire.” Sharpe watched as Beefeater's team cleared out a path to the pinned-down Rangers. He gave the order, and they advanced forward.

With the area secured, a loose shield wall was formed. As Sharpe approached the Rangers, he noticed another ghoul dropped from a nearby building. The monster was wearing a US military standard uniform with a Vanguard-3 insignia.

Sharpe stopped and aimed his pistol, putting a bullet through its head. As the corpse fell to the blood-soaked ground, a chill went through his body as it did not feel right to kill a fellow Ranger. All he could do was hope that killing the soldier brought some kind of peace from whatever hell was brought upon him.

“You guys are a sight for sore eyes,” the ranger named Private First-Class Daisy Wallace said. “I thought we were screwed.”

“No time to celebrate,” Sharpe said. “Is everyone ready?”

“Hold on,” Daisy said. She then called down the stairway.

Bailey quickly rushed up. “Thank god you guys came.”

“Can you move out?”

“Give me thirty seconds. I have General Woody and some of his staff with us.”

As Bailey gathered his forces, Sharpe rejoined the rescue team to strengthen the perimeter. Hearing Frost warned of demons approaching, he looked toward the collapsed building and saw three of them. Each one had this black organic thick skin. While two had this wolf-like face, the third one had more of a flat, humanoid look. All had these long arms with sharp claws. Blisters that beat like hearts pulsed throughout their body.

While being nightmarishly ugly, their bodies could take such physical abuse while remaining mostly unharmed. The three demons leaped from their positions and fell to the ground on their feet as the Rangers began firing upon them. They dropped three stories to the ground, a drop that would have broken or killed most men; however, it barely affected them.

Before the Rangers could adjust their fire, the three demons ran straight toward them. Andrew and Frost adjusted and focused fire on the closest demon. It took about three to four bullets each to finally kill it. However, while the humanoid one went down easily, the other two leaped and landed directly in front of the Legionaries.

The first Legionary that was closest raised their sword to strike. The demon knocked one of them over while grabbing the other, crushing the legionary head with ease.

“Holy shit,” Andrew mumbled, shocked by what he just saw. “They just don’t go down.”

“Deal with it later Andrew, reform the breach now!” Sharpe quickly ordered as he aimed his pistol but was nearly struck down by the second demon. It was Andrew who tackled him to the ground that saved them both from the abomination. However, from the tackle, he felt a sharp pain on his bandaged side, a final parting gift from Zorzal.

The Demon approached but Beefeater charged past it and sliced its arm off. The demon let out a roar and swung his arm around, knocking her into one of the other Knights. As the beast was distracted, one of the Rangers opened fire at it with his sidearm however had little effect outside blood oozing from the holes.

“Nergoni, protect the Colonel,” Beefeater said as she was getting onto her feet. “Everyone else, reform the line.” She then rushed toward the demon. Ducking low and getting behind the beast, she sliced its other arm clean off.

Hearing the demon growl and turn toward Beefeater, she felt a deep fear overcome her, unable to understand how this being was still standing. Then its head split in half as blood spilled over her. After the body fell, she saw Rory standing behind.

As the Legionaries and Knights surrounded the demon, half blocked each strike from the abomination while the others cut it down. While the ability of these beasts to ignore pain was impressive, with enough damage they still die.

With the demon dead, the group found themselves becoming surrounded. However, Bailey and the rest of his team stormed out of the stairway and joined in the fight, assisting in pushing back the enemy.

Sarah informed Sharpe that more demons were appearing and heading toward them. Seeing Vanguard-5 and what remained of Vanguard-4, he gave the order to fall back. Taking a quick head count, two Legionaries had died, and Vanguard-4 was missing three of their Rangers.

As the group headed back to the established perimeter, piles of corpses layed in front of everyone. Most dead from their heads being destroyed however other undead still clawed out once they saw movement, crawling, or reaching out mindlessly as they passed.

A demon dropped next to the group. As it prepared to strike a strong firebolt impacted the monster, engulfing in blue flames. The demon screamed out as it burst into flames, whaling around as its arms slam against one of the soldier's shields.

Looking over, they saw Lelei and the other Rangers waving.

Once back with the main group, everyone reorganized into their formations and reinforced the lines. Everyone realized the key to survival was to dig in as best as possible.

Once the situation stabilized, Bailey asked, “Jackson, what the fuck is going on? One moment we were mopping up some Oprichnina bastards and then, everything we killed attacked us.”

“It will take too long to explain,” Sharpe replied as Jerry rushed over to inspect his wound again. “I honestly don’t fully understand it. We just have to hold out.”

“With what?” Bailey asked. “I have two more magazines left of my primary.”

Johnson approached and said, “Glad to see you alive Bailey. Jackson, how much longer do we have to wait? We did not bring enough supplies for a siege.”

“And my men are getting tired,” Pina said. “We should make a break for it.”

“Hell, no lady,” Bailey said. “You were not out there. It is hell. The moment we leave we will be swarmed without mercy. We barely got here alive.”

“Bailey is correct,” Sharpe said. “We have too many wounded and prisoners to take care of. We are not near a FOD and with the amount of destruction, we wouldn’t be able to properly stay in formation. It will be the Battle of Teutoburg Forest all over again.”

“What is that?” Pina asked.

“A battle where the Germans slaughter three full Roman Legions,” Sharpe explained. “They were trapped in a line of twenty kilometers. While this is not the same situation, the result would be the same.”

“Then we hold as long as we can until help arrives,” Johnson said. “No choice.”

“They know we are here,” Sharpe said. “And they will do whatever it takes to get to us. The question is how long. Our response must be as long as they need to reach us. We hold out that long.”

Taking a quick look around, he noticed how red everything had gotten. While it is not pouring, it had accumulated enough blood to form pools on the floor and soak everyone's clothing.

Sharpe then said, “This is the plan. Pina, you command the main formation here. Johnson, you on the north side, Bailey on the south. Do what you must but we hold here until either help arrives, or we see a window to escape. I only want the rifles to pick off only when they are too much. Either to thin out large groups of undead or incoming demons. Let the swordsmen take care of the undead. Also, I want everyone to turn off their NETT Warrior.”

“Sir?” Johnson asked.

“Right now, everyone is connected,” Sharpe said. “I don’t want people distracted by watching their comrades being slaughtered and consumed. Our only chance is if everyone is entirely focused right here.”

“Lieutenant Colonel Sharpe,” Famulis said as she approached, hands bound. “I request that you let me free so I can assist.”

“Hell no.”

“You cannot win without help,” Famulis said. “You are famous for pulling victory against overwhelming odds; however, I doubt you can defeat this horde in this current situation. I have no interest to die as this and I can help.”

“Or just fly off,” Bailey added. “Leaving all of us to our deaths.”

“Don’t do it,” Rory said, glaring at the Dark Empress. “She will betray us the moment we let our guard down. All of them will.”

To Sharpe's confusion, he noticed the Dark Empress glancing toward Pina for support. While he agreed with Rory's statement, it seemed something happened between the two empresses while he was dealing with Zorzal. Now that he thought about it, he had no idea what happened. “Pina?”

Taking an exhausted breath, Empress Pina Co Lada responded, “During the battle, the ceiling was collapsing on us. If it was not for her, we all would have been killed or buried. She then voluntarily surrendered to me. I was going to bring it up after the battle until this all happened.”

“Then it is your decision,” Sharpe replied.

“Fine,” Pina said. “Famulis, for now, I will release you. However, if you act hostile in any way or betray us, future consequences will fall upon your people and Rory will not need to wait for my permission.”

“Not that I would have waited for it,” Rory commented as she took guts off her weapon.

As Famulis was released, Herm and Calasta started begging to be released.

“I do not want to die like this,” Herm begged. “Give us a sword and we will help.” As he spoke, the Imperial senators, guards, staff, and Oprichnina all started begging for freedom.

“No!” Pina yelled, staring at Herm directly and then slowly at everyone else. She then approached all the prisoners as they sat on the plaza concert, soaked with the blood rain. “To the Royal Guard, I will give you one option. Renounce the old regime and embrace that I am your new ruler, help us save this city today and I will pardon your treachery.”

“What about us?” Calasta asked. “You said no to us, but you are giving them a chance?”

“That is because, at the end of the day, the Royal Guard was just defending who they thought was in charge,” Pina coldly replied. “For you two, the Senators and the Oprichnina; all of you have betrayed the Empire, the Legion, all of Falmart, and me, multiple times for your own self-interests. When at hell's gate, you have proven you cannot be trusted. Be happy we are not using you as a meat shield.”

“Are you sure about this?” Sharpe whispered.

“With them… there is no way we can trust them,” Pina replied. “When we were fighting your people, with everything stacked against us, these people still choose themselves as my nation was falling apart. Look how many times Oprichnina betrayed the Elies Legions?”

“Point taken,” Sharpe said.

“But the meat shield part doesn't seem like a bad idea,” Bailey added.

Sharpe gave Bailey a look that showed that it might come to it if things get bad enough. He then saw seventeen of the twenty Royal Guards agree to Pina's terms.

As everyone acknowledged their orders and got to work, Sharpe remembered the book World War Z by Max Brooks he read early in the war. A similar situation happened in the book when US forces faced off against zombies using the old Land Warrior. Being highly networked, every soldier saw and heard their comrades being eaten. The book's conclusion said it demoralized and spread panic throughout the US forces, resulting in massive casualties and fleeing the battle. While he had no idea if that conclusion would apply to a real-world situation, he has no interest in testing that now.

An hour went by, and they were able to repel two undead waves. It seemed like it would never end, making Sharpe wonder where they were all coming from.

With the heads up that an army tomahawk missile was approaching, Sharpe, Lelei, and Randy watched the weapon flew toward Valker, who remained on the tower. Valker looked directly toward the missile and phased out.

The missile went right through Valker.

“It is Valker,” Lelei said. “Physical projectile weapons will not work against him, remember. Last time we faced him we needed to use electricity to inflict damage on him. It is his only major weakness we can exploit right now.”

“I know that, but it's probably a hail-marry attempt,” Sharpe replied.

“Colonel!” Pina yelled.

Looking over, Sharpe saw a large mob of undead approaching. There were enough of them that Sharpe thought they could break the shield wall. “Rory, take Famulis and reinforce Pina's position.”

As everyone moved to assist Pina's flank, Rory approached, soaked in blood. “Is anyone else wondering where all the demons went?”

“I noticed that too,” Sharpe said. “And the current push seemed to focus on brainless beings.”

Hearing a helicopter from the cliffside, Sharpe, and Rory turned around for a small moment. He saw that the Imperials placed their capital on this cliff as it had an amazing view of the city. From the position, they could see about half of it.

Below the city streets below, the sounds of battle echoed everywhere. With a quick glance, it seemed that most of their allied forces had regrouped into defensible positions. There were still small battles scattered across the city, either patrol, rescue teams, or last-stand holdouts. Artillery rained down, leveling everything in desperation to help keep the enemy from overwhelming NATO and allied forces. To Sharpe's surprise, there seemed to be far fewer helicopters than he expected. With the sudden appearance of this new enemy, they must be burning through fuel and ammunition as they engage the gargoyles.

While a makeshift air base by Daduale cut the need for aerial refueling and increased mission loitering time, it was not prepared to support the massive amount of support they needed now. It would take time to establish a steady flow of refuel and rearming to get back into action.

Knowing that the casualty rates were probably going to be high, Sharpe turned to Rory. “Is Emroy protecting the lost ones?” Sharpe asked.

“I hope so,” Rory replied. “I feel the souls passing through my body; however, I have yet to hear from Emroy. I am surprised the gods have allowed this to happen.”

Noticing the helicopter focused its attention on them, it was a French Eurocopter Tiger, it fired its chain gun at the cliffside. While it was in no danger of attacking them, the angle bothered him. “Rory, grab my belt.”

Once she grabbed his belt, he looked down the cliff. To his horror, about a dozen demons were quickly climbing the cliff. “Rory!”

She pulled him back as a demon jumped right past him to strike. The demon landed behind them, and Sharpe prepared his Colt .45. “Everyone, we have been flanked. Rear flank!” He then fired as Rory cut down another that appeared.

As everyone turned around, realizing that their once safe spot was now a battleground. More demons appeared over the plaza cliff and attacked. One grabbed a wounded ranger and crushed him while another demon went directly into Bailey's position.

Being forced to back up, Sharpe finished his magazine into a demon before Lelei finished it off. From what he could tell, eight demons appeared inside their formation and wreaked havoc.

Being forced to pull soldiers from the perimeter, swords, and riflemen alike. No one was able to establish a perimeter, each fighting alone or in small groups to isolate a demon.

As the attack continued, Rory sliced a four-armed demon in half. “Get away from my friends you bastards!”

With a bright light from Lelei's staff, engaged with blue fire, burning the incoming demons and ghouls. With the flames, she intentionally tried to create a firewall to help slow down the demonic army.

Rory sliced an arm off and turned around, holding her halberd’s side to stop a demon from attacking. With a short tug of war, she overpowered the demon and jumped over, and sliced it in half. To her shock, Famulis assisted by removing some of the demons, flinging them off the cliff.

In combination with Rory and Famulis, the two finished off the last demon. Sharpe walked over to a demon who was crawling on the ground, a ranger arm in its mouth with the corpse behind it. Stepping on its back, he shot three rounds in its head, killing it.

Feeling exhausted, he saw Rory and Famulis give a rare positive gesture toward each other as they won this skirmish. The three remaining medics tried to treat the wounded and he saw gaps in the shield wall with not enough men to maintain the perimeter. However, it seems the worst had passed as even the undead seemed to lesson.

“I think we should take our chances,” Randy proposed.

“There is no way we will make it,” Johnson said.

“But stay here?” Randy replied. “Half of our Rangers are out of ammo. We are basically throwing rocks now.”

“We cannot move,” Jerry said as he sowed a wound shut. “We have fifteen wounded. Who is going to carry them and protect them?”

Sharpe realized that he only had two options. They wouldn’t be able to carry the wounded out and be able to defend themselves. Either they abandon the wounded which he refused to consider or hold here. “We stay here.”

“It does not matter,” Rory said as she walked past them. “Valker has arrived.”

“Fuck….” Sharpe realized he let slip out of his mouth. Turning around, all he could see was a blood-stained rumble of the collapsed senate building.

Suddenly, Valker walked through the rumble in his phased form, like they were not even there. Many of the demons and ghouls formed behind him, somewhere summoned.

“I got this,” Lelei said.

“Hold on Lelei,” Randy said. “You needed the mana of an apostle to beat him last time. And I can only assume you are almost depleted.”

“Do we have a choice?” Lelei asked.

“Whatever you are planning on I can assist,” Famulis said. “I am not an Apostle, but I assume I am better than nothing.”

“Everyone, prepare yourselves,” Sharpe said. “Everyone else, grab the wounded and fall back into the plaza.”

“And go where?” Panache asked. “That is a cliff, remember.”

“Do as you are ordered, Panache,” Pina said.

As everyone abandoned their positions and gathered in the plaza, some of the rangers opened fire on Valker. The bullets did nothing as they passed through him. Behind him, summoning spells appeared as more demons emerged.

Sharpe held his hand, signaling to everyone to hold the position. Rory walked to his side and prepared to strike. “Prepare Lelei.”

Valker marched with confidence, hands glowing green. He sped up and leaped toward them with incredible speed, heading toward them faster than Lelei could respond.

To what could only be considered a hand of God, as Valker leaped toward them, he rammed into what Sharpe could only explain as a mana barrier of some kind.

A spiderweb crack spread out from where the Dark Lord impacted the crystal-clear barrier, with the center forming a giant shield. It then disappeared.

Valker stood there, carefully looking around like he was analyzing something that no one else could see. Gripping his right hand, he thrust his fist toward it. The crystal-clear shield barrier reemerged with a loud clash sound echoing through the plaza.

“Emroy,” Rory said with excitement.

While a large relief spread, the Rangers and Legionaries all stared at the Dark Lord as he continued to bang against the barrier. With every thrust, the cracks grew larger. Like it was going to collapse at any moment.

Suddenly, Valker stopped and placed his hand on the barrier, activating it again. He phased out of their Realm and his finger slowly passed through it.

“He is getting through,” Lelei commented. “How?”

“How can he be stronger than a god?” Rory asked. “How can he be stronger than Emroy.”

“Because he is one now,” Famulis said. “As I said before, we surrendered to his rule not long after what happened in Rondel. But Valker took over the League against our will. I think… I think one of the gods possessed or merged with him.”

Seeing that Valker's arm was already halfway through the barrier, he felt like he was grasping straws for a solution. An electrical strike suddenly hit the barrier, forcing Valker back to the other side of the barrier.

Confused about what just happened, Sharpe heard Lelei shout Frayen’s name.

Frayen approached, hand aimed at the barrier. “Lord of the Phantom Realm, you will not advance any further.”

A short staring contest persisted between the two phantom mages. Valker, the lord of Dalko and the Phantom Realm shook his head and placed both hands on the barrier. He phased out again, but his hands glowed brightly, injecting much of his mana against the barrier.

As Valker reached halfway through the crystal-clear barrier, Frayen placed both hands together, casting a gravity spell on Valker position, concentrating as much of the gravity as he could onto that one position, trapping the Dark Lord within the barrier.

Lelei rushed and prepared to cast the same spell. Frayen rejected her offer of assistance and said, “It would be wise if you and Famulis continue regenerating your mana. Let me and my master buy us time until everything is ready.”

“Your master is here also?” Sharpe asked.

The demons that were behind Valker shifted positions, staring at the sole entryway to this plaza. With the ground rumbling, everyone saw General of Army Krysist riding on an M1 Abrams with an attached plow on its front. Ghouls and demon corpses scattered all over the front of the tank with the plow being used to cut down anything in its path.

The tank stopped and aimed at the demons. With the loud sound from the Abrams cannon, the blast dismembered many of the demons. 1st Cav infantry stormed the sides and engaged the remaining enemy forces. Behind the tank, was a twin pair of Humvees equipped with .50 caliber that was engaging the Gargoyles.

Valker only turned as the blast and sudden weapons fire had no effect on him.

“Frayen, I am not disappointed by the assist but everything you brought will have no effect,” Sharpe said.

“Honestly, it seems all you are doing is pissing him off,” Andrew added.

“I explained this to General Stanford and the weakness that we discovered at that facility,” Frayen said.

Lelei rushed up and said, “Energy base weapons?”

“Correct.”

Hearing that, Sharpe spotted among the armored convoy was a Stryker getting into position. Unlike most Strykers which had either a .50 caliber or a 30mm weapon system, this one had a special purpose 300kW-class laser weapon system on it.

Now Sharpe realized the plan. Frayen was trying to keep Valker in one position as it would take too much time to set up the weapon. “Everyone, get back and take cover. Whatever you can. Lelei, you are up.”

As the Dark Lord began breaking through the shield barrier and Frayen gravity well, the 300kW laser system opened fire and hit him. Valker let out a scream, showing for the first time he felt some kind of pain. A second beam came from the sky as Sharpe could only assume it came from one of the two remaining AC-130 gunships in Falmart high above the swirling clouds.

Lelei took a deep breath and aimed at her staff. The blue orb on the top of her staff glowed bright blue as energy shaped arrow formed. Using her signature spell, she infused her hypersonic spell with electronic properties and fired directly at Valker, causing an explosion.

As the dust settled, Valker was on his knees. With the feeling of victory, Sharpe approached Lelei and Frayen, pistol aimed at the phantom. Other Rangers aimed their weapons toward him.

To their horror, Valker stood up. He took one look at everyone and backed away, vanishing like dusk.

What felt like an hour, moments went by as everyone waited to see what would happen next. With everything that had happened, everyone expected something else to appear. Once it became clear that the battle was over, a sense of relief swept through the ranks.

Everyone sat down, some were crying from the battle. Others only started to factor in that their best friend and comrade were killed or that they might have killed them when they were turned into those monsters.

Sharpe patted Lelei on the shoulder and complimented her, telling her to rest. Looking over, he saw Krysist and Colonel Harold Kurt approach.

“Colonel,” Sharpe said. “I need medics and water. A lot of us are in bad shape.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Krut said. He waved to his men to rush over. “Once we figure things out, you're heading to FOB Akusho. From there you can rest.”

Sharpe replied, "thank you, Colonel."

"Don't be, Lieutenant Colonel." Krut retorted. "If anything, I'm sorry we couldn't get to you faster. Had that damn Laser Stryker arrived sooner, we would've charged in sooner as well."

“If you didn’t bring it, we all would be dead, including you,” Sharpe said.

Rory walked over and grabbed his side. “You really need to sit down, or your wound will only get worse. I will make sure everyone gets the care they need.”

Deciding not to argue with an overprotective apostle, he agreed to sit down. Once sat, he took his helmet. He saw Pina give Krysist a long and deep hug, breaking down crying from the stress of the battle. A moment he wouldn’t blame her.

Once the hug ended and she went to help her people, the General walked over. “It seems like no matter where you go, trouble follows.”

“Not now Krysist,” Sharpe replied.

“Nothing to worry about,” Krysist replied. “I will be taking over as command for now. We will sweep the area and I promise, I will get everyone out of this district. Living and the dead.”

Before Sharpe could respond, he saw Krysist offer a hand. He took his hand and stood up. Just then, both Sharpe and Krysist looked over to see a flight of three Ospreys approaching from the horizon.

"Looks like your transport is here, Sharpe," Krysist said. "Be ready to get on it and get your men and yourself some well-deserved rest. I will take care of everything here."

Feeling reassured by Krysist, Sharpe smiled at him before giving him a pat on his shoulder, just as the Ospreys were touching down in the middle of a clearing right next to them. "Thanks, brother."