Rory’s heart pounded along with his excitement and anticipation. This moment was going to be the incident that determined everything, the knife-edge that told him whether his plan would work or not. And of course, he could do nothing to influence it except hope.

He, Viv, and Arie listened to the last stage of the Wraiths’ commentary with rapt attention.

“The rebels have begun their assault from multiple angles,” the first Wraith said. “It seems they have been using the time while the rest of the battle had been going on to get into their positions. Now, they have the whole area surrounded and in-range of their Sigils’ powers.”

The second Wraith joined in then. “The Otherworlders have been forced to halt their reverse-charge. They are regrouping once more as the rebels join the Homeworlders to form a combined assault, driving the Otherworlders back. However, the Otherworlder superiority in Sigils makes its presence felt as the battle draws close to a stalemate and both sides are stalled in their progress.”

“It is turning into a battle of attrition. The Otherworlders are running out of their Mana stores, as it would appear. However, they possess far greater power.”

“A race to see if the Otherworlders can annihilate their opponents before they are forced to stop.”

Rory blinked. The addition of the rebels ought to have changed the makeup of the battle once more. According to the plan Rory had detailed out, the Otherworlders were supposed to capture the rebels, not annihilate them. He doubted the Wraiths were exaggerating anything. If only there was a way he could contact Arelland and remind the elf to not let his side get carried away now that they supposedly had their opportunity at hand.

They spent some anxious time waiting to see if the result of the battle was going to fall on the wrong side of the knife-edge. The Wraiths reported that the battle was raging with great chaos and unpredictability. Eventually, it seemed like the Otherworlders were truly reining themselves in. The battle wasn’t as one-sided as Rory had started to fear it might be.

Rory breathed out a sigh of relief. The point of the whole thing was that Arelland and the Otherworlders needed to be in absolute control of the whole situation, right from the very beginning. From even before the moment the Homeworlders attacked.

After all, it was Arelland who had lured in the monstrous army to attack and “weaken” the Otherworlders.

Rory’s idea was this—with the monstrous army taking its toll on the Otherworlders, the Homeworlders would swoop in to take advantage of the seemingly disarrayed and devastated Otherworlders.

However, the Otherworlders would prove to be far stronger than anticipated, and even a concerted effort from the Homeworlders would prove insufficient. Proving their superiority, the Otherworlders would assert their dominance, turn the tide of the battle, and threaten to destroy the Homeworlders. They would take it to the point where the invading humans would be the ones on the verge of being defeated and killed.

Which would call in the rebel Otherworlders. The rebels’ hopes lay upon the fact the Homeworlders could defeat the Otherworlders, so they would make sure their main lynchpin wouldn’t be dying so easily. As such, their interference would be inevitable.

The rest of the plan depended on the Otherworlders showing that the rebels’ interference was costly. Going by what the Wraiths had said near the beginning when the rebels had jumped in, the Otherworlders weren’t truly harried. However, it seemed they had remembered to give off the impression that they were in great trouble.

They had remembered to prove that the rebels were a threat to the natural order of the war between the Homeworlders and the Otherworlders.

It was that fact that Rory was riding on. That was the only way he could think of convincing the Invigilator that there was a bugger threat to the system’s established rules than him.

Of course, there was no telling if it would work. As the Wraiths’ commentary went on, Rory learned that the Otherworlders were performing their part of the plan to the best of their abilities. They were finally caving in to the combined assault of the rebels and the humans.

Rory couldn’t begin to imagine the kind of coordination that required. They had to time everything so that the rebels didn’t simply rush in and extricate the Homeworlders. The retreating Otherworlder force had to give just enough of an impression of defeat to convince their enemies to push harder against them, to try to claim a decisive victory.

“It’s working,” Viv said, her eyes bright and shining. “They’re falling for it.”

Rory smiled. His heart was still hammering, but his skin seemed to vibrate as he felt his plan come together. “Only one more thing left.”

“Hopefully, the Invigilator sees it the same way we do.”

“There’s no reason—”

The Sigil of Calling on the jeep’s dashboard started blinking. They all froze. That had to be the palace calling, and the only reason for that was if something serious had happened.

Something terrifyingly serious, like the Invigilator’s arrival.

“Hello?” Viv said as she tapped the flashing image of the Sigil. “What’s going on?”

“It’s here.” The voice belonged to Dez. It was rare to hear the big man worrying or frightened, but now he sounded both. “We spotted the Invigilator. Or well, that’s what we think it is because it can’t be anything else.”

Rory swallowed. He was tempted to ask what exactly they had seen, but he was going to experience it for himself soon enough. “We’re coming in then. Just hold on.”

“Make sure everyone’s ready to get out at a moment’s notice,” Viv reminded him.

“We’ll be ready.”

They cut off the call. No point in talking any further. Rory got into the driver’s seat and hammered his foot into the accelerator after starting the jeep up. It was time to meet their greatest adversary.

Rory threw all caution to the wind as he drove as fast as he could. Wind whistled past the windows and the tires occasionally screeched as he made hairpin turns. Poor jeep had just been repaired, and it really didn’t need to be subjected to further road abuse. Rory couldn’t help it, though. They had to get to the Invigilator before the palace was destroyed.

“Stop it,” Viv said. “We can use my Sigil instead. It’ll be faster.”

As much as Rory drove like a madman, he couldn’t shake off the doubt that he wouldn’t get there in time. He had to admit Viv’s idea sounded more appealing.

Rory pulled the jeep to a screeching halt and quickly evacuated with the others. The next few moments were spent in itchy helplessness as Rory depended entirely on his wife. Viv recreated her right arm with the Thunderclaw’s metallic rocks, black instead of blue and arcs of red electricity flickering along its length.

Without warning, crimson lighting flashed around Rory and Arie. He closed his arms over his face instinctively, but as a deafening crack of thunder pealed around them, he found himself teleporting to the top of a nearby roof. One second, he was on the street, the next, they were trying not to slide down a steep gable.

“Are we leaving the jeep behind?” Arie asked.

“I can’t teleport with it, sadly,” Viv said. “Hopefully, we can get it later. Now, get ready.”

Viv didn’t really wait for them to give any indication that they were ready. Her lightning-fuelled teleportation was much faster than the ones before where she’d needed to slash her sabre and pool its scarlet energy to move with a group.

Rory was thankful for it. This was a lot faster than the jeep. They flashed across the sea of rooftops at an incredible pace until they were at the foot of the hill.

Climbing that would have a been a pain, but another crimson bolt from Viv took them to the top in less than a second. They hurried into the driveway from then on, deciding not to use teleportation any further in case they accidentally spooked the Invigilator or something.

They didn’t have to go far. The Invigilator had only travelled a third of the way to the gate.

“That’s… the Invigilator?” Arie asked.

Rory wasn’t sure what he was seeing either. The being before them was a strange creature, flickering in and out of existence. It was shaped and coloured like those partial manikins used to display necklaces around the neck, with strong extensions around it. The top part was extended to form a point-ended cross, thick limbs stretched out on either side to end at points as well, while the lower half twisted and extended a few feet to end bluntly.

Glittering lines wreathed the creature all over, little points glinting like stars on the expanse of dark space. There was a strange hum coming off the creature as well, a buzz of energy that threatened to go off like the premonition of a lightning bolt.

Rory wasn’t how he was supposed to greet the creature. Was a bow appropriate? Maybe a salute? Then again, those were all very human gestures. Wouldn’t the Invigilator simply be confused by them?

“I remember,” the Invigilator spoke suddenly. There was something ethereal about the way it spoke, like multiple dreamy voices talking at the same time. There was a femininity to it as well, though Rory doubted the Invigilator adhered to his world’s convention of genders in the same way. “I remember clearly.”

Rory didn’t sense that he was about to immediately be incinerated. In fact, there was no sense of hostility or even disapproval from the Invigilator at all. That powerful sense of energy was the same as being next to a nuclear reactor. There was the feeling that silly mistakes would see him annihilated in short order, but one would have to purposefully mess up to achieve that.

“Hello,” Rory greeted with a little bow of his head. Always a good start. “You must be the Invigilator. Forgive our rude greeting, but we were taken by surprise at your arrival.”

“I remember you well,” the Invigilator said, apparently not thinking much of Rory’s words. “You are the valorous one.”

“I… am?”

The Invigilator’s form began flickering harder. Rory’s eyes widened. Where there was the strange creature before him moments ago, a little girl now stood in its place, just as holographic as its previous form had been.

It was the same little girl he had nearly crashed into right before the apocalypse had begun.

“It’s you!” he said, pointing, then quickly stuffing his hand into his jacket pocket. “You’re the one I saw on the road that day. I had almost run you over…”

The little girl smiled. “But you did not. For which, you have been justly rewarded.”

“Why are you here, Invigilator?” Viv asked. Rory was glad she took the lead because his mind was struggling a little at the revelation.

The girl lost her smile. “Ah yes, the unpleasantness. It seems you have affronted the system. An investigation has revealed that you are running an illegal Safe Zone, one which you were warned about a while ago, were you not?”

Rory swallowed and nodded as the others looked at him. “We were. I—”

“Therefore, I come bearing your sentence,” the Invigilator went on.

“Please, Invigilator.” Rory quickly stepped forward. “Will you at least hear us out before pronouncing any sentences? Can we at least provide a defence that you could take into consideration? You know me, and what I really want out of this.”

“I wished you had taken your great reward and removed yourself to a true Settlement instead of establishing your own. You were even given a warning to do so.”

“But Invigilator, are system-approved merchants supposed to reside in Settlements?”

“You are not a system-approved merchant. My investigation has revealed that there is no business being performed here or has been established yet.”

“We’re trying to be,” Viv said. “There’s a lot that goes on into it, so we—”

“Your time has come to an end. There will be no reparations.” The girl actually had a small, sorrowful look on her face. “I am sad it has come to this. I had hope—”

A bright flash of colour overtook the entire area. It was riotous, as though Rory was lost in a strange disco party, but it didn’t last long. A second of blinking, flashing lights that would have sent anyone who had epilepsy into a seizure, and the world righted itself.

“Strange,” the Invigilator said. “It seems there is a different issue I must address.”

“Different issue, you say?” Rory breathed out. He could hardly talk. His hammering heart seemed to have constricted his windpipe.

“A faction has been causing issues in this area. I have granted leniency in the hopes that they would keep their meddling at a level far beneath my notice. Like you, they received a warning as well. It would appear that they have disregarded my grace and taken their actions to a height I cannot ignore.”

The Invigilator’s form blurred once more until the same alien figure was floating before Rory. A second later, their incredible adversary was gone.

Rory almost sank to his knees in relief. “Is it over?”

He wasn’t sure who he was asking, and he looked around. The interaction with the Invigilator had been strange.

“I think you just earned yourself an extension, dear man,” Truck said, clopping into the area. “That was quite the show. I was on my way to appear before Arkone, but you have sent her away already. Truly, you are quite efficient.”

A sudden fatigue claimed Rory. He struggled to put one foot in front of the next. “Let’s go to the palace and tell everyone else what happened.”

“We need to find out what happened too,” Viv said. She was next to him in an instant, lone arm sliding into Rory’s so that she was supporting without really showing it. He smiled at her. “But whatever it is, it’s just a stop-gap.”

Rory nodded. “Right. We’re going to have to finish setting up the business as soon as we can.”