Bart watched as Mike retreated within the safety of the valley walls, his excitement building at the potential opportunity. After 30 minutes, when the Zone Boss hadn’t returned, he gave the signal for the 100 strongest adventurers to attack. All of them were at least Level 7, and some of them were Level 9. For the last 2 days, they had watched villagers fall against the defenses of the valley, their resolve and anger growing brighter. Once released, they surged towards the hobgoblins with a vengeful fury.

Bart saw a blur outpaced the rest of the throng, which transfered into the whirling form of Fen as she reached the mobs and began using her nunchucks to decimate the nearest hobgoblins with inhuman speed. Two of them fell almost immediately, their deaths so quick that Bart had trouble understanding how she had hurt them. Two more fell less than a second later, and she pressed her advantage, slowly working her way into the throng. The rest of the villagers were still a few seconds from the fight when a high pitched whistle sounded from the largest hobgoblin, causing Bart to cover his ears in annoyance. As if controlled by a single hive mind, the hobgoblins within a 100 foot radius of the humongous leader turned and attacked the Dexterity-based adventurer en masse, clogging up the space necessary to wield her choice of weapons and overwhelming her almost instantly. Bart curled his lips in disgust, Fen had always been over-eager in her attacks, and her lack of restraint had once again been her downfall.

As the adventurer fell, the rest of the adventures passed some unseen boundary, and suddenly the nighttime darkness was shredded by a series of explosions along the rim of the pass. Crashing thuds and shrieks of pain caused the adventurers courage to briefly falter as cannonballs tore through their ranks, felling 20 of them. Their contracts prevented them from pausing though, and they were forced to continue their march as another 10 fell. Then their lines merged with those of the hobgoblin horde, and the boundary line between forces blurred as the chaos of battle commenced in full swing.

Jake was easily visible in the moonlight, his large form dwarfed the hobgoblins around him, the tallest of which only came to his mid thigh. His club sent broken hobgoblins soaring into the air with every swing, some gaining up to 5 feet of altitude before their lifeless bodies crashed into the backs of friend and foe alike. Hobgoblins began piling onto the large man, grabbing his legs and arms whenever they came in reach. His already slow movements grew even more sluggish, but his limbs moved forward with enough momentum that they continued to churn through the mob’s numbers.

On the other end of the line, Bart watched as large swaths of fire charred the hobgoblins' ranks, evidence of Igor at work. A few adventurers guarded his back and sides to make sure the mage wasn’t easily overwhelmed as he made headway into the enemy forces. The acrid stench of burned flesh caused the shopkeeper to gag as it drifted on the wind to his position.

For a moment, it seemed that the hobgoblins would be easily defeated, but then the horde leader restored order. Trilling loudly, he charged towards Igor’s location with a battalion of his endless throng, overwhelming the mage and his guards. Now positioned on the outside edge of the battle, the hobgoblin commander began flanking the adventurers. The tactic surprised Bart, all interactions with hordes in the past had indicated that they fought as one large body, without mind or reason, yet this leader seemed trained in strategy.

A bright light and horrible shrieking cry tore Bart’s attention back to the pile of hobgoblins that marked Jake’s position. One hobgoblin, arms alight with a blazing inferno, had managed to get ahold of the giant’s head and neck, burning the flesh away while the man still lived. The man’s anguish was so loud and horrible that it carried through the din of battle and caused many hobgoblins and humans to turn in horror.

The hobgoblin leader wasn’t so easily affected though, and Bart watched as he capitalized on the moment, using his strange cry to direct his hobgoblins, who cut down 10 distracted adventurers in rapid succession.

As Jake’s shrieks faded, Bart knew the 100 adventures wouldn’t be enough. Ordering forward 100 waves who were yet waiting for their deployment time, he slipped on his ring and skirted around the edges of the clearing, angling to enter the fight perpendicular to the rest of his forces, and behind where the hobgoblins leader fought.

From his angle of approach, he had an unimpeded view as large projectiles once again exploded from the rim of the pass, ripping in pieces any of the adventurers who were unfortunate enough to be hit. Save for a brief moment of satisfaction as Peter took a cannonball directly to the chest, Bart felt nothing as he watched his fellows perish. He had subjugated them like chattel and viewed them as a tool rather than his equals.

His thoughts wandered from the scene as he began to marvel at the effects of his Ring of Invisibility. When he first bought it, he had worried that being unable to see his limbs would make his movements clumsy, but the System had once again exceeded his expectations. While no one else could see him, he had no problem seeing himself. As he had ambled through Noobtown, testing it out on the first night he bought it, his thoughts had gone down a rabbit whole trying to decide if the ring affected the eyes of everyone around him, or if he alone was somehow affected. Ultimately, he had decided that the workings were unimportant, so long as it enabled him to reach his goals.

His pace decreased as he closed the distance with the hoard and angled towards the horde leader. Already, invisible, he activated Slink, the ability that allowed him to mask his presence and had enabled him to rise back from the dregs of society all those weeks ago.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Mike was jostled awake by the sound of cannons. His spent and aching body urged his groggy mind to fall back to sleep until another salvo of cannons broke through his grogginess causing him to awaken fully. He had told the cannoneers to not use their cannons unless the enemy marched in greater numbers. One of his most trustworthy scouts led the artillery, and that knowledge was the final factor that pushed Mike back to his feet.

The sporadic firing of the cannons continued on as Mike made his way to the top of the pass, where he was able to look down on the full extent of the battlefield before him. Hundreds of adventurers had swarmed his defenders at once, and they were beginning to push the hobgoblins back. If not for a few pockets of stalwart defenders, the valley would have already been breached.

On the right hand side of the battle, Creeanth’s burning form was easily visible in the darkness as he led a few score hobgoblins from one group of adventurers to another, furiously fighting for dominance despite his small stature. Toward the middle, Mike could make out the phalanx of his scouts' defensive formation. Their higher stats and advanced training enabled them to stand strong against the tide.

Finally, there was Creeagle. The taller hobgoblin was activating Trilling Enthrallment over and over again as his 100 or so hobgoblins harried the adventurers from their side. Pride welled in Mike’s heart as he gazed upon the horde leader's prowess. That pride was instantly replaced by horror and a sense of dread, as a vacuum seemed to swallow Creeagle whole. He simply ceased to exist. Time stood frozen, and in that eternal moment Mike’s gaze searched for the source of his friend’s downfall. Then reality smashed back upon the world, and the now leaderless horde fell to pieces.

Already drained of strength, Mike played his last card with resolve. Opening up the tab in his Character Sheet that he had studiously avoided over the past few months, he surveyed the possible uses for his Veneration Points.

Deific Ability: Embolden (cost 2000)

Effect: Grants a 10% boost to Strength, Dexterity, and Toughness to followers while within line of sight.

Deific Ability: Tithe (cost 3000)

Effect: Drain energy from followers to restore strength.

Deific Ability: Ensconce (cost 2000)

Effect: Grant followers a protective shield at the cost of your own strength.

Mike’s brain took in the abilities almost instantly, the implications of the words causing a heavy weight to settle on his shoulders. These were abilities that directly took power from others, and he hated them. He also hated the System for forcing this decision upon him. With only 5387 points, he would be unable to activate all the abilities. As badly as he wanted to purchase Ensconce, he knew that the shield his waning energy could provide would be minimal. Just as Mike was about to purchase Embolden, he felt a small tug on his pants and looked down to see Creencheez, the proclaimed leader of his followers.

“Big Bossy Boss” she squeaked out, the taught lines on her face belaying her fear better than words ever could.

Mike’s eyes landed on the thousands of hobgoblins behind her, all looking steadfastly at him. In their gazes, he found a well of strength he never knew existed, despite the numerous times he had been pushed to his limits, and he closed his Character Sheet. The untouched points faded from his view and so too did the worry that the power would corrupt and change him. It didn’t matter if he saved the lives of every single hobgoblin, if doing so changed him into someone else. Something about those abilities promised power that could corrupt even the strongest of men.

Turning, Mike charged down the slope, past his fleeing soldiers, and into the throng of waiting men. His rage and conviction expressed themselves in each swing ax stroke, which easily tore asunder armor flesh and weapons. As he fought, his brain simultaneously executing the most efficient death stroke while also shifting his body in time with Damage Premonition to avoid the majority of attacks against him. He was careful to not press forward into the crowd, simply slowing them down as best he could while he backed up towards the pass.

His fury was enough to slow the adventurers for a moment, and by the time they recovered, so too had the hobgoblins. Led by Creeanth, the horde formed ranks on either side of him, and together they pushed back against the adventurers.

A picture formed in Mike’s mind as he looked down upon the throng of villagers, and he seized on an opportunity he thought to never have. From his position high on the slope, he dove forward, forming Quicksilver into a large katana in each of his outstretched hands before activating stomach surfing and Unflinching Meteor.

The downward slope, his strength infused leap, and the wickedly sharp katanas enabled him to maintain momentum for far longer than he should have been able to, as kills rapidly wracked up in front of him.

[Congratulations! Skill Ability Unflinching Meteor Level Up!

+1 to Toughness

You now enjoy an increased duration for a total of 14 seconds]

Unable to move his cheeks, he could only grin internally. He had been unable to fathom any way of killing 10 people while imobile until that moment. And even though the skill barely netted him any Stat increases, he was glad to finally check off that level up, which had been nagging him for months.

As soon as the countdown timer ended, he surged to his feet and began fighting back up the slope from the enemy's rear.

…………………………………………………………………………………………

Ralph watched in horror as the Boss angled towards him, decimating any adventurer who stood in his way. His demons once again made flesh, Ralph wanted nothing more than to run in terror, but every time he moved with that intention, the Sould Contract seemed to grasp his heart. Preparing himself for the pain of death and the monotony of respawn, he raised his weapon, waited until Mike’s back was turned, and then closed his eyes and swung downward with all his might. As if anticipating the attack, the boss’s shoulders pivoted and an outstretched ax cleaved Ralph’s arms off at his elbows. Before his appendages had reached the ground, his world went black and he was staring at the respawn timer.

“That was less painful than expected” he said to the endless horizon that surrounded him.