Imminent death forces us to face the reality of who we are. Fight? Cower? Grovel? Lead? Our actions at that moment may define us for the rest of our lives—however short that may be.

~Arawn, God of the Dead

“Do you know when the mists will recede?” Crow asked Zoe. They were revisiting the library, and it’d been two weeks since the marriage proposal fiasco. More and more people were paying attention to Sione, and Crow didn’t like it. He knew it was because of his fucked up luck and being unfated, and no matter how he tried to stay low-key, forces at work prevented it. He realized now why he is momentum was always so great because he couldn’t afford to stop moving.

“It is hard to say,” Zoe frowned. She’d talked with Crow about this and knew what he thought, so she felt his concerns were valid. In fact, she was also feeling some pressure. “Did you activate the keystone? You could—”

“Won’t work,” Crow said. “Well, I can teleport, but I escaped that place because Unhulde was everywhere. It is almost a guarantee they are watching the keystone, and I doubt my disguise would fool some of those old monsters. And… unless we all went—and even if we did—it’d cause too much of a commotion. No matter what, I cannot have Crow associated with your coven. At least not for now. I’m afraid I won’t be able to protect all of you if Unhulde knows.”

“Is this one of those ‘keep your enemies closer’ type things?” Zoe chuckled, but Crow nodded thoughtfully.

“It is. Protected by the fierce monster that everyone fears isn’t a bad thing. It’ll give you the ability to climb safely and take some of the pressure off for me. I’m not trying to ditch you or shirk responsibility as a husband, but my power is limited. I’m working on changing that—or my wives are. They are building the supporting force, and I need to become the guardian that deserves them. You already know about Darkstar, and I’ll inform them about you, so you can seek them out if needed.”

“You really do think differently,” Zoe said, and her fingers traced the contours of his face. Leaning forward while licking her lips, she couldn’t take her eyes—

Mahn! Mahn! Mahn!

A blaring horn echoed through the entire sect, breaking the amorous mood. Zoe flushed, realizing what she’d been about to do in the public library, but no one was paying attention to her. All the disciples were rushing out the doors.

“What is that?” Crow whispered.

“Alarm. We need to man the walls. A beast tide must be attacking from within the mists, which is extremely dangerous.”

“Why?” He didn’t understand what was happening. None of this information was in Sione’s head. Maybe he should have scoured the other young lord’s memories more clearly. The only reason he didn’t was that he feared knowing things he shouldn’t and being unable to lie about it.

“Ranged attacks are mostly ineffective because we can’t see anything until they are about fifteen meters from the wall. They will send us through the gates, so we need to hurry. They send the slowest people out first.”

Crow nodded and carried her while he used Spectral Steps. He started labeling the elemental-less abilities Spectral because he couldn’t think of a better name. Either way, it replaced Ghost Steps, and now they were even more mysterious because he moved like he didn’t exist in this world. Those watching felt as if they saw Crow appear and disappear at random points as he moved forward. It was disjointed and chaotic. After thinking about it, he adjusted his auras to make it seem more like Ghost Steps, just because he didn’t want to have to answer questions. At least this looked similar to some techniques used by the Ghost Eaters.

They reached the walls ahead of the disciple horde and were quickly ordered into groups. They waited for the rest of her coven to appear but realized belatedly that Minnie and Leila were shoved into a group forced through the gate.

Crow frowned at that, and when the other ten women arrived at their side, they were sent to the wall. Sensing a sinister gaze, he turned toward the elders organizing the disciples and saw Vale glaring at him. The grin on the scarred bastard’s face told him everything he needed to know—they sent Minnie and Leila outside because of that kid’s pettiness.

“Get us on top of that wall,” Crow told Zoe, who ran over to an elder. Within seconds, all of them were placed on the ramparts near the gate. Staring down at the shadowy beasts coming out of the mists. “Gather around me, and try not to let others see what I’m doing. Also, cast whatever spells you can to help those two below. And don’t worry, Zoe, I won’t let anything happen to them.”

The women already heard Crow’s command and crowded against him. Only those using mana sense might tell what he was doing, but he sensed Zoe was disrupting that, too. The only upside was that Sione had mastered a few assassination skills, which is what the Ghost Eaters were known for the most. That included archery.

Bow in hand, he felt like a god. Still, he was only interested in protecting his wives below, so he targeted the surrounding beasts to lessen the pressure. The wives up top knew that Crow was talented in many areas, but they’d never witnessed his archery. Every arrow struck down a beast, and nothing could get close to the two girls, but that wasn’t the case for the rest of the line. The only reason the people around Minnie were surviving was because of Crow’s timely aid. He wanted to make sure that their flanks weren’t unprotected. Bit by bit, it was crumbling, which meant that disciples were dying—no, they were getting slaughtered.

He did not know the point of them being out there because they weren’t cooperating enough to make a difference. It was another example of how an evil sect handled its people. It was fine to give them practical experience, but this was just a pointless slaughter. Even if the disciples below survived, it wouldn’t engender loyalty. They knew they were fodder. Mindlessly sacrificed to thin the herd and find capable warriors worth nurturing.

An hour later, a horn blared, and an elder commanded the disciples to retreat. The tide hadn’t abated, and Minnie and Leila were almost at the gate when Crow heard it—Vale’s voice commanding the gate to be shut.

“That son of a bitch!” Crow growled while summoning his soul-linked arrow. Before the girls could stop him, he jumped off the wall and landed in front of the beast tide line. He turned and loosed the arrow below the descending gate, allowing it to cruise above the retreating heads. Vale didn’t even realize what was happening until the tip of the arrow tore out his left eye and shredded his brain. Crow had already unsummoned the arrow, so no one knew why Vale suddenly fell over with a smile still plastered on his dead face. A single tear of crimson rolled down his cheek, drawing attention to the fatal wound that appeared out of nowhere.

Hiding the bow away, so no one questioned him, he grabbed the twin blades that Sione used before he died. Cutting down beasts to the left and right. Minnie recognized his strong back and stood to his right, and Leila took his left.

“Hold the line!” Crow roared. “Hold the line or fucking die!”

Almost as if compelled, the panicking disciples bunched together, forming a human wall. Those with shields stood in front, while those with powerful attacks and spells stepped up behind them. Crow had experience with this type of fighting as he remembered his time in Rosdoe. He lost comrades and gained lifelong friendships, but he still had nightmares about the endless waves of beasts. The growling, tearing of flesh, and sounds of animals feeding on human flesh are hard to forget. Even the veterans of these types of battles said they occasionally wake up in a cold sweat. After today, it was likely that many of these young disciples would end up traumatized by this experience. At least the ones that weren’t entirely evil and already used to torturing and maiming.

Like a general, he stood in front of these disciples, most of whom weren’t worth saving, but Crow didn’t hesitate to put his all on the line. It wasn’t for them but for the two women that stood to either side of him and their sisters, who were on the wall watching. It also helped that he knew he could escape. He’d grab the girls beside him if things fell apart and escape.

Another hour passed, and their line became a semi-circle around the gate. Every few minutes, it shrunk as they lost more people. However, every time they were about to falter, they heard Crow bellow orders as if he could read the ebb and flow of the battle. Knew what was about to happen. Even the elders on the walls were ignored in the face of his commands. The other disciples on the walls did as Crow said, and they would probably pay for it later. However, who wouldn’t want to follow a charismatic leader who put his own life on the line to protect them? Even if their understanding of the situation was wrong, they couldn’t deny Crow’s contribution.

“Open the gates! Our fighting power is waning.” Crow commanded.

“Anyone that touches the gates will have their cultivation crippled and turned into zombie puppets,” an outraged elder screamed. Already, hundreds of disciples disobeyed his direct orders, but this was a threat that none of them could ignore.

“Warriors!” Crow called out, and the people behind him roared out their defiance. “Hold for as long as you can. I’ll get you justice. Make a path.”

Crow grabbed his women and charged back toward the wall. The gate was littered with corpses of the fallen, which only made his teeth hurt more as he ground them in anger. Because of all the bodies, he angled his run toward the wall.

“Wait, that’s a Mana Wall,” Minnie shouted in fear as they hurtled toward it. Crow forgot about that in the heat of things, but it was already too late. He’d activated his phasing ability and hoped they didn’t get rejected. The reality was, to everyone watching it, it was like he had disappeared, but the shocking thing was that the wall didn’t inhibit him. It could be said that the Mana Wall aided his ability to phase since it was fused with mana already. A wall this dense would typically burn up most of his mana, especially because he was carrying two other people—but that didn’t happen. Almost none of his mana was used, which was shocking all on its own. Regardless, it was something he’d think about later.

Releasing the girls, he drew his bow and summoned his arrow. The elder didn’t even pay attention to what Crow had been doing, so he didn’t realize an enemy had come up behind him. Luck, for once, was on Crow’s side because everyone had moved away from that section of the wall after the elder’s threat.

Sensing the danger at the last minute, the elder turned and caught the arrow.

“Hmph! You think a puny disciple like you can harm me?”

Crow gave the old man a wintry smile before he winked. The arrow exploded when his right eyelid shut, sending the old man off the wall and into the beast tide below. Even if the old man survived, there was no way he could contend against the beasts. Crow clearly saw bones breaking and flesh torn, so he knew there was little hope for that bastard. Since everyone had been paying attention to the battle below, they didn’t see how the elder ended up in his situation. That wasn’t to say no one saw Crow’s actions, but the few that did weren’t about to say a damned word.

All the disciples at this gate lost friends because of a few people’s petty actions. When Crow rushed the gates and started cranking them upward, other disciples joined him. Seeing the gates rising, others cheered, but the battle continued.

“Once they retreat, rain arrows, don’t hold back!” Crow shouted while helping the wounded inside. In a strange act of camaraderie, those warriors standing on the front line didn’t immediately retreat. They defended and stepped back as if they were a veteran army—more like they trusted Crow to save them. While they shrunk their line little by little to buy more time for the others to escape, the disciples on the wall increased the rate of attacks to aid them.

When about thirty of them were left on the other side, Crow felt a ripple of power from above. Looking up, he saw Zoe standing in front of her coven, her staff raised high. A barrier quickly formed around the gate, allowing the remaining disciples to escape inside the walls.

“Thirty seconds,” Zoe’s voice was quiet but infused with mana, so it carried through the battlefield. Those people retreating understood what she meant and turned to run for the gate. With the barrier in place, they didn’t have to worry about protecting their retreat.

The moment the last man was through, they slammed the gates shut.

“Burn those fuckers to the ground!” Crow roared before collapsing to the ground. His body was riddled with wounds, some gashes deep enough to show bone. More than a dozen kids rushed forward, wanting to help carry him away to the Mediks.

“You did well, kid.” Elder Jeele grinned at Crow’s stony glare. “I’ll take it from here, and don’t worry, no one will touch you for what you did. I’ll be your guarantor.”

That day, more than a dozen heroes surfaced. Crow wasn’t fooled and knew most of these bastards were evil to the bone, but he didn’t discount the circumstance. Sometimes, it is hard to determine right or wrong in the heat of things, and the things he was planning in his head could be evil from a different perspective.

No matter. Crow’s wives were safe, and he survived. After today, he doubted he could remain low-key even if he wanted to do so. Already, he could hear people whispering Sione’s name with awe. I may have killed you, Sione, but you won’t be left without a legacy.