Azerail are you okay? a voice asked.

My vision swam and my head hurt. It felt like my scalp was on fire. I reached for the pained area and my hand brushed against something that seared my skin.

I flailed my hands, smacking my hair trying to put out the fire. Something hit the dirt and the pain went away.

What the hell, Azerail? the voice asked again.

It was Kevin.

I'm fine, I replied.

Below me was the hairpin.

Raccoon dashed into view and pointed a finger at the offending metal clip. Delete!

It shook slightly but nothing else happened.

Why isn't it working? I asked.

He shrugged. I don't know. It's like it's replacing the data in real-time as I delete it.

Kumo was doing its best to replicate itself. Perhaps it had found a way to do it in its smaller form.

“Azerail?” Morgue’n asked.

I glanced up at him. “Yeah?”

“Everyone is in place. Should we attack?” he questioned.

As I inhaled, I grabbed the hairpin and put it into my inventory. For a brief moment as I held the object I thought I heard someone. I lied when I told Kumo I would find a suitable replacement for him but I wonder if he knew I was lying.

He was connected like we are so he knew, Raccoon said. But he must have been desperate if he went through with it anyway. Some of your memories with Kumo are still foggy.

I stood up and released Undead Domination. “Morgue, I've only done this once before and it hurt like hell last time. Make sure I don't fall or anything.”

The ghostly man solidified. “Yes, my queen.”

Azerail, we need to talk about that thing, Raccoon said.

My head still hurt so I rubbed it. You're right, we do. But we can do that after taking these guys out.

Tinnitus struck me again as I pushed my consciousness up into the sky.

A wave of dizziness overtook me and I felt a heartbeat pound in my head. Blackness overtook my vision, and when I opened my eyes I was in that room again with my body. Only this time I wasn't alone. Both my parents were there with Doctor Stevens.

Everyone noticed me at once but before they could say anything I was back in Dark Offerings hovering high above everyone's head.

Like last time I didn't feel the sense of queasiness my fear of heights usually assaulted me with. The fog became translucent the higher I went. Soon I was able to see all of my Lieutenants and the bubble covering the town far behind us.

I couldn't, however, see the Enlightened or inside the town. We were positioned in a gigantic “U” with my group at the end ready to trap them inside.

Morgue’n had said the enemy was in position so I guided the shamblers and Wight below to close the lid.

Attack! I sent to everyone as we fell into place, locking the enemy inside.

Inethiel followed the shamblers dutifully.

Earlier I'd spread the shamblers out scanning for the Enlightened soldiers using the multi-eyed vision. If I had used this it would have been much easier to find them and would’ve had fewer casualties. I noted that for later.

As our people fell inward I sent a layer of shamblers around us to fill in any gaps that might be made when the Enlightened fought back.

The enemy knew we were coming and as we closed in I was able to see them in real-time. It was as if the fog of war had been lifted.

If we did this while out of the fog would I be able to see them earlier in the fight?

They had lines of men with their shields held in front of them. I knew it was called a shield wall but that was the extent of my knowledge about battle formations.

I hadn't expected such a fast transition to needing to know war tactics. Even though I vowed to never go back to my home server, the Chronofield was too powerful of a resource for me to ignore. I'd have to think about it.

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In command mode, I didn’t feel pain when a shambler was struck. The difference was night and day. Was this how it felt for the others to control the dead? It felt like cheating.

As more of us closed in I noticed that many of the lieutenant-run groups struggled to fit. They were squeezed out so I backed part of my group up to let them in.

Several hundred of the people-controlled undead were on standby while the rest were back at camp crafting and protecting our base.

Trickles of energy began to flow my way as the Enlightened began to fall.

Out of sheer boredom, I opened myself to my Lieutenant's thoughts, and to my surprise, I heard them and only them.

They seemed as bored as I was.

Previously I would pick up on all of the shambler's thoughts. Perhaps it was a feature of the new command mode? Either way, I was grateful.

It seemed the only Lieutenants actively participating in the battle were Morgue’n, Molly, and Rufus. Raziel was alongside Molly gleefully swinging his sword over the men's shields killing the Enlightened like he had when he fought against me.

Molly would fly above the men and let out wails. They would drop their guards only to be slaughtered by her minions.

The Enlightened were having a tough time fighting enemies that were nearly as strong as they were. However, there was an issue.

As I examined the battlefield I noticed the majority of the lieutenant-controlled shamblers were simply pushing on the men's shields.

Did these people want to fight or watch a movie?

I showcased my observations to the officers. Is this what you call fighting? Then I showed them how Molly and Raziel were working together at their front lines. Use the larger of your shamblers to dislodge the men. Use your abilities to disrupt the soldiers. I didn't win my flights because I stood back and watched the shamblers kill them.

But I don't have any large zombies, a lieutenant named Tinky replied.

It took me seconds to examine his entourage of undead to see how he could press his advantage. You have a lot of the smaller ones. See if you can grab their legs and trip them.

After my course correction, they each started experimenting.

As the number of Enlightened shrank more and more of the Lieutenants were forced to back off bringing their dead with them.

My main concern was what we were going to do about the neutrals. Their settlement was much closer to ours than I felt comfortable with. We were going to have to have another big meeting tonight.

Was it weird that I was looking forward to camping with everyone again? Technically I spent most of the night last in the graveyard.

I hadn't slept in over twenty-four hours or was it even longer than that? Time had sped up for me while I recovered from my incident in the Chronofield. Still, I was conscious the whole time. Did that mean I'd been awake for three days?

Yes, Raccoon replied.

When I focused on my location I realized Raccoon wasn't next to me. Where are you?

With Molly, he said.

As I searched for them I ended up finding Etherea. The Enlightened were pushing in on her and she was losing ground. She was a newer player and her stats weren't very high from the looks of how easily the soldiers were taking her shamblers down.

Instinctively I selected the two Lieutenants next to her and directed them to crush their petty attempt to overwhelm the weakest of us.

Then Etherea’s eyes began to glow and swords rained down on the unsuspecting men. They were longer than normal claymores that pinned them in place long enough for her shamblers to take out the rest of them.

I was impressed.

Despite her feat, she was now out of the fight like the majority of my people.

What are you doing? I told them. You think you're done? Feast! Devour the corpses of our enemies! I sent them memories of me losing out on experience gains because I'd let the uncontrolled shamblers eat on their own.

It didn't take long to find Molly. She drifted above the dwindling number of men. Raccoon was beneath her jumping from man to man slashing at their faces causing them to drop their shields to swat at him.

Just when I thought someone had him he squirmed away landing on another man's helmet. He sat up and pounded on it causing a metallic ring to play through the field. His little mouth opened wide as he let out a chitter.

Is this how it's always going to be? Kevin asked. When do we get to fight?

We can— As I responded I noticed a soldier slip through a gap in our lines and run.

He tripped and fell so I took the opportunity and commanded some shamblers to surround him. You want to see what that poison of yours does to someone?

***

“Where the hell did they get so many zombies?” Koffer complained.

Lewis cleared his throat. “You know where they got them, sir.”

“That God damned swamp. How did they know?” Koffer complained.

They were back in the command tent, Koffer and Lily both hovered over the sand-map while Lewis watched them. “I don’t know, sir.”

“Do I need to mention that if we sent in the full one thousand like I suggested—”

Koffer and Lewis cut her off as they both chorused, “NO!”

Lily crossed her arms. “Where are the neutrals? And why aren’t they helping? Azerail couldn’t have taken the town so quickly.”

“They’re probably working together,” Lewis said.

Koffer took a deep breath. “We did shut down their market.” He placed his palms on his temples and rubbed them.

Lewis found it amusing seeing his friends struggle. He didn’t hold contempt for them but he did wish they would have included him in their plans. He should have been out there commanding fights.

“How long till the next wave from the east?” Koffer asked.

“An hour,” Lewis replied.

Koffer shook his head. “Lead the men and collect as much of the Mistbloom as you can. No one gets any until we recover what we’ve just lost.”

“The men aren’t going to like that,” Lewis said.

“I don’t give a damn what they like!” Koffer blurted.

Lewis raised an eyebrow and said, “Yes, sir.” Then he turned and marched out of the tent. They’re going to lose this place.

***