"Reinforce this wall here," Astre directed the mage.

The mage was a black-skinned demoness with horns, wearing the usual colors of the guild—golden robe with light blue embroidery. Dark eyes looked at him questioningly.

"Why? Didn't we weaken every wall till now," she asked questioningly.

Astre looked at the wall before him, "We are just below our fortifications. We don't want it to collapse."

"Ah, yes," the mage said, casting her spell. With her left hand, she wiped the sweat off her head. It was already the tenth time she used her Manipulate Earth.

"Good, now let's go to the lower levels," Astre said, walking away.

"How many times do you want me to cast this spell," the mage complained.

"Fifty-two."

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Astre hanged from the rocks as he connected two runes and a detection crystal together, pointing their outlets to the outside of the wall. Runes were a convenient item, being able to hold both charge and spell formation.

While charging them could cause the same headache as when using abilities or scrolls, one could always prepare them beforehand. It was also possible to edit the spell formation without losing charge.

Those could always blow up in his face if he messed with them, but by now, he was confident in that not happening.

Dropping down to the floor, he asked, "Have you rested enough?"

"What did I do to be forced to work with such guy..." the earth mage complained as she got up. "Are you sure you are a man?"

The earth mage tried to entice Astre into spending the break he gave her with him. He left the flabbergasted woman behind without a word as he left for the ceiling.

"Let's get to work then," Astre said, turning to the final set of the walls he was preparing. Touching them, he found them searing hot to touch, Analyze told him that there was lava behind them. "Carefully now, unless you want to bathe in molten rocks."

"Eh? Lava here? Aren't we like miles away from the volcano?" the mage asked, surprised.

"It's not that weird, with such big one nearby, the underground flows must be everywhere throughout the island," Astre stated. "Now, please thin this wall a little, then weaken the walls along this corridor for at least one hundred steps. We want this level to fill as quickly as possible."

"Fine, fine..." the mage said, taking her staff out, "Let's do this quickly so I can enjoy tea with Lily."

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"So, did you rest up?" Astre asked, returning to his tent.

His team barely woken up when they announced they would be moving for the mountains. The second they got to their destination, his team went back to sleep. Only the two sisters asked when the fight would happen before returning to slumber.

"Fight?" Sanguine mumbled, getting up.

"Not yet," with those words of Astre, the two sisters didn't bother getting up. He shook his head, "Judgment, Hermes, Flash, follow me. I have something for you to do."

"Ehhhh..." the blue-haired fairy complained, peeking out from his sleeping bag. "Why us...?"

"Anything fun?" Judgment questioned, lifting herself, patting her disheveled head.

"Just come," Astre demanded as he watched the team. Only Flash started getting up and preparing himself. "It won't take that long, you will still get to rest before the Harbinger, and her creepy comrades, arrive."

"Fine..." Hermes said, getting up.

"Alright, let's go," Astre finished, leaving the tent.

The party went throughout the freshly build fort. The walls at the front of the passage, just before a large flat area, were made of dense rock formation. Of course, they had to be decorated with the golden symbol of the guild. It was a bit sloppy since he left it to non-crafters as they were busy with making towers and siege weapons.

He was pretty sure that the earth mage, he learned was named Edga, would hate him for life. Right now, she laid passed out inside her team tent.

The walls were currently stationed by few people, mostly crafters who were still finishing the ballistae with enhanced projectiles. There were also magical siege cannon that anyone with necessary mana abilities or crafting abilities could control.

"So, what are we doing?" asked Judgment.

"Guerilla tactics," answered Astre. "We are going to annoy the enemy a bit."

"Oh, great!" Flash cheered. "I'm good at those!"

"Ah, so that's why you kept the sisters asleep," said Hermes.

"They will be annoyed if they learn about it," Judgment added.

"We are not going to fight head-on, and I feel like unless one carries them away, they won't retreat," Astre explained. "Still, let's not tell them about it."

"How are we going to attack?" asked Flash.

"We will teleport close by, hide in waiting, barrage them with attacks and get out," Astre spoke shortly. "We are the third wave, two attacks by mage squads were already performed. In the last attack, we lost a few people thanks to Zasimos magic."

"Wait, so they will be ready for us!?" Hermes shouted up.

Astre shrugged, "Yes, I will pretend to be an archer and wear a decorative mask. Judgment, is your level four spell ready?"

"Will be if I use my shortening cooldown ability," the girl said, scrubbing her eyes clean. "Also, JUDGMENT and JUDGMENT'S STRIKE!"

"Another day," Astre stated.

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Astre and his team appeared in a circle with part of his team and few other mages. He borrowed them from the blue team. Looking around, he saw the scouts that set up the circle on this side.

"Good job, how close are they?" asked Astre.

The scout saluted with an arm over his chest, "Thirty minutes, after the last attack, they are meticulous with how they move. They also have a shield covering their army as they move, we think it's the job of one of the players Harbinger brought with her."

Astre nodded. He expected they would prepare some protection by now. If they broke through now, he was sure the short-tempered Queen of the Dead, would throw a fit. Her explosive temper was often recorded in old raid parties.

Once, she ended up executing and raised her whole guild, blocking them from reiving, just to punish them for failing to kill a legendary boss in three tries. Then she defeated the boss with that undead squad.

"I think we can break that barrier," he said, looking over his shoulder at Judgment. Huge barriers were hard to keep up while moving, much less while under a barrage of lightning. "If not, I have an idea of how to put its caster out of action."

"So what am I supposed to do?" asked Flash.

"You have an essential job," informed Astre passing him a vial of purple liquid. "You will try and kill a yellow-haired man who should be by Harbringer's side. He is buffing her undead and can create flying ones."

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"They are within the sight," Astre notified as he made sure not to disturb the illusion surrounding them.

Three mages, including Hermes, were keeping it up. Judgment was standing at ready, her spell had already been prepared. The rest of the mages channeled their power to her, enhancing her spell further.

"Flash, are you ready?" asked Astre to the necklace on his chest.

He heard a small poking sound from the necklace. The assassin was currently under the effects of a strong illusion, but it could break as easily if he spoke.

Astre asked about the profiles of other, higher leveled assassins they had. In the end, he decided Flash was the best choice. The rest focused more on staying hidden than quick movements. Someone like Flash had the best chance of getting their target quickly before escaping. Besides, the enemy already proved capable of seeing through concealing ability.

It didn't help the young man worries, as he still tried to convince Astre that it was suicide. In the end, Flash was made to accept the job. Though, Astre had to promise that he would do his best to help him.

The undead army slowly got closer, passing through the mountain paths; the army was squeezed under the hundred-yard long ellipsoid see-through shield. The defense shone with sickly purple light, Astre saw phantasmal faces showing themselves in the surface of it.

Astre pulled out his bow and charged his Snipe, an arrow with a shining blue tip in his hands. It could penetrate most magic and sealing abilities of the target for a few seconds. He first needed to see the mage as currently, he couldn't find anyone who could be casting it. The fact that the gathering of undead players obscured the view didn't help. They looked as if they were alive too, mostly just a bit pale.

"Now," he said slowly.

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"JUDGMENT'S STRIKE!" Judgment shouted.

Suddenly, one giant thunderbolt struck against the shield, craking it. The energy of lightning gaining an advantage over the sickly purple. Then, Astre, with his Eye for Details, noticed a movement in the dome. A mage in black robe raised his staff, a ray of purple shot into the shield, fixing the cracks.

Astre released his arrow. The projectile flew through the air at neck-breaking speed. It didn't even notice the shield as it shot straight through. The arrow lodged itself the robed man's head. The body fell to the ground as Astre received a notification about gaining twenty points.

The shield dropped, the lightning now unstoppable, rained on the army, burning most zombies to ash within seconds. Causing chaos as the undead faltered, he quickly picked up the Flash's target. Poking his necklace three times, he notified the assassin that they should head for the end of the army.

He saw the dark-haired man moving and disappearing in a flash of yellow as he reappeared dozens of feet ahead. Soon the man was behind his target, his knife relentlessly lodging itself into his back.

A skeletal arm threw him back, but it was already too late, the man's body rotted from the inside, and soon the mythical poison would kill him. Flash immediately dashed away as the chaos of the strike continued.

Then Astre felt something to his right. A feral looking ax aimed to behead him. He barely managed to use his Dodge Shot just in time to avoid the deadly weapon. The feeling that warned him felt similar to his Danger Sense before it evolved. Guessing it wouldn't show him a vision of his death unless the danger would lower his LP do zero.

The arrow lodged itself inside a pale man's eye. He had long, unbound dark brown hair and wore a leather vestment. Astre stared in shock as he faced the barbarian. He ducked under another lightning-quick attack and pulled out his sword.

Gorgan, the barbarian, stared at him with deathly gaze, then he attacked. Astre sidestepped as the ax cut through the air next to him, crushing the ground and creating a small crater. Fragments of a rock hit Astre chest, but he ignored as he Stabbed the undead in the neck. The blade barely pierced the thick skin of his target.

"What is Flash doing!?" he shouted to the team behind him.

"He flashed few times, getting close, but he is under a barrage!" shouted Hermes as he created a barrier to block a fireball.

"Rescue him as soon as you can!" Astre shouted before he dropped back as the ax flew above him.

The barbarian ax shone with bloody red and a blade of red separated from it. Behind Astre were the mages, he couldn't evade. Waiting he prepared himself, then, just as the energy edge entered the zone of his sword range, he Parried.

His blade flashed white as it connected just under the edge of red. Pulling with the weight of his whole body, the energy got deflected, flying just above the heads of the mages. The berserker didn't wait as he jumped at Astre with an overhead strike.

Astre sidestepped, and with a Slash, he cut across the torso of the undead. This time the cut was deeper, black blood flowed out, as the barbarian staggered. The skin around the cut rotting a bit.

Astre knew the blood inside them was the force keeping them standing. Undead that was arisen by Harbinger didn't have LP. Instead, it either died when their bodies were beyond repair, or enough of their blood was forced out.

Yet, it didn't look as if it would be achieved easily. The barbarian roared in rage as his skin darkened, soon taking a dark shade of red. Then, the undead crossed the distance between him and Astre in a single step. Astre was forced to block diagonal slash with both hands on his sword.

The force was tremendous as the adventurer fell to one knee. Having no other choice, he twisted and struck the back of the barbarian knee with his leg, the increased kick damage showing its effect as the undead lost his balance.

Astre tried to jump away, but suddenly a root from underground grabbed his leg, then a fist of fire crashed into his stomach. His cloak fluttered as he traveled through the air. The crushed bones in his chest irritating his whole body. The blow was just short of lowering his LP.

He was immediately forced to dodge another strike, but just before he counterattacked, his vision turned gray. A ray of rainbow energy struck his chest, slowly turning his body into ash as he suffered agony.

Waking up, the familiar feeling of throbbing in his temples returned, this time, additionally, he had trouble breathing. Gritting his teeth, he jumped backward, the ray aimed at him struck one of the mages. The surprised face of the mage was the only thing he saw as she turned to dust.

"Oh? You dodged that one?" a voice asked from his right.

Turning his head, he saw a levitating man, his robe of white waving through the air, a blue plate chest piece attached on top of it. Short raven dark hair softly moved as the wind caressed them. Sky blue eye watched him inquisitively.

"Zesimos?" Astre asked, standing up before he was forced to Parry a strike from the barbarian.

"One and only, still," the mage said thoughtfully as Astre fought the barbarian. "There was a flash of something weird for a second... No matter, I guess."

Astre vision once again turned gray, a hellish black flame appeared under his feet, turned his limbs black. Gasping from pain, he pulled his bow and dashed away. A pillar of dark fire rose up, burning the left hand of the barbarian who tried to grasp Astre.

"Again? This cost quite a bit..." the mage said, mumbling to himself. Suddenly taken in thoughts, he ignored anything else.

Astre taking the chance shouted, "Hermes, do you have Flash!?"

"Rescuing in 3... 2... Rescue!" As the blue-haired man cast, the assassin flew to his feet.

Astre instantly jumped into the circle and activated it with the key he was given, a flash of white appearing under his feet, soon vanishing from view. Just before they disappeared, he released a syringe arrow filled with poison.

The arrow stopped in place, just before the mage's face, and fell into the ravine below his feet. "Ah..." Zesimos released a mumble of surprise as his attacker disappeared utterly.

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Astre sighed in relief as he appeared in the camp. Waiting for him there was Apollo and Andre. The ashes of the fallen mage didn't teleport with them.

"I count one person short?" asked rhetorically Lily, who stood close by.

"I think I understand why Zesimos is such a pain," Astre said wistfully. "Operation was successful, the target is down, and he cannot be brought back, shame about Lenny. On other news, they have undead Gorgan with them."

"Star of Genesis taking each other out is good, but Harbinger is the least likely one I wanted to do that," Andre stated calmly, not surprised by the fact the least.

"Also, we should prepare a bit more in ways of magical protection around the whole fort, at least something that will cause that magic can't be cast from outside," spoke Astre.

"No! Not again!" shouted the leader of the craftsman from the wall.

"Prepare our generator," Apollo ordered. "Great job, Astre! You prepared the perfect scene for me! Soon you will see your glorious leader in action!"

"But leader, the generator leaves us feeling like empty husks, and we don't have any charge crystals," the leader of the craftsman didn't relent.

"Remember, your yearly bonus depends on this," Andre reminded the artisan.

Astre simply shook his head, before speaking, "Could I ask for a bit of rest?"

"Oh, right, Astre didn't get any sleep yet," spoke Judgment.

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Somehow, instead of rest, Astre found himself getting torn from two sides. On one side was Lily, who attached herself to his arm like an iron claw, on the second were two sisters, their black and white hairs weaving as they pulled on Astre arm. The rest of his team was watching this joyfully.

"We heard Gorgan! Where is he!?" Sanguine shouted inquisitively.

"You should let your leader relax a bit," Lily spoke softly, caressing the black team's leader shoulder. "I'm sure he has some stress he needs to relive."

Astre was getting fed up with all of this. He considered himself a patient man, one who could wait for hours under leaves and dirt with his bow charged just for a chance at gaining good loot. Yet, when it came to pushy woman, he suddenly lost all he had of this virtue, especially after such tiring night. He wanted to prepare mentally for what was about to happen.

"Enough!" he yelled as his eyes grew cold.

The sisters instinctively moved away, looking a bit surprised. On the other hand, Lily took that as her win, "Good, you need to control your underlings, now let's relax together."

Astre simply forced his arm away and stared her down. The blue woman gawked at him in surprise, "Ehm, I see, if that's how you want it."

Retreating, Lily walked away and hid into her team tent. Astre sighed, then looked at the two sisters who watched him warily. Somehow he couldn't keep angry at them. The fact they were a bit similar to his sister didn't help.

He put his hands over their heads and caressed their hairs, "Sorry. I'm just a bit tired and lost my cool."

"Fighters get restless," said Sanguine.

"Understandable," added Eclipse.

The girl's eyes returned to the mysterious sight they always were. Astre nodded and went into the tent. Pulling out a sleeping bag, he sat down and closed his eyes. He couldn't fall asleep as that would leave him more lifeless in the end. He would breathe deeply and meditate for a while after drinking a mind potion.

"So, about Gorgan?" he heard Sanguine voice from his left.

Astre sighed and opened his face to the two girls staring at him from the side. He could as well talk to his team for a while.

"Fine, I lied, well, I hid information," Astre began. "We did quick attack and retreat action against the enemy we will be soon fighting, during that we found out that Gorgan was defeated by Harbinger and turned into undead."

"Eh!? But he is strong!?" refuted Eclipse.

"True, but they have a very crafty mage, he nearly killed me twice with two spells. If he didn't get lost in thought, he might have gotten us as well," explained Astre to the two girls. "They also have an army of undead, so who knows what got him in the end. He was strong even as undead, though."

"Of course," noted Sanguine.

"Anyway, are you not angry that I didn't include you in this attack?" Astre decided to ask.

"Disappointed, but we wouldn't have retreated..." Sanguine spoke. "We promised to do our best to carry Astre to victory."

"Huh?" the adventurer released surprised huff.

"Yes, if we win, we will fight mythic together," affirmed Eclipse.

Astre chuckled. He didn't remember the promise going like that, "Ah, right, thanks."

Hermes chuckled, "To think the girls could behave at all."

"You are rude as always," Judgment spoke. "Anyway, Astre is a good leader. He makes sure everyone can showcase their abilities. I never got a chance to blast so many things in such a short period of time."

"Well, I nearly died twice there, lost four of my LP, but that was the first time I ever carried such a thrilling mission. To think I would ever be sent into the middle of an enemy army like some action hero," Flash spoke excitedly. "He even waited for me with the escape."

"If you had taken any longer, I would have left you," the team leader interjected.

"With Zesimos and undead Gorgan upon you, you already waited more than most would have," Flash responded.

"Well, I guess he is resourceful," agreed Hermes, a bit reluctantly.

"Thinking about it, where is Frank?" asked Judgment, looking around the tent.

"After he got up, he left," said Flash. "Dunno probably returned to being Apollo's guard."

"I kind of doubt my careful brother would get rid of his watchful eye over Astre," stated Hermes thoughtfully.

"He knows you will still tell him everything if he asks," teased Judgment.

"Ha! As if! He can beg, and I won't tell him anything! I'm not his snitch or personal servant!" the fairy mage shouted defiantly.

"We shall see!" the blond girl shouted.

"Calm down," Flash reprimanded both of them and pointed with his finger.

There Astre was sitting up, his eyes closed, chest moving slowly up and down. Then, a silent snore, the trio chuckled silently. The sisters watched with the usual mysterious gaze, thinking in ways only they could understand.

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Astre cleaned his eyes, he didn't want to fall asleep, but it seemed he relaxed a bit too much at the last moment. This was a bit embarrassing, but he woke up an hour later.

Astre and his team were waiting in the second line of the defense behind the wall, just behind Apollo on his golden horse mount and Robert, who would lead the attack after the pit opened. Lily was on the walls making sure to prepare the long-distance weaponry and spells.

Andre was standing next to Astre with a white bow in his hands. Astre didn't expect that the man would be an archer, he doubted that he would be a full archer, yet still, the bow fit in the elf hand like a glow. He didn't dare to guess which of them was a better shoot.

Clarrie, with two daggers, stood just behind them. "They are here!" she shouted as she touched a band on her arm.

The undead army walked into the wall' defenders' field of vision. Two giant hulking undead beasts led the charge, wielding giant rock clubs. A curtain of spells appeared over the horizon, but all of them stopped as they reached a shining multicolor barrier before fizzling out of existence.

Their army advanced, soon close to a hundred undead stood before the gates. The Queen of the Dead stood on the shoulder of one the giant beasts, her long gray braided hair into a single wave, a black gothic dress ornamenting her body. Two purple eyes overlooked the walls with scorn.

"Bloody Sunnies! You think those stupid tactics would have been enough to stop me! Soon all of you will join my army! I will make sure to use..." she didn't finish as the undead monster she used as foothold stumbled.

The ground bellow the army cracked and shook. Soon over the vast area of flat rocks and dirt, countless pits appeared. The terrain split into two, then four, then everything fell apart, boulders taking down the whole army into the lakes of lava that started spilling onto the ground below.

The Order of Sun troops cheered, Apollo raised his fist, "Let's finish those undead bastards! To glory and..." then he toppled.

A large part of rock formation in front of them started sliding down, together with the walls and big chunk of the mountain. Astre watched as the ground separated in front of him, Apollo sliding into the lava below. The earth mage that cast the spell, disappearing in a flash of light as the system kicked her out for breaking the rules.

"Astre!" yelled Clarrie behind him as she dashed at him with her daggers.

Astre gently avoided, letting one of the daggers to scratch him lightly. The officer of the green team disappearing just like the mage before her. The alliance still stood, as Apollo had yet to die.

The elf watched him in scorn, yet for some reason, he also seemed relieved.

Astre shrugged his arms, "Oops?"