(Zack)

For almost four hours, the war meeting droned on. Surprisingly, Max was able to actually pay attention the entire time, despite wanting to play a game of cards. Luca struggled and eventually fell asleep, while Braden and Gavin listened to everything, though I think Gavin missed a few things.

Now, several groups are gathering at the Dark Temple. A group consisting of my team, Nik, his team, the prince, and two teams will be going to Talorn, while several other teams are going to Praevar. Once I restore the City Barrier in Talorn, the two additional teams accompanying us are going to clear it out of monsters completely – above and below the surface.

Since my team wiped out more than ninety-five percent of its monsters while we were training there, there aren't that many to actually take out for them. Praevar, on the other hand, has a crapton due to no one really bothering with actually clearing it out much and just using a couple of paths through it, so about five teams will be handling that.

Once my group is completely on the Sigil, Nik uses it to warp us to Talorn, then we walk through the pretty empty streets, killing the rare monster that gets in our way or is easily slain without us moving much from our spot.

We reach the altar, and I approach it. The altar is made of a dark grey stone, with red, blue, brown, and light grey corners, lines of those colors stretching out across the surface and sides of it. Violet lines are spread throughout it as well, intersecting everything and spreading across the ground to the ruined walls of the Enchanted Hall that used to house it.

I place my hand on the Enchanted Altar and sense its power. Focusing inward, I draw on the Sacred Crystal within me, on the four elements and their harmony with light and darkness. Then, I focus on the feel of the power in the altar, on the pathways formed within it.

Pushing with my power, I send the elements from my inner Sacred Crystal into the altar. It doesn't drain the elements away, yet the elements still form in the pathways. As the pathways fill up, the lines begin to glow on the altar. Once the four elemental lines are glowing, the violet lines begin to glow, and I release the altar, then turn around and exit its space.

After I do, I turn around and watch as the walls begin to repair themselves. The moment the altar is safely housed within its chamber once more, the entire chamber glows violet, then emits a beam of violet light straight up into the sky.

The beam reaches the peak of the dome of the Dungeon Barrier, which becomes visible, a yellowish dome which covers the entire Fallen City. As we watch, the Dungeon Barrier turns violet where the beam touches.

Violet spreads from that point, quickly overtaking the yellowish coloration. When the violet touches the City Walls, the damage on the walls begins to repair, entire missing sections reforming as we watch. The entire process takes only a few minutes, and when it finishes, a wave of violet is emitted from the chamber, washing over us and the City as a whole.

The City Barrier for the City of Talorn has been restored! All monsters in Talorn have become 50% weaker, and Talorn has lost its Dungeon state. Monsters can no longer spawn or be born within its boundaries.

It looks like I also received a Rank 4 Title for restoring a City Barrier, which is nice.

Everyone present cheers and claps, and a few of them pat me on the back. The secret to the Barriers deals with our Sacred Crystals – they're forged of Crystal Magic, which is why they're so powerful.

Initially, I'd only suspected Crystal Magic would work within the chambers. There were other places it worked, after all – such as the Crystals' sacred chambers. Then I asked Big S, and he admitted that Crystal Magic works as long as someone is actually touching the altars, but that it wouldn't work to be emitted or used against someone else. Only internal use is possible, or the Crystals would draw it away due to what they are.

However, using it on the altar works as well, as long as it's pushed into the altar the way I did it – by using the contact between my hand and the altar to act as a channel.

Once the celebrations end, the two cleanup teams bid us a good day and leave, then the rest of us make our way back to the Dark Temple, and Nik warps us to the one in Praevar. There, we make our way to the altar, and I perform the same process as before.

When the notification appears, there's more cheering and congratulations, then those of us leaving do so, returning to Maelnor.

My team and I return home, and we enjoy the meal Kit made up for us. After my team heads to the bath, I head to the City Wall and sit atop it, facing Kaelmar. I can see it from here, with my Perception.

I want to challenge the avatar now, but Nik says to wait. It might buy us some time for me to restore Kaelmar's City Barrier, but it's just as likely to not make a difference. Alexander is prepared to do whatever it takes to end this war.

As soon as Maelnor falls, the Boundary is irreversibly doomed. If I restore the City Barrier for Kaelmar, and the one after it, he'd still hit it. Hard. He has three King Monsters on their way. They may not be Dragons, but they'd manage it, even if I managed to distract the Dragon long enough.

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Sighing, I try to figure out what to do. With that armor and those weapons, I can definitely drive off the Dragon. I think. I can definitely be the biggest pest it's ever known. The Sword of the End might prevent it from healing, but those weapons will allow me to do far, far more damage.

The sun sets while I'm up here, turning the valley into a vast darkness. The moon is empty tonight, though the stars shine brightly, granting us some sight. It's not cloudy, which is nice, though clouds will roll in the next few days.

"Zack," Nik says, approaching me from behind. He sits behind me. "Thinking about the other Fallen Cities?"

"I can understand your reasoning," I sigh. "It makes sense. The three King Monsters will just destroy the City Barriers if I put them back up. That's why we have to win the battle here in the valley – why we have to kill them, too. And the strategy for the Flame Slime King doesn't even guarantee we can do that."

"Maybe not," he says. "But it's the best thought we have. If we win the battle, it won't matter, anyway – the Flame Slime King would be by itself."

"Yeah," I try to think of something. "I don't really know how we could kill that. Jeez. It's a fucking slime, and it's one of the biggest threats in the battle."

"Yeah," Nik chuckles, then ruffles my hair, and I pull away, fixing it. "Who knows, Zack – maybe someone will think of something during the fighting that allows us to destroy its cores."

"Who knows," I look up to the starry sky. "It would probably be Nathan."

"Probably," he looks up with me. "I've always wondered, Zack, but are these stars any the same as you saw in your old life, from before you died and were brought here?"

"Sort of," I answer. "I asked Big S about the stars recently. This is a realm he created, after all."

Nik knows the origins of the Boundary, and no one else is close enough to hear us talking, so it's safe to mention that.

"There's no true 'space' for us," I say. "No actual place for the stars to be. Big S said that you can keep going as high as you want – eventually, it only seems like you're continuing to go higher, but you really aren't. And it will feel as if you can reach out and grab the stars, only you'd find yourself unable to."

I reach up, as if reaching for the stars.

"In reality," I make a fist, then pull my hand down and look at it. "Stars are just giant balls of burning gas scattered throughout the universe. Some in pairs, some alone, some… well, they're everywhere. Here, they're just lights in the sky. Big S said he took the image of the universe's stars and used that as a template for the stars of the Boundaries. Every constellation ever seen on any world with people can be found here."

"Really?" Nik looks up.

"Yeah," I nod. "But the stars are also densely packed, because, well, he was something like sevenish when he did it. To him, the night sky was always just packed full of stars, with so many that constellations weren't necessarily easy to pick out. I actually saw one of the ones I know from Earth, back when we were in the Valley of Power. Orion, the hunter."

I look up and reach up again, and Nik looks up. Sometimes, it feels like I could actually touch the stars, even from here.

"Big S said," I say. "That having the stars seems to calm people, make them feel at-home. He said he did an experiment to test that. Even if we can't recognize the stars from our old lives, just being under them is comforting to us. To those of us from reality, anyway. He wouldn't answer when it regarded those of the Boundary."

"I see," he says, and I drop my arm back down and sigh. "You should get some sleep, Zack. Rest up the next couple of days. The battle will be here before you know it."

"Yeah," I look out across the valley again, into the darkness. "I'm not sure I'll be able to, though."

"Do your best," he tells me. "And remember – your team looks up to you. If they see you stressed, they'll become stressed as well."

"Yeah," I stand. "Thanks for that reminder, Nik. You're right, I should head back and try to get some sleep. I'll see you in the morning."

"See you, Zack," he says.

I hop off the wall, allowing myself to crash into the ground in a roll. When I return to my feet, I brush myself off, then walk home. My team has finished their baths by now and are in bad, Kit curled up in his usual sleeping spot.

I head to the bath and strip, then scrub myself clean, rinse, and then soak, closing my eyes. My team's sleeping just fine right now, so I've some time to myself to just relax in the hot water, allowing it to soothe my achy muscles. A massage might be a good idea, to loosen up all the knots in me. I should get that before the battle, to ensure I'm at my peak for it.

Dozing lightly, I find myself in another vision.

An army of monsters fills my sight as far as I can see from atop the City Walls of Maelnor. The Adventurers who were at the Crater had fled back the same day the monsters were set to arrive. Instead of coming out and attacking the way every battle for a City has been before, they changed their tactic. The monsters came out as if it were the fifth day and not the first: in a solid stream of monstrous fighting power.

The battle is here, and it is now. Our Adventurers rush out to fight, and at first, the battle goes well. Then, it starts to take a turn for the worse. The King Monsters show up only an hour into the fight, the Dragon nowhere to be seen.

With the King Monsters here, everyone fights hard, but they're simply too weak to handle such powerful beasts combining their might and working together. I want to step in and fight, but the Dragon shows up. As I take on my Eidolon Form, I spot my team, just in time for them to be destroyed by a Fireball from the Flame Slime King.

With a roar of rage, I soar into the sky. The Dragon can die first, then the Flame Slime. Then every last monster.

I meet the Dragon, and as I raise my sword to fight, it releases a breath of flames. Of dragon fire, a fire which can burn nigh anything. It melts my sword despite the weapon's resistance. Then it burns me, my armor unable to absorb it all.

My eyes snap open with a start, and I frown.

That wasn't a vision, that was just a nightmare. I wasn't aware I could get nightmares in the Boundary, since I've only ever had visions here. But that was obviously not a vision, considering I was wearing a tunic, didn't take it off when I went into Eidolon Form, and my wings didn't rip it.

If I'm wearing a tunic and grow wings, the wings rip the tunic. That's a fact of life.

So yeah, now I'm having nightmares. Fun.