I stared into Arthur's eyes and watched as the last ember of life faded. "PvP Mode DISENGAGED." My vision returned to normal. I pulled my blade out of my vanquished opponent's body. I knelt, closed his eyes, and prayed for Arthur's soul to be freed of Hleandros now.

I stood up and surveyed my environment with my Spirit Sense. The miasma from Arthur's body was in rapid retrenchment. The army of Chaos, along with Hleara, were slowly released from their collective enthrallment. The remaining goblins and orcs lost their will to fight, and they began to retreat.

However, the forces of man refused to disengage. Like a roaring river, my army of Order surged forward in pursuit! When the knights at the front line reached me, they did something unexpected--they attacked me!

I immediately pulled Merlin's Staff from my back and activated Impenetrable Dome to repel a dozen sword strikes from every direction. "Whoa! I'm on your side!" I yelled. To my dismay, the knights continued to attack me.

As I fought desperately to fend off my attackers, I realized something critical--I was still under the effect of Call of the Wild! I quickly released this divine ability, which was granted by Leonus; I soon lost my lion-like mane and fur.

However, the knights refused to disengage!

"Lord Mulligan!" someone cried out!

I heard a familiar voice, and he arrived in a few breaths.

*Clang* My ally began to fight against the errant knights; it was Van!

My other party members and followers soon arrived to protect me.

"What's wrong with these guys?" Bila asked and hissed. "Are they too deranged to recognize their liege?" she asked aloud.

My eyes widened at her question. I triggered my Magic Sense, and I learned that the knights had been enthralled! I followed the tendril of purple magic to its source. I discovered that it came from one of the two blank areas that Clairvoyance could not penetrate. Standing at the center of that circle on the right side was a humanoid wearing a dark purple cloak. Its skin was gray, its skull was bald, and its mouth ended in a tangle of tentacles like an octopus! My heart froze when I recognized this creature--a mind flayer!

I cast Dispel Magic. Dice rolled inside my head and stopped. "Dispel magic SUCCESSFUL. +250 XP."

The mind flayer stared at me, and its tentacles moved angrily. It sent a mind blast at me!

*WHAM* Dice rolled again. "Wisdom saving throw MADE. +100 XP. Mind destruction FAILED. -25 Health."

Mind destruction? That mind blast could destroy my mind? Then I was lucky I made the saving throw. I immediately activated Sprint and ran toward my attacker. As I crossed the battlefield, I used the fleeing soldiers as shields. Even though I could cast Mind Blank to protect myself, I was fearful that the mind flayer would hide from me and make sneak attacks. Thus, I ran while keeping this deadly foe in my sight.

The mind flayer continued to direct mind blasts at me, but none of them landed. Instead, the goblins and orcs took these hits.

When I was close enough to my tormentor, I activated Charge and swung my staff down on his head!

However, the mind flayer backed away, and suddenly there were four of him!

Undaunted, I exchanged my staff for my sword, and I attacked the images furiously with my superior speed.

"Guk," the mind flayer blurted out as my silver blade pierced his body. His tentacles reached down to pull on the sword. But the wound proved fatal and, in seconds, it lost the strength to do so.

With a "hmph!" I pulled my sword free. I quickly surveyed my surroundings. I was deep behind the enemy lines, but the soldiers were too busy running for their lives. Thus, they left me alone.

When my eyes turned toward the left side of the battlefield, I was dismayed to see a lich standing at the center of the area that Clairvoyance could not penetrate. Even worse, I was too far away to disrupt its spellcasting. Nonetheless, I activated Sprint and ran toward the lich.

When I was halfway across, the lich finished its spell. I watched helplessly as a black mist dispersed and spread across the field. I recognized the spell as Cloudkill! The black vapors soon touched the fleeing soldiers and turned them into black corpses!

The lich cackled in delight and cast a second spell!

I burned the rest of my stamina to reach the monster. However, I was not in time; the second spell went off, and the corpses started rising from the ground. I reached into my potions bag to retrieve two Stamina Potions; I gulped them down to replenish my depleted Stamina. As the potions took effect, I stewed in silence while watching more and more corpses rise as undead monsters.

The lich finally turned toward me. "Greetings, Champion of Order. I am Pondeux. My mistress, Keras, thank you for sending so many living creatures to their untimely demise." The monster dipped his head. "And now, it's time for you to join them and enter Keras' embrace."

Pondeux snapped his fingers, and the undead horde immediately attacked me!

I pulled Merlin's Staff from my back and my sword from my hip; I attacked the horde while wielding the staff in my left hand and the sword in my right hand. Although my accuracy would decrease while dual-wielding, I had no choice. There were too many enemies for me to fight with one weapon.

"Charge!" "Save our Champion!" Ten seconds later, the cavalry arrived!

My followers attacked the undead horde and slowly whittled down the thousands upon thousands of undead creatures surrounding us.

As I fought, I kept an eye on Pondeux. The lich did not cast another spell; nor did it help its minions to attack me. I was surprised by its inaction, and I couldn't figure out why.

Once we destroyed the summoned undead, I discovered the answer.

The vanquished creatures turned into black motes of light, and they soon coalesced upon the lich. An indescribable emptiness enveloped Pondeux. *BANG*

My eyes widened in horror at what stood in place of the lich: a miniature black hole! He tricked me! Pondeux had used the destruction of the undead as a ritual to create the black hole, and I was an unwitting accomplice. "Stand back!" I ordered.

My army began to back away from the black hole, which slowly increased in size.

I gritted my teeth in anger. Khoa, the Goddess of the Void, was finally making her presence felt in this war. I searched my brains for inspiration to destroy the black hole before it engulfed the entire continent of Britannia. I activated my Magic Sense and Spirit Sense and stared at the growing void. I saw light enter and cancel out the darkness. That was the answer!

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I turned my head back and forth and said, "Everyone, I need your help! If we don't destroy this black hole now, it will destroy the entire continent!"

Everyone was stunned by my words. They didn't realize the consequences of failure was that severe!

"How can we help you?" a calm voice asked.

I turned and saw Baron Kingsbury. "Give me your life." I saw the stunned looks of disbelief and quickly continued. "I need to gather your life force and send it into the black hole. But it has to be an overwhelming amount. Otherwise, the life force will only feed the black hole," I explained.

"Take my life!" someone shouted and raised his hand. It was Van.

Others raised their hands too. "Take my life!" they shouted in unison.

"Thank you! I promise that I will not waste your life." I bowed deeply to them. I sat on the ground, cross-legged, and closed my eyes. With my soul, I reached out and gathered the life force of all the volunteers. I slowly drained life from them.

People started fainting and dropping to the ground.

I ignored the noise and continued drawing life until I couldn't control it anymore. I opened my eyes and stood up. The path was clear and before me was the miniature black hole. I held my feet apart and thrust my palms forward in unison. "HAH!" I pushed the overwhelming life force into the black hole.

Upon contact, the Force of Creation and the Force of Destruction began to clash and cancel out each other.

I held my breath and prayed as the opposing forces continued to wrestle for dominance.

After some passage of time, the black hole disappeared.

I pumped my fist in triumph, and promptly collapsed to the ground, unconscious.

***

I awoke to the strong smell of antiseptic. The last thing I remembered was destroying the small black hole and collapsing on the battlefield. Based on the scent, I was in a healing clinic.

I suddenly became aware that someone held my left hand. It felt warm and reassuring. I opened my eyes and discovered that it was Amelica!

She was sitting in a chair next to my bed. Her eyes were closed.

I stared silently at the face of my lovely angel. I was so worried when my girlfriend stubbornly insisted on accompanying me to war. Amelica tried hard to make herself useful as a songstress, but her song was utterly drowned out by the rumbling drums on the opposing side.

Nonetheless, I was thankful that she survived the war with no visible injury. I squeezed my hand, and I felt her respond as my angel opened her eyes.

Amelica stared at me in bewilderment. The next moment, she gave me her radiant smile. Her brilliant blue eyes glistened with tears. "You're finally awake, milord." She leaned her face forward, and we shared a deep kiss. A while later, she reluctantly pulled back to catch her breath.

"How long was I out?" I asked.

"You were in a coma for seven days," someone interrupted.

I turned my head and saw Sister Waverly standing to my right. "Thank you for healing me," I said with deep appreciation.

The cleric's lips were upturned. "When I saw you on the ground, you had only 1 point of Health, Mana, and Stamina. The human body is not meant to hold so much life force," Waverly admonished me.

I shrugged. "It was the only way to destroy the black hole."

The sister nodded. It was true. She could never imagine that the Greater Goddess, Khoa, had forced Keras to help create a black hole. Nor could Musa believe that the Goddess of the Void intended to destroy the entire continent of Britannia and kill its inhabitants! The plan was too audacious, even for the Gods themselves!

By the time the rest of the Divine Pantheon recognized the danger, they were helpless to intervene and stop it. I exceeded their expectations in destroying the black hole, but the victory came at a terrible cost. Sister Waverly smiled at me to hide her concerns. "How are you feeling now?"

I took a moment to assess my physical condition. "I'm fine."

"That is good to hear, my king!"

I turned toward the door; I saw Van and the rest of my party enter the room. I gave them a friendly wave. "I'm not a king," I said and shook my head.

"Not until your coronation," someone corrected me. It was Saint John the Kind. He was wearing his ceremonial robe and hat; he was also carrying his formal staff.

I took a deep breath. Did I want to become king? The answer was no. I wanted to go home. That was the entire purpose of agreeing to become the Gamemaster's entertainment. "Choose someone else to take the throne," I said.

"There IS no one else qualified in the eyes of the people!" someone protested. It was Regent Paget. His face wore a scowl. I noticed that he wore expensive and formal looking clothing for some reason.

"If you insist on making me the King, then I want Amelica to be my Queen," I said defiantly. I turned toward her. "Will you marry you?" I asked softly.

"Yes," Amelica answered immediately. We hugged tightly and kissed.

"Can I see your father? I wish to ask for Baron Kingsbury's permission," I said.

She turned her head. "He passed away during the war," Amelica answered in a small voice.

My eyes widened in shock. "How?"

She refused to answer.

My mind flashed back to the last time I saw him. It was on the battlefield. After Pondeux the lich sacrificed his unlife to create the miniature black hole, Baron Kingsbury was among those who offered his life to destroy the phenomenon. I swallowed hard. "I killed him," I said in horror.

Amelica immediately turned to face me directly. Her eyes were fierce and proud. "No, you didn't. My father willingly sacrificed his life to save the kingdom."

I barely heard her words. I relived the moment when I sent so much life force toward the black hole. Why didn't I think about where the accumulated life force came from? "How many people died?" I croaked.

The people in the room looked away.

"How many?" I insisted.

Saint John sighed. "15,000 people," he revealed. "But many of them died fighting the opposing army," the cleric old quickly added.

My eyes turned cold. "Even if half of them died fighting the enemies, that meant I killed the other half with my own hands." I took a deep breath and exhaled. "I am a mass murderer. I have no right to become your king," I announced.

*WHAM* "-5 Health."

"Listen to me!" Paget snared in my face. "You did not kill them. Baron Kingsbury and his knights willingly sacrificed their lives to the protect kingdom. You only redirected their life force to destroy the black hole. You SAVED us all, and THAT is why you are qualified to be our king. If you refuse to ascend to the throne, then you are nothing but a coward!"

My hands turned into fists, and I had to use all my willpower to avoid punching the arrogant man in the face. Finally, I unclenched my fists and took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll be your next king." I assumed that becoming the King was one of the checkboxes I needed to mark off to return home. Thus, I accepted kingship. I turned toward the saint. "When is the coronation?"

Saint John the Kind's eyes danced with mischief. "Now."

"Huh?" My eyes widened in shock.

"The people have stood in vigilance in the Public Square and waited for you to come out of your coma," Van explained. "They wish to witness your coronation."

I hardened my resolve. "Then we shouldn't keep our countrymen waiting." I pushed aside the blanket and jumped out of bed, only to discover that I was naked!

Sister Waverly immediately turned aside and blushed.

Amelica, on the other hand, stared at my finely-honed physical form with lustful eyes.

"Ahem!" Saint John gave me a white robe.

I nodded my thanks and wore it.

Bila approached with my belt and sword scabbard.

I smiled and put on my belt. I attached the yellow butterfly-adorned scabbard to my belt.

Rijana handed me the leather strap and Merlin's Staff.

I smiled and put them on my back.

The church bell tolled twelve times.

Regent Paget clapped his hands. "It's time for your coronation."

I followed the regent out of the healing clinic. As we walked through the hallway, I saw all the knights lined up to my left and right. As I passed by, each knight offered me a sharp salute.

At the entrance, I saw several young lads running out to spread the word of my pending arrival.

The knights guarding the double doors held them open for us.

Standing just outside were the other eleven members of The Twelve. And beyond them were the people, who stood patiently in the Public Square.

When the common folk saw me standing in the doorway, they started clapping and cheering. Some of them chanted, "King-king-king!"

The Regent straightened his back and descended the stairs.

The knights made a path for us through the thick crowd.

As we crossed the square, music started playing.

I saw a raised platform at the center of the Public Square. In the middle of the stage was a dais, and on it was a crown. The crown was made of gold and set with many gemstones. I stared at the crown as we walked toward the platform. When I finally stood on the stage, the onlookers clapped and cheered again.

Saint John the Kind raised his hands and motioned for silence. "My fellow brothers and sisters, we are here to witness the birth of a new king. He has proved himself on the battlefield as our Champion of Order. The Gods have blessed him. And now, it is time for us to crown him as our king."

Regent Paget took the crown and said, "Kneel."

I knelt before him.

The nobleman placed the crown on my head. It felt cold and heavy. "Rise," he ordered.

I rose to my feet and stared at the crowd blankly. I couldn't believe that I was coronated with such a simple ceremony.

Regent Paget took my right hand and raised it. "I give you our new sovereign, King Lawrence Eugene Mulligan!"

Suddenly, I teleported away.