The wall shook, but to Zeke’s surprise, it did not fall. Arrows and skills fell on his shoulders, yet they hit with none of the might one might expect. That was the one of the benefits of [Burden of Sovereignty], which not only strengthened him and his allies, but also sapped the power of his enemies. That included a drain on their physical stats as well as an impairment on their skills. As a result, Zeke, who was also under the effect of [Triune Colossus], easily endured the barrage of skills as he reared back and aimed another momentous attack at Montcastle’s outer wall.

It once again shuddered under the impact, and a few Knights fell from the ramparts, but the wall held, steadfast and unbroken.

“Just use Runebreaker,” advised Eveline.

“I wanted to do this without it,” he insisted, and that was the truth. Of late, he’d been far too dependent on his Will, and he aimed to change that. For the most part, he could rely on his high stats and advanced skills, but there were some situations where those simply weren’t enough. He knew that, and yet, Zeke still forced himself to refrain.

To either side, kobolds clambered into battle, fighting against a mounted force of Knights who’d sallied forth the moment Zeke and his army had begun their attack. The initial charge had been extremely effective, but they had begun to lose momentum as the kobolds and centaurs countered their attacks. Still, Zeke had already seen some of his people die, and he desperately wanted to prevent any further casualties.

So, despite his own goals – and his pride, if he was honest – Zeke’s next attack carried with it his Will as well as his intricately braided attunements. The result was explosive, and the runes keeping the wall standing shattered before his mighty technique. After the next attack, the wall followed suit, leave huge cracks running up the length of the structure. The following swing was like an explosion, sending huge blocks of stone sailing into the bailey. As soon as the wall was breached, the kobolds surged, pouring through the gap and engaging the Knights on the other side.

For his part, Zeke did the same, swinging his mighty hammer with all the strength he could muster. The Knights were well-informed enough to recognize that he was the army’s lynchpin, so they targeted him to the exclusion of all else. That was precisely what Zeke had wanted, and he endured their ineffectual attacks with stoic determination. For this battle, he had chosen the earthen version of his colossal form, and as such, he could take whatever attacks they sent his way.

Meanwhile, the kobolds and centaurs showed the effects of their long training. Pointedly, they fought in completely different ways. The kobolds moved like they were controlled by one mind, using their shields and spears to present a unified front that, at times, reminded Zeke of the Roman legion. By comparison, the centaurs were quick and mobile, charging at the enemy’s flanks, where they wrought havoc before moving on to the next target. They never stood still, instead relying on their speed to keep them from being overwhelmed.

At the same time, the kobold rangers used two different methods to contribute to the battle. Some loosed arrows from afar, peppering the enemy with frustrating and distracting wounds. None were terribly potent on their own, but considering the rangers often took skills associated with poison, the collective impact over time was more than worthwhile.

The other faction of rangers were decidedly more deadly. They used stealth to get close to important targets, then employed devastating but long-cooldown skills to assassinate leaders and powerful foes. Normally, it took a half dozen attacking all at once to accomplish their missions, but like their larger brethren, they were more than capable of moving in unison. And they did so to great effect, taking out important targets on the back lines.

For most, it wouldn’t be a viable strategy, but with Zeke garnering the bulk of the attention and the much larger legionnaires and centurions taking the rest, the stealthy rangers were free to move about without much to hinder them.

Then there were the beastkin. They were far more varied in terms of their powers, and after spending the bulk of their lives being enslaved, they were comparatively much weaker. Yet, they had one thing on their side that no one else possessed: the fury of the oppressed. They knew what awaited a loss, and what’s more, they had every reason to attack with a level of furor that no one else on the field possessed.

As a result, they threw themselves into the fight with a recklessness that Zeke knew would need to be culled sometime in the future. Yet, for now, their ferocity surprised and frightened the Knights, giving the beastkin the opportunity to keep them off-balance. That, in turn, let the much more powerful combatants finish off the stunned Knights.

It was a good system, especially considering that the Knights weren’t terribly powerful. Moreso than in any of the other strongholds, for sure, but as Adara, the former Knight-Corporal, had pointed out, the best of the best among the Knights of Adontis were routine poached by the far more influential Radiant Host.

To Zeke, that made perfect sense. For one, it kept the patron nation more powerful than their subordinates; in a world where a single powerful combatant could make the difference between a battle won or lost, that was incredibly important. For another, it kept the ties strong between the two kingdoms.

“I think one is an empire,” Eveline pointed out.

“Same thing,” he said, braining a Knight with his hammer before continuing the swing with a backhanded blow that crushed another Knight’s shoulder. His armor was nothing before Zeke’s strength, especially with [Burden of Sovereignty] pressing down on him. Zeke had learned that the skill contained the barest wisp of his Will, which made it even more effective at degrading his enemies’ advantages – including their armor and weapons.

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He didn’t bother dodging the Knights’ attacks. Instead, he just took them, bellowing from time to time to make sure they thought they were doing damage. They weren’t, but Zeke knew he needed to keep the focus on him if the others were going to avoid being overwhelmed.

Because there were a lot of Knights.

The number seemed endless, and they still hadn’t progressed through the bailey. There was still another wall, a courtyard after that, and then the keep itself. And Zeke knew the battle would only grow more difficult the further they progressed. So, he had vowed to conserve his mana as well as his energy until he met something that could stretch his capabilities.

With that in mind, Zeke waded through the amassed Knights, swinging his hammer with the stoic efficiency he’d learned to utilize during the most arduous battles. And gradually, the tide turned in his army’s favor until, suddenly, alarm bells started to ring in his head. He broke out of his self-imposed malaise just in time to meet a descending blade with the half of his hammer.

A loud clang filled the battlefield as a shockwave knocked back any other combatants in the area. For his part, Zeke was driven to one knee by the sheer force of the blocked attack, but with a grunt, he pushed the blade away and recovered his feet. Once he had, he took a moment to study the opponent who’d been shoved backwards by the violent movement.

She was tall and, beneath her armor, seemed well-muscled. However, she wasn’t a hulking specimen of pure mass. Still, there was an air of competence about her that Zeke had learned to recognized. She wore the same silver armor as all the rest of the Knights of Adontis, though it bore elaborately etched designs that Zeke recognized for the enchantments they were.

Zeke used [Inspect]:

Zari Telmonte – Level 73

“She looks tough,” said Eveline.

“Felt tough, too.”

“Can you taker her?” was Eveline’s next question.

“I can.”

“Without using your Will?”

“I…I don’t know,” Zeke admitted.

“You shouldn’t need to,” she advised. “You know that, right? It’s what I’ve been trying to tell you this whole war. Your Path is part of you. Trying to fight without it is like –”

“Fighting with one hand tied behind my back. I know,” Zeke groaned. She’d long thought his judicious use of his Will was holding him back, but it wasn’t until recently that she’d begun to vocalize it.

“I was going to say it was akin to fighting without arms or legs. You know, just flopping around like a worm.”

“I can’t use it without having to spend weeks healing in the Crimson Springs.”

That was true as well. He knew he was undeniably more powerful with his Will backing him up, yet using it always left him in terrible shape. So, he’d taken to only using a wisp of his Will here and there when necessary. It gave his attacks slightly more power, without leaving him crippled for weeks afterwards.

“You could if you embraced your demonic side more often. You feel that, don’t you? All that power. You could –”

Zeke tuned her out. While Eveline had made a lot of strides in regards to leaving her demonic past behind, and as a result, she often made a lot of sense, she still often tried to push him down a road he had no intention of traveling. Fortunately, when she got particularly demonic, he had the ability to block her via [Bulwark of the Triumvirate]. He knew she hated it, but she knew the same about how her constant prodding toward demonhood affected him. So, as far as Zeke was concerned, when she got like that, isolation was really the only option that made any sense.

Still, he didn’t feel good about it.

Regardless, he didn’t have any time to consider Eveline’s feelings, because he was in the middle of a pitched battle, and he was about to face an opponent who could kill him. That required the whole of his attention.

So, without further contemplation, he hefted his mace and lurched forward. Over the past few months, Zeke had spent quite a lot of time working on his fighting ability in the Hunting Grounds. And all that practice had borne fruit, giving him the sort of insight that only came with long training.

Zari Telmonte clearly had been training for far longer, because she sidestepped his first attack, then sent her huge broadsword crashing into his hip with a backhanded blow. It shaved a bit of his rocky flesh away, but he wasn’t concerned about a minor wound that [Cambion’s Awakening] could heal in moments. Instead, he was far more worried about how easily she had dodged his attack, countering it with one of her own.

And she hadn’t even used a skill.

In that single exchange, Zeke understood that, for all his training, Zari was a far better trained warrior than he could hope to be.

And judging by the smirk playing across her face, she knew it, too.

Fortunately, Zeke was more than just his fighting ability. He had skills to back him up.

He already had [Burden of Sovereignty] active, but with a bit of effort, he could flare it. The mana cost was extraordinary, which meant that he couldn’t keep it up for long. However, he knew that, against tough opponents, it would prove invaluable. Still, he didn’t use it just yet. Instead, he intended to time it perfectly so he got the most out of it.

To that end, Zeke continued his attack, and to predictable results. No matter how innovative his strategy or flawless his technique, his efforts fell short. It would have been frustrating if he didn’t have a few tricks up his sleeve.

Of course, so did she.

He knew it, because just like him, she’d yet to use any skills other than some sort of ongoing enhancement. And with her level, she had plenty of abilities she could have brought to the fight. She was biding her time and waiting for the perfect opportunity, just like him.

Every now and again, Zeke had to split his attention and dispatch a lesser Knight, but it was barely an inconvenience. Instead, he kept the bulk of his focus on the battle at hand. Yet, there were no flaws in Zari Telmonte’s technique.

Until, suddenly, Zeke noticed a slight tell. Every time she attacked, it was preceded by the slightest of changes to her expression. At first, Zeke was hesitant to accept it, but as the fight wore on, it became every more undeniable until he was certain. That was his opportunity.

So, Zeke waited until he saw the change before he flared [Burden of Sovereignty]. The decrease to her stats was enough to throw off the ensuing attack, and Zeke pounced, aiming a huge, overhand blow at her head. It was the sort of attack intended to end the fight in a single second.

And yet, when Voromir’s head was only an inch from her skull, there was a surge in the ambient mana. Then, she was gone. His hammer hit the ground with herculean force, digging a crater and sending a spray of stone and dirt flying into the air. The next second, Zeke felt a fiery pain erupt in his chest.

He looked down to see the tip of a blade sticking out from his sternum.

For a moment, he just stared at it, confused. And then, he stumbled to his knees as the strength left his body. Vaguely, he recognized a series of runes bloom into being on his body. They coincided with the locations of each previous attack, and suddenly, everything clicked in his mind.

Those attacks weren’t there to do damage. They were part of a skill.

And that skill, whatever it was, was killing him.