One of the ‘heroes’ lifted a greatsword. She let out a ragged cry and charged. The other ‘heroes’ charged with her. Levi pushed himself to a jog, using the chance to put a little distance between him and the spearmen in the front line. He gestured for Colin to fall in behind him. The blond boy obeyed. He crossed over to the edge of his company and ran a little slower. Levi ran toward him, so the two of them ended up stacked, Levi in front of Colin.

Levi drew his sword. He shouted a string of unprintable curses in an approximation of a war cry. The red soldiers drew near. He could make out their faces, then their eyes. He gestured, throwing his shadow ahead of him. His feet landed in shadow. He surged forward, faster than ever.

SLASH.

A blade whooshed past his ear. It sliced through his hair, severing it on one side of his head. To his right, Brooke and Jake fell. Their heads slid off. Kai ducked low, shock written all over his face.

The entire front five ranks of the white army’s soldiers directly behind Brooke and Jake collapsed. One after another, like puppets with their strings cut, they tumbled to the floor. Blood stained their white uniforms. Their weapons slid out of dead hands.

Levi froze. He stared.

A man in red stood at the front of the red army. He held a sword, an ordinary length sword. And yet, the air shuddered around it. It danced. For a good ten feet in front of the end of the sword, the air trembled, as if something unseen sliced it open to reveal the void past the sky.

The man stepped forward. He looked at the heroes, who’d stopped their charge. Even the white army slowed, staring at him in shock and awe.

“If you surrender now, I will spare your lives. If you continue to attack, to resist the Rosado Kingdom’s holy conquest, I will cut every last one of you down.”

Levi glanced back at the paralyzed white army. He glanced ahead, at the man in red. Whipping around, he grabbed Colin by the arm. “Change of plans. We’re getting the hell out of here, right now.”

“Right now?” Colin asked, shocked.

“Can you heal me, if that guy beheads me? The plan only works if we’re fighting normies. If they’ve got heroes, and they obviously do, we need to get the hell out of here.”

Colin looked at the man in red. He gulped.

“Right. Let’s get out of here—”

The man in red met Levi’s eyes. He smiled, a gentle, approving smile.

Fire blazed in Levi’s heart. You son of a bitch. You think I’m doing this for you? Hell no. Give me a year—no, a month! I’m going to level up and beat your ‘understanding’ ass. I don’t need your approval to desert. I was going to do it before you showed up, asshole. You just gave me a good opportunity.

He paused, shoving down his anger and pride for a moment. And I can’t beat you. I’m not delusional. I’m getting the hell out of dodge to save my own skin.

“Levi?” Colin asked, worried.

“Nothing.” Levi ripped his eyes away. He ran for the edge of the battlefield, dragging Colin.

The numb boy beside him stared. He gestured him on. “Come on! What are you waiting for? Do you want to stand around and get your head cut off?”

The boy jolted. He shook his head. He sprinted after Levi and Colin, leaving the white army behind. Seeing him flee, the other ‘heroes’ ran off as well, abandoning the white army. They peeled away from the white army,

Levi glanced over his shoulder. The man in red stood there, as he promised. Not advancing a single step.

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“Stop them!” The authoritative voice from the back of the white army howled. The soldiers leaped into action, but between the red army, the man in red, and the fleeing ‘heroes,’ they didn’t know which to prioritize. At the same time, the red army charged.

The gap between the two forces narrowed. Their escape path thinned. Levi dragged Colin along at top speed, hurtling along, sped by his own shadow. Ahead, the armies merged. Spears crossed, then clashed.

“There’s nowhere left to go!” Colin shouted.

“Stick to the plan!” Levi charged into the spears, breaking a route open with his body. Gashes opened up on his arms and legs as he shoved the spears aside. Colin followed close behind. Gold light constantly flowed over Levi’s body, closing the gashes as they opened.

The other heroes had paused at the closing gap, but as Levi bashed a path open, they charged with him. Kai fought his way alongside Levi and the others. Madness shone in his eyes. Blood stained his face.

“If you run, there will be nowhere on earth you can hide! We will track you down—” The authoritative voice faded into the clash of battle. The man in red dashed forward, piercing deeper into the white army.

The last of the spears stabbed past Levi. Still dragging Colin, he lurched out into open field. He didn’t stop running. He and all the other heroes ran on, fleeing the battle.

“Man. No wonder they were desperate enough to summon us. The other side has monsters like that guy,” Levi muttered. He glanced at the boy with the thousand-yard stare. “They bring him out before?”

The boy shook his head. “We were fighting a different country before. And another different country, before that.”

“Oh. Damn. I guess this was working out for them, until they encountered this Rosado Kingdom?” Levi asked.

The boy nodded. He gave a weak smile.

And then an arrow pierced through his chest. He gasped. Grappled at the arrow. Then fell.

“What? No back armor? Fuck, man. That’s brutal,” Levi said. He kept running, still dragging Colin. As he ran, he glanced back.

Arrows rained down on them from the heavens.

“Shit. Colin, maximum healing, okay?” Levi pulled to a halt. He threw himself in front of Colin, covering the healer’s body from the arrows. Colin cowered, squatting in Levi’s shadow.

Kai cursed. He sprinted faster, racing past them.

Arrows slammed into the ground all around them. Kai tripped as an arrow pierced through his calf.

Arrow after arrow struck Levi’s back. He grimaced, baring his teeth. “Ow, fuck. Fucking hurts!”

“Sorry, sorry!” Colin desperately cast cures. The wounds closed around the arrows.

“Ah, fuck. Wait, wait.” Levi reached over his shoulder. Three arrows stuck in him. He yanked them out, one after another. “Okay, now. Heal.”

Colin nodded. Gold light flowed again.

A few men from the white army chased after them. Some stragglers from the red army charged as well. Grabbing Colin’s arm again, he ran on.

Kai limped after them. He bit his lip, fighting the urge to scream in pain as he forced himself onward, despite the gaping wound in his calf.

Colin glanced over at Kai. He lifted his staff. Gold light flowed to Kai. Kai’s leg healed, and he ran once more.

“Don’t help him. He’s a lone wolf. He doesn’t need our help,” Levi grumbled sarcastically. He didn’t stop Colin from healing Kai, though. Nor was he particularly troubled by it. Kai was providing a decent distraction for them. Between Levi and the healer, and the guy who had the Hero class, Levi knew which one he’d pick. The white army seemed to agree. They closed in on Kai.

Kai put on a sudden burst of speed. He charged past Levi and Colin in the blink of an eye. Levi could only stare after him, shocked.

“How the hell…”

Colin shoved him. “Keep running!”

“Right.” Levi cast his shadow in front of him again and sped on. Dragging Colin, he moved slower than he could have, but fortunately, some of the other heroes were slower than the two of them. The white army’s soldiers closed in around the slowest of them. Leaping on them, they dragged them back.

“Go, go, go!”

The treeline loomed at last. Ahead of them, Kai vanished into the forest. Levi closed in soon after. He and Colin raced into the shade. His concealment skill activated, and his body faded. Levi didn’t know another way to describe it. The colors desaturated. His skin grew dimmer. His dark hair tended toward bark-color. He faded, blending into the forest.

“Whoa,” Colin whispered, amazed.

“Pretty awesome, huh? Just one of the many talents of a Shadow Caster. What was your second class, by the way?”

“Cleric of Life,” Colin said. “It, um. It’s just a better healing class. Focuses on healing and curing. It’s useless in combat but it has the best healing power of any secondary class. Or… that’s what the description said.”

“Dude! Awesome. Exactly what I told you. Colin! My man!” Levi offered him a high five, and Colin grinned and took it.

Levi thumbed over his shoulder at the mountain. “Let’s hoof it up there and chill until things cool off. No one should bother looking for us up there, and if they do, we’ll be able to see it coming from miles away. Literally.”

Colin nodded. He hoisted his staff. “Let’s get going—”

A sword pierced through his back. Colin staggered, dropping to his knees.

“A failure, huh? And I had such high hopes.”

Levi backed away. He raised his sword. “Get the fuck away from Colin.”

Captain Tash laughed. “I don’t think I will.”