Instead of replying, Lodian narrowed his eyes and pushed his sword forward, aiming to skewer me where I stood. His movements were swift, more so than any NPC, Player, or creature I had encountered thus far. The blade sliced through the air, and a trail of shimmering silver light followed in its wake. I barely had time to react, my instincts taking over as I rolled to the side. The sword clashed against the ground, sending sparks flying everywhere.

Okay, this was dangerous. Not only did he have higher stats in everything but Magic and Risk, I could tell his Title was giving him some sort of edge. Otherwise, there was no reason both Ophelia and Seth combined should struggle against him.

['Untouchable' Achievement triggered. Speed: +4054]

I had to fight the urge to laugh. Even if I was a billion points higher in Speed, the 4,000 or so extra points barely made a difference if Lodian didn't seem any slower. In fact, it was as if the difference in our numbers didn't matter to him, besides the sheer power behind every one of his attacks. Linking my Strength with the Soultaker using my 'Lend Me Your Strength' Achievement didn't help either, as I was still a billion points weaker.

The General turned towards me, a smirk playing on his lips. "Interesting," he murmured, his voice echoing through the battlefield. "You seem to have incredible potential as well. The Players from this world were well worth the journey."

So that confirmed it. Lodian was at least aware of the existence of Players. But that only raised more questions from me.

"This world? Do you mean to say you also have Players from wherever you came from?" I asked cautiously, keeping my distance from the General. If he was indeed a Player, then he might have information about how I ended up in this game-like reality.

"Indeed," Lodian replied, his gaze sharp and piercing. "But I suspect you already know that from seeing my Status Window."

I barely managed to avoid another one of his giant sword's slash, feeling the immense wind pressure pushing me back. The power behind it was terrifying, and I was forced to admit that I was getting a little antsy at not being able to one-shot something. At least my excitement was being fulfilled.

"Okay, so why are you guys invading this world?" I switched topics, hoping to distract the General as much as possible to buy time for Seth and Ophelia to catch their breaths.

Lodian's eyes narrowed, his grip on his sword tightening. "You truly know nothing, do you?"

It took the combined might of both my clone and I to stop another one of his sword strikes from falling upon us. The ground beneath us cracked as the tremendous force of our clash sent shockwaves through the air. "I honestly don't. All I know is that you guys are the enemy we have to defeat in order to survive."

I stacked a Holy Element on both my Flooded Kingdom and Rainfall Skill, hoping that one of the two would give me an advantage.

[System alert: Player Lodian's 'King's Crest' Passive triggered. Flooded Kingdom unable to affect target.]

Great. Another annoying Passive I couldn't use my Neutralize Skill on. That was fine, since my Rainfall more than doubled the Speed of everyone else and I, so at least we were faster than him. At least, that's what I thought at first.

As soon as Rainfall activated, it was as if time had slowed around me. Everything looked like it was happening in slow motion, from the movements of the soldiers to the monsters we were fighting. Lodian's smirk grew wider, his eyes gleaming with amusement. "How quaint," he murmured, raising his sword.

I stiffened. If everything around me was moving in slow motion, why was Lodian still moving at his usual speed? Did his Title grant him immunity to speed-altering effects? Or was there something else at play here?

"Yeah, fuck that," I murmured, immediately firing off alternating Reaps and Death's Shadows as my clone jumped in to engage Lodian. The dark spears and shadowy eruptions were suddenly blocked by figures that seemed to burst forth from Lodian's crackling blue aura. I narrowed my eyes as I realized that they were soldiers.

My clone halted his charge, his path blocked by the surge of soldiers that appeared out of nowhere. They swarmed him, or at least tried to, as he quickly equipped the Golden and Silver Serpents, whirling the blades around in a tornado of steel.

"You're not the only one who can summon familiars, necromancer," Lodian said as he gazed directly at me. I felt a hint of annoyance.

"I'm not a necromancer," I corrected him through gritted teeth, watching as the soldiers converged on my clone. "Specters are fundamentally different from the dead."

"Oh? How so?" Lodian's question was genuine, which caught me off-guard.

"Er... because... they don't classify as true undead?" I weakly managed, despite the situation. Truth to be told, I still wasn't sure what a specter was. Based on the explanations I was given by Celine, Sephera, the Soultaker and others, I had the rough image that a specter was an immortalized history of a living being. Essentially, the pure and raw emotions of a once alive being unrestrained. At least, that's what I was going with.

Lodian raised an eyebrow, looking surprised. "I never knew that. Fascinating. It seems we both have much to learn."

I didn't know how to respond to him. I mean, we were in the middle of a fight, and he was talking to me like we were at a book club discussion. But if he was willing to engage in conversation, maybe I could find a way to end this without bloodshed. "So, if we're both Players, then why are we fighting?" I asked, continuing to dodge and weave around his attacks.

Lodian didn't reply at first, his blade slicing through the air in a flurry of silver and blue. I focused solely on defense, my mind racing to find an opening or a clue to his weakness. The chaos of the battle around us had settled into a strange rhythm, the sounds of clanging steel and roars of monsters a backdrop to our tense dance.

I wasn't able to completely dodge his gigantic sword, finally pushed to use my Realmwalker's ability. My body became intangible as Lodian's sword harmlessly cleaved through my body. I grimaced, seeing my Risk points drain by the second to power my intangibility.

"We fight," Lodian finally said, his voice echoing through the battlefield, "because this is our role in the game. You are the defenders. We are the invaders. It is what we were summoned here to do."

I launched several strikes with my Soultaker, my clone joining in to increase the pressure. Impossibly, Lodian was able to keep up despite our Speed stat being double of his. "What the hell do you mean? Was this a quest the system gave you?"

"In a way," he said, parrying my blows with surprising ease. "But the specifics are... complicated. I, along with others in my world, were given the quest to invade and level up."

"What does that even mean?" I panted, barely keeping up with his onslaught. "Why would the system do something like that?"

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As soon as the question left my lips, I already knew the answer. The system was the same in every world no matter who or what was in it: cold, unfeeling, and driven solely by the desire for more power and progression. Made by some higher beings, it didn't care about the lives of Players or NPCs, only the thrill of the challenge and the growth that came from it. Pure entertainment for its creators.

"So, you've got no problems killing other people?" I changed the subject, trying to gauge his moral compass. Maybe there was a way to convince him to stand down.

"For the good of the people of Galvania, I will not hesitate," Lodian said firmly, his eyes never leaving mine. His conviction was unshakeable, and I begrudgingly respected that.

"But allying yourselves with demons, angels, and monsters? Is that really for the greater good?" I countered, feeling the weight of the situation bearing down on me.

Apparently, I struck a nerve, seeing as I was barely able to dodge a full-powered guillotine chop from his gigantic blade. The ground split open with the force of his swing, sending a spray of dirt and rocks flying.

"The alliance is temporary, warrior," Lodian called out as he stepped back, his blade glowing with a fierce blue light. At least he wasn't calling me a necromancer anymore. "And what of your people? Are you not doing the same, aligning yourselves with other factions?"

"Hey, while I can't speak for the rest of the world, I can say that I myself am not aligned with any faction," I retorted, dodging another swing from the General's sword. "I don't plan on depending on other beings to save Earth."

"But your specters are beings different from the dead," Lodian countered, his blade a whirlwind of destruction. "How is that any different?"

It was at that point that Seth and Ophelia had recovered enough to jump back in the fight with my clone and I, saving me from defending myself. To be fair, Lodian had a good rebuttal to anything I said, and I didn't really have a solid argument against his points. My summoned specters were indeed sentient beings, and while I didn't control them like a puppet master, I had some form of authority over them.

Morality debates aside, there was a bigger problem that was growing in priority. With Seth and Ophelia fighting alongside my clone and I, I was more than shocked to find Lodian still keeping up with the four of us. Even if his stats were higher than ours, it wasn't more than the four of us combined, yet he was still pushing us back.

"What the hell?" I exclaimed, narrowly dodging a sword swing that would have cleaved my skull in two. "How is he still able to keep up?"

"Take a peek at his Title!" Seth yelled back to me.

Ophelia, deserving of her Title 'Chronia', managed to slow down the time around Lodian's sword, giving Seth and I the chance to at least avoid his swings. Seth took advantage of the brief respite to pounce, his emerald claws leaving gashes in Lodian's armor. But each time we hit him, his body would repair at a rate that was frankly ridiculous.

I concentrated for a moment, bringing up Lodian's character information.

[Hero of Galvania (SS)]

[Acquired by clearing 100 'Conquest', 'Defense', & 'Protection' quests, earning more than 1000 Favor with allied faction, earning the 'King's Crest' passive, mentoring 100 Warrior/Warrior-related Players, & slaying 1000 Villain-attributed beings.]

[Effect: Allows user to borrow a portion of power from Ruler-attributed beings, granting Passive ability to denote targets as Villains. When User faces Villain-attributed beings, battle sense increases by 20%, up to a cap of 100%. Upon being in same vicinity as allies, max cap increases by 10% for every ally.]

Holy fuck. This was way beyond what I had anticipated. The 'Hero of Galvania' was more than just a fancy title. "So, let me get this straight," I panted, dodging another swing. "You can just borrow power from any Ruler-attributed beings? And your battle sense ability is too broken."

"Oh? Even in battle, you would choose to focus on something other than your survival?" Lodian smirked, his blade slicing through the air, each swing leaving a trail of glittering light. "And yet, I face three opponents with equally as powerful Titles."

I gritted my teeth, feeling the pressure. I wasn't exactly sure what battle sense was, but having 80% seemed more than enough for him to be able to keep up with all of our attacks. Was it something akin to premonition or instinct? Whatever the case was, it didn't help that his King's Crest Passive resisted debuffs and made him immune to crowd control. Even so, my Rainfall should've been more than enough for the others and I to overtake him with our doubled Speed. I couldn't help but feel as if there was more to Lodian than I figured. Probably had something to due with him being able to borrow Ruler-attributed beings.

I kept Lodian at bay with several shadowy spears of Reap as I regrouped with Seth and Ophelia. My clone helped out with his own Reaps, giving us a moment to catch our breaths.

"Why are you guys holding back?" I panted to Ophelia and Seth. It didn't take much for me to notice that they were definitely not utilizing everything they had against Lodian. But, to be fair, neither was I.

"Just as you had a chat with him, Seth and I also came to the conclusion that we may be able to work together," Ophelia replied calmly, her eyes never leaving Lodian. "But, convincing him might prove difficult. His Title suggests a deep connection to his world's royalty, which means it will take quite a lot for him to see our point."

"Yeah, I noticed that too," I said, glancing at Seth who nodded in agreement. "But if we can get him to understand that we're all just Players in this mess..."

Lodian managed to break free from the assault of shadows and dashed toward us, bringing his gargantuan of a sword back to swing at us. Both Seth and I jumped into action, blocking his slash with claws and blade.

The impact was tremendous, sending shockwaves through the city, knocking over buildings and sending debris flying into the air. The ground beneath us cracked and shuddered. I was glad Seth helped me block the swing as it mitigated most of the damage, but the sheer power of Lodian was still evident.

"What do you think we've been trying to do before you came here?" Seth wryly asked, his Behemoth form slightly slumped from the effort of the block. "His loyalty to his world's kingdom is incredibly solid, so I highly doubt we'll be able to convince him-"

"So we have to kill him?" I interjected, already preparing myself to use everything in my arsenal.

"No, let me finish man," Seth frowned slightly. "Did you forget that Izu's still hanging around the Lambda Sector?"

"Huh? You saying she can overpower Lodian or something?" I questioned, hope lighting up my eyes. I had a sneaking suspicion that she was vastly stronger than me, but hearing it come from Seth confirmed it.

"No- well, she probably could, but no. We're holding out till Izu comes so she can read his mind," Seth clarified through gritted teeth, still locked in his intense battle dance with the General. "It's the only way we can understand their true intentions and whatever the hell is happening."

"Oh." That made sense. Izu had read my mind before, so it was a good plan to get her to read Lodian's. If we could understand what was really going on, maybe we could find a way to stop this madness, and in turn, survive the World Raid. "Where is she?"

Seth spared a brief glance in my direction, his eyes flashing apologetically. "Chronia and I sent her a message. She's busy in the Mu Sector, but she'll be on her way very shortly."

I nodded, focusing on the battle. The General's blade was a blur, and the air was thick with the stench of burning metal and the crackle of arcane energy. I knew I had to keep Lodian's attention, but I was feeling the strain of holding back. I had several options to lessen the stress of the fight, including using my newest Achievement to combine and split stats with someone else, relying on the old dependable near-suicide technique, or using the Last Resort stone Lucinda had given me.

But something in my gut told me to hold off on using those options on Lodian, as if there was something else the World Raid had up its sleeves. Instead, I settled on a simpler strategy.

With most of Lodian's golden soldiers wiped out, it gave the others and I more room to focus our attention on him. Taking a page out of his book, I casted Regretful Legion for the first time. Of course, I was aware that their stats were literally at 0%, but the stat value wasn't what I was going for.

[Available specters: 1055]

I smiled faintly, watching as shadowy clones of myself rose up in swarms, surging towards Lodian. Sure, they were as harmless as a breeze, but the sheer volume was like a flood of darkness on the battlefield ruins of the city, obscuring vision and causing chaos. In the back of my mind, I noticed that Sephera had gone quiet.

"Hope that's enough to buy us enough time for Izu to get here," I murmured to myself, watching with a weird feeling as the shadowy figures swarmed the General. It was only for a brief moment, during the time I had summoned the Regretful Legion, but a part of me felt the urge to dismiss our plans to wait for Izu. I brushed it off, trying not to think about how badly I wanted to go ahead and slay Lodian instead.

****

[Updating…]

[Stats]

[Speed: 43.2+] +105%

[Skills]

[Death’s Shadow 3015/3051]

[Reap 2997/3051]

[Regretful Legion 3050/3051]

[Items]

[Realmwaker Risk drain: -20]