My mind was increasingly more foggy as we flew to some desert in Persia to defeat Alexander the Great. I didn’t even bother trying to remember which one this was, even though I had read about the geography of the known world many times before in my constant readings. All I knew was that we were flying in the right direction thanks to my Historical Insight.

Sporus leaned his head against my back, mumbling to himself to stay awake. His bubbling wounds had improved thanks to the health potion, but he was a long way from recovering. The fight against the Greeks would be his last. I would need to chain him up after like Cleopatra was.

As for Umbra, who flew quietly into the blisteringly hot desert, I could tell he was slowing down too. He was not flying as fast as he was before, and I feared if he stopped that he would pass out. Thankfully, his and Sporus’s damage output would not be reduced until tomorrow.

I take it that’s the battleground? Umbra said as the rolling dunes and desert storm came into view.

“That’s it,” I said, taking it in.

I had never visited a desert before, save for some road trips across the United States where I had to pass through parts of California. The Persian desert was unlike anything I had ever seen. The rolling dunes stretched as far as I could see across the horizon, making it appear as a sea of sand. Sprinkled throughout the desert were dark, jagged rocks, looking like black blades. The sun was oppressively hot. I could already feel my dwindling stamina dropping just from the heat. Every breath felt like a gulf of fire in my throat, and sand was already whipping my face in the air.

It would have been a beautiful sight if not for the five hundred Greek cavalry awaiting to kill us. Rows of bronze plated helmets glittered under the unyielding sun, their wearers waiting patiently for us in their muted linothorax armor. Their sarissas were held firmly in their hands, their shafts holding several feet in front of them, extremely disciplined in their formations.

At the front of the cavalry was one of the most terrifying men of history: Alexander the Great, sitting on a onyx black horse, Bucephalus. His bronze cuirass not only shined under the sun but had an ethereal, golden glow from enchantments. Engraved on his chest and shoulders were symbols of lightning and lions. His helmet was a Corinthian helm, with a blue dyed plume flowing from it. His cloak was a royal purple, also glowing slightly from an enchantment. If I could beat him, I would take his gear, for its power matched my own. Upon seeing us, Alexander raised his xiphos, pointing his enchanted sword at us as we descended to the dunes.

And then, there was the massive sandstorm in the coming distance. The storm was a giant and dark incoming wall of death. Brown lightning flashed repeatedly through the vortex of sand, thundering across the desert. Once we engaged with Alexander’s cavalry, the storm would encircle us and destroy us in ten minutes if we did not complete the challenge.

“Ten minutes to kill five hundred cavalry and defeat Alexander,” I reminded them as Umbra landed a few hundred yards away. I slid off of his scales and landed gracefully on the sand, though my legs felt stiffened as if I had been running for hours. “We need to be fast. Trust me when I say this, you do not want to be buried alive by the sand.”

I could see too many futures where that was the case. It made me grimace to experience them temporally. It wouldn’t even spare the Greeks if we lost. Either way, Alexander’s cavalry were going to be destroyed.

“I’m not going to ask about the futures,” Sporus said, tightening the metal chain around his waist. “Even if it benefits me this time, I’d rather not.”

I obliged him, not wanting to overwhelm his fatigued mind. It would be better anyway for him if he had one less thing to think about.

Will you not be crushed by the stampede? Umbra asked as Alexander began shouting something to his men.

“I’ll be fine, don’t worry about me. Alexander will have enough Hunnic cavalry to keep you busy. Just focus on disrupting their charges with a wall of flames, starting with the front. Then, after my initial strikes, bear down on them with everything you’ve got. Hold nothing back.”

Umbra grunted in agreement, taking one giant flap of his wings to rocket him and Sporus into the desert sky.

Alone again, I took one, deep breath in before the timer started and Alexander’s cavalry charged. By this point, the dark and dirty wall of the desert storm had wrapped its tendrils around us and the cavalry, solidifying a circular wall of sand that howled with fury. Then, as Alexander/Caesar finished his speech, rousing his men in an angry roar, the timer began.

* Wrath of the Conqueror: 10:00 and 500 enemies remaining

* Wrath of the Conqueror: 9:59 and 500 enemies remaining

* Wrath of the Conqueror: 9:58 and 500 enemies remaining

Let’s do this, I thought, breathing out as I started running at a moderate pace while Alexander led the charge.

Before I could make contact with Alexander, Umbra dove right in front of the cavalry and unleashed a wall of flame, sending the first few lines into chaos. Several cavalrymen were bucked off of their steeds thanks to the fire. Alexander kept control of his Bucephalus who did not balk at the fear, and for himself, he was spared from the flames thanks to his armor, as would his front lines.

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They were his elite, after all.

Sporus, however, took advantage of the disarray and launched two arrows that found their fatal mark on two severely burned cavalrymen. His third arrow completely missed.

* Wrath of the Conqueror: 9:48 and 497 enemies remaining

The wall of flames cut off any initial charge, as they couldn’t go into the wall of sand and death on either side, giving me the perfect opening. Using my Jupiter leap, I soared well over the flames and unleashed devastation the likes of which had not been seen in Antiquitus. In the air, I doubled my damage and speed with my Minotaur's Horn and summoned my cataclysmic storm. All at once, fifty lightning bolts from the heavens reigned down on Alexander’s forces, incinerating twice as many men instantly. Since the damage was doubled and the surrounding area became electrified, an additional two hundred cavalrymen were fired to death.

All became chaos. And I wasn’t even close to finished.

Next, I chose the weakest nine cavalry men and threw my Pilum of Mars through the Piercing Rain and Chain Lightning abilities. Because of my perfect aim and enhanced power, nine fell without any need for a follow up strike.

Stamina: 120/190

* Wrath of the Conqueror: 9:35 and 188 enemies remaining

I let myself fall gracefully into the chaos below, holding up my shield to block a few arrows from the Hunnic cavalry that had not been annihilated. Thanks to my shield, electrified armor, and blessings, another four cavalry were slain from attacking me. I landed in a bloodbath of burned horses and men, all trampled beneath me. As I prepared for the next horrific assault, Umbra wiped out another twenty two men who were thrown off their horses and had suffered fall damage, while Sporus snagged another three, though that was after plenty of missed shots.

Stamina: 69/190

* Wrath of the Conqueror: 9:23 and 159 enemies remaining

Alexander’s men, though fierce, were not expecting such a devastating beginning within the first minute. They had so much they were unprepared for, such as my final move that would destroy them all.

Before I killed the rest of Alexander’s men, I released a thunderclap, knocking back and killing the dozens of bloodied men who closed in on me to attack. Now, with a clear line of sight, I activated my Jupiter speed which increased my speed and agility by two hundred percent for the next thirty seconds, along with my Boots of Mercury which allowed me to fly for the same amount of time. Combined with my lightning dash that set off my flight and the ability to repeatedly summon my Pilum of Mars through the chests of every cavalrymen, I set to work finishing this quest.

Everything became a blur of blood and bodies as I zoomed with god-like speed through the dune battlefield. I summoned and resummoned again and again, like I was adjusting my grip on a weight, over and over in the tornado of death I unleashed. Only once in the slaughter did my mind experience a temporary blackout. I paid it no mind as my body became a machine, fit only for conquering. None of the soldiers were able to hit me, nor did they want to thanks to my electrified armor. Even those who were blessed by Mercury were not fast enough to counter me, because if I missed, I could simply rewind the time of Historical Insight to ensure that I won every time.

The dying screams of men were soon silenced as I reached the thirty second mark and my Boots of Mercury deactivated, along with my speed boost that made me as fast as a superhero. I fell to my knees after the absolute butchery I had just completed.

Not even the gods would have expected so much success in a little more than a minute of fighting.

* Wrath of the Conqueror: 8:40 and 0 enemies remaining

I had destroyed nearly five hundred men, mostly by myself, in just over a minute. It was surreal to say the least to experience such terrifying power.

Umbra and Sporus touched down nearby, landing on a pile of burnt bodies. Both of them stared in awe at me as I rose to my feet.

“I am impressed,” Alexander shouted from behind me.

I turned to face him, raising my fortified Barnacle Shield and summoning my golden red Pilum of Mars. Alexander had dismounted his favorite horse, thanks to the devastation Umbra and I had wrought upon his cavalry. Despite being thrown off his horse, he held himself high with his bronze shield before him that bore the Macedonian star and radiated electricity, and he pointed his short, double edged sword at me, also radiating with Jupiter’s blessing.

“Caesar,” I said flatly, approaching him. “It’s no use.”

“Quite the contrary. I have learned much from watching you. You have grown in tremendous power, that I can see. But you are beginning to crack. Six days without rest wreaks havoc on the body. You will not last much longer. Even if you can wipe out hundreds of soldiers in minutes, you will not be able to withstand all of Antiquitus. Every man, woman, child, monster, and beast travels to Mount Vesuvius as we speak, which I’m sure you already know.”

I did know. Thirty million Europeans traveled to Mount Vesuvius underneath his Orb of Morpheus influence. Most of them were innocent.

And he planned to use them all as collateral in the hurricane I planned to unleash to draw him out. The only way around this would be to forge an insanely large net for Umbra to scoop up hordes of peoples and to fly away. Caesar would still have the peoples fight each other to death, which is where sleep potions would come into effect. It was a massive task, and it all started with ensuring I could achieve the ability to route him out in the first place.

If we didn’t achieve that, then all would be lost.

“You’re sick,” I said, rage flowing through my veins, waking me up. “You would sacrifice them all, just to be emperor?”

“My life was cut short by traitors, Maximus, you know that. The gods have blessed me with another chance to redeem myself. I strive to save my family, and Rome, from the destruction it endured because of weaker men. I will not see either destroyed this time.”

There would be no convincing him to relent.

The sand storm boomed around us, closing in with incredible speed to encourage us to duel.

I sighed, breathing in strength once more before I engaged Alexander/Caesar.

“Rome’s blood shall be on your hands then,” I said, before leaping with my Jupiter blessing to take him down.