POV Mirhit

I looked at my two captors. I could see that they wanted to join the fight to protect their king against Rich but one of them was also looking at me like he wanted to kill me before they went. It was obvious that he thought that this situation was somehow wrong. I need to get away from here before they decided to kill me, but I was never going to be able to outrun or kill them. And I was so close to getting to my brother.

I looked at Rich hoping he could help. He looked so intimidating, and he could fight better than anyone I have seen. I quickly switched between the views my bugs were giving me. My brother was still completely safe, and it seems that Rich really upheld that part of the promise even though I don’t know if he really would give my brother back even if we were enemies. Rich killed another one and my left captor finally broke from his composure.

There was a small moment of hesitation but before he could think of anything else a person appeared behind him and quickly killed him. I started to run but before I had even taken a few steps I could hear the other captor being killed. A few moments later everything went dark.

My neck was hurting when I opened my eyes. I appeared to be in some sort of a tent, but I wasn’t familiar with it. Then everything came back to me. I listened for any sounds, and it seemed that the battle was over. I sneaked towards the entrance expecting there to be guards but there weren’t any.

When I got out of the tent I almost puked when I saw the field of dead. People were moving around the dead stripping people and then carrying the corpses to a pile that seemed to have a lot of wood beneath it.

Rich’s people had actually won. For the first time in my life, it seems that I had made the correct decision. I looked towards the GreenWave village. It was quite far away but my brother was waiting. Before I could start going, I heard someone calling out to me.

“You are Mirhit, right? There is a group of carts about to leave towards the village, I’m sure you can catch a ride with them. I was told that your brother is in the village you just have to ask anyone to tell you where the orphanage is, and they will tell you how to get there.” Said a woman who was covered in blood which she seemed to have tried to clean off the best she could.

Were they really going to just let me go? Rich knew what I could do, why would he just let me see my brother? Was it some sort of trick? There were too many possibilities, but I wanted to see my brother again and hold him tight.

I gave a quick nod and started to head towards the carts that she pointed towards. I was able to get a spot without problems when I mentioned I had a brother in the village. There were people besides me who had lost a limb, but they still looked quite high in spirit. It didn't take long for us to start to move.

POV Rich Dirt

I was sewing up a bad wound which would have normally meant death but with the potions in this world, he was going to live. My hands still hurt. They were still shaking a bit from blocking the slave king’s attacks that he made when he was raging out. If my bones weren’t so strong, I was certain that my hands would have been shattered multiple times. The sword's blade had multiple chips in it, but I think a little bit of work will make it serviceable.

When I finished, I looked around. There didn’t seem to be any more wounded left that need attending. I saw Lucky moving around but she was dragging herself to the next wounded. Anytime she had gathered enough energy she used her heal again helping stabilize the people who were worst off. There have been two more deaths from Legionnaires who were too wounded bringing the total up to seventy-seven. Twenty-two died fighting inside the forest while fifty-five legionaries died on the field.

It was a heavy number but lower than expected. We have to thank the goblins who came to help take care of the wounded. Even now they were still helping but most of the warriors left when I told them that they could pick up any weapon or armour from the field they wanted. After they collected what they wanted they left for goblin lands to protect and hunt for their tribe.

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The goblin javelins killed almost 1/3 of the enemy fighters. We were all incredibly grateful to them. After the goblins left, I gave orders for all the enemy dead to be brought back here then stripped of everything valuable and then placed into piles to be burned. It was a grim job, but it needed to be done. Getting a healer who can regrow limbs also became a high priority as many lost at least one some even multiple.

I was running nearly empty having used up all my energy. I join my soldiers in the clean-up duties. Even with the goblins taking their share there were still so many weapons and armour left over. While some might need to be altered, our fighters would now be a lot better protected, meaning the next fight should have fewer casualties.

I was so tired, but we all continued to work. Every one of the slave king’s fighters who had run had been hunted down and killed. Their bodies had been brought back and late into the night, we were about to start burning the bodies.

The smell made some puke, but I was used to it. It was worse when mass graves were dug. Then bulldozers would just push dead bodies in until there was no room. The place smelled for months afterwards so I honestly just prefer when bodies are burned.

I was so tired, and I wanted to look at my notifications but somehow it felt a bit wrong to gain levels by killing other people. It was another thing that I knew I would grow numb to and eventually accept the same way I accepted killing. I still glimpsed my achievement page and found that my first homesteader was at level 6 and so was my renowned true archer. My heroic commander was, however, at level 9.

I was quite certain I gained a lot of stat points and skill and ability levels but before I could do anything else I fell asleep when I lay down on a bed inside a random tent.

POV general

The death of the slave king was known immediately in his territory. The people just under him now had a direct way to power and most chose to fight for that power. The slave king had a strong territory, but it quickly fell into infighting. They were poised to lose a lot of territories as outside forces will set their eye on the weakened force. Some towns and cities were too strong to be conquered without a dedicated campaign, but a lot of territories were up for grabs.

The slave kings’ two remaining party members vowed revenge against the United freeholds. They started to gather strength once again with some of the loyal fighters they had. They also still controlled a significant portion of the army and will try and mount another campaign as soon as they can to end the United Freeholds.

To most of the forces inside the fallen Kingdom, the defeat of the slave king meant nothing. Multiple proclaimed kings had been defeated while others have come into power. To the forces close to the United Freeholds this nation went from a place you could conquer if you were willing to march the long way there to an unknown power that could defeat a significant army.

Now besides plans of conquest possibilities of diplomatic relations were also considered. To the 10s of thousands of refugees roaming the Fallen Kingdom, it meant another possible location to run to. Sometimes the unknown is better than the evil they know. Many set their hopes on this unknown hoping to escape the madness.

Inside the village of GreenWave, there were celebrations and tears. They had lost a lot of people, but they also knew that they could be safe here if they were willing to sacrifice and work hard. They had never known a life like this, but they felt that they had options and could do what they wanted. Even the sacrifices that they needed to make didn't seem so bad compared to what was before.

The nation of United Freeholds was able to keep their freedom this day, but their struggles were far from over as larger threats loomed all around. While the rest of the nations would be a constant source of friction and conflict, in the wider world many dungeons had finally reached the breaking point. From each hundreds of monsters, even thousands were escaping trying to claim their spot in the wider world.

In many places of the world, the roaming undead have started to gather, forming their own sort of society and started to claim the surrounding land. Goblins left unchecked have started to breed massive hoards that have not been seen since the Goblins wars.

The fallen race of orcs found themselves affected less than other species by the plague have started to reclaim their former glory. Other fallen races have also found room to grow and gather their strength once more.

The high society is stretched beyond its limits and has started to collapse its influence to keep important areas safe. Most of their resources are directed at trying to hold the powerful monsters and beasts from the centre of the continents from pushing outwards. The age of conflict has arrived and only the strongest can be reborn from the ashes.