However, before he finished his sentence, I separated his head from his body with a clean cut. "We don't negotiate with the corrupt."

As soon as I eliminated the necromancer, the rest of the skeleton army began to disassemble and turn into dust, and soon we were able to clear the remaining skeletons.

"It's okay, Sir Alex."

One of the girls who had awakened light magic came toward me. While humans had no natural affinity for magic, it was possible to awaken it, although it was very costly and demanding. Even as a group, we could only assist three girls in pursuing this path, of which only one managed to truly use magic.

"I'm fine, just dislocated my arm; those attacks were really powerful."

"That's not 'fine,' sir. Let me fix your arm and then use my healing magic."

The girl got to work while I immersed myself in the information the system was providing us. Apparently, from this wave onward, magic would become increasingly common.

"I see that Grandmaster Alex is quite tough."

"Not particularly. When I trained among the Marines, they called me 'baby skin.'"

I could see Jane's shocked expression, and in some way, it seemed like her jaw had hit the floor.

"You trained with the SEALs, sir?"

"Among others, yes. Those trainings were very strenuous; it's almost the worst I've had to endure."

"Is there something worse?"

"Well, last summer, some cable or something got in my dad's way, and he decided to send me to an urban combat unit in Mexico, really twisted individuals dedicated to combating drug trafficking."

"Oh, it doesn't sound so bad. What was the worst part of that?"

"The torture sessions, without a doubt." I couldn't help but shudder at the memories. "Oh, but you can't tell my mother any of this; I fear she might divorce him if she finds out."

"Pfff." Jane couldn't hide her laughter, no matter how hard she tried. I really didn't know what was funny; I genuinely suffered with those Mexicans. "So, your father sent you to be tortured, sir? You're not kidding with me, right?"

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"Not at all, my father is really strict about these things. What about you, Jane? We always talk about my father; tell me about yours."

Jane's face quickly turned into an expression of sadness and loneliness. "I don't really know my father more than any random person does. I only know about him what's on TV. We've never had a family meal together, only at social gatherings."

Uh, somehow, I felt guilty for asking.

"Well, at least now we have a family to take care of."

"Family?" Jane was lost in thought.

"Grandmaster, the Council is requesting reinforcements."

"They haven't finished clearing the wave yet."

"No, sir, there are still enemies attacking the refuge. If it's not resolved soon, they could overlap with the next wave."

"Are the main Council members fighting? I'm asking about those rats Ethan, Agatha, Balthor, and the like."

"Apparently only Ethan, the others haven't been seen in combat for a long time, although they're always the first to ask for reinforcements."

"Leave them. They can deal with the waves."

"Yes, sir." John left, and Jane went with him.

This situation made me think that we were almost like two different countries. In such a short time, the ideologies of the two bases had changed so much that we couldn't even receive people from the other side anymore because it would generate friction immediately.

Anyway, what we had to do was clear; we just had to keep fighting.

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The sanctuary and the council continued to fight wave after wave. The key members of the council were forced to step forward when the sanctuary constantly refused to provide assistance, leading to the breakdown of all diplomatic relations.

Against all odds, humanity managed to advance beyond level 50, although each additional level felt like the difficulty was increasing exponentially. After a long time during which their skills had consistently outgrown those of the invaders, the trend was now reversing. When they reached level 60, what they had feared finally happened: the sanctuary couldn't clear the infection zone, and the next wave unleashed with superior strength and numbers without giving them a break.

From that point, everything started going downhill, and for the disunited council, it was impossible to hold the situation. Normal members ended up deserting to the sanctuary, and the central base fell, which again increased the power of the invaders.

For Alex, it was impossible to accept people like Balthor or Agatha, not because they got along badly or even because they had tried to kill him, but rather because they were corrupt. They had accepted some power that had settled in their souls, taking part of it, which meant that they had let a foreign consciousness enter them.

When the council members were informed of Alex's decision, as well as his reasons, they quickly fell into a state of blind rage. To them, it was nothing but excuses. Obviously, for the sanctuary members who could also feel this contamination in the souls of many council people, it was justified.

The high-ranking members of the council decided that they wouldn't be defeated alone and began to attack the sanctuary members who weren't prepared, causing some casualties.

It was in a moment like this that Alex's anger reached a point where he felt everything turning red.