Fear pounded in Ted’s temples as he led the Destroyer-possessed orc toward the spiral staircase. Would it work? He gulped, and clamped back down on his thoughts.

Would the Destroyer let Lord Tonvalbortdelan and his steward go?

Ted swallowed hard, every ounce of his being straining to keep in line, to avoid the Destroyer’s wrath.

He was a Deputy Mage in the Tonvalbortdelan army. He had to keep his lord safe. Honor and duty demanded it.

Mental intrusion detected.

The beast stomped closer. Its clawed hand seized Ted’s shoulder and pulled.

Ted froze. The pull itself wasn’t all that strong, but it didn’t have to be, not with the magic the Destroyer could wield.

“If it isn’t there, you’ll watch them both die slowly. Very, very slowly.”

Ted took a deep breath, instantly regretting it as a putrid stench filled his nostrils. “The portal stone is there.”

It released its grip, and Ted began descending the spiral staircase. His heart raced. Was showing it to the portal room the right move? Was he betraying the dwarves?

He bit his lip. The choice was made. There was no turning back now.

The Destroyer followed close behind, no doubt fearing Ted might make a break for it through the portal. Not that he knew how to activate the portal, and he couldn’t abandon the young lord, anyway.

The rune magic of the portal room’s defenses came into view. The heavy footsteps behind stopped, replaced by an ice-cold chuckle.

Ted froze, coiled up, and activated Mind Over Body, sending its power coursing through his muscles.

“Good try, Hero, you almost—”

Ted spun, yanked the orc into a bear hug, and hurled them both down the stairs, the orc’s resistance irrelevant in the face of his overwhelming strength.

Adrenaline dulled the pain of hitting stone over and over as they tumbled and fell. Magic strength pumped through his veins as held on tight, pulling the orc deeper into the Telepathy suppression field.

The purple glow of the Destroyer’s eyes flared up and vanished, replaced with the wide-eyed stare of a confused orc.

Unleashed rage pounded through Ted. Confused or not, the savage orc was dangerous, still burning brightly under Discern Magic with both Armor and Absorb, and still very much an enemy.

They hit the bottom with Ted on top. He straddled the orc and slammed its head against the ground.

Critical hit! 11 bashing damage dealt! Concussion injury inflicted! Stunned status effect inflicted!

Brawling skill increased 0 → 1!

Another rush of adrenaline. Such power, not just at his fingertips, but in his body itself! He should have used Mind Over Body for strength sooner.

He smashed the green skin’s head against the stone floor again, cracking its skull but barely doing any damage.

That damned Armor effect! Ted snarled. Without it, he could have smashed the skull right open.

He pinned the beast’s arms above its head with one hand and squeezed its throat with the other. Armor or not, the bastard still needed blood flow to its brain.

Stun wearing off, it tried to fight back, its 13 Strength irrelevant against his 31.

Ted squeezed tighter. A few more seconds…

The orc’s mana gathered. No way that was happening.

Ted leaned harder on the orc’s hands, stopping it weave the spell.

The orc sputtered and gasped out half a word. The miscast spell exploded in its hands, dissipating into its lingering Absorb effect.

Ted gripped harder still, his heart soaring as the orc’s life drained away.

It gasped for irrelevant breaths before twitching once, twice, thrice.

The fight faded from it. Its muscles gave in, and its body went limp.

Brawling skill increased 1 → 2!

Still not dead, not yet. How long would it stay unconscious?

Long enough. Ted drew his dagger, and stabbed at its face, driving through the teal magic protecting it.

Critical hit! 23 piercing damage dealt! Partially Blinded injury inflicted!

Blood splattered, and the blade punctured its eye. Stupid Armor effect. Why wouldn’t it die already?

Critical hit! 14 piercing damage dealt! Blinded injury inflicted!

Critical hit! 30 piercing damage dealt! Head Wound injury inflicted!

Short Blades skill increased 2 → 3!

More blood splattered everywhere. Ted put a second perk point into Critical Severity and brought the blade down again with all his superhuman strength.

Critical hit! 16 piercing damage dealt! Brain Damage injury inflicted!

Critical hit! 31 piercing damage dealt! Dead injury inflicted!

3,800 XP received!

Level increased 9 → 10!

Ted rolled back his head and let his arms hang at his side. He dropped Mind Over Body and all that strength flooded away, leaving only exhaustion.

The bloody dagger dropped to the floor. Blood… Blood on his clothes, his hands, his face, even a few drops in his mouth.

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Blood everywhere.

Everywhere except his Battlemage robes.

He exhaled and dared to look at the mangled corpse beneath him, at the bloody mess he’d made.

No pool of blood spreading out beneath it, though. Ted laughed. What else was there to do? This world was a cesspit of death and war, but at least it had cleaning magic.

He checked over the body, but there wasn’t any loot to find. Why bother with weapons when you have that level of magic?

Ted struggled to his feet, popped another point into Intelligence, and headed back up. The battle wasn’t over, not yet. With this plan a failure, no doubt the Destroyer would commit more forces to the attack.

Ascending the staircase, he cast a cleaning spell upon himself, to no avail. The stench of blood refused to yield, and the bitter, ferrous taste in his mouth clung on, a constant reminder of that moment.

That rage. That anger. How good it had felt to let it all out. To…

To do what had to be done.

He paused at the top of the stairs. What now? Idiot or not, Ardic was unfortunately in charge. Nominally in charge, anyway. Ted scowled. Best to check on him.

Luther stormed through the hole where the front gate had been, Orlanda and a dozen soldiers in tow. “Ted!” He saw Ted’s expression and relaxed. “You dealt with it?”

Ted nodded and headed for the war council room, avoiding Orlanda’s gaze. “A savage orc possessed by the Destroyer. I… dealt with it.”

The blood was gone from the walls of the council room, but dismembered body parts still littered the floor. Ardic was slumped against the back wall, while Frieda clutched her hand.

The lord looked up and anger flashed in his eyes. He hauled himself to his feet, drew his battle-axe, and advanced on Ted. “You! You betrayed us!” He gestured wildly around the room. “They held their ground, but you—you collaborated with that monster!”

Ted shook his head. Unbelievable. “I removed the threat.”

Ardic’s advance stuttered. “What?”

“The Transcendent Destroyer had possessed the orc. The portal room is warded heavily against Telepathy. I lured it down there, severing the connection and allowing me to kill it.”

The dwarven lord blinked rapidly and looked between Ted and Luther. “Transcendent Destroyer?”

Luther glanced back at the doorway, and the men awkwardly waiting for leadership. “I’ll explain later, my lord. We have a battle to win.”

“A battle. Yes.” Ardic straightened up and took a deep breath. “You.” He pointed at Orlanda. “You’re the new communication hub. I need updates.”

She nodded, and began casting Telepathy spells.

Ardic turned on Luther and his scowl twitched. “We’ll discuss your medal for disobedience when the battle’s over.”

As Luther stared back at him, not deigning to respond, a thud shook the ground. Then another, and another, growing in intensity.

Ted’s chest tightened again. The Destroyer wasn’t giving in, not yet. “They’re breaking through from below.”

“Go,” Ardic said. “We can’t let them loose in the town. I assume the medics are dead?”

Luther nodded somberly. “Aye, my lord. Ted, come.” He set off at a rapid pace, casting a Divination spell and taking most of the soldiers with him.

Ted followed them, glad again for the Boots of Speed, leaving Ardic relaying instructions through Orlanda, reassigning troops and medics.

“Detect Tremors,” Luther said. “Essential learning for dwarven mages. We’ll find it.”

The tremors continued intermittently as they made their way through the streets, heading in the direction of the tavern. Without a choke point, the sheer number of dungeon spawn would overwhelm the dwarven defenses. If they didn’t find the source of these quakes before they broke through…

Ted swallowed. It was all too easy to imagine orcs and goblins slaughtering their way through the city. “How are the Battlemages doing?”

“They take zero orders, but they know their stuff. They’ll hold the main gate. No fear at all, even after a few died. They’ll respawn, won’t they?”

“Yeah, back at the Order Temple.” Ted allowed himself half a smile. At least that part of the plan had worked.

When they arrived at the epicenter, of course it was in that blasted plaza. Ted’s fingernails dug into his palms as he glowered up at that stupid statue looming above.

It wobbled on its pedestal as the ground shook, teasing the prospect of it falling to its doom. Not that the damned thing would shatter if it did, covered in protective runes it didn’t deserve.

“This is it,” Luther said. He barked out orders in Dwarvish and cast a Telepathy spell. “Reinforcements en route, but not many.”

The dozen soldiers they had with them formed up into a pitiful phalanx. Aside from the awful statue, the square was a wide-open space, perfect for superior numbers. They didn’t have anywhere near enough soldiers to stop the dungeon spawn from swarming the square, and then the city.

Ted’s jaw clenched. “We’ll hold the line.” They had to.

The thudding stopped.

Was it over? Had the dungeon spawn abandoned the attack now that the Destroyer’s vessel was gone?

A knot twisted in Ted’s gut. No. This was the quiet before the storm. There wasn’t any point breaking through to the surface with no mana. Their pause gave time for the defenders to prepare, but it also displayed a worrying amount of forethought from the dungeon spawn.

Luther pulled Ted in close to the soldiers and tapped one of them on the shoulder. The tap propagated down the line and the soldiers all moved into as tight a circle as they could manage around Luther and Ted.

Ted cast a long duration, low potency Protection/Area-Aegis/Armor spell, wincing a little at the state of it. He’d neglected to update the spell lately, but surrounded by allies wasn’t the time for rebuilding what was already a rather complicated spell.

Luther cast a Telepathy/Area/Communicate spell, establishing a group call that included both of them, plus the soldiers. That was followed by an Absorb from Ted and a long-duration Heal from Luther. Both were pitifully low potency, but every little might be the difference between life and death.

“Do you think the Transcendent Destroyer will take another host?” Ted asked.

Luther’s brow furled. “Impossible to know. We found little information in the records, but we did find agrees with—” he paused and spat at the ground “—Yana. I pray we are wrong.” Reform the line.

The soldiers obeyed the mental command and reformed the phalanx in a crescent moon shape, ready to face whatever might burst out of the ground.

They had to know they weren’t enough, but they did it anyway.

It was the Destroyer that had possessed that orc. Ted bit his lip. How could he be so certain of that? It was like a deep, primal knowledge within him. It was true, no matter how he wished it was not.

He took a deep breath. Why he knew was a problem for another time. “There’s plenty of dungeon spawn. If it could take another vessel easily, it would have waltzed in the front door.”

“Agreed. I doubt we’ll fight it again today, but it won’t fall for the same trick twice.”

The world shook, and a fifty-foot crack broke through the middle of the stone plaza. The statue tilted and lurched, only just remaining upright.

Ted’s breath quickened. This was it.

Another blast, and the crack widened into a crevice.

Another, louder still, and the crevice became a twenty-foot-deep canyon easily wide enough for a couple of burly men. Light flickered at the bottom, betraying the existence of a tunnel.

Don’t let them out, Luther ordered.

A wave of goblins poured into the canyon, each faintly shimmering teal—Armor buffs. The goblins leaped onto the canyon walls and climbed.

Shit. Ted pulled on his mana, formed a Fire/Projectile-Area/Ignite spell, and hurled it into the canyon.

106 fire damage dealt!

81 fire damage dealt!

236 fire damage dealt!

251 fire damage dealt!

244 fire damage dealt!

192 fire damage dealt!

Luther’s fireball hit a moment later, incinerating the screaming survivors. The vanguard was dead, but more rushed forward to replace them. Their mana wouldn’t be enough to hold back the dungeon spawn that way.

The dwarven soldiers spread out and lined the edge, their shields planted and their spears aimed down into the canyon. If there hadn’t been a three-yard gap between each of them, it would have been a lot more reassuring a sight.

We need to seal the tunnel, Ted said.

Agreed. Luther stared down into the canyon, his lips pressed together in thought. They’ll have fortified it.

But not the top. They won’t have had time.

They don’t need to. Our runes will support it.

Runes can be broken.

Luther stared up at Ted, his mouth slightly ajar while his hands kept casting a Fire spell. The runes protecting the surface are ancient, irreplaceable.

Can you replace the dead?

A grim resolve hardened in Luther’s expression. He hurled another fireball into the pit, glanced around, and sprinted to the closest one. I’ll break the rune. Be ready.

Scorched remains littered the bottom of the canyon, but the goblins kept coming, climbing over their fallen brethren. Time was running out.

Even with the rune broken, imparting enough force to collapse the tunnel entrance would be difficult. He’d need something big, but not so big he couldn’t lift it. Something itself protected by runes so it wouldn’t shatter on impact, but not connected to the ground.

Looking around the plaza, his gaze settled on the only appropriate object available.

Oh, the irony.