“The Fourth has been seen exiting summoning site Omicron 3.“

My adventures with corruption had left me rather exhausted, so I had decided to take the rest of the night off. I still didn’t feel the need to rest, even if my energy wouldn’t recharge. Simply put, it was part of my daily list to check if I was still functioning.

That day, I was. My energy still filled naturally until the sun hid itself, and I had no doubts it would get back to it at dawn. Even then, I had decided to stop and call it a day.

I had to be ready for when our enemies would strike, and I couldn’t force myself to the point where they would find me exhausted, useless, and without energy. No, I had to be in perfect shape.

By my estimation, which was probably a bit off, I had been under a little short of three hours. Not ideal, but enough to ensure that I wouldn’t suddenly run into problems. Yasmin had gently woken me up, only to drop the bomb a few seconds later.

While not unexpected by any means, it definitely was sooner than I aimed for. Pol was promptly sent home, as was anyone else with little skin in the game. There was no need to have casualties if the casualties wouldn’t contribute to the war.

We also tried to send Charlotte to the Church, where she would have been safe and far from the conflict. To the surprise of no one, she declined the offer and chose to stay. She had been adamant about remaining at Core, insisting that she would be able to talk to the Forth and maybe make them backup.

A beautiful lie that we knew was not true. They hadn’t come to dialogue, so absolutely nothing would make them change their target—destroying and obliterating me and everything that I represented.

The news had already sunk in; I was fully aware, and it was quite obvious that Yasmin still had something else to say.

“And?” I questioned her, wondering why her hands wouldn’t stop caressing each other.

“The scouts said that they were surprised to encounter the dungeon so far out of Core. We don´t exactly know what they expected, but certainly not to find it more than halfway here.”

“But?” There’s always a but. Always.

“But they reorganized quickly and pushed forward. Our reports say that they are not slowing down… they are steadily killing monsters and are on their way. Only once did they meet an obstacle; apparently they had to fight against an organized group formed by a [Corrupted Abyss], but ultimately they won and continued.”

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

I had expected as much, and the [Corrupted Abyss] came as a surprise. A part of me had hoped that the shock from finding a dungeon and all those monsters would have been enough to cause some disarray, but clearly it hadn’t had that effect.

“How long until they are here?” I sighed. “And how many?”

“They will be here in one hour, maybe two if we are lucky and they bump into some other obstacle. They’ve sent a whole platoon, 20 units.”

“Twenty? Is it their best, or are they underestimating us?”

Her look told me I had hit the nail; the one nail I shouldn’t have ever hit. I braced for her answer, and sure enough, it hit hard.

“Charlotte told us their levels would range from 30 to 50… Our scouts have been able to identify some of them, and without exception, they are hovering around the 50.”

“Tsk,” I clicked my tongue. “That’s right at my level… Have we managed to get some of the soldiers and people at Nova to help?” I asked without much hope.

“Some of the long-range soldiers have agreed to stand behind our defensive walls and help. We have brave people… at a 25-level disadvantage, a few have chosen to fight at the first line.”

“Why would they want to do that? They will just be cannon fodder.”

“You know, I’m sure this won’t surprise you, but the Sanctum and its Order and Churches are not the benign entities that some people image. The volunteers… they have lost loved ones to them—wives, husbands, sons, and daughters. You’ve given them an excuse to get revenge, and they are taking it.”

“Sure, I just wanted to make sure they don’t turn against us. I won’t be the one convincing them otherwise.”

We looked at each other for a brief moment, just enough for me to notice something was amiss.

“What is it?” I broke the silence.

“Charlotte has insisted on leading our impromptu army.”

“At the front?” I incredulously asked.

“No, no. She knows her current level is nowhere near useful. She has been organizing our lines and coming up with a strategy.”

“Good! Let’s go take a look then!”

That’s what I said, but definitely not what I was thinking. I could not think of many strategies that would lead us to victory. Impromptu army was just a nice way of saying desperate gathering of low-levels trying to get back at the Sanctum.

I had prepared the best I could, both for myself and the dungeon. But all of that was for naught, given the strength of what was coming. I could think of one way to win this, and, unfortunately, it was not in my hands.

Only if they severely underestimated me and let me run rampart did we stand a chance. And I knew that wouldn't happen. They were trained, had someone commanding them, and probably faced stronger enemies than us.

What are we going to do?