The messenger’s party galloped down Erwin’s week-old tracks, having already spent several days on the chase. The messenger desperately tried to connect with Erwin’s communication crystal but it was still out of range, the messenger beginning to despair as the small party crossed into orcish territory. He had to find Erwin faster than the orcs found him and as time passed, that seemed a smaller and smaller hope. But the messenger didn’t give up, he couldn’t give up, he had to alert Erwin to the orders of the Council. This wasn’t just important because the Council had given him this duty, it was explained to him that to transport the message might very well be what decides the fate of the Alliance.

Under the weight of such a thing, the messenger simply couldn’t allow failure for if he failed, that would mean the end of all that he knew, his family would either be killed or enslaved by the orcs if he failed and that was something he could not let happen.

As for Erwin himself, he had been slowly whittling away at both of the orc armies, a constant thorn in their side. The Orc Commander, who possessed the smaller army of the two, did not enjoy having his numbers further eroded and the Trident Lord was frustrated at her helplessness against the Metal Beast. She could do absolutely nothing against him, if she charged in she would almost certainly die and the beast’s hide was far too strong to be pierced with orcish spears.

Taking full advantage of this, Erwin didn’t allow the orcs to rest with ease, doing his utmost to make their every moment here a living hell. The night was always filled with the ominous rumbling of the tank as well as the thunder of its guns whenever he made a move. Even for orcs who know almost no fear began to feel dread whenever they heard the thunder heralding the Metal Beast’s arrival.

That and whenever he distracted the orcs, his small force would initiate guerilla ambushes on the enemy’s back, loosing a salvo of arrows before they disappeared again. And of course, whenever Erwin attacked the Trident Lord, the Orc Commander did not let this opportunity and often went to attack as well, the Trident Lord forced to ignore the Metal Beast in favor of him. And thus, the once winning army of the Trident Lord was pushed on the defensive, the orc Commander expertly using Erwin as a tool to make him win.

Erwin soon saw through this however, he’d be a fool not to, and began to order his troops to ambush the Orc Commander’s army only, he wanted both sides to weaken. He couldn’t just let one side win still with healthy numbers, no he intended to destroy both of these armies here and now and he was confident he could do that. The orc leaders knew this was a very real possibility too but they were at an impasse, they couldn’t retreat without the other chasing them and even if they were to leave, the Metal Beast could chase after them as well and they couldn’t outrun the Metal Beast.

To run was detrimental to their armies but to stay was equally so. And since Erwin continued to use his superior speed and offensive capabilities to avoid and deal damage, eliminating him was almost impossible. Erwin knew he had the advantage here and capitalized off of it as much as he could, hardly sleeping for more than hour before he would wake up and attack the enemy again. Day after day, for another week this continued, demoralizing the fearful orcs. They couldn’t fight, they couldn’t run, they could only wait to die.

But, before Erwin could continue terrorizing the orcs, his communication’s crystal lit up.

“Sir! Sir Erwin! Are you there?”

Surprised, Erwin responded, “Yes, I am here. Who are you, you don’t sound like you are of my unit.”

The messenger said, “The Council urgently requests your presence, you are to return immediately!”

Confused, Erwin asked, “What for?”

The messenger said, “They only told me that it was a mission which holds the existence of the Alliance in the balance sir.”

Erwin was silent, debating what to do.

“Sir?” the messenger’s voice repeated.

Erwin finally said, “Very well, I shall alert my troops.”

With a visible sigh of relief, the messenger said, “Oh thank Light, when can you join with my party?”

Erwin said, “If you stay on the path, most likely a day.”

Erwin looked in the direction of the orcs, deciding that one last cannon shot wouldn’t hurt. So he just aimed in their general direction and fired, Erwin telling the rest of his troops to fall back and regroup at Point A. The parting shot put all the orcs on defensive, so sure were they about another attack that they stayed absolutely still for a few hours, waiting for the Metal Beast to make an appearance.

They refused to believe that he had gone after terrorizing them for so long, they had thought that the Metal Beast would haunt them until they all died. But when it was clear that the Metal Beast had gone—for whatever reason—the orcs celebrated, feasting deep into the night. The orc Commander was less inclined to believe this but he let his orcs celebrate, it would be good for the morale.

Erwin meanwhile had met up with the messenger, in a rather bad mood for being forced to let his prey go without finishing them off. He could only solace himself in the fact that he would fight against the Orc Commander again, he was far too resourceful to die by the Trident’s hand. He traveled as fast as he could back, leaving behind his troops with orders to return and not to engage any orc party larger than their own.

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Having given his orders, he took the messenger into his tank and drove at full speed towards the fort. Another five days passed without any sleep for Erwin, the tank finally coming to a stop at the gates of the fort. A tank-sick messenger tumbled out of the vehicle, retching in the grass. The gates opened up and a few men went to help the messenger while Erwin drove the tank inside, getting out and asking for some water.

He also asked for some food which was given to him, eating slowly, partly out of lethargy and the fact he just didn’t feel too hungry. But he forced himself to eat, he needed energy in order to fight as well as whatever was so important that he was called back. As he did this, the messenger headed to the fort’s mage tower, although it’s more like a mud hut compared to the mage towers of old. But the important thing was that this mage tower allowed for longer ranged communication, meaning that they could contact the Alliance.

This was accomplished with aid from the Librarian, he actually provided the necessary crystals needed for the communication as well as a spell circle, one which would allow the mages to utilize the ambient mana around them to initiate communication. But as such a thing was rarely used, it took a bit of time for a mage to answer the call and alert the Council, the Seventh Elder deciding to personally speak with Erwin. When the Seventh Elder’s voice spoke through the crystal, the messenger quickly stood at attention, even though the Elder couldn’t actually see him. After a small exchange, the Elder promptly commanded him to bring Erwin which the messenger did, leaving only Erwin in the room with the crystal.

Erwin said, “I understand that I am needed for something.”

The Seventh Elder replied, “Yes, you are. It is a most important mission. You see, the Council has spoken with the Librarian and from we gained the knowledge of how to save the Alliance and perhaps defeat the orcs once and for all.”

Erwin grew serious.

“What do you need me to do.”

The Seventh Elder said, “There is to be a team that is going to infiltrate the Orc King’s Palace to steal the Holy Hammer of Thavrar. This is a sacred relic of the dwarves and if we present it to them in return for their alliance, we will have the aid of the dwarves on our side. With their power, we may be able to drive back the orcs and retake what is ours. Anyways, your job is to safely get the team to the Palace and safely escort them back. If you were to cause some sort of distraction that would also be helpful.”

Erwin thought on this, finally saying, “Very well. I just need to transport them in, provide a distraction, and then extract them, correct?”

The Seventh Elder answered, “Yes, that is all you need to do.”

Erwin then asked, “When do I leave?”

The Seventh Elder said, “The infiltration team has already landed during your absence and were taken to New Haven Port, the closest outpost we have to the Orc King’s city. I would prefer if you were to leave immediately, we must complete this while the Orc King is still busy reconquering his nation.”

Erwin nodded.

“I shall set out immediately.”

The communication crystal then fell dark and Erwin returned to his tank, clambering in as he commanded for the gates to be opened. Once again he set off towards his new destination, to New Haven Port.

Half a month later, a muddy tank burst through the forest and slowed to a halt before the walls of New Haven, Erwin popping out to command the doors to be opened. They were soon opened and the tank trundled inside, the engines shutting off as he clambered out. Four people came out to greet him, a bit shocked to see his ragged appearance. It looked as if he hadn’t slept properly in weeks and there was a stench that no one could properly describe.

Already aware of this, Erwin ignored the four and just asked to be pointed to the nearest bathhouse, making his way there after a soldier did so. After spending a good two hours within the bathhouse, Erwin emerging an almost different man. Gone was his ragged appearance replaced with the image of a normal man, albeit the heavy bags around his eyes.

Seeing them, Erwin asked, “Are you the infiltrators?”

One of them nodded and Erwin said, “Then let us go immediately, we don’t have time to waste.”

Worried, one of them said, “Are you sure? It looks like you need some sleep.”

Erwin waved it off.

“You don’t need to be concerned with me, just concern yourselves with the mission.”

Another said, “I think it does concern us. You are supposed to be our protector on our way to the Palace, if you were to have your abilities weakened by lack of sleep, that could endanger us. Please, get some rest and we’ll go when you have woken.”

Erwin was silent, finally saying, “Very well then. I will go rest.”

He took a few steps in one direction before turning back, asking, “Where is an inn I can rest at?”

They decided to lead him to the inn they themselves were staying, getting him a room with no problems whatsoever. Erwin thanked them and entered his room, closing it behind him. He looked at the bed with slight trepidation, finally pushing himself to lie in it and to focus on sleeping rather than the ghosts which were sure to haunt him once he did. The ghosts did indeed come to haunt him in his dreams but they were unable to wake him, Erwin was determined to sleep this time.

And much to his surprise, when he woke, he found that the sun had gone under the horizon, he had slept far longer than he usually did. The best explanation he could think of for this was that he now possessed a new goal, a new goal and a hope. Hope that his purpose here had a chance of being fulfilled and a goal which related to that purpose. He had this to focus on rather than the voices of those who he couldn’t save, their voices far fainter than before.

But he couldn’t just forget them however, their deaths were because of his overconfidence and he must always remember so he would never make that mistake again. Feeling far better than he had before, Erwin exited the inn and made his way to his tank, ignoring the cold air of the night. He clambered onto the top of the tank and laid back, his head resting on his hands as he stared up into the sky. He lost himself in the countless bright stars, although he soon found himself focusing more on the blackness in between.

Just what exactly was up there? More worlds? He had memories of his world’s explanations for the stars but after having experienced this new world, he wasn’t entirely sure what to believe anymore. He could only ask questions and hope that he’d get answers later. The thought of the Librarian crossed his mind, would he know of what lies beyond the stars? Probably, although Erwin couldn’t imagine the price for such knowledge.

Such random thoughts wandered about in his head until the sun began to rise and the infiltration team awoke, first going to Erwin’s room and then fanning out to find him upon discovering his absence. But they didn’t need to go far, they eventually found him lying at the top of his tank, seemingly asleep. But when they neared, Erwin sat up and looked at them.

“Well, it’s best we set off today.”