“How bad?” I asked Clarissa.

“He is on the verge of death. Doctor Katz did everything he could, but there is some kind of weird energy reaction going on, on top of his face,” Clarissa replied. I nodded at that.

“Not awake?” I asked.

“In pain, but mostly unconscious. Letting out occasional moans, and he seized earlier, but that is it,” Clarissa replied. I let out a long sigh.

“Without him, beating the super worm would have been very hard. I probably wouldn’t have had the ability to win the fight after that,” I said and stepped away from the pit after doing one last inspection to make sure not a single speck of the Ritualist had been left behind. Clarissa followed me as I made my way towards the pillars.

“Anything I can do for him?” I asked.

“No. All we can do is wait and hope,” Clarissa replied.

“Nice job running out there and dragging him out of the battle. I didn’t think you had it in you,” I said.

“It was nothing. I am just glad you won. I probably shouldn’t say, but the Ritualist captured my body just as I activated the City Shield. A second or so later, and we would have lost,” Clarissa said with a heavy tone, abandoning her usual deadpan.

“Good job. Keeping a million points hidden like that,” I replied and shook my head in fond exasperation.

“If one activation was good, two was much better. I should probably sort all this mess out,” she said with a long sigh. The long drawn-out battle had exhausted her.

“Get some rest first. We can rebuild tomorrow. There is no rush. Champion’s orders,” I said but she shook her head.

“I need to sort things out first. Otherwise, people will not know what to do,” Clarissa replied, and I didn’t say anything. She was in charge of her own schedule, and I wasn’t about to micromanage her. I looked around and everything was wrecked.

“It is going to be expensive,” I muttered.

“Well you didn’t break another store pillar, so good job in that regard,” Clarissa said. I just smiled and shook my head at that. I would cry inside if that was the case. “I need damage updates to give an exact number, but our second attempt at a level 4 store will have to wait until around day 650.”

“Unfortunate but understandable. Only a 50 day delay or so. That little?” I asked.

“That much. That is millions of points. No idea about the personnel situation. I need to find General Smith,” Clarissa said.

“Ah, he is dead. I promoted a Captain Terrance to be General,” I said, and Clarissa gave me a look and then rubbed her face.

“It wasn’t the worst decision. He is solid and can grow into the role. But being in charge means more than fighting on the front lines or being brave. The administrative headache is immense,” Clarissa replied.

“Thanks for not getting to upset,” I said with a smile.

“You just won. Don’t undersell that, Michael. You won and everyone knows it. Against that terrifying thing, a level four hybrid? The Ritualist?” Clarissa asked.

“Yes. He went a bit too far used himself up in his own quest for power. Your super soldiers failed spectacularly, getting controlled by that monster. Gave me a few seconds at the very least. Weren’t they powered up from consumption?” I asked.

“They were. Perhaps a weakness of consumption itself?” Clarissa asked out loud and I nodded at that.

“Most likely. When the Astrologer comes, I will have a lot of questions for him. He hasn’t shown up?” I asked.

“No sign of this person, but people have been alerted. I will send another message around once thing stabilize tomorrow, hopefully. What a mess,” Clarissa said and shook her head. She walked off and I didn’t say anything. I could tell this battle and the lack of success her super soldiers had weighed heavily on her.

I walked over to where soldiers of the RMPF were gathering up the scales of the super worm onto carts. It was good to see my orders being carried out. They would make excellent shields. Highly durable and energy repulsive.

A small consolation prize from this disaster and another avenue of research to investigate. They weren’t enchanted items since I could hold them without getting any kind of mental download. Again, I was reminded of the Ritualist’s brilliance. Like a giant star, it burned bright and fast, before going out in a super nova of destruction.

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

I followed one of the carts back to my house, which had an open-air triage going on out front. People had been wounded in the last attack. I was pleasantly surprised that people stepped up and managed to kill the hybrids. Another sign that the Ritualist made a foolish mistake at the end. Numbers were his true power. Giving up on them to act personally had been stupid.

Still, he managed to capture Naran by himself. It made it harder to condemn him completely and his strategic decisions. Even with his vast army and intellect, I would say that cooperation was proven to be stronger and the better path forward at the city level at least. Time would only tell if that remained the case.

I entered my home and got directions to see Naran. I had been putting this off, not wanting to see how badly things truly were. I went over to the bed he lay on groaning. The left side of his face was exposed, and his left eye was pure white.

I could see the muscles of his face. There was silver in parts and patches of skin over other portions. The wound only went slightly down his neck. The hair caught up in the attack was gone. “Naran,” I said softly and put my hand on his chest and shook him gently. There was only the continued moaning.

An older lady came over with a bowl of water and a piece of cloth. I stepped aside and she began to drip water into his mouth. “He has been like this?” I asked her.

“Yes, Champion Michael. Doctor Katz did something, when he was much worse. You would have to speak to him. I was instructed by Chief Administrator Clarissa to give him a small amount of water like this,” the older lady said.

“I see,” I muttered and looked at Naran. Dammit, you big lunk. Why did you have to get yourself captured like that? I would have been caught too, but at least I had Air Burst and Acid Shot to get out of tough situations. If Naran’s Body stat failed him, then there was no easy or instant way to recover.

That was the risk in over specializing, adapting to things that your area of specialization had a hard time handling. “Thank you Champion Michael,” the old lady didn’t look at me as she tended to Naran. “If you hadn’t saved us, I shudder to think what would have happened.”

“You’re welcome. Keep up the good work,” I replied and left to find the good doctor.

He was managing things at the makeshift triage sight. He noticed me but kept going from patient to patient. More were being brought in. After about fifteen minutes he came over to me.

“Champion Michael, Naran?” I nodded at the good doctor got right to the point. “I have no idea if my treatment will help or hurt him. Any more seizures?”

“Not that I know of,” I replied.

“Well, I doubt you would be so patient if there were. I tried to counter the types of energy he was attacked with, but it was mostly guesswork and hope. I used powdered life and flesh crystals,” the good doctor explained.

“And those would do what exactly?” I asked.

“Well life should do partial regeneration and flesh should counter the metal energy and repair what was damaged. But I had to apply the solution quickly before the powder ran its course. It clearly helped, but applying the same treatment again, could lead to growths, super cancer the store can’t fix with a restoration.” That did not sound good.

“Basically, I fought fire with more fire, or opposite fire, not water. I have no idea when he will wake, but a restoration is his best option. You should also be aware of the possibility of deficits,” the good doctor explained slowly. I clenched my hands into fists.

“What do you mean by deficits?” I asked.

“Brain damage. With his eye the way it is and the seizure, there is probably some damage. Without an MRI or a CT scan, I can’t say anything until he wakes up. I can’t guarantee he will wake up either. He appears to be out of immediate danger, so the only thing we can do now is wait and see,” the good doctor said. I didn’t like that answer.

“I don’t like that,” I replied.

“You and everyone else, but it is the best I can do with what I have. The fact that my treatment even worked at all is a miracle. I half expected the annihilation reaction of opposing energy types to blow away half his face,” the good doctor replied. I stared at him, and he shrugged but didn’t back down.

“Thank you Doctor Katz. I know it was a stressful situation. Hopefully we can get some expert advice on what to do shortly,” I replied.

“If this expert knows what to do, feel free to share. I won’t say no to more medical knowledge. Even if it is all witchcraft and mumbo jumbo,” the good doctor said. I nodded at that as he turned away to deal with a new influx of wounded that were being brought over.

I made my way back into my home and to my room. I carefully pulled off my armor. The chest plate was ruined. I was glad the restoration had pushed the chunks of metal that had embedded themselves into my chest, back out. The same for my left foot.

The fight had been hard, but luckily it had been held at the plaza. I could easily restore myself and buy more weapons from the store. A defensive battle was always the best one to have. I went into the shower.

“I won,” I whispered to myself as water poured over me. “I won,” I repeated once more. It was still sinking in. I had been half expecting the Ritualist to pull something else out to survive like the cockroach he was. Instead I triumphed and killed him. Or he killed himself.

Well, Naran did punch him in the chest and then I beheaded his physical body before his head transformed. I wanted to lodge a complaint. He got a monster arm, had his head separated from his body, and then got a whole new super monster arm once again.

There was no justice or fairness in the Systemic Lands. Still, I had won. I had won! The grin on my face was not going to go away today. Food was probably still being sorted out and my thoughts turned to Naran. That made my smile disappear.

I had no doubt the Astrologer would probably demand some insane compensation for his help. I would have to pay it for Naran. Dammit, why did he have to get captured and ruin this victory? If he wasn’t injured, I would have told him off.

I got out of the shower and dried off. I then collapsed into my bed. It had never felt more comfortable. The research, the planning, and everything else could wait until tomorrow. At this moment I was going to fall asleep and enjoy my victory.