Leonidas watched in a joyous stupor. And, as he did, he wondered what sort of view Earth had of the match. Across the river, just behind the outer middle tower, two Altarians tore each other to shreds. Their fighting styles were similar to Leonidas. Their bodies were both their armor and their weapon. They flung curled fists into one another that echoed like a metal pan into a steel wall. And then, their hands widened and stretched into sharpened talons, slicing through flesh but only drawing a few drops of velvety-red blood. Each yelled, roared, and taunted the other. Leonidas couldn’t understand a word they were saying, but he felt as if he could. He saw jealousy and passion in their eyes.

Are they fighting over the lane? Personal dispute? Determining who gets the glory? Leonidas pushed aside those thoughts and focused on this opportunity. He watched everything he could, following their movements, their fighting styles, and their weaknesses. Most notably, both Altarian warriors opted to retract their wings, vanishing them entirely from view as they fought, giving up any option of taking to the skies. Their punches were filled with explosive power; however, their movements were sloppy and unrefined.

And then, to Leonidas’ continued confusion, a third Altarian flew into the fray. Peacemaker Paul, as Leonidas quickly named the newcomer fought with more care for his body, twisting and deflecting the attacks of the other two while bellowing more gibberish from his mouth. Words that Leonidas again narrated solely based on Paul’s furious tone.

‘Blubberheads! Stop. We can talk about personal matters when we get home. Can we please focus on the game? Hey. Guys! Fuckingshitfuckgodfuckingdammitfuckshitfuck.’

Although Leonidas would never know, he was surprisingly accurate with his translations.

Peacemaker Paul took a powerful punch to the jaw, and Leonidas flinched, feeling a strange empathy for the poor pea-brained poultry-man.

‘If you guys don’t fucking knock it off right now. Holy shit I swear to god I’m going to get fucking angry,’ Peacemaker Paul roared.

‘Wow, he looks pissed as shit,’ Leonidas thought, feeling a wave of mana burst from within Peacemaker Paul. It was the first he’d seen and felt mana radiate from the Altarians. Perhaps the first two were like him, a class that didn’t rely on mana. Or, perhaps they were just holding back their strength, and Peacemaker Paul was the first to actually get serious. The other two stopped their quarrel and turned to face the Peacemaker. And then, in a brutal twist of fate, the biggest of the three whipped his arm with finger-swords extended, slicing clean through his foe’s neck. Before the removed head could even fall to the ground, the Altarian had burst into laughter and Peacemaker Paul sighed an irritated sigh before focusing on the now, slightly nervous Leonidas.

“One of them just killed the other. Now they are both staring at me with hungry eyes,” Leonidas told his teammates, remaining beside the tower, his only nearby ally.

The larger of the Altarians said something to Paul that caused him to sigh and then turn, flying off through the river toward top lane. Leonidas relayed the information, eyes still locked on his now fairer of a fight. However, the Altarian didn’t immediately approach. It glared at Leonidas. It snarled. It waved its claws. It taunted him. It jeered at him. But it did not attack. Not until the next wave of minions neared did it dare step forward. Swiftly and brutally, the Altarian annihilated Leonidas’ wave of minions.

“They seem to be genuinely afraid of the tower damage,” Trid’s void rang in Leonidas’ mind just as he came to the same realization.

“Have you seen how the tower attacks?” Leonidas asked. The rules had stated that his tower’s attacks wouldn’t target allies, but not that it couldn’t hit them.

“Aye!” Ryan chimed in. “It shoots an arc of lightning from the yellow band, blasts fire from the red band, and hails arrows out from the battlements. I haven’t gotten hit yet but they look nasty. Poodle bird spotted!”

“Same thing here,” Trid confirmed. “The minions are also much tougher than they look. They don’t go down easily.”

Leonidas glanced at his tower, marking the three attack points as he prepared to fight.

Using the minions as shields, the Altarian charged at the tower as if to bulldoze through it. He lowered his shoulder and did not stop accelerating until he slammed into solid stone. The tower rumbled and its health fell to just below ninety percent.

Leonidas waited for the enemy to turn its attention on him, but, the bird-man had no such intentions. It roared again, grinning toward Leonidas as it opened its claws and began slashing at the tower’s plating. It did truly seem scared of the tower’s attacks, careful to not pull any of its focus. So, Leonidas sprung himself forward, swinging fists without restraint. A jolt of lightning shocked the first swordsman minion, and Leonidas pounded into its skull, sending the creature staggering backward. Arrows rained down. Fire launched from the tower. Leonidas trampolined off the head of the next swordsman and with a lion-like roar, he raised both hands clenched together above his head in an attempt to catch the Altarian off guard with his hammer-like attack.

“The Altarians have drawn first blood,” an announcement echoed.

“Fuck me,” Ryan added. “That was fucking shit. That bastard just sent a fucking blast of air that sliced through the minions, chunked the tower, and also killed me in a single hit. I dodged the first eight, but damn he didn’t stop. Lightning was still fighting him. I’m in a waiting room now. Respawning in thirty-three seconds.”

Leonidas came down heavy, but the Altarian sidestepped his attack, causing Leonidas to rupture the ground and send chunks of dirt in all directions.

The Altarian grinned.

Leonidas felt a chill. He felt small. Pathetically so. But, it was nothing compared to standing before Jack. In his presence, he felt microscopic; he felt like the forgotten single-celled organism that crawled aimlessly in a puddle of goop.

The Altarian grabbed onto Leonidas and then hurled him away from the safety of the tower into the chilled water.

The tower chirped and its two rings illuminated, immediately shifting focus to the Altarian. A bolt of lightning shocked the Altarian’s back and a puff of flames charred his hair. He grunted, clearly hurt by the strike but far from fatally so. With a quick step, he rushed from the tower’s range and toward the now-standing Leonidas.

“For Earth,” Leonidas gritted his teeth as he activated Berserker’s Fury, reducing his health by half, but providing him with a temporary pain immunity and massive stat buffs. And then, Leonidas fought, following Robin’s recent teachings. His movements were small and deliberate but still packed with power. He didn’t blindly attack. Instead, he danced with his opponent, deflecting, striking, stepping, striking, dodging, and striking.

Each blow vibrated through his bones. But, Leonidas could feel it working. The Altarian grew more and more frustrated. It hadn’t expected this pathetic opponent to hold its own. Its exaggerated movements grew larger, sloppier, and easier to dodge, to read, and to deflect. Just as Robin had drilled into his head. Similar to all the holes she’d pointed out during their early training sessions. The Altarian fought like he once did. And, the lopsided battle felt surprisingly winnable.

The Altarian, however, did not tire. Its endurance felt endless. It did not falter. Its body as solid as a stone. After a three-minute struggle, extended by his two confirmed kills on the minions, the stat bonuses from Berserker’s Fury began to fade.

Leonidas knew that he needed to try something different. He couldn’t just keep sparring with the enemy. He would be the one to collapse first. He needed to think outside the box. Think more like…Jack.

And then, he saw it.

The Altarian stabbed with its talon, piercing straight through Leonidas’ chest.

Blood splattered from his mouth and Leonidas’ felt as his life slowed and his health dipped to critical.

The Altarian laughed, ripping Leonidas’ heart from his chest, and holding the still-beating heart to the sky in victory.

But, Leonidas did not fall. As he took his final stand thanks to the activation of Last Stand, Leonidas tackled the Altarian. He locked his arms around the boasting beast. Leonidas’ eyes were bathed in red. But his sight had never been clearer. His calves flexed and his legs bent.

The Altarian shouted, realizing exactly what was happening.

Leonidas did not let go of his hold. Instead, the more the Altarian struggled, the harder Leonidas gripped. And then, Leonidas took one step, and then another, and another, and another, pushing the Altarian backward through the dirt.

The beast flailed.

Talons ripped through flesh, but Leonidas did not care.

The tower sounded its alarm.

The smell of sizzling flesh swamped into the air.

The Altarian screamed.

The tower zapped again and again and again.

Leonidas closed his eyes as Last Stand deactivated and death took him.

“Killed one,” Leonidas told the team, confirming his kill in the game’s scoreboard. “Killed myself in the process though.”

“Us too,” Ryan said only a few moments later. “Although it was mostly Lightning here. Fucking bad ass wolf.”

“We’ve got two of them down here now. We are trying to hold them off under the tower.”

“Jack?” Leonidas asked, curiously, having nothing else to do as he waited to respawn.

“It was a great fight,” Jack messaged Leonidas directly. “I can feel Robin’s excitement. Although you won’t be able to use that strategy again for a while.”

“You were watching?” Leonidas confirmed, not surprised at all. “Does that mean we’re going to win?”

“Was there ever any doubt?” Jack snickered.