When Renala and I retreated to our secret camp far away from the city, all the Dark Elves gathered practically fell to their knees in fear and worship. Word of mouth flew faster than my baby girl; the Dark Elves from my squad were already spreading stories about how the air was filled with arrows that cut through the sky and spared not a single demon or cultist. Apparently I slew over twenty Greater Demons. Honestly, I wasn’t keeping count past five. At the time, I was more concerned about my arrow stockpile, which was more than halved. Relying on the Quiver of Endless Arrows was a last resort because each arrow cost 1 MP to create. Even for me, that was a great loss of magical energy in a large-scale conflict. I didn’t bother correcting their wild stories. Lydia told me it would be better for my reputation if I let them grow out of control.

Idyia entertained the children with an embellished summary of our assault. At some point, she let her hair hang free from the warrior bun she kept it in. Her armor was stained with blood, but somehow her hair was free of taint. She looked like some kind of avenging angel walking among the crowds and I couldn’t help but stare. She must have noticed at some point because she waved the children off then stood beside and behind me. Suddenly, the Dark Elves gave me their full attention. I summoned the nine volunteers who fought alongside Idyia and I to stand behind me while I addressed the tribes.

“Calais burns under dragonfire,” I declared then mustered up my Sergeant’s tone and prepared to parrot the typical army commendation award announcement with some added gravitas.

“The champions you’ve selected have won my favor with their bravery, honor, and skill. For their meritorious service in support of Queen Lyudmilia’s campaign against the Beur cultists, your tribes are hereby awarded Renalian citizenship. Your people will be given land within Altanova to live upon and cultivate, with a lord or lady you may select from among your own.” I half-turned to face the nine Dark Elves behind me and continued with a boisterous voice. “Your courage and sacrifice are in keeping with the finest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon yourselves, your race, the Queen, and the Kingdom of Renalis. Congratulations.”

I walked in front of each one and gave all the volunteers a stiff, military handshake, full of a warrior's respect.

“Dark Elves of Renalis, my loyal subjects, I present: your champions,” I stepped to the side and made a wide sweeping motion with one hand toward the volunteers. The Dark Elves exploded into applause and began to gossip about a future filled with new possibilities after I dismissed them.

Improving the Dark Elves' quality of life was one of the more altruistic things I’d done since I arrived in Valeria. It was a way for me to keep a grasp on the better parts of my humanity. I wondered how Lydia was going to keep the clergy and the Primaries at bay, but I pushed that aside for now and let myself bask in their joy. Idyia laced her fingers with mine and we found a secluded place to have a private meal then shared a bedroll for the first time in weeks, although we still abstained from any sexual activity. So we just relished in each other's silent company. Honestly, I was afraid of what monsters the conversation we had right before the first attack on Calais might dig up, so I shelved that confrontation until after this entire mission was completed.

We spent the next several days systematically dismantling Calais' defenses until practically all resistance was burned away by Renala’s dragonfire. Idyia and I surveyed the destruction from just under the cloudline. We were gently clutched in Renala’s claws as she slowly glided in large, lazy circles high above the city like a giant vulture eager to pounce on a fresh carcass. I wanted to leave as much of the city’s infrastructure intact as I could, but Renala’s dragonfire was almost as indiscriminate as the Endless Abyss' felfire. Whole districts were razed to smoldering ash and the bleached skeletons of demons and cultists littered the melted cobblestone streets. Ever since I destroyed any threats to Renala’s aerial strikes, she was free to ravage the city with draconian impunity. There was nothing larger than a crossbow left that could harm her while she strafed back and forth across the city and any shots that the defenders actually landed barely scratched decimal points off her HP pool.

I sent Idyia telepathic images of my magnified vision so she could also see the results of our siege.

“Was the Queen’s army even necessary?” Idyia asked in a clinical deadpan.

“Renala is a dragon demigod. I guess this level of defense is nothing to her. It’s a good test flight for the Rift and I’m sure Renala enjoys the exercise.”

“This,” she motioned to the half-ruined city, “is exercise?”

“I’m the kind of guy that watches drone strike compilation videos.”

Idyia had no idea how to reply, so I sent her images of some drone strikes while I focused on the castle, which was relatively untouched compared to the rest of the city. Capturing it would be more difficult. While Renala could just turn the entire fortification into molten slag, Lydia specifically needed the castle to remain standing so she could use it to garrison her army and establish a proper place of governance. That meant we would have to assault the castle ourselves or just wait for Lydia to arrive so she could deal with it.

The Dark Elf squad working under me leveled up since the first night, but two died in combat over the course of the week, reducing our total number from nine to seven. I was confident in Idyia’s prowess, but sending anyone below 5th Level to assault an entire castle with our paltry number was gut wrenching and would likely just increase our casualty count. I had no idea how many demons and cultists were holed up in there nor did I know their levels. Moreover, we had fought non-stop every night for a week straight. While I had no issues, even Idyia was showing strain, much less the lower leveled Dark Elves.

“How’s your condition?”

“I stand ready for your call, Master Levin,” Idyia responded with her usual apathetic tone.

“I’m serious, Idyia. It may just be the two of us for this final stretch.”

“I haven’t used Flash in two days. I’m ready.”

I shot her an appraising glance and exhaled through my nose. Her HP and MP were both above 85%. Objectively, she was fine aside from some minor exhaustion. I was just worried about sending my lover into battle. But Idyia held no small measure of pride in her talents, so I didn't voice my concern out of respect.

“I’ll act as the primary attacking force, then. You find and eliminate any leaders still in the castle. Avoid frontal engagements with the chaff. Leaders only. You cut off the snake’s head, I’ll deal with the body.” I stuffed four Magic Crystals into my cheeks.

Idyia nodded once although her brow was raised into her hairline at my antics. I gave her a cheeky grin then mentally ordered Renala to begin her attack run.

She roared with enough force to part the clouds and dove straight for the castle. She was greeted by dozens of arrows that bounced off her HP like rain and she responded with a huge wave of rage-fueled dragonfire. The castle wall defenders were burnt to ash almost immediately, their screams cut brutally short as their lungs vaporized. Idyia then leapt from Renala’s claws once she sharply banked inward to circle tightly around the castle and landed on one of the castle tower roofs. I watched my partner disappear into an open window before Renala completed her aerial maneuver and roasted another round of defenders. She landed in the courtyard and cleared the immediate area with more dragonfire.

I broke free from her claws and sprinted across the burning ground. My flaming arrows flew between the castle doors even as they started to close. I heard cries of alarm from within then ducked into a single-legged baseball slide just as Renala’s tail swung over my head. The castle doors shattered like glass on impact and I jumped through the wreckage, my bow leveled and my arrows filling the air. By the time I landed in the reception hall, over half of the guards stationed there were nailed to the wall by my arrows, although dozens more began pouring in. I switched to explosive rounds and fired with reckless abandon, killing multiple men and demons with a single arrow. My MP drained at a visible rate, but I used the Magic Crystals in my mouth to replenish my energy. I may have looked like an overgrown squirrel with too many nuts, but no one present was going to deny its effectiveness.

I strafed my point of aim back and forth while on fully automatic, armed with explosive rounds. When the dust finally settled, no one was left alive and half my MP pool was gone. I grimaced at the gory mess. Lydia was in for some serious remodeling when she got here. Actually, Anna would be stuck dealing with that.

Sorry, dear.

I spit out the Manaless, crystalline fragments in a thick wad of saliva and I pulled out two more Magic Crystals from my Bottomless Dufflebag to refill my energy even as I marched down the hallway. A cacophony of noise quickly centered on me, which meant my distraction was a success. I threw a glance over my shoulder to see Renala swipe her claws and whip her tail, sending dozens and dozens of demons and cultists tumbling through the air to splatter against the castle. They burst apart in a morbidly comic fashion. It was like watching a child throw water balloons at a wall. Those she couldn’t reach she burned alive with a fine laser of concentrated dragonfire.

At least she’s learning self-control.

I aimed my bow even before another demon entered my vision. As soon as it rounded the corner, I fired, impaling it with a trio of explosive arrows that detonated and killed whoever or whatever was following closely behind. I was careful to keep track of Idyia’s position using my Map. She was somewhere on the fourth floor of the castle, so I didn’t run the risk of friendly fire. I just needed to make as much of a commotion as possible.

Half of my mind was on my Map and the other half was on my surroundings. I used the Map to predict when and where my targets would appear because I could detect them through solid objects. It was like playing an FPS; urban warfare was never easier. I went room-by-room, clearing every single spot while drawing more and more demons to me. I made sure to kill all the Greater Demons still lingering in the castle with over a dozen arrows of varying types.

But I eventually ran out of arrows and resorted to using a longsword I looted off of a dead cultist.

Idyia was systematically working her way down each floor. I kept an eye on her progress and couldn’t help but wonder how she was making it look so easy. Every red dot she met disappeared. She must have been spamming Sneak Attack or something. Honestly, it was a miracle Lydia escaped. I didn’t want to disturb her concentration, so I didn’t send her any messages. I used the sword as a drumstick, banging and dragging it along the walls to attract more demons and cultists.

But the castle went dead silent about thirty minutes later. No matter what I did, no one else attacked. I took a look at the Party Menu and saw Idyia’s HP had dropped to a quarter. I followed her dot on my Map and she turned toward me just as she was kicking off a corpse from her twin blades. I blinked owlishly at her outfit: the upper half was totally burned away, leaving her naked from the waist up.

“I found the Beur Priest in charge of the city,” she wiped off her blades with the cultists’ clothing and sheathed them with a click.

“Was it a hard fight?” I tossed my own sword aside. It was ruined beyond repair after all the fighting, anyway. I took out a spare cloak from the Bottomless Dufflebag and draped it around her shoulders.

Idyia shook her head and tied the cloak down to preserve her modesty. “He was around 4th Level. I evaded his magical traps and struck from behind. He had a self-defense spell that triggered upon his death. It hit me with a black fireball, but my Health was high enough to protect me.”

“I’m absolutely sure you’re the real hero, Idyia,” I whistled at her work.

She just rolled her eyes. “Master, you just annihilated an entire garrison of demons and cultists by yourself. How did you even have that much magical energy?”

“I chewed on some crayons.”

“Magical Crystals are toxic when ingested, Master.”

“I’m really abusing my Constitution, huh?” I chortled.

A series of blaring horns attracted our attention and we meandered to the wall. Renalian banners encircled the city. Lydia was finally here. But there was virtually nothing left to conquer.

“Think she’ll be mad we stole her thunder?” I asked with my arms folded in amusement at my fiance's late arrival.

“Yes, Master Levin. You’ll probably be forced into making a long, drawn out victory speech.”

“Fuck me.” I facepalmed.

“I suppose you must also spend many nights with the Queen in addition to the speech.”

“Then I’m really, really going to abuse my Constitution.”

World Map