While the legends of Boomtown and the particularly homogeneous royalty of the Null Empire fought on the plains, a self-deprecating voice rang through the empty halls of the Royal Palace of Vacantia.

“Hugh, you’re not useful in big battles because all you do is hold up shields!”

“Hugh, there’s more important things to do than fight in the super duper fun and awesome exciting battle!”

The man himself continued to grumble as he waltzed through the hallways. There were only a few locations in Vacantia that could have the items they were looking for.

It had to be a place of utmost secrecy. A place that could be accessed and protected by the numbered, and only the numbered.

Or perhaps not even them.

After all, one’s clones, puppets made of their own existence, are not they themselves.

Hugh stopped at a certain set of doors. They were taller, wider… more grand than the rest. They were doors of gold, with all sorts of jewels and gems embedded throughout.

It spoke of opulence, of riches and luxuries and excess. But most of all, it spoke of greed.

A giant number zero was carved into its center, surrounded by branches that led to other numbers carved into the lower half of the doorway.

Above the zero were three crows. One was on the right, facing left. A second was on the left, facing right. And in the center was the biggest crow of them all, facing forward with two large rubies for eyes.

“Well, if this ain’t it I don’t know what the hells is,” Hugh muttered to himself.

“I don’t suppose I’ll be able to walk right in.”

With that, he pushed against the door—it didn’t budge.

“Yeah, that would’ve been too easy.”

Hugh pulled out a shield from his holding space and rolled his shoulders. “Seems like a bit of a waste of art, but what’s gotta be done has gotta be done.”

He smashed the door with his shield, but much to his surprise, it didn’t budge. It didn’t even seem to be damaged.

“Hoh. Kau and Beth weren’t lying, these guys know what they’re doing.”

After a bit of grumbling as to how fun the battle must be for the other legends, Hugh pulled out his other shield and initiated an endless barrage of blows upon the door. He could feel that there was some source of energy protecting the door—perhaps it was even just on the other side of the door.

Would that run out of energy first? Or would he?

Hugh grinned. He hadn’t come for naught, it seemed. After all, the better the security, the juicier the prize.

He unleashed an onslaught of strikes upon the door—after a few moments, he could feel the protective power diminishing, but not by much.

He dropped his shields and wiped the sweat off his brow. “Damn! This is going to take a while!”

***

Four winced and disengaged from Rudeus’ hammers.

“What, you’re giving up already?” Rudeus frowned. “I was hoping for a bit more.”

His enemy didn’t immediately respond. Instead, Four stared into the distance.

“If you’re not going to attack, then I will.”

“It seems that your compatriots were stronger than we’d anticipated,” Four mumbled. “Four of my brethren have fallen.”

Rudeus grinned and looked the same direction Four was. Indeed, he could see Dekkeron and Milton wreaking havoc upon the Null Empire’s puppet army—and the mana arrows, lasers, and other spells shooting about suggested that Beth, Tin, and Kaukau had likewise defeated their foes.

“Yeah, I’m surprised they lasted as long as they did, to be honest. You’re not bad yourself, either.”

“Oh?” Four raised an eyebrow. “I will admit I was rather overconfident, but you’re still not my match.”

Rudeus stared into Four’s eyes. “You’re fine with those daggers, but you’ve not shown me—”

He suddenly dropped his stone hammer and clutched at his neck as blood dribbled from his mouth.

“You’re not a bad one, Rudeus. You’re big and strong… and simple. It was rather too easy to deceive you.”

Four twirled a thin, clear string around his finger. Attached to its end was a miniscule blade, just a few inches long.

“I figured someone like you would notice if I’d gone with the usual mana thread, so I went with something a little more old-fashioned. Even the ancient son of the north is as mortal as the rest of us, after all.”

Rudeus staggered and fell, dropping his other hammer as he did so. “Just who… a-are you?”

“Stay silent, friend. I know there is a healer amongst you. If you are fortunate, perhaps you may yet live.”

Four shook his head and disappeared back into the wave of puppets.

“In another life, another time, big man. We might have been friends.”

A few steps away, Four paused and mentally reached out to his kin. “Who’s still out there? Zero?”

“I’m fucking busy! Piss off!”

“One?”

No response.

“Two?”

“Just trying to figure out how I’m going to kill this giant chicken. Weren’t the crow god’s clones supposed to be helping us with him?”

“Perhaps they’re busy with humanity’s defender instead. You’ll have to take care of it yourself,” Two mentally responded.

He looked toward the heavens, where an icy moon and a blazing sun fought for dominance. There was plenty of shouting involved as well, but Four wasn’t sure why.

“It looks like Six is still going at it, but I think the rest are gone. Fourteen?”

A child’s voice sounded in Four’s head. “Dealing with some fighters. I ran into some issues getting to their back lines.”

“Anything you need help with?”

“Don’t think so.” Fourteen’s mental voice sounded a bit strained, despite his words. “It’s just a few upstarts.”

“If you say so.” Four wasn’t in the practice of babysitting juveniles. If Fourteen said he had things under control, then he had things under control.

And if he didn’t, well, that didn’t matter to Four.

Having taken stock of the battle’s situation, Four smoothly made his way through the crowd towards the source of the mana arrows. If he was to salvage this situation at all, he was going to have to be efficient.

Even if he could feel the presence of the true crow god approaching.