The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

I watched the arrival of the Cridian army while sitting on the top of my wall, and to be honest, I was not impressed. From here, I could sense their frustration, anger, and even fear. For the last two days, they were attacked day and night by my wolves. During the day, Dire Wolves, and now when they got closer, even my Tundra Wolves were attacking the enemy army, slowly depleting their strengths and morale. But the nights were far scarier than ever before. The Shadow Wolves and Shadow Fenrirs lurked in every corner, making even the tiniest of shadows a deadly trap. The Cridian army reached the unspoken boundaries of my castle, marked by the Fog of Avalon. Strangely enough, the Cridians seemed to be unfazed by the view, or more precisely, a lack of any. Their camp was placed near the forest but outside the range of most of my siege engines, except for one of my largest trebuchets that was placed nearest, but I decided to not show my enemies the range of my weapons.

From their initial numbers of one and a half hundred thousand soldiers, less than one hundred thousand managed to reach the foregrounds of Avalon. Thirty thousand soldiers were lost by the Cridians, even before they mobilized their forces, as Ban's and Drake's soldiers served me now. Over twenty thousand soldiers had died in the endless attacks executed by my wolves. I was wondering how many of them were going to see the walls of Avalon.

"Master?" Sebastian materialized behind me and bowed his head with his right hand over his heart. "The Dragonkins managed to mount the wagons successfully, and they are on their way to Avalon."

"Thank you, Sebastian." We both observed the distant army. "How about our little present for the Mountain Dungeon?"

"Arani, who is already returning, said that the hobgoblins are still fighting with the mountain goblins and trolls. While sustaining heavy losses, our forces seem to be winning overall."

"Very well. I must congratulate Bob later." I jumped down from the rampart and slowly turned around. My mind was occupied with the incoming battle. "One more thing, Sebastian. To whom belongs that murderous aura?"

"That would be King Korkas, Master. He is rather energetic..."

"Indeed... He can't flee the battlefield."

•••

"The main camp will be here. Send scouts immediately inside that damn fog!" Korkas stabbed the spear into the ground, marking the place where he wanted his camp.

"But the wolves..."

"Shut up! I want to know what's inside that fog!" Korkas's angry voice interrupted his advisor.

"At once! I give them one hour!" When the shaking man left, Korkas turned his face towards Frid. "Useless bunch."

"Yeah... Why did you even bother bringing them? We could deal with that brat dungeon on our own." Frid spit on the ground.

"Not this time, Frid. Luia would need materials. Do you feel it?"

"A barrier?" Frid responded after a while, before he whistled and rubbed his chin. "And a big one at that... Still, we should break it."

"No doubt, but remember, we can't use too much of our powers now. Those morons are afraid of us, but even we can't contain them if they turn on us."

"You are right... Where's Kneht and Luia?"

"They fuck around as always..." Korkas scratched the back of his head. "Should we just push the mob inside and see if that works?"

"Naaaah..." A new, female voice joined them from behind. "We sniffed a bit in the fog, Korkas. Our little fuckers surely are going to lose their way in that fog. This bullshit is magic in nature."

"Luia is right, Korkas. First time I've seen something like that." A large knight with scars on his face took out a smoking pipe and put some fresh herbs in it.

"Okay..." Korkas shrugged. "Can you blow it away, Kneht, Luia?"

"I am a knight, not a magician. I know you are old but never expected you to also be senile." Kneht lit the pipe and inhaled the smoke.

"You are an idiot, Kneht... You forgot I ordered you to babysit our 'greatest court magicians'?" Korkas crossed his arms. "Luia?"

"If that was just a fog, I would have already cleared it. This shit isn’t going anywhere until the dungeon wants it here. So no way, Korkas." She shrugged. "Unless… Well… I can't promise anything."

"Fine... Then frontal attack. That dungeon must have spent a fortune on this fog, so it's probably at its wits' end. A frontal assault should do the trick."

"I don't know... Where is Ban? Drake? Also, those strange wolves that attacked us all day?" Frid asked. "What if that dungeon has more mana than we think?"

"Who is Drake? No matter... We should attack before it understands we mean business and uses that mana to build something troublesome." Korkas pointed at a guard who was standing nearby. "You! Gather the commanders. We are attacking in two hours!"

•••

"They are attacking in two hours," Ban replied after Sebastian finished conveying the message.

"How should we respond?" Drake's pride was hurt a little when he learnt that King Korkas didn't even know who he was. "I assume we will just wait and shoot them from behind the walls, right?"

"I am in shock..." I admitted while I looked at the map. "I would never expect that someone would deliberately charge into the unknown, knowing the reputations of any dungeons. This is going to be a massacre..." I looked at Drake and nodded. "Colonel Drake is correct. We don't have to do anything, because their assault is going to crash over the walls of Avalon. They are going to lose all their teeth if they hope to chew through my enchanted stone."

•••

Korkas's party was slowly approaching the center of the fog, hearing from time to time the characteristic woosh of an arrow and short screams of dying soldiers. The fog was so dense that even Korkas started doubting his plan, but he couldn't just order the retreat. That's why they approached in tight square formations of one hundred soldiers each. Almost a kilometer deep into the fog, Luia suddenly laughed and unleashed her powerful magic. The ancient and forbidden language made the surrounding fog run away at first, but then suddenly it condensed around Luia as if the fog tried to suffocate her. Her hoarse voice finally exclaimed the last incomprehensible word and the entire Fog disappeared. Her triumph and laughter, however, were short-living as she saw the view the fog had been obscuring.

"Oh, fuck..." She looked with uncertainty at Korkas, who sounded the retreat.

"Fucking piece of shit!" Kneht deflected an arrow aimed at Korkas while the four of them were already fleeing.

The panic and despair spread like a fire among the ranks of Cridians when they saw the unblemished and majestic walls of Avalon. Currently, they couldn't do anything and any step closer would mean their death. From ninety-nine thousand, three hundred and fifty-four soldiers who began this assault, barely eighty-three thousand lived to see the fifteen-meter tall walls in front of them.

•••

"That was unexpected..." I murmured but fortunately, my Fog was not completely destroyed. "It's showtime, boys and girls! Ban, Drake, I’m counting on you!"

"Yes, Your Highness!" They responded in unison, watching me disappear from their headquarters.

I teleported to the gatehouse, from which I could observe the retreating Cridians. The sound of a suddenly unleashed barrage of ballista bolts, which were more of the size of a javelin than normal bolts, sounded like hundreds of angry hornets flying towards the fields. The payload from both the catapults and trebuchets was just incredible. The bigger and smaller boulders flying in the air crashed over the Cridians, shattering the barriers and killing thousands of fleeing soldiers. This was a massacre so big that it exceeded any of my expectations. The snow turned red and the fleeing army soon managed to get out of range of my siege engines. Some Cridian soldiers were still standing as the ballista bolts pinned them standing to the ground, changing them into grim monuments. This victory was a bitter one, because the most dangerous person fled, or so I thought, when the gate I was standing on shook from an insane impact.

"Korkas..." My eyes went wide when I saw the lonely figure in front of the gate that was chanting a spell. "Impossible," I muttered when he conjured a fireball that smashed open the gate and threw me back.

I blinked away, already wielding two of my swords, and I decided to engage him personally. He was already inside the gate, unfazed by volleys of spells and arrows showering him, which made me realize that he was not an ordinary human. With a single cut of his sword, he cut through another portcullis as if it was nothing. His magic shield was deflecting everything my legionaries threw at him, but it was my turn now. I blinked right behind him to attack his blind spot, but he blocked me with skill and countered, pushing me away.

"Ahh... Finally, someone interesting!" His voice echoed in the gatehouse corridor where we were alone, since my warriors had already left.

"I can't return the sentiment." I prepared to attack once more when the darkness suddenly claimed me. "What are you?" I managed to ask when the world around me exploded.

I was thrown back and hit the fragment of the still-standing wall, but Korkas was slowly approaching me. He was smirking and stepped towards me slowly through the ruined gatehouse, while I was lying in the dust and rubble. I was glad I ordered my wives to retreat to the safety of the Palace, because that monster could actually hurt them. My healing runes kicked in and healed my broken bones, but it was too late, too little. I saw the one who managed to overwhelm me as he was coming to kill me with a cruel smile on his face, but then I saw through him. His very presence was an anathema, and I shivered, almost in a panic. I quickly closed my hand around the grip of my sword and turned that panic into anger. He should not exist. This was not a mortal man. I barely could feel his twisted and corrupted soul that curled somewhere in the darkest pits of this creature. I was going to die. I knew it when it looked at me with a cruel smirk and raised its black blade, writhing with the black lightning. But when his thirsting blade jolted towards my head, a flame forged from the heart of a star smashed right into its chest. I felt immense pain all over my body and understood it was the sharp pain of rapid regeneration.

"Theon! We must destroy him!" the familiar voice of Zephyr sounded right behind me, and strong arms raised me from the half-melted enchanted stones.

"It's not a human, Zephyr! It's so powerful." I activated every single rune of my battle gear and prepared to fight, anyway.

The flash of thunder clashed with the darkness of an unworldly creature. It was fast, but now, when I was in combat mode, I could see Zeus was exchanging blows with it. This combat will end here. Zeus moved with focus and was on par with or even surpassing Korkas. We will kill it. Or it will kill us all. I spit my blood and summoned my blades, all of them.

"Field of execution. Limitless blades." My voice was cold and clear.

I removed the artificial limiter between my mana pools, unleashing hundreds of blades that surrounded us. The Veil of Darkness, a powerful barrier, closed around us, preventing anyone from getting in or out as long as I fueled it. In the meantime, a blue light shone around each blade that slowly circled us, forming four large rings, one under another. Korkas recoiled and disengaged from Zeus, who jumped back to join me and Zephyr. He took a deep breath and, while still looking at our opponent, took a battle stance.

"You said you won't fight against Mortals."

"This is not a Mortal, Theon. He is a Void Born." Zephyr was still activating buffs and support magic while he summoned his bow. "A creature so dangerous that we were obliged to destroy them. To think that one of them was hiding right under our noses..."

"Hahahaha... Stop muttering under your breath, fallen godling." Korkas laughed and pointed at me. "I see you have no idea how fucked you are..."

I made a step forward, disappearing in the bright flash to materialize just in front of Korkas, who was already turning his sword to protect his blind spot. He managed to notice his mistake, but was unable to react in any way. My sword pierced his chest, and I left it there, while one of the swords that was rotating around us disappeared, only to show up in my hand. In a fast and merciless series of blinks and charges, I hacked, slashed and impaled Korkas, leaving the fifty swords that shredded his body. With the last effort, I blinked towards Zeus and Zephyr, who were standing where I left them, still on high guard.

"Finally, someone who can play..." Korkas trembled and fell to his knees, coughing blood. "You are indeed interesting. See you soon..."

His presence vanished, so the three of us slowly approached his body. To our disappointment, we found the body of a regular Cridian Soldier. Zephyr relaxed and stopped his buffs.

"That would be too easy. It was just a spectre." He patted my shoulder in a friendly fashion. "Don't worry, you got him real good. He will need some time to return and can’t run far from here."

"I'm afraid that was only the beginning," Zeus sighed and sat on the large boulder. "Fucking Chaos..."

"If not for you two, I would have died earlier. Thank you." I sat heavily on the ground, activating the rebuilding of the gatehouse. "He could have killed me before I met you... Why has he even bothered with bringing people?"

"He must pretend..." Zephyr created a second barrier and told me to finish my skill, which I instantly did because it was burning my mana like crazy. "I won't even guess what is driving him and why he sold his soul to Void and Chaos. But I am sure he is part of the plot to take over this world, so he can't just walk around like that. No... He must pretend, so people won't revolt."

"He ran away. I don't know what I need to use in order to kill him if he won't come to me..." I gritted my teeth angrily. "It's no use... I can't rebuild the gatehouse since there are enemies nearby."

"Fall back then..." Zephyr looked at the Ratkins that came running with huge logs and they started building a palisade. "The fuck?"

"Even a palisade will be something against regular soldiers..." I explained and slowly stood up. "So that's just a fraction of power I am up against, huh?"

"Yes. It looks like they are ready for round two." Zeus pointed towards the field where the survivor of a previous assault formed a battle formation, while their mages focused solely on shielding them.

"Looks like..." I sighed, and we teleported away.

I had a new thing to worry about now...