There were hundreds of monstrous creatures and flesh golems rampaging through the chaos, mercilessly massacring people en masse.

  Towering Undead titans loomed ominously, each exceeding 100 feet in height, their massive forms cloaked in layers of thick bone and sinewy muscle. With a terrifying strength, they set to dismantling the tree-like walls that once protected the city.

  Meanwhile, grotesque Flesh Golems, their large, fleshy wings unfurled, soared ominously above the crumbling battlements. From the sky, they unleashed a deadly rain of bone spikes upon the terrified civilians below, who screamed in panic and trampled over one another in a desperate attempt to escape.

  Amidst the chaos, strange, pale beings resembling elves moved with an eerie, supernatural agility. Their blades flashed in the dim light as they mercilessly slit the throats of anyone they encountered, the warm spurt of blood splattering across their faces, adding a macabre sheen to the unfolding nightmare.

  His eyes darted upwards, catching sight of a woman enveloped in a chaotic storm of raw, untamed lightning, engaged in a fierce aerial battle against a bizarre, pale figure that resembled an elf from ancient legends. The atmosphere around them buzzed and surged with palpable tension and electric power, each spark illuminating their forms in a flickering dance of light and shadow.

  The lightning woman, evidently skilled in long-range combat, found herself disadvantaged as the pale elf closed the distance with terrifying, preternatural speed. With a savage, triumphant shriek that pierced the charged air, the elf tore the lightning woman apart, her maniacal laughter echoing through the devastation below, a haunting symphony of victory amidst the chaos.

  “OAKBEND IS OURS! Slay the living, we need more brothers and sisters for the horde!” Marcus looked over at Gorian as a single tear rolled down his cheek as he looked over at his friends.

  “Hey Lads, we need to leave. We're gonna have to warn Druid’s Grove so they can prepare to launch an offensive. Druid’s Grove will need all the time it can to gather troops and call back some of their most powerful soldiers back to town. Follow me I know a tunnel underneath the town that leads out.“

  With that they continued following behind Gorian as he led them through back streets as the red skinned bowmen pulled out his bow before an arrow made of pure fire appeared on his string as he fired and killed several ghouls that appeared making short work of them.

  Minutes passed as they made their way towards what Marcus imagined was the guards house as they bust their way inside as guards men and women rush out of the building looking to defend their homes. Gorian continued inside not saying a word as he led them past officers yelling out orders.

  They made their way into the basement with various basic gear as they continued on to a large pile of boxes as Gorian quickly shoved them out of the way, revealing a large hatch. The Katana braided Hume named Jasmine moved to open the latch as Lowian jumped down and lit a torch.

  “Gorian, how fair does this tunnel take us out of the city?” The yellow man spoke as he continued moving forward with the rest of the group as Gorian began to turn around to face Jasmine.

  “It will take you out of the city. I am going to find more people but you need to go to Druid’s Grove. I am not gonna let some piss ant, flying bitch destroy my home without saving as many people as I can.” Jasmine turned around and looked down at the hatch as Lowain and others began to climb back up the ladder to get Jasmine.

  “Beloved! Let me fight with you. I am not gonna let you fight alone! “ As he looked at the woman with long braids he heard a chuckle from above the hatch. Gorian wrapped his arms around Jasmine and kissed her deeply on the lips before turning cupping her face in his hands and smiling.

  “I don’t think I will be home for dinner this time. This is my home and my people. I will try and save as many as I can. I will not allow you to die when you can provide information needed on recent frontier developments and help them form a counterattack.” There was a short pause before he heard the dwarf man continue.

  “I promised your father when you took my last name that I would protect you till my last breath. Beloved, go be happy and avenge our home to protect Mikaela and Helena. I love you.”

  With that he heard him rush off at the door as Lowain held a sobbing Jasmine as he continued to try and claw towards what Marcus imagined was her husband. Makashi grabbed Jasmine’s lower half and with Lowain carried her away as she cried, begged and screamed at them to let her down as they continued down the tunnel.

  They ran for what seemed like 10 minutes as they reached a large hatch. As they unlocked it they tried to push up the hatch but until Lowian, Makashi and Marcus pushed up did they realize that the hatch was literally underneath a tree as they climbed out of the tunnel.

  As they all turned back to see the town Marcus glanced at Jasmine as stood there with her hand on her Katana watching as Marcus then saw creatures of nightmares enter the town. There were 50 foot tall Undead Monsters that began to slowly but surely rip the wall down as there had to be tens of thousands of undead rushing into the city. Luckily the tunnel put them 3 miles past the wall and out of town.

  “Let's go to Druid’s Grove and let everyone know.” Marcus said as he ran forward leading the way into the dark as they ran to the road and continued full sprint until they had reached the next night. He did make sure to grab his bag along the way as they were about half way to Druid’s Grove but even with his high constitution he was exhausted as they set up camp for the night.

  The group huddled tightly in a circle, their breath visible in the cold air as Makashi struck a match, igniting a fire that crackled fiercely, casting flickering shadows on their weary faces. Marcus moved with urgency, distributing food boxes to each person, the silence between them thick and heavy. They ate with grim determination, taking turns to stand guard through the oppressive darkness. As the first light of dawn crept over the horizon, Marcus's heart ached at the sound of Jasmine's muffled sobs, her grief cutting through the fragile morning stillness like a knife.

  Stolen content warning: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences.

  As they continued to make their way to Druid’s Grove days passed with little to any incident as they finally reached the gates. Jasmine quickly walked beside the line before reaching the tollmaster as he looked at her and immediately nodded.

  “Welcome back to the city, Mistress Jasmine. How can we help you?” Jasmine held up her hand and said quickly.

  “Send a runner to fetch my father, Lord Vikas. I will be at the estate. Its Urgent ” The Tollmaster nodded and yelled at a girl no older than 12 to find Lord Vikas as she walked past the Tollmaster along with the rest of the group.

  “My father should be able to get free in about an hour or two. You will be able to rest and recover fully at my family's estate as I return home. “ After about 20 minutes of walking they reached the thickest part of the roots where he could see this was where the wealthy lived. As they reached Jasmine home several of the guards nodded at her and let her inside they were greeted by a short looking Halume man with pale skin and grey hair as he bowed to Jasmine.

  “Your mother is home.” The man spoke as Jasmine left he held up his hand and motioned for them to follow him as he led them to several bathrooms as he asked for their clothes as they each went into their separate bathrooms and handed him the clothes through the door.

  As Marcus looked at the bathroom it looked like something that a prince would have. Everything was made out of this beautiful white stone with golden inlay. As he stepped inside the bathtub the water began to immediately pour as he sank into the bubbling water to try and clear his head from this mess. Just as he was going through the process Guin spoke up in his mind.

  “So what is your next plan of action? Are you going to retrieve the clarity helmet? Do you intend to help this woman?” Marcus' thoughts turned dark as he shot up out of the tub.

  “I will annihilate every last one of them. These vile creatures have ravaged these people, stripping them of everything they hold dear, and now they are beginning to raise dead mothers and children corpses to fight against their will? Fuck that! Fuck them! These monsters deserve to die and I hope they burn in hell!” He slapped his hand against his chest as his tone began to rise.

  “I need more levels and I need more power. I can’t do anything but run and let a better man buy my life with his right now. How the fuck can I be a pillar of humanity when I run away like a coward? I will never run again. If I was stronger, Gorian would be here with his family now. Come hell or high water I will put each of these motherfuckers in the dirt!”

  “Hmmm, are you a schemer or a warrior?” Marcus felt a rush of barely held back rage before he felt Guin embrace him and continue to whisper so close to his ear he could feel his body shiver.

  “Then why are you here? Scheming won’t gain you levels or increase your abilities.” Marcus spoke again with his mind a lot more calm.

  “What do you want me to do? Train?”

  “No, I want you to kill more monsters and level up to 40. If anything you will need much better gear if those monsters come here. While I agree Lesser and Minor gear are a decent placeholder the efficiency scaling is terrible for anyone who isn’t a grunt. Honestly you need to reach level 40-50 if you actually plan on being effective and not just a soldier. “ Marcus thought a bit skeptic of him doubling his levels with how much more kills he needed.

  “There is nothing close that could give me that many kills.” Guin's presence felt even closer as he could feel her lips brush against his ear lobe.

  “Yes, you need to leave Druid’s Grove and head east towards the Lizardkin Frontier and grow. Undead that attacked Oakbend will need at least a few weeks converting some of the more powerful people into undead so they can attack Druid’s Grove. Now that you are level 18, stuff that would kill normal people I am not too worried about. Once you reach level 25 that will trigger the next stage of your evolution. These people plan to scheme and try to defend the town. You can’t do anything about that. What you can do is run 2 days towards the Lizardkin frontier and stay there for two weeks. Either you will rapidly grow in levels or die.”

  Guin rested what felt like her head against his shoulders and continued to speak.

  “The Lizardkin are no different than the Undead or any other monster groups. They all seek dominance over all other races of people. You have to kill them all. Rend them limb from limb, scatter their corpses so that they know what it feels like for parents to pull the bodies of their children from collapsed buildings, for broken families and refugees to walk for miles in despair with nothing.” Guin got even closer to his ear as he felt her face press up against his ear.

  “They don’t deserve to get the happy ending, to walk away knowing they won. Let them know what it feels like to lose everything. Humans that achieve greatness seek to carve away a little place of safety for themselves and the people they care about. THERE IS NO SAFETY! THERE IS NO PEACE! If things do not change humanity will collapse and if you don’t then who will? “

  “Everyone deserves Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. I will become what you want me to be or die trying. I understand now. There is no chance of peaceful cooperation or understanding. If Monsters only understand violence and fear. Then that’s the language that I will communicate with them.”

  Quickly got up and dried himself off with a towel before noticing his gear was cleaned and washed by the door. He quickly got dressed and went to the front door as Makashi asked where he was going. He informed him about picking up gear.

  With that he continued on towards the shop and as the shopkeeper pulled out the band he activated as Marcus held it in his hands.

  It was a thick cloth like band the color of a silvery blue that as soon as he put it on and attuned to it continued to shift its colors in place slowly.

  “God forgives.”

  “I don’t.”