The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

"Sirrr... Are you sure we should do this?" Drake scratched the back of his head. "We kinda... Never tested that."

In the distance, the Bernans were just discovering that fighting the Praetorians is nothing like fighting with a Legion.

"Oh, you gotta be kidding me." Ban looked at his deputy incredulously. "I don't care; this is too badass to pass up. No one is going to stop me!"

"I... Agree."

"Okay, boys and girls, LET'S GIVE THEM HELL!" Ban yelled and slammed his visor down while the entire battalion behind him shouted in response.

The darkness inside his armour didn't last long. A dim blue light lit up the inside as he heard a sharp, cold, but pleasant voice. "Welcome, Lord General. System boot-up. Activating reinforcements... Done. Activating offensive boost... Done. Support and communication systems... Online. All controls are yours."

"All units ready. Tac-net active," another voice, sounding like it belonged to a softly speaking woman, made him crack an excited smile as his enhanced vision returned. At this very moment, Ban felt like a God of War. In front of him was detailed information about everything he wanted, displayed in summarised form, able to be expanded at any time. He also had access to the strategic map with each Sentinel Guardsman and his regular Guardsmen. As a bonus, every single enemy was marked by a red dot. To say that he was as excited as a small kid in a toy shop was the understatement of the year. He could hear excited giggles from his people, but he barely held his laughter himself.

"Sentinel. Activate shield." Ban ordered, and a shining Aegis shield instantly flashed over his left arm. He extended his right arm, and as he closed his hand, his fingers firmly gripped the guardian spear that had manifested from thin air. "This is so cool..."

"Sir?" Drake asked, laughing slightly.

"Nothing!" Ban felt a blush spread across his face. His voice gave a metallic echo as he spoke, which gave him additional reason to be excited. "The Sentinels will lead the way. Second and third Guardsmen Battalions, you will follow us and secure whatever manages to surrender. All remaining Battalions are to protect the Middle Castle."

"Yes, Sir!"

"FORWARD! TO GLORY!" Ban started running and leapt down from the pinnacle of the gatehouse.

•••

Marques Fagnar Ras-daia wasn’t having a good day. His soldiers were terrified, morale was low, and they could only push forward. He already had lost five thousand soldiers, and no one could tell him where the Divine Hur'zhun was. However, against all his instincts, they managed to secure a gatehouse to the enemy's capital. That small victory was bitter and depressing as he saw the second, even more impressive walls that guarded the rest of the city. He saw thousands of enemies on those walls and almost fell into deep despair.

"Sir... We managed to regroup our forces. We still have forty-nine thousand six-hundred fifty-five soldiers. What should we do?"

Before he could reply, a sharp whistling indicated the enemy’s counterattack. The previous soldiers of Avalon were unbelievably tough, skilled, and well-equipped. Their discipline was superb, yet they had managed to beat them. However, these new soldiers, wearing black and gold armour, were even better. They attacked from the right flank, and their movements simply blurred. Their swords cut in half the shields and bodies of his soldiers, and if he continued to do nothing, his lines would collapse.

"Mages!" Fagnar ordered, knowing that his mages would soon run out of mana. "Focus on support magic!"

The support magic had to suffice. The buff effects started glowing around the soldiers, which allowed his forces to finally stand against the wave of Avalonians. He gritted his teeth in disbelief, seeing how his most elite forces were pushed back, barely holding the enemy's advance. However, his heart skipped a beat upon noticing the warning about the raid boss. The Dungeon itself was sending its scion. He trembled, thinking what kind of monstrosity would be unleashed when something landed near him. He looked down and saw one of his Paladins, dead and mangled as if his veins had exploded. But he couldn't see a monster capable of doing something like that. Then he noticed her. A slim and pale woman whose beautiful face looked straight at him. Around her was only death; none of his most outstanding soldiers could lay a finger on her. He grimaced, eventually understanding that she was the scion. The blood magic she used to kill his soldiers was proof that she was a higher-tier Vampire. Maybe even a Vampire Lord.

The second he realised they must destroy her for all costs, someone grabbed his shoulder and turned him towards the other, more distant gatehouse. That was the exact moment he noticed figures jumping from an unbelievable height and leaping across the wide moat beyond it. With loud thuds that echoed despite the sounds of the battle nearby him, the Dungeon was sending other monsters to aid the fighting Avalonians. Hundreds, if not thousands, of dark figures jumped from the walls and formed companies that rushed toward their positions faster than anything should have been able to do. Before he could issue any orders, the first companies were closing in. He quickly raised his whistle and sounded the warning about being flanked, hoping that would be enough to give his people a chance to survive that charge. While slower than the winged riders that had decimated his forces earlier, the monster knights were fast enough to outrun just about anyone. Despite his worries, his well-trained veterans understood his warning and formed a battle line to face the flanking enemies. His archers, useless before in the confined space of the gatehouse and corridors leading to the ramparts, could finally do something. A rain of arrows was shot at the rushing enemies, but they just raised their arms, and Fagnar's eyes went wide in shock, seeing the impressive aegises shrugging off the arrows.

Then, the enemies raised and pointed their sword staffs toward his soldiers despite being several leagues away...

•••

"Offensive systems unlocked. Activating targeting net." Ban grinned as he saw crimson circles, which, according to his armour, were called crosshair reticles, appearing on the enemies in front of him. If he correctly understood the information given by his Living Armour, all he simply had to do was raise his blade.

As he did so, a few blue magic circles started swirling around his weapon, and instantly he recognised the Magic Minigun skill of his King. He activated it for a split second, hurling three Arcane Bullets towards one of the Berna's Paladins, killing him on the spot. It was indeed that skill, albeit scaled-down and less powerful; nonetheless, it was still devastating. His soldiers followed in kind, sending short bursts of Arcane Bullets, each time killing or severely wounding their targets. The enemy shields were punctured like sheets of paper, but before their lines collapsed from the internal panic upon realisation of how inferior they were, his soldiers reached melee range. Ban stopped, and his retinues formed a protective formation around him.

"I see you have good fun, Lord General." He heard Lady Morrigan’s amused voice despite her being far away.

"Indeed, but I must admit that whatever past our King had, and the wars he fought in, were something different..." Ban issued orders as quickly as he could think of them. His soldiers were shredding the lines of the Bernans, who simply couldn't keep up with fighting them. "According to Sentinel, everything about him reflects the memories of the King... Heh. If you can communicate like that between all nearby denizens of His Majesty, then we never stood a chance back then in the first place."

"Of course..." she agreed softly. "One day, the King may tell you the story about his wars and the technology of his old world."

"I hope so..." He saw the course of the battle unfolding on the map displayed by his Living Armour and directed his soldiers wherever they were needed.

"Anyway. Thank you for arriving so fast, Lord General."

"Oh, please. You got this."

"Maybe... But there are an awful lot of them." Morrigan complained bitterly.

•••

Hur'zhun was panting heavily and barely standing straight. I was sure that if not for Irene and Luna, I would have been in the same condition as my opponent. I could pretend I was still fresh for now, but I wasn't sure how long that would last. Hur'zhun was becoming desperate, and I wasn't willing to fight someone who had nothing left to lose. I Blinked again, slashing straight through his Phantom Fire Blades, and Hur'zhun decided to dodge my attack, rolling out from under my blade. He managed to stand up, but he groaned from the effort. Instead of backing off, he leapt forward, slashing at my torso from below. I avoided the cut, but he landed a solid kick straight at my belly, which hammered the air from my lungs. However, he was too exhausted to use that moment of advantage. We exchanged a few more blows, but I also started feeling fatigued. I had to end this.

"Battlefield of Armageddon. Limitless blades." Thousands of my swords and a black, unpenetrable barrier surrounded us.

Hur'zhun made a colossal effort and attacked the barrier with an impressive magic bolt. However, it didn’t even leave the faintest of scratches.

"Ha... Haha... Hahahaha!" Hur'zhun dropped his battle axe and started laughing hysterically. "You fight like a god... Just kill me."

"Surrender, Hur'zhun. You don't have to die."

"I will die anyway. Without faithful people who believe in my divinity, only darkness awaits..." He picked up his weapon and took a deep breath. "Why do you want me to surrender? Do you think I will be another pawn in your hands? Or maybe you think that I will be so thankful that I will start supporting you willingly?"

"I don't believe in any of this. I know fully well that you will harbour a grudge. I know fully well that you could be dangerous." Hur'zhun stared at me silently, trying to rest as much as possible. "However... You seem to have forgotten about the Void and Chaos Gods. They are there. They want to destroy this world. You are right. I don't trust you even a little bit. But I also know that you would never side with them."

"So what? Do you believe that the enemy of my enemy is my friend? Do you think I can..."

"I don't really care if you die here or you surrender. If you die, your heart will rest near Jukk'nala, generating mana that I can assure you I will spend to ensure that the creatures of Void and Chaos won't destroy this world." I interrupted him. "If you surrender, I will profit from that somehow as well. So trust me. I don't care either way."

The mana around Hur'zhun swirled and solidified as he leapt forward and swung his axe. I deflected his blow with a slightly disappointed sigh and swept away the solidified magic fire. I saw the shock in his eyes, but before I could cut his head off, he transformed back into his bull form. Because of that, he lost only his impressive horns from the swipe of my blade. He tripped and fell heavily, letting out a very painful moo.

•••

Fagnar tried to rally his troops, but there was nowhere to regroup. The exit from the castle, which should have been basking in the sun, was covered in shadows. The ear-piercing warhorn of the enemy's colossal war engine quickly cured all his delusions about what was waiting outside. The enemy mercilessly pushed on all fronts, and Fagnar knew they were done for. If only they could regroup with the Great Hur'zhun and receive his buffs and guidance... With a loud snap of thousands of soldiers standing at attention, the entire battlefield drowned in silence. Fagnar looked around, suddenly disoriented, trying to make sense of the situation.

"Surrender."

An order carrying absolute authority and knowing no disobedience forced many of his soldiers to drop their weapons. He couldn't blame his soldiers because he barely stopped himself from laying down his sword. He heard the hushed whispers of his people and terrified murmurs that spread like a fire among his soldiers.

"Where is your commander?" the voice asked, and Fagnar felt the need to respond.

Again, he barely forced himself not to comply with the announced orders. However, he stepped forward, and as he left the relative safety of the gatekeeper's office, his heart skipped a beat, and his eyes went wide in terror. The young man, wearing a golden crown, was sitting on a bull lying on the ground. Without a single doubt, it was Hur'zhun. While beaten and bruised without his horns, the celestial guardian of Berna was still alive. Around Hur'zhun's neck was a heavy and wide metal collar, and his legs were chained. Even from such a distance, the spymaster could sense the dreadful spells and runes of incredible power. One of these runes was way too familiar and filled the heart of Fagnar with despair. It was a slave collar, far more powerful than anything he had ever seen in his life.

"Your golems fought with my Titan, and they lost. You have fought with my soldiers, and you have lost." The man, obviously the King of Arcadia, looked straight at him, and Fagnar trembled. "Your god fought with me, and he lost. I give you all one last chance. Surrender. and I will let you live. Fight, and your corpses will be buried in this dungeon."

The soldiers around him started dropping their wielded weapons en masse. Fagnar couldn't raise his voice to give an order, but it wasn't needed. They had lost. It was over. He dropped his own sword and slowly collapsed to the ground.