Ahzi was not alone. Close on her heels was a familiar sight. A nightmare.

  Two pyres of green fire pierced through the gloom. Then, an enormous stag skull erupted through the haze, followed by a veritable mountain of petrified, moss-encrusted wood. A cloud of death followed in its wake, disturbed only by tattered wing flaps the size of one of the winged ships above. The only flaw in its visage was the stump marring one of its forearms.

  The Black Wind had arrived.

  “Did you think you could escape me, little mouse?” Each word fell like a hammerblow upon him and Dante clapped his hands over his ears. It did not help, the words reverberated jaringly through his bones. “Did you think that killing lessers would turn the tide? Foolish vermin, our ranks are endless. Ahsmati, to ME!”

  The last command was roared and a visible wave disturbed the dust and ash. Dante collapsed to his knees in pain. He could feel the buffer from [Mana Body Reinforcement] filling. He was not the only one afflicted, many other soldiers had also fallen. Pauwna seemed to have the worse of it, he could see a trickle of blood dripping from her ears.

  It was so bad that he nearly missed the thousands of fainter roars that followed. In the distance, over the lip of the trench, was a cloud raised by the stampeding of a hoard. Overhead, the air became thick with flying Ahsmati, visually pushing back the cordon of ships.

  For one moment, Dante considered fleeing.

  “Hear me, my people!” Where the Black Wind's voice had been painful, Ahzi’s soothed, cutting straight through the pain. With a pop, sound rushed back and Dante realized that her voice was enough to heal them. “Never once has our Empire ever yielded! We shall not do so this day! Our spirit is unassailable, our strength undebatable, and victory undeniable. Syluv, Moeris to me! For the Empire and everlasting glory!”

  Ahzi launched a solid blade of purifying at the Black Wind, who retaliated with a torrent of black mist that seemed to eat away at the attack. It was a pitiful thing by the time it reached the dragon and they shattered it with a contemptuous slap of their tail. The poisonous mist continued unabated back at Ahzi. Right before reaching her, a whirling vortex spiralled down from the clouds and scattered the attack. Flying right alongside it, hardly visible, was a second figure.

  The dragon roared again, angerier this time, and a visible scattering of emerald blood rained from the sky. Dante was confused about what had landed the strike until the Black Wind dove and revealed a third figure behind it, this one wearing armor painted black. Now, the Black Wind found itself in the middle of a triangle formed by the three figures.

  Head swinging back and forth to glare at each of its enemies, it bellowed: “Cowardly wretches! I should have expected Sūnsians to fight dirty! Have you no shame! No matter. You shall rot all the same!”

  In response, Ahzi coldly stated, her voice taking on an otherworldly quality, “[In my Desmense, the land itself denies outsiders]”. Then, all three of them advanced on the beleaguered Black Wind and the battle began anew.

  That was all of the time Dante and all of the W?lians had to watch that fight before the oncoming tide of Ahsmati struck. The ground visibly shook and it was difficult to keep his footing. There was a titanic clap of steel that sounded like a bolt of lightning had detonated right beside him. A body whizzed by, missing him by inches, and hit the trench wall hard enough to form a crater. The thrown woman picked herself up, seeming no worse for the wear, cracked her neck, then stepped back into the battle.

  Dante inched towards the back of the trench, having no desire to be near that tumult. Fortunately, there was a surplus of more suitably built soldiers who stepped to the front and formed a rag-tag shield wall. Dante was not alone in taking a step back; many of the less martially inclined followed him. He used an intersection as cover and tried to get his bearings.

  It seemed like some point along the way, he had been separated from his squad. He did not fancy his chances of finding them in this mess. Dante kept his crossbow up, but it was so damn hard getting a shot. Everyone was just too damn fast!. Any that were slow enough for him to shoot just ended up deflecting the shot anyway. He contemplated using his last enchanted bolt but decided to save it for an emergency.

  Instead of fighting, he resigned himself to dousing anyone that was on fire. That kept him plenty busy, there were a significant number of such cases. [Overloaded Warding Flesh] proved adept at extinguishing flames, though it gave mixed results for anything else. Dante would bob and weave through the backline to get to them, where the combatants were less likely to accidentally pulp him.

  It was during one of these dashes forward when something unseen struck him, throwing him against a wall. There was some item in his hands, faintly warm and wet. He looked down. It was a head. Her sightless eyes looked through his, her features twitching as if trying to speak. Dante dropped it with a horrified cry.

  Some instinct caused him to dodge and an axe sailed through the space he had been standing. Dante whirled around and was caught off guard. One of the humanoid Ahsmati, clad in piecemeal armor, was riding a giant lizard. The same type that pulled the Empire’s carts. The rider spurred on it’s mount and it thundered forward, widening the hole it made in the battle line. Straight towards him. [Temporal reactions] activated and he dived to the side. The dodge was successful, but now he was on the ground. The beast raised a foot to stomp down on him and he rolled away. As he made one revolution and faced the leg again, he saw that he wasn’t going to make it. If it weren’t for the additional slowdown provided by the ability, he would have been hit already.

  A boulder shifted underneath its neighboring leg, causing it to just miss him. His roll was stopped dead as the foot instead pinned his clothes. Down came an axe and he was out of options. It came closer, slowing to a crawl, inches from his eye.

  Something yanked his collar and his uniform tore. He went skidding across the ground, still facing the beast. It had been Pauwna who had saved him. Taking advantage of the missed strike, she shredded the rider and then focused her attention on the beast. She looked different from the last time he had seen her — her armor had formed sabatons and greaves. It seemed to be empowering her. At her usual top speed, she registered as a blur but now she might as well have been teleporting. It only took her a few blinks of an eye to reduce the creature to a mewling mess. She materialized in front of him.

  “Let’s get you back with the others, huh?”

  Dante nodded mutely and then let himself be pulled at a blistering pace through the crowd to his unit. The others had occupied a small portion of the front lines and seemed holding. The dead Ahsmati here were piled so high that the trench had increased in height be a few feet. Especially in comparison with the other sections, which Pauwna would periodically leave to reinforce. Which was likely how she found him.

  Now that he had a few seconds to breath and observed, he confirmed something that had been troubling him. The Ahsmati were having abysmally bad luck. An Ahsmati warrior would dodge and then would find the rubble under their feet shifting, allowing a strike that would otherwise miss to land. Wind would blow wayward spells and arrows back into their targets. It was as if the world had turned against them, which he supposed Ahzi had commanded.

  What a terrifying ability, to change how the world works. She must be such a high level. I wonder what the leader of the W?lian Empire was like.

  Truthfully, Dante couldn’t do much here. He switched back to using his crossbow, having no other option. Fortunately, he had scavenged a nearly full bag of bolts that almost fit his crossbow. They were a little loose and would fly preemptively if he didn’t use [Aura Manipulation] to lessen the repulsion around it. During the next few hectic minutes, he figured out a compromise. The trick was to shoot the already dying smaller Ahsmati. That way, he was able to land some finishing blows and save his teammates the effort of finishing them off.

  Level 4 [Tund Ahsmati] has been slain

  Level 7 [Uvaun Ahsmati] has been slain

  Level 7 [Uvaun Ahsmati] has been slain

  Level 6 [Tund Ahsmati] has been slain

  Level 9 [Uvaun Ahsmati] has been slain

  Calculating overall participation: 6%

  [Crossbow] has advanced to Level 5

  [Specializations] are available

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  That participation level rankled, but he was forced to admit it made sense. Dante was doing little more than putting the Ahsmati out of their misery. As for the specialization, that could wait until later when his attention was not so sorely needed. Things were turning in a bad way. While his team had killed scores, they were beginning to slow down.

  Fighting was incredibly hard. Not only is the entire body is constantly in motion, but is also straining against other people. Ones attention and focus must be at full power at all times so that you don’t miss attacks. Even trained soldiers can only last a few minutes under such conditions. So even his super human teammates were beginning to flag.

  What should I do if we lose? I refuse to die here. Not even for Sūnva or Pauwna. I need an exit strategy. It’s a shame I never trained [Chameleon]. I bet the higher levels would have been helpful … Wait, what's that rumbling sound?

  Dante looked to the sky where he beheld a half dozen of the winged airships swooping towards the battle line. Or were they crashing? They were moving concernedly fast. Dante threw himself to the ground as one of them brushed the top of the trench, knocking a few stones loose and smearing several Ahsmati into paste. Several bolts of lightning lept from shipboard cannons he, chaining from Ahsmati to Ahsmati while miraculously missing every friendly soldier.

  One airship didn’t pull up fast enough and crashed into the ground, sending wooden shrapnel everywhere. Several shards stopped a few inches from his skin, stopped by his repulsive field, then were scattered to the ground. Dante saw movement from one of the Ahsmati right next to him and shot it. It kept moving, climbing to its knees and hissing at him. Panicking, he began bashing it with the butt of the crossbow until it stopped moving.

  [Brawl] has advanced to Level 5

  [Specializations] are available

  All around, similar scenes were taking place. It was gristly work and the air was soon filled with the sound of death rattles. The gutters literally overflowed with blood and the stench was so thick in the air it felt humid. Although untouched by the carnage strewn about, Dante thought he would never be clean again.

  Looking left and right, he saw that their numbers were sorely diminished. Perhaps about half were no longer on their feet and a good percentage of those were dead. Healers were already picking over the fallen, but it was already apparent that many would never fight again. One way or another.

  He was distracted by increasingly desperate roars from above and looked up to see that the Black Wind was faring poorly. It had acquired several cuts many feet long and its wings were tattered. Ahzi and her attendants had boxed the dragon in. It was a fierce battle and stray strikes from it would kill dozens of combatants from either side. It had already noticeably deformed the landscape in their vicinity. Dante was grateful that the battle was taking place far, far away.

  Ahzi and her attendant’s strategy was very simple. One would strike and when the Black Wind would turn to deal with the threat, another would strike from behind. One with a titanic sword Dante was very confident they and one with conjured storms of lightening and sleet. It was very effective and the only reason the battle had not ended yet was because the two attendants struck much more weakly than Ahzi and the dragon always kept an eye on her. If it had continued that way, Dante thought eventually they would have defeated the monster.

  Alas, it was not to be.

  A horde of flying Ahsmati broke through the hole left in the flying ship blockade from the previous maneuver and streamed toward the ongoing fight. They mobbed Ahzi and her allies, piling on so thickly that they obscured them from view. The Black Wind seized on the opportunity, diving towards the storm mage and seizing them in its talons. Then, they executed a midair spin and hurled the mage at the apex of the maneuver. The unfortunate soul rocketed across the landscape until they struck the ground, launching dirt and rock hundreds of feet into the air and adding a new crater to the landscape. The Black Wind made a break for it, flapping furiously to gain distance. It angled towards the rip in the barrier, clearly seeking to flee.

  “Do not think that your fleeting stand here means you have won. I will be back and you have not the strength to survive the second time.”

  Isn’t this the second time it’s attacked? I am starting to get the feeling it’s not very smart. Besides, it’s hard to take it seriously when it gives lines like that.

  The swarm of Ahsmati ignited and Ahzi emerged from the ashes. Seeing the dragon fleeing, she gave chase. The attendant who had not been knocked into the next century followed closely behind. It became clear that Ahzi was faster, but it was not enough. The Black Wind crossed the barrier and Ahzi hesitated at the boundary. Her attendant caught up and appeared to be exchanging words with her.

  “Don’t do it,” whispered Pauwna. It was so faint that Dante only heard her because he was standing right next to her. She didn’t seem to notice, so utterly transfixed she was on Ahzi. “It's what he wants. Think it through.”

  Ahzi crossed the barrier and resumed her chase, leaving her attendant to throw up their hands and then follow.

  “Dead gods mercy perserve us.” Pauwna took a deep sigh, then turned to Sūnva who was knelt over an unfocused Svōl. “The First Princess crossed over. Without all of her guard. Again.”

  Sūnva closed her eyes and mumbled something under her breath. Opening them again, she said: “I’ll put it up the chain of command. Prepare to sorty. Rest while you can.” She patted Svōl on the arm, then walked off to where the other officers had congregated and were having an intense discussion.

  It sounds like the princess is a bit headstrong. Not really a quality I would want in a leader. Now, she is going to make us chase after her.

  Dante took a seat with a heavy sigh, opened his water skin, squeezed it to overcome his repulsive field, and drained most of it. He had been running around this entire battle and his legs were killing him. Also his lungs and head. Honestly, leveling up had not seemed to increase his stamina for some reason, despite his attributes showing otherwise. Speaking of, he remembered that a few things had leveled earlier. It would be a welcome distraction from all this. He opened his notifications and checked out his recent gains.

  Sharpshooter (Uncommon)

  Arbalist (Uncommon)

  Martial Arts (Uncommon)

  Adept Improviser (Uncommon)

  Say what you will about this war, but it is doing wonders for my level. These Ahsmati have got to be at least a few years old, so I am accomplishing in a month what took them years. Crazy. Ah, I am getting side tracked again, let’s not waste time.

  In Dante’s opinion, this was perhaps his most underwhelming ability selection yet. He did not even get anything above uncommon. Though Dante supposed that he had at least managed to upgrade the rarity of [Brawl] if he went with [Martial Arts], which had started at common. Which was a strong argument for picking it, though he was still not sure exactly what benefits increased rarity offered.

  By comparison, he was a lot more conflicted over his crossbow options. All seemed good, but in different ways. In essence, it seemed to be a competition between firepower, accuracy, and utility. After some consideration, he concluded that he was definitely lacking in one of those.

  He made his selections.