The battle that once felt winnable was now completely shattered.

One moment Jax's side had hope. The next moment that hope got stomped into the dirt by a thousand boots.

Masha had called everyone. Her beasts had gathered the entire army. Champions, soldiers, mercenaries, monsters. All of them now standing behind her like a wave ready to drown everything in its path.

She smiled. The smile of someone who knew the game was already over.

She placed a hand on Harry's shoulder. Gentle. Sisterly.

"You can have that boy now, brother. Satisfy all your anger on him. Take your time."

But Harry's eyes weren't satisfied. Weren't relieved. They were still burning with that same raw fury. His summons were slowly being cut down by the three girls on the frontline, but it didn't matter anymore. Reinforcements had arrived. The end was near.

Behind Harry, a young man pushed through the crowd. His name was Kyle. And he had the worst timing in the history of bad timing.

"What the fuck happened to you?" Kyle looked at Harry's burned face and started holding back a laugh. "Did you put your face in a furnace or something? And why do you look like a crybaby who just got his candy stolen?"

Harry didn't respond.

Masha stepped in quickly. "Stop it, Kyle. He's really not in the mood."

"I can tell that." Kyle shrugged. "But what made our prince so angry? Did Erica failed to catch his hints again? Or did she finally—"

Masha grabbed his arm and squeezed. Hard. Her eyes told him to shut the fuck up.

Kyle looked at her confused. "What?"

Masha shook her head slowly. A silent warning. Don't go there.

Harry had turned to face Kyle. His eyes were dead. Empty. The kind of empty that came before something terrible.

Kyle saw that look and his confidence crumbled instantly.

"W-who hurt my friend?" He started pointing randomly at the enemies across the field. Panic mode activated. "Was it you? Or you? Show yourself! Who dared to hurt my buddy Harry?"

Masha had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing. The stupidity was almost impressive.

'This idiot has no idea what he just walked into.'

Harry watched Kyle's pathetic attempt to change the subject. Watched him point at random people. Watched him turn his back.

Then Harry grabbed the greatsword from a nearby summon's hands.

And drove it straight through Kyle's back.

SQUELCH.

The blade came out the other side. Clean. Brutal.

Kyle's HP dropped to zero instantly.

He looked down at the sword sticking out of his chest. Then back at Harry. His mouth opened but no words came out.

"H-Harry... w-why..."

Harry's face didn't change. "You talk too much."

Kyle's body started dissolving into blue particles.

Masha's eyes went wide. She grabbed her medical supplies from her beast and ran toward Kyle, shoving Harry aside.

"Kyle! Hold on!"

She poured a healing potion into his mouth. But the liquid just passed through. His body was already fading. The potion splashed onto the ground where he used to be.

Gone.

Eliminated.

Masha stood there, potion bottle in hand, staring at empty air.

Then she turned to Harry. Her voice was cold.

"What the hell has gotten into you? Your stupidity just cost us our friend. Your best friend."

"Shut up, Masha."

"He's gone because of you!"

Harry's voice was flat. "Don't act like he's dead. You know how this works. He's back in our world right now. Probably already playing with his cheeks. His whores. Living his best life."

Masha's eyes narrowed. "Then Erica would be fine too, right? Back there. Same as Kyle."

Harry froze.

His whole body tensed.

"You... you don't get it." His voice cracked. "Fuck. I'm done talking. I need to kill that bastard with my own hands."

He pointed at Jax.

Who was currently chatting with Zinnia.

Not fighting. Not preparing. Just talking with a stupid grin on his face like he was at a fucking tea party.

Harry's finger trembled.

"I..." His voice rose to a shout. "I WANT HIM ALIVE! RIGHT IN FRONT OF MY SHOES! DON'T ANYONE DARE KILL HIM!"

He turned to face the gathered army. Hundreds of eyes stared back at him. Some confused. Some afraid. They had just watched him murder his own friend without blinking.

Masha sighed heavily.

"Fine. Finish this circus quickly." She rubbed her temples. "Then I'll knock some sense into this idiot. God, what a busy day."

She looked at the battlefield and thought about Erica.

'Just reject him already, you stupid girl. Why are you playing with this poor soul's heart? Look what you've done to him.'

Then she raised her hand.

"Attack."

The army moved.

Over a thousand. Dead, alive, beast, champion. All of them surging forward like a tide of death.

They covered the entire front. Wall to wall. No gaps. No escape.

And god knows what skills they had. What surprises they were hiding.

On the frontline, the three girls tightened their grips.

Azara looked at Thalia. "What do we do now?"

Thalia's jaw clenched. "I don't know. There's no other way but to fight until we figure something out."

Kiera laughed bitterly. Her whip formed in her hand. Pure red. Pulsing with dark energy.

"And that's impossible." She looked at the approaching horde. "I told you it was a bad idea to jump in. But I have a solution."

She pointed at the enemy army.

"Look at them. They're all marching toward Jax. He's their primary target. Which means..." She smiled. "Our escape would be easy. I can open portals. We can't go far since I'll run out of mana, but we can get out of here alive."

She turned to Thalia. "What do you say?"

Thalia processed the option. It was the smart choice. Better than dying uselessly.

She looked at Azara. "Are you in?"

Azara didn't even glance at them.

Her eyes were fixed on the sky. Mana gathered around her fingers. The air crackled with electricity.

BOOM!

Lightning rained down on the approaching soldiers. Five of them dropped instantly.

Without looking back, she stepped forward.

"You can go. I'll stay."

Thalia stared at her back.

Then smiled.

"Looks like I'll join her in this war."

Kiera's eye twitched. "What? Are you insane?"

She saw the look in Thalia's eyes. That spark of excitement. That hunger for battle.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. I'm leaving."

She opened a portal and stepped through. Appeared on the right side. Few soldiers blocked her path. Her whip cracked. They fell. Another portal. More soldiers. More whip. This process continued until she vanished from sight, a trail of bodies marking her escape route.

Some enemies followed her. Most didn't bother.

Their target was Jax.

Half an hour later.

The battlefield was a graveyard.

Azara and Thalia stood back to back. Exhausted. Surrounded. Their bodies covered in cuts and bruises. Mana almost depleted.

But they were still standing.

Barely.

Jax had recovered. His HP sat at 1500. Better than before. Still not enough.

Beside him, Sylvie had finally collapsed. Her body gave out. Too much fighting. Too much magic. She lay on the ground, unconscious.

Roxana had fallen too. She had tried to protect them from the front assault. Fought until she couldn't anymore. Now she lay on the ground, ignored by enemies who had bigger targets in mind.

That left Jax and Zinnia.

Zinnia's hand was still on his shoulder. Still healing. Still trying.

Jax gently pushed her hand away.

She looked at him. No words needed. She knew what this meant.

The final battle.

Light gathered in her palm. Her Warhammer materialized. Golden. Heavy. Crackling with holy energy.

Jax pulled his sword.

A centaur charged at them. Massive. Fast. Its hooves thundered against the broken ground.

Jax readied his stance. Prepared for the impact.

Then he saw something strange.

Behind the centaur, a sand lizard was floating in the air. Screaming in pain. Its body twisted unnaturally.

Then it tore apart from the middle.

SPLORCH.

Two halves fell to the ground.

Jax blinked. 'What the—'

Before he could process, a figure dropped from the sky.

Fast. Powerful. Gauntlets gleaming on her fists.

She landed right on top of the centaur's head.

CRUNCH!

One punch. That's all it took.

The centaur's skull exploded. Its body crumpled face-first into the dirt. Dead before it hit the ground.

The figure stood up slowly. Dust settling around her.

Jax's eyes went wide.

"Zharina."

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