A flock of hundreds of massive, rhino-sized crows beat their wings against the cold afternoon sky.

A dark river of summoned creatures swept over the Verdant Valley, led by Reidar, Aldric, Helga, and Kara riding at the front.

Each rode their own crow, the wind whipping at their cloaks and armor. Far below, the land was a tapestry of recovering green scarred by the still-smoldering remains of the Crimson Briar Patch.

Far below, a glistening, moving mass of green and grey scales carpeted the ground. It was the entire Mire-Crawler population, thousands strong, sweeping the valley floor. They moved as one, a living tide of hunger, devouring the scattered, leaderless remnants of the valley's other monster packs.

He guided his crow closer to Aldric's mount. "I'm breaking off," Reidar said over the wind. "I'll head for the Mire itself. The main horde is yours."

"Understood." Aldric raised his fist, signaling the change to his wing. "We'll clear them before we hit the tunnels."

"You're sure you can handle four thousand Level 100 monsters without me?"

A flicker of Lorian's disdain crossed Aldric's face before the calmer persona reasserted itself. "Yes. The plan should work. We've done this many times, and with the crows we can kill them safely. Even if we are forced to get down, we will have decimated them from the sky first."

Reidar tightened his grip on his mount's feathers. "The Feral Packs won't last long, and with me not there, you won't have another chance to get the skill."

Aldric nodded, his golden hair whipping in the gusts. "We'll be fine. Once they're in range, we'll hit them with everything we've got. They won't stay alive for long."

Reidar's gaze drifted across the horizon, where the swarm of Mire-Crawlers undulated like a serpent of doom. The sight unsettled the raid members.

His crow banked and swerved, the wind tearing at his hair while he weighed what came next.

"Go. We'll handle this," Aldric said.

Reidar hesitated, then nodded. "Be careful." He urged his raven toward the Mire, leaving the main force to its fate.

The huge bird banked, and it peeled away from the main flock. The wind howled past Reidar's ears, carrying with it the distant echo of Helga's obscene shouts.

She began bellowing orders to prepare for the fight.

Alone now, Reidar pushed his mount higher, aiming for the mist-shrouded borders of the Mire.

Its stench reached him even at that height. Decay, standing water, and something else. Something was wrong.

The crow descended through layers of mist. Reidar's eyes swept the Mire's expanse, searching the twisted landscape below.

Movement caught his attention—a shape too large to be anything but what he sought.

Armored scales covered its body like heavy plating. Its limbs were as thick as ancient tree trunks, and its tail carved deep grooves through the mud with every swing.

The System tag on it shimmered. It was not an 'Alpha Mire-Crawler' but something else.

—[Tyrant Mire-King - Level 130]—

<There.>

His crow touched down on solid ground, a rare stretch of earth firm enough to hold him and the raven. The bird's talons sank only inches deep. Reidar dismounted, his boots squelching in the wet soil.

He raised his wand, and his army answered the call.

Thirty skeletal warriors materialized in a series of bone-rattling cracks. From the deeper gloom, two shadow guardians coalesced, and they began their ambient mana siphon.

Five hulking bears from his Feral Pack manifested with low growls. Then came the spectral mages, and lastly, a crackling storm of forty portals sprouted the elite lightning Rift-Sprites.

Eighty-seven creatures. Even if their levels were around 120, it was enough to kill that thing, especially since the spectral mages were tier 8 monsters.

<But they are not enough to flood the chittering tunnels.>

The king wasn't the real problem.

The Chittering tunnels were the objective, and they were vast. He needed numbers. An ocean, not a small group of fighters…

"Damn it," he cursed. He couldn't share his new skills, not yet, since the proficiency was low. There was only one option, but one that would make his forces quite weaker.

He focused, pouring his will through the link he shared with every summoned being at his command. He pushed the blueprint of a simpler skill.

Summon Vorathid Foragers.

A ripple of understanding passed through his creatures. As one, they turned inward. From each skeletal warrior, each bear, each mage, and each sprite, a new wave of life erupted.

His creatures responded. The Skeletal Warriors, Shadow Guardians, Bears, and Rift-Sprites each conjured roughly one hundred of the insectoid swarmers. The Spectral Mages outdid them all, producing two hundred fifty each.

Within moments, thousands of Vorathid Foragers chittered and clicked around his position.

The ground itself seemed to come alive, a churning sea of chitin and clicking mandibles that stretched from the edge of the Mire to the distant hive entrance.

Reidar's forces had become a tide of Vorathid Foragers, their numbers so vast they seemed to blur together into a single, shifting entity.

A single mental command sent them surging forward, a flood of scouts and skirmishers pouring toward the distant entrance of the Chittering tunnels. Reidar watched them go.

Their levels were low, a full thirty beneath his own, but they didn't need to fight. They only needed to locate the target, and even if they engaged in battle, their levels would remain at 90. They were bound to be strong enough to kill a bunch of humans that couldn't have reached level 80, right?

The rest of his army, the stronger, more powerful units, halted in front of the Tyrant, a wall of muscle, magic, and steel waiting for his command.

As the last of the foragers vanished into the undergrowth, Reidar turned his attention back to the Tyrant.

Reidar followed their collective gaze. The Alpha Mire-Crawler rose to its full height, mud cascading from its flanks. Text materialized above its head, glowing.

—[«Tyrant Mire-King - Level 130»]—

The creature roared, the sound rolling across the Mire like thunder.

Reidar drew his sword. "Forward."

His army marched.

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