Chương 35: Chapter 31 - Game Over?

It turned out that the "ride" the Grandmaster had arranged for them at the end of their 6-month long training camp was the fairies again. Jared wasn't sure how he contacted them, but he was grateful they didn't have to walk all the way to wherever they were going. At least, he was grateful after he got over the nausea that said teleport gave him, which lasted for almost 15 minutes that time. Unfortunately, that wouldn't be the last bit of nausea that Jared would have to deal with.

"We have to take that thing?" he grumbled as he looked at the large boat that Shadow Leader had pointed out.

"The quest states that the [Demon Lord's] ritual is in the northern sea," Shadow Leader replied.

"How else did you assume that we would get there?"

"I was hoping for something more… magical, I guess," Jared said with a sigh.

"I'm not a fan of boats… or the water." Leader chuckled lightly.

"Then you should be grateful. It seems that the [Demon Lord] came out of hiding for his plan, otherwise, we would have had to travel underwater if we wished to reach his lair." Then, he frowned.

"However, the circumstances behind that change are less than ideal. What we have gleaned from our scouts and [Messages] with the Atlanteans is that most of them have been trapped inside the dimension as he vacated it. That is most unfortunate. We could have used their help." Jared looked out at the dozens, if not hundreds, of other boats that were being readied and then looked back at Leader.

"You think we need more people than this?" he asked.

"Against the [Demon Lord] and whatever defenses he has prepared, I would take any fighter we can get," Leader replied immediately. Then, he nodded his head towards one of the other vessels.

"Even them." Jared looked over to see a procession of winged people with halos marching around groups of horned red people whose hands were bound together.

"Wait, bro, are those demons?" Jared asked.

"Aren't those guys supposed to be on the other side?"

"Yeah, and I've killed a good many of them myself," Shadow Fighter stated as he came up to them.

"I still don't think bringing them along is a good idea, no matter what they say."

"That was not our decision to make," Leader sighed.

"It was primarily up to the angels, and this was the first known time that the demons had surrendered. If they are to be believed, which they should not be except under intense scrutiny, the [Demon Lord] has betrayed them." Leader shook his head.

"He killed off their leadership at the same time that he killed Alder and our top members, and his stated mission of destroying the world goes against what they want." Leader snorted.

"It would appear that they wish to keep the people of Placeholder alive so that they may torture us, and the [Demon Lord's] plan is a betrayal of that." Jared looked back over at them. Not awesome. He thought. Leader clapped his hands.

"However, that is beside the point. I brought you here so that we could see the ship before we depart in a few days. Most ships are broken out by nation, but this one will be special. Nominally, it will be jointly staffed by members of Dryadal, Besti, Pumil, and Gram, but in reality, this ship will be flying covertly under the flag of the Hero's Shadow. It will be our full contingent, and not a soul will step foot on it, even a cook or a cleaner, without approval from our highest levels."

Jared whistled as he looked back at the ship.

"Wow, I didn't realize there were that many of you guys, awesome." Leader chuckled.

"In truth, we will struggle to fill the entire contingent. However, times of desperation call for us to give our all, and we shall make it work." He paused.

"We should get back. You should enjoy your last few days of resting on solid ground while you are able. The seas can get rough." Jared wasn't worried. He was a [Hero]! He could handle a little rough weather.

There were several times during the trip that Jared felt like he was going to die. Apparently, he still got just as seasick in another world as he did back home. However, he made it through with encouragement and comforting songs from Eliza, and some [Restores] when things got really bad. They arrived in sight of the island with about a week left on the timer.

"Based on reports from Gram's previous assault on the [Demon Lord's] island, we should be prepared for magical attack any moment," Leader stated as he stood at the front of the ship and looked out at the island with a spyglass.

"Our magical shields should hold, but I am most concerned about the artifacts guarding the shores… which I cannot locate. Either the [Demon Lord] has hidden them, moved them, or he has determined that something else is a better defense, which is a concerning thought."

"What did the artifacts do?" Jared asked.

"They autonomously cast spells at the nearest target," Leader replied.

"And they cycled through elements of different types so they could not easily be defended against." Jared shrugged.

"That doesn't sound too bad."

"They were responsible for almost a majority of the casualties," Leader stated dryly.

"And they were a majority, should you include the explosive traps that he rigged their power sources with."

"Oh," Jared replied, slightly embarrassed.

"Not awesome. Especially if he's replaced them with something better."

"We can only wait and see," Leader replied.

"Gather the others. We must be prepared to get you ashore and punch through the [Demon Lord's] defenses."

"This was too easy," Leader stated as they landed and unloaded their ship of all troops without a single spell fired.

"M-maybe the [Demon Lord] isn't home?" Song asked. Leader's reply was just a raised eyebrow.

"R-right. Silly thought. System says he's here, so he has to be," she continued nervously.

"Maybe it's because we're early?" Jared offered as he looked up at the timer, which still had a week left.

"Perhaps," Leader frowned.

"But that seems doubtful." He pulled out an artifact, that Jared recognized as basically a magical walkie-talkie, and spoke into it.

"[Hero] battalion has landed. Ready to-" Then, the artifact buzzed with static before another voice broke over it.

"Testing, testing, is this thing on?" came Titus's voice. Jared looked at it in shock as Titus continued.

"For those of you who've braved the trip to my island, welcome! As you may have noticed, I have taken over all of your communications, including your special encrypted lines, Gram. Don't think I didn't know about those-""He is right," Leader scowled as he pressed various buttons on his artifact.

"Every channel is broadcasting him."

"And I've decided to make them into my very own radio station for this final battle! Speaking of which, you all arrived a little bit earlier than anticipated, so why don't we go ahead and push things up a bit." Jared's horror was matched on everyone else's faces as the timer suddenly skipped down from a week to a single hour.

"And with that all out of the way…" Titus cleared his throat.

"This is KRDL, otherworldy hits," he said in his version of a radio voice.

"We've got a real treat for you, a winner of best rock song coming up, right… now." As he said that, a few things happened. Leader called for the squad to move and started running further into the island. The sound of hundreds, if not thousands, of monster cries echoed from the direction they were running. And Jared recognized the opening riff of the song immediately.

"7 Nation Army by the Whitestripes [1]!" he called out to Song.

"What's it about?" she shouted back.

"I don't know!" he replied.

"But it starts by saying that he's going to fight off a 7-nation army!" That entire exchange was needed so that Song could do her job. She was supposed to do her best to counter Titus's songs, and that was easier if she knew what they were about. Apparently, the automatic translation didn't work with his music player. Even more unfortunately, it didn't seem that his help would be that useful.

Right as the first words of the song came, the entire squad looked up and saw dozens of giant spells heading in their direction.

"Shields up! Protect the [Hero]!" Leader called. There was nowhere to run. Giant fireballs, boulders, glaciers, and solidified whirlwinds rained down over the entire beachhead. The group bunched up, put their elemental shields above them, and then watched tensely as the spells landed home and scattered other groups of soldiers like bowling pins. They got lucky for most of it, but that luck ran out as 3 of the spells seemed to have locked onto their position.

Jared could tell through the squad that Leader had wanted to change his order to "run," but it was too late. The spells came crashing down… And were diverted off to either side of the squad, kicking up massive amounts of sand in their wake. Jared looked around him, shocked that they had survived the barrage, when he saw their tiny saviors.

"Save our world… [Hero]," one tiny fairy pleaded with a gasp… and then she was suddenly swallowed up by pink crystal and fell from the sky.

"I'll… do my best," Jared said solemnly.

"Eyes up, [Hero]!" Leader barked.

"Enemies incoming!" Jared didn't have time to mourn the probably dead fairy. Monsters of every type were pouring out of the woods, and the squad soon found themselves engaged. They cut a swathe through the wolves and bears, and only the chimeras posed a bit of challenge due to their agility. They were making good progress, and Jared was confident until a giant-three headed dog burst through the trees at the beach's edge.

"The song's buffing it!" Song shouted out. Not awesome. Jared thought. There was only a single line that fit a hound from Hell, but it just meant that Titus could force his spell through with even the slightest of connections. The even less awesome news was that the giant black dog had set its sights on them and barreled through both friend and foe as it charged. With unspoken commands, the party quickly spread out, and Armorer tossed a vial of blessed smoke.

Leader slipped in behind the three-headed beast and hit it with a [Backstab] but was too slow to get out of the way as the hound spun impossibly fast and batted him away like a toy. Archer, Sorcerer, and Mage started peppering it from range even as Brawler and the other melees moved in. Brawler tried to grapple one of its legs, but it reached down with one of its heads and ripped him off before flinging him dozens of feet away. Jared had seen enough. He readied [Sunder] and then unleashed it with a thunderclap.

The hound howled in pain but didn't seem even close to dead.

"Sorcerer, get the angels over here!" Leader shouted as he rejoined the fight after a quick [Heal] from Restorer.

"They can't!" Sorcerer shouted in between casts of [Ice Bolt].

"The [Demon Lord] did something! They can't fly!"

"Son of a dave!" Leader growled in a way that ensured that it was a curse. Then, after Jared blocked a claw swipe from the giant beast with his sword, it leaped back and took a deep breath.

"Shields!" Fighter called. Song was too slow to pull hers out as the jets of black flame came out of each beast's mouths. Fortunately, Jared was fast enough. He dove for her and held her close as they both took cover behind his shield. The temperature got uncomfortably hot as the flames blew either side of them, but the shield held. They were safe.

"Th-thanks," Song said when it died down.

"Don't mention it," Jared said with a wink.

"If you two are done flirting, we could use some help here!" Fighter shouted as he ducked a paw swipe and then dove to avoid a stomp that could have crushed a boulder. Jared rejoined the fight and helped grab the beast's attention, but things were not looking good.

"Restorer, call for the angels!" Leader said.

"I can't! They're all already down here!" Restorer called back.

"Not all of them!" Leader replied as he [Shadow Stepped] in and knifed the large beast multiple times.

"Call Mishael!"

"I can't! He died less than a year ago!" Restorer protested as the party dove for cover from another flame breath.

"Do it anyway!" Leader barked. Jared wasn't sure that was a good idea, but as the Heavens opened up with a single shaft of light shining down on the beach, it seemed it must have worked anyway.

"When the faithful call-," came a raspy but still powerful voice as an angel appeared. He had seen better days. Even at that distance, Jared could see the gashes in his clothes and the missing feathers from his wings. And apparently whatever Titus had done to make the island a no-fly zone affected that angel too as he suddenly began plummeting towards the ground. There was at least one upside to that. The beast was in the way.

"Brawler! Keep that hellhound in position!" Leader barked.

"You got it!" Brawler shouted as he ran forward and grabbed the dog's leg again.

"Stay!" The dog seemed incapable of shaking him with just the leg, so it reached down with its head once more… And Jared's [Sunder] was off cooldown. There was a thunderclap as he slashed through the head that was moving to attack Brawler, and the monster reeled in pain. And then the follow-up attack landed. The angel crashed down from the sky like a meteor, his sword slashing through the length of the beast before he landed in the sand, sending huge volumes of it shooting up and around.

"Heaven answers," the newcomer finished, his voice still raspy. The angel completely grabbed the monster's attention. All three of its heads swiveled towards him, and they breathed out a jet of flame. The angel's wings swung out in front of him and covered him, and the flames failed to penetrate.

"Summoned creature," the angel stated through the sound of the continuing fire.

"For your crimes, face the [Judgment of the Light]!" he decreed. A dozen small swords made of golden light appeared from nowhere and pierced into the beast. It howled and staggered but seemed unable to move. Then, Jared's attention was drawn upward where a giant blade of light, like a second sun, fell from the sky. It landed and the monster was obliterated in a flash of light.

The angel collapsed to the ground immediately after, and as the song died down from all the "radios" the other monsters started pulling back.

"It would seem we have a reprieve," Leader stated.

"Let us regroup, get Mishael back on his feet, and then move out." The other members of the Hero's Shadow started moving towards their position as Restorer cast some heals and gave Mishael some potions. However, their break wouldn't last that long.

"And that was 7 Nation Army by the Whitestripes. What a great song, right?" Titus asked through the comms.

"And of course, I had to choose that one because, if we include angels and demons, there are, in fact, 7 nations worth of armies here today. Isn't that such a coincidence?" Jared was starting to find his brother's radio voice grating. Along with the casual disregard for all the people he had just killed. He was slowly losing any qualms he had about taking his brother down. The continued talking gave Leader an idea about the communicators, though.

He hucked his communicator off into the water and encouraged everyone else to do the same. This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere. Unfortunately, the voice was still projected to everyone.

"Anyway, well done to everyone who's survived up to this point," Titus said.

"You've proven yourself to be among the strongest in Placeholder. Unfortunately, you've made one grave mistake."

"Everyone be prepared," Leader muttered as he sent orders to get weapons out through the party.

"This cannot be going somewhere good for us."

"You came here thinking that I'm your only Enemy [2]," his voice finished as the next song began. Jared knew that something was wrong as soon as the first notes played. Everyone grabbed at their head or ears in unison, but then Jared looked up as the spell finished its work. He was surrounded.

"Stay back!" Jared shouted as he pointed his sword out, warding the others off. His enemies were doing the same.

"I should have known you were a traitor all along, Fighter," someone said. … wait…He wasn't just someone. Jared knew him. He was… Leader. Leader couldn't be an enemy, right?

"I'm not the traitor here, and you know it," Fighter spat back.

"I can't believe how long I followed you when you were in the [Demon Lord's] pocket all along." The two clashed weapons. Sword against knife, but neither was landing a hit. Jared kept his distance. Something was wrong. The Grandmaster: [Hero], you need to fight it! It's a spell and it's trying to turn you against each other. You need to fight it! The paranoid part of him told him that the words were not to be trusted, but instead, he tried to push.

"Come on," Jared muttered as he focused.

"This isn't right. This isn't right. This. Isn't. Right!" As he continued to push, he felt something almost pop, and his nose was suddenly bleeding. A lot of words also appeared in his vision as he gained a new skill, [Grit], but he ignored all of that. The mind control didn't suddenly go away, but he could at least fight it now. And that slight breather was enough for him to finally take a look around. He almost wished he didn't. Things were absolute chaos.

Everyone was turning on each other, and it wasn't just the music that was doing that.

"For the [Demon Lord]!" came some cries as some of the fighters pulled out dark red cloaks from nowhere and began attacking anyone and everyone.

"The demons are turning on us!" some panicked soldiers shouted, which hadn't been true, but the demons weren't exactly going to sit back and let someone kill them. That meant the demons and the members of the Children of Flame were now adding to the chaos, but that wasn't the end.

"Treachery from the dwarves!" was another cry, and it was followed by others about elves, humans, beastborn, and even one soul who said that about the angels, even though the angels seemed to be the only ones keeping their heads. And the reason for that was simple. Illusions. Titus was not only projecting fears into their minds, but he was showing people the very things they were afraid of. Jared had to get ahold of things, fast, or the entire army would destroy itself.

And there was only one person he thought could help with that.

"Song!" he shouted as he sprinted towards her, dodging between the members of the Hero's Shadow who were now fighting each other. He pushed past some, shoved others out of the way, and finally found Song with her shortsword drawn and two people facing her down.

"P-please, just go away!" she said, her sword hand shaking.

"It has to be her!" one of the fighters said.

"She's responsible for the music!" the other agreed. His sword was overkill, so Jared tackled one into the other and shoved them to the ground.

"Song, are you okay?" he asked, turning to her.

"Stay back!" she shrieked as she pointed her sword.

"Back!"

"It's me," Jared said slowly, putting his sword away and showing his hands.

"I'm not gonna hurt you."

"Th-that's just what you want me to think!" Song said as she pointed her shortsword at him.

"But you're with them! There's no other reason you would have-" Jared didn't have time for this. He stepped forward and wrapped her in a hug. She fought it, but he whispered.

"It's me, Eliza, I would never hurt you. The song is messing with you. You need to fight. Then you need to help me get the others to fight it." She struggled a bit more but then stopped. After a few more seconds, she whistled a comforting tune softly to herself.

"By the Grandmaster," she whispered. Then, it was her turn to wrap Jared in a hug.

"Without the oaths, I would have stabbed you!"

"It's okay," Jared said as she cried, and he stroked her hair.

"But we need to get the others before they hurt each other. We have to move now." She nodded and the two were up and running towards the closest party member. Brawler.

"I'll do what I can with music!" Eliza called out over the sounds of clashing metal and the screams of the dying.

"But you need to remind them of their oaths! Make them try to hurt you so they'll remember why they can't!" Fortunately, that was just about as easily said as done. As soon as they reached Brawler, he tried to tackle Jared and then paused in confusion when he couldn't. From there, getting him back to himself was simple. Then the three moved on and became four, then five. Soon, Jared was standing between Shadow Leader and Shadow Fighter as they tried to murder each other, and that was the last of the group.

However, they couldn't avoid combat that entire time. There were too many bodies pressed into the space, and sometimes it was impossible to get to their next party member without taking down some soldiers in between. The party kept it to non-lethal, but that couldn't be said for anyone else in that mad melee except the angels. Speaking of the angels…

"We must get you to the [Demon Lord]," Mishael said as he rejoined the group.

"Things will only get worse from here unless we destroy the source of this spell."

"Agreed," Leader replied.

"We can use this chaos to slip out and punch a hole in his defenses. We have fewer numbers than I would prefer, but we shall have to make do." The party started running for the forest, avoiding combat as much as they could, but, unfortunately, Titus wasn't done with his songs.

"And that was Enemy by Imagine Dragons and JID," he stated as the song closed out.

"But now as you look out at the bodies that lie there by your own hand, realize that maybe you shouldn't have been so careless. After all, this next song by Michael Jackson is a real Thriller [3]!"

"Frick!" Jared shouted as the song started, not that that was the word he was going for.

"What is it?" Leader called back as they continued running for the forest.

"If this world has zombies, we're about to be fighting a lot of them!"

"The plan is unchanged!" Leader said after a moment's hesitation.

"Punch through and get to the [Demon Lord]!" That was easier said than done. With the armies all busy fighting each other, the monsters had been given time to group up in one spot. Jared's party had to fight through thousands of densely packed monsters to make any headway, and as soon as they started getting somewhere, they finally found where Titus had put those turrets.

"We can't get through all of that!" Fighter shouted as they found their path blocked by dozens of turrets ready to shoot spells at them as soon as they came out of the tree cover.

"Well, we can't go back either!" Jared shouted in frustration. The army behind them had been mostly zombified. The only reason they weren't currently up to their necks in undead was one, perhaps unintended, side effect of the song. And that was that the zombies seemed more likely to shuffle and do choreographed dances than to actually chase the party down. That didn't matter too much, though. They were still trapped on both sides and had no way of getting to Titus. Or did they?

"Little fairies!" Jared shouted.

"I don't know if you can hear me, but we really need to get to my brother, and fast!" Then, as if one had been there all along, which was maybe the case, a fairy appeared right in front of him.

"Doth thou understandeth thine request?" she asked softly.

"To meddle in the ordinary tis to invite retribution. Doubly so, for we shalt beeth forsaking mine own queen's decrees."

"Please," Jared begged.

"We can't do this without you."

"Thine request shalt be the death of us," she stated. But then, after a moment, she sighed.

"However, tis better we greet death 'pon our own terms." She turned away from Jared.

"Come, my sisters!" she shouted.

"Cast thine spells and be joined unto the story of our world's death or salvation!" Dozens of fairies appeared from nowhere and started casting. For some reason, the spell felt multiple times "louder" than even the spell that had gotten them from the volcanoes to the port town. With one final grunt of exertion, the fairies finished their spells, and Jared's entire party was teleported to a clearing.

It was unremarkable, except for the figure standing in the middle with shiny black armor, with an ipod sitting in the middle of the chestpiece.

"I warded this entire area against teleportation, but I guess the fey aren't to be underestimated," Titus said as he pressed a button on the ipod and the music died.

"Though, it would seem they paid the price." He said with a lazy gesture, and Jared finally looked back to the fairies. They were falling to the ground, one by one, and being consumed by pink crystal.

"Tis… up to thee, [Hero]," Jared's fairy stated as she was the final one to fall. Jared looked down at them and then back up to Titus, who was shaking his head.

"Though, Secondavia, I am going to have to remind you of your oath here. There was no way that you didn't catch that." He shrugged.

"Oh well, at least now you should be down to so few fairies that you actually can keep track of them. Do so, or remember what the consequences will be." Jared didn't know who he was talking to but figured he had heard enough.

"Titus! Bro!" Jared started.

"It's me! Why are you doing this? Talk to me!" Titus laughed.

"Let me save you some headache here, [Hero]. One, I am not your brother. Two, this only ends with one of us in the dirt." He glared.

"And, three, it is not going to be me." Jared was taken aback. The [Demon Lord]… wasn't his brother? That was good news, but something seemed off. Fortunately, the angel picked up the slack while Jared thought.

"Brave words, [Demon Lord]," Mishael stated.

"However, even you knew better than to fight both a [Hero] and me at once. Surrender now and stop this madness."

"Mishael, Mishael, Mishael," the [Demon Lord] tsked.

"I have to admit. You were a bit of a headscratcher. You're right. I don't want to fight both you and the [Hero], so I looked for all sorts of ways to defeat you beforehand. A sneaky [Lightning Spear]? Making sure you didn't get brought back at all? I mean, by all the rules I know you shouldn't be here now." He paused and grinned.

"But I expected you would make it here somehow. And fortunately, I also remembered that I didn't need to beat you again. All I needed to do-""Spellcast incoming!" Shadow Mage warned. The entire party braced, and some activated their elemental shields. But it didn't matter. The attack wasn't elemental.

"-was [Close the Loop]," he finished with a tap of his staff on the ground. Mishael looked like he tried to dodge, but whatever spell it was, Mishael was just… gone. The [Demon Lord] strolled forward, staff in one hand and sword in the other, and the party warily gave space.

"You see, I actually won the first time I fought Mishael," he said casually.

"I was in a time dungeon, and he was called forward from the future, but I never figured out where, or I suppose more accurately, when he came from." He chuckled.

"And then I figured it out. I had to be the one who sent him back. I was the only one strong enough to use that level of time magic! And that means that I know precisely how he'll come back-" The [Demon Lord] paused as a battered angel appeared on the ground, and then he quickly drove his sword in, turning the angel into white light.

"-prone and near death." Jared felt under pressure. He was slowly giving ground, as was the rest of the party. However, he finally figured out that too was something he could fight against. He pushed back, and the party stopped its slow retreat.

"Ah. Figured out your aura, did you?" the [Demon Lord] asked.

"About time. Well, I guess it wouldn't be a final battle without it. Speaking of final battles…" He thrust his staff into the ground, and a dark cloud, crackling with lightning, formed a huge dome around them.

"We have one last song for you tonight, folks!" he said, dropping back into his radio host voice.

"And as a special treat, this battle will broadcast to all of Placeholder! Watch and despair as your last [Hero] is beaten down to Warrior [4] by Disturbed." He tapped some buttons on the ipod, and then as the guitar and drums kicked the song off, he burst forward. How is he that fast!? Was all Jared could think as he practically disappeared, without even using a [Flash Step]. Jared barely brought his sword up to a guard stance, and it was nearly wrenched from his hands as the [Demon Lord's] blade slammed into his.

Jared was too slow to stop the follow-up attack, and he took a nasty cut to the leg that hurt a lot, even through his armor. Fortunately, the rest of the party wasn't just standing idly by as that all happened. Leader went around behind the [Demon Lord] as the others surrounded him, and Shadow Armorer popped some smoke. At least, that was the plan that was made through the squad link.

Instead, the [Demon Lord] sidestepped the knives that went at his back, disarmed Fighter with a clang of metal on metal, and then blasted the smoke bombs out of the air with back-to-back bolts of magic. He then turned to face Leader, and Leader was immediately on the defensive, barely able to dodge or parry the incoming sword swings. And there was nothing he could do as the [Demon Lord] pointed his staff to his feet and unleashed a ball of black flame that burned and clung to the whole party.

The only good news was that the [Demon Lord] had his back to Jared now, and Jared wasn't one to play fair when the fate of the world was on the line. Better to finish the fight right away. Jared thought through the smoke and flame. He charged [Sunder] and exploded forward with a thunderclap that he was sure would cut the [Demon Lord] in half. Everyone present was shocked when his blade stopped dead on the [Demon Lord's] armor, and the electricity seemed to course downward into the ground.

"Nice try," the [Demon Lord] mocked. Then, without even bothering to turn around, he elbowed Jared in the stomach with an [Earth Strike] and then back kicked him away with a burst of air. Jared tumbled away, more shocked and confused than actually hurt. It… didn't work? He asked as he quickly got back to his feet. He needed to get back in there immediately before the monster did something drastic. Unfortunately, he was already too late for that. The [Demon Lord] suddenly vanished and reappeared in front of Armorer.

Armorer frantically called for help through the party, and Sorcerer, Mage, and Archer replied immediately with attacks on the [Demon Lord's] back. He dodged the arrows with simple tilts of his head, blasted the magic bolts out of the air with his own, and then quickly broke Armorer's weak guard.

"Healing! Now!" Leader shouted as he, Jared, and Brawler charged.

"Power of light, restore health to my ally-" Restorer started. But Armorer took two more attacks in just that amount of time, the final of which was a sword stab directly into his chest. He went limp and was dying, but that was okay because he wasn't dead yet. Restorer's spell would… Be too late. The [Demon Lord] cast a black bolt of magic from his staff that knocked the dwarf clean of his sword, and he collapsed to the ground.

System: Shadow Armorer is no longer eligible to be in your party System: Shadow Armorer has left the party The entire party stopped and stared for a moment in horror as Armorer was slain in the blink of an eye, and all that was left was his zombified corpse. It staggered upright, and the [Demon Lord] beheaded it.

"I find it best to be thorough when dealing with the [Hero's] party," he stated.

"No last-minute healing. No wondering if they're dead." He smirked.

"Though, my fight is really only with the [Hero]. Anyone else is free to run now if you wish." A wordless yell echoed through the clearing, and Jared only belatedly realized it was coming from his own mouth. His yell was joined by the others. Jared swung his sword recklessly, and the [Demon Lord] parried it with his own. He easily dodged the ranged attacks that followed, and he knocked Fighter's sword to the side with his staff.

The [Demon Lord] seemed to be on the defensive, and the part of Jared that wasn't overwhelmed with rage thought that they might have him. Unfortunately, he realized that too.

"I'll deal with you in a bit," he stated as he knocked Jared off-balance with a leg kick and thrust his staff in his face.

"[Air Drill]." Jared was blasted away hard enough that he collided with the, surprisingly solid, cloud wall that enclosed the arena. He was zapped a bit for his trouble before the air spell faded, and he was dropped unceremoniously to the ground. He popped back up to his feet immediately and began sprinting back to the fight, but the few seconds he was gone were a disaster. Party members were dropping like flies. Restorer. Gone. Sorcerer and Mage. Gone Archer, health dwindling, and… gone.

Brawler, Fighter, and Leader were next. And all Jared got was a command through the squad. Leader, telling him to run. The [Demon Lord] was too powerful. But he couldn't do that. Not with one last member of the squad left.

"Jared! Help!" he heard Eliza scream. He was a hundred feet away as the [Demon Lord] slowly approached the prone woman, who was awkwardly trying to shuffle away. He would never make it. Faster! He screamed in his mind. Faster! And the world slowed down as the [Demon Lord] raised his sword for what would likely be the final thrust. Familiar blue text and some concerning red text appeared, but Jared didn't care. And for once, he shouted his skill, even though he mentally knew it didn't do anything.

"[Limit Break]!" he shouted. Both the [Demon Lord] and Jared were shocked by the impossible burst of speed that came out of him, and the [Demon Lord] was tossed more than a hundred feet by Jared's awkward body check.

"Eliza are you-" Jared started to ask, but then his attention was caught by something incredibly important. The blue bar that went with magic had moved. He had used magic. And it hadn't been his [Limit Break] skill that did it. And that gave Jared an idea. A crazy idea that would never work… unless he happened to have the only [Shadow Bard] in existence at his back.

"Eliza, this song's about an invincible warrior," Jared said, slightly shaking her shoulders, trying to get the trembling woman to focus.

"I know! But I couldn't do anything. I can't do anything!" she said through tears.

"I can't counter it! He's too strong!"

"Don't counter it!" Jared said, looking her in the eye and gripping even tighter for a moment.

"You just need to change one single part of it!" Her eyes widened as he continued his explanation.

"It's not about him. It's about me. With you at my back, I'm the invincible warrior. Nothing can stop me. Got it?" She nodded resolutely.

"Right. You can do this!"

"No," he said, helping her up." We can do this." He felt her pouring out her mana… And then the lightning bolt struck through them, killing both of them instantly. Except… Jared's head snapped to where the [Demon Lord] was thrusting his staff forward, arcing with electricity. And that's when Jared realized why the [Demon Lord] had seemed untouchable. The song was showing him the future. A future that Jared had only half a second to respond to.

Working on instincts he didn't fully understand, he started charging [Sunder] and thrust his sword forward right as the lightning bolt shot out. The sword fully absorbed the bolt and then grew even brighter as it continued to arc with blue electricity.

"Oh," the [Demon Lord] said as both of them stared at Jared's sword for a moment.

"Oh, frick."

"That's right," Jared said with a grin, illuminated by the blue glow of a charging [Sunder].

"You are fricked." The [Demon Lord] teleported behind Jared and tried to hit him from behind, but Jared saw it coming, and their swords clashed with a massive clang. He teleported again and again, but Jared saw each of them coming and deflected them one after another, even the cheap shots that were aimed at Eliza. The [Demon Lord] was desperate… and afraid. No longer teleporting, Jared soon had the [Demon Lord] on the defensive, slash after slash moving him backward.

All the while Jared was pumping every bit of his health and stamina into [Limit Break] to keep moving at his impossibly fast pace. Jared needed to end it soon, and he found his opening almost right away. The [Demon Lord] lost his balance just for a moment on some slick grass, and that was it. Jared gave a heavy upward thrust that knocked the [Demon Lord's] guard away and left him stumbling backward… and completely unprepared for Jared's next attack.

Jared's sword came back down with a thunderclap, in a diagonal cut that Jared could feel tearing all the way through the [Demon Lord's] armor and body, and which cut the music off short. His attack had carried him behind the [Demon Lord], and he was really hoping that he was dead. Because Jared was exhausted. He had nothing left in the tank physically or emotionally, and he was almost afraid to turn around and make sure that he had won. Fortunately, the words in his vision did that for him. System.

: Hero Jared has slain the Demon Lord! The realm will have relative peace for the next 50 years. Demon morale will be reduced for the duration Jared was relieved. He wanted to cry. He wanted to mourn the people they'd lost. He wanted to do many different things, but there was something more important to do at that moment. The world was watching, and they needed something to cheer for.

"Victory!" Jared shouted, raising his sword aloft. He held that pose until the clouds dispersed, and he could have sworn that he heard the cheering even off from the distant beach. His shoulder slumped a bit once he was sure no one was watching anymore. He was about to turn and check on Eliza when he got another message. System.: Hero Jared has returned to their home world"What?" Jared asked aloud.

"No, I didn't!" However, that confusion was quickly replaced as the [Demon Lord's] sword stabbed through his back and out his chest. Jared looked at it in uncomprehending shock before collapsing to the ground, falling on his back. That meant that he could look up at his killer as he died.

"Eliza?" he asked, his heart breaking in two.

"Why?"

"I'm sorry!" she shrieked as she let go of the sword with burning hands.

"I didn't want to, but I had to! How could he order this? And why? Why would the Grandmaster order this?" She knelt next to him, shaking like a leaf.

"Wait, there was nothing against healing you! Potion! Where's my potion!" She fumbled through her inventory, but that came to a stop as a familiar voice echoed out.

"It looks like you failed," the [Demon Lord] said.

"Please!" he replied… from the ground? Jared, with great effort, swiveled his head to look where the [Demon Lord], in a different set of armor, stood above the one Jared had cleaved in half.

"I can still be useful!" the chopped one said.

"You can fix me! You don't have to-""You know the deal," the standing one replied.

"Defeat the [Hero] and live. You didn't, so..." The grounded one screamed, but a loud snap cut it off. Then, the living [Demon Lord] turned towards Jared and Eliza.

"St-stay back!" Eliza said, getting to her feet and pointing her shortsword at him.

"And you two," he continued, nonchalantly scooping up his staff.

"You played your parts beautifully. Especially you, brother. Using the power of love for your last-minute power up? Bravo." He clapped sarcastically as he walked closer and closer.

"I'm glad I ordered my clone to save her for last. If I hadn't you wouldn't have stood a chance." He shrugged again.

"But, I guess that doesn't matter too much. It only bought her a few more minutes." Jared was afraid… but not for himself.

"Titus, bro, just let her go. You got me. That's what you wanted, right? Just leave Eliza out of this." Titus shrugged.

"I would love to, but unfortunately, she's seen far too much, and I can't afford that."

"Eliza, run!" Jared shouted as magic started building up. She didn't. She stayed right by him, and even turned to give him one last pained smile as a lightning bolt ended her life.

"No!" Jared shouted as she fell beside him.

"You monster! How could you!?"

"Because I must," Titus said, almost too quiet for Jared to hear. Then, with a shake of his head. He continued.

"Anyway, before you somehow trick me into revealing my plans and giving the world an 11 th hour win, let's just do this." Titus pointed his staff at Jared's face.

"[Clockstop]." And then Jared knew no more. [1] Apparently, due to copyright laws, it is illegal (or at least, very expensive) to include any song lyrics inside a novel. However, there is nothing stopping me from including song titles and authors, as well as links to them. Soo… 7 Nation army by the White Stripes https: //music. youtube. com/watch? v=D_QLxj8jCF0&si=TdoyzLeMNFHmUHOm [2] Enemy - By Imagine Dragons and JID https: //music. youtube. com/watch?

v=F5tSoaJ93ac&si=Z5_utpxfY9xpz7yq&t=31 [3] Thriller – By Michael Jackson https: //music. youtube. com/watch? v=sOnqjkJTMaA&si=iP4aPFJ2WjNGc6-G&t=580 [4] Warrior – By Disturbed https: //music. youtube. com/watch? v=zZFzwnVECMc&si=moCP7KjEcviw_KfC