The battlefield of the ruined estate lay under a darkening sky, the shattered stone and bloodied earth bathed in a grim purple hue from the dimensional gate overhead.

  To conserve their strength, Cryssa, Glacia, and Iori held their position at the center of the courtyard, watching and waiting. Reinforcements were on their way, they had to be. The trio stood amidst the wreckage, like statues carved from willpower and restraint.

  Above them, the gate continued to vomit monsters into the world.

  One by one, ogres tumbled from the sky, crashing into the ruins below. Some survived the fall only to be skewered seconds later on shattered beams. Others landed directly onto the twitching forms of the injured Cerberuses and the ogres who had fallen earlier, crushing them in gruesome bursts of gore and bone.

  The death pile grew. Soon, the jagged debris was completely buried under layers of carcasses, red-skinned ogres stacked atop one another like discarded meat, their bodies twisted and mangled beyond recognition.

  Then…

  ROAAARRR!

  RUMBLEEEEEEE!

  The sky howled, and the ground answered.

  Two more Cerberuses plunged through the gate, landing with monstrous grace upon the growing mound of corpses.

  At the same time, the earth beneath the estate gate shifted violently.

  Stone rumbled and cracked as the ground heaved upward, forming three crude but solid paths from three separate directions.

  And then… They arrived.

  Mage and archer mercenaries appeared atop the rooftops, their silhouettes sharp against the smoky sky.

  Warriors sprinted down the newly formed paths, weapons in hand, their boots thundering on stone.

  Reinforcements had come.

  But so had worse.

  THUMMM!

  SSSHKKKK!

  RAAAWWWRR!

  Five colossal figures surged onto the field, Iron Golems, forged from steel, towering at three times the size of any human.

  The second path slithered three Venocondas, giant serpents with dark green scales, each the size of a small house.

  Lumbering in from another path came two massive Frenzy Trolls, their red hides steaming with rage, each standing twice the height of a man.

  More monsters poured in, dozens of C-rank beasts in a stampeding wave. Rock Golems, hulking and brown; Heat Ants, their chitin glowing red-hot; and brutish orcs, snarling and drooling as they sprinted forward.

  All of them were converging… toward Cryssa, Glacia, and Iori.

  Then Ayla’s voice cut through the chaos.

  (“Run now!”)

  “Run!”

  Cryssa echoed, her voice sharp as steel.

  The trio turned and sprinted, their cloaks billowing behind them.

  A guttural roar echoed as the Cerberuses and ogres gave chase, pounding across the battlefield in a feral stampede.

  Mid-run, Cryssa raised her communicator.

  “Mages! Archers! Target the monsters behind me! NOW!”

  She didn’t wait for confirmation.

  “Glacia! I’m leaving it to you!”

  “Understood!”

  From the rooftops, mages and archers raised their staves and bows in perfect unison. Spell circles ignited in the air as dozens of voices roared incantations. Glacia, sprinting alongside Cryssa, raised her staff with deadly calm.

  As the distance between Cryssa’s group and the pursuing horde closed…

  “Fireball!”

  “Earth Spikes!”

  “Water Cannon!”

  A barrage of elemental fury surged from the rooftops. Fireballs screamed through the air, exploding in waves of flame. Stone spikes erupted beneath the monsters’ feet. Torrents of high-pressure water hammered into ogres with bone-snapping force.

  And from Glacia…

  “Ice Lances!”

  Shards of frozen death erupted from her staff, streaking through the air and slamming into the Iron Golems, the Venocondas, and the Frenzy Trolls.

  BAAAAAAMMMMM!

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  THUMMM!

  ROAAARRR!

  SSSHKKKK!

  RAAWWWRR!

  The battlefield lit up in a cacophony of magic and blood. Smoke and debris exploded into the air, creating a thick, choking fog that smothered the battlefield in eerie silence.

  From within that haze, Cryssa’s voice rang out.

  “Everyone, scatter!”

  Without hesitation, her group and the mercenary squads on the ground broke formation, splitting off in opposite directions.

  Then…

  BAAAAAAMMMM!

  A thunderous impact shook the earth as the four advancing monster groups, blind in the smoke, slammed into one another.

  THUMMM!

  ROAAARRR!

  SSSHKKKK!

  RAAWWWRR!

  Screeches, bellows, and the clash of monstrous bodies erupted from the fog.

  Cryssa and the others sprinted until they reached the steel fences that lined the inner perimeter of the estate.

  There, they turned back, panting and wide-eyed.

  The smoke was beginning to clear.

  And what emerged from it was something no one could have predicted.

  The monsters were tearing each other apart.

  The battlefield had devolved into a chaotic deathmatch.

  The Iron Golems had allied with the Rock Golems, hammering through trolls and snakes alike.

  The Venocondas, slithering with terrifying speed, had joined the Heat Ants, overwhelming the orcs.

  The Frenzy Trolls were locked in a savage melee alongside the orcs, bashing Cerberuses with bone clubs and tearing into ogres with their claws.

  The Cerberuses and ogres, still spilling from the gate, fought back viciously, mistaking every unfamiliar monster for an enemy.

  As if they recognized their own kind, the creatures only attacked those who came from different dimensional gates, divided not by species, but by origin.

  It was madness incarnate.

  A civil war of monsters.

  Cryssa’s eyes widened. Glacia stood still, lips parted in disbelief. Iori slowly lowered her weapon, her gaze locked on the chaos before them.

  They had triggered a battlefield anomaly, one they hadn’t planned for.

  Or rather, one Ayla hadn’t mentioned she planned for.

  From the rooftops and across the estate's edges, seasoned mercenaries, battle-hardened warriors, mages, and archers who’d survived siege after siege, were stared and dumbfounded.

  Their mouths hung open as they watched dozens of monstrous factions turn on each other in a savage frenzy.

  The battlefield, moments ago a unified onslaught, had erupted into total chaos.

  Frenzy Trolls mauled Cerberuses and Heat Ants.

  Venocondas lashed through ranks of ogres.

  Iron Golems and Rock Golems traded blows with orcs in a clashing of titanic fists.

  All coordination was gone.

  There was no formation, no target priority.

  Just instinctual, territorial slaughter.

  And all around, the mercenaries began to whisper.

  “…She planned this?”

  “She funneled them into the same killzone... to trigger territorial conflict?”

  “...Genius.”

  Hundreds of eyes slowly turned toward Cryssa.

  From rooftop to rubble, every warrior, mage, and archer now looked to her as if she were a brilliant mastermind, orchestrating chaos like a maestro conducting war.

  Cryssa felt their stares like heat against her skin. Her back straightened instinctively. She didn’t speak. She didn’t even breathe.

  She had no idea this would happen.

  Her face slowly turned red. Then brighter red. Then dangerously crimson.

  She whispered in her mind, mortified.

  “Oh my goddess…”

  And Ayla’s voice, smug and unrepentantly amused, answered her.

  (“So? How’s it feel being the battlefield genius everyone’s worshipping right now?”)

  Cryssa gritted her teeth, eyes twitching as admiring stares piled on like falling bricks.

  (“You should strike a pose. Maybe look off into the distance and whisper something cryptic. That always sells the ‘tactical mastermind’ vibe.”)

  Cryssa hissed under her breath.

  “Stop talking.”

  (“Do you want me to think of your nickname?”)

  “No… please…”

  Then a mercenary squad captain raised a fist and shouted with fervent admiration.

  “Lady Cryssa! Truly... you are terrifying!”

  The rest of his squad roared in agreement, pounding weapons to armor.

  Cryssa visibly sank an inch into her armor, her face glowing like an overheated forge.

  Iori gave her a long, sideways glance.

  “You didn’t plan this, did you, Master?”

  Cryssa muttered without looking at her, voice barely audible.

  “I... I had a vision.”

  Glacia arched an elegant brow and gave her the slowest, most skeptical look she’d ever seen.

  Cryssa stared at the ground, face locked in a fixed expression of ‘kill me now.’

  (“You’re welcome.”)

  But more importantly, the battlefield had changed.

  The monsters tore into each other in a savage bloodbath of brute strength.

  And in that chaos, the mercenaries regrouped, blades lifted higher, shoulders squarer, hearts steadier.

  Whatever Cryssa did, or was believed to have done, had worked.

  And for now... she let them believe it.

  She would murder Ayla later.

  Or exorcise her.

  But fate, it seemed, had a short attention span.

  Without warning, a massive Iron Golem swung its arm in a wide, brutal arc, meant for a Frenzy Troll.

  But it missed.

  Instead, it slammed full-force into a Cerberus mid-leap.

  CRACK!

  The beast flew like a broken doll, smashing through splintered debris, tumbling end over end…

  Until it skidded to a halt just meters from Cryssa’s group.

  The ground went still.

  The air went silent.

  Dozens of monster eyes turned.

  First to the fallen Cerberus.

  Then to the humans standing behind it.

  Cryssa’s breath caught in her throat.

  “...Please tell me this is also part of your plan.”

  From beside her, Ayla muttered, voice low and flat with dawning horror.

  (“…Oh, damn.”)

  The monsters’ gazes locked onto them, dozens of eyes filled with primal fury and instinctual malice.

  A silent understanding rippled through the battlefield like a death sentence.

  Then…

  THUMMM!

  ROAAARRR!

  SSSHKKKK!

  RAAWWWRR!

  The humans joined as the fifth group.