There was no waiting, no exchange of words — nothing like the video games I’d played or the movies I’d watched.

  The instant his eyes locked on us, he was already moving — charging like a silver-clad bull.

  Analth intercepted him, their blades clashing in a blinding spray of sparks as both warriors struggled for control.

  “Still holding back,” she gritted between her teeth, but the man didn’t answer — he simply shoved her away and came at her again.

  Lightning burst from his sword, one bolt slamming into the ground beside me, another obliterating a nearby hut in a flash of light and shrapnel. Burning wood rained down like fiery hail.

  The aura pouring off the two of them was overwhelming—pressure that stole one's breath away. Each exchange of blows sent shockwaves rippling through the village, and it was all I could do to stay on my feet.

  Around us, the sounds of battle surged back to life. The remaining adventurers had regrouped, fighting as one desperate unit against my monsters.

  It was a losing battle for them — but with someone like Sir Josef in their ranks, hesitation wasn’t an option.

  Analth cried out as a burst of static tore through her armor. She leapt back, barely avoiding a fatal follow-up strike, her boots skidding across the scorched ground.

  “Damnit,” she hissed, glancing my way before sighing. “Herald… no, Eric. I need you to buy me a moment.”

  I stared at her like she’d lost her mind.

  “What?” The word slipped out before I could stop it.

  “I know it’s intimidating, but I need you to distract him — just for a few seconds,” she said, still watching Sir Josef. “Otherwise, this is a fight we can’t win.”

  For a heartbeat I just stared, half amazed the adventurer was actually giving us time to talk. Then I nodded.

  “Alright,” I said — and charged straight at Sir Josef.

  He swatted me aside like an insect.

  I flew through the air, slamming into the burning wall of one of the still-standing huts, crashing through and rolling across the floor.

  He was on me before I could even stand — moving faster than I could track — and I barely rolled aside as his sword cleaved through where I’d been a heartbeat ago.

  “Herald,” he said, his deep, scathing voice echoing in the monster’s tongue. “You are the Herald, no?”

  I scrambled upright, the smoke stinging my eyes and clawing at my lungs. Blood filled my mouth — I’d bitten my tongue mid-flight — and I spat purple onto the ground.

  “So I keep being told,” I growled, setting my stance. He stared back, looking almost bored… but his eyes burned with quiet contempt.

  “Your kind are a blight on this world,” he said, pacing slowly, blade low. “The monsters you summon wreak havoc across the land, destroying everything in their path. Every Herald I’ve killed was to stop the ruin they brought.”

  “You think all Heralds are the same,” I spat back. “Yet your people attack mine on sight.”

  I lunged mid-sentence, aiming to catch him off guard — but he parried effortlessly, twisting his wrist and knocking my blade high. His boot slammed into my gut like a sledgehammer, launching me backward through the wall.

  Wood splintered; the world spun.

  I hit the ground hard, wheezing — my lungs refusing to draw air.

  “Say what you want,” Sir Josef’s voice cut through the ringing in my ears, his heavy footsteps closing in. “At the end of the day, you’re a monster. Your people are monsters. Your instincts will always drive you to kill and destroy — because that’s all monsters know.”

  I forced myself upright, coughing hard, every muscle screaming in protest. It was hopeless — he outmatched me in every way that mattered — and the thought burned like acid.

  All the levels in the world didn’t mean a damn thing if I didn’t actually know how to fight.

  “Come on then,” I rasped, raising my blade in front of me with a trembling hand. “Show me what you do to monsters.”

  For the first time, real emotion flickered across his face — hatred, raw and personal. He snarled and lunged, his sword meeting mine in a crash of steel.

  The impact rattled through my bones, and arcs of lightning leapt from his blade into my chest, setting my nerves ablaze.

  I barely saw the right hook coming. It caught me square across the jaw, a burst of white pain — and a tooth went flying.

  My ears rang. My head swam. And somewhere through the haze, I could only hope whatever the hell Analth was doing was worth it.

  Honestly, I was amazed he’d taken the bait at all — but then, judging by his words, he’d come here for me from the very start.

  I spat more blood onto the ground, about to speak again, when the system flickered to life unprompted.

  [Warning! Enemy strength exceeds Herald’s parameters.]

  [Initiating emergency protocol… Success.]

  [Skill Gained — Cataclysm Magic (Lv. 1)!]

  [Spell Learned — Echo of the Cataclysm (Lv. 1)!]

  [Forcibly activating Echo of the Cataclysm! Combat parameters enhanced. Estimated survival probability: 10%.]

  Pain tore through my entire body, followed by heat — a suffocating, liquid fire that seared through muscle and bone.

  My vision blurred red. My heart hammered like it was trying to escape my chest.

  I could feel my body changing. My muscles bulged, my breath came out in growls, and an inhuman snarl ripped from my throat — not by choice, but reflex.

  The hand gripping my sword clenched so tight the leather creaked, and even my armor felt too small, constricting against the sudden surge of power.

  Josef’s eyes widened ever so slightly, but he schooled his features quickly and charged again.

  This time, when our blades met, I didn’t falter. The force of his swing crashed against mine, sparks flying — but I held firm.

  Static crawled up his blade into mine, numbing my arm, yet I pushed back, slamming him off balance and following with a vicious overhead slash that split the ground where he’d stood.

  The impact cracked the earth for several feet, dust rising in a sharp, ear-ringing burst.

  I recovered fast, pivoting and cutting across. Josef leaned back — barely — and my knee caught him square in the face.

  The crunch of cartilage was satisfying. Blood sprayed, and he stumbled, roaring in pain.

  The stoic mask he’d worn cracked, replaced by raw fury.

  “It seems I underestimated you, Herald,” he said coldly. His eyes flared white, and lightning wreathed his blade — coiling with a faint, golden light that burned to look at.

  The air itself hissed; my skin prickled, heat crawling across it like acid. Instinct screamed at me to run.

  “I won’t make the same mistake,” he hissed, and surged forward.

  Slash. Stab. Dodge. Block. Parry—too slow.

  Pain lanced up my arm as his blade tore through flesh, the wound sizzling shut from the sheer heat of it.

  My vision swam. I staggered, forcing air into my lungs, steadying my footing as he came at me again.

  I couldn’t dodge everything, and every block felt like staring into the sun.

  His blade was blindingly bright — holy light and lightning fused into something that burned just to look at.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  My breathing came ragged, gasping, sweat and ash stinging my eyes.

  I fell back, but he pressed in — relentless, unyielding — every strike faster, heavier. I had no room to think, no space to breathe.

  I managed to slip past one swing, countering with a desperate jab — but he caught my sword barehanded, yanking me forward.

  The world flashed white as his blade drove into my gut.

  Pain unlike anything I’d ever known exploded through me — a wildfire racing through my veins.

  Blood bubbled from my lips as an inhuman scream tore free of my throat.

  He ripped his blade free and kicked me away. I hit the ground hard, clutching at the hole in my stomach, trying — and failing — to stem the bleeding.

  I was going to die. For real, this time.

  “You fought well, Herald,” Josef’s voice cut through the fog of agony. When my eyes refocused, he was standing over me, lightning dancing along his sword. “Given another few months, you might have become an actual threat.”

  He raised his blade high, ready to finish it.

  I reached out, fumbling for my sword, for anything that could save me.

  And then — a roar.

  A deep, draconic bellow ripped through the village, shaking the earth and blowing away smoke and ash. The fires snuffed out under the sheer force of it, and even Josef faltered mid-stride.

  Every soul — man and monster alike — turned toward the source.

  I gaped.

  Scales the color of midnight gleamed in the firelight, each one the size of a shield. The creature towered over the burning huts — wings unfurling like storm clouds blotting out the sky.

  A long, sinuous tail lashed through the air, and blue sparks crackled from between rows of razor-sharp teeth as it turned its massive head toward me.

  The voice that followed wasn’t heard so much as felt — thunder echoing straight through my skull.

  “You did well, Herald.”

  The words were draconic, rumbling and deep — like a motorcycle engine given life — but the tone was one I recognized instantly.

  Analth.

  She was a bloody dragon.

  She leapt into the air and came down between Josef and me, the ground trembling under the impact.

  I never wanted anyone to look at me the way she looked at him.

  I was her ally—her friend, maybe—but the sheer hatred burning in her eyes sent terror crawling through my veins.

  Josef stepped back, genuine surprise flickering across his face. His sword trembled in his grasp.

  “You,” he whispered, staring up at her towering form. “You... I heard you were dead. Gone. Vanished a century ago. No one’s seen you in a hundred years.”

  I blinked through the pain, trying to process that.

  He knew her?

  That meant she wasn’t just a dragon — she was someone famous.

  The sound that came from Analth wasn’t laughter so much as a rumbling quake that shook the air.

  “You mortals are all the same,” she growled, her voice deep enough to make the stones around me rattle. “Believing rumors. Spinning stories. Thinking an immortal monster would simply vanish like a child’s bedtime tale.”

  Josef’s fear twisted into anger. He snarled, his blade rising again, lightning crawling along its edge.

  “You are a monster all the same!” he shouted, his voice cracking with fury. His eyes blazed white, hair lifting in a corona of static. “I will put you down, Lady of the Blue Flames! And I will be hailed as the hero who slew the dragon that destroyed the Empire of Valoria!”

  The sky answered him.

  Thunder roared, and a pillar of lightning — pure, radiant energy — crashed down onto Analth. The flash blinded me, searing through my vision, and for a moment I thought my heart had stopped.

  When my sight returned…

  Analth was standing tall.

  Unburned. Unbowed.

  She looked at him — and smiled.

  “You are a hundred years too young to pose a threat to me, mortal,” Analth taunted, her voice reverberating through the scorched air.

  She inhaled deeply, wings flaring.

  Josef’s eyes widened in panic; he yelped, throwing up a shimmering barrier of light—some kind of magical shield.

  Analth didn’t care.

  The heat hit first, a wave that stole the air from my lungs. Then came the flame.

  Deep blue fire poured from her maw, washing over Josef’s barrier.

  The very air shimmered. I had to drag myself backward to avoid being seared alive.

  For a heartbeat, the world glowed white-hot. Then—

  the sound of shattering glass.

  And the screams of a man being burned alive.

  When Analth finally ceased, nothing remained of Sir Josef but his sword and armor—untouched by her flames.

  Magical items, I realized numbly.

  With Josef gone, Analth turned her gaze toward the remaining adventurers—perhaps four of them—who had frozen mid-battle, their struggle forgotten.

  She reared back and unleashed a roar so powerful my ears popped, leaving me deaf to the world.

  But I didn’t need to hear. I saw.

  The adventurers dropped their weapons and ran—stumbling, scrambling, fleeing as if Death itself hunted their heels.

  And perhaps, in a way, it did.

  As my hearing slowly returned, another roar filled the air—this one from my monsters.

  We had won.

  Somehow, against all odds, we had survived.

  The part that came after a hard battle was just as hard.

  Mourning the dead, cleaning up the mess, and trying to find answers.

  We buried our fallen near the village, while the adventurers’ corpses were stripped of gear and laid in a mass grave far from home.

  The huts, I found, could be repaired or rebuilt with resources—depending on how badly they’d burned.

  Rastan. Sootwing. Two of my tamed beasts. One of the new Kobolds. The new Skeleton.

  Six gone.

  The adventurers’ dead numbered over a dozen.

  It didn’t make me feel any better that they’d lost two for every one of mine. I just felt… numb.

  Johann had healed the hole in my gut and was moving among the wounded, his faint glow a small comfort in the ruin.

  Analth, back in her human form, helped with the cleanup but refused to meet my eyes.

  I had questions for her—gods, so many—but I didn’t have the strength to ask them yet.

  When I finally checked the system, the numbers hit me.

  More than three thousand Soul Essence earned—from adventurers, from Josef, from my own fallen.

  And a new message waiting.

  [Achievement Unlocked!]

  [Title: Against All Odds]

  [Condition: Defeat an opponent or group of opponents far above your level or skill.]

  [Rewards: +500 Soul Essence | Blueprint Unlocked: Training Yard]

  Two items stood out most: Stormcleaver and the Silvered Armor of Morveth — Josef’s gear.

  Stormcleaver was a silver longsword that pulsed faintly with power. It granted boosts to attack and strength—and, more importantly, it was the first weapon I’d seen that carried both a skill and a spell: Lightning Resistance (Moderate Lv.3) and Call Lightning (Lv.5).

  I’d thought those were Josef’s own abilities, but no—his power came from the blade itself.

  The armor, meanwhile, could only be worn by a follower of Morveth. That made it useless to me, though its stats were impressive: high defense, endurance bonuses, and resistance to holy damage. Too bad none of my monsters were believers. It would’ve looked damn good on one of them.

  I took Stormcleaver for myself. The blade fit my hand perfectly, as if it had been waiting for me all along. Residual static tickled my fingers—the lingering echo of the storm that had nearly killed us all.

  Gear and Soul Essence wasn’t all we’d gained.

  [Quest Complete!]

  [Quest: The First Challenge]

  [Type: Main Quest]

  [Objective:] The herald has gained the attention of a Guild native to the region of Keldmere. He must prepare for the fight of his life if he is to survive.

  [Goal:] Prepare Your Defenses.

  [Time Limit:] 3 Days

  [Rewards:] Due to an error in the system, the Herald has been granted additional rewards to make up for our failure.

  +500 Soul Essence | Epic Tier Monster Summoning Unlocked! | Blueprint: Wooden Defenses Unlocked! | Core has Reached Level 3! One free zone expansion available!

  An error with the system? Was it referring to the fact the adventurers had arrived half a day early? The wording felt awfully personal. I wasn’t entirely sure, but I wasn’t going to turn down the extra rewards either. Still, it raised another question in my mind: was this system actually alive? Was someone—or something—watching us, pitting monsters against non-monsters?

  I wasn’t going to get answers by standing here and speculating. I had other things to focus on, like my monsters’ experience. Bjorrek and Varka had been level ten before the fighting began and hadn’t gained more—useful to note. Evolution let monsters continue leveling after evolving, but the rest of my troop had made massive jumps. In addition to those two, I now had six more monsters at level ten, including Torval, my tamed Bogmaw.

  Which meant I had a lot of evolving to do, a lot of getting my forces ready for the war to come. There was no chance now of hiding, of keeping in the dark. The adventurers who’d escaped would tell Aelshore about me. That meant we’d be seeing more and more of them soon.

  I had to be ready—ready to kill, ready to defend my home with my life. There were many things I still didn’t understand about this world, but I knew one truth: next time the adventurers invaded my lands, they’d struggle long before they reached the village.

  With that thought I headed for the cave. The first battle was won. The war had just begun.

  [Current Day: 6]

  [Soul Essence: 3621]

  [Kingdom Core: Level 3]

  [Domain Size: 2 Sectors]

  [Active Quest: — None —]