Edge sprinted across the final stretch of grass between his position and the army attacking Puppet Town.

  The sun had set a short while ago, but by this point, his eyes could pierce the twilight of dusk without the use of his skills. Even if they couldn’t, the battlefield was illuminated by a series of magelights running along the settlement’s northern wall, which meant his team could fight at full strength even if their Perception was lower than his own.

  Flashes in every color of the rainbow met his gaze as he took stock of the situation before joining the fray—both sides unleashing dozens of spells with every breath he took. His heart pounded like a kettledrum and adrenaline electrified his veins as he devoured the ground beneath his boots, praying that he would arrive in time to save his people.

  Edge knew deep in his bones the decisive moment had arrived at last. After being ambushed in the Savage Garden, engaging in guerrilla warfare in the Sweltering Green, being transported to the bottom of the Deep-Gill Grottos, and taking on the strike force besieging Trapper’s team, it was finally time to find out who would survive and whose bodies would be food for the worms—the defenders of Puppet Town or the Crimson Claws.

  Beside him ran the expedition’s elites—stage-two warriors who had been sprinting at top speed since the moment they’d learned the gang was approaching the settlement in full force. He glanced over his shoulder at the faces of his friends and allies, seeing his desperation and determination mirrored in their eyes.

  In addition to the support staff hiding in the Violet Groves, the expedition had divided itself into three units, which would arrive a few minutes apart. His group included Able, Trapper, Mel, Jumo, Sasha, Tessa, Lilly, and Alice, along with two peacekeepers who had evolved during the return trip and the veteran hunters who had served as the leaders of teams Sword, Spear, and Hammer back in the dungeon.

  The second unit consisted of Violet, Blue, and the rest of their battle-trained beasts and handlers. They were still recovering the muscle mass they’d lost during the siege, so they couldn’t run the whole way, but they should only be a few miles behind Edge’s squad. The third group included the expedition’s stage-one warriors and would arrive approximately ten minutes after the beasts.

  By now, he could make out the forms of individual combatants—framed by billowing clouds of smoke and so much mana that he could spot the telltale shimmer from this far out. Fighting had broken out all along the ramparts, although it appeared the bulk of the battle was occurring along the northern approach to the settlement, most of which was blocked from this angle.

  Edge didn’t know what he would find when he rounded the wall. The good news was that judging by the intensity of the conflict, the defenders were still holding on, although every minute they endured would be paid for in blood.

  His team pushed themselves into a burst of speed, circling the settlement so they could see more of the battlefield and plan their attack accordingly. While the Claws knew they were coming, they shouldn’t be able to anticipate the exact moment of their appearance, and so far, he hadn’t seen any enemy scouts notice their arrival.

  The expedition’s elites needed to start their attack with a surgical strike—take advantage of the confusion their coming would bring to maximize the carnage they wrought and take some pressure off the defenders at the same time.

  As they crossed the halfway point, Edge’s Guide appeared. He read the message on the run, which made him breathe a sigh of relief and dialed his anxiety up another notch.

  It seemed the magic blocking Sakura’s communication skills had finally been lifted—likely because whoever was using it had joined the melee. She had sent a few sentences detailing the defenders’ situation, which was straddling the precipice of disaster but hadn’t stepped over the cliff.

  The north gate had been breached, and three of the Claws’ elites were fighting Earl and a handful of Puppet Town’s heavy hitters. They were outnumbered and couldn’t hold on for long. Unless reinforcements arrived in the next handful of heartbeats, jailbirds would pour into the settlement, and a catastrophic loss of life would ensue.

  In short, the war had arrived at a pivotal moment. If his team didn’t hurry, the sheriff’s crew was going to be wiped out, and their last chance of defeating the Claws would fall through his fingers like a fist clenching the sea.

  He yelled to the brave hunters and deputies running beside him, letting them know what he’d learned. One of them turned around to update the beast and stage-one teams, while the other elites began their final approach.

  Edge ate a mana seed to restore his reserves, which were low after maintaining his aura the entire way here. He ignited his core and conjured a fresh Warlord’s Mantle for everyone in his squad. Combined with some buffs from the other warriors, his unit started running so fast the plains were reduced to a streaking blur of color and motion. There wasn’t time to come up with a coordinated plan. Everyone was going to have to use their own judgement and lend their assistance wherever it seemed like it would do the most good.

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  He judged they would reach the north gate in another two minutes, focusing his will while preparing himself for the showdown to come. While he couldn’t afford to make a single mistake, he was in perfect shape to give this battle his all.

  In addition to his usual gear, he had three mana seeds he’d taken from Roth and a pair of potions Melchior had whipped up on the return trip. Overdrive had come off cooldown, and his reservoir was nearly filled to the brim.

  Now it all came down to how he used them. Edge needed to utilize his resources as strategically as possible, but even more critically, he needed to take out one of the convicts’ elites before they overwhelmed Earl’s team.

  Sakura had provided a rough outline of Blaze’s and Tiburón’s powers. However, while she had mentioned Yussuf the Red was using a skill that made his enemies explode, she knew next to nothing about the powers wielded by the gang’s leader. She had been able to sense that the man was deep into late stage-two, possibly at the peak.

  At least he’s not stage-three, or we wouldn’t stand a chance. That was all the time for reflection Edge had before he rounded the corner and the battlefield came into view. Atop the wall, a fierce fight was underway along the narrow walkway, as scattered clumps of defenders struggled to hold back the Crimson Claws.

  A sea of jailbirds was milling around at the base, waiting for space to ascend and join the fray. Sakura had mentioned the teams inside the settlement were dealing with the handful of prisoners who had entered the town thus far, though that situation was touch and go and would collapse the moment enemies arrived in greater numbers.

  As critical as that was, Edge couldn’t afford to worry about it now. Every iota of his attention was riveted on the elites who were brawling a few hundred feet in front of the shattered northern gate.

  Blaze and Yussuf were visible, along with their crews. Tiburón’s crew was fighting nearby, but Edge couldn’t spot the gluttonous killer known as the landshark. Sakura had told him the transformed warrior was moving below ground, attacking the defenders from beneath the soil while attempting to devour them whole.

  His team came to a skidding stop, taking ten seconds to confer and catch their breath before acting on their own initiative. The strike leaders were too powerful for anyone who was still at the beginning of stage two, so Jumo, Mel, Sasha, and the rest of the warriors near their level agreed to drive back the squads supporting the elites, then engage their personal crews.

  That left Edge, Trapper, Lilly, Able, Alice, and three veteran hunters to deal with Tiburón, Blaze, and Yussuf the Red. The situation would change as the battle progressed and the rest of the expedition arrived, but he couldn’t afford to ponder the details. He switched on his passive skills, wished his people luck, then raced toward the battle-scarred soil where the clash between both forces’ strongest warriors had reached a fever pitch.

  Earl was facing Yussuf alone, and while the sheriff was wounded, he seemed to be holding his own. The skills they were unleashing were so intense that no one could draw near without being caught in the crossfire, so Edge’s team sprinted toward Blaze and where he thought Tiburón was swimming, based on how people from both armies were running for their lives from something he couldn’t see.

  He used the final seconds at his disposal to evaluate the most dangerous enemies on the field.

  Blaze’s crew was covered in scars and half-healed burns. Nothing compared to firebug himself, but enough to reveal that only people with extreme Durability, resistance skills, and enough sense to get the hell out of his way could endure working in proximity with the volatile flame-wielder.

  Tiburón’s crew was nimble and quick—lightly armored compared to the other jailbirds. Given the rumors Edge had overheard about the shark’s tendency to go berserk after slaughtering enough foes, it seemed his crew survived by being fast enough to outrun their leader and agile enough to evade attacks from underground.

  Yussuf’s crew the most dangerous of the lot. They were the only Claws who were coordinating their movements, and it was obvious they had ample experience fighting as a team. Combined with their high stages, quality gear, and multiple auras, they represented a categorically greater threat than the strike leaders’ crews. They fanned out to guard Yussuf’s flanks while he engaged Earl, keeping anyone from interfering with the long-awaited outcome of their years-long feud.

  The convicts had finally noticed that reinforcements had arrived. As Edge had hoped, confusion was taking a toll on the jailbird army. Instead of a straightforward assault where they overcame Puppet Town’s defenses and invaded the settlement, they were being attacked from two sides at once. Their elites were fully engaged with the town’s heavy hitters and couldn’t protect them from their enemy’s unexpected arrival.

  Despite the Claws’ potent offense, their deficiencies were revealed in that moment. Instead of being a true army, each crew was commanded by a separate leader, and it was obvious they hadn’t planned for a situation like this.

  Yussuf had been relying on his presence to maintain order, but he was busy battling Earl. While the elites’ crews were holding firm, the rest of the gang wasn’t sure if they should press the attack or fall back and assist the ranged specialists and support teams that were in danger of being overrun.

  Their lack of discipline and unity was slowing them down, giving the defenders a chance to recover some momentum. However, their hesitation wouldn’t last for long and ultimately wouldn’t matter if their leaders emerged victorious.

  When the group led by Jumo, Sasha, and Mel arrived on the battlefield, they came charging in from behind to ambush the Claws’ rear ranks. Auras flickered off, and projectiles stopped streaking toward the wall as the jailbirds were forced to defend themselves, weakening the magic bolstering their elites and taking some pressure off Puppet Town’s forces.

  The strike leaders’ crews went running to salvage the situation, but Edge didn’t get a chance to watch what happened next. By now, he was drawing near Blaze’s position, and it was time to put his life on the line to save his home and the people he loved.