“Victory Road!”

  As Fisk paused for dramatic effect, Isaac shivered. Two words that meant nothing without proper context. And yet, something in his gut told him that he should fear them more than anything else in the past.

  He reached for the Symphony now playing in his veins and used it to crush this useless emotion like a bug. There was no place for fear in his life. Not now.

  “A fitting name, don’t you think?” the Overlord continued at last. “Win this round, and you no longer have to worry about becoming food for the Overseer.” He winked. “Now for the rules.”

  “As with most Fusion Wars, you will gain access to a Battleworld. This time, however, each civilization gets its own—your very own Victory Road!” Fisk raised a hand. “But before you get too excited, know that only Hosts above level 35 will be able to enter it. Why? I’m glad you asked!”

  The Overlord snapped his fingers, and the camera zoomed out a bit, leaving some empty space to his right. With another snap, tens of glowing, multicolored orbs filled it.

  “What you see here, my dear Hosts, are Titan seeds,” Fisk said. “They carry the essence of each world taking part in this round. For now, they are nothing but powerless orbs. Once placed upon the Battleworlds, though?” His grin widened. “They will become monsters, Titans that you must protect on their road toward victory.”

  Another snap. The orbs vanished, and the camera zoomed back in on Fisk’s face.

  “Traps. Hordes of monsters. Difficult terrain. And so much more,” he continued cheerfully. “All obstacles meant to slow your Titan’s march. It won’t fight, it won’t protect itself.” The Overlord pointed a single finger at the camera. “That’s your job. Of the Hosts that went above and beyond in the previous round. You are the only ones who can match what we have prepared.”

  Isaac’s Symphony calmed slightly upon hearing all that. Despite the initial dread, this didn’t sound too bad. Not that he dared to say it out loud, though. He had jinxed himself enough times already.

  What’s the catch? he wondered.

  Fisk, of course, was more than happy to answer.

  “Of course, we haven’t forgotten about everyone else,” he said, a coy smile replacing the grin. “Those of you who can’t enter the Battleword just yet will still have an important role to play. You see, after a certain amount of time, you will be given a global task—a different one for each civilization. Some might be simple. Others… not so much. What they all share, however, is their importance.”

  “Rewards,” Fisk whispered. “Not the kind you might expect either—though those will be included as well. For every successfully completed task, you will be directly supporting those fighting on the Battleworld. How? With permanent enhancements for Hosts or Titans. Tools to aid them along the way. And so much more.”

  Not so simple then, Isaac thought. But still doable.

  The unity that humanity had shown during the final days of the first round could sure help here. Hell, for now, this Victory Road even seemed nicer than a standard Fusion War.

  Or so he thought.

  The Overlord’s following words changed everything.

  “Now I know some will ask: How is it even a Fusion War, Fisk? We aren’t even fighting each other, just monsters.” The alien paused, his nasty grin making a return. “Wrong, my dear Hosts! Your Battleworlds may be separate, but invasions are still very much possible. What’s more, they are now easier than ever!”

  “Warp Portals,” Fisk continued. “In this round, you won’t have to travel for days to find them. Instead, they will be located right behind your Battleworld Safe Zone. Nice and simple.” He raised a single finger. “Just remember… In this round, you can be transported either to the enemy home world or their Battleworld. And no, you won’t be able to choose.”

  Isaac swallowed.

  There it was, the way for the enemy to reach Earth in a matter of minutes. He would even bet every item inside his Storage Brand that this change was made just so the Overlords could send more of their minions after him.

  Not good. Hopefully, we are still getting warnings when someone invades.

  Fisk, naturally, didn’t address that concern. He just moved on, as if he hadn’t just dropped a bomb on all of their heads.

  “This brings us to the next point of today’s transmission. How to win this Victory Road? Where are the points?” He gave a low bow. “Allow me to explain in a way everyone can understand.”

  With another snap of fingers, a green board filled the entire screen, hiding the Overlord from view. A moment later, text appeared on it.

  [Victory Road 101:

  -Battleworld Hosts must escort their Titan to the end of the Road as quickly as possible. At the same time, Home world Hosts must complete Tasks to enhance their Titan and frontline fighters.

  -Titans will receive an additional buff based on how much faster they reach the end of the Road compared to their opponent.

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

  -Once both Titans finish the Road, they will be transported to a special arena. There, they will proceed to fight one-on-one. No interference allowed.

  -The winner of the duel decides which civilization survives.]

  “There you have it!” Fisk exclaimed as his face returned to the screen. “Isn’t this just wonderful? Every minute, every hour matters! Teamwork and unity are more important than ever!”

  “Holy shit,” James muttered.

  Isaac couldn’t have said it better himself.

  “But there is still one more important detail!” Fisk continued before Isaac’s thoughts could consume him. “After reading all this, some of you might be wondering: What’s the point of invasions in this round? Wouldn’t it be better to simply stay on our side?”

  The Overlord chuckled.

  “No. Ignoring that invading the enemy Battleworld lets you sabotage their Titan, landing on the enemy home world provides you with a far more valuable opportunity.” He paused yet again. “Task Theft.”

  “Of course, most global tasks will be impossible to steal,” Fisk went on. “But not all of them. A select few will be yours for the taking. So go forth, my dear Hosts. Steal your enemy’s rewards. Strengthen your Titan at their expense. It just might be exactly what you need to win the final duel.”

  The Overlord spread his arms wide at the end, leaving them hanging for a moment. Then, they fell, and he spoke again, this time much quieter.

  “And that’s it for today. The second round of Virus Wars will begin shortly. Ladies and gentlemen. Warriors and artisans. The good and the bad. Thank you all for joining me today. It was a pleasure to present the upcoming Victory Road to you. And to our struggling new Hosts, I wish you all good luck. Never give up. This is the final straight. Finish it, and you are free.”

  Fisk bowed once more. After shooting the camera a final wink, the screen vanished.

  Isaac exhaled heavily, his gaze drifting to his friends. Like him, none of them moved from their seats. The expressions on their faces, though? Those had changed quite a bit since the beginning of the transmission.

  For one, Marie was now wide awake, biting her lip as she stared at nothing in particular. Beside her, James looked as if he had aged ten years in the last few minutes. Quite understandable.

  On the other hand, Elaine, on the surface, appeared unmoved by what they had just heard. Isaac, however, wasn’t blind. It was all in the eyes—those brown eyes that contained all the anger the woman had gathered ever since the Virus Wars began.

  Usually, she was much better at hiding it. That transmission must have made her slip. Anything outright related to Overlords did that, really.

  Isaac shook his head, and just when he thought he would have to be the one to break the silence, a voice filled the room.

  “Well, don’t know about you people, but after all that, I need a fucking drink,” James said. “Anyone want a beer? My treat.”

  Nobody dared to move for a second. Then Marie snorted. Elaine followed with a chuckle. James also joined in, leaving Isaac staring at them in fond exasperation.

  In the end, he let out a short chuckle too before catching a glass bottle James threw his way. He uncorked it, took a sniff, and grimaced.

  It was that beer. The very same that lost to muddy water in terms of taste in his opinion.

  Beggars couldn’t be choosers, though, so he took a swig and did his best to ignore the awful taste. A quick glance at the others told him he wasn’t the only one feeling this way.

  Elaine coughed, holding her bottle at arm’s length as if it had personally wronged her.

  “Where did you get this?” she scowled. “Tastes worse than piss.”

  James raised an eyebrow after taking another long drink. “Speaking from experience, princess?”

  She flipped him off. “Screw you.”

  “No can do.” The man grinned, slipping an arm around Marie. “Sorry, I’m taken.”

  That earned an eye roll from the woman next to him. Though the slight smile on her face gave her away.

  “Whatever,” Elaine muttered, setting her beer on the table. Her expression hardened. “What’s the plan?”

  And just like that, the tension returned to the room.

  Marie also put her drink away and massaged her brow. “I probably won’t be leaving the Oasis much. Still plenty to be done here. Besides, it’s not like I can enter the Battleworld anyway.”

  At once, all eyes turned to Isaac. He wanted to be annoyed, but he couldn’t blame them. Out of the four of them, he was the only one above level thirty-five. James and Elaine were close, though. Another level or two.

  “I have no idea,” he admitted at last. “First, I need to see what is actually waiting for us on the Battleworld. I’m also hoping Rakin will deliver on his promise and send me some intel. Other than that?” He shrugged. “We will see. Gotta talk with Harry and Carmela too.”

  The others nodded.

  Isaac pulled up his Interface, about to open the group chat with his fellow Pioneers. Before he could do so, a notification appeared in front of him.

  Round Two of Virus Wars shall officially begin in: <34m:52s>

  There it is, he thought. Not even an hour.

  Last time, they had almost six hours before the official start. Today, it seemed, the Overlords were in a hurry.

  No rest for the wicked.

  Isaac took another long swig of the foul beer and stood up. “I’m going on a walk,” he announced. "Need to clear my head and message Carmela.”

  No one said anything, so he activated Cloaking and stepped out of the house. Thankfully, after the transmission, there weren’t many people milling about, and the few he passed barely seemed to pay attention to the path ahead of them.

  Isaac just hoped they would all gather their bearings before the next round came. With how Victory Road was structured, every able hand was needed to win. Now more than ever.

  Before long, he slipped out of the Safe Zone and darted into a nearby forest. There, he transformed and flew as high as his Legacy allowed without freezing.

  For a couple of minutes, he ignored everything and simply glided where the wind pulled him. Once only twenty minutes remained on the timer, he opened the communication menu and shot a quick message to Harry and Carmela.

  “Meet on the Battleground?”

  He quickly received two affirmatives.

  Satisfied, Isaac turned around and began flying back toward the Oasis. Halfway there, another notification appeared before him.

  [You have received a secure private message from Rakin Alvas. Show now?]

  Alvas, huh? He hummed. All right, give it to me.

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