As soon as we reach the ground, we start following Ricard's path of destruction. Human corpses litter the ground, the only survivors being the Heavy Warriors, which aren't that fast, and we can safely avoid.

Ricard, undeterred by the constant assault, keeps moving forward at a relatively fast speed. The greatest danger to our lives, the Knights with their 20% extra damage against units with higher stats, would put any one of us at risk. Still, thanks to his undead-like resilience and healing, and also to the high density of weak humans, Ricard can heal any damage he takes in just a few seconds.

He's a true Whirlwind of death, reaping human lives as he advances.

I could achieve something similar to him if I were to try. But I wouldn't be able to survive the Knight's attacks. As Laura said, he's indeed the best option for this.

Now that we're less exposed, the griffin knights have it harder to reach us. Accurately swooping in at ground level is harder than when you're high up on top of a wall. Instead, they start shooting with their bows and casting spells.

We keep moving like this until we reach our objective: the keep's second tower from the left. It's also right then that Ricard runs out of EP. He won't be able to do much more.

"Sigh… I can't be of much use anymore…"

He complains, shaking his head, but he does so while wearing a smile. Even though he can't get any souls from them, killing humans will always make him happy.

I don't believe I'll ever understand him. After all, aren't humans the worst garbage units in the whole game? From my perspective, at least.

We slam the tower door open and rush inside. We had to break it to enter, so we can't close the doors once we're inside. It's just a matter of time until the human horde follows after us.

A large open space greets us. This is clearly one of those 'bigger on the inside' dungeon parts. Around the walls, a wide spiral staircase goes from the bottom of the tower to the top, where we can see the dungeon core.

But we aren't alone. On both the base and the staircase, we can see humans wearing black hoods, accompanied by other humans wearing black armor.

I inhale. "The necromancers are here…"

Ricard starts rambling. "How dare they use that name when they aren't even true necromancers? They're fakes! Worse, they're the prey, not the predator! How dare mere humans play with the laws of nature!? They should just accept their deaths and eternal servitude towards us!"

…Let's ignore him.

The Iron Shield has no 'Necromancer' unit. But if you give a mage black clothes and a creepy staff, give them the Raise Undead skill, and call them 'Necromancer'... I'm sure you know where I'm going with that.

Raise the Dead (Active skill) Cost: 30 MP + ? MP Resurrect another unit and restore all their HP, EP, and MP. All of that unit's stats except INT and COM are reduced to 20% of their maximum, and the resurrected unit is under your direct control. This skill costs extra MP equal to 20% of the raised unit's cp cost and can only be used once on each unit per Dungeon Battle or Dungeon Invasion.

Raise Undead is a skill that can be used in multiple ways, as it can resurrect both allies and enemies and put them under your control. It can be used to abuse certain skills, like skills triggered on death, or it can be used to make up for a number difference. It's also perfect to create a diversion, treating the resurrected units as disposable pawns.

But, given our current situation, where every single enemy is human, it's clear what their objective is: to bury us in sheer numbers by creating endless waves of enemies.

"Lemon, Baldy, don't waste time. Go up as planned." I point at the dungeon core. "Lily and I will keep them busy as planned."

I start the battle by casting several Cold Blasts, and Laura follows suit by Igniting them.

Just hitting the 'necromancers' and 'dark knights' once is enough to get their aggro. Meanwhile, Ricard rides Clara's back, and she starts climbing up, using the stairs' railing to push her forward.

We thought about it before starting the invasion and came up with a simple plan. If the shortest path is always the straight line, wouldn't it make sense to use it? Is there any reason we should waste time climbing the enormous spiral staircase, which is protected by enemies, when we can just distract them and skip everything? Don't you think so too?

The necromancers start casting spells at us, while the knights climb down the stairs. Soon, we find ourselves surrounded by knights with black armor and the flood of humans charging through the broken doors.

"Can we really do this?" Laura playfully whispers next to my ear. "You and I, alone, together… Fufufu!"

"...Leave the chitchat for later."

I look around. Humans, humans, and more humans. If this were inside my laboratory, I'd be crying right now in desperation, but since they're just enemies, it's doable.

Still, I'm not crazy like Ricard and I don't enjoy being surrounded by a crowd of them.

Laura and I retreat to a corner of the tower while fighting. We combine the devastating effect of my Chain Lightning to reduce the number of enemies with Laura's Hellfire to kill them. The corpses pile up into a true mountain of corpses.

But after every single one of our combined attacks, the necromancers just raise their staffs, and the dead stand back up to life.

…Or is it back to un-life? It doesn't really matter.

Although the dead can be raised just one time, disintegrating into a pile of ashes after the second time we kill them, the sheer amount of enemies and corpses means they'll never run out of targets.

"Trying to bury us in numbers? What a shame this tactic won't work against me! Fufufu! Hahaha!"

As long as we don't run out of MP, we won't die. But not dying doesn't mean we have any chance to win. This is a battle we'll lose... eventually. I just hope that 'eventually' doesn't come too soon.

We're trapped in a corner, surrounded by an unending human horde. I, a rat, trapped like an actual rat, how ironic, hahaha!

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Our fight continues until the surroundings suddenly become bright, as if the sun had suddenly risen. Reflecting the sunlight on their shiny armors, a group of golden knights walks into the tower.

"Oh, shit…! The Paladins are here!" I shout towards Ricard and Clara, "Do your damn job already and break the dungeon core! Why is it taking so long!?"

"The freaking head necromancer is blocking our way!" Shouts Ricard from high above us.

Head necromancer…? Ah! He means the Archmage situated near the dungeon core. And yes, Archmage is that unit's real name, even though the other team called him 'Head Necromancer'.

When I look up, I see Ricard and Clara struggling against a black-clothed mage. I can only see them because the platform with the dungeon core, which hangs from the ceiling by thick metal chains, is a metal grid with large holes.

Thank god we pulled the aggro of every monster towards us. The 'head necromancer' can't use its greatest weapon right now, raising the dead, and is fighting Ricard and Clara by himself.

Still, a boss monster is a boss monster.

"Hey, Lily. Can you use Charming Eyes on the boss?"

"Hmm…" She analyzes the distance between us and the boss. "I can try, but I can't guarantee it… It's our best bet, so I'll use it."

I cast two consecutive Chain Lightnings towards the crowd, stunning every enemy. This is just a temporary measure, but it'll buy us some time. Meanwhile, Laura prepares to use her skill. Right when her eyes start glowing in a pink light, I raise my voice so Ricard and Clara can hear me.

"If the boss stops moving, shove him off the platform!"

I glue my eyes on the tower's top. As if time slowed down, I can see the Archmage flinch, possibly due to the Charm effect. Ricard immediately pushes him towards the edge, and Clara swings her tentacles like a whip, delivering the final blow and making the unsteady and charmed boss fall off the platform.

We watch the Archmage's body fall.

It falls, and falls, and falls some more… until, with a loud crash, it lands right on top of the Paladin formation.

The sound of the dungeon core breaking reaches me right after.

I chuckle. "Evil and good self-destroying each other. What a grand finale, hahaha!" And this time, I didn't need to blow myself up!

Ricard and Clara drop down to the floor, now that all damage effects have been disabled. We celebrate our victory and check how long it took. According to Marta, the extra points apply only if you take less than ten minutes.

"Wheew! Nine minutes and a half. It was very close, but we did it! Nice job, team!"

We came, we saw, we won. Easy, right?

And the best part? That in this dungeon filled with humans, not only I, but everyone else, had to come out without any special resources. Not like I'd ever want to capture a human unit, so the only one who didn't lose anything was me.

Oh yeah, eat that! How does it feel to be on the other side, huh!? How does it feel to be the only one without getting anything out of it, huh!?

Only I truly won today! Fufufu! Hahaha!

Sigh… I wished I were in their shoes instead. Why does my faction have to make everything so difficult and time-consuming?

"Bye, mom. Bye, dad. Bye Marta! We're leaving!" Clara cheerfully says, pulling my arm towards the door. "Come on, Andreu! We're going to be late!"

I furrow my brows. "Late? We have way more time left than we need…"

Clara shakes her head. "Don't you know? Better early than late! Let's go already!"

I mean, sure. But I'd rather not have to wait for more than an hour…

Still, I let her drag me away. I'm not in the mood to resist her when she's in such a great mood.

"Do you have everything? The weather forecast said the temperatures would fall, so don't forget the jacket. Don't come back home too late. And Andreu, make sure to keep an eye on Clara, okay?"

This is our mom, saying typical mom things.

"Uh… sure." You do know Clara is an adult now, right? Not like I'll complain, she'll get angry if I retort here.

"Mom!" exclaims Clara, "I'm not a kid anymore!"

"You'll be a kid until you stop acting like one…"

I ignore the two's banter and turn my attention towards the shadow that appeared behind our mother. It's Marta, who came to say goodbye.

Marta clicks her tongue, crosses her arms, and turns her head away. "Don't act too crazy and end up in jail."

I roll my eyes. Shut up, Marta. I only act crazy when playing games; I'm not actually crazy.

…at least, I think so. What do you think?

"I love you too, Marta." I say in a sarcastic tone, adding as much emphasis as possible on the word 'love'.

"I love you too," she strikes back. Usually, at this time, she'd just rudely turn around and leave, but she hesitates. Her mouth opens and closes a few times until her voice finally comes out. "...Congratulations on your ranking… You deserve your spot in the tournament."

Eeh, did you say anything, Marta? I could barely hear you…

"Oh, and… and… Have a nice time!" Having said what she came to say, Marta bolts away.

How unexpected. No trash talk? No, 'I would have done better', or 'Only 49th spot after all my training?', or even 'Passing was the bare minimum, there's nothing to celebrate at all'?

"Let's go already, Andreu!" Clara starts pulling me once more. "Yes, yes, mom. We'll come back early, see you later!"

*Bam!*

Clara slams the door shut behind us and exhales, relieved. She was running away from our mother.

"...free at last."

I send her a wary gaze but say nothing. Mom can be a bit overbearing sometimes. I silently thank Clara for taking today's assault in my stead.

As we start walking in silence, I take a look at the clock.

"We'll be there almost an hour before the agreed time. Why are you in such a hurry?"

"That's…" with a mix of enthusiasm and anxiousness, Clara turns her head away. "That's because I agreed to meet with someone else an hour earlier…"

"Someone else…?" I ask, raising one eyebrow. This is unexpected. Who could that be? Now I'm extremely curious. "But even so… did you have to drag me with you? What am I going to do until then? Spend the time bored, alone, without even a computer to play with?"

After the second round of matches and being chosen for the real event, Clara, Ricard, Laura, and I wanted to celebrate it somehow. It's a holiday break and there's no school tomorrow, and it just happens that in the next city, they're having their town festivities.

Town festivities mean parties, lots of different activities, and fireworks.

Especially the fireworks, Clara and Laura almost went crazy talking about them. So, without any way to change their minds, Ricard and I just accepted our fate and agreed with the two women.

I'll never understand them. Sometimes, they seem to hate each other, fighting over the most absurd of things, and other times, they seem to completely agree with everything. Isn't it weird?

"Who said you'll be alone?" Clara makes a cheeky grin. Oh, gosh, I want to pull her cheek so much right now… "Laura will be there, too."

"Wait, what!?" I gulp.

Did she say 'Laura'? When did you two talk about this? And why was I the only one who didn't know anything about it!?

Haa… It's checkmate, it seems.

From thousands of players wishing to get a place in the real tournament – the greatest chance they'd ever get at getting famous within the player community –, only fifty teams from each category were chosen. Andreu and his team were one of the few who got there.

When choosing the teams, the DMA staff checked for both the points each team got, as well as the dungeons they built and how they performed during the dungeon invasions. When they came to the League of Evil, most of them came to the same conclusion: giving them a spot could either be a great idea or an awful one, depending on how everything unfolded.

But, under a certain DMA judge and moderator's persistence, assuring it'd be a success, the League of Evil got a pass into the real tournament.

Nobody knew yet about the storm that was about to come.

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