The Castle in the middle of nowhere.

"Who dares to challenge me?!" A bellowing voice sounded from the darkness beyond the reach of illumination spells that fairies used to disperse the darkness of the shadow realm.

"*sigh* How much more cringe you could be?" I rubbed my eyes without raising my voice. "What this is? Some sort of anime joke?" I turned my gaze upon the longbowmen. "ARCHERS!"

Instead of focusing on battle, my thoughts get distracted by doubts. And very stupid doubts to be precise in a moment like this: should I think about my archers as longbow-men or longbow-skelies? Focus, Theon... The volley of five hundred deadly arrows flew towards the voice. The angry roar of hurt pride shook the air once more quickly changing its tone to a cry of pain. The earth shook when something massive started walking towards my ranks. With quick mental commands, I recalled my cavalry, but I couldn't do much against infantry still engaged with the zombie army remnants. I put my hand on my sword handle and gritted my teeth. The putrid stench of zombies finally reached my observation point and Amber quickly run away to Irene and Luna. They were sitting in the command tent behind me where they should be safe from that smell. I focused on the threat ahead. If my rusted gamer instincts are correct, it's a boss battle time.

After barriers were recast I left four maniples to crush encircled zombies and ordered the rest of my legion to regroup. Three rectangular maniples of hastati were standing ready. Behind them were two maniples of principes and four maniples of triarii who were not used yet in this battle. My losses so far were minor; numbering only about two hundred and fifty among the hastati and principes. I felt the change in the air... No. Just the putrid smell was blown away by Amber who had enough and she used her wind magic. Anyway... From the shadow emerged a large humanoid, easily eight or nine meters tall. The first thing that came to my mind to describe it: it was a demon. Horns, flames, bat wings- everything checked nicely the boxes. Around it, smaller demons emerged from the darkness but it was not as a large force as the army of zombies before.

The demons were standing in strange stances, with their weapons in their talons, but they looked strangely as if they blurred or glitched during their moves. This appearance seemed to stabilise or wear off so maybe it was the side effect of their spell that allowed them to enter the shadow realm in the first place. They haven't even tried to form any type of formation- the mob started running towards my battle line. It took me by surprise and if not for excellent training drills, my line could collapse. Despite the seemingly unorganised ranks demons were formidable warriors and it looks like they are a few levels higher than my hastati but less than my triarii for sure. So about the level of my principes.

Smaller demons were fast- much faster than I considered possible and because of that, I missed the right moment to order my infantry to intercept them. The demons quickly engaged with the right flank of Legion, taking one of the formations tasked with dealing with zombies. I moved the rest of the legion in an attempt to relieve the maniple attacked from behind by demons, and I could only hope I have acted just in time. However, the Centurions leading my formation saw the threat earlier and managed to turn around enough of their forces. The demons were greeted with halberds and spears, bouncing off the shield wall, but they managed to kill some of my soldiers and bite into a phalanx. The rest of the legion clashed with demons but it was only a matter of time when this maniple will fall, allowing demons to join their ranks with the zombies.

"Galahad. Stella. Do you see that monster?" I pointed at the greater demon that was approaching slowly my lines.

"Yes, my King!" Responded Galahad.

"I don't want to."

"With pleasure!"

Galahad jumped on his horse and Stella flew right behind him. They quickly moved towards the enemy. They moved fast, ignoring smaller demons and Galahd used his lance in the initial attack. The demon roared after receiving a well-aimed blow that, from the look of it, could shatter its knee. It started limping while it tried to turn towards Galahad...

"Theon?" Amber's concerned voice broke my focus.

"Yes?" I turned towards her.

"Shouldn't we attack as well?"

"No, Amber, we shouldn't or I even should say: we must not...*sigh*... We still know nothing about our enemies. Look at the legion- they are dying despite the fact they can easily overpower these demons." I shook my head. "But we are battling here not only to win but we struggle to gather information as well. If I allow you to engage in the battle your powers will become known by our enemies. They want information about us as much as we want about them."

She bit her lip and stood there silently for a moment. Her face showed her emotions but I couldn't stop myself from admiring her breathtaking beauty. She was wearing her Valkyrie Armour, an incredible body armour that should protect her from everything. She finally nodded in agreement and fixed the strand of her hair. I smiled warmly and took her hand.

"Amber, I don't like that as well. But I still know nothing about our enemies. Knowledge can win battles as efficiently as swords. But these demons can be a threat to us, so I will not risk the safety of Avalon just to resolve this battle faster. They are formidable enemies and we can only guess if they are associated with Lord Dickhead or if they are a threat on their own." I observed Galahad who engaged the greater demon. "But anything I do now is risky- Alea iacta est; the die were cast. The existence of my Legion is known to the master of demons and Zombies. That's why I am using the least force possible."

Amber sighed and faintly smiled but I couldn't blame her. It's frustrating to simply stand here and watch when the enemy is just within your reach. I looked at Galahad who was fighting with a greater demon. I heard the demon's laughter as it tried to hit my Scion without any luck. Galahad was testing his skills against a real enemy while Stella was standing behind providing her support magic. Despite the size difference, the demon was far too subpar in comparison with Galahad, who had this fight under his total control. My gaze shifted toward the legion, but Fulminata Legate and Centurions already crushed the zombies and had lesser demons surrounded. I couldn't help but shake my head. Normally the forces gathered here would be more than enough to kill any hero stupid enough to try their luck. But I was not any hero.

I was not even the hero the people expected...

This battle could end differently if the demons would have attacked with the zombies or quicker arrived with their help. But right now their efforts were in vain- not only because my legion was simply better, but most importantly because I almost regained full control over this part of Avalon. The battle was coming to an end; slowly but surely my first legion was victorious. Lego I Fulminata, the Thunderbolt First Legion, losses were big but not devastating: one and a half cohort, about forty archers and few pixies- about eight hundred soldiers total. I felt nothing. I thought I will at least feel sad about my denizens dying, but no. I felt nothing because I know they will all respawn. This battle could go wrong at many points; wrong initial formation, my slow reaction or demons supporting zombies from the start. But this time Legio I Fulminata was standing proud and victorious, waiting for their well-earned praise...

•••

Watching King Theon commanding the Legion was an incredible experience. Galahad was watching each and every move of his Lord with the utmost attention. When Galahad was born he was shaped by the will of King Theon, he inherited his visions and like every dungeon denizen he did everything to appease his Master. But the king gave his scions something more than mere existence- with his will, they were gifted the spark of individualism that drove them to excel beyond the normal limitations of the other dungeon denizens. He was standing with his sister Scion, Stella who also watched the King with curiosity. She was different from Galahad, which was strange according to Lance- all scions in his previous dungeons, while created to perform different tasks, were almost the same.

But not in Avalon. There were friendly fights between the Scions but everyone wanted the best for their King...

"Galahad. Stella. Do you see that monster?" King Theon pointed at the greater demon that was approaching slowly the lines of the legion.

"Yes, my King!" Galahad replied calmly.

"I don't want to."

"With pleasure!"

He smiled at Stella and jumped at his horse. The magnificent war beast rushed towards the battle lines, fast as the wind, and Galahad already could feel the grand magic of his sister. Stella was flying behind him, not interested in the fight at all but more than ready to test her magic against the demon. Galahad's battle gear was second only to the battle gear of the King and The Queens; each part had engraved powerful runes to amplify his skills or fill the gap where he was incapable of doing anything. It was quite amusing for the skeleton scion but when he was in his full battle gear no one could distinguish him from a human. He used one of the enhancements on his armour and from space of holding he pulled out a hussar lance; a fierce weapon, over six meters long but light and nimble in combat. Galahad identified the demon and laughed...

He smashed his lance with full power into the leg of the giant, destroying his own weapon, but that arguably worked as intended. The demon bellowed a painful roar and tried to hit him but missed. Galahad throws away the handle and without looking back he moved the reins to turn his mighty steed. The horse turned quickly and agilely, once more facing the towering enemy. The horse whinnied when Galahad charged the enemy once more holding next one of the many of his lances. The demon was prepared this time carefully trying to aim his spell but just before it could hit the knight of Avalon, Galahad jumped from the horseback and threw his lance aiming at the enemy's large eye. His horse turned nimbly and returned to Stella who was watching her brother from a safe distance.

The demon growled in anger but started laughing at Galahad who was approaching him with his shield and broad sword staff.

"Who are you to challenge me, mortal?! I am the great Ash-nâzög, the champion of Râr-râküs! Kneel before me and accept your fate!"

"*sigh*" Galahad changed the pace of his approach, jumping from side to side and closing the distance. "Shattering Slash!"

The demon full of self-confidence tried to block Galahad's slash with its hand and laughed when the blow passed seemingly harmless. Galahad however, was continuing his attack and he left an afterimage behind him. The demon's laughter changed into a cry of pain when it turned out, that Galahad severed all of the fingers from the demon's hand. The black blood gushed from the wound causing Ash-nâzög to recoil in pain, creating an opening- an opportunity for Galahad who learnt the hard way to always mercilessly exploit such weaknesses.

"Judgement Spear!" Galahad made two simple steps toward the screaming demon and throw his spear that changed into the beam of bright white light and pierced Ash-nâzög's shoulder. "What a stupid demon..."

Galahad felt another set of buffs cast by Stella and smirked- time to finish this...

"Ugh!" The crushing blow of the demon's tail sent Galahad flying.

Several types of barriers were activated at the same time as intricate runic armour made by Ragnar and Verni protected its wearer from harm. Galahad landed a few dozen meters away from Ash-nâzög who immediately started casting fireballs. But the demon was severely weakened after receiving two major hits before and his magic was weaker. These few shots it managed to hit were not even enough to slow Galahad down.

"Who... Who are you?!" The fear in the demon's voice now was a striking contrast to its previous pride.

"You are not worthy to know my name, filth." The demon started retreating but it was just a faint.

A feint, that the knight of Avalon saw through and covered his side with his shield, causing another bitter growl of the demon whose tail painfully crushed on Galahad's shield. With a quick and fluid motion, Galahad took out a broad sword and chopped off the demon's tail. This demon could be a problem for most mortals Galahad met so far, but not for him. After the days worth of training with King Theon this battle could hardly qualify as such- besides this demon was not only fifteen levels weaker but also...hoo?

"You dare to mock me and call me mortal while you are the dark hero descendant? Say your goodbyes, you filth!"

"Nooo! I beg you..." Its begging was cut short by the merciless blade of Avalon.

The babbling sounds of the demon dying under his feet reminded Galahad of the words of his king- do not let your overconfidence get the better of your judgement. Galahad raised his blade once more- the wild fear in the Ash-nâzög eyes disappeared when the blade has fallen and the spark of life left the lifeless husk.

"You should be better than this, the child of an unknown hero..." Galahad pitied his enemy, but the enemies of his King had to submit or be killed.

•••

"Legion forward!" I ordered after all the loot was collected, later Jasper will catalogue it all.

We marched to the place where the centre of the collapsed barrier should be. The Legion was moving in triple-line formation because I didn't want to risk an ambush. There is a structure built here that is resisting my authority and refusing to submit to my will. Our advance was painfully slow but we finally reached something that I should call the fort.

SIGH

I should have taken these siege engines with me...