Chapters 151+152

Chapter 151: A Distracting Conversation

Walker was unaware that a second occupant had joined him. He was too busy reading the text appearing on the center screen, his selected participants frozen in place. 

All Creators have submitted their bets and the allotted time is soon to end.

Each Territory within the fourth battle is designed to adapt to the specific needs of their Custodians. 

For the Defenders, entities must consider each potential attack vector, formulating possible defensive strategies. For the Attackers, they will need to systematically examine each Territory for vulnerabilities and threats. 

Both Defenders and Attackers may collect the dropped spoils of the defeated and utilize them during the fourth battle.

Entity Elimination Conditions: 

Attackers win the territory by claiming the Obelisk or successfully eliminating the Defender. 

Defenders win if their territorial Obelisk is not claimed within a ten-minute timeframe, and they survive.

Creator Victory Conditions:

Should a Creator have all of their entities eliminated, they will be placed into stasis until the fourth battle concludes.

Should a Creator have a single remaining entity and reach the final five Creators, they will move on to the second phase of the fourth battle.

…

Modified response: Upon completion of this battle and due to special circumstances, the losing Creators will be translocated to the position of the winning Creator’s planet of operations. 

All associated abilities, entities, landmasses, titles, and resources will transfer to the victorious Creator. The losing Creators will be indentured to the winning entity until such time as they are optionally released or perish.  

All Defenders will now have ten minutes to prepare their territories. At that time, Attackers will be released from stasis. 

Releasing Defenders in three seconds.

3.
2.
1.

Begin

Walker’s eyes locked on to his people. In front of each Defender stood a shiny obelisk of dark metal. It was of middling height, with four flat planed sides ending in a pyramidion top. Upon touching it, a large blue screen lit up. He quietly watched as each Defender stared at the writing before something unusual happened,  “Uhhh, I’ve always had my assistants manage the Territory screens. Can someone help me?”

It was Melias doing the speaking, something that didn’t shock Walker. 

Thomas spoke up within a second, “You need first to select a theme for the Territory, then your options will appear. Knowing you as I do, you should select the relocating theme, or perhaps the mirror one.” In the few seconds since they’d touched down, Neus’s protege had a small wall of wood around his area, springing up in a flash of Cyan. Even as Walker watched, a small Mana Tree appeared beside him, reinforcing the magical atmosphere of the room. “The screens are intuitive, and the themes are slightly limiting, though I believe they will work well with some applied creativity. You just need to get started.” 

“A theme?” Melias said with a blank expression as he searched the screen.

“Yes. Something that roots your planned defenses together.” A door handle appeared on part of the wall near him. He turned it and stepped out, the screen following along with him. “I believe I am going to go with traps for my design. It fits me.”

Hearing a natural break in their conversation, Walker said, “Traps are a good idea. With how fast your walls went up, you might be able to sectionalize the whole Territory.”

Thomas continued his work, the ground disappearing as he built his Territory piece by piece. Quickly, a set of wooden stakes filled the pit; then he moved on. What didn’t happen was a response to what Walker had said.  

“Hello? Can you guys hear me?”

The sound of someone sipping at a nearly empty cup alerted him that he was not alone, “No, they cannot. We believed it would be too much if we allowed every Creator to speak to their Entities during the battle. Three said it would be too easy to cheat.”

Walker slowly rotated his vision to the speaker on his left. There was a thin man seated there, an ebony black robe wrapped tightly around him as he sipped from a steaming mug, pinky held high. His skin appeared as if it was stitched together, with different colored patches standing out beside one another across the edges of his face. There was also something unusual about him…like he demanded you look at and speak with him. Something that pulled the eye…Walker couldn’t put his finger on it. 

The man took another sip, then placed the mug down beside him, a bright green ring shining on one of his hands. “So, we finally meet Walker Reed. I have to say, this has been coming for some time now.”

With one eye on the odd man sitting on the throne beside him, his other eye watched the battle. Adele made her choice on the screen, a group of large spiders springing up around her. They began to web the area under her direction as the man beside Walker continued speaking. 

“I was curious about who you would pick. Admittedly, I am not as up-to-date on your entities as I was in the past, but I’m unhappy to see you didn’t at least try to select any of your Primigenials. It wouldn’t have worked as you did not create them; however, my disappointment is surprisingly profound. Your decision to not use them or the Poison Wyvern made me lose a bet.” He got Walker’s full attention when the green ring on his finger flashed, “Nothing like the one you have going here, but still substantial nonetheless.”

Walker didn’t know who this was or what his end game could be. Rather than ask and settle into a long expounding conversation on his character, he instead said, “What were the stakes?”

The man drummed his fingers on the throne, “Out of respect for your accomplishments, I’ll answer that. Two medium planets with a small population. They are inconsequential to my overall goals, but I’m not here to flaunt my wealth. Instead, I’m here to converse with the man who turned this rendition on its head.” The side of his stitched face quirked up as he paused for a second, “Do you have any idea who I am?”

Walker internally rolled his eyes. 

But his real eyes caught the moment when the Attackers were released from stasis. All of the screens in front of him updated at once, and a secondary and slightly smaller screen appeared beside each original. For the Defenders, it showed key locations they had to maintain. While on the Attacker side, it showed their position on a map within the defending Territory, updating the more they moved. 

Runner was off in a flash of lightning, the monitor having a hard time keeping up with her, while Bale moved at a much more reduced speed, swinging through a forest of thinly branched trees. His face did not look happy with the situation. 

Phil, Gorlak, and Fillion took a more sedate pace, unable to move at the velocity of their fellow Attackers. 

Each Attacker was positioned differently, the Territory of their exit points unique to the theme selected by the Defender. As Runner and Bale zipped on the ground and through trees, Gorlak took a different route, smashing through every obstacle in view, even picking up large boulders he found and rolling them forward with gusto. 

Fillion the Kind Pirate pulled out two cutlasses, lightly jogging through the area in an oddly leaning fashion as he moved from cover to cover, eyes constantly roaming. An errant thought flew into Walker’s mind. He briefly wondered how a double-cutlass fighter would even handle a one-on-one fight, but it only lasted long enough for him to reply to the man beside him. 

“No, sorry. I have no idea.”

He looked over at the man, feeling queasy at the rictus smile still on the man’s face, “You can call me Councilmember Five. I’ve made quite the fortune leaning on you, Walker. Quite the fortune.” The ring on his hand pulsed as he gave an almost imperceptible shake of the head, “Sadly, I’ve had to channel some of my winnings into supporting you in the Alpha Protocol, but it will all be worth it in the end.”

He loudly tapped a finger against the throne as yells splashed back from the screens. Lucy was already engaged in single combat with an Attacker. It had a humanoid shape but with two more arms extending from the top of its back. The Golden Shield was parrying for all her life as she adapted to the creature’s fighting style.

Walker tried to keep an eye on everyone as he responded, “So you’re a member of the Alpha Protocol Council?”

He saw the man nod from the corner of his eye, “I am.”

Walker pushed down the burning feeling that was trying to rise in his chest. In the most even tone he could manage, he said, “Then how have you been supporting me? From what I can tell, the Council has been trying to fuck me over since the second battle.” He reached into his memories, identifying key instances of when their changes had occurred. “The Army of the Lost and the Anti-Mage of the Second Battle.”

“Whom you easily defeated and gained incredible rewards from.” He pointed out, but Walker wasn’t through. 

“Killing multiple entities on my planet, including one of my strongest at that time, and causing one of my assistants to enter a depression.”

He smiled again, “An unfortunate occurrence, not something we’d intended, and one in which you were compensated for.”

“Giving Mirail an easy leg up in the first round of the third battle?” Walker replied, finally turning in his chair to see the stitched councilmember’s reaction. But the man kept smiling. 

“And yet, you succeeded. Who do you think pushed the Lamda Protocol to create the contained world of the second round? Who do you think pushed the Council to take a chance on you with Rendition 4AB and the discovery of basic strands?” He paused for a long moment, the smile still engrained on his face, “I’ve been pushing the Council to support you since the very beginning. And I did so, even as I faced resistance from my fellow Council Members, particularly number one.”

Walker turned, his eyes drifting back to the screens. He’d missed a lot already by what he could see. There was a number three above Runner’s monitor already. It updated even as she plunged a hand covered in lightning through the entity’s eye. With a grimace, she swiped her hand through the air to remove any liquids clinging to her skin, then reached down, rifling through what had fallen on the ground with its death. She held a glowing object in her hand, shrugged as she put it into her inventory, and then stood still as she began to be translocated to the next location. Sand touched the bottom of her boots as she kicked on her magic again, racing into the distance, the number four glued to the top of her monitor. 

“An impressive specimen.” Five said beside him, “When you created kernels, I was quite shocked. An internal magical locus. It isn’t the first time we’ve seen it, hardly that, but to tie it to their genetics rather than direct rewards from the Creator. That is unique. Of course, Council Member One and I have been paying attention to you since the very beginning. Since you had trouble drawing a circle, of all things.”

He didn’t like to remember his battle with Dysgraphia. 

“Why,” Walker said harshly as Lucy finally defeated her opponent, her breath coming in gasps. His eyes moved to a talking Melias, dozens of mirrors holding his image across his entire territory as he spoke softly to the Attacker, his words not coming through the monitor. “Why have you been paying attention to me from the beginning?”

“The Tree of the Gods, of course,” he replied with a full-throated and unexpected laugh, the sound utterly incongruous with his appearance. “It is an anomaly we can’t account for with the Alpha Protocol. Only ever seen once before, on a planet called Earth.” He smiled again, “One i believe you’re familiar with. You know we couldn’t ignore that. Councilmember One and I took opposing sides on the matter. He wanted you out of the protocol entirely, whereas I believed you would bring nothing but merit to the Alpha Protocol Council. Oh, that had to hurt,” He remarked as Gorlak ripped his Defender in half, the number two now on his screen. “You know, your entities are really something. I believe the odds of you failing the fourth battle will come down to the changes that occur when only five Creators remain.”

“And those changes are?” Walker asked, trying to get an idea of what was to come.

“Ah, ah,” The man said, waving a ring-covered finger with a stretched smile, “No spoilers, as your people like to say. But Councilmember One, ah,” He sighed, the smile leaving his face for once, “He’s an old Evolver. Very old. Did you know that the Cerulean line can trace its lineage directly back to him? One of his children was selected for the Alpha Protocol long ago. If I was betting on you, he was betting on the three Ceruleans in this rendition. After the Mirail incident, not to mention the anomaly, you are quite on his hit list. I’m afraid of what will occur in the final battle.”

Before Walker could ask about it, the man pointed at the screen holding the Wanderer. Melias was still talking to the Attacker while it stood as if caught in a net, responding with multiple shakes of the head and brief bouts of screaming. It stood in place just long enough for a large, sharp shard of glass to fall from the sky, splitting it in half. Walker shuddered. 

“Terrifying that one.” The man on the side said, another steaming cup in his hands. He offered it to Walker, “Would you like some? It’s a delicacy from the second rendition, said to create quite the virility in those who consume it.”

Walker took the glass, briefly touching the man’s hand. His skin felt like cold wax. “What’s in it?”

“I’ve never asked, but it does infuse the imbiber with a powerful dose of energy.” He took another steaming mug, drinking it with a smile as Gorlak’s number hit four. “Remarkable that not a single of your entities has fallen yet. I suppose that speaks to your power as a Creator.”

“I’m of the belief that it speaks of my people’s character and hard work. I’m simply a facilitator for their goals, like Bale there.”

They both focused on Bale Quick as the Guardian dove around a rocky plateau. Small boulders rained down from above as the Defender tried to dislodge the albino squirrel from his attack, but Bale wouldn’t be denied. He quickly scaled the side of the small mountain, diving over the lip of a crevasse and rolling through an opening in the side of the wall. Seeing his chance, he reached out a hand and grabbed the obelisk in the center. The fuzzy, gas-like Defender wailed as it dissipated into the air, small baubles and a large amount of goo the only thing left behind.  

“So you’re a facilitator, not a God?” The man said with a heavy emphasis on the g. One of Walker’s memories came forth, causing him to stumble mentally. 

“No, they’re, uh, my friends. They’re good people.”

“Even that one?” He said, pointing a stitched finger at Phil’s screen. The sapient scorpion only had a number two on his screen, “He seems to be the weakest of the bunch.”

Walker looked closely. While the others were out of breath, tired, and damaged, Phil was still in perfect shape. They watched as he snipped a long cord, revealing a spiked trap swinging through the forest he was traveling through. With some happy taps of his segmented and armored legs, he continued to move forward inexorably- as if he were on vacation and just seeing the sights. 

“Phil’s going to do things his way. They all volunteered to be here, nobody was forced. If the slow and steady march is how my friend wants to complete the battle, then so be it. Speed isn’t always the most important factor in these things.”

“And yet you came in second for the second battle, far faster than almost every Creator within the Rendition. Do you know who came in first?”

Walker shook his head, “You know I don’t.”

“Indeed,” He said with a large smile. When he didn’t expand on that, Walker looked over at him. “You haven’t touched your drink.”

“I’m not thirsty,” Walker replied, gently placing the cooling cup on the ground. 

“Pity. That would cost about as much as one of those portals you like to place everywhere. Speaking of,” He said, an unauthentic transition to something else he wanted to speak about, “We’re very aware of what you are doing in Luck’s Haven.”

“Really?” Walker replied, trying to stay calm, “It’s my planet, is it not?”

“That it is, that it is,” Five replied, tapping his fingers together, “But those people are not yours, not technically. What they choose to do with themselves is their prerogative, but bringing them to this rendition, Rendition 4AA? Not possible. We gave you a special license with Raganoth the Bleeder, mostly because we were curious about what you would do with his genera, and the Tree of the Gods is already a part of the Protocol. But with all those people on Luck’s Haven? That, we cannot allow.”

Walker didn’t say anything for a long moment. 

He didn’t say anything because he was reviewing what had been revealed in the surprising conversation thus far. The Council knew about the Tree of the Gods, the Primigenials, and what he was doing with Luck’s Haven. The Primigenials and all of the hubbub around the Tree of the Gods made sense, as Virgil was required to report back to them before his rebellion. For Luck’s Haven, it would be simple for one of the nobles vacationing on the planet to report back what rumors they had heard, putting a stop to him bringing those people to Symphony. 

But, the council didn’t know about all the creatures and people he’d taken from the Grand Auction, nor his part in its destruction. 

Had they known, they’d have surely executed him by now. Yet, it still unsettled him how closely they were watching Luck’s Haven and the lottery. He couldn’t undo what he had promised to those poor people. According to Virgil and the application team, some of the psychological profiles and stories told by the citizens of his newest world were more than deeply disturbing. Even the Supreme Assistant called them horrifying. 

Aside from his general want to save them, his oath had pressed a finger on the scale. He’d have to save them one way or another, and he didn’t like his only alternative to Symphony.

Outloud, he said, “I understand,” Just as Chipper defeated his fourth Attacker.

“Yes, I thought you might.” The stitched man replied. He put his half-drained cup on the table beside him and then stood up, “I’m sorry to say I cannot stay longer. Even gaining the chance to have our little chat has cost me quite a lot of resources. I’m afraid my time has run out.” He looked at the screens one last time before glancing at Walker, “I’m certain you will reach the final five. As for the final battle that follows the fourth, let me just warn you: Councilmember one has a powerfully malicious grudge against you and the Symphonians. I am very certain that the battle will be all but impossible to win.”

Walker felt something flare up in his chest, “We’ll see, won’t we.”

The stitched man smiled, “Oh yes, we will. Goodbye for now. I’m looking forward to the Protocol Review should you make it through to the end. Ta-ta.”

As he started to walk away, the wall shifting open for him, Walker turned his head quickly and activated soul vision. Just as he stepped through the exit, most of his body already obscured, Walker saw what made the stitched man feel so unusual. 

There was a series of long black lines running through the parts he could see, ones he’d recently become intimately familiar with.

Chapter 152: The Final Five

Since Walker couldn’t speak to his people, he instead sent messages when he could. The Alpha Protocol might be able to block his voice, but they couldn’t block the superseding power of an Omniversal system. Because of the danger involved in being distracted, he always waited until there was a clear break for the Attacker of Defender before sending it, offering tips and advice for his people- particularly when to take a break.

It wasn’t long until Runner broke into the twenties on her kills, though she looked more and more worn out for pushing so hard. Basic arithmetic told him that, with twenty-five Creators and ten entities per Creator, there were a total amount of two hundred and fifty entities within the fourth battle. A simple deduction showed him that the woman with the number twenty on her screen had already taken out almost a tenth of the total field, but there was a toll to pay for constantly using magic and fighting, no matter the skill employed.

Still, thus far, none of Walker’s entities had fallen, and that was important as the messages started to come in.

Creator Quas has no more entities remaining…

Creator Quas has been remanded to stasis until the fourth battle completes…

Creator Exort has no more entities remaining…

Creator Exort has been remanded to stasis until the fourth battle completes…

Time sped by as his people fought and defended themselves to the utmost of their abilities. Phil still meandered along, the number four now on his screen. Fillion erased Walker’s doubt in his skills, performing his attacking movements in a graceful spinning top fashion, moving with the cutlass’s sharp blades always on the outside as he cut his opponent to ribbons.

After roughly thirty minutes, Walker counted nineteen Creator removals. And finally, the last before the final five came in.

Creator Wex has no more entities remaining…

Creator Wex has been remanded to stasis until the fourth battle completes…

Congratulations Dante!

You’ve made it to the final five of the Fourth Battle!

With the introduction of the Final Five, there are some changes-

Warning: Alpha Protocol Changes occurring…

“Of course,” Walker said to himself, a bitter smile on his face.

…

Changes processed…

That was new.

Due to one Creator holding a sizeable advantage in numbers, there has been a change to the rules of the final five.

Creator Dante holds all ten of their entities.

Because of their clear advantage, all of Creator Dante’s team members will now be turned into Defenders, while all other remaining Creator’s entities will now be Attackers.

Additionally:

All remaining Defender landmasses will now become joint, and the restriction on allowing a single attacker will now be nullified.

Victory conditions:

Attackers win upon claiming the Obelisk or successfully eliminating all Defenders.

Defenders win if the Obelisk is not claimed before the elimination of all Attackers.

Warning:

As a warning to all, the longer the battle continues, the larger the changes that will come forth across the remaining landmasses… You have been warned.

Walker’s screens changed from individually focused on his entities to one large overhead view. In the center of a blank territory, all ten of his people stood, locked in stasis.

Releasing Defenders in three seconds.

3.
2.
1.

Begin

Without much time to think or plan, Walker sent a single message that he believed would help them win the day.

Dante: Listen to Thomas!

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After reading Walker and the System’s messages, the Founder took it in stride, “You heard him. It’s down to us and all those bastards out there, so listen up. Runner, Bale, Gorlak the Consuming, and Fillion, you’re on the far perimeter. From what Walker and Virgil have told us, the Council doesn’t like to play fair with the battles, so the Attackers may already be watching. Get out there, kill as many as you can, and don’t come back until the battle ends, or you may run into an unpleasant surprise. Remember what Walker said, you won’t actually die as long as we win. We have to win. For Symphony!”

“For Symphony!” They all repeated back, with one booming voice slowly following the others, including a single-syllable hiss.

The four heading to the perimeter spoke briefly; then, each ran in cardinally opposite directions.

Thomas turned toward Lucy and Phil, “You two are going to be on pure defense.” He looked over Lucy’s shabby and damaged armor, then Phil’s pristine condition, “right. Lucy, you’re going to be the last line of defense. You know I can’t fight for shit, but at least you know how I think, so you’ll be guarding me and the Obelisk as I get everything running. Phil, you’re talented with sand, correct?”

The scorpion clicked his claws three times.

“I’m going to take that as a yes. Please plant traps around the area, and don’t tell us where in case they’re watching. I’ll get it going for you in a moment.” He looked over at Chipper, “Zenith, I’m going to make one great Mana Tree rather than sprinkling them around like I did before. Your job is to guard it as, if it falls, so too does my ability to make structures and change the environment. Without its magical output, we won’t be able to modify the area and it’ll come down to pure martial combat. Got it?”

The Guardian nodded as Melias and Adele stepped forward.

“Melias, I’m well aware of your strengths and weaknesses. But Speaker Adele, I’m sorry, I don’t know much about you.”

The sleek Guardian touched a hand to her chest as her soft voice appeared in his mind, “I am a Mind Mage. My abilities allow me to connect everyone to my mental network, allowing us to speak over long distances. And, as long as a mind is collected enough to have rational thoughts, I can understand what they are thinking.”

Thomas looked out to the perimeter, then back at Adele, “Alright, here’s what I need you to do. Speaker Adele, please connect everyone right now so we can talk without whispering ears.”

“Of course.”

A moment later, eight more voices joined the ones in his head. Each carried a different flavor, though the giant and Phil both had an odd tang to them. Thomas broke down the assignments he’d given out and what he still planned to build.

Phil’s mind spoke in a rough guttural tone, “traps-up-soon.”

“Good. Perimeter team, do you see anything yet?”

“No.”

“Not yet.”

“I wish,” Runner’s downcast tone came back.

“I KEEP HEARING NOISES, BUT I CAN’T SEE ANYTHING,” Gorlak roared through the neural net.

“Well, keep looking. Adele, this is amazing; please keep it going. I’ll also need you and Melias to distract the ever-living fuck out of anyone who gets in here.” They agreed and moved to either side of the immediate area, covering the distance between Thomas, the Obelisk, and Phil’s sand traps.

Looking around, he got confirmation that everyone was in position and knew their roles, then touched the obelisk. A twenty-foot Mana Tree sprung up in the center of the Territory, immediately followed by the ground within an intermediate distance turning to sand. Small stone walls appeared haphazardly beyond the sand as he continuously modified the landmass, expanding everything out in a ring.

As Phil dove into the sand, the environment shifting around him as if he were diving into water, Chipper leaped into the boughs of the tree above, a wary eye trained on the sky.

Quickly, the first sounds of battle reached their ears as a series of trees fell in the near distance to the north. Thomas was too enmeshed in creating a horrifying landscape to notice, but it didn’t escape Lucy’s attention as she spoke quietly to him.

“Gorlak is having a lot of trouble. He’s got a bunch of bugs crawling all over his body, and he’s covered in blood.”

Adele chimed in, “I fought those. They’re carnivorous beatles sharing a hivemind. The best way to defeat them is to create a morass. They couldn’t hold their breath well.”

“Got it,” Thomas said, concentrating on the screen in front of him. Gorlak’s area suddenly changed from an open-pathed forest to a swampy bog as trees collapsed and then rose in quick succession. He explained the change to the giant, then refocused on a different set of circular defenses he was creating.

A few minutes passed, and then Runner zipped over to them, barely seeming to touch the ground, “Killed two, but the others ran. It’s a group of big guys with sharp ass horns on their heads. Not very fun to fight.”

“Why didn’t you just tell us that through Adele’s ability?”

Runner’s feet jumped back and forth as she answered, “I felt this was faster.” Seeing her message passed on, she zipped back out to her area as Lucy facepalmed.

Thomas continued to build, not knowing that the screen in front of him resembled the one Walker was viewing from his seat. The Creator had sent him a few messages with ideas, but ultimately, everything was riding on the shoulders of a man who did not fight well. His skills lay in Territology.

Congratulations Thomas!

Your skill [Internal Focus] has reached level 63!

…Error

Unable to upgrade skill due to location.

Skill will upgrade once entity Thomas has returned to a Symphony world.

Waving away the update, he continued as a deep squawking sound reached them. Lucy stared up as she said, “ “We’ve got two very large birds in the sky.”

“Chipper will take care of them.” Thomas said, not wanting to be distracted from his work, “Have faith in the Zenith.”

As he said that, a large white wall appeared before one of the birds. It adjusted, flying high over the wall before another appeared in front of it again, the Zenith doing his best to disrupt the creature’s movements. With a wingspan the size of an airplane’s, the creature was surprisingly fast in its movements.

Just before striking, its partner dropped from the sky at speed, its body folded into a shape like a spear as all of its feathers laid down at once. All of the pressure from its drop in the air landed on its tip, a hard and barrelled beak piercing its way ever forward. The wall shattered from the collision as the second bird caught up to the first, both angling for the Mana Tree they quickly closed in on.

Leaping from his seated position on the boughs of the Mana Tree, Chipper the First Guardian sailed out into the open air, two massive birds flying to meet him. As they formed their bodies into spears, the Zenith was ready, having seen the transformation once before. Both creatures shifted their positions, allowing them to attack from two different areas, but Chipper wasn’t having that.

A large outpouring of pure white magic erupted from the Guardian, two great hands taking shape over him. With an enormous clap, he brought them and their two unwilling passengers together, the thunder from the sound reverberating across the sky. One squawk was the only sound remaining as a single bird plummeted to the ground, a great hole drilled into its side from its partner. The remaining creature flew up high in the distance, retreating so it could return to fight another time.

Chipper dropped from the sky gently, landing near his vanquished foe and stripping it of any items it left. He finished quickly, climbing back to his sitting branch on the large Mana Tree.

“I will need a moment.”

“Got it,” Lucy said as three horn-headed creatures came running from the west. One of them was tackled by a flashing bolt of lightning, as the other two lowered their heads and charged across the open expanse.

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As soon as they touched the sand, their steps slowed down. Phil had not been idle in the intervening minutes between the sand’s creation and that moment. Aerated sand, when consistently mixed and loosened, created a small suction effect. Even more so when great pitfalls were created within differing sections and randomly organized.

A bellow of terror caused the two creatures to lose focus on their current predicament. Both turned to look, watching as a woman in blue armor zipped all around their compatriot, arcs of electricity burning his skin as her spear found holes in his defenses. They only had a moment to watch before a stone wall lifted on its own, cutting off their view and their escape.

Knowing they had to push forward no matter the consequences, each heaved with great strength through the sucking sand around them. Their weight, once a great benefit to their styles of fighting, now worked against them as the territory seemed to want to drag them down to its deadly depths. It wasn’t long before the screams of their third member fell away, and then a new terror began for the lead creature.

His second disappeared behind him in a flash of sand and with little sound. The moment he did, a long tail of yellow reached up out of the ground, its sharp tip stabbing toward him. He deflected one, two attacks, but he knew it was a losing battle.

Pushing everything he had into the muscles of his legs, he began to leap over and over again, just trying to get the sand to loosen its grip and raise himself further from the muck. In a moment of desperation-fueled movement, he managed to gain enough traction to take himself out of the sand, feeling the firm ground beneath his stomach as he landed clumsily from his panic.

Looking up as he caught his breath, he found a small, thinly muscled specimen in damaged armor before him. Two wide metal objects were attached to its hands, hands that clanged together with a loud bang. Taking a step forward, they charged at him fast enough that he had trouble viewing its figure. Impossibly, it found itself shoved back from the clash with a loud bang. The air briefly touched his body as he soared, and then the terrible sinking feeling of sand surrounded him after he’d fought so hard to escape.

The horrifying tail raised in the air above him, granting just enough time to widen both eyes, and then it plunged, and he knew no more.

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“They’re dead,” Lucy reported when she returned to Thomas, slightly out of breath.

“Excellent.” Thomas replied verbally, tapping into Adele’s network; he called out, “Status check everyone.”

All of the inner group was fine, with Phil incessantly speaking about how tasty the muscle-bound creatures were. Chipper said he needed a little time to cultivate magic in his kernel, but he promised it wouldn’t be long; while on the Perimeter team, Runner said she could go all day, while Fillion and Bale said they hadn’t seen anything yet. Gorlak mostly complained.

“THOSE INSECTS WERE PAINFUL. THEY BITE YOU IN THE MOST UNCOMFORTABLE OF PLACES.”

“Better in pain than dead,” Chipper commented.

“THAT IS TRUE, GUARDIAN, BUT I AM NONETHELESS HAPPY NOT TO HAVE THESE MEMORIES WHEN WE RETURN.”

Thomas was about to speak when a new announcement rang out.

Congratulations to all remaining Creators!

Your entities have survived the first phase of the final five!

Changes among the joint territory will now occur…

After a few seconds with nothing happening, Runner excitedly yelled out, “All kinds of shit just popped up in my area!”

“Mine too!” Fillion agreed.

The other two on the perimeter watch said the same thing, even as Chipper pointed something else out in a calm voice.

“The skies are filled.”

“What?” Thomas asked as he looked up.

He didn’t spot anything immediately by the tree, but the Guardian’s words became clear as he looked into the distance. Dozens of creatures, small and large, now flew through the area. Some had leathery wings, while others were feathered. In the lead were a few with gray coloring moving at speed. Every so often, they seemed to release great bouts of fire as they propelled themselves forward, quickly traveling beyond the seething mass of creatures.

All ten of the defenders received a message from Walker simultaneously. The Alpha Protocol had added neutral contenders to the Territory, meaning they would attack both Defenders and Attackers simultaneously. Even as they watched, a large group of flying monsters began to bank, an interception angle showing the lone flying creature that had recently attacked them quickly speeding away.

Their more immediate problem was the flying gray creatures heading their way. Thomas made a quick executive decision.

“Perimeter team, return immediately to just outside Phil’s sand zone. We need all hands on deck, and having you out there will only let these creatures attack you. Let them go after the Attackers instead.” He looked at his screens before calling over Adele.

The sleek Guardian arrived quickly, “How can I assist you, friend Thomas?”

Even though they could speak through their minds using her ability, he wanted to see her face as he asked, “Can you make it so the contenders focus on the other Creator’s entities, rather than us?”

She tilted her head, a worried expression on her face, “I can, but it would take all of my concentration, and my ability is not perfect.”

Thomas nodded, “All I can ask is you do your best. The only way to win is if all of the Attackers die. If our strategy is to just let the Alpha Protocol do our work for us, then so be it.”

“I understand. It will take me a moment, so you will have to deal with any monsters directly attacking us in the next few minutes. We will also lose our communication abilities.”

“Got it,” Thomas replied, stepping away as Adele nodded, already sitting down and closing her eyes. He knew nothing about how her magic worked, but he did feel when the other nine Symphonians were no longer sitting in the back of his mind.

Now that they would have to speak out loud, he yelled, “We need to defend Adele and this location for the next few minutes. She’s going to create a screen that will push the Contenders towards the Attackers instead of at us. Please try your hardest to keep everything at-”

“Look out!” Lucy yelled, tackling Thomas as a blast of flame roared through where he’d been standing only a moment before. Moving the woman’s heavy shoulder off his chest, he heard two loud pings as a creature landed right in front of them. It was pointing a hollow tube directly at Speaker Adele, smoke erupting from the back of it.

“No!” Thomas yelled out, reaching a hand forth, just as a flash of lightning blasted the creature back.

Standing where it once did, a thoroughly tussled Runner Grove stood, looking much worse than she did only minutes before.

“These bastards are rough.”