"THE TRIAL SYSTEM HAS PROMISED ME YOUR LANDS. SUBMIT TO YOUR NEW RULER, WELARRIOUSSA."

  *The dragon, Wellarrioussa, arrived as the main quest of the Tenth Realm expansion. Wellarrioussa devastated multiple bases from the nations of Earth. No other true dragons have been sighted in The Realm since.

  “Jesus Christ! Is that a dragon?! Nothing we’ve got is even scratching that thing!”

  - Major Barnes, Realm 6 [Brigadier]

  —

  “Holy shit, Barry was the first responder?”

  “Shh.”

  –

  Pioneer Paul casually swung his axe. All of Barry’s instincts screaming at him as he leapt to the side.

  A single slash rendered the reinforced concrete walls in twain. The only reason Barry was still alive was simply because Pioneer Paul hadn’t been aiming at him. The slash had gone through the walls, through the buildings behind those walls and sliced the radio tower in half. It started tilting over to the side.

  Barry might have been a [Berserker] but he wasn’t a fool. He put his hands up as he tried to placate the wayward orc.

  “What are you doing Paul?”

  “What must be done, I am sorry. I did not want to do this either.”

  “Then don’t, we can talk.”

  “I have tried, your leaders refuse to let her go.”

  Barry felt a pit open up in his stomach, what had those morons done?

  “Who are you talking about?”

  “My caret- no, it does not matter, I am unhappy. I should never have stopped my friends from doing this in the first place. They were right, I was wrong.”

  Sara and Mark had caught up. Barry was signalling to them to get the fuck out, but they refused. Readying their gear instead, Fools. They probably thought the last attack was an Epic.

  It was just a casual swing, Barry was certain of it.

  Paul stared at the fortress and looked regretful, he then turned to Barry. This wasn’t the first time he’d gone through looking death in the eyes before, but unlike before, Barry knew he was dead.

  “You are Barry?”

  “Yes.”

  “That is unfortunate. You look like a good orc. Don’t come back to The Realm.”

  –

  Sara watched in horror as her friend was bisected in front of her very eyes. She cried out as the top half of Barry flew across the sky, into the distance. She screamed, chasing after it while yelling at Mark to grab Barry’s lower half. It was possible to save her friend, she’d steal a regeneration potion from the army if she had to.

  Barry had survived it all, he’d survive this one too.

  She leapt into the sky and caught Barry’s torso as it fell and then started dashing away from the insane Pioneer.

  Her friend, the orc, spoke as if losing half his body didn’t bother him at all.

  “Run, keep running Seff. I have another life, you don’t.”

  “He’s just one man, we can strike between his cooldowns.”

  The base was back on red alert, people were flying and leaping around. They had two squads of ninth realms in the base.

  Barry grabbed at her chestplate.

  “He’s a monster, and he’s determined. We all underestimated the second class up.”

  “Just shush, don’t talk. Extend your skill.”

  Her arms trembled as she put Barry on the ground. Sara started fumbling for her emergency potion. Even a minor one would help scar over the wound. He might be able to survive for -

  “Don’t worry about me. Just run.”

  Sara ignored him as she looked around. Where the fuck was Mark? Where was that lower half?

  She turned to the Pioneer that stood there, watching the base in front of him organize without a care in the world. Half of the American forces in The Realm were here. They could call plenty more ninth realm backup using System portals.

  Pioneer Paul should have known that. Yet he gave them time to assemble. Some people had called the American Pioneer slow, but that couldn’t be the case.

  Nobody could have survived all the Trials while being slow.

  A sniper round fired as it pinged off Paul’s head. A warning shot. A [Mage] threw up an enormous barrier as the ninth realm Major [Great General] stood on top of the ruined wall looking down at the orc.

  Barry shook his head.

  “They’re all going to die. Tell them to evacuate. Switch to black alert.”

  Sara took out her walkie, not doubting Barry’s words in the least. She did not know at the time that this call would later be leaked and help shape her future.

  “This is Captain Garcia, do not engage! Do not engage! Black alert, full evac recommended.”

  The Major [General] atop the wall frowned, and brought his own walkie into his mouth.

  “Belay that order. Everyone under the fifth realm should go to the bunkers. Everyone else sortie to the walls!”

  The [General] turned her way and saw Barry’s state. Sara swore she saw the bastard give the dying orc a smirk. He spoke into the walkie.

  “This is perfect. Looks like the bait worked.”

  The ninth realm [Great General] stood tall, he took in a breath as his own squad flew next to him.

  “Pioneer Paul! As an American citizen you have denied your civic duties long enough! You will come under command. The Realm needs to be protected from our enemies!”

  There was a sigh. It was like The Realm itself sighed with Pironeer Paul as his breath became audible to all of them. Sara didn’t need [Dangersense] screaming at her. She started dragging her friend further back as Paul spoke.

  “The only thing The Realm needs protection from, is Earth. Leave The Realm! I will not ask again.”

  The Major [General] laughed.

  “You alone? You should have brought your friends.”

  He blew a piercing whistle.

  Another squad of ninth realm superhumans appeared behind him, this one had just come from the portal. More were arriving, each one with special weapons and skills that could shake the world and sweep any non-nuclear nation on Earth.

  Behind them were thousands of trialists that had reached past the fifth realm upgrade, ready to provide covering fire.

  Rows of howitzers floated in the air. All holding ammunition coated in material found in the depths of the Sector Eight. A specialized helicopter flew in the sky, a spherical force field surrounding it.

  “Pioneer Paul,” the [General] repeated, “come in and do not resist, you do not want to disappoint your dear caretaker Mary do you?”

  Paul closed his eyes.

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  “No, no I do not.”

  “Good then–”

  “WE THE PIONEERS TAKE THE REALM AS OUR OWN. THIS IS OUR GIVEN RIGHT BY THE MANAGER. TO THE COUNTRIES OF EARTH. YOU. ARE. TRESSPASSING!”

  –

  Barry sighed as Seffara stopped her tale there.

  “And the rest is history.”

  “What?!”

  Both Milock and Ryan stood up, demanding the heroine finish the story they both knew well.

  “What’s there to tell? Pioneer Paul destroyed the entire base and showed how powerful dragonslayers are. It turned into a meat grinder where we fought with guerilla warfare against the Tyrants. We all underestimated the second class up.”

  She then gave a hollow laugh. “Guess history repeated itself and it was the dragonslayers that underestimated the Tyrants.”

  This answer didn’t satisfy Ryan at all.

  “What happened to Barry? Seffara? Hey! You can’t stop there.”

  Seffara turned to Barry. He sighed as he looked at Ryan. The rookie had been right. If he expected Ryan to trust them then he couldn’t be a hypocrite himself.

  It was time to tell a secret he hadn’t told anyone, not even Seffara.

  –

  Barry knew he was dead; he kept telling Sara to forget him. She should have just found Mark and escaped. The stubborn woman kept ignoring him as she stayed with him while pouring her emergency minor potion on him. Maybe a high grade potion would have let him survive like a cripple. Unfortunately, those were far too rare.

  Not that it mattered, Barry didn’t even feel the minor potion working.

  That only meant one thing.

  Barry sighed and released his [Desperate Last Moment].

  “Barry no!”

  “Enough!” He yelled, screaming through his own dying body. “Go find Mark and help evacuate the base! The people need you now. I have another life. You don’t! I’ll be fine.”

  Sara looked at her dying friend as he demanded her to leave him. She shook out of her daze as she nodded at Barry. Sara leapt back to the base, tears and guilt in her eyes.

  Barry activated his Epic again.

  “I know you’re here Witch. Don’t you dare kill her, she doesn’t have another life and she’s been through hell to get here. Touch her and I swear I’ll come back and make sure all of you regret it.”

  A cold female voice reached his ears.

  “That is acceptable, as long as you promise to stay out of The Realm. A witch’s bargain on it.”

  Barry laughed. “I’m surprised you even saw me as a threat. Sure.”

  “A deal it is then.” There was a pause, then the healer-killer [Witch] took her time to gloat, “we were never planning on killing her anyway.”

  –

  Ryan’s [Lesser Dangersense] exploded. The temperature rose up, beyond the heat from the bonfire. He looked at the source as Seffara glared at Barry. Even Ryan hadn’t made Seffara so angry before.

  “You never told me this.”

  Her voice was like a whisper, a contrast to the growing flame. Milock scrambled back, trying to get away from the scalding presence. Barry didn’t flinch from the heat. The regret of keeping a secret hurting him more.

  “Didn’t think it was necessary.”

  Seffara clenched her fists. Ryan logically knew she wouldn’t kill Barry but holy shit.

  “You didn’t think it was necessary? You made a deal for my life? Is this why you refused to become realmbound?”

  “No, even before that I had promised myself I wouldn’t go back when I died. I regretted having signed up in the first place. Seff. It was a free deal.”

  “Free deal my ass, you went to prison for that. You never fucking told me you had a deal. Every single time I thought I got lucky surviving that shit while everyone else died, and you didn’t tell me anything.”

  Barry sighed.

  “I’m sorry, I should have told you. I thought - no nevermind, I should have told you. I’m sorry, I truly am.”

  “So that’s the reason I’m still alive?” She spat.

  “Weren’t you listening? They weren’t going to kill you. It was a free deal for both of us.”

  “Is that what really happened? You’re not lying?”

  Barry looked levelly at his old friend. His skin starting to burn from her presence.

  “Yes Seff, do you need me to swear it on Mark’s grave?”

  Seffara blinked, sighed, then shook her head. She clenched her teeth then stomped away from the bonfire. The temperature cooled as the frustrated heroine marched away.

  Ryan opened his mouth and Barry shook his head warningly.

  “Don’t, she just needs some time.”

  The trio sat in silence for a little longer as the bonfire raged. Ryan kicked some dirt into it. Milock looked a little rattled, the story had become far too real far too quick.

  All of a sudden his friend laughed a little.

  “If you think about it. Barry did the same thing you did Ryan. He threatened the Witch Tyrant to save the people he cared about.”

  Both Barry and Ryan looked at each other. Barry looked disgusted at the idea that he had the same idea as a rookie. Ryan’s eyes narrowed at Barry’s expression then he scoffed. Both of them looked away from each other.

  After a couple seconds of petty silence, Barry suddenly brought up something new.

  “So, rookie. Are you still going to hide whatever it is you’re hiding?”

  Ryan looked behind him. Towards where Seffara had walked off to, she was far away, but she also did have the hearing of a ninth realm.

  “Should I say it even if it brings her out of retirement?”

  “Don’t make the same mistake as I did.”

  Ryan nodded. Fair enough, Barry did have a point, and he hated keeping secrets.

  And so Ryan explained the entire situation with the Witch Tyrant’s predictions on the future. The fact that even the Tyrants weren’t expecting to complete the Trials, all the way to the end of the world scenarios that she talked about. It felt good to let it all out.

  Milock’s jaw just dropped to the ground.

  “Manager's abode.”

  Barry scratched at a tusk, then he shrugged, “hm, that makes sense.”

  Ryan hated being surprised but couldn’t really hide it in this case. “Really? That’s your reaction?”

  “We already figured out that the Witch Tyrant is desperate. Of course it’d be for something as big as this.”

  For some reason that made perfect sense to Milock. His friend calming down.

  “Huh. I guess nothing really changes.”

  Ryan wanted to pull his hair out. Had he really been keeping such a huge secret for no reason? How could they not lose their minds like he’d done?

  A large gauntleted hand patted him on the shoulder. Seffara looked at him, a slight smile on her face. She spoke to both him and Barry.

  “I don’t need others worrying about me, brat. I’ve lived through nuclear standoffs, dragon bombardments and the Tyrants sweeping The Realm. Don’t keep secrets thinking it’s for my own good.”

  Barry nodded at her. Then he turned to Ryan.

  “If that is your reason why you’re trying so hard to get stronger then you might want to rethink it. There will always be more problems, always another disaster looming. You will never have enough power to stop it all.”

  Ryan listened to the nugget of wisdom from the orc, then he rejected it.

  “I can’t stop Barry. I’d rather bleed now and end up in the Tyrant’s position rather than regret being weak when the time comes.”

  “Except you won’t be the only one bleeding. You think it’s fun now because you’ve avoided a lot of real deaths. The higher you go, the more realmbound you’ll meet. The higher you go, the crazier they are. Do you really intend to kill those that you used to look up to?”

  He still had no idea how to challenge the world while keeping everyone alive, Barry just hadn’t heard his declaration and didn’t understand… If Ryan was being honest, he had no idea how to live up to that ideal either.

  “I never thought it was fun, or a joke Barry. I know most people just jump back and become realmbound. Even without it I’ve ruined their lives.”

  Garbolt’s terrified face flashed in his mind, then came all the other adventurers he killed. Ryan shook his head trying to ward the hesitation away.

  “Look at the Tyrants, they challenged Earth and won. They became Legends. Didn’t they make the worlds a better place? I’m going to do my best not to kill them but if it means I can save more people in the end, isn’t it worth it?”

  Ryan didn’t like the words he was saying himself, it felt further away from the ideal he was looking for. But the words had their effect.

  For what it seemed like the first time since Ryan had met him, the old orc didn’t have an answer. The green giant just sagged, weary.

  “I was hoping there’d be a better answer. That you might be able to come up with it. But I guess this is just how the Trial System works. Maybe just how the world works.”

  Barry knew how to hit him where it hurt. Ryan clenched his fists, wishing he had a better answer himself.

  A hand patted him on the shoulder. Seffara nodded her head at him.

  “I’m not going to lecture you on what you should and shouldn’t do. Not now when you know I’m just a huge fraud. But I am going to tell you to take a week off. Go back to your family and try not to enter The Realm, okay?”

  Seffara was the last thing from a huge fraud but Ryan nodded anyway, accepting her words.

  –

  An ex-[Berserker] and a [Knight] watched a car roll away in the rising sun. There had been less arguing than either had expected, but the [Rogue] slipped away. His decisions uncertain.

  “Do you think you got to him?”

  “No, but you did the right thing.”

  Seffara let out a deep sigh.

  “Fucking hell Barry. This is why I don’t want kids, how the hell am I supposed to tell if they’re being raised right? Hell, I don’t even completely disagree with what the kid’s saying.”

  Barry scoffed, he took out an old phone and started scrolling through his contacts. Seffara glared at the brightening morning, as if annoyed by how inevitable the rising sun was. She let out another sigh.

  “You think that Milock kid will pull through?”

  “No, but that’s why I’m calling for backup.”

  Backup?

  Seffara glanced, side-eying the phone that Barry had to his ear. The old orc looked a little tense as he -

  “Oh my gosh, is that you Barry? Is everyone okay? Is Ryan okay? I heard the news, everyone’s talking about it. Blacklisted dragonslayers rushing the portals back to Earth, the way that - that mountain rose up and it’s crazy, crazy! so much happened in the three days I wasn’t there, but it’s technically been a month in The Realm hasn’t it? Do you know what that’s like? Everything’s just chaos and–”

  Barry had his phone further away from his ears, the stream of consciousness was still going. Seffara looked at the orc as if he’d sprouted another head.

  “You finally gone senile?”

  Barry sighed, “I never said it was reliable backup.”

  “Hello Seffara! How are you? Were you in The Realm when it all happened? That must have been scary, also backup? What do you guys need backup for?”

  Seffara turned back to the morning sun. Yup, they were so screwed.

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