His eyes snapped open, fresh air filling his lungs. For a second, maybe less, the world before him remained blurry, then everything returned into focus. A small smile tugged at his lips as the wind ruffled his hair and the grass around him.

  He was back.

  Earth.

  Sure, it was the moon hanging high overhead instead of the sun now, but that was to be expected. Even though the duel hadn’t lasted long, Rakin had flat-out refused to let him leave the waiting room until he was fully recovered. And so, after stuffing himself full, he had cleaned up and taken a long, well-earned nap on the couch.

  To no surprise, once he woke up, the Overlord was gone. A single note wishing him good luck in the coming raid was all he had left behind. A pity, really, as Isaac still had plenty of questions. Not that he expected the alien to answer any of them. Not after he refused to speak more about Genesis.

  Ah, whatever, Isaac thought, heaving a sigh. Just gotta kill the worm, right?

  With a chuckle, he stood up and stretched, hearing his joints pop. All the lingering pain and ache disappeared with his nap, but some stiffness remained. Hopefully, the flight back to Silent Oasis would fix that.

  A quick transformation brought him back high in the sky, hovering above the empty plain. He took a look around, but this time, there were no monsters or other Hosts anywhere close. As expected of nighttime.

  Maybe I could… he trailed off, shaking his head. No… I’ve been gone for too long now. Time to go back.

  Before he could talk himself into detouring toward a stronger territory to test his new Core, he mentally slapped himself and turned away. As much as he wanted to experiment, that could wait until he spoke with his friends in person.

  That thought made him shudder a bit. Even if the news he was bringing was somewhat good, he expected to do a lot more talking than just that in the next few days. The raid preparations had to be finalized soon, and this time he refused to dump everything on his friends.

  This whole plan had been his idea. It felt wrong to leave all the heavy lifting to everyone else.

  So, as much as he dreaded the next few days, he couldn’t complain. This was his decision, and he was standing by it, no matter what his antisocial side had to say about it.

  All right. Let’s go.

  Fusion War Round 1 ends in: 9 days and 15 hours.

  Once Isaac returned to the Silent Oasis and then to the Battleground, he completely lost track of time. For the next few days, it was all talking, planning, more talking, and whatever training he could get in between. Rest wasn’t even a consideration. Everyone was busy. Hell, the already chaotic Battleground Safe Zone now looked even more like an anthill that was just stepped on.

  He had lost count of just how many times someone was almost trampled next to their shared house. It got to the point that Carmela had to call in more guards just to create some semblance of order in the area.

  It didn’t work too well, but Isaac really respected the ten men and women for even trying. He tried to help them once, only to end up getting jumped by some psycho fans who were camping the house for two days straight.

  That had been… an experience. One that would stay with him for quite some time, no thanks to James, who had laughed his ass off once he arrived at the scene. At the very least, he helped Isaac escape the mob.

  Still, ignoring that, the days since his return had been quite productive.

  Even with only bits of practice here and there, he still managed to get his Origin Fusion to the point where he could now summon a small flame without the help of the artifact. No manipulation skill yet, but he could feel he was getting close. Good enough for now.

  Other than that, he just ran some tests on his enhanced Viron and blood. The rest of his time was taken up by meetings, running around, and some more meetings.

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  Some might say having one of their strongest fighters buried in logistics and raid organization was a waste, but he disagreed. At this point, there was just no quick way for him to gain strength, not unless he was willing to assault another Unregulated Quarantine or venture deep into the unexplored wilds of Earth.

  And that, unfortunately, wasn’t possible right now. Trips like that took days, and the time of the raid was coming up. Or rather, it was already here.

  With only nine days left, they simply couldn’t afford to wait anymore. The organization wasn’t perfect, far from it, but they did their best. They had plenty of people with real experience helping them, and some artisans had even managed to mass-produce small trinkets called Communication Receivers.

  They did exactly what the name implied. Could receive messages even outside Safe Zones, but did not give the ability to answer them. Between that and some Lesser Communication Shards, things weren’t looking too bad for their chain of command.

  Really, considering this had all started as a half-baked idea in his head about two weeks ago, it was a miracle they had gotten this far. Then again, humanity had a strange talent for uniting against a common enemy. That definitely helped.

  And now, we’re he—

  Someone nudged his arm, pulling him back to reality. Isaac blinked and turned toward James, who was looking at him with a grin.

  “What?” Isaac asked.

  The grin widened. “Oh, nothing. It’s just your turn in a moment. Sunshine is wrapping her part.”

  Isaac grimaced. “Right… Remind me, how did they convince me to do this?”

  James chuckled. “I have no damn clue, boss. Better you than me, though.”

  Isaac shot him a flat glare before turning away and leaning out of cover to glance at the sea of people waiting below. Almost a hundred thousand people. Most just stood there, shoulder to shoulder, while some hovered above the neutralized territory of Broken Hopes in their Legacies.

  The sight made his stomach lurch. This was the crowd he was supposed to speak to. Why in the seven hells had he agreed to this? He would rather fight another Magma Queen one-on-one right now.

  James clapped him on the back. “Up you go. Good luck, man.”

  Isaac swallowed hard, took a deep breath, and nodded. Before he could hesitate, he climbed the ladder up the ruined tower they had picked as their stage. It was supposed to be just a familiar landmark for everyone to gather around. Unfortunately, Harry’s offhand comment about army morale had given Elaine and Carmela the brilliant idea that they should address everyone here.

  Why? He still had no idea. They could have just sent a message to mark the start of the raid.

  Isaac had voiced this idea and somehow ended up forced to speak to thousands of people. At this point, he was pretty sure his friends were doing this purely for shits and giggles, because there was no way anything he said up there would help.

  Just thank everyone for coming and be done with it, he repeated to himself as he reached the top. There, Harry gave him a silent nod, while Carmela handed him a device that looked like a strange combination of a stage microphone and a megaphone.

  “Just be yourself, Isaac,” she whispered near his ear. “Keep it short and simple if you must.”

  Isaac wanted to laugh, but held it in. Instead, he just nodded and stepped toward the edge of the tower, eyes on the endless crowd. The chatter grew as some noticed him.

  He raised the device and flicked it on.

  “Hello,” he began, clearing his throat. “For those of you unaware, I’m Isaac Walker. Yes, the guy who almost died on live TV.”

  Some chuckled, most didn’t. Still, he counted it as a win.

  Short and simple. Short and simple.

  “Thank you all for coming,” he continued. “Honestly, I never expected so many people to back this insane idea of mine. Yet, you did. So… thank you again. And not just for being here. But also for making this possible in the first place.”

  Here, he nodded toward the group gathered below the tower. The Colonel. Daryl. Cooper. And so many others.

  “For believing in this.”

  He chanced a look at Harry and Carmela.

  “And especially, for being willing to risk your lives.”

  The murmurs grew louder. Isaac ignored them.

  “I cannot promise this raid will win us the war. But I can swear that I will do everything in my power to give us the best chance. You all had seen me fight. You know I don’t give up.”

  He smiled, a light chuckle slipping past his lips.

  “I’m no leader, and I won’t pretend to be one. I’m just a guy who, like most of you, was working a boring nine-to-five a few weeks ago. That world is gone. Now we fight for the new one.”

  He raised his voice for the first time.

  “So let’s fight for it! Watch each other’s backs. Don’t do anything stupid. Try to listen to orders coming from above. And… if you think you can’t handle it, turn around. Nobody will blame you. We’re not soldiers, just people trying to survive.”

  Isaac drew in one last breath.

  “That’s all from me. Let’s kill a worm and put a fear of humanity into those bastards. Phase One begins!”

  He lowered the device, and the crowd erupted. Shouting. Cheering. Maybe some booing. Turning away from the edge, he stepped back. He may not have a heartbeat anymore, but he could definitely hear the Symphony playing.

  Short and simple, huh? He snorted. Yeah, right.

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