Three days later, I emerged from the bamboo sphere.

  I stretched, cracking my neck. The fatigue was gone, replaced by clarity.

  I dismantled the pod, letting the bamboo dissolve back into the earth.

  A scout was waiting for me outside.

  "Report," I said.

  He handed me a datapad. "We got eyes on the Black Hand base. It's... weird."

  "Define weird."

  "It's a zoo," he said. "Specifically, the Gaylord City Zoo. They repurposed the cages and the habitats."

  I raised an eyebrow. "A zoo?"

  "Their entire economy is based on two things," he explained. "Tribute and Tourism."

  "Tourism?"

  "When they aren't using the Awakened beasts for war, they use them for tricks," he said, looking disgusted. "People from all over the Wilds pay to see a Lion jump through hoops or a Bear dance. It's like a circus."

  "Strength?"

  "Army of 300,000," he listed. "Led by 30 Generals. The soldiers are highly trained and heavily armed. They have White Hill rifles, White Hill armor, and White Hill training."

  I looked to my left. Qolius was standing near his fire pit, lecturing a group of scouts.

  "Why?" I wondered aloud. "If Axehill was supplying both sides to keep the conflict eternal, why is one side equipped like a modern army and the other looks like a peasant revolt?"

  ‘Looked’ is the appropriate word as Cloud is now armed with Heavenly Bamboo.

  "Perhaps the funding claims were exaggerated," Goros chimed. "Or perhaps Qolius never accepted it."

  "Defenses?" I asked him.

  "None," he said. "No walls or barriers. Just open gates."

  "Typical," I said. "Traditionalists. They think hiding behind a wall is cowardice and believe their strength is enough."

  I dismissed the scout.

  For the next four days, we waited.

  Qolius and I engaged in a dance.

  I stopped treating him like a vassal and barking orders.

  "High Priest," I said, walking up to him as he inspected a map. "Your insight on the terrain is invaluable. I defer to your wisdom."

  Qolius tilted his masked head. "You are too kind, my Lord. Your ability to manifest infrastructure is the true miracle here. Without your walls, we would be exposed."

  "We are a team," I said, smiling. "Iron sharpens iron."

  "Indeed," Qolius replied. "And fire purifies gold."

  It was a game. I was probing him, looking for weaknesses, and he was doing the same. We traded compliments that were thinly veiled threats and discussed philosophy that was really about power.

  And honestly? I was having fun.

  Axehill was a brute while Misty was an enigma. But Qolius? He was a peer. He was intelligent, ruthless, and witty. He was someone I could spar with mentally.

  By the end of the week, we were ready.

  "We march at night," I told him.

  The strategy was simple. Qolius would use his massive numbers to swarm the zoo and isolate Amoto, the Beast King. While Black Hand was drowning in bodies, my elites would cut through the side and take out the 30 Generals.

  Basic. Brutal. Effective.

  We moved out.

  The fire chariots illuminated the dark forest like a procession of demons. It looked like a scene from a horror movie, a river of flame winding through the trees toward Gaylord.

  We arrived six hours later.

  The Gaylord City Zoo loomed ahead. The gates were open, behind two massive statues of gorillas.

  We stopped just outside the perimeter.

  "Begin," Qolius whispered.

  A minion fired a red flare into the air.

  The First Division of the Cloud Army—100,000 fanatics—screamed and charged the gates.

  The war had begun.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  Within seconds, the air was filled with the sound of gunfire, the roar of beasts, and the clash of bamboo swords.

  I stood next to Qolius on a small hill overlooking the battle.

  "Lovely weather for a war," I noted, watching a group of his men get mauled by a pack of Awakened Hyenas.

  "A bit humid," Qolius replied, watching the same scene. "But the humidity carries the scent of blood well."

  "Indeed," I said.

  Ten minutes passed and the screaming died down as the first wave was entrenched.

  "Next," Qolius ordered calmly.

  The Second Division charged and another 100,000 men made their way in to support the first division.

  Another ten minutes passed.

  "I believe it is time," Qolius said. "I will take the left and you take the right."

  "See you in the middle," I said.

  "Do be safe my Lord," Qolius said. "An intense wave of grief would come to me if anything happened to you."

  "Likewise, High Priest."

  We split up.

  I led the Eden forces toward the right entrance—the Service Gate.

  "Bells," I said. "You're on point. Joakim, flank support. Frank, Sal, keep the rear secure."

  We rushed in.

  The zoo was a nightmare. The cages were open. We were fighting the exhibits.

  Bells decapitated a giant snake with a wind blade. Joakim’s men used their artificial strength to wrestle a rhino to the ground.

  We pushed deeper and met up with the two divisions that were sent in earlier.

  "Generals!" Bells shouted.

  Five figures dropped from the trees ahead of us. They wore black martial arts gis.

  The Direct Disciples.

  They attacked without saying a word.

  Each one was bonded to a beast. An Awakened Lizard, Lion, Wolf, Hawk, and Falcon.

  The Hawk and Falcon riders took to the air, raining down feathered darts that exploded on impact.

  "Air support!" I yelled.

  Bells shot upward, engaging them in a dogfight.

  "Sky Piercer!"

  Bamboo missile batteries grew from the pavement and fired volleys of wooden stakes at the aerial targets.

  The ground battle was a grinder. The Lion rider was a tank, shrugging off arrows while the Wolf rider was a blur of speed.

  It took an hour.

  We alongside the two divisions, pushed them back, inch by inch. The generals were forced to retreat.

  "They're falling back!" Joakim cheered. "We have them on the run!"

  We chased them deeper into the zoo, toward the center.

  Ahead of us, blocking the path to the central plaza, was a fortification.

  It was sandbags, razor wire, and heavy machine gun nests.

  "That's not Wilds tech," Frank noted, squinting.

  I used [Root Sense].

  Behind the sandbags were men who weren't wearing martial arts gis. They were wearing tactical gear with a familiar white mountain sigil.

  "White Hill," I whispered.

  White Hill Mercenaries.

  "Hold fire!" I ordered.

  My men stopped.

  "They're shredding Qolius's flank," Bells reported, landing next to me. "They have heavy guns and they’re mowing down the cultists."

  I watched the tracers fly.

  I knew from Roger that White Hill provided mercenaries but he said it was only done to settle disputes. There was no dispute to be settled between Cloud and Black Hand. He likely used the dispute settlement as diplomatic cover to physically ‘protect’ his investment against other entities.

  I smiled.

  "This," I said, "is perfect."

  "Perfect?" Sal asked. "Boss, this is White Hill we are talking about. Not some ragtag faction."

  "Goros," I thought. "Do you see it?"

  "I see a diplomatic incident waiting to happen," Goros replied.

  "Exactly."

  I looked around and saw an Eden soldier. He was bleeding profusely from an Awakened Lion cut and was close to death, but he was still trying to move forward, his face set in determination.

  Not even a Heavenly Tomato could save him.

  "You," I said, pointing at him.

  He looked up. "Sir?"

  "Are you willing to sacrifice yourself for Eden?"

  "Of course, sir!" he said, gripping his bamboo spear. "I'm always ready!"

  "Good."

  "Expand."

  I pushed my Qi into the ground, expanding my soil circle until it covered the entire zoo.

  "Teleport."

  I grabbed his shoulder and we vanished.

  We reappeared directly in front of the White Hill fortification. In the open.

  The mercenaries were surprised. They saw two men appear out of thin air.

  I pulled out my phone and hit record.

  "Identify yourselves!" I shouted.

  The mercenaries didn't hesitate. They saw an enemy and a threat.

  "Contact front!" one yelled.

  The heavy machine gun roared.

  I stepped back, just an inch.

  The soldier didn't.

  The bullets tore through him and he fell backward, his chest a ruin.

  "Checkmate." I thought.

  I filmed the dead soldier, the White Hill uniforms, and the smoking gun.

  Then, I stopped the recording.

  "Razorgrass."

  The ground beneath the sandbags exploded and the grass turned into blades and shredded the mercenaries before they could fire a second volley.

  I picked up the phone and hit send.

  [To: Misty (The Cove)]

  [Subject: Defense Clause]

  [Attachment: Video_Evidence.mp4]

  [Message: White Hill forces engaged and killed Eden personnel in the field. The ‘Defense Only’ Pact is thus now activated. I require assistance immediately.]

  I teleported back to my lines, picking up the soldier’s body with me.

  Bells looked at me. "Where's the soldier?"

  "Right here," I said. "He’s a hero who just changed history forever."

  I looked at the phone.

  Message Sent.

  Misty specifically said that the pact was ‘Defense Only’ and by firing on my men—even if I put them there on purpose—he had triggered the defense clause of my alliance with The Cove.

  "It’s no longer a war between Eden, Cloud, and Black Hand," I said to myself.

  "Now," I smiled, "it’s a war between Eden, Cloud, Black Hand, and The Cove."

  "Holson can't penalize me this time," I continued. "I have proof they fired first and a body."

  I looked north.

  "I turned a bad alliance into an ace," I whispered. "I secured my immunity. And now... I get my revenge."

  "The conquest of the Wilds," I announced, "has just turned into a World War."