Silence followed for a fraction of a second before everyone moved.

  Bells went first, launching himself into the air, wind covering his armor, aiming for aerial superiority.

  Amoto swiped his now clawed hand.

  The air pressure wave hit Bells and his wind armor shattered instantly. He was swatted out of the sky and crashed into the concrete of the plaza, bouncing once before sliding to a halt.

  Frank moved next. He threw five spheres into the air, weaving a geometric cage of light to trap the beast.

  "Bind!" Frank shouted.

  Amoto opened his mouth and a jet of purple mist erupted from his throat.

  The poison hit the array and sizzled with the light turning black and dissolving. Frank screamed as the mist splashed onto his arm, burning through his sleeve. He scrambled back, clutching the injury.

  Qolius stepped forward, his yellow skin glowing and began to chant, trying to cut off the Beast King’s Qi.

  Amoto’s wings opened and he launched himself forward, faster than a creature that size should be able to move, slamming into Qolius with the force of a missile.

  The High Priest was thrown fifty feet, smashing through a statue and landing in a heap, wheezing, clutching his stomach.

  "Grow!" I shouted.

  A Guardian Treant grew from the soil on Amoto’s right side, its fist aiming for the beast’s head.

  Amoto’s Griffin, which was on the ground, leaped and tackled the Treant, wrapping its talons around the wooden torso. The Griffin bit down, shearing the Treant’s head off in one motion.

  The construct collapsed.

  Thirty seconds.

  It had taken thirty seconds for Amoto to dismantle my entire team.

  He turned his gaze to me and roared.

  Before he could charge, an orange dome flared around us.

  Amoto slammed into the barrier and his claws screeched against the energy, sparking wildly, but the dome held.

  Siegfried stood in the center, his hands raised, sweat beading on his forehead.

  "He is... strong," Siegfried grunted.

  I looked around the interior of the dome. Bells was moaning in pain, Frank was frantically eating a Heavenly Tomato to stop the acid burn on his arm and Qolius was rolling on the ground, gasping for air.

  "I was a fool," I whispered.

  "Kill him," Sal said, his voice trembling as he watched Amoto batter the shield. "You said it with such confidence."

  "I underestimated him," I admitted. "Because he was alone and flamboyant. I thought he was a clown."

  I looked at the monster outside.

  "He's a calamity."

  "We need to leave," Siegfried said, his voice strained. "The barrier will not hold forever. He has the terrain advantage here. The zoo is his domain."

  "Leave?" I asked. "Where do we go?"

  "The Green Corridor," Siegfried said.

  He looked at me, his eyes sharp.

  "We need to draw him into a choke point. If we consolidate Southfield, Adam, Eve, Cloud, and Crisbol inside the corridor walls, we force him to fight on our terms and we defend the land effectively."

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  Everyone stopped and stared at the doctor.

  "How do you know all of that?" Sal asked.

  "Anatomy," Siegfried said simply. "You don't fight a virus in the bloodstream where it can move freely. You trap it in a lymph node."

  "He should have been leading the war," Goros noted from my pocket.

  "Agreed," I said.

  I placed my hands on the ground.

  "Everyone, hold on."

  "What are you doing?" Qolius asked, clutching his stomach.

  "Teleporting," I said.

  "All of us?" Bells asked weakly from the floor. "And the troops?"

  "Yes."

  I expanded my soil circle stretching it until it encompassed the generals, the leaders, and the divisions huddled near the plaza.

  "Hold tight," I grunted. The strain was immense. It felt like trying to lift a mountain.

  "Teleport."

  I opened my eyes. We were on the grass of the Eden Training Field in Southfield.

  The sun was shining and birds were singing.

  I tried to stand, but my legs gave out. My Qi was at absolute zero.

  Blackness took me.

  "Boss?"

  I woke up with a gasp.

  Sal was sitting next to me on the grass.

  I sat up. My head was pounding, but my Qi had regenerated to about half capacity thanks to the moss I was lying on.

  "What happened?" I asked. "Are we dead?"

  "Nope," Sal said. "We're alive. You passed out for a couple hours though."

  "A couple hours?" I scrambled to my feet. "Where is everyone?"

  "Mobilized," Sal said. "They went back to the front and finished the first corridor expansion while you were out. Southfield to Grand Rapids is now one long, fortified tunnel."

  "Teleport," I said.

  I grabbed Sal’s shoulder and warped.

  We appeared on the ramparts of the Grand Rapids gate.

  Bells and Frank were standing there, looking out at the horizon.

  "You're awake," Bells said.

  "Status?" I asked.

  Bells handed me a pair of binoculars.

  "Incoming."

  I looked through the lenses.

  Far in the distance, a black speck was flying toward us.

  Amoto.

  "He's hours away," Frank said. "But he's coming fast. I don't think he even stopped to rest."

  "He doesn't need rest," I muttered. "He's running on pure rage."

  "We're ready," Bells said. "We set up multiple defensive lines inside the corridor. It’s a gauntlet. He has to go through every single one of us to get to Southfield."

  "Good," I said.

  "These are the lengths we have to go to for just one man?" Sal asked, looking at the massive fortifications.

  Qolius walked up the rampart steps.

  "One man?" Qolius laughed.

  "Yeah," I said. "One man."

  I looked at the speck in the distance.

  "These are the lengths we must go to."

  I turned to the group.

  "I'll see you on the battlefield."

  I teleported alone to the first defensive line.

  It was a fortress built across the highway miles outside of Grand Rapids. Walls of bamboo reinforced with steel and stone blocked the path. They repurposed my existing bamboo walls to do it.

  Behind the walls, the remaining 6 Cloud Divisions—600,000 men—were resting in formation. They sat in silence, recharging their energy, sharpening their weapons.

  To the side, a massive medical tent had been erected. I saw Siegfried inside, organizing vials and bandages.

  Everything was coming together.

  I found a quiet spot under a bamboo awning and sat down.

  I needed to be at 100%.

  I closed my eyes and meditated.

  An hour and thirty minutes later, I opened my eyes.

  The rest of the Green Corridor was finished connecting all of Eden controlled territory into one tunnel.

  Bells stood at the front, wind swirling around his fists. Qolius was chanting softly to his troops. Siegfried was wiping his scalpel. Frank and Sal were checking the structural integrity of the walls. Joakim was directing his division to get in position.

  "This really feels like the Climax," Goros commented.

  "That's because it is," I said, standing up.

  A roar shook the walls.

  Amoto arrived.

  He dove.

  He crashed down from the sky straight into the center of the 6th Cloud Division.

  The impact was like a meteor strike. Dust and bodies flew into the air.

  Amoto stood in the crater, roaring. He swiped his claws, and a dozen men were torn in half. He bit the head off a soldier who tried to spear him.

  The disciplined lines broke instantly and screams filled the air.

  "Engage!" I shouted.

  The war was back on.