Even before the dawn broke, Horat already left the village. He couldn’t wait to defile Alex’s reputation in front of King Romeus.

As soon as he arrived, Horat went to have audience with the king, who had been eager to hear Horat’s report.

“Your Majesty, I regret to inform you that the Hero you put great faith on, has abused the authority you’ve granted,” said Horat, beginning his subjective report.

“I witnessed the Hero was trying to rival you there, acting like a king. He tyrannically ordered the villagers to commit illegal logging, plundering and pillaging the resources which I am sure without your permission. He even had the gall to enlist the civilians into his wannabe army, forcing them under harsh training. Women and children were exploited as labourers to manufacture the weapon,” exposed Horat. “I suspect he was trying to usurp your throne.”

“Outrageous! Aren’t the party members there? Why didn’t anybody stop him?” interrogated King Romeus.

“They seemed like they’re under the Hero’s spell, for they look as if they’re brainwashed,” replied Horat slily.

“I won’t tolerate this any further!” roared King Romeus. “Guards, tell Commander Tristan to prepare his troops for a march to Bonn village! Their mission is to bring back Alex and his compatriots, using force if they must!”

Wasting no time, Tristan with his men marched toward the village. They only stopped for short breaks in between. Thanks to that, they arrived just before the day ended. It wasn’t hard for them to meet Alex who was about to go back to his hut.

“Sir Alex, greetings to you! The king ordered you to come back to the palace, so please come together with us!” expressed Tristan directly.

“Alright, but can we do it tomorrow? Got something to clean up first,” bargained Alex, who already knew that tomorrow would be the long-anticipated day when the second wave of demon army came to swoop in the village.

Tristan was puzzled and so were his soldiers. What else needed to be cleaned up here? They wanted to interrogate Alex further, but our hero already left them while yawning and stretching his arms.

After careful consideration, Tristan decided there was no harm if they waited until tomorrow. After long journey, his soldiers also needed to take a breather.

They were awoken by the uproar outside their tents. It was still so dark. They came out to check what was happening.

To their horror, they saw legions and legions of demon army advancing toward them. The numbers roughly estimated by Tristan were so great that they believed it would be their last battle on earth.

“Men, as you can see, our enemies are very vast in numbers. As the king sent us on retrieval mission, of course we are not heavily armed,” spoke Tristan to his soldiers. “Even so, we won’t go down without a fight! Give it your best and rest in peace knowing that our sacrifices wouldn’t be in vain!”

“Dude, stop being melodramatic,” said Alex out of nowhere while chewing an apple as his breakfast. “Your depressing speech is going to lower our morale.”

Tristan was still unable to speak a word when Alex whistled loudly. Stella received that signal and instructing her group to open the battle. Hundreds of arrows flew through the sky, finding their targets and successfully diminished a few of orcs.

“Nice! Keep going!” encouraged Alex. “While there is still a distance between us and them, let loose with ranged attacks. Pandora, you know what to do!”

Hearing that, Pandora led her small group of spellcasters and joined the offensive with various kinds of simple spells. Fireballs and whirlwinds danced across the battlefield, ensuing chaos among the enemy’s ranks. Nevertheless, they still managed to advance although the ditch and the traps surrounding the village slowed them down.

“Almost time for you two to step in,” said Alex to Gremio and Rasheed. “Bring your team to slaughter anyone fool enough to cross our territory!”

“Amigo, play us any tune of your choice! I’m sorry you couldn’t find anyone to be your trainee,” sympathized Alex. “But I’m sure your solo will complement this battle well.”

Salieri nodded and played his violin. The frontliners felt the power surging within their body upon hearing the uplifting melody from the musician. The demons breaking through into the village became their very first victims. Their movements became nimble as well, allowing them to easily evade most of the demons’ assault. But due to their lack of experience, the ogres managed to land some critical hits on them, forcing Gremio and Rasheed to come to their aid.

“Uh oh, medics!” shouted Alex, giving the cue for Helene to make her entrance.

As Helene casted her healing spell, the ladies under her command were busy distributing the potions they made earlier as safety measures. Mana potions and fresh arrows were also handed out to the spellcasters and archers, giving them chance to join the attack again.

“Mister, if you keep standing there, I’m afraid my people wouldn’t leave anything for you,” Alex’s words woke Tristan up from his amazement. “We don’t need your help, I suppose, but as a host, it would be rude of me not to serve you anything.”

Enlightened by Alex, Tristan led his army to blend with the villagers. Together, they fought arm in arm to defeat the demon horde. Before they knew it, the demons had already retreated from the village.

“We did it! See, this is the power of unity!” celebrated Alex amidst the joyful cheer of the crowd. “I hope you guys understand better there are a lot of great things you could do by yourselves!”

It seemed the villagers weren’t the only one inspired by Alex’s capable leadership. The soldiers under Tristan were also touched and sobbing. Hugging each other, they couldn’t believe they were still alive.

“Sir, thank you for allowing us to taste this complete victory, with no casualties whatsoever. This is my first time experiencing this,” spoke Tristan out of the blue.

“Up until now, it always broke my heart to collect the dead bodies of my subordinates and brought them home for their family. All in the name of honor,” continued Tristan. “Thanks to you, now I realize the true victory is to survive and to return to our beloved ones.”

That flattery made Alex unable to give any kind of response to Tristan. His behavior only made him look more charismatic in the eyes of Tristan and his soldiers. Slowly but surely, their loyalty to Alex grew stronger.