John’s consciousness was split between four parts. Two were the usual, the original stream of thoughts and the one in charge of Jack. Another one was the mediator, communicating between the two all the information that could be important. That aspect of his mind was employed during times such as these, where a lot was happening all at once and the usual memory unification just didn’t cut it. The fourth part of him was actively calculating what to do next. To make that call, he needed more intel on what had just happened, and there was one place to get it.

“What did you do?” Jack asked, looking out of the window. Before his eyes, the border of the hotel barrier turned prismatic, like a high-colour intensity soap bubble. That was the usual effect for the melding of two Illusion Barriers, but this wasn’t the same situation. The Illusion Barrier they were currently in overlapped with New Alexandria. Beyond the barrier wall, the buildings of the demonic heartland came into view, but more should have been where the courtyard was.

A fact that this copy of reality also soon realized.

Like a game experiencing a heavy-handed graphical glitch, the entirety of the courtyard below began to jitter around the already moving army. Battalions were broken up, as people were removed from where walls should be. The space simply bent to nudge them out of the way. Then the barrier wall burst into tiny fragments, completing the picture of a bubble, and a second shiver ran through reality.

Jack stared down into the yard where numerous buildings had spawned within the larger hotel. Rather than fuse, the forcefully united buildings were separated by multi-coloured lines of spectral light. The two barriers were in the same place now, but the two individual barriers hadn’t been properly unified. Barriers melding together was hardly something new in the Abyss, before the invention of Protected Space it had been impossible to have multiple barriers in the same spot for anything beyond a few hours, but it didn’t usually happen like this. Objects didn’t fuse when two barriers collapsed into each other. Whatever occupied a space longer removed the other, that was the norm.

“We forced our way inside,” Lord Brighton gave the obvious answer, a hint of glee swinging in his voice. “Why does this surprise you this much, Gamer?”

‘Because these things are rare,’ he thought, as he figured out what exactly had happened. If he asked Magoi if a Fateweaver could force a melding between two barriers in such brutal a fashion, his answer would probably be yes. The normal version of an Abyssal siege was to create a larger barrier on top of the one that was to be invaded and wait on the outer perimeter. That was done to avoid the scrambling of positions John had just observed and because it was easier on the Fateweavers who did the besieging.

However, the Golden Rose had no Fateweaver of such power. If they did, Magoi, and thus John, would have heard of it by now. The larger guild was a shell of itself, but the personal connections between the remaining High Fateweavers was still strong. None of them were unaccounted for.

Where live people weren’t available, items could still be. Objects enchanted by Fateweavers were incredibly rare. The level of mastery of both fields that one needed to possess to create anything worthwhile was incredible. Further, they were usually one-use only, had a very limited effect or a lengthy recharge time.

What exactly the Golden Rose had just used was beyond John, but the effects could seemingly be summarized by the current barrier crashing into the larger one and universally removing control of it. The way things felt on John’s end made it clear that not even the user of the item would be able to leave. They were all stuck together. The question was for how long.

“Sir, we should join the troops,” Lloyd stated.

“Indeed,” Lord Bright said and started to walk. The clattering of his armour was accompanied with a steady ring, almost like a small bell, exuding a purifying sound. Aside from him and his daughter, every commander put on their helmet.

Lorelei went rigid in her chair.

“Wait,” Jack spoke up, causing the gathered room to slow down. The maids stood to either side of him, facing the room while he still looked out the window. “What are you going to do with this city?” he asked.

“What is just,” William responded with grim conviction.

“Don’t make me tease these things out of you,” the Gamer growled, hearing the first screams in the streets. War cries and desperation alike reached his superhuman ears. “What are you going to do to this city?”

“It’ll burn,” the Lord of the Golden Rose told him. “Every blasphemous building, every Darkshed Tree and every sinner will be purged from our Lady’s creation.”

“And the innocent?”

“Among demons and warlocks?” William sneered. “No such thing exists. All will be judged.”

Jack kept staring out of the window. Lloyd had been willing to at least put the appearance of a fair trial on when they met. Lord Brighton didn’t even care for a ceremonial trial. “I must inform you that I’ve struck a deal with the Demon Lord. The demons of this city will be tried by Fusion and granted refuge by me. Pull your troops back.”

“He tells the truth, milord,” Lorelei chimed in.

“A use of your double?” William wondered, narrowing his eyes at Jack’s back. “Or perhaps a contingency plan between sinners?”

“Lord Father, I do not approve of all he does, but you know that John Newman wouldn’t sink so low to be comparable to the likes of the Demon Lord,” Moira interjected and then looked to Jack herself. “It is not your place to mingle in this conflict, Gamer. The guilty will know punishment, we will see to it.”

“I trust you to know who is guilty, I do not trust you to know who is innocent,” Jack declared. “By the authority of the man who rules this guild, the demons are now subjects of Fusion – subjects of me. Pull your troops back.”

Lorelei trembled with her whole body and repeated, “He tells the truth, milord.” Her blind eyes could likely guess what went on inside the Gamer’s head. “Consider his statement carefully.”

“Who cares about the authority of a warlock?” William shot back at the Gamer immediately. “We will proceed with the purge. The Golden Rose will deliver.”

“I see,” Jack said and whirled around. Mana from the internal storage of the Extension flowed into the tip of two fingers and exploded outwards as two streaks of silver magic. They collided shortly before his hand, two Blast Rays becoming one that went on to fly at the Warden Lord. Everyone had expected the Gamer to do something, but aside from Lorelei, everyone seemed surprised at the decisiveness.

The spell slammed into William’s side as he drew his sword. His armour served him well, the plate not budging to the arcane might. The kinetic energy of the blast threw him backwards. As he had been within five metres of John, the Punishment Chain Perk automatically launched a Mana Chain at the Warden Lord. It connected to the flying knight’s side and Jack immediately yanked it back.

In the meantime, everyone else drew or manifested their weapons.

The three other knights and Moira, all started charging towards John, but were immediately intercepted by Aclysia and her Master’s Shield Skill. A ring of white light expanded from her feet, fading after five metres. In addition to these four individuals, the butler in the room was also caught in the effect, compelling everyone to attack the Artificial Spirit.

With all of the Strength his copy could muster, the Gamer pulled the chain. Either dazed or lacking abilities that would have allowed him to manoeuvre the air, Lord Brighton was helpless as Jack twisted around and slammed the Lord-Protector through the window. The double jumped right after William. ‘Avoid killing them!’ he commanded while he took the fight to somewhere Lorelei wouldn’t be in the line of fire.

It was an awfully prescient thing to say, as the butler had the same thought. Him moving to get Lorelei out of the room, and consequently out of the room, triggered the threat condition of Master’s Shield. The two maids had just held off the first series of attacks when Aclysia’s being surged with power. Now that a target had ignored the imperative of focusing her, her next attack would deal 1000% more damage.

Aclysia swung Eclys at Moira’s shield. The Warden, instinctively knowing what would come next from the way Master’s Shield warned its targets, raised the massive slab of Gaia-blessed metal even higher. Moira turned into a heavily plated projectile that was catapulted off her feet, through several walls and ultimately out of the building. Then the two maids turned around and followed their Master.

Down in the courtyard filled with half-fused buildings, Jack was beset on all sides. He had succeeded in his objective of taking the fight away from Lorelei, but in doing so had delivered himself straight into the army’s core. Many of the soldiers, particularly the commanding knights, that had started their assault had turned around immediately upon seeing the commotion at the headquarters. Now they witnessed Lord Brighton shattering a chain of silver energy that connected him to a hovering Gamer.

Their hostility was as clear as the blade pointed at Jack. The leader of the Golden Rose was seemingly unharmed by that entire opening. As the ring of soldiers grew tighter, maids and knights landed next to those they followed. Lord Brighton raised his voice, “John Newman, you have turned from the Lady’s light!”

“Spare me the sermon, inquisitor,” the Gamer shouted back. “All I want to do is save who I can. If that means acting in discordance with your Imperial Truth, then so be it.”

“Imperial Truth?” Lord Brighton seemed confounded for just one moment.

“It’s a reference to Warhammer 40k, a sci-fi, fantasy world created by…” Jack started.

“Stop your blabbering,” the redhead demanded.

“I’d much prefer the blabbering to what comes next,” the Gamer said as a thunderstrike descended on a nearby street. “I do not want to fight you, but I will if I have to.” He looked at all of the soldiers around. All he was met by was hard gazes. Whether everyone here shared the depth of the Lord-Protector’s conviction was doubtful, but they would obey his orders.

The Gamer truly didn’t want to fight and he didn’t need to either. Defeating Lord Brighton was the pathway to his goal with the highest likelihood of casualties. It was much better to stall things out until he regained control of the barrier. While Jack, Aclysia and Beatrice held back the majority of the enemy force, his real body and the rest of the harem would take control of the city and channel everyone towards the centre. Once the intruding effect of the item ceased, they would all evacuate at once.

A simple and effective plan with very little risks for John himself.

“If you stand in the way of what must be done, then you will face the full wrath of the Order!” Lord Brighton declared, taking his massive sword into both hands. “For the safety of the world, it would be best if you were to be removed from your growing control of North America anyway.”

“And replaced by whom? You?” Jack’s mocking answer came back. He hoped that would keep Lord Brighton talking, but instead the grizzled paladin barked his orders.

“The knights sworn to the Lady, assist me in this battle; everyone else, continue operations as planned!”

‘Bothersome,’ Jack thought, the information immediately flowing from his mind to that of the planning facet of his mind. ‘He must know how little good small fry would do in this battle.’ “Let’s settle this in a duel, coward!” the Gamer shouted, already knowing the answer he would get.

“A sinner isn’t worthy of a duel,” Lord Brighton announced while his orders were obeyed. The circle around them thinned, until only ten individuals in total remained on William’s side. “I will allow you to surrender and return to your country in shame, however, if you do so right now.”

“Eleven against three,” Jack stated, trying to cast Observe on any of the knights and partly failing for all of them. He was given names and minor backstory, but the Stat and Level segments were hidden. “I will take those odds,” he declared, regardless.

“Then the Lady will guide us against you, sinner!” Lord Brighton shouted and raised his sword to the sky. From far above, pillars of light descended on the fighters of the Golden Rose, basking each of them in a golden cascade. Beatrice stormed forwards, ready to interrupt the enemy leader in casting his buffs.

Her thrust was met by a downward swing, causing her to jump back. ‘Objective failed,’ she reported, perhaps superfluously, as the pillars dimmed away and revealed each of the knights. A holy glow now emanated from their plate armours, particular the golden accents and the rose iconography.