When the heck did they show up? Lucas wondered. He felt relief and warmth well up inside him when he saw Viola heal Nick and erect a Force Shield to funnel all the people attempting to flee toward him.

Lucas had been struggling with how to handle the Mages, only having gotten rid of a few of them, but Katie’s arrows were the perfect solution to his problem. She shot one after another, planting each arrow right in a Mage’s face. Without those casters, no one was able to counter the small contingent that had struck the mob’s rear.

“Another force attacking?” Rowland seemed shocked.

“No, they’re my backup. This is victory. All we need to do now is—”

“SMASHHHHHH!” the Grobendiss bellowed the final word in Lucas’s unfinished sentence as it rushed forward, its long log sweeping enemies aside like a very effective, bloody, forceful broom.

Quest Complete: Sentenced to a Troll’s Defense.

You have managed to defend both Sir Rowland and Lady Dennings. Your defensive tactic, while not perfect and costing the lives of several soldiers, was impressive enough to earn the trust of all those remaining in the town. Those within the territory shall henceforth refer to you as The Blood-Crazed General for you and your party’s cruel disregard of life as you avoided any diplomatic options, not even attempting to get the other party to surrender when their morale began to break.

Your actions have guaranteed that all Imperium within the territory will obey your commands without question.

“Yeah, that,” Lucas replied with a laugh. He couldn’t help but chuckle at the fact that what looked to be a potentially dire struggle, resulting in a dozen deaths on his side, had ended so quickly because of the fact his friends had shown up. Looking at Bonnie, who was wiping the blood off of her knife, and Nick, who didn’t even bother with the fresh red coat of liquid that dyed his armor, he couldn’t help but smile a little and ask, “How the hell did you guys get here so quickly?”

“Well, it’s like this, boss,” Bonnie began. “When you got lifted by bird brain, we sprinted the whole way back to the manor. There we met a guard, and he had mounts already lined up and waiting for us to ride. Even had one with a Naga-friendly saddle. I never knew such a thing existed.”

“Right? So awesome!” Nick said. “You’re not supposed to get mounts until you get to the mainland, and we got to ride them on noob island.”

Katie nodded.

“It was befitting of nobility to have a cavalry corp under your command. Your role as the villain has certainly netted you perks,” Viola, disguised as some sort of masked shaman, whispered, tipping an imaginary hat at him. “And those who saw our majestic advance as we tore through the countryside shall certainly feel jealousy.”

“Yeah, jealousy indeed,” Bonnie agreed, beaming. “Best fox girl on the second-best mount riding through the best kingdom in the land!”