“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!”

“Second best mount? You mean Linnaeus is the best?” Nick asked.

“No, boss is. He’s the number one mount. I’d like to—”

“Easy there, Bonnie,” Lucas said, stopping her before she turned a pleasant post-battle congratulatory moment into an R-rated conversation needing adult supervision.

“Sorry, boss.” Bonnie looked down at the ground and tried to look abashed despite being betrayed by her still-wagging tail.

“Anyway,” Lucas said, stepping through the puddles of blood and over the bodies as he crossed the hallway to his crew, “you guys did great to make it here so quickly. Thank you.”

“Aww, is boss getting mushy?” Bonnie asked with a laugh, but her mocking tone was undermined by the fact her tail was now twitching around even faster than before.