But the first surprise came to themander when the vicemanders screamed in his earpiece.


    "The abyssals! B-Broke the first line of defense!"


    "What?!" Themander drew a sharp gasp as he backed off from Yarak and turned to the border.


    Clouds of fire and dust rose into the sky as the region seemed to be destroyed by abination of hail, lightning strikes, and distorting space.


    And he saw rows of ash-colored dots advancing toward the human-controlled territory.


    ''Just how did they advance so fast? I need to sto—!''


    He flipped in the air and dodged the fire dagger. It passed right beside his ear and despite his armor, his skin was scorched red.


    "Nah, you aren''t going anywhere." Yarakughed as he condensed three more daggers, his eyes smiling with contempt. "Your troops will be put to rest today."


    Themander''s gaze grew heavy.


    Their battle continued for a full day and night. Seriously injured and on the verge of death, the two decided to recuperate instead of fighting to the death.


    Themander was worried about the state of his troops after his death. Yarak had no qualms about dying for the great cause. But he wanted to see his race take over humans atst. Anyway, as long as he kept his archenemy engaged, he was doing his job.


    As the two leaders returned to their camps, the result of the war was evident.


    The abyssals weed Yarak with cheers while themander was met with a depressing silence.


    After some emergency recovery, he learned that the humans lost all their frontline outposts and were pushed back to the second line of defense.


    The war was going on even this minute.


    It''s only thanks to the good defense infrastructure and the benefit of being a defensive force that they''re holding off the abyssals.


    While the humans were confident in holding off the abyssals for three or more weeks, there was a sense of…defeat in their eyes.


    "What happened? Why did we have to fall back?" In the meeting room of the headquarters, themander sat with his five vicemanders and asked in a tired but serious voice.


    The obsidian walls of the room echoed back his words and the air in the room seemed to repeat his words again and again.


    The vicemanders looked at each other with gazes that carried fear, hesitation, and…despair.


    "What?" Themander raised an eyebrow.


    Only then did he realize a detail he''d overlooked. All five of his subordinates were seriously injured. If he was just on the brink of death, then his subordinates almost died and barely came back. It''s a miracle that the five of them were even breathing in front of him.


    How could this be possible?


    "Tell me," Themander''s voice raised a notch and his gaze grew solemn. "What just happened?"


    His words and tone knocked the hesitation off the vicemanders and one of them opened her mouth. "Sir, before we answer, may I ask what happened to you? Why are you so injured? Didn''t you advance and are now a sub level higher than Yarak?"


    Her words were sharp, like needles stabbing his heart.


    Themander''s face crumpled as the truthful answer reached his throat. He felt incredibly ashamed. Before he left, he vowed to everyone in the camp that he''d ughter Yarak like a dog and make him an example for all abyssals.


    But now…


    ''Feelings aren''t as important as the truth.''


    Taking a deep breath, he revealed that Yarak too, by some dogshit luck, advanced.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "If not for that, then I''d have subdued him in minutes and returned to the battlefield. Forget losing ournd and being pushed back, we''d be taking over thisoid today." He sighed all the frustration he''d been holding in.


    Then, he looked at his vicemanders again.


    For some reason, their faces went pale and their eyes were quivering as if they saw a ghost. They looked at each other and shivered slightly.


    Themander grew annoyed and angry. mming the table, he roared. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Are you new recruits? Can''t you answer one question for fuck''s sake?!"


    The outburst was expected. Losing a match to his archenemy that he was sure of winning, losingnd, troops, and strategic forts in theoid, with both happening simultaneously in a single day, even a veteran like themander snapped.


    The vicemanders strangely didn''t fear his feral eyes. Rather, they looked at him with pity.


    Finally, the most experienced one among them opened his mouth. "Sir, all of our counterparts also advanced."


    Themander stormed to his feet and looked at them with wide eyes. He gripped the table so hard that his fingers crushed the stone and dug in. With chest heaving up and down, he asked in a hoarse voice that resembled a vengeful ghost. "A-Are you kidding? Is this a sick joke? Yourme excuse for the failure?"


    No one took offense to his words. If any of their subordinates said the same thing, they''d have responded worse.


    "Out of us five vicemanders, only three got the elixir. The other two didn''t." An elderly vicemander sighed and nced at an even older woman sitting in front of him. "Unlike those the three that could bnce out their counterparts, I and Elizabeth couldn''t. We were almost pushed to death."


    He didn''t say anything more but looking at the state of his subordinates, themander understood.


    The three that advanced helped the two that didn''t and they all fought together. Still, they''re disadvantaged and were nearly killed.


    "Part of the reason is that they''re caught off guard. Next time, we can defend ourselves better. But we need to fight together." The youngest vicemander said.


    ''If we fight separately, the two will die and it''ll be a three vs five. A sure path to loss. So, this is the only way.'' His words implied.


    Themander sighed. "Alright, you five stalled them. But what about the rest of the army? Why did they lose?"


    "They too, to be precise, the level 8s and level 7s of abyssals too advanced." The beautiful vicemander said. "Not all of them luckily. But more than 50% of them have grown stronger. It was too unexpected and our army was caught off guard So, our defense line crumbled quickly.


    Thankfully, our fortresses are good enough to hold off the abyssals despite the strength differential."


    Themander only grew more worried than relieved.


    They had a secret potion for their improvement and only 250 people received it. What about abyssals?


    From their words, at least thousands of abyssals advanced.


    "Contact the headquarters." He sat back in his seat and let out a deep breath. "They must know."


    "We already did, Sir. It was just too urgent." The beautiful vicemander bit her lip.


    "Good. Ask them to send reinforcements. We can worry about how they advanced after we beat them back to their nest."


    His words caused thedy to frown and sigh. The rest lowered their heads and closed their eyes.


    "No, no!" Themander clenched his fists as he swallowed his saliva. He could already guess what happened.


    "Yes, sir." Thedy vicemander nodded. Her sweet voice which usually soothed the listeners now sounded like the cackle of the devil. "All across the sr system, the abyssals attacked. And everywhere, more than 50% of their high awakeners have advanced."


    "Oh shit!"


    ***


    A/N: How was thest volume? The good and bad. Be brutal about it. Thanks for the feedback in advance :)