PROLOGUE

Campaign Climax

Thus, the World Was Saved

The horizon was filled with darkness; the setting sun’s crimson blaze illuminated a misshapen horde. A breeze carried the stench of rot across the field.

Zombies, ghouls, skeletons, and wraiths alongside grinning alter-planar demons, their lips dripping foul liquid.

It was an army of the undead. An army of the dark.

The advancing host represented the gravest possible threat to the forces of Order.

A young crown prince, confronted with this army of Chaos, rubbed his stiff hand. The diamond equipment he carried was light as a feather, so it must have been born of nervousness.

The army of the Prayer Characters had spread itself out across a small hill, and this prince was one of its generals. From the foot of the hill, he looked back, casting a glance over his assembled companions. As they waited anxiously for his signal, the prince, as their leader, had to turn back and face the devils approaching them.

Whether they had any hope of winning was not the question.

Victory was their only option.

Above all, though, it was not they themselves who would determine the course of this battle. All those gathered on this field were nothing more than helpers, assistants to the one who would save the world.

They were prepared to die in the endeavor…

“Your Highness! Your Highness! Everyone’s ready!”

The voice that shook him out of his reverie was incongruously cheerful. In the midst of the formation, he could see a young person, small in stature. It was the captain of the self-proclaimed Rhea Brigade, a group of volunteers. The prince couldn’t suppress a hint of a smile.

“Is that right? Well, we’ll be prepared for them whenever they arrive, then.”

“Yes, I think so,” the rhea said. “The elves and the dwarves are a little nervous. The lizardmen looked downright happy, though,” the rhea added, then offered a small smile.

“Battle is the greatest joy they know,” the prince said. “Heartening allies to have in combat.”

“True enough, that. If you’re all so kind as to fight on our behalf, then at the very least we can manage a bit of running around.”

Rheas had an almost magical ability to make themselves invisible, and for the moment, their usual nonchalance had vanished. They were serving as excellent messengers here on the battlefield. It would have been foolish to take the little people, brave though they were, and pit them against the enemy.

When the prince said as much, though, the rhea inquired with a chuckle, “But what will you do if there’s an enemy you humans can’t kill?”

Still, they were well suited to the communications role the prince had assigned them. There was no one else who could so skillfully sneak across a battlefield filled with flying magic and the clash of weapons, undetected and unafraid.

I’ve got to admire the rheas, he thought.

“Right, then. Tell everyone that we’ll start on my signal. Just as planned.”

“No changes? All right, then.”

As soon as the short exchange ended, the rhea vanished. No race in the world could match them in sheer talent to become invisible.

Upon deeper reflection, the prince thought to himself that humans were no match for the elves when it came to bows, or the dwarves and their axes, or even combat in general when compared to the lizardmen.

Simply put, the prince was only general of the human forces. The elves, dwarves, lizardmen, and rheas had gathered here strictly out of goodwill. And the prince was deeply grateful for it. He took a deep breath, then rose from his folding stool.

“Have you prepared Turn Undead? We want to give those wretches a proper greeting.”

“Indeed, Your Highness,” answered an old woman, the high priestess of the God of Knowledge. She was hardly of an age to be on the battlefield, yet here she was with her head held high. “But those creatures,” she said, “they aren’t cursed. It’s something more like an illness. As if they were already on the cusp of returning to dust…”

“I figured as much. Very well.”

The prince took in a breath and let it out. His hand closed, then opened.

“Troops… The scales are ruthless. The dice, even more so. No one can say what our destiny is.”

The leaders and staff in the camp silently turned toward him. A royal magician used one of his spells—precious, yet at this moment, wholly appropriate—to weave an enchantment that carried the prince’s voice on the wind. The army of Order would hear their leader’s impassioned words clearly.

“It may be that Order will one day be destroyed. That all will burn, and we will be forgotten.”

As the prince’s voice rose, he took the reins of his beloved horse. He put his feet in the stirrups and lifted himself into the saddle. It had been so long since he had done so, he had feared he had forgotten how. He took a breath.

He glanced to either side: the royal guard, dressed in a jumble of various equipment, were grinning at him. They were all young, of different races and social classes drawn from different branches of the military, united only by the patina of grime that seemed to cover them all. No one would have assumed they were handpicked elites.

You lot, the prince thought with a chuckle, then lowered the diamond visor of his own helmet. These were his comrades, companions with whom he had navigated mazes, won citations for martial valor, and who had finally coalesced around him as his guard.

Good gods. This is nothing like an adventure.

“Just don’t forget, the same is true of our opponents. The dice are merciless—but fair.”

On this side, there was a great army with only themselves to rely on. Across the field were as many monsters bent on consuming the earth.

The prince took it all in, then offered his final exhortation:

“There is indeed hope for victory. We must seize it!”

A lusty battle cry went up, so passionate and proud that the creatures squirming on the horizon took an involuntary step back.

Gear clanged and throats shouted themselves hoarse. The army worked up their morale with a great stomping on the ground.

Down with demons! Down with Chaos! We’re going to knock you into the next dimension!

“Miracles!”

The first order. The clerics who peppered the battle line began to offer up their prayers to the gods.

O you many gods, who are seated in heaven. Please, protect us. Be our salvation. Grant us victory, we implore.

Protection, Blessing, and Holy War shone out. Miracles came from every god: the Supreme God, the Earth Mother, the God of Knowledge, the God of Trade, as well as the God of War.

The prince nodded. No doubt the forces of Chaos were relying on the dark abilities of their own evil deities.

“Archers, ready the first volley!”

Human hunters, along with the ranks of experienced foresters provided by the king of the elves, drew their bows with a collective tremor of string.

They aimed up, at a diagonal. The humans grimaced, intently focused, but the elves never lost their easy smiles. Why should they? They spent every waking moment with their bows. Shooting was as simple as breathing.

“Loose!!”

The elven arrows went three times faster, higher, and farther than the human ones. They traced a great arc through the sky, then came down like rain upon the forces of Chaos. Their silver arrowheads would be certain to damage even the undead.

At the same time, there was a fluttering sound from the army of the Dark Gods, as of many ragged cloths flapping at once. Dark shadows, dancing in the sky, were deflecting the hail of arrows:

Giant bats.

They spread their massive wings like a canopy over their allies’ heads, horribly loyal to their evil friends. The bats fell with a cacophony of shrieks, but thanks to them, damage to the enemy forces was minimal.

Had Order just been forced to waste ammunition? Or had they whittled away some of the enemy’s airpower? Of course, the prince would view things in the latter way.

“How stupid do you have to be to leave the good, solid ground?” the prince muttered, and the adventurers of the royal guard smirked at one another.

A little humor was a good thing; it kept one relaxed. Just one of many pearls of wisdom the prince had picked up while adventuring.

“All right, keep going! Spell casters, unleash your magic!”

They had the initiative. They couldn’t let the enemy find an opportunity to strike back.

The royal magicians brandished their staffs and began intoning words of true power in loud, clear voices.

Fireball was the favored spell. A volley of them went flying at the enemy. The spheres of flame burned white-hot as they flew, exploding among the ranks of the foe. There was a vast noise, and enemy soldiers went flying into the sky like twigs, torn to pieces.

It was clear, though, that the effect was not as dramatic as it normally would have been. The humans weren’t the only ones who could prepare their defenses.

Insofar as they were ones with the underlying logic of magic, the evil gods might even have had an advantage…

“DEEEEEVLLLIIIVVVVVIL!!”

And at last, the Dark Gods saw fit to make their move.

No sooner had the unearthly noise sounded than a swarm of hard-carapaced bugs assaulted the forces of Order, falling like a hail of pebbles. There was an earsplitting sound of wings as the insects flew, then crashed into the holy barrier. Most were stopped by the divine miracle, but more than a few broke through. In the blink of an eye, foot soldiers, knights, archers, wizards, and monks were riddled with holes, many dying.

“Steady!” the prince shouted, waving his sword even as one of the insects glanced off his helmet. “Vanguard, charge!”

The knights gave their steeds their head and, with a great bellow, went on the attack. The noise of hooves rattled the ground.

At the same moment, there was an eerie wha-pum, wha-pum of war drums, and the lizardman skirmishers launched into battle.

These two units were seemingly polar opposites, yet in fighting prowess, they were almost indistinguishable.

“DAAAAEEEMMEMMMEMMEOOOON!!” came the Dark Gods’ cry.

The enemy army had recovered from the fireballs, and now a contingent of dullahans rode forth. The combined speed of the oncoming horses, along with the total weight of their riders, lent the knights’ spears enough force to knock down a castle wall. Their collision on the battlefield created a virtually indescribable noise of combat.

The screech of metal on metal rang out, and horsemen on both sides went flying. Spears pierced clean through shield and armor alike, while others fell from their horses to suffer broken bones or to be trampled by their own mounts.

Corpses littered the battlefield in an instant, but of course, it was the end of nothing.

“Ahh! Behold, behold! I am a fang, the descendant of Archaeopteryx!”

The lizardmen swooped among the enemy like shadows, eliciting screams from first one villainous creature and then the next. Claw, claw, fang, tail. The sons of the nagas knew no fear; their conduct in battle was irreproachable before their forefathers. They howled out that the fire that fell from heaven had already taught their people of destruction eons ago.

Yet, the vigor of the dullahans, having broken through the knights’ charge, was likewise undiminished. They waved spears encrusted with blood; it looked like they would simply overrun the entire army.

“Spear wall, ready!”