He found them half a mile from the enemy citadel’s outer perimeter.

The group was larger than he’d expected. Not just the council members, but a proper force, spread across the ruins of a wide intersection in organised clusters that told you Ivy had been working on the formation rather than just the numbers.

He counted as he walked toward them.

Ivy stood at the front with the composed authority of someone who had been managing this group since before sunrise and intended to keep managing it until the job was done. Eve was beside her, revolver holstered, watching Damon’s approach with the quiet assessment she applied to everything. Ning Xiaoyu stood slightly apart, sword across her back, already scanning the surrounding streets out of habit.

Nyla saw him first and broke into a grin that suggested she’d been waiting for his arrival.

Theodore stood at the head of his own cluster, with his arms crossed and a grin he always wore right before the battle.

Behind them stood roughly a hundred people.

Damon didn’t know any of them by name.

Some had the organised discipline of Ivy’s recruits, people she’d identified and developed over weeks with the methodical patience she applied to everything.

The rest moved with the looser confidence of Theodore’s group, experienced, self-sufficient people who had survived long enough to know what they were doing and didn’t need to be told twice.

It wasn’t the largest force, far from it, but judging by the way each person carried themselves, they were handpicked for their strength.

He was still taking it in when he noticed the two figures at the group’s edge.

Victor stood slightly apart from everyone else with the particular posture of someone aware they weren’t entirely welcome but decided to show up either way.

Beside him stood a girl with long brown hair that partially obscured some of her face, her eyes moving across the assembled fighters with both fear and hope.

After realising they were there, Damon moved toward them.

"What are you doing here?" he asked.

Victor met his eyes steadily. "I want to help."

"You’ve done enough."

"No." Victor’s voice was quiet, but the word carried. "I haven’t." He held Damon’s gaze without flinching. "I owe this citadel more than I can give back in a single fight. I know that. But I’m a healer, and you’re about to siege a castle... People are going to get hurt. Let me do what I’m supposed to do."

The group around them had gone quiet in the particular way of people who were listening without appearing to.

Damon looked at him for a long moment.

He knew he was telling the truth through his ability.

He looked briefly at the girl to his right, Ava, the person who had been the reason for all of it, standing beside her brother with her arms wrapped around herself and her eyes on the ground, clearly aware of what her brother had to do to free her.

"Can you fight?" he asked her.

She looked up, surprised by the question. "Not well," she said honestly.

"You’ll stay behind."

She nodded.

Damon looked back at Victor.

"Stay behind the front line," he said, "Provide as much support as you can."

"Understood," Victor said.

A moment of silence passed between them. It wasn’t exactly uncomfortable, just the particular quiet of two people who had more to say to each other and had agreed without discussion that now wasn’t the time.

Damon was about to move away from Victor when he realised one last thing.

If they succeed and kill the enemy leader, those registered to his citadel will perish, which right now includes Ava.

He summoned the system, the part responsible for citadel management, and with quick intention sent an invitation request.

Ava’s eyes widened for a second before she quickly snapped back into focus, and a moment later, a notification rang in Damon’s head.

[Ava has been registered to your citadel.]

He dismissed the screen almost immediately, turning toward Ivy, who was already watching him.

She wore an expression that said she had no idea what he was going to do at any step but found the outcome acceptable.

She knew how valuable Victor was, even more than him. She was the one managing his overwhelming schedule. The number of injuries in the citadel was astronomical, and yet he always managed to do his duties.

Damon’s gaze turned toward the assembled group. Taking note of the strong hitters like Nyla or Ning Xiaoyu and the hundred fighters who all seemed rather determined to get this quest over with.

Without even requesting their attention, most people were already looking his way. Despite Ivy being the acting leader of the citadel, everyone present knew who the real leader was, who the strongest person among them happened to be.

"Let’s move out," Damon said, and nobody present needed to be told twice.

The short walk turned longer than expected as the large group struggled to fit through the narrowing streets leading toward the enemy teleportation device.

Most buildings around them were ruined, and those that weren’t were scavenged so much that they had nothing but dust and bricks left inside.

Damon moved at the front with Ivy at his left shoulder, Ning Xiaoyu at his right, and Nyla just a step behind, the formation settling naturally into something that hadn’t been discussed but made sense to everyone who knew them.

The enemy citadel could now be seen clearly with each step. The massive floating island hung right above them, casting a massive shadow over the western city district.

The teleportation device sat along the empty street.

Surprisingly, it looked a lot larger than the one leading toward their citadel, which worked out for the best, considering they needed to move everyone up there as fast as possible.

Damon stopped the group with a single raised hand before turning toward Ivy.

"I will be going first," He said, "You wait exactly one minute before you come after me. That should be enough time to clear any defences they might have near the teleport."

She nodded.

Damon took one last glance at the group behind him, each person straightening up under his gaze.

Hundred people, that would make them outnumbered ten to one.

And yet, despite those terrible odds, Damon felt something close to anticipation.

Without uttering another word, he stepped onto the teleportation device and activated it.