Lena, Reidar, and Jake reached the camp's edge just as the last fires were being banked for the night.
They stopped there, hidden in the shadows, studying the layout with a different kind of eye.
The scattered groups, the territorial spacing, the barely contained hostility that simmered beneath every interaction. It was still present despite the three having been absent for hours.
Lena stood beside him. "Are you sure about this? They won't like it."
Reidar nodded. He'd made his choice. Now he needed to execute it. "They can go fuck themselves." Reidar turned to her.
"You need to act as my and Jake's bodyguard," he said. "This is going to get messy." Then Reidar turned to the boy.
"Pump up F.L.A.I.R. and S.H.I.E.L.D. as much as you can. The last thing we need is for them to take you as a hostage."
That wasn't really needed since Jake was stronger than most of the fighters there, but Helga, Aldric, and Seraphine. They weren't to be taken lightly.
He pulled up his skill list and selected Summon Spectral Knights. The familiar rush of mana flowed through him as the first knights materialized from thin air. The mana constructs waited for his orders.
But Reidar didn't stop at just ten knights.
He quickly shared the same skill with them, giving the knights the ability to self-summon. More knights appeared, filling the space around him. Dozens became hundreds. The mana cost was enormous, but far less than what he spent against the Gloom-Web Arachnids.
Lena's eyes widened. "Reidar—"
"I know," he said.
A thousand spectral knights stood ready. Their combined presence turned the night into day.
Reidar walked forward, his army moving with him.
"Remember," he said. "Subjugate, don't kill. Anyone who surrenders, you leave them alone. Anyone who resists, you pin them down."
The knights all nodded, and then they entered the camp.
The first survivors to notice were the sentries. Their eyes went wide as they saw the approaching wall of spectral warriors. One of them opened his mouth to shout a warning.
He never got the chance.
The knights surged forward. The sentries were disarmed and pinned in seconds. The survivors scrambled from their tents and found themselves surrounded by glowing weapons and implacable masked faces.
The camp erupted in chaos once the first shouts rang.
Weapons were drawn. Groups tried to form defensive positions, but it was useless. Reidar's knights outnumbered the survivors, and their level advantage made resistance futile.
A cluster of survivors tried to mount a coordinated defense with the other groups, but their poor coordination and lack of cooperation brought their newly formed shield wall to collapse after seconds.
Another group tried to flee into the forest. The knights cut off their escape, herding them back toward the center of the camp like wolves corralling sheep.
Reidar moved through the chaos with Lena and Jake beside him, all three riding their wolves. The giant beasts padded forward; their presence made the show of power even more intimidating.
"Helga didn't want a warlord, but her actions brought that precisely," Lena said. She had a dashing smile on her face.
"Yeah… I want to see how she will react," Reidar said.
She didn't make them wait.
Helga's Ironsides formed a defensive circle near their section of camp. The warrior woman stood at the center, bellowing orders to her people.
It didn't matter.
The spectral knights crashed into them like a wave against a rock. Helga's warriors were good, but they were outnumbered and out leveled.
The knights grabbed weapons mid-swing, disarmed fighters with contemptuous ease, and tackled resisters to the ground.
Helga herself fought like a demon. Her war hammer crushed some spectral knights with each swing, as it looked like her trait had to do with improving her S.H.I.E.L.D. attribute or something similar.
Unfortunately for her, the spectral knights were too many, and their levels were too high for her to win.
It took five knights working together to bring her down. They caught her hammer mid-swing, wrenched it from her grip, and tackled her to the ground. She thrashed and cursed, but they held her, pinning her arms and legs with the weight of their combined weight.
Aldric's forces tried a more strategic defense.
The blonde warrior stood at the center of his group, his spear moving with impossible speed that kept the knights at bay. His followers used terrain to their advantage, positioning themselves near tents and fires to create chokepoints.
It was an excellent strategy. It might have worked against a conventional force.
But Reidar's knights didn't follow conventional tactics. They came from above, dropping from the air where Aldric's defenses couldn't reach. They appeared behind his lines, having been summoned directly into position by other knights.
Aldric realized the futility of his defense quickly. Reidar saw the moment the warrior understood he was beaten.
The knights closed in. Aldric fought with skill that justified his high level, but there were too many knights for him too.
One knight caught his spear mid-thrust. Another grabbed his arm. A third tackled him from behind. Aldric went down with his face pressed into the dirt as spectral hands pinned him in place.
His followers surrendered immediately after that.
The rest of the camp fell quickly. Without leadership, the scattered groups had no chance. They threw down their weapons, raised their hands, and allowed themselves to be brought into the center of camp.
Hundreds of people stood in shocked silence, surrounded by a glowing wall of spectral warriors.
Reidar walked through the circle of knights and into the clearing. Every eye turned to him. Fear, anger, and confusion. All of it was focused on a single point.
"You bastard!" Helga roared, her eyes finding Reidar. "You fucking coward!"
It also looked like Aldric swapped with Lorian at some point, because the dude started swearing.
Reidar said nothing. He simply watched as his knights pinned them down.
He looked across the crowd, searching for one face in particular.
Seraphine was nowhere to be seen.
The white-haired archer had vanished, either during the initial assault or before it began. Reidar wasn't surprised. She seemed like a smart fellow.
Helga struggled against the knights holding her. "You're going to regret this!"
Amid the torrent of swears, Lorian gave Reidar eyes that promised violence when the opportunity came.
Reidar ignored them both. He'd achieved what he needed. The camp was under control. The survivors were subdued. Now came the hard part.
Now he had to make them listen.