As the ardoni marched, undead surrounded them. They quickly whipped out their weapons.

"Archers, bows!" Sarrettus yelled.

"Ready!" came the response as zombies gurgled.

"Swords!"
"Poised for attack!"

Sarrettus commanded his soldiers to begin combat, and Ghost Battalion leapt into action. The archer's arrows whizzed through the sky as the swordsmen's blades pierced molding undead flesh. Sarrettus raised his sword and cut through a zombie, watching its clotting blood drip out of its veins in clumps. He saw a hooded figure whisper an order and throw a wither skeleton skull to the side. The undead turned to the skull, noticing Thalleous.

"Away from him!" Sarrettus yelled as he ran towards the necromancer, putting his sword to his neck.

"Call them off and I let you live," Sarrettus yelled, the zombies and skeletons realizing their general's imminent death.

"The armies of the undead are-" Sarrettus cut him off.

"I don't care what they are," he said as a zombie crawled to Thalleous. "Call them off!"

The necromancer slowly drew a skull from his pocket and threw it in the distance. The few remaining undead followed it, leaving a winded Thalleous behind.

"Keep marching," Sarrettus panted. "Only a few more hours left of the journey."

As they arrived back at Sendaris, Thalleous pondered the Aggroprime. He took it out of his inventory, he stared at its mesmerizing glow. It was his, it had been his for years, it was...

Taking him.

He realized that all of this time as Champion was taking its toll. He bustled over to Sarrettus.

"Captain!" he said. Sarrettus slowly turned.

"I cannot keep the Prime," he muttered. "I have wielded it too long."

Sarrettus nodded. "Similar things have been said by Champions, Thalleous." He cleaned his sword on the ground, seeing an outpost base in the distance.

Thalleous concurred. "What will we do?"

Sarrettus sheathed his sword. "I hoped you might be different...but the primes are far too powerful." He wrung his hands uncomfortably. "Its fate can't be decided lightly."

Thalleous turned to face his unit. "There are many soldiers of Sendaria who can wield the prime."

Sarrettus grimaced. "The masters won't like the idea of their tribes being kept from it."

Thalleous put his hand on Sarrettus' shoulder. "It's only temporary, Ky-Sarrettus. We'd have a proper tournament shortly afterward."

Sarrettus stood for a moment, unmoving. Then, he sighed.

"You're sure you want to go through with this?" he asked.

Thalleous stared at the Aggroprime. Maybe he wasn't. Maybe he could keep it. It was his, after all, he had won it, he deserved it, he earned it...

Thalleous looked back at Sarrettus. His resolve returning, he nodded.

"Then the time has come for us to select a new Champion."