(Ahhh this took longer than I wanted it to, sorry guys. I got hit by a wave of stress and never got around to finishing the chapter until today. But don't worry! I got an iPad yesterday and it makes it A LOT easier to write chapters on. Also, I'm feeling less stressed now and I have more motivation to write, so it'll take less time to write chapters. The only problem I have is trying to figure out how I want these last few chapters to go, so this should go great(!) Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter!)

POV: Technoblade

Location: The Admin HQ

One moment, I was opening my mouth to answer a question Myriel asked. The next, my senses were being flooded by an unknown sensation and I found myself on my knees.

After a short while of my ears ringing, Myriel calling my name began to reach me. My chest heaving, I looked up at her, a greenish tinge suddenly over the world.

"Techno?" she called, concern audible in her voice along with the sound of confusion. I figured she must've felt at least partially what I just went through.

The ringing in my ears began to subside and I was able to sit up straighter and look up at Myriel. After I noticed the greenish tinge beginning to fade, I said, "I'm okay... I think something bad just happened."

"I can tell. What was that wave of emotions?" she asked, confirming that she had felt something similar to what I felt as well.

I answered as I tried to stand, "It's like... The connection of the Watchers to our 'overlords' was just suddenly severed."

"You're free from their control?" Myriel asked for confirmation.

I nodded. "Yes," I answered, "I can't feel any exterior power in my mind."

Myriel's Prime Admin aura shone brighter as she scanned me. Moments later, her aura dimmed to what it was before and she nodded. "I can't find anything else either," she confirmed.

I let out a relieved sigh. "Does this mean you're going to let us out?"

She nodded and said, "Only those confirmed to be free of influence will be let out of the cells."

"So are you going to-" I said awkwardly, reminding Myriel that I was still very much in a cell.

"Right," she said before going over to the cell doors and unlocking it.

I exited the cell, glad to finally be free of both the Listeners and the Admins for the first time in a while.

"So," Myriel began as she swung the cell door shut. "What now?"

I let out a slightly shaky exhale. "We prepare," I answered.

"For what?"

I turned to meet her gaze. "For the war destined to happen."

————————————————————

~POV CHANGE~

I glanced at Iskall and Sam with wide eyes before turning and exiting the room once again, the two of them close behind as I hurried toward the exit of Iskall's base. I wasn't aware of Sam pausing to explain to the Readers that they would be back soon.

The moment sunlight reached my face, I realized something. Were the Watchers able to feel that as well?

"We need to get prepared, now," I said, a clear tone of urgency and authority in my voice as I automatically switched to Prime Admin mode.

Iskall and Sam nodded, neither of them objecting as I teleported the three of us to Xisuma's base.

Once inside, we discovered Xisuma looking worriedly at Evander, who was now leaning against the wall.

"What happened?" I asked as I walked over to them, concern flashing in my light blue eyes.

X looked up at us, his gaze lingering on Sam for a few moments longer before returning to Evander. "I'm not sure. All of a sudden, Evander just got dizzy and said his ears were ringing..."

I looked at Evander as slowly exhaled, clearly trying to control his breathing.

"V- Evander?" I corrected myself, my eyebrows furrowed in worry as I looked at him.

He met my gaze and stated, "The Listeners still had a small amount of control over me. I could feel what happened."

My eyes widened and I exchanged a glance with Iskall before returning my gaze to Evander.

"Wait, what's going on?" Xisuma asked, being the only one out of the five of us who hadn't felt it.

Sam spoke up before the rest of us could, "The Supreme Listener just got consumed by their Listener Shadow."

Xisuma's eyes widened. "That... That doesn't sound like a good thing..."

"Trust me," said Sam in a tone of voice I hadn't heard from him before, "It isn't."

"Okay, we need to get as much help as we can," I said.

"Wait," Evander started. "What are we going to do?"

A grim look on my face, I answered, "We're launching an assault on the Listener HQ."

Iskall spoke up with clear bewilderment in his voice, "Are you sure about that?? Admins can't take on Listeners alone, we need the Watchers too."

I met Iskall's gaze with a look of grim determination in my eyes. "Then we'll get the Watchers."

————————————————————

~Time Skip of an hour~

Soon, I was sitting in the Meeting room with Myriel, Techno, and the other heads of the Echelons. Of course, I was wearing my Prime Admin clothes so no one would know who I was.

All the head Watchers in the room seemed uncomfortable, aside from Techno, assumably because they weren't allowed to wear their masks during the meeting.

I glanced at Myriel as she confidently began to speak, "As you likely know, we called this meeting to discuss an alliance between the Admins and the Watchers, in hopes of fighting against a greater foe."

Techno glanced at Galenthyl, who was sitting beside him, before looking back at Myriel.

"Well," the Elite Watcher began. "It does seem to be rather necessary to form this alliance, and I believe I speak for all Watchers when I say: We don't want to be playthings for someone more powerful than us."

A few nods of agreement came from the head Watchers in the room and even the head Admins of the lower Echelons seemed to agree.

"Indeed," Myriel said. "Now, the terms of the alliance."

"Prime Admins, I would like you to know that any hostility toward the Admins in the last decade or so was mostly the result of the Listeners somehow tampering with the masks we require all Watchers to wear," Techno stated.

"Yes, thank you, Elite Watcher," Myriel responded.

The two of them went on to discuss the terms of the alliance, as well as under what circumstances the alliance could be disbanded and replaced with something else.

As they spoke, I felt a gaze land on me and accidentally met Galenthyl's gaze. A faint smirk grew on my face as I gazed at him through my black mask. I knew he was wondering why I kept my identity so hidden. Of course, I had no intention telling him who I was.

I looked away and focused on Myriel as she stated, "Then we agree on these terms?"

Technoblade nodded. "Yes," he replied.

"Good," Myriel said. "Let us fashion the agreement into written form, shall we?"

Technoblade agreed with a simple, "We shall," and the three of us stood, using our magic to create a scroll. It was titled: "The Alliance Against a Greater Foe".

Now, it was simply time to prepare.

Xisuma and Iskall had the duty of assembling the Readers and any other Hermits who were willing to fight.

There was one more thing I had to do before preparing for the battle.

I silently walked through the halls, down to the lower areas of the Admin HQ.

I turned the corner and approached the end of the corridor, my gaze set forward the entire time. At the end of the corridor stood a room blocked off by many obsidian bars, reaching from the floor to the ceiling. Inside the cell sat none other than Xalum Joe Hills.

He looked up as I arrived, it immediately apparent that the deep purple of his eyes had faded to a grayish purple.

"Prime Admin?" he hesitantly said, clearly wary of my presence.

Keeping my voice low and as unrecognizable as possible to my friend, I said, "How are you?"

He tensed and looked away as he replied, "Horrible, but not as under control as I was..."

"Good," I simply responded.

He looked back at me. "Why did you come?" he asked, a clear look of guilt in his faded purple eyes.

"I wanted to see how you were doing," I responded, fully aware that he could realize who I was based off of how I talked and behaved, meaning I had to be as careful as possible.

"I see... Well, while I'm in control of myself, I'd like to formally apologize for the deeds I have done," he said, his gaze not moving from my black bandana.

I nodded once. "I accept your apology," I quietly stated, meeting his gaze through the black mask.

Joe smiled slightly and nodded. "Thank you kindly, Prime Admin," he replied.

"I must go, farewell," I said as formally as I could manage.

"Understandable. Just remember that I will be here if you need some assistance in fighting some opponents," he said.

I nodded and turned away.

"Farewell, Prime Admin," he called as I began to walk away.

I paused to look over my shoulder at him and smile slightly before continuing down the corridor, leaving him in the cell with magic-blocking obsidian handcuffs on his wrists.

Now to prepare before the Listeners took the first move.

————————————————————

~POV Change~

The first thing that had to be done was gather an attack force.

Grian and Xisuma discussed who currently on the Hermitcraft server to bring and concluded on bringing Tango—if he was strong enough—, Doc, Mumbo, Stress, Scar, Cub, Joe, Evander, Iskall, Taurtis, and Sam. Basically, everyone who had magic or knowledge in redstone and traps needed to go.

As for the Admins, Grian and Myriel decided to bring the head members of each Echelon along with all the members of Echelons Argentum and Ostrum. The Primes only hoped that they'd be able to lead them into battle when Grian couldn't reveal his identity.

Meanwhile, Technoblade was choosing Watchers and Players to bring as well. Once he decided on Watchers to bring, he decided to go visit some friends to see if they'd be willing to come.

Techno teleported to the Main Hub, where he told them to meet him. Having made sure to change into his normal clothes, he looked around for them and then heard his name being called from behind him. He turned and smiled a bit as he saw Philza and TommyInnit coming up to him.

"Hey, Techno," Phil said with a friendly smile on his face. "What's up?"

"Besides the sky," Tommy joked, causing the two older Players to chuckle at the stupidity of the joke.

"Anyhow," said Techno, "I wanted to talk to you two about something in private."

"Okay," Tommy said in response.

"Did you message Wilbur as well?" Phil asked, crossing his arms as he gazed at Techno.

"I did, but he didn't respond," was Techno's response.

"Strange," Tommy said.

Techno glanced between his friends and said, "But this is urgent and we can't wait for him."

"Alright," Philza replied, nodding a bit.

"Come on," Techno said before turning and walking toward the portal that let to the Hypixel server.

Philza and TommyInnit exchanged a look before following the pig into the portal.

Once they were alone in Techno's housing, Techno bluntly stated to them, "The Admins and Watchers are going to attack the Listener HQ and we need your help."

Tommy and Phil stared at him for a few moments, the former letting out a "What?"

"What do you mean 'we'?" Philza asked, starting to catch onto what Techno was implying.

Techno sighed, his shoulders slumping a bit. "I am a Watcher," he said, looking between his friends' faces.

"Wait, what?" Phil said, raising his eyebrow in surprise.

"Why would you not tell us?" Tommy asked, sounding kind of upset that they hadn't been told about their friend's status.

"I mean, the Elite Watcher is usually supposed to keep their identity secret, but that failed recently, so-" Techno replied with a shrug.

"Woah woah wait, Elite Watcher?" Philza said.

Techno let out another sigh. "I am the head of the Watchers and was recently under the influence of the Listeners," he stated.

"I'm confused," the youngest of the three stated.

The second youngest of the three facepalmed with a sigh, his low ponytail slipping partway over his shoulder. "What part of 'I need your help fighting a battle' is so hard to understand?!" Techno said, starting to get worried that the Listeners would attack before they could attack first.

Tommy and Phil exchanged a glance before looking back at their friend. The latter smiled a bit, saying, "Well, when you put it that way, it's less confusing."

"We'll help you, Techno," Tommy said with a similarly small smile.

Techno let out a sigh of relief. "Thank you," he replied, his stress levels going down a bit.

"Now, where do we go to prepare for this battle?" said Phil, a look of determination crossing his expression.

Techno smiled and teleported the three of them to the Admin HQ in a flash of dark golden light.

Upon arrival, Techno's friends stumbled in surprise and looked around in awe, causing Techno to chuckle in amusement. He then led them to the War Room, which he only knew the location of thanks to Myriel showing it to him. Once inside, Techno quietly greeted the two Prime Admins that were there and nodded in greeting to the other high ranking people there. The room was seemingly filled with everyone who was going to join the assault team—including Watchers, Admins, and Vex-cursed Players— and everyone was standing around a table that contained a map of the Listener HQ, which was provided by Iskall and Sam.

Silent, Techno stood across from the Prime Admins and looked down at the map, examining the layout of the Listener HQ.

He looked up as Myriel began to explain how the attack would go, with help from the two Listeners in the room. Techno listened, giving some tactical advice when needed. He also noticed that Dream occasionally gave advice as well.

Eventually, the plan was explained and the meeting came to an end, the members of the assault team dispersing to different rooms within the Admin HQ to prepare for the battle.

Everyone was worried and terrified that the battle wasn't going to end well.

————————————————————

~Time Skip of Two Hours~

The time came for the team to leave. Everyone was ready, wearing diamond-infused armor and bearing diamond and obsidian weapons. The Watchers were wearing masks that they had quickly made using their magic. They were all gathered in the portal room of the Admin HQ, waiting for the command to leave.

Tango, Doc, Philza, and Tommy were standing together, being the only Players in the room. They figured they had to stick together so none of them would get separated and get lost. Unbeknownst to them, Iskall was also planning on going with them so they wouldn't get caught by the Listeners without anyone magical with them.

Technoblade stood at the head of the gathered Watchers, facing one side of the room. The other members of the assault team were facing the other side of the room, everyone in the room finally prepared. Now, all they had to do was go to the Listener HQ.

Myriel and Grian exchanged a look and turned to the group, the former announcing that it was time to go. They knew they couldn't afford to wait any longer, because the Listeners very well could attack the Admin or Watcher HQ, not to mention the Main Hub where many Players were.

Everyone faced a portal, all of the pale green portals leading directly to the Listener HQ. On Myriel's command, they began to enter the portals, group by group.

They had no clue as to what awaited them on the other side.

(WC: 2600)

(A/N: Whew that was hard to write. Leave any theories you have here and feel free to start a discussion. Also, I want to finish this book before the end of the year, so I'll have enough motivation to finish it soon XD)

(Leave a vote if you enjoyed, bye!)

<3