The Hermits were already frantically spamming Xisuma. The spawn island was already covered in the black ink substance from what the panicked and typo-filled messages read.

"Give it your all, everyone," Libra said, sending messages to the other high ranked admins for extra help.

X raised his hand, preparing to open a portal and keep it open. Every admin has a way of opening a portal to their world. Some open it Doctor Strange style, others wave their hands in a certain pattern. A few mutter key words as if it were a password, and sometimes, admins just will it into existence.

Xisuma snapped his fingers. In response, a yellow and black portal snapped into place, humming with anticipation. At the Prime's stares, he stepped through, quickly followed by the other admins he took the whitelist down for.

His items popped into his inventory as soon as his foot stepped onto the sand of the spawn island. He looked up, narrowing his eyes at the half black sky and the dripping ink-like substance.

Right as she entered, Libra lept upwards, spreading her brown wings and shielding the new arrivals. Black Watcher magic slammed against the golden cover. The Prime Admin strained, but with the help of the Argentum and Purpura admins, managed to hold it up.

A player shot through the shield like a meteor, landing in the small island's sand. The admins' shield kept only Watchers out, and most of the admins had instantly spread around to battle the Watchers.

"Xisuma..." a German creeper-hybrid groaned, spitting sand out of his mouth. Half his body was drenched in the weird black liquid. Few admins jumped back, noticing the anger radiating off him.

"Oh goodness me, Doc," Xisuma said as Doc pounded his fist on the ground. The admin knelt next to the injured Hermit, ignoring the startled admins that moved to give them space.

"Shot me right out of the sky." Doc rolled onto his stomach and pushed himself to his knees. His elytra was charred on his back, the bottom half burnt to a crisp. Pulling it off, the scientist tossed it to the ground, sand quickly burying it. "Got half a heart left. Have an extra elytra? Enderchest? Healing potion or two?" Knowing it would be useless to try and stop him, Xisuma quickly placed down his enderchest and stood. The creeper rummaged through it, hastily strapping an elytra to his back and tossing a few healing splash potions to the floor. After gathering his items and healing back to a sustainable health, Doc looked up to X from his kneeling position as the admin was about to launch into the air.

"The others are panicking on the group ca-" Xisuma didn't even wait for him to finish his sentence. As the other admins started to spread out, Xisuma joined the Hermits' call with a simple click of a button on the side of his helmet, thankful his communicator and helmet were linked together.

Though he did regret not turning the volume down earlier.

Sounds from other Hermits' communicators exploded in his ears. Xisuma staggered forwards from the sudden onslaught of sounds. Shaking his head, he finally launched himself into the air, not noticing the confused looks that were directed his way from his fellow admins.

With a few adjustments and a couple clicks of buttons, Xisuma organized the stats of his server and the voice call on his visor, giving him enough room to see in front of him, but also keeping the numbers and words visible. Xisuma sighed and adjusted the sound so the Hermits were loud enough to hear, but he could also hear what was going on around him.

"Oh thank goodness, Xisuma, you're back-"

"Watch out!"

"What on Earth is going on?"

"There goes my storage system-"

"Xisuma who are these people?"

Their voices overlapped and were too fast for Xisuma to know who was talking.

"For goodness sake-" The Hermits slowed down as a loud explosion came from Iskall's side.

"Iskall? You good?" Mumbo said, an explosion and a yelp quickly following. He muttered a quiet, "I'm alright" as he recovered.

"Yeah, just had to throw a couple of these... uh, people... off my tree," Iskall grunted in response, a loud thump following their words.

"For starters, these people are called Watchers, and they're bent on world domination. They hacked their way into this server," Xisuma finally managed to get in amidst the chaos. A volley of arrows and a stream of magic caused him to yelp and bank right, the elytra on the admin's back straining at the sudden turn. Two arrows grazed his left shoulder and arm, dropping Xisuma's health by two hearts.

"Xisuma, what do we do? They're destroying literally everything-" Scar's voice cracked. He was on the brink of crying, his heavy breaths coming through loudly.

"The admins are on their way to you, please, Scar, stay calm. Everyone has to remain calm-" Xisuma said, throwing a Watcher into the ocean.

"X, I can't-"

"Crap-" Jevin said before disconnecting. The Hermits panicked, their noises mixing into one disgusting and ear-splitting sound.

"Give me a report of who's still fighting, who's hiding, and who's possibly down. Messages preferably," Xisuma called over them, ducking as a Watcher threw a punch. Chats flowed into the main server, letting everyone present see them as the server members calmed down.

Xisuma soon realized his mistake. The chats he asked for were quickly blown off the screen at alarming rates by the death messages.

"Everyone is still fighting except Joe and Stress. The two are unconscious... I think. Uh, TFC, xB, and Cleo are injured and hiding?" Bdubs listed off as he watched the messages zoom by.

"Yep," Cleo confirmed, a strain in her voice.

Mumbo drew in a breath, "Gri isn't here in the first place."

"Someone message him, tell him to stay out of the server," Iskall followed, multiple explosions booming in his audio again.

"I think he's fine, he hasn't been around for a few days. You know, maybe visiting family or taking an unannounced break. He does that once in a while," False said, two swords clashing in her audio.

"My friends, I'm sure he's alright. We have to focus on the server right now. The damage; what's surviving, what's destroyed?"

"Impulse, I believe you had the list or whatever?" Cub said.

"Yep. Nothing is beyond repairable, thankfully. Tango's, Cub's, mine, and False's bases are probably the worst, as they're the closest to spawn, but the invaders are quickly heading elsewhere..." Another disconnecting sound rang in their ears.

"Tango got disconnected-" Zed said, before yelping and turning silent. After a few moments, he continued, "An explosion just... well, exploded near his base. Is he okay?"

In answer to the question, Tango rejoined the call once more.

"Tango, what did you do?" By the sound of Impulse's voice, he expected a stupid reason.

"Well, I threw a shulker box of TNT at one of these magic people and they blasted it. I didn't-" Tango snorted with laughter. "I didn't expect that TNT could be set off as it touched the black magic stuff... so I yeeted a box at them. R.I.P. Watcher or whatever they're called."

"Oh my goodness-" Cleo shouted.

"Are you alright?" Cub asked.

"How are we still living with the magical folk literally hunting us down? " the zombie groaned, exhaustion layered in her voice.

"The only reason most of us are alive is because of our super-duper amazing elytra skills," Tango snickered.

"Someone protect Mumbo then-" Iskall said. Mumbo sputtered and formed no comprehendable words.

"Uh oh-" Etho's voice came through, wavering slightly.

"What is it?" Beef asked, barely heard over his background noise.

"Many... Watchers... are heading towards the jungle. Mumbo, Iskall, Stress, Scar, and Ren, save what you can. There are so many coming your way."

"What about Grian's stuff?" A firework launched in Iskall's audio, indicating they was in the air.

"... Hope to Minecraft they don't destroy his valued possessions," Joe said, exhaustion clear in his voice.

By this time, X had made it to his base. Barely any Watchers were in his jungle, but the ink-like liquid had started to spread over the chunks. Etho flew into the air, hearing Xisuma's fireworks. Black substance was smeared all over him and stained his clothing. His white hair was no longer pure white, stained with the ink and a pinch of blood.

"I'm going to have to hop off this call, my friends," Xisuma said, silencing everyone's next words. "Don't stop fighting until the horn sounds. Only then is it over. Stay safe, everyone."

And with that, Xisuma disconnected.

In the infirmary, the Primes had told them that once the horn sounds, the last Watchers are out of the server forever.

Xisuma inspected his base from the air. Only a few parts had crumbled, most likely from the violent shaking of the world when it all started.

"Welcome back," Etho called out over the wind, gliding next to the admin. He adopted a thoughtful expression, tilting his head. "I've always wanted to see how I'd look with darker hair, y'know?" Running a hand through his hair and staining more ink into it, he side-looked Xisuma with a smirk in his eyes. In response, X quietly chuckled, before waving a quick goodbye and landing on top of one of his towers.

The admin pulled up his admin panels, the code, numbers, and words flashing on his visor.

Xisuma watched as the live count of the Watchers and admins decreased, one faster than the other.

Taking a deep breath and calming his nerves, he started what he was trained to do.

Administrate and protect his server.

</=\>

Around the server, the Hermits and admins had managed to pick off a good number of Watchers. The Prime Admins never stayed in one place, and seeing them was rare. The Hermits knew to not stare, but the wings and authoritative power they radiated that pulled their attention to them, it was hard to not look.

Scar and Mumbo shakily flew over the jungle, dumping buckets of water and putting out the purple and oranges fires that idly flickered. They didn't spread, but the amount of blocks on fire clogged the clean sky, turning it dark.

Five Watchers suddenly took interest in the two Hermits and took off after them, seeing them as easy prey. Whether it was their shaky flying or the obvious fear, it would have been easy for the Watchers to send them to respawn.

After five different streaks of magic, Mumbo and Scar were knocked out of the sky, sent crashing to the ground in a mess of limbs in front of Grian's mansion. The five Watchers chased them down, landing with their magic and weapons at the ready.

But before they could blast the poor Hermits, The Prime Admin landed in front of the Hermits, wings fully extended. He hissed at the Watchers, baring his teeth like a wild animal. His grasp on his obsidian sword tightened as he raised the weapon.

As he continued the Hermit's abandoned fight, Mumbo had noticed that every time a blast of magic went towards Grian's chests or the mansion, the Prime Admin deflected it, even if it was nowhere near him. The redstoner mentioned it to Scar, who only shrugged it off as noticing Grian's hard work.

The builder wasn't listening in the first place, he was worried sick about Jellie, who had gotten lost in the chaos.

The Prime Admin spun in a three-sixty with his obsidian sword, sending the Watchers to respawn in their lair. He didn't stick around, and shot into the sky with his golden wings.

Unfortunately, two Watchers trailed the Prime, managing to clip his wings with arrows and magic. The admin flipped forwards, turning to the Watchers faster than the blink of an eye. He was hovering above Grian's mansion, waiting for the perfect opportunity to send these Watchers away.

The Prime folded his wings in, landing hard on the top of the stairs. The two Watchers fell out of the sky, landing next to him and poofing out of existence. Mumbo and Scar shared a look. What did the admin even do? Was it that fast that they couldn't keep up with their eyes.

The Prime Admin bounded down the stairs, taking out at least fifty Watchers by the time he got to the part it flattens out at. Sword drenched with Watcher blood, he continued until he got back down to ground level, where Mumbo and Scar were recovering.

With an emotionless stare and a still body, he tossed three healing potions to the Hermits.

Mumbo and Scar caught them, almost dropping the bottles to the floor. They thanked him furiously, as receiving anything from a Prime Admin was almost near impossible.

The Prime turned away, only to throw another golden shield up to block purple magic.

The Prime Watcher's magic.

Without an exchange of words, the two had another face off, this time with Prime Watcher being the one with the upper hand. The Prime Admin, already tired out from InvadedLands and Hermitcraft, was barely able to hold his own. Mumbo and Scar barely had a minute to escape the area before most of it was scorched with marks of the Primes' magic. They hid in the trees, covered by the leaves.

In no time, the Watcher had the admin pinned to the floor.

"Not so strong, are you, mister Prime Admin?" The Watcher said, sending shivers through Mumbo's and Scar's bodies. He reached down to lift his hood only to have his hand bitten. The Prime Watcher snarled and shook his hand, curling his fingers around the handle of his weapon.

Everyone watching knew what would happen next.

And they were all powerless to stop it.

The Prime Admin cried out- why did it sound familiar to Mumbo and Scar? Pulling the blade out of the admin's chest, the Prime Watcher stood up and wiped the blood from his face.

"Goodbye, Prime Admin! Death by my hand is permanent!" The Prime Watcher yelled, using his Watcher magic to lift himself in the air. "When Primes kill each other, it's forever!" The Prime Admin withered on the ground, the raw pain spreading through his body leaving him vulnerable. Nails digging into the dirt, he tried dragging himself away, but to no avail.

The admin's chest was strangely not covered in blood. In fact, there seemed to be little to no blood on the white and golden robe. Instead, where the Watcher had stabbed, was a glowing purple hue. Anywhere the sword had touched glowed, including inside the stab.

It was as if the blade cauterized the wound.

The Prime pathetically growled. The Watcher must have laced his sword with his magic.

His aura glowed brightly and uncontrolled, the pure magic sensible from miles away. The Hermits shielded their eyes in terrified interest. Pitiful whimpers escaped the admin's lips as his movement gradually slowed.

Mumbo and Scar rushed forwards, only to be stopped by a familiar admin crash landing far to their left.

"No, Mumbo and Scar, step away, his magic is too powerful for you to handle!" Xisuma called out, narrowly dodging a trident sent by the Prime Watcher in the air. The Watcher smirked and turned around, only to be slammed into by a Prime Admin. Libra and the Watcher engaged into a dangerous aerial battle, magic and weapons flashing.

At this point, the Prime's wings were limp on the ground, all movement ceasing. His aura wasn't glowing anymore. The sky was starting to flicker, the sun turning on and off.

Hypixel gracefully landed next to the Prime, his hands shaking as he realized what the glitching sky meant. The server owner knelt in front of him, gulping and trying to heal the wound.

But Hypixel wasn't proficient in healing, his main specialties were combat and managing servers.

The Prime pointed at the Hermits, weakly curling his index finger inwards, as if to say 'come here'. Xisuma shakily stepped forwards, followed by the other two. Hypixel scooted over to make room for the Hermits. The three knelt down near the Prime, as if waiting for a miracle to happen.

Maybe the two admins and two players expected the Prime to lash out, to scold, to give Hypixel a command, to yell at the Hermits...

But none of them expected the Prime Admin to latch onto Mumbo, pulling him down and into a weak hug. Mumbo yelped, before hesitantly wrapping his arms around the Prime. Scar and Xisuma watched them with a stunned fascination.

No Prime Admin- especially this one- interacted with players in public.

"M-Mumbo..." the Prime whispered. The redstoner almost dropped the admin.

Mumbo choked, "Oh my word-"

"Please don't drop me, I'd die faster."

"Grian?" Mumbo finally managed to get out past the sputters and shock. After numerous attempts, the Prime finally managed to pull his hood off with feeble hands. Scar and Xisuma audibly gasped. Hypixel stayed silent, looking around for any threats.

"I'm sorry..." the builder gasped, all mischief that used to be present in his eyes gone.

"What? Oh my word, no, you have nothing to be sorry for, you- you- just- oh I don't know, just stay alive, my goodness Grian, you-"

"Mumbo, the Watcher was right." The Prime shuddered, looking down at his chest. "Permadeath is inevitable at this point. E-Especially with his magic." The pain was clear in Grian's eyes, but there was no outward reaction. He took a shaky breath, turning to Hypixel.

"Grian, no-" Mumbo winced and cut himself off as Grian tightened his grip on his suit.

"Get rid of the other Watchers," the Prime's voice lowered to a whisper. Talking had taken too much energy from him.

"Prime-" Hypixel was silenced with a glare. He sat there silent, the only sounds being the occasional sword clash, an explosion or two, and the Prime's labored breathing. Eventually, Grian's grip on Mumbo loosened ever so slightly, his eyelids fluttering.

"I'm sorry," Grian whispered, his eyes closing. Before they could say anything, the sound of a horn rang through the server.

The last Watchers were gone from Hermitcraft.

They should be celebrating, the server was salvageable. But Grian's hand went limp, and it thudded to the ground as the sky darkened drastically.

Hypixel cursed out loud, startling the Hermits. He brought a finger to his ear, apparently having an earpiece or something of the like.

"Medic at- where are we? Whatever- medic at my location, right now!" He paused. "The Prime Admin is down and dying quickly, get over here! No questions asked!" Just as he finished his command, the other Prime appeared next to him with a swoosh, looking around for the Prime.

The Hermits moved over, but didn't back away as Libra knelt in front of Grian.

She was too late, as told by the rapidly dimming sky. Libra tried to force him to keep his eyes open, to force him to breathe.

To live.

But the sun was barely shining.

And Grian's chest stilled.