This Inevitable Ruin by Matt Dinniman

Strategy, alliances, pitched battles, betrayal . . . It all makes for great fun and even greater television.

The ninth floor. Faction Wars. Nine armies enter, led by rich and powerful aliens from across the galaxy.

The winning team must capture and hold the castle at the very centre of the battlefield. But thanks to Carl, Donut, and Katia, this season is different. For the first time ever, the crawlers have their own army.

The NPCs, who are normally used as nothing but cannon fodder, have become fully self-aware and have formed an unprecedented team of their own. And its not just the crawlers who are at risk this Faction Wars. Any combatant who dies on the battlefield stays in the ground.

For Donut and Katia, the stakes are even higher. No matter who wins the war, only one of them will be allowed to leave this level. If they all want to survive, theyre going to need a littlehelp.

This is it. This is what theyve been fighting toward. This is war.