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The sneers and jeers all vanished when everyone spotted Vir’s Chakram.

“Who’d you steal from to get your hands on that?” one of them said.

“I don’t get it,” Tara cut in. “Wouldn’t you sorry sods rather try to win this thing than gang up on us?”

“Couldn’t care less about you, girl,” a muscular red demon said, pointing to Vir. “It’s him we’re after.”

“Why me?” Vir asked. “Because you saw me with Cirayus? Is that truly enough of a reason to throw away your spot?”

The same red demon grunted. “Most of us don’t stand a chance. Barely even managed to get here. Coin, though? Now that’s a hard thing to say no to.”

Vir frowned. “You’re being paid to do this? By whom?”

“Someone who likes you very much. As a corpse.”

Vir rolled his eyes. It seemed bullies were the same, regardless of realm or race. At least they had a half-way decent reason. Someone was paying them, but who? Who had such a grudge for Vir that he’d hire lackeys to eliminate him? Vir hadn’t recalled making any such enemies, at least.

Keeping his eyes trained on Vir, the demon called out to his posse. “It’s just one Artifact. Sure, it’s deadly, but it can only be in one place at one time. Besides, you saw it miss those Acira, didn’t you? Just be careful and you’ll be fine.”

“So?” Tara asked. “What do we do? Every moment wasted here is precious.”

“I know,” Vir said. “I’ll take them on. I’ll be quick about it. When enough of them have…”

Vir trailed off.

“Yes?” Tara asked, before following Vir’s gaze into the distance. Her expression changed from one of confusion to skepticism to shock, before finally landing on horror.

“Run!” Tara shrieked. Ordinarily, their opponents wouldn’t have fallen for such an obvious deception, but the abject terror in her voice forced a few of them to look.

They yelled in panic, and soon, everyone saw what Vir had spotted.

An Automaton Guardian. Hurtling straight for them.

Vir scanned its shoulders, hoping against hope… But no. There was no mad Thaumaturge riding atop the Guardian.

For the briefest of instants, Vir thought about attacking the Automaton. At Saunak’s tower, he’d learned of a way of interfering with its movements. He quickly banished that though, however. Even under ideal conditions, Vir had done little more than to make the Automaton twitch. Attempting the same tactic against a mobile enemy who could shoot lethal beams out of its eyes seemed foolhardy at best.

“It must’ve heard the Shrikes,” Vir muttered.

“Who cares!?” Tara said. Let’s go!

Their enemies had already turned tail and fled—all thoughts of heckling Vir purged by their sense of self-preservation.

“Yes, let’s,” Vir said. “But I’d like to move faster than our previous pace. As such, would you mind if I carried you?”

Tara blinked in confusion. The Automaton was only a few hundred paces away, now, and closing fast.

“Sorry. Time’s up. I apologize in advance.”

Vir scooped Tara up and energized his legs. Given that everyone around was currently running for dear life, he felt he could stretch Leap’s range a bit without anyone getting too suspicious. Not quite to his maximum, but more than enough to outpace the creation of the gods.

Vir launched into the air, eliciting a surprised shriek from Tara. Like Maiya, she squirmed initially, before her eyes bulged upon seeing that they were fifty paces above the ground. Then her grip tightened, and her mouth snapped shut.

From the indignant glare she gave him, Vir knew he’d have an earful before long.

That was alright. With this, they’d bounded over their would-be opponents, which meant the Automaton would run into them first.

Vir sincerely hoped that none of them died, but this was the Ashen Realm. Even with a curated event such as this, the dangers were very real. Each and every combatant understood the risks the moment they stepped foot through that Gate.

Besides, as Vir looked back, he noticed most of them outpaced the Automaton. Those who couldn’t split off, angling away. The giant construct paid them no mind.

Why was it here? Vir wondered. He only hoped the machination wasn’t after him.

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The next checkpoint came and went with little fanfare—there were no crowds fighting it, and with it being in the middle of an open ash field at the foothills of a nearby mountain range, Vir and Tara took only moments to have their tablets updated. The added pressure of an Automaton in hot pursuit helped motivate them.

“Any idea how many of these there are?” Vir asked as he took to the air with Tara once again. Their next checkpoint seemed to be atop the peaks of these mountains, and Vir stopped at their base to reposition Tara to his back.

She happily obliged, hanging off him like a backpack.

“I have to say, while I can climb, you’re doing me a great service by letting me piggyback like this,” Tara said.

“And you were a great help healing my wounds, so let’s call it equal.”

“Well, I’m glad we each have something to offer, at least,” Tara replied, tightening her grip.

As Vir Leaped his way up the sheer mountainous walls, he saw at least a dozen other demons climbing their own way up.

Some bounded like he did, while others climbed the old way. Among them was a four-armed red demon that felt familiar.

“Is that…”

“The Ravager,” Vir confirmed. “Looks like the old man has to climb the old-fashioned way.”

“I’m amazed we even saw him,” Tara said. “I thought for sure he’d be one of the first to return.”

“With Balancer of Scales? He’d be the clear winner. I’ve never seen another demon bound as far as he can with that ability. Without it, though, he doesn’t actually have any movement arts that let him cover ground quickly. Not like he’d need one, with that ability.”

“I suppose,” Tara said. “The Ravager is an exception among exceptions, though.”

“What do you mean?” Vir asked, bounding up the face. Coating his katar with Prana Blade, he drove it easily into the rock. The prana did the cutting, protecting the edge—otherwise, even his seric katar would’ve been rendered useless from the abuse.

“I mean Ultimate Bloodline Arts consume a dizzying amount of prana,” Tara said. “Here in the Ash, it’s no issue at all, but in the Demon Realm… Suffice it to say there are those with the same tattoo who can’t match even basic movement art tattoos.”

“Right. Cirayus has had centuries to perfect and hone his technique,” Vir said, feeling a knot of worry develop in his stomach. It wasn’t the first time he’d had this thought—if it took Cirayus so long, and if Vir struggled so much with his Chakra, then how long would it take him to master his bloodline arts?

The Automaton finally arrived at the base of the summit, but like the one Vir had encountered during his earlier trip through the Ash, this one remained there, not even attempting to climb.

“That’s… surprising,” Tara said, looking down.

“I think they can climb, but something tells them not to. I don’t know if it just consumes too much of their prana, or if it’s some self-preservation instinct.”

“You act like you’ve encountered one before,” Tara commented from behind Vir’s back.

“Well, maybe,” Vir said. “Or maybe Cirayus just likes to talk a lot.”

Tara snorted. “That he does. Though that only makes me wonder how someone as young as yourself is so close to someone like him.”

Vir chose not to reply, instead flinging himself into the air once again. This Leap took him over the summit ridge, and the moment he did, a wall of wind blasted him. The force was so much that he was blown away.

Luckily, they landed right at the edge of the summit—on a precipice that overlooked a thousand-foot drop.

The strong winds thankfully prevented the ash from building up, so Vir let Tara down and together, they trudged to the checkpoint.

It was when they were just ten paces away that Vir saw the Shadow Prana signature. He shoved Tara away just in time to avoid a spear that surged out from her shadow.

He’s trying to kill her? Vir thought in panic. He’d assumed the Iksana was after Vir, not Tara. But perhaps, knowing she was a naga, had the Iksana decided to take her out to avoid a repeat of earlier?

Vir cursed under his breath.

Tara had her talwar at the ready, and had turned, so her shadow was minimized. Even so, it’d do her little good.

The Iksana wielder was fast, and Tara would have almost no time to dodge.

What should I do? Vir thought. For a moment, he considered sinking into his own shadow to take the fight to the enemy. If he was alone, he would’ve done just that. With Tara here, it was just too risky.

There was, yet again, only one option that would work.

Vir once again scooped Tara into his arms, nearly eliminating her shadow. He Leaped to the checkpoint, bounding through the air to minimize his time on the ground.

This had two advantages. It not only gave him immunity to Dance of the Shadow Demon, but it also allowed Vir to anticipate the timing of the Iksana’s next strike.

Vir’s blade was already in motion the moment he landed. The spear launched out of his shadow... And was bisected by Vir’s Empowered swing.

Losing no speed, Vir kicked off and Leaped again, finally bringing him to the checkpoint. The Iksana had either given up, or couldn’t keep up, and though Vir looked back as he jumped off the mountain peak, he caught no glimpse of their attacker.

Whoever they were, they were good. And patient.

The worst type of enemy.

Tara did her best not to scream on the way down, but as they picked up more and more speed, plummeting the thousand feet to the bottom of the mountain, Tara’s terror took over.

She thrashed, and her limbs flailed, bashing Vir’s head, though she only managed to hurt her own hands in the process.

Activating Light Step just before he hit the ground, Vir brought them to a soft, cushioned stop, and let Tara down smoothly.

The naga fell to her knees before shifting into her half-serpent form. Her tail shook, and Vir suddenly felt like he was in grave danger.

“That was awesome!” Tara exclaimed. “You never said you had movement arts that slow your fall! We have to jump off more mountains together.”

Vir had miscalculated her emotions. Somehow, her reaction spooked him far, far more than if she’d just been angry. Vir took an involuntary step back as Tara regarded him with hungry eyes.

If he wasn’t mistaken, he caught her licking her lips. Maybe that was just a naga thing, but it unnerved him nonetheless.

“Er, right,” Vir said sheepishly. “How about we focus on the challenge for now? We shouldn’t get distracted until we’re through.”

“Of course,” Tara said, shifting into her fully serpentine form. “I’ll run the rest of the way. Go on ahead if you feel like you need to.”

Vir might ordinarily have done just that, but the Iksana gave him pause.

“Let’s go together. Pretty sure we’re ahead of the competition, anyway,” Vir replied.

The rest of the journey went without a hitch… Until they found themselves at the Ash Gate.

A battle raged, though it wasn’t by Tournament fighters in the Ash.

No, dozens of beasts swarmed, attempting to cross the Gate into the Demon Realm on the other side. Vir spotted Chakra and magic fly through the gate, destroying the creatures, but there were so many that some were bound to get through.

Moreover, they completely blocked the Gate. To get past, they would have to kill the horde.

There was just one problem.

“I recognize those beasts,” Vir muttered.

“You’ve fought these before?” Tara asked.

“Yes. Those are Hunter-Gatherers. And that,” he said, pointing to a much larger Hunter in the thick of the fight, “is a Brood Matron.”