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Vir sent his Chakram flying, and it began to reave through the Hunter-Gatherers with brutal efficiency. Limbs went flying as the beasts were bisected one after another. Four, eight—a dozen.

“That… is one unbelievable weapon you’ve found,” Tara said in awe. Awe, and a hint of jealousy. “Where did you say you found that again?”

“Deep within the Ash,” Vir said. “But it may not be as impressive as you may believe. Look.”

The Brood Matron caught on and shrieked, ordering her Hunters to pull back. Workers took their place, occupying the Chakram as they were sacrificed like fodder.

Unfortunately, the Chakram’s intelligence wasn’t sufficient to identify between high-priority and low-priority foes. It uselessly slaughtered Workers and Scouts, allowing the Hunters to resume their assault on the Gate.

“They adapted so quickly,” Tara said, frowning.

“She’s smart,” Vir said, letting Tara down. “Exceedingly smart. We need to take down the Matron. Without her, the horde can't function.”

“You said you’ve fought them before,” Tara said, unsheathing her talwar. “How do you suggest we approach this?”

Vir thought for a moment, weighing Tara’s abilities. She was strong, yes, and had the benefit of being able to recover from any injury in a near-instant.

“Can you use Yuma’s Embrace for this?” Vir asked.

“I’d rather not,” came Tara’s immediate reply. “Maybe this isn’t part of the challenge, but it’s the Ash, after all. I wouldn’t put it past Thaman to consider this an exception. If I’m caught using my Ultimate…”

“Right,” Vir said. “Alright. Work on the Hunter-Gatherers. Their attention is focused on the demons beyond the Gate, so striking from behind should prove effective.”

Vir paused. He’d only fought those beasts in the Human Realm, where they were prana starved. The prana here seemed to not only strengthen them—it made them smarter, too.

“Don’t allow yourself to get surrounded. If you do, shout for my help. I’ll be right over.”

“Oh?” Tara said with a grin, swinging her sword menacingly. “You’ll be right over, huh? And I’m some damsel in distress in need of rescue, is it?”

“Wait, no. That’s not what I—”

Vir never had a chance to finish. His instincts blared at him to run away. To be anywhere other than here. And his instincts had yet to let him down.

He didn’t Leap away. He Blinked, and he activated Haste for good measure.

For the very air that surrounded Tara warped and darkened, turning a deep, toxic purple.

As an expanding cloud blotted the naga from sight, Vir understood what he was witnessing.

This was Corruption—one of the bloodline abilities of Clan Panav—except it was on a level incomparable to what Balagra wielded. Tara’s power felt like a cloud of death, ending the life of all that it touched.

The Hunters seemed to have noticed because they gave the field a wide berth, not even daring to venture close.

“Show off!” Vir yelled, even as a grin crept across his face. Tara would undoubtedly make a terrifying opponent when he fought her in the tournament, but now? Now, she was the most reliable ally he could've hoped for.

Vir Leaped, leaving Tara and her toxic cloud behind.

Even so, Vir couldn’t afford to let his guard down. Especially when an Iksana Ghael had it out for them. He only hoped the Iksana didn’t use this opportunity to attack either of them—poisonous clouds meant little to those who wielded the power of the shadow. There would be little Vir could do to help Tara if the demon struck.

Which meant taking down the Matron as fast as possible.

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Vir blasted through the horde of Warriors that surrounded the arachnid matron without hesitation, besetting them like some crazed Ash Beast. True, she might be smarter, and she might be stronger, but so was he.

No longer the prana scorned weakling, Vir pulverized her guards, before jumping onto her back, smashing an Empowered blade into the Matron’s tough chitin. At the very last moment—for the briefest instant—Vir fired Prana Blade, allowing the weapon to sink into the Matron’s hide.

Simultaneously, he opened his Life Chakra and focused his intent on attacking the Matron.

While Vir couldn’t know what Chakras this beast had opened, Ash Beasts opened their chakras in random order, which gave him a chance.

The Matron chittered, making a screeching sound entirely unlike an arachnid. She was angry, that much was clear.

Vir didn’t care. Just like the previous time he’d fought this beast, he rode its back, using his katar to anchor him to it as it bucked and writhed under him. Why change tactics, after all? It’d worked before.

Except unlike last time, he didn’t need to slowly gouge open its chitin.

If his Artifact Chakram couldn’t be relied upon to seek targets, he needed only give it one.

The weapon flared to life, and Vir slammed it into the Matron’s carapace. Its blades ripped through the armor, slowly sinking deeper into its body.

The Matron’s screeches intensified, and every Warrior in the area stopped what they were doing and started hurling acidic venom into the air.

Vir had almost forgotten about those. Even with Prana Armor to protect him, he didn’t risk a hit. With the slightest movements of his body, he dodged the incoming acid. Haste, of course, made the ordeal far simpler. Dodging was easy when the world progressed at a third of its normal pace.

It wasn’t long before the Matron’s motions seized. It froze for a long moment, before flopping onto its belly and breathing its last.

All at once, the Hunters ceased their attacks. Echoing their matron, they froze in place—and not just the Hunters. The Scouts and the Workers did too, offering no resistance as the demons from across the Gate lay into them.

Then, whatever influence they’d been under dispelled, and they routed, running off in various directions. Some even ran to the Gate, but those were promptly eliminated by the demons on the other side.

Vir didn’t hesitate. Their fight had allowed a dozen others to catch up. It was now a race—pure and simple. The fastest demon would win.

He locked eyes with Tara and nodded. This was where their partnership ended. It’d be cheating for Vir to carry her over the finish line, nor would he. As a Warrior, Tara would never have accepted it, either.

From here, it was everyone for themselves. Whatever trials and tribulations they’d faced previously didn’t matter.

Vir crouched low and activated Leap, sending as much prana into his legs as he could. Between raising suspicions and losing this preliminary, there was no contest.

Leap surged Vir past the other contestants, and he quickly closed in on the leader, intending on smashing into his back to prevent him from entering the Gate. Vir considered breaking the demon’s tablet, but rejected it. He didn’t need to cripple this person’s chances.

Vir needn’t have worried. Shan bounded in, pinning the red demon to the ground, before jumping off his back to rejoin Vir as they bounded through.

He forced himself to a halt and took a frantic look around. Three, five… eight. The more demons he counted, the more the knot in Vir’s stomach tightened. There were a lot. Too many.

But then came a booming voice. One that Vir recognized instantly.

“Congratulations, lad!” Cirayus thundered, placing a hand on his shoulder. “You passed. I take it we have you to thank for killing off that Brood Matron?”

“Cirayus?” Vir blurted. “How did you get ahead of us? I could’ve sworn we passed you.”

“Well, now,” the giant said with a wink. “This old man’s got his ways.”

“What number was I?” Vir asked.

“Fourteen,” Cirayus replied. “Two spots left.”

Vir’s eyes snapped back to the Ash Gate.

Tara was in her serpent form, slithering to the entrance, neck-and-neck with a gray demon who wielded movement arts, and a Bairan, who capitalized on his long gait to keep pace. Her cloud of death surrounded her, but at the speed she traveled, it failed to form a cloud—instead trailing behind her like a purple wake.

Unfortunately, it did her little good against her current opponents. Each moved in their own, unique way, and each was evenly matched.

Vir started forth unconsciously, but Cirayus placed a heavy hand on his shoulder and shook his head.

“You didn’t help her before. You won’t help her now,” he said simply.

It was true. Vir had no intention of getting Tara to fail. Yet still… He wished there was something he could do.

Something… Vir’s eyes widened.

“The Chakram…” he muttered. It was still buried inside the Brood Matron. And it was still in the Ashen Realm, which meant it had plenty of prana reserves.

“Lad?” Cirayus asked with suspicion.

Vir simply reached a hand out and summoned back the weapon. He’d never known how exactly it worked, but the Artifact always detected his intent.

A moment later, the deadly disc blurred through the air.

He couldn’t control its path once it had left his hand, so Vir could only pray it did what he asked of it.

The disc neared the three contestants… and blazed right in the middle, just a few paces above Tara’s head.

All three were trained Warriors. As such, all three had good instincts. And Tara’s were downright feral.

Vir banked on that.

The humming of the disc’s deadly spinning blades prompted both the Bairan and the gray demon to jump aside instinctively.

Tara, however, was a serpent. She kept plowing on, simply lowering her head to the ground. That was her instinct in action—distinct from the others.

The chakram sailed through the Gate and into Vir’s outstretched arm—deactivating.

Just as Tara slithered through the Ash Gate.

Cirayus locked eyes with Vir, his gaze stern.

Had he broken the rules? But how would they prove it? Vir had only recovered his weapon. Everything else was outside his control. Surely, they wouldn’t fault him for that. Right?

Cirayus remained that way for a long moment, and Vir braced himself for the lecture that was to come.

Then Cirayus, Ravager and demigod legend of demonkind—burst out laughing.