What the fuck was this? Stage two of a boss fight?

We hadn't even been winning in the first place!

Axel trembled upwards, pressing his mouth to my ear. He croaked out, “Cloak.”

“What?”

No sooner had that word left my mouth than Adrien had summoned a blockade of light. It sprung into existence between us and him, and the brightness of the sun exploded before my eyes, little black dots dancing in my vision even as I squeezed my eyes shut instinctively. From the sheer proximity this time, the ability’s radiance pierced through my eyelids, burning, and I curled away, my hands shooting up to block the searing light.

As my hold left Axel’s body, he shoved at me, possibly to spur me to my feet. Taken completely off guard, I sprawled sideways. Dazed, confused, and blind, I tried to catch myself, completely forgetting that my dominant hand was half missing; too little flesh mete out purchase on. My right arm slipped, and I smacked my head into the now melting snow beneath me.

Stunned, my head hammering, I thought I heard a hiss as I fell, but it might've been my brain rattling about my skull.

Had Adrien activated an ability? Axel?

Swearing, I pushed myself up. What way was I facing? The disorientation of the even redness of my eyelids, and the ringing in my head, made telling direction difficult. It was a featureless void. Fuck. Where was Adrien? Axel? Frantically patting the ground around me to seek Axel, I found nothing.

A strangling began forming at my throat.

Not only had Adrien gotten this surprise attack on us, I was now on my last shreds of mental and emotional fortitude, mana, and stamina. After the [Shield Walls] and the [Healing Hand], I'd burned close to all of it, believing Axel to be able to get the kill.

But with Axel beyond my reach…

Had we lost? Really and truly?

I was blinded, vulnerable, barely able to use one more ability, and Axel was missing, not to mention still low from the noxious gas. Fuck. We’d been completely outplayed. And now, we’d suffer for it.

Despair rolled in like a thunderstorm.

We were going to die here.

As I started to sink into darkness, my chest tightening, Axel’s last comment played in my head. It was something, anything to cling to. He’d been able to speak, able to convey what he wanted me to do. Maybe that meant he’d expected something like this. Maybe he had a plan?

A flicker of hope dawned inside me as I activated [Cloak].

He had to have guessed what might come next.

Luckily, what little pain there was from my clawed hand had long since faded into nothing, ensuring [Cloak] would be stable. My leg wound had been stitched closed during Axel’s attacks, so there was no risk of me losing concentration from that either. [Cloak] would remain up until I deactivated it myself. Thank fuck for that. Even if I couldn’t see right now, I too would be hidden from sight.

Regaining myself after a breath, I also dropped [Focus]. Had Adrien shot a bolt, I would've been a sitting duck—the system warning would do little good if I couldn’t see the direction it was coming from.

But was Axel okay? I couldn't even hear him, and that worried me all the more.

Trying to quell the hopelessness coiling in my gut, I found my way to my feet, concern for Axel overriding the fear of the unknown around me. If I could just figure out where he was, maybe we could flee…

I wouldn’t leave here without him. Especially when I didn’t know how much [Healing Hand] had been able to help him. I was sure it’d stabilized his lungs, but how far his innate regen could take him wouldn’t extend much beyond that.

Feeling my path with the toes of my feet, I started forward, hands waving through empty air, praying this same ability blinded Adrien too.

It was pathetic how useless and idiotic I felt like this. You don’t know how much you rely on something until it's gone.

For a moment, I considered using [Locate] to compensate for my lack of vision, but I had so little stamina left as it was. The trade for knowledge didn't weigh up against a future defense.

Yet, what I was doing right now was foolish. Pointless. Adrien could have attacked me already in the few seconds that'd ticked by. Hopefully, his lack of assault meant that he'd raced forward to the scout. But remaining as I was right now was stupid. I needed information, something.

Creaking one eye open a smidge to check, the rays instantly filling my vision, I saw no detail through the luminous glow, the snow biome completely whited out in light, only that Adrien’s [Track] dot had grown in size.

He hadn't left—he’d come closer!

Heart hammering in my chest, I slammed my eye closed again and retreated, my footing unsteady on the slippery melted snow that was soaking into the ground. I didn't know where Axel was, but I had to pray he'd gotten away. He had been looking like shit when I’d been holding him but he wasn’t an idiot. He had [Swift Footed]! He'd be fine. Or at least that's what I was telling myself to stop the anxiety gnawing at me, the pit in my stomach threatening to swallow me whole.

Along my sightless path, my seeking hands found cold roughness, rounded, at shoulder height—a boulder of some sort—and I ducked down, skirting behind it. I must've reached the hill or been close to it. That put me between Adrien and the scout… Not an especially great position, considering how hellbent the sorcerer was on getting the clear.

Without knowing what else Adrien might have up his sleeve, it was better to keep my distance, and stay cautious, even if I was invisible. This brief pause let me catch my breath, recenter myself.

But time was running out.

And where the hell was Axel?

As I shifted to a more comfortable squat, I tried to mentally analyse what I'd seen happen before vision had been robbed from me, though my concern for Axel was like a high-pitched whine playing in the background of my mind, eroding other side thoughts.

Adrien had revived from his dying position.

He was now looking just peachy.

He'd also cast an ability I thought was on a long cooldown given its relative size and effect.

This wasn’t just some illusion.

Was this something one of his titles granted him? Or maybe it was a reward from fulfilling a request?

Either way, talk about OP.

If it were the former, in comparison, all Just Friends had gotten was more XP gain from our title.

Goddamn Nabu.

I could only assume, based on Adrien’s use of the light barrier and his fully healed appearance, that his Deity-gifted intervention had likely reset all cooldowns, health, stamina, and mana. All of it back to full. And who knew what else. It was something like [Stubborn] but fully jacked on steroids.

Given Adrien's suicidal actions, he’d intentionally hit absolute zero to get this renewal perk activated. Korrovai, the name he'd thanked, had to be his sponsor. It didn't ring a bell with me. But perhaps they required the ultimate form of worship; self-sacrifice. It wasn’t beyond what I could believe of the Deities. They were messed up.

Abruptly, the pink of my eyelids normalised to black. Adrien must've dismissed the radiant block of light. So he could summon it and get rid of it just as quickly…

Huh.

Without prompting, clear as day, the sorcerer’s trap for the horde mordexi played out in my head. I guess a part of me had remained continuously plucking away at it. Should we survive this, I’d check with the others to see if my guess had been right. And if the trap worked the way I thought it had, it would confirm that the sorcerer could only conjure illusions of and on himself and his own skills.

There could be no other reason he hadn't done anything else with it.

“Step forward and surrender yourself, Lee. Or your boyfriend dies.”

My eyes opened slowly, testingly, to see Axel held hostage in Adrien’s arms, a black swirling mass of an ability forming at his hand at the blond’s throat. It was the same life draining skill that he’d used on the mordexi hatchling. The blazing red sphere in Adrien’s chest confirmed that the man before me was truly the sorcerer; this was no illusion.

My stomach dropped.

Fuck. Of course.

The hiss I’d thought I'd heard when I’d hit my head—Axel had noticed an attack and pushed me away to take it since it was drawn to my [Focus], and then Adrien had easily taken him captive; even without vision, Axel wouldn't have moved from where he was with the extra damage he'd been dealt.

And judging by the blond’s limp form, the electric attack must’ve had a stunning, almost paralytic effect. Axel would’ve been kicking screaming, otherwise.

Goddammit, all along Adrien had been trying to stun me with that ability too, probably hoping I'd slip up with my shields, so that he could leave me behind and go after the scout.

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Sick climbed up my throat as I stared.

Axel was unable to react, unable to move, unable to activate anything to help himself.

And Adrien was killing him.

All hope I’d had in my theory of Axel’s plan fizzled to nothing.

The sorcerer’s eyes swept left to right, scanning for me. “You’ve done surprisingly well, all things considered. You even took me off guard with your ability.” The same empty smile accompanied this acknowledgement. “But I’m not above killing Killian’s number one fan right now. Actually, the longer you stay hidden, the more he slips away. So it’s up to you. Inaction will drain Axel dry. Well, I will, but I’m confident you get the point.”

I slipped further behind the large boulder, leaning against it for support. It was a paranoid extra precaution. Especially since with [Cloak] and the Loads on me, I was invisible and also making minimum impact on the cleared ground. I wouldn’t even be leaving notable footsteps. Nothing should be giving me away except maybe the pounding of my heart.

Adrien didn’t know I was there. He had no idea where I was at all. But what could I do? The sorcerer had Axel captive and was draining him dry. He might as well be holding a knife to my own throat. Anything I tried could kill my friend, plus I was basically out of mana and stamina now after [Cloak]. I couldn't activate anything else with what remained.

Axel’s eyelids fluttered, the swirling mass growing in Adrien’s hand, and the blond let out a weak groan, breath whistling out between his bloody lips.

Nausea roiled in my stomach.

Party member Axel at critical health.

Axel was going to die.

His gaze steadied for a moment, clearing, and it felt like it met mine, though that was impossible.

“Don’t,” he managed to murmur. It looked as though that took the last of his energy.

The ground crumbled beneath me as I realised what his plan had been.

He wanted me to let him die and for me to flee under the cover of [Cloak]. Had he been thinking this would happen the entire time? Was that why he'd come? Was that why he’d apologised? He'd just assumed I'd lose, that I wouldn’t be able to put up a fight.

He’d come here because he thought I’d die.

And now he was willing to die in my place instead.

The thought twisted like shrapnel inside my chest.

Fucking Axel.

He knew me so well, but how did he not know that this was something that was unforgivable?

The world without him flashed through my mind. I might've once thought it impossible to imagine, because he was always there, always near, but the nightmare was shockingly clear. It was cold. Colorless. Without meaning, without direction. Just like it’d been after Chrissie’s death. He’d be leaving me again, abandoning me, but this time he’d actually be gone. Permanently.

My mouth went dry.

He wasn’t allowed to die.

I would be able to… I swallowed back the thought.

If I surrendered, would Adrien actually spare his life?

“Tick tock, Lee. Give yourself up, and I’ll leave his recovery to you while I take care of the scout and clear the Dungeon.”

Would Adrien break his word?

Thinking as quickly as my brain allowed and then some, I weighed up the available options. Wren and Jye might be able to get to Tam in time and save her. Gigi would know to run too when the Dungeon was cleared by another. If Adrien did as he said, we could regroup and flee, and deal with the repercussions of our loss. It wasn’t the worst fate.

But what if Adrien was lying?

Was that a risk I could take?

My resolve shaking before turning concrete, I made up my mind, the choice crystal clear inside me.

I had to do it.

I had to trust myself.

And I could do this. I could. For Axel.

Because I couldn’t lose him.

The thought alone was like dawn without the sun.

Axel gasped for air, what little chest movements he still had were in small rapid, strained breaths. His skin had grayed, Adrien siphoning the vitality from his body, the spark in his eyes fading. In the brunet’s grasp, Axel’s body was completely loose, with zero resistance.

He wouldn’t survive much longer.

My chest stung, a terrible weight crushing me, unable to reconcile the blond before me and the one sleeping beside me last night.

I couldn’t watch this anymore.

Taking a deep but quiet breath, I started moving, careful not to disturb the floor beneath me. The sorcerer hadn’t said anything untrue, so it was likely he meant what he was saying. I walked out from behind the boulder, stomach curling at Axel’s whimpers. My blood was thrumming in my ears, heart heavy.

I couldn’t lose Axel.

I had to save him.

I’d do anything to accomplish that.

Anything.

My steps were careful, methodical, as I approached.

Until finally, I was standing right near them.

I let [Cloak] drop, my hands raised.

“I’m here.”

I was doing the right thing.

Axel’s bleary eyes widened, despair spiralling in the dying blue of them.

“Lee,” he hissed, all but a whisper. It had the echo of grief I heard so often.

The sorcerer had a little chortle to himself. “You really should have listened to your party. It’s never good to be so naive.”

Quicker than a flash, one of Adrien’s hands shot out, grabbing my wrist, the spark of his electricity attack crackling up my arm.

In contact like this, I didn’t have a chance to use [Shield Wall] to block it. There was nothing to stop its effects. As it travelled through my nervous system, my body spun out of my control, falling, stiff, to the floor. My muscles seized, jaw clenching, limbs shuddering.

Gazing up uselessly, I watched as Adrien continued sucking the life from Axel, the blond’s eyes finally filling with tears.

I'd been wrong.

The sorcerer was a liar.

My body disappeared.

Adrien froze, the ability on Axel’s throat faltering, his eyes fractionally widening in disbelief.

“I never trusted you,” I said, letting my [Cloak] drop from behind him, the vertigo-inducing double vision of [Mirror Aid] thankfully having disappeared with the dismissal of my clone.

He began to spin about, but I was too close and quicker.

Adrien hadn’t used any other abilities, so confident in his superiority, in his success. He could’ve done a million different things; hell, he should’ve blinded us both and ran to end the scout, but he was vindictive and vain, and he’d not considered for one moment that he’d be outmanoeuvred again. He’d underestimated me. Underestimated what I’d do to protect those precious to me. He didn’t think me capable of this.

Until I’d been threatened with losing Axel, I wouldn’t have either.

Slapping on [Whetstone], I drove my dagger into the back of Adrien’s neck.

I didn't know if it would work. I didn't know if I’d been right. I was gambling, risking it all on what I’d seen of the results of Tam’s kills. As was evident from my being able to borrow Jye’s Load, I didn't need to know an ability’s real name to [Channel] it.

Her backstab skill was almost minty on my tongue, a refreshing rush of adrenaline thrumming through my hands, as the critical hit ended Adrien where he stood, the blade sinking in as if welcomed, slipping into the base of his spinal cord.

He was a glass cannon, after all.

Through the mental link never severed I heard the last thought he sent: I just wanted to be better than—

Just Friends has eliminated Adrien Galbraith.

He was dead before he hit the ground.

The effect was instantaneous.

XP. Credits. An excited letter icon as reward for completing the off-white request I’d accepted from some unknown random Deity.

His corpse ragdolled forward, the spurt of blood as my blade slid out less than I imagined. I didn’t pause. I didn’t hesitate. Bending down, I took him into my inventory, only glimpsing the bloodied befuddlement of his betrayed dying expression.

How should I feel?

I didn’t know.

I’d killed a man.

It’d been easy.

Too easy.

But with Axel injured, Tam in trouble, and the countdown still ticking, I had to act, not reflect. Shifting over slightly, I Load lightened the gawking Axel, who'd fallen to the floor, scooped him into my arms, and sprinted forward, activating [Healing Hand] as I ran.

Legs pounding beneath me, I let my mind rebalance, my gaze drawn, as it so often was now, to the man currently held in my arms.

Several emotions hit me.

Having him this close, tight against me, reinforced that he was still here, that I still had him. His warmth, his scent, his breath. He was alive!

Relief loosened an invisible tension inside my soul and an iridescent joy rippled over me, an undercurrent of gratefulness humming beneath it.

Thank fuck.

He was still here. With me.

I don't know what I would've done if I'd lost Axel.

My arms tightened around him.

As I navigated toward where I'd last seen the scout mordexi, Axel's presence a comfort, I realised that seeking to hold him close while sleeping was just an extension of this same feeling. Being reminded, even in my dreams, that he was by my side. And obviously I had no problem with it, I just hadn’t known what it meant. Why I sought it. It was clear to me that I deeply needed it too. That I wanted to hold him like this.

Though the thought was almost entirely fuelled by my near loss of Axel, I wondered if I should ask him if he wanted to be held more. After all, it couldn't just be Axel figuring out my boundaries the entire time.

Said man coughed against me, and I hoped I'd be able to heal him enough to give us a fighting chance before we got to the scout.

Luckily, I could afford to expend the mana, as I now had some to burn, stamina too. In the milliseconds before my lethal confrontation with Adrien, with the credits we’d been awarded from killing the mordexi in this Dungeon, I’d poured them into my attributes ensuring I left enough to buy [Mirror Aid] as well.

Anna’s ability had been nothing like I’d imagined. The closest I could explain the feeling of summoning a clone was puppeting yourself while also being yourself. It had made the world ripple and churn, the two visions, the two yous overlapping, distinct but the same.

However, that was neither here nor there.

Tam needed our help.

~Mordexi Respawning: 0:30~

I cast [Locate] to see where the scout was now. It hadn’t made much distance. Tam must’ve gotten some pretty good damage in before she’d been downed. That wasn't surprising. What was, however, was that as the radar spread out, it revealed the flickering familiar forms of Wren and Jye, approaching Tam and subsequently the scout too. They must’ve gotten my last ditch telepathic message. But how had they figured out where she and the scout were?

I would’ve facepalmed myself if I wasn’t holding Axel.

Tam’s transformation.

She’d use the black smoke it formed as a beacon.

In this white snow biome, on the relatively clear day we were having, it was the equivalent of sending up a flare.

Fuck, I could’ve kissed them all. We were doing this, and we were all alive! The happiness that threatened to overcome me pricked at my eyes.

And finally, the scout’s sleeker though large body was coming into view, only a dozen meters away.