Shayna died.

At some point, she tried to use a store of mana she had secreted away in her body. She used it to create a projectile, the same one she used to kill that fire mage lurker. Extremely durable, and nearly invisible. It’s clearly a better version of Brainiac’s skill.

It’s nothing short of crazy that she was able to create it without me sensing it under active interrogation. I gained some valuable information about Beyond, the guilds, and the 1st floor, but I wasn't able to ask as much as I wanted or get any more shards out of her.

Shayna acted quickly and decisively. She wasn't in Beyond for nothing.

That projectile of hers tore a hole through her chest, she must have been using the beating of her heart and the mana it generated to mask her work. The projectile pierced through the side of my neck, carving into one of the big veins. It was headed for my brain, but I still managed to tilt my head back and to the side, avoiding a mortal wound.

Almost by reflex, I killed her, a hand coated in oscillating mana cleaving into the center of her skull, as the notification rang.

Then I forced thermal energy to the injured area while manipulating my mana in an effort to seal off the vein and staunch the flow of blood.

So now I'm standing here, a bloodied neck and clothes. Hand on my neck as I watch her projectile explode high in the air, erupting into a wide-range burst of mana. One last spiteful gift, a flare to everyone and everything in the area.

Thirty minutes remain, and I only have two options. Either run away or try to make my stand here and try to hold out for the next thirty minutes. There’s a high probability I get ejected from Beyond after that. It's not quite a sure thing, but I'm willing to bet on it.

Now that I don’t need to hide, I send my senses as far as I can, searching for the enemy.

There are a few options for who I might meet. If I'm unlucky, it will be the named lurker, and in that case, I might die. If I am lucky though, it will be a group of Beyonders followed by lurkers, leading to a bloody melee.

I still keep my heart beating slowly and avoid using any kinetic energy; instead, I hold the Emberflame Staff I got from the first lurker we met. Thermal energy trickles out of my core and flows through the weapon, gathering into a golden orb just over the tip of the weapon. I stab the staff into the ground and adjust the arcane glove on my right hand, ready to activate it.

I have the damaged arcane ring Shayna took in my pocket; A last ditch option for when everything goes to shit. Sure, I could use it right away, but I can’t say I'm thinking too logically right now.

In my other pocket, I have the Golem Heart, which should be something I can use as a distraction should I need to run away. In the worst case, I can sacrifice the item to slow my enemies. The problem is I don't know how to use it yet, and relying on it to slow down enemies could hurt more than it helps, given that it would mean expending a lot of effort trying to activate it rather than focusing on the skills I already have.

Lastly, the dagger I took from Roculus is charged and ready to be thrown, at which point it should release a poisonous mist upon impact.

Flamebearer is on my back, it can be used as a shield, and the Bloodthirst claymore has been planted in the ground next to the Emberflame Staff.

The other items are tied together and stowed in my bag, stashed away in a hole I found deep underground, and placed there through an anchor. They can stay here or be teleported to me should I feel the need to use them.

And so I wait, the minutes passing slowly and presences gradually appearing at the edge of my radar. Multiple waves of detection-type skills wash over me, and I take note of a number of fights. As the expedition members move to engage a few lurkers that must have gotten too close.

The smaller groups of lurkers quickly disappear, steamrolled by the 12-member group of Beyonders who, upon finding their target, do not hesitate in their rush to secure the site.

Once in a while, my eyes glance at the corpse of the feylith on the ground, and each time they do, the pain flares up in my neck. My wound has mostly healed, but the reminder remains.

When the first attack lands at my feet, I stop holding my heart back; instead, I start generating as much kinetic energy as it can handle. At the same time, that presence senses it far away and starts rushing here. The feeling alone makes me think it fully intends to crush anyone who would dare use the same energy as it.

Pulling the staff into my left hand and the claymore into my right, I lift the blade of the claymore and intercept an arrow aimed at me, absorbing the inertia of its movement. However, the power contained within still pushes me back, and mana seeps out of the ground attempting to disrupt my hold on my mana.

Rather than letting it, I counter with a skill of my own and block another attack, and shield my mind against the influence of hostile mental abilities.

Spikes shoot up from the ground, so I stomp, releasing a blast of kinetic energy, cracking the ground around me and disarming the attack.

Flaming blue projectiles shoot past me, sailing by on either side, before reversing course and targeting my back as I reposition and let Flamebearer absorb the blow while blocking an arrow with a new frequency of disruption.

The presence keeps coming closer, and soon the group will be able to feel it as well.

Multiple attacks connect high in the air, and bolts of lightning lance out at me, followed by primordial energy I haven’t had the opportunity to face yet. The lightning crashes against a hastily constructed barrier, and my Mana Wavelength Iris activates as well as I fight off their attacks.

Mana seeps out of me in waves, compressing and strengthening my defenses until that primordial energy hits my barrier. The disruption it causes is so very different from any I've felt until now, and part of my barrier disappears as if it had been eaten by the attack.

Void primordial energy, if I had to guess, with a dark purple hue and bits of white sparkling through at the corners.

For the first time, I reposition, boosting my body with the kinetic energy I’ve collected so far.

Then I sense Eugan's mana gathering for some wide-range attack.

Locating her position, I boost myself into the air, and creating an arm out of mana, I grab Roculus' dagger and boost it with kinetic energy, flinging it at the group where it collides with their barrier, spreading a toxic mist into the air.

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One of my orbs shoots ahead, and as it collides with the barrier, it sends a powerful disrupting wave into the area. Then I focus on the compressed orb of thermal energy, and all of it shoots ahead in a finger-thin stream of golden flame.

It pierces through their first barrier and another more hastily created version. It rushes forth at a speed they couldn’t have anticipated and causes the staff in my hands to crack as I abuse it, forcing it into overdrive without any care for the item itself.

The golden stream hits, landing in the middle of Eugan's chest, and I swing my left arm, bringing the flames with it, slicing through her along the vertical plane and splitting her head in half.

[You have defeated Manaflow Shaper - lvl 268]

I move the stream towards the leader of the group, but he just lifts an armored glove from his damaged suit of rusty armor and meets the flame with ease. Before I can move it again, he reaches towards Eugan's body, and her blood floats into the air, seeping into him.

Listening to my instincts, I lift Bloodthirst and cover my face and body in the blade’s winds, as I stack a multitude of barriers in front of me.

It's all for nothing.

I find myself thrown into the air once again, with my left arm severed from my body and still holding the staff, and I watch it fly through the air in my peripheral vision, moments before it gets evaporated by a barrage of attacks, and the newly-destroyed staff falls to the ground.

Slamming into the hills nearby, I let out a groan and teleport towards one of my anchors just as the attacks reach me.

Before I can even check my wounds, a trap lying in wait explodes, sending me crashing through a number of buildings nearby, adding to the wounds I’ve already accrued.

Seizing on the opportunity, a man reaches me, swinging a hammer imbued with mana and hitting my right arm as I lift it to guard my head.

My unique passive absorbs the impact, and a noticeable amount of mana seeps into my reservoir. I use the surprise and boost my body with kinetic energy as I swing the claymore in my hand.

I don’t get the opportunity to finish my attack though. I end up having to absorb my own inertia, stopping mid-swing and boosting my body once again to deflect the three arrows that rush after me in quick succession, only to ping off my blade.

Each with its own unique disrupting effect.

I succeed in shaking off the fields, but the force of the attack launches me into the air anyway, and mid-air, I boost myself with kinetic energy, avoiding a burst of flames.

A lightning attack crashes against Flamebearer on my back, void energy disrupts one of my barriers, and the leader's blood projectiles pierce my body again, leaving more wounds in their wake.

I take a step and stumble, noticing a piece of my leg missing.

My mana flares up, a mana prosthesis quickly replaces it, while I dash to the side.

Multiple attacks surround me, heading towards my body, and after a long while, my mind and eyes feel like they’re burning as I disrupt the attacks.

[Resonance - lvl 50 > Resonance - lvl 51]

The reward for that is a sword to the belly and a blow from a hammer that sends me rolling again, with a big part of the impact absorbed by my unique passive.

I use another of my anchors, and as another trap explodes in front of me, I cover my body with mana, enduring it all, and quickly replacing the damaged parts with mana from my reserves.

More mana seeps out of my body and reservoir, creating armor around me that becomes denser and slightly bigger. For the first time, I activate my domain, instantly feeling a range of attempts to destroy it and fight against it, several people joining forces to that end. Their rapid reaction makes me note in the back of my mind that negating domains appears to be a regular aspect of the fight.

I grab the claymore with a new left arm made of mana, and using the glove, I touch the blood on my clothes. Then I activate the damaged arcane glove, and projectiles made of my blood, not unlike the leader's, shoot through the air, targeting the archer.

They pierce through barriers, armor, and anything else in their way. A shower of bloody projectiles tearing the archer apart.

[You have defeated Nullshot Ranger - lvl 261]

Bitch.

Then they tear my domain apart, with the three much weaker domains attacking me all at once.

My armor cracks under their attacks. Disruptive waves hit my body, making the armor flicker, and more bloody projectiles manage to pierce me.

It's difficult to even stand now, thermal energy working on overdrive, in an effort to power my poor epic healing passive.

The leader appears in front of me. I can't even see his movement, and I'm sent flying, more bloody projectiles piercing my body as I scramble to protect my vitals.

And then they finally feel it, that presence with its terrifying mastery over kinetic energy finally coming into their range with incredible speed.

A spear made of blood forms in the leader's hand, and it pierces through my armor, and the arm I place in its way, before continuing halfway into my chest.

I hate to accept it, but it's obvious.

I'm not strong enough yet.

I release all of the kinetic energy I had stored, but the leader endures it all, though I do break the spear in his hand. Reforming the mana around me, I shape it and compress it into a javelin which I shoot at him. The javelin turns bright white, and I teleport away.

Only to find another trap waiting for me as I proceed to be thrown against the wall, even though I block most of the explosion with an orb that I manage to surround the disk with, taking inspiration from Gareth. The orb just bursts open and part of the explosion burns my side.

Then there are no further attacks. In the distance, I can see the leader standing where my javelin hit him. There is no damage on his body, but he is looking between me and the new fight. The rest of the group faces the powerful enemy. There are no other lurkers nearby, just the one.

A tall male demon with long white hair and short black horns. Even though he’s dead, reduced to a lurker, his face is beautiful, his pale red eyes retaining that hint of craziness all demons seem to possess.

I'm not using any senses, all of my kinetic energy is gone, I’ve even emptied my core. My heart is beating as slowly as I can make it. Even then, I can see the demon’s mastery of kinetic energy for what it is.

His movements are incredibly quick and twitchy, with bursts of kinetic energy propelling him forward and allowing him to move at incredible speeds.

He has no weapons, and he’s tearing the group apart one after another with nothing but his own two arms. There seems to be a sadistic kind of entertainment to it all, and anyone who tries to run away freezes on the spot, as the kinetic energy of their movement is absorbed.

Debris freezes in the air, weapons stop moving, severed limbs and spurting blood, everything floats in place as if the scene had been frozen in time, and the demon alone moves through it all, allowing his targets to move only as he attacks them.

The remaining half of the group faces him like that, while more people are already running away, each in a different direction.

It takes just a single glance, but the leader starts running as well, and I do the same, putting the damaged arcane ring on my finger.

I don’t even try to retrieve the equipment I left underground. Instead, I sit quietly on the ground. Gradually, I feel the ring hiding me and my heartbeat slows, I have the thermokinetic construct turned off. I don’t even move my fingers, as I focus on slowing my breathing and trying to limit my production of kinetic energy.

Closing my eyes to avoid blinking, I sit there and wait.