Ethan casts a Debilitating hex. Tendrils of Ether lunge at Tatiana, but she leaps back and dashes around, skillfully avoiding them until he dispels them. 'I have to keep her from regenerating,' Ethan thinks. He summons fire into his hands and wills his spell to weave around his blade in a spiral, coating it in a scorching aura. Flames flicker and dance along the edge of the blade.
Tatiana's eyes narrow, the last remnants of arrogance leaving her face. She keeps moving, seeking an opening in Ethan's stance from several steps away.
Taking a deep breath, Ethan visualizes another set of sigils in his mind. They glow with a faint golden light, pulsing with his heartbeats as Ether flows into his skin, casting a Dermal Shield. He grits his teeth, his vision narrowing to a tunnel as casting multiple spells induces immense mental stress.
Ethan lunges forward, his blade slicing through the air with a searing hiss. Tatiana meets his attack head-on, her sword's lightning crackling against the blazing flames. Her blade's fulgurant afterimage shatters on Ethan's shield while his fire washes over her, searing her arms.
Fear grows in Tatiana's eyes as Ethan presses his advantage. She channels more Ether into her sword, which glows brighter with each strike. Lightning snakes along the ground, rubble, and walls, shattering them and sending shards raining down.
Ethan thrusts his sword forward, pouring more Ether into the flames. Tatiana tries to dodge, but the fire catches her side, engulfing her in a blaze. She screams, the sound echoing through the burning wreckage. She grabs Ethan's blade with her left arm, locking it at her side, and swings at him.
Ethan releases his left hand and dodges to the side, still holding his blade. He transforms the flames pouring from his free hand into a jet stream. She lets go of his blade and leaps backward, protecting her face with her sword.
As fire engulfs her, Ethan channels all his Ether into Strengthening, preparing to cleave her as the flames obscure her vision. He bursts forward but collapses, blood pouring from his mouth and fire igniting in his lungs.
"I feared it would turn you into sludge, but it seems you're strong enough to linger," a harsh, mechanical rasp emerges. Each word grates with a metallic echo, underscored by a guttural undertone.
Ethan turns towards the voice, his gaze locking onto the Plague Merchant. A metallic half-mask conceals the ravaged side of his jaw. Translucent gas seeps from an open vial strapped inside his coat, swirling around him like fog.
Helicopter rotors appear in the distance, along with the engines of vehicles spreading through the area. The fire covering Tatiana recedes, and she approaches slowly, as if the fight has ended.
Ethan forces himself to stand, stumbling towards the Plague Merchant, his sword poised at his side. His adversary doesn’t move, a smile on his face. 'Look desperate,' Ethan thinks as he swings childishly.
The Plague Merchant looks at the approaching blade with amusement. Ethan snaps his offhand fingers, freezing the Ether; golden dust appears and falls from the Plague Merchant's skin. Ethan roars, pouring all his might into the last inches of his swing. Pain sparks through his body as the poison spreads; Ethan's blade deviates, cutting off his target's right arm at the shoulder.
The Plague Merchant screams, grasping his shoulder as he falls. His blood pools on the ground as he cries out in pain. Tatiana charges with a primal roar, her muscles billowing with vapor. Glowing red veins protrude along her skin, and she swells in size.
Ethan dispels his Silence and summons the Flame spell once more, hurling a jet of fire at her. She charges through, parting the flames with her arms. Each of her erratic strides shakes the ground, sending clouds of dust into the air. Ethan stops his spell, preparing to cast a debilitating hex, waiting for her to get close enough.
A motorcycle lunges through the air from behind the rubble. The rider, displaying impeccable precision, smashes Tatiana's head with the back wheel. The impact sends her staggering backward, momentarily dazed. Ethan unleashes his spell, dark tendrils seeping into her burning flesh.
The rider dismounts mid-air, using the momentum to swing the motorcycle like a massive club. The improvised weapon strikes Tatiana with a resounding crash, pushing her back several steps.
Tatiana recovers from the initial shock and lets out a guttural roar, her eyes blazing. She swings at the rider, cleaving the motorcycle and scattering its parts. The rider’s fists coat in flaming Ether, and he punches her with both fists in the chest, using his entire body. She flies past the remains of the hotel in a deflagration that snuffs out the surrounding fires.
"Tombstone only told me where you were when the bombs went off," the rider says as he removes his helmet. The short-haired young man holds a vial of red potion before Ethan, his blue eyes emotionless.
The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.
"Must I understand you disobeyed orders and abandoned your mission to come to Dubai?" Ethan coughs as he takes the vial. He uncorks it and swallows the contents. The pain tearing through his body vanishes, replaced by radiating heat. "Because right now, I’m glad you did, One."
One slides his hand into a medieval satchel strapped to his belt and pulls out a pair of scaled metallic gloves. The Plague Merchant stands up, dropping a vial that shatters on the ground. He stumbles forward, scratching his shoulder as it scars.
Ethan summons his Glock and shoots him in the knees, shoulders, left lung, and three times at the base of his spine. The Plague Merchant falls, his mask clattering against the ground.
One strides towards the Plague Merchant, his hair lifting in the air as tremendous amounts of Ether leak into his muscles. Flaming Ether forms on his fists and feet, licking up his limbs.
"You can have him once we've dealt with her," Ethan says. Tatiana crashes into the yard, still frenzied. "We can't allow her to escape and grow stronger."
The three charge forward as Ethan coats his blade with fire once again. Each step shatters the ground, their movements creating echoing blasts. 'She moves so fast; I can only use Prescience to see a tenth of a second ahead, or it splits into too many possibilities,' Ethan thinks.
Every clash of blades and armored fists sends shockwaves through the air. The sparks they generate blind the terrified crowd, who crawl away from the moving battle. The very sounds of their fight shatter the eardrums of those who stand too close.
One of Tatiana's wide slashes cleaves a man in half. Red strands appear from his sectioned corpse, diving into Tatiana's body. Her muscles swell again, and with an instantaneous slash, she sends Ethan flying back. Ethan's blade vibrates in his hand, shaking his bones as he lands.
Lightning bolts cover her mutated arm, and she opens her palm towards Ethan. The serpentine illusion curls around her arm and roars, projecting a beam of lightning forward. One grabs her arm in mid-jump and twists it away. The electric arcs she unleashes slice a news helicopter in half, releasing a cloud of fire in the air. One contorts and passes over her shoulder, dragging her forearm with him and redirecting the blast into her face.
Ethan charges back, deflecting a sword blow aimed at One. The force of the impact sends shockwaves that ripple through the crumbling hotel. Tatiana's eyes gleam with malevolent fury, her muscles pulsating with stolen life force.
One places a series of rapid, precise, and powerful blows that exploit her shifting balance. The speed of his attacks creates a blur, his movements too fast to follow. Her ribcage shatters under the force of his ability. Her mutated arm moves like a whip, deflecting his last attack and striking him in the chest.
The three combatants move in a deadly dance, their blows weaving a web of destruction. Tatiana's laughter echoes through the chaos, a sound of pure, unbridled madness.
With each strike, One's blazing fists grow brighter, her body collapsing under their impacts. He falls back slightly and focuses his ability at the tip of his extended fingers, turning the blazing Ether into beaming tips. He bursts forward, his arm turning into a radiant spear aimed at her heart.
His fingers collide with her in a golden blast, a shield stopping them. Ethan snaps his fingers, emptying his Ether in a Silence spell. Her shield vanishes, and One stabs through her chest. His hand reaches the other side, impaling her heart.
She lifts her blade, roaring as she brings it down on One. Ethan parries it and sends it flying into the air. He ends his spell, and he summons Dark Fate, stabbing it into her skull. She falls to her knees, life leaving her gaze.
Ethan grabs her falling blade and plunges it into her chest as One removes his hand. Its gem pulsates, and red strands start leaving her body.
One walks toward the Plague Merchant who still lingers on the ground.
"Come here," Tatiana coughs, surprising Ethan. He approaches her cautiously, his sword ready to counter any move she might make. "I don't have long," she gasps. "On my phone... you'll find a bank account that needs to go to my son. The code is the first of May, two thousand and eleven. He needs it or they will stop cur..." Her voice fades as black veins spread across her face.
One tears up the Plague Merchant's smoking coat and throws it far away. He lifts him to his dangling feet with one hand, staring into his terrified eyes. One's voice trembles with a mix of triumph and fury. "Finally, after all these years, you will pay for the nightmares you've plagued me with," he growls, his voice echoing with raw hatred. "Every scream, every tear, every moment of agony – this is for all of it."
He rips off his own shirt, revealing a huge chemical scar marring his sculpted chest. "Look upon your creation as it snaps the life out of you," One screams, lifting him higher off the ground.
The Plague Merchant's throat twitches as he tries to speak. "Are you going to cry, beg, plead for mercy?" One taunts. "As if it would work. You of all people should know; not even the pleas of children go answered."
One tightens his grip further, slowly suffocating the Plague Merchant. His eyes roll back as his head falls to the side, and One crushes his neck before throwing him to the ground.
"You leveled up, you leveled up, you leveled up, Melee Weapon (Long sword) leveled up (x19), Melee Weapon (Dagger) leveled up, Melee Weapon (Spear) leveled up (x10), Ether manipulation leveled up, Life force manipulation leveled up." The system's announcements follow each other in Ethan's mind.
Ethan pries Tatiana's phone from her pocket as he pulls out his dagger. "Are you alright?" he asks One. He wrenches her sword free and takes pictures of both her and the Plague Merchant.
"Never better," One replies. He pulls a shirt from his satchel and covers himself. He stops over Kyle's body and lifts it off the ground. "Do you have a car?"
"Maybe," Ethan answers. He moves away from the corpses before throwing a fireball at each of them. He guides One to the side of the yard, where he grabs Kate before entering the parking lot. Russ follows closely, his tail curled and his ears flattened.
Military and rescue vehicles crowd the roads as they drive away from the hotel. Helicopters shine their lights on the collapsed buildings, taking the place of the downed streetlamps. The distortions of space created by the bombs linger, forming a haunting tableau frozen in time.