Potilia pulled Cixilo into Myrsvai’s study, which was still miraculously standing. The front wall was gone, but the pillars reinforced against abyssal flames were also more durable than the rest of the building.

Each clash between Andres and Chorsay sent waves that smashed anything nearby. A few Security Regime soldiers had been carried away after an impact from one of the waves crushed their armor.

Two storms fighting in the center of the city.

Andres’s skills with the sword were impressive. Hunters had abilities for all weapons, but their primary ones were always focused around range. Andres had, obviously, trained extensively to wield the sword in such an incredible manner.

Chorsay moved slowly compared to Andres. The dexterity difference was massive. The Golden Bull slashed and blocked, over and over, easily reading Chorsay’s movements. After the first surprise attacks, Andres hadn’t let up.

But Chorsay seemed almost lethargic. He wasn’t concerned or panicked. His eyes bore into Andres and he took each slash on his arms. Blood covered his forearms and stuck between his fingers, splashing with each punch. Andres was able to take the incredible strength of each hit on his stone arms.

Andres placed a trap behind in the middle of a swing in a deft movement that Potilia wouldn’t have noticed if she was the one in the fight. It was only her external perspective that let her catch it. Before she had the chance to shout anything, Andres lunged, stabbing for Chorsay’s heart. The old giant took a step back, allowing him to catch the blade between his hands. The trap snared around Chorsay’s calf, ripping through his pants.

Andres ran to his bow, sliding as he stopped, turned, and pulled the string back. A glowing arrow formed magically on the bowstring. As soon as it was fully formed, it flashed green, just like the emerald bow. “It was fun.”

Chorsay flipped Andres’s sword and caught it in his right hand. He turned to face the hunter, even as he was unable to move his leg.

Andres let the arrow fly, sending a shockwave out that threw Potilia and Cixilo into the next ruined building. Even the roof of the Nimble Hog headquarters shattered.

Potilia wasn’t fast enough to follow half of what happened. After the green arrow, all she saw was a burst of blood from Chorsay and a shower of rubble from a collapsing building on the other side of the portal circle.

“Chorsay!” Potilia screamed as she climbed back to her feet.

He lifted his foot, shattering the trap Andres had placed. There was a hole straight through his shoulder, making his left arm hand limp at his side. Andres’s sword was still in his right hand, held loosely as Chorsay walked toward the hunter.

Andres immediately pulled an arrow from his quiver, drew it, and sent it flying. Chorsay smacked it out of the way with the sword, accidentally sending it into a Security Regime soldier, who was pinned to the stone road.

“You gave me a sword,” Chorsay said.

Andres moved swiftly and shot another arrow. Chorsay was too close to fully dodge or deflect. He managed to lean to the side, letting the arrow pierce right into his unmoving left arm.

“How are you still standing?” Andres asked. He was still kneeling from when he had grabbed the bow, making Chorsay truly tower over him.

“Drop the bow.”

Andres made a subtle movement that caused another trap to form right behind Chorsay. Potilia was about to shout something when Chorsay’s arm became a blur. Andres lifted his stone arm just high enough to stop his head from being cut in half. The hunter flipped and broke through the floor, crashing into the ruined basement. Chorsay watched from above without pursuing. Blood pooled around his feet.

Potilia glanced back, ensuring Cixilo was alive. The umbra had found a wooden column to rest against. She nodded when she caught Potilia’s eyes.

The stairs to the second floor were destroyed, but Chorsay’s office was still together. She took three steps and jumped, easily landing on the second level. The floor was cracked and entire boards were missing. Each step caused the floor to groan ominously, but she managed to make it into his office. Books were strewn about with only a few still on any of the shelves. It was difficult to look at, but she had no time to mourn.

The Winged Sword of the Swift Behemoth was propped against a chest in the back, still in its sheath. She pulled it from the sheath and felt her stomach turn looking at Artivan’s weapon.

Chorsay didn’t have a lot of extra weight at the moment, but that wouldn’t stop the sword from using its ability. She ran out of the room and stopped on the balcony, catching Chorsay’s eyes. They had known each other a long time. No words were needed. He dropped Andres’s sword and effortlessly caught the Winged Sword when Potilia tossed it down.

A wild flurry of arrows flew from below. Some were close enough to cut Chorsay’s skin and shirt, but they weren’t expertly aimed like the rest of Andres’s attacks.

Potilia leapt onto the main floor just as Chorsay took a step into the hole. She clambered to the edge to see Chorsay advance on the Golden Bull. Andres, to his credit, was fast. He had put three more arrows in Chorsay, but the old soldier didn’t flinch. The sword flashed as he swung.

Andres, with his incredible speed, blocked with his stone arm, which the Winged Sword of the Swift Behemoth cut through like paper. Chorsay chopped the Three Shard Hero’s head in half.

He stood still, letting the Golden Bull’s blood drip from the tip of the sword. His own blood continued flowing freely, pooling at his feet.

“It’s done,” Potilia said loudly, gesturing to the Security Regime. They had menders ready. There would be a whole investigation, but Chorsay was acting in self defense. Nobody was going to do anything against him. Not now. Especially not after he killed a Three Shard Hero.

Chorsay looked up at Potilia. Tears washed the blood and dirt from his cheeks. “It’s war, Po.”

“I know,” she said quietly.

***

Katalin held onto one pissed off toad. Jenny croaked loudly, and Katalin wasn’t sure how to get her to calm down. Althowin had just applied a single drop of some concoction to Jenny’s back, then froze with her index flashing in front of her eyes.

It was unlike her. Distractions weren’t a thing to Althowin.

“What’s happening?” Ernie asked. He was holding a small hammer that he had made with elemental cores. The advanced creation of items was a lot different than Katalin had expected, and using mob parts to create tools to create other tools was confusing. Bombs were easy.

The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

“She just froze.” Katalin slowly pulled Jenny back, cradling the toad in both gloved hands. Jenny croaked again.

Althowin’s index vanished. “Someone just killed the leader of the Golden Bull Hero Company.”

Katalin’s eyes widened. “How do you know?”

“Put Jenny . . .” Althowin looked around the room like she was just realizing they weren’t in the terrarium. “Bring her with. Ernie, come on.” Althowin shed her gloves, grabbed her pink lab coat, and pulled it over her shoulders as she walked briskly into the hall.

Katalin ran after her, making sure to keep Jenny protected between her hands. “Where are we going?”

Althowin didn’t answer, leading them through the maze-like compound. They passed through a walkway, passing over the street below, and into the main lobby.

Indulf sat at the front desk reading a book. Reception had to be an odd job at Althowin’s compound, since she rarely let anybody inside. If someone was allowed in, Althowin was always present to greet them. So what, exactly, did Indulf do? He collected payments, and that was the only thing Katalin was aware of him ever doing.

“Any alerts?” Althowin asked.

Indulf quickly put the book down and grabbed a screen. He tapped through a couple of things before his eyes widened. “There’s a warning from the Stelsodo Security Regime. Central Atrevaar was the sight of a fight between Shard Heroes. There is a travel ban in place for the next hour. There are buildings collapsing in the city center.”

“Got it. Take Jenny. We’re going.” Althowin casually gestured to Indulf and walked right out the front door.

“Oh.” Katalin tried to adjust Jenny to take off her rubber gloves, but it proved to be more than just difficult. Ernie helped pull a glove off, which he passed right to Indulf. The whole process was awkward and embarrassing, but after a minute, Indulf cradled Jenny in his hands.

“What do I do?”

“Bring her back to the terrarium.” Katalin smiled. “Sorry.” She ran out the front door, flanked by Ernie, who promptly closed and locked the door. As always, there was a crowd outside waiting for Althowin to let anybody in. People didn’t charge when the door opened because trespassing would result in a swift death, which had been well documented. It also helped that Althowin confidently walked straight to the portals and did nothing to disguise herself. Some people chased after her, shouting things to the famous hero.

Althowin didn’t acknowledge them at all.

Freedom Corps soldiers were all over the portal circle. More than usual. There was a line blocking the portal to Atrevaar and more soldiers passing the message and warning from the Security Regime.

Althowin dropped a handful of coins in a portal guard’s hand without looking or listening as the soldier repeated the warning. As soon as the soldier registered who she was, he stopped talking.

The line in front of the Atrevaar portal warned her about approaching once, then a soldier pointed to her ears and the entire line split.

Althowin didn’t say a word, but she did point at Katalin and Ernie, which seemed to relay enough information for the soldiers to not stop them. Katalin stayed close to Ernie, who still held his elemental hammer. The thing was small and would be ineffective as a weapon.

Althowin strode right into the portal. Katalin hurried, dragging Ernie behind her past the soldiers.

What was happening in Atrevaar? Did it involve Owin?

***

While Owin had been excited to punch the first fish he saw . . . there had to be a fish to punch. Small towers of stone covered everything he could see, spewing white smoke into the water.

Everyone was a little hesitant to move forward, including Owin. He was stronger and smarter, but it was still a new, unknown floor. Every new floor of the Ocean was so different from the last that he couldn’t predict what was going to present itself as the new challenge.

“Shade,” Myrsvai said as they all slowly walked down the hill from the stairs. “Do you realize you have hands attached to you?”

“What?” Shade lifted his arms. All thirteen of the Vile Fiend’s skeletal hands were still attached. “Oh. A parting gift from our little demonic friend.”

“Little?” Owin asked.

Some white tubes stuck out from the bottom of the nearest stone tower. The water had been colder than previous floors when he first emerged from the stairs, but now, nearing the tower, it was getting warm like the baths they had found on the fifth floor.

Ocean Mob

Giant Tubeworm

Level 60

“A tubeworm?” They were still about fifty feet away, and Owin wasn’t sure he wanted to rush in. The creature or creatures looked like they almost sprouted from the bottom of the rock tower as white tubes with red things on the end.

“It looks like a flower bud,” Myrsvai said.

Owin didn’t know what that looked like, so he just nodded. “It says it’s a mob.”

Myrsvai pointed his staff. Abyssal flames swirled around the end, then launched in a barrage. The tubeworms let out a horrifying squeal as the abyssal fire grew to cover the entire cluster. They thrashed as the red buds opened and released a sudden burst of lava into the water. Owin tackled Myrsvai out of the way, letting Shade take the entirety of the lava attack.

“This is going to be unpleasant,” the skeleton said as he collapsed and poofed into smoke.

Summon the Withered Shade

Suta dove forward and punched a tubeworm directly in the white tube. It knocked one of the tubes aside, while the others turned and opened their buds. Myrsvai threw Owin off and pointed his staff at Suta.

“Abyssal Armor!”

The red armor formed around Suta just as lava covered the familiar.

Punching wasn’t enough, and even after the Abyssal Barrage, the mobs were still thrashing. Owin pulled the lich bone knife from his pocket and sprinted. He leapt over Suta, who was peeling frozen lava from his skin.

Before the tubeworms could release another blast of lava, Owin hit the ground and slashed. The blade tore through the worms, but the cluster was dense enough that it took two more quick swings to finish off the tubeworms.

They all stood in silence for a moment. Suta was bloodied and his gi was ruined on his shoulder, but none of that stopped him as he walked past Owin, grabbed a tubeworm, and shook it back and forth, causing the red bud to smash against the stone column over and over.

A single coin fell out.

Myrsvai and Shade approached and looked at the single coin lying on the black stone ground. It reflected a little of the nearby light from the crystals.

“That was the first mob,” Myrsvai said.

“Well, I think I know a better way to handle those . . . things,” Shade said.

“Do you?” Myrsvai turned his attention to the skeleton.

Owin fought the urge to sigh. There was no way Shade had an actual plan that didn’t involve him sprinting in and screaming.

“The first step is avoiding the lava.”

“What’s the second step?” Owin could hear the annoyance in Myrsvai’s voice, but for whatever the reason, the magus did love to entertain Shade’s conversations.

“Killing the enemy.”

“Ah, yes. I hadn’t thought of a plan so simple. Suta, can we try that next time?” Myrsvai turned and crouched, letting Suta pull a healing potion from his bag. The familiar drank it and carefully placed the bottle back inside the bag.

“No.”

“Sorry, Shade,” Myrsvai said.

“If Suta says no, then it is a no. I agree. We should base all of our decisions on the little bug that doesn’t use full sentences. What do we have to lose? Other than our lives, of course.”

Owin sighed. “You’re—”

“Immortal. I know. You remind me often. But did you know that immortality is not the same as immorality? There is a very slight difference in the spelling and it really changes the meaning a lot. Which one am I? Immoral or immortal?”

“Perhaps both.” Myrsvai bumped Shade with his staff. “This is leaning into the philosophical territory, which I would love to explore if you are actually interested in such a conversation and not simply attempting to make a joke.”

“Hm.” Shade put his arm over Mrysvai. All the demon hands were still attached with wrist bones sticking out. “I will entertain this. Philosophy has certainly changed since I was alive. Maybe morality has as well?”

“Punch stuff?” Suta asked Owin quietly.

“Yeah, that sounds more fun. Let’s go find stuff to punch.” Owin kicked a tubeworm body. “But not one of these.”

“No worms.”

Owin nodded. “No worms.”