Jade flexed the magical conduits in her legs and blinked forward, instantly closing the distance between herself and the wight and stabbed her daggers towards its exposed throat. It was the same blitz attack she'd used to kill Amy on the first floor, except now she was even faster. The pale-skinned undead was not labelled 'elite' for nothing, however, and it brought up an arm to intercept the attack with blinding speed.

One of Jade's daggers plunged into the monster's forearm while the other was deflected down, scoring a gash into its armored torso. Her opponent didn't even flinch. It continued to stare impassively at her, silent and emotionless. Jade ripped her dagger free, hacking and slashing in a rapid series of strikes, taking advantage of the fact that her opponent held only a bow. She tore gashes into its arms, legs, and even its torso, but it didn't seem to care, focusing only on deflecting and dodging blows to its upper chest and head. Before she could find a way around its skilled guard the monster shoved her away with a powerful push, too fast to dodge.

Staggering away, the succubus flared her wings and righted herself just in time to see the wight drop its bow and draw a wicked looking curved sword of dark metal, its length adorned with small runes. The blade glinted in the evening sunlight, pointed directly at Jade's chest. One side of the blade was serrated with jagged teeth, while the other was smooth. She circled her foe carefully, wary of any stragglers that could sneak up behind her. She risked a glance towards the rest of the battlefield. Her friends were fighting well, but the sheer number of skeletons was pressuring them. If the wight joined the fray, they wouldn't be able to protect Siora and the two wounded elves.

I have to do this myself.

This monster was too strong to take head on. It was time to get creative.

Thrusting out her hand, Jade sent a bolt of darkness streaking towards the enemy. The wight tried to dodge, but the distance was too close. Her 'Clinging Darkness' spell took hold, shrouding its sight. Rather than charging in to attack while it was blind, she knelt, quickly channeling mana into the ground and laying a runic trap. The arcane circle pulsed with violet light as the spell settled, the telltale flash going unseen by the blinded undead, or so she hoped. A moment later the trap faded from view, blending into the forest floor.

Jade stepped away from the rune in the same moment as the wight broke free of its blindness. It had resisted the spell after less than half its duration, but it had still been long enough. Careful not to trigger her own trap, Jade approached the creature with her weapons ready. She darted in with a probing slash that the wight easily parried. It had a much longer blade and seemed to know how to use it, making it difficult for Jade to get within striking distance. Though it was fast, it couldn't match her speed, not with it boosted by both Naomi's buff and her demon form. She leapt away from its riposte, feeling a rush of wind against her cheek from the near miss. Jade landed with a calculated roll that carried her to the other side of the hidden trap, faking a stumble as she regained her footing.

The monster took the bait, rushing forward with a powerful thrust-!

That was immediately arrested as the rune trap triggered. A half dozen umbral chains manifested from shadow, wrapping around its waist and legs and rooting it in place.

Got you!

Jade closed the distance with a lunge, attacking with a series of quick slashes. Unable to move, the undead was forced into a defensive posture. It reacted with smooth, quick motions, skillfully defending its few vulnerable areas even as she scored several more hits on its unarmored limbs. Jade's blows were precise and focused. She attacked with the strength of a demon, but not the reckless ferocity of one. For a fleeting moment she found balance, harnessing the dark power that suffused her body but not succumbing to it.

Jade danced around her ensnared foe; every slice imbued with additional destructive power due to its bindings. At such close range her daggers held the advantage, there was no room for it to bring its longer sword into the fight. The wight suffered a dozen wounds in quick succession, her twin blades biting deep into its pallid flesh. None of the wounds bled, nor did the monster give any reaction to the injuries. It fought in complete, eerie silence, striking back with jabs and shoves as it weathered her assault.

One of its punches finally managed to catch Jade in the chest and she gasped, forced back a step. Her already damaged ward cracked, fading away. The undead's eyes flashed red. It swept its sword up, following up with a powerful overhead strike. Jade lurched to the side, still off-balance, bringing up her daggers to parry the attack.

CLANG

A series of blue runes blazed to life along the undead's dark blade. Power blossomed from the weapon, blasting waves of concussive energy directly into Jade's daggers and tearing them from her hands. The force of the strike sent her staggering back again, mostly unharmed but now weaponless. She was only disoriented for a split second, but it was long enough for the powerful monster to start slicing away at its arcane bindings.

Oh no you don't!

There was no time to retrieve her weapons. She had to finish this now, before it broke free. Jade growled, long claws emerging from her fingertips, and charged back into the fray with a speed that bordered on the superhuman. The wight reacted immediately, smoothly shifting from slicing the dark chains to a powerful horizontal strike. The blade arced towards her neck, but Jade just grinned.

It had fallen for it.

She disappeared in a flash of motion, warping back several feet and leaving an illusory duplicate in her place. The wight's weapon harmlessly phased through the replica, which burst into motes of light.

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Nice try.

Jade warped forward again, emerging from the dash right on top of her foe. Rapid use of her talent sapped her reserves at a prodigious rate, but it was worth it. The heavy, missed swing had left the wight wide open. Jade tore at it with her claws, slashing into its cold flesh and ripping its throat apart. Such a wound would have instantly killed any creature Jade had fought so far, but somehow the undead withstood it. The monster growled, the first sound she had heard it make, and slammed its sword into her side.

The strike was hasty and awkward, lacking any real power, but it still managed to slice through her armor to kiss her flesh. Stinging pain burst through Jade's side as cold steel bit into her. She twisted away, wrenching herself free from the weapon in a spray of blood. The tranquil balance she had found earlier in the fight shattered under the pain, leaving only rage. Acting purely on instinct, Jade grabbed the creature's head in both hands and heaved with all her enhanced strength. There was a moment of resistance, and then-

SCHIK

The wight's head, its entire head, pulled free from its neck with sickening snapping sound. The severed stump of the neck trailed fragments of bone and ligaments. A pair of cold, dark eyes stared sightlessly back at Jade, black smoke pouring forth to spill onto the ground. Jade dropped the head and stumbled away, feelings of triumph melding into disgust. The wight's decapitated corpse collapsed to the ground beside it, falling limp as her binding spell dissipated. Notifications scrolled in her vision, but she dismissed them.

"Fuck…" she said, looking down at her claw-like hands. Pieces of skin and muscle still clung to her fingers. She quickly shook her hands clean and retracted her claws. Retrieving her daggers, she looked around for the next enemy. To her surprise, there were only two left. A pair of skeletons stood a couple dozen yards away, on the opposite side of Siora and Naomi. Both had dropped their weapons and were clutching at their skulls with bony fingers. As she watched, Luis easily dispatched them both with a single swing from his massive sword.

"Well, that's one way to do it." Aylin said, striding over to Jade and examining her handiwork with a raised eyebrow. The half-elven mage was completely unharmed. A loose pile of dust lay behind her amidst the trees, the only remnant of the skeletal mage she had defeated.

"Huh?" Jade said, distracted by the carnage surrounding them. The entire area was strewn with humanoid bones. Hundreds of them. Now that the fighting had stopped, she finally had a chance to realize how disturbing that was.

"The wight." Aylin pointed at the headless corpse. "They're supposed to be fairly resistant to low level magic and physical damage. But even they need a head."

She scanned their surroundings as well, checking for any other monsters. There weren't any.

"It must've been controlling the others. As soon as you killed it, the rest of them froze."

"Jade!" Luis called, jogging over. "Are you alright?"

"I… yeah." Jade pulled herself together. She shrugged. "I'm alright."

"Holy shit." Naomi said, joining them. "Did you rip its head off…?"

Was that the first time she'd ever heard Naomi curse? Jade couldn't recall. Her head felt a little fuzzy.

"It was trying to shoot you."

For a moment Naomi looked horrified. And then, to Jade's surprise, she cracked a slight smile.

"Well… I suppose that's one way to say 'I care'."

Jade snorted, unable to stop herself from laughing. It was inappropriate, surrounded by death and blood, and yet right then, humor was exactly what she needed. The anger and fury melted away, leaving her weary and relieved that the fight was over.

She really is good with people…

She relaxed a little and was about to say something else when she winced. Her side still burned with pain.

"Ahh… can you help me with this?"

"I've got it."

Naomi channeled her healing spell, laying her hand on Jade's shoulder. Warm light spread through her, easing the pain. It took a couple of tries to get the wound to cooperate, and it wasn't until Siora cast her new cleansing spell on her that the restorative magic managed to get the wound to fully close.

"I hate undead." Aylin muttered when they were done. She had looted the monsters while the rest of the team looked after Jade. Other than standard coins, the mage had yielded a circlet and the wight his dark longsword. "Necromancy is outlawed in most of the civilized world for a reason."

"Most?" Luis asked, surprised. "There are places where creating monsters from the dead is okay?"

"Let's just say you should stay away from the city of Gremnegar. Its ruler is an allegedly immortal mage who most people know as 'The Blood Witch'."

"How charming…" Naomi muttered.

"The morality of necromancy aside." Aylin continued. "Powerful undead often inflict festering wounds like this. I'm glad you got that spell, Siora."

"Me, too." The elf agreed, looking pale. She had used a lot of mana, considering her low level. "I didn't think it would be useful so soon… What's going on?"

All of them turned their attention to the other two elves. They were mostly patched up now, and the woman was on her feet. Jade was surprised to find that the elf was quite a bit taller than her. She hadn't looked it when she'd been lying on the ground.

"Lysara has been getting attacked by undead for days." The woman said, glancing at Siora before returning her gaze to Jade. "Thank you for helping us but… Siora… Who are they?"

"These are my friends, they helped me get back home. " She said. She followed up with an abbreviated round of introductions, simply giving everyone's name.

"Where are they coming from?" Aylin asked. When the elves hesitated, she added. "I'm with the Mystic Order, a junior councilwoman of the Illysport branch."

That seemed to set them at ease. The elves finally looked away from her, giving Aylin their attention.

"Some of our people found their source." The man said. He had given his name as Ethren and was still gripping his hatchet tightly. "We heard it's a stronghold."

"Less than a day from the village." The woman, Namys, said, desperation evident in her voice. "They've been taking people. We were looking for my sister when… When they found us. We didn't know there would be so many."

Aylin frowned, and Siora's face went pale.

"What's a stronghold?" Luis asked.

"A fortress occupied by monsters." Aylin explained, crossing her arms. "The Labyrinth generates them sometimes, especially during integrations. The monsters will keep coming until it’s conquered. Although it is quite unusual for one to appear so near a settlement… This bears investigating."

"Master Rhysten and Lord Wilde are organizing a group to attack it." Ethren said, squeezing his hatchet tighter. "I think they were waiting for help from Estelhelm, but no one has come yet."

"Jade…" Siora turned to look at her. Jade couldn't recall seeing the elf frightened before. Not like this. "I know I shouldn't ask…"

"You don't need to."

Beside her, Luis and Naomi nodded their agreement.

"You're our friend." Luis said, as if that was all justification they needed to put their lives on the line.

And maybe it is. She reflected.

Besides, it wasn’t like they didn't get anything from it. Right on cue, a new quest appeared in front of her.