Kelsey watched as Gwen quickly dispatched all but one of the sand raiders. She assumed that the man she kept alive must be Amos. Kelsey had been watching the sand raiders the entire time they were in her domain, and noticed early that he was likely the highest level of them all based on how the others reacted when he spoke. He had dirty brown hair, and a medium build, with a series of scars covering his cheeks. Kelsey couldn’t tell much else about him because he was wearing goggles and was wrapped completely in baggy desert robes.

But, Kelsey had noticed something extremely strange about the man once he arrived. After he saw Gwen, it was like he became an entirely different person. Before he laid eyes on her, he was serious and commanding, completely in control of his crew. The moment he saw Gwen, it was as if a switch had been flipped. He had started laughing like someone straight out of an insane asylum, and his eyes became filled with a possessive lust that nearly caused Kelsey to shiver.

As the man looked around at his fallen crewmates, Kelsey saw his face break out into an insane grin filled with glee.

What is this guy's deal? He looks happy that his companions were just slaughtered.

Kelsey could tell that this man was going to be no threat to Gwen, but she decided to identify him anyway.

[Warrior - lvl 253]

She was right. For being a level 253, Kelsey saw an extremely small amount of ambient mana leaking from him. He must be someone that scraped by, only fighting monsters at or below his level. He likely did it in groups too. Both of those things were said to make advancements less powerful. The system rewards those who push themselves, and this man clearly hadn’t. Kelsey was likely stronger than this insane man when she was around level 200.

Gwen on the other hand, was level 271, and now had access to a Mageblood body. According to her, she had always fought well above her level when fighting with her sister. And since her sister's illness, she had always fought alone when leveling. That meant that her class was of a much higher quality.

Kelsey could tell that Gwen sensed the strength difference too, as she casually jumped down off the pillar and landed in front of the madman. Kelsey was going to keep her promise not to fight, or intervene; no matter what happened. She was just happy to have played a part. The walls were now destroyed, and the entirety of The Librarians behind her had a front row seat to the events unfolding before them. One of the things Gwen had asked Kelsey to do before the raiders got to the compound was to create a thick wall of air that would protect the guild members.

“My Queen! I have come! We can be together, like we have always dreamed of!” Amos shouted as Gwen dropped down in front of him. “There is no one standing in our way any more!”

As he said that, he dropped down onto his knees, opened his arms wide, begging her to come closer to him.

Kelsey could see Gwen tense up after he said there was ‘no one standing in their way anymore’, but Kelsey wasn’t exactly sure why.

Gwen’s voice was hollow and quiet as she spoke; almost a whisper. “Amos… before you die… I want you to know…” she paused, taking in a deep breath and calming herself.

“I hate you... I have hated you for nearly twenty years. I hated you when you drugged me and tried to force yourself onto me… I hated you when I heard that you tried to do the same to my sister… And most of all, I hated you when I found out that you were the one who killed Reggie.” she finished, her voice as cold as the frozen ground she was standing on.

Inexplicably, as she spoke, the grin on Amos’ face widened maddeningly, as if the words he was hearing were the sweetest sounds in the world.

“Oh, don’t worry your pretty little head, this time we'll be together forever!” Amos screamed as he pulled a scimitar from under his robes and drew it.

Gwen sighed deeply as she saw him draw the blade. She shook her head and raised her arm, hundreds of metal javelins forming in the air around the man, all aimed inwards, directly at Amos.

“Goodbye, old friend.” she said sadly as she willed the javelins to collapse around him.

The leader of the raiders didn't even bother attempting to protect himself, instead choosing to simply hold out his arms and stare up at the sky, a look of pure glee on his face.

The javelins slammed into the waiting man's body, turning him into something of a human pincushion. The entire time, the smile never left his face, even until his dying breath.

Well... That was odd. He just let himself be killed? Why? Kelsey shrugged to herself, not really caring too much about the odd decisions of a lunatic.

As the man died, Kelsey dismissed all of her creations, letting the ice and air she was still holding in place disappear. A few seconds later, the giant metal pillar that Kelsey was standing on began to disperse as well, so she activated flight and landed next to Gwen, wrapping her into a hug.

Kelsey had expected Gwen to be slightly more shaken up by what had transpired, but as she spoke, Kelsey didn’t hear any emotion in her voice other than exasperation. “Thanks for letting me handle that. That idiot...”

Kelsey looked down and nodded. “Who was he anyway?” she asked.

Before she could answer, a loud crack sounded in the air, drawing everyone's attention towards the man who had just died.

As they looked over, Kelsey, who still had her magesight activated, saw an eruption of mana nearly as large as the Queen's had been coming from the mutilated corpse. Everyone watched with bated breath, waiting for anything to happen.

Great. Some sort of ritual or tribute? A skill that activates post death? Is that even possible? Kelsey thought back to everything she had learned about magic and the system. It would only be possible if it had some sort of... trigger... and a place to store the mana for the skill.

With that information in mind, Kelsey watched closely, looking for any signs that would prove her theory.

They didn't have to wait long, as thirty seconds after the eruption of mana began, they saw a pale skinned hand break through the corpse's chest, grasping the air. Moments later the hand touched the sand below and pushed, revealing more pale skin.

Not waiting to let whatever it was escape fully, Gwen created a dozen steel spikes and launched them towards the pale creature.

Her attack was ineffective, being easily buffeted away by torrent of mana leaking from Amos' corpse.

Kelsey glanced down at Gwen with a questioning look.

"No. Like I said, no matter what happens I'll deal with this." Gwen said confidently.

Kelsey nodded. "Alright. I'll protect the guild."

Kelsey didn't love the idea of Gwen fighting whatever this new opponent was, but she would be a hypocrite if she didn't abide by Gwen's request. Kelsey knew that she would absolutely ask the same of Gwen in a similar situation. It seemed that both of them preferred to take on their fights alone.

Stepping back, Kelsey moved in front of the watching Librarians, ready to protect them if they happened to be hit in the crossfire.

As she did, Gwen moved.

Running as fast as she could, Gwen charged directly towards the pale creature that was still pulling itself from Amos' body. As she neared, steel short swords in hand, Kelsey could see that the mana was pushing against her, making progress a slow, tedious process. But Gwen persevered, launching steel projectiles at the creature in an effort to damage it before it could fight back.

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Several long seconds passed with Gwen making little to no progress as more of the creature was revealed.

Pulling itself into a standing position, Kelsey saw a pale humanoid creature with four arms, four black eyes, and long white hair. It was tall, easily a meter taller than Kelsey herself. It was also thin, likely weighing about as much as Kelsey did, if not less. Sitting in the middle of its forehead was a small diamond shaped gem that appeared to be completely filled to the brim with mana. Based on Kelsey's estimations, it was probably hundreds of millions, potentially even more mana.

Well, looks like I found its mana source. Trigger on death or sacrifice, and a gem to store the mana for the skill. Done and dusted I suppose. Now all Gwen has to do is figure that out. Worst case scenario: she can beat the shit out of it. That should still work.

As it pulled its feet out of the body below, Kelsey could see its feet were similar to a human, except there was a thin webbing between the toes.

It was completely naked, but Kelsey could see no features that would indicate the creature's sex.

Activating Identify caused Kelsey to do a double take.

[Revenant of Lust - lvl 300]

Talk about an upgrade... Still... Gwen should be fine.

Gwen had seemingly used Identify on the creature as well, as she started being much more careful. Instead of pushing straight towards the creature, she had backed up and started dumping mana large steel blade, clearly with the intention to overpower the burst of mana that was still coming from the gem on the monster's forehead.

It wasn't going to work, and Kelsey knew it. The gem was releasing hundreds of thousands of mana each second and unless Gwen suddenly had as much mana output as Kelsey, she would stand no chance overpowering that kind of mana in a reasonable time.

It was probably for the best. Every second the creature continued burning mana was good for Gwen. If it continued expending mana in such a worthless way, Gwen would simply have to stay away, and the monster would die in ten to fifteen minutes without Gwen needing to touch the thing.

Feeling like she was ready, Gwen launched the giant steel blade directly at the creature with all of her might. To Kelsey's genuine surprise, the blade sliced through the mana much more effectively than she anticipated, seeming to slice through the mana like a boat glided through the water.

It took Kelsey a few moments, but she quickly realized why. Gwen had coated the blade itself in unaspected mana, which was acting as some sort of lubrication, causing the mana coming from the Revenant to ignore the blade in its entirety.

Nice! I wouldn't have thought of that.

The blade hit the monster square in the chest with an incredible amount of speed, tearing right through the creature and slicing it in half. The blade exited the back of the monster and flew into the distance, presumably hitting the sand a few hundred meters away.

The monster screamed in pain as its chest was separated from its legs and it began falling towards the ground. As it did, the outpouring mana stopped for an instant, collecting in the Revenant's body. A fraction of a second later, a brand-new set of legs grew from the monster's stomach, and it caught itself on its feet.

The outpouring of mana didn't come back. Now that the creature was fully out of Amos' corpse, it crouched into a fighting stance and lunged towards Gwen.

It was extremely fast, pushing off the desert floor with more strength than Kelsey would have though possible for such sandy ground. As it neared Gwen, it raised its fist, its hand and forearm turning from pale white into a brilliant shining gold.

It punched, its arm extending towards Gwen's head. She reacted quickly, raising her hand and creating a small metal spike in front of her palm and placed it in the path of the incoming fist.

The golden fist and steel spike collided, causing a wave of pressure to burst from between the two combatants as they were blasted apart from one another.

The Golden Hand... I thought it was about stealing gold. Guess it's about... a golden hand...

Kelsey raised her hand, using air manipulation to create a wedge formation in front of herself and the guild members behind her. The wave of pressure collapsed on the wedge, the power dissipating to the sides.

This method did have the unintended side effect of destroying a few of the buildings, but that was a small price to pay to save the lives of some of the weaker members.

A wall of air next time... noted.

Gwen and the Revenant approached one another, circling around, waiting for each other to make the first move.

The Revenant was clearly somewhat intelligent. After its first attack had been deflected, it was being patient, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

A few seconds later, Gwen clearly got tired of waiting and decided to make the first move, creating dozens of spinning bladed stars and launching them towards the Revenant.

Like a professional acrobat, the Revenant jumped in the air and contorted its body, letting the blades whiz past its body by mere millimeters.

While Kelsey was certainly surprised by the creature's agility, Gwen was clearly more experienced, dashing in the moment the creature jumped into the air.

As she arrived, short swords in hand, the Revenant raised its arms in a protective motion, all four the arms now coated in that golden metal sheen.

Gwen lashed out, her blades aiming not for the creature's arms, but for its legs. The blades found their mark, sinking deeply into the pale skin. As she pulled her blades out, she twisted, causing buckets of sickly black blood to pour from the creature's legs.

It howled in pain as the wounds regenerated, but Gwen didn't let up, stabbing her daggers down towards the legs once again. This time, the gold vanished from the creature's arms and covered its legs instead, causing the two swords to glance off harmlessly.

The Revenant used that moment as an opportunity, grasping out with two of its arms and grabbing Gwen by the arms and holding her in place. With its other two arms, it lashed out, golden fists slamming into Gwen's face and chest.

As the punches landed, they had so much force that they launched Gwen away from the Revenant, her arms being ripped off her chest.

Gwen flew through the air faster than sound and slammed into a sand dune over one hundred meters away from the Revenant.

Kelsey could see that she was fine, and within moments was standing up, letting her arms regenerate as she planned her next move.

The Revenant seemed to have momentarily forgotten about Gwen, focusing instead on the arms clasped in its hand. With ravenous hunger, it brough Gwen's left arm to it mouth and bit down, tearing of a large chunk of flesh and chewing on it slowly.

Gross.

Based on how the fight had gone so far, Kelsey didn't think that this creature had any more tricks up its sleeve, not that it would likely need anything else if the fight continued the way it had been going. It had durability, strength, speed, and regeneration. If Gwen didn't figure out that the gem was its power source soon, it would likely win the fight once Gwen started suffering from mana overuse. She also needed to worry about food and water. If she regenerated too much, she would die from dehydration.

Kelsey couldn't think of that now, she simply had to stand and watch, hoping that Gwen would come out of this fight unscathed. Gwen was strong and Kelsey trusted her, but this kind of opponent could be tricky to take down, especially if it had some sort of failsafe if its gem was damaged.

Once Gwen's arms were fully healed, the fight started up again.

Minutes went by as Gwen tried in vain to put the monster down, losing her arms and legs multiple times in the process. No matter what she tried, the Revenant continued to regenerate more quickly than she could deal damage. Worst of all, it was getting stronger, faster, and smarter as the fight dragged on. Its ability to switch its golden armor between limbs was getting faster and faster, to the point that Gwen was unable to deal a single strike for a full thirty seconds.

Kelsey was starting to get worried when Gwen did something that surprised everyone.

As the Revenant grabber her for the fourth time in the fight and raised its arm to punch her, Gwen summoned a long metal spike attached to her head and thrust her head forward in a headbutting motion, driving the spite directly at the monster's head.

Surprised, the Revenant dropped Gwen and tried to back way in order to protect its gem, but that had apparently been exactly what Gwen wanted as the moment it let her go, she launched the steel spike with mana, sending it directly into the monster's forehead, piercing the black gem.

As the metal spike stabbed into the gem, a large well of mana began pooling in the monster's forehead in clear sign of an incoming explosion.

Kelsey wanted nothing more than to activate Warp and put herself in between the explosion and Gwen, but she knew that Gwen would likely see that as interference, so she didn't move and simply raised a wall of air in between the monster and herself in order to protect the people watching.

Thankfully, Kelsey could see that Gwen was erecting her own protections; a thick wall of steel that she placed between herself and the monster. Hopefully it would be enough.

The explosion was extraordinarily violent, causing the ground beneath their feet to tremble and shake with such force that more of the buildings in the compound collapsed.

As the wave of blue mana surged towards them, Kelsey braced herself and dumped more mana into the wall of air, infusing it with enough mana that she could be confident it would hold.

The wave of mana collided with the wall, exploding to the sides and erasing the sand on either side of the large wall of air.

Once the mana explosion was finished, Kelsey searched through her domain, looking for any signs of Gwen. Thankfully, she found her a few seconds later, laying unconscious in the bottom of the massive 20-meter-deep crater that the mana bomb had created.

Looking around Kelsey saw that the entire desert area around them had been wiped away, revealing bare earth below. It was as if the compound was now on its own little island of sand, surrounded by an ocean of dirt.

Letting the wall of air drop, Kelsey warped down to the hole and saw that Gwen was in the process of standing on shaky legs, clearly in need of some food and water.

Summoning a canteen and some food, Kelsey handed them to Gwen with a small smile.

"That didn't look pleasant." Kelsey said with a grin.

Gwen took a long swig of water, followed by a few mouthfuls of bread. "Honestly? Could have gone worse. That thing really let me take out some frustration on it before I was forced to finally kill it."

Kelsey raised an eyebrow. "So, you knew about the gem?"

Gwen nodded as she ate. "Yeah. Just wanted to do some testing on the regeneration and such. Felt like a good opportunity."

Kelsey couldn't help but laugh a bit. Hearing Gwen talk about that reminded Kelsey so much of herself and how she tested the limits of the Mageblood body back in the Mageblood forest. "And? How do you like it?"

"I got my arms ripped off like four times, how do you think I like it?" Gwen said sarcastically.

Finishing her food, Gwen sighed and spoke again. "Guess it's time to go take control of a guild. I have a feeling this is going to be... less fun."