Mel never would have dared to climb up the side of the cliff without such a distraction. The viking, however, was the perfect diversion. What with all the howling, environmental damage, and general rampage. With Warren’s forces focused on the destruction that the woman was causing, Mel’s ascent was unwatched.

They likely figured the red haired woman was Mel fully turned into a demoness.

Mel came up behind an Archer taking aim at the viking’s back and skewered him through the spine with one hand. Her other wrapped around his mouth, muffling his cry.

By the time she eased him to the ground, he was dead.

Mel shook her head. Vigor issue indeed.

She didn’t linger for long. Now that she was above their main line of defenses, she could see the gauntlet that Warren had clearly prepared for her.

It wasn’t as if I had hidden what I was after, Mel thought, as the men and women closest to Warren hunkered down behind various defenses. They didn’t have many Mages that Mel could see. Few spells went off, and those that did often missed their mark.

That viking was fast, and somehow getting faster the more she fought. Even though she had a weighted chain that was wildly swinging around and crushing fighters left and right, it hardly seemed to slow her momentum.

Quite the opposite, in fact.

Mel filed away that tidbit for later examination. Even if she was an ally now, it always paid to know the ins and outs of a potential adversary’s abilities. Even if they stayed on good terms, it would only help Mel to know where the woman’s strengths and weaknesses were.

Still kneeling, Mel examined the green Archer’s cloak and with a small thread of mana changed her [Sanguine Coat] into a perfect replica. One without a bloody hole in the back.

That was the biggest problem with wearing an enemy’s clothing. You almost always had to deal with blood or damage to the equipment. Her way was much cleaner.

Mel took up his bow. Without looting him, the equipment had no magical enhancements. Simply drawing the bow back in her hand would likely break it, but it was enough to sell the disguise.

Carrying the bow and rushing up to higher ground past several other guardsmen, Mel’s disguise held. She kept the cowl up and moved with purpose while tracking the fighting.

The only time she was stopped was when she came up to one of the higher levels of the switchback next to a Mage conjuring a powerful aspect skill over her head.

Mel couldn’t help but stare up at the ball of fire forming above her raised arms. Tilting her head up had been the wrong choice. As the Mage turned to ask what she was doing in that imperious way all magical practitioners used when they were interrupted, she got a clear look at Mel’s face.

Even if she didn’t know Mel’s face, she clearly recognized her twinkling emerald eyes.

When her blue eyes flashed open, Mel knew the game was up. She leaned in, dropped her bow and summoned her twinblade down low. The Mage pivoted her leading hip, bringing their arms down to throw the half-formed aspect skill at Mel. Before she could complete the motion, the skill fizzled out.

The Mage’s thin cloak was no protection from Mel’s twinblade. She tried to make the ending quick with a fast and brutal jab from below up through her middle. Judging by the already glazed expression on the woman’s serene face, the tip of her blade must have punctured her heart.

You defeat the [Stolst Gang Mage (Copper Rank)].

You gain runes of Divine, Mist, Blood, Serpent, and Omen aspect experience.

You gain Battle Points.

An explosive aspect skill going off down below rocked the mountain floor. Glancing over the edge, the light of purple energy was already fading away as the viking leapt out of a crater.

Aspect Skill: [Falling Meteor]

Unfortunately, three Defenders and a pair of Archers noticed Mel as she looted the woman. Despite the number of assassinations she had undertaken in her life, she had yet to find a plausible way to kill somebody in an embrace that didn’t cause alarm.

Hollywood always got that wrong.

At best, it looked suspicious as hell. The only way was to make sure nobody was watching you too closely.

Well, that’s entirely out of the equation now, Mel thought. She reverted the changes to her [Sanguine Coat] and decided that she’d just have to go through them as fast as possible.

Besides, with the rate the viking was chewing through their forces down below, she didn’t want to be mistaken for one of Warren’s people.

[Bane of Tartarus] blossomed like a starless night in her upraised palm before the suspicion turned to full alarm.

Before she could launch the attack, a cold icicle dripped down Mel’s spine. Powerful magic washed over the area with a sickly sweet scent.

The Defenders fell to their knees, clutching their heads. The Archers screamed and went rigid, their arms bending backward as their bones snapped gruesomely.

Mel stared in horror for a second or two more until it became clear that whatever was happening had cleared the way for her. She rushed their mangled forms, slicing with as much force as she could muster to end the transformation before it could complete.

Whatever was happening, Mel could tell it wasn’t going to last. She might be able to get past them quickly before the transformation finished, but Mel didn’t want to leave these things at her back.

She could hardly believe that Warren would have this sort of power, but she wasn’t going to stop now.

The rigid bodies didn’t offer much resistance. Mel culled another four bodies mid-transformation before a cancerous growth sprouted from a man’s arm like a tentacle. It lashed out at her as she pierced him through the middle with her twinblade.

In the blink of an eye, the tentacle wrapped itself around her neck, but struggled to do anything other than annoy her. Her [Sanguine Coat’s] high collar was harder than it looked, keeping her protected.

Between that and the corrupted body’s lifeblood flowing out from the grievous wound, the danger passed quickly. For good measure, Mel withdrew her twinblade and spun it to slice through the tentacle.

She ripped the rest off her, shuddering as the flesh sloughed off like pasta soaking in water for too long.

The battle shifted down the pass. The viking advanced upon the encampment, silver eyes narrowing at the sudden change of people into monsters. Her cloak’s wolf head snarled like an actual beast.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

After pulling out a weapon stuck in her side and tossing it into the middle of a shambling Mage, the viking tore through a rickety structure like a force of nature. That was better than ringing any alarm bell.

True to her word, the viking continued to draw large amounts of attention.

Mel threw up a wall of rage to deny the horrors all around her. The worst she would have done was kill them. This was something altogether evil.

I really didn’t think Warren had the balls for this level of villainy, Mel thought as she pushed past two more malformed creatures. They were beginning to fight back, which meant it was time for Mel to pick up the pace.

Every moment she spent fighting these creatures was another moment Warren had to get away.

She reached a cave entrance. Her gaze was pulled to the hot pile of goo seeping out of clothes on the ground. Stepping gingerly over the putrid slop, Mel used [Gaze of the Serpent] to sweep the darkness for threats.

All she saw was a vague trail of heat leading deeper down one of the six different passages. At first, Mel watched out for traps or an ambush, but it soon became clear that Warren was in full flight.

Whatever he had done, he clearly hadn’t the stomach to watch. If he had, his malformed minions might have actually saved him.

Glowing handprints on the tunnel wall, and cooling puddles on the floor marked where Warren had taken a break to vomit. The sick was still hot to her sight. As gross as it was, she used it as a beacon. Every so often there was more splatter, as if he was trying to spit out the taste of what he had done.

Then Mel heard him down the next bend and she slowed down. She knew deep down that she could have filled the tunnel with mist. There was a good chance she would be able to overwhelm him quickly and kill him.

It might spook him, however. He didn’t seem faster than she was, but it would be a waste of mana.

Mel followed at a distance until she spotted the torchlight. She kept out of sight, allowing him to guide her. The tunnel narrowed considerably until even Mel felt uncomfortable. It was so narrow that the viking would have to go sideways through this section.

If I had a bow I could hit him between the shoulders right now, Mel thought to herself, crouching in the darkness. She kept her eyes shielded to prevent them from giving away her position.

From time to time, Warren turned and raised the torch high to peer into the gloom. In his other hand, a silver longsword gleamed in the torchlight.

This had clearly been his plan.

I’m flattered, really.

The major downside to her twinblade was that it required room. It was the size of a spear but with blades on both sides, meaning she would struggle to bring it to bear in tight quarters.

Even if she could, the maneuvers and forms she could use were severely limited. She could thrust with it like a spear, though it didn’t have the range of one. Meanwhile, Warren’s sword lacked many of the same drawbacks. He could stab and even slice vertically, where Mel couldn’t.

This had been intentionally designed to defend against her.

After a while, Warren’s confidence that he had finally escaped caused him to pick up the pace. The uncomfortably narrow tunnel expanded and filled with light, forcing Mel to stay far back and out of sight.

Warren stopped, turned, and raised his torch one more time. He turned and sprinted around the bend.

Mel came on carefully, all too aware of the dangers that might await her. It was possible he could have prepared traps. When she rounded the bend, she felt the warmth of daylight on her face.

Warren snarled and lashed out with his sword just as Mel stepped out onto the narrow ledge along the sheer side of the mountain.

If she had been relying on anything but her infravision, she would have been too blinded by the sun to see the attack, much less to block it.

Luckily, Warren didn’t understand how her vision worked. Likely, only Heath had a scant comprehension. It was probably one of her best kept tactical secrets.

The initial parry startled Warren, forcing him back onto his heels as Mel slashed and pressed her advantage. The urge to finally take vengeance was strong. She could see her fallen friends reflected in his eyes.

Warren’s shield came up in a flurry of red ash to block her probing strikes. Combined with the wall on his left, he was well-protected against any attacks she might send his way.

As Mel backed off, looking for any gaps in his defenses that she might exploit, Warren dropped his shield in a rush of ash. His gauntleted hand burned with a rush of flames that rolled out and consumed Mel faster than she could establish a defense.

Aspect Skill: [Flame Taker]

[Hidden Mist] sprang up around her, dousing the flames as she condensed the mist as tightly as she could.

While Mel was busy, Warren lunged forward. In his hand was a small crystal of sparkling light.

[Windstorm] sprang up around her, giving her the speed to leap back just as Warren’s attack crashed into the spot she had just been.

Aspect Skill: [Melkor’s Shard]

The wall exploded with ruby red light, shaking the ledge and throwing up a cloud of obfuscating dust.

Warren grinned to himself, thrusting blindly into the dust with his sword.

Never knew he was left-handed. Interesting.

Instinctively, Mel backed away another step before she realized she could see through the dust almost as easily as a very light mist.

The ledge was barely five feet wide where Mel was, but the crater in the stone wall gave Mel’s small form a bit more room to get around Warren’s attacks and come at an unexpected angle.

Relying entirely on mundane sight, Warren didn’t notice how deep the crater was.

Mel did.

[Bane of Tartarus] led the way, consuming Warren with the screams of the damned as the orb expanded over him. He predictably rushed through the dust and debris, thinking she had backed up to launch the attack.

Mel, pressed tightly into the crater, had meant to come at him from his now-exposed flank where the stone wall had been blasted away by Warren’s attack.

When she noticed his movement, Mel stayed her blade and let him pass her by. A savage grin spread across her lips as she stepped out and thrust forward into his exposed back.

No matter how well any armor was made, it was impossible to defend against attacks from all sides. There was always a weak point. The level of craftsmanship for Copper armor just wasn’t refined enough to mitigate that.

Mel’s twinblade dug into a seam between the plates near Warren’s kidney. As soon as the blade pierced his soft flesh underneath, he bellowed like a wild animal.

She pressed her advantage, gripping the twinblade with both hands and driving her feet into the ground to run him through. Her weapon might not have the reach of a spear, but her two-handed grip gave her the driving force of one.

Mel’s shock was complete when Warren went rigid as a statue and her twinblade refused to budge. Instead of pushing the blade in for the kill, Mel’s boots slid across the dusty ledge.

Aspect Skill: [Ironclad]

Warren’s left arm swung out. Through the dust, Mel could see it was covered completely in metal. There was no seam. It was as if he had turned his arm completely into metal.

Fortunately, [Wayward Traveler] elevated combat to greater levels of possibility and strategy. She dismissed her weapon into a flurry of silver ash a hair’s breadth before his fist swung down with the intent to break the twinblade dug into his back.

He turned, each footstep slow and ponderous. His face was gone, covered completely by a helm that had no visible seams and yet could move as freely as skin. This was more like facing a golem than a man.

“I haven’t had to use this skill in a long time,” Warren said, his voice muffled by the helmet. “I have sacrificed too much already. This ends now.”