Saints were demigods and the pillars of power that held humanity’s place in the dream realm. The population of the citadel was likely in the hundreds, yet Wavera moved through the swarms of avatars with ease. What made the feat even more astonishing was her ability to leave the avatars alive. Her blade moved in arcs leaving thin trails of water that extended the slice and retained the Saint’s lethal power.

Wavera’s fighting form was flawless and efficient, moving in a straightforward manner. The form was simple at a glance but complex underneath. Her sword changed from being solid and fluid, and even became both at the same time, becoming unpredictable. One wrong move and her own weapon could become her enemy.

Then her movements changed. They became impossible. Creatures had a center of mass which they shifted from during movement. Wavera somehow twisted from seemingly random places: wrist, arm, and chest. It was like she became weightless, but her strikes still held immense power.

Rio fought behind the Saint and ruminated in a feeling of inadequacy. The number of avatars did not dwindle and before long the two would be spent. Rio dodged another sword and cut down another avatar.

[you have slain corrupted human…] Rio ignored the spell and continued swinging. He had no qualms about killing these people. These people were no better than beasts now. At this point the entire citadel was spawning avatars that kept throwing themselves at the Saint with no sense of preservation.

Rio dodged a stone club and threw another avatar to the ground. He spun Ocean’s Wrath in a circle sending ribbons of blood splattering on the stone. Rio pulled his weapon close and changed its form. The thin wire that he had been meticulously weaving tightened and slid through limbs and bodies like butter.

Each second was a struggle. Unlike regular beasts who were mindless and crude, these avatars retained their sanity. They retained their skills, experience, and ability to plan. While lacking an aspect, it was not far off to compare them to common Masters. And there were probably a hundred of them upon them.

However, Rio was not a common master. Each cut he dealt did not need to be fatal. A small wound would deliver a prominent soul attack. There was also Rio’s attribute. Every passing second, the avatars increasingly got slower and less coordinated. Their bodies shuddered and they hesitated.Their bodies shuddered and they hesitated. They saw a butcher chopping one after the other, leaving trails of body parts.

A corrupted nightmare creature controlled them, but they were still conscious. They felt pain, they thought, and they screamed. A shard of fear wedged into all their hearts.

Rio yanked the wire tight and started to swing the blade in wide arcs around him. His whole body turned into a conduit of violence, pulling and wrapping the wire in a flawless dance. It was a style molded to counter quantity. A small cut here or a lost limb there had a great effect on the individuals and the ones around them. One moment Rio was on the defensive, then he’d strike like lightning and return to defending.

A strange shell laid on the ground between Rio’s legs, sucking up the flowing blood from the ground. Every drop of blood it drank was a drop of essence returned to Rio’s core.

The ground shook and towers of flesh grew from the ground. They hung in the air like bad omens and smashed into the ground, wrecking havoc all around.

Debris exploded in all directions as the ground slithered with cracks. The tentacles avoided Rio and for the first time, Wavera killed an avatar.

In a matter of seconds the onslaught was over. The limbs receded into the Saint’s back leaving trails of blood and bone.

Rio picked up his shell and looked up to the peak of the citadel. The shadow indicated almost half an hour past. Rio frowned at the avatars strewn around.

‘All of them were corrupted…’ Tyrants could make minions, but their minions shouldn’t be the same rank as them. Since her aspect was special, Rio overlooked this detail, however, now it came back up. ‘Hundreds of minions of the same rank.’ His mind raced with questions and conjecture, then conclusions. None of them were pleasant. The answer soon became clear.

Rio followed the Saint to the top of the triangle citadel, coming to a wide plateau. Ocean spread out below them as far as the eye could see. Black clouds converged in the sky, leaving a small space above the citadel open to view the early stars. At the center of the plateau was a floating sphere the diameter of a human with seven people surrounding it.

‘A Corrupted Titan,’ Rio froze. Wavera sensed the threat as well and her soul rippled. Of the seven main bodies, one stood out amongst them. Black hair stretched to her waist and and her eyes were the shade of dark ebony. She wore intricate robes that contrasted her hair and matched her skin that shimmered in the twilight sky.

“Good evening,” The woman said, offering a warm smile. The other six avatar’s turned their heads in unison and spoke together.

“You appeared far sooner than planned,” The combination of voices was eerily similar to the voice of the spell, with high and low pitches melding together or offset. Rio didn’t know if this was intended or coincidence.

Several quiet moments passed and both parties just looked at each other. These avatars were much different than their counterparts. Having access to their aspects, it was comparable to fighting a cohort of saints. ‘Their aspects are only as developed as they were before they were taken.’ It was doable.

“Release my people and I will grant you a swift death,” Wavera engaged the woman with a diplomatic attitude.

The avatars drew their weapons. The weapons weren’t memories, but Rio saw they were no less potent. Some were made from bones and scales that probably put some memories to shame.

“And if I refuse?” The avatars replied.

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“What are you doing here, Seer?” Rio interjected.

“Such a cold greeting. Can’t I get a hug from my son?” Seer asked.

“Answer the question,” he repeated.

“Since you asked,” Seer turned and regarded the growing sphere. “One citadel is not worth the same as another. It’s like a game to secure key points of territory.” Seer’s smile turned a little sinister.

“However, not all citadels are like this. Some have no value at all,” Four avatars moved, forming a line between the Saint and the sphere while the other three started etching runes into the smooth stone. “These citadel were made after the fact and don’t exist in the original game. They serve another purpose. Extra content.”

“I take it you have no intention of surrendering then,” Wavera snarled.

“As regrettable as it is, no. It’s a shame to kill a powerful member of humanity,” said Seer, her tone cooling to ice. “But if you want, you can leave. I won’t hold a grudge.” She glanced at Rio who went silent, then held a glaive fashioned from bone.

‘The citadel…’ Rio’s head spun. His uncertainty was immediately masked by a deadpan expression. “On your way here. You killed one of your own avatars. Why?”

“Have you been listening to strangers? I can’t say they are the most reliable source of information.” Seer smiled again. “She was a mere awakened human. The prize was her lover, a Master.”

“You didn’t…”

“I did. They had no hope of survival against my numbers. I offered the girl a deal. Surrender herself to me and I’d spare her lover’s life.” Seer turned her head left, regarding the man standing there. He looked on with a stoic expression and had the same handsome looks that all awakened benefited from. “You should have heard her screams as I bargained with this one. I’d release her for him.”

“And you were true to your word.” Rio finished, his voice laced with venom.

“Right. He’s alive and she is no longer under my control. I think I was rather generous.”

Rio remembered the screams of the regretful voice that led him here. ‘Yes. I’ll kill her.’ He was the first to move. Rio activated his aspect, imbuing his weapon with a soul attack and releasing the voices of the dead. The field erupted with howls of anguish piercing the mind.

The avatars staggered, giving Rio a chance to shorten the distance. He cleaved through the arms of the first avatar and kicked the body away.

A phantom blade swept below his feet and Rio felt the blade go through his defense and sever his ankle. ‘Crap.’ He lost his balance.

Rio fell back and caught himself with his stub, letting out a hiss through gritted teeth. He swung his spear outwards to give himself a moment to recover. Fire burned through his body, and he felt like he swallowed burning coals.

His foot grew back in a matter of seconds, good as new. By then, the phantom sword came again and phased through Ocean’s Wrath, stopping in the center. The avatar pulled the weapon from Rio’s hands and another attacked with a mace.

Rio sidestepped the attack and broke the man’s arm at the elbow and kicked the man in the side, shattering his ribs. They buckled over. Before Rio could strike again, a white blade cut his throat. Rio dodged, feeling the blade draw blood.

The red coral pendant hit the ground with a muted thud. Rio moved to crush the coral under his heel, but a glaive caught him in the arm. He leered at Seer with unbridled disdain and returned the favor. Ocean’s Wrath pierced her robes and he felt it slide cleaning into her shoulder, but the Avatar only grimaced and threw Rio off her weapon.

Ocean’s Wrath Changed into a bow and Rio fired off a single shot in less than a second, aimed at his pendant. The silver arrow flew true. Seer raised her hands and the air itself stopped moving. Thick ice formed instantly and blocked the arrow. The wall exploded in a flood of water that left cracks and froze to the wall.

“I’m hurt. You guys are leaving me out,” Wavera said. Rio balanced himself and cursed as he lost his chance to end it. He could spot Seer standing calming on the other side of the wall with impunity, examining the Saint.

. “We are far from the ocean Miss Wavera. You are powerful, yes, but my son is more of a threat at the moment.” Seer responded as she picked up the coral pendant.

“You know a lot about my aspect,” The Saint’s green pearl eyes glowed with an ethereal light. “A little science lesson for you.” Her hair began to sway, pulled by an appearing gale.

“Air is a fluid too.”

The atmosphere changed, no longer following the will of nature. A vortex quickly formed, devouring the plateau and its inhabitants.

Rio was pulled off his feet and nearly dragged into the storm before Wavera caught him and brought him to the center of the storm. The wall of ice crumbled under the powerful currents and the avatars struggled to remain upright.

Soon the wind was like blades, cutting through the avatars’ bodies and Wavera finally moved. The storm followed her and she shifted the winds into a horizontal tube that lifted the avatars off their feet. All but one. Seer had frozen her feet to the stone and remained in the Saint’s way.

Their clash destabilized the citadel, and the plateau began to tilt. Bits of ice flew with the winds like bullets and blew through the stone, sending up more debris. The wind storm became even deadlier each passing second.

The two battled on the falling platform as the world tore itself apart. Rio did not accept being relegated to an observer and settled his gaze on the black sphere. He dismissed Ocean’s Wrath and another weapon replaced it.

A long shaft weighed into Rio’s hand, molded from transcendent copper metal. The air crackled from its appearance and Rio found braced himself. Holding the javelin steady, he threw the weapon with the force of lightning. His soul core drained to near empty and the weapon left a thin line of vapor in its wake. The memory was named Oath of the Watcher and was a reward from the second nightmare.

The memory broke the sound barrier and struck the black sphere and like a marble crush by a hammer, the sphere broke.

Lutra was tired of waiting. Leaving Wavera with that shady Master was did not sit well with her. What was worse was that the Master hadn’t told them what they were getting into. What nightmare creature could possess the entire population of a citadel?

“Release us. We must fight!” The captured avatars writhed like animals begging, threatening, and bargaining for freedom. She ignored the words and looked away. She knew many of the enthralled people and could tell they were having an effect on her crew.

The air chilled and Lutra swiveled her head to the citadel. The peak was covered in a wide tornado. ‘Wavera.’

“Pull anchor. Get us far from the dock!” She screamed her orders and heard the citadel shake, then saw the citadel tumble.

The crew activated their aspects and memories and before long the ship had created a respectable distance. Then the world cracked, throwing Lutra and many others to the deck. The shock wave left a terrible ringing in her ears and she floundered for footing. As she stood up her breath got caught in her throat. The tilting tower was no longer tilting for it was entirely leveled.