Dan was almost enjoying having to keep up with Shade. Almost. For the most part it was a frantic and frightening sprint into a massive tide of bone and rusted weaponry. Where Fa Lian smashed and burned, Shade punctured. Dan was impressed and once again thankful that Shade did not use the techniques of his repertoire against himself.

“Thank you. I’m glad it was you I attacked and not Fa Lian.” Shade’s words would have been concerning without context. As it was, Dan understood completely what Shade was saying. Fa Lian likely couldn’t have seen the mana thread that was controlling Shade, nor do anything about it if she did. Best case scenario would be that she survived the battle without injuries while Shade…

“I agree. Glad it was me.” Dan was imagining dragon fire burns and wondering if Fa Lian could survive a hit from Shade’s erasing slashes. The image of the blak blade of energy Dan had created was still searing into his mind. Another inch or two to the side, or angle the cut slightly differently and Dan would currently be figuring out what was stronger - his healing or Fa Lian’s destruction.

As they punched through the skeletons, taking moments to collect themselves, Shade and Dan explained the situation as they knew it to each other. “So,” Shade surmised, “my mother is here and wants the soul relic. The Pope of the empty church is here, he also wants the relic. My brother and the conniving Oblax are interfering and there’s a possible monster in the form of Guan Fa Lian’s cousin here too?”

“Good, you’re all caught up.” Dan was aware of the ridiculousness of the situation but there was nothing he could do about it except deal with it. To do that, they had decided to take one problem at a time. While it was still unclear what situation Hyun Soon and Yurie were in, Dan did know that Fa Lian was fighting. Whether he was worried about her or not was a different matter. Whoever had decided to challenge her would likely end up frustrated.

So Shade and Dan were content to deal with whatever issue they found first. Dan had expended a lot of energy fighting Shade and was finding it increasingly difficult to keep pace with the majaal. When Shade was talking, he seemed levelheaded and present in the conversation but Dan was starting to think that wasn’t true. Not displaying emotions is not the same thing as actually controlling them. Shade was close to breaking point.

Being under control had been harder than Dan could imagine. One problem at a time, Dan reminded himself. If Shade wanted to be more brutal, or fight harder or be less forgiving, Dan had no qualms. They could use all the fire and steel they had, even if it was just that of their character and not their attacks. They were close to the other combat Dan had spotted.

The sound of explosions pinpointed their destination for them. With only a firm, stoic look between the two, Dan and Shade both flared their powers. They had held back, essentially catching their breath as they pushed through the dance of death which still flailed around them. The skeletons were a hindrance but nothing more now. Every few moments there was a new blast, unique to the other, nearly deafening sounds around them.

It didn’t take long at all to find the source.

Dan wasn’t even sure they had arrived in time. His heart fell even before his eyes saw the scene before him. His mana flowed ahead but he recoiled it upon seeing the carnage wrought upon the ground here. If the rest of the room was a graveyard, this area was a slaughterhouse. Dan didn’t see anything but gore on the ground before his mana instinctively held itself back.

Dan didn’t understand. What he saw didn’t make any sense but there was room for relief amongst the blood. Hyun Soon, Yurie and even Fa Lian were gathered into a makeshift arena. They were, all three, covered in blood. Far too much blood. The ground was nearly slick with it and perhaps would have been if not for the blasts of heat which rocketed through the small, oval area in which the combat was taking place. Dan followed his friend’s angry and scared looks to their opponent.

Steel Fever.

The monster was no longer a violent and spike-kaden suit of armour but to Dan’s senses, the creature was exactly the same. A hungry, malicious void of rage and violence that simply wanted. There was likely no amount of satiation which could quell the thing before now. Then it met Guan Po Kahn and together they became something even more insatiable and evil.

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Dan could tell from the slack, pretend smile on the ugly, bumpy face of Po Kahn that there was still enough of the person in there to have some semblance of control. What that seemed to mean was that instead of simply being murderous, the creature had evolved into being torturous first.

The blood on the ground was that of Yurie and Hyun Soon. Dan could see gouges and holes in their clothing where they had taken damage. As Dan let his mana reach them, to inspect the extent of the injuries inflicted, he found clean and unscarred skin. Fa Lian, likewise, seemed to have been hurt, though her own injuries lay plain on her body. Most surprising of all were these injuries, perhaps, because Dan had never expected to see Fa Lian look singed.

All throughout the labyrinth Dan had been surprised to see that her look of collected nobility seemed to be natural. Her hair had remained kept, her nails had maintained their level of care. Even directly after combat with acid spitting monstrosities, her composure had remained immaculate.

Dan was certain that if she could see her state of admittedly only mild dishevelment she would be even more furious than her posture and scowl already suggested. Dark scales flighted her eyes, like intricate shadows painted on with painstaking effort. Dan and Shade had not yet been noticed and saw the next exchange of blows occur before they could get involved. Shade grabbed the back of Dan shirt and held him back.

“Jumping in now will only distract Fa Lian. Look.” He pointed skyward. Above the clicking and clattering mass of bones was a floating podium that Dan had not noticed yet. How he had not noticed, he would probably never work out. The gaudy thing was like a flying throne, complete with a tiny side stool for a minion. Dan had not cast his eyes or his mana that high into the air. Now that he had seen them, Dan sent mana towards the figures in the sky and kept his focus on Fa Lian.

She acted well as Steel Fever darted forward, or so Dan thought. It made sense for the dragonscales to become a shield, however the force of Steel Fever’s punch was unlike anything Dan had ever seen. This was the source of the explosions Dan had heard. As the fist was thrown, a chunk of skin at the elbow ignited and exploded, making the punch many times faster than naturally possible.

Fa Lian was pummelled into the ground by that punch. She bounced off of it and with startling speed, Steel Fever chased her down. With movements such as it was making, there was no way for Dan to think of the being as Po Kahn. The limbs stretched like there was no pain in them, twisting at incorrect angles as it launched into the air. The initial leap had not caught up with Fa Lian, so much like the elbow which was now flapping in the wind, Steel Fever exploded the soles of its feet.

The blasts were causing splatters of blood as the monster shot through the air, bringing an accelerated knee up into Fa Lian’s gut. The momentum of that hit span Steel Fever who used the rotation and one last explosion on an already ruined foot to increase the speed and bring an axe heel kick down. Fa Lian plummeted like a meteor from Dan’s nightmares. Everything happened in just more than an instant.

Her second impact did not bounce her from the floor. Instead, it left a sudden quiet. The bones had been scattered in the immediate vicinity and so all that could be heard was a cackling laughter from above, growing louder and louder until Steel Fever crashed into the floor beside Fa Lian.

Dan could watch no longer, though Shade did not seem inclined to stop him either. Dan turned and faced Shade, putting a hand on the man’s shoulder and draining some of his mana. “Get Yurie out, please?” Then Dan fell backwards through the void, landing on the other side quicker than he had during his fight with Shade. He appeared where he desired, right above Steel Fever. His foot covered in the hardest mana armour that he could make, Dan kicked with all his might into the creature’s face, sending it stumbling on its ruined feet.

Dan darted backwards and found Fa Lian quickly. Wasting no time on guessing her state, he simply poured every ounce of mana he had into healing her. Dan breathed deep breaths of gratitude as the instant expulsion of his energy left him breathless. Fa Lian still groaned, Dan could not heal being winded, but she was alive.

“You!” It was hidden, almost, but Steel Fever’s replication of Po Kahn’s voice sounded as though it were shouted from inside a metal container. Dan actually relished the anger and recognition in the voice of the monster. “UseRPer’s hOSt!”

There was now a frenzy in the creature that Dan couldn’t understand and whatever question he may have had for Steel Fever became less important than other ones. Such as why the two on the podium above were apparently healing Steel Fever. Dan could hear their chanting through his mana and saw the effects take place. He recognised the scent of the healing magic of the church of the empty god.

So the enemies were joining forces. At least, Dan thought, that means they’re all in one place. “Can you still fight?” Dan asked Fa Lian and Hyun Soon over his shoulder, keeping one eye on the still recovering Po Kahn. They both immediately said yes. “Good. We’re getting out of here.” That was when the argument started. Dan smiled, despite the serious situation. Of course they wouldn’t just listen, who did he think he was talking to? “Okay, okay. What do you suggest?”

Fa Lian fell back slightly and stood near Yurie. As she did, Hyun Soon stepped forward and put a hand on Dan’s shoulder. Without even trying to take it, Dan felt Hyun Soon’s mana flowing into him. With barely a thought, Dan flared his armour to life as Hyun did the same and smiled broadly.

“We don’t need to run. We did need to, but then you showed up. With you here, my friend, we can just win the fight instead.”