Once they were dressed in their new, full-body drapery, Pyre showed Akemi how to manipulate the magical stilts—er—Inserts of Lengthening. By turning a small knob at her ankle, the wooden platforms would raise slowly, until they were fixed at your desired height. As she had suspected, some sort of magical enhancement made them much easier to operate without training, too—it felt as if you were walking around in strangely tall platform sneakers.

“Wow, you look just like one of them,” Akemi remarked, genuinely impressed as she took in Pyre’s new image. The woman stood at nearly 6 feet 5 inches, or 195 centimeters, covered from head to toe in black, matte cloth. The face masks they wore even went as far to cover the skin around their nose and mouth, so it was virtually impossible to tell the difference.

“Same to you,” Pyre chirped. Akemi could tell from the high pitch of her voice that she was speaking in chimeratone, despite the words sounding the same to her ears. “Let’s get going. Guards at the palace work on shifts. We can’t predict when another will wander down this same hallway and take us by surprise. And let’s stop talking—we’re endangering ourselves.”

Leaving the storage room in disarray, the pair continued through the first floor doors. The doors led into another hallway, bigger this time, with tall ceilings, but also completely draped in darkness. As frustrating as it was, Akemi admired it, in an objective way, for its tactical strategy; being able to see in the dark was a surefire advantage for the chimeras against any invaders. Even during the day, they kept their blackout drapes drawn, shutting out every inch of sunlight.

Pyre lifted another piece of paper in front of her face and illuminated it. As Akemi took in the words, she watched the light dancing across the other woman’s features; it painted small circles of yellow on her cheeks, light blue figures under her furrowed brows.

Two lefts and then a right. Then we’re coming close to the Viscount’s chamber. We shouldn’t run into any more guards in this hallway, but if we do, hide, immediately. Any guard patrolling the Viscount’s chambers will see right through our bullshit. The disguises will be more useful once we exit.

Akemi nodded.

What she could see of the corridor was limited, but she noted every small detail. Golden, ornate frames hung from the walls. They held oil paintings, mostly: depictions of the royal chimeras in their blood-red evening wear. It was all very self-serving. They looked like vampiric dictators; all that was missing was a few hostages in cages, or enemy bodies littering the floor.

As they turned the second left, Pyre’s flame illuminated the heavy boots of two figures at the very end of the hallway. Akemi only saw them for a second, before her and Pyre hurriedly darted behind the wall, clapping hands around their mouths and setting out the flame.

Despite the complete and utter darkness draping over them again, Akemi felt the sensation of Pyre’s eyes on her own—and her eyes on Pyre’s. They were exchanging the exact same thought in unison.

Shit.

One of the chimeras from the end of the hall spoke up.

“Did you see that? Like a bright flash of—of something?”

“No. But I did hear footsteps. Quiet ones, like vermin. Oversized vermin.”

“That’s what I thought I heard, too. You think some human scum from the city wandered in here? The viscount’s gone a day, and the ruffians think they own the place.”

Judging by the swift stomping echoing down the hallway, they were approaching quickly. Akemi and Pyre didn’t have the luxury of strategizing. They needed to act, and fast.

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Akemi’s mind flickered rapidly through her limited options.

The first was obvious: there was always the Orb. Her mana had regenerated sufficiently, so she could send it throttling straight down the corridor, perhaps mix it with one of Pyre’s fireballs, and hope and pray that it would be enough to kill the two bats at once. That was, of course, relying on the fact that the two chimeras were the same level as the one from the basement.

But if they’re a way higher level…

She lightly slapped Pyre’s hand, indicating that she should throw her flame back up. The other woman seemed to get the message, and hurriedly lit herself and the parchment under the faintest light manageable. It was just enough that Akemi could see Pyre’s quivering upper lip. The woman would never have admitted it, but she was nervous. Practically shivering with nerves, actually—her knee bobbing, her chest rising and falling in rapid succession. It gave Akemi a bit of sick satisfaction. Pyre liked to give the impression that she had every encounter, every hallway, every turn, completely thought-through, but not everything was so predictable.

Akemi read the words off her shaking piece of paper.

In three seconds, we fire the most powerful spell in our arsenal. It’s the only way.

As Pyre raised her fingers to count, Akemi cupped her hand with her own, pushing it back down.

“Wait,” she mouthed, lifting her eyebrows for emphasis.

Trying to reveal the smallest amount of herself possible, she slipped one eye into the hallway. Even if she couldn’t quite see the chimeras, she trusted her System would reveal their profile information to her. So far, it seemed, unless her targets were deliberately cloaked by magic, the System would introduce anyone in her cone of vision, even if the lights were dim.

Kovo | Level 51 Blood Knight

Slivenor | Level 58 Blood Knight

Holy shit.

There was no way in hell they were doing Pyre’s plan.

In an attempt to communicate this, Akemi made a swiping motion across her neck, then lolled her head to the side, shutting her eyes. Pyre scowled, clearly growing impatient.

What the hell is that supposed to mean? You’re going to die?

Akemi nodded up and down ferociously. Pyre’s scowl fell, and her mouth formed an o of realization.

Oh shit. Are they super high level?

Another series of ferocious nods.

Ugh. Ugh. That’s not good. I don’t know what to do. I didn’t think—I didn’t think there’d be more guards on this level right now. Shit. Shit.

The steps came louder and louder now. The chimeras were nearly turning the corner.

“Chill the fuck out,” Akemi mouthed, praying that Pyre was a good lip-reader. “I’ve got this. When I start running, you run, too. Alright?”

Pyre nodded, swallowing thickly.

Okay.

Pointing her finger towards the basement door they had just emerged from, Akemi cast, in succession, [Dice of Dark Divination], then, immediately after, [Conjure Illusion]. The dice roll animation didn’t even play this time—the result just hit the screen immediately.

Your next spell will be multiplied by: three.

Simultaneously, three vague humanoid figures sputtered to life by the storage room’s doorway. Even from far away, they weren’t quite believable—their skin looked like rubber, and their features protruded from their faces like badly-sewn dolls—but Akemi was counting on another infamous chimera trait: their piss-poor vision.

“There they are!” Kovo yelled, grasping the haft of his greataxe. Silvenor did the same. As they primed themselves to swing, Akemi took off running, with Pyre right on her heels. They raced through the dimly lit castle corridors, the surroundings blurring into a chaotic tapestry of fleeting details, until Pyre thrust a hand to Akemi’s shoulder, stopping her in her tracks. They had arrived somewhere—another door.

Her chest heaving, Pyre brought the flame to her face once more. The parchment was scuffed and wrinkled, but still readable.

This is the Viscount’s room. The ledger should be locked up in here. Luckily, I got a keyring off that first guard that should work. You make sure those Level 50 brutes aren’t following us while I crack this thing open.

Akemi swallowed, nodding. Pyre quickly got to work on the door, kneeling as she tried key after key on the massive, golden lock. Milliseconds felt like hours as Akemi’s eyes studied the darkness, watching for any hint of movement. Her eyes began to play tricks on her—turning the frame of a portrait into the hilt of a greatsword, a bench into a crawling bat. But none of it was real. The chimeras were still distracted, fighting ghosts many hallways away.

Click.

Pyre looked up at her, a tired but relieved look on her face.

We’re in.