The barrel of Warren’s revolver flashed, unleashing his third spellshot of the battle.

This time, he pointed the gun straight up, instead of trying to hit Edge directly. The move caught him by surprise, but the reason for it soon became as plain as day.

This skill wasn’t anything like the first two. Rather than generating a wide-area attack, the crystalized spell contained within the round took a different approach. The shimmering mass of mana began to congeal, assuming a physical form. Three spears made of a creamy white stone shimmered into existence in the same moment that Edge’s boots hit the ground.

He watched them out of the corner of his eye as he started sprinting to open some distance. It was clear that they were no ordinary weapons. In addition to hovering in the air, their points were formed from glowing gemstones, radiating enough magic to warp the air around them.

I really don’t like the look of that. Edge kept right on running, glancing over his shoulder as he desperately tried to dart out of range before the spears started moving. He doubted that it would work, but every second he could buy to study the spell and come up with a counter was an invaluable resource at this point.

He could tell from the manslayer’s smirk that the man was confident. Whatever was about to happen, Warren was certain that it would end the fight. He didn’t seem concerned about what Edge was doing at all, which solidified his certainty that the spell didn’t have any strict limits on range or duration.

The bounty hunter was a chatty bastard when he thought he was in control. He was savoring the moment, happy to explain the dynamics at play, since he sure that Edge was about to die either way.

“There are lots of skills out there that allow their wielder to heal. Some are quite a bit more powerful than your low-rank regeneration. When you’re fighting an enemy that can erase most forms of damage, one of the most effective ways to take them down is to target a vital organ. When your attacks can’t destroy tissue faster than it can regrow, the best counter is to remove it from the body completely.

“Very few skills can restore a missing heart or brain for example, which is where this round comes in. Heart-render is a rank-five beauty that I just know you’re going to love. When I give the signal, each of the spears will home in on their target, heading straight for your ticker. They’re fast, but even if you dodge one, it will just circle round and keep on coming. One should be more than enough, so three is probably overkill. Oh well, I’ll just have to deal with the mess.

“There is no time limit or maximum range. Feel free to run. Turn into shadow if you like. They’re going to pierce your chest, no matter what you do. Solid, ethereal, it makes no difference at all. When they catch you, the spears are going to scoop your heart clean out before shredding it to pieces. Now, as fun as that sounds, spells that take physical form do suffer from a number of limitations. There are quite a few ways that you can counter them with the appropriate tactics or skills, none of which you have at your disposal. Say your prayers to whatever gods you believe in, Vasher. This ends here and now.”

With that, Warren snapped his fingers, and all three stone spears came streaking for Edge, faster than an arrow in flight. He dodged the first by the narrowest of margins. He leapt over the second, and shadow stepped out of the way of the third with inches to spare.

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

Even in shadow form, the heart-render spears looked completely solid. Warren was telling the truth. He knew in that moment that they would be able to pierce him, even while incorporeal.

This is bad. Really bad. He had blown through far too much mana just to dodge the first pass, and the skill-summoned weapons showed no sign of running out of steam.

At that point, Edge knew he was in trouble. Worse, there was no end in sight. Each of Warren’s spellshots had been more powerful than the last. Whatever he had waiting in the final three chambers was certain to be even stronger. Something that could kill Edge instantly and that he wouldn’t be able to dodge.

The heart-render spears were bad enough. He had to put the manslayer down before he fired again.

Though the bounty hunter was confident that the fight was already over, Edge had one last hand to play. Thanks to his implant and his ultimate, he might have a way of surviving this spell and get the drop on Warren at the same time. Edge wasn’t sure if his plan would work, but it was the only chance he had.

Knowing that this was going to hurt like hell, he scanned his surroundings and then dove to the ground, like he had tripped over a root in his haste. He rolled to a stop by the trunk of a tree, then got ready to make his move.

A bare second later, the first stone spear went plunging into his chest. Like Warren had advertised, it aimed unerringly for his heart. When the crystal tip tried to pierce the organ, he felt a warm pulse of aether, as his heart-guard’s barrier kicked in. It drained the mana powering the spear and deflected the point to one side, which went sliding out of his back without damaging his heart along the way.

The second spell-summoned weapon met a similar fate, gouging his guts without inflicting lethal damage. When the third spear hit him, Edge felt the barrier fail. The implant vibrated, indicating that it was out of aether.

The heart-render’s tip came so close to killing him that he felt it brush against his heart on the way through. But his implant had been just enough to keep the manifestation from landing on target. All three weapons disintegrated a few seconds later, as the magic giving them material form dispersed into the wind.

Edge activated regeneration for just a second. Then he turned it back off, like he had tried to heal his missing heart and died a moment later. It was sufficient to stem the internal bleeding, but not long enough to repair his sundered skin.

From Warren’s perspective, Edge’s corpse was propped up against the trunk, sitting in a pool of his own blood. All of which was accurate, except for the corpse part.

Don’t blink. Don’t breathe. Don’t move a single muscle. Let him think that you’re dead. This is your only chance to draw him in close and end the fight. If you fuck this up, it’s game over. It’s as simple as that.

As those thoughts passed through Edge’s head, Warren sauntered over to him with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face. He looked so pleased with himself that he might burst into song. Of course, in that moment, the manslayer found something to say.

“You were a worthy adversary after all, Vasher. You lasted far longer than most of my prey. A phenomenal performance given your inexperience. I enjoyed that far more than I expected. I’ll speak of you fondly when I share the story of your death, and I’ll write your name on my list with pride. Let’s see if you have anything worth looting, then it’s time to return to the bounty board and get filthy fucking rich.”

Edge was lucky that bounties had to be collected at the kiosk, or Warren would already know that he wasn’t dead. If the man had been paying attention to his updates instead of gloating, he would have noticed that something was wrong. That Edge’s heart was still beating, and his core was still intact.

He was terrified that the manslayer would pull away at the last moment. Start stabbing with his sword or using his skills.

Instead, Warren reached down and started going through Edge’s backpack. He didn’t seem to think that he would find anything good, but he was having fun anyway. The instant that his opponent looked away, Edge knew that his moment had come. Warren was standing right beside him, his guard was down, and his tank was running on fumes.

It was time to find out which man would live to see tomorrow. To go all in and let the chips fall where they may. Overdrive, Edge sent his intentions into Skill-Eater, screaming as his reactor burst into flame.