Ike swung toward the guard. The guard raised his sword to block.

The split second before their blades met, Ike activated Lightning Grasp and spread its effect over the length of the blade. Lightning jumped from his sword to the guard’s. The guard jolted. His whole body shook with fierce tremors. He dropped his sword and succumbed entirely, falling to the ground.

Ike raised his brows. He finished off the man with a smooth strike and ran on, but replayed the image in his mind. Huh. I was trying to take his sword, but I took his whole life instead. Is that the difference in strength between a Rank 1 and 2? Or is there something about Lightning Grasp I haven’t quite… grasped yet?

Another guard raced toward him. Ike met him with a swooping strike. The man raised his sword to block, but he simply didn’t have enough speed. Ike took his head, and he hit the ground as Ike passed by.

On to the next. From one guard to another, Ike danced. His feet followed the path of River-Splitting Sword. His blade moved to its rhythm. He took heads and slit throats, opened bellies and cleaved skulls. The guards fell before him, not even a trial before his blade.

The final guard charged at him. Ike solemnly raised his sword.

A spider thread darted in front of him and yanked the guard away.

Ike turned. “Hey!”

“Seven me, five you,” Wisp said, and then she opened her mouth wide and chewed the man down. He only screamed for the first few moments.

“Damn,” Ike muttered. He shook his head at her, then pointed at the executioner. “Big guy counts double.”

“Then you still tie me,” Wisp said smugly.

“Triple.”

“Changing the game so you win, huh? Laaaame. Typical human.”

The executioner growled. He gestured.

Ike frowned. Something scraped behind him. He turned just in time to watch the axe tremble free of the wall behind him and fly toward him and Wisp. Ike’s eyes widened. He grabbed Wisp’s head and ducked, forcing her down as well.

“Hey! What’re you—”

The axe whooshed over their heads. On the platform, the executioner raised his hand. The axe whipped around. Its hilt slammed into his palm. He faced them and made a small gesture with his hand, daring them to make the first move.

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Rank 3 pressure emanated from his body. Low Rank 3, but Rank 3 nonetheless. Ike backed away, tense. He took a short breath. Time to test how much that Body Reforging Art did for me.

“You go low, I’ll go high,” Wisp murmured.

Ike nodded. She vanished from his side, and he burst in. Stone fragments and blood flew up behind him. Lightning flickered all over his body. A shiver of cold ran down his spine as Ice Armor cloaked him. He barely felt Shawn’s weight as he closed in.

The executioner laughed. He swung his axe, putting his whole weight into it. For how heavy the swing was, it moved deceptively fast. Before Ike knew it, a blade hurtled at his face.

He ducked it, continuing to close in.

The executioner’s abs engaged. Every muscle and tendon stood out against his skin. He yanked his axe to a halt, then swung it back the other way. The weight of the axe bore down on Ike, so heavy he could feel it in the air before it struck him.

Ike danced back. For all the executioner’s remarkable strength and control, he easily had the upper hand in speed. He charged in again when the executioner overswung once more and landed a blow on the executioner’s stomach, charging his fist with lightning and shockwaves both.

His punch bounced off. His wrist shuddered, crying out in pain. Ike jumped back, shaking his hand and cursing under his breath. It felt like he’d just punched an iron plate. There was no give to the man’s body at all.

The executioner laughed.

Spider threads flew at his face. He swung his axe, severing the threads immediately, then ripped the remnants off his face. Another laugh. He loomed over Ike, undefeatable, impenetrable, impossible.

Ike leaped back, retreating to the edge of the platform. He scowled. “I can’t hurt him.”

“Surely one of your weapons,” Wisp muttered.

“Maybe the spider fang, but I don’t want to risk that. We’ve met lots of puppets, and I don’t want to break such a valuable tool here,” Ike replied.

She thought for a moment, then shrugged. “If we can’t defeat him as he is, then we’ll just have to soften him up somehow. Like with the metal puppet.”

Ike glanced at Shawn, still sleeping on his shoulder. “Or strengthen ourselves even more.”

“How so?” Wisp asked.

Ike shook his head. He looked at her. “You’re at least Rank 3, right?”

“Yeah. Sure. What do you need?”

“Can you restrain him? I don’t need you to kill him or attack him, just restrain him.”

She chuckled. “Restrain him? Who do you think you’re talking to? Restraining is a spider’s specialty.”

Ike grinned. “That’s what I want to hear. Shawn, you awake?”

“Huh? Yeah…” Shawn managed a drowsy response. His head drooped against Ike’s shoulder again.

“Then we’re ready to go.” He dashed in.

The executioner lifted his axe. As Ike closed in, he swung. The blade rushed toward Ike’s head.

Ike punched upward. Shockwaves shuddered against the blade, making it dance. It veered upward.

Throwing the axe to the side, the executioner closed in. Huge blunt fists slammed at Ike. Ike darted in, bursting past with a surge of speed. He dodged around to the back of the executioner and jumped into the air.

The executioner began to turn.

“Nope!” Wisp shouted. White thread flew at him from all directions. He swept his hands, smacking most of it away, but Wisp fired more and more. The white wrapped around him. He waved his arms again, but the thread built up on his limbs. His motions grew slow and heavy. In the blink of an eye, it immobilized him entirely.

Excellent.

“Shawn! Give me all your weight!” he shouted. He drew back his fist.

“You sure?” Shawn asked, sleepy but concerned.

“Just for a second. Do it!”

“Okay…”

Immense weight slammed into Ike. His fist plummeted toward the executioner’s back with a mountain’s weight behind it. He gritted his teeth.

This is going to hurt!