Yen scorched through the air erratically, tension obvious on her face even through her body of flames. A blur razed straight through her and then a second and third time before she could fully react. She tightened her focus and when a fourth mauling swipe claimed more of her flames, she fired a Comet.

The vampire prince turned just in time to see the intense sphere of heat smash into him with thunderous flame, sending him crashing down through buildings and stone streets. Yen paused only for an instant, and a chunk of her fiery head carved away as the prince lunged again, robbing yet more of her mana to recover her form.

Frustration and nerves spread on her face further still. Greater Armament was useless before the vampire’s claws, and her mystic protection broken from the start. She only remained alive by virtue of Greater Fire Mimicry but her mana was steadily draining with every passing moment.

Her attacks had done little so far. Any of her legendary tier skills would not so much as singe the little monster’s hair and even Comet had almost no effect. She had not the time to maximize it to catch the vampire in motion, but even still, it was a mythic tier spell boosted further by Fire Overwhelming.

The prince wasn’t indestructible but it was obvious he possessed Fire Immunity, and through surviving her attacks he would regenerate any wounds in an instant. She needed time, time to unleash an attack to her greatest ability but time was difficult to come by. The vampire’s speed was far too great for her vision. Let alone a blur, he was practically invisible to her. Just the slightest wisp of movement was all she could catch from his rapid lunges and taunting dashes.

Yen rocketed into the air with the hope of a plan in her mind, and the mana shield beneath her shattered. Greater Armament followed next but the two spells had slowed the vampire to a stop, and that was all she needed. An intense invisible force locked him in place as Yen soared away. Cinder dust coated his body and a vortex greedily sucked in the air around him as his struggled in vain, and Yen focused.

With all her effort, she intensified the vortex as the might of a spell rose to its greatest heights, and a second blinding sun bloomed in the night city. The Explosion thundered the world as sphere of impact tore through the ground below, buildings and all. Plants turned to ash in the heat and the light so piercing it seemed to scorch a permanent white on the black sky.

Yen waited as the storm of wind settled and the blazing fire subsided. And the vampire prince stepped out with an arrogant sneer. His moonlight white hair regrew and his charred flesh healed in but a moment. A sense of hopelessness not felt in what seemed the distant past reared its ugly head in Yen’s mind.

“I have more than just Fire Immunity.” Ramsay offered willingly, throwing further salt on the wound for nothing more than his amusement. “Your pitiful attacks won’t work.”

Weapons coated in alchemical silver emerged in the air around the mage as she sent them piercing towards the vampire with the power of Vector. Ramsay darted and hopped through the air casually as laughter overcame him at the pale imitation of the king.

Yen persisted through the fruitless attacks and the mockery returned, drawing more and more weapons from her spatial bag. The last vestiges of Ramsay’s laughter stuttered out as he turned a preying eye on the mage. He darted to the side in a crouching start, and a three silver spears pierced him back. Dozens of weapons impaled him in an instant from all sides, as if drawn to him, the power of Greater Magnetism at work.

Ramsay pulled the silver weapons from his body one by one as if they were nothing more than mere inconveniences. Yen drew a sword shining a permanent holy gold and sent it flying through his chest, only for the vampire to pull it back out and toss it aside like trash all the same.

Dread started to replaced Yen’s hopelessness. Silver was her last resort, one she had not even planned on using, and even holy weapons did not work. Her strongest attack did little more than surface damage, and she couldn’t even fall back on depriving the monster of oxygen. Her mind raced to find a win condition of any kind but no matter how much she thought, her build gave no answer.

“Do you see now, the difference between commoners and true royalty? This is the nature of the world, the absolute rule of law. Those who merely imitate cannot match those born special, no matter how much false hope this change has thrown around. Fakes like you think you can go against the natural order just because you managed to become a little special.” Ramsay sneered, calmly walking through the air with the arrogance of a tyrant, as his words fell heavily on Yen’s ears. “Don’t fret. I will graciously lend you a hand. You see, vampire royalty such as myself, can bypass that Curse Immunity everyone seems to have found. You might have stalled our plans before but nothing has changed. Soon, all will be made thralls to serve us!”

Ramsay turned a more insidious glint of glee in his eyes to the simmering mage. “I think I will make you my personal servant.”

A ring appeared in Yen’s quiet finger, and a bolt of acid struck the vampire prince. Immediately, the prince yelled in pain as the viscous green liquid melted his flesh. Ramsay’s body scattered to flowing mist and a stream of frost froze the vapor solid. A portion of it escaped and turned to flesh that regenerated whole in an instant as another bolt of acid just barely grazed his skin as he leaned away.

The silver weapons rose once more and their graceful silvery form turned green from the Acidic Infusion granted by the bracelet now donning Yen’s wrist. Ramsay blitzed all around as the weapons pursued his still magnetized body, condemnation soaring to rage in his expression.

“Acid and frost! Where is your pride?! Are you not fire?!” Ramsay roared but only Yen’s grim expression of silent resolve answered. And his rage grew. “You ingrate cur! You don’t deserve to turn! You are don’t deserve to be superior!”

“Do not be reckless. Use the items-”

“Silence!” Ramsay yelled back at Blair’s voice in his head.

He burst forward mindlessly with immense speed, and crashed once again upon layers of defense. Hold locked him in place once more, and a mass of acid enveloped him. Ramsay screamed in pain and rage as his flesh melted and regenerated over and over.

“Common wench!” The vampire prince shrieked. “You dare… harm me with tricks! I have the blood of kings!”

Yen gave no words in response, only maximizing the Hold trapping him and the sphere of acid shearing him down. Curses and insults flung her way but she held, and soon the vampires’ cries weakened as his regeneration ceased.

“I am the heir! The rightful king! That cur… will fall by my hand! He and his loathsome church both! Ahhh! Damn you! You dare… Prideless… peasa-” The entirety of the prince dissolved away with his final words and nearly the last of her mana.

Yen lingered in the air as her flames subsided to her normal form, victory in her hand but it tasted of bitter ash. The arrogant prince’s words were foolish, she knew that. In a fight to the death with her back against the wall, how could she not use everything at her disposal to win. But she wanted to win with her own power.

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

“What do you know, you piece of shit?! This early in the game!” Yen gripped her hands as her anger boiled over at the words still lingering in her mind. “...anyone can be special now.”

She lingered only a moment more, before flying off in search of another member of the party to give whatever help she could. Her expression still grim in frustration and self hatred but a determination within rose back to the surface with gritted teeth. Even if she was made to face realty once more, that was nothing more than the realty of now. She banished the creeping doubts in her mind and grabbed hold of the dream that threatened to sneak away. It didn’t matter what anyone said. Nothing had changed. She had laid out her path and she would walk it no matter what stood in her way, until she reached the peak.

---

Dudley evaded the scythes of the chasing mantises but his focus was on the threatening fireflies trailing behind, just waiting for him to use his barrier. The hunchback read the intentions of a ranged attack within the puppetmaster’s mind and shifted away from the volley of needles, only for his expression to jolt at the cannonball exploded on him.

Two fireflies appeared at either side, forcing him to conjure another barrier to guard against their blasts and yet another as the same happened again. Dudley fled with a charred body and panicked curses in his mind as his vampire form healed his wounds, at a cost. The devious man had caused him to use three barriers in succession, and now his thoughts were filled with victory by attrition.

In his frustration, Dudley caught sight of most of the puppets crossing paths in a straight line, and Jean in their path. A spatial slash severed through the puppets but slayed only a simple dummy in Jean’s place. Most of the damaged puppets continued their assault unhindered but in that split second, Dudley saw their movements stagger, allowing him to create some distance.

Panic spread further as the Mentalist read Jean’s mind. Switching, always switching, back and forth between intentions. It terrified him. Even now, Dudley’s victory was assured. The puppetmaster’s mind wouldn’t hold out much longer and yet he showed no fear, no concern. Always playing the game of thoughts as though nothing was amiss at all.

An anteater puppet hiding among the buildings fired at him, leaving no choice but to cast a barrier and bear the damage from the ensuing firefly. Dudley cursed further. His victory was assured. It was certain, he knew, but the doubt would not leave his mind. Dudley saw the puppets coincidentally line up again but he would not take the bait. He need only stick to the plan Blair had assured him.

Two anteater puppets appeared by Jean’s side and a Hornet in the sky opened up, releasing dozens of fireflies. Tension rose on Dudley’s face but then he remembered. The puppets would stagger. A spatial slash soared towards Jean, and the mantises impaled and severed his flesh.

Dudley screamed in pain as the silver wracked his body, turning an panicked eye to the ground where he found the puppetmaster standing, part of his toros and the arm with it severed clean off. His expression still the same as blood drained from his body. Dudley tore himself away from the silver and several fireflies exploded on him, and the silver scythes impaled his regenerating body once more.

He could not do this, Dudley thought. It was too much. Everything was too much. This fight, this world. Madness, all of it. The puppets fell lifeless and dropped out of the sky, Dudley with them. And even on the ground as the silver blades still within sapped his life away, his thoughts were fixated.

“This isn’t right. None of this is right. How… how can you all remain sane in this madness? How can you not change? Everything is madness. Every…” Dudley’s thoughts drifted as an epiphany rose in his mind. “...sanity in an insane world is an insanity as well…”

“Well…” Jean spoke as the last of his mana sputtered out of a ring, just barely enough to stop the bleeding of his terrible wound. His apathetic eyes and expression unchanged as the hunchback’s life finally ended. “I’m probably not sane.”

--

Pierre sailed through the barrage of knives and vines with theatrical flair. Twirling around the chasing projectiles, weaving past grasping silver plants, he cleanly avoided all of their precise attempts to corner them. He sailed left and leaned back sharp as a knife almost grazed his face. A product of Foresight from the charlatan, Pierre knew, for he held the same trait.

The game they found themselves locked in was in large part due to the duel between their predictions, which essentially leveled the playing field to normal, at least for those with the mental capabilities to maintain focus on two sets of time. Pierre continued his dance, preventing the knives from even so much as cut his clothes, but the vines grew and spread too, and soon he found himself in a cage of vines. Wooden spears struck out from the bars of the cage, and Pierre blinked away.

He appeared behind Kamala, striking down with his cane. Magic shattered around her as he blocked the Pagan’s own teleportation, but Dante blinked between them, corrosive aura enveloping his palm that chopped back at the magician. Just as Pierre wanted. Dante’s palm passed harmlessly through Pierre’s intangible body as his cane started to bore into the charlatan’s skull as if eating away at the very space his body occupied, and then his eye’s widened.

Glowing runic markings emerged on Dante’s body and the cane passed through his head, while his corrosive palm melting through the remaining half of Pierre’s body. Pierre blinked away and his figure took a more vampiric form, but still the mythic tier acid lingered too strongly. He flourished his can and severed off that part of his body to regenerate clean from scratch.

His form returned human and the game of knives and vines resumed. Pierre inspected the duo more closely. High intelligence and tricky skills, it was for this reason that he elected to take on both himself but they exceeded his expectations. That skill of the charlatan’s was of particular note. If he were to hazard a guess, it reversed the nature of intangibility, allowing him to strike through Phantasm while he himself was also made intangible. A most troublesome ability, given his own skillset, and the potency of his acidic coating was a concern. And as such, Pierre decided to eliminate him first.

Spearing vines shot out from a portal behind, and he snapped his fingers. Silver vines skewered through Dante’s chest as Pierre swung his cane at Kamala from where the charlatan had just been. Her shield feathered wings stalled his spatial attack long enough for Dante to blink near, and Pierre smiled. A portal opened above the moment Dante moved, and a stone pillar shattered his skull against the ground.

[Human Runic Charlatan (legendary) - Greater Lord]

Strength - 150 (270)

Agility - 450 (810)

Constitution - 150 (270)

Vitality - 100 (180)

Dexterity - 120 (216)

Perception - 300 (540)

Force - 30 (54)

Spirit - 638 [957] (1722)

Control - 300 [450] (810)

Willpower - 200 [300] (540)

Skills:

Supreme Martial Combat lvl. 10, Trajectory lvl. 10, Greater Stealth lvl. 10, Hallucination lvl. 10, Greater Trick Mine lvl. 10, Greater Flashbang lvl. 10, Greater Rapid lvl. 10, Greater Morph lvl. 10, Greater Silence lvl. 10, Greater Obscuration lvl. 10, Greater Shadowstep lvl. 10, Greater Swiftness lvl. 10, Greater Shawl lvl. 10, Rogue’s Arsenal lvl. 10, Greater Blink lvl. 10, Portal lvl. 10, Greater Phantom Platform lvl. 10, Greater Escape Art lvl. 10, Greater Weight Shift lvl. 10, Stigma lvl. 10, Mana Harnessing lvl. 10, Corrosive lvl. 10,

Traits:

Foresight, Hypercognition, Tireless, Truth and Lies, Truesight, Third Eye, Great Control, Great Spirit, Poison Immunity, Disease Immunity, Curse Immunity, Golden Body, Golden Mind, Golden Soul, Great Willpower,

Kamala’s eyes widened just slightly before plants erupted beneath her, propelling her away into the sky. And by her side a divine warrioress appeared. The black wings of a raven spread at her back, silver full plate armor and golden cloth donned her body capped by a winged helm that covered all but the lower half of her face, black hair draping over her armor. In her hand she held a great spear and in her other a round shield with the knotted sigil of three ravens.

[Valkyrie Shieldmaiden (mythic variant) - Greater Lord]

Pierre twirled his cane as he peered over the summoned monster that looked to be more trouble. “As fun as this has been, I shan’t take up much more of your time. You are not the audience I seek, after all.”

Trees and plants shattered the stone of streets and buildings as a forest bloomed around them. Kamala spared Dante’s body a last glance, her initial shock however muted it was worn off as she loomed over the growing forest with stoic resolve.