Morgan was sweating profusely.  Once the demons from emerged the blood sacks the tide of battle shifted.  The were tough to take out, especially since most of their force was at level 10.  Even with the amount of Wizards they had, it wasn’t enough.  Besides, the weren’t the only problem.

“SCREEEK,” a sounded out of nowhere.

Morgan quickly made his move, slamming his fist into an unimposing spot of ground.  Just before his fist landed, the head came out.  Morgan’s fist was surrounded by a golden light as he executed a unique Monk skill.  The head was just becoming solid when it exploded with a miserable screak.

“Damn these ,” said Morgan’s second in command.  “If it weren't for them, we would be able to keep our together.”

They had defeated most of the summoned demons by now, but these new demons were hard to deal with indeed.

“They aren’t a problem for those at a higher level.  Spread the word and have the commanders to mix in with the to protect it from the .”  Morgan commanded.

What Morgan was anxious about was that they had only seen two different types of new demons so far.  He had a feeling that there would be more.   They were already hard pressed, if any more surprises happened, he wasn’t sure if they could hold out.

The were already a multi-raid level boss each for the level 10 range.  Longdale had others who were much higher than level 10, but even if they all combined, they wouldn’t form a full Raid on their own.  Using them to defeat the that popped up was the best solution for now.

***

Heroic Retribution took its time to recuperate.  There was no sense in charging forward with low health and no mana.

After killing the , the area was mostly secure. Any additional small problems were easily handled by Jude’s Ghost Commander’s Eye in combination with his new form of .  He was easily able to take out any weak demon that came close without anyone from Heroic Retribution even noticing.

However, Jude didn’t limit himself just to protecting.  He was also looking for an opening.  Currently, they were located on one of the smaller roads that lead to the citadel surrounded by buildings and houses.  When the citadel still stood, there was only one main entrance and a subtle back entrance.   But now that the citadel was in ruins the many side streets now had access to the inside of the citadel.

When the citadel was destroyed, many of the surrounding buildings and structures were destroyed with it.  The primary battle was being held in the main thoroughfare that had once lead to the entrance of the citadel and across the various ruins.

The other two Major Raids blocking the sides filled the many streets and blocked the potential escape of any demon.  But since the sides didn’t have a uniform front as they were spread across many streets, they were suffering harsh losses.

In one such case on the south side, a raid was overrun by a and a small hoard of summoned demons.  Jude waited for them to pass before ordering, “Alright everyone, it’s time to go.”

Now, as they moved through the streets, Heroic Retribution had much more confidence.  No longer were they newbies that had only gone up against static spawned enemies.  They had been bloodied against a strong opponent and walked away victorious.  Not that they threw caution to the wind, they just didn't have that nervousness that previously existed.

“Follow me and be quiet,” Jude said as he led them through a small alleyway.

Before exiting to another street, Jude used hand signals everyone stopped.  Then he quickly cast a spell that would hide them from view.  They pressed themselves close up against the wall and moments later a gang of demons rushed by chasing after a few people.  Following that, another two also passed chasing after the humans as well.

Jude released the he with to cover their presence.  They then exited the alleyway and made their way north to the ruins of the citadel.

They were pretty close now, but their progress had not gone completely unnoticed.  A single silhouette blocked their path, and when his figure came into view, it was non-other than Guudnash.

Guudnash’s face split into a smile as he spoke to Jude, “I knew you couldn’t resist coming here today.  After all, a ‘hero’ like you would defiantly come.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Jude mumbled.

Apparently, Guudnash had exquisite hearing, “You may have gotten the title Heroic Wizard, but I know that it was nothing but an accident.  You should have thanked Abaud.  If not for him, you would not have conquered the Grimwar Caves.  But no, you had to kill him.  Abaud was like a son to me.  But you killed him!  An ungrateful cosh like you can join him in hell.”

“And how was I supposed to thank him?  Lay down and let him kill me?  I see why you and Abaud became demons.  Your thinking is amazingly twisted; it was only natural that you would become demons.”  Jude rebutted.

“My thoughts are twisted?  Boy, today I will show you that there is only one ‘right’ way in this world.  Might always make's right.  Since I am mightier than you, I will always be right.  But there is one thing that you were right about; you should have laid down at let Abaud kill you.  Because when I get done with you, a thousand deaths from Abaud would have been kinder.”  Guudnash replied.

“Everyone, form up!” Jude shouted. 

The Warriors and Rogues were much more familiar with the , and it was quickly setup.  The Wizards and Healers behind all started to make preparations.

Guudnash also transformed into his demon form.  His skin turned red, horns grew from his head, and all hair fell away.  And in his hands were two Kris Daggers.

It seemed like everyone was prepared at the same time, but Guudnash laughed, “You think that I’m going to fight all of you?  Demonic Skill: !”

An evil light swirled around the area and created a dome that locked everyone in; then the surroundings began slowly fading away.  Heroic Retribution started to disappear as well, but due to Jude’s quick thinking, he reorganized his own party in the raid.

“Regroup quick,” Jude shouted.   The Raid faded away only leaving Jude’s group behind.  Krinn and Wen were up front, Ellie and Nellie were in the middle, with Jude and Cairfray taking up the back.  The group consisted of two Warriors, a Divine Smith, a Healer, and two Wizards.

Guudnash didn’t seem to care that Jude had reformed his party.  He only looked at Jude with a cold light in his eyes.  His anger seethed from all the perceived wrongs that Jude had caused him.  But then he laughed all of the sudden.

“Pathetic,” Guudnash said, “all my troubles because of someone as pathetic as you.  To think that I became a just to kill someone like you.  It truly wasn’t worth it.”

“At least I’m not as pathetic as Abaud.  Even after he was strengthened by becoming a , he was still not a match for me.” Jude coldly replied.

“Ha ha, you think becoming a makes you stronger?” Guudnash sneered.  “That is what we are told, but to be honest, a regular skills are nothing much in my eyes.  I may have gained the levels I desired, but I’m missing out on the skills that would have been unlocked by those levels!  I was both a Shadow Hunter and Ninja before.  You can’t imagine the power that I had.  If I was the same as before, killing you would have been as easy as stepping on a bug.”

The author's tale has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon.

After hearing this, Jude didn’t feel any reassurance.  He was still facing a level 50 , and this time he didn’t have the support of the entire Raid.  His only hope was that a regular didn’t have the health and defense of a .

Guudnash continued his rant, “Lucky for me; I retained some of my old skills.  But it's a shame that I didn’t get the chance to evolve to a higher level demon before fighting you.  I really wanted to see you squirm between my fingers.”

Then Guudnash thought for a bit, “Actually you still will squirm between my fingers! Ha ha!”

His laughter faded eerily into the air as he seemingly faded out of existence.  Everyone put up their guard as they were unsure where he would appear next.  But Jude knew that he would be the first and only target for Guudnash.

Before he could even make any preparations, Guudnash was already at his side.  Guudnash struck out a sinister strike with both Kris blades.

A crisp clash sounded as the blades clashed against his combination.  Jude’s was now at Rank X while was still at Rank III.  He only had time lately to work on his and hadn’t focused enough on the other skills.  But even still the defense held albeit noticeably weakened.

Krinn instantly issued a , “Come here you bastard!”

Now if Guudnash still continued to attack Jude his damage would be severely reduced by the skill until he engaged with Krinn.

Wen and Ellie acted at the same time as well.  Wen used , and Ellie threw her hammer with .  But as the attacks were about to hit Guudnash vanished once again.

Jude summoned forth the spectral swords to stand guard around him as Guudnash would phase in and out of existence trying to hit Jude once again.  Guudnash would appear then strike at Jude and leave again before anyone could even land a blow.  But now that had been activated, and Jude’s swords stood guard very little damage was getting through to Jude.

This continued for a while with no chance of breaking.  Guudnash seemed to be enjoying himself as if he was merely toying with Jude’s group.

Wen was losing her cool, “How the cosh is he doing this?!  Even a maxed out Ninja wouldn’t be able to disappear and reappear this many times!”

A laugh filled the entire space as Guudnash was enjoying the show.

Jude attempted to break the deadlock by rotating his spectral swords around him like a fan.  The spinning swords were like a blender of death. But Guudnash continued to press his attack.  He appeared above Jude as if he’d jumped the swords, a dagger piercing out.  The blade clashed with Jude’s shield, and Guudnash rebounded back over the swords only to disappear once again.

In all the excitement Jude hadn’t noticed the slow signs of corruption on his spectral swords or his shield.  They were slowly being eaten away.

Guudnash had been careful with his words.  As a Rogue, he was already a sneaky person.  He didn’t have the large massive frame, health, and defense like a .  Nor did he have a classification of boss or to boost his health pool.  The only advantage that he had was his level was above Jude’s group.  Jude’s team vs. Guudnash was well matched.

But how could Jude not catch onto all of this?  He was already very sensitive to the corruption that demon kind caused.  Being a Spell Analyst heightened his senses even more when it came to skills causing corruption.  It was time to break this stalemate.

“,” Jude said as his eyes flashed with a purple and blue light.

He could now see Guudnash running around to a different attack position.  To create confusion Guudnash had to attack from all different angles.  But to do that he would have to place himself between Jude's party members occasionally.

Jude kept his swords spinning, making it harder for Guudnash to land a blow and waited for the right time.  After two more hits on Jude’s shield, Guudnash finally placed himself in the worst possible spot.

“,” Jude cast.  A spectral blanket floated in the air just long enough to catch Guudnash.  “Attack now!”

Krinn cleaved with his axe.  Wen pierced out with her spear.  Cairfray lashed out with eight spectral swords. Only Ellie had a hint of a smile as her hammer flew from her hand.  The spectral blanket reminded her of the time she spent with Jude in the Grimwar Caves.  

Only Jude did not attack as he was using to recast and then to rid himself of the corruption that was affecting his skills.

Guudnash had already gotten used to doing what he liked to Jude’s group without any retaliation.  He wasn’t prepared to defend against the combined attack of everyone in the group.  Each and every attack hit him and blasted him out of the surrounding group.

“RRRAAAAHHH!” Guudnash raged.  The level difference mitigated the damage, but that single combined attack was still enough to take a quarter of his health.

“Who is pathetic now?” Jude asked.

“Your parlor tricks can’t defeat me!” Guudnash retorted.

“Parlor tricks?” Jude laughed, “Yes, I guess many wizards would use like a parlor trick.  However, they are the pathetic ones who lack creativity when using magic.  After all, is the weakest magic that I have.  Yet, it is enough to defeat you.”

Guudnash vanished yet again, but Jude simply casts once again covering Guudnash in a spectral blanket.

Now the tables were turned!

Krinn and Wen both out slashing and piercing.  Guudnash parried both attacks and struck Krinn with a wound.  Nellie began chanting her healing spell while Cairfray and Jude used spectral swords to strike out and a beam of light struck down like a pillar from Ellie’s skill.

Jude wasn’t limited to striking out with just the spectral swords, he also cast to reinforce the attack.

Guudnash was good enough to parry both Krinn and Wen continuously, but when the sixteen spectral swords came into play despair struck his heart.

The beam of light was already weakening his demonic nature along with the constant trickle of health it pulled away as well.  Cairfray’s spectral swords struck out a hard blow, but when Jude’s swords landed, they all shined with the light of as well!

Guudnash could only grunt as he was blasted away yet again.  But as he was reorientation himself the three magic missiles then exploded into his face!

Jude’s group didn’t give Guudnash any time to breathe.  Now Ellie’s hammer was flying through the air, it expanded in size and was like a charging bull, unstoppable.

Once again Guudnash was slammed away.  This time he was slammed into the wall of his own domain that he created with .

The distance between him and Jude’s group was now wide.  The worst case scenario for someone with his skills.  Despair and hatred caused anguish to his soul.  Guudnash had never fully given himself over to his demon side.  His earlier words were a trick to fool Jude into being corrupted, yet they also contained a truth.  Once he fully released his mortality and embraced his demonic self, he would no longer have the skills he once had.  He would fully be a demon.

Finally, he released his last vestiges of humanity.  What did he have left?  If this continued, he would die.  He may as well fully embrace the demonic side.  Part of him wondered if he would still have his thoughts or if he would be like a spawned creature with no will of his own.

A baleful light burst up from the ground around Guudnash.  The wail of tormented souls rose up into the air.  Blood red light began to converge on Guudnash as his body underwent a metamorphosis.

Jude and his party were locked in place.  None of them could move or interrupt this process.  Not even the spectral swords could interfere as they were forcibly dispelled by the power of Guudnash’s transformation.

Guudnash was already hard to deal with, but if he was becoming even more powerful, how would Jude and his group deal with it?

It was then, by Jude’s side, that a familiar person appeared.

Feyrath looked over at Jude as he placed a gentle hand on Jude’s shoulder, “Don’t worry.  I can at least break this for you.  That way your whole raid will be able to face this monster together.”

Jude was surprised.  He had not expected to meet the old man who helped him once in learning how to advance skills.  Feyrath was an old man who seemed weak, and even his name meant ‘weak.'  Yet right now Jude had the utmost confidence in this old man.  Somehow Feyrath seemed reliable.

“After he transforms,” Feyrath continued, “he won’t be able to use again as he will be considered a boss level character.  If he does, it will envelop your entire raid.”

Jude quickly understood Feyrath’s meaning.  If Feyrath hadn’t shown up, Jude and his friend would have been stuck in this realm alone against a raid level boss.  He was grateful, but due to him being unable to move, he couldn’t say a word and could only stare at the transformation of Guudnash.

Guudnash expanded in size reaching three meters in height.  His feet crunched and cracked as each one transformed into hooves.  His legs broke and reformed into the shape of the hind legs of animals.  His arms extended nearly reaching the ground while he was hunched over.  The horns on his head grew resplendent, piercing outwards in a spiral.  At the end, his red skin turned a shade darker, and his presence made the air feel putrid.

Guudnash was now a .

When the process ended, Feyrath stamped his staff on the ground once.  The realm created by slowly dissipated as the town and Heroic Retribution once again came into view.

They were now in their respective places like before.  Guudnash was blocking the path, and Heroic Retribution was faced before it.

Slowly Guudnash raised his head, like one waking from sleep.  His eyes opened, and a glint of fiery anger could be seen within.  A leisurely laugh rumbled forth from the .

“You are all about to die,” it said with a voice like rocks grinding against each other.  The sound so thick, it rumbled the hearts of all who heard it.