The Samurai coughed up blood.

Nothing beat the satisfaction of landing the double damage of [Sneak Attack]. And, with dual-wielded daggers, I quadrupled the benefit to boot.

I also enjoyed the fifty percent boon to speed and damage granted by Paz’s [Draconic Aura]. All in all, it made for a pretty successful ambush.

“You have a dangerous ability, elf,” the Samurai said, staggering forward. “A dangerous ability, indeed. Forget about the dungeon heart. That affinity of yours would bring even more enemies.”

I didn’t care for idle discussion. I needed to finish this while we held the upper hand. Even equipped with all my benefits, I had only managed to shave about twenty percent of his health.

I commanded [Silhouette] to attack in tandem with me.

“[Strength before Death],” the Samurai whispered.

The atmosphere on the battlefield changed.

The Samurai moved much faster than he did before, blurring past my tendrils. He vaulted over my head and kicked me into [Silhouette]’s waiting arms.

Again, I’d ordered [Silhouette] to stagger its attacks, and it did so with gusto. The second barrage punched through the Samurai’s HP.

He grunted at the damage taken and knocked the tendrils aside. And then, despite being wounded and off-kilter, he parried a blow from Paz.

I dashed in from the opposite side, ready to compound his problems.

His katana glowed.

A [Riposte] to end all others that had come before it swept my knives aside and into Paz’s gut. Paz cried out in pain. My daggers tore through the last of his health and into his flesh, but the Samurai wasn’t done. He sheathed his sword . . .

No!

I slammed my feet into Paz’s chest in a bid to throw us both in opposite directions. If my guess was right, the Samurai was about to unleash his long-range technique . . .

Sadly, it had only been a feint.

I succeeded in getting Paz to safety but couldn’t defend myself against the Samurai’s sheathed strike. It knocked me into the side of a building with enough force to bury me in the wall.

[Silhouette] rose to protect me. But, Nicola responded a second faster.

She fired her pitch-black [Eldritch Beam], and the night turned darker by dint of the dreadful wails that emanated from the attack.

We had planned for this moment, of course. If I failed to take advantage of [Riposte]’s cooldown, [Eldritch Beam] was next on the cards.

It dealt both force and mind damage: Two types that the Samurai couldn’t defend against.

The Samurai must have known this too because he employed a different tactic. He cut the air from top to bottom in a seamless strike, causing a wave that traveled across the alley.

That wave met [Eldritch Beam] head-on and parted it in separate directions. My jaw dropped in shock.

The wailing that accompanied the beam also ceased, as though the spirits of the damned watched in disbelief. The severed beam continued left and right in two halves, destroying multiple warehouses.

But, the flying slash did not stop. It traveled toward Nicola, intent on taking her head. She ducked in time and lost the top part of her hat.

Paz rushed at the Samurai barehanded, all traces of his cool-headedness gone. His right leg suffered for it, sawn at the thigh. It flopped on the ground in a macabre dance, painting the alley in blood.

A lesser man would have fainted from the pain, but Paz was made of sterner stuff than that. He clamped onto the Samurai’s torso with his three remaining limbs and screamed at Nicola. “Now, dammit!”

A gigantic magic sigil covered the ground. All of the mana that Nicola had been preparing since the start of the fight surged into her most devastating ability.

The [Bloom of Crimson Desire], powered by Eros, was larger than any version of it she had ever cast before. The petal-like explosion of tentacles completely engulfed the two fighters, sentencing Paz to death and leaving the Samurai’s fate ambiguous.

For the second stage of the spell, the tentacles attacked all enemies within its reach, but there was nothing left to fight.

A [System] notification flashed:

You have participated in the killing of Skirmisher LVL 27.

A suitable amount of XP has been allocated per your contribution.

The [System] didn’t announce the death of the Samurai, which meant he lived even though he couldn’t be found. I put myself into the Samurai’s head and tried to figure out his next course of action.

A big attack like the [Bloom of Crimson Desire] would cause his attention to shift to Nicola. She had her [Eldritch Eyeball] out, however, which warned her of surprise attacks. I was also vulnerable enough to be the next target. Gotta remedy that.

I pried myself out of the wall and summoned a veil of shadows. The conversation between Paz and the Samurai played in my mind:

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Did it ever occur to you . . . that I allowed myself to be found?”

That was probably a simple brag unless . . . the bastard was just like me! There were many ways for rankers to avoid detection, and if he possessed anything as good as [Dark Stalker] in his arsenal, then Nicola—!

I ran atop the crimson tentacles and directed [Silhouette] to lengthen ahead of my shadow. It reached Nicola at about the same time that the Samurai appeared behind her.

[Eldritch Eyeball] warned her at that moment because she raised her staff, but with Perception like hers, she couldn’t possibly react in time.

[Fear Aura].

My signature move spread throughout the alley, joining the night. It didn’t have the backing of a ton of Eros behind it which caused it to fail in inflicting [Dismay]. Nevertheless, [Fear Aura] caused the Samurai to falter. And, that was enough.

[Silhouette] closed the distance at that moment, but rather than attack and risk a [Riposte], the tendrils gathered Nicola and swept her out of the Samurai’s path.

I emerged from [Dark Stalker], blades spinning in hand. Bastard!

The Samurai parried my blows. He had taken damage from Nicola’s mega spell, enough to reduce his health to thirty percent. Victory was not so far beyond reach now . . . an idea I rid myself of within the next two seconds of our exchange.

The buff the Samurai had activated earlier was still in place. Meanwhile, I had lost the boon from [Draconic Aura]. A single swing from his sword left my arms shaking from the parry, and . . . fuck it . . . I vanished into [Stealth]. Frontal attacks were not my forte, no thanks to [Knife-fighting].

Despite [Stealth], the Samurai continued his attacks with uncanny precision. [Dark Stalker] went on cooldown, leaving me to survive on pure skill alone. I dodged a nasty slash that cost me a sliver of health. Another blow glanced off my side.

A third blow landed helplessly against [Silhouette], just in time for the resurrected Paz to rejoin the melee. Nicola fired a second [Eldritch Beam] at that point, leaving the Samurai beset on three sides with nowhere to run.

In a feat of ingenuity, the bloody swordsman ducked around Paz and unleashed a [Riposte] that diverted [Silhouette] into the incoming beam.

The resulting collision sent all three of us skidding—or skipping in my case—along the ground.

“Skirmisher,” the Samurai said, “I knew you lived regardless of the [System] notification, but it amazes me to see that technique in action again. Retribution is one hell of an affinity.”

“Samurai,” Paz said and righted himself. He had done well to cling onto his spear, but his newly refreshed HP had taken a small dent. He leveled his weapon at the Samurai. “This ends now.”

“On that, we agree.”

“Cocky. Then again, you can’t seem to help it.”

The Samurai glared at his groin and spat on the ground. “Again with the crappy jokes. This has gone on far too long.”

I couldn’t agree more.

We had entered the final stage of our plan, after failing to end the battle with three surprise attacks. Everything boiled down to Paz’s [Retaliate] now, as long as it could hit.

The Samurai’s flying slash had proven able to stop force damage. One person between Nicola and I would need to lure out his attack.

I caught her eye and communicated my intent.

“No!” Paz said before we could begin. “Stay out of this, you two. I’ll finish it in one strike.”

The Samurai clutched his hat. “You’re either crazy or you’re speaking the truth. Which is it?”

“Guess.” Paz took a step forward. “I have faced your ultimate technique and survived. It is time you faced mine.”

“Um, Paz,” I said, “I don’t think we should be announcing our plans to the enemy.”

“Doesn’t matter. Either he dies with this or I do.”

He activated [Overpower] and [Draconic Aura], boosting his strength, speed, damage, and defense. His eyes glowed a deep red, lending him a feral look. His bruised skin pulsed with veins that stood out against the red hue of his flesh.

Earlier bravado aside, the Samurai sensed that Paz was not bluffing. He shifted warily and adjusted his stance.

A pale light gleamed at the tip of Paz’s spear and intensified one second before he blurred from sight. The Samurai waited for his attack, and . . .

[Riposte].

Paz’s spear plunged into the ground. A crushing blow struck his shoulder, forcing him to his knees.

The Samurai blinked in disbelief. “That was it?”

Paz struggled to rise. He didn’t get a chance to, however, because the Samurai swung at his neck. Paz raised a bare fist to intercept the strike.

It wouldn’t be enough . . .

A blinding flash ignited at the point of contact between blade and arm, launching the Samurai . . . his katana . . . and two entire warehouses behind him into the air.

The flash burned hot enough to occlude my vision and brighten the night. When it receded, a wide crater stood where the Samurai had been. The ground lay scorched as though beneath great heat. All of the damage Paz had taken so far had been reflected at our enemy two-freaking-fold.

Paz chuckled and rose to his feet. “How’s that for [Retaliate]? I wasn’t sure it would work, but I suspected a parry would qualify as a hit. Way easier to trigger that way.”

I gaped at him, then at the aftermath of the technique. Screams resounded in the distance, most likely from passersby who had just witnessed the eruption.

“That was . . .” I struggled with the words. “Jeez, Paz. Did you kill him?”

Paz frowned at a spot in the air. “No [System] notifications. But, I can’t imagine he’d survive for much longer. He should have lost a limb or two after that. And, you won’t find a healer with [Regenerate] around these parts.”

“So, we’ve won?” Nicola said, collapsing to the ground.

“No! We’re better served searching the direction he flew off in, just in case.”

“Heralds,” Nicola said and cradled her ruined hat. “My legs aren’t responding to my commands. I don’t think I want to be in another fight that intense.”

I shared her sentiments. Without a notification from the [System], we couldn’t confirm our victory. Yet, we had achieved an impossible feat here all the same.

The Samurai was strong enough to make Byron seem like a high school bully. Byron could have grown more powerful if he lived long enough to reach level 40. Too bad he rotted now in the Labyrinth.

Paz wandered off in the direction of the attack, unwilling to relax until he had laid the issue to rest. Nicola and I joined the search, keeping our eyes peeled. Again, the Samurai had disappeared without any tracks, though we did find a large helping of blood.

After thirty minutes of relentless searching, we finally called it a night.

“I think I need a drink,” I said and yawned into my palm.

“Food too,” Paz chirped.

“And, comfort,” Nicola said. “I’ve lost all my Eros.” She frowned at our wary glances. “What? I didn’t say I needed to do the comforting. Someone in my vicinity better get hot and steamy, however, or it’s gonna be a difficult night.”

“Drunk night at the Cult, then?” Paz suggested. “That should provide all of our needs.”

“I’m up for it,” Nicola said.

I didn’t disapprove.

We strolled through the streets with linked arms, laughing at the top of our voices.

It was the most fun I had enjoyed in a while: a fitting end to my last night in Skeelie.

Dreadwood and the goblin horde awaited tomorrow. But for now, I had some peace.