The arena was torn up.

The instruments above had gone silent, save for one lute, that held a single, low note.

The Ringleader was waiting patiently.

Maria glared at him. She downed three of her healing and mana potions, completely refilling her stats. Her pain and soreness faded. She then drank another Magic Power Potion, and an Ironskin Potion.

“We can do this,” Chariot said, downing an Endurance, Ironskin, Thorns, and Titan potion.

“We don’t have a choice,” Tanalia said as she drank an Archery, Thorns, and Swiftness potion. “Either we walk out of here, or he does.”

Maria nodded and glared at the lengthy man. He wasn’t a boss like the monster, his health bar didn’t appear at the top of Maria’s vision. She knew though that whatever it was was large. his arms stretched out wide as if he were embracing the suns light. In a flash, a pair of dual weapons materialized in The Ringleader's hands. Each weapon featured a circular disk with central handles, adorned with four double-edged blades. The instruments floating above, picked up in tune, playing an eerie, fast-paced melody.

Maria gulped.

“It’s showtime!” The Ringleader hurled the disced weapons at the trio. Maria dodged to the side as one narrowly cut her. Chariot blocked the other, the weapon bouncing off her shield and returning to the Ringleader like boomerangs. His fingers twirled around the handles, causing the weapons to spin so fast that the individual blades merged into a blur.

Tanalia dashed around the area and fired a {Homing Shot}. The glowing luminescent arrow beelined for the Ringleader. He jumped aside, and the arrow flew past him. It pivoted sharply and targeted him again. There was no attempt to dodge it. The arrow struck his head, and he burst into a flurry of playing cards.

Maria looked around. “Where is he?”

Chariot glanced up, and warned the other two to stay on guard. Playing cards were raining from the ceiling. They fluttered, swayed, and danced freely.

Tanalia kept her head on a swivel, with an arrow notched. Another gust of wind picked up the cards and started swirling them around the arena in the vortex. As they zipped by the stone walls, they scraped them, cutting into the stone. Slowly, the ring of cards started shrinking, converging closer and closer to the center of the arena. Maria backed away as they got close to her. She hurried to the middle with Chariot and Tanalia.

The cards grew closer.

“Everyone get close to me,” Maria said. She pulled out one of her inferno potions, and gulped it down. The taste singed her tongue. A swirlign ring of fire encircled her, and subsequently, the trio. As the vortex of cards grew closer, they ignited, and burnt up instantly.

The Ringleader's voice echoed around them. “Clever, clever.”

He fell from the sky.

The trio dispersed before he could land on them. The moment he smashed into the ground, a glowing purple ripple of energy shot out. Maria and Tanalia were able to leap over it, but it caught Chariot. She was struck upwards and started glowing purple. The knight was left floating in the air.

The Ringleader laughed and twirled his finger. Chariot was whirled around. With one swift motion, the Ringleader flung Chariot across the arena and slammed her into Tanalia. The two crashed into the wall.

Maria whipped her Serpent Blade at the Ringleader. He ducked, slid, and dove out of the way of each strike, playfully laughing.

“I’m sure you’ll get the hang of that toy eventually,” he teased. “Where’s that scepter of yours? I enjoyed playing with it last time.”

“You’re looking at it,” Maria said. She reverted her weapon into a straight sword.

“Ah, Hargrim gave it a makeover as well?”

“I did.”

“You?” The Ringleader chuckled. “Oh… what a plot twist this is. That’s why you went to him. That’s our father's gift to you. You can enchant just like that pitiful excuse for a dwarf. A power quite handy, though not for this plight, unlike father's gift to me which helps me fight.” He sent forth a tideway of purple energy. There was no way for Maria to dodge it. She was swept up in the current and ascended skywards. It was just like with the Oracle. All she needed to do was drink a gravity potion. Before she had the chance to, she was flung to the ground and slammed headfirst into the stone.

Her vision wavered. Her head throbbed. Blood dribbled down past her eye. Everything was blurry. Everything was… it hurt. Maria blinked a few times, trying to regain her composure. As her vision started to clear, she could make out Chariot and Tanalia keeping the Ringleader occupied. The Ringleader’s attacks were relentless. Chariot couldn’t keep up. She blocked and parried what she could, but the duel weapons made it difficult for her to block the flurry of strikes. Her shield was starting to glow.

Maria slowly rose back to her feet. Her HP had dropped to {1706/2034}.

Tanalia was running along the bleachers, firing arrows at the Ringleader from different directions, but each attack missed. The Ringleader was flexible enough to contort his body to avoid Tanalia’s attacks, while simultaneously dueling Chariot. Soon, he managed to knock her to the ground. He spun around to face Tanalia.

“Little elf, little elf, come down from atop that shelf.” The Ringleader hurled his disc blades up at Tanalia. She parried the first but was struck by the second. She stumbled as her leg was nicked, blood gushing down her thigh. Before the discs could return to the Ringleader’s hands, Maria cast {Firebolt}.

The Ringleader dodged aside and missed catching his weapons. They dug into the stone as if it were dirt. “Oh, I’m glad you’re awake. I was starting to think this performance was getting boring.” Glypths appeared ahead of him, each one elevated like steps. He ran up them, and along the wall of the arena as they appeared beneath his feet. Maria cast {Firebolt} again, trying to lead her shot. He was too fast. The Ringleader pushed off the wall and tackled Maria with force. He pirouetted and slammed her into the ground. She groaned, and tried swinging her sword. He caught the blade in her hand and chuckled.

“Get off of her!” Chariot yelled. She charged and swung for the madman. Again, he narrowly dodged her attack, leaping away.

Maria slowly got back to her feet.

Tanalia came up behind the Ringleader.

The trio surrounded him.

Maria swung her whip horizontally, but the Ringleader simply ducked forward as if taking a graceful bow. He immediately spun on his heel and brought up his disc blade to parry Chariot as she ran up behind him. She swung relentlessly, but he was able to keep up. Tanalia came in from the side and swung both of her blades down onto him. The Ringleader simply brought up his second disced weapon and blocked both of her swords with the opposing blades on his weapon.

“A valient—”

Tanalia’s knife flew from its sheath and struck his gut. He doubled over, playing off the injury by pirouetting out of the way of Chariot and Tanalia’s follow-up attacks. He ripped the dagger from his gut, and grunted. Blood spurted from the wound, soaking his checkered outfit in blood.

“How long has it been since someone made me bleed?” he said slowly.

Maria could tell just by the tone of his voice that he was smiling beneath his mask.

The Ringleader tossed Tanalia’s dagger aside, but before he could do anything, an entanglement of vines wrapped around his ankles, and grew up his legs. Several more bound his wrists, and torso. He strained, pulling at the binds as the thorns dug into him.

“Maria!” Chariot yelled, keeping her sword aimed at him. “Hit him now!”

Maria wound her arm back and cast {Demons Fury}. The flaming skull flew toward the Ringleader, sparking a trail of fire in its wake. It struck him, causing an explosion to shake the arena. Chariot’s binds kept him pinned, forced to take the blast. They shriveled up in the flames. Chariot cast {Etherial Greatsword}. Her blade started to glow bright blue. It extended as an etherial blade took over, taking the form of an overly large sword. She swung the weapon like a bat, striking the Ringleader in the back before he could escape, and sent him flying across the arena. Tanalia fired {Homing Shot}, and struck him in the chest midair, causing him to crash violently into the wall. The stone cracked under his weight.

Maira kept her guard up as he staggered to his feet. He coughed under his mask. Blood was seeping out under his chin. Yet still, his health bar had hardly been chipped away at.

Chariot ran up and didn’t let up on her relentless attacks. The Ringleader regained his composure. He danced around, pirouetting and twirling with his weapons as he vigorously tried to damage Chariot. She blocked each strike with her shield. He hit hard, and it caused her to recoil with each strike. Her shield was glowing brighter and brighter. Tanalia’s dagger zipped across the arena, but mid-attack, the Ringleader pirouetted, smacking the dagger away with the tip of his weapon before spinning back around to deliver a hard kick to Chariot's shield. She lost her footing and tumbled back across the ground. Maria cast {Firebolt} to try and strike him, but he somersaulted over the spell and hurled both his disced weapons at Tanalia. They twirled, striking her, and pinning her to the wall. The 90-degree angle of the blades embedded into the stone kept her wrists firmly pinned to the wall. If she even tried resisting the restraints, she would slit them.

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The Ringleader craned his neck to face Maria and slowly turned to fully face her. “It’s just me and you now little sister.” He held his arms out, tauntingly. They were wobbling. He was growing weak. Maria kept her distance.

He threw his arms forward, and a hail of playing cards came flying at her. Maria cast {Inferno}, incinerating the cards to ash before they could strike her. It only lasted for a few seconds, but the moment the barrage ended, Maria cast {Fire Storm}. Small volcanic piles burst from the stone ground and spewed fire around the Ringleader at random. He flinched to the side as his arm was caught in a blast. Flames traveled up his arm. He flailed it, putting the fire out, and growling beneath his mask. He danced around the fire, but it was impossible to avoid. The fire caught him again, and again, chipping away more and more at his health bar.

But it wasn’t enough.

Maria could see his health bar above his head as clear as day. They had hardly done anything. The Ringleader escaped the firestorm and dashed at Maria. She swung her sword defensively, but the ringleader hopped up onto a series of glyphs that appeared overhead Maria. He dodged the attack and delivered a hard blow to the side of Maria’s head. She fell back, her health severely plummeting. Her vision was flashing red.

{HP 455/2034}.

The Ringleader squeezed Maria’s neck and lifted her effortlessly. She gasped, grabbing at his arm and desperately trying to pull away his fingers. They had an iron grip, and the tighter he squeezed, the more her throat. The Ringleader laughed. “I must say you gave a valiant effort. It’s been some time since anyone has given me such a fun fight.” He tightened his grip. Maria gasped for air. “But we really should put an end to this. If I don’t you three will be a persistent thorn in my side.”

Maria gagged. Her vision was starting to darken. It was washed with splots. His grip was too strong. She kicked, and flailed, desperately wheezing for air. She needed to do something.

The Ringleader wound his fist back.

Maria wheezed her last breath. “Harder.”

His grip lessened. The Ringmaster's head tilted slightly. “What did you say?”

Maria took in as deep a breath as she could. “Harder.”

She fell.

Maria gasped for air, coughing and choking violently as the Ringleader stood over her.

“What?”

“If you’re… going to… choak me… choke me… harder…” Maria kicked at the ringleader's knee. A loud snap cracked the air, and he stumbled forward. As he reached out to catch himself, Tanalia’s dagger zipped around, and up into his chest. The force knocked him back to his feet. Chariot ran up. Her shield was glowing. The warrior let out a loud war cry, before bashing the Ringleader.

A blinding light overtook Maria, and a powerful force threw her across the ground. She rolled and scraped her face against the stone as she tumbled before crashing hard into the wall. The instruments circling above all stopped and crashed down into the arena. Several of the lutes shattered into wooden splinters.

Maria gasped desperately. She couldn’t breathe. Her health had dropped to {235/2034}.

Chariot hurried over to help her. “Maria, you need to drink this!” Chariot tried to force-feed her a healing potion. Maria drank what little she could. She choked and coughed some of it up. Her windpipes were crushed. What little of the potion she did drink started doing some work, healing her enough to keep drinking.

Tanalia used her dagger to pry the Ringleader's weapons off of her, then hurried over to the duo. She drew her swords, and stood over them, facing the Ringleader while Chariot cared for Maria.

The Ringleader was on all fours, his arms wobbling. Blood gushed from beneath his mask. Fragments of it lay scattered beneath him. He was breathing heavily, and the health bar above his head had completely plummeted. He only had a fraction of his health left. “What have you done…”

Maria sat up, gulping more of the potion. Her health shot back up to {1052/2034}.

As the Ringleader slowly looked back up at the trio, a larger piece of his mask broke off. The ceramic shattered on the floor.

Maria’s eyes widened.

There was nothing.

Beneath the ringleader mask, there was nothing but a black void. There was a terrible snarling noise. His fingers were lengthening, and cracking as they curled into clawed paws. Maria winced as each bone popped and cracked. His shoulders were hunching, and his legs snapped inwards.

“What the hell?” Maria muttered. His body had turned into something fleshy, and bulging.

Chariot helped Maria back to her feet.

“I don’t like this,” Tanalia said.

“Neither do I,” Chariot said.

“You fools…” The Ringleader said. His voice was deep and growly. It didn’t look like he had a mouth though. “You have no idea what you’ve done.”

“Yeah, we broke your stupid mask,” Maria said, coughing. “Is the poor clown upset?”

The Ringleader's claws scraped against the stone.

Tanalia dashed toward the Ringleader and viciously slashed at him. He brought up his meaty arms to defend himself. His skin was swiftly cut. Regardless, he grabbed both of Tanalia’s swords. As the blades dug into his palms, he growled and kept Tanalia pinned in place before kicking her away. She dropped her weapons, and the Ringleader tossed them aside, leaving behind a pool of blood.

Chariot slowly approached the Ringleader. Maria cast {Firebolt} from behind, but the man dodged aside. Amid his dodge, Chariot ran up to him and ensnared him in her vines. It was futile. He broke free instantly and slashed at Chariot as she skidded to a halt. His claws scraped her obsidian shield. Before she could react, he had grabbed it and swiped Chariot upside the head. She collapsed to the floor and was crushed as he stomped against her back. Her HP plummeted. Maria transformed her Serpent Blade back into a whip and swung at the Ringleader. She struck his side, leaving behind a scorched scar. He turned and roared, marching menacingly over to her.

“Little witch, little witch. Get over here so I can rip out your intestines and hang you from them!”

Maria swung her sword, but the Ringleader effortlessly caught her blade in his palm. Blood gushed from his wound, but he held it firm regardless. Just as he pulled back his spare claw to swipe, Maria cast {Inferno}, blasting the Ringleader at point black with the scorching heat. He stumbled away, flailing as the fire wrapped around him like tendrils.

Maria checked her mana. She was at {299/549}. Maria sighed and cracked her neck. Just as the Ringleader pats out the flames, and is left standing scorched, Maria cast {Fireball}. The explosion sent him tumbling across the Arena. Just as he rose, Maria cast {Wall of Flames}. The towering wall of scorching heat rose behind him. He moved away from it, only to be struck by {Demon Fury}. The blast sent him through the wall of flames, scorching him yet again. The ringleader's health was draining fast as the fire consumed him. He roared in pain as his clothes burnt away, and left him naked. Maria could only watch as his skin, as black as a shadow, was burnt away, turning bright pink. Maria cast {Firebolt}, striking his leg, and knocking him to the ground. He staggered, weakly trying to get back on his feet. Maria cast {Fireball}, then {Firebolt}, and {Demons Fury}. Each attack only further scorched him, leaving his shadow skin to shrivel and melt off his bones. As the simultaneous explosions sent him flying once again, Maria cast {Fire Rune} below where he landed. The final explosion sent him skyward, twirling like a ragdoll through the air before he landed in the middle of the arena. Fire ate away at his right ankle and stomach.

Maria was panting, sweat drenching her face. Her clothes stuck to her skin as she slowly approached, keeping her sword at the ready.

The Ringleader slowly got up.

“Oh, you have to be kidding me.”

His health bar still hadn’t drained. It was close, so very close. Maria could just barely see a hair of health left.

The Ringleader chuckled with a hoarse, tired voice. Standing before Maria naked, his skin was burnt beyond relief. Maria cringled looking at it. There was nothing she could compare it to. “What a… good show…” he said. “You have… a little bit of him… inside you… after all…”

Maria tensed up. The Ringleader lunched forward with one more desperate attack. Maria dodged aside from his swipe and screamed as she swung her sword. His arm came clean off. The Ringleader stumbled back, growling as he grabbed the stub of his arm with his wounded palm. Blood leaked from the stub like a broken water hose. He fell back, unable to stand anymore.

Maria took a few more careful steps towards the Ringleader. Her eyes were wide, staring down at his body. His health was gone. Slowly, he craned his neck to face her. There was a disgusting sound that Maria couldn’t even describe.

“She’ll come for you. She’ll smell your scent on me… and she’ll come for you. There’s no hiding from her…”

The Ringleader went limp.

Name: Maria Marigold

Lvl: 30 >> 35

HP: 1052/2034 >> 1102/2367

MP: 64/549 >> 74/640

Total Defense: 148

Total Attack: 83.1

Maria was still. Her hands were shaking. A nervous breath escaped her lips. She did it…

Chariot slowly limped over, her armor clinking. She looked breathless, as did Tanalia. The three gathered around the ringleader's corpse and watched as the fire ate away at him. Not one of them said a word.

Maria knelt weakly and tapped on his burnt corpse. A window popped up before her. His inventory. There was a lot of stuff in it. Outfits, loot, miscellaneous things. Scrolling through more of it, Maria found a journal. “We should take all of it.”

“I normally wouldn’t condone robbing anyone,” Chariot said. “But…”

“He’s dead,” Tanalia said.

“We don’t know what he has in his inventory,” Maria said. “We can take all of it, and turn it into the guild so they can look it over. If he has anything related to the demon king's army, then it’s worth looking into.” Maria took as much from his inventory as she could. In a matter of time, her entire inventory was nearly stuffed. She felt a sudden, heavyweight fall upon her like she was carrying a sack of bricks on her back. Chariot and Tanalia joined in, taking what they could. There were weapons, armor pieces, and maps, and finally, Maria found them. A magnificent golden cube materialized in her grasp, ornate, and adorned with intricate patterns and symbols meticulously chiseled into its structure.

“About time,” Tanalia said.

Maria breathed a sigh of relief, keeping it clenched in her hands. “Yeah… about time.” She returned it to her inventory.

“Oh, I have these too.” Tanalia tossed down the ringleader's weapons beside his corpse. The four-pronged disc blades rattled against the stone.

Maria shuddered looking at them. She took one in her hand. They were surprisingly light. “We’ll take these too.”

A loud slamming noise traveled through the arena. Maria spun around to see the doors swing open. Irra, Torrin, and Yarina came marching in.

“Maria!” Irra yelled.

“We’re fine!”

The rival party approached, slowing down as they caught sight of the ringleader's corpse.

“This the bastard?” Yarina asked. She was bloodied, practically drenched. So were Torrin and Irra. the entire party looked like they had bathed in blood.

Maria nodded. “Yeah.” She chuckled softly. “We got him.”

Irra smirked. “Good riddance. One less monster in the world then.”

“I couldn’t agree more,” Chariot said.

“Are you three alright?” Maria asked.

“We’re fine,” Torrin said. “It was plenty of fun. Haven’t had a rush like that in ages.”

“At least someone had fun,” Irra said. “That was exhausting, but nothing we couldn’t handle. Demons aren’t too strong. At least the grunts aren’t.”

“You’re lucky you only had to deal with grunts,” Chariot said.

“So… what now?” Yarina asked.

Maria glanced back at the ringleader's corpse. She peeled the shattered fragment of his mask from his empty face and held it firmly. “We return to Oxfell.”