Grace knew the fire would be roasting her alive if she had been any slower.

Max shouted as the flames came for them, and she took off, breaking to the right side and running along the stone benches.

Max had gone the other way, and orange light flooded the inside of the temple as a gout of flames continued to stream from the tips of their staffs after them.

Reaching into her stone bag as she ran along the edge of the temple, Grace grabbed a stone with her left hand and threw it awkwardly at the acolyte, trying to kill her.

The throw lacked the power of most, and her aim wasn’t what she had hoped for, but it struck the man in his right shoulder, causing him to twist away from her and the stream of fire to end.

Not waiting, Grace planted her foot and charged. She sprinted toward the man, grabbing another rock.

The acolyte spun around, using the momentum of her stone to lower his staff again in her direction, but this time, she had the angle and momentum she wanted, sending the rock right at his chest.

Somehow, the man managed to react in time. His staff turned to block the stone, but the force had been more than he had believed it would be. It knocked his weapon back, smacking him in the face, breaking his own nose from the blow.

Never slowing down, Grace was barreling toward the man when a flash of light from where the woman was caught her eye.

The man was covered in a green glow and recovered instantly, eyes glaring at her and his staff moving to point right at her as she came. His staff was already on fire.

Ten yards separated the two of them, and at this distance and angle, Grace couldn’t dodge him like she had when further away.

Her mind worked with a speed that told her the only choice she had.

A flash of metal covered the gap in a heartbeat, impaling the acolyte's chest and causing the staff to go dark.

Without a weapon, Grace knew time wasn’t on her side, noticing the acolyte Max had drawn was still sending waves of flame at a stone pillar she knew her mentor had to be hiding behind.

This is why I do this!

Max was family, and now he was in danger of dying, and Grace couldn’t bring herself to lose anyone else. She dropped down from the bench she had been running on, grabbed the massive stone object in her hand, and sent it flying at the last acolyte.

The force it struck with was more than she had expected, creating a mist of red where the stone tore the top third of the acolyte’s body from its torso. The bottom half was still standing for a moment, and the light in the room returned to normal as the flames vanished.

A growl like an animal came from the shadows where the priestess was hiding, darkness seeming to exude from her presence.

Grace continued sprinting toward the first acolyte, grabbing her sword and quickly cutting off his head, making sure no possible skill could be used to heal him again.

The smell of burnt flesh filled her nostrils, and Grace began to step to the side, keeping her eyes on the woman at the base of the massive fifteen-foot statue. She hadn’t noticed it before, but it looked like a man, carved in his prime. Every muscle seemed unbelievably perfect and so lifelike.

Grace’s eyes glimpsed up at the top where a frown was etched into the stone face, but above the frown, above a perfect nose, were two eyes that appeared to be watching her.

“Max!” Grace shouted as she got near the pillar. “Talk to me!”

Labored breaths came from behind, and she could smell the burnt flesh, realizing that Max hadn’t made it in time to avoid the fire when it first came.

Going around to the other side, Grace almost gagged, seeing her friend, her mentor, and her family burnt how he was. One-half of his face was gone, skin charred beyond all recognition, and everywhere else, smoke rose from where his clothes had been melted and burnt into his flesh.

He wheezed, unable to talk or say a word. Grace didn’t even know how he was still alive.

Without waiting, Grace put her hand against Max.

[Heal]

The glow of light washed over her friend, and his skin began to crack. Pieces began to fall to the ground, and in moments, new flesh appeared under it, alive and radiant.

Max’s breathing returned to normal, and he pushed himself upright against the pillar, using his hands to break and tear the burnt clothes, soon topless before her without a single mark on his arms or chest. Even the hair on his head and arms began to grow back, his eyes watching her, tears forming in them.

His lips trembled, and Max winced.

“I wish you wouldn’t have done that,” he whispered before grabbing her and giving her a quick hug.

“What?! Why not?!” Grace asked, confused and staring at him before the sound of wind assaulted her ears.

“She will do far worse… I had hoped to be able to stop her, and you will have that, but now…” Max swallowed whatever he was about to say, choking on his grief.

Squeezing her shoulder, Max smiled.

“Forgive me for what comes next. There isn’t another way.”

Grace started to speak, but Max put his hand in her face, standing on his own two feet and filling his lungs with air.

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“BALETHEM! I am the last! May you be cursed if you cannot take me! Rahumstaph help me to strike down our enemy one last time!”

The priestess let out a howl of terror and horror, and the temple went absolutely dark, each candle going out completely. A breath passed, and then every candle erupted into a roaring flame of fire.

Grace saw Max shaking. His body was practically humming with power. His eyes were filled with a light she had never seen before, and a presence started to push down on her, wanting her to drop to her knees.

A red screen appeared, and Grace blinked rapidly over and over as she saw the words on it.

*****

Three quests pending

—

Kill The Last Emmisary of Rahumstaph: A challenge has been made, and you must answer it. Kill the last follower of Rahumstaph.

Reward: Multiple Stats Gained

Failure: Death for you and everyone you know

*****

No matter how many times she blinked, Grace knew what the quest was and what it meant.

Max was breathing rapidly, his body glistening in the light. It was changing as she watched. No longer a man who was weathered and round but instead replaced with a man covered who could rival the stone statue in the temple. Max’s body was transformed into the most muscular man Grace had ever seen or could imagine. His arms looked like he could have just grabbed the keep doors and pulled them open on his own. Legs that made tree trunks envious appeared, and she realized Max had grown another six inches.

“You saw the quest… when the time comes… finish it,” Max said between breaths. His voice was low, yet Grace could sense the change in it. He no longer sounded like the man she knew.

“What? I… I can’t… how?”

“FINISH IT!” he roared, the sound of it almost rupturing her eardrums as he tilted his head back.

“There is no other way! You must kill us both!”

Grace wanted to reply, but the man before her was gone, moving along the temple floor with a speed she knew was beyond anything she could do. Whoever or whatever Max was now was beyond her power to defeat. His burnt pants barely clung to his body as he raced toward the priestess, who had gathered shadows somehow and was sending them at Max.

Moving around the pillar, Grace stood there in shock as her brain tried to comprehend what she knew and didn’t want to admit.

He… somehow he regained everything… how bad can this woman–

A thunderclap went off, making her cover her ears as Max collided against the wave of shadows assaulting him, flesh from his body being ripped off yet not stopping him.

Max’s fists glowed blue, and he slammed them together, a shockwave of power displacing most of the shadows, forcing the woman shrouded in them backward a few steps.

The wave of power washed over Grace and buckled her knees. She struggled to stand from the pressure of a spell blocked by Max’s body, yet still left her weak.

Flame rose from the ground where the woman and Max were, hiding them for a moment as the sounds of smashing and more came from the two monsters Grace hadn’t realized existed.

Another shockwave came, and the cone of fire was extinguished, showing a burnt man who was pounding with his fists against a shield of some kind as the woman in red struggled to focus, one side of her face looking like a mule had kicked it.

“Be ready!”

Grace jerked at those words, hearing Max shout and knowing it was meant for her. His voice sounded distant and almost not like him.

What he was asking seemed impossible. It seemed wrong.

Yet on the last line of that red screen was a horror far worse than Grace could imagine.

If I don’t stop him, will Max really kill everyone? Will it even be Max?

A scream came from the priestess, and a cone of blood came out of it, wrapping itself around Max’s throat. The cord looked stronger than any rope Grace had ever seen.

Instantly, the large man stopped trying to beat against whatever shield was there and grabbed the red cord, trying to pull it apart and free himself of it. No matter what he did, it never stopped its grip, squeezing tighter around his neck.

Grace saw Max try to slip a finger under it, yet the blood flowed around somehow, not allowing him a way to acquire air.

The man’s body flashed green, and seconds ticked away as Max began to beat again on the woman’s shield. A few cracks appeared, but Grace knew how long Max had on his skill.

Max’s hand glowed once, and it struck the shield. Clear pieces of something Grace couldn’t figure out fell, a small opening now present.

He dug his fingers into it, stripping away the shards he could.

“Now…”

The words were almost so quiet. Grace thought for a moment she had heard wrong.

Reaching through the hole he had created, Max grabbed the woman as his body flashed green, the coils of blood gripping so hard Grace thought she heard something snap.

Max didn’t wait, didn’t let whatever had happened stop him. In a single moment, the priestess was off her feet and pressed against his chest. His face and hers were almost at the same level as the woman growled and thrashed, the blood from her mouth growing thicker with the proximity and squeezing like a snake around its helpless victim.

Her mind acted on its own. Inside her, Grace knew what had to happen. There was no time left, and if the priestess won, she would die, unable to fight the monster that she was.

Grace also had no doubts that if somehow Max managed to win, holding back because he wanted her to do what he told her to, Levi would die.

Her body exploded at a speed she never knew was inside. Desperation, a single last act of hope and mercy, powered her.

Her sword glowed in her hand, and in her mind, the skill she had just acquired told her exactly the angle to do what had to be done.

The tip pierced the naked flesh of the man who had protected her and Levi for all those months. It passed through the ribs, not hitting a single one as it raced for the heart of the man who had taught her how to be an emissary and how to survive.

An empowered blade sliced open the heart of a man she called family who had taught her how to protect her brother at all costs, passing through the tiniest portion of his front ribs and right into the chest of the woman he held in his arms.

Grace had felt those arms around her more than once. They had offered protection, a place of comfort, and let her cry till she had no more tears left.

Now, they held what Grace couldn’t overcome on her own so that together, she could protect everyone again with Max’s help.

As the tip pierced the priestess’s heart, a loud wind came, yet Grace ignored it, driving the sword to the hilt.

“Forgive me,” she whispered in Max’s ear as the blood that had once been about to remove his head ran down his naked upper half, reaching her hands and skin as she held his shoulder with her left hand. In her right was a sword that didn’t belong to her, yet had done the impossible.

A tiny breath of air came from Max as the priestess died, the air seeming to implode around her, yet she wasn’t able to escape the death Grace had delivered.

“Protect him….”

It was like a whisper, heard in that one silent moment as Max’s head went limp, and the three of them fell forward, crashing on top of the priestess from her momentum.

Two screens appeared in her vision, and even as she felt power beyond what Grace had ever known, seeing the world immediately in ways she had never imagined, Grace pushed it aside, trying to look at her friend's face again.

Anger filled her as she couldn’t pull the blade out. She tugged on it, but it held firm. It was only then that Grace noticed Max’s body was changing. His skin was no longer tan, but instead, it was turning to stone.

The man she had trusted everything with was gone in just a few moments. In his place was a statue of him, toppled at the feet of a god she despised.