"What do you want? And how did you get here?" I ask the three men standing before me. Victor and Winter have elected to come with me for protection, as well as Jack out of curiosity.

"We come at the request of the All-Father of Ctalek to eliminate you," one man says. "We wish to challenge you in single combat, to avenge our pledged god, Tetrax." I see.

"Tell me, why would I engage you at all? Why not just kill you now?"

"Where’s the fun in that? If you are so powerful you managed to kill Tetrax, it should be no issue for you." I wouldn’t exactly say I killed him…

"Very well. I acknowledge your honorable duel. What are the rules?"

"They are simple. You will strip yourself of your armor and weapons and face all three of us at once. If we win, we will kill you. If you win, you may do with us as you please."

I consider the battle. I’ve been meaning to test the limits of my physiology for some time now. "Very well, I agree. But I have to keep my mask on."

"Surely you can’t be serious!" Victor says. "Completely stripped of your tools? How can you hope to win?"

"Don't worry about me. Go back inside while I prepare."

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In my study, I look down at my purple, pulsating body. It’s truly quite disgusting. The only piece of apparel I wear now is my grinning mask to hold back my warp. As I leave, Jack and Ican see my true appearance and gasp. All the crimson cultists kneel to me as I slowly walk out of the tower and to the edge of the warding stones.

The three men that came to challenge me inherit a look of extreme apprehension when they catch sight of my true body. Their leader, however, is steadfast. "Are you ready?" He asks. I nod and step beyond the boundary of the warding stones. The moment I do, all three men begin rushing at me in coordination. Focus. No runic shielding to fall back on now.

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Two men rush at me from the sides while one rushes head-on. I absorb some of the taint from the ground into my biomass and grow two extra arms, catching all three blades at once and using the fourth arm to punch the man to my left in the face. I grapple with the other two warriors for some time; I manage to strike one with such force that his ear is chopped off. While I grapple, the man to my left stabs me in the back while my attention is elsewhere. I kick him in the knee and absorb more taint from the ground to quickly close the hole his sword left. I manage to catch the man to my right’s sword and snap it in half with my hand. I push the one to my front into the one to me left and put distance between us.

Now all three men rush at me from the same direction. Just because I left my casting apparatus in my study does not mean I am out of ranges options. I gather my soul’s power and cast a Doombolt at the man leading the charge. He clutches his chest in pain and kneels on the ground to reconstitute himself. The two other men make contact, one punching me in the face and the other hitting me with the butt of his sword. Dazed, I submerge myself with the taint on the ground, returning to a similar state I was in when I first arrived here. I use the moment of reprieve to reposition myself without the men knowing where I had gone. After I emerge about fifty feet from the men, I decide it’s time to end the fight.

I project my media onto one of the men still standing, forcing my will upon him. He clutches his head in pain before turning to his comrade and attacking. "Joshua! What are you doing!?" Asks the man with the broken sword moments before his comrade’s blade slides through his chest. He falls to the ground in a bloody mess. The man I struck with the Doombolt finally gets up and blocks an attack from the man I have taken control of. After a bout of combat, my enemy is victorious and begins running towards me again. I launch another Doombolt at him, but he sidesteps it this time, fully prepared for it.

I retract my two extra arms and use the mass to constitute a blade composed of hardened taint in my hand. Our swords clash. He is better at swordplay; so much so that he manages to hold his own for quite some time as we battle. But my taint physiology makes me absurdly faster and more powerful. My strikes become too much for him, and after about a minute of exchanging blows my blade of taint pierced his stomach.

"You fought well, but you fought for a false god. That is why you failed." My words are the last thing that grace his ears before the life leaves his eyes. God has them now.