Reidar dragged himself behind the corpse of a Terran Bulwark.

He slumped against the stone flank of the dead elemental and fumbled for a mana potion. His fingers were numb and clumsy. He popped the cork with his teeth and downed the blue liquid. It tasted of copper and battery acid.

He gagged, but he forced it down.

On the ridge, the fight wasn't going the way he'd hoped.

Lena and Jake were fast. They were more rested than their opponent. But Mikko Viren was at Level 335, so the difference in speed wasn't that great.

It didn't help that Viren often disappeared before them using Shadow Step.

He reappeared behind Jake, his hand solidified into a claw made of shadows. Jake spun, bringing the Storm-Edge Kris up in a parry.

CLANG.

The impact threw the boy backward. His feet left the ground. Jake flew three meters before he hit the dirt. He skidded, and since his boots were carving twin furrows through the soil, the dust kicked up in a cloud around him.

Lena came in on Viren's blind side, aiming for his kidneys. Viren didn't even turn his head; he just extended his other one, and a pulse of shadow slammed into the woman's chest.

She flew back, hitting a pile of debris.

"Not so easy, is it?" Viren said, his voice clearly strained. "You think bringing more lambs to the slaughter will change anything?"

Reidar watched, his vision clearing as the mana potion kicked in, and now that he could, he noticed Viren wasn't using the massive spells he'd used earlier.

He was brawling. He was using close-range, low-cost skills.

<If he uses a mana potion, we are done for.>

Since Lena and Jake were here, it meant the circle in the basement was gone. They could leave if they wanted, but Viren knew how to make another one, so killing him was needed.

Reidar then saw Jake scrambling up and charging again.

As Viren sidestepped the attack, he caught Jake's wrist and twisted it with a sickening snap, forcing Jake to shout and drop the Kris. Taking advantage of the opening, Viren kicked him in the stomach, sending him rolling away.

"I am a Deacon of the Church of Unbinding," Viren said, walking toward Lena. "I do not fall to insects."

As Viren raised his hand, shadows gathered at his fingertips and sharpened into a spear, but Reidar watched with clearing vision as the mana potion kicked in.

He realized he had been fighting this wrong.

Reaching out with his mind, he tapped into the Hive Mind Echo skill and discovered that the swarm he had summoned earlier—the thousands of creatures Viren had decimated—weren't all dead because the support units were still active.

"Help them!" Reidar ordered. "Now!"

Viren raised his hand to finish Lena, forming another shadow spear at his fingertips, but the weapon shattered against a shimmering bubble of water because a Tidal Saint, hidden behind the wreckage of the gate, had cast Aqueous Barrier on Lena just in time.

At the same time, a pearlescent mist unfurled across the battlefield as multiple Tidal Saints activated Soothing Mist, creating a health regeneration aura that washed over Jake and Lena and closed their minor wounds.

Viren frowned.

"Now!"

He pointed his wand through the gap in the Bulwark's arm.

Storm-Wyrm's Ire.

A roaring Draconic maw of condensed lightning erupted from Reidar's wand and slammed into Viren. The blast arced to the nearby rubble, causing Viren to convulse as the Static Overload paralyzed him for a moment.

His lightning and arcane resistance were shredded under the effect of the Mark of Frailty Reidar had cast earlier.

"Jake! Lena! Go!"

Above them, three Zephyr Muses arrived and cast Tailwind and Guiding Wind on the two fighters. Jake felt the wind strip the weight from his armor, and as his speed doubled, he ignored his broken wrist—which was already knitting together thanks to a Mending Tide beam cast by Reidar's summons. He grabbed the Storm-Edge Kris with his good hand.

Augmentation.

Jake dumped every drop of mana he had left into his S.H.I.E.L.D. and vanished. Viren tried to bring his shadow shield up, but when the Kris slammed into the shadow gauntlet, the darkness didn't hold; the blade shattered the construct like glass and drove into Viren's forearm. Lightning arced, and Viren screamed as his left arm went rigid because the nerves were fried by the Static Shock effect.

"Move!" Lena shouted.

She was being accelerated by the Uplift skill of a Zephyr Muse that launched her over Viren's guard, allowing her to throw a small, round object at Viren's feet.

A Smoke Bomb.

Viren tried to cast Shadow Step and dissolved into darkness, but the spell warped; instead of teleporting to safety, he stumbled out of a shadow three meters away, coughing.

"Kill him!"

Reidar gave the order while commanding the Terran Bulwarks to slam their shields down to box Viren in, while the Cinderheart Efreetis unleashed a suppressive barrage of Firebolts to keep him pinned. Taking advantage of the pause in the barrage, Jake slid in low and slashed Viren's knees, parting the hamstrings so that Viren collapsed and hit the ground hard. Lena dropped from the air above him and landed on his back, driving both daggers into his shoulders to pin him to the earth.

Viren thrashed, but without his legs and pinned by the two warriors, he was just a man. Reidar pushed himself off the Bulwark and stumbled forward, raising his hand as a group of Spectral Swordsmen came running. As the ghost knights raised their swords, Viren looked up, his eyes meeting Reidar's with determination rather than fear.

"The Progenitor will—"

The swords fell, and the body went limp.

[Level 335 Mikko Viren defeated.]

[You have gained 16,133,600.00 C.L.A.S.P. Points.]

[You have earned 9,518,824.00 Survival Points.]

Reidar let out a breath he felt he'd been holding for a week, and as the adrenaline faded, he finally noticed the notifications that had appeared during the battle.

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Wind Barrage]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Granite Shard]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Aqua Cannon]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Fire Bolt]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Stone Skin]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Chitinous Carapace]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Hive Mind Echo]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Formic Acid Barrier]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Corrosive Demise]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Summon Vorathid Foragers]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Summon Skeletal Warriors]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Summon Feral Pack]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Summon Shadow Guardians]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Sanctuary's Embrace]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Domain of Eternal Spring]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Worldroot Binding]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Warchief's Command]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Oblivion Lance]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Primal Maelstrom]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Summon Spectral Legion]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Summon Elite Rift-Sprite Battalion]

[Skill Proficiency Reached 100%: Aura of the Alpha]

Reidar swiped the wall of text away. He would deal with the upgrades later, but from the notifications it became clear that he had been giving his all against the man. He brought most of his skills' proficiencies up.

Jake collapsed. He was pale, his breathing shallow, but a Tidal Saint was already moving toward him, its hands glowing as it was going to cast a healing skill.

Lena rolled off Viren's corpse. She sat on the ground, wiping blood from her face. She looked at Reidar.

"Are you okay?"

"My collarbone was broken, but it got healed," Reidar said. He walked over to them, his legs shaking. "You?"

"Ribs," Lena said. "And I think my ankle is sprained."

He nodded as the Tidal Saints were already going toward the woman.

Reidar turned to the body.

"Let's see if he had anything useful," Reidar said.

They stripped the Deacon.

The robe was high-tier and offered massive resistance to physical damage. Then he found something hidden under the coat, strapped to Viren's chest. It wasn't a magic item. It was just leather.

Reidar opened it.

Inside were papers. Maps. Ledgers. He went through them.

Supply Manifest: Redwater Crossing. Contents: Bio-matter samples, containment units. Status: Priority.

Supply Manifest: Ashwick. Contents: Weapons, mana crystals. Status: Forward Command.

…

…

…

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.