Piper raised her hammer to attack but hesitated as the front door to the warehouse burst open. From the outside, her new group members stormed into the room with their weapons at the ready.

  Lydia stood at the forefront with her shield raised, while her brother took shelter behind her. Hector ranged out to the side while readying a sling. A moment later, his lizard companion lazily trotted inside and peered around the room.

  “I told you I could handle them!” Piper shouted. “Why didn’t you stay outside?”

  “The room just exploded,” Xander called back. “That’s usually a sign that something went wrong.”

  “I’m fine.” Piper pointed at the alcove filled with corpses. “Watch out. They just cast a spell to raise the dead.”

  We’re going to need some more help, she thought to herself. Powerful help.

  Thankfully, her new spell would provide just what she needed. She cast [Shifting Veil] and aimed the spell outside the far window. Then she pictured a towering female knight clad in golden armor. As her illusion took shape, she used her spell [Phantom Flesh] to give it form.

  Ding! Your spell, Shifting Veil has reached level 22.

  Ding! Your spell, Phantom Flesh has reached level 4.

  The two spells took nearly half of her remaining mana, but it was worth it to have a distraction to keep her new group members safe. Plus, the knight might even take out a few of the cultists before they managed to destroy her illusion.

  Piper leapt back as one of the aspirants’ corpses clutched at her ankle. She kept moving, barely ducking under a jet of flame, followed by a blast of sharp bones. The projectiles peppered the wall behind her, but a few of them pierced her upper arm.

  She bit back a cry of pain and activated [Demonic Blood]. Her spell pushed out the pieces of bone and made her skin glow as it re-knitted together.

  While the cultist casters prepared another round of spells, she ordered her illusion into action. The Amazonian knight smashed through the back door, sending pieces of wood flying across the room. Then, the illusory woman raised her glowing sword and charged directly at the casters.

  “Is she on our side?” Xander shouted.

  Piper paused as she searched for a way to explain the knight’s presence. “Something like that.”

  Lydia let out a war cry and charged forward. Somehow, she deflected a stream of fire from the caster with her shield. She crashed into the enemy fire mage and sent her sprawling. But a retaliatory burst of flames sent the warrior flying back.

  Hector raised his hands toward his companion. The lizard glowed with a faint green light before rapidly doubling in size. As he loaded a bullet into his sling, his companion charged into the fray, snapping its jaws at the cultist spellcasters.

  Piper took the momentary distraction to recast [Wraithskin]. As she did, she slipped back into the shadows and disappeared from sight.

  She watched with amusement as the illusory knight blocked a spell and slashed at the man who had reanimated the dead.

  Ding! Your spell, Wraithskin has reached level 11.

  Ding! Your spell, Phantom Flesh has reached level 5.

  Another fireball from the mage made the knight stagger back a pace, but then she resumed her advance.

  A blazing stream of magic shot toward Xander, but his sister leapt in front of him to block it. The flames overflowed the shield and scorched her arms. Xander lifted his hand to cast a spell; his sister briefly glowed with a soothing white light, and her wounds disappeared. They nodded at each before Lydia threw herself back into the fray.

  Meanwhile, the lizard was being forced back by a torrent of sickly yellow-green magic. As the reptile’s scales began to decay, a bullet from Hector’s sling smashed into the caster’s shoulder and spun him around. The second the stream of magic ceased, the lizard leaped on top of the man; the cultist's screams became muffled as the jaws clamped shut around his head.

  Xander raised his staff again, and the lizard’s wounds glowed with healing. The injured areas reformed, and the beast shook the cultist from side to side.

  For a moment, the battle seemed to have turned in their favor, but then the wall of undead crashed into the aspirants. Four of the risen wayfarers wrestled the lizard off the caster, while a wall of zombies encircled Xander and Lydia. They desperately lashed out with their weapons as the undead crowded around them.

  Her own summoned knight was in trouble, taking blast after blast from the pair of cultist casters. One mage was flinging necrotic magic at her illusion, while the other struck it with gouts of fire.

  Piper hesitated for a moment as she held her meteor hammer. Then, with a sigh, she slung the weapon over her shoulder and used [Infernal Recall]. Almost immediately, Gorebark appeared in her outstretched hand, and the quiver materialized on her belt.

  “Back in this crappy place?” Gorebark complained. “I was just relaxing by a river of lava and listening to the wails of damned souls as they burned.”

  “I’m glad you’re back, too,” she whispered, already casting [Infernal Bowstring]. “Now, will you help me take out an undead cult?”

  “An undead cult?” Gorebark’s wooden face creaked as it grinned. “Now, that’s my kind of fun.”

  Piper nocked an arrow and aimed at the casters. The one the lizard had been chewing on had somehow staggered back to his feet. And she could feel immense power swirling around him. She needed to take him before he cast whatever powerful spell he was preparing.

  With a silent prayer that the nuns wouldn’t notice a minor use of her legendary weapon, she loosed an arrow; it winged its way through the air toward the male caster. The arrowhead struck the man’s eye and burst out of the back of his skull. Without even a groan, he slumped to the ground, already dead.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Human, Level 267.

  A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

  Ding! Your race, Shadeling has reached level 50.

  Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 47

  Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 48

  Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 49

  Ding! Your class, Deceiver has reached Level 50

  “Oh no,” Piper breathed. “I can’t go back to the Infernal Realm now.”

  Shaking her head, she turned her attention back to the battle. Right now wasn’t the time to worry about that. As she did, she commanded her illusory knight to change its target to the robed man. With a cry, the towering woman spun around and rushed forward, her blade raised over her head.

  The man simply lifted his hand and blasted the knight with a spell. A river of miasma flowed out of his hand and corroded away the knight’s armor. The towering woman staggered back a pace before collapsing into a pile of dust. Then the dust broke apart into shards of light.

  “I told you we should have left after the first group found us, Eldric!” the female mage snapped. “You were a fool to keep us here!”

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  “And surrender all these wonderful corpses for our growing army, Griselda?” the hooded man snarled. “You are the fool if you would sacrifice all the levels the zombies will grant us when I set them loose on the docks.”

  “Then do something about the illusionist!” Griselda cried out as she launched a jet of fire at Lydia. The young woman barely ducked under the burning spray. “I can’t hit what I can’t see!”

  “Do you doubt my ability to deal with lowly aspirants?” Eldric replied. “I have ways to deal with her pathetic magic.”

  Before he could follow through on his statement, Piper drew another arrow and launched it at the man. The projectile pierced his cheek, snapping his head to the side.

  “Enough!” Griselda cried out. “I’m going to burn this entire room. I’ll smoke her out.”

  “No!” Eldric cried out, his words slurred from the arrow lodged in his jaw. “You’ll destroy the bodies!”

  But Griselda ignored him and stepped forward with her hands raised. A maelstrom of fire swept around her while expanding and contracting.

  Piper fired another arrow, but the moment it struck the currents of flame, it vaporized into ash. She might be able to take out the fire mage with [Demonic Mark], but she didn’t dare use it again. That would almost certainly bring the Dawnward Host down on her head.

  “Get out of here!” she shouted at her group mates before dashing through the ranks of lurching undead and hurling herself through the door into a side room. As she did, a tsunami of fire swept toward her, turning the air into a firestorm.

  The moment the flames had died down, Piper stumbled back to her feet, immediately checking on her groupmates. She breathed a sigh of relief at seeing them huddled behind a glowing shield of energy conjured by Xander. Even the lizard had made it behind the magical barrier.

  Piper covered her mouth as she descended into a fit of coughing. In the wake of the spell, the surrounding walls and ceiling had caught fire, filling the room with acrid black smoke. Even worse, the mass of undead had ignited like flesh candles. The only thing worse than fighting a zombie was fighting one on fire.

  Catching sight of her in the doorway, Xander gestured frantically at the exit. “I think it’s time for a tactical withdrawal!”

  She knew it wouldn’t be long before the entire place burned down. But she had a quest to complete.

  “Go,” she shouted back. “I’ll handle the casters.”

  “Not a chance,” Xander called back. “We don’t leave anyone behind.” He gestured at his sister, who smashed her way through the burning zombies to advance on the two remaining cultists. The undead fell like wheat before a scythe as Lydia pushed forward.

  From the rear of the group, Hector began to pelt the cultists and undead with missiles from his sling. One of the zombies went down, while another bullet struck Griselda’s arm and made her curse.

  Piper shook her head. Did all aspirants have a death wish? This group was far more skilled than her previous one, but they were still outmatched by the casters. The smart thing to do would be to retreat.

  She ducked around the side of the door and lined up a perfect shot at Griselda. Holding her breath for a second, she exhaled as she loosed. The arrow sped forward and pierced the woman’s neck.

  Before Griselda could react to the fresh wound, a missile from Hector’s sling hammered the red-headed woman right in the middle of the forehead.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Human, Level 255.

  A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

  Piper didn’t even wait for the woman’s lifeless body to tumble to the ground before releasing another arrow at Eldric. She scowled as he knocked it away almost casually. Uncertain if that counted as a second hit, she placed her bow on the ground and prepared to charge forward and finish him off with her barbed tail.

  As Piper darted forward, Eldric raised his palm in her direction. Another blast of sharp bones sprayed toward the doorway where she sheltered.

  Piper twisted away, but one of the projectiles peppered her shoulder and made her cry out.

  Eldric continued to spray the room with his spell, striking Lydia’s exposed legs with the grisly projectiles and sending her toppling forward. As the aspirant fell, he turned his magic on the others, forcing Xander to cast another barrier and making the lizard roar with fury.

  “Did you honestly believe an illusionist could defeat me?” Eldric cackled, turning back to give Piper a ghoulish smile. “Before the sun sets, you will join the Pale Crusade.”

  “I’m not joining anything!”

  “Did I fail to mention that you’ll be dead when you do so?” As the man spoke, he reached into his pouch. “I’d rather not use such a rare item, but I can’t have you casting anymore illusions.” He brought out what looked like a stuffed crow and held it above his head. Dark power leaked from the feathers before pulsing outward, striking Piper and staggering her.

  Eldric stomped forward, raising his shadowy dagger. “Now, to bind your soul to the Death Realm.”

  Piper tried to cast [Wraithskin] but nothing happened. She repeated the effort with her other spells, only to find the same thing. Whatever that crow was, it seemed to create a bubble where no spells could be cast. On a positive note, it probably meant that Eldric couldn’t either.

  Piper dropped into a fighting position, her invisible tail curling up behind her, while she bared her claws at him. In hand-to-hand fighting, she believed she had the upper hand.

  Eldric darted forward and stabbed his dagger at Piper.

  Her hand shot out and grabbed his wrist. As she held him, she jerked his arm to the side until she felt something snap. The cracking of bones reverberated through the room, making Eldric’s face twist with pain. The magical dagger dropped from his suddenly limp fingers and clattered against the floorboards.

  The man stumbled back, cradling his arm close to his body. “How-how did you do that?” He furrowed his brow before his eyes widened. “Do you have a false class?”

  Piper didn’t answer and strode after him.

  “No aspirant can be this strong!” he screeched. “My master will destroy you!”

  Eldric lifted his uninjured hand, and dark magic swirled around his body.

  Darn it!

  Apparently, she’d been wrong, and the strange magical crow had only affected her ability to cast new spells. She was going to have to use brute force to defeat him.

  Sprinting forward, she activated [Tail Strike], and her tail shot forward before deflecting off a dark barrier protecting his torso. She launched a flurry of attacks, raking her claws across the magical shield. With each strike, the magic wavered, and cracks spread across its surface.

  “This is impossible…” Eldric gasped, stumbling back. “This can’t be happening!”

  Piper marched after the cultist and activated [Quick Claw] and [Tail Strike] at the same time. Her claws raked across the barrier, while her tail repeatedly hammered against it. She kept attacking; the cracks growing with each impact.

  Finally, the magic shattered, leaving Eldric exposed. The tip of her tail shot forward and plunged into the man’s throat. She ripped it free before driving it back into his heart. Only when he stopped moving did she finally stop.

  Congratulations! You have slain a Human, Level 281.

  A significant bonus to experience has been granted for slaying a higher-level creature.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Quick Claw has reached level 23.

  …

  Ding! Your racial skill, Quick Claw has reached level 26.

  Ding! Your racial skill, Tail Strike has reached level 22.

  …

  Ding! Your racial skill, Tail strike has reached level 25.

  Piper leaned forward and tried to catch her breath. But coughing racked her body as she sucked in a lungful of black smoke.

  She glanced over to see Hector and Xander dragging Lydia out of the room while dozens of zombies pursued them. Then she checked on the imprisoned wayfarer. At some point during the battle, the woman had passed out, most likely from smoke inhalation. Hopefully, she was still alive.

  Piper spun on her heel and retraced her steps. She groped around on the floor in the thick smoke until she found her demonic bow.

  As she lifted the weapon, Gorebark glowered at her with wooden eyes. “You know fire and wood don’t mix, right? Please tell me you know that.”

  “I know,” she muttered. “I just couldn’t use you again without [Demonic Mark] going off.”

  “What? You didn’t want to splatter these ugly pink apes all over the walls?”

  “I’m having some trouble with the Dawnward Host.”

  “Those irritating girls are still around?”

  Piper arched her eyebrow. “You know them?”

  “Oh boy, do I ever. I had a few run-ins with them a couple of centuries ago.”

  Piper wanted to ask some follow-up questions, but a beam snapping overhead interrupted her thoughts. As a portion of the roof collapsed, she turned to shield herself from the rush of flames and embers. Luckily, the collapsing ceiling landed right beside her, missing her by a hair’s breadth.

  With a sigh of relief, she raced over to the altar and grabbed the chains binding the young woman. She heaved on them, but the restraints held firm.

  Planting her feet, she prepared to use her full strength, but she froze as the aspirant roused herself and stared up at her with an open mouth.

  “Hi,” she said, looking down. “I’m… Anna.”

  She did her best to ignore the look of confusion and pulled on the chains until they started to creak. With her muscles straining, she snapped the chains. Sometimes, it paid to have a high strength stat.

  Piper was about to gather up the aspirants in her arms when she remembered promising Xander and Lydia all the loot from the quest. She climbed back down and hurriedly searched the corpses. She grabbed the magical knife, the staff from the fire mage, and the pouches from the three fallen spellcasters. Hopefully, they would have something valuable inside.

  Once she’d finished, she returned and lifted the aspirant into her arms before dashing over to the door. Overhead, flames had nearly consumed the roof, and the groaning noise had spread to the entire structure.

  Thankfully, the rear door had already been shattered by her illusory knight, and she barreled through it to the deserted alleyway beyond. After a few steps, she heard a terrible cracking sound as the roof of the warehouse collapsed.

  “So,” Piper said, with false perkiness, to the wayfarer. “Do you by any chance know the way to the front of the building? My group's healer should be waiting there.”

  When the woman nodded, Piper deposited her from her arms into a standing position. Together, they limped away from the burning building. In the distance, she could hear the sound of bells ringing, a sound that only grew louder as more took up the call.

  I hope they have a water mage close by to put out the fire.

  Piper prayed the Wayfarer Aspirant’s Guild wouldn’t dock her any money for setting the building ablaze. Not that it had been her fault. Regardless, she needed to get started on the next quest.

  The pull of the infernal realm on her soul was becoming stronger by the second, and she didn’t know how long she could resist it. She needed to finish the quest as fast as possible before her soul was dragged back down into the abyss.