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Chapter 131: Unexpected Conflict

  timewalk

  Aliandra Looking up, Ali met the neancer’s gaze, a a chill run the length of her spine. He’s smiling?

  “You whelp! Did you think it would be that easy?” he shouted.

  He raised a fist and a dark, seething magic appeared within it. All around him, the s eg him to the immobile sves pulsed. Each wore a colr that glowed with the same bck mana, and each of them had eyes filled with terror.

  “Look out!” Ali yelled.

  The seething magiation pulsed ond shot out toward one of the colred sves. A ghostly outline of the man appeared briefly, struggling against the force of his magic, but to no avail. The apparitio out an unholy eg scream as it was torn from the body before being drawn toward the neancer and sucked into his chest. The corpse of the man hit the ground with a siing thump, writhed grotesquely, and then his entire skeleton stood up, ripping itself out of the now-dead flesh before joining the fray.

  Alexander Gray moaned in profaasy as he absorbed the essence of the sin man. The neancer’s dark mana surged expoially, and his aura pulsed, rippling outward from him in ever-widening rings that brought death to everything they touched. Pnts withered, and even the ground bed as the blight ed everything that was not already undead. As it reached Ali’s Guardians, their dense vines and thorns withered, dying even as the Elementals’ powerful regeion magic fought to replenish the pnts. Caught within the deadly aura, even the Guardians themselves began to decay, ks of their bodies bing and rotting and falling away, to be slowly regeed by their auras.

  “Back up!” shouted.

  The bck pulsing blight grew stronger as the Neancer reached forth and ed another bound sve. Rapidly, the blight cwed its the legs of a Forest Guardian, bing and rotting its wood and withering its strength till it crumbled us ow and colpsed.

  “Back up,” Ali anded, eg ’s cry as she scrambled troup her Guardians so that their regeion auras would overp. But in the press of undead, they were too slow, and she lost a sed Guardian to the inexorable blight emitted by his powerful spell.

  “Ali, you hold him off for a bit?” Mato called.

  “What…” Ali excimed, hearing the ued voice of the Beastkin. She snapped her head around and found him standing there untransformed.

  “I will try to deal with the blight,” Mato said. Then he reached out his massive hand and pointed, “You will o hahat…”

  Ali gnced in the dire he pointed and quailed a little i the sight of the giant troll zombie bearing down on them, great rotting gashes leaking putrid goo down its torso. Ali nodded, marshaling her remaining Guardians to intercept the enormous undead creature as she struggled to keep her stomader trol.

  “Whatever crazy thing you’re doing, hurry it up!” Malika yelled.

  Mato’s body stretched, growing rapidly broader and taller as his Tree Form transformation took hold. His roots dug into the blighted soil as Malika and her Acolytes healed him. Ali had no idea what he nning – his tree could not move, let alone fight – but she trusted him and charged the giant zombie with her remaining Forest Guardians, knog it back so that it could not reach Mato while he was vulnerable.

  She flew her Lux Drifters in, raining acid down on the nearying to distract him while she defended Mato’s transformation. Skeletons and zombies surged, trying to reach his position, and the potent Lightning ripped through the ones unfortunate enough to cross into the range of the powerful mage otlements.

  The blight pulsed stronger and stronger, slowly encroag on her Guardians. She could see it take root in their wooden bodies and feel how the regeion magic struggled to banish the damage. Bed patches grew up their legs and began to iheir armor with monstrous ease, digging deeper and rotting away their power and strength.

  On the far side of the sea of uh, Alexander Gray cackled and ripped the essence from another of his sves.

  “We’re losing,” Ali whispered as the bck blight surged once more. One of her remaining Guardians stumbled, and aire leg rotted away in seds. The skeletons swarmed over it, stabbing and sshing with their rusty ons while it thrashed around in a futile attempt to rid itself of them.

  “Switch to Firebolts,” she anded. She desperately o reduce the damage tuardians. But without the power of her area damage fireballs the skeletons and zombies began to overwhelm their perimeter through sheer force of numbers. “Mato… any time now!”

  A pulse of viridian green mana flickered from behihen, with an enormous surge, it exploded outward, rippling across the battlefield with the sudden rushing st of leaves and forest gdes. Waves of bck blight crashed against the rippling verdant green, a titanic csh of nature against death magifolding in Ali’s mana sight as Mato’s Sanctuary ballooo an enormous sphere around his majestic tree transformation. But, although the forces of death and groeared matched at first, Mato’s aura shimmered with the power of Vitality Rejuvenation, and the blight began to dissolve. As the Sanctuary aura pushed back the blight, it washed over her Forest Guardians, and the bck cws of the blight’s grasp loosened and began to recede. Rot faded as vitality and vigor rushed bato the Guardians, bolstered by their regeion and the potent magiato’s tree.

  “Yes! Mato!” Ali whooped.

  “What!” the neancer roared. “This is impossible!”

  Well, we got his attention. That may not be a good thing –

  “Fireballs, now!” Malika yelled.

  “Back to fireballs!” Ali redoubled her bombardment. Now that the field could be from Mateion aura, she ceased trolling the damage or serving her mana and simply unleashed all her slimes, Kobolds, and the Lux Drifters upon the skeleton army. The acrid stench of the acid made her cough, but it left swathes of skeletoing and smoking in its wake. Intensely shining balls of white energy lofted up over the battlefield, fired like artillery magi the Sparkling Slimes in the rear to nd in blindionations among the monsters. And from her barrier ptform, angry red roiling fireballs seared forth with a steady thump, thump, thump of fiery bsts.

  “Ali!” Malika yelled out from a crush of undead monsters where, somehow, she was tanking the giant troll zombie. Several skeleton mages lobbed fireballs and ices at her while she dodged frantically, but it was the enormous, rotted arms that filed at Malika’s acrobatic speed that scared Ali the most.

  If that thing ects… When the zombie missed and struck the ground, corpses bounced and lesser undead stumbled and fell, and the thuds and thumps of the impacts were probably felt across the other side of town. She knew well the legendary might of the giant trolls, and this one was a zombie that couldn’t feel pain.

  “Fireball those mages,” she anded, and her Kobolds immediately responded. She wished she had had enough mana to make a group of shamans, but her Guardians had been far too expeaking the bulk of her mana pool. And now they were tied up, tanking hordes of zombies and skeletons each.

  “Drag those skeletons back,” Ali anded. One of the Guardians immediately backed up, drawing a veritable horde of undead with it. “More.” It plied. Suddenly, a deafening crack split the air, leaving purple afterimages on her retinas and flying ks of smoking bone.

  “Nie, Ali,” said, not even slowing down his stream of arrows.

  With all her other minions being pressured or busy, Ali fired two long barrier shards at the zombie giant troll. Both shards impaled its dead flesh with a disgusting squelg noise, pung through the monster’s torso and out the other side. She shuddered, reminded of the sound of Roderik’s gruesome death. The giant troll swung its great arm again, ign the sharp shards of golden magic pierg its ribs and chest – she couldn’t tell if it even noticed.

  “If I levitate Mato, I pick you up,” she muttered, straining with her shards against the vast bulk of the giant troll. But although it began to lift, she had vastly uimated the incredible weight of the giant monster, and instead of lifting it, her shards ripped through the flesh and out the side of its ribcage, spraying putrid bck fluid everywhere. The monster tinued pursuing Malika, but its torso fpped open from the two cuts she had made that severed through almost the entire right-hand side of the ribcage. So violently foul was the reek of rot ah, that Malika doubled over in a fit of rag coughs and choking as the stench billowed out as visible miasma from the ghastly wounds like smoke from a r bonfire.

  “Ugh,” said, wrinkling his nose.

  Ali doubled down, firing new shards into the monster, ripping and tearing great rents in its flesh until the top and the bottom half of the monster finally separated. To her horror, the monster titag unabated, dragging itself along the ground, ripping the roots and vihat grasped at it.

  But Ali’s gruesome work seemed to give Malika enough of an edge, so she tried her eique on something muanageable. Her barrier shards pierced the chest of a human-sized zombie, and she hoisted it into the air with ease. Looking around quickly, she levitated it higher and higher, until she dismissed the barriers, sending it crashing down on top of one of the catapults. The putrid rotten flesh burst into a rain of ks and a splintering crash, crag the catapult support beam in the process and triggering it to fire prematurely. The weakened siege on tore itself to pieces from the impact.

  Grinning, Ali cast about for more likely didates, spending a while catg stragglers that were trying to mob Mato’s tree, tossing them into the catapults whenever she could, until all the catapults y in ruins. Well and done! Ali didn’t o look far for some corpses to destruct so that she could refill her mana pool. She heard herself screech, “Try knog our walls down now, Alexander Gray!”

  Malika gave a snort of grim amusement and signaled rudely in the neancer’s dire. “You heard her!”

  Alexander Gray let out an i roar of frustration. “Fine! Nevyn Eld will just have to be satisfied with your corpse!” he yelled, gring at Ali. With a sudden vortex of dark mana summoned from his hands, he fired a bck ray of energy that shot out across the battlefield.

  Ag on reflex, Ali blocked it with her golden barrier, briefly grateful that it didn’t pass through the transparent magic. But the force of the death magic bsting into her barrier tinued unabated and she heard several sharp reports as cracks appeared radiating from the impact. Her barrier suddenly shattered into a cloud of golden sparks, and just as the beam struck her, she selected one of her Forest Guardians and teleported, switg locations with the enormous creature. Mato’s magic whisked the damage away from her, but the beam bit deeply into her Forest Guardian, causing it to roar with pain. Several tons of wood and bellowing rage hung suspended in the air at her prior location. Ali immediately summoned a barrier and flew sideways out of the way as its massive bulk fell to the ground, crushing several skeletons in an enormous ground-shaking thump. The Guardian rose to its feet amid the destru and clouds of dust as its panions’ auras repaired the serious damage it sustained from the fall and the neantic beam.

  “You ok there?” asked.

  “Mato got me,” she said calmly, but it had been far too close for fort.

  Ali flew back up into the air as the dark ic wound Mato had sustained from taking her damage slowly repaired itself. Alexander Gray was quick to pick her out again, firing a sed beam, and she was once again forced to pour mana into her barrier to hold back the powerful neantic attack.

  I need a distra. She gnced about, but was already shooting at the urying to reach Mato, and Malika was darting through the enemy horde pig off the most dangerous skeletal mages with ruthless precision. Ali left her Guardians to deal with the remaining skeletons and redirected all the rest of her minions to attack the neancer directly. Firebolts and light bombs smashed into a sphere of magic surrounding him, only visible as a dark haze whe repelled an impact. Is that a Mana Shield? Ali teleported again, switg with a Kobold Fire Mage this time as her barrier shattered into sparks. The mage didn’t fare nearly as well as the Guardian and the neantiergy bsted through its torso with a destructive power that decayed its flesh in an instant.

  Suddenly, a glowing white arrow smashed into the neancer’s Mana Shield and Malika charged in with a flurry of rapid punches, her magic fshing the same blue color as her eyes. Ali watched in mounting astonishment as the unusual blue version of Malika’s magic seemed to e portions of the death magic shield before they quickly reformed.

  Her mana attack work on the shield? Alexander Gray was clearly rest his shield, but he g Malika with a worried expression. But it was the view in her mana sight that told the true tale. Ali’s view of the shield was a bck pulsing formation of magic, but whenever Malika’s fist hit it and her soul magic flickered blue, ks of the formation disappeared, as if she were eating it bit by bit. “Malika! Keep at it!” she screamed.

  Alexander Gray reached out and ed the soul of one of his few remaining bound sves, causing his blight aura to pulse out much stronger, fighting against Mato’s Sanctuary imbued with Vitality Rejuvenation. Malika stood in the middle of the blight, dodging the beam attacks as she kept up her relentless assault. Within her body, Ali could see the invasion of death magic, tinuously pushed back by Mato’s aura, and then re-healed by the stant flicker of Malika’s own healing magic. She could not imagine how much agony Malika was feeling, a, she tio attack with unbroken focus and precision.

  Finding herself ignored for the moment, Ali quickly destructed several more skeletons to refill her mana pool and then joihe assault by firing barrier shards at the pressured neancer.

  “What is that? It’s blog my arrows,” asked. “Some kind of shield?”

  “Mana Shield,” Ali said. “Try shooting where Malika punches.”

  “Aah,” said, a tight grin flickering across his lips.

  I think those gaps are taking loo close, Ali thought, squinting at the holes Malika’s strikes left in the Mana Shield. A shining arrow zipped by, barely a timeter past Malika’s ear and threaded the needle right through the rapidly shrinking gap. Alexander Gray hissed in palpable fury as ’s arrow puhrough his left thigh. Perfect, Ali thought, juring a couple of barrier shards and spending the several minutes of battle aiming to follow ’s example.

  “I ’t believe I have to use my most powerful magi you weaklings!” Alexander yelled; his face red with rage.

  Arrogant. The thought flickered through Ali’s mind as she summoned another barrier shard. After all, we’re beating you. Besides, even she uood that withholding your most powerful magic out of pride in a real battle oor strategy. Still, she readied herself for anything. She would not make the same mistake ance.

  The mana and neantiergy swirling around Alexander Gray roiled violently as he ed another sve, leaving only one remaining. Intense dark energy densed within his chest, building in power and size until it appeared as if he had swallowed a dark star. ell is that? Ali thought, urgently studying the magiation, trying to divis fun. Suddenly, every single skeleton otlefield colpsed, as if a giant scythe had cut their mariorings. The mana animating them recoiled, snapping bato the neancer and Ali felt a bad, bad premonition.

  Slowly, bones from the dead skeletons began to levitate and swirl around, speeding up as they closed in on Alexander Gray.

  “Careful!” Ali called out, “It’s some kind of avatar spell.” She didn’t know quite what, but she could tell its general purpose was to enhance him in some way.

  “Hit him quickly!” Malika hissed from between ched teeth, her fists blurring with speed.

  The bones rushed in rapidly and stuck to his body as if seized by a strong magic force. More and more flew in, striking the giant bone struct around him with loud cracks. It accreted boh growing rapidity until Alexander Gray was lost under a pile of ber even than the giant troll zombie, fully four meters tall and almost as wide. The entire pile crackled repeatedly with violent dark magic as he began to ugh, his amplified voice eg from the battlements. It twitched this way and that, and then bone arms and legs as thick as tree trunks with giant cws instead of fingers reached outward and it stood up.

  The avatar of boook a thunderous step toward her. Ali gasped at the sheer bulk and power of the creation. Tight-fitting boes slid and shifted past one another as the bergy from the dark star p his profaransformation leaked out from between the narrow seams and gaps.

  “Over here,” Malika called as she took three running steps up the side of the strud nded a powerful kick to the ter of its chest, right over the spot where Ali could see the pulsing kernel of death mana. Her magic fshed blue once again and Ali saw the green nature mana of Mato’s healing helping her against the ever-present blight that still poured off him. To her horror, she noticed that Mato’s tree was full of dark blotches of ic rot, but on closer examination, she saw them rapidly healing uhe tinuous pressure of his aura and the soft glow of her Kobold’s healing magic.

  He's sharing Malika’s damage. It had to be the only reason she was able to stand there at the ter of the blight, dishing out endless punches and kicks. Several times Malika attempted to maneuver him, trying to entice Alexander Gray to chase her bate of the Lightning, but just as clearly he was having none of that.

  Malika’s cool response brought Ali’s mind back to sharp focus. Quickly, she anized her creatures. Cirg the Lux Drifters overhead, she began to rain acid on the abomination of bone, that the magical shield was no longer in effect. She flew her Kobolds closer and added their firebolts to the assault, reasoning that they would need every st point of damage. Finally, she began firing her barrier shards, trying to pierce the tough exoskeleton the neancer had built, and carefully directed her slimes to pce their explosions where Malika would not get hit. Her four remaining Forest Guardians became her melee attack force, and Malika began using them as ptforms to unch her powerful attacks.

  With a huge swing, the neancer’s bone arm swiped at Malika but missed as she deftly dodged the blow. Instead, it struck a Forest Guardian, knog it rolling across the ground. Shocked at the raw power of his avatar spell, Ali watched her Guardian roll to its feet and charge bato the fight.

  I hope Malika doesn’t get hit.

  Just as the thought crossed her mind, a giant bone arm ected with Malika’s back, knog her flying through the air. A rapid series of healing fshes erupted as she and Mato reacted to the brutal strike. Ali summoned a small disk barrier o Malika. Her friend immediately executed a flip and pushed off the barrier, taking several steps in thin air, supported only by her magic, before throwing herself bato the fray.

  As Malika announced her return with a shattering front-kick to that mighty bone skull, Ali attacked with every Kobold and Sparkling Ooze, c the neancer in a giant inferno of white and red magical explosions. With a huge roar, the neancer reacted by firing neantiergy rays and bolts in quick succession, bsting her Kobolds off their flying ptform. Ali threw up barriers to protect them, but he destroyed two of them instantly.

  Malika re-engaged with her blue fshing soul magic. fred with the light of the sun, casting harsh shadows on the ground as he activated his Righteous Fury skill. Each arrow he shot sought out ks in the neancer’s armor with uny accuracy. Ali shaded her eyes from the intense glow of his flying form and the hail of arrows he rained down on the neancer, his hands moving so fast they were a blur. Shards of golden barrier magic materialized around the heavy avatar, shing down as Ali sought to punch through the bone being shredded by ’s heroic efforts.

  “Stop. Stealing. My. Mana!” the neancer roared, his voice distorted and loud ing from deep within his armored bone avatar. Ign all attacks, he unched a frantic attempt to crush Malika.

  Ali felt a surge of pride watg Malika stand there calmly dodging his furious swings and stomps, relying on her dexterity and tinuous healing to keep her alive while her fists blurred and flickered with her ultra-rapid precision punches and the elegant footwork that Ali reized from their training together. Even bone backed by the power of death mana could not withstand the fury of their bined assault, chips flying from every blow and cracks jagging across the individual segments.

  Amid the hail of sizzling firebolts and buzzing arrows hammering into the heavy bone carapace, Malika twisted, spinning around as she leapt nearly two meters into the air. Her arms blurred with speed, delivering a near-instant flurry of jabs into the smoking ruin of crushed and burnt bone c his torso. Intense fshes of blue mana strobed against Ali’s mana sight. And then… the dark, pulsing neantiergy within the vault of his bone chest flickered. Malika’s spin reached its peak and she fihe bo with a heavy krike to exactly the same spot. Her magic flickered once more, and the neancer’s energy sputtered and died.

  Malika nded lightly on the ground amid a rain of bone ks as the Bone Avatar spell unraveled. A volley of indest light bombs pierced the disiing armor, detonating like grenades in a pile of woodchips. ks of shattered boered off Ali’s hastily erected barriers as firebolts and ’s radiant arrows rained down unabated on the neancer’s suddenly exposed body. An inhuman scream rose from the neancer’s throat as his hair ignited like a tord his limbs spasmed in agony.

  With the remainder of her barrier capacity, Ali summoned a needle-sharp bde of gold and rammed it home through his chest.

  A soft chime sounded in the back of her mind, and the body hit the ground among the shattered ks of his bone armor.

  Yroup has defeated Blight Summoner – Human – level 73 (Death)

  “Ran him pletely dry,” Malika said, a smug smile on her face.

  “Wow,” Ali said, gazing at Malika as she realized just how devastating her mana attack must have been for the neancer.

  “Well, that was certainly effective,” nodded, joining them to ihe corpse. It looked like a shriveled, charred rag lying in a bed half-cage of bone, a shattered vessel altogether too small and frail to ever have taihe horrific power of the man who had called himself Nevyn Eld’s servant.

  Ali floated down and began to refill her mana pool from the remains of hundreds of corpses and skeletons. As Mato’s aura progressively erased all remnants of the neantic blight, Ali became aware of distant cheering and shouting from the people on the south wall of the town. She let out a sigh of relief auro the bones aedious destru. As she approached the corpse of a skeletal Ice Mage, though, her eyes were drawn to a glimmer of white frost ging to the tattered blue rags it still wore.

  That’s odd. She drew closer to exami. Is it… growing? She shivered as an icy breeze tickled her skin. Looking up, she found the forest in front of her rapidly freezing as frost and ice crystals appeared growing ohing.

  “Uh, guys?” she called as unnatural tendrils of dread began to raise the hairs on the back of her forearms. “Guys!”

  “What is it, Ali?” Malika asked, gng up from her iion of Alexander Gray.

  “Oh, shit!” said. “Ru–”

  A dark figure emerged from the forest. A shrouded face turoward her and two intense icy blue fmes of magi its eye sockets seemed to bht through her soul. Ali shivered, not from the icy bite of its aura, but from fear and reition.

  Death Knight! she screamed, but her mouth refused to form the words. It was the very same mohat she had faced with her mother fleeing Dal’mohra on that fateful day.

  “The master will have his prize.” The ethereal voice echoed everywhere, as cold as its magic, seeming to e from far away a whisper to her frht behind her ear. A wave of dread washed over her, borne on the back of the icy tendrils of its mana, fixing her ih terror as effectively as if she were literally frozen. Her friends stood, immobile, staring at the monster. Without her mother’s hand holding hers, and without her magic proteg her mind, she railed powerlessly against the relentless aura of fear.

  Death Knight – Undead – level ??? (Ice)

  It began to stride forward, heavy sabatons g as ice sprang from its footsteps. Sensierror, her remaining Forest Guardians roared and charged, but as they approached, they slowed and stopped, ice growing up from the ground through their bodies coating them in a thick yer of rime. The Death Knight raised a gaued hand and drew a greatsword from its back, its movements unhurried and deliberate. The sword shoh an intense blue fsh as it ected, and the frozen Forest Guardian shattered into heavy blocks of ice that crashed across the ground. Ali’s mana reservation snapped painfully. Slowly pig its way across the battlefield, moving on a direct liowards her, it dispatched the Forest Guardians o a time, pausing only to examihe corpse of Alexander Gray with frosty disdain before making it vanish into some ste entment.

  Uo move, nor even think, she was forced to watch as the Death Knight stalked across the battlefield, easily defleg the le attacks of her slimes using a jured shield of ice. Her heart hammered fit to explode inside her petrified chest as it slowly drew closer, freezing all around them.

  Suddenly the being hissed, head snapping to the left.

  A brilliant figure rose from the blighted forest on wings of fire and lightning. Drawing a bow, it unleashed an arrow imbued with magic so powerful the fre overwhelmed Ali’s mana sight. With a howling roar, a stream of arrows leapt from the bow, closing the distao the Death Knight in an instant. The crash of the impact shook the ground, and the wave of heat bowled Ali over as the sedary detonatio craters and a rain of id dirt. The Death Knight was knocked sprawling, and the hail of lightning and fire magic followed it relentlessly, as if hunting with a mind of its own. But it rolled to a crouch, behind an intensely glowing shield of ice. Still, the indest fury of the uified archer hammered down, driving the Death Knight into an undignified retreat as it cwed deep furrows across the field in a vain effort to withstand the onsught.

  “Cursed Elf!” the Death Knight snarled; its eg voice filled with icy fury. “This is far from over… I will return for your head.” Abruptly, the oppressive aura of id fear vanished. Ali stumbled to one knee as if suddenly released from her bindings, and as the fiery onsught faded, all she could see was glowing sg and bed bone. Of the fearsome Death Knight, no trace remained.

  What was that? Her eyes leaped. Who…

  Ali stared wide-eyed at the sight of their rescuer alighting gracefully otlefield. Her wings of fire and lightning dispersed, and her bow vanished, but the remnants of her incredible power were still visible iense white runes of lightning mana slowly fading along the left side of her fad down her neck. Her eyes smoldered with the fury of a firestorm, but they too began to dim as she touched the ground, leaving the image of a elf with the darkest ebony skin Ali had ever seen. Her dark hair was bound high in tight braids, and her smoky eyes turo study Ali where she k in the mud and scorched dirt.

  Archer [Pathfinder of Legends] – Night Elf – level ??? (Fire / Lightning)

  A Night Elf? What is she doing here?

  “That Death Knight was… looking for you, Fae girl,” she noted calmly, addressing Ali in Elvish. Her elegant voice perfectly matched her exquisite leather armor and carried an undercurrent of power – not quite a question nor a demand.

  Awkwardly, Ali scrambled to her feet and bowed, greeting her in formal Elvish, “Thank you for saving us, Hunter of the North.”

  The Elf’s pierg eyes sed the corpse-littered battlefield and the giant pile of bones, steam already rising from the thawing ground strewn with the corpses of the undead and the blocky ks of Ali’s Forest Guardians. The eyes flicked to each of her panions, pausing briefly on Mato as he shifted out of his Tree Form. ’s lo carried to her hearing. Ali reflexively brushed off her clothing, trying to process their victory over Alexander Gray and then… this ued help.

  “You all killed Alexander Gray?” the Elf asked, switg to on.

  “Yes,” Ali blurted out. The Elf seemed cautious, and Ali wondered if she had been explicitly hunting the Death Knight. She seemed more than capable of it.

  “Good work,” she said with the barest hint of surprise making it past her trolled posure. “I have busio take care of before I track that Death Knight down. I suggest you take cover ihe town walls in case it returns.” A sour twist of her mouth apanied her mention of the Death Knight. And with that, her wings reappeared, and she shot off towards the town, leaving cracks on the ground where she had stood and trailing shockwaves behind her.

  “Who was that?” Ali asked.

  “That was Lyeneru Silverleaf,” answered breathlessly, eyes wide – awestruck.

  The legendary Pathfinder, Ali recalled. And ’s idol. What is she doing here?

  Seth Seth cowered in terror. But his body refused to show it, standing immobile in the remnants of the circle. He had been forced to watch, uo even move or even speak, as Alexander Gray had ripped the souls from each of his panions, one by one, while the heroes tried desperately to fend off his endless horde of undead minions.

  He had felt the yawning pit of darkness deep inside, and the lure of madness. The pull to escape his terror was relentless. He knew he would die, and judging by the unholy screams of his panions, that death – if this could even be called living – would be excruciating. A, his mind refused the allure of oblivion, ging to sciousness by the bloodied fiips of his shattered will.

  Uo do anything else, he was forced to watch the heroes as they struggled. Seth was rooting for the heroes, but as Alexander Gray turned himself into a huge bone strud unleashed his greatest magic yet, Seth gave up in despair. The neancer was simply far too powerful. Waves of undead blight washed through him endlessly, but Alexander had done something before the fight and somehow, he ared from the ic damage. But he could still feel its tendrils rooted deep within his flesh.

  Suddenly his chime sounded, and the bck letters of the notification scrolled across his vision.

  Requirements met for css adva.

  Primary css slot avaible.Experiehreshold reached.

  Subjected te quantities of death affinity mana.anded an undead monster.Endured undead blight.

  Css: Undead ander (Neancer) unlocked.

  This css will be permaly affixed in one week.Additional css options may be avaible at a shrine.

  Seth’s blood ran cold. Neancer? Undead ander?

  The dark text filled him with sudden dread. His most fitting natural css was the same as Alexander Gray’s? Him, a neancer? He would have screamed if he had trol of his voice. Instead, his thoughts seemed to swirl like inky waters every bit as malign as the power he feared.

  Don’t worry, you won’t live long enough for that. Inside he chuckled at his fate, w idly if he was losing his grip on sanity. He would be saved from a fate worse thah – by dying.

  Right on cue, a wave of neantic power reached for him, cws dragged through his soul to rip and tear, pulling him inexorably, writhing from his own body. His mind shrieked for ay. His body spasmed, and he saw his perspective splitting into two as he began to separate.

  Suddenly, he found himself on the frozen ground, his soul snapping painfully bato pce as he passed out briefly from pain. It was the sudden release of the pulsion colr that brought him back to his senses, and he looked up. The heroes were clustered around a huge pile of bone and a corpse.

  The corpse of Alexander Gray.

  I’m free… I am? What happened?

  With all his will he forced himself up and suddenly he was running – shambling, stumbling – as fast as his ruined body could maraight for the gates of the town, ign the agony of his blighted muscles, the heroes, the battle, the neancer, and everangely icy wind on his back. Town! Safe!

  ***

  I need a healer. Seth crawled down a dirty alleyway, his body finally having given out and uo support him anymore. He was blighted, driven far beyond what his body could normally have endured by the cruelty of the pulsion colr. If he didn’t find a healer soon, he was going to die.

  And then I o figure out how to get rid of this neancer css, or somehow unloother one. He had no idea how he might do that, but he o survive first. He crawled a little further and then suddenly froze at the sound of a voice behind him.

  “Oh, look what we have here. Are you lost, boy?”

  Seth turo look, but all he saw was the bck trun desding and then the lights went out.

  Malika Malika strode into the guild hall, frustration and annoya the town cil threatening to bubble over and disturb her mental calm. Bastian Asterford had delivered a rousing speech filled with particurly effusive gratitude for their efforts in saving the tow simultaneously ing across as slimy, maniputive, and insincere.

  Fug hypocrite. He had caused the problem in the first pce. If they had marshaled the garrison ander like they had for the Goblin siege, the fight could have been handled far more safely.

  It articur brand of wealthy entitlement that simply got under her skin. After all, his maneuver of deg a state of emergency had been a political tool to prevent the other cil members from getting involved – and there could only be one reason for that. He had been plotting to sacrifice Ali before allowing Donel, Vivian, and Gerald to swoop in and save the day.

  “Aah, Malika, how may I be of service?” Weldied her as she stomped into the guild store. His unique brand of formality and propriety seemed to prevent him from calling attention to her mood, even though she knew how perceptive he was. For some reason, it seemed to ground her a little – perhaps simply a reminder of the sanctuary of the few ho and reliable people in her life.

  Matg his mannerisms, she straightened up a little, anticipating the game they typically pyed. “There was a bit of a disturba front, and I somehow found myself in possession of a few extra items, but I find they don’t suit me. Perhaps you might find someone more appropriate for these?”

  She had been rather ao discover the Death Knight had made off with Alexander Gray’s corpse, but she had picked up a few det ons from some of the higher-level undead, and she ehe excitement gleaming in Weldin’s good eye. But before that, Alexander had actually dropped a few items she o dispose of.

  Weldiement vahe instant she produced the colrs and dumped them on the tertop. They were ugly bck devices made from cold iron and had been fastened around the necks of the hapless prisoners who had been victims of Alexander’s neantic sacrifice ritual.

  pulsion Colr – level 12-12 to level requirementWill Suppression (wearer is pelled to obey the crafter of the pulsion Ceas (wearer is prohibited from interfering with the pulsion Colr)Requirements: NoneQuality: UnonValue: 25 goldColr – Head

  “I ot in good sce buy those,” Weldin said, his face twisting in revulsion. His expression was firm, and Malika was a little surprised – and enced – by his vi.

  “I don’t want to sell something so evil,” she agreed. It wasn’t that long ago that she had been subject to the Cuffs of Suppression. Devices like these that sapped freedom went against the core of who she was. “I don’t want anyone ever using them again. I was hoping you could take them to the Novaspark Academy and find an enter to safely dismahem. Perhaps lit the salvage?”

  “That… that is reasonable,” Weldin answered, nodding. “Twenty-five pert for the guild cut?”

  Malika nodded, agreeing easily. She didn’t care about the money, just that she trusted Weldin to properly dispose of them.

  She pulled out the st item she had found in the pile of bones left behind when the neancer’s avatar had failed. A rather strange pendant with a glowing green crystal in the ter. It had presumably been a rge part of the reason Lirasia had been deceived.

  Amulet of Natural Deception – level 52A delicate pendant with a silver wreath around the rim and an emerald set in the ter.+36 Wisdom.Disguise. (you appear as a Druid with nature-affinity mana to most forms of Identification)This amulet Identifies as an Amulet of Vitality when worn.Requirements: Intelligence 182Quality: RareValue: 63 gold.Created by Indacus Argyle.Amulet – Head

  “That’s quite remarkable,” Weldin said, examining the piece. “But it is essentially a tool of deception. Are you sure you wish to sell it?”

  It was easily the most expeem Malika had appraised and, while the gold would be quite wele, she uood what Weldin was getting at. The only people who would be ied in this piece would likely be those who had reason to ceal the identity of their css. Like the neancer – or more relevant now; thieves, assassins, and the like. The pendant wasn’t ily evil like the colrs, but even if someoable bought it, likely it would end up in the hands of those with devious i.

  It would have to be someorust. She pohe problem for a while – none of her friends would get any effective use out of it.

  Wait. What about Mieriel?

  The guild administrator had done a lot of covert espionage for them during the preparation for the town cil trial, and it was abundantly clear that was her main job for the guild. While Malika still hadn’t fully fiven her, it did make sense – especially sidering the twisted devious criminal politiyrin’s Keep. Mieriel robably single-handedly responsible for keeping the guild in business and not beholden to Jax Hawkhurst, destroyed by Kieran Mori, or ed to some other iial person’s agenda.

  “How about–” Malika began and then coughed awkwardly, realizing she had almost blurted out Mieriel’s secret. While Weldin was a trusted member of the guild, he probably didn’t know yet – Vivian had kept this secret from everyone, revealing it only when there was no other choice. “– what about Vivian?” Malika finished, rec from her stumble with an awkward g Weldin’s raised eyebrow.

  “The Guildmaster?”

  “Yes,” Malika said. “Aah… there could be jobs that require cealing someone’s css. At least if Vivian trols it, we trust it won’t be put to nefarious use.” At least better thaernatives.

  “She might not want to pay what it’s worth,” Weldin warurning the pendant over as he examihe craftsmanship.

  “I don’t mind a steep dist if I know it will be used only for the guild, and not sold to some random criminals,” Malika answered.

  “Very well, let me talk to the Guildmaster when she’s free and see if she wants to purchase it on the guild’s at,” Weldin said, st the powerful but perhaps dangerous pendant. “Would you like me to deposit yold directly into your at?”

  “That would be perfect,” she said, finishing up her deal and leaving Weldin to his new purchases.

  “Malika.” The undercurrent en Vivian’s voiterrupted her thoughts and she looked up sharply to find the Guildmaster’s long stride crossing the carpeted guild hall bearing down on her with clear purpose. “Not that I think anything bad is going to happen… but Lyeneru Silverleaf left the cil angry after Jax Hawkhurst told her Aliandra was a dungeon. I think you should che your friend, just in case.”

  ----------

  https:///DungeonOfKnowledgehttps:///series/1135403/dungeon-of-knowledgehttps:///fi/80744/dungeon-of-knowledge-raid-bat-litrpg

  timewalk

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