Lucie Masson stood like a hollow husk before him. Black blood ran from her face and soaked into her yellow suit. Her heels had broken and fallen off her feet as soon as they started trading blows, and now she stood with wings outstretched and a mix of his blood and hers all over the gallery.

Owin had already been sent flying more than once from single attacks. The blurring dash was faster than he was reacting. She would be a tough opponent even without a shard, and now that she was twice as fast, she was a menace.

But it was nothing he couldn't handle. Owin stood near the stairs to the lobby with the Darkblade and a wand in his hands.

Lucie gathered the black blood into a knife. Her wings quivered before beating. She blurred as she flew across the room in a blink.

Owin stood his ground. His last Arcane Blast from the wand struck her chest, but failed to hit anywhere near hard enough to stop the charge. Her bare feet pressed into the wooden floorboards, shattering them as she landed and slashed. Owin turned his face just enough to avoid most of the slash. The black blood knife bit into the skin just above his eye before scraping along the chitin helmet. Cracks slithered from the gash, audibly spreading all over the helmet.

His armor wasn't going to last long. But it didn't need to.

Without needing to move his feet, he shifted his weight and drove the Darkblade deep into her abdomen. The charge gem embedded inside released its electrical charge, sending magic throughout her body. Her muscles spasmed until Owin tore the knife free.

A kick from her bare foot sent him flying back, but instead of crashing into the wall, he fell inside a painting. For a moment, he saw eyes all around him. As suddenly as he entered, he was flying out of another painting in the room. Crab legs had emerged from his armor and softened the landing and pushed him back to his feet.

Lucie stood with her back to a painting. A smile crept onto her lips, revealing her fangs as they pressed into her lower lip. "You will be delicious." Her wings folded close to her back. "I haven't needed to fight in so long." She stepped back and vanished into a painting.

Owin immediately turned and stabbed, but she wasn't there.

A bloody fist crashed into the side of his face, sending him tumbling across the room. Even with the crab legs helping, he couldn't stop himself before he passed into another painting and emerged elsewhere in the room.

She was already there. He brought his metal hand up, barely blocking a stab of the black blood knife. It broke against the prosthetic, splattering liquid blood as the weapon collapsed.

As he fell, Owin aimed a slash for her neck, but caught her chest instead and carved from her breastbone to belly button before he was stomped into the ground.

Summon the Withered Shade

"Die," Shade said. He pressed his armored hand against her cheek and unleashed Viscous Fire directly into the vampire's face.

Owin's eyes widened. Lucie's foot pressed into his breastplate, cracking the chitin. His armor thrashed, trying to free him as the liquid fire poured over the vampire and flowed down, heading straight to him. Her strength was too much. He couldn't escape. Even as he repeatedly stabbed at her ankle, she didn't flinch. If anything, she pressed more firmly as the liquid fire burned away her skin.

Lucie Masson turned to regard Shade as her face burned away. "Fool." A palm strike sent the skeleton tumbling.

Owin's vision turned gray for the briefest moment, then he found himself standing on the other side of the room.

Lucie was turned to him with a slight tilt of her head, while Shade was being stepped on underneath. Liquid fire dripped onto the skeleton, causing no harm. Shade waved. The vampire lord kicked Shade away and extended her wings. A single beat sent her flying toward Owin once again.

She was rapidly healing through the burning, and the gash he had carved through her torso was mostly gone.

He needed something bigger. Something better. He slipped the wand into his belt.

His shield thudded on the ground behind him.

Owin brought the Darkblade up with his metal hand pressed against the back to block Lucie's punch. All of the crab legs embedded themselves in the wooden floor. All of it together barely kept him steady as her punch smashed against the stone knife.

Another fire spell hit her in the back, covering her wings in raging flames. While Owin had no doubt that it hurt, it didn't seem to specifically bother her.

Owin planted his feet and punched. His metal fist connected with Lucie's thigh. Her leg snapped back as bones broke. The vampire lord collapsed, and Owin grinned. Now, he could kill her.

As he stepped forward with the knife ready to stab down, his heart felt a pulse. A shudder.

A bubbling red haze erupted around Lucie. She was back on her feet in a blur.

Owin's eyes widened at the sudden burst of power.

Then his vision grayed.

Shade stood where Owin just had been. He bent down and picked up the shield. "A wizard with a shield. I guess I can make that work."

Lucie said something Owin couldn't hear from across the room. Her red haze was intense, especially when it mixed with the fire raging across her face.

What did he have that could kill a near-immortal creature? Shade was stalling, but it wouldn't last long.

Owin had to think.

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The Darkblade wasn't close to enough. The wands weren't going to do any permanent damage. Even the Incandescent Blade didn't seem like it would be enough to kill her for good. Isotelus was slightly stronger, but normal weapons weren't doing much of anything.

Owin reached into his bag. He drank a health potion, tossed it aside, and reached in again. When he pulled out a rock, he tilted his head.

The room shook as Shade smashed into a wall beside a painting. Instead of waiting to be thrown, the skeleton dodged a swipe and dove head first inside. He appeared to Owin's left and turned to use the shield, blocking as Lucie slashed with another black knife.

Owin tried to remember what exactly Miya had said about the rock. He had watched its whole creation, but he hadn't really understood what she was doing. She had said it was "to throw." There was something about throwing it hard enough to release the energy folded inside.

Shade was being tossed around the room. The only reason the skeleton was still alive was the unbreakable shield. Owin waved the rock in the air.

Shade said something, but was sent flying through a painting before Owin could figure out what he was trying to say. He didn't reappear, meaning he was likely sent back to the study.

Lucie turned to face Owin. Liquefied skin dripped from her face in thick globs, passing through the bubbling blood haze surrounding her.

He took a step, looked at the exposed skin of her chest, seeing a black mark marring the pale skin over her heart. He hoped his dexterity was high enough. Just as she beat her wings, Owin threw the rock with every ounce of strength and dexterity he could muster.

It zipped across the room as Lucie launched herself forward in a blur.

0 Experience

The vampire lord hit the floor like a sack of burning, bloody flour. Her body bulged with blue mana, sending glowing fissures through her pale skin. Owin jumped back as the rock detonated.

Black gore exploded through the gallery.

Owin sighed.

"What did I miss?" Shade shouted from the door. "Oh."

Owin wiped blood from his eyes.

The skeleton was already backing away. "Do you think she can heal through that?" He partially hid himself behind the shield and held the wooden stake in his other hand, ready to stab.

"No." Owin spat some from his mouth.

"Are we sure?"

Owin tried to ignore the sound as his feet squelched in the absolutely ridiculous amount of blood spread throughout the gallery. "I'm sure. I got an experience notification."

"You got experience?"

"No."

"Oh, right."

Rainier appeared behind Shade. "Finally." He shoved Shade aside and dropped to his knees in the black mess. Without hesitation, Rainier started shoveling Lucie's remains into his mouth.

Owin and Shade looked at each other.

"She ruled for long enough." Rainier nearly gagged on the vampire meat. He gasped for air. "It's my time."

Shade walked up and stabbed the wooden stake into the vampire's back.

Rainier fell dead, splattering in the mess.

"Huh." Shade looked around. "Want to go to the next floor?"

Owin nodded and grabbed the Thunderstrike Maul. He walked right past Rainier's corpse and into the hallway. The farther he could get from the gallery, the better.

"How do I know if I have vampirism?"

"We'll be able to tell." Shade wiped some blood from Owin's face. "We might just need to give you a little bath first."

Shade fit the unbreakable shield back onto Owin's back, allowing for the cape to move and the crab legs to move if his armor was still capable of producing them. After making sure they gathered everything again, they walked into the bedroom and right into the portal to the eighth floor.

***

Arkasti still couldn't believe he was holding Zezog's sword. The Zezog. Most people still didn't believe the Barbarian actually existed.

But Arkasti had his sword.

Fusing would be a simple task, now that he had such a weapon. The least he could do was be honorable and fuse with something powerful. In the mess he had found himself weaved in, there were people who needed help. And the goblin wasn't the only one. There were innocent people being threatened by real Shard Heroes.

He wouldn't stand by.

Magna Regum. Three Headed.

Golden Bulls.

All cowards.

The Nimble Hogs were the only honorable group he knew.

Arkasti took a deep breath, enjoying the chill in his lungs. The land north of Sakaebia was covered in a serene frozen forest. It was lively, with elk and other creatures thriving within. They stayed away from the main path to the Tundra tower, but if one was calm and quiet, they could see the wonderful beasts from far away. He had even seen a bear once, and watched it as it passed on its journey.

This time, he had only spotted a few small rabbits darting through bushes. He still enjoyed it, and also considered hunting them for just a moment. The thought quickly passed.

Now, he finally reached the Tundra. It was a block of ice that looked absurd in the middle of such a beautiful forest. Only a few parties were gathered outside. It wasn't one of the dungeons people frequently camped outside. The air was too bitter to enjoy. People sat around some campfires instead of lining up outside the door.

That was fine. He could wait a few hours before entering. A meal would do him nicely.

"Hello, good folks!" Arkasti's voice boomed through the clearing. All conversation silenced immediately. He grinned. "I have coin if you have food! Who would let me join in your meal?"

A few of the parties turned back to their conversations, while a few others waved at him. Arkasti took a few minutes visiting each, introducing himself, and smelling their food. He finally settled on a party of four heroes out of Kriergow. They were used to the cold and had already made hot drinks, including coffee and mulled wine.

He sat on a small log provided and passed around a few dungeon gold to each of the members, who thanked him. Each in turn said it was too much, and every time, he ignored it. People of Kriergow were humble and kind. They had trouble accepting gifts, but that didn't make them less deserving. Especially since it wasn't a gift, but a payment for their food and kindness.

A hush fell over the clearing.

Arkasti lowered the mug of mulled wine from his lips. A figure had just emerged from the exit with two humming shards over her shoulder. He stood, Zezog's sword in hand.

The woman was drenched in blood and a horrifying cathkabel stood just behind her. She looked over everyone in the clearing with glowing, golden eyes.

A mender.

After a moment, she spotted him. The cathkabel leaned in close and whispered something in her ear. The woman walked between the camps, watching Arkasti the entire time.

Neither of them opened their indexes.

He didn't need to see her attributes to know she was something else.

With that much blood, she had to be ruthless. And the cathkabel with her looked unusual. He had never seen one wielding a scythe.

"Nikoletta Olah," one of the people at the camp said. "Do you know her?"

Arkasti watched until she disappeared into the forest. Only then did he sit back down. "I do not." He opened his index and looked over the list of Shard Heroes, and there she was. Nikoletta Olah, a 2 Shard Hero. "I will have to ask my colleagues."

He couldn't help but look over his shoulder. There was something beyond unnatural about her. It wasn't often that he felt danger like that. He shivered, but not from the cold.

"Forget about her," someone said. "The chili is ready."

Arkasti forced a smile and grabbed his bowl. "I am looking forward to this. Thank you."

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