Sofia and Veph stood in the Power 6 spell with shards raised. They had each cast Shield and just waited it out. Even when their shields broke, the damage was minimal. Cryokinetic Tempest was a battlefield control spell, more focused on separating forces providing a smokescreen to hide movements. Clearly, the skeleton didn't know what he was casting.

With how dazed the goblin had been, maybe the skeleton had made the right choice.

"If you ever threaten me again." Veph pulled her slightly disheveled hair back and redid her ponytail. "I'll rip your head off."

Sofia didn't say a thing. What was there to say?

The sky lightened, letting some of the blue shine through. In less than a minute, the spell would finish and clear. Most of the city plaza was beyond wrecked, but the true extent of the damage wouldn't be obvious until she could see it all. If she offered her engineering services, she could likely make a hefty payout from the work.

"One's gonna die," Sofia finally said.

"Exactly."

"And if it's your mender?"

"Then we see what the goblin does after. Can he control his bloodlust?"

The ice storm ended, and the air immediately felt warmer. Sofia lit a cigar and let the tobacco wash over her in a quiet, peaceful second.

"This is a shit plan," Sofia said.

"They have history. It was going to happen at some point. We might as well control it." Veph moved onto fixing her sleeves and collar now that the spell wasn't hitting them. She looked less weary than Sofia, but that was probably normal.

"Althowin knew this was your plan?"

"Althowin knew I had a plan."

"Miss Veriss," a voice said.

They both turned to a 1 Shard Hero, a captain in the Security Regime. Anybody without shards would keep their distance until the fight was confirmed to be over.

Veph just raised an eyebrow at the man.

"The commander is asking if you are handling this situation or if the Security Regime should finish putting together a team." The man bowed his head, not looking Veph in the eyes.

"I'll handle it. Send for Yome at Void Nexus."

The captain bowed his head and hurried away.

"Who?" Sofia asked.

"My assistant, now that Sylmare joined the alchemists."

Sofia had never heard something said with such contempt. Veph really was a unique, incredibly spiteful person. After their time together and their connection over appearances . . . Why did Sofia ever assume they were friends or could be anything of the sort? Veph was a monster. More than any goblin.

"If this is what Althowin is about, I'm leaving."

"Nobody cares what you do, Rat."

Sofia bit through her cigar. "Fuck you and fuck that mender."

As the air finished clearing, they both looked where the battle had been raging. It was empty.

Veph grunted and drew her crystal sword.

Every swear word ran through Sofia's head in a string.

***

Owin needed to collect his weapons. He was down to his wands and the lich bone, which was the worst weapon he could use against Nikoletta.

They walked into the ruins slowly at first, trying to listen for any sign of where she had gone. Shade's concern had been about Miya, which Owin hadn't even been considering. His brain was so focused on combat that her safety had managed to slip past. Now, he only worried.

Was Nikoletta evil enough to go murder an innocent alchemist?

Owin led the way into Miya's old laboratory. The room was destroyed from the initial conflict. As soon as he was sure Nikoletta wasn't hiding around the corner, he ran to Miya's side.

The alchemist was sitting upright, using her flaming glove for light. "What happened?" Her words were a bit slurred. Blood dirtied the side of her face.

Owin took a health potion from the bag and forced it into her hands. Miya looked at it for a moment before drinking the whole thing. She blinked, winced, and lowered her goggles over her eyes.

"You're okay?" Owin asked.

"Fine, yeah." She winced a little. "I will be. What hit me?"

"Nikoletta," Owin said.

Shade stood in the doorway Nikoletta had originally appeared in. "She's here."

"Go upstairs. Get back to Vraxridge." Owin pulled Miya to her feet. "Shade can escort you."

Miya rubbed her hand over a burn on Owin's face. "I can manage. You need Shade." She adjusted her goggles, sighed, and hurried toward the stairs. "You might as well finish blowing the place up."

"I will."

Owin walked up to Shade and tried to see into the dark room beyond. "How do you know she's here?"

"I saw some light. I assume she's healing the frog."

"Why do you call it a frog?"

"Have you seen a frog?"

Owin shook his head.

"Then forget about it. That's far too much to explain in our current situation." Shade tapped Owin with his wrist bone now that his hand was gone. Owin assumed it would recover when he was resummoned, but the olm skin glove was destroyed.

"Follow me."

Owin did as he was told, following close behind the skeleton. He had spent little time in the back room of the basement, so he didn't really know it any better than Shade would. At least if there was a surprise attack, he could quickly resummon Shade.

They walked past barrels of rotting supplies and old storage that Chorsay had obviously been fine leaving behind. The whole area was mostly a warehouse except for the wall of plants Miya had been growing. They were withered and dead, which made it even more odd that Miya was sent here to retrieve any of it.

Each step echoed, cracking wood or tapping on stone. The whole area was dark, making it so Owin could only see a few feet in front of him. He drew the lich bone. The description said it would shatter if hit with luminous magic, but not that it couldn't kill a mender or cathkabel.

"They approach," Zazenk said.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

Nikoletta's mace and eyes turned gold, revealing her at the far end of the room. Even if her mana reserves were the biggest Owin had seen, she still had to be running low. Keeping Luminous Surge going had to be to intimidate him, and it definitely wasn't going to work.

"I want you to remember that you started all of this," Owin said as he continued his approach.

Nikoletta visibly clenched her jaw. Her fingers shifted on the mace's handle.

Zazenk had propped himself against the wall. Even after the healing, he looked ragged. His leg was gone, the other was slightly misshapen, and new silver scars covered his skin.

"After he attacked you in the Ocean, I yelled at him. A lot. I was angry." Shade put his hand on Owin's head. "I told him he needed to be better than that." He pointed with his handless arm. "I also told him to get rid of your mace. That can't be the same one."

The glow of her eyes faded, putting the room back in darkness. Owin caught the briefest glimpse of fear on her face.

"I won't make that mistake again," Shade said. "You're obsessed. You're a problem. We're going to kill you."

"Do something," Nikoletta said. The noise of her kicking Zazenk was a thump in the darkness. "Are you dead?"

"I think it's time," Shade said. "Do I have anything for light?" He opened his index, providing a minimal amount. "Oh."

Owin walked up to Nikoletta. She swung her mace, which Owin caught in his metal hand. "Give it up." He tore it free and tossed it aside.

When she swung a fist instead, he stabbed the lich bone into her forearm. With a twist, he ripped it free and used his metal fist to punch her in the same knee he had battered last time.

Nikoletta let out a yelp as she collapsed. She cradled her arm as blood poured out and pooled at her feet.

"Not torture," Shade said.

"I know."

Nikoletta spat on Owin's face.

He stabbed the lich bone into her heart and pulled her close. "This is for Artivan." He twisted it again before pulling it out.

Nikoletta let out a gasp as she slumped against him. When he took a step back, her face hit the stone floor heavily.

Owin took a step closer to the cathkabel. It hadn't moved at all. He took a step closer and stabbed the lich bone into its brain. When he tried to rip it out, the handle partially crumbled.

"I think I broke it."

"That's fine." Shade grabbed his shoulder and tugged. "Let's go."

Owin took one last look at Nikoletta lying face down. The pool of blood was growing rapidly.

"Alright. I want to get back." Owin turned and bumped into Shade. "It's too dark."

Shade grabbed his shoulders and turned him back toward the door. Owin let himself be guided as his mind whirled. There was a huge sense of relief, but there was also some dread. They had caused a lot of damage and others might have gotten hurt. Self defense was an easy argument, especially when one looked at their history, but Owin had also seen Chorsay get arrested for less.

His thoughts were less excited and happy than he would've guessed. The first person to hunt him was dead. What was there to be upset about? Nikoletta had hunted him since the third floor of the Great Forest. She had thrown him off the ferry into the actual ocean. She had tried to kill him far more than he had ever tried to kill her.

But he won and Artivan was still out there. Nothing she had done mattered. In the end, he would be a 7 Shard Hero and she would be forgotten to time.

Owin stopped as soon as he stepped into Miya's lab. Shade bumped into him, then squeezed tightly with his one hand.

Sofia and Veph stood near the opposite end. Veph held a blue crystal sword in one hand and her wand in the other. Sofia just stood with her hands at her hips. A metal ball with antennae rolled a bit just behind her.

"She's dead?" Veph asked.

Owin nodded.

"I really thought she was stronger." Veph cocked her head. "You look conflicted."

"I am. I'm not happy I had to kill her."

Sofia looked between Veph and Owin. She quickly adjusted her raccoon skin hat and left it skewed on her head, which caused a massive rat ear to stick out more than usual.

"Why are your weapons out?" Owin asked.

"It was now or later," Veph said casually. "Might as well be now when there's cause."

"You're going to kill me." Owin sighed. He brushed some of his hair out of his face. It was all over the place after his helmet got destroyed. "Chorsay will be angry."

Veph's shards slowly lifted, humming, then screeching. "For a while," she said. "But in the end—"

Sofia lifted all three of her shards at the same time, drew her gun, put it against Veph's head, and pulled the trigger. It was the fastest Owin had ever seen someone move.

Blood splattered as Veph was instantly sent across the room, crashing into the wall.

"Fucking run," Sofia said.

Summon the Withered Shade

Owin immediately leapt out of a hole in the ceiling. He landed unsteadily on the broken plaza. Sofia landed right beside him and was already pushing him toward the portals.

Void Nexus heroes filled the plaza. Some Owin recognized. Most he didn't. There wasn't a single Security Regime member around.

"Fuck," Sofia said.

What remained of the Nimble Hogs' building exploded.

Weapons were drawn throughout the whole plaza. Arrows, wands, staves, swords, axes, and more were all pointed at Owin.

Veph landed just behind them. "You dirty rat."

"Owin," Sofia whispered. "Tell Althowin I did my part. Yeah?"

Owin's eyes widened.

Sofia twisted and fired her gun as Veph shot a fireball. The compressed lava bullet passed right through the fireball, causing it to explode. Owin was sent tumbling.

"Kill the monster!" Veph shouted.

The Void Nexus mob surged. Owin rolled to his feet, dodged under a sword, and sprinted with every ounce of energy he had. He jumped, shattering the ground under him, and slammed right into a hero. They crunched and fell to the ground. Owin rolled off, hit the fence outside the portal circle, and leapt straight up. As he jumped, an axe dug deep into his calf.

He landed on the other side and was immediately hit in the shoulder with an arrow. Its fire spread onto his skin and burned deep in his flesh. Owin wheezed in a breath, shoved someone aside, and ran for the portal. Each step was agony, spurting blood out of his calf.

Summon the Withered Shade

"Help!"

Shade swung the mushroom staff, clubbing a hero over the head. "Explosive Expanse." He stomped a foot down and sent a growing wave of explosions outward. Shade grabbed Owin and threw him with surprising strength.

The skeleton was quickly swarmed and poofed into dust. Owin hit the ground, fell, and rolled into the portal to Vraxridge.

***

Sofia knew Veph was feinting with the wand. She was too scared to cast it up close. But the Void Nexus leader was far too good with a sword for being a wizard. And on top of it all, Sofia was a shard down.

Her claverstan engineering was far too strong to fall apart under a sword, even a god level one, but the damage was starting to show.

She had covered the area in Magma Mine and was pushing Explosion, Fireball, Fire Arrow, and Blazing Torrent through her gun as fast as possible.

Veph cut through the spells, used Shield, or deflected most of it using electricity. Even now, visible arcs of electricity were racing up her crystal sword.

Sofia had to get out. Her backpack shifted and hissed, throwing more magic into her gun. She cast Viscous Fire and pulled the trigger, sending a blob of liquid fire that spread out like a net.

That caused Veph to recast Shield and back away as the lava wrapped around the protection.

Someone hit Sofia across the head with the edge of a sword. She turned, looked at the young man in the eyes, and grabbed him with a bare hand. A new version of Slag fell from her backpack.

"Oh, I don't think I'm gonna be welcome back in Atrevaar. Ready?"

Slag beeped.

More Void Nexus heroes hit Sofia with attacks far too weak to damage her armor or even harm her skin. Shardless or 1 Shard Heroes were mostly a joke.

Veph cut away the Viscous Fire and lifted her sword high. A dark cloud formed overhead.

It was only a matter of time until Veph won, and using any Power 5 spell was probably all it would take. A cloud meant Electro Tempest, Stormcaller's Fury, or Electro Storm, and any of those three could cause her gear to malfunction, which would quickly be followed by her death.

The 1 Shard Hero in her grip squirmed.

"Sorry, kid." Sofia squeezed harder. "Ethereal Ignition Wave."

His ability to fight back was quickly drained away as the Power 7 spell took over.

Veph was clearly the only one in the area who could sense what was about to happen. She put up a new Shield and sprinted the opposite direction with lightning-powered speed.

Sofia's hand closed as the hero's head crumbled to dust. A burst of smoke shot out in a circle around her like a shockwave. The heroes all stopped and stumbled. Many were watching as Veph vanished.

Within a second, all Sofia could see was fire. It pulsed out from a circle around her in huge walls that reached into the clouds. Wall after wall rippled into Atrevaar.

"Oh, fuck. How many people did we just kill?" she whispered to Slag, who only beeped in response.

She walked solemnly onto the portal circle, stepping over charred bones as the waves continued pulsing out. It took a moment to find the right portal, then she pulled out a cigar, lit it on a wall, and waited until the spell ended. As soon as she was sure the waves were done, she stepped into the portal back to Vraxridge.

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