The giant Earth Blood class holder moved into the room. His body was encased in heavy enchanted armor, only his face, hands and feet were visible. Typical set up for his class, Marcus thought. Leon's team quickly gave their report to the clan leader and they exchanged words while Janette moved to Marcus, her face strained from the wound in her arm.

"Mr. Kruger do you have some healing with you, to treat Ms. Long?" Flores said and Leon quickly offered Janette a red potion, the typical color for healing as everybody knows. Janette took it somewhat reluctantly and thanked the man. "You should go and protect the infirmary. I'm worried the enemy might come after our wounded and medical personnel," Javier said to Leon, and the man gave Marcus and Janette a look.

"Do not worry, I will go with the two. Amelia would never forgive me if something would happen to them," the giant said with a warm smile. They watched as Elena and her team vanished through the door, and the face of the clan leader changed. "Now Janette, tell me where the strongest enemy is," he said and focused on her. Janette looked around and then pointed in a direction. "Good." the man smiled.

They quickly walked along corridors, with Flores in the lead. "The lives of several people have faded next to the target," Janette said with a pressed voice and the Earth Blood started running. They passed by a room with two enemies, but both died in less than two seconds as sharp blades made out of stone and metal came from the floor and pierced their bodies. Javier did not even slow down. Marcus had known that all the leaders of Cerberus were strong, but knowing and seeing was a different thing. "We are very close, next room. The enemy is alone," Janette said and readied her weapon. "Don't be hasty." Flores motioned them to hold back.

They entered a large room and from the look of it, it was a garage. Several cars and trucks had been trashed into wrecks, and one of the large rolling doors had been torn apart. A singular tall figure stood between the corpses of at least five Cerberus members. The man wore exquisite armor, not falling behind Flores' masterpiece, and wielded a large round shield and an impressive broadsword. All of his equipment was in a white and gold color scheme, but the thing that made Marcus stop and gasp were the glowing symbols on the equipment.

The shield, the weapon and the armor were signed by golden, glowing symbols which felt more real than reality itself. They seemed to burn into reality, looking at them felt uncanny and yet you had to force yourself not to. "Rune Smith," Marcus whispered under his breath. It was a really rare class and only rank 33 because of their need for preparation, but once they were all setup…. The tall man did not move and seemed to check them out the same way they did with him. Marcus concentrated on the runes, 4 strokes. The more strokes the more powerful each rune was, the more versatile they could become. With four strokes the Rune Smith should be at least level 100.

"Fortune really smiles on me today." A surprisingly coarse voice came from the full helmet of the attacker. "First somebody got rid of that horrible bitch Fiona by crashing her bird, then I got to play with some mindless Cerberus dogs, and now I get to kill a dwarf." A raspy chuckle followed, but Marcus was already calculating their chances instead of listening to taunts. He had no doubt that the broadsword was absolutely deadly, but it was the beefed up armor that made him worry the most. Earth Blood attacks are physical, Marcus himself was most likely too weak to stand up to that monster. Maybe even Janette's rail gun would not be able to punch through that protection. "You know who I am, and yet you taunt me. You are an imbecile," Javier said, completely unfazed by the taunts of the man.

"Just because you are famous does not mean I'm afraid of you. We are only a few levels apart from each other and I believe I have a much better match up with your class. Killing the small fry is a nice bonus though." The man in the white, golden armor posed in front of them. Marcus could imagine the wicked smile under that glorious helmet. The Rune Smith suddenly shrank. It happened so unexpectedly that Marcus, Janette and the attacker looked surprised at his feet. They sank into the ground, by now the enemy was covered by a muddy cement mix up to the knees.

The man cursed and tried to use his great strength and speed to break free from the muddy pool, but the material became even less viscous and he found no purchase. The white golden armor sank beneath the surface of the slurry material and a second later it hardened into a solid material. "Tell me when he is dead. I think we should sell his equipment to compensate the families of the fallen," Flores said and Janette nodded. What just happened? Marcus could not believe that Rune Smith had been neutralized in this way.

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A great lesson for you. It does not always come down to a conflict of power.

He freaking buried that guy! Alive!

Exactly, how would you combat such a situation?

Never stay still and use Burst.

Correct, standing still on such a terrain against a man like Javier was a fatal mistake. Mr. Flores deserves his fame and infamy.

Marcus agreed. Javier Flores had no reason to hide behind the Queen of Hearts.

"His aura has vanished." Janette said after a minute. Marcus watched as the armor emerged from the depths and the ground solidified again underneath it. In a fraction of a second two earth blades emerged from the ground, and like scissors cut off the head of the Rune Smith. "Always make sure strong enemies are really dead. Some of them have tricks you do not know. Few can survive without a head," Javier said and Marcus was nearly sure he just made a joke.

"Where is the next one?" Javier asked without turning around and Janette searched the area. "There are not many left. There are two decently strong ones in that direction." And they followed her directions. Just a minute later, they engaged their targets in the large fitness center of the building, between weights, training machines and for some reason large, colorful elastic balls. The two men had been on the run from other Cerberus units and found their escape route closed by Marcus, Janette and Javier.

They were both strong, level 80-ish, and one was easily identifiable as a Blood Knight. The crimson layer over his armor was a unique trait only this class possessed. The other one had a two handed, bloodied sword and Marcus's first instinct was Berserker. "Let's see if you can do this on your own," Javier said and Marcus clenched his teeth. Always the pupil, never the master.

Ha! Master.

Marcus ignored the jab from Xeen and exchanged signals with Janette but the enemies did not wait around but attacked with great speed.

The Blood Knight grabbed a 20 kg weight and threw it at Janette, and moved to attack her from close range. Janette easily dodged the distraction and brought her railgun up to her shoulder. A sharp scream came from her when blood from her own wound turned into a needle and punched through her flexed arm, stopping her from shooting. More blood ran over her body, giving the Blood Knight more to work with.

In the meantime the Berserker(?) rushed to Marcus and readied a swing. Marcus went low and Burst charged him at five meter distance, the man vanished into thin air. Marcus collided with a rag full of training equipment, and quickly scrambled to get up again. A razor sharp blade cut over his unprotected back, but Carapace was there to help. His enemy also had no idea who he was facing and the blade only cut a centimeter into Marcus' body and a suppressed scream followed. Marcus turned, but there was nobody. He got up and into a defense position, a movement to his left made him turn only to feel steel run through his leg from behind him. Marcus gasped in pain but made a backhand swing and connected to something. Impulse Hammer made the guy fly. The blade was still in his leg and Marcus turned while forcing the weapon out of his body. The enemy was nowhere to be seen.

Janette dropped her oversize rifle and drew one of her pistols, and started shooting in the same motion. Bullets found their target in the neck and other weak points of the Blood Knight. But the man was tough and his crimson armor weakened the bullets greatly. Another blood needle aimed at Janette's neck but she destroyed it with her hand before it could pierce her. The enemy was now close to her and used a short sword to cut her down. Janette did not try to run but reduced the distance to the man even further. Fast swings of the blade missed her by centimeters, and even his attempts of unarmed attacks went nowhere. "Bitch!" A pressed voice under the helmet said. Janette dodged another strike and suddenly the barrel of her pistol was under the chin of the man. Janette pulled the trigger four times in quick succession and filled the helmet with blood and brain matter.

It is an Illusionist, Marcus thought. He picked up the large sword and swung it around himself. The blade weakly hit something in the middle of the air. Marcus was ready to pounce when something heavy smashed against his face, a 20 kg dumbbell weight. The man had still not figured out what was going on with Marcus and another scream followed, the weight dropped out of the broken hand of the Illusionist and the mirage faded.

Marcus reached out to catch him, but his hand moved through the man again. It was a double fake. The large blade was gone from the ground and Marcus turned to find the bastard.

Keep a cool head. You have caused harm to him.

Marcus took a deep breath and reduced his impatience. Marcus went into a flexible stance and closed his eyes. The moment he felt pain rush through his chest he kicked into the direction and this time he connected to something solid. Ignoring his already healing wound, Marcus followed the fallen enemy and found him in the same rack he himself had visited before. The fallen man tried to get up and vanish, but Marcus grabbed his shoulder and pressed his other hand against the chest. Three seconds of Jack Hammer treatment pounded the man into the rack and left him broken for real. "Took you long enough, even though you had the easy one." Janette gloated.

"Interesting. You managed to overcome your enemies even though changing opponents would have led to a far faster and safer victory. Still, impressive work," Javier said, clapping his hands. "How are things looking Ms. Long?" He continued without giving them a chance to reply first. Janette looked around. "I think it is over, at least I can't see fighting anymore." Hearing this, Marcus took a deep breath. Several crests were warming his chest and he spent them without much joy. 71 vitality, meant he could unlock his fourth ability, but right now he did not feel like celebrating.

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