If Ghost hadn’t already gone ahead and confirmed that their suspicions about the tunnel being dug long before the plane had been revealed to the public were correct, the chamber of dug-out space that had been converted into a semi-habitable living area made that abundantly clear.

  Beyond the curtain, the tunnel grew into a small, man-made cavern filled with most of the essentials one would need or want should they be roughing it for more than a few days. There were furniture pieces molded out of stone and earth and covered in furs for comfort, a small pile of books that looked thoroughly worn out, and luckily, even a few lit braziers staggered here and there around the room, casting a warm, flickering light that illuminated everything. Someone had even gone to all the effort of either making or bringing down a large rug, placing it just on the other side of the curtain to keep people from tracking dirt and mud into the cozy, underground nest.

  Such a warm living space being the staging ground for the collapse of the gargantuan plane was just about the last thing Leo had been expecting, and he started, doing a double take as he looked around for any signs of evil henchmen rubbing their hands together like in the stories or cackling as they tortured the innocent.

  Instead, there were three people. Currently laughing and joking around with one another as they played cards off to the side at a small table.

  The three presumed agents of the Planar Lords all froze at the same time Leo did, everyone’s eyes going wide as they took in something completely unexpected. The entrance to the tunnel had been fairly well hidden, to the point where nobody was going to be stumbling into it unless they knew precisely where it was. Even that was largely unnecessary, of course, as the plane was just shy of colossal, and had barely anyone running around within it until now. The only one who didn’t hesitate at the unexpected sight of the others was Taylor.

  Who immediately and without hesitation launched herself across the room like she was a dark cat herself, landing on the largest of the agents and sinking her teeth into his jugular.

  That seemed more than enough to snap everyone out of their sudden shock, and the remaining two agents both shouted as they leapt back from the table, scrambling to pick up weapons leaning by the nearby wall. The woman grabbed a hefty mace which ignited in powerful blue flames that seemed to start melting the very floor of the cavern around her, and the man snagged a longsword, his body blurring with speed that left a disorienting afterimage wherever he moved.

  While Taylor finished off the gurgling man weakly fighting to get her off him, Leo darted forward, not wanting to allow the remaining two agents a free shot at his partner. Throwing himself in between them, he barely managed to get his gauntlets up in time to save Taylor from a lightning-fast slash from the swordsman’s blade. The force of the blow was actually enough to knock Leo back slightly, and he grimaced as he felt his fingers go momentarily numb from the strike, before quickly recovering thanks to Vigor.

  These guys were no joke.

  “Taylor, I could use your help whenever you're finished there!” Leo shouted, circling to try and block the flaming mace-woman’s view with her own companion. The man blurred and went low, attempting to hamstring him with a pinpoint thrust. Again, Leo barely managed to knock the attack away in time, only his movement-based evolution giving him the speed needed to keep up.

  Unlike the swordsman, however, Leo had two weapons at his disposal.

  Using his first gauntlet to knock the sword away, Leo followed up with a powerful jab with his second, attempting to drive the tip of the giant incisor on his arm straight through the swordsman’s chest. He had a momentary elation when his jab struck true, before the afterimage the man had left behind faded, revealing he’d already stepped back and was dashing around behind him to flank Leo with the mace wielder.

  Thankfully, Taylor was finally back in the game.

  Hearing a familiar, angry snarl come from behind him, Leo didn’t even look back, trusting Taylor to handle the one-on-one with the swordsman. Instead, he sprinted forward, directly at the woman with the flaming mace who’d been struggling to join the fray with her much-faster companion running around everywhere in front of her.

  No words were exchanged as they reached one another. No threats to try and make the other stop, nor angry monologues attempting to explain what they were doing. The woman shouted as she brought her mace down toward him with all her strength, and Leo stood firm, planting his feet on the ground and bringing up both his gauntlets together to form a giant, ivory shield over his head. The heat from the mace was already causing him to sweat, and he ignored the sensation of the front half of his body actively burning as the tips of his hair ignited.

  The mace crashed down against his gauntlets with the force of a magical beast far beyond his soul rank, and Leo’s legs buckled, forcing him to take a knee as his arms went numb. Even with his incredible strength and durability, his guard was nearly broken from the lone impact. One of his gauntlets shattered as it took the brunt of the damage, raining bits of tooth and spider silk down over him alongside the wave of fire that radiated outward as even the powerful beaver tooth found itself no match for the woman’s strike.

  The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

  Though that still left him with one functional weapon.

  The woman’s eyes widened in shock and fear as she realized Leo had survived whatever powerful attack that had been, and he roared as he exploded up from his current position, using his remaining gauntlet to throw the mother of all uppercuts at his opponent. The explosive force of him leaping to his feet combined with his strength synergy was more than enough for what he needed, and the giant beaver’s tooth strapped to his left arm tore straight up through the woman’s abdomen, lodging itself deep within her chest.

  Standing immediately before one another, Leo panted as he stared directly into the woman’s pale face. Her already wide eyes were now filled with nothing but fear of what was to come and disbelief that she’d been defeated in a battle of strength. Slowly, her fingers unwrapped around the hilt of her mace, and the weapon clattered to the floor, the flames vanishing just as quickly as they’d sprouted. Leo felt her sag against his gauntlet as the strength left her legs, and he ripped the tooth out of her, allowing her body to drop lifelessly to the ground.

  Leo stood frozen for the barest of moments, staring down at what was clearly the corpse of the first person he’d ever killed. Technically, he still didn’t know if Jess had survived being strangled by his hand, but this was different. Leo had come down here with the full intention of killing whoever he’d found. He’d planned this woman’s death, even if he hadn’t known it would be her dying specifically. As he gazed upon her corpse, watching the blood flow from the gaping hole in her chest that he’d caused, he was somewhat surprised to find he really only had one thought going through his mind.

  Good riddance.

  He didn’t know this woman. He didn’t know her name. He’d never even heard her speak or exchanged a single word with her. But just by proxy of her being down here, she had to be one of the Planar Lords agents. And more importantly, she was one actively working to carry out a plan designed to collapse a gargantuan-sized plane and kill thousands of innocent people in the process.

  Monsters like that didn’t deserve even a second of his sympathy.

  The clash of metal behind him and snarl of pain snapped Leo out of his thoughts, and he turned to take in how the remaining battle was going. The man was currently grinning, flicking the bright-red blood from the tip of his blade as Taylor held a hand to her wounded shoulder. From the red lines running across the side of the man’s throat, Taylor had nearly managed to tear through his jugular, but it seemed his speed made that no easy feat.

  “Why even come down here?” the swordsman finally asked, raising an eyebrow as he shifted to ensure Leo was within his field of view as well. “Seeing as you attacked without warning, I can’t assume this was some sort of accident. You do realize who you’re really going up against, don’t you? Once Ghost is done playing with your souls and making you suffer, the Planar Lords will go after everyone you’ve ever loved. Your friends. Your families. Nobody will be safe.”

  “The Planar Lords already killed all of them,” Leo stated, picking up the woman’s fallen mace in his now gauntlet-free hand as he tested the weight and found it perfectly balanced. He’d trained with the mace just as much as he had with every other basic weapon growing up, courtesy of his parents ensuring he’d be prepared for just about anything, and he grinned as he realized he had his own opportunity to try and instill a little fear into his opponent.

  “Well, almost all of them,” Leo continued, pretending like he’d just remembered something. “I suppose my mother actually managed to get away. The Frozen Killer. I don’t suppose you’ve heard of her? Wiped out the team of so called ‘elite’ agents sent to collect her and vanished out from under the Planar Lords noses? Ever wonder where she ended up going?”

  That ended up getting the desired reaction, and Leo’s grin only widened as the swordsman faltered, his blade dipping just a fraction as his face paled. Leo still didn’t fully understand what reputation his mother and father held across the planarverse, but he was starting to get a pretty good idea. It sounded like his father had made friends and spread warmth everywhere he’d traveled, just like the very fires he created with his skills.

  His mother had instilled terror, putting on a show of force and crushing her frozen enemies beneath her heels wherever she walked.

  What a team they must have been.

  “You’re lying,” the swordsman said, chuckling after a moment as he shook his head and seemed to regain his confidence. “Maybe not about being the Frozen Killer’s son, but about her being here. She would have found us and taken us out ages ago if that were the case. She wouldn’t have waited until the last possible second. That’s not her style.”

  “Maybe,” Leo said, shrugging as if it really didn’t matter to him either way. “Maybe not.” Their opponent’s speed skill was something else, and they really needed whatever edge they could get. Even just the needling thought in the back of his mind that the Frozen Killer would be here any minute to put a stop to their plans might be the difference between them saving everyone and giving up their lives for nothing.

  “I think I’ve let your friend bleed out for long enough,” the swordsman said, grinning as he pointed his blade at Taylor. For her part, Taylor had been crouching silently all this time, watching their opponent with an intense, almost curious stare. Leo wasn’t sure what exactly it looked like she was waiting for, but it seemed whatever it was had finally arrived. Getting to her feet, Taylor smiled, tapping a claw against her own throat.

  “That looks sort of painful,” she said, her eyes burning as they never left her opponent. “Sure you don’t want to get it looked at?”

  Leo started as he finally realized what she was talking about. The slashes Taylor had left across the man’s throat weren’t just red anymore. The color had shifted to something closer to purple and looked inflamed, as if the wound had been poisoned. Only…

  Taylor’s skill she’d absorbed from the camouflage spider was Injection Bite.

  Her claws shouldn’t have been poisonous at all.

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