The world slowed down across his vision, then continued cruelly. The Godknight drove his claymore deep into the Thiefmaster’s chest, goring deeper, and bright flame blasted from the sword onto James’ body.

  Why, why did he…

  “Why did you go back!” Noa screamed out Suna’s question, but James was in no condition to talk.

  Blood spurted from the Thiefmaster’s mouth—Still alive even as the mighty sword pierced him just above Noa.

  The Tiefling’s hands reached up and gripped the claymore.

  The knight’s own hands tightened, trying to push further. However, even as James’ blood colored his midnight cloak, the Tiefling’s head snapped up, staring straight at the crowned helmet of the Godknight.

  “Now!” James croaked.

  The Godknight turned toward Suna, but it was too late. Far too late.

  He was already in position.

  Pyreflame burst in an explosion across his Pyre Dagger, and Suna slammed it down upon the knight’s neck armor. A blast of blistering steel rushed against the Godknight’s neckpiece, sending a tearing shriek across the throne room.

  Suna screamed. All of his being he put into this one slash, and he heard armor breaking before a hand shot out at him—A gauntleted hand went toward his chest and grasped his pendant—clutching it. The pendant he got from the Pyrebone Archer, which gave him control over Pyreflame. The Godknight crushed the pendant, and flame exploded from his chest.

  A violent pain sizzled through his body. Suna shrieked. His rabbit cloak tried to mend the burn, but Suna did not stop. He can’t. This was not over. Amid the flaming inferno, he focused on his Brimhat.

  “Suna!” Noa screamed, but Suna could not see anything beyond the flames.

  Drowfication and the Rabbit Cloak kept him alive.

  And the Brimhat would be the key for him to take down this Godknight.

  Suna raised his hand against the current of flame, and dark exhilaration bristled through him. His Third Dark Hand lurched up the knight’s arm, loosening it from Suna’s throat but incapable of fully removing it. Which served Suna fine.

  With Brimhat in hand, Suna poured his mana into it, and the surrounding flames obeyed, gathering into one apex of blue flame above his Brimhat.

  The edge of his Brimhat burned with dark crisp, slowly fading away.

  Suna briefly examined the battlefield now shrouded with the Pyreflame. His flame.

  He saw Reki, who was wrapped in a dark tendril of the Assassin’s magic. Noa, who bashed his shield against the Godknight to free James. And James, poor James, whose life would escape him at any moment.

  This attack was for him.

  The Godknight’s attention changed from Noa to Suna, and by now Lanfred had noticed all of his Pyreflame was being controlled–even the flame along his claymore that stabbed James. And the archer, the Flintwind, controlled it, grinning at him through his charred black skin.

  Suna slammed down his brimhat onto Lanfred’s crown. The Godknight managed to dodge. But his hand was far too forward, and that caused the Brimhat to shear onto the Godknight’s shoulder. A blast of searing white colored the space between them. The energy pushed everything back, including Suna, who was blasted away along with Noa, the Bulwark.

  The world was still for a second or so.

  Suna’s vision was in darkness. The Spirit Rabbit Cloak mended his body, and in his hazy condition, Suna reached to the tip of the hood and pulled it in over his eyes. In a couple of seconds, the vision of his right eye returned, and he saw the Godknight on his knee with one hand lying on the ground. Separated. Blood dripped from the Godknight’s stump, and Lanfred withdrew his claymore from James’ body.

  Suna tried to see the rest, but his vision narrowed to Lanfred only. How long had it been since he was incapacitated?

  “You,” the one-armed knight said, pointing his claymore at Suna. “You’re recovering already.”

  “You call this recovering?” Suna croaked, his voice like a wisp of smoke, so churning and rough.

  “I can tell, in another ten minutes, you will be in top condition,” Lanfred said. “That thing is bound to you. And that makes you very dangerous.” He lifted his sword.

  The Godknight’s blue armor was now ruined with white and black motes of ash, and part of it melted away, revealing flesh of dark green that was familiar to the Undead.

  Suna tried to stand, but he couldn’t.

  He needed time.

  Pyreflame came to life in the claymore, and this was perhaps it. Sizzling blue death roared through, and as the Godknight was about to bring it down, a focused shield stopped just below his wrist.

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  “Stand! All three of you!” A voice screamed—Wendy.

  Then a dark slice of wind rushed through the throne room and hit straight at Lanfred, who tumbled back, and a score of blood dripped down from his stump.

  Amidela stood, still alive, along with Wendy, who supported her.

  “James, Thiefmaster…” Amidela softly spoke. Then, with one hand, she kept sending a slice of wind.

  Lanfred blocked Amidela’s magic with his claymore, shrugging off the dark winds with a lazy swing. But Wendy’s magic was the one he had trouble with. When he tried to advance on Suna, a focused shield appeared that he had to destroy with a full swing of his claymore.

  The crunch of shattering glass against the sword hammering got Suna out of his daze. His vision had returned fully, and Suna glanced over the battlefield. James—the Thiefmaster—lay in a pool of blood. Noa was kneeling above him, feeding him a red vial, shouting at him. Would that even be enough?

  And Reki… The Orator was covered in a small circle of gold as he was wrapped by the coiling hand of darkness of the Assassin. Cruelly, ever so, Suna couldn’t help but think James should have killed the Assassin instead of helping Noa. In fact, the very next moment,

  A laugh boomed across the room, even staggering Lanfred to a stop. The knight turned toward the direction of the Shadow Assassin.

  “You seem to be struggling, Lanfred.” The Assassin laughed. “I will admit, I underestimated too much. Can’t seem to heal these wounds…”

  Suna briskly held his gaze toward the Assassin. A weakness of Drowfication? Dark affinity spells are hard to heal? Well, it did not matter to his body, since he had the Spirit Rabbit Cloak.

  Suna caught a movement; he sensed it—A soft footstep of an expert thief—A Tiefling crept toward him. A support Tiefling. He stayed silent and watched, hoping the two monsters would be distracted enough.

  “How about a brief ceasefire, Lanfred?”

  What?

  Dread churned inside of Suna, and his mind went blank. If they did that, then what are the chances…

  “Get rid of this pesky child of light in front of me. I will help your movement with my hands, then once we both recover, we can have our duel.”

  “Uln, do you think I would make any kind of agreement with you? After everything?”

  A shadow covered Suna, and a skin of red held a red vial feeding it to Suna’s lips. He felt the slithering strength through his body, like a pumping energy trying to keep a fire alive.

  “You and your pride. I always find it admirable. But lately, I found it foolish. Tell me, Lanfred, when the dragon-skinned girl killed your queen, what did your king do? What was the original agreement of the duel?”

  This earned Lanfred’s attention.

  “To allow the Tiefling messenger into the Upperworld.”

  A smile cracked upon the shadow shell surrounding the Assassin’s body. “Ah, and let me guess. The messenger was instead hunted down, and the king split some of his forces to prevent any escape.”

  The Godknight stiffened as he mindlessly parried Amidela’s dark wind. A rush of blade and wind blasted in a swoosh, and perhaps Lanfred was glad for it.

  “Such vainglory. Perhaps that is the source of your pride, Lanfred. Not from the Lord of Death, our creator, but from a foolish king you served.”

  “You dare?” Lanfred asked calmly. “It appears your position hasn’t dawned on you yet. How long has it been since you have been pushed this far into such a shell of a state, Uln? Whether you find my pride vain or not, it does not matter since I will claim your life when I’m done with them.”

  “Oh! I haven’t been in this state since… Light, how many years was that?” The Assassin—Uln—laughed. “But, Lanfred, if you don’t want to work with me, then what makes you think I would rather let you kill me instead of them?”

  The Assassin’s hand went slack, and Reki’s light overpowered the Assassin’s in an instant, banishing the dark shield around the Undead, revealing a fabled mummified being.

  That’s his body.

  “No!” Lanfred screamed.

  Suna built up Gale Step at his feet and rushed forward, drawing Umbralline ready.

  The Godknight turned on him, about to slash down at him, then a familiar invisible shield was erected just below his wrist. But the knight saw it coming and flowed sideways to send a burst of Pyreflame at Wendy.

  Amidela reacted in time and took Wendy with her in Gale Step.

  Suna didn’t watch them anymore; instead, he put himself between Reki and the Godknight.

  “You again!”

  “Reki! Kill him!” Suna bellowed at the Orator.

  Lanfred stepped forward and was about to strike him down. However, Suna knew enough not to give him space to complete the swing, so he closed in with another step and met the Godknight’s claymore in an upward swing.

  Their swords clashed, and Suna did not stand a chance. Umbralline was knocked out of his grip; his hand immediately went to the thief’s sword sheathed by his hip, but then a quick kick by the Godknight sent him flying into a rough object. Reki cried out behind him, and they crashed into the wall of the throne room.

  Suna groaned awake, feeling his back pricked by Reki’s armor.

  “Fast! Kill me!” Uln said beside them, the mummy’s hand shot up, begging to be killed as he laid his hand on Suna’s shoulder.

  Suna gripped his Pyrebone Dagger and was about to plunge it against Uln’s chest until an incredible force crushed his hand against the wall behind. Suna roared as engulfing pain blasted through his arm. Lanfred kicked straight at Suna’s arm with his foot, cracking the wall in the process.

  The Godknight did not waste any time and swung his claymore down in one hand onto the mummy. The Assassin then exploded with dark energy, re-erecting his shield of dark hands. But Lanfred’s Pyreflame overwhelmed it, and his claymore bit into the assassin’s shoulder.

  The Assassin let out a muffled pain–then a great shield appeared–Noa bashed his shield against the Godknight’s half-melted helmet, sending Lanfred’s head lolling.

  Lanfred did not let go of his sword; instead, he doubled down on trying to kill the Assassin.

  Suddenly. The Godknight reversed his momentum and decided to withdraw his claymore after all.

  Suna’s breath constricted, and a gasp escaped Reki beside him. Beyond them, standing like a dying ember was James, who stood with mottled dark skin across his body.

  The Thiefmaster had just gone through the dream and stood with his own Drowfication.

  The Godknight, sensing the danger, stepped forward and assumed a stance to meet James’ attack. Lanfred was close enough that he could keep track of the Assassin, so Suna or Reki could not sneak a kill without the knight knowing. But now, with James like this…

  “We can do this,” Reki whispered beside him, as the two forces sized each other.

  “Yes,” Suna answered instinctively. This was their chance.

  “Better be quick,” a low reply came from the Assassin. “That Tiefling is dying no matter what, so make it count. I don’t want to be killed by this dog of a knight.” Shield of darkness regrew around him.

  “Hold on!” Reki said. “What do you mean…”

  “Not important now, Reki,” Noa said, the Bulwark’s eyes trimmed with red, but he positioned himself with his one shield just beyond Suna and Reki.

  “I would say it is quite important,” Suna said, cutting off Reki’s complaint. The Orator smiled, but then Suna’s next word came out cold. “The rune is mine. James is dying anyway.”

  “Yes, it’s yours,” Noa said, not missing a beat. “Get ready.”

  “Are you good with that, Assassin?”

  “You realize Lanfred can still hear you, right? We are still within his range. So, only try to kill me when the fight starts.”

  “That’s not what I’m asking.”

  “Yes, kill me. I will help you to do so.”