Mallor looked down the long halfway after the vertigo from the Spade faded. A young man sat practicing spells while an older woman watched intently. A small creature rested its head on the boy's left thigh. The glob of water the boy was toying with suddenly froze over into a spike and was launched.

A bony hand reached in front of Mallor, blocking and shattering the spike. Both the young man and old woman were on their feet. The small creature snarled, but it's unimposing size made Mallor think it was rather cute. Water and ice began to gather from thin air, something that Mallor hadn’t seen before.

“Now now… Let’s all calm down for a moment.” Mallor spoke. “I often find that conversation before battle is relaxing. Don’t you agree, Veline?”

Mallor watched the wad of spit fall from Veline’s mouth and land partially across the room. Mallor blinked a few times but moved his attention from the curmudgeon.

“You must be the seer. The one who was able to find my Stalkers… You know, those were a rental from a friend. He is going to be upset…” Mallor watched the young man ignore him and whisper something to Veline. “Now that is just plain rude. I’m trying to have a nice conversation and you two are gossiping to yourselves.”

“Can’t you see we are discussing your interesting undead?” Veline gestured to the three undead who stalked behind Mallor.

“Oh?” Mallor’s face light with a delighted smile. “I call them the Big Three. My most powerful and rare undead in my collection.”

“What is that one? The one with the water?”

“Ah, I knew you would be interested in that one! After all you are both beings of water!” Mallor turned his attention from Vel to his undead.

“This is Selp. I don’t know its real name, but back when it was alive it was a Water Elemental. I know, I know. How can Elementals have bones? They are just water and mana? Well, let me tell you. Back when I was first researching undead and various uses of mana though host of non-Humanoid --”

------

“See?” Vel whispered to Max. “Mallor is a talker. He loves talking about his work and Death Magics.”

“Yeah, he’s crazy. I get that. But… What are those?” Max whispered back.

Vel glanced at Mallor, he was discussing various ways of extracting bone from monsters without ruining the marrow inside.

“The one made of water is an Elemental. I don’t know how, but it is now undead and under his control.”

The Elemental took the form of a beautiful woman. Max couldn’t tell what race the woman it was imitating was but if he had to guess, it would be an Elf. The Elemental was a magical being made entirely out of water, but through the natural state of mana it gained sentience. Normally harmless, Elementals are known for their unique connection with their element.

Although the Elemental was beautiful, Max couldn’t see anything other than its sadden dead eyes. It reminded Max of the first time he met Reep. He could tell that the Elemental had some remaining sentience, a symptom of resurrecting such a powerful entity. It hurt Max to see such a creature bound by such an evil and vile man.

“The large one to the side looks like a Volcano Basilisk. Basilisks are powerful monsters that can absorb the landscape where they live. One of the Legendary Beasts was a Volca-. Oh.”

“That’s a Legendary Beast?”

“Was, a Legendary Beast. It was thought to have been in hibernation…”

“This is bad, right?”

“No, it's going to be difficult, but not impossible. A downside of Resurrection Magics is that they always create a less powerful version. And we counter it with our affinity.”

Max wasn’t sure if Vel actually thought they had a chance against a Legendary Beast or not. His mind went back to Seetrin. She was in the level 80s; Max couldn’t imagine what level this Basilisk was.

It stood on four stubby legs and stretched a couple meters in length. It had thick molten scale armor that covered its blackened bones. It was a skeleton, but its lava armor more than made up for its lack of protective skin. Streaks of liquid rock flowed in and around its body creating small plumes of fire when two streaks collided. Large obsidian teeth filled its wide and stout jaw, adding a mesmerizing dance of reflections. Max, having already dealt with a mesmer effect, looked away.

“Don’t look at its teeth.” Max whispered.

Vel raised an eyebrow but conceded a nod. She glanced back to Mallor who was just finishing up bragging about his prized Elemental. Both Max and Vel hadn’t really been paying attention, but both knew that their best option right now was to keep him talking.

“Um... Mallor? Is that the Volcanic Basilisk?” Max asked.

“Why yes, it is! Good eye!” Mallor seemed genuinely impressed. “It was difficult to kill and even more difficult to raise, but I had help. Volcanoes are hot, really hot-”

“What about the last one?” Max whispered, ignoring Mallor.

“I don’t know. It looks like an Orc, but I don’t know of any Orcs that would be powerful enough to be a part of Mallor’s trophies.”

Max didn’t like the last of the Big Three. It was the undead that stopped his Ice Spike with nothing more than an open palm. Max felt uneasy while looking at it. Something screamed at Max to leave, similar to the feelings he had gotten in his infinite beach.

The Orc was nothing special to look at. Green-yellow skin was rotting off dense, rock-solid bones allowing onlookers to view decomposing organs and intestines. Max could tell the Orc was male not from its lack of clothing, but its unbound hard muscles. It reminded Max of a really ugly, and undead, governor and bodybuilder from California.

As Max watched the Orc, something stirred inside of him. His inner beach was erupting from the presence of Tiodepth. Max didn’t feel safe enough to drop his consciousness into his inner self, but just from viewing the beach from the outside, he could tell Tiodepth was pissed. Massive waves swelled and crashed pulling away large amounts of sand. Dark clouds were formed high into the already grey sky, creating an angry atmosphere. High speed winds blew adding on to the feeling of an unprecedented danger. Max recognized the state of the beach very well. A hurricane was coming.

“What do you want from the Tomb?” Vel yelled, interrupting Mallor’s monolog.

“Ah, interrupting. That's one strike Veline. But to answer your question, bones… And some other things for my Lady.” He touched his chin. “But mainly bones.”

“Is there not some easier way to acquire Divine Bones than to siege an entire Elven city?”

“Oh, there is. Gu’oml here is an example of exactly that.” Mallor gestured to the Orc.

Vel raised an eyebrow. “That Orc is a Divine?”

“Heavens no! Gu’oml used to be a chieftain of a small tribe, but I saw potential. It took many years, but I finally was able to graft a few Demigod Bones into Gu’mol’s remains.” Mallor thought for a moment. “If you see Lester again, after he gets out of that prison, give him my thanks. Without him that Godforsaken Demigod would still be alive.”

“Prison?” Vel muttered.

“Ah! That’s strike two, Veline! Can’t be getting off topic like that! We are discussing MY undead.”

Vel was looking at the ground, unfocused. Mallor knew things about Lester, and that seriously bothered her. Noticing Mallor’s expression growing bored, Max chose to speak.

“Your Elemental… It is aware of its status as a slave, correct?”

Mallor regarded Max for a moment. “What do you mean?”

“It still has some resemblance of sentience, does it not? It is a passenger in its own body. Aware of its every action, but unable to act.”

“Ah! Very good! You may have a better eye than Veline.” Mallor gave a sadistic smile. “Yes, it is aware of its actions. Is that not interesting?

“It's sick.” Max spit.

Mallor shrugged. “It's a weapon.”

An idea came to Max. One that he wasn’t sure if he thought of or whoever was feeding him feelings

“Can I examine it? I’ve never seen an Elemental before.” Max began to walk forward. He ignored the cries from Vel and Emi.

Mallor squinted as he watched Max slowly approach. He wanted to know what Max was going to do. He needed to know why Veline had chosen him as her student. The thought of Max finding his Stalkers orbited in his mind. How was he able to do that? Rebounded in Mallor’s consciousness.

Max stopped halfway causing Mallor to order the Elemental to meet in the middle of the halfway.

The Elemental left wet footprints as it gracefully stepped across the hardwood floor. She had a look of guilt and pity, one that Max could only describe as sadness. As she approached, Max reached out with his mana. He first tried to manipulate her, but found his connection being too weak. But he confirmed that there was a connection. Max thought back to his first few days in Nava. He remembered the weird connection to a tree and his unique connection to water. He remembered Lester talking to him, thought Icarus, about gifts and special people. He knew what he had to do.

The Elemental stopped a few feet in front of him. He gave her the sincerest smile he could and took one final step forward. His hand entered her abdomen, causing a shock of alarm from Vel and Emi. Mallor watched on with passionate eyes.

“Rest now.” Max whispered as he solidified his connection though his hand and abruptly extracted all remaining mana from the water that housed her body.

The Elemental began to fall apart. Appendages separated and splashed against the floor. Soon only a head remained, one that smiled brightly. The Elemental mouthed words of thanks before finally succumbing to its long-awaited death. Max felt for any remaining connection but found only lifeless water. He smiled a bittersweet smile, knowing this was the best outcome for the Elemental.

A clap sounded from down the hallway. Mallor and the Orc were clapping while the Basilisk thumped a massive bone paw against the floor.

“Marvelous!” Mallor commended. “Absolutely stunning! I never would have imagined you could do something so… so… ruthless.”

“Ruthless?” Max engaged, slowly backstepping to Vel and Emi.

“Of course! Didn’t you know that when the [Reanimator] dies, so does his connection with his undead! Meaning -”

“Meaning the Elemental would have regained control.” Max finished.

“Indeed, indeed.” Mallor’s eyes narrowed. “Say… Max, was it? Would you want to join me? I can teach you much more than Veline ever could”

“No.”

“I have an open spot in my party. My right-hand man was recently killed… Oh sorry, poor choice of words.” Mallor emphasized his right arm, causing Max to roll his eyes.

“No.” Max restated.

“That is a terrible shame… And also strike three.” Mallor clapped his hands and his undead started to move.

----

While Honeygreen was actively defending the city, he could vaguely feel what was happening inside his trunk. He couldn't tell specifics like the number of people or who did what, but he was able to feel the burning heat the Basilisk radiated or the Divine aura the Orc used. He could feel the soothing chill of cold water flowing and the sudden emptiness that teleportation caused.

Honeygreen couldn’t help but feel like he walked into Mallor’s trap. Mallor used his army as a distraction to get to the most guarded place in all of Esmel. The only question was how Mallor knew. Salvia didn’t know about the Tomb. He didn’t know about the wards breaking when Honeygreen expanded. He didn’t know anything, and that worried Honeygreen.

Someone knows a lot more than they let on too. That, or a God is selling secrets. Honeygreen thought.

----

Max blinked back to Vel’s side. Emi quickly latched onto his shoulder and the two formed into a ready stance. Vel continuously poured water from her gourd, forming weapons and armor. Her enchanted jewelry was equip and her robes changed from the striped, green mana regeneration pair to a solid black pair with a straight power enchant.

“You fight off the Basilisk.” Vel whispered. “The Orc is going to be the heavy hitter; I’ll hold him off until…”

“Until you die, or I kill the Basilisk and help.” Max finished.

Vel gave him a small solemn nod. “Unless we can kill Mallor. But as long as he holds the Spade, he will be virtually impossib-”

The Orc was significantly faster than the Basilisk and arrived first. Vel was forced to intercept, she led with a wave of water designed to push back and slow. The Orc charged right through like it was nothing. Water parted allowing a clear path leading directly to Vel. A powerful haymaker was thrown causing Vel to be thrown down the hallway even though the punch was blocked.

The Orc cast a sideways glance at Max as he ran past. Max could have sworn he saw it smirk.

As the Basilisk charged, it left a wake of fire and flames. Fires plumed and kindled behind every step it took. Wood and ash burned into nothing under the intense heat it gave off. Drops of lava sizzled into the ground creating small divots. The fire seemed to be contained by the ancient [Arbor]’s wood but seeing how much destruction the beast was causing gave Max pause.

Max wasn’t sure how much fire it would take to kill Honeygreen from the inside. He figured it was going much more than what was currently in front of him, but he felt that he shouldn’t leave it up to chance. Water began to form and extinguish the slowly growing flames. Lava began to harden and solidify, creating foot hazards and uneven paths.

Max initiated with an ice field which, of course, instantly melted and evaporated. After blinking a few times, Max regarded the flame beast. He vaguely remembered the Mage Guild Master and Flame Devil, Domic telling him that fighting [Water Mages] as a [Fire Mage] was a battle of attrition. Unless one was significantly more powerful than the other and could evaporate or extinguish their other magic, the battle would be won or lost based on efficiency.

Max knew he was beaten on both fronts, however. Max couldn't rival a Legendary Beast in a battle of power or control. He may be able to live a long-time using Blinks, but the battle was already lost for Max. He could only hope that either Vel won her fight or Mallor makes a mistake that he could capitalize on.

The Basilisk was getting tired of slowly chasing Max and chose to change tactics. Its feet melted into lava burning a deep hole into the ground. Its molten scales changed shape into small cannons, and its bones glowed with orange and red power. Heat began to build within the monster’s mana system and forcefully exploded out of its cannon shaped scales.

Molten rock projectiles screamed across the hallway. Max was able to easily blink away, but more shots were fired. Trying to conserve as much mana as possible, Max chose to physically dodge some projectiles rather than blinking. It was dangerous, but he needed to fight for as long as possible.

Max slowly made his way around the volcanic tank, positioning himself in between Mallor and the Basilisk. The next shell of lava forced Mallor to dodge. He reappeared in a corner, a wicked smile on his face. He subtly tipped his hat to Max and mouthed nice try.

Any ideas? Max asked Emi through their bond.

Lava. Emi answered using supplementary images to convey her plan.

Oh! I see!

Emi’s plan would require a lot of focus, but between her and Max, they thought it was possible. Emi would take over deciding when to dodge or blink while Max focused on his task. He would be wrapping his magic around pockets of lava to teleport the molten rock onto Mallor. They hoped that it would give Max enough time to fire a lethal spell without Mallor reacting.

Max took a moment to check on Vel. She was getting shoved around by the Orc and looked tired, but otherwise she was uninjured. Her armor paired with constant healing waters removed most of the danger the Orc possessed. The Orc was engaging in unarmed combat and found it difficult for his punches to land. Unless Vel blocked with her halberd, the force from the Orc’s fist would be dissipated by the shell of water Vel possessed.

Max turned his attention back to the Basilisk. It was still stationary in the center of the hallway allowing Max to enact the plan. He found a particularly fresh spot of lava and began to encase it in his mana. He trusted Emi to be his eyes, following her every command. Teleport Object was a difficult spell to use since it required the item to be completely surrounded by Max’s mana. It was also one of Max’s least practiced spells, making it that much harder to correctly use.

Mallor didn’t notice the small portion of lava disappear from the hectic and wild room. He did, however, notice his pant leg catching fire, which he subsequently put out. Max inwardly smiled as Mallor didn’t reposition or raise his guard, signifying that he didn’t realize Max was the cause of the fire.

Again, Max concentrated, this time he encapsulated a larger flat chunk of lava. The lava appeared a few inches above Mallor, draping him in a hot blanket of liquid rock. Horror hit Mallor as the realization of what was happening dawned on him. He screamed a blood curdling deathly scream. Skin sizzled and a putrid smell filled the room.

Max took the opportunity and blinked multiple times while creating his sword. He lunged out aiming for Mallor’s heart but hit nothing but air. The area where Mallor had just been standing was empty. Mallor reappeared a few dozen meters away. His movements were slowed as the cooling rock solidified. Max blinked again, and again he missed.

At this rate Max would run out of mana before he could ever catch him. That was the power of the Spade, virtually infinite teleports. The Basilisk screeched, drawing back Max’s attention. It was back on all four legs actively moving.

Mallor must have felt threatened. Max realized.

The Basilisk moved to guard Mallor. As it stood in front of him, Max could see that it was slowly melting and removing the hardened rock that encased Mallor. A cry from Emi caused Max to quickly blink several times. A fist landed in the spot he was just standing, shattering and creating a small crater in the wooden floor.

Vel was slowly standing up, having been knocked down by a powerful swing. She watched Max with wide eyes, understanding that she didn’t warn him fast enough and that he, or Emi, saw the Orc more.

“Fuck me.” Vel muttered. “Sorry kid.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Max responded, without taking his eyes off Mallor. “I think we should switch.”

“Switch?”

“I’ll take the Orc; you take the lava creator. I don’t have enough power to keep my water from evaporating, but I do have enough mana to blink and dodge.”

Vel regarded him for a moment. She didn’t like the idea of setting him up to fight the monsters that hadn’t allowed her a single moment of retaliation. But she also saw the state Mallor was in.

“Why does he not just teleport away to safety and come back when his minions have killed us?” Max asked.

“These undead must cost him a hells of a lot of mana. If he gets too far away, the connection will only drain him faster.”

Max thought for a moment while sipping on a mana potion. “Cool down the Basilisk and try to land an attack on Mallor, slow him down or immobilize him. I’ll look for an opening.”

“Alright.” Vel said as three Water Mannequin were formed. The mannequins quickly spread out and began working. She didn’t think Mallor would allow her to create her water runes like when she fought Buzluc. Instead, she set the mannequins to attack Mallor himself while she focused on the Basilisk.

As Mallor teleported around dodging attacks, Vel stepped into focus of the Basilisk. Spikes of ice and spears of water were the first to connect. Waves and surges were second. Vel poured her mana into her attacks knowing that the only way for her to defeat the beast was to overwhelm its heat.

Boiling water rebounded off the Basilisk’s dense bones dousing small flames and smoldering wood. It was going to take time, but Vel already saw the fruits of her labors. Cracking rock and sediment were quickly forming and remelting along the Basilisk’s body.

Vel layered spells together with ice cores and pressurized imbuing. Her goal was to create the coldest non frozen water she could and hit joints and weak points. The Basilisk didn’t move fast, and its attacks were easy to dodge, but if forgotten about the whole hallway would be aflame.

After a particularly powerful wave of freezing water, Vel saw her target. Under its shell, in between its chest bones was a core. Molten rock and fire mixed together in a small, but incredibly dense orb. The core was what was keeping the Basilisk from being frozen over, melting and absorbing heat.

The issue was how she was going to get to it. She had a few specialty ice piercing spells, but nothing she thought would work on its thick heat imbued scales and bones. Her second class would also prove to be useless here. Shadows simply were not useful for powerful enemies such as this. The main use Vel had found over the years for her shadow spells was trapping. Without Lester and his light, Vel felt her shadows were going to be too weak.

But then again… Vel thought, solidifying a plan.

Mallor was cackling watching the two fights. He was being forced to teleport every so often but was quite enjoying himself. He especially liked watching Max fight. A boy so young fighting in league with the big dogs. Max, of course, wasn’t going to win, but seeing the powerless struggle always brought a smile to Mallor’s face.

But his smile faded as he felt his hip turn cold. A thin shard of ice jutted out of his formal attire. Blood quickly froze around the rod, thickening the ice around the base of Mallor’s skin. Mallor didn’t even see where the attack came from, but as he looked around the battle, it was obvious.

Max.

Max knew he was no match for his opponent, like most fights he's been in lately. The only thing he could really do was run away. Blink was quickly becoming his most used spell, after Manipulate Water. It was weird to Max, although he should be scared of the Demigod power in front of him, he simply couldn’t.

Max had realized something after fighting Buzluc for the second time. He could take a hit. Granted the hit from Buzluc was a small bug bite and he had to use a powerful trump card; it was the time before the bite that gave him such notions. If Max focused hard enough, he could swear he felt the pain from being impaled by multiple rock spears. He could feel the empty cold from bleeding out. He could feel muscles and tendons bending back with healing magic.

He wasn’t scared, and that was what gave him power in this fight. The Orc was an emotionless brute of power. Something that couldn’t fear but could enact fear, at least to most people. Max had already felt true fear on his first day on Nava. He remembered the first night. The night where he realized he was alone. He was afraid of many things, but not of pain. Not of undead or zombies. Not of Mallor or Buzluc. He was afraid of simply being alone, and that was what caused him to fight.

Max had been subtly shifting shards of ice around the battlefield using teleportation. As he dodged the Orc, he had been learning. It was slow progress at first, but Max found out how to imbue vectors into teleporting items. He could give the items direction and velocity, at a steep increase in mana cost. He felt it was worth it, however, especially with his mana regeneration robes and the potions he kept sipping on.

It was hard, especially given that Max was trying to hit a moving target that he was not actively looking at. He had to feel outwards with his Space Affinity, judging distance and timing with nothing more than intuition. Max really hoped to split Mallor’s head into two with his first real attempt and was gravely disappointed with himself when he forgot to factor in the melting ice weight distribution. The uneven weight caused the shard to ever so slightly fall off course.

All wasn’t lost however, Mallor was stunned for a brief moment trying to figure out what was cutting off his digestive track. A mannequin was able to land a hit. A deep gash was carved into Mallor’s right shoulder. A non-lethal and relatively noninvasive injury. Mallor stopped Max’s next Ice Spike with a shield of dark mana. Death Shield. Seeing Mallor cut up gave Max a slight pause.

He can’t heal. Max realized. Not like Buzluc, Vel or I.

It was a rather obvious realization, but an important one nonetheless. Max’s whole game plan changed at that moment. He no longer was focused on one-hit-kills, instead he decided to make small cuts and slashes. Ones that would bleed. The question became how. Mallor could teleport and now he had a shield raised. He could try to attack from blind spots, but Mallor would just teleport away. He could attack head-on, but Mallor would just block the attack. He could try dropping more lava on him, but Max figured that wouldn’t work a second time.

Max’s deep thought almost caused him to get hit by a bone breaking punch. During all of this, the Orc hadn’t stopped its onslaught. That was another weird thing to Max. The Orc only felt of the Divine when actively attacking or, on the off chance, blocking.

Why is it not maintaining the Divine? Does it not have enough power? Does it cost to-

Again, the realization seemed obvious in retrospect. The Orc was tethered to Mallor using Mana. To activate the Divine aspect of the bones within the Orc causes exhaustion just like Max feels when he imbues his healing spells with his Divine source. But how could Max use this to his advantage? He couldn’t allow the Orc to attack more, the rist was too high. He also didn’t feel like his spells would be strong enough to cause the Orc to use Divine to block. The only time Max had seen the Orc actively defend with the Divine was Max’s initial Ice Spike and the odd attack from Vel.

It will use Divine to block for Mallor. Max said to Emi.

Attack Mallor. Emi said with creeping exhaustion.

Emi, during this entire encounter, had been helping Max manipulate water and ice. She moved patches of ice in the path of the Orc or put out fires the Basilisk caused. She was also Max’s eyes and ears when he was focused on teleporting items. The fight was taking a toll on her, and Max knew it.

If I attack Mallor, he’ll just dodge or block. We need the Orc to block for him…

Vel.

Vel… Max thought. Vel… could work…

Max looked to Vel just in time to see her kill the Basilisk. Hundreds of solid black shadows spun out of nooks and crevices like a spider’s den. Flames and fires were strategically not put out in select locations to cause Vel’s shadows to elongate. The shadow web held the Basilisk inplace, while thicker shadow hands pulled open the ribs and chest cavity. A single javelin of the most beautiful crystal-clear ice Max had ever seen, was launched with deadly force and accuracy.

The Basilisk’s core was pierced and destroyed, meaning it was only a matter of time before the frigid waters froze the beast over. It made several shrieks of panic before ultimately falling. After all movements secede from the once Legendary being, golden light exploded out from Vel. A sinister smile elongated on Vel’s face, while a deep frown appeared on Mallor’s.

“Oh, how long it has been!” Vel gushed as the golden light removed every cricked bone and aching muscle. “Thanks, Mallor! I wasn’t sure if I was going to level up this year since I didn’t get an assist on Buzluc!”

Mallor seethed. “You are quite welcome, Veline. Glad old friends can be of assistance every once and a while.”

“Ha! Friends! You don’t even know the definition! Do you really think the people within the Empire, or your undead clubs are your friends?” Vel challenged. “No. No they are not. They use you. They see your success and act chummy to get to see your work. You drop a few hints or talk their ear off about promising ideas! People stick around you, not because they like you but because they can use you!”

“You know Veline… With my connection to the Basilisk gone… I have much more mana to play with.” Mana started to gather around his wrist. “Also, people don’t hang around me because they like me. I agree. They hang around because they are too scared of what I will do to them.”

A black beam exploded from Mallor’s palm, utterly destroying a Mannequin. The beam wrapped around the hall, striking the second, and the third. It did, however, not pierce through the third, Max noticed. Instead, the dark magic faded away.

With Mallor distracted, Max launched a few attacks. The first one was quickly blocked by the Orc, something Max was not expecting. The second and third were dodged and blocked, respectively. However, Mallor was now standing down the hallway. Close to the gate. Max and Vel were close enough to each other that they could discuss without alerting Mallor of their plans.

“We need to whittle his mana down and strike. I landed a few good hits and he’s started to slow, but now he’s more focused on defense.” Max said.

“If he keeps attacking like that, he’ll run out of mana quickly. I know that spell he just used. Chaining Death. It costs a substantial amount since it is a Death spell and not a [Reanimator] spell. His class bonuses have no effect.”

“Every time the Orc attacks or defends Mallor, it uses the Divine. It has to be taking a toll on Mallor the same way it does for me.”

Vel regarded him for a moment. “You really surprise me, kid. You know that?”

“Not the time Vel.”

She chuckled. “I suppose you are right… My mana is rather low. It’s coming back, but that web spell takes a lot out of me.”

“Can you cast it again?”

“On Mallor? No. He’s too slippery to risk it.”

Max racked his brain. “What about Domain spells? Drown him? Force the Orc to part the waves like he did earlier?”

Vel thought for a moment. “Worth a shot, I guess. I need as much water as you can pull.”

Max nodded and got to work. Vel took the aggro of the last undead, drawing its attention from Max to herself. Max needed a few uninterrupted moments to work. Moisture began to cover every surface of the hall. Droplets began to form on the walls and ceiling, falling to the floor. Max and Emi worked in tandem, artificially raising both of their Manipulate Water levels.

As they worked, Max kept a tab on Mallor. He seemed to be stopped by something invisible. He stood where the destruction of the room suddenly ended. All across the room licks of flame and smoldering wood littered the floor and walls, small dents and craters splintered with wood and rock causing a very messy battlefield. Except it stopped. Right where Mallor stood.

Max and Vel hadn’t ventured too far past the middle of the hall. Something told Max no to cross a certain distance, and Vel simply didn’t think it wise to go any further. Mallor stood, with his back turned, a few dozen paces past the center. He was slowly feeling out in front of himself with his hands. The tip of his finger briefly touched the invisible passage, causing Mallor to stagger backwards in agony. His fingertip was gone.

Max launched an attack, hoping to connect while Mallor was in an inattentive state. An undead hand ripped through the back of Mallor’s tailored suit jacket, deflecting the Ice Spice into the ceiling. Red eyes peered at Max through the torn clothing. Bone and Viscera were sewn into Mallor’s back like some sort of demented surgeon experiment. Memories of grotesque movies filled Max’s head.

“What is that?” Max asked.

Mallor quickly spun, finally dropping from his daze.

“A shame you had to see that.” Mallor actually looked embarrassed “A rather unfortunate outcome to a potentially groundbreaking experiment, is what he is. I’ve kept him hidden for so long, very few have any clue about him… “

“You are disgusting.” Max cursed.

“Disgusting?” Mallor scoffed. “He could have been revolutionary! Think about it! An independent life attached to a host. One that has no say in what they do, forever at the whim of their master! The best bodyguard someone could ask for. One who treated your body as theirs since it is theirs.”

Max held his tongue, not wanting to know the answers to his many questions. Instead, Max chose a different approach.

“That barrier. Any idea how to get past it?” Max looked at Mallor’s hand. “Seemed to remove your finger rather easily.”

“I have a few… Yes. But I think testing it a bit more will prove to house a better outcome, however. Good thing that I have three test subjects with me!” Mallor gestured to Max, Vel and Emi.

“Right then. How do you plan on making us test the barrier for you?”

“Like this.” Mallor held up his hand. The same dark power began to form and explode. A small snake of death chased Max around as he blinked. He tried to maneuver in such a way that the beam would hit the Orc or Mallor but found it difficult. The beam would curve in large arcs, rather than switching in direction. He was able to force the beam to intersect with the wall, ending the spell abruptly.

“Come on Mallor! Is that the best you can do? Buzluc landed more hits on me!” Max taunted.

Two beams were launched this time, cutting off a plethora of potential blinking locations. Max was still able to dodge, but with much more narrow margins than he was comfortable with. The taunt did seem to cause sweat to form on Mallor’s charred skin, however.

Max glanced around the room. Water was everywhere and the air felt dry. He signaled to Vel causing her to change targets to Mallor. A blitz of spells rained from all directions over a large area of effect. Vel wasn’t pulling her punches, she was destroying the entirety of the far side of the hallway. Mallor appeared by the door to the staircase leading up Honeygreen’s trunk.

Mallor was dripping blood, something that was not happening just moments ago. The Orc quickly moved to guard, feeling it’s master’s fear and pain. Vel launched a few lightning-fast Ice Spears. The Orc deflected all of them, but it's Divine Aura filled the hall with each. Again, Vel attacked, and again the Divine radiated. The next volley was fired, this time many more projectiles were launched. Max slowly wove water around Mallor’s feet.

Mallor was panting and a confused look overcame his face. He didn’t realize where his stamina was being drained from. All he knew was that he needed to retreat. The battle was lost, and he needed to telepor-

Water flicked into a spike removing the hand of the undead attached to Mallor’s back and slicing deep into the tendons that controlled his fingers. Mallor dropped the Spade which was almost instantly teleported into Max’s hand and subsequently Max’s inventory.

Mallor fell to his knees as the last of his mana and stamina was drained from the Orc. The Orc wobbled on its feet before crumbling into a pile of cracked and broken bones. With a final swing of a Halberd, Mallor’s head rolled.