I had no clue how the sorcerer figured out I was there. I really felt like I had been doing everything right, in the stealth department. I was under my Invisibility Cloak, and I had followed Samantha’s combat shadow exactly. Unless Samantha wants me to get caught. I dismissed the paranoid thought. I had to trust Samantha—especially since I wouldn’t stand a chance in this battle without her.

The combat shadow charged towards the porch the moment the sorcerer spoke, and I followed suit.

I put 50 mana into Strength, and 50 mana into Agility.

The boost in my speed was enough to place myself between the woman from the Mentalist Cooperative and the entrance to the house. Thanks to Samantha’s sense of positioning, I had also placed the woman in between myself and the sorcerer.

The moment I moved, the two mind-controlled Abelino clones rushed towards me from the warehouse, at their full speed.

I didn’t have much time.

Even as I positioned myself between the woman and the door to the house, I swung the Vampiric Blade with full force at her body.

The downside of an invisibility cloak was that it was a cloak, not a long-sleeve onesie. In order to attack the woman in the purple dress, I was forced to reveal my arms and blade.

Crack.

My blade met the Mana Shield at her waist, shorting the shield with a single blow.

The woman was pushed back, away from the house, into the magician behind her.

I changed forward again. Apparently, it wasn’t worth it to re-sheathe my blade, which meant that both the mind-controlling woman and the magician could see my approach.

Crack.

I broke her second Mana Shield, with enough force that the grey-haired woman was knocked back, behind the sorcerer.

And then the sorcerer completed his chant with an emphatic wave of his hands.

I rushed away from the sorcerer, along the side of the house, towards the approaching Abelinos, but I was too late.

I felt the ambient mana around me shift. It wasn’t just me. In a radius of about 15 yards, around myself and the sorcerer, there was an incredible density of mana.

It was almost identical to the Time Dilation Ward in Redson City.

Around me, I could see the two Abelinos rushing towards me, even faster than they had been previously.

General Scott looked like he was moving in fast-forward, as well. His strides were the same length as they had been, but he was moving incredibly quickly.

He already had his hand touching one of the Abelinos in front of him.

I spun towards the sorcerer, and threw a dagger towards his chest.

But the sorcerer was able to move fast enough to dodge the dagger as it flew towards him.

As General Scott sent a burst of mana into the closest Abelino—an Abelino that, until recently, had been on my side, I was starting to realize that I was, most likely, completely screwed.

I was caught in a time-dilation bubble with a sorcerer, but the effect didn’t seem to apply to the sorcerer, so I was the only one who was experiencing the world in slow motion.

One of the mind-controlled Abelinos who had been inside the warehouse rushed up to the woman in the purple dress and stood protectively by her side.

The other stood just outside the time-dilation bubble.

If I were to try to rush out of the bubble, I would have to fight my way past him, while I would be under the effects of the bubble, and he would not be.

Samantha had clearly realized this,

I threw my second knife towards the sorcerer, and then I covered myself completely with my Invisibility Cloak as the sorcerer dodged.

Then, I rushed towards sorcerer, and the woman behind him.

The sorcerer really only seemed capable of this one spell—he continued chanting as he moved randomly around the yard, trying to avoid my inevitable strike.

Meanwhile, the clone General Scott had touched was freed from his neutral standing position. He rushed towards us, and towards the woman in purple.

From the reactions of the woman in purple and General Scott, it was clear that this was exactly what was supposed to happen. Now, there were three mind-controlled clones on the Mentalist Cooperative’s side, and General Scott was already approaching another frozen clone.

I finally reached the sorcerer under my Invisibility Cloak, and I delivered a heavy blow to the back of his head with the hilt of my dagger.

The sorcerer collapsed, and I was finally free of the time-dilation ward.

The same movement had revealed my presence, though, and I soon had three Abelino clones approaching me.

The nearest clone swung a heavy blow directly towards me which I was forced to block with my Vampiric Blade.

The moment I drew my blade, though, I was forced to reveal my position even more, and I was somewhat locked in a single position.

The next clone sliced his blade in an strange circle towards me from the side—not trying to attack me directly, but focusing on hemming me in, not letting me slip away.

Despite their best attempts, I could finally make use of my superior Agility.

I twisted my torso, allowing the third clone’s blade to just barely nick my shoulder, and then I pushed through the opening the third clone had left, ramming into the clone with my shoulder.

I caught the man off-balance. He didn’t have much of a chance to predict my movements, since much of my body was still covered by the Invisibility Cloak.

But even as he tumbled, his hands grabbed my cloak, yanking it forcefully.

I immediately unequipped the cloak so I could regain my momentum, finally charging unimpeded towards the woman in the purple dress.

But the woman in the purple dress was waiting for me. She had been watching me carefully this whole time, and just when I committed to my rush towards her, her formerly clasped hands opened and in her right palm I saw what looked like a small pistol.

The same moment I saw the pistol—already pointed at me—she fired.

I changed my trajectory the moment I saw the weapon, but it was too late. A bolt of nothing traveled directly through my chest.

I tried to bite off a scream, but it was unsuccessful. I glanced in shock at the hole the diameter of a finger that ran directly through my chest, just a few inches away from my heart.

Samantha said.

No, I said, gritting my teeth and suppressing my tears. I can do this.

I felt my body trembling, and I didn’t have full control of my left arm anymore.

I’ll recover soon, I told myself.

The woman dropped the item—a Void Pistol—onto the ground, and pulled a second one out of a pocket of the dress.

I swung my Vampiric Blade with full force at her arm, cracking the Mana Shield around her body, and knocking the Void Bolt into the sky.

The woman stepped backwards, away from me, without a trace of panic in her eyes. She was backing towards a fourth mind-controlled clone that General Scott had just freed.

I was fighting a battle of time on several levels. Once my 30 seconds ran out, I would be running on fumes. I had already invested 100 mana into what I thought would be a quick assassination, not a drawn-out battle against 4+ Abelino clones, a sorcerer with a Time Magic Affinity, and a woman with a Void Pistol—whatever the hell that was.

The longer this battle took, the more clones I would have to fight.

Two of the Abelino clones struck at me simultaneously, but Samantha’s anticipatory positioning allowed me to dodge to the side, evading them completely, but remaining close to the woman in the purple dress.

I swung my blade again, this time targeting her torso, hoping to push her between the clones and me.

But to my surprise, my heavy blow felt like punching a brick wall. The woman didn’t even flinch, as though she were locked in place, immutable and unbreakable.

My sword bounced off, its frantic vibrations stinging my hands.

Samantha’s combat shadow leapt frantically to the side, and I followed, my eyes glancing towards the woman’s hands.

A third Void Pistol fired silently, and a Void Bolt seared a blazing hole in my left hip.

“Fuck!” It was more painful, somehow, than the hole in my chest.

The moment my left leg landed on the ground, the pain multiplied tenfold, and my leg collapsed completely.

The woman aimed a pistol at my head.

Two clones stood between me and the woman in purple, and two more stood around me, boxing me in.

Just when I could see the woman’s fingers tightening on the trigger of the Void Pistol pointed at my head, General Scott died.