“My lord, I have news. A void in our sensing sphere approaches. This is confirmed by reports of a deaths in the southern villages.”

“The description?”

“It is Kenji Shadowen.”

“Michael.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“You will deploy to subdue the threat for our use.”

“His ability to hide from scans is concerning. Our knowledge of the top mental shields is limited.”

“You should be able force a command upon him. We shall bring him to heel once again and deploy him against Angal. If I am not mistaken they have his arm. It should be a simple redirect.”

“Understood my lord.”

***

“My lord, I have news. Michael has perished along with half his company. Reports indicate that he used a combination of death poison and Fear Aura. He has possibly developed poison glands. He is also traveling via a land ship.”

“Where is he headed?”

“Here, my lord.”

“Hmmm, deploy our long range scouts to provide intelligence and dispatch Special Operations units two, three, and four.”

“Yes, my lord. I shall handle this at once.”

“Anova are you sure this is wise?”

“Blood Rain is like any giant. We shall bleed him and then send our main force. He might win against small groups but I will be ordering our entire force here to mobilize.”

“Our First Battle Group? Isn’t that excessive.”

“No, if Blood Rain reaches here all our hard work will be ruined.”

“I shall inform the commanders and then oversee the defense of the city.”

“Don’t underestimate him.”

***

“My lord, I have urgent news. The First Battle Group has been defeated.”

“Defeated?!”

“Yes, they had managed to contain Kenji Shadowen but then he unleashed powerful magic. Blackness from the abyss reached up and killed hundreds of our men. We retreated in an attempt to reform, but a dragon attacked and vaporized the entire area. We lost at least three thousand.”

“That is over half the battle group.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“He was not killed?”

“It was observed that after the initial attack on the first battle sight the green dragon re-oriented and fired four more times in the same location. Afterwards it flew up. Our scouts were unable to see through the smoke and debris.”

“Summon Tazar, Eral, and Caral.”

“Yes, my lord.”

***

“You summoned us my lord?”

“Yes, Tazar you will take command of the city defenses. If Kenji moves on the city you will assassinate him. I trust you are up to the task?”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Increase patrols, install a curfew. Make sure all the soldiers know to question everyone. He has a monster shaped foot, bald, white skin, and red eyes. He should not be too hard to find.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Eral, you will go out to the field and pull together what is left of the battle group and try to salvage something from this disaster. Bring up new troops and send out orders to move all garrisons to high alert. Another faction will try to take advantage of our weakness if given the chance. Once the battle group is reformed, advance south and secure the area and deal with the mess that has occurred.”

“Yes, my lord.”

“Caral, release word to our contract holders that all is well and that we are luring Kenji into a trap.”

“My lord? Are you sure that is wise?”

“Yes, we can lose everything but this city. If Str falls then it will be seen as Solid Steel failing. If that happens then our enemies will close in. We must force Kenji to not target the city. Releasing rumors of a trap will hopefully deter him.”

“He attacked Breckley knowing how dangerous it was.”

“True. That is why Tazar will be responsible for the city. I trust he will be able to take out Kenji in a single attack.”

“Of course, my skills are more than up to the task.”

“What about your safety?”

“If he reaches me then we shall fight on the knife’s edge. I will not cower like an old woman of Angal or a whelping maid of Breckley. We shall stay at full alert for thirty days. He is patient, more patient than any one should reasonably be, but when he strikes it is brutal and without hesitation. If no sightings are made, we will stay at full alert. Do not drop your guard for even a second.”

“Yes my lord.”

***

“My lord, I have news. Kenji slaughtered over a thousand of our men during the night. The battle group is in full revolt and Caral is still three days out.”

“One man killed a thousand?”

“He slipped past the sentries and the men were exhausted from holding back the fire caused by the dragon. It appears he is headed here.”

“Leave, I must contemplate this.”

***

“My lord, I have urgent news. Kenji is in the city and he has slain Tazar. We lost sight of him, but he must be heading here. We must take you to safety.”

“Silence. There is no safety. I shall prepare to face him. All the men are to be informed that I am on the top of the mountain here. Don’t try and stop him.”

“But-“

“Silence! Do as I command. Go.”

“Yes, my lord.”

A silence stretched out before Anova turned and looked off into the distance. Speaking more to himself to settle his nerves he readied himself for the coming fight. His words carried off into the wind never to be heard.

“So it begins. A dance of death and power. I held out such hope for this place. To be ruined by one mad man, what is the folly of my design but my own hubris? For now in the end I stand here at the precipice of destruction looking upon all that I have carved out of this wretched world. While I may struggle, I shall not give up. I shall nor surrender. I shall not give in to the forces arrayed against me.”

***

“Kenji, we meet again.”

“Anova or Mystery Man, never a pleasure.”

“I thought you enjoyed the stay last time.”

“I am not as foolish or as weak willed as before.”

“True, you have changed much.”

“Some good some bad. You sent an army after me.”

“Yes. I wanted to aim you at Angal and away from here.”

“Yet you send people to mind control and kill me.”

“Insurance. Do you have the book?”

“I had it, but now it has fallen into other hands.”

“That is unfortunate. I very much wanted to read it.”

“Why? It speaks of Tafe and the great conflict between her and the world.”

“Ah, but that is one interpretation. You see the book was the goal of a quest.”

“What level?”

“Lifetime, but what does it matter now. For you stand here before me in all your overwhelming power. Are we to fight to the death like two barbarians?”

“Give me three good reasons to spare you and I might.”

“Three?”

“You destroyed my land ship, you mind controlled me, and you sent an army at me. Three things I am holding you accountable for.”

“I have only one. Join me and we shall win. I know the true victory conditions. Swear to never harm me on force of magic and I shall reveal this to you.”

“No. Even if I did believe you, I shall get information when I hit level one hundred.”

“This city’s resources?”

“Have been arrayed against me, the same as Solid Steel.”

“I still can’t believe you have survived this far. Your luck will run out.”

“Maybe I will just cut out your lying tongue and eyes.”

“That is a special blade. From the creature that lurks in the dark?”

“You mean the Endolgon?”

“Ah, so that is its name.”

“Any information you want to share.”

“Not really. Helping you seems fairly pointless. What about a flame blade?”

“An obvious trap.”

“Why are you talking to me now and not cutting me apart if you don’t like my offers?”

“Look at the city.”

“What have you done?!”

“Nothing yet, but soon the candles will burn down and ignite barrels of oil and in turn this city you control.”

“You really are insane.”

“Most likely, but I want to make a point once again. I will keep making points until people get it. Don’t mess with me.”

“I suspect you would make your own entertainment even then. Every time you escalate you just draw more attention to yourself.”

“Most likely but it is either win or die, look the first barrel has gone up.”

“Rebuilding will be a simple task.”

“Not if you are dead. You want to know something? I discovered your secret.”

“My secret?”

“Yes, you are an NPC.”

“What, no I am not.”

“You came to power incredibly quickly. Sure you could have taken on the appearance of the previous lord, but you were too secure here. The people and soldiers too willing to follow you. The Order waged a bloody campaign up north to bring cities under their control. Why lie?”

“Like you would understand. You travelers claim I am just a construct of your imaginations, but this is my home, my life! You think to come here and just take and take. I look to build a brighter future one where all people can work together.”

“That sounds….hammy.”

“You are just a terrorist and a mad man. Look at your body, you are already a monster in human flesh. I never thought the Church of Eight was right until this very moment. You would doom this world just to laugh as it burns.”

“Yes, but I will win and you will be burnt.”

“You can’t win! All you can do is live. Live for a better tomorrow. Live for a day when a person can farm safely and monsters are pushed back to the corners of the world. A land united against darkness and evil.”

“Who’s evil? I see you standing there all self-righteous but I seek to secure my future.”

“One man, no matter how great is not worth the price you would seek to pay. The price of all our bodies heaped upon your mountain of ego.”

“What of you? You seek to control the world through lies and deceit. You who have attacked me without provocation.”

“You killed the villages under my rule. You started this war.”

“War….this is merely a slaughter and they are NPCs. Tools for me to use.”

“Not tools, people! Already you fall into darkness. I will not let you leave here alive.”

“You think you can kill me when so many have failed, even dragons?”

“Maybe, maybe not, but I will not surrender to you or the darkness you harbor.”

“I see it clearly now, you wish to be the hero of legend. To stand against the darkness. I shall try to live up to the role you have given me.”

“It was foretold in a prophecy when I was but an infant. I shall slay the harbinger of darkness and save the world. You who is tied to fate must understand this.”

“I make my own destiny. Tafe is a whiney bitch.”

“You would anger even her. I can’t tell if you are foolish, insanely lucky, or genius to get away with what you have.”

“I am all of the above, mostly genius. Consider the fact that you have tried four mental attacks just now and they have all failed, allowing me to push my skill to new heights.” There was nothing more to say and we both knew it.

We stood staring at each other across the plateau at the top of the mountain. The sun was just beginning to rise. My hand rested on my sword hilt, ready to strike as I watched my opponent carefully. He was not an idiot and his ability in telekinesis was incredibly versatile.

I clicked my tongue once and advanced forward slowly. I angled my head up and let loose a spray of black slime. While the accuracy was terrible, it would go about thirty feet. I mentally issued the commands, Burst Speed one time and Conceal Movement one second. I raced to the left and drew my sword.

I then angled back in at Anova while the spray of black slime came at him. I cut out with the Slice of Life aiming to seriously wound him. He twitched his hands and slid to the side without moving his feet avoiding both attacks. I turned my head to spray him, but my clothes twisted me causing me to spray Kek in the wrong direction.

Anova stood there calmly as I charged in again. A thin wire suddenly snapped into place at neck height and I hit it. Kek stopped me from decapitation and garroting but the sheer impact carried through to my neck causing my feet to fly out under me. I felt all of Kek move off my stomach to my back. I hit something far sooner than I should have as my body moved towards the ground.

The impact went through Kek and up into my back. I rolled off to the side. I saw a thin, pointy, metal spike had risen up between the cracks of the flat stones used as a platform for this plateau. The giant metal needle quickly fell back in between the cracks and I didn’t see the metal thread anywhere. I pulled myself up to my feet and began slowly advancing.

Anova strafed me slowly at a measured and casual pace. A needle shot out from between the stones at my face. I turned to the side to avoid it. I missed the second giant needle which shot out and plunged into my right leg just where the scales and skin came together. I stumbled in pain. That attack had been insanely fast to get through my reflexes. It was obvious he was attacking at the speed of thought or something equally similar to not make a difference.

Kek was weak to these types of piercing attacks. While he could stop the worst damage, he wasn’t capable of blocking the full strike unless he used most of his mass. I let go of my sword and yanked the needle out of my leg. I grabbed my sword before it hit the ground. Anova was still casually increasing the distance between us.

If I charged in, he would clothesline me again. Advancing slowly would mean death by a hundred pricks. The problem was that his telekinesis was fast, as fast as I could move or close enough to it that there wasn’t a real difference. His speed of thought countered my speed perfectly and he had honed his techniques to a fighting edge.

“Kek, go for him.” I felt Kek begin to move down me and onto the stones. I didn’t let my eyes leave Anova or his hands. He didn’t say anything to seeing the black slime. I felt an odd sensation for a fight and my mind began to haze over with thoughts of spending personal time with various people. Shield Mind was still up so I should have nothing to worry about. I shook my head and thought the command, Conceal Movement three seconds.

I began moving straight for my opponent. I was careful to watch out for any more wires that might drop in front of me, but as soon as I vanished at least ten wires rose up from around the plateau and began cutting across the battlefield. I cut through one as I made my advance and three needles shot out from in between the stones in my general direction.

Conceal Movement and Conceal Presence were incredible skills. They didn’t make a person disappear but merely encouraged people to ignore the person and what they were touching. A person’s brain would slide right over someone just standing there. The problem was with area attacks and the fact that you still knew a person was out there, just not where they were located.

I moved out of the way, but more wires were closing in. I needed to just out last his MP reserves and I would win. I didn’t have any clue what skills he was using but I figured there was a penalty per item he had to control or a time limit. I began cutting out to break apart the wires as fast as possible once I had reached that conclusion. I clicked my tongue and unleashed another spray of black slime at him. He slid to the side, avoiding the attack.

Two needles leapt up at me. I twisted out of the way and a third one struck me in the side. There was definitely poison on these, a very familiar poison. It was from the Buzz Bird, the sex drive poison. Two more needles came in and pierced my left shoulder and right leg. I had never developed a resistance to this type of poison and the effects were very distracting as my pants went from comfortably loose to painfully tight.

Kek leapt from the cracks in the stones at the Mystery Man. He slid backwards out of the attack before Kek could touch him. I put away my sword to leave my hand free. I then used the respite Kek had given me to remove the needles from my body, making sure to chuck them away behind me when I was done removing them. My HP was down a third and I still hadn’t landed a single blow.

I moved in again pulling out dagger after dagger to throw them at my opponent. A needle spun in the air intercepting each attack as it occurred. The metal wires rose up and began closing in again as I got closer. I quickly retreated and moved back in when the wires dropped.

Kek lunged again and Anova moved out of the way with a frown on his face. My SP was only half way depleted and I was confident it would out last his magic. My clothes were suddenly yanked and I was pulled forward slightly above the ground so I couldn’t get purchase to stop from being moved. Five needles rose up in front of me to skewer me.

I ripped off my shirt and went tumbling along the ground. Landing on my front was incredibly painful in the nether regions. I rolled to the side and a needle impaled the stone where I had been laying. More needles came flying at me and I kept moving while shedding my clothes so I couldn’t be yanked about.

Kek had separated out in smaller portions and the attacks stopped as multiple portions closed in from all directions towards Anova. Anova collapsed as Kek engulfed him. “AHHHHhhhhh…..” I heard him scream out before his head was covered. I advanced on his corpse. A tough battle, but nothing too difficult. I closed in on the trashing form of Kek and let out a sigh of relief. Kek suddenly rose up and grabbed onto me.

There was a sudden blast of air and Kek was scattered all around. In front of me stood Anova with his hands already in place on my body. I felt a prick as a needle went into the back of my head and another over my heart. My entire body went limp and I collapsed naked onto the stones while Anova stepped back breathing heavily dropping a small metal needle from each hand.

He had been faking his weakness to Kek the entire time. He had possessed the scythe and the cloak plus one of his minions was immune. I should have known better. Breathing was becoming harder and harder and I could barely move. It was like the time I had been stuck underground. The wires that lay strewn about began to move and make their way towards me.

Anova didn’t gloat or smile in the slightest. He kept twitching his hands and watching me very carefully. He clearly was not taking any chances with me. The wires slowly began to move around me. I needed to do something quickly. He was too far away to reach with a last second attack. I quickly issued the mental commands, Conceal Movement ten seconds, Projection avoid attacks.

That used up most of my remaining MP, but it was the one shot I had. I would have preferred to use Conceal Presence but I only had so many silent skill slots to use. I disappeared and a copy of me appeared off to the side. My projection moved out of the way as a needle shot after him.

I didn’t dare move as Anova looked from where I was hidden in plain sight to my fleeing projection. He frowned and looked around carefully. He gestured and a needle rose up and drove straight through my stomach and into the ground. I still didn’t make noise or break my skill. He turned and began walking after the projection as the wires rose after it to destroy it.

I yanked the needle free out of my stomach and threw it with my remaining strength. The attack was poor, but it succeeded in piercing Anova’s shoulder and drawing a small wound. “Ah!” He let out a shout. Kek moved around his feet and solidified. When he tried to spin about he fell over on his face and his head snapped back with a crack. I began to drag and roll myself across the ground, leaving a trail of blood behind me.

Anova was cutting away at Kek trying to free himself, but each attack failed. I reached him and grabbed his wrist with the dagger. I twisted and snapped his wrist forcing him to drop his weapon. I grabbed it and dragged myself on top of him. Despite his larger size I was stronger. I stared into his gray eyes. “Do your-“ I drove the dagger into the side of his head.

I lay there on top of his corpse, in pain, sore, and incredibly weak. My HP was still dropping from all the holes poked in me and I needed relief. “Kek, can you block my wounds.” A few seconds later the HP drain stopped and I worked on managing my breathing to keep myself calm. I had barely survived the last dose of this poison and my body didn’t want to move while wanting release.

“Kek, I need you to send a small part of yourself into me to cut off my blood flow down below.” I felt movement inside my body and kept directing him to the right location. He cut off the blood flow and I was able to relax slightly.

“My lord, I have...” I glanced to the side and saw a young man. He looked at me and then at the corpse under me. His eyes traveled across my body and landed on my foot. “Monster.” He hissed out and drew his blade. “I shall avenge Lord Str.” He advanced on my helpless body.

“Kek, all yours.” When the young man was just about to reach striking distant, Kek rose up around his feet and into his boots. He fell to the ground screaming. That was quickly cut off as a portion of Kek entered his mouth. He trashed around for a second and then stilled as death took him. I needed to move before someone strong came.

I just couldn’t force my body to do anything. The two separate poisons and the damage I had taken made escaping from here an impossibility. The poison needed to leave my system before I would have a chance to escape. I should have just left and not come here. “I always go a bit too far, right Kek?”

I felt a squeeze on my left shoulder. “At least you still like me.” All I could do was just lie there and hope no one else came up to the top of the mountain. The sun eventually set and the stars and the moon came out. Despite laying there all day, the poison remained in my system, a testament to its potency. In the dim light two figures came to the top of the plateau.

“Oh, what do we have here?” The voice was nasally and definitely a man’s. “It seems that Lord Str bit off more than he could chew. Hehehehe. What do you think Clarissa?” The figure next to merely shifted but didn’t say anything.

He pointed at the ground and snapped his fingers at the advancing Kek. There was a large burst of blue flames that coated the area around him burning Kek away. The flames raced over the stones and over me. Despite my fire immunity the flames hurt as they swept over everything. I saw Kek trying to escape but was consumed by the blue flames.

“So you felt pain, yes? Hehehehehehe.” The man darted forward and jabbed something into the back of my neck. All feeling below my neck cut off. “Did you know there are pressure points? Maybe? Hmmm, Clarissa retrieve the corpse and my new test subject, pretty please.” The hulking figure didn’t say anything and I was picked up and thrown over her shoulder. I saw the late Lord Str tossed over her other shoulder.

Clarissa was a woman and human shaped, but I did not hear the beat of her heart or the warmth of her skin where my head rested against her back. We moved off the plateau but I wasn’t in a position to see much of anything. My mind drifted in a haze as we moved to whatever our destination was.

***

“Oh, good. You are awake.” I opened my eyes to see a thin man with a goatee in front of me. His nasally voice was the same one as before. I tried to move but was tied securely down. Each finger had its own strap to secure it to the table I was on. “A bit extreme, but I do enjoy living. Can’t take any chances you know. Hehehehe.” The laugh was forced and creepy.

“What are you planning to do to me?” Might as well and try to get information so I can escape.

“Getting information so you can escape. I don’t read minds, but you are so obvious Blood Rain. I am going to look at your blood. Blood Rain, blood, it all fits together.” This man was insane and I was in his hands.

“I am not insane, merely a genius. You are actually my inspiration. Demon blood, bug foot, and who knows what else. Don’t look so worried the experiments should be mostly painless…well if they aren’t then it is for science. Win, win, don’t you agree?” I really wanted to escape, my mind rushed over my skills but I had nothing that would work if I was tied down.

“So what are you going to experiment on?” I said a lot more calmly than I was feeling.

“Oh simple things. Like taking your blood and trying to put it into someone else. Putting more monster blood into you. I must say that without proper needles this process can get messy. Don’t worry Clarissa will clean things up. Hehehehehe.” This guy was completely off his rocker and I couldn’t think of a way to escape.

***

Author's Notes: Moving is done...yeah! I will try on stay at one chapter a day, but it is tough to write this much and make sure it stays fresh. I did something a bit different with a dialogue focus. In Interlude 3, you may have noted that Anova was talking to the doctor and mentioned a video. Lies, since he was deceiving people that he actually was a player and not an NPC. Insane, yes, but he always was an NPC. He was a liar and a manipulator of the highest order.

I don't think I need to add this if you have read this far, but the next chapter will be brutal, more so than any other chapter. It will be hard to top myself but I am going to try. I had to have something special for chapter 50.