Our weapons met with a crack. I lasted for a moment before Ray’s sword pushed me back. The ground beneath my feet burst as I slid away, but there was nothing I could do.

Damn it…

Ray paused for a moment as he stared at me. Even though it was hidden from view, I could still feel the cocky grin he threw my way. As I opened my mouth to respond or make another move, my hidden helper interrupted me.

**Conditions passed, Dragon's Luck unlocked. Effect of the next critical strike will be enhanced according to skill level.**

A quick glance at my armour with my analyse skill proved that the voice wasn't lying. The skill no longer had the locked symbol next to it, though there was no specific reasoning given as to why it had chosen this exact moment to unlock. Either way, it gave me a new edge to the plan I had been making.

Ray's patience fell short once more as he pointed his sword at my chest. The blue spiral around his blade flared up again as he funnelled more of his power into the skill. Though there had been a short break, he had gathered his strength enough to continue the fight in the time I was distracted.

In response, I switched back to my Novice pool and focused my energy on my feet. I had enough left for two uses of the Buffed strike, after which the pool would be spent. The Rage ability had the bonus of additional power as my mana dropped, but that only counted the Rage pool itself.

Which was still close to full.

“Buffed Strike.”

My first use of the ability was focused downwards. I blasted myself to the side and switched to the Rage pool.

“Bolster. Carve.” I spat out the two quickest buffs before I landed. I barely had time to swap back to the Novice pool before Ray closed in again.

I dodged his blow to the left, but his sword still caught my arm. It wasn’t a serious hit, but the damage was starting to mount up. I corrected the grip on my staff and thrust it towards his chest.

“Buffed Strike!”

Ray dodged my strike, obviously worried about the damage it would cause. As he moved back, the ground up my feet cracked once more as I dodged away from him. The strike had been a feint, and it had worked like a charm.

I swapped to the Rage pool as Ray stamped his foot and swept towards me. The distance was slightly larger, but it was only barely large enough for me to cast the final buff.

“Final stand!”

This time, I used the group augment. The cost reduction affected it, but it still dropped my Rage pool by an insane degree. The common folk from the village had escaped, as had most of the bandits. Leah, the bandit king and Anne remained behind as they watched my duel with Ray. I swapped back to Novice as he closed in. I would have to bet my all on this last strike.

His sword had lost most of the blue energy that had circled it, but it was still a deadly weapon. He thrust at my chest once more as I gathered my strength. I placed tightened the grip on my staff, set my feet, and thrust at him. This would require perfect timing. If I missed the swap to my Rage pool, my blow would lose a large portion of its power.

“Buffed Strike Buffed Fury!”

I managed the swap at the perfect moment. My first ability came into play as I thrust towards Ray, and the second was used as my blow landed on his sword.

*Dragon’s luck activated. Perfect point attack. Critical Strike. Critical Strike. Critical Strike.*

A burst of power, far surpassing the one from my last use of the ability, surged through my limbs. My staff shot forward and slammed into Ray’s sword… and carried on without a moment of pause.

His sword was knocked aside before my staff crashed into his chest. A sharp crunch echoed out as Ray was blasted back. His sword, which had been on course to pierce through my body, spun through the air and landed in the bushes far behind me. I had thought to use Mana Shield to counter his attack at the end, but that was proven unnecessary.

“No….” Ray’s fingers scratched the dirt beside him as he struggled to push himself up. The mighty swordsman had vanished, replaced by a weak and feeble little man. “Its too soon. Why!?”

“You were always a pawn, Ray.”

A large cult member stepped out of the crowd. The rest of her followers watched the scene without a word, as though they had expected it to play out in this way from the start.

“No, they promised-”

“And you promised to bring us the marked one, and then you made your own moves counter to our master’s wishes.” The cultist rested her sword against her shoulder as she stared down at Ray. “The extension on your life was given so you could make up for your failure. You succeeded in that, at least. Now you can die in peace.”

Ray dropped back to the floor as his strength failed him. I had still not collected my thoughts after the battle’s abrupt end. The cultist member watched me silently as I turned back to my nemesis.

I stared at the man who lay at my feet. I had given up my defence in return for a burst of power, and had held a small hope it would be enough to damage Ray… never mind killing him. I had planned to lower my mana enough for the strike to be a critical hit, but the effectiveness of the blow took even me by surprise.

This was the person who had killed me, who had killed my friend in front of me. The fact he had died by my hand quenched my anger a little, but a flame still burned deep down inside.

But he was dead, and I was alive. He had killed me once, so this was merely returning the favour.

I glanced to my left. Most of the villagers had escaped, but the three strongest members of the group remained to watch my duel. They waited to help me escape, as would have been the normal end of such a fight.

My former nemesis had moved to this place like a wandering god. His level and skills were far out of the reach of those that lived here. A high-level fighter, with a massive wealth of resources and experience on his side, against a low-level Supporter?

No contest.

Their shock was only matched by the horde of bandits who waited on my right. they twitched in horror as my gaze reached them. they weren’t scared by what I had done, more than who I had done it to. As our fight progressed, their numbers had grown to an extraordinary degree as reinforcements piled in.

But they didn’t make a move against me.

Even the cultists, who were interspersed through the group like weeds, didn’t make a move against me. I had just defeated their leader, and they would know his skills and power more than anyone else who saw the scene.

I looked back at the man below me and took a deep breath.

“That was for Claire. Rot in hell.”

I didn’t hold back, so everyone heard my cold words. The bandits shifted in worry. they knew about Claire, and how she had died. Whilst they hadn’t ended her life, they had helped him throw the final stone.

My mind blurred as I dropped into my memories once more, but I pulled myself together. It was far from the perfect time to reminisce over the past.

Before I could move, a wavering voice yelled out from the crowd.

“S-stop right there!”

The crowd opened up to reveal Clive. The vice-commander stared, his mouth opening and closing again and again. He seemed surprised by the words he had spoken as he cast glanced at his followers.

“What, do you still want to fight?” I pointed my staff at the bandit leader.

“Rook, we need to retreat. Your mana will be low after that, Clive will rip you apart without your skills.” Rose spoke from my brain. I knew she was right, though I didn’t need the reminder. I was aware of my own situation more than anyone else.

But if my challenge scared Clive off, the rest of his troops would follow.

“Take him down! He’s one man, he can’t fight us all!” Clive bellowed at the crowd of bandits. They turned to look at him as one, but his next words stopped their refusal. “He’s weakened. If we leave him, he’ll just come back stronger. Kill him, now!”

The bandits turned to me. Whilst I held them no particular ill-will as a group, it remained a fact they had hunted me down. Clive had ordered it, and I had made use of it as a part of my plan, but it didn’t change what they had done. If the bandit king took over again, that would resolve our conflicts… mostly.

“Help us!” Clive turned to the cultists who had moved away from his group. “He’ll target you as well, you know.”

“He might, but we have what we wanted. We will no longer interfere with his path.” The large cult member sheathed her sword as she led the cultists away. She paused a moment later and glanced back at me. “We will see you again soon. You will see that our aim and yours align. We might even be friends in the future.”

I glared at the cultist before she shrugged and turned away. Her tone had remained steady throughout the conversation. No matter if she was battering Ray with the truth of his existence, or offering me a hand of peace, her speech patterns hadn’t changed in the slightest.

Cold, dead and mechanical, from start to finish.

I don’t care what they say, any cultist I see is my enemy from now. No way I'll let them turn me into a zombie puppet.

Clive didn’t try to stop the cultists. If his followers moved against them, their numbers would destroy any advantage of skill held by the masked men and women. the fact he held back didn’t show his fear of this group in particular, but it did hint at the power of the cult itself.

Clive turned back to me with a grim frown. The bandits had stopped as he called on the cultists, but they now turned their attention back to me.

“He’s alone. Take him!”

“He isn’t alone.” A meaty palm landed on my shoulder. I glanced to the side and was rewarded with a scary grin as the bandit king stared down at me. He turned back to Clive. “Go on, give it a go!”

“Men, the time has come. Take down the bandit king!”

Most of the bandits stopped in their tracks as the bandit king stepped out. As Clive shouted out the command, a dangerous shift hit the field. A flurry of arrows arced out of the forest and fell towards us like rain.

The bandit king grabbed my arm and tossed me through the air. For a moment, I believed he had disposed of me to protect himself, but that thought was dismissed as I landed beside Anne. My wounded arm and shoulder bore the brunt of my fall, but I had avoided the dangerous ambush.

The same couldn’t be said for the bandit king.

But he had his own plan. As the rain of arrows flew towards him, his axe leaped into his hand. He spun it above his head and roared out two words.

“Hurricane blow!”

His axe glowed a deep red as its rotation sped up dramatically. The huge weapon had turned into a makeshift umbrella as the bandit king jumped back towards us. The attacks duration was limited, but it lasted long enough for him to escape the first assault.

“Stop!” The bandit king roared at the army. I glanced back and saw that the majority did pull up short. Another rain of arrows didn’t appear, which proved that Clive hadn’t planned that far ahead.

Who would expect such a tactic to fail?

“Take him, he has been tricked. That man has stolen the contents of our treasury and wants to sell us out to the countries leaders.” Clive pointed at me with his sword. “This man is working with them. Take him down!”

Clive’s words were obvious lies to me, but at least a third of the bandits moved at his call. The others glanced between their two leaders in shock, unsure of how to process this sudden shift. I noticed that those who moved in for the kill were part of the group which arrived late to the battle.

These must be his personal troops… but why did they take so long to get here?

Anne forced me into the tunnel behind Leah before she turned back to the bear of a man in the distance. Her face was tight as she drew her sword and pointed into the sky.

“Heaven’s fury.”

A ray of light, far brighter than even the sun, blasted down not too far in front of the bandit king. He turned and ran towards the dungeon entrance the instant it touched down. Anne pushed her way in behind me, and we reached the far end of the tunnel not too long after. The slide moved further in, replaced by the small ante-chamber which greeted us.

“I managed to change this room a bit as it can’t spawn monsters. It should help if we need to bring more people in.”

I nodded in response to Cory’s explanation. His quick thinking had saved us some potential issues. The others had already left the room, but there was a more pressing concern right now.

The bandit king barely fit into the entrance. He squeezed in and pulled himself along the corridor, but it was slow going. Before he had reached the halfway point, the first rain of attacks bounced in.

“Cloak of fury!” the bandit king yelled out his ability as he struggled in. He was covered in a thin layer of red light, but it did little to assist his plight.

Two arrows bounced through the narrow slot. Once shot past and bounced into the room, but the other landed squarely in his shoulder.

“Dammit, can’t we close the entrance yet?” I yelled. Cory appeared from my inventory and hovered above us before he answered my question.

“Not before he’s passed through it, unless you want to squash him like a bug. I can’t change that, I’m sorry.”

Another wave of attacks rushed in, with another two direct hits. Anne had run forwards to drag him out of the crack along with Leah. He cleared it a second later, after which I slammed it closed behind him.

We were safe. My distraction had worked perfectly, but there was an urgent issue we had to deal with right now.

The bandit king turned to me with a grin. Blood ran down his arm as he raised a fist towards me. At first, I was unsure of what he wanted, but then I saw him pull his fingers into an awkward thumbs-up.

“We did it, kid.”