“No!” I screamed, raising my sword and scanning the horizon for the attackers. Before I could react, another fire arrow scorched through the air and struck my breastplate, chipping off a noticeable amount of health.

“Where are they!?” I shouted.

“There!” D roared, drawing back his bow. A fire arrow flew towards him, and he hurled himself out of the way, crashing into me and sending us both to the ground. I landed beside Gehman, his lifeless body lying on the ground beside me. The Ripper’s voice echoed in my mind…

“Lost forever in the Electronic Void…”

I leapt to my feet, my sword held high, and then I saw them. Two figures racing down the hill towards town. The one in front was a mage, in a snow-white robe with a purple plate mail helm, and behind him, in a suit of studded leather armor, was the archer who’d killed Gehman, a fire arrow nocked and ready to fire. Quickly, I inspected them both.

Chaucey, level 22.

Bonecrusher, level 23.

“D!” I shouted.

“I see it,” he replied grimly.

“How is that—how is that possible?”

The Ripper had made me level 20 with a wave of his hand. Everyone else we’d run into since then was significantly behind me. Cavey and Xavier were the highest we’d met, and they must have been leveling nonstop when they weren’t keeping watch in town. For these two to be higher level than me seemed impossible.

A roar echoed through the air behind us and I turned to see Cavey, Xavier, and a group of his men racing towards the attackers.

“Come on!” I screamed as I leapt into action.

“Jack, wait!” D shouted after me, but I wasn’t listening. Gehman’s death had me in a frenzy. Adrenaline was coursing through my body as I raced towards the two attackers. They were higher level than me and could more than likely take me on two vs. one, but Cavey’s guild was with me. Together, we could take them.

A fire arrow spat past my head and struck someone behind me. I heard a cry and glanced behind me to see one of Cavey’s men hit the ground, his health completely gone.

Another dead…

D loosed an arrow that sailed over my shoulder and struck Bonecrusher in the chest. The attack barely even registered.

“What the Hell!?”

Bonecrusher’s eyes flicked in our direction. Our eyes met, and I felt a chill run down my spine. D’s arrow had hit him in the chest—where there was nothing but the cloth of his robe, but the attack had barely done any damage at all.

How was that possible? Robes didn’t have any real significant armor level. Mages simply wore them because their strength was terribly low from having to put all their experience into Focus and Wisdom. Was there some kind of protection magic I didn’t know about?

There was no time to think. Bonecrusher’s eyes flicked in our direction and when our eyes met, I felt a chill down my spine. There was no fear, no goodness. There was nothing but pure evil intent, and I knew this was an opponent who would never understand mercy.

He didn’t have a wand or a staff, but instead held a glowing orange stone. Its small size somehow made it more menacing as he raised it towards me. Instantly, a massive Frost Bolt, the size of a horse, spit forth and roared through the air towards me.

I leapt out of the way and felt the chill in the air as the Frost Bolt chattered through the air to slam harmlessly into the wall of Gehman’s hut. It sounded like a glass shattering as shards of ice sprayed everywhere.

A Flame Bolt screamed past me and slammed into Bonecrusher, and I looked back to see Cavey sprinting towards us, flames coiling around the tip of his staff as he aimed at the attackers.

“Jack, down!” Xavier shouted as Cavey cast again. Cavey’s staff cracked like thunder and I hit the ground as a wall of flame blazed through the air, slamming into Chaucey and Bonecrusher. It did decent damage, but it wasn’t enough. Not by a long shot.

I leapt to my feet and sprinted towards them, doing my best to close the gap between us. Chaucey fired again, and someone behind me hit the ground. My hand tightened around my sword as I did my best to maintain control. The rush was impossible to fight, and my fight-or-flight instincts were overwhelming.

It was a life-and-death situation, and at least three of Gehman’s men were gone. I’d watched Gehman die right in front of my eyes, and the two men in front of me would kill me too without hesitation.

Chaucey aimed his bow at me, but I was close enough to activate Warrior’s Charge. The burst of strength in my legs sent me thundering towards him. I slammed into him with my shoulder, but the stun didn’t go off. I brought my sword down with all my might. Instantly, I activated Broad Strike. The damage was significant, but not enough. He was still well above half.

He leapt out of the way as Bonecrusher aimed another spell at me. Just as he was about to cast, an arrow hit him in the chest, interrupting his attack. I looked back to see D behind me, readying another arrow.

“Get him!” he shouted to me. I whirled back around and rained down on Bonecrusher with a whirlwind of attacks. Again, my blows barely did any damage. Only a small sliver was missing as he aimed another spell at me.

Someone screamed behind me, and I whirled around as Xavier threw himself into the battle, swinging his enormous halberd at Bonecrusher. The attack did even less damage than mine, but Xavier wasn’t discouraged. He just kept swinging as Bonecrusher switched his target from me to him.

Another Frost Bolt sprayed from the stone he held in his hands and slammed into Xavier at close range. Almost half of his health vanished instantly.

Chaucey’s short sword clanged against my armor and I spun around in time to deflect his next bow. Since The Ripper had raised my level to 20, it was the first time anyone had done any real damage to me, and I suddenly realized just how vulnerable I felt.

I lashed out with my sword, striking him in the shoulder. The damage was good. I activated Warrior’s Charge again, which had come off cooldown, and slammed into him. But again, the stun didn’t go off. He was just too high level.

He used a skill I’d never seen before. His sword flashed red and he unleashed a flurry of blows on me at blinding speed. They were so fast I was only able to deflect the first. The rest chipped away at my health and before I knew it, I was well below half.

“Help!” I shouted as I leapt back, trying to put some distance between me and my attacker. I ducked just in time as another of Bonecrusher’s Frost Bolts soared past me. Someone else screamed.

Chaucey leapt forward, stabbing out with his sword. An arrow struck his helm but did next to no damage. I managed to block his first swing, but the next one hit me. My health kept draining as he struck me.

I’m going to die!

Panic set in. I opened my inventory as fast as I could and found a Health Potion. This left me vulnerable to his attacks, but the potion would restore my HP if I got a chance to use it.

I brought the bottle to my lips, but Chaucey swung out and struck my hands, sending the potion flying. He kicked me in the chest and sent me tumbling backwards. I hit the ground hard and looked up to see him standing over me, a look of pure evil on his face.

“Weak,” he said as he raised his sword.

But just as he was about to swing, a Frost Arrow struck him in the chest. The damage was significant, and Chaucey leapt out of the way as another streaked past him. I looked in the direction of the shot and saw three figures racing towards town.

Osiris—level 19.

Psycho—level 21.

Kewtypie—level 18.

“It’s the Mercenaries!” I heard Xavier shout from somewhere as the three new attackers sprinted in our direction.

That’s it, I thought. We’re all going to die.