At least two squads were above Nico, and he heard more. More got closer. A few ran by his side, though they struggled to break the distance.

Nico glanced behind him. The Kinetic Shell gave him breathing space, but now he was out of Energy. They had their higher Ranks and their Empowerment buffs. It was only a matter of time before they caught up. He looked towards the front as a team of Tengus charged at him. He couldn’t afford to stop.

So I just have to not stop. Nico threw his axes. The first missed, the second didn’t. It caved a Tengu’s chest. Nico ran right towards it, ignoring the other two. As it fell back he crashed the Locust against the back of the axe and ripped it out, taking blood, flesh, and bone in equal measure. He began Siphoning it as he ran with its corpse.

In that short delay, most of the Tengu’s around him leaped in. Their daggers dug into his flesh as he ran past them. A different squad descended upon him from the trees. He maneuvered around them using his Life sense, but one got a slice on his back while another fell into his face. It wrapped its furry legs around his neck and fell behind him, stabbing his back, butt, and legs. He had too many wounds to count, he only knew he left a bright red trail behind him as his body leaked everywhere.

The moment he finished Siphoning he tossed a Kinetic Shell below him. He launched forward, dropping the Tengu that had rode up, and taking a different Tengu flying with him. He healed mid-air, and his blood rose and chased him in an arc.

They fell to the ground 8 meters away, the axe bursting its skull as he landed on top of it. He dragged its corpse with him until he had its Energy in his hand, putting him up to 3 Energy in total.

Another squad was coming towards Nico from the front. Behind him the Iron House was still chasing him.

Tossing the axe again was risky. Finding a place to hide might work on the Tengus but not on the Iron House. One of them had to be a Scout. Running might work on the Iron House but not the Tengus. He could already feel the ground rumbling under him.

Nico looked up at the darkening skies. Would it help them or him more if he survives until night? He was confident in his Life sense, but If they had a Scout, then the answer was the latter, and they had a Scout, and no doubt Night Hunters.

But I have the Nightmare. He hadn’t lost yet. He just needed to hold on until—

Something worst than Fairies, Riders, Irons, and Tengus was coming towards Nico—a Ranker, tall and grim looking, with enough arrows sticking out of her to fill a quiver. Her suit was ripped and shredded. A black blindfold turned red covered her eyes and flapped with her dark shoulder length hair behind her. She had her right hand on a familiar scabbard by her hips, an axe in her left, and a swarm of monsters on her boots.

Nico stopped counting the monsters in squads and began in dozens, and there were a couple dozens.

In their midst was a giant monster towering at least eight feet tall, with most of its size coming from its width. Its arms were enourmous veiny packs of muscle and its claws were even thicker. It had three scimitar like nails and a thicker curved thumb. White fur crowned its Tengu head. It extended down its neck and its forearms, leaving its large, over ripped chest bear, then wrapped around its hips, covering its groin. It did have legs, they were just tiny, barely half the size of its torso.

It leaped forward, swinging down at the Ranker. It didn’t have an index finger, leaving an opening in its claws that the Ranker was able to ball herself past.

Missing the Ranker, the Boss’s claws dug into the ground and swung it forward in a front flip. It landed on the other claw and dragged it back, scooping up mud and sending it running on all four limbs. It only used its legs for balance. It didn’t seem like it could sprint otherwise.

(Boss) Glint-Crown ★★

Class: Enhancer-Emitter

Energy: 4/4

Shields: ****

Boss Trait:

Transfers 50% of Strength from legs to arms. Arms gain moderate resistance to all damage.

1st Skill: Howl (Uncommon II)

2nd Skill: Resistant Life Shield (Common III)

Consumes 1 Energy to provide 4 Shield with moderate resistance to slash damage and minor resistance to thermal damage.

Cast-time: 3 seconds

Duration: 1 minute

Cooldown: 1 minute

It Howled, its pitch falling from a deep roar to a screech as the Ranker eluded its swings by the smallest margins. After consistently failing, the Glint-Crown thrust its hand to the side, grasping one unlucky Tengu and flinging it forward.

For obvious reasons, the Ranker didn’t need to glance back. She jumped up, pulling her feet to her hips, and continued her rhythmic stride uninterrupted as the Tengu flew underneath her.

She wasn’t running in the usual human way. Her stride was far too long, as if each step was a leap. One foot kicked out while the other skid against the ground. When the Tengus attacked or a tree was in her way, her direction abruptly changed in a clean-cut line. It must have been a skill, as her direction changed without her moving her body. A small indenture was left under the foot that was touching the ground when the turn happened.

Her left arm was hanging by her side, only raising to block knifes being thrown at her, or for an axe throw when she needed to make an opening in the squad of Tengus that jumped in her way. They struck skulls as if striking walls. She caught them mid bounce. The mist exiting the corpse’s struggled to catch up to her suit, leaving a road of pale yellow in her feet.

The Nightmare? From her speed, she’s probably Rank V—

Kara (II)

Class: Manipulator-Transmuter

Affinity: Kinetic Energy

Energy: 4/4

Soul-Bound Equipment: 1/2

1st Skill: Unbound Kinetic Deviation (Rare II)

Consumes 1 Energy to Deviate momentum in the direction you choose. The Energy cost is dependent on the total Kinetic Energy required to alter the direction. Consuming more Energy than your Rank will cause fatal drawbacks.

Manipulator Perk: You may Deviate anything but Shielded foes.

Transmuter Perk: The drawback for consuming more Energy than your Rank is doubled. You may Deviate anything.

2nd Skill: ?

Defensive Ranker’s Suit

★★☆☆

Equipment Type: Soul-Bound Augmenter

Evolution Requirements: 0/1 Rank III Boss Soul or 0/3 Rank III Elite Souls

Self-rejuvenating. Siphons and stores monster’s Energy you kill upon command. You cannot access this Energy for your skills.

Storage: 200/200

Rank I Function: Increases your Kinetic Sense range by 2 meters

Rank II Function: Instead of Shields, the suit has moderate resistances to all damage.

Excuse me?

“Fucking hell,” Grumpy yelled. He broke off from the group. Creepy and the Spearman ran ahead behind. “Stall it until the others arrive! I’ll lead the swarm away!”

“Stall? What do you mean stall?” Creepy yelled. “It’s the fucking Nightmare!”

“It won’t kill you!” Grumpy yelled back. “Paradise awaits the brave!”

“Paradise awaits the brave!” his squad chanted.

That’s four Rank II enemies, with one out, one missing, and another in-coming. Nico saw another one with a bow in the far distance, likely the one that was supposed to flank Nico from the left side. Depending on his range, he might enter the fight the a few seconds to a dozen late.

The Nightmare was running head on towards a full team while outnumbered and out Ranked. Oh yeah, blind and all. She might not realize how many enemies there were in the first place until they entered the range of her Kinetic Sense, which he assumed was how she fought. Her refresh rate must have been even better than Nico’s.

“I’m—” Nico sensed something dive towards him from directly above. There wasn’t enough time to react. Two feet landed besides him. He glanced up as an arm went under his armpits, holding his neck within callous palms radiating scorching heat.

He was large enough to surround Nico and tower over his head. A dark cloak with a hoodie hid everything but his naked feet and hands. In it a bundle of dyed red hair covered one side of his face and half an unnaturally wide grin. His other hand closed around the Locust, trapping his kinetic shell in his palm. There was no budging it, and there was no time to read what the Locust showed him.

In an explosion of flame they flew up. Nico noticed another ball of fire gathering below Red’s other foot that was covered in a thin yellow shield. Flame Burst and a Thermal Shield?

Creepy charged straight towards the Nightmare, swinging his axe towards her neck. There wasn’t any intention to dodge her attack.

The Nightmare jumped up in a strange, gravity defying way. Her entire body rose from the ground, but her feet went up first. That’s when Nico realized she didn’t jump—she flipped forward. Her body was horizontal to the ground when she was parallel to Creepy’s shoulders. She went over his axe, while her axe struck his face mid-flight. His entire face was covered in yellow sparks.

She used Creepy’s face as a platform to complete her flip. Her speed made her into a blur. As she flipped, the cone blast of fiery sparks that released from Red’s feet only skimmed her back. The recoil tossed them out of her melee range much like how a Kinetic Burst did.

She threw her axe as she returned fully upright in the most fluid movement Nico had ever witnessed. Nico expected the momentum of her swing to give her more power, but what he did not expect was her instantly losing all motion, and the axe gaining all of it. It flew faster than an arrow. Its head struck Red’s face, destroying his Shield to bits and leaving a wide gash. Nico felt the vibrations.

Yeah. Definitely a Ranker. While others fought on the battlefield, they danced. What he didn’t understand was why she was only Rank II.

With a yell Red tightened his hold on Nico and pointed his other foot at her. She tucked her chin and hid her face behind her forearm as she fell to the ground.

Nico kicked Red’s foot to the side. The cone of fire struck the Nightmare’s shoulder but mostly missed. The recoil flung them in some direction he couldn’t follow.

A spear whizzed below them. It would have struck the Nightmare had she not come to a complete stop. She somehow grasped it mid-flight and flew with it. The spear impaled a tree a short distance away, almost splitting it in half. Fractures ran down from the top to the bottom, dropping a few Tengu’s that held on to the branches. Instead of the momentum crashing the Nightmare against the tree, it instead sent her spinning in circles around the handle fast as a wheel.

Red landed on his back, cushioning the fall for Nico. He swayed as he stood up, disoriented and bleeding from his face onto Nico’s back, but credit where credit is due, he never let go of Nico’s neck or the Locust. With their Rank and size difference, Nico couldn’t struggle for much.

“What the fuck is she doing,” Creepy said, panting. He pointed at her with his axe and looked at Red. “What the fuck are we fighting!”

She sent herself straight towards the ground, her right hand holding her scabbard while her left held its hilt. She bent forward, one knee raised and one foot an inch from the trunk. Her head was parallel to the trunk she slid down, almost as if she was riding it instead of falling.

“Duck!” Red yelled. He let go of Nico’s neck and pointed his palm up. Before Nico could take a single step an explosion sent them to the ground. Nico’s head was pressed against the dirt by Red’s chest, who now had his palms pointed forward with a large swirling flame on it. He still kept a hand around the Locust.

Barely a foot away from the ground, the Kara’s direction abruptly changed in a sharp 90-degree angle. The trunk her tip-toes were sliding down ruptured in a small circle.

She was past the Spearman before any of them could react. There was a pause short enough to be noticed, but not long enough to be reacted to, as her foot touched the ground, then spun in a wide circle past Creepy, her sword, a glass thin emerald, leaving only a trace of its color and a bit of red. She came to a stop besides Red and Nico, sheathing her sword and covering her face with her forearm.

Their Shields didn’t seem to matter. Their torsos slid to the ground.

All her momentum went into her sword the moment she swung. When she slid forward and in a circle, it was her sword moving, not her. She just held on and made it pivot, almost as if she were swinging a giant log.

A spiral of flame struck the center of her chest, engulfing her body in flames, but her head was safe. She lowered her face parallel to the ground mutely. He couldn’t see what face she made.

Red made a sound that was in between a yell and a yelp. Nico tried to kick his feet to the side, but at the last moment Red raised them, then immediately lost them as the Nightmare lunged forward, unleashing her sword. She landed by their side, her movement so quick and abrupt that it knocked the fire out.

Red went crazy underneath Nico, screaming as his leg oozed blood out. Both of his feet fell off. Nico elbowed him in the ribs then headbutted his jaw, tossing his head back. He rolled off.

A distance behind the Nightmare the Bowman was aiming at her, his arrow fully pulled back and glimmering yellow.

Nico didn’t have time to think, much less yell. Before the kinetic shell left his fingers, a dark object the size of a small boulder smashed into the Bowman, crushing them together.

It was Grumpy.

On all sides Tengus were making their way towards them. They were up in the trees and down on the ground. They hooted as the Glint-Crown made its way towards them. Chasing it were three teams, and one Ranker team from their suits, firing arrows and explosions as it ran away from them. Even so they couldn’t catch up.

What. The. Fuck. The Glint-crown was a Boss, it had more intelligence and had different agro patterns than typical monsters, but it didn’t make sense for it to completely ignore everyone else even while it was being attacked.

Nico turned towards the Nightmare. She was facing him in her slashing stance.

Oh.

She lunged forward, coming to a stop past him. Nico spent a precious second waiting for his body to separate. It didn’t. Only Red’s hands did. The flames he had pointed at Nico’s face extinguished. He spasmed on the ground, screaming even louder. The Nightmare dropped to the ground, elbowing him unconscious and reached inside the pockets of his cloak.

“Delivery for you,” Nico said, glancing at the swarm of monsters coming towards them. They had seconds. “I’m a Hea—”

The Nightmare grasped him by his mouth. She towered over him with a hunched back, gasping for breath through cracked lips. Her hair was glistening with sweat and weighed down with dried blood. The suit she wore was more red than black.

He felt her callouses rub against his skin as she traced his face. Her hand slid down the side his cheek, down his neck, and stopped at his shoulders, where the Locust was attached.

“Open your mouth,” she said, a rattle in her voice. She spoke slowly and from the bottom of her throat.

The moment Nico opened his teeth she stuck a health potion deep enough to reach the back of his throat. He choked as a sweet, cold liquid ran down his throat.

“Take the scabbard with both hands. Do not let go. Understand?” Nico furrowed his brows and shook his head, but the Nightmare tightened her hold. She made him nod. “Good,” she said, in an almost different voice. It sounded too lifeful. It was at odds with how she looked and smelled.

She turned towards the Glint-Crown as it raised its claws above them.

Then there was silence and darkness. Both were so complete Nico thought he’d lost consciousness. He couldn’t breathe and his insides felt mushy, but the dull feeling of his body was still there. Something dripped down from his eyes and ears. It felt like his skull was crushing his brain.

There was dirt on his hands. He pressed and he felt it sink further. The ground. He pressed his teeth. The health potion was empty. He pushed it out with his tongue and waited it to do its work. His Life sense was wonky.

In the center of his eyes there was a small piercing of light, as if he was looking at a single ray of sunlight from the abyss. It spread, dimming as it went, until it was a blur. Piece by piece the blur focused in until he was looking at the Nightmare’s face against the ground, unmoving, with bright red blood dripping from her mouth and ears. It didn’t look like she had enough blood to bleed anymore. A pale yellow mist floated towards her from everywhere.

Nico sat back, his head spinning. His balance was completely removed. He dug his hands further into the ground to stop himself from swaying. He looked around him at the Tengu’s falling from the trees, screaming inaudibly. Some held their faces as they bled. Others didn’t breathe. The yellow mist going into Kara’s body came from them.

The Glint-Crown was berserk, tossing its body on the ground and opening its mouth wide. Nico felt the wind ruffle him but he couldn’t hear it. It groped around it, crushing whatever its enormous claws caught and tossing it in his direction. Sometimes it was just mud and grass, most of the time it was Tengus. They stuck the trees around him with a distant thud.

Nico looked at his hands. The complete silence made him feel dizzy, as if he was in a dream. It’s not enough. Nico crawled towards Red. He got 6 Energy for Siphoning him. He Healed to speed the process up, then crawled back to poke the Nightmare in the cheek.

Kara (II)

Class: Manipulator-Transmuter

Affinity: Kinetic Energy

Energy: 0/4

Soul-Bound Equipment: 1/2

1st Skill: Unbound Kinetic Deviation (Rare II)

2nd Skill: Unbound Howl (Rare II)

Consumes 1 Energy to release a sound frequency of your choosing.

Manipulator Perk: You can choose a specific frequency.

Transmuter Perk: Consumes all Energy. Consuming more Energy than your Rank will cause fatal drawbacks.

So this is the Nightmare. He poked her suit. It showed it still at 200 Energy. The Energy isn’t going into the suit. He looked at her sword. It was the same scabbard one Devi brought to Mr. Tensly. He poked it too.

Sword Of The Lost Cow (★★★★☆)

Evolution Requirement: 0/1 Rank V Boss or 0/3 V Elites

Type: Soul-Bound Augmenter

Charge Sword: Upon command, the scabbard will open, and the blade will swing forward. Every 3 seconds inside the scabbard will consume 1 Energy and swing with the equivalent Kinetic Force capable of dealing 1 Shield damage.

Functions:

Rank I: Life Storage

Has 6 Energy Storage.

Current Energy: 98,231/6 (-1/second)

Rank II: Return

Consumes Energy stored within the Sword Of The Lost Cow to return to owner upon command.

Rank III: Complete Life Shield

Sword Of The Lost Cow has Shield equivalent to the Energy Storage.

Rank IV: Siphon

Siphons the corpses of foes the wielder slays with a range of 3000 meters.

Huh. Nico’s eyes glazed through the table three times. None of this is supposed to be possible. Energy did not like to be contained. The more you pushed it, the more it pushed back. There wasn’t anything strong enough to hold Energy more than half a dozen at most, much less a hundred thousand.

Nico looked at the Functions. So that’s the magic combination? The Shields were given to the sword itself, not the owner. It was the same thing Suits did too, but he wasn’t aware it could be done on weapons.

“I can’t let this go into the 3rd City,” he said, his voice finally coming back. He was so deep in thought he hadn’t realized it. The screaming of the Tengus was background noise to him. If the owner was in the 3rd City and made the command to return to them the moment Nightmare lets go of the sword, then it was very possible. It would deliver both the Locust with the Howl skill already inserted into it. It would allow them to repeat the 4th Fall.

If there was a way to rule the world, then this was it. Obey or I’ll destroy you—it was the oldest tactic in the book. Hell, this was a tactic that preceded books all together, going back to the first humans to walk the unbroken earth ions ago.

So why didn’t she kill me? It would have Siphoned him, separating his body from the Locust. Her sacrificing her life didn’t make much sense either. It wasn’t very Nightmarish of her.

Now everyone in the world knew that the one who destroyed the 4th City is still alive, and is very close to the 3rd City. The answer must have been in those implications, or at least in what happens next.

So Devi and the Nightmare are connected, but I don’t think they’re on the same side. Or at least, not in agreement on their methods.

There was more to this. He wanted to find out before he risked returning to the city.

Howl Shell has been replaced by Healing Shell. You’ve lost the ability to use the Howl as an Enhancer, but you may still use it as a Base.

7 arrows. She had one inside her shoulder, two that went through her ribs, three in the abdomen, and another in her right thigh. Her wounds had already closed around them. He dug them out.

He made a healing shell. A gold ball the same size of a Kinetic shell was pushed out of the Locust. He smashed it against her. It burst into a yellow gel that quickly dissolved into her body. Nico sensed it travel in her veins to her heart, conjecting into a dense ball, then spreading to her abdomen, lungs, and brain.

She gasped awake, yelling and swinging her arms around. She dropped back to the ground again, panting.

“As I was saying, I’m a healer.”

The Nightmare laid there for a while. He thought she would have been dead if he hadn’t seen her chest rise and fall.

Nico looked around him. Most of the Tengus died by now. The Glint-Crown ran face first into a tree. It ran the other way, bumping and tripping in whimpers.

The Iron House was no different. Most of them looked dead, or about to die.

“Why aren’t you taking the sword?” she asked.

“Why aren’t you taking the Locust?” Nico asked, wondering whether he should loot them. He turned back to her, even more confused. “You don’t seem happy.”

She didn’t answer.

So the Deep is probably coming, but we should be able to leave before then. A day, maybe even less until it arrives.

“I’m going to fight the Deep here,” she said calmly. She rested her sword behind her back, with her hand between it and the dirt. She placed her head on it. She crossed her ankles and relaxed.

“What happens if a Boss, or the Deep eats the Sword with lots of Energy inside it?” Nico waited for an answer. He didn’t get one. “Okay,” he said, standing up. He stood in front of her and turned. “I’m Nil, by the way,” he said, as he dropped on top of her. He snuck the Locust under them and pressed the kinetic shell against the ground. After a strong jut of wind Nico found his face pressed against the dirt a short distance away.

Yup. He pushed his hands against the ground and pushed up, carrying the Nightmare on his back. He held the back of her knees. Her chin rested on top of his head. With their height difference it was the only way he could carry her. This is going to suck.

Nico couldn’t run, but he could jog. The Nightmare was unsurprisingly heavy. Being tall and muscular tended to do that. Her long arms swung limply in front of Nico. She’d wrapped a chain around her right hand and the scabbard. “You probably hit your head, just sit tight and tell me when you start thinking straight again,” Nico said. There was no response. “Come on, don’t act dead on me. I know you’re still...”

He came to a slow stop. He stomped forward, his voice turning into a seething whisper. “Are monsters are trying to eat you? Is some little dude annoying you by keeping you alive?” He jumped up to get a better grip on her. “Just go to sleep! What a fucking genius.”