Sare’zmei’s shriek rang out through the cavern, which caused the entire foundations of Adormitzeu to shake under our feet. This city was built on an upthrust of rock in the centre of the underground lake, but would it remain stable? Bit by bit, the cosmic devourer pulled itself free of its bonds, sliding out of the tear in space into our realm.

There was no time to lose. I reached out and placed both my hands on the side of the obelisk and drew on the anima that coursed through the stone. The flood of power that rushed into me was overwhelming. If Balaur hadn’t already reinforced my internal anima network during our first infusion, I’m confident that this flood would have torn me apart.

At once I knew exactly what had happened here in this ancient city, and what I needed to do.

A flood of images or memories or a combination of both rushed into my mind about the nature of the obelisks. These memories must have been locked within this obelisk, which is why Balaur couldn’t remember the truth about what happened.

Balaur arrived on our planet first and spread his network throughout this land, but the obelisks rose at key places within that network to focus his power.

This obelisk in the centre of the underground lake beneath the mountain was the first. This was the place Balaur landed, as this was the location where Sare’zmei’s prison was the thinnest. Balaur made the first lock – the obelisk – and the others were added over the years after the grand dragon fell into slumber.

The Solomonari, the great dark wizards, came here and reinforced the lock using the essences of Atrighus, Mnemnhion, Balaur and whoever the gold anima came from. The Solomonari were not evil, and once they were the keepers of Sare’zmei’s prison.

But while Balaur slept, things changed. The Solomonari found a new source of power to draw from, having lost all record and knowledge of what it was they sought to protect. The creeping corruption of Sare’zmei himself, seeping up from the festering wound he was trapped within.

There was a shining core inside this obelisk. A concentrated sliver of Balaur’s spirit, and a cage for his memories. The devourer could not corrupt it, but could only smother it. During the slow corruption of the obelisk, the network of Balaur’s anima was repurposed, but still connected.

When this core was cut off from Balaur’s network, it sent a reverberating message throughout the Carpathians that Sare’zmei had found a way to escape his prison.

The images faded, and I continued to draw on the corrupted anima of the obelisk.

Investing my existing three points was paramount. My anima tank filled to the brim over and over as I cleansed that terrible energy and poured it into myself. I invested one of those points into Harbinger of Doom, which activated the two bonus points from my Houndmaster’s Jacket.

The change in Kaiser began instantly. His fur grew black and shaggy, his fangs swelled huge in his mouth. He turned towards Sare’zmei and growled. Kaiser now sounded like an idling V8 engine. He almost looked big enough to ride.

“How does it feel bud?”

Kaiser barked once, a sound straight out of a nightmare. A definitive and terrifying yes.

With that, he leapt into battle against the remaining corrupted thralls, keeping the rest of my team safe while they fanned out around the town centre to their stations in front of the standing stones.

Another point came and went, and I used it to buff Kaiser’s power again. Then another, and another, and there seemed to be no end to the amount of anima that flowed through my claws.

I cleansed it and converted it into experience as quickly as I could. I put those points into buffing Kaiser and then when that skill was maxed out, into whatever other skills would buff the rest of my team’s damage and survivability.

Sare’zmei swiped his massive arms back and forth, trying to squash the rest of the team. Xiphos and Pike were in the most dangerous positions right in front of the monster. Its head had grown so large now that it was completely unrecognisable. It was nothing more than a star-shaped maw lined with rows of teeth, spreading out like a growing cancer across the cobblestones.

Xiphos and Pike dodged the slow-moving arms as best as they could, but Pike had her work cut out for her. Both of the beast’s slug-like tongues were trying to snake around her legs and pull her off balance. She skewered one with her pike, then rolled out of the way of the next.

With her focus on the tongues, she never saw the massive hand coming down at her from above.

One second Pike was there, the next she was paste, driven into the pavement.

“No!” Xiphos screamed.

Naginata and Stiletto both looked to me.

Was our plan fucked? We needed four people to wield the anima and one to cleanse the obelisk. Now we were one down, without enough hands to do every task required of us.

“What the hell are we going to do?” Stiletto called out.

“Stick to the plan!” Xiphos replied. She wouldn’t have been able to see Stiletto around the bulk of Sare’zmei, but he would have been able to hear her.

“This is fucked, this is fucked, this is so fucked!” Stiletto said.

It was at that moment I felt the first tenuous connection to Balaur since we’d left the forest above. The healing, purifying energy was right there, behind a miasma of furious hunger. The obelisk was almost purged of Sare’zmei’s corruption now, I was sure of it. Flickers of green shone through the black and red, and then with a sudden burst of green light, Balaur’s energy spread all across the face of the obelisk.

The green anima burned through the obelisk, up into the five eyes that now shone green, and down through the ground. The energy wound its way up my arm and connected me to the pure source of Balaur’s anima contained within.

In an instant, Balaur knew what I knew. The difference between Balaur and Sare’zmei became clear to me then. They both were borne of the need to connect, but one was fuelled by the desire to consume, and the other was filled with a desire to heal.

Green light burned its way up my arms with a cold but not unpleasant sensation as the tendrils of green purifying energy snaked out around the base of the obelisk. It travelled towards the standing stones in a slow but deliberate wave. The only problem was that it wasn’t moving as quickly as I needed it to.

Sare’zmei turned, dragging its obscenely grotesque face in the direction of Xiphos.

“Kaiser!” I called out, but it happened so fast that there was no time to intervene.

A mess of thick red tendrils exploded from Sare’zmei’s mouth and encased Xiphos like a net made of flesh. Her skin burned red as the corruption sunk in. Sare’zmei pulsed his energy into Xiphos and began turning her into one of his thralls.

Xiphos sunk to her knees, then crawled towards the green anima crystal set in the centre of the standing stone.

The time had come.

If we didn’t take up the anima crystals now, then we might never have the chance to push the devourer back again.

I pulled my claws out of the surface of the obelisk and was shocked to see my arms covered in translucent green armour. Like I was wearing a suit of armour made of green light.

[You are a true Balaran Knight now.] Balaur’s voice came straight into my head.

My entire body was now encased in armour made of pure anima, and as I ran across the void, Sare’zmei’s anima fled from my footfalls. Roots and tendrils from Balaur’s anima network spread out in my wake, pushing back the hungering void. If I could make it to Xiphos, I might be able to save her.

Xiphos crawled forward to the standing stone and pulled herself up with great effort, despite Sare’zmei’s horrific netting. She activated her class skill, which buffed us all, and gave her the strength to reach up and grasp Balaur’s green anima crystal in her hand.

She screamed as green lines burned up her arm, competing against the corruption which had her so entirely encased. Xiphos focused the anima crystal towards Sare’zmei, and a great green beam of light exploded from the end.

The light slammed into Sare’zmei, which let forth a ghastly scream. It heaved its massive body around, shielding its face from the onslaught. In its desperation, Sare’zmei whipped around with its massive wings and tried to bring the buildings down on top of us.

The horrific power of this beast could not be denied as it wrenched the tops of the neighbouring dwellings down into the square. I was halfway between Xiphos and Naginata, with my vision of Stiletto entirely obscured by Sare’zmei’s bulk.

Naginata activated her class skill to try and parry the oncoming debris, but it didn’t work like she expected. An enormous chunk of concrete and glass slammed into her, which sent her flying. Luckily, she landed close to a green Balaur puddle, which immediately reached up towards her leg with root-like tendrils to heal her.

At the very same moment, Kaiser howled. Long and mournful, from the other side of Sare’zmei.

I dodged chunks of concrete as they rained down around me. The devourer had slipped back into the void a little, as it had let its grip lapse in this assault against us. The green beam of light coursing from Xiphos’s hand also put pressure on the devourer.

“Everyone who can grab an anima crystal should, right now!” I called out, but my words died on my lips.

Kaiser stood next to a pile of rubble, with a chunk of concrete in his mouth. He pulled on it as hard as he could, yanking it backwards like he was playing tug of war with a squeaky toy. Except that this piece of rubble had a bloody hand protruding from underneath it.

Stiletto’s hand.

I rushed over to Kaiser’s side and together we mustered enough strength to lift it clear. The body underneath was unrecognisable, save for the uniform and Stiletto’s beloved rifle Tasha still strapped to his back.

Sare’zmei’s enormous fist came crashing down at us from above, and we barely managed to leap out of the way in time. Kaiser jumped one way, I jumped the other, and the side of the devourer’s fist clipped me. I felt the Balaran Knight armour repel the tainted touch like oil and water.

Now we were down to three. Xiphos was in a bad way, and Naginata looked shaky on her feet, despite Balaur’s healing. She was in the middle of opening her locket to retrieve the golden anima sliver when I noticed a familiar figure standing atop the ruined top floor of a nearby building.

The figure held a sword in one hand, and the bottom half of his face was obscuring by a black mask. His blond hair flowed in the wind.

Bastard.