Cal pretended to ignore the two concealed presences keeping watch.

“Boss,” Howard grunted. “Good talk?”

“It went how I expected. Any issues here?”

“Nope… well… a squad of dynasty warriors came by demanding the magic artifacts. Hanna told them to pound sand cause of our deal. Too bad that war guy’s gear went boom. I watched the recording. That gorgon shield was for real.”

“They took the spear and axe from the battle site though,” Cammi said.

The young wizard’s open spellbook hovered in front of her.

She also hovered a few feet off the floor in lotus position.

The small jewelry hanging from the brim of her pointy hat tinkled slightly in the non-existent wind.

“I’m tracking their signatures.”

“Good. We’ll grab them on our way. Hanna, are you good to go?”

“Yeah, I can sense that there’s still work for me here, but we can’t overstay our welcome.”

“For now. Are you okay with the empress’ promise to crack down on slavery?”

“It’s acceptable in the short term.”

“You’ve freed a lot and Cherry and Ginessa are waiting with the rest for us to pick up.”

“It’s never enough. It won’t be until slavery has been completely eradicated.”

“One day.” He nodded and left her to her meditation.

Grandmother sat with Bei, Marisol, Rizel and Danilo.

Their meditation was a deeper sort.

He watched their Qi being replenished from within and from the trace amounts in the surrounding environment.

There wasn’t much from the latter since the warehouse was a sterile place without much life.

At least there was enough for Danilo’s broken ribs to be on the mend.

As for Efren?

The young man lay on a stretcher.

His armor had been removed to treat his severed arm.

The bandage around his elbow wasn’t bloody, which was a testament to the powerful and varied medical protocols of Cal’s operation.

Efren struggled to rise when he noticed he was being watched.

“C’mon, dude, you’re down an arm. Don’t move.”

“Y— yeah,” Efren chuckled, tears brimmed in his eyes.

“You did good. Saved Bei from what I heard. I’m not telling you how to feel about it, but…”

“N— no, I don’t regret it. She’d have done the same for me. All of us would’ve. Besides…” he gazed at Hanna’s straight back. “She said that I can get a new one.”

“Right away. It’ll be up to you, but I can take you right after my stop in Manila. You might want to let your family know what’s up first. And maybe take some time to ponder your options. You can have a magitech replacement in a week or you can wait. My sister in-law can probably help you regrow it. To bad your arm was damaged too badly. She probably could’ve reattached it in, like, an hour or two.”

“Oh… yeah…” he grimaced. “My parents aren’t going to be happy. This is exactly what my mom warned me about,” he tried to wave his stump, but gave up because of the pain.

Cal glanced at the unconscious teenager in the stretcher near Efren’s.

Kayla had taken busted ribs, ruptured organs and a concussion.

She’d passed out and woken up at least twice in the fight with the Eidolon of Sesre.

In exchange, she hit Level 30 and got a powerful ability.

It was just like the spires to reward trauma.

He could imagine their trajectory.

They’d seek increasing danger as they grew and leveled.

Almost like chasing a high.

He felt bad.

It’d only encourage Cezirichella to send more of her underage warriors to duplicate Kayla’s success.

What the girl dragon would miss was that the margins between life and death for Kayla had been paper thin.

There was no question about it.

If he hadn’t interfered by crushing the eidolon’s helmet she’d have died in that moment.

The worst part for him was he that didn’t do the same for the fledgling phoenixes, nor the soldiers and cultivators.

Maybe he couldn’t have for every single one, but he could’ve for some at the risk of letting the Eidolon of Sunothi place parasites in more of Herd Mother Brusalia’s people.

He patted Efren on the shoulder.

“Parents just don’t want to see their kids hurt.”

“Hey, guys! It’s ready!” Rupert said.

The young wizard’s pointy hat bobbed in excitement as the pages of his levitating spellbook turned without his touch.

His spell turned the images in five different scrying orbs into large projections going almost all the way to the cavernous warehouse’s ceiling.

It reminded Cal of watching Saturday and Sunday football at an old Vegas sportsbook.

Except, instead of gridiron gladiators playing for fun and hundreds of millions of dollars he was about to watch bloody violent war.

Multiple meditations halted.

“Ah! This takes me back to Macau!” Tsingtao Wanderer dropped concealment and ambled over.

The man’s blood alcohol level was yes! Yet he only swayed slightly as his large belly jiggled beneath dark robes chosen for the ability to hide stains.

“Such entertainment!” he belched most unpleasantly. “Employer! I wish to remain in your service for such sights!” He threw a meaty, sweaty arm around Cal’s shoulders. “And the points… so many points,” he whispered conspiratorially.

“The points are dependent on the difficulty of the task.”

“Yes! Naturally! Something tells me that you will bring me only the most difficult of tasks!”

A hearty chuckle filled the air around his head with a strong scent of booze.

“I accept your offer.”

“A time for celebration!” He pulled a six pack from one of the many pouches tied to the thick rope belt upon which his belly hung. “Who wants to share?”

Cal raised a hand.

“I’ll take one, even if I can’t get drunk.”

“My heart bleeds for you… who else?” the Tsingtao Wanderer handed a beer over.

“Over here.”

Howard snatched the cold missile out of the air.

Danilo raised his hand, but dropped it when Grandmother smacked the back of his head.

“Tch.” Twice Clever Fox appeared peering over Rupert’s shoulder.

The young wizard jumped, causing the projections to waver.

“Drunken fool,” the fox-masked woman said. “I, too, wish to continue employment.”

In contrast to the drunk cultivator who swayed where he stood, she remained motionless, relaxed, but ready to spring into action in an instant.

Her eyes imperceptibly flicked to Bei.

“I would join not out of careless greed, nor of a scatterbrained child’s need for bright flashing colors and loud sounds. I would join for the challenge and opportunity for growth.”

“You’re both in. You’ll get all the challenge you want. There are other benefits, but we can go over that later. You can quit whenever you want as long as it isn’t in the middle of a Quest. How long will you need to get your affairs in order?”

“I go wherever fate takes me! If that is at a moment’s notice then, so be it!” the Tsingtao Wanderer boomed.

“I’ll need a week,” the Twice Clever Fox said after a moment.

“Enough business talk!” The Tsingtao Wanderer pointed at Rupert’s projections. “It is time for war!”

How to describe the first Stone Lord that emerged from the spire?

A walking tank?

An elephant, but on two, thick, stumpy legs?

It certainly had a similar slate gray color.

However, that was the extent of the similarity.

A walking tomb, perhaps?

Remy had encountered one on his off world adventure.

He had called it a mech, though it was less something piloted, but rather a new body for the ancient Stone Lord entombed within.

They, for the species had but one gender, was the greatest and rarest example of their people for it was the unlucky one in a million that lived to such an age.

What was it?

The words seemed inadequate.

They bristled with combat systems at the height of what a people that aspired to become master artisans across all disciplines as a minimum.

The dubious gift of long lives paired with stubborn single-mindedness.

They moved with the smooth grace of a biological creature. They lacked the ponderous mechanical movement of something as inelegant as slow hydraulics or jerky gears and levers.

Each step shook the ground.

They halted at the boundary between the safe zone around the spire and the Phoenix Dynasty’s killing field.

No words emerged, though Remy had said the one he had encountered spoke.

A sarcophagus?

A work of art.

Carvings and sculptures across the armored surface depicted the Stone Lord’s deeds across a millennia of life before they returned to the stone from which they had been birthed.

It reminded Cal of religious art and architecture.

The Stone Lord stepped beyond the safe zone with the weight of inevitability.

The dynasty had dug into positions on the other side of the minefield they had sowed across a few hundred meters of open, grass-covered park land. Farther back were mortars. Even farther back in the city, were a handful of reassembled artillery pieces and one rocket battery.

For a mobile force they had dozens of technicals, civilian trucks and SUV’s modified with steel plates and mounted with machine guns or grenade launchers. Of real military vehicles they had much less. A handful of APC’s and two main battle tanks. These waited in reserve within the city.

Their air force consisted of a fighter jet and two attack helicopters waiting at the airport and a handful of phoenixes.

In truth, all they needed was one.

The Phoenix Empress had yet to expend her flame.

The great cyclopean eye in the center of the Stone Lord’s front facade opened.

A blink.

A bright red beam, thin as finger swept across the minefield.

The great swath of green erupted sending grass, dirt and shrapnel billowing into the air.

The Stone Lord sprinted into the debris cloud with speed that belied its size.

Zero to sixty miles per hour in a handful of strides.

The dynasty commander reacted quickly from the looks of it.

The soldiers in the rear of the hastily dug trench and bunker works retreated into waiting trucks.

Cloud stepping cultivators outpaced them.

The unfortunate soldiers in the front had no choice but to open fire.

Bullets, spells and grenades poured into the debris cloud.

The red glare emerged like a lighthouse in the fog.

This wasn’t a comforting sight.

The beam lanced out, sweeping across the first line of defense.

Human bodies burst like water balloons, leaving a fine red mist to waft against the Stone Lord’s slate gray armor as it thunder over the trenches.

A cultivator in pristine white and silver robes leapt from the tree tops, descending like an arrow.

“Yaaaa! Heaven’s fist shatters hell’s gate!”

A punch to demolish steel broke against the Stone Lord.

Their torso swiveled.

A great grinding sound erupted.

The cultivator disappeared into red mist.

Three giant coruscating circular saws attached to a flexible arm had emerged from the Stone Lord’s side.

A second arm emerged from the other side.

It split apart into serpent-like tentacles.

Each spat a stream of high-speed projectiles.

Solid titanium flechettes that pierced through armor like paper and shattered magic shields through sheer weight of numbers.

“Three-sixty coverage,” Howard murmured.

The rest could only watch in stunned silence.

Cal compared this Stone Lord to the one Remy told him about.

There appeared to be a sizable gap in capability.

Granted, Remy’s had been part of a barebones expeditionary force.

This one had full access to their artisan-industrial might.

“It hasn’t deployed defensive systems yet,” Hanna said.

“Doesn’t need it. Everything they’re throwing at it is bouncing off,” Howard said.

“Magic is layered into the stone and metal. Perfect craftsmanship combined with materials steeped in magic for centuries.”

“We should get some of that, boss,” Howard hinted.

“The empress was savvy enough to stipulate they get everything from the Stone Lords. Anything we want we’ll have to bargain for after.”

“So… just pluck that thing and take it somewhere else to smash.”

“It wouldn’t matter anyways. As far as anyone knows only the Stone Lords can make it work. Take the one inside out or kill it and the whole thing stops working. Some kind of kill switch. Either it blows up big enough to take down a skyscraper or crumbles into pieces.”

A soldier sprang out of the trench to land on the Stone Lord’s back.

The brave fool turned one grenade into an entire crate with a Skill at the cost of his life.

He made the Stone Lord stumble forward a step.

A cultivator wielding twin sabers turned into a whirlwind of slicing steel.

Two flechette-spitting tentacles fell to the dirt at the cost of her life.

Dynasty fighters died by the dozens.

The only reason there wasn’t more was the quick retreat.

While the lone Stone Lord scattered an army, more of their kind emerged from the spires.

These were recognizably humanoid despite the fact that thick armor covered every inch of them.

They were short.

The tallest looked to be about five feet tall.

When compared to a human they were much stouter and stockier proportionally with thick arms and legs to put any human bodybuilder or strongman to shame.

Their armor had that same slate gray look as the Stone Lord’s mobile sarcophagus.

Their main weapon was transformable. Able to be a semi-automatic rifle or any type of polearm.

Master craftsmanship, superior materials and enchantments eliminated the traditional drawbacks of a transformable weapon.

They scoffed at the common human expectation that more moving parts meant more possible points of failure.

The Stone Lords infantry assembled in widely spaced columns as they marched in lockstep out of the spire’s safe zone.

That was when the Phoenix Empress dived out of the sky like a hunting eagle.

She bathed them in plasma at a level of intensity and quantity that the fledgling phoenixes could only dream of.

To their credit they reacted calmly.

Their rifles weren’t combustion based which saved them from the empress’ intense heat.

Titanium flechettes propelled by enchanted springs exploded out of fifty barrels.

The empress twirled and weaved.

Her aura melted the flechettes into nothing before they could reach her.

They fired again and again in perfectly synchronized volleys while she weaved above them and poured an unceasing torrent of super-heated plasma.

The Stone Lords began to fall within a minute.

Their weapons and armor melted.

It was an impressive feat to last that long.

Just like that only one Stone Lord remained at this spire.

They continued their assault, perhaps, surprisingly they didn’t turn around to engage the empress.

It would’ve been futile since she zoomed through the sky toward the next spire and the next contingent of Stone Lord infantry.

“They’re lucky that there’s only one of those walking tanks,” Rupert said.

“Kinda like a game of chicken,” Howard said.

“Huh?”

“The empress and the tank. She just proved she can burn the rest of them to nothing and it proved that the dynasty can’t stop it without her, maybe. So, who’s gonna blink first?”

“An irrelevant point,” the Twice Clever Fox said. “It can’t bring its power to bear on the empress. She decides if there will be a clash.”

“Bah!” the Tsingtao Wanderer belched. “If they’re smart they will let the behemoth lumber about. No wisdom in wrestling the bear when you can just run away and wait for your mother to save you.”

“I don’t know. It’s moving pretty fast,” Rupert said.

So said, the Stone Lord caught the back of fleeing truck with a clawed hand.

They crushed a pair of unlucky soldiers along with the sheet metal.

One mighty heave flipped the truck over.

The running battle reached the edge of the park when the artillery announced their presence.

Explosive shells rained down on the Stone Lord.

Rockets blasted a wide area.

Machine gun emplacements and grenade launchers hidden in buildings opened fire.

The cacophony was deafening.

The Stone Lord’s cyclopean eye opened.

A flash cut across an entire block of buildings, sending them crumbling down to swallow the soldiers within.

“They’re doing a lot better than I expected,” Cal said.

“Shit, that’s them doing better?” Howard said.

“Where would you rate it on the hypothetical level scale?” Hanna said.

“Seventy to eighty, but scaling isn’t concrete. Vulnerabilities matter. Or in this case the lack thereof. The soldiers don’t have anything that can get through the armor.”

“What about the master level cultivators?” Rupert said.

“The strongest are in the fifty range on the standard class level scale. The empress should be able to stop it, but she’s decided to deal with the other invasion points.”

“Probably the most tactically sound move,” Howard said. “I’d do the same. Contest the claim and force them to come in a trickle like this. Not like the easy mass transit when the eidolons had a full claim.”

“Shouldn’t we do something?” Cammi said. “It’s killing so many people.”

“That’s on them for not doing the obvious thing and keeping their distance,” Howard shrugged. “Let it stomp around and laser your buildings. That’s about all it’ll get done. If it goes back to reclaim the spire area then that’s even better. It’ll be stuck in one place not killing your soldiers.”

So said, dynasty mages turned the asphalt underneath the Stone Lord’s massive legs into a sticky goop.

It slowed and absorbed another round of artillery shelling.

Friendly fire claimed mage lives.

“I think we’ve seen enough. It’s time to leave,” Cal said.

“You sure, boss? Maybe you can lend a hand? Put them in your debt,” Howard said.

“Our agreement was clear. I’m not to get involved in this battle. If she changes her mind then she knows how to reach me. Shut everything off and pack up. I want to get out of here before we start catching some stray shots.” He turned to Twice Clever Fox. “I can drop you off at your home town. It’s on the way.”

“Thank you,” she bowed.

“I promise you and your family will be safe. You don’t have to believe me, here.” Ginessa handed the teenage boy a smartphone. “Listen to your friend. He and his family are already in Manila.”

She stepped back to let the teenager watch the video.

He looked like a frightened little rabbit, which triggered her predatory instincts.

She gave him a tight-lipped smile to avoid triggering his prey instincts.

“This is real?” he said.

“Yeah.”

“But she needs me.”

“No, she doesn’t. She’s grooming you. All you are to her is food. She’ll drain your life force until you’re an old man before you turn twenty. Think. How many old people have you seen in her mansion?”

The wheels turned in his head.

The fox-tailed woman’s fangs were deep in the teen, but Ginessa subtly worked her own charms to help open his eyes.

“If you stay then you’ll be a withered husk in five years. Death will be a relief. Do you know what she’ll do then?”

He shook his head.

“She has a type. Think about your little brother. I know she’s already marked him to replace you when the time comes.”

That snapped him out of it.

His eyes cleared.

Rapid blinks.

It was like watching someone come out of a deep slumber and a pleasant dream.

In this case reality was a nightmare.

“Okay…”

“I’m glad!” She smiled that tight-lipped smile.

No sense in scaring him off with her fangs.

“Your family is already waiting. We just need to go to your home and wait for our ride out of here.”

She led him through the mansion’s halls.

It was an old place in the Imperial City that had probably been a museum in the pre-spires days.

The fox-tailed woman’s class gave her power, which she turned into status high enough to claim it along with the dynasty turning a blind eye to her more horrific tendencies.

After all, what were a dozen peasant boys turned into withered husks per year when they could call on her services.

Servants and patrolling guards eyed her and the teen, but didn’t stop her.

The empress had given permission.

After all, what were a few dozen peasant families allowed to leave when it gave the empress a powerful ally.

They were almost in the clear when a burst of rose petals swirled in front of the doors.

The fox-tailed woman appeared in her fully human guise.

Ginessa saw a bit more with her supernatural eyes.

The faint hint of orange fox ears and four bushy tails waving behind the woman like a fan.

“Hypnotic,” Ginessa said. “But you can’t stop us. The empress gave her word.”

“To be insulted in my own home. Such shame, such arrogance.”

Unlike Ginessa the fox-tailed woman’s sibilant smile concealed nothing.

The teenager froze.

Just like a rabbit.

“This will be the last one. Though you deserve worse than losing a few boys.”

“A few boys? You mean my loves. Each one from the bottom of my heart. Haven’t I loved you?” Shining eyes bored into the teen’s.

Ginessa stepped in the way.

“Don’t listen to her. Remember the truth. Think of your brother.”

“I will love him to.”

“You can’t call it love. Love isn’t turning young men into husks for growth and power.”

“I give them unimaginable pleasure. Nothing else in this world can compare. What use is living a long life without my love? Better to experience it even if time is short.”

“Get out of our way. The empress—”

“Is faraway from here… and this is a dangerous world. All sorts of monsters have been emerging. Spawn Zones spit out stronger ones. Alien invaders from an infinite number of worlds. Any one of these things may befall the unlucky. Yes… even here in the heart of the Imperial City. Why, just last week a strange horror emerged from a spire not far from here. Naturally, as it is my duty, I slew the creature with minor assistance from the empress’ soldiers and cultivators. I can only imagine the next horror. The one that you tragically stumbled into.”

“You can’t really believe that you’ll get away with such a blatantly obvious story. I promise you that you won’t. You’ll pay.”

“The empress is pragmatic. I’m confident she’ll see that my continued loyal service is worth more than avenging some foreign dog slut.”

“First of all… pot. Kettle. Black.”

The fox-tailed woman frowned.

“And I wasn’t talking about the empress. He’ll make you pay and nothing will save you.”

“Perhaps, but you won’t be around to see that, will you?”

The fox-tailed woman’s features darkened.

Her face elongated into an angular, vulpine shape.

The hidden monster emerged, tensing.

“None of that little fox.”

A voice as sweet as honey and as breathy as a caressing wind filled the entry way.

The fox-tailed woman froze.

Elongated fingers, sharp as knives tapped a soothing rhythm around her throat.

“No reason to be catty. We’re all elegant ladies here, aren’t we?”

Cherry had appeared out of nowhere.

“Ladies?” the fox-tailed woman snorted. “There is one lady and two blood-sucking dog sluts.”

“Ouch,” Cherry said flatly. “The queen has slain us,” she moaned theatrically. “Run along now. I’ll have a little chat before I catch up.”

“Let’s go,” Ginessa took the teen’s hand. “Don’t look at her. Just focus on me.”

She turned on her supernatural charm.

It felt good, which made her feel gross, but she rationalized the necessity.

The teen was the priority.

They had to get him away from the fox-tailed woman.

The front door shut.

“This violence won’t go unanswered,” the fox-tailed woman hissed.

“Whatever, the day you get nine tails is the day I give a shit,” Cherry drawled.

“I smell the hypocrisy on your breath. The sickening tang of iron. You’re no better than me.”

“I’d disagree. What you smell was an attempted rapist. Nothing of value was lost. While you drain youth before their time. It is very different.”

“You can’t simply eat the empress’ subjects.”

“It turns out that she doesn’t mind when they’re useless to her. Which, I suppose, is just your luck. See you later… or not… for your sake.”

Cherry vanished into the shadows.

The shadow realm wasn’t a place to linger so she hustled until she caught up with Ginessa and their last rescue of the trip.

“Thank you,” Ginessa said.

“You’re welcome, but as your elder I’d be negligent if I didn’t mention that you wouldn’t have needed my last minute save if you’d only advanced your class.”

“This again?” Ginessa rolled her eyes. “I’m happy with what I am…” she lowered her voice. “It’ll take two, maybe three transitions to get your class. I won’t take a class that requires I feed on living people or recently dead bodies.”

“Yes, but that’s only temporary. I, myself, am happy to live on blood bags and willing donations.”

“Uh huh,” Ginessa gazed at Cherry out of the corner of her eyes.

“And occasionally from the worst of humanity. It might not take that many classes. I only had to go through one and I’m willing to share everything I know.”

“Thanks, but no. I’m good.”

“Well… okay, but the offer will always be open.”

“Stop smiling at him!” Ginessa snapped. “You’re making him nervous,” she whispered.

“It’s not the fangs, honey. It’s the fact that he’s a teenage boy walking alone with two absolutely gorgeous women,” Cherry ruffled the teen’s hair. “Don’t worry. We’ll keep you safe from the scary, not that attractive, fox whore.”