I clenched my fist, annoyed by the disembodied voice's abrupt disconnection.

  "Unbelievable," I said, turning to Brythan. "I can't believe he got the last word in. That pisses me off."

  Brythan was clearly bewildered by my temperament, seemingly more concerned with his allies' well-being as they could still be heard exchanging blows in the other room. The doorway to which was being guarded by Krag like an ultra-focused goalie.

  However, I was in no mood to save them. Truthfully, I was barely in the mood to save Viessa. As it turned out, after blowing off some steam by killing Jankoh, the unbridled rage induced from her kidnapping morphed into something else entirely—resentment.

  I detested how her weakness had become my own. How it enabled Chaos to snare me in his web of complications. It usurped my agency. And as the seconds ticked by I forcefully saw the tangible value of what she cost me.

  Yet, every time I considered cutting my losses, I couldn't help but recall a series of loosely connected, insignificant moments: the meals we shared, the dagger I placed in her palm, and her refusal to use it. Her underwhelming personality and obnoxious appetite plagued my mind like an annoying radio jingle I'd heard one too many times.

  Why was that? Whatever the reason, I couldn't possibly fathom it.

  "Cyprus..." Brythan whispered. "Please, help us."

  "Oh," I said, recognizing the absolute desperation in the bandit's eyes.

  I needed to check the holding area regardless. As I prepared to make my move, the janitor crossed in front of me, pushing his broom, warning me with a cold stare not to make a mess in here.

  I nodded and walked past the janitor, heading straight for Krag one step at a time.

  "If you have a special move, now's the time to use it," I suggested.

  "Iron Flesh," Krag shouted as he flexed in a power stance like he was standing in front of a mirror at the gym. "Iron Flesh... Iron Flesh!"

  While Krag's flesh did not turn into iron, his veins and eyes bulged and his arms swelled as if someone were inflating them with air. He wound the club back over his shoulder, readying a strike as I strolled toward him in a straight line, not concerned by the level six.

  "What are you doing?" Brythan said anxiously.

  Preserving stamina and making both of you sweat.

  Despite the lack of urgency in my approach, Krag remained on the defensive, keeping his club ready, expecting a last second sprint. Eventually I stepped into his striking distance and he snapped forward, leaning into his swing. I raised my left arm and his club split with a resounding boom, scattering debris at our feet as I stared past the brute and caught a glimpse of the special holding room and its extensive grid of caged cells and interwoven corridors.

  I took another step forward and Krag started backpedaling through the doorway, still refusing to take his eyes off me. Fearing no reprisal, I peered through the iron bars framing the dim holding cells, all of which seemed empty. The room's only occupants at a first glance were Celina, Gustall, and Krag's two brothers. They were both level six and if the three of them stood in a lineup they would've been completely indistinguishable from one another.

  Overhead, on a suspended pathway, Celina exchanged rapid blows with Krao in what looked like an equal battle. For the amount of begging Brythan had doled out, the situation wasn't nearly that dire. Well, besides the fact Gustall was about to die. He dragged his bloodied left leg behind him on the ground floor, using an isolated caged cell in the corner as a barrier between himself and Krah, who smoldered with fury from being kited in circles.

  "Brothers! There's a serious complication!" Krag shouted, his voice cracking under the pressure of my meandering pursuit.

  All eyes shifted to me, which ironically cost Krao one of his as Celina seized the distraction and achieved a shallow slash down his face. He immediately countered by kicking her hard in the chest, sending her flying off the suspended walkway and crashing against the wall. Her black cloak tore as she slid down the rough stone surface to the ground where she bent over in pain.

  "Bitch," Krao snarled and covered the right side of his face as his remaining eye flicked to me then his brother. "Baby boy Krag, ya can't handle a single weakling by yourself?"

  Krah stopped chasing Gustall, and unleashed a fierce belly laugh. Taking a much needed reprieve, Gustall gasped for air and leaned against the cell's iron bars, totally spent.

  "Baby boy Krag lost his Thunder Maker club? Remind us again how long you saved up for it? Over a year?" Krah asked and held up his tempered steel sword, its tip dripping with Gustall's blood. "Stupid, how many times did we tell you to buy a sword or axe? Pathetic little—"

  I double tapped Dagger Step, testing its additional charge which triggered instantly, covering twice as much distance. I appeared directly in front of Krah, catching him by total surprise as I ripped out his throat before he could finish his sentence. His jaw slackened, lips parting in silent disbelief. Trembling gauntlets reached for the warm torrent of blood spewing from the gaping maw under his chin.

  "Sorry, I couldn't handle another second of his rambling." I dropped the handful of gore at his feet, and wiped my glove off on my leather armor pant leg. "You all talk too much."

  I had planned on slaying Krag first, but his brother proved too insufferable. Plus, the sudden killing transformed the atmosphere. Gustall gagged, Celina's bloodied face wrinkled in disgust, Krag froze, and Krao unleashed a horrendous guttural wail as he lunged off the hanging footbridge, diving straight for me.

  "Shut the fuck up!" I burst into a sprint, meeting him as he landed in the center corridor.

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  He recklessly swung a sword identical to the one his fallen brother had used, putting his entire soul into the blade, tears cruising out of the corners of his hate-filled eyes as he howled. He slashed down with all his might and I let the blade connect with my right shoulder. It sliced through my cloak, and the light leather armor underneath it, but barely sank into my flesh before meeting total resistance.

  I threw a left hook that obliterated the left side of Krao's head. He dropped dead in a pile of twitching nerves, brain hemorrhaging, and swelling out his skull like the yolk seeping through the crack of a broken eggshell. I inspected the minor cut on my shoulder, shaking my head as I poked a finger through the hole in my cloak.

  +310 XP

  +70 Karma

  Gustall rushed by me without even so much as a thank you. He was completely focused on assisting Celina, even though she was already up and, leaning against the wall, dabbing away the blood dripping from the gash on her forehead.

  "Are you hurt?" Gustall ran up and grabbed her arm, inspecting the superficial cut himself.

  But she slapped his hand away and picked up her short sword, gaze trained on the remaining mercenary. "I'm fine. We have to ask him about Gideon."

  I jumped up to the suspended walkway, turned off Filter and performed one last scan of the holding area. After confirming the holding cells were indeed elf-free, I jumped down, landing beside Krag, who was in a state of total shock, looking straight through me like I was a ghost. I waved my hand in front of his face and snapped my fingers, receiving nothing but a vacant thousand-yard stare in return.

  Celina walked up and lingered behind me, practically breathing over my shoulder as she impatiently waited for her turn to question Krag.

  "Hello? You can still live if you cooperate," I said. "Don't tell me he's fucking traumatized."

  "Here, let me try." Celina brushed past me, and pointed the tip of her sword toward his groin.

  Brythan cleared his throat and poked his head through the doorway after ensuring all the combat had concluded. "Can I have a word, comrades?"

  "No, we're busy," Celina said without looking back, solely concentrating on Krag. "Tell me where Gideon is or I'll cut your balls off."

  I rested my palm on her sword, lowering it. "Hold on, I got dibs. I want to ask him about my healer. And I need him alive to show me around."

  "A healer? You claimed you were here for revenge," Celina said.

  "I'm multitasking."

  Brythan waded down the corridor, saw the corpses, and grimaced. "Uh, great work, thank you Cyprus, I'll be forever grateful for your assistance." He clapped his hands together. "Now, team, it's time to withdraw. Black Diamond is aware of our position and sending their elites."

  I poked Krag's cheek, seeking a reaction. He remained statue still while the bandits rehashed the same argument I was tired of hearing.

  "We're not equipped for another fight. Please, cousin's right, we no longer have a chance if we stay," Gustall said with the widest puppy dog eyes, clinging onto Celina's hand like a child.

  "I don't want to hear another word," she barked, yanking her hand free. "Did you see what happened? Or were you too busy cowering in a corner? Have you ever witnessed half of someone's head rupture like a swollen blister from a single punch? The same bastard's sword that almost took my life, barely left a mark on him." She pointed at the shallow cut on my shoulder. "He nearly teleported across the entire jail without an incantation. And you say there's no chance?"

  "You've lost your wits," Brythan said, turning his gaze to Gustall. "She's lost her wits."

  Gustall nodded then lunged at her, locking her in a tight bear hug from behind. "Sorry, Lina, you can kick my ass later. Quick, grab her legs!"

  As Brythan swooped in to assist, Celina bucked her head back into Gustall's nose. "I'll kick your ass right now."

  His grasp loosened, she slipped out and kicked Brythan square in his nuts before he could grab her legs. He dropped to his knees, and Gustall doubled back holding his nose.

  "For Galdir's sake—Lina, I'm trying to save your damn life," he said, voice higher-pitched and muffled from the broken nose.

  "It's not yours to save!"

  "Why'd you have to kick me there?" Brythan cried. "We can't bet our lives on him. Regardless of his power, he'll run out of mana long before Black Diamond runs out of mercenaries."

  I tried keeping my nose out of petty drama, but their unrelenting, downright annoying bitching regarding 'will they, won't they retreat' was quickly pushing my internal needle from 'tolerate these people' over to 'kill them for the sake of peace and silence.'

  "Either stay and shut up or leave now and forever hold your peace. Cause if I have to hear another second of this Jerry Springer back and forth... You have no idea what I'm capable of doing for a moment's respite."

  At last, everyone piped down and I could once again hear myself think. I wished I had a bucket of cold water to splash over Krag because the brute still seemed catatonic.

  "Come on, Krag. I know your brothers didn't treat you with an ounce of respect. Don't let your marbles scatter on their behalf. There's still lots to live for like..."

  Killing, killing, and more killing?

  "Uh, like... Revenge. Don't you want to survive long enough to make me suffer?"

  Frustrated by his total lack of response, I grabbed his shoulders and carefully shook him, ensuring I didn't misjudge my strength and scramble his brain. "Snap out of it!"

  Making zero progress, I wondered if I had kept the wrong brother alive. Rather than waste another moment coddling him, I turned to Celina. "OK, I give up. Cut his balls off."

  "Right away," Celina said as she drew her sword and eyed his groin.

  "Wait, stop," Krag yelped. "I'll speak on what you ask."

  "Where's my healer?"

  Krag spat and his warm saliva crashed against my upper lip. I grabbed my mouth wiping the disgusting glob away only to smear his brother's blood across my face. Completely grossed out, I tore off my bloodied gloves and smudged the fluids away with my bare hands.

  Blood boiling, I unsheathed my dagger, but Celina placed her palm over my hand and said, "Allow me."

  I stepped back, and took a beat, momentarily suffocating my rage. After all, I had just killed his family.

  "Where are they holding his healer?" she asked with the tip of her blade pressed under the mercenary's chin.

  "Healers are scarce. They'd have them sent up to the Upper Tier to be screened for integration," Krag said.

  "What floor?"

  "I ain't got the faintest idea. Fifty or sixtyish? I've never seen the Upper Tier myself, only heard stories."

  FIFTY OR SIXTY?

  I clenched my fists, fingernails biting into my palms as I cursed Chaos under my breath. I knew the tower was massive, but didn't realize it literally touched the clouds. Krag smirked, correctly reading the stressed lines etched across my face.

  "Don't look at him. Look at me," Celina said, lightly drilling the tip of her sword into his neck, drawing a thin trail of crimson. "Now, what about Gideon, the leader of the Moonsewn Bandits? He's tall with black hair and a crescent shaped scar under his left eye, and—"

  "I know who Gideon is," Krag interrupted. "I passed him on my way down from the 30th floor. He was being escorted upstairs, don't know where."

  The brute cracked a big smile. "I hope they gut the fucker slow and you never see him again."

  Celina thrust the tip of her sword through his jaw and into his brain, then whipped the blade free and Krag dropped into a heap on the ground.

  I could've intervened. Instead I let it happen, fascinated by her ruthlessness, wondering if it stemmed from a deep familial bond or bloodlust. Krag was willing to die for his brothers' honor even though they treated him like trash. Even Gustall and Brythan remained, staking their lives on a woman who had assaulted them less than a minute ago. If love was capable of producing violence could violence be reverse-engineered into love?

  Envy replaced the usual void twirling in the pit of my stomach. Nobody would willingly die for me. Hell, I never knew anyone willing to let me couch surf for a couple days.

  "Why did you kill him?" I asked.

  Celina turned her back on the body and sheathed her sword. "Don't fret, I'll show you the way. Maybe don't go running off this time, yeah?"

  "Yeah, sure," I said.

  Suddenly, footfalls pounded in amassed unison, a storm of movement flooding in from the processing room.