Nobody reacted faster than Skarvo, who immediately abandoned ship when the chains snapped and jumped onto our platform. The other captains instinctively followed suit, faster than I expected. A split second later and they would've joined the entirety of Black Diamond's Elite Demon Unit–caught off guard and sent plummeting thirty stories down the medieval elevator shaft.

  Invisibility ticked halfway through its duration as I stayed completely still, watching as Skarvo, the Abracio twins, and Tok-Thor-Gor all stared over the edge of our platform, perplexed by what happened. Broken steel links and snapped gears whistled past as they rained down, chasing after the out of control lift. The impact boomed and a deafening explosion of steel and stone sent shock waves through the tower.

  "Damn fools," Skarvo said with his back turned to the bandits, gaze set on his unit's demise. "I told them all to jump. They never did listen."

  "No, you said no such thing," Tok-Thor-Gor countered. "I was standing right behind you. I unmistakably saw you push vice-unit leader Gordran aside when the chains snapped."

  "How dare you contradict a grieving captain?" Skarvo waddled up to Tok-Thor-Gor, standing toe to toe, his eyes level with the giant's leather belt.

  "I would've ignored your ingenious quip, but I told you and your unit to wait for the next platform. I warned you the Elite Demon Unit would put us over capacity," the Immortal said, towering over him.

  As those two sized each other up, I realized I was in the company of complete idiots. Stupidity of such magnitude must have been trickling down from the top. I had personally informed Veigan of my destructive feats. Yet, here they were, Black Diamond's supposed cream of the crop, casually infighting like they were on the way to a mere training exercise and not into a life or death battle.

  Their callousness irked the darkness in the pit of my stomach. This was why I couldn't have nice things. Even if I tried capping my violent tendencies, something as subtle as a sideways glance or someone texting and driving could render such suppressive efforts futile.

  The shirtless Abracio twins strutted in front of the bandits, who raised their weapons, waiting on either of them to step into striking distance. The twins wore matching iron gloves and at a swift flick of the wrist the metal plates shifted, revealing curved claws that extended out like talons.

  "Where's Cyprus, sweetie?" Abracio growled, leveling an imposing gaze upon Celina as he licked the razor sharp edge of his claw, unexpectedly drawing blood.

  He sputtered while his twin Abraci let out the type of disappointing sigh that implied he witnessed his brother's asinine foolishness on a perpetual basis.

  "Answer my brother's question or I'll gut the lot of you."

  The Moonsewn Bandit's silence persisted.

  I made my presence known by dragging my dagger through the side of the Immortal's throat. As he collapsed I used my last moment of invisibility to reach for Skarvo's neck, searching for a smooth two for one special. But the little bald man jerked backward and the tip of my blade only caught the side of his face, tearing his cheek asunder. He disengaged with a series of back flips, landing behind the third row of benches, showcasing exposed teeth with a gnarly new grin.

  The twins twisted toward the commotion and Celina whispered, "Mist Mantle."

  She vanished and Brythan and Gustall lunged forward, stabbing at Abracio's back. Abraci caught both their blades with his claws, covering for his brother. Iron screeched like nails on a chalkboard as Abracio dove in to assist Skarvo, slashing at my dome.

  I tilted my head aside and the tip of his claw caught the edge of my ear. Intending on an instant counter, I slashed for his wrist but was stopped short by a dead man's grasp. Tok-Thor-Gor the Immortal caught me in a bear hug from behind, trapping my arms at my side.

  Abracio dropped into a sprinter's stance and mumbled something under his breath. At the same time, Celina's status glided in low, swooping behind him. Suddenly, the back of Abracio's heel split open and he fell hard, bending his claws as he tried to catch himself on one of the stone benches.

  Tok-Thor-Gor tightened his grip over my arms, keeping me pinned against his chest.

  "You're finished," he bellowed.

  I wasn't.

  I slammed my head backward and connected with his collarbone shattering it and cutting my scalp on the edge of his steel chest piece. His grip loosened as Skarvo threw himself back into the fight, his hands glowing white hot. He opened with an empowered right hook, nearly connecting.

  I bobbed and weaved as Skarvo's punches picked up momentum, testing my sheer agility. Hearing the Immortal charging in from behind, I lunged into Skarvo, planting my knee into his armored chest.

  The air burst from his lungs as he crashed into a bench on the far side of the platform. He was still breathing which was surprising in and of itself, but with the Immortal approaching from behind, I couldn't go in for the finisher.

  I pivoted on my feet, bracing for the brute's tackle. Instead he stopped inches from my face and blew hard--pressurized air whipped across my eyes and everything went black for a second, which was all he needed.

  His fist cracked against my face like a flat iron, throwing me off balance and into his follow-up strike. The blow's impact forced me backward, pain shooting across my jawline as I stood fascinated by how his gauntlets hit so much harder than Jankoh's two-handed mace.

  Was this what a strength stat gap felt like?

  Meanwhile, Ceclina fought off a one-legged Abracio, who was still keeping her on the defensive. Brythan and Gustall fared no better. Abraci rapidly slashed away, chipping their blades as he forced their backs toward the rising walls of the shaft.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  "Careful, Tok, he's faster and stronger than he's letting on." Skarvo spat blood and raised his fists on shaky feet, still recovering from my blow.

  "Shut up and look at him. He can barely stand–”

  I interrupted the bastard, driving an elbow hard into his throat. His eyes bulged out, hands defensively going for his throat as I jammed my dagger into his armored kneecap.

  He ripped his leg back, taking my dagger with it, wheezing hard as he crouched into a grappling stance, face reddened.

  Rather than engage in a wrestling match with someone four times my weight, I swept my hand over my bandolier, each finger clinching a throwing knife, and launched them for his head.

  Four throwing knives punctured Tok-Thor-Gor's bracer as he protected his face and neck.

  "Sonofabitch," he roared and I jumped away, emptying my bandolier of throwing knives into his arms.

  I landed beside Skarvo, who shouted, "Fatal Fists, Final Blow."

  A radiant, white energy surged over his fists like lightning. The brilliant light gleamed in the reflection of his eyes as he grinned wide, blood staining his teeth.

  In a single fluid motion, I slid out of my cloak and tossed it over Skarvo's bald head, sidestepping his attack.

  "Fatal fists, first blow." I hammered my fist into the padded barrier, toppling him like a bag of bricks.

  Skarvo's back hit the ground and I leaned over him, rapidly striking his cushioned skull. "Second blow, third blow, fourth blow, fifth blow."

  Somewhere between the second and fifth blow, it felt like I was battering wet cabbage underneath a blanket.

  "Fuck, this is disappointing," I muttered under my breath, pulling my cloak back, revealing the viscera-spattered canvas.

  These are Black Diamond's best?

  "Abracio, forget them and lend me your aid before it's too late," the Immortal snarled, still choking. "He's the menace."

  Abraci, mistaken as his twin brother, spun himself through the air like a ballerina, raking across Brythan's sword. He caught the bandit's fingers in the guard severing Brythan’s digits. Brythan dropped his blade, yowling in pain as Gustall stepped between them.

  "I'm Abraci! Not Abracio!" He shot a nasty glance over his shoulder, only then realizing I was shaking their comrades' brains off my sullied cloak. "Abracio, finish that bitch fast."

  What should've been a one-sided fight between Celina and Abracio had been flipped upside down as the twin painfully dragged his leg behind himself while she made perfect use of the space, skipping over the stone benches, keeping the level seven in a state of constant pursuit.

  Abraci withdrew from the cousins, and hustled across the platform, joining the Immortal in circling me at what they deemed as a safe distance.

  I pinched the corners of my cloak, holding it up and out into the light, figuring even if I got the stains out, there were too many holes to sew in repair.

  "Tell me where my healer is," I said, tossing my cloak aside. "And both of you can live."

  Tok-Thor-Gor the Immortal sucked in massive lungfuls of air, rapidly accelerating his breathing. "Absolute Power."

  Agility Burst.

  He clapped his palms together, squared his hips and unleashed a continuous, guttural howl. Abraci jumped in front of him, protecting the giant’s openings while he was either in the process of powering-up or shitting himself.

  I went from zero to sixty, instantly eliminating the gap between us. A confused Abraci stabbed his claw at my neck, but I caught his wrist.

  "What a fun weapon." I ripped the claw off Abraci, taking most of his right hand with it.

  Shrieking in unmitigated agony, Abraci lost all composure, reaching for his horribly degloved appendage. Counting him out of the fight, at least temporarily, I turned my attention to the brute, whose screams were ricocheting off the elevator shaft's walls as his eyes rolled back into his skull.

  While my ear drums painfully rang, I jostled the flesh and bone free from Abraci's stolen claw, and slipped the weapon over my left hand.

  On the other side of the platform, Celina cackled. "Your brother's dying."

  Abracio fell for the distraction, stealing a glimpse of his twin doubled over on the other side of the lift. When he looked back Celina caught him with a pouch of sand to the eyes. He tripped backward and Celina shot forward, driving the tip of her sword through his heart.

  The stone platform shook as the Immortal stomped his feet and stopped screaming. "I'll tear you limb from limb."

  He bolted after me, ignoring the dagger in his knee, and the throwing knives sticking out of his arms. Although Tok-Thor-Gor moved much faster than before, he was no match for Agility Burst.

  I kicked off the platform, jumping over the Immortal as he crashed into a row of stone benches, decimating them. He scooped up half of a crumbling bench and launched it in the air after me. I flipped past the rubble, and activated Dagger Step.

  I teleported directly behind the brute and jammed Abraci's claw straight through the back of his skull. The Immortal collapsed, writhing face first on the ground. I released the claw, leaving it in the back of his head and dropped my heel onto the back of his neck, pulverizing his vertebrae.

  "Think I need to cut his head off?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my brow, watching as Abraci cowered like a wounded rodent in total shock.

  Celina walked over and kicked the supposed Immortal in his ribs. "Looks dead to me."

  "Sure was a lot of screaming for nothing," I said, cautiously eyeing his corpse.

  Celina shrugged, more concerned with her comrade's well being. "Gus, are you both OK?"

  Gustall nodded while Brythan answered, "No, Lina, I'm not OK. I can't find my damned thumb, and I think I'm bleeding to death."

  "Abraci, what was that ability?" I asked.

  Upon hearing his name, the surviving twin snapped out of his terrified stupor. "Absolute Power. It temporarily magnifies his endurance and strength... And it still wasn't enough..."

  I squinted really hard at the Immortal's lifeless body. "Really?"

  "Yes, I swear." Abraci clutched his mangled right hand against his bare chest, wincing.

  I strolled past him, took a deep breath, and sat down on a half-destroyed stone bench, noticing our ascension had come to a crawl for the last quarter of the way up.

  "Abraci, you're going to be asked some questions. If you refuse to answer or I think you're lying I will kill you."

  Abraci nodded, gritting his teeth and hyperventilating.

  +670 XP

  +210 Karma

  As the XP gains scrolled down from the sky, interrupting my train of thought I glanced over at Tok-Thor-Torn's corpse. "Hold on, this is bothering me."

  I strolled over to the Immortal's body, took a wide stance over his shoulders, bent down, wrapped his head in my arms and heaved while everyone watched in total disarray. The skin along his neck tore first, then the base of his skull disconnected like a crooked three-pronged plug from a wall.

  Celina turned away, Gustall dry heaved, and Abraci stared in horror as I ripped the Immortal's head off and tossed it down into the neighboring shaft.

  "There, much better," I said as I approached Skarvo's body.

  "Oh, god's what did you do that for?" Gustall gagged once more. "There's no need to desecrate the dead."

  +305 XP

  +95 Karma

  "He was still alive," I said nonchalantly, looting my combat supply pack with the broken health potions from my cloak atop Skarvo's demolished head. "Your organization snatched my healer this evening."

  "A healer, I wouldn't know..." Abraci trailed off. "I was—we were supposed to have the night off."

  "Yeah, that seems to be the reoccurring bit here," I sneered, patience running thin.

  "Veigan will know. He's in the Upper Tier. He's on continuous duty until afternoon. It's his job to know about notable intakes. Please don't kill me."

  I rolled my eyes, and signaled for Celina to take her shot. She stood over him and asked, "Have you seen Gideon?"

  "Bitch, did you not hear me just say it was my day off? How damn—"

  Celina grabbed his butchered hand and squeezed. Abraci squealed, recoiling in pain. "No, I swear I don't know who the fuck that is!"

  At last, the churning chains came to a grinding halt and the platform leveled out with the top floor. Much like the bottom of the shaft, a railing lined the edge, except the entire Elite Junior Demon Unit stood waiting along the on-boarding ramp, surrounding the platform.