Harvey was jolted awake by a cacophony of shouts outside the smithy. His eyelids felt like steel shutters reluctantly struggling against a dying motor. Every fiber of his being pleaded to ignore the commotion and go back to sleep, but he managed to pull himself out of the cot. Carla was standing in the doorway, watching the crowd with apathy plain on her face.

  “The quest’s finished?” Harvey asked.

  “Yep.”

  “We lost?”

  “Yep.”

  “Damn it,” Harvey sighed. He had done all he could, but apparently it wasn’t enough. Even after pushing his mind, body, and weave to the brink, they had lost. He expected to feel devastated, but all that was left was exhaustion.

  Maybe this is a good thing. We’ve all gotten stronger, and now all of us will be forced to gather before the war starts.

  Assembling Earth’s army was always going to be more important than deciding the battlefield. Now all they had to do was coordinate the migration.

  “I know we worked ourselves to the bone,” Julian called out from the tiny stage near the bonfire. “But think of all that we gained. Dozens of evolutions, skills, and levels. We’re not leaving Veils End empty-handed, we’re leaving strong enough to win a war!”

  “You’re not leaving Veils End at all, Bossman,” Gary laughed. A deep, booming sound straight from the gut.

  “What?” Julian asked.

  “You heard me. You. ain’t. Leaving,” Gary spat. “You failed me. You ALL failed me, and for that you must be punished.”

  “Gary, we tried our…” Dr. Silva began before a blade of blood sent her head tumbling to the ground, a splatter of red painted on the wall of the general store behind her. A sword had appeared in Gary’s hand, still glowing crimson with the light of whatever skill let him decapitate her from a distance. Harvey froze in the doorway, unable to process the grisly scene of her lifeless body falling to the ground.

  So fast.

  The entire outpost sat in stunned silence as Gary began letting his aura seep out. Harvey felt like a dagger had been pressed to his throat. The blood rushing through his neck got pulled toward the invisible knife, like it wanted to seep through his skin and sacrifice itself to the blade.

  “What have you done?” Julian muttered, his sword and shield appearing from his slipsack.

  “Quiet!” Gary screamed, glaring at the crowd as a ribbon of blood floated up from the corpse and into his mouth. Harvey wanted to retch as he watched the gruesome scene, but feared any sudden movement would separate his own head from his shoulders.

  The same glow Harvey recognized from the fight with the Stonetusks illuminated Gary’s weave, her blood becoming fuel for his boosting skill. Even after drinking his fill, her blood continued to fly up into the air and float around him, leaving her body a desiccated raisin.

  “Nobody move, unless you want to be my next juicebox,” he barked with a bloody grin. “I know you all think I’m a monster. Hell, I agree, but only the monsters are going to make it out of this place. The System made that perfectly clear when it gave me my class.”

  Gave you a class? It didn’t give you anything. Harvey shuddered.

  Purple light exploded from Gary’s weave, completely different than the glow of any blood skill. It was too intense, even brighter than the radiance of leveling up his own Epic Profession. The pig laughed even harder until the process was complete.

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  “It’s got a sense of humor too,” he snickered. “Bossman, what is my Profession?”

  Julian hesitated, his hands slowly moving toward his slipsack as the rest of Veils End waited with bated breath. Nobody had expected an attack inside Veils End, so most had their weapons and armor tucked away while they discussed what to do next.

  “Answer me!” Gary screamed.

  “Outpost Commander?” Julian stammered.

  “Ehh,” Gary mimicked a buzzer in a game show. “Incorrect. That was my G Grade profession. Now the System calls me a Dread Tyrant. Pretty fitting if you ask me. A man who rules with absolute power and feeds on the fear of the cattle hiding in his shadow. I was happy to let you keep fattening yourselves up, but you worthless sheep went and lost my outpost.”

  Elena had already told him that Gary planned to start killing Veilstriders once the Undead showed up. He didn’t think they had a chance against them, and wanted to get as strong as possible before sneaking his family to the portal. If leveling his profession required an outpost to run, taking over the Hell Hotel made sense. Gary’s twisted philosophy was why he’d made the trap armor in the first place. He knew this day would come eventually, but wasn’t ready for it to be tonight. Worse yet, he wasn’t even wearing the armor. Apparently, he thought he could take all of Veils End in jeans and a t-shirt. So far, he was right.

  “So, now I need to go get me a new one. From what my daughter said, that hotel’s pretty nice,” Gary smiled. “She also mentioned the guy running the place just so happens to be your old captain, Bossman. That true?”

  “Ye-yes.”

  “Well then, you understand why I can’t let you leave. Can’t have you warning them the Blood Tyrant’s on his way now, can I?” Gary smiled, taking off his shirt to reveal the Blood Tyrant Imprint that had replaced his Born Killer Mark. He hadn’t shared the screen, but just looking at the tattoo made the murderous aura surrounding them flare, like a hyena laughing at cornered prey. They’d all seen Marks before. This was different.

  “I reckon I could still take both of ya, but why take the risk when I can get a few levels killing you now?”

  “Do it then! Let’s get this over with,” Christian shouted.

  “Hold on a minute,” Gary chuckled. “I wasn’t planning on you, but I won’t hesitate if you get in the way of my fun. You’ve been a good backup for me, Christian. You keep doing that, you live, but if you cross me, you die. That goes for the rest of you, too.”

  “You’re insane, Gary. I’m done covering your ass,” Christian growled.

  “Funny, my brother said the same thing right before I killed him,” Gary snorted as blood coagulated into a dense spear behind him before shooting through Christian’s forehead. Crimson beams exploded from Gary’s weave as Christian’s blood joined the growing swirl behind him.

  “Damn, I knew I was close to another Class level, but killing y’all is more lucrative than I thought,” Gary chuckled. “Maybe Veils End could’ve won if we had this chat a few hours ago. Alright, I hope I’ve made your choices clear. Anyone who wants to live can join me in taking over the Hell Hotel. I’ll give you 2 minutes to decide before I start reaping. Oh, except for Bossman, Scoutmaster, and Hannah. You die either way.”

  Harvey began to shake as the demon met his gaze. The ruthless aura began to strangle him, rallying the Stain on his chest to slowly squeeze every last drop of hope out of him. Adrenaline coursed through his exhausted body like a defibrillator had zapped him, yet he couldn’t summon the courage to take a single step.

  After all he’d done. After everything he’d been through. Was this how it ended?

  Carved to pieces with the blood of a doctor who’d healed his friends countless times and a bartender who forgave him when his secret could’ve gotten everyone killed?

  Harvey had put his life and body on the line day after day, hoping to become someone he could respect again. Someone whose life meant more than the noose tattooed on his chest, but as the suffocating aura pressed down on him, that Stain was all he could feel. It latched onto his massive pool of Willpower, turning its strength against him. That stat helped him exercise his beliefs on the world around him, and right now, he believed only two things.

  It was all for nothing… because he was going to die.

  One by one, Veilstriders walked behind Gary with their hands up. It took 30 seconds for the first to capitulate, and a wave followed once the spell was broken.

  He couldn’t blame them. Even Carla, who carefully pushed past him.

  “I’m sorry, Harvey.” She sobbed.

  A sick part of him was happy to know she’d die too, once Gary decided it was time to cut and run. In the end, only 7 Veilstriders had accepted their fate.

  “Good, this might be enough for another level,” Gary sneered, walking towards a kneeling Hyrum with his sword held high.

  “Dad! Stop right there, or I… I’ll kill Mom!” Elena shrieked, walking through the alley connecting the main road to their home. In her hand, she held a densely inscribed iron chain wrapped around Amy’s neck, a wand pressed up under her throat.