Noah and Voidstrider glared at each other for a short moment. Blood was trickling down her nose and across her lips.

  ‘She’s pushing herself... exerting her power.’ Noah wiped the blood dripping down his eyes. ‘Not like I’m one to speak, though.’

  The cold fury burning within him was the only thing keeping Noah on his feet. Glistening red coated his skin, marking every nick and cut he had suffered, and with his eyes aglow with a sickly green light, he looked less like a man and more like a demon clawing its way out of hell.

  Deep down, Noah understood and accepted that he wouldn't be making it back to The Arc. He just wanted to make Voidstrider and her ilk pay for it. And his grandma, waiting for him back home? He suppressed that thought, instead allowing the vengeful rage to win over, like a comforting blanket.

  While Noah, Dozer, and the remaining cave dweller were facing Voidstrider, Steve was battling the Vanguard member wielding a longsword. Sword vs. sword, fire vs. fire. One living and one undead.

  At the same time, the duo of four-armed devils was taking on the blonde, blue robe-wearing, spear user.

  Harold was kept in reserve and Claws was doing what Claws does.

  With a heavy sigh, Noah mustered his strength and charged at Voidstrider. Behind him, Dozer and the cave dweller moved in tandem, ready to leap into action should Voidstrider reappear at their master's back.

  However, as Noah swung his fist at her, Voidstrider did not use her power over space. Instead, she merely sidestepped and slashed her short sword at Noah's side, the blade cutting and clanging against his ribs.

  “Ahhhhhhh!” Noah reeled back, retreating and clasping his side.

  As he attempted to reposition, Voidstrider vanished and reappeared at Noah’s other side – slashing at him again. Before he could react, she was already gone, leaving behind shimmering vapor and materializing behind Dozer.

  With a skillful motion, Voidstrider knelt and drove her blade into the joint at the back of the armored giant's knee. The Dark Steel alloy sword scraped bone, and Dozer staggered. By the time the undead giant turned and slammed his war hammer down, Voidstrider was already gone.

  While dirt and uprooted grass flew through the air from Dozer’s strike, Voidstrider was positioned behind the skeletal cave dweller. With a swift thrust, she plunged her blade into the back of its skull—the tip piercing through the eye socket.

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  The pale green light emanating from the cave dweller's skull was snuffed out and Noah's minion collapsed to the ground, into a pile of bones.

  After the shimmering crimson mist from Voidstrider's repeated vanishing acts dissipated, Noah finally got a good look at her. She seemed paler, beads of sweat rolling down her face—undoubtedly from pushing herself too hard. It hardly mattered, though; she was still giving Noah a thrashing.

  Reluctantly, Noah called Harold over to take the cave dweller's place. He had a specific purpose in mind for the skeletal ape, but the situation was dire.

  While the Touched ability he inherited from Silas had allowed Noah to accumulate tremendous amounts of power in an incredibly short time—thanks to the hellish journey he had endured and the perils he had faced—the truth was that he lacked the formal training of The Vanguard members he was up against.

  The only reason Noah was able to defeat the speedster was that the brute attempted to toy with him, giving Noah the chance to outsmart him.

  Voidstrider seemed cut from a different cloth and would not make the same mistake.

  Worse yet, Noah was running out of essence, and without any kills, he had no way to replenish the dwindling resource.

  ‘I can’t beat her in an honest fight, and I need to make a kill...’ Noah turned his gaze to the speedster, lying broken on the ground.

  "Don’t even think about it, Silas!" Voidstrider threatened.

  "I’m not Silas!" Noah spat back.

  ‘She came after me when I tried to finish off the speedster, huh...’

  With a mental command, Dozer and Harold charged toward the motionless brute.

  "No!" Voidstrider cried, vanishing into a cloud of red vapor and intercepting the two undead minions.

  However, the speedster wasn’t Noah’s real target.

  ***

  ‘This is wrong... this is all wrong.’

  Luna was battling two monstrous skeletons with four arms, using her spear to keep them at bay. Next to her, Alwin was trading blows with a skeletal swordsman, while Olivia fought ‘Silas’ after poor Conrad had been nearly killed.

  ‘This isn’t Silas...’

  While Luna wasn't as well acquainted with him as Olivia, she had met Silas a number of times. The hardened veteran was the epitome of reserved, always keeping his emotions in check. Always calculated.

  However, this man's emotions were like an open wound—raw and exposed. He lashed out, consumed by rage. But more than anything, he was in pain, feeling completely and utterly betrayed by the world.

  ‘Silas’ victim... Noah Orvel. It had to be him.’

  Somehow, against all odds, Noah Orvel must have resisted Silas’ possession and clawed his way back to The Arc.

  Luna sensed no deceit when the man claimed Silas was dead.

  ‘Instead of helping him, we immediately tried to kill Noah Orvel... God.’

  Luna felt something was wrong immediately after emerging out of Olivia's gate and tried to de-escalate the situation, but everything spiraled out of control, and now they were all fighting for their lives.

  One of the skeletons lunged at Luna. She wasn’t as powerful as the others on the team—her Touched ability focused more on utility, complementing the prowess of Olivia, Conrad, and Alwin. Still, she could hold her own in a fight.

  Crouching, Luna aimed her spear upward, taking advantage of its range. As the skeleton charged, she thrust forward, driving the spear under its jaw and through the skull.

  The ominous green light faded from the skeleton’s eye sockets, dispelling whatever force had been animating it. With a hollow clatter, the bones tumbled to the ground.

  ‘What is he doing...?’ Luna had no time to celebrate her small victory—Noah Orvel was charging right at her.