Wild Era, Ch 42: Shadow Speed

Kelin’s Perspective

The land blurred past Kelin in a streak of shadowy light, illuminated by that same purple and blue haze that was unique to the Shadow element.

He’d experimented with Shadow magic in the past, but not too much. It had always been foreign to the Soul and Fire elements he preferred.

Still, he couldn’t complain about the effect. 

He sped past plains and forests as a shadow as he headed east. When he encountered the Sirenflow River, he simply leapt across it, flickering over the surface as a weightless shadow above the current.

He saw the walls and towers of Highmist in the distance as he passed by, since it was just to the south of the most direct route, but he didn’t pay attention to it. 

A minute later he leapt over the Shieldrun River as well, passing where it curved north toward the Ocean of Storms.

A few moments later, he was closing in on the location that Serai had sent. 

The dungeon was located on the far eastern side of Celadon, about halfway between the city states of Cerith and Noren, and only fifty miles from the border with the Sarathian Empire. 

It was a dozen miles from the closest road, set between the plains and a stretch of forest to the north, and at the bottom of a winding dry ravine that might have been a stream bed once, which kept it out of sight from most passers-by.

It was an easy target, so he could see why the Sarathians had chosen it.

Any dungeon that overflowed here would have time to build its forces and then unleash a wave of monsters at the villages that were scattered between here and the cities. There were thousands of farmers and the impact would be considerable.

He leapt down into the ravine without pausing and swiftly arrived at the end, where the flicker of a silver-black portal instantly got his attention. 

A blue web of mana covered it, which was probably what was blocking the team’s messages to the guild.

Just in front of the portal, there were four men in dark clothes who were standing guard. Their clothing and equipment were a close match for the assassin that had attacked him.

From the state of their souls, he could sense their familiarity with violence and their disdain for others around them, common traits for both bandits and criminals. 

It was enough for him to decide they were the ones he was after.

Beside them, a blue Water-aligned spatial crystal was set into a stone plinth on the ground, marking what was clearly a teleportation beacon. A rough circle ten feet in radius was cut into the hard ground around it. It was crude, but it was enough for the beacon to function.

These four hadn’t come here alone.

Traces of soul energy in the surroundings showed signs of Maro, Galin, and Serai, as well as several others, including one that Kelin recognized immediately.

Yaris had been here a short while before. 

The beacon that Kelin had left on his soul was obscured now, which meant that he’d gone into the dungeon.

There was no way that Yaris had the resources to deploy these men, nor that he had wound up here by accident. It was enough to suggest that the Wind Hunters were involved, as well as their backer, and for many possibilities to fall into place.

It seemed that everything was connected.

Kelin would hunt down whoever was behind it, but first, he was going to rescue his allies.

He appeared from the shadows forty feet away from the guards. 

His staff was in his right hand and a flick of his left brought out half a dozen shielding talismans from his ring, which he activated one after the other, creating a dense layer of runic shields that surrounded him.

The guards had been looking in different directions as they watched parts of the ravine and the approach to the dungeon entrance, but as soon as he appeared, they grabbed their weapons and spun to face him.

“Gentlemen,” Kelin said calmly as he studied them. “I’m going to ask you a simple question. I hope you’ll do me the favor of answering it. Did you attack a group of adventurers here a short while ago and drive them into the dungeon?”

His words were polite, but there was a razor sharp edge to them and his eyes were cold. 

He was confident they were the ones who’d attacked Serai and the others, and part of the same group that had sent the assassin after him, but there were some formalities to deal with. 

Namely, justifying their deaths.

It was best to have clear cause when killing people, since it saved a lot of trouble with questions later. 

As he spoke, he analyzed them, but he didn’t bother focusing on their names, just their levels and classes.

Wind Slasher-Metal Whirlwind. Level 90.

Water Mage-Dimensional Apprentice. Level 85.

Fire Archer-Whispering Shadow. Level 84.

Earthen Warrior-Heavy Bulwark. Level 82.

A mix of elemental melee classes and a single Water mage with a dimensional subclass, who had probably been the one to set up the teleportation beacon and block the entrance.

All over Level 80, but nothing special. 

It was hard to say if their abilities were at Elite until they used them, but unless they were dedicated dungeon hunters, it was unlikely. They looked too rough to have the necessary discipline to train and study.

“Who the hell are you?” the Wind Slasher guard snapped. He had the highest level and seemed to be the one in charge of the group.

He held twin blades in his hands and clearly wanted to jump forward and attack, but Kelin’s sudden appearance and confidence left him on his back foot. 

Instead, he glanced at the three around him and they all moved together, making a wall in front of the dungeon entrance as they raised their weapons.

“One last time,” Kelin said as he pulled his guild badge out of his shirt and let it hang in full sight, where it glowed with a bright silver light. 

Then he raised his hand and swiftly wove the Seal of Silver Stars in the air, letting it hang there between him and the group. 

He hadn’t used the seal much in this life, but it had a number of uses, some of which he doubted these guards understood. 

“In the name of the Stars Alliance and the Path, answer my question. Did you attack the group of adventurers who were here earlier and drive them into the dungeon?” 

“Don’t answer anything,” the leader snapped as he looked over his shoulder at the others. “That’s a truth detection spell.”

The guard pointed one of his blades at Kelin.

“This dungeon is claimed by a noble of Celadon, the Baron of Verasun,” he declared. “We are his private guards maintaining the peace outside of it while the initial delve takes place. 

“You’ll have to wait until it’s finished before going inside. The guild has no right to interfere with an independent dungeon exploration.” 

A few things began to click into place for Kelin at that moment, particularly with the wording that the guard used, but his expression didn’t change. 

Instead, a slight smile appeared.  

He didn’t know who the Baron of Verasun was, but now he had a lead, which was all he needed.

“So not only did you attack a group of guild adventurers, but you are blocking the path of a guild officer who has come to investigate?” he asked, keeping his words simple. 

As a corporal, he didn’t have much rank, but it was still a rank, and his words made the Seal of Silver Stars flicker. The light from it made the guards look uneasy, but they didn’t move.

He didn’t know the exact game the noble and these guards were playing in their attempt to control the dungeon, but he’d seen similar ones many times.

“Claiming to be security outside of a dungeon is an old trick to try and keep others from entering,” Kelin said calmly, “but you missed the most important lessons in that class. 

“One, no one is allowed to take private ownership of a dungeon. Guarding the entry is allowed, but only to suppress monster activity and other threats to adventurers.

“Two, you are not allowed to block the path of adventurers who wish to access a dungeon, regardless of whether someone is already inside, nor to obstruct the exit. Regulating entry is reserved to the Path alone.”

“I will be entering this dungeon,” he added, making the seal flicker again. “You have three seconds to take down your barrier and move out of the way.” 

There was a flash of worry in the leader’s eyes, but it didn’t stop him.

“No one is allowed to alter the lord’s decree,” the leader stated as he pointed his blade at Kelin. “Leave or die.” 

“Recorded,” Kelin replied, but he wasn’t talking to the guards.

At that moment, the Seal of Silver Stars let out a flare of silver light that washed across the guards, and their status changed as they were marked as outlaws.

The Path might have let them off if they’d kept their mouths shut and left, but they should never have tried to block his entry. 

It might be ignoring Kelin, but it didn’t ignore that.

Dungeons were a gift from the Sovereign to the galaxy, to be freely accessed by all who dared, and the Seal of Silver Stars was a direct route to the Path’s attention.

The Stars Alliance was the custodian of the dungeons, and to block a guild adventurer and a ranking member from accessing them was a flagrant disregard of the law and the Path’s authority. 

The guards’ eyes widened as the status notification reached them, but the leader whipped his blade forward as he shouted. 

“Ignore that! Kill the thief!” 

The other guards leapt to obey as they lunged for Kelin.

Kelin didn’t waste any more time. Two soul arrows and two intensified Soulfire Bolts flared from his staff.

The leader of the guards managed to reach him, and his blade left a flare of golden light across Kelin’s mana shield, but at the same moment, a Soulfire Bolt seared through his skull and sent him tumbling lifelessly to the side.

Compared to the monsters Kelin had been fighting, the guard’s defenses weren’t worth mentioning, even if he was Level 90.

The man’s resistance was only from his Constitution, and that wasn’t enough to keep up with Kelin’s spells, much less the intensified form of the Soulfire Bolt. 

His Intelligence was similar to some First Evolution mages, while the power enhancements from his equipment boosted that even more.

The Fire Archer managed to raise his bow and fire an arrow, but that was all he had time for as the second Soulfire Bolt ripped through his chest and left a smoking hole in its wake.

The two soul arrows struck home at the same time, igniting the souls of the Water Mage and the Earthen Warrior. They stumbled as the shock from it sent them reeling.

A moment later, they staggered as they tried to keep their feet, but rainbow smoke was already rising from their skin. Then their eyes glowed with rainbow light and they tumbled to the ground as their souls burned away.

It only took a few seconds.

The upgrades to Kelin’s spells meant the soul arrows worked more quickly than ever. Eventually, they would be instant.

As the last of the guards fell to the ground, he recreated the spells around his staff. 

Since they were marked as outlaws, the Path had given him experience for them, but it wasn’t enough to gain another level.

The Seal of Silver Stars was still hanging in the air, so he turned his attention to it. There were many things the seal could do, and he knew how to access them.

“As the ranking guild officer present,” he told it, “I will investigate this attempt to block access to the dungeon, as well as the attack on guild members that took place here. The guild adventurers have requested aid, and allies of this outlaw group appear to be inside the dungeon already. They are likely threatening them.”

The seal flickered for a moment, as it processed the request, but it only took an instant. Then the Path’s voice echoed in Kelin’s mind.

Lord of Wildfire, you are granted the temporary authority of a Guild Inspector to deal with this matter. The Seal of Silver Stars will witness your actions. 

Be warned that your position in the guild will rise or fall based on your decisions, and if you commit any illegal acts, they will be judged.

The seal flashed and shrank into a bright silver star that moved toward Kelin until it was floating above his shoulder. 

At least some parts of the Path were still listening.

He didn’t want to get involved with whatever noble mess was going on in Celadon, so being marked as a guild inspector gave him some leeway. 

The star would record everything that happened and the Path would judge what took place inside. He had nothing to worry about, but the same couldn’t be said for Yaris and whoever was with him. 

He quickly stripped the spatial items off the guards and tossed them into his storage, and then he walked over to the teleportation beacon.

A tap of his finger on the key rune deactivated it and a few swift strikes from his mana blade carved the spatial crystal free from its housing. It would make sure any other forces had a harder time getting here.

He tossed the crystal into his storage. It was a high-quality one, so it would be useful to enlarge his storage space later.

As for the rest of the teleportation beacon, he shattered it with a few well-placed blows to make sure it wasn’t hiding any other surprises. It was only a piece of stone with a very basic enchantment that was powered by the crystal, so it wasn’t worth keeping.

He studied the dungeon entrance, tracing the lines of the spell that covered it. They were fading now that the water mage was dead.

It was just a low-level dimensional seal, nothing special. 

The mage’s subclass hadn’t even been a proper dimensional mage yet, just an apprentice, and the barrier was only Water mana with a touch of spatial affinity.

He sliced through the spell with a blade of soulfire, hastening its destruction, and as soon as he did, half a dozen message spells glowing with Ice mana flew out of the portal.

Those were Serai’s messages. 

The spells flickered as they disappeared into the air, heading for the guild, but the star on his shoulder recorded them. Then it shared them with him, adding more details to what Serai had already sent, but they were from before the one she’d sent to him, so they didn’t change the overall picture.

As he looked at the dungeon entrance, the Path’s voice sprang into his mind.

You have discovered the Rising Mist Chaos Remnant.

Average Level: 80 (76-85).

Elemental Affinities: Wood and Water.

Mana Density: Overflowing.

Relative Danger: High.

Rewards: High.

The dungeon was even closer to breaking than the ones he’d seen before. Left to its own devices, monsters would have started appearing outside the portal at any moment.

It had either gone unnoticed for a long time or the Sarathians had dumped a lot of high-level cores in it and flooded it with mana.

The second option was more likely.

As soon as the entrance was clear, he stepped through and the silver-black starlight of the portal flowed around him.

On the other side, it was also night, but the sky was swiftly paling toward dawn, and there was a low plain of green grass around him. A few hundred feet away, a forest rose into view. 

The leaves of the trees and the blades of grass shimmered with a mana-filled mist that matched the dungeon’s name, which was slowly rising into the air. It created a low fog that obscured some of the ground and sky, giving everything an ethereal presence.

No one was in sight, but the ground was torn up with the marks of battle, creating a path leading into the forest. There were broken stone spikes, chunks of ice that had only partially melted, and embers that were still fitfully burning. 

Maro, Galin, and Serai’s mana signatures were clear.

Some of the traces were old, suggesting the team had been fighting here for a while, probably trying to pull monsters back toward the exit, but a good number were fresh and mixed with other mana signatures, including Yaris’s.

It hadn’t been very long since the new ones were created, perhaps half an hour. Yaris’s team must have interrupted them while they were trying to hunt monsters near the entrance. 

They’d fought and then the team had fled into the forest. 

Kelin studied the signs as he started running.

Hopefully, he hadn’t come too late.

He ran past the bodies of scattered monsters as he flew along the trail. They were a mix of giant wolves and the remains of undead, mostly skeletons. 

There was also a mist of necrotic energy in the air, mixing with the forest’s natural energy. The concentration was high, which meant the remaining wolves wouldn’t be able to survive here for long.

It looked like the Sarathians had seeded the dungeon with undead cores. The wolves would change into something like undead dire wolves or ghost wolves, which would mix with the skeletons and whatever else was here.

Left undetected, the dungeon overflow would seem like a natural undead outbreak as it devastated the area.

He could take care of it, but first he had to deal with the current problem.

There was nothing left to fight along the path, so his pace was quick, and a minute later, he heard shouts filling the air.

Since he didn’t know what he was dealing with, he drew out a double handful of shielding talismans and layered them on. It renewed the ones he’d used earlier and boosted his runic shield to sixteen layers thick.

Earth runes from Gaius glowed across his body at the same time, covering him in a layer of  stoneskin.

He ignited his mana and soul pools, compressing his mana as it soared into the First Evolution. Soulfire flared around him in a wave of golden light.

Ahead of him, he could sense ten people through his connection to Gaius. Four of them, he recognized. 

There was a curve in the path that blocked them from his view and concealed his approach, but it didn’t stop Gaius from showing him everything that was there. It sprang into his mind’s eye as clearly as if he were seeing it himself.

Maro, Serai, and Galin were on one side of the path, surrounded by a wall of ice and stone as they glared at Yaris and the group with him.

It looked like they’d just been forced off the path.

A handful of dead wolves and skeletons covered the ground nearby.

Maro was lying on the ground and was covered in blood. He was unconscious, but his soul was still strong, which meant he was alive.

For now.

Serai was standing in front of him, holding up her staff as she summoned the ice wall and a mana barrier, while Galin stood beside her, adding his own layer of earth magic. 

The dwarf’s armor and shield had been ripped up by blades and one of his arms was hanging by his side, but he was still standing and his shield was up.

But they were alive, which meant he’d made it in time.

Across from them, Yaris was with his group of adventurers, standing behind an older man who was twice as broad as him and who had a massive axe in his hands. 

The aura of the First Evolution radiated from him, and fresh blood flowed along the head of the axe, moving in a mana-filled haze.

A young woman that Kelin didn’t recognize was standing off to the side, holding a ball of lightning in her hand.

The voices he’d heard were clear now.

“I don’t care if he can’t walk,” the man growled. “You’ll either keep going or I’ll kill all three of you here and save the trouble. You have until I count to three.” 

“We’re not leaving him behind,” Galin’s voice was a rumble as he kept his shield high. “You can only push a dwarf so far and you’ve reached it. You’re clearly not going to keep your word about clearing this dungeon with us. You’ve been using us as bait for the monsters and hanging back.”

“We should have known better than to trust you,” Serai snapped in agreement. “You threw that wolf right at Maro.”

“So what if I did?” the man laughed, his voice booming out across the area. “Is there any point in pretending that I care? If you can’t work, you die. So get up. If you’re lucky, maybe one of you will make it to the exit.”

“Actually, they all will,” Kelin’s calm voice carried through the trees as he came around the curve in the trail and stopped on the trail. 

The spells circling his staff and the soulfire blazing around him lit up the forest and burned away the necrotic miasma from the undead.

The group had been distracted, but now heads snapped toward him as they noticed his arrival. At the same time, Kelin analyzed them.

Yaris and his team were the same as before, so he skipped over them. The followers were Levels 71-73, with Yaris at 78.

His attention was on the other two.

Orest Nellen. Level 121. Blood Berserker-Hurricane Axe.

Isla Crest. Level 90. Storm Mage-Whistling Blade.

So this was Yaris’s father and the second in command of the Wind Hunters. 

It seemed the apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

As for the woman, Kelin wasn’t sure who she was, but her appearance and attitude suggested she was a noble, which was a potential connection to the baron that had been mentioned by the guards.

It would be useful to question her.

“Kelin!” Serai’s shout carried across the area as she was the first to recognize him. “Be careful!”

Beside her, Galin’s expression grew lighter. Despite the situation, a grin appeared as he looked over and gave Kelin a nod.

“You!” Yaris snapped as he looked at Kelin, but there was a dark glint in his eyes and he was full of smugness. “I didn’t expect you, but this is good timing. You can join these three in testing the dungeon.”

Behind Yaris, his thugs began to spread out, making a half circle across the path as they focused their attention on Kelin.

The woman was the most cautious. She had looked angry when he analyzed her, but the sight of the silver star flickering on his shoulder made her hesitate, and then she slowly began to back up.

Kelin ignored them all. His attention was focused on Orest.

“I’ll give you one chance,” he told the man. Each of his words was as sharp as a blade. “You’ve attacked guild adventurers inside of a dungeon and threatened their lives. You are also forcing them to accompany you under duress. Both break the rules of the Path. Surrender or die.”

“Who the hell are you?” Orest snarled as he looked at Kelin. “A Level 80-something thinks he can order me around?”

“This is the mage I was trying to deal with!” Yaris said quickly. “The one who reported me to the guild.”

“What?” Orest looked at Yaris for a moment before the realization dawned on him. “Is that so?” 

Orest laughed as his mood brightened and he turned back to Kelin, giving him a dark smile. 

“You were Level 63 last I heard, but now you’re 82. I wasn’t sure when I heard about it, but you really must be a spy who was hiding his level. This will work out better than I thought.

“You’ve saved me a lot of trouble hunting you down. This should be your real level, but it isn’t going to be enough to save you.”

He looked over his shoulder at Yaris and the others.

“You keep those three busy. I’ll take care of this one myself.”

He raised his axe into the air as he stepped forward. The head of it was two feet across and probably weighed over a hundred pounds. The blood covering it made it even larger as he headed for Kelin.

“I want to help,” Yaris demanded as he stepped forward too, ignoring his father’s order. “He owes me for that arrest. I want him to suffer.”

“Stop!” Isla commanded from the side, even as she walked farther away from the group. “You can’t fight him here. In fact, let them all go. We’re leaving.”

Orest froze as he looked over at her, and his expression turned darker, even as a red aura began to burn across his body. 

“Girl, you don’t tell me who to kill or not to kill,” he growled. “Your father already said this one was mine.”

With that, trails of blood leapt from the axe in his hand and began to spin around him. It covered him in a haze of blood that merged with his aura, staining his entire body the same color. 

His muscles bulged as his bones let out explosive cracks, and his veins stood out like serpents across his skin.

His axe whistled through the air as he swung it in an arc in front of him. 

Then he charged at Kelin.

Behind him, Yaris ran forward as well, his blade drawn as a blur of wind surrounded him. He was quick, but nowhere near as fast as his father.

A blinding flare of rainbow light slammed into Orest’s chest as he crossed the distance, but it didn’t stop his attack, which arrived at the same instant.

The berserker’s axe grew larger as it swept down toward Kelin, and it crashed into his mana barrier with an earth shattering force.

The golden barrier broke in half along the line of the attack and Orest’s snarling face loomed behind it.

The axe continued on and slammed into the runic shields across Kelin’s skin, releasing an explosion of broken runes as one layer after another crumbled. 

Half of them broke in that single strike.

The force of the blow made Kelin fly backward for a dozen feet and some of the impact carried through the shields around him.

Threads of blood from Orest’s axe were burrowing through the shields, trying to pierce through the mana. They were hissing like serpents.

His class was a powerful one with a strong Blood affinity, which meant it was deadly to the living and had some ability to erode even mana.

A wave of rock rose from the earth as Gauis stabilized Kelin, absorbing the shock and channeling it into the ground. Earthen runes glowed across Kelin’s body as the stoneskin thickened.

Orest was quick and another blow sliced through the air with a trail of blood crackling behind it. Kelin raised his arm to block it and half of his remaining shields shattered as the earth around him shuddered with force.

A web of cracks ran through the stone Gaius had summoned as the impact was diffused.

Orest was already bringing his axe around for another swing, but Kelin looked past him. He hadn’t bothered to reinforce his mana shield, since it was a waste of mana that he needed for other things. 

He released the four spells on his staff.

Empowered soul arrows flared through the air as they sought out the Wind Mage and the Dark Healer on Yaris’s team, while intensified Soulfire Bolts headed for the Storm Brawler and the Earthen Defender. 

At the same time, he triggered the soul spell he’d left on Yaris.

The heads of the two melee exploded as the bolts ripped through them, and the two mages staggered, blinking as their souls shuddered under the impact of the soul arrows.

The two mages began to look uncoordinated, their movements turning chaotic as they lost control of their bodies.

At the same time, a wave of stone from Gaius swept over Yaris and the two mages, as well as around Isla in the distance, sealing her in place before she could move any farther away.

Another explosion of runes came from the talismans across his body as Orest’s axe landed again, this time in a horizontal slash that slammed into his stomach.

Kelin’s remaining runic shields exploded as the axe sliced toward his chest. The blood swirling around it hardened into a larger blade, shining with a deep red light.

Behind it, Orest’s face was a rictus as red foam flecked his lips. His eyes had turned into pools of sanguine light and his entire body radiated with a furious, insane energy.

The stoneskin across Kelin’s skin blocked some of the blow, but it only held up for a moment against the First Evolution force of the blow. 

The golden runes shattered under the force of Orest’s axe, and then it kept going, slicing toward Kelin’s chest.

Kelin threw up a mana shield in front of it, enhancing it with Blaze, but he had to be efficient with his mana and couldn’t spare much for it, so he also activated his Haste belt and did his best to dodge.

The mana shield shattered in an explosion of golden and red light, and the axe sliced across Kelin’s chest, tearing through his clothes and into his ribs.

He hurled himself out of the way, but he felt the blade cutting into his ribs and the invasion of the berserker’s mana trying to tear his life away.

Blood erupted from his chest as he tumbled across the ground, raining down across the area. 

The droplets merged into liquid threads that were gathered up by Orest’s axe and aura, swirling around the berserker as his aura grew even stronger. 

His grin grew more crazed as the red light around him expanded and he sprinted after Kelin.

At the same time, three Soulfire Bolts appeared from sigils that blazed across Kelin’s chest and seared through the air toward Orest. 

They exploded against the red aura around the berserker, making a brilliant collision of golden and red mana in the air. Orest staggered back for a moment, but he only raised an arm to block the sparks.

Then he let out a dark laugh as he raised his axe. His veins writhed across his body as they swelled larger and he leapt forward.

When he caught up, his foot lashed out and slammed into Kelin’s side. Most of the force was blunted by a layer of stone, but it sent him rolling farther across the ground. 

Orest chased after him and his axe rose again. It whistled through the air like he was splitting wood as he brought it down toward Kelin’s head. 

At that moment, a massive spike of stone exploded up from the earth toward the berserker. It was three feet wide and over ten feet long.

It slammed into Orest’s body from below, breaking partway through his blood aura as it hurled him a dozen feet away.

Kelin pushed himself to his feet, ignoring the eruption of pain in his chest. Soulfire was already blazing around the wound, burning away the berserker’s blood mana that was trying to tear at his vitality.

He took a moment to grab a mana potion from his ring and drink it, and as the cold mana pierced through his veins, soulfire gathered around him.

A Blaze-fueled soul arrow had landed directly in Orest’s soul as he closed in, but he was more resistant than the assassin. His berserker state was helping, partially shielding his soul from the flames.

He also seemed to have some stored vitality from other deaths that he’d caused, which was like a soul shield that was burning away first.

Kelin shaped another Blaze-fueled soul arrow and hurled it at Orest. It was a brilliant streak of power as it flared across the distance and disappeared into his soul, where it exploded into an inferno of rainbow flames.

Orest was already rising back to his feet. His axe swung out with a brilliant red light, shattering a wave of stone that Gaius was trying to trap him in. Rocks and dust flew in every direction.

Then he turned toward Kelin, his eyes sharp as he locked onto him again.

He drew back his axe as his muscles bunched, ready to leap across the distance again, but then he suddenly swayed on his feet. 

Rainbow smoke was rising from his skin. 

Gaius didn’t waste the opportunity. Another massive stone spike shot upward, stabbing into the aura around Orest and hurling the man away.

As soon as he landed on the ground, another spike erupted, hurling him in a different direction.

As Orest flew through the air, Gaius’s form rose out of the earth in front of him, towering twelve feet high like a human wall. The elemental’s massive hand grabbed Orest directly out of the air and slammed him into the ground.

Then he picked him up and slammed him back into it again. 

With the soul flames disrupting Orest’s control over his body, it created an opportunity, and Gaius wasn’t letting up.

Kelin glanced at the berserker, but then he turned his attention to Yaris and the others.

His mages were both dead already, their expressions vacant as rainbow smoke continued to rise from their bodies, but the spell on Yaris was the weakest of the soul arrows, which gave him more time than the others.

But he was still trapped by Gaius’s stone and could only stare in horror at his father being smashed into the ground by the elemental.

Then his gaze turned to Kelin.

“No!” he shouted as he stared at everything. “What are you doing?! How is this possible?! You’re an ant!”  

His attention was locked on Kelin as his eyes bulged, and his voice was still arrogant, but whatever else he wanted to say was irrelevant.

Kelin threw a Blaze-infused Soulfire Bolt at him that tore his head apart. 

A number of artifacts and defensive wards Yaris had on him exploded at the same time, unable to handle the impact.

Kelin looked down at his chest and gingerly touched the wound. Blood was covering half of his body and several ribs were snapped in half, but the axe hadn’t pierced through his lungs. 

“Gaius, enough,” he said as he looked over at the elemental and Orest.

Gaius’s hand was pinning the berserker to the ground, while rainbow smoke poured out from between his massive stone fingers.

Orest was thrashing as waves of red light swelled around him, but they were chaotic and unfocused. 

This time he wasn’t able to break the hold, and his axe was lying twenty feet away.

Kelin walked over to him and crouched down, studying his face.

“Rest assured,” he said quietly. “You won’t be the last one I hunt down.”

Then he poured more energy into the flames in Orest’s soul and watched them leap higher.

The berserker tried to punch at him, but his blow was weak and bounced off of Kelin’s mana shield. A moment later, his eyes were filled by rainbow light as more ethereal smoke poured away from him.

Kelin dusted off his hands as he stood up.

Experience notifications from the Path were ringing in his mind, confirming that it had registered all of the kills as valid, but he ignored them, as well as Isla who was trapped in stone off to the side, as he headed toward the team.

There were likely to be some complications from this, but he’d deal with it all soon enough.