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Tonight, she was trying to thin it completely.

To cut it down so she could have a moment of pause in order to enter the spirit realm.

“Come on! Come on!” she yelled impatiently, subtly gauging the time. “Hurry up and die already!”

She wished she had mastered the more powerful [Frenzied Lightning] techniques like [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls] but she had to settle for killing only one or two at a time. It cost her precious seconds, but eventually she caused enough collateral damage for the demons to flee when she whittled them down to just a handful.

Alright, no time to lose, she thought.

Closing her eyes, Kelsey quickly jumped into the spiritual realm. She took on the blue-hued form of the Struggler and began racing through the darkness.

“Max!” she called out. “Max!”

Or if it worked like normal anyway.

She decided to take a different approach and quieted herself instead.

Closing her spiritual eyes, she listened and sensed instead of just charging forward randomly.

She wasn’t sure how much time had passed, but eventually she sensed what she’d been looking for. The essence of another Flame. She focused on it a second longer, determining a direction and when she reopened her spiritual eyes, she could just barely see a faint golden glow in the distance.

There you are!

With newfound excitement, Kelsey took off into the spiritual darkness, seeking her Big Brother.

* * *

I spun with a [Lightning One Chop Cleave], cutting into the huge abdomen of the giant insect like creature blocking my path. It was a Frenzy-mutated Takrid as far as I could tell, twice as big as a normal one and three times as mean.

I pressed on with my men beside me, pushing back against the swarm.

What had to be half an hour of straight killing went by as we charged into the hundreds of creatures—insect offal and blood mixing with claws, swords and fangs.

By the time there was room for a breather, everyone in the platoon was exhausted and panting like dogs. I stumbled atop the small outcropping we were upon and could see another wave of them already on the way.

“These things don’t stop coming, do they?” Juk Sui said. “What a cursed night.”

He wasn’t wrong, but I had a feeling this was still easy mode compared to what lay ahead.

“Dim Wei,” I called. “Get to mining while you can. We’ll prepare to defend against the next assault.”

The five tributes in her small team began tackling an area right behind the outcropping with shovels and Qi blasts. In less than a minute they had struck pay dirt and began extracting silver crystals worth 50 points each.

“Looks like 5 of them were here, Commander,” Dim Wei reported.

“What’s the total now?” I asked.

She spent a few moments to check the large black duffle bags they were hauling the tennis-ball-sized crystals within. “1870 points to my count.”

“I concur,” one of her team who was counting with her said.

I looked for Ten Chui. “How far is the next location?”

“Mile and a half east,” he said. “Hoping it’s a gold one. I spotted the other Platoon near there too, so if we want it, we’ll need to hurry.”

I looked back to the swarm of Takrids bearing down on us, a group at least three hundred strong. Fighting through them would cost us more time.

“Alright,” I said. “We’re leap frogging over this next wave. But watch your backs after we do. We’ll need to get to the next location and be ready to defend against them if they turn around.”

“And be ready to fight the next wave ahead of us as well,” Juk Sui reminded.

“Yes,” I said. “And possibly at the same time.”

No rest for the Wicked, I thought.

I cycled my Frenzy reserves, just over halfway depleted now.

I would survive the night if I played it conservatively, but I needed to fly to gain some speed right now. I took the lead, powering across the desert and heading straight for the swarm of demonic Takrids charging towards us. I got within thirty feet and executed [Lightning Walk] as I stepped into the air.

It was a surreal feeling to perform the maneuver in combat, sailing right over the tops of my enemies like I was walking on a separate plane of existence. My Platoon came with me, most of them taking to the air easily, while the two tributes we inherited from Jei Su Long’s team performed a rather slow levitating maneuver, like they were being lifted by a hot air balloon or something.

I was surprised there was someone as bad as me at flying, but they got the job done and cleared the swarm. I pressed on for a couple hundred more yards, sprinting through the sky at a speed I’d never experienced before.

It was the first time I’d gone all out with the technique and the ability to glide over the terrain at three times the speed as normal was addicting. But I was still relatively slow compared to everyone else, especially Ten Chui who was flying backwards and waiting for the rest of us to catch up.

He landed after a minute more of flying, right on the edge of a cliff face that towered some three-hundred feet into the air.

“It’s here!” he said. “Start digging.”

I touched down clumsily, tripping in the sand and saving myself with a roll.

Dim Wei and her team immediately got at it while I formed the rest of the platoon into a perimeter. We at least had the cliff to our backs now, which meant that was one side we didn’t have to worry about defending against.

It didn’t look like the Takrid swarm we flew over was smart enough to turn around either.

Scanning the dark horizon, now lit with the subtle red hue of the full Bloodmoon, I couldn’t see anything stampeding towards us. That meant a rare opportunity for a break.

“Defense team!” I shouted. “Rest and recover. Juk Sui, give Ten Chui a break and stand arial lookout. Ten minutes.”

I didn’t have to give the order twice.

Immediately the team collapsed onto their haunches and began chugging down water and snacking on small bits of food we had brought. I felt for the two bottles of elixir in my robes and considered taking a swig of one.

But I didn’t feel that spent as yet.

Blue Rose though, I didn’t know.

I wished I had had the chance to give it to her.

That worried look she had given me before the exam started was still etched in my mind.

I stuck my Axe and Glaive in the sand and sat down for a break myself.

After chugging down some water and tearing through some jerky, I disengaged my [Soul Shield] technique to give my Dantian and Frenzy reserves a break as well. I compensated instead by cycling my Frenzy and allowing the strength of my spiritual pressure alone to fight against the dark aura of the Bloodmoon.

It reminded me that my entire team was doing the same thing constantly.

They didn’t have the advantage of a [Soul Shield] technique like me, although granted the effects of the Bloodmoon on them was probably a tenth of what I experienced as a Berserker. As the effects of the Bloodmoon increased, the edges of my vision began to slip into the darkness of the spiritual realm.

It was something I’d gotten used to after all these weeks of cultivating. I knew just how long I could push it before I started to wig out and turn into a demon, or before I’xol’ukz might come snooping around to find my location again.

About a minute went by when I began to sense something else.

Frenzy.

But not my own.

Kelsey!

I dove deeper into the spiritual realm, taking on the persona of the Blue-hued Struggler. As I took on my [Spectral Form] I could sense the faint presence of Dark Frenzy permeating the spiritual air. The effects of the Bloodmoon itself.

I cycled my Frenzy to focus on what I’d sensed earlier and then like a ghost emerging from the darkness, the faint outline of Kelsey’s Flame appeared.

“Kelsey!” I shouted as I stepped towards her, tapping into her Flame. “Kelsey, can you hear me?”

The glowing blue image before me flared a little and I could sense her excitement and relief.

We did it, I thought.

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We’d connected across the stars under the influence of the Bloodmoon.

But it wasn’t like direct communication it seemed.

Or complex communication was perhaps a better way to describe it.

I could sense her emotions perhaps.

Sentiments.

Joy at finding me.

Some anxiety about being out in the open while she connected to me in the spiritual realm.

Curiosity about what the hell I was doing.

I chuckled internally.

Her personality came through loud and clear.

“Yeah, I’m out in the open too, Kelsey,” I said to her Flame. “Fighting off endless hordes of demons. You’d be loving it out here.”

I waited a moment and her Flame pulsed.

I wasn’t certain how much I expressed across the void, but I got a sense of jealousy from her.

I laughed.

This was freaking wild.

We were actually communicating.

In real time!

I went back and forth with her, trying to perfect the crude form of communication. I spoke aloud into the spiritual void and imagined Kelsey doing the same in return on her end. But what came back were only vague senses of emotions and feelings. It was almost like we were both playing a game of charades with each other. Communicating by gestures alone.

Still, I was beginning to make sense of things.

She was concerned about something.

Fia.

But I wasn’t sure quite about what.

I tried to ask her.

But I don’t think it was getting across.

Suddenly I sensed alarm from her.

Fear and panic.

What the hell…?

It was then that I noticed an eyeball ridden tentacle whip past me.

Shit!

I immediately ejected myself from the spiritual realm, hoping I’xol’ukz hadn’t sensed me. I’d lost track of time, staying well past my safe limit.

I opened my real eyes to find my platoon already on their feet. A commotion was brewing with people yelling and shouting. When I got to my feet, I saw something that caused my mind to spin.

A couple hundred yards away was an enormous creature that looked straight out of the prehistoric era. It had the body of a tortoise that was nearly five stories high and its shell was covered with spikes. Where its head would be was an elongated neck that ended in a massive head that resembled a cobra.

I recognized it immediately.

The creature I was hunting for when the Jolup decided to attack instead.

A Pythor.

It made sense why it was here, burrowed under a cliff. But that wasn’t all.

Scattering before it was the disorganized remnants of Jei Su Long’s platoon. Two cultivators were in the air, hammering it with Qi techniques, which seemed to do nothing as they bounced off its shell. At its feet I could see four more and at least one tribute who now lay dead.

My heart jumped.

Blue Rose.

I prayed it wasn’t her.

Everything seemed to be playing out in disorganized chaos. Half the team wasn’t even with those fighting the Pythor. Jei Su Long was a further distance away, yelling at three other tributes who were digging in the sand.

The whole scenario became clear when they extracted several golden crystals from the sand and then Jei Su Long gave the order to retreat. The tributes in the air were clearly only distracting the monster. As soon as Jei Su Long gave the order they withdrew, leaving the four tributes on the ground open to its wrath.

The monster lashed its head downwards, striking at one of the cultivators.

I couldn’t tell who it was, but they barely managed to defend against the attack, but was knocked back a good thirty feet or more by the force of the hit. Then with the sound of a roaring furnace, jets of bluish flames erupted from the creature’s mouth. One of the tributes on the ground formed a shield against it, the flames deflecting to the sides and turning the sand to glass.

The gigantic creature then lurched forward, hundreds of tons moving with a speed that seemed impossible. It crashed into the sand, landing on top of the tribute generating the shield, killing him instantly.

The other three scattered and ran in seemingly random directions.

My stomach lurched at the sight.

What the hell was going on?

I looked for where Jei Su Long was, but the bastard was already in full retreat with the rest of his men, the black duffle bags containing the crystals in tow. My Flame stirred.

That son of a bitch…

“Dim Wei, stay with the crystals. The rest of us, let’s go!” I cried. “We’re rescuing those tributes!”

“But they’re on the other te—” Juk Sui began, but one glare from me with [Fear the Flame] and he shut the hell up.

I kicked off the sand with [Lightning Walk], accelerating through the air to get to the monster. The closer I got the bigger it loomed. I didn’t even check to see if my men were following me. I couldn’t really care.

All I wanted to know was if Blue Rose was among those still alive.

I armored myself with [Steel Skin] and [Steel Lightning] as I blasted through one of the creature’s fiery roars. My ablative technique protected me, but even through it I could feel the heat and power of its strength. Under the effect of the Full Bloodmoon, the beast had to be well above S class ranking. Double or even triple perhaps.

When the flames cleared, I finally got sight of the tributes up close.

My heart soared when I finally saw Blue Rose but then immediately sank when I saw what she was doing. She had her hands atop her head and was laughing with tears in her eyes. I looked to the other tributes and they were all in a similar state of semi-psychosis.

Shit!

It was no wonder they hadn’t fled like the others.

But Jei Su Long had done nothing to try and save any of them either.

Anger poured into my soul as I looked back at the towering monster.

There was no way they could run in that state.

And this thing was about to cook them alive.

“Focus on its head!” I shouted to my platoon as I took to the air with [Lightning Walk].

I vaulted up the five stories with quick lunging steps, like climbing a set of giant stairs. It took most of my focus to do so, but I had enough wherewithal to kick off the air and jump to the side just as the monster took a strike at me.

The massive cobra-like head bit nothing but air and up close I could see its jaws dwarfed that of even the Jolup.

Flames and beams of Qi came from above and struck the monster on the side of its scaly hood. I looked to see Ten Chui and two other tributes hammering away at it from afar. Below, the rest of my team had joined in the fray, attacking the creature along its snakelike neck.

I kicked off the air again with a spinning slash, striking it full force with my Axe and Glaive. I was rewarded with a deep splash of crimson as I cut through one of its fangs. As I retreated with another kick to the air, several more of my platoon members joined in, attacking its head and using their more elegant flight techniques to stay aloft while they slashed away.

I sensed anger building within the creature and then with an explosion it breathed flame right into us. I went flying back involuntarily, enduring the intense heat as I lost my aerial footing and went crashing to the ground.

The wind was knocked out of me and as I struggled to get back up, I saw a whole new threat bearing down on us. The Takrid swarm from earlier had returned and was now about to hem us in between the Pythor and the cliff face. I looked for Blue Rose and saw her kneeling on the ground still screaming and laughing.

I didn’t know where the other two tributes had gone.

And then I saw them.

Both of them running straight towards the mass of giant insects. At first, I thought they were attempting to repel the horde, but they both stopped and opened their arms wide, as if inviting the creatures to devour them.

The reality of what happened next was hard to bear.

They were snapped up like twigs.

Torn apart.

Their screams a mixture between laughter and terror.

I looked to Blue Rose and feared the same would soon happen to her.

No, I thought. I wouldn’t allow it.

I ran to her, withdrawing one of the Elixirs from my robes. I didn’t know if it would work to preserve her psyche or not, but it was all I had left to try. I grabbed her about the head and forced the neck of the bottle into her mouth. She fought against me, but I pinched her nose to force her to swallow. She gasped and spluttered as she downed it all and then she stared at me with a maniacal look in her eyes and began laughing again.

Damn it!

I looked back to see the team still chopping away at the Pythor, its head a bloodied mess now, but they looked to be getting the better of it. I turned to the approaching swarm of Takrids. I needed backup.

“Mining team!” I called. “On me!”

No response.

“Dim Wei!”

I looked about and spotted her still back at where I had told her to stay. But the rest of her team was still with her and they weren’t alone. Fighting them was another group of tributes who were attempting to pull the duffle bag from her grasp. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.

Jei Su Long.

That damn bastard!

I didn’t even have time to process my anger.

The three hundred or so Takrids were about to slam right into me. And I was the only thing left standing between them and Blue Rose. I cycled my Frenzy, pulling out all the stops as I engaged [Mark of the Giant].

With a primal yell, I surged into the wall of insects, spinning with the [Wrath of a Thousand Slain Souls]. My lightning technique went off with a thunderous boom and a dozen demonic Takrids exploded into a fine mist of shell and guts. I let go of the handbrake and spent as much Frenzy as my meridians would dare, channeling technique after technique with abandon.

My rapid explosions of lightning went off like a string of firecrackers, taking out the Takrids whole groups at a time. I endured the cut of their razor-sharp claws through my [Steel Skin] and pressed on through the blood and pain, not stopping until I killed them all.

Saving Blue Rose was all that mattered to me now.

I felt the strength of my Flame increase as the revelation of the single-minded goal solidified within my Dao. To hell with all the misunderstandings and grudges. With the endless competitions and keeping score.

This was about life and death now and no way was I going to let my friend be killed.

I channeled my Frenzy with a supercharged blast to my jing, releasing a thunderstorm of lightning fifty-yards wide. In an instant, a hundred Takrids exploded, sending their body parts raining from the sky.

I collapsed to my knees, my Dantian down to under a quarter now.

But I’d done it.

They were all dead.

Get up, I told myself. Not done yet…

I staggered back to my feet, dragging my weapons to face the Pythor.

I was just about to launch myself into the sky with [Lightning Walk] when I saw Juk Sui perform a brilliant crescent blade technique midway in the air. A huge flash of Qi traced his sword strike in a giant arc that cut straight through the creature’s massive neck.

Time froze for a second, before a huge fountain of blood sprayed and the monster’s giant head and neck collapsed to the ground like a tower of falling bricks. Cheers of victory went up from my platoon and inwardly I cheered with them.

But my soul was too troubled to be relieved in full.

With trepidation I looked about for Blue Rose and found her curled up in a ball and sitting on the sand.

Please be okay, I thought as I lowered myself to her.

“Blue?” I said. “Speak to me. Are you alright?”

Fearful seconds passed as her head remained buried between her knees and then slowly, she raised her face to mine. Tears were in her eyes, but she wasn’t laughing anymore.

“I… I lied Max,” she said.

“Blue!”

Perhaps it was the elixir, or the Pythor being killed, but she seemed okay again.

“Thank God you’re alright!”

“No!” she shouted. “I’m not alright. I lied Max, I lied.”

What was she talking about? “Lied about what?”

She shook her head. “I’m not ready. I wasn’t ready. I lied Max. On the assessment. I cheated.”

“What?”

“I blinked in and out of the barrier to keep from being over exposed. I knew I couldn’t last more than three hours out here.”

My eyes widened. “Why the hell did you do something like that? This is not a game to be wo—”

“Because I wanted to be with you, okay?” she shouted and then burst into a sob. “I didn’t want you to leave me behind. I didn’t want to face those Hell Worlds alone. Without you.”

My heart melted a little.

“You damn idiot,” I said and then pulled her into an embrace. “You’ll be strong enough when you’re ready. And if I need to come back to do a second tour with you, I will.”

She looked up at me as a huge surge of adoration and lemonade filled her soul.

“You really mean tha—”

“Commander!”

The shout had come from Ten Chui who was still flying in the air.

“What is it?” I shouted back. “Another horde?”

“I don’t know what it is… I…”

He suddenly cried out and fell from the sky.

I didn’t understand what had happened to him, but then I felt it for myself.

Dark Frenzy.

The truly potent kind.

From the severed neck of the Pythor, bone and sinew began to snap.

I quickly shut my eyes for a peek into the spiritual realm and sure enough the source of what was happening was clear. There, somewhere in the distance, the purple hue of a demonic gate was spewing Dark Frenzy into the spiritual realm.

Damn it, I thought. So it had found me.

When I opened my eyes, I instantly spotted the gate in the physical world for myself. It was fixed in midair, about where Ten Chui had been hovering. It was small, only man sized, but the strength of the Dark Frenzy pouring out of it was immense.

There was no mistake what was coming through it.

It wasn’t an army I’xol’ukz was sending this time.

The gate was small, but still large enough to send its own will.

A will that would soon inhabit the body of the pythor and turn the already Triple S rank monster into something even more. Blue Rose began to scream as did several other tributes. The gate was sending them into the realm of the unseen and the monstrosity the Pythor corpse would soon become would be no exception.

“I’m losing it again!” Blue Rose cried. “I’m losing my mind! Max! Maaax help me!”

Panic surged as my heart raced.

I had to get her back to the barrier, to the healing warmth of the Aetherite crystal.

But she wouldn’t be able to survive the next few minutes, much less the trip back to Du Gok Bhong that was nearly twenty miles away. I looked to my Platoon who were slowly falling apart under the direct effects of the Herald of the Stars.

They wouldn’t survive much longer either.

My mind reeled as an impossible decision fell before me.

I could stay and fight, but lose Blue Rose in the process.

Or I could try to save her instead and leave my men.

Men who had entrusted their lives to me and the decisions I would make.

But I couldn’t just run and leave this gate open either. If I’xol’ukz discovered what it was we were doing here, our fight against the Cursed Stars would be over.

I wanted to save everyone.

But how the hell could I?

It was either her or them, I realized.

Shit! I thought. How the hell do I choose?