Edge scanned the battlefield as he made his final approach—heart pounding like a taiko drum.

  The ramparts were packed with warriors battling for everything they were worth. More jailbirds were concentrated along the base of the wall, waiting for space to join the melee. He could hear the clamor of conflict raging inside the settlement, but out here, the fighting was taking place in three key areas.

  Jumo’s group had launched their assault, hitting the army from behind. Earl was dueling Yussuf, surrounded by a ring of open space that no one dared to enter. Edge’s team was heading for the third contested spot—a strip of road in front of the northern gate where the Claws’ strike leaders were battling the stage-two hunters and deputies who hadn’t joined the expedition.

  For the moment, Tiburón and Blaze were fighting on their own while their crews rushed to prevent the convicts’ ranged and support squads from being overrun at this critical juncture. Prisoners were returning from the wall in unorganized clumps, but there weren’t too many just yet.

  Yussuf’s crew was a hundred yards out. They were using their auras to augment their leader with shields and weapons at the ready, protecting him from being sniped or blindsided while his showdown with the sheriff was underway. They didn’t seem inclined to join the fray, although they were a dangerous element Edge would have to keep an eye on as the battle progressed.

  Blaze was letting loose with an unending torrent of flame, flinging Fireballs, firing Flamethrowers, and creating Explosions that were hard to spot until it was too late.

  The firebug’s magic was spectacularly lethal—capable of dealing damage over a wide area. Even if you dodged his flames, the superheated air that followed in their wake could blister your eyeballs and sear your lungs, crippling wounds for people who didn’t have Regeneration and dangerous distractions even if you did.

  Edge had some protection from Regulate Temperature, and the auras his team was providing offered a bit more, but he couldn’t take a direct hit without being seriously scorched or killed outright. And that wasn’t the only threat he needed to watch out for. The other strike leader was here too, lurking in the ground below.

  It wasn’t possible to engage Tiburón in the traditional sense, as the man was swimming through the soil and only surfaced long enough to launch high-speed attacks before diving again. Edge’s squad would have to deal with Blaze while fending off ambushes from below and ranged attacks from the rest of the army.

  While these thoughts crossed his mind, his team spread out and got ready to rumble. Alice rushed over to relieve Puppet Town’s hunters and deputies, offering them potions to treat their exhaustion and pills to alleviate their assorted injuries.

  Most of his squad needed to keep their distance so they would have enough time to dodge the elite’s incandescent magic. Byron had appeared wearing his snake mask, and the shadowkiller fell into formation beside Lilly, Tessa, and the other senior hunters.

  They fell back to harry Blaze from range while Edge, Trapper, and Able fanned out to surround the strike leader. The three of them needed to get close enough to put the flame-wielder down, while everyone else offered support and dealt with any Claws who tried to interfere.

  Edge was getting ready to make his move when Blaze finally caught the hunter he’d been firing at for the last few minutes, transforming the man into a torch just as Tiburón shot out from the dirt and devoured the burning body in a single bite.

  The firebug screamed at the shark for stealing his kill, which didn’t do much good since Tiburón was already underground and couldn’t hear him. Not that he seems like the sort to give a shit regardless.

  The momentary distraction gave Able and Edge a chance to close the distance while Trapper let loose with a barrage from her crossbow. The warriors spread out to keep Blaze from targeting both of them at once. Whoever was free could try their luck while the other man dodged the elite’s attacks.

  His naginata and chakram would be irreparably damaged if they were caught in the crossfire. He kept the weapons safe inside his Spatial Storage and pulled out a sword he’d claimed from a corpse back in the Sweltering Green.

  He considered his options while waiting for an opening to appear. Harden only offered limited protection against flame, which meant Edge needed to rely on Repel Water, Warlord’s Mantle, Elemental Blade, and Fear the Seasons during this fight.

  Before he started figuring out which power would be most effective, there was another skill he wanted to use first—something that could help tip the balance in Puppet Town’s favor during this pivotal stage of the war.

  He ignited his core while conveying his intentions to the avatars living inside his village. If there’s any way that you guys can help me out during this fight, I would deeply appreciate it. To his surprise, he felt them respond to his need, promising to do whatever they could.

  Edge could sense Chibime mirroring his movements, and together, they took a deep breath, opened their mouths, and Roared. The inundation of mana-laden sound crossed the battlefield in a fraction of a second, bypassing his allies while engulfing the Claws and invading their energetic systems.

  The conflict ground to a halt as every eye turned to face the incredible release of energy. Intimidating Roar wasn’t as effective as when he’d used it below the mountain. In part because the skill wasn’t bolstered by Overdrive, and in part because these jailbirds were stronger and had more Disruption.

  It still made a big difference.

  The Claws were forced to divide their attention, grappling with the primal fear gripping their nerves in an iron vise. A few of their support staff fled the battlefield completely, although they would return the moment the skill ran its course.

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  Most of the jailbirds were only moderately impaired, but the upshot was huge when affecting a sizable portion of their army at once. It let the defenders land dozens of lethal blows and gave them a chance to recover some momentum.

  A few of the convicts didn’t seem to be stricken, including Yussuf and his crew—who were shielded by a synergistic blend of defensive skills. Blaze seemed shocked by the sonic assault but soon shook it off, focusing on Edge as if recognizing him as a threat for the first time.

  While Roar had helped tip the scales at this critical juncture, it had the unfortunate side effect of setting him in the strike leader’s sights, along with a dozen or so Claws from around the battlefield.

  A fierce jet of flame came streaking toward his position, followed by a flight of missiles and ranged skills. Able saw them coming and shielded Edge from Blaze’s wrath with a wall of rock, giving him a chance to Harden his body long enough to absorb the other attacks without taking serious damage.

  But that was only the beginning of the firebug’s assault. He sent half his attacks flying for Edge and fired the rest at other members of his team. Fireballs and jets of flame filled the air in an unending barrage, forcing the defenders of Puppet Town to scramble for their lives.

  By now, he’d seen enough to realize that while every spell was lethal, the scarred man had two attacks that were more dangerous than the rest.

  The first was the power that created an Explosion. Unlike the burning projectiles, this spell could only be avoided by noticing the firebug’s searing mana coalesce a split second before it hit critical mass. Explosion didn’t have as much raw destructive potential as the big balls of fire, but getting caught off-guard by the blasts would end Edge’s day in the worst possible way.

  The second pressing threat was a combo that made Blaze’s flames turn gold. It must have been expensive to pull off, but it let his fire burn twice as hot. Anyone who took a direct hit wouldn’t be walking away, and even standing in the periphery of where those spells touched down would be deadly without some manner of protection in place.

  There were only two defenders who were well-suited to countering the elite’s magic, although Edge had a few tricks up his sleeve that might work in a pinch.

  Able could create stone with Manifest Mineral. It burned through too much mana to use it often, so he was supplementing it with a skill that pulled up stones from underground, making them rise like corks submerged in water.

  He used these boulders to block Blaze’s onslaught, which was so intense that some of the rocks had already been reduced to molten puddles. Earl’s second in command couldn’t get close enough to attack with his colossal weapon, but he sent shards of stone flying like a shotgun by hammering his boulders, keeping the firebug off balance so he didn’t claim any more lives.

  Trapper took a different approach to guarding the defenders near her position. Manipulate Air wasn’t strong enough to blow the fire away, but the hunter had undergone intensive training over the last few weeks. After ranking the skill up, she had chosen an upgrade that let her create patches of vacuum by pulling the various components of the air apart between her versatile fields.

  It wasn’t potent enough to use as a weapon, but the technique was impermeable to airborne agents and more relevant to the present situation was an environment in which flame could not exist. Even fire-aspected mana needed oxygen to ignite, and her vacuums blocked Blaze’s magic cold.

  There was a limit to how many fields Trapper could make and how quickly they formed, but it gave the warriors beside her a chance to harass the elite with ranged attacks, forcing him to focus on defense instead of continuing his endless assault.

  Edge had been trying to circle around to hit Blaze from behind, but he was forced to abort the maneuver when a trio of convicts returning from the wall reached his position and attacked.

  He activated Shadow Play to weave his way between two thrusts and Leapt over the next. The Claws were having trouble tracking his position thanks to the skill’s Concealment aspect, and when he spotted an opening, he rematerialized, conjured an iceblade in his left hand to supplement the sword in his right, and Double Slashed with both weapons back-to-back.

  His eyes widened when all three warriors fell in a single strike. Then he remembered that Raid Wiper’s bonus had kicked in, and Elemental Blade was being boosted by his Frostfury Medallion and Fear the Seasons.

  He shook his head to clear his mind, then charged the strike leader from behind. He couldn’t land a hit before the man let loose with a Flamethrower that melted his iceblade and reduced his sword to slag, but it kept the elite busy while the rest of Edge’s team pummeled the man with ranged attacks, forcing the firebug to burn through his reservoir to incinerate the volley.

  Lilly almost got him with an Assassin’s Vortex, but Blaze sensed the stealthy skill at the last possible second, deflecting it by unleashing an Explosion beside his own body that sent him flying out of the way with inches to spare.

  In that moment, Edge thought the situation was under control, but he’d forgotten there was another strike leader on the field. Or more accurately, under the field.

  He felt the ground beneath him give way a fraction of a second before a pair of massive jaws emerged and started snapping shut. Acting on instinct, he turned into shadows and Leapt instead of Hardening his body, which was the only thing that kept Tiburón from dragging him under.

  Edge dematerialized as the shark’s teeth closed around his leg, pulling his foot through the razored array half a heartbeat too late. Fortunately, the attack wasn’t magical and only cost him a bit of mana to phase his body out. Tiburón growled of frustration before diving once more, leaving him shuddering in relief at the close call.

  For three adrenaline-drenched minutes, the battle raged on. His team endured a ferocious barrage from above and below the ground, including jailbirds arriving from all sides and ranged attacks from Yussuf’s crew.

  By the skin of their teeth, Puppet Town’s elites held their ground. They killed several Claws and took numerous injuries in return. But thanks to their teamwork, no one else lost their life despite some hair-raising near misses and close calls.

  While he managed to get out of the way of the most dangerous attacks, Edge couldn’t dodge them all. He was struck by several stray arrows during the melee. Never taking his eyes off Blaze, he pulled them out and let Regeneration handle the rest, sealing his sundered tissue and erasing any hostile magic that invaded his body.

  Since his iceblades were melting almost as fast as they formed, he reached into his vault and fought with weapons he’d stolen from the Claws instead, grabbing another each time one was reduced to molten metal and cinders.

  By now, Edge was starting to run low on magicytes, so he reached to his belt pouch and popped another mana seed into his mouth, filling his reservoir to the brim. Thanks to Regeneration, he could fight all day until his tank ran dry, but the rest of his team couldn’t take much more.

  It was only a matter of time before more lives were lost, and every second that passed increased the danger that a section of the battleground would be overrun. I need to kill both elites before that...

  His train of thought was derailed when Tiburón burst out from the soil beneath his boots. Edge flung himself to one side, almost losing an arm as the shark’s jaws came crashing shut with an impact that rattled his bones.