I raced away from the cliff, away from the army and the monster that wanted to kill me. That said, I couldn’t exactly take my time.

  It didn’t take a genius to realize the system was testing me. Measuring my performance, gauging how I handled this trial. Which meant a solid showing wasn’t enough. I had to excel. My Blessing’s evolution might even hinge on it. If that was true, then anything less than the best was simply unacceptable.

  Which meant my preference for stalking the forest, picking off my enemies with ambushes one group at a time was a no-go. In most evaluations, the faster you got through it, the higher your score tended to be.

  Besides, stealth wasn’t an option as long as that snake still lived. That was priority number one.

  But I needed some insurance before I fought with that monster. I needed to show the System I wasn’t just a one-trick pony.

  And so I bounded down the backside of the cliffs, circling around to where the lava oozed down the volcano.

  The stuff was as hot as I remembered it being from Dominion’s Trial—merely being near it made me feel like I’d stepped into an oven.

  Luckily, it only took a moment to scoop the molten rock into my inventory. Close was good enough as far as my inventory was concerned. A good thing, too. I’d be screwed if I had to actually touch the stuff.

  I’d be sure to pick up some water later, just to diversify things. If nothing else, the steam it would produce when fired with the magma would make for an epic distraction.

  Luckily, this floating island had it all, all clustered unnaturally close. That wasn’t a coincidence. The system was practically daring me to adapt, to exploit my surroundings. Something my Blessing excelled at.

  I was happy to oblige.

  With my recently expanded size and weight capacity, I went to town, gathering far more than I could ever have before.

  Once I’d filled enough to make me feel warm and cozy, I sprinted back to my cliff and gazed down at the base of the volcano, where the rock met the forest’s edge. The Leviathan wasn’t hard to find. As if its size wasn’t enough, it had been busy thrashing around, smashing into the mountain and shaking the ground, creating tremors.

  There wasn’t a whole lot of space between the forest and the mountain, which worked to my advantage. While the snake could easily topple trees, the sheer number of them would no doubt slow the thing, which was probably why it stayed beside the steep slopes of the mountain. That, too, wasn’t ideal, as its size severely limited its ability to climb.

  As terrifying as it looked trying to wind its way up the peak, creatures like that excelled in open spaces, like the vast frozen cavern where we’d first encountered it.

  Despite its relative safety from the snake, the forest was out of the question. Cyrus’s army was entrenched there, and I’d never make it far before getting surrounded. I was toast if that happened. Better to play to my strengths.

  And what better strength than the knowledge that the serpent’s insides weren’t nearly as lethal as you’d think?

  I gauged my trajectory, ensured the skies were clear, then leaped. Air rushed past me as I fell, falling right at the Leviathan. If I could force it to swallow me, I could blast it apart from within.

  Lava fanned out in front of me, splattering all over the serpent, melting its face.

  Writhing in pain, it opened its massive jaws.

  Exactly as planned.

  … and pain exploded through my body. My stomach lurched, and the ground fell away. I wasn’t falling—I was rising. Lifted higher and higher.

  I looked up.

  Obsidian scales. Jet-black wings.

  The dragon had me. How?

  “Son of a—” I snarled, firing shots of lava at its head.

  Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  The damn thing just ignored them. As effective as lava was against a being of ice, it was damn near useless against obsidian.

  A siege bolt would absolutely kill the dragon, but at this range, it’d take me with it.

  “Goddammit!”

  Every second wasted took me higher and higher. Better to gamble with gravity right now than wait until we were past the clouds.

  I mustered every ounce of concentration I had and fired off a soul aura blast at the dragon.

  Too weak to kill, but plenty strong enough to incapacitate, especially at this range.

  The dragon dropped me and I fell. But not before launching three Siege Bolt cores at the overgrown lizard.

  All three cores hit. All three ruptured, deafening me and shattering the dragon so thoroughly, there wasn’t even a body left. Only shards of obsidian glass rained down.

  The dragon was dead, but that still left me plummeting to my death.

  I spread my arms and legs like a skydiver, which did slow me, but not nearly enough.

  As galling as it was, there was nothing I could do to stop it. No ability to let me fly or fall slower.

  The earth rushed up faster and faster. I tucked my arms and legs, bracing for impact. I might as well have hid under my desk in a nuclear blast.

  Foliage rushed past. Something snapped. The sound of timber cracking and blinding pain.

  Darkness claimed me.

  Scenario failed. Cause: User has died.

  Restarting scenario…

  My vision returned. I was back on the same cliff. The two dragons were already circling in the skies.

  “Fuck! Fuck!”

  I pounded the ground, sending chips of rock flying.

  None of this was real. I was alive, yes, and that was definitely better than the alternative.

  But I’d failed. Not surprising, considering the ridiculous number of bosses I was up against.

  Still, I didn’t doubt the System would penalize my performance.

  Too many deaths—assuming I even had any more tries—might well mean failing the Trial altogether. If that happened, could I retake it? Or was this a one-and-done deal?

  In hindsight, I really should’ve asked Syrril what happened when people failed.

  No matter.

  Sure, I regretted the failure, but regret did jack all for me right now. If nothing else, it meant I could afford to be a little more reckless, knowing death here wasn’t final.

  This time, I didn’t wait for the dragons to dodge. If I was lucky, I could end both in an instant and deal with the snake in peace.

  I scooped several dozen rocks and pebbles into my inventory just as the dragons closed into range. Then I fired. Thirty siege bolts in rapid succession. An artillery barrage deadly bombs. The dragons broke off their attack to dodge. They might have gotten away if not for the follow-up shotgun spread of stones.

  The result was mixed. Better than last time. Worse than I’d hoped. One dragon lost its head entirely, its neck blown apart in a thousand shards. The other escaped with only a clipped wing, spiraling down briefly before it recovered and fled into the clouds.

  “Not enough,” I growled. Better than nothing, but still not enough.

  I moved quickly, gathering lava as I headed away the cliffs. The dragon was nowhere in sight. Either licking its wounds or waiting for an opening.

  I was paranoid about keeping an eye on the skies this time, and sure enough, when I leaped toward the Leviathan, I spotted it diving from a cloud. No wonder I hadn’t seen it before.

  Unfortunately for it, I’d been a hell of a lot faster this time, and it was wounded. It couldn’t possibly intercept me. Not until it was too late.

  I repeated my attack from before, spraying the snake with molten lava, causing steam to erupt all around it.

  Like last time, the serpent’s jaws opened wide, aiming to swallow me now that it couldn’t see.

  The moment I crossed its maw, I fired a continuous stream of lava and siege bolts in a perfect circle and a wide spread.

  The blasts melted and ripped, tearing its neck with such force that its dark, icy throat was suddenly bathed in light as its freshly decapitated head shot skyward.

  Two down. Only thousands to go.

  I jumped clear of the beast’s neck stump before its corpse knew it was dead.

  Just in time to see the surviving dragon retreat back into its cloud, refusing to close the distance.

  Again out of reach.

  The first time I’d slain one had been with Aerion riding its back, while I’d annoyed it with my glimmering shield. I’d gotten rid of that shield long ago, but even if I hadn’t, Aerion wasn’t here to needle it into doing something stupid.

  I’d just have to watch the skies while I dealt with the army. And Cyrus.

  Luckily, mobs of weaker creatures were my specialty.

  I positioned myself well outside the forest and let them come to me.

  The Siege Bolt cores ripped through any undead ice warriors stupid enough to crowd together, while my lava and stone bullets melted and shattered their ranks.

  Their armor might’ve held up against the heat, but any exposed flesh was shredded like paper.

  I unleashed barrages in shotgun spreads, cutting down swaths of warriors. Anyone who dared approach was torn to shreds, and soon, a ring of corpses piled high around me.

  I dipped into the nearby pond, firing jets of water and lava to explosive effect. I didn’t dare let them touch anywhere near me, but by having the lava emerge from my right and the water from my left, I could have them meet at a location dozens of feet away.

  Anything nearby when they touched was seared into oblivion.

  It wasn’t long before their formations crumbled. Any stupid fool who rushed me only got mowed down in a barrage of machine gun fire, and every time they regrouped, I fired Siege Bolts, wreaking havoc and forcing them to scatter again.

  There was no safe place under my assault. And this was with my Grace build. What kind of devastation could I unleash if I had a full Dominion suit?

  In what felt like seconds, Cyrus’s army was whittled down from thousands to only a few hundred, all huddled around their king, who watched me in silence.

  Until now.

  He raised his sword and charged his horse, covering ground far faster than what ought to have been possible.

  I readied every weapon in my arsenal.

  The fun and games were over. This shit was about to get serious.