A dark cloud enveloped Kai and Vincent. The world disappeared. The cloud pulled at Kai’s soul, hunting his deepest fears.

  What did he fear? He respected Renzo’s power but didn’t fear it.

  If Vincent’s Gift worked like Kai suspected - the pale bastard had made a huge mistake.

  Kai grinned. Dark and vicious.

  The dark cloud coalesced into a column above them. Reality wavered around them. Kai met Vincent’s eyes. The sunken-faced man smirked. His Gift made him confident.

  Too confident.

  Kai’s smile widened as the dark column transformed.

  Both men studied the column. Both confident of their victory.

  The column swelled. It morphed into a flowing obsidian robe. Black fingers emerged from the darkness. A dark staff materialised in the onyx palm. A scythe crowned the staff - larger than Kharon’s, sharper, radiating death.

  Warmth became cold. Sound became silence. Life became death.

  A heavy, oppressive aura crushed down on Kai. He dropped to his knees, head bowed.

  Not out of fear. Though saying he felt no fear would be a lie. Not out of submission. He’d resolved never to submit again.

  No. This was reverence.

  Reverence for the schemer he couldn’t beat. Reverence for a god. Reverence for his Father.

  The dark column’s peak twisted into a hood, obscuring what lay beneath.

  Kai kept his head bowed, eyes locked on Vincent. The sunken-faced man’s hubris made him look up at his creation, even as his legs trembled. A fatal mistake.

  Commandment one: Thou shalt not look upon the gods.

  Vincent’s eyes, dark and brooding moments before, were bright red. Every blood vessel in his eyes had ruptured. Burned holes replaced his pupils. Dark blood crawled down his pale cheeks.

  His smile had vanished, replaced by a gaping mouth. No sound escaped. His tongue was gone. Only darkness remained.

  Vincent’s pale skin turned grey. Grey skin flaked away, revealing pink flesh beneath. The pink flesh blackened. Agony twisted his face. He stared with vacant eyeholes and gaping mouth.

  Unmoving.

  A compulsion tugged at Kai. An invitation to look up. He raised his head and looked up at the towering figure. The black hood hid Death God’s face. If he had one. Kai glimpsed a devouring abyss beneath the hood.

  Death God raised an onyx hand to his hood as if stroking his chin. “A son bowing to his father.” The voice rumbled like grinding stone. “How polite.”

  The hood tilted. “But no submission in your heart. How devious.”

  A sound like bones breaking and steel boots crushing gravel filled Kai’s ears. Death God was laughing. Or this manifestation was.

  “Truly a chip off the old block.”

  The darkness that had formed Death God’s image dispersed. The oppressive aura vanished. Kai’s muscles stopped straining. Vincent’s blackened flesh deteriorated. His organs shrivelled and hit the ground with a splat. What remained of his corpse toppled to the ground. Decay spreading fast.

  Kai scanned the area. Nobody else reacted to Death God’s descent. Vincent’s fear manifestation appeared only to himself and his victim. Kai pulled himself to his feet.

  Silas stood beside him, still as a statue. The wraith’s efficiency was a double-edged sword. He burnt enemies to ash but left no blood for his thirsty suit.

  Sybil was ash. Vincent’s body deteriorated into fleshy pulp. Flesh and bone decayed into red and white flakes, drifting like ash. In seconds, Vincent was erased. No corpse, no evidence, nothing.

  Stolen story; please report.

  Dead to the world in every sense.

  The mobsters masquerading as soldiers stepped forward, oblivious to their leaders’ deaths, advancing on his crew.

  Levi raised his chin and flicked his sword forward. His red blade whistled through the air. Helmet split. Throat opened. Nearest soldier down.

  The soldier’s hands rose to grip his grey throat, but it was too late. He collapsed, armour clanging on stone.

  Blood should’ve poured out. It didn’t.

  Levi’s pale fingers stroked the flat of his blade. A crimson river rose, twisting into countless hovering needles.

  Red needles rained down on the remaining soldiers. Sliding past armour, penetrating eyes, ears, flesh. Levi danced to the music of their screams. Flowing between the flailing soldiers. His red blade followed, carving through steel and meat.

  More needles rose, finding more flesh.

  A vicious cycle.

  Alira stood back, sword ready. Rusk stayed his hand, careful not to cut the dancing vampire with his threads.

  In seconds, seven dead goons littered the ground. Bloody needles flew into the vampire’s open mouth.

  Levi smiled wide. Blood covered his lips, cheeks, chin. The greedy bastard gorged without restraint.

  Rusk gazed at the ground and kicked a stone. Alira maintained a combat-ready stance. Two marked dead, seven soldiers with them.

  A voice came from inside the church. “Disappointing. I’d hoped to learn more.”

  The voice was familiar but wrong.

  Renzo.

  Kai fell back to his crew. Silas followed. The church’s huge wooden gates burst open. A muscular monster, almost as large as the gates, stepped toward them.

  Dakas.

  Dark purple skin covered his giant frame. Veins bulged on his bald head. Hollow eyes stared at nothing. Coiling tentacles slithered where his mouth should’ve been. A loincloth covered his genitals.

  His torso still bore scars from the battle with Noll.

  Kai gritted his teeth. Time to face the real threat. His crew knew the danger. They knew the plan.

  Kai had to act fast. Renzo stayed concealed in the church. The closing gate revealed a sliver of the church’s interior. His spatial senses revealed Renzo’s position near the gate.

  Kai disappeared. He materialised behind Dakas, inside the church. Better to attack the puppet-master than fight the puppet. Kai’s dark blade arced toward Renzo’s position.

  His blade rushed toward a tall, thin man in a suave green suit. He maintained a reserved expression. His mannerisms resembled Renzo’s - the condescending tilt of his head, the way he looked down his nose. But this wasn’t the man Kai knew. Renzo wore this flesh puppet like a coat.

  Every Gift had limits. Renzo’s was no exception. Dakas was more like Silas than Renzo’s avatar. A minion following orders. That meant Renzo could only actively pilot one puppet at a time.

  His Gift reaching across worlds was already unbelievable. There had to be a catch. A weakness. The avatar probably operated as Renzo’s mobile control tower, relaying orders to Dakas.

  Destroying his avatar could destroy Renzo’s control. If his theory proved true.

  Only one way to know.

  Kai’s blade moved to devour Renzo’s avatar.

  He sensed something. A body that hadn’t been there before. Unimportant. Renzo wouldn’t escape his fate.

  The hungry blade rushed toward the avatar’s neck. The avatar shimmered. A dark purple shoulder intercepted the blade.

  Dakas?

  The sound of glass cracking echoed across the church. Burning pain exploded in Kai’s right shoulder. His grip loosened. His sword fell, dissolving into darkness.

  “So predictable,” Renzo said.

  Kai’s shoulder throbbed violently as he slipped through space, reappearing beside his crew. His senses pinpointed two giant monsters and Renzo’s avatar.

  Alira assessed his injury with wide eyes. “Kai, your shoulder—”

  “I know,” he replied, louder than intended.

  The plan had gone to ashes.

  A second Dakas stood at the church gate. Renzo’s avatar hid behind the muscle. Tanking a minor hit then attacking before Dakas’s Gift recharged wouldn’t work against two of him.

  Dakas could duplicate? No. Must be the avatar’s Gift.

  The avatar grinned. “Isn’t duplication a useful tool?” The avatar patted its chest. “That’s why I took this body.”

  Why was he revealing his abilities?

  Kai grimaced. His shoulder was useless. His essence was dwindling. Healing his arm would take too long for him to be useful in this fight. They faced two monsters who could counter any attack.

  Without Kai breaking through the reflection barrier and healing, they’d all die in a battle of attrition.

  “I can even switch places with my duplicates,” Renzo said.

  Even Alira raised an eyebrow at that. This slimy, secretive bastard was revealing his cards.

  His Curse?

  The exact nature of the Curse wasn’t clear, but it explained things. Like why Renzo hadn’t let Kai see him for weeks before the sacrifice.

  His Curse forces him to reveal his plans? No, can’t be that simple or he’d never keep a secret. It forces him to reveal his plans to the target of his schemes?

  Kai suppressed laughter at the absurdity. The irony. Balance God had a sense of humour.

  He would’ve loved to exploit this Curse. But his useless arm and two monsters bearing down on them made that difficult.

  “Retreat!” Kai shouted.

  Most of his crew didn’t need to ask why. Alira's jaw tightened. Levi studied the two monsters and asked no questions. Rusk looked a little confused, but followed orders anyway. Without fear, he couldn’t see how ashed they were.

  They ran.

  Silas dissolved into dark mist, surging into Kai’s chest. Kai moved to the centre of his crew. He’d only teleported two people at a time before. Could he manage three?

  Worth trying.

  “Levi, I need blood.”

  Levi winced. “Sorry, I was hungry.” A trickle of blood rose from the red blade, sinking into Kai’s suit. Not enough to make a difference. Little more than half his soul essence remained. His suit was dry.

  The ravenous vampire had drunk his fill without reservation.

  They kept running toward the village outskirts. His shoulder screamed with each step.

  “Kai!” Alira shouted.

  Kai sensed the movement but glanced behind anyway. A grotesque purple tentacle whipped toward him. Dakas was right behind, attacking.

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