Dancer screamed.

  The sky burned red.

  Synexus feared for a moment that he had just sealed everyone in their fungal tombs until a burst of air smacked into him and his pathfinder and sent them flying out of harm’s way.

  Through his visor he looked to see Kumo dancing around the red light after using a weak Tempest’s Surge to push everyone out of the killing line. Whatever the red light was still managed to catch four prisoners and the pathfinders they were riding on. There was nothing left.

  Without any direction from Zuls or Dancer, the pathfinders darted out of the atmosphere and into space going straight towards the spatial gateway to the next floor. With their speed and ability to travel in the empty vastness of the vacuum, it would only take them about a minute to get to the doorway. Unfortunately, their enemies were faster.

  Another red light condensed from the area void of stars and Synexus watched through his Mana Perception as more and more mana was poured into it from multiple sources. Somehow, they were condensing it further and amplifying it. Pure mana used as a weapon through technology with the sole intent to erase. Still, at their speed and how long it was taking for them to condense the mana, they were going to make it.

  He looked around at the fungal clad people riding pathfinders that were in a mad sprint to the doorway. Some started to float from the lack of gravity and the animals immediately flipped over to grab them with their pincers. Instead of having his perform the risky maneuver, he grabbed rope from his Progress Garden and secured himself.

  Ten Seconds.

  Nine Seconds.

  A flash came from the beam of light—it was nearly ready.

  Eight Seconds.

  Seven Seconds.

  Another flash.

  Six Seconds.

  Five Seconds.

  Mana stopped flowing—the weapon was ready.

  Four seconds.

  Synexus knew they could still make it.

  Three seconds.

  Everyone was focused on the laser cannon and didn’t see the ship appearing out of nowhere right in front of their gateway. Even at the speed they were going, the pathfinders were able to change courses attempting to maneuver around the ship. All except for Dancer and her pathfinder. Like a mad woman, Synexus saw her put on a face meant for war. She raised her lengthy glowing scythe and swung it downward. Space itself appeared to be torn by the near-instantaneous speed of the burning starlight, and the ship didn’t fare much better.

  A scar of molten metal across the hull. Violent bursts of oxygen into space blew it open further and death notifications for beings of all sorts of races rang through everyone’s minds. Corpses started to be ripped out into the emptiness and float away.

  Synexus watched several pathfinders go through the portal with their riders intact, but before they all could get through, the familiar glow of the red beam of pure death made the pathfinders scatter. Dancer may have damaged the ship and killed most of the people inside, but the other ship didn’t hold back and completely eliminated it from existence. He lost track of his friends in the chaos but knew several more had died in the light. Ash floated through space without sound or substantial presence. Potential, incredible life yet to live, reduced to nothingness.

  He felt his insides tighten and he wanted to be sick, but it wasn’t the time. His eyes took in the chaos and he found the largest cluster of pathfinders making their way back to the door. Vorin, Kumo, Prith, and Shell were among them. He knew Gene had made it through already which just left Zuls—the one he was most worried about. She had already been in her fungal armor for sixteen minutes and he had set a maximum of twenty. No matter where he looked, he couldn’t find her meaning she either went through or was—gone. His stomach nearly betrayed him again at the thought and he saw more pathfinders getting through the portal including the two holding Pioneer. His own started to make a dash for the portal once more until he saw Dancer pull hers away from the portal and towards the laser. Without another thought he surged mana into the pathfinder below him altering the DNA to give the animal an even tougher skin. The pathfinder glowed as if it had made a discovery and Synexus mentally nudged her to turn towards Dancer.

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  She was mad and it was clear she wanted violence and vengeance. Her starlight scythe started to draw in more light from millions of constellations. Lines of light that hardened into a bigger physical weapon which she wielded with the grace of a seasoned warrior. Her first strike only had left a scar—this one would cleave the ship in two.

  Synexus urged his pathfinder to go faster to catch her, but it was no use. His eyes fell back to the portal for a second to see the status of the escape. Most had gone through. Only a group of thirty were left and were nearly at the portal. That would leave only him and Dancer at the clutches of their enemies. He still couldn’t leave her and urged his mount onwards. Just as the laser fully charged once more, Synexus noticed a red flash behind him. He turned around to see that the group heading to the portal had been reduced by half.

  There was another ship.

  No, not just one. His head rotated and realized there were north of fifty frigates in various sizes surrounding him and Dancer. Even she was halted in her attack at the dire situation.

  He looked back one last time to see his friends get through the portal. They had fortunately been in the half that survived. Zuls was still missing, but he shook the thought from his mind and all synapses fired to figure out a plan when a massive bubble formed connecting all the ships and trapping them in. A voice somehow echoed through the void into their heads.

  “Do not resist. You are being arrested by the Creation Coalition for breaking multiple laws including murder of Coalition personnel.”

  Synexus caught up to Dancer and they both sat in space. Just a lone pair of people sitting on pathfinders. He knew his air wouldn’t last too much longe since he was already pulling from his Progress Garden. That’s when he got an idea—he just needed to stall them.

  He nudged Dancer to disperse her starlight weapon and put her hands up like he was. She wanted to go on a suicidal rampage, but after a second, she realized he had a plan and went along.

  Quickly he sent his mind back into his Progress Garden while gathering mana and activating Branching Intelligence. Hundreds of mana tendrils connected to materials that he had obtained earlier that day. His mana pool plummeted, but he didn’t care. He sent thoughts faster than he ever had before working on his Zaxillian heritage. Pieces of special copper bent to his will, Zaxillian silver followed and coated it, followed by the shards of mana glass. His skills activated one after the other. Branching Intelligence to mold them into shape and control each piece. Elemental Modification to fuse all the parts together and Progress Garden to hold it all until he was ready.

  Outside Dancer had been somehow conversing with the main ship of the fleet stating they surrendered and would lay down their arms. One ship started to approach. Only minutes had passed, but Synexus had finished just in time. Except he needed one more thing to get their attention. Something that would force their hands, so he got the seed of a regular oak tree. Of course, it would die in seconds if grown in space, but seconds was all he needed. He altered the genome to make it grow with a specific pattern along the bark. The pattern of Gene. A clear indicator of his people.

  His arms were already raised, and he gripped Dancer with his right. In his left he materialized the seed and used Instant Growth. A split second was all it took for the tree to reach full height in all its splendor using his mana to survive. Black bark with glowing blue lines of will pathways. All movement in the fleet stopped instantly.

  Dancer looked over at him with a furrowed brow clearly confused by his antics. He simply nodded towards the ships. The one approaching had fled back into its space along the barrier and the others were moving their cannons towards them.

  Mana started to gather.

  “You have been scanned and found to be in violation of law one. Being or being affiliated with a Zaxillian. Your punishment will be swift, and it will be final.”

  Dancer looked back towards him with worry in her eyes. Their pathfinders were practically hugging at this point, and they were all four floating in space.

  The two class chosen continued to look at each other as the red glow grew in intensity. Synexus counted the seconds in his head.

  Three.

  Two.

  One.

  A sphere of lasers came at them. Red hot death leaping through cold space to deliver their judgement.

  Synexus reached into his Progress Garden with the last of his mana and pulled the sphere out around them. It must have gleamed in the red light of the lasers, but they wouldn’t know. Inside was pitch black and quiet. Almost peaceful in a way. His only senses were through the connection with the spherical mana mirror. He felt the incredible heat and mana hit the glass layer. He felt the intention behind the mana—total eradication. And then he felt the mirror copy that intention and reflect it back. After that, there was nothing.

  He couldn’t immediately recall the mirror since he was at of mana, so they simply floated there waiting for enough of the resource to be regained. Neither could converse with the other, so Dancer was still clearly confused. All she knew was that they were alive and would fight another day.

  Minutes passed and Synexus thought of Zuls. Her time limit ended awhile ago, and she would certainly have run out of air if she was still in space. If she had made it through the portal, then the fungus would be able to pull resources from the air to keep her alive inside. However, without him, no one would be able to get out. It was a bad plan.

  When he felt his mana tick up enough, he recalled the mirror and finally looked at the notifications he had received.

  You have slain Marbel!

  …

  You have slain Dwile!

  5607 death notifications. 5607 people died senselessly.

  Dancer must have seen his glassy, distant eyes and she placed her hand on his shoulder. She got the notifications too, but she was ready for war. The two pathfinders let go of each other and darted through the ash cloud of the destroyed ships towards the portal.

  The next floor awaits.