The hisses multiplied. Guttural roars joined them. The ground thundered - rhythmic booming mixed with scratching.

  Levi and Kai stopped moving, calculating. The skeletons kept clawing at the monsters’ hollow eyes.

  Kai met Levi’s eyes. Two Dakas were bad enough. A horde of abominations would complicate things. If they were lucky, the newcomers would overwhelm Dakas’s Gift through sheer numbers.

  Worst-case: the corrupted bastards teamed up.

  Things looked grim.

  No choice but to fight either way. He’d probably have to call the others, though he’d rather keep them clear of this mess. Calling them in was risky with Dakas still active - any attack could bounce back.

  Shapes flooded his senses - one humanoid figure herding the rest toward them.

  Renzo.

  He itched to kill the bastard - avatar or not - but knew better. Without killing Dakas first, Renzo could switch places with the monster and dodge any damage.

  Renzo brought the horde here to overwhelm them. Effective against a small group trapped in a cave. The abominations were supposed to devour them like wolves on helpless lambs.

  The arrogant bastard hadn’t counted on them fighting in the open.

  They could turn this around. Kill Dakas before the horde arrived. Then carve through the abominations with reinforcements.

  Silas moved between the trees, ready to blast the monsters. Both monsters’ Gifts were down. Kai and Levi moved in for the kill.

  Kai ripped through space. He emerged beside Tentacle-arms and launched himself at it. Countless tentacles lashed out at him. Space folded around him. The tentacles hit empty air. He appeared behind his target.

  His black sword cut through air, flesh, bone. Tentacle-arms’ purple throat opened. Blood erupted and crashed into Kai’s suit as the bald head toppled from its shoulders.

  The wolf-headed skeleton fell with it.

  Levi’s blade moved to decapitate Strong-arms. He pulled back.

  Kai frowned. “Levi?”

  Levi blurred away from the monsters. “I thoug—”

  The purple giant beside Kai stayed upright.

  Ominous.

  Barbed tentacles burst from the severed neck, striking at everything in reach. The fallen skeleton disappeared under thrashing appendages, shattered into fragments. Another tentacle slammed into Kai’s chest before he could react.

  Crack.

  Tentacle-arms staggered backward. Balance lost, it tipped over. Tentacles shot down, bracing against the dirt. The monster steadied.

  Kai clenched his jaw, tore through space, and joined Levi. Upside: his suit had drunk enough blood to copy the reflection Gift. Downside: the headless bastard had even more tentacles now.

  Win some, lose some.

  Levi cleared his throat. “I thought something like that might happen.”

  Kai checked his chest - uninjured. “Thanks for the warning.”

  “You should know better than to admire your work when the target’s still standing.”

  “Most things stop fighting when you cut off their head. But I appreciate your wise hindsight.”

  The approaching horde announced itself - hisses and roars drowning out their voices. The forest ahead shook with movement.

  Strong-arms seized the skeleton atop its head, ripping it in half. Bones clattered before hitting the dirt.

  Silas’s fire stream crashed into Strong-arms. The monster lifted an arm to shield its face. Fire ate through its skin.

  Decapitation was out. Hearts were next. That usually worked.

  He focused his senses. There - rhythmic pulses in the monsters’ stomachs. If this didn’t work, he’d have to pierce space. A last resort.

  If Dakas’s Gift reflected the attack...

  Disaster.

  Silas emerged from the trees behind their position, falling in beside them. Kai met Levi’s eyes, ready to share the new plan.

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  Before he could speak, giant brown bugs spilled from the forest. The dog-sized insects swarmed the ground between them and Dakas.

  Long feelers crowned their heads. Clicking mandibles framed their mouths, sharp as blades. Flimsy wings covered their backs. Spiked bristles protruded from six thin legs.

  Giant cockroaches.

  And they’d brought friends - humanoid roaches positioning behind the crawlers. The same brown carapace covered their flesh. Feelers, wings, and mandibles ready to tear.

  The Roach Men stood upright on two legs, issuing commands through clicks and hisses.

  The party didn’t end there.

  Booming footsteps and roars drowned out the hissing.

  Ape-like abominations emerged from the trees. Black fur covered their heads, arms, legs. Pig-like noses dominated their red faces. Black horns jutted from cheeks and chins.

  Yellow fangs filled their gaping mouths. Each arm ended in red claws. Bare torsos revealed flabby red bellies. They stood on hooves that scarred the dirt with each step.

  These Horned Apes poured from the forest, roaches crunching under their hooves. The horde split, streaming down both sides of the path. Attacking the trio and both monsters.

  Could’ve been worse.

  More shapes lurked in the forest. Kai studied the trees and recognised them.

  Tree Men.

  The Tree Men readied vine-like arms to strike from range. That problem had an easy fix.

  Kai called out, “Silas, burn the Tree Men, then regroup.”

  The fiery wraith darted into the trees flanking the horde’s path. Fire raced through the forest, sudden light revealing the horde’s true scale - hundreds of corrupted, maybe thousands. Trees ignited. Tree Men burned to ash.

  Firelight revealed creatures shrouded in dark tendrils - Dark Creatures, separate from the horde. They stood motionless in the trees, left of the charging mass. Deep in the forest, watching.

  Red eyes gleamed through writhing darkness, fixed on him.

  The visible ones had humanoid shapes. Their tendrils resembled the Dark Horses’. No telling if they were friend or foe.

  Tree Men fled the spreading flames, scattered and panicked. The towering trees blackened as fire climbed their trunks. Bad news. Silas was burning resources and lighting a beacon for roaming night terrors.

  Kai shouted, “Torch the Tree Men, not the timber!” Giant Roaches closed in as he spoke. Silas tilted his head. Flames leapt from the trees, scorching the ground as they pursued the Tree Men.

  Three Giant Roaches leapt at Kai. His black blade punched through one’s back, carapace parting like soft flesh. Blood spears slipped between the others’ mandibles, erupting from their rear ends.

  “It’s a feast,” Levi said.

  Transparent slime rose from the wound his blade opened, twisting and flowing into his suit. Kai had to agree with Levi. Countless enemies meant endless essence. Levi’s father’s blood was wearing off, his reserves starting to dip.

  His essence would refill as long as they kept killing. Translucent blood streamed from Levi’s kills, drawn to Kai’s suit.

  “Not thirsty?” Kai asked.

  Levi’s nose wrinkled. “I’ll pass.”

  Silas’s flames cut through the approaching horde, leaving charred corpses in its wake. His flaming feet melted through the blackened shells as he rejoined them.

  Levi stroked the flat of his blade. Blood gushed forth, obeying his will. The red liquid streamed outward, forming a ring around them. The blood ring descended, spinning into a horizontal saw blade around their feet.

  The vampire smirked. “That should handle the bugs.” Several roaches charged forward. The spinning blood carved through them instantly. Transparent fluid rose from the corpses, twisted into spears, and skewered the insects following behind.

  Levi turned to Kai, smug. “Aren’t you embarrassed?”

  “Why would I be?”

  “Your Gift is useless against swarms.”

  The blood ring shredded another wave. Kai shrugged. “My Gift’s built for precision. I have subordinates like you for crowd control. Though Rusk does a better job.”

  Levi scowled.

  Kai could order Silas to use his Domain, but that’d incinerate the valuable timber and vaporise the blood needed to fuel their essence.

  Levi had a point. He was vulnerable against crowds. Not an issue with his crew around, but alone? One man couldn’t fight an army.

  But a tactical retreat was sound strategy.

  A Roach Man hissed. The next wave of roaches leapt over the ring, gliding past on flimsy wings. Silas incinerated them mid-glide. Blood spears shot them down.

  They kept coming.

  They were buying time, not winning. The abominations would overwhelm them soon.

  Kai’s sword carved a gliding roach in two. “We need to attack before we’re buried in bugs.”

  Tentacle-arms and Strong-arms stomped and swatted at swarming roaches.

  Crack.

  Roaches broke through their Gift, then died. Thrashing tentacles pulverised bugs by the dozen.

  More roaches poured over the spinning ring. Roach Men hung back, observing. Horned Apes flattened bugs in their path as they closed in. The Tree Men had either fled or were hiding in ambush.

  Neither mattered right now.

  “Silas, flame wall,” Kai commanded.

  A curtain of fire sprang up, separating them from the charging corrupted. They’d bought seconds before the abominations circled the wall.

  “Hands together,” Kai said.

  Levi frowned. Silas obeyed, extending his hand. Fire withdrew up his arm, leaving his gauntlet bare.

  “Is this really necessary?” Levi asked.

  “Now,” Kai commanded.

  Levi grasped Silas’s heated gauntlet, pale skin sizzling on metal. The blood ring collapsed, streaming back into his sword.

  Kai joined them. Warmth prickled his palm, skin growing damp. The flame wall fell. Space bent to his will.

  They emerged near a Roach Man. Kai pulled away, dark blade already moving - cleaving through the commander’s neck in one fluid motion.

  Its head fell. Its corpse collapsed. Transparent blood fed his suit.

  “See? That’s what’s supposed to happen when you lose your head,” Kai said.

  Levi stroked his neck. “Can’t relate.”

  Silas poured flame onto nearby roaches, coating the area with fire. Levi tapped his blade. Blood erupted, compressing into a hand-sized levitating ball. Bloody spears shot from the ball, skewering stragglers.

  Corpses carpeted the ground in every direction. Two Horned Apes rushed through lingering flames, more abominations following.

  Fools.

  Kai vanished, reappearing behind one of the approaching apes. He thrust his sword through its back and stomach, carving downward to spill its guts. His blade exited through its groin. Darkshards accompanied its entrails, organs and shards hitting the ground together. Red blood fed his suit.

  He turned to the remaining ape. It crumpled, red flesh gone grey. Levi stood nearby, mouth stained red. Messy bastard. His blood ball hovered above, launching spears at approaching threats.

  Death marked their path.

  Each kill fuelled more destruction. The horde didn’t slow. Two roaches replaced every one they killed. Assassinating their commanders didn’t halt the swarm. Horned Apes devoured their fallen, then joined the assault.

  Even unlimited essence couldn’t beat endless enemies.

  Kai met Levi’s eyes. They couldn’t win like this. If he called for backup from the others, Dakas would reflect their attacks. They needed to remove Dakas from the board, then bring in reinforcements.

  Easier said than done.

  Kai scanned the area. Abominations surrounded them. One of the Dark Creatures took a measured step toward the battle. The rest followed.

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