“Kyra.” Gene’s thoughts were a whisper projected in her mind.

  She didn’t respond. The Cleric was on the move. Staff raised, she wadded into combat with the three remaining Forsaken. They skittered on the ground towards her, assailing her from three sides.

  She focused on the one most heavily damaged, summoning her immense strength as she swung her iron staff in an arc, cracking the creature into the ground and leaving a crater that knocked the others off balance.

  One of them leaped into the air to claw at her but her momentum carried her forward to spin and kick the creature out of the air. Her powerful kick sent it soaring through the air, smacking into a tree. Before it could recover, Kyra fired a holy ray from her palm to stun it.

  She was too focused and didn’t notice the ravening maw of the third Forsaken scrambling towards her until it took a bite out of her shoulder.

  “Kyra!” Gene’s thoughts called out to her.

  He felt her pain, felt Kyrie’s panic, and he felt an unbearable weight crashing down on his shoulders. They were going to die. His thoughts were filled with this fact, repeated ad nauseum, but when the horror threatened to fracture his mind, a voice shot through his head.

  Gene, you must think bigger.

  The system’s voice snapped him out of his panic and an idea came to him like a bolt of psionic lightning. He fell to his knees and gripped the sides of his head to contain the sudden migraine that exploded in his head. The system spoke once more.

  Hero System Notification: You have used a Power Stunt to break the limit on your Illusion Casting ability. Illusion Casting 8 is now Illusion Casting 9. You are now Fatigue. Further uses of abilities beyond your current selected powers will result in Exhaustion..

  In an instant, countless illusions of fantasy adventurers burst to life. One by one, figures littered the battlefield and filled the steps of the Spire as Gene pushed his powers beyond the limits he had only just begun to grasp.

  Phantom arrows assailed the Forsaken who dared to bite Kyra, skewering in the volley and dealing massive mental damage. The creature collapsed under the illusory damage and Kyra cursed. With a prayer, she began to mend her wounds and a hollow feeling set in when she saw phantom figures emerging from the woods to engage the Forsaken she had launched away.

  Inside the spire, Kyrie gasped. All around him, phantom adventurers materialized to fill the halls. Melias’s eyes widened in confusion at the sudden appearance of adventurers. To his eyes, they weren’t phantoms but full blown figures rushing to fall on his blade.

  “It’s a raid!” he shouted before dashing forward to slash at a phantom warrior.

  Outside, Gene was drenched in sweat. He expanded his mental senses, drawing in minute details and adjusting the illusions rapidly.

  “It’s too much,” he cried, trying to keep himself from falling to the ground.

  Headaches hammered his mind in waves. He felt like his head was being split in two and he heard the system speak again.

  Gene, you must focus. Find a way to process the information or your mind will shatter.

  He was thankful to hear that voice. It was so loud that it silenced the information overload for just a moment. He wracked his brain, trying to do as the system told him. He thought of everything happening, all of the individual pieces of the siege, and an idea hit him.

  He closed his eyes and focused on the image of a table. On it, materialized a game board covered with mini figures and a representation of the spire. The pressure in his mind slowly melted away.

  He exhaled, took a seat at the table, and said, “Let’s do this.”

  Derek crumpled to the floor, at a loss for what was happening. He had never seen anything like this but thankfully there were members of this operation who had.

  “We move!” shouted Kyrie, rallying the shellshocked adventurers. “Let’s not waste this advantage. Finish the mission!”

  He charged through the fray, ducking and dodging the clash between Melias’s and Gene’s forces on the way to the war room. The multifarious man and the psychic superhero battled fiercely. In his mind space, Gene rapidly shuffled around figures, blocking paths to assist his allies in the spire and tearing through the Forsaken outside. His illusory swordsmen cleaved through duplicates with precise movements drawn from Kyrie’s memories of battle. He honed his illusions with every strike, refining his combatants in his effort to overwhelm the Warlord.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  He was so focused, he didn’t notice the Forsaken approaching him in the real world.

  “Gene!” Kyra cried out and fired a holy ray but it was seconds too late.

  Hero System Notification: Toughness save failed. You have received 1 wound.

  Pain rippled through Gene’s body when the Forsaken’s claws cleaved through his side. His concentration nearly broke before he felt a warmth enveloping his wound. He opened an eye to see Kyra rushing to his side as she finished a prayer.

  Bone mended and flesh reknit under the soothing touch of Aliyah’s embrace. Kyra dropped to his side and took up a defensive stance.

  “I have you covered. Please focus!”

  She shouted, swinging her staff in sweeping arcs to repel Forsaken that strayed too close. She watched the illusory warriors fighting around her and glanced back at Gene. His closed eyes were glowing, light streaming from beneath his eyelids. She shivered. She was beginning to see why her goddess warned her about him.

  Inside the tower, Kyrie was smirking. Gene really was a sleeping dragon, a being of incomprehensible power. His heart raced just thinking about him. His feet pounded the stairs as he pushed his way into the war room to see Gene’s illusions already engaged in combat with the room full of Melias duplicates.

  “Winnie!” he shouted her name and the small woman raced ahead.

  Eldritch words dripped from her lips and an ornate chest appeared in front of the communication crystal.

  “Storage!” she shouted and the entire crystal structure vanished.

  The screens in the war room went dark. The adventurers let out a small cheer but it proved premature. One of the duplicates moved on instinct, ducking the illusions and thrusting a blade at Winnie.

  Kyrie moved swiftly, deflecting the blade just enough to turn the fatal blow into a glancing slash. Winnie fell back and cried out before Eonis rushed to grab her and shouted, “Retreat!”

  Footsteps thundered out of the room. The adventurers raced to escape the spire. To her horror, Winnie noticed Melias’s duplicates following the trickle of blood from her wound. She held onto it tightly, failing to staunch the flow.

  “Eonis.” She directed his attention to the trail and the Wood Elf turned suddenly to leap off the steps to jump from landing to landing.

  Though her wound seemed shallow, Winnie’s blood flowed endlessly. He gritted his teeth and ignored the chaos around him. He needed to get her to Kyra. Of all the spellcasters here, Winnie was the only one with the power to down a spire

  Kyrie dragged the cowering Derek with him, jumping down the center of the spire, following Eonis’s lead. They were nearing the 15th floor when the landing below them exploded. The dust cloud cleared with a sudden gust as the point of a blade shot through the air towards where Eonis fell.

  It was the 25 percent version of Melias. He had been in hot pursuit of the source of the blood droplets, predicting the path Eonis took with every splatter. The Ranger was caught unaware. Kyrie moved again, activating Battle Acuity and launching himself to intercept the blow.

  A loud clang sounded out in the center of the spire as they plummeted to the ground. Kyrie exchanged sword swipes with the Melias clone. Even without being able to see or hear Kyrie, Melias met each strike precisely, predicting the path of each swing to the frustration of the young warrior. The Warlord smirked. He increased the speed of his slashes as they fell, drawing blood with shallow cuts that Kyrie struggled to deflect.

  “How fascinating!” exclaimed Melias as his smirk turned into a full on mad grin. “Your spell is still in effect despite my Dispelling Slash. You must be the one who repelled Tir. Prime will be pleased to know I’ve found you.”

  Kyrie gritted his teeth as Melias spoke of the original version of himself. He grew enraged thinking about Gene. He would never let them take him.

  “Battle Acuity x2!”

  Kyrie shouted and time slowed to a crawl for everything except him and Melias. The ground rushed towards him and with precise movements, he slashed at the ground, driving his momentum into his blade to propel himself out of the open door. Melias landed without sound as if he weighed nothing and launched himself towards Kyrie. The Warriors launched into a flurry of blows.

  With his heightened senses, Kyrie’s strikes met Melias’s in a dance of blades. The Warlord was cackling with excitement.

  “You’re quite good!” he yelled over the din of battle that surrounded them.

  Outside, Forsaken were cut down by illusory blades, littering a bloodless battlefield. Eonis weaved effortlessly through the waves of Forsaken, rushing to Kyra’s side.

  “Kyra! She won’t stop bleeding,” he said as he set her down gently.

  Kyra cast a diagnostic spell in reply. She needed to word her prayer carefully. Sweat beaded her brow. She was down to 2 prayers after her assault and healing Gene and she needed to use them precisely. She found the Bloodletting Curse embedded within Winnie’s wound and prayed to Aliyah for her assistance. The goddess’s light embraced Winnie, burning away the curse and her wounds with a gentle warmth. Kyra searched the battlefield for Kyrie and her stomach dropped when she found him.

  Melias was forcing Kyrie back across the battlefield. He glanced around and saw a massive force of adventurers storming the spire. It made him cackle even louder.

  “Glorious! Prime will savor these memories when I rejoin the collective!”

  The mad Warlord seemed so engrossed in the moment that Derek, shaken out of his stupor, thought he could launch a surprise attack. The Lancer crouched down low and smirked before activating a skill.

  “Punch Through!” exclaimed Derek as he launched forward like a ballista bolt.

  With his spear outstretched, he rocketed towards Melias only for the man to turn and smile right at him. He had felt the air pressure shifting from Derek’s blade cutting through the air, and at the perfect moment, he leapt to the side.

  Derek’s blade blew through Kyrie’s side, shattering ribs as he rocketed past him.

  Gene felt the blow through their connection and he cried out in anguish. The illusion dropped in an instant and his voice filled Kyra’s head.

  “It’s Kyrie, he’s been hurt. This ends now!”

  The air around him swirled.