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    Being chased by a lizard the size of a house had a certain way of hurrying his thinking.

    Bent low over his brother’s gore-splattered back, Kaius did his best to ignore the constant roars just a few strides behind him.

    It was just a tad harder to put the intermittent snaps out of mind. Thank the gods the nightscale didn’t seem to have any ranged capabilities beyond the breath attack he assumed it couldn’t easily use while sprinting.

    They’d successfully driven the creature into a hot enough rage that it was ignoring the Tyrant’s direction, but now what? They had a furious beast on their tail that was managing to damage just about every bloody building they ran past.

    That sort of cost was acceptable, if it actually helped put the beast down. Right now, all he could think was the dozens of people who would now be without homes. Sure, that happened in war, but Kaius still wanted to prevent it if he could.

    They needed a plan. One that wouldn’t end up with them pulling city guards into the meat grinder. A beast like the nightscale would tear through them like they were made of wet tissue.

    A memory shot to the forefront of his mind — one of the squares they’d passed through on their way here. It wasn’t far, maybe half a dozen or so blocks.

    Snapping jaws shook him from his thoughts as humid breath rolled over the back of his neck.

    Kaius jolted in his seat, lunging forwards as Porkchop lurched to the side.

    That was way too close! They needed some room.

    Rearing back around, Kaius summoned a Stormlash to hand. The magic crackled, pale blue light illuminating the gloom that soaked through Deadacre’s streets.


    The beast screamed as lightning scorched its snout. Every muscle in its body seized for a moment. With its legs locked up, it slammed to the ground.

    It only took a few seconds for the nightscale to scramble back to its feet, but it was enough for them to gain some distance — and give him some room to bloody think.

    The square would give them room to fight without destroying the livelihoods of an entire neighbourhood, but it had problems of its own. Even constrained, the nightscale proved a tough nut to crack. Sure, they’d fought harder, and he had no doubt that they could eventually put the beast down.

    But every second he fought this thing was another that they weren’t on the walls, supporting the guard. Every second he spent here meant more deaths. It needed to go down quick, but he didn’t have his spells, nor did they have the support of their backline.

    Unless… it had dropped its invisibility.

    Visualising the position of the square in his head, Kaius craned his neck towards the siege tower by the eastern gate. It was a fair distance, but he knew Ianmus and Kenva could handle it.

    Keeping the nightscale occupied long enough for them to line up a devastating blow sounded much more manageable. Especially if they could recruit a bit of help — the whole reason they had been sent alone in the first place was that he was the only one who could see the damned thing.

    Craning his head back, Kaius confirmed the nightscale had yet to catch up with them. If there was one thing the constant destruction of every building it passed did, it was slow it down.

    “I have an idea!” Kaius said.

    “So do I! We pull it to that square we passed through and get Ianmus and Kenva to blow a hole in the back of its head!”

    Kaius blinked, “That’s my idea!”

    “Liar, you’re just saying that because yours was worse!”

    “Whatever, just get us to that square! I’ll see if people can help!”

    Cobblestones crunched beneath Porkchop’s claws as he tore his way through the city streets. Kaius did his best to ignore the rabid hisses that were uncomfortably close behind them, focused on their goal.

    The nightscale was a tough bastard, as any creature of its size and level would be. Even if the creature was now visible, Ianmus and Kenva were perched on a tower half a city away. A gods blessed shot if there ever was one, especially with how energetic their foe had proven to be.

    Given time, they could do it the long way. Wear it down, pepper it with fire until it collapsed under the weight of empty resources and gaping wounds. Unfortunately, they couldn’t just tie up half of Deadacre’s elite forces dealing with one threat.

    They needed to be decisive; needed help pinning it in place, so Kenva or Ianmus only had to spend seconds lining up their shots.

    Ro would know what to do.

    “Problems?” Ro’s voice came through the command channel breathlessly. She had to be fighting, none of them had the luxury of leading from the back.

    “In a sense!” Kaius replied, before he heard a snarl behind him. Mana flooded his blade, Mystic’s Rend crackling. Spinning in his seat, he slashed at the nightscale’s snout.


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    Black scales cracked as his Skill detonated. The sudden flash of noise and pain made the beast flinch — good, every longstride they could pull ahead was worth its weight in platinum.

    “We’re pulling it away from the centre, and it’s dropped its invisibility. It can’t keep it up—” Kaius dropped low, Moment of Flow warning him a moment before a flashing arc of light flew over his head. The face of a building ahead crumpled, wood and glass shattering with a scream.

    “—while using other skills!”

    “Good, then kill it!”

    “It’s taking too long! It’s bigger than the drake we killed; without my spells, we’re just leaving flesh-wounds. We’re pulling it to a square — the one with the statue of the dancing ladies. Can anyone help us pin it down long enough that Kenva can put an arrow through the back of its skull? Even if it survives, it’ll be enough of an opening for us to tear its throat out,” Kaius replied, hurrying through his words.

    Porkchop lurched to the left, taking a corner at the last possible moment. Hissing in surprise, the nightscale’s momentum proved too much for it to follow swiftly — it still slashed at them with a claw as it passed.

    He read the motion in an eyeblink. It was going to hit him in the side!

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