I activated Hidden Burrow, skated underground in a whirl of darkness, and appeared beside the trapped demons. Their eyes widened for a second as I advanced on them. I probably looked like a swamp monster from their worst nightmares, with the biggest sword they’d ever seen. I decapitated two demons with a single swing, and their heads tumbled off their shoulders in a burst of black blood. Two of the demons clawed free of their restraints as I injected a little more water vigor into my body.
Faryn thrust her sword forward, and a whirlwind of Smothering Leaves hurtled into their midst. I activated an Acidic Cloud and shaped it into a wide, thin screen of poisonous mist. Faryn’s technique whipped through the acrid haze that added an extra edge to the razor-sharp leaves and crashed into the demons. The small blizzard of greenery plunged into their fur, and the acid Augmentation added to the damage of the attack. The demons writhed in agony and tore at their fur with clawed hands. But try as they might, they couldn’t tear away the corrosive leaves.
I dispelled the thin Acidic Cloud and ripped the head off another demon with a savage thrust of the Depthless Dream. An Untamed Torch roared from my hand and baked the mud around the demons into clay. Kumi’s song joined the screams of the hellish monsters, and a soothing streamer of water brushed past my face. I paused to watch the tendril of magic slide straight into a demon’s open mouth. The creature spasmed as Kumi’s healing power invaded its throat and poured deep into its body.
Black smoke hissed from the demon’s orifices as the creature exploded into chunks of fur-covered flesh, bone, and gore. The last demon pried itself free of the mud and wood. It dropped to all fours like a dog and bounded toward the Lost Shrine. I slammed the Depthless Dream into the ground, spun around, and drew the Sundered Heart in a flash.
“Fly true,” I said to Nydarth.
White-hot flame shimmered from the steel blade as I poured fire into my muscles, drew back the sword, and hurled it like a spear at the retreating demon. It didn’t even sense the Immense Blade, not until it was too late. The Sundered Heart speared the monster from behind and pinned it to the Lost Shrine. Flames billowed away from the demon’s melting corpse, and the blackened altar of the profaned rituals caught fire with a roar. I ripped the Depthless Dream out of the mud and shattered the huge blade of ice with a flick of my thoughts.
I tore into a sprint to save Nydarth from the blaze. She was an Immense Blade, sure, but I knew she wouldn’t appreciate contact with the demon’s rotting organs. The dragon spirit sighed in relief as I yanked her sword out of the altar and kicked the demon’s corpse into the flames.
“Thank you, Master,” Nydarth purred. “Their lifeblood is delicious, but the stench is unimaginably bad.” She paused as I slid her into her scabbard. “Well, you’ve certainly made a fine mess of your little quest. Dead demons as far as the eye can see, your quarry dead at your hand.”
I looked around the clearing. Half of the grass bubbled with power from my Mud Entrapment technique. Steam hissed from the stream as the last of the heat washed away from the corrupted monk’s corpse. A foul stench radiated from the dismembered body parts of the demons like a thick cloud. The burning shrine behind me filled the air with black smoke and cast strange shadows over the once-peaceful clearing.
Kumi and Faryn helped a muttering Tolin to his feet. I joined them at the center of the clearing and almost keeled over as the fatigue of Augmentation finally kicked in. I dropped to a knee, reached into my pathways, and started a breathing exercise to recover my Vigor.
“Your victory was a mighty one, Master,” Yono said. “It has been some time since I have been wielded in such a manner. I must say, it truly is exhilarating.”
“Thank you,” I said as a little of my strength returned.
“Well, you’ve come a long way since handfuls of thorns,” Tolin said to me.
I looked up at him with a grin. “And you’ve been holding out on me, old man. You never told me you could bend time, or even matter, to your will. What kind of Augmentation is that?”
“One you’re not ready to learn,” Tolin said gruffly. “The monk might have been a barrel full of proverbial cats, but he wasn’t wrong in some respects. You certainly rely a lot on party tricks to get the job done.”
“Do you see me turning steel into sea creatures?” I countered, recalling how Tolin had transformed the demons’ weapons.
Tolin huffed in annoyance. “It was efficient.”
“I think you like showboating just as much as Ethan does,” Faryn said with a sunny smile. “Wouldn’t you say, Kumi?”
Kumi flicked black blood from her butterfly daggers. “I’ve never seen such a great warrior so still in a battle such as this. I am honored. . . but confused.”
Tolin cackled through his beard. “At least you’re honest, princess.”
Faryn pulled a glass vial from her satchel and offered it to me. I finally caught my breath and accepted it with a nod. The red potion derived from thimbleleaf caught the light of the fire and highlighted the glinting specks of silver within. I unstopped the potion, tilted it gratefully in Faryn’s direction, and drank the whole thing in one go.
Vigor filled my body like a raging inferno. Energy and vitality flooded my blood, tore into my pathways, and burned a searing trail down into my pool of magical energy. My tongue twitched at the bitter aftertaste, and I sprang to my feet. I’d had my time with Red Bull and coffee,
