"Shit!" Finley exclaimed, taking a step back and grabbing for his sword. "What are you doing?"

Alex didn't bother wasting an instant on words. He summoned his monsters, sending the mental call out even as Claire's black thorn whip spooled from her wrist with a hiss.

All three of his monsters emerged within moments. Reality cracked to his side and the sound of shattering glass rang through the air. Glint stepped out from the fragmented portal. He was followed an instant later by Spark as the Knight Wraith emerged from his shadow. Bubbling darkness before Alex gave birth to Princess, the masks on all three of her heads locking onto Absolution before she'd even finished pulling herself from the ground.

They all arrived before the pool of blood spreading around the fallen woman could even finish completely staining the head of her paintbrush red.

Absolution made no move forward. Instead, he just drove the butt of his scythe into the door. It slammed shut with a resounding thud. Coils of wispy purple-black magic slithered from his hand to run along the door, forming a translucent barrier along its metal surface.

Alex's lips thinned even as he lowered his stance, his heart accelerating into a galloping thud. He didn't need to ask what the barrier was. Absolution was sealing them off from the rest of the town.

He prepared to activate his domain. It was vital he waited for the right moment. Alex had only briefly seen Absolution go all out, but that was enough for him to know they were outmatched. The only advantage on his and Claire's side was surprise and their superior numbers.

How is he here? Why now, of all times? And how did he know that we'd be coming?

The woman at his feet let out a weak, wheezing gasp. She reached for her paintbrush with her remaining hand, only for Absolution's staff to slam down on the back of her hand and pin it to the ground with a sickening crunch.

"I take it you managed to save Orchid," Absolution said casually as he turned back toward Alex and Claire. "The Fourteen would have torn you to shreds if they got their hands on you… but I haven't heard back from her. Did you kill her after you got what you wanted?"

"Wouldn't you like to know, Weather Boy?" Alex asked.

Absolution stared at him. "What?"

"Never mind," Alex said. "Wouldn't expect you to be the cultured type even if you'd been from Earth. You know, I really don't get you. What the hell is it that you actually want?"

The corner of Absolution's mouth twisted from a smile to a smirk. "Control of this Subsector will be a good starting point. A part of me expected to already have that within my grasp… but I didn't realize just how bountiful this world would be — or how badly the Great Families underestimated it."

Finley looked from Alex to Absolution in confusion, realizing they'd met before. The merchant wisely started to back up, as the tension hanging in the air continued to deepen.

Alex caught Claire shift back slightly from the corner of his eye. She was trying to reposition out of Absolution's view.

I need to keep him distracted, though it kind of seems like he just doesn't care about us at all. I don't think Absolution sees anyone in this room as a threat… but he doesn't know we've both got domains.

"If you have such a hate boner for them, why are you going around killing people who aren't even with the Families?" Alex asked, glancing down at the bleeding woman at Absolution's feet. "Hell — why are you after me?"

"There's a cost to power," Absolution replied simply. "It does not come for free, but the strong are not the ones who pay its price. Surely you aren't so blind that you can't recognize who this is. She was one of the top 10 in the Local Leaderboard. Did you forget the reward that comes from claiming one of those lives?"

"I kind of had better things to do," Alex said with a shrug. "So you're going around and hunting everyone from the Leaderboard? Is that why you gave Orchid orders to kill me?"

Absolution's eyes narrowed. "I am not hunting. Hunting would imply the existence of worthy prey. I have done that before, but not today. This is simply cleaning. And you, Ash, have been a black spot since well before the Leaderboard."

Shouldn't the town have noticed something was up by now? Why isn't anyone coming to check what's going on?

"Why?" Alex asked. "How the hell did I piss you off before we ever met?"

Love what you're reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

"By having enemies," Absolution replied. "And it doesn't even look like you realize it. I was warned of your presence well before we had ever met, Ash. I am not some weapon to be controlled… but you stand directly in my path. I cannot allow for that."

"Whoa, what?" Alex blinked. He couldn't think of a single enemy he could have made before the Local Leaderboard. Nobody that would have access to Absolution, at least. He momentarily forgot that the whole reason he was still talking instead of fighting was to stall the man. "Who?"

Not that he'll actually tell—

"Stargazer," Absolution said.

Alex blinked again. That was somehow unexpected in more ways than one. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught the woman on the ground twitch. Even though Absolution had her hand pinned to the ground, she was still trying to reach for her paintbrush. She wasn't done fighting.

She should be strong enough to survive a while, even with a wound like that, but Absolution is basically one move away from killing her. Shit. Can I somehow get her back on her feet? If she's fighting together with me and Claire, we might actually have a chance.

…but what does Stargazer have to do with any of this?

Claire had already managed to slip behind the teleporter. He didn't know what she was doing, but Absolution still didn't even seem to care.

"Stargazer?" Alex asked in confusion. "The Rank 2 guy in the Local Leaderboard? I've never met that asshole in my life! Why is he sending you after me? Dude, I want nothing to do with you. We even have the same enemy. Neither of us are on the Great Families' side. Shouldn't we be working together?"

Absolution shook his head. "Enemies of enemies do not make allies. You stand in my way just as much as they do. Now, are you done? I've wasted enough time making sure you can perform to your utmost capabilities. It would be a shame to pick an unripe fruit."

Alex's eyes went wide as he realized why Absolution had been happy to talk to him while Claire was getting into a better position. The bastard was doing the very same thing with them that Alex himself did with monsters.

He's increasing our challenge rating by making the fight more difficult for himself to get a better reward from it. I can't believe it. That's my move!

"I never realized how disrespectful that is," Alex muttered. "Seriously. Not cool, man. But, hey, if you're going for that — I'd say another few weeks should do the trick."

Claire was still trying to do something. He didn't know what, but he could see her fingers dancing in the darkness like she was trying to weave thread from shadow. Whatever her aim was… he had to buy her more time.

Find the translation on MV&LEMPYR.

She's not using her domain for some reason.

"If I cannot get a good fight out of this, then I will get a fast one," Absolution said flatly. "You did well enough for a native. Not many are able to thrive on a Tier 1 World so easily. I will have to find Orchid once I am finished with you. She failed to hold up her end of the bargain."

"Good luck with that. You might find me a bit harder to kill than you're expecting," Alex said. He pressed his palms together, twisting and pulling them to hook the fingers of his hands. The gate in his Mind Palace shuddered as power welled up behind it.

Absolution shook his head in disappointment. "At least try to fight back. I want to get something out of the time I spent here. I expected more from you. Face your death like a warrior. Bluffing a Soul Manifestation is hardly going to make me run."

"Who said I was bluffing?" Alex asked. His lips curled in a smile. "Partial Soul Manifestation. Edict of the Shattered King."

Riftwarped energy exploded out from Alex. The room warped. Hazy shapes twisted into existence as the Mirrorlands overlaid itself over reality — and Alex teleported.

Absolution reacted with terrifying speed. He spun his scythe in a blurred pattern around himself, somehow managing to attack in every single direction at once. It was like he'd transformed into a spinning top… but the weapon found no victim.

Alex hadn't teleported to him. He arrived just outside of the range of the black scythe, beside the fallen woman. With a sharp kick, Alex sent the paintbrush skidding into her one remaining hand.

Her fingers clenched down on the wood and she slashed the huge paintbrush through the air. A wave of shimmering red cut out from it in a glowing crescent, slamming into Absolution's scythe with a ringing clang as if it were made from metal. He skidded a foot back, surprise still flickering in his eyes.

The woman drove the back of the paintbrush down into the ground as she shoved herself to her feet, breathing heavily as blood dripped from her soaked clothes. She sent the tip of the brush dancing through the air before her in a blurred pattern, manipulating it like an expert even with just one hand. It left a path of shimmering magic in its wake.

The moment she finished, the power poured through the air and slammed into her severed shoulder, forming a makeshift tourniquet and capping the blood pouring out from within her. More power wound down to her leg. It wrapped around the severe wound, pressing the pieces of her flesh together in a crude binding.

"Thanks," the woman said, voice taut with pain. "I can't do much with just one hand, but I won't go down without a fight."

"You have a Partial Soul Manifestation," Absolution said. He barely even seemed to notice the painter. Then his lips twitched. "Well, then. Perhaps this won't be a waste of time at all."

"Thank you," Alex said. "I try to make a point of not being pathetic prey."

"That remains to be seen." Absolution pressed his knuckles together before his chest. "Soul Manifestation. Devouring Abyss."

Pressure slammed into Alex's chest. It pierced into his ears and forced the air back down into his lungs. The sheer force rolling out from the man was incredible. All the hair on the back of Alex's neck stood on end as his throat went dry.

"Uh… did you forget the partial at the front of that Soul Manifestation there?"

A blood-red eye snapped open within the ever-present gaping hole in Absolution's chest.

"No," Absolution said, a fully-fledged smile forming across his features. "I didn't."