Tamsin and Merrick had witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of the dark aura when it came into contact with someone.
Although they harbored a glimmer of hope that their inherent Bloodline powers might intervene to save them, they both knew they couldn't afford to take the risk.
Unfortunately, the undead knight wasn't granting them much reprieve, as the dark aura spread ominously throughout the entire arena, leaving them with limited options.
The impact sent a shockwave of dark energy rushing out in all directions like a spreading tide.
Tamsin reacted instantly. He dashed toward Gwen's unconscious body, slamming his palm into the ground. A shimmering qi barrier flared to life around them. Merrick followed suit, forming his own barrier several meters away.
The dark wave struck.
BANG!
Both barriers shattered instantly, fragments of qi bursting apart like glass. But they had done their job—the worst of the blast curved off to the sides, sparing them from the direct hit.
Every single one of Merrick's astral bodies, however, was caught in the wave. They vanished on contact, torn apart by the dark energy.
'damn it… I can ju"Damneate anoth—'
His thought cut off mid-sentence.
A glowing system message flickered across his vision.
[Astral Body Skill has entered Cooldown.]
'That's not possible,' Merrick thought, eyes narrowing in disbelief. His hand tightened around the sniper.
The cooldown shouldn't have triggered unless the bodies were manually dismissed, or he had ran out of qi which he has not.
That still wasn't possible. Merrick was a Stage 5 warrior—an advanced practitioner of the Astral Body Technique. For his clones to vanish and trigger cooldown? That broke every rule he knew.
The undead knight turned its empty eye sockets toward him. With all the astral projections gone, Merrick stood exposed, alone against the monster.
It charged. The ground cracked under its weight as it sprinted forward, dragging its bone sword behind it.
Merrick didn't freeze. He lifted his sniper and fired—once, twice, then rapid bursts that echoed through the field.
The undead knight moved like a blur, sidestepping and leaping between each shot.
But Merrick's bullets weren't normal. Halfway through their arc, they curved midair and struck the knight from behind.
Bang. Bang.
No visible damage, not even a crack in its armor. Still, the hits forced it to halt for a second—just long enough for Merrick to roll out of the way.
He sprinted toward Tamsin, sliding beside him, breathing hard.
"We can't kill this thing," Merrick said, voice low but sharp. "It's undead—it doesn't feel pain, doesn't burn out, doesn't stop."
Tamsin kept his eyes locked on the knight. "Then what are you suggesting?"
"We might have to use it again," Merrick muttered.
Tamsin's head snapped toward him. "We can't." His tone was heavy, absolute.
He glanced up at the storm clouds twisting above them. Lightning danced across the sky, wild and hungry.
"They're already searching. Probably trying to catch our scent right now."
He tightened his grip on his blade. "If we use our bloodline powers, we'll be handing them our location on a silver plate."
Before Merrick could reply, a soft groan rose behind them.
Gwen.
She was stirring, pushing herself up with shaky arms. Her head still throbbed, the world spinning around her like a broken carousel—but she forced herself steady.
"Good," Tamsin said, glancing her way. "We'll need every hand we can get if we're going to make it out of this alive."
The undead knight raised its sword again, dark aura flaring like smoke around it.
"You two haven't killed this thing yet?" Gwen's voice came out weak and slurred, her head still ringing from the earlier blast.
The undead knight turned toward them, hollow eyes glowing red through the mist. Its sword dragged across the cracked ground, leaving a long trail of sparks.
Merrick fired again—three sharp shots from his rifle. Bang. Bang. Bang. Each bullet slammed into the knight's armor, but the monster didn't even flinch.
He swapped weapons, his qi cannon humming to life. A burst of blue light shot out, colliding with the knight's chest and throwing it back a few steps. The impact bought them seconds—nothing more.
"Gwen!" Tamsin yelled, his voice slicing through the chaos.
That snapped her out of it. She blinked, refocusing on the field in front of her.
"We need your whip—restrict its movement!" Tamsin shouted again.
"It's damaged," she said through gritted teeth. "I can't use it."
"Fuck!" Tamsin slammed his fist against his thigh.
"Come on, Alex… you should've killed that bastard by now," Gwen muttered, eyes scanning the ridge.
Then it happened.
The undead knight froze mid-step. Its head tilted slowly upward, and that eerie red light inside its skull flared brighter.
None of them noticed how close they'd gotten to the cliff's edge—just a few feet left before the ground dropped into a roaring void of mist and stone.
The knight raised its blade, and the air grew heavy. A dark aura poured from its armor, thick like smoke, swirling around its body until it coated the metal in black fire.
"No… no…" Tamsin's voice trembled. His instincts screamed danger.
He stepped forward, aura flickering around his arms. "We can't let it do that," he said, eyes locked on the gathering storm of death crawling across the knight's blade.
The sword was raised—its dark edge humming, aimed straight at them, ready to fire.
But before the strike landed, the blade slipped. It clattered from the undead knight's grip, and the black aura swirling around it vanished like smoke in the wind.
Everything stopped.
Tamsin, Gwen, and Merrick froze where they stood—only a few steps away from tumbling off the cliff. The world went dead quiet. Even the wind held its breath.
"What… what just happened?" Merrick asked, his voice barely above a whisper.
No one answered. They just watched.
The knight's body began to tremble. Cracks split through its armor, faint at first, then spreading like spiderwebs. Bits of bone started falling off—clinking and rattling against the rocks below.
Then—boom!
The corpse burst apart. Shards of bone scattered in every direction, raining down the cliffside. What was once an unstoppable monster now lay in pieces—nothing but a broken heap of armor and dust.
"He did it…" Gwen exhaled, her voice soft but sure. "Alex killed the Nochromancer."
---
Meanwhile, far away in Varkov's office…
A pile of bones lay scattered across the polished floor. Beside it, a lifeless body slumped against the wall—its skin pale, eyes empty.
Standing over it was a dark-haired man, his curly hair matted with sweat, his axe dripping blood. His chest rose and fell with slow, heavy breaths.
The system flickered before him.
[Quest Completed]
[Special Reward Granted]