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Everything was in chaos.

Luckily, Zenom and Fluporuin had the foresight to buy a boat that had enough enchantments to withstand the Imugi's scales, the fires and even the blades. The woods barely caught fire and only creaked in response to the constant pressure.

And the battle exploded.

Adventurer against adventurer, the war-cries drowned out by the screams of the dying. Blood flowing everywhere; the expedition's auxiliary forces took heavy losses in the initial ambush. With Arione's appearance, he had given them time to regroup and recuperate their losses. He hadn't meant to, but he'd done at least one good thing for us.

The only people who had a goal besides survival were the leaders who knew what the true important thing here was: Fluporuin.

With the tsunami following the Imugi's wake, there was no sense of direction. Unless you were a skilled navigator, or more likely, had Cores specialized for navigating the ocean; I doubted that even the skilled Wayfinder or Pioneer would have an easy time crossing this ocean. And that was the whole point. If you had no direction, you would just get lost in the endless vastness of the open seas –until your luck ran out and a monster like [Leviathan] decided to make you their next meal.

Delas and his crew shifted towards Fluporuin, while Arione and his party did the same.

And they hesitated.

Because of me.

A three-way stalemate.

And in that instant, I made my decision.

I had three of the strongest cards at my disposal.

How should I use them?

Skaris with his death-flames and explosive output of damage. Arrosh with his superb swordsmanship and unmatched speed. And Zenom, a stalwart mixture of deadly [Aura] and healing abilities.

Arione and Delas waited for my move.

And that hesitation cost them dearly.

"The mage first," The words were barely out of my mouth before the old orc and I whirled past the open ground at the same time.

Us four had never fought together before.

We didn't need to.

We had me.

My feet slammed against the plank so hard that the floorboards splintered. I kept my body low and arrowed myself straight towards Arione. Before Arione could even wave a finger, I heard a bloody scream and the sky lit up in a dizzying array of intersecting lasers. They flashed akin to lightning and then the sky erupted into green necro-fire as Skaris laughed.

"SHAAAAAA! KAHAHAHAA! DIE DIE DIE!!"

"FUCKK!!!"

"AHHHHH!"

The Player's Guild cultists fell to the floor, green-fire leaving them as nothing more than corpses with mouths gaping open, shadowed visages clad in a cloak of necro-fire.

"SLAVEBORN FIRST!" Arione yelled out in response and waved his arm, sending a spout of flame at me.

I didn't even bother using [Lingering Darkness] to proc my Shadow Mimic Wolf.

Zenom appeared at my right and swung his bastard sword in a neat arc. His sword vibrated with latent magic and then sucked up all the flames in a swirling vortex. Zenom spun, his red cape following after him and hiding his sword from view. Then when the man finished his spin, a horizontal blade made of fire shot out towards Arione.

And L'teya threw herself at the flames, stone covering her skin.

I see.

"To the left, Young Crow!"

Even as Arrosh cried out, a flicker of movement made me pivot.

A giant harpoon passed just by.

Tanya.

The dwarf tugged on the chain and the harpoon immediately returned to her hands. She spun it in the air like a lasso.

"Coum. Now." She said calmly.

｢Coum Raculum casts [Mire] ｣

Waves of mud layered on top of each other spouted from the brain-damaged Mage's position, threatening to consume all of us.

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And Delas rode on top of the waves, heading straight towards me.

But he never made it to me. The human assassin leapt off to the side as Arione sent a blade of wind that almost lopped his head clean off.

Arione's eyes were filled with hate.

A three way battle.

A stalemate.

Chaos.

My initial plan had been to kill Arione first. He was dangerous. Right now, he was holding back for fear of destroying the boat or gathering the attention of the Imugi. As always, too much power meant that there were just as many limitations. This wasn't a videogame where you could just let loose on a boat and the developers coded the thing so the battlefield wouldn't be damaged. No. Arione's spells could sink the ship and catch everyone in it.

Only two things were keeping him from doing so.

Fluporuin.

Imugi.

Shit.

I needed to revise my strategy.

The first thing that needed to change was this three way tie. If I couldn't get to Arione… The next person I needed to kill to crumble the balance on their side…

My heart leapt for joy as my brain reached the conclusion.

Coum.

And the world shifted to gray and black.

–squirming, screeching little worms being planted inside my ears–

–Shaving off my shin bones, one strip at a time–

Cruel cold-edge came over me.

"Slaveborn?" Zenom asked, worried.

"I'm going to kill Coum. The Player Guild's mage. You four," I included Cecilia, "Keep Arione and them off of me."

"By yourself?" He sounded doubtful. "Atleast–"

I shot him a look and the Holy Knight took a step back.

"Go, Young Storm." Arrosh said and wordlessly, held out his wrist.

In a dancer's pirouette, my sword flicked across his forearm. A cut no longer than an inch long and only skin deep.

｢[Sadistic Kleptomania] has stolen [Air Jump]｣

I bent my legs, feeling mana pulse through the arteries and veins. Everything condensing all at once; meanwhile my eyes absorbed the number of obstacles between me and Coum; what weapons they held, what armor they had.

Possible.

Completely doable.

｢Lock Slaveborn used [Air Jump]｣

I leapt over the hills of mud, then in a spectacular display of acrobatics, bounced off of the air and flipped.

Landing right in the middle of Player Cultists.

"DON'T–" Delas began.

I slammed my palm down on the floor. The moment they made contact, darkness exploded out of me in a wave in every single direction.

"–LET–"

Before [Lingering Darkness] had finished proccing, I moved wordlessly, silently and making damned sure I was the fastest fucking man in this entire boat.

"–THE–"

I dragged the first cultist down by the collar of his hood, feeling [Snow Scream] enter and exit out the back of his throat with zero resistance. He didn't even scream as I twisted and tore his head clean off.

｢[Lunar Shield] decreases [Defense]｣

｢[Arcane Masochism] cancels [Lunar Shield]｣

｢[Arcane Masochism] raises [Attack]｣

｢[Lunar Shield] cancels [Arcane Masochism]｣

｢Lock Slaveborn may choose between: [Attack], [Defense], [Speed]｣

｢Lock Slaveborn chooses to raise [Speed]｣

…One.

Also I felt the corpse's skill flow into me, my brain tucking the knowledge away.

｢[Sadistic Kleptomania] has stolen [Boomerang]｣

"–FUCKER–"

With a burst of speed, I streaked through the darkness. Everything seemed to be in slow motion as I swung the sword and the next cultist's head came clean off.

Two.

"–TOUCH–"

｢Lock Slaveborn chooses to raise [Attack]｣

The next cultist was bulky, wearing metal armor underneath the cloak. My sword hummed with white-blue [Aura] as [Snow Scream] infused it with ice-elemental damage.

He hurriedly turned around, trying to get away. I didn't bother taking him on in a fair fight. I grabbed him by the back of his hood and stabbed him through the heart from the back.

Three.

｢Lock Slaveborn chooses to raise [Speed]｣

"–YOU!"

As Delas finished his sentence, I heard Tanya yell out, "I got him! There!"

My [Lunar Shield] clanged as Tanya's Harpoon bounced off of it. Thanks to [King's Guard], the block was automatic.

Then the colossal harpoon streaked by my face, returning to where Tanya was.

Perfect.

I wound up like a pitcher and then threw [Ice Scream] as hard as I could in that general direction.

The sound of metal sinking into flesh, accompanied by a pained moan.

｢Lock Slaveborn casts [Boomerang]｣

Another hum and a sickening crunch as the ability ripped my sword out of Tanya's dwarven-made armor and returned to my hands.

I walked out of the darkness, belatedly realizing that I was still holding the first cultist's head. The root had been ripped off, and bits of flesh and gristle hung freely.

Tanya's face was locked in a grimace, holding a hand to her chest. Blood dripped through the perfect cut –[Aura] had sheared through it cleanly.

The skin around my eyes and mouth felt tight. I realized I was smiling.

I casually released the decapitated head and kicked it towards them.

"Tanya. Coum." I greeted.

Coum looked down at the head. Then at me. Like a baby. Whatever healing they'd done, it wasn't enough. He was slower than before. Sluggish, even.

"You actually came alone?" Delas sneered.

I sneered back.

None of us wanted to engage in more conversation.

The world erupted into immediate violence.

Delas came at me with his daggers while Coum flicked his hand and shot this squid-shaped acid creature at my face.

The assassin became a whirlwind of feints, stabs and parrys. Each strike faster than the last. I'd seen enough of Delas fighting by now to have had a grasp of his combat prowess. But I retreated back into the darkness, hiding my body in the safety of [Lingering Darkness] once more.

Coum's acid-squid hit my shield and plopped down to the ground, turning into a pool of acid.

Delas stopped right at the boundary of my [Crow Totem] skill. They couldn't see through it.

And I had my chance.

Hit and run. Hesitation and unwavering decision.

He had stopped. He hesitated.

I streaked out of the darkness, ethereal chains shooting out of my wrist.

｢Lock Slaveborn casts [Share the Load]｣

My opening skill; which debuffs both me and my opponent. Except that my whole build was built around reversing debuffs.

The manacle shut with a click around Delas' wrist, the rogue stupified by the unexpected move.

And I ignored him completely, switching every single buff I had into [Defense] and rushing past him.

Straight towards Coum.

Delas raised his daggers and stabbed down in my back, drilling down with them on my armor. He was trying to skewer my lungs.

…And nothing happened.

He has no [Aura]. And he didn't have time to use a [Core] ability.

Before he could react, I pivoted and slammed the back of my fist into his skinny little neck. In that instant, I shoved every single buff I'd acquired (including the one I just got for his pathetic attempt to kill me) into the [Attack] stat.

His neck literally bent out of shape from the sheer strength behind my strike and the assassin was sent flying into the darkness.

And immediately switching over everything to [Speed], I ran towards Coum.

A Jack of All Trades is shit. That's why there are specialists. Specialists that take a role in a single party.

Doror the Master Smith. His alterations had made my build into something that shouldn't be possible in MSS.

A Knight who could Tank, Assassinate and Fight.

With Delas out of the way…

Only Tanya remained. She held the shield up.

Fifty Feet left.

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