Three hours later, I stood before the wide cave entrance to the Grindstone Dungeon, staring out at a dense wall of fog as I participated in a chat with Tony and his worried elite team leaders.

Tony: "There's no indication the fog will thin any time soon. This will complicate things."

Jane: "Complicate is an understatement. If we can't see the pack, how do we coordinate fighting them?"

For the other members, I'd updated their description in my menu to help me quickly remember who was who. Just seeing names scrolling past wasn't enough. I hadn't interacted with many of them more than a couple times.

Edmund: "Perhaps we should withdraw and try again tomorrow."

Natasha Portman (Black Widow): "Can we even withdraw through this soup before the werewolves arrive, or will we stumble right into them? That would give them a huge advantage."

Tony: "Lucas, you're the most exposed and the one facing the most danger if the trap fails. What do you think?"

If I still had Immolation, I'd tell them all to hunker down while I tried to burn off all the fog. Why did the stupid fog have to show up just as we were planning to spring our big trap?

Cyrus, probably. He could be so juvenile sometimes. Sure, maybe Alpha had figured out how to get all the humans he'd turned to work the fog as a combined spell, but that seemed far-fetched. I didn't ask, but I bet Cyrus sent the fog to make the fight more challenging. Stupid viewers and their stupid demands for more exhilarating death battles.

Before the heavy fog rolled in a few minutes ago, I'd enjoyed the view of the craggy mountain that rose 30,000 feet above us, climbing in several rough tiers. The dungeon entrance was concealed in a rocky fold partway up the eastern flank. A narrow ravine with a gravelly floor and no vegetation at all descended away from me, flanked by steep, shale-covered hills on both sides.

Those hills rose to nearly 100 feet, and Tony and his teams crouched out of sight along both sides. Not that I could see any of that any more. Somewhere deep in the dense fog, the ravine eventually emptied into a densely forested mountain slope, where the werewolves would approach, if they came tonight.

Everything had gone great at first. I'd shared Death Catcher mini waffles with Tomas, Jane, and their teams when we met up with the strike force. My old friend Edmund was acting as Tony's second in command, and we managed to catch up a little while waiting for a few others to arrive.

He was doing better than just about everyone. Edmund's crazy powerful earth mastery spells made him incredibly tough. In addition to helping raise the walls around town and the castle in the center, he'd led hunting teams into the forest and reached level 49.

Even better, he'd developed from a hesitant nerd into a confident leader. I barely recognized him. He'd grown so much. Too many wanted to cling to our past lives, but that wouldn't save us. The ones who were starting to thrive were evolving, growing, and embracing the insane reality we'd been dropped in. Edmund understood that and had embraced his new path as fully as I had.

Tony and Edmund each led half the strike force. Tomas and our teams volunteered to join Edmund's group. I mapped routes for both teams to approach the ravine from either side without crossing my path. They had all taken wolfsbane, so even if they had, the werewolves shouldn't notice.

I'd spread my scent and followed a convoluted path up into the mountains to the dungeon entrance with only Nigel for company. If Alpha and his pack really did hunt me tonight, they should follow my route and have no idea an ambush was waiting.

I'd sent Nigel up the left-hand hill to join Ruby and Steve, and he'd promised to keep them safe. I loved having Nigel at my side, but even with his immense recent growth, Alpha might still kill him. Guarding Ruby and Steve would be a far better job for the murder kitty, and he'd taken the responsibility very seriously.

After Nigel left, I spent some time setting my trap. I'd buried a bunch of bear traps and grenades in the closest third of the ravine floor, using my new remote triggers. Everything was primed and ready.

Then the unnatural fog had rolled in. Most fog smelled clean and chilly, full of fresh water, but this fog smelled like a void, totally absent any scent. When I studied it with Spellseer's Gaze, it roiled with a mix of dozens of mana types, swirling together in vague patterns. I got the feel the patterns dampened all senses, and the few little experiments I'd tried seemed to support my suspicion.

I couldn't see more than a few feet, even with Spellseer's Gaze and Wolf Sight, and the fog was eerily silent. I had Ruby try shouting from her position on the left side of the ravine, but heard nothing. Not even Nigel with his enhanced senses could pierce the fog far.

Cyrus should have wanted to improve visibility for a big battle, not conceal it. Then again, any viewers probably had ways to pierce the obscuring clouds, especially if they could watch from multiple angles like we had that last movie.

I shuddered. That was a disturbing thought. Could people really be zooming all around us all the time, watching, studying, judging? The thought made my skin crawl, so I banished the distraction. Nothing I could do about it.

Instead I focused on the very important question of what to do now? I considered our options, but couldn't believe Cyrus would let us just slip away. Even if he did, that would make matters worse tomorrow when the work teams completed repairs on the ships. And that was assuming Cyrus didn't just leave the fog in place until we fought Alpha. That would be super annoying and potentially deadly. We didn't have anyone with powerful weather magic, as far as I knew.

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Lucas: "Stick to the plan. It's too late to back out now. You'll have to launch your first volleys blind, but the trap area is small and contained. You should still deal a lot of damage."

Tony: "It's not ideal, but I agree."

Ruby: "Once we attack, we won't be able to see them coming at us up the slopes until they're right on us."

Natasha Portman (Black Widow): "Assuming they don't just run."

Lucas: "They won't run."

Tony: "Then both teams, double your defensive measures."

A faint howl interrupted the chat, and my pulse quickened. I'd been right after all. Alpha was coming. The fog made the howl seem miles away, but with how much it dampened sound, Alpha could already be in the ravine. I readied myself, lips pulling back from my teeth in a wolflike snarl as bloodlust bubbled through my heart. I was ready. Tonight Alpha died.

Shapes suddenly materialized barely 30 paces away and I instantly recognized Alpha's charging form, followed by ranks of other werewolves. I barely had time to send a warning message and trigger my traps before Alpha lunged out of the fog, shooting straight at me, crimson eyes blazing with killing intent.

Lucas: "They're here! Engaging!"

With a howl of my own, I sprinted straight at Alpha, my new Titanbreaker warhammer raised to strike. I needed to hurt him, enrage him, and draw him into the cave. There I could take him apart. We closed with breathtaking speed and I triggered the warhammer's Titan's Wrath ability.

"Titan's Wrath. Rare. Temporarily increase the wielder's size by 25% and add 200% additional pure kinetic energy."

I grew at least a foot as my muscles swelled. Thankfully my clothing stretched too. Rushing into battle with my clothes tearing away before we even clashed would be idiotic.

The red streaks of power woven through the warhammer's handle flashed with light, as did the symbols inscribed across the double blunted axlike heads. Enormous power surged through me and I roared my battle cry as I lunged the final step.

Just before I slammed the hammer into Alpha's chest with every ounce of power I could muster, I noticed the huge werewolf was wearing a necklace. It was the same black Jolly Rogers emblem I'd seen in Noctarus's study, sitting on his desk.

The sight of it triggered a sudden worry that I'd overlooked something. My worry blossomed to full-blown concern when Alpha did not try to dodge my blow.

Uh oh. That couldn't be good. What was he planning?

It was too late, though. I was totally committed and couldn't stop. My warhammer struck with the power to shatter Alpha into bloody bits. A magical barrier made up of hundreds of runes flashed with blinding white light, appearing around Alpha's entire body. My mighty blow crashed into the rune barrier and stopped cold.

Alpha winked, and a titanic invisible blow smashed into my chest, catapulting me backward like I'd been shot out of a cannon. Intense pressure radiated all through my body as my Crash Test Dummy jacket dispersed a fraction of the impact, but it couldn't take it all.

Air blasted from my lungs and my chest felt like I'd cracked every rib, despite my layered armor. My health bar dropped by a solid 20%, instantly changing from green to yellow. Worse, the brutal impact knocked my warhammer out of my hands and sent it careening away.

"Tchaikovsky!" I growled, spitting blood.

As I shot into the dungeon mouth, the ravine behind Alpha detonated with rolling explosions of magical destruction. The first wave were my traps. I couldn't see the bear traps crunching into werewolves, but the impressive detonations of mixed acid and lava grenades lit up the fog like an ethereal fireworks show. Then magical barriers I'd lined along the close end of the ravine appeared, shimmering with soft golden light and totally blocking the way forward for the rest of the pack.

They wouldn't hold for long, but it should be enough. The rest of the pack would be consumed dealing with the other threats raining down on them. And there were lots. Waves of fire, sheets of lightning, and cascading avalanches of earth poured in. I even caught sight of Edmund's giant earth golum shrugging its way out of the ground, shrouded by the fog and looking like some ethereal juggernaut.

Laughing with guttural joy, Alpha loped after me, totally unscathed, despite the magical rebound he should have received from my amulet.

Idiot! I should have realized Alpha would have prepared a counter for my first overwhelming strike. Where did he come up with runes, though?

All that flashed through my mind before the darkness of the dungeon swallowed me. I triggered Energy Ward and Mirror Cloak before I soared into the first cavern. All the magic I'd just absorbed through Magical Resistance poured out and boosted my defensive aura to 300%.

I'd peeked in there when I first arrived to make sure there wasn't another Squid Bear preparing to ambush me from behind. So I knew the entrance tunnel opened into a huge cave after about 20 feet, and I hadn't spotted any squid bears.

Goblins, though. That was a different story. In my brief scan, I'd spotted over 100 of the short, ugly brown creatures. I'd expected them to be green, but that bit of lore from Earth proved wrong, at least for that tribe.

Now I shot into the huge cavern where they lived, flying backward like an invisible missile. In a blink, I crossed a third of the cavern, then exploded right through half a dozen rough wooden structures at the edge of the slipshod community they'd constructed. Energy Ward helped deflect a lot of the impacts and my armor protected me from taking any significant damage.

Goblins screamed and howled at the unexpected destruction of buildings by an invisible cannonball. I finally struck the ground and bounced 27 times in an out-of-control tumble down one of the goblin streets. Again, Energy Ward softened the impacts as I bowled goblins over by the dozen.

After bouncing particularly high over a bigger goblin than most, I finally managed to twist in mid-air and land on my feet, sliding another 20 yards before colliding with the wall of a sturdier wooden building.

For a second I leaned against the wall, barely suppressing a groan. That really hurt. I triggered a healing potion to help my fast regeneration and my Tesla Coil bracelet, and sighed with relief as soothing healing filled me.

I'd created an incredible path of destruction careening through half the goblin town before crashing to a halt next to their central hall, constructed out of heavy timbers. Goblin warriors were pouring out the hall's gaping entrance that lacked doors, responding to the unexpected danger with remarkable alacrity.

Thankfully, they hadn't spotted me yet. Mirror Cloak's invisibility improved when I stopped moving, and I slipped into the alley between their hall and the next building, which was some kind of shop. There I turned off Energy Ward so I didn't accidentally start draining goblins who passed too close and give myself away.

"This'll work," I muttered to myself. "The goblins can help figure out the extent of that rune barrier protecting Alpha."

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