Thankfully, the arena barrier disappeared and the block over my spells and inventory lifted. Thank god for that.

Back in her Velexis form, the grisly wounds were rapidly closing as pulsing shadows poured in and started somehow healing the damage. That didn't make any sense. I'd already gotten the notification I'd defeated her. Something weird was going on.

The confusion made me hesitate a critical second. Velexis's black eyes shone with fury and she screamed at me, her voice hoarse, spittle flying from her bloody lips. "You epic fool! You have no clue how much you've ruined. Years of work destroyed, my entire tapestry of deceit shredded."

"I'm deeply honored I could help so much."

The giant scythe appeared in her hands, crawling with crimson lightning and billowing shadows. They obscured her form and she vanished, only to reappear towering over me, already driving the 15-foot sharp tip of the scythe straight at my heart like a spear. Shadows materialized around me and seized me like a thousand grasping hands, holding me fast for a second.

I tried to struggle, but she'd moved too fast. How could she attack after I'd defeated her? The demon shouted in exultant victory as the deadly tip of her giant weapon slammed into my heart.

A blinding light exploded around me and the gigantic head of the Prismatic Drake boss appeared, forming around me like a 50-foot ghost. Oh, yeah! Fear evaporated and I met the shocked gaze of the demoness. My turn to smile.

My Last Chance ring had activated to save my life. The Prismatic Drake was the first boss I'd killed on stage 2, so that was the one whose power infused my ring.

The giant ghostly drake's jaws gaped wide and a torrent of intense fire blasted out in a laser-like beam as the boss finally got to unleash its Incineration Breath. Velexis staggered under the brutal onslaught, arms raised to shield her face as shadows erupted from her body and her weapon, forming a maelstrom to intercept the drake's deadly beam.

The fiery breath seemed unstoppable, but somehow the shadows ate away at it until only a trickle of flames broke through and splashed over Velexis. The super-heated flames, although much diminished, still boiled around her, melting her clothing, setting her dreadlocked hair alight, and charring her skin.

Velexis screamed again, retreating from the onslaught. I exulted as the fiery breath started burning her, but the unstoppable attack started to fade before it could finish the demoness. Despite the drake unleashing what should have been a total finishing move, it hadn't yet done more than annoy her.

"Never trust a drake to do a man's work," I muttered and cast Soul Ravage to take advantage of the momentum.

"Soul Ravage. Spell. Rare. Spear through an enemy's mind to deal mental and spiritual damage. Amount of damage increased with the difference in mana pool size."

I'd often used Force Weaver to stack multiple spells together. For the first time, I tried using it to stack the same spell multiple times, re-casting Soul Ravage again and again.

For two eternal seconds, the power built within me, but did not release. The cooldown for the spell was pretty short, but not zero. I feared my attempt would fail, but then felt my class ability Squared Circuit kick in.

"Squared Circuit. Ability. Rare. Each time the same spell is cast in the same fight, potency doubles while mana cost and cooldown is halved."

Just as the drake's Incineration beam winked out, a ton of mana roared out of me and the multi-stacked Soul Ravage spell activated. A beam of golden light shot between us, drilled through the billowing darkness protecting her, and slammed into Velexis's heart. She staggered, eyes wide with shock before she screamed in terrible agony. I'd cast all but one of the remaining uses of the spell together, and the doubling effect proved amazing.

Velexis stumbled back, her corpselike face drooping with shock. "That's more like it," I growled as I pulled my Earthshaker Maul from my inventory.

Velexis shrieked again, her pain replaced by fury as she tried throwing off that brutal hit to her mind and spirit. Her giant form could really belt out the decibels too and the echoes built upon themselves until the sound actually made me wince. Smoke still billowed off her burning clothing from the drake's attack, and she looked horrible, her corpselike face gaunt, skin cracked and bleeding green puss, but her black eyes shone with hatred.

"You annoying lesser life form!"

"That's me." As the handle of the Maul extended to 20 feet, I triggered the rare weapon's special ability for the first time.

"Tremor strike. Create a fissure up to 3 yards long and 3 feet deep under your opponent."

The floor shattered and fell away beneath Velexis's feet and she snarled with anger as she stumbled. In her gigantor size, a sudden 3 foot drop didn't affect her too much, but it was enough to give me a second to strike before she could finish recovering and prepare another death blow with that nasty scythe.

I smashed the Maul at her towering form with all my strength and as I swung, I got another idea. I mentally reached for the Tidal Nexus and triggered part of its ability I'd never tried before.

"Tidal Nexus. Epic. Use the built-up charge to fuel spells and abilities or to imbue the power of the tides into weapons."

So far, I'd used the Nexus cube like a giant hose, but that wasn't its core purpose. I just hadn't understood how to unlock it. Maybe it was my super boosted Intelligence or Wisdom stats, or a hint from my weird ability The Show Must Go On, but all of a sudden, I understood. Ignoring the physical waters, I instead unleashed all of the built-up hydraulic power, focused through the Maul.

The sound of a giant crashing wave exploded around the Maul as a blue sheen enveloped the huge weapon and the unstoppable force of a raging river infused it. Velexis tried to block, but the Maul smashed her scythe back against her so hard the long, black blade gashed her own forehead.

The Maul slammed into her chest with the force of Niagara Falls driving the 3000 pound head forward. Bones audibly crunched as the Maul sank deep into her chest.

The force of the tides I'd unleashed flung both of us across the room. For Velexis, it was like getting caught in a flash flood and her body tumbled in an out-of-control series of endless somersaults until she smashed facefirst into the wood-paneled wall near the fireplace so hard wood splintered.

For me, the trip was more like standing on an invisible boat getting hurled down a raging fast river. Even so, the ride was perfectly smooth and controlled as it swept me after the flotsam Velexis had turned into.

Wow! That was way better than I'd hoped. I sensed I'd exhausted all the magical force the Tidal Nexus had built up for days in that single strike. Totally worth it.

Velexis was tough, though. Despite all the overwhelming hits she'd just tanked one after another, she didn't go down. Coughing weakly and spitting blood, the plucky demoness still spun, lashing out with the scythe.

She moved with barely a fraction of her previous speed and I caught the nasty 15-foot scythe blade on the head of the Maul. Our gazes met and I winked.

And triggered my spells. With the suppression field gone, it was time for Velexis to get an even bigger taste of what I could do.

Focusing on Force Weaver, I triggered Mana Beam and the last use of Soul Ravage together, then stacked on Elemental Harmony and dumped 3 Ichor potions into the mix.

"Congratulations, Lucas! You have crafted a new synergy and created the spell: Soul Devourer."

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A beam of black energy erupted from my chest and slammed into Velexis, smashing her back against the wall again. Her eyes widened and she screamed, thrashing against invisible bonds as the energy beam pierced her defenses and drove right through her mana pool. The damage she'd taken from the last spell must have weakened her more than I'd realized.

A connection snapped into place between us and I sensed her mana pool. Despite all the damage she'd taken, it was still vast. She'd evolved her mana to death-attuned, and the huge pool was enormous. It wasn't convergence mana, though.

Where her Sixel form clearly focused on martial abilities, her Velexis form was dedicated to spells and mystic powers, with her scythe acting as a conduit for her evil magic.

Luckily I'd struck first, and now the vast ocean of her mana churned as my new Soul Devourer spell ripped it apart. My spell feasted on her mana, and little bolts of black lightning erupted across her mana pool before skittering down her mana channels, reaping terrible damage and coating everything in ichor sludge.

Velexis tried fighting back, and given enough time, she might be able to push my attack out. Not that I'd give her the chance.

I dropped the Maul back into my inventory, seized the haft of her scythe with both hands and heaved downward with all my strength. She was already distracted by the devastation Soul Devourer was causing in her mana pool, so my unexpected move caught her totally by surprise. She stood more than 3 times my height, so could have resisted if she'd been ready.

The nasty blade of her scythe ripped down through her left shoulder, biting deep into her torso. Velexis screamed again and reflexively heaved the blade free.

Perfect. I cast Divergent Strike right at the hole in her chest the Maul had made. The high-impact spell affected a 15 foot area, so the entire blast zone that encompassed the top half of her body still erupted above my head. The explosion of force slammed her bodily against the wall yet again, blasting open the wound on her chest and making it a ghastly crater of blood and splattered organs.

She gasped, momentarily stunned, so I yanked the scythe out of her hands and heaved the razor-sharp blade across her throat. Blood sprayed like an industrial-sized irrigation machine and she fell to the floor, clutching at the jagged wound.

I tossed the scythe into my inventory and marched around to her head. Velexis was wrecked, but somehow clung to life. In fact, the wounds were again healing as more shadows packed into them. The process moved far slower than before due to the mess I'd made of her mana pool, but given enough time, she'd recover.

"Wait. I have knowledge to barter with," she wheezed around a mouthful of blood. Her sultry voice was replaced by a hoarse rasp. Getting your throat cut would do that.

"Should have opened with that." Part of me was tempted to dig for information. I sensed she knew much I'd love to know, but I knew enough not to believe anything a demon said, especially when she was trying to barter for her life. She'd say anything to keep me talking until she healed enough to kill me.

She tried speaking again, raising one giant arm weakly, but I knocked it aside with Echo, then slashed Scalebiter across her throat. It tore through the partially-healed wound I'd helped her self-inflict with her own scythe, and bit deep.

She was still a 40 foot giant. Her neck was 4 fee thick, and I was using a short sword. That was okay. I was willing to do a little work. It took a few more cuts, with Scalebiter slicing deeper with each one. Velexis tried to knock me aside, tried to scream until I cut through her pharynx. With a final powerful slash, I chopped through her spine and her head tumbled several feet away in a geyser of blood.

Then I turned and threw up. On one level, that had been very satisfying, but it was still nasty. Sure, I'd killed a lot of monsters over the past 10 days or so, had waded through blood and gore and fought some truly disgusting creatures, but I wasn't immune to it all. Cutting through a humanoid's neck still horrified me at a deep level. I didn't like killing things that looked like people.

She was a demon, not a human. Telling myself that helped, and I soon regained a sense of calm. Killing monsters was what I had to do. Deal with it.

So I turned, as if surveying her fallen form, and in the process rotated my left hand to point at the concealed figures of the Briggs, who were standing on the high couch like two ghostly fans, no doubt gaping in shock. Whatever injury Trish had suffered from Sixel earlier couldn't have been too bad. Time to rectify that.

Shhk, Shhk, Shhk, Shhk. Four exploding crystal knives shot across the distance from my Stiletto Quiver and detonated, 2 each across both of their torsos. The explosions catapulted them screaming right off the couch. Their invisibility winked out, confirming it really was the Briggs.

I waved. Not sure they saw me, but it felt appropriate.

They disappeared before hitting the ground. Losers! That teleport escape spell or charm was really annoying. I would have preferred capturing them and getting some answers, but at least they weren't lurking and maybe preparing an ambush.

"Congratulations, Lucas! You have defeated Velexis Shadrael, level 66 tier-1 elite demon boss . Bonus experience gained for defeating a higher-leveled monster. Experience doubled for single-handedly defeating an elite boss in her own arena. Experience doubled again for defeating your first tier-1 boss. Experience doubled again for defeating both of her forms."

"Congratulations, Lucas! You have reached level 35. Stat points allocated, plus 24 free points."

"Six?" I gasped.

Relief and exhaustion and exhilaration boiled through me. I needed to sit down for a minute, but the floor was gross. So instead I raised my hands and laughed and cheered and danced with the thrill of still living.

"That was insane." I barely believed I'd survived.

"A truly epic death battle, Lucas," Cyrus exclaimed. "And quoting the Princess Bride was the perfect choice."

"Princess Bride trumps all other princesses, I guess."

"Today she did. What an exciting finish!"

"Thanks. Can't say I enjoyed it exactly."

"Nonsense. Of course you did. Warriors like you thrive only on the absolute cusp of life and death. I'm glad you've embraced your path."

His words echoed in my mind as I distributed all my free points. The 4 extra points from my evolved class really added up fast when I got 6 freaking levels at once!

I ended up with 4 more points in Dexterity and Strength, with the other 16 going to Constitution. I'd nearly died so many times in the past few hours, the extra Constitution seemed wise. So many new points was simply amazing, and I closed my eyes to savor the influx of new power. Leveling up never got old.

Cyrus's words kept playing through my mind. Had I enjoyed the fight? Sure, I loved pushing myself, and those rare moments of absolute concentration I reached when I moved as one with my blades could only be found in a truly desperate fight. But . . . Did I thrive only on the cusp of life and death?

Honestly, I couldn't answer that question and that bothered me more than I liked to admit. I thought back to Ruby's worry that I might lose my humanity and become the monster I fought. I didn't feel like I was losing my core identity, but we had to fight to survive. Right?

Maybe I'd discuss it with Ruby later. For now, I triggered Loot and Soul Feed, followed by Harvest. I'd used up all the remaining uses of Soul Ravage, so I had an open slot to fill without replacing Mana Beam.

"Congratulations, Lucas! You have successfully Harvested Shadow Walk."

"Shadow Walk. Rare. Surround yourself with shadows for concealment and 50% added defense for 3 seconds. Teleport through the shadows to any shadow in sight. Uses remaining: 2."

"Note. Due to your class benefits, Uses Remaining upgraded to 5."

I took a deep breath and grinned. That was more like it. Soul Ravage had been a great spell, but I was even more excited about this new one.

That demoness assassin had nearly killed me with that same Shadow Walk ability. I had some pretty cool movement abilities already, but I still occasionally dreamed of getting another teleport ability. I'd never regret making Tether slide permanent, but I'd also never complain about getting another fast-travel spell. This was a unique twist to the idea, and I couldn't wait to try it out.

With a sigh, I tried to relax and willed my shredded Mammoth hide jacket back into my inventory, followed by my layers of under armor. They were all pretty beat up, but thankfully everything but that poor Mammoth hide jacket had self repair. Given a little time, everything would return to pristine condition. Luckily, I had a spare so I didn't have to wait around in my boxers until then.

After enjoying a Laundry Day potion, I equipped my extra Spiny Eel Body Sheath, then my recently repaired Scaled Wam of the Skies, followed by my Thunderstride Greaves, and finally a spare Mammoth hide leather jacket. I sighed, enjoying the feel of clean, fresh clothing as the rivers of energy from Soul Feed replenished my pools.

Maybe I should get a few shirts in different colors. A couple of my pants were different, but all my shirts were black. I wouldn't take a downgrade just to look more fashionable, but I didn't want boring all-black to become my default style. Still, that triple-stacked defense layer over my torso and arms had saved my life more than once.

I sent Ruby and Tomas texts, letting them know I was wrapping up and would head out to meet them shortly. Then I reviewed my achievements and the loot I got from Velexis. I was expecting some great stuff after a fight that so very nearly ended my journey.

"Congratulations, Lucas! For completing the Grindstone dungeon in a unique and entertaining way, you receive a diamond Showman loot box."

"Congratulations, Lucas! For again ignoring obvious signs that a dangerous boss lurked ahead, you receive a platinum Scarlet O'Hara loot box."

"Congratulations, Lucas! For avoiding a murky plot from an unknown party, you receive a gold Solo loot box."

"Congratulations, Lucas! For pushing all of your base stats to over 50 tier-1 points, you receive a gold Superman loot box."

"Congratulations, Lucas! For defeating a certified champion of the blades in an official duel and coming out victorious, you receive a platinum Maximus loot box!"

"Congratulations, Lucas! You have completed the secret quest: Free the Trapped Soul. You receive a diamond Morpheus loot box."

Huh. Two diamond loot boxes were always good, but I re-read that last achievement a couple more times. Then I vaulted up to one of the giant couches and relaxed on the plush cushion. I took out a powder-coated, cream-filled donut and savored a big mouthful of heaven as I considered the clues from that crazy double boss battle.

"Cyrus, what the Handel was really going on in here?"

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