Cass watched in horror as Ahryn's soul exploded.

One moment, it had been obviously damaged, all but turned inside out. The next, its edges surged until there wasn't so much a singular core in his chest but instead, his entire body glowed with the silver light of his soul.

His energy radiated off him in waves, surging with every skill he used. And with every surge expelled, the weaker the silver of his body became—the less remained of his soul.

But she could move.

The captain's sword jerked forward again, the silver light dispelling Ahryn's barrier.

The dragonlings scattered, bolting away from the man.

Cass swung her dagger, fully expecting the usual blade of wind to form and fly from its blade. But Tempest Blade didn't heed her call.

All her skills had gone silent.

And with it came a sense of calm. Everything was okay. She would be safe. Her skills would be back as soon as Ahryn ended his skill.

The captain stomped his foot after the fleeing dragonlings. A puzzled look crossed his face as nothing happened.

See, everything was fine. The captain had lost access to his skills, too.

A grin slipped across her lips as she imagined the moment Ahryn's skill dropped and her skills returned. With her Alacrity and Dexterity, she would react first. She could tear out his soul before he could defend himself. His soul was still leaking tantalizingly from the wounds Kohen had inflicted on it.

But that was for later. Right now, she needed to make the most of this moment.

She ran at the captain, her dagger clenched in her hand.

She lunged, her superhuman Strength and Dexterity unaffected by Ahryn's skill.

But neither was the captain's superhuman Fortitude.

The dagger slammed into his back, skidding across the metal, leaving a trail only because it was still soft from the dragonfire-inflicted heat.

The captain spun, striking Cass with his sword pommel.

She should have dodged that. But Dodge hadn't warned her.

Instead, the strike sent her flying across the room, tumbling over the glass floor.

Tumbling right out of the range of Ahryn's skill.

It was like stepping out of the shade and into the direct fury of the summer sun. All her skills screamed for attention as the calm evaporated.

Cass gasped on the floor. The air swirled around her. The fragments of soul in the air smelled so sweet. Mana blurred her vision. She probably needed to apply a tellbren and peripenny compound to her cuts if she wanted them to heal with minimal Health loss. She needed to get up and devour the bleeding souls. She needed a staff. The aether was thin here. If she wanted to hide, now was the moment to slip away while the paladin captain turned on Alyx.

Her Alacrity spiked as it struggled to keep up with the sudden deluge of skill information again.

She staggered to her feet. Her head throbbed. The Focus loss was compounded with the overload and the head trauma.

Her mouth watered. Everyone oozed souls. Ahryn was still broadcasting his, though he was fading fast. The captain's soul leaked from a claw-shaped rend. Kohen's pulsed and rippled, absorbing and throwing off bits and pieces with every breath. Alyx's soul carried snaking wounds, not yet healed and actively exacerbated as she rammed it against the dragon's half-formed one.

It was a veritable feast before her. She just needed—

She flicked on Soul Guard. It constricted around her, and she could think again.

Hell.

Soul Guard was a skill. It must have shut down while she was under the effects of Ahryn's skill. That could have been bad.

Salos, you here somewhere?

Ah, yes. His voice came from her necklace. I seem to have demanifested.

That made sense. It was a skill that let Salos manifest as a cat, after all.

What do we do about the floating lady?

That—Salos paused. Recognition rippled over their connection. He knew who the goddess was. More than simply recognizing her as one of the gods, he knew her, personally. That is a manifestation of a god. She is a fraction of the goddess's power channeled through a mortal representative or physical anchor.

And what do we do about her? Cass pressed.

Run? Salos suggested half-heartedly.

Still not an option.

Kill her representative, which, I will remind you, you were struggling with before she showed up.

Her representative being the paladin captain, Cass confirmed.

Presumably.

Not ideal at all. Just about every step in her plans had been upended.

What are the chances we can lock the demon in the dragonling's containment circle now that the captain's taken it down for us? Cass asked.

Did you see the explosions? Salos scoffed. It's at least as badly damaged as the first one, if not worse. We are not reactivating that. Not in any reasonable time.

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Yeah, that was what she was afraid of.

Was there another way to capture him? Pellen was here now. Could she hold Kohen?

The little mage stood in the cathedral's doorway, her entire body shaking as she chanted her binding spell. The dragon visibly strained against it. How much longer could Pellen hold him? Would she have anything left after?

Her calculations hadn't changed. Taking down the captain's sealing skill was too dangerous until Kohen was contained. With the summoned goddess, could she keep delaying on the hopes of saving him?

He, the captain, and the manifestation of the goddess were all within Ahryn's skill suppression zone. Cass couldn't enter it without losing her rationality to Salos's demon impulses. Ahryn's soul burned, every second undoubtedly doing permanent damage. Just outside the skill suppression zone, Alyx was still binding with the dragon, with no indication how much longer she would take.

Worse, the captain was walking in Alyx's direction.

But Cass couldn't do anything about that. She couldn't fight him. Definitely not in the skill suppression field without her skills or Salos's help. Both Manifest Form and Shifting Minds were skills.

Wait.

The lady is a 'manifestation' of the goddess, Cass repeated. What does that mean, exactly?

It means—Salos huffed. Look. I am not an expert on godly intervention. I have no idea how it works.

But it's not a skill, Cass pressed. If it were, she'd have blipped out of existence like you did when the field went up.

I suppose, Salos agreed.

And it isn't the entirety of the goddess.

No, definitely not. Salos agreed.

You said she was a 'fraction of the goddess's power'. Did you mean, like, literally? Like a fraction of her soul? Did gods have souls?

No. Salos scoffed, but unease rippled through him. No. He forced levity into his words. No. That would make her a demon. And the gods are not, would not, could not, approve of demons. That's like suggesting the abyss is up or blood is empty.

Okay, but then what is she? Cass asked. And can we kill her?

How would you even do that? Salos asked. She doesn't have a body you can cut. She is just a spirit form without physicality.

Cass bit her lip. This was a bad idea. She knew that already. She asked anyway. Can you target her with Fairy Fire?

What? Salos froze.

Can you target her? Cass repeated.

I mean. Not while the suppression field is up. But, yes, I think so. Why?

Demons devour souls, right? Cass cast her gaze on Kohen.

No, Salos said flatly. You are NOT feeding a piece of a goddess to an unstable demon. You just spent the last—I don't even know how long— trying to bleed off all the energy he has consumed. Do you have any idea what might happen if you feed him a goddess?

You said she wasn't really the goddess, Cass pointed out. That she isn't even a part of the real goddess's soul.

I mean—

So, worst case, he eats what? The bits of soul the paladin was trying to sacrifice to the goddess? It can't be the paladin's soul, right? Cuz that would be demonish too, right?

I suppose, Salos muttered. The most likely explanation is she's nothing more than a mana construct. He didn't sound convinced, and Cass wasn't particularly convinced either. She didn't know the details about 'mana constructs' or Ahryn's skill, but she would have assumed such a construct would have been constructed by a skill the field would have deactivated by now.

But there was so much magic she knew nothing about. For all she knew, it was some magical third thing. Maybe the divine had rules completely unrelated to the magic of skills, mages, or souls.

And, really, this was the only idea she had.

Ready? Cass asked.

This is a bad idea, Salos replied.

But are you ready?

I see a dozen more problems with this plan.

He was exaggerating a little, but he wasn't wrong that there were a few obstacles.

1. The goddess's manifestation had a suppressive gravity aura that would almost certainly return if Ahryn's skill ended.

2. Kohen could not move under the goddess's suppression, and he couldn't use his demonic devouring skills under Ahryn's.

3. Salos couldn't use Fairy Fire on a target inside Ahryn's skill suppression field.

Answer? She needed to deactivate both Ahryn and the goddess's suppression fields. Removing Ahryn's was as simple as asking nicely (probably) or, in the worst case, waiting for him to pass out.

Removing the goddess's was trickier.

She didn't have a skill for that. She assumed Ahryn couldn't narrowly target her either, or he would have done that to begin with. And, even if he could, that would still leave her untargetable by Salos's Fairy Fire.

Was it just an unworkable idea?

No. Wait. There was that in her bag, wasn't there?

How solid do you suppose the goddess is? Cass asked. The phantom woman was translucent, but then, so was Cass's aura cloak, and that was plenty solid when she wanted it to be.

I don't know. I don't have a history of attacking gods' manifestations.

And I don't really want to make a pattern out of it either, but here we are. Can we stab her, Salos?

I don't know. Maybe? How does stabbing her help us?

'Maybe' was not the answer Cass was hoping for, but she rummaged through her Bag anyway, trading Erizen's Blade for her scavenged Skill Sealing Dagger, the one Levina used on her back in Uvana.

Just apply Fairy Fire to the goddess as soon as you can, Cass said.

Abyss, Salos huffed but sent the impression of a nod over their bond.

Cass ran, shouting as she went, "Ahryn! Cut your skill!"

She passed the threshold of Ahryn's skill before he could react. She slowed as Stormstride deactivated. Doubts fluttered to the fore of her mind as Soul Guard failed. Why give Kohen this role? Why not seize it herself?

How much stronger would she be if she absorbed this fragment of a goddess?

The thoughts were sweet, their promises heady. She could be more.

<Devour. Grow stronger. Be more.>

Irrational. Invasive. These weren't her thoughts.

Just keep running.

The goddess was just ahead.

Ahryn's skill dropped.

Cass's skills came rushing back, every one of them screaming for her attention. She flicked on Soul Guard, let Stormstride run, and forced herself to ignore the rest.

The gravity hit her next. Only Cass's existing momentum carried her forward.

Just another step.

The goddess's silhouette lit up with purple flames. I've done it. Now what?

Behind her, the captain advanced on Alyx, entirely unfazed by his goddess's skill.

"Give up, traveler," the goddess taunted. Her face was hidden behind a heavy helm, but Cass could feel her smirk all the same.

Cass forced her body forward another step to stand beside the altar.

Her knees shook under the pressure. Her shoulders bowed. Her entire body threatened to crumple under the goddess's domain.

Cass raised the dagger and stabbed into the aural form of the goddess.

Only for it to pass through the goddess without purchase.

"Useless." The goddess sneered down at Cass, her eyes glowing copper from under her helm.

Damn. Was that it? Was that all she had?

A blast of lightning jolted past her.

Cass blinked.

Kohen was next to her, his eyes wild, his phantom hand latching onto the front plate of the goddess's breast plate and dragging her down to his level.

How was he able to move all of a—

The gravity field was gone.

Cass stared at the dagger's blade, still submerged in the ghostly form of the goddess. Was that enough? She almost laughed. No one had said she had to cut her target with her blade. Contact with the bared blade was plenty.

"Vile demon," the goddess grunted, her armored hands gripping at Kohen's phantom one, but unable to break his grip.

He said something in return, his voice vicious.

"Blame the traitors or your own misfortune if you want to blame someone," the goddess spat back.

His answer was to drag the goddess to the ground and pin her to the floor with his lightning blade.

She screamed as the blade went through her shoulder.

Gravity mounted as the goddess attempted to reengage her gravity field as Kohen pulled away from Cass's dagger in his attack. But Cass tossed the dagger into her, and the skill ended immediately.

Kohen laughed. It was a dark, sadistic thing. His phantom hand ripped the breastplate of the goddess's armor off. It disintegrated into a cloud of copper particles, rejoining the senseless clouds of shattered souls from which it had come.

His hand dug into her phantom chest, pulling free globs of forest green soul. He pressed it to his lips. Most flowed down his face, evaporating back into the clouds around him. But more than enough filled his bulging soul to bursting.

That was going to be a problem.

But so was the paladin captain dragging Alyx from the dragon's back on the other side of the room.

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