"Graahhhhhhhh!"

  Nathan let out a scream fueled by adrenaline and desperation as he made a move so foul that he'd have been declared the loser if this was a gentleman's duel, but it wasn't and so he swung his sword between the legs of the demon lord.

  He had no idea if it was the boost from blood rebellion or the fact that the demon lord had obviously skipped his constitution stat in favor of strength, maybe it was a combination of both, but Nathan didn't care. With rage, pain, and desperation fueling Nathan's attack, the demon's badly tempered body stood no chance as Nathan's sword tore through the fragile resistance it tried to put up.

  He grunted as his sword struggled to go higher than the demon's chest, already having split it from between its legs to its chest. The pause didn't matter; the demon lord looked at Nathan in shock before pulling out a shiny object from thin air, mumbling something even as blood poured out of its mouth as it pointed the shiny object in its clawed palm at Nathan. He got a brief feeling of déjà vu at the motion, but unlike the last time a demon had done that, nothing happened this time. A look of realization crossed the demon's face, but it didn't matter as it fell on both knees, staring at Nathan like the berserker was the monster. It tried for a weak lunge at him, but the attack could barely reach him before its head was caved in by Nathan's flying fist, the shiny object in its hands dropping to the floor as Nathan kicked the demon off of his sword.

  "Who's pathetic now?" Nathan said.

  A wave of euphoria enveloped him, but he dismissed the feeling, opting to turn his eyes to the back. So far, the fraction of the squad behind him had been doing well. Yola seemed to be injured with the bunny protecting the downed ranger. Daniel locked eyes with him, the ranger nodding to let him know that they had everything under control. Nathan nodded back. With a sharp intake of breath, he faced front and dashed into the settlement—he had to find the other fraction of the squad.

  He went in the direction he'd seen the fireballs come from, and soon the battle site was in view. He was coming from the back while the trio—Pirlo, Ruben, and Ciara—were at the front holding off the miners that had stayed back in camp and a dwarf who seemed to be giving Pirlo a run for his money. In front of him though were lots of miners—about seventy to eighty—cheering on the others. Nathan hated to be a party crasher, but right now he had to be just that.

  With rage still fueling him from the demon lord's words, Nathan cut through the miners like they were carrots. Life-steal triggered and waves of euphoria enveloped him, but he didn't stop until it was just him—a berserker soaked in different colors of blood—with Pirlo, Ruben, and Ciara still battling the single dwarf who was doing an excellent job of keeping the trio at bay. At sighting the berserker charging towards him, the dwarf's eyes widened like saucers before he raised his massive warhammer for an overhead strike, the hammer hitting the ground with an audible thud. Dust rose up from the ground as a mini earthquake rocked the forest; the dwarf had most likely used a skill, but that didn't stop Nathan from charging straight through the debris to find... nothing.

  He stood alert, still waiting for the dust to settle. When it settled down reasonably, he saw the short, stocky dwarf running away. Nathan badly wanted to catch his breath, and a quick glance at the others told him that they too wanted to do the same.

  "Quick guys... he's going to the Portal hall!" Ciara coughed.

  Gritting his teeth, Nathan dashed forward, running towards the dwarf who had a sizeable lead at the moment, one that Nathan was steadily closing with each step. The dwarf ducked into a huge hall, and Nathan soon followed, a blue light causing him to pause at the center. The hall didn't have a ceiling, but what was interesting was the glowing blue circle hovering vertically in the air—the portal.

  Nathan wanted to dash forward, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to make it considering how much of a lead the dwarf had on him, so he did the next best thing. Reaching into his bag of holding, he picked up an item he thought he'd never use, steadied himself, and then threw it at the exposed back of the fleeing dwarf.

  Thwack!

  Thud!

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  His aim had been true, and the force behind the throw sufficient enough to make the axe not only sink into the dwarf's spine but also toss the dwarf to the floor. The commander wouldn't be going anywhere anytime soon. With his foe downed, Nathan rushed forward, getting to the dwarf who was now trying to crawl towards the portal.

  "What are you mining here and why is it so important to you?" Nathan asked, cutting straight to the heart of the matter.

  "I'll... never... tell... you... anything. Relas Touch... will... avenge me.... I—"

  Another monologuer. Nathan frowned, crouching down as he pulled the axe out of the dwarf's back and in one swift motion chopped off the head of the cowardly dwarf. His sword nor fist would be tainted by the blood of such a coward. Standing to his full height, Nathan spat on the corpse before heading over to the portal. Disabling it only took a moment as Ciara and the rest of the squad had gone into detail on how easy it was to disable a portal, bringing back the urge to slap himself for skipping the portal.

  Shaking his head, he dismissed the feeling as he pulled up his notifications which had been going off during the massacre he'd just carried out on the miners. The words on the screen caused him to regain his grin—covered up in blood as he was, he was definitely a nightmare-worthy poster.

  [Level Up! 39 -> 40

  Level Up! 40 -> 41

  Level Up! 41 -> 42

  Level Up! 42 -> 43

  Level Up! 43 -> 44

  Level Up! 44 -> 45

  Level Up! 46 -> 47

  Level Up! 48 -> 49

  Level Up! 49 -> 50

  Level Up! 50 -> 51

  Quest completed - 1. Destroy Incursionist portal (1/1)

  Receive reward?]

  Yes

  A thud echoed in the cave as a chest dropped to the floor. Without hesitating, Nathan opened it up to find a skill book resting on the plush velvet pillow in the chest. Like a child getting a new toy, Nathan quickly picked up the skill book and opened it.

  [New skill Available

  Blood Boil (I): Burn off 10% of your foes' health. This skill requires you to have a higher Vitality than your targets and for them to be within 20m of you, for you to be able to boil their blood. You can utilize this skill on a maximum of three foes at once. This skill can only be used once every 24 hours.]

  Do you wish to learn this skill?]

  Yesssss

  New information flooded into his brain as the skill book disintegrated. Just like that, he'd gotten an area of effect skill that could potentially change the way he fought. He was feeling pretty good because of the new skill until he checked the next notification.

  [Congratulations! You are now eligible to begin your First Class evolution;

  Estimated time to evolve class: 10 hours.

  Do you wish to begin evolution to Blood Baron now?]

  Uhmm... No.

  He'd immediately wanted to say yes but had held himself back. His faction was still out there, and if this was anything like his class integration, then he couldn't pass out right now—he needed to be alert. He closed the screen with a thought, not even bothering to check his new stats; his class evolution would have to wait. Sighing at the personal decision, he made his way out of the hall. The entire squad was outside, and the mood was somber.

  "We won, guys. What's with the long faces?" Nathan asked.

  Before anyone could answer though, he saw it. Right there on the floor was Yola—the Ranger was dead. The bunny was still at her side even in death. Already wrinkles had started forming on her face, which meant the system was starting to degrade her body. Ultimately what worried Nathan was the fact that maybe he could've saved her if he'd stayed back, but he hadn't.

  "She died bravely. We were waiting for you to show up before we give her a peaceful eternal rest," Ruben spoke up somberly.

  "I—" Nathan started.

  "It's okay, we understood the risks but we took them anyway. Ciara?" Pirlo said.

  "Yola was one of the best people I've ever met even though we'd only spent a few weeks together. She was quiet and kind," Ciara said, receiving nods from everyone. "She deserves the peace that the afterlife will provide her, and I'm honored to send such a sweet soul on her way."

  Sniffles broke out amongst the teens, but Nathan couldn't be bothered to check who was making the noises—he was too busy trying to keep his tears in. Like the bunny understood what was about to happen, it hopped away from the corpse, and the rest of them spread out. Without another word, the mage chucked a fireball at the body of the ranger, the magical fire consuming the body greedily, and all Nathan could think was that this was all on him. She'd died because he hadn't been smart enough, strong enough, and fast enough. That was all Nathan could think as his eyes focused on the flames.

  If you can hear me, then this is my promise to you, Yola. I'll get better. I'll work twice as hard. I'll do better, I swear it.

  ————

  "My king, Taloth has failed in his task," Demon Prince Kabash said.

  "The upstart finally met his end, I see," Zephyr the VII said in a disinterested tone. "Very well, the task to deliver the baby world now falls to you, Kabash. I trust that you will not fail me."

  "I will never fail you, my King."

  "We'll see."

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