With the lifeless body slung above his left shoulder and his heart drumming in his ears, Ethan jumped up in the air. He could see nothing, but he hoped to at least break through the canopy and away from his enemies until he regained his vision.

  I could use [Detect Life] here, but I can’t afford to switch things out right now. I can’t afford to dispel the wings and the claws.

  Ethan grit his teeth, and even though he couldn’t see anything, he could picture Edwin’s smirk, but he couldn’t fight them blind. It was hard enough to go three against one, but with his eyes out of the equation, the situation went from somewhat risky to straight up suicidal. But no matter. As long as he could wait out the blindness, he would be fine, and he could go back on the offensive. Clearly, the blindness was poison or magic based and sooner or later, he believed his body would fight off but in the meantime, he couldn’t just stay down and wait for them to get free shots at him.

  And of course, he wasn’t retreating without his loot. Especially when he might be getting something out of it.

  He rose in the air with ease. The body wasn’t heavy, and Ethan could feel the magic of the dagger pulse. He hoped it’d be something electric, like that attack he got hit with, and he could already picture himself turning such a spell against Edwin.

  Just the thought made him want to go back down and rush at the man.

  Patience…

  Air whooshed about him as he quickly gained altitude, filling him with trepidation. He just had to get up high and wait. But before he could even reach the canopy, his head and wings hit something. A soft barrier. Ethan willed more mana in the wings and flapped harder, pushing with his right arm, but the barrier, which was made from tightly woven threads, only gave for a bit before it refused to yield any further.

  Shit. A net?

  Something whistled past his ear and sunk into the dead man’s body with wet squelch, but Ethan only focused on his exit. His throat was dry, and the adrenaline was making his blood rush faster throughout his limbs and body. Making him frantic.

  Maintaining altitude, Ethan summoned a powerful jet of fire with his right claws and sprayed above him. He was already thinking of the alternatives. How long could he last, down there? Surrounded by Edwin and his people?

  The thought was worrying, but also exciting. And the more he thought about it, the more appealing it became. After all, wasn’t he a juggernaut? Was he not supposed to eat his enemies' attacks and still triumph in the end?

  Ethan shoved with the claws once more, only to be met with a burning hot net that made him wrench his hand back with a hiss. Even though the fire resistance of the Arcanum’s unique trait was active, the net still burned him.

  He clicked his tongue then exhaled. I gave the reasonable plan a shot, he thought as he fell back down to the ground. Time to be a juggernaut.

  Still, he felt vindicated, in a way. He had expected this little troupe to be still hiding some tricks, and they were. Now he just needed to outlast their assault. How hard could that be?

  His scaly feet hit the ground hard, digging into the soft soil and without wasting any time, he threw the still pulsing body under him and wrapped the scaly wings around as he crouched. He slipped a hand under the wings and with a focused effort, summoned a torrent of fire that he swirled around.

  Child of Flames should be able to help him last longer, and if things got rough, he could always use Scorching Ascendency for a serious stat boost, and—

  A roar shook the cave, and Ethan almost burst out of his cocoon to run. There was a loud thump, followed by another, and then it all quieted down once more, and the only thing Ethan could hear were the sounds of his own heartbeats and the roaring fire swirling around his body.

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  The lord sounded a lot closer than Ethan expected. He might not even have to last long if this little party was about to be interrupted, he thought before turning his attention back to what he’d been doing.

  Come on, heal!

  His left claws were shooting a smaller jet of flame over the wound and his chest and face. With a grimace, Etan opened an eye and let the fire slide over it, flinching, but same as with his skin and body, his own fire couldn’t harm him, and it wasn’t as the brightness could affect him either.

  Oh?

  He’d been spraying his own face with fire for barely a couple of seconds when he started to regain vision in his opened eyes. Maybe it was the fire, or maybe it was his own body fighting off the magic, but flecks of orange and white were beginning to cut through the darkness, and right as he opened his second eye and increased the fire spraying him in the face, something pierced through his wing and cracked into the side of his knees.

  Ethan groaned with pain and leaned on his other leg to relieve some of the weight on the impacted area, but it wasn’t over. In the next moment, something cold and slimy hit his left wing, then his right, and just like the net above them, the thread refused to burn and instead, it was growing hotter. That in itself was worrying, but then the threads began pulling on him, trying to draw the wings away from him, which only made Ethan think of one thing.

  Where is she?

  Of his three opponents, the woman was the most dangerous, especially if she could blind him again.

  He grit his teeth, ignoring the burning pain from the overheated threads still tugging at him, and focused on trying to hear or sense the woman, so he felt it when there was a pulse somewhere behind him.

  Ethan began twisting to shoot an [Arc of Force] behind him, only for another hard projectile to pierce through the wings once more before embedding itself on his scales, right against his hip-bone.

  “Fuck,” he cursed under his breath spittle flying while the smell of burnt clothes and earth filled his nostrils.

  Ethan’s mental finger was right on the trait. He was ready to boost his stats, even if he still felt it might be a waste considering how long the days were in this damn place. The flecks in his vision have become blobs of orange and white. Barely useful, but better than nothing.

  He ignored the pain and tried to sense when the woman would come, spell ready.

  Maybe I need to show an opening. In that case…

  Something crunched to his left, and Ethan swiveled and shot a fireball in the sound’s general direction. There was a loud bang, followed by a shower of upturned soil, but he was still waiting, breathing hard as he resisted the threads pulling on his wings. Thankfully, it seemed Edwin had to choose between mana-stealing or durability, or Ethan would have been in deep trouble.

  Unless he’s tricking me and he’s holding that in reserve.

  There was another loud thud, closer, and Ethan felt his insides twist as the monstrous lord approached them, and right then, he heard a rustle. Just behind him.

  Ethan twisted and let the threads pull him away as he jumped back and shot the [Arc of Force] behind him. But he heard no impact.

  Shit.

  As soon as he realized he’d been tricked, Ethan triggered Scorching Ascendancy and wrapped himself with fire as he dismissed the wings. A hot, burning wave of energy ignited out of his chest and instantly spread down his limbs, and Ethan felt the power imbue his flesh and scales, like metal being tempered, right as something sharp and cold slipped between his shoulder-blades.

  Ethan shouted in pain and alarm and whirled with his claws in time to hear a curse and see the shadow disappear.

  He stood there, panting as he tried to sense the damage, but it didn’t seem like the dagger managed to get too deep in. His vision was now improving quite fast, and he peered around as another thump shook the ground under him, right as something plinked painfully on the side of his head.

  The well of strength continued to pour into his body, and now Ethan could see. Everything was still foggy, but he could make out the shapes. He could see the man who just shot him in the head, he could see Edwin, and he could see the panting shadow that appeared next to him.

  I don’t know how long this boost will last, but I need to take her out of the fight.

  Ethan glanced behind at the smoking corpse behind him, and saw a bright piece of purple, shining like a star against the sea of dark browns and grays. With a lunge, he picked it up just in time as a mushroom tree toppled a dozen or so yards away, and a giant, moss covered monitor stepped in. It growled in its throat, a sound that made Ethan’s insides vibrate, eyes shining with a sickly green light, and the gaze of the lord fell on him.

  Then it roared, and Ethan thought that maybe all the fire spells were a bit of a trigger to a being that loved swamps and moss.

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