She looked directly at Jake for a moment, her eyes wide and unfocused, then her gaze shifted abruptly, moving past him as if he had ceased to exist entirely.
Her attention turned toward the northwest, toward the direction where the mountains loomed in the distance. Their peaks were barely visible through the haze of the destruction that surrounded them.
Terror flooded her face, which Jake didn't expect at that moment. She was winning, after all.
Before Jake could capitalize on her distraction, before he could close the distance between them and exploit this moment of distraction, the space surrounding her began to distort.
<She is teleporting.>
She vanished from the battlefield, leaving nothing behind but displaced air and the faint shimmer of dissipating mana.
…
…
…
The world reassembled itself in a blur.
Mara stumbled, falling to her knees on the uneven stone. The air was scorching and smelled of massive amounts of blood.
She found herself standing in the cave—the very same cave where Silas went to undergo his ascension.
She raised her gaze, and as she did so, her breath caught in her throat.
The cave was a complete and utter ruin. The crystal formations that had once grown on the walls and ceiling were reduced to nothing more than glittering debris scattered on the ground.
The ground itself had been transformed into a lake of cooling magma, sprinkled with bubbling acid pools that hissed, steamed, and released noxious clouds.
The ceiling above was scarred with scorch marks so deep they looked less like surface damage and more like grievous wounds carved into the living earth itself.
But it was what stood in the center of all that devastation, amid the ruins and the destruction and the remnants of what had been a battle, that made her blood freeze and her heart seize in her chest.
Reidar Miller was standing there, unmistakable and terrifying in his presence.
He looked exhausted, visibly worn down by whatever had ensued in this place. He was leaning against a rock to support his exhausted body.
But despite his clear fatigue, there was still a spark in his eyes, and his eyes weren't the only ones with that spark.
Reidar wasn't alone in that cave. Surrounding him was an army of monsters. Not the weak, shambling skeletons and small imps that he had in Havenwood.
These were true horrors. Enormous creatures with armored exoskeletons and wings. Living shadows that appeared to devour the surrounding light. And rising behind him were towering amalgamations of rock and magic, so immense that their heads nearly touched the cavern's roof.
And at Reidar's feet lay two pieces of a body.
Mara recognized the robes and the golden trims, now stained red and dissolving in acid.
<Silas!>
The man had been butchered. A whimper left her throat before she could stop it, which made Reidar notice her presence.
<Shit!>
He looked across the cavern, and his eyes locked onto hers. Strangely enough, there was no surprise in his eyes. In truth, Reidar was too worn out to even be surprised. However, his summons were still ok, so without a word, without hesitation, he lifted the baton in his hands and pointed it at her.
Hundreds upon hundreds of heads turned, and their eyes focused their attention on her with a singular purpose.
To kill her.
The Vorathid Sky-Hunters were the first to move. Their wings blurred, and they launched themselves across the cavern, closing the distance with terrifying speed.
Mara scrambled backward, her hands scrabbling for purchase on the rock. Panic overrode her mind. She couldn't fight this and hope to survive.
Silas was at Level 397; he was basically a god, almost to the same level as the progenitor himself, and yet, now he was dead, dissolving meat on the floor.
Standing there in Reidar's shadow, the vast, suffocating gap between them became impossible to ignore. It wasn't just that he was stronger; he was a catastrophe waiting to happen.
The gap between him and her hadn't bridged, even after she got rid of the system. But how? Was it possible that a single trait gave this man so much power? Did a trait make this enormous difference between individuals?
Silas's warnings, which had seemed overly cautious at the time, now rang in her ears. He had been right all along. Reidar had to be stopped—that much was undeniable—but as Mara took stock of her trembling body, she knew she was not the one who could do it. Someone or something else had to.
She lacked the power to even scratch his defenses. In all likelihood, only the Progenitor had the strength to bring a monster like Reidar to heel, but he already had his hands full.
Yet, she still had a role to play, but it wouldn't be here, standing within a god. To do anything of value—to make any difference at all—she first had to survive. That meant she needed to get out.
Mara scrambled to her feet, running back toward the tunnel entrance, knowing she wouldn't make it on foot. She needed distance. She needed to be anywhere but here.
The screech of the insects was right behind her. She could hear the snap of their mandibles and feel the wind of their wings.
She visualized a location far away from this cave. She started chanting the spell for long-range teleportation.
A glob of acid splashed against the rock inches from her boot. A Void-Claw materialized from a shadow to her left, swiping at her. The claw tore through her barrier like it didn't exist, carving a shallow gash in her arm.
She didn't stop. She didn't look back and completed the spell on time.
Just as a Sky-Hunter dove, the world twisted.
Mara vanished.
Reidar stood motionless, looking on the empty space where Mara had been just seconds before. He lowered the baton, letting its tip rest against the stone floor.
There was no trace of rage on his face, no hint of anger for the woman's escape. Instead, a faint smile curved across his lips.