Chris froze. If Gregor had a Dao, the man might actually be more powerful than him “I am sure your second Dao Solidification will work admirably, Sir Gregor. I must take my leave, there are still those who need our help.”

He hurried away to help escort several beleaguered stragglers into the town. They were few and far between—most were unable to survive the Beast Horde without the help of a group.

There was only one small band of defenders left by the time he was done, and Gregor had already gone to help them.

Rather than twiddle his thumbs, he dashed into Hartshire. Where was Dylan?

“Dylan!”

The crowd packed within the town shifted, but no one answered.

“Everyone, up on the walls,” Chris shouted.

Given some direction, the crowd began to move. There were four building clustered together inside the walls. The first two were the recognizable silhouettes of the System Weapon and Armor Vendors. One was a System building that Chris didn’t recognize. The final one was the inconspicuous settlement control building.

He scanned the crowd while walking toward the cluster of buildings. He couldn’t see Dylan, or Philip either. He did spot Bruce climbing onto the wall, though.

Most of the people were clustered around the ladders up to the wall by the time Chris reached the settlement control building. He reached for the door, but movement on the wall caught his attention. The attention of several people on the wall had suddenly snapped to the gate.

He dived to the side. Just in time.

A blood-stained axe flew past him and sank easily into the stone wall of the settlement control building.

“Sir Christopher, I thought we were allies. But here you are, caught trying to steal my settlement from me.”

With the dead guard’s long spear in one hand and Gregor’s old axe in the other, he turned to see dozens of humans by the gate. And, standing among them, grinning, was Gregor in his black armor. The gates slammed shut behind him.

Why hadn’t his [Danger Sense] not gone off? Oh, right. He had disabled it. Shit. If he’d had it active, would he have known Gregor’s beer was poison? Maybe. It hadn’t gone off for Xys’ venom, but that had been far stronger than whatever Gregor used. Maybe it bypassed it. Damn.

He re-enabled the skill.

Gregor smiled evenly at him. “I hope this wasn’t all a misunderstanding.” Gregor stepped forward, letting each of his words fall like a hammer. “Because. You. Should. Be. Dead.”

Chris felt his [Danger Sense] activate. He dodged to the side and grasped the handle of the axe as its trajectory reversed and it pulled itself from the wall.

Gregor stumbled, then set his footing. The axe lifted Chris off his feet and sent him hurtling toward the man. That wasn’t what he had expected to happen. He’d wanted to steal the axe, not be taken with it for a joyride.

But he could work with it.

Gregor’s armor had to be ludicrously heavy, because he only slid forward as the axe shot back toward him. His eyes widened as he saw Chris flying toward him. Gregor drew back his arm in a dark fist.

Chris dropped the long spear, and manifested his Beastblade. Simultaneously, he pushed his Dao of Suppression into the axe in his other hand, letting the black energy dance around the handle.

At the last moment, he released the axe. Gregor stumbled back as Chris’ weight no longer pulled him forward. The axe’s handle hit his hand and the black energy of Suppression spilled into him. Gregor’s knees trembled.

The Beastblade swung toward him, its curved edge glinting in the moonlight as it chopped into the big man’s arm.

A thick gash appeared in the black metal, but it held. How strong was that damn armor?

More Suppression entered Gregor’s body—sending him to his hands and knees—but red sparks suddenly manifested over the surface of his armor and crawled up Chris’ Beastblade, making for his hand. His [Danger Sense] flared. Chris vanished the Beastblade, letting the red energy drop to the ground.

He summoned his javelin, remembering to activate [Sunder] this time. He powered it toward the man, adding a payload of Suppression to it.

The javelin slammed into Gregor’s shoulder, putting him on his back. This time, Chris’ Dao failed to enter his body. A surge of red smothered the black energy, then surged toward Chris like a thunderbolt.

The energy struck him, leaving a smoking hole in his armor and knocked him backward. Chris’ head spun as he stared up at the night sky. The people on the walls stared down at him. Probably wondering what was going on.

He pushed himself to his feet, seeing Gregor doing the same. He’d discharged that red lightning. How the hell did he do that with his Dao? Was it because it was a different Dao? Or was it because it was stronger?

Chris felt a shiver of fear run down his spine. Either way. It had punched a hole in his armor. He didn’t want to find out what it did to flesh.

He dodged to the side as the axe flew toward him again. Then he ducked into an alley between two buildings. Lying there in the middle was Gregor’s old axe and chain. He snatched it up, then began whirling it like a cowboy’s lasso as he ran toward the wall.

Gregor pursued him, leaping onto the top of a building, before jumping down. Chris dodged the axe Gregor had thrown mid-flight; it bit into the wall behind him.

Chris let the axe fly out and around. Not aimed for Gregor’s but around him. The chain coiled around the big man’s legs, lashing them together.

Gregor went down as his legs were pulled tight.

Before the man could break free, Chris pelted him with a Suppression infused javelin, then yanked on the chain and slammed Gregor into the wall. The red energy around the man had faded, so Suppression sank into him with ease.

Gregor growled and recalled his axe to his hand. The axe tried to fly sideways as the stone it was embedded in groaned and grated. Gregor began to slide toward the axe, then, in a shower of fragments, the axe pulled free.

Suddenly smiling, Chris spun Gregor around again, slamming him into the wall. Gregor slammed into a ladder as the chain pulled on him again. Then he found himself ploughing into the wall as Chris yanked his chain once more.

Gregor hurled his axe again. Chris caught it as it passed, dropped the chain, and threw a Suppression filled javelin at him again.

It made the man pause for just long enough that Chris could lob the stolen axe over the wall.

He watched Gregor as he stumbled to his feet, then held out his hand. Gregor frowned. Then he was suddenly yanked backward into the wall.

“What did you do?!”

Chris grinned. “I pinned a toad to the wall.”

He summoned his Beastblade and rushed toward Gregor. The man’s armor began spewing out the red energy once again. Chris paused, then swung his weapon into Gregor with [Sunder] active. A huge dent appeared in the man’s breastplate and red energy blasted up the Beastblade.

Chris let his weapon vanish before resummoning it and repeating the procedure.

The man’s fist pounded against stone as the axe on the other side of the wall tried to pull itself and its owner together. The man’s fists left large cracks and craters in the wall, but nowhere near enough to get him out of the situation he’d found himself in.

“You know, Gregor. You might have actually won this fight if you had bought a cheaper axe.”

“Fuck you,” Gregor spat.

Chris stepped forward

“Wait. Wait. You can’t kill me. There’s… there’s… there’s an Area Guardian. Without me you’ll never defeat it. The town will never progress. You saw those green waterfalls in the forest earlier. That’s it! It’s a giant Slime thing, over thirty meters tall. If I die, you don’t stand a chance. Everyone will die.”

Chris paused in place and his mouth dropped open. “What? How do you know that?”

“I have a quest. Wait, I’ll show it to you.”

Christopher glanced around furtively, then walked up to Gregor. “You can truly defeat the enemy of my people?”

“Yes. Just let me down. Don’t you want me as an ally?”

“Remove your Dao, what I am about to tell you is in the strictest confidence.”

The red sparks disappeared. “Yes, yes, anyt—” Chris’ hand over his mouth silenced the man as he leaned in. Gregor lacked all of his prior charisma and charm—pinned to the wall, he just seemed pathetic. Not even worth killing. Chris frowned. He’d almost not gone through with what he was about to do.

He put his head next to Gregor’s and whispered into his ear. “I believe I owe you a drink.”

Gregor’s eyes widened as the implication of what Chris said hit him. Red sparks began to manifest over his skin once again. It was too late, the center of Chris’ palm, pressed close to his face suddenly liquified. A river of Slime and Suppression poured down his throat.