My class [Death Knight] is just barely legal…

Emeri and I hid behind a rock as we observed our target. The church in question was built on a small island that sat in the bay, surrounded by a formation of shark rocks that jutted out of the water and broke the waves before they hit the shore. At first glance, nobody would have believe that the small, dilapidated building could ever house one of Helios’ statues.

To be fair, the church had only ever used them to ratify their own teachings, not even bothering to use the carvings as holy symbols. Until the first statue was ‘defaced’, the clergy had thought them to be mundane creations at best. Now, however, they were starting to catch on that something was up.

As a result of our previous raids, the church had decided to guard the remaining two targets, as evidenced by the platoon of guards that patrolled the small island and the surrounding bay.

Our plan this time was more complicated than any we had needed to implement previously. Dalius’ forces had been split in half so that we could secure both locations within a short amount of time. Summarised, we were set to take this coastal church first, after which we would take a teleportation gate to the capital underground, where the next and final statue was being guarded.

The guards that were patrolling the bay had already stealthily been taken out and replaced by Dalius’ men in disguise. Only the guards down below were left. Our goal was to take the church as quickly as possible, initiate the vision and evacuate before reinforcements arrived.

Right at the end of the vision, Dalius would charge the other location and have it under his control right as we were supposed to get there, allowing us to initiate the final vision. All in all, the timing of both raids would be crucial. A moment too early and reinforcements would arrive at the second location before we could finish the vision. A moment too late and we would be delayed, therefore damned to the same fate.

By splitting our forces, we had also significantly weakened our offence. To make matters worse, our only tier 5 was in the capital, leaving us with a few tier 4 classers to take point. Luckily, it seemed that the church had lowered its guard enough. With some luck, the only tier 5 we would have to deal with would be the golem that would come to life, no doubt. This time, we had come with some precautions, however.

I was distracted from my musings when one of Dalius’ lieutenants made a circular motion with his hand in the air, signalling the start of the raid. Instantly, a portal opened up on the island and on the cliffs, allowing our men to stream through. Emeri and I went for another route, flying in from the back of the island while staying hidden behind the rocks surrounding the island.

I carried Emeri on my back as I did so, finding the feeling of carrying someone while ‘flying’ odd. I tried to make my consecutive dashes as quiet and smooth as possible, but I had a feeling she was having a bumpy ride back there.

Eventually, though, we reached the back end of the church, which was devoid of guards. All of them had rushed to the courtyard in the front, where a huge battle had broken out, from the sounds of it.

We snuck around the side of the building, searching for another way inside, when I heard the sound of stones rubbing against each other. Sure enough, the head of a golem rose above the steeple of the church, reinforcing our hypothesis that each church had one of the tier 5 monsters.

Thankfully, our preparations weren’t for nought. A set of purple ropes rose into the air, wriggling like snakes and surrounding the golem on all sides. Before the creature could react, the ropes struck and constricted the construct. They grew tighter the more the creature struggled, sapping mana from it simultaneously. One of Dalius’ contacts, a borderline illegal craftsman had provided the tool. The ropes weren’t that impressive when compared to other tier 5 classers, but they were the perfect weapon to use on constructs that had a finite amount of mana charged into their core.

As the golem lost fuel, it also weakened, strengthening the ropes hold on it. I knew that within minutes, the beast would collapse under its own weight.

Unfortunately, Emeri and I didn’t have the time to spectate the rest of the battle. Dalius’ men were taking advantage of the element of surprise and were pushing said advantage to its limit, slowly overwhelming the guards despite their superior numbers. For now, we would have to trust them to watch our backs.

We found a side door that had been barred on the inside, but quickly broke through with some AOE skills. Once inside, we came across half a dozen guards that had remained behind to guard the statue itself. From the looks of it, these were the weaker ones that were less experienced. I could only sense a few young tier 2s and a single, older tier 4 that led them. Judging that the tier 4 wasn’t far into his tier, I knew that I could take him.

“I’ll take the old guy. Can you take care of the rest?”

Emeri gave me an affirmative nod, before brandishing her spear and charging at the perceived weakest link. He was ready to meet her, but still couldn’t react fast enough to her strike. Her spear struck true, instantly killing her opponent by piercing his head with a sickening crunch.

The older guy, who looked just about ready to jump into his own grave, released an infuriated roar and ran over to help his subordinate. I stopped him by blocking his path with chains and using the opportunity to stab him in the back with the sharp dagger-like attachments that I could create at the end of my other chains. To his credit, the old geezer spun around like a spring chicken and blocked each of my attacks with his rapier, bouncing the chains away with significant force.

“Normally, I would have some fun with this… But I don’t have the time today, old man.” I threatened. He didn’t vindicate me with a reaction, but from the way his back straightened as I drew my brand-new sword, I knew that he understood that he couldn’t win this battle. Instead, he had grown determined to stall me as long as possible, even going so far as to ignore the deaths of his subordinates as they fell around him.

I brandished my weapon, a sword that Ash had taken the time to procure for me. I had bought the tier 3 weapon from him at market price, thanking him for allowing me to keep practising my skills in the meanwhile.

The bastard sword wasn’t particularly powerful or durable, at least compared to what I was used to, but it was a significant improvement from the tier 1 sword I had loaned after my greatsword broke.

Looking at the death-defying glint in the eyes of the man that stood in my way, I knew that I would need it if I wanted to finish this quickly.

I dashed forward, making use of my newest movement skill to close the distance and used a breaking swipe as I soared. The skill connected with a deafening clang, meeting the readied rapier with force. The old man attempted to parry my strike as he had done to my chains, but found himself disappointed as my blow proved too heavy to push back. Instead, he had to take a few steps back himself. He retook his stance, lifting his rapier to the sky, before bringing it down and pointing it right at me. He charged forward and made a rapid series of jabs as a skill activated on his end. The rapier darted back and forth as I let it stab into my chest repeatedly, leaving two dozen wounds.

His eyes went wide, not having expected his attack to connect. His hope rekindled, he sought to finish me off with another skill, but paused as he realised what was going on.

Using one hand to grasp his wrist and keep it firmly in place, I used the other to lift my sword. In a futile attempt to free himself the old paladin tried to wrench his arm free, even pulling out a dagger to cut it off. Too late.

My sword came down, dissecting the man in half by burying the blade between his neck and shoulder, before pushing it through until I had severed the top half of his body from the bottom.

He released an unbelieving, pained gasp as he toppled backwards, not understanding why I would go so far… Until his quickly dimming eyes saw me pull out the rapier from my chest and throw it to the ground. My wounds closed within seconds, replacing the shadow-like holes that stopped me from bleeding with actual flesh and muscle. A clever combination of [Adaptive physiology] and [Dark manifestation] made things so easy sometimes.

“Monster…” the old man whispered as he breathed his last. I cringed, not liking the moniker.

By now, Emeri had finished the rest of the guards, leaving us with the perfect opportunity to start the vision.

I placed my hand on Emeri’s shoulder and crouched down next to her, nodding to give her the go-ahead.

A moment later, everything went black.