Halo concentrated on Reaper’s battle, her hands balled into fists at her side, her tattoos beginning to shine. A spiral here. A curve there. Circles, squares, triangles glowed. A few feet ahead of her, a concentric halo of light formed with the sequence of glimmering tattoos, and as the light cycled through the shapes that marked her body, the halo expanded. The outer loops stretched faster than the inner, growing ever larger. Every ring rotated counter to the one beside it and in the middle of them all, a cavity formed. Within that void, a solid ball of light took shape, throbbing, pulsating, spinning, like a star was materialising before their eyes, the air around it shimmering as if caught in waves of heat.

  The ball swelled with a low hum, glowing in shades of white and yellow and red. Rough spikes, like fiery mountains erupted across its surface in cadenced waves, one rising whilst another receded. As the outer halos expanded, so did the star in its centre, and the hum intensified to a whine, like the groans of metal being slowly ripped apart.

  Soon, the orb was over ten feet across, the concentric halos surrounding it larger still. The whine built to a crescendo, a furious scream that made him put his hands to his ears and hunch over. Then the sound suddenly stopped, like it had done earlier when Halo appeared, as if it had been sucked into the mini star. The jagged spikes on its surface danced violently. The star spun faster than he could see, so that it almost appeared stationary.

  Then it detonated.

  A massive beam of white light shot forth from where the star had been, and collided with the six-legged behemoth that Reaper fought, slicing through the ant-like abdomen.

  “About time,” Reaper’s voice echoed in his mind.

  No sooner had the beam crashed against the demon lord than a twinkle of light appeared in the sky above it. A speck of a man hurtled towards the ground, and carved through the behemoth’s body, in a spray of green and blue blood. He landed with a shockwave that blew across the riverbank and almost knocked them down.

  The flames around the demons head flared furiously, but Reaper was already on the move, hooks embedding deep into the creature’s shoulders, as he propelled himself towards its neck. The speck of a man who had entered the arena ran across the demon’s body, a shadow of motion, leaping across its legs, its abdomen, its back, until he had caught up to Reaper. Haloes of light enveloped them both, tattoos blazing across Halo’s skin.

  From where he stood, Tyler couldn’t see what the two men were doing but in unison, they struck at the demon’s neck in a radiant blast of light that shone across the sky. As the glare subsided, and a silence descended upon them, where the behemoth had stood, a smoking crater twice its size remained. Reaper and the other man stood atop the back of the colossal body, as its elephant-sized legs toppled like trees being felled. Its chiselled torso lay in ruins, its arms scattered across the floor, clubs gripped tightly, but swords half-buried in the earth beneath. The horned head rolled to a stop by the river, green and blue flames sputtering to their death.

  And still, the fight was not done yet. During their fight, another hand had emerged from the portal, and was stretching it wider.

  Alina and the other two women stood, weapons drawn. Alina had her helm on now, her long silver hair flowing beneath. Halo turned to them, and suddenly, Reaper and the other man appeared at her side. The newcomer – Tyler assumed it must be Wraith – was a little taller than Reaper, dressed in tattered black clothing and a cloak that gently fluttered behind him. There was no discernible face that Tyler could see. Not even eyes.

  “What are they still doing here?” Reaper said aloud, his eyes on the portal. “He’ll come through soon.”

  “I thought it would be better to help clear the Knight, before attending to trivial matters.” Halo turned to them.

  {Halo offers you an [ENDOWMENT]}

  [LEGENDARY ENDOWMENT][HALO’S SANCTUM]

  [Immune to all damage for five minutes. XP cannot be gained during the duration of the endowment.]

  {Do you accept?}[YES][NO]

  {Halo offers you an [ENDOWMENT]}

  [LEGENDARY ENDOWMENT][HALO’S BLESSING]

  [Hits cannot miss and damage is multiplied against all opponents for five minutes. The multiplier applied is equal to the difference between you and your opponent’s levels. XP cannot be gained during the duration of the endowment.]

  {Do you accept?}[YES][NO]

  {Halo offers you an [ENDOWMENT]}

  [LEGENDARY ENDOWMENT][HALO’S FERVOUR]

  [Endurance will not decrease for the next fifteen minutes. XP cannot be gained during the duration of the endowment.]

  {Do you accept?}[YES][NO]

  Again, he pressed [YES] to all three, as did the others, it seemed. A brilliant burst of metallic amber light enveloped each of them, but this time the invisible coat on his shoulders felt heavier, more substantial. Immediately after, another burst of light and the same feeling of the invisible coat, followed by the final burst of light, and a warmth spreading through his body.

  Wraith spoke, in a raspy voice. “Why the endowments?”

  “Reaper asked me to,” Halo replied, turning to view the portal.

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  “You’re not expecting them to fight, are you?” Wraith said.

  “Of course not,” Reaper replied. He looked over his shoulder at Tyler. “I will come for you later. Now, the four of you must leave.”

  “Why?” Alina asked defiantly. “With these endowments, we can fight with you.”

  “We could keep them with us,” Halo offered in that cheery tone of hers. “They could serve as distractions for us. I could help chuck them at the Demon Lord, and then whilst he’s bewildered, you two sneak behind him with a killing blow?”

  Wraith chuckled, a raspy sound from the depths of his throat, but Reaper gave Halo a look before turning to Alina. “The only demons that could stop Halo from closing the portal are Demon Lords.–”

  “Or above,” Wraith cut in. It was his turn to receive a look.

  “Or above,” Reaper continued. “Your endowments won’t last long enough to save you. Once they run out, you’d be killed instantly if you stayed. The one we just killed was a Demon Knight, and you saw what it took to take it down. Usually, only the Knights and Acolytes come through, and the lesser spawn along with them. But sometimes, you get a Demon Lord, like the one that’s going to appear.” The portal had been widened to the size of a small building but still, those unearthly hands weren’t done, stretching it further.

  The women were quiet, as was Tyler. Like him, they were discovering things they had never known. Or maybe it was known. Maybe someone had researched it. Formed a theory. But just like Alina had said about magic last night, perhaps they had never looked into it further.

  “What is General Zeren? The one you mentioned earlier.” Alina asked.

  “A Demon Lord. That’s why he had to be contained.”

  “Contained how?”

  “With a dungeon.”

  “Like the one in the north?”

  “Yes,” Reaper replied.

  “So you’ve put a dungeon where the Academy was?”

  “We made the Academy itself a dungeon,” Halo interjected. “There’s no need to completely warp the area if there’s already a good prospect for containment there.”

  “And the students there? The staff?”

  “Anyone in the vicinity of the dungeon will also be absorbed into the dungeon,” Reaper replied.

  “Can they get out?” Alina asked.

  “No. Once inside, you can only leave when the main target of the dungeon has been slain.”

  “How could you be so irresponsible?” Alina asked.

  “Irresponsible?” Reaper replied, an edge to his voice.

  “Yes, irresponsible. Most of the students aren’t even level 100 yet. They won’t survive, and you’ve trapped them in there with this Zeren and who knows what else.”

  “They would have been alive when they were absorbed, and if they’re smart, they’ll find a safe place and stay hidden. Until we clear Zeren.”

  “Why did you have to contain him? Why not just kill him there and then, like that one over there?” Alina pointed to the remnants of the six-legged behemoth.

  “There’s a magnitude of difference in power between a Knight and a Lord. We had no choice. It requires at least four of us to take on the Demon Lords themselves, and there aren’t enough Riftborn left to deal with every threat. Our only option is to contain them, until we can face them as a group.”

  “Innocent people will die. Kids will die,” Alina whispered it, almost to herself. Her light-green eyes clouded with a touch of sorrow.

  “If they do, it will be because of you,” Reaper responded. For the first time, his eyes showed real emotion, glowing purple like Halo’s. Behind him, the portal still widened. Tyler wanted to leave. He could tell from the tone of the Riftborn that whatever was coming was not something they should be here for. Even Imanie and Emelyn seemed to be glancing towards the forest’s edge but no-one wanted to get hold of Alina.

  “Because of me?” Alina said indignantly. It was the first time Tyler had seen her truly unsettled.

  Halo cut in again, her tone cheery and light. “Why are you even bothering, Reaper? These heroes think they’re powerful with their epic armour and their fancy titles. This one’s a princess. Probably has someone wiping her arse for her. They don’t have a clue how their world is kept safe. All they care about are their petty squabbles, and who owns which bit of rock. Dismiss her. We don’t have time for this.”

  Reaper ignored her. “Yes, because of you. How long were you with the shapeshifters, letting them roam free? Not once did you consider the consequences of your actions?”

  “What do you mean?” Alina replied, her eyebrows furrowed. “We needed to make sure they didn’t know that we knew about them, so we could locate the real Mira and Celeste.”

  “And that one decision has led to all of this.”

  “All of this is because you turned up this morning to take Tyler, and gave them away.”

  “You made the decision to let them be free to wreak havoc. That portal over there. It was made far earlier than this morning. She’d probably been working on it all night. She had already planned for this. She’d probably already planned for the two outworlders, and to have your party killed in the process. I did make a mistake, it’s true. I made the mistake of not killing them when I felt their presence. I made the mistake of listening to you. Maybe it has been too long since I walked amongst the world of men. I’d forgotten how your kind betrays, even when you think you don’t.

  “So, if anyone else dies today, that will be all on you, Princess Alina.”

  Alina looked troubled. She opened her mouth to speak, but no words came. She closed her mouth, looked at the pebbles and thought, before turning back to Reaper. “I couldn’t have known. I just wanted to protect my sisters.”

  “Don’t let the mistakes of your past lead you to mistakes in your present, Fifth Defender of the Realm.”

  Alina’s eyes widened at Reaper’s words. Tyler saw them watering ever so slightly, a tiny tear falling from the corner of her eye. Imanie and Emelyn looked at her with some concern on their faces.

  Emelyn spoke, taking charge. Alina’s eyes remained on Reaper. “Come on. I think we need to go now.”

  “Yes,” Reaper said, turning back to the portal. “I think it’s time you went now. I would stay clear of the forest, until we have dealt with this matter.” He glanced over his shoulder at Tyler. “I’ll see you soon.”

  Halo and Wraith already faced the portal and the rest of them watched as the hands disappeared back into the portal that was now as high and wide as a fifteen-storey building. From the desolate, dark wasteland beyond, an obsidian figure emerged, as tall as the gateway itself. It was inscribed with symbols that Tyler did not understand, and from which fire flared and licked at the air.

  Red eyes glowed above a wolf’s snout with jagged white teeth and a dark hanging beard. Its ears were like a bats, wide and thin, stretching away from its head, beneath two large horns that curled outwards as if they sheltered the ears. Bark-like carvings stretched across its chest, like armour made from dead trees, ridges and points lining the edges of its body, stretching down to its thighs. It had two human-like arms, fiery symbols spouting flames but from its ribcage, and its abdomen, multiple other arms extended outwards, except they looked nothing like arms. They were more reminiscent of a spider, with serrated blades all along their length. From its back, large wings flared with a membrane stretched thin and its edges ending in talon-edged fingers.

  The Demon Lord’s thighs extended to powerful legs that ended in hooves, and as it walked, smaller versions of itself scuttled around its feet. Demons like the wolf-head he had killed earlier, but these were larger than the Riftborn, and like their master, they had various aspects of the Demon Lord. Some had the fiery runes, whilst others had several extra limbs, and yet others had the wings and horns.

  “That’s not a Demon Lord,” Reaper said, a determined edge to his voice. “That’s a Demon Prince.”

  “You all need to go. Now,” Halo said, before refreshing their endowments. The four of them took her offer, flaring briefly in the metallic amber glow and they turned in unison and headed for the forest’s edge. As they ran, Tyler risked a glance back. The three Riftborn were already in motion, but concerningly, the mini-demons had no interest in those three. Their eyes were firmly on Tyler’s party that was heading for the relative safety of the forest.

  The last thing Tyler saw as they plunged into the forest was the demons running after them.