The world snapped back into focus with a rush of air and the sharp sting of pain. My head throbbed, and for a moment, I was disoriented, struggling to remember where I was and what had just happened. Then it all came flooding back—the warehouse, the glowing spell circle, the crystal that had shattered in a pulse of magic. I forced myself up, ignoring the dull ache in my ribs, and scanned the area. "What hell?"

Crentist was already on his feet, his posture tense, helmet tilted slightly as he scanned the room. I was pretty sure the magical explosion thingy hadn't affected him at all. His helmet thrummed with power, which I now realized were the very same energies from earlier, captured and weaponized for Crentist's personal use. That would be a rude awakening for any Mage looking to mess with him. The warehouse was still intact, but the atmosphere had changed. The air was thick with a palpable sense of dread, and I could feel the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Something was wrong—very wrong.

"Crentist…" I began, but before I could finish, the shadows in the room began to shift.

A dark, ominous presence filled the space, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw something materialize in the center of the broken spell circle. It was a figure, tall and imposing, wreathed in shadows that seemed to pulse and writhe around it. As the darkness peeled away, it revealed a woman— not human... not a simple Mage, either. Her presence was beyond Viktor's... definitely not any entity I'd ever seen before.

Her presence was overwhelming. She was tall, with raven-black hair that cascaded down her back like a waterfall of ink. Her eyes were a piercing shade of crimson, glowing with a dangerous intensity that made my blood run cold. Black wings, vast and menacing, stretched out behind her, their feathers shimmering with an unnatural sheen. Much of her pale-white skin was covered in a layer of matte black – something like cloth or close to it, hugging her tightly, but in such a way as to make it seem like she had no body at all and that her torso was comprised entirely of shadow. The most unsettling thing about her, however, was the aura of power that radiated from her, thick and suffocating, like a storm waiting to be unleashed.

Quest Received: Devil in the Details
Objective: Survive
Option 1: Defeat Helia Stolas
Option 2: Escape

Reward/s:
3000 War Points

Helia Stolas. That was the name of this... creature before me. Because that was what it was. Not human. Not at all. It was a thing, a monster. In fact, that very name appeared right above her, in red – with a skull emblem on the right side of it.

An alert flickered in my mind, an instinctual understanding granted by the System's vast knowledge. This enemy was, quite frankly, beyond me in terms of pure power. It was a subconscious thing, I realized, which was the same mechanic that allowed me to compare myself with everyone around me, telling me that I was now far greater than any human. But the winged creature before me, who'd taken on the guise of a woman, was as far removed from humanity as the stars in space were from earth. The gap was ridiculous.

However, I had a very distinct advantage. See, that subconscious knowledge also told me that pretty my 99% of her power came from magic. Very potent magic, of course, so great that Viktor seemed like an ant in comparison, but magic all the same. And Crentist, a Culexus Assassin, was a bottomless void whose very presence was anathema to magic – or life, in general. And that meant I had a chance at surviving, maybe even at winning. I just had to play my cards right. With Crentist at my side, it suddenly wasn't impossible. Sure, the... creature before me, Helia Stolas, was a being of incredible power, like a rushing flood of raging waters, but the Culexus Assassin was a bottomless hole that would simply absorb all that water until there was nothing left.

So, fuck it; I was not going to run away, in fear, like a damn chicken. I was going to beat or kill her and earn the bonuses.

Crentist immediately stepped forward, placing himself between me and Helia. His presence seemed to agitate her; the air around us crackled with tension, and I could see her eyes narrow as she focused on him, ignoring me completely. Good.

"What are you?" Helia's voice was a low, dangerous growl, filled with venom. Her crimson eyes narrowed as she pointed an accusing finger at Crentist. And I saw it then, hidden behind all the flashy effects she had over herself – fear. Not enough to cause her to shake where she stood or anywhere near enough to cause her to retreat. I did not miss the hesitation, however, the slight doubt that most definitely entered her mind when she grasped just what Crentist was. She didn't even care about my presence. "You... you're not supposed to exist. Abomination! I shall end you and your mortal slave right here, right now!"

Huh, yeah, she had it backwards, but I could see why she thought that way. Crentin was outright stronger than me by a very wide margin; so, it was only natural for her to assume that I was the subservient party.

Crentin turned to me and shrugged.

Her wings flared out, and with a flick of her hand, the shadows around her coalesced into a swarm of demonic crows, their eyes glowing with the same crimson light as hers. They let out a deafening cacophony of caws as they launched themselves at Crentist, talons and beaks aimed for his throat.

But Crentist was faster. He moved with blinding speed, his form a blur as he dodged and weaved through the onslaught of crows. His anti-magic aura flared, causing the crows to falter in mid-air, their forms flickering and distorting as they were torn apart by the very nature of his existence, the raw magical energies absorbed into the strange device that was a part of his helmet, which hummed and thrummed and glowed a sickly color as it devoured more and more of Helia's magic. Yet, even as the crows disintegrated, more took their place, summoned by Helia with nothing more than a thought.

I gritted my teeth and drew my Laspistol, aiming for Helia. Hey, I couldn't engage in melee since I was pretty sure she was more than strong enough to bust my skull open with a single punch. So, the Laspistol was my next best option – it was the only option, actually. Her eyes were fixed on Crentist. My Tempestus Scions training kicked in and I knew what I had to do to dispatch a superior foe. Distraction? Check. Lethal weapon? Eh, maybe. Positioning? Perfect.

I stood about eleven meters away from the inhuman witch when I took aim with the Laspistol; specifically, I aimed for her central mass. Las weapons worked best when aimed at larger targets as the laser beam usually had the side effect of vaporizing blood and causing organ damage as opposed to blowing off limbs. I pulled the trigger and watched as a beam of crimson light materialized, flashing like lightning. Something cracked in the air a feet or so away from Helia, like a floating magical circle that shattered like glass when the laser beam struck. The shadowy woman thing remained unharmed. So, I pulled the trigger again. This time, the beam struck her, forcing out a cry of pain as the crimson light blasted apart a chunk of the shadows around her form and causing the skin underneath to sizzle and hiss.

"Agh!" She screeched, eyes narrowing as she gritted her teeth. Oh. Oh no. She tanked a fucking laser beam.

"You fucking human," Helia's head snapped towards me, rage evident in her eyes.

"Oh shit..."

But before I could pull the trigger again, she was on me. One moment she was across the room, and the next, she was right in front of me, her hand outstretched to grab my throat.

I barely had time to react. My body moved on instinct, fueled by the [Tempestus Scions Training] that had been ingrained into my very being. I twisted away from her grasp, bringing up the Laspistol and firing off a shot at point-blank range. The beam of light shot towards her, but she was fast—too fast. She swatted the beam away with a flick of her wrist, the shot dissipating harmlessly against the wall behind her. What the shit? How the hell was that even physically possible?

"You think that pathetic toy will stop me?" Helia sneered, her voice dripping with contempt. She swung her arm in a wide arc, and I barely managed to duck as a wave of force sent me flying across the room. I slammed into a stack of crates, the impact knocking the wind out of me, rattling my very bones. Telekinesis? Yeah, that just had to be telekinesis.

I struggled to get back on my feet, gasping for breath. Helia was already advancing on me, her eyes blazing with fury. She was relentless, her attacks coming faster and harder with each passing second. I could feel the ground shaking beneath my feet, the very air around us crackling with the intensity of her power.

"Crentist!" I shouted, hoping that he could buy me some time.

He was already moving, launching himself at Helia with a speed that was almost inhuman. His anti-magic aura flared to life as he closed the distance, and for the first time, I saw a flicker of hesitation in Helia's eyes. She lashed out with a wave of shadows, but they faltered as they came into contact with Crentist's aura, dissipating into nothingness.

Crentist reached her in an instant, his fist connecting with her midsection with a sickening thud. The impact sent shockwaves through the warehouse, and for a moment, I thought it might actually be enough to take her down. But Helia was stronger than I'd anticipated. She staggered back, but she didn't fall. Her wings flared out behind her, and with a snarl of rage, she lashed out at Crentist with a flurry of blows. I wasn't entirely certain why he wasn't making use of his weapon just yet. Was it still charging up? I had no idea.

The two of them clashed in a brutal exchange of power, each strike echoing through the warehouse like thunder. Helia's physical strength was terrifying, far beyond anything I could hope to match. Crentist was holding his own, but I could see that it was only because of his anti-magic aura. Without it, we wouldn't stand a chance.

But even with it, we were barely holding on. So, I shot her again, the crimson beam bouncing right off magical ward of some sort and hitting the nearby wall, instead, melting both metal and concrete. Shit.

Helia's eyes locked onto mine, and I felt a chill run down my spine as she smirked. She raised her hand, and I saw the shadows around her begin to coalesce once more. A new swarm of crows took shape, their eyes glowing with malice as they turned their gaze on me. I kept firing anyway, each shot bouncing right off her shield. It wasn't breaking, like the last time. She'd done something different.

I knew I had to move, but my body felt heavy, sluggish. I was running out of options. I could feel the pressure building, the realization that we were in over our heads. This was a battle we might not win. Or, maybe not. Crentist still hadn't made use of his weapon, but I wasn't entirely sure what he was waiting for – the right time to strike, perhaps? And, whatever the case, despite struggling, the Culexus Assassin was holding his own. Up until Helia used her telekinesis to hurl a

Helia's voice cut through the chaos, cold and filled with disdain. "You will regret ever crossing paths with a Stolas, mortal. Your end is nigh. You and your abomination of a master."

Huh, she was still on that?

The crows descended upon me, their talons outstretched and beaks poised to tear into flesh. I raised my Laspistol, knowing it wouldn't be enough, but refusing to go down without a fight. Before they got to me, I shot down several of the crows with precise shots. Good. At least, these ones didn't have fucking shields.

And then, just as the crows were about to strike, the entire warehouse was engulfed in a blinding light, a shockwave of energy radiating outwards with a force that sent me crashing back to the ground. Helia's face twisted in disgust, horror, fear, and... an emotion I could not quite place as reality itself seemed to scream and bend and writhe in pain. I realized immediately what had happened. Crentist had finally activated his weapon.

The last thing I heard was Helia... screaming.