By this point, Edge was running low on magicytes again.

  Using Warlord’s Mantle to boost the sheriff’s attributes and blunt Yussuf’s blows had let Earl close the distance and engage his rival in hand-to-hand combat, but the Claw’s attacks were draining Edge’s reserves every time one slipped past Earl’s guard.

  He went ahead and ate his last mana seed, saving his potions and Overdrive to set up a killing blow. He was planning to rush in and join the melee the moment Wind Ward was back online, which should happen sometime within the next two minutes, although it was hard to count the seconds in the time-warped heat of battle.

  By this point, the sheriff had adapted to his opponent’s wind attacks. While they were still a deadly threat, he was dodging and blocking more of them, even when he didn’t have time to counter with his own magic. At one point, Earl reached out and grabbed a boulder to deflect an attack, lifting the massive stone with his bare hand while whipping his hammer around with the other.

  Of course, someone as powerful as Yussuf the Red wasn’t limited to a single skill. He supplemented each strike with the sword in his hand, so dexterously the weapon seemed like a living extension of his arm. Both his body and blade were bolstered by wind-aspected mana—two separate skills if what Edge was sensing was correct.

  Unlike Edge, who had only been fighting with his life on the line for a couple of months, the Claws’ leader had been living on Ord for years, serving as the warlord of a brutal gang who would slaughter him if he displayed even the slightest hint of weakness.

  As a result, Yussuf had more combat experience than anyone Edge had encountered. It was clear from the way he moved that the man was a master with his blade and an expert in at least one form of martial art. The energy emanating from his core revealed that he had reached the peak of stage two, and his battlefield awareness was off the chart—superhuman Perception supported by several passive skills.

  Their showdown continued as the chaos of combat raged all around them. Earl went all out while Edge did everything he could think of to keep the jailbird distracted. After another brutal exchange, the rivals came apart, fighting for breath as sweat and blood ran down their muscular bodies.

  At that same moment, Wind Ward came off cooldown. He was ready to try his luck the next time an opening appeared, when something inexplicable occurred.

  To the utter astonishment of both Earl and Edge, Yussuf turned and used his wind skill to cut down one of his own warriors—a powerful stage-two brawler from his crew who was returning from another part of the battlefield.

  Even in the heat of the moment, Edge was surprised enough to stop and stare. He couldn’t decide if the move had been an unforced error, an act of unrestrained bloodlust, or if the Claws’ leader had suddenly lost his mind.

  That all changed two seconds later, when a raging torrent of energy congealed within Yussuf’s core.

  Thanks to his growing ability to sense the skills of others, Edge could tell the man’s lethal wind attack had just ranked up—likely rank five judging by the potent emanations. As bad as that was, it only accounted for a fraction of the dense flows of magic swirling around Yussuf’s reactor.

  Understanding came crashing home like a wrecking ball through a stained-glass window. Oh shit. He’s evolving to stage three.

  In that moment, Edge knew he was standing on the precipice of a world of pain. Yussuf’s skill ranking up and his core evolving would make the already lethal warlord nigh unstoppable.

  He gathered his will and activated Overdrive as Edge and Earl sprang into motion—desperate to take the jailbird down before his evolution was complete. He downed both potions along the way. Their effects would only endure two minutes, but he hadn’t won by then, he’d be dead anyway.

  The duo closed the distance in a flash with their weapons at the ready—poised to unleash their strongest attacks.

  But the Claws’ commander had anticipated their reaction.

  A heartbeat before the men came into range, an intense gust of wind knocked them back, momentarily obscuring Edge’s view of Yussuf’s position. It only lasted for a few seconds, but during that time, the transformative energy hit critical mass and catalyzed the jailbird’s evolution.

  We must finish this before he adjusts to the changes. If the duo couldn’t find a way to gain the upper hand within the next handful of heartbeats, they were both going to die, and the settlement would fall along with them.

  Earl was burning through his reserves as he charged again, preparing to launch a triple skill combo in a final, all-or-nothing attack. It was an impressive display of combat awareness and unflinching resolve, but it wasn’t fast enough.

  Yussuf gestured, performing a combo of his own as Earl went in for the kill.

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  The great engine called Overdrive was rising from the depths but wouldn’t manifest for a few more seconds. Thus, Edge was helpless to do anything but watch as the Claw’s wind blade tore through his Mantle like it was no more substantial than the memory of yesterday’s dream.

  The sheriff’s shoulder exploded in a spray of blood mist as the arm holding his colossal war hammer came free from his body.

  Even losing a limb didn’t stop Earl. He roared his defiance and continued his assault.

  The next time Yussuf let loose, Earl raised a rock from the ground at the same time. The slab of solid stone exploded like it was made of spun sugar, but the skill had done its job. The Sheriff of Puppet Town came charging through the debris, holding a lump of stone in his remaining hand.

  He threw it just as Yussuf cast another spell, shearing Earl’s left leg off at the knee. The rock hit the jailbird hard, causing the Claws’ leader to topple with blood running from his temple. I don’t think that was a skill. Earl is just that badass.

  By the time that Yussuf’s magic claimed Earl’s leg, Edge had activated Shadow Play and closed over half the distance between them. He Leapt every time his boots hit the ground, squeezing every drop of Speed from Mantle and Fear along the way.

  The leader of the Crimson Claws was reaching out, igniting his core as he got ready to land a lethal strike. Edge would be there between the drawing of one breath and the next, but even still, he wasn’t going to make it in time.

  However, he wasn’t the only one who’d noticed Earl’s life was in imminent danger. The sheriff’s second in command was running to back him up, and two seconds prior, Able had thrown his hammer with everything he had.

  Half a heartbeat before Yussuf cast his spell, Able’s weapon came whirling in from the side. It struck the ground in front of the stage-three jailbird, just as his wind blade shot forth.

  When Yussuf’s skill struck the high-grade hammer, it exploded, shattering the haft in the process. As a result, the Claw was hit by the backblast of his own attack. While it wasn’t enough to critically injure the Durable warrior, the force was sufficient to send him stumbling back as dust obscured his view.

  His boots skidded across dirt as he fought to regain his balance… just as Edge landed in front of Earl and assumed physical form.

  The convict’s satisfaction twisted into rage when he realized his vengeance had been thwarted. That if he wanted to claim the sheriff’s life, he had to go through Edge first.

  That normally wouldn’t have been a problem, considering the disparity between their stages, but Yussuf wasn’t the only one who’d been hiding an ace up his sleeve.

  Before anyone had time to make their next move, Overdrive emerged from the abyssal depths beyond the boundary of Edge’s core, snapped into place alongside his reactor, and roared to life, burning so brightly it shone straight through his armor.

  Using Overdrive triggered some of the most intense sensations he’d ever experienced—second only to his evolutions themselves. Until now, activating his ultimate had automatically drawn Edge’s mind inside his core, where he had a front-row seat to the great engine manifesting, revving up, and injecting his reactor with an infinite tide of incandescent mana.

  Although time passed slowly within his inner world, it still took a couple of seconds for the process to play out, which generally wasn’t an issue.

  But Yussuf was unlike any opponent Edge had faced before.

  In addition to being a skilled tactician, the Claws’ leader had a lifetime of combat experience he couldn’t hope to match. His instincts were screaming that if he tuned out for even a fraction of a second, an attack would land the moment his attention lapsed and claim his life in a flash.

  As a searing deluge of concentrated magical energy poured out of the mysterious magitech device and surged into his reactor, Edge forced himself to remain in his body through sheer effort of will.

  It was the only thing that saved his life.

  The instant Yussuf sensed something strange was going on with Edge’s core, he let loose with a fierce barrage of rank-five spells.

  The first exploded when it hit Wind Ward.

  Thanks to the extra Amplification from Overdrive and Melchior’s potion, the ward worked in concert with Warlord’s Mantle to deflect most of the force, preventing him from being blown away.

  The next two hit his fully flared Harden, which he’d used to grow a layer of diamond across his entire body at once. The wind blades passed through Mantle and cracked his boosted scales, but thanks to some assistance from the avatars living in his village, they couldn’t quite break through.

  Yussuf’s skills exploded, and this time, Edge was forced back, but he fired Repel Water behind him to act as a stabilizing force. At the same time, he started saturating the air with mana to manifest Maelstrom, which had gained enough power to punch through the lingering traces of Blaze’s flames.

  The impact broke several bones and pummeled his organs, but Regeneration healed the damage almost as fast as it formed. Edge let loose with Intimidating Roar as he endured a blast that battered him from the inside out, then followed up with Maelstrom and a spray from Repel Water to prevent the warlord from pressing the attack.

  Yussuf was shocked that Edge was still standing, not to mention pumping out enough mana to give a peak-stage three core a run for its money. The trio of skills barely slowed the man down, but Edge needed every advantage he could get if he wanted to win this fight in the next fifty seconds.

  Meanwhile, Able arrived at Earl’s side. Astonishingly, the sheriff was still conscious. His face was etched in agony, but his will was strong enough to push through the pain. Able grabbed Earl’s hammer and threw it at Yussuf, forcing him to dive out of the way.

  Able reached into his belt pouch, shoved a handful of assorted pills into Earl’s mouth, and washed them down with a bright purple potion. Then he took two patches and slapped them onto the sheriff’s shorn limbs, which sealed the wounds and stopped the bleeding.

  At that point, someone used a skill to pick the wounded warrior up and carry him to the ramparts, just as Yussuf rose to his feet. His gaze locked onto Earl’s floating form, and his core ignited, intending to finish the job before slaughtering every defender in sight.

  Not on my watch.

  Edge activated Repel Water, shooting a powerful spray straight into the jailbird’s face. It wasn’t strong enough to do any damage, but it was blinding and disorienting, buying Earl enough time to get away.

  Yussuf growled in frustration, turning to face Edge as his features twisted with fury.

  “You just had to get in the way and ruin the best part. I’ll make you pay for that. I’m still killing Earl, but I’ll delay my gratification long enough to bury you first.”