Even with Relian using Ray's stealth to turn invisible, Luke knew he'd moved to the door where Curtis and Milla rushed in.

  "Look out!" Luke shouted, but it was too late.

  Relian emerged from stealth and put a hand on Milla's shoulder. Rather than just her arm coming free, like with Luke, she fell into a heap on the floor, and her body was in what looked like a hundred pieces. As Luke rushed forward, he saw her eyes. They were wide, full of fear, and very much aware of what had just happened to her. Somewhere in that pile, her mouth screamed. The sound twisted Luke's heart, and rage bubbled to the surface, blotting out the horror.

  "Luuuuuuke!" she wailed.

  If saving Ray cost this much, it was a price Luke was not willing to pay. He wasn't even sure it could be done at this point, not without the corruption that was Relian leaving of his own accord. Unless Luke could force it out, that was.

  Relian just stood there over Milla, grinning at Luke while wearing Ray's face and body. In the blink of an eye, Curtis reacted. He was in the air, spinning to slash with his huge sword. In that moment, Relian shifted a little, and the blow that would have cleaved his head in two struck his shoulder instead. It tore into the Fallen Shepherd's chest with enough force to cut through everything.

  Weaver's Eye told Luke it had missed Relian's heart by a hair's breadth, but it was still a mortal blow. Just as he made it there, others did as well. They turned up out of nowhere. As Relian crumpled to the floor, flesh Abominations reached out and grabbed after Curtis and Luke.

  Ripping his blade free, Curtis shifted his hips to lash out at the new enemies, but then hesitated. Relian's creations were not the only ones crowding in. The employees of the Department of Integrated Affairs were there as well, Nymh among them. Stergios, too, and the fresh-minted Lifeweaver grabbed Luke, forcing him off balance. They fell forward and on top of Relian, who was on the brink of death, and Luke rolled off, pushing Stergios away with a thread of mana.

  "L-luke?" Ray rasped, his chest heaving.

  Luke, overwhelmed, used The Healer's Moment.

  Life was draining from Milla. Whatever spell or skill Relian had used on her, it wasn't enough to keep her heart going in that state. A conscious choice from the Fallen Shepherd. That had to be it. The poor bastard on that table survived for much longer. And then there was Ray. This time, Luke didn't doubt it was his old friend right there dying on the floor. The earlier theatrics from Relian had been missing something. Missing the core of what made Ray, Ray. Now, though, there was no doubt in Luke's mind. This was him.

  The corruption inside Ray had pulled back from the slash from Curtis and was now concentrated right by the edge of the wound. Was that why Ray had returned to himself? Perhaps this was the chance Luke had been looking for.

  Time was running out. Luke made a decision. Using Threads of Mana, he went in and grabbed the corruption that housed Relian's consciousness. With all the focus and willpower he could muster, Luke pulled as The Healer's Moment ended. The corruption tore out of Ray's body. It looked like a writhing mass of cancerous cells, lashing out in all directions. Three threads with Needle of Life tore into it, and with that, Luke destroyed the Fallen Shepherd, the mass splattering everywhere, some even hitting Luke's face.

  Without missing a beat, Luke used Weaver's Mercy on Ray before expending almost every available bit of mana to heal him, even pulling from the last two mana gems to do so. Even then, it was a narrow thing.

  Through it all, Luke used a separate thread to start piecing his sister together. This took even more concentration, but didn't require much in the way of mana. Relian's death made her start fading faster, and from the choking sounds coming from her, Milla wasn't getting any air. The flesh abominations grew enraged and let out shrieks, attacking confused DIA employees who were coming back to themselves. It was a mess of body parts and screaming, traumatized people, blood, and death.

  As he worked, Curtis kept the monsters at bay. Luke shook his head to get the dripping sweat off his brow, finding pieces of his sister. The threads he worked with slowed, and a numbness spread. Several times, he dropped parts and threads, costing him critical seconds as his sister faded away.

  With Milla's torso back together, Luke struggled against nausea, pushing away the weight of the situation trying to crash in on him. It wasn't pieces of his sister. Just a puzzle. That was it. A puzzle. Fusing the neck back on, then the head, scouring around to find the mouth, he managed to put the vital parts back together. Milla drew a breath, then screamed. Luke struggled through tears, his head throbbing.

  "Luke!" Curtis shouted, pushing through the crowd of confused, horrified people. He was bleeding and limping, on the verge of dropping to the floor, but his eyes were clear. Good. Several abominations still remained standing.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Luke shook his head, turning back. "Not now. I have to concentrate."

  "Something is wrong!"

  "What?" Luke asked.

  "This was too easy!"

  Luke let out a desperate laugh as he fumbled to put his sister’s arms back together. "Easy?"

  "From what you told me, this asshole was a planner! That was how he escaped from the dungeon. This wasn't much of a plan if you ask me!"

  "That isn't..." Luke began. Then he felt it.

  With the panic and desperation, the anger and horror, Luke had missed it. His hand shot up to his face, but the piece of corruption, what he'd thought of as Relian's final remains, wasn't there.

  "Luuuuke!" Milla shouted.

  He ignored her, looking inward. There it was, nestled in his neck, trying to take root. Relian was still alive. Alive and trying to corrupt Luke.

  "No!" Luke shouted and tore his own neck open with Needle of Life, not allowing for even a moment of hesitation. "You won't get me, you goddamn bastard! I won't let you win!"

  The words came out as wet gurgles of blood. Luke destroyed the piece of corrupted flesh with mana before restoring his neck with Weaver's Renewal. There. Dead.

  Penny and Mateo came running in through the doors. They pulled Luke's attention away from himself and Milla for a brief moment as they ran to aid Curtis, and he noticed something more.

  "Where's Stergios?" he shouted.

  "Who?" Penny asked.

  "Dammit," Luke muttered, piecing the last pieces of his sister together. Only when he added the last bit, a piece of her forearm, was she able to move again. "Help them!" Luke said, pointing to Curtis, Penny, and Mateo struggling against the abominations, fighting while trying to keep the employees safe.

  Milla's face was pale, her eyes haunted, but she nodded. "I will, little brother. Be careful!"

  Luke pushed to his feet and saw footprints in blood leading out of the room through a side door. He followed.

  Judging by the prints, Relian was having some trouble running while taking over Stergios. Several splotches suggested he might've fallen down, and a blood-smeared handprint on the wall added to the image of someone fleeing on legs that would not quite carry him.

  The conjured image in Luke's mind turned out to be true. There he was at the other end of a long corridor.

  "Relian!" Luke shouted. "You can't hide this time!"

  Stergios turned, both arms swinging as if he didn't have control of them. Half of his face was crooked, and his shoulders moved in small, jerky movements. It was like Relian was wearing Stergios like a flesh suit but hadn't quite got it on all the way yet.

  "I have no further need of you, Lifeweaver," Relian said, his voice a garbled mess.

  Luke ran. Exhaustion still had him in its grip, but he fueled his legs with anger instead, forcing them to move even as he readied Threads of Mana. It was time to end the scourge that was Relian, time to kill the Fallen Shepherd.

  At first, Relian turned away as if to flee, but he soon seemed to realize it was futile. Instead, he staggered into an unused office. It was the size of an overgrown conference room but lacked furniture. It was not the most inspired place for a final confrontation, but Luke was fine with it. At least they were alone.

  "I'll end you," Luke said, entering the room.

  Relian stood at the far end, near the windows, a grin on his face that did not reach his eyes. From the look of horror and fear in them, Stergios was very much aware of what was going on.

  "Are you going to make an attempt on the life of this healer?" Relian asked. "Will your conscience stand for that? You chose to become a healer, did you not? A real healer does no harm."

  It was Luke's turn to approach. Step by step, he moved closer at a slow pace, wanting to allow his mana some time to regenerate. "Sometimes you must do whatever it takes to excise a cancer."

  Threads of Mana extended from Relian's hands. Only two of them, and their range was pitiful. Still, it was impressive that Stergios had reached level 5 in the Tutorial Dungeon and unlocked Weaver's Grasp.

  "Let us end this then," Relian said. "Lifeweaver against Lifeweaver."

  "You're no Lifeweaver," Luke spat, charging forward.

  A quarterstaff appeared in Relian's hands, and he thrust forward, striking Luke in the stomach. Shocked, Luke doubled over. Recovering fast, he spun and stepped inside the reach of the weapon, continuing forward until Luke's threads reached Relian. At that moment, Relian stepped in too, far quicker than Luke anticipated.

  Ignoring the shuddering sensation of having a Thread of Mana enter his mana channels, Luke focused on his own attack, heading for the corruption with all possible speed. Out of nowhere, mana bled away from his arm, where Relian had grabbed hold.

  "Bleed the Weave," Luke whispered, shocked. "How?"

  "Careful, Lifeweaver, you are showing your inexperience," Relian said, reaching into Luke's meta-heart.

  Luke head-butted Relian straight in the face. The Fallen Shepherd fell back with a groan, but did not let go of Luke's arm. More mana bled out, and Luke realized he didn't have much time. Rather than attack, he used what he'd learned from Kent Royce, the archmage, and flexed his meta-heart, pushing Relian's thread out of there with overwhelming force.

  The ancient bastard might have infinite knowledge and experience compared to him, but Luke was the real Lifeweaver here, and he'd reached a far higher level than Stergios. He'd learned so much along the way. This was the moment he would put it all to use.

  Luke put all his weight behind a punch, hitting in just the same spot as the headbutt, fist crunching into cartilage and bone. At the same moment, he used Needle of Life to restore the tears in his mana channels, staunching the rapid mana loss. That done, Luke stepped back, summoned his staff, and slammed it into Relian's head. It was just as satisfying as last time, and Luke followed up by stepping in close again. This time, he intended to end it.

  "Sorry, Stergios," Luke mouthed as he reached out with several Threads of Mana.