A deafening boom rolled through the black desert suspended in space. Alex landed in a stumble, a specks of sand stinging his skin as they rained down like hot ash. Acrid smoke coiled from the spot where he’d stood a moment ago.

Shawn turned toward him, already sweeping his scythe in another wide arc. A wave of crackling greenish-black flame tore free from the blade’s weapon in a roar. Alex teleported out of the way again, the world reforming itself with a lurch as he took form behind Shawn at the edges of his domain.

Magic roared behind him. More sand exploded into the air, but Alex paid it no mind. He couldn’t afford to. The only thing on his mind was the fight before him. His body was practically moving on its own now. There was no room for thought or distraction.

The instant that he’d activated his Partial Soul Manifestation, Shawn had cranked the difficulty up to an entirely new level. Alex hadn’t realized just how much the giant had been holding back.

Shawn had clearly decided that the plain black magic he’d been calling on earlier wasn’t destructive enough. He’d swapped to the sickly greenish-black fire that smelled distinctly of rotting flesh that now covered the desert around them. The flames seemed to burn without any material, slowly spreading across the sands to swallow everything that dared stand in their path. Alex could feel the heat bearing down on him from every direction even though there wasn’t a single lick of fire anywhere near him.

But if Shawn had stopped there, Alex would have managed to squeeze out a few more questions about the nature of an Incarnation.

Unfortunately, that hadn’t been the case.

A sliver of black, little more than a blurred shadow, sliced out from the air just before Shawn. Alex brought his chainsword to bear instinctively. A loud clang echoed out as an enormous force drove into his arms, nearly ripping the magical weapon clean from them.

It threw Alex across the ground in a tumble and sent him right for the flames around the two of them. He activated his domain with a thought, teleporting to safety a moment before he could get burnt to a crips.

All the lessons that Claire had spent hammering into him back in the Mirrorlands were finally coming to fruition — and they were just enough to keep Shawn from carving him into pieces.

Alex leapt at the giant again, teleporting the moment his opponent swung the huge scythe. Another blurred line of shadow darted for his neck the moment he reformed. Alex teleported once more, burning magic to dodge the blow and buy himself a chance to swing his chainsword at Shawn’s ankle.

The weapon roared to life as it bit into Shawn’s side, the hooked centipede legs of pure porcelain white tearing into the giant’s flesh with ravenous hunger. Blood splattered through the air and coursed down the blade to flow into the maw in its hilt.

Power flooded into Alex — and the hair on his neck stood on end. He teleported without even waiting to see what was coming.

A deafening crash tore through the air behind him. Alex stumbled, barely managing to catch himself before he fell right into a burning patch of green magic. He spun toward Shawn — only to find the giant directly upon him and his scythe blurring right for his neck.

Alex teleported once again. He landed in an empty patch of sand surrounding by rancid green flame. His magical reserves were already heavily drained. Fire covered the majority of the desert. He was running out of both time and power.

His heart pounded in his chest like a runaway horse, sending adrenaline tearing through his veins. He could barely even hear the crackle of the fire over the sound of his own blood pounding in his ears.

A grin had etched onto his face at some point during the fight. Even though Alex could feel the metaphorical wall getting closer and closer to his back, he couldn’t keep the battle high from sneaking its way in.

“You’ve made it farther than I thought,” Shawn said, advancing toward Alex and walking right through the crackling green flames like they were nothing more than patches of grass. “A respectable performance for someone of your Stage.”

“What did we say about gloating too early?” Alex countered, drawing on the last of his power. He was quickly running out of strength. Only now was he noting that Shawn hadn’t actually said how this trial ended.

I have no idea how the hell I’m meant to pass. Do I have to kill him? Doubtful. That probably isn’t possible for me. I have to hope that my challenge is doing as much damage as possible. Shawn is still holding back. He hasn’t even used his domain yet. But if I want to do any real damage, I’ve got to catch him off guard.

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That would have been difficult in a normal situation. But his magic was almost entirely drained. He had a little Riftwarped Qi left to call on and possibly one more usage of his Partial Soul Manifestation. And that was it.

His next move was going to have to count.

“I haven’t forgotten,” Shawn said. His wide mouth curled into a small smile. “I know what you are, Incarnation. Let’s see that last stand of yours. Impress me.”

For some reason, that last line almost sounded more like a request then a command. But Alex didn’t have time to wonder about it. The giant’s scythe was already flicking through the air, and the wave of greenish-black fire that poured from it like a tsunami bore down right for him.

It blocked out the sky and curled over Alex with a deafening roar, buffeting his hair back and singing his eyes with thick, oppressive heat. He couldn’t even try to breathe in the face of the intense magic. There was more power crashing down toward him than he’d ever felt used at once.

This was power. Real power.

Alex’s grin stretched to match what Shawn’s had been.

And then he vanished.

He reformed at the very limits of his domain, in the air just behind the giant. Alex discarded his chainsword as he grabbed onto Shawn’s back and gathered every last scrap of magical energy and Qi he had, pouring all of it into Encore.

Shawn spun, flinging Alex from his back and sending him crashing to the ground.

Molten pain seared into Alex’s back as he tumbled through a patch of fire. He snarled in pain as he felt his skin burn instantly, the magic passing right though his clothes to sear into his body and melt his skin.

He flung himself free from the patch of fire, rolling across the black sand in a desperate attempt to put the flame out.

Shawn was halfway through raising his scythe one final time when a ringing crack tore through the air. The shadows around Alex bubbled and lengthened.

And then his monsters arrived.

All of them had been empowered by the Riftwarped Qi he’d imbued his magic with.

Glint’s lithe, dancer-like form crackled with lines of Riftwarped energy. The glass wing extending from his right shoulder snapped out with a loud, ringing crack, slithering to form into a whiplike blade that carved down for Shawn’s side.

Glass continued to flow along the slender blade to gather at its tip. By the time it was upon the giant, the edge of the blade had transformed into a massive axe.

Shawn raised his scythe to block the blow. A deafening crash rolled out as the two weapons collided. The force of the strike shattered Glint’s wing-whip, sending shards of polished glass spinning though the air all around them.

He didn’t get a chance to press the advantage. Princess rose up from the bubbling darkness, Riftwarped Energy crackling like a contained storm within her huge body. Her three masks rose on swaying necks, spines of porcelain bone jutting out from within the sludge that made up her body.

The grasping hands on her back swayed and grasped at the air as she drove herself into Shawn’s knee with all the force she could muster. Her smooth claws dug deep into his flesh. Even though Princess was small in comparison with the giant, she still slammed into him with enough force to send him stumbling backward — right into where Spark had arisen from the shadows.

He held an enormous black blade within both hands. Strands of shadow dripped from it as crackles of Riftwarped Magic arced out from the center of the weapon. The Knight Wraith swung the weapon in a blur up at the falling giant, uncaring of the death that hurtled toward him.

An enormous crash shook the desert as Shawn hit the ground. A wall of air rolled out, pelting Alex with sand and wind. The force of the wind snuffed all the flames around the fallen giant.

Shawn laid still.

Alex’s heart pounded in his chest as he staggered upright and shoved the pain tearing through him into the back of his mind. Princess’ magic was already doing what it could to repair the damage.

The effects of Encore ended and his monsters — well, other than Spark, who had certainly been crushed beneath the giant — died once again.

Was it enough? He’s not dead, is he? There’s no what that fall was enough to kill him.

Shawn let out a groan.

“Ow. That hurt,” the giant said, pushing himself upright. Alex caught a glimpse of the giant’s back, where a flower of red was spreading to stain across his back. Spark’s sword had cut deep into the monster. He’d landed a good blow.

But even as Alex watched, the damage healed. Shawn’s wound evaporated like rain in the desert. The blood flowed back into the cut, draining into it and sealing over as if nothing had ever happened.

“Seriously?” Alex asked. “That’s lame. Healing through bullshit was my shtick.”

Shawn let out a snort. He pushed himself to his feet, rubbing at his neck before sending an inquisitive look down at Alex. “You’re… interesting. You don’t fight like an Evoker at all.”

“Thanks,” Alex said. “Does this mean I pass?”

A booming laugh rolled out from the giant before Alex could finish his sentence.

“Oh, no. This isn’t over yet. You still stand. The trial continues… and you’ve landed another blow on me. You know what that means. I must see the extents of your abilities. Not just some of them.” Shawn said with a wry smile. He pressed his hands together as if in prayer, trapping the haft of his scythe between them in a stance that looked very, very suspiciously like he was about to do something Alex definitely didn’t want him to. “Soul Manifestation: Fell God’s Immolation.”

Tremors tore through the desert beneath Alex’s feet. He stumbled, nearly losing his balance as the sand shifted. A sea of sickly green fire erupted in the sky above, forming into an enormous fist. It blotted out nearly half of the desert as it plummeted down straight toward him, the heat magnifying to near unbearable levels well before the fist even had a chance to connect.

“Ah,” Alex said. “Shit.”

And then Shawn’s Soul Manifestation slammed down, and the desert was no more.