Alex watched over Claire for several hours as she meditated. He made it a point not to watch too closely. That hadn't exactly been an issue before, but given that they were now dating, it suddenly felt a bit weird.

Wait. Shouldn't it feel less weird now?

His brow furrowed at that thought. There were no answers to it. Logic didn't seem to have played a particularly large role in its formation. A part of him still felt like he had whiplash. They'd gone to fighting for their lives to Claire practically ripping her own throat out to dating in the span of something around ten minutes.

That used to be about how long it took me to make a grilled cheese and scrape the burnt bits off the pan. Now I'm scraping bits of monster off me instead.

Alex blew out a breath and glanced around the stormy skies churning around the platform they sat on. No monsters had popped up on it yet. Things looked about as peaceful as the Cracked Steps were ever going to get.

But he'd seen just how fast Zeal had been attacked before. If something decided it was going to fight them, it could show up at any time. They just had to be in the way of the other people within the Cracked Steps and whatever it was they happened to be seeking.

At the very least, it seemed like the Cracked Steps were relatively safer than the Mirrorlands. The stormy skies around them prevented the majority of monsters from creeping up when they weren't watching. That said, the sooner they started moving, the better Alex would feel.

Zeal gave us a way to fix Mirrorwane's problem, even if he doesn't realize it. I need to find a way to severely damage the barrier between the Mirrorlands and 274-50 around the town. Maybe I can do that by ripping open a large enough portal? Now that I think about it, it's basically part of what Disruptors do, isn't it? All those portals that form in the air around them were destabilized area. If we could steal a Disruptor…

Alex shook his head. Even if they could, he hadn't forgotten the fact there was a whole ass man trapped in the last Disruptor they'd found. He didn't know why the Great Tide had trapped Vaxon in the silvery spaceship — but he had absolutely no plans of replicating the feat.

I'll just find a different way to destabilize reality. The good news is breaking shit is a hell of a lot easier than making it. Maybe Rhyss or Mite will have some ideas as well.

His thoughts faltered as Claire shifted before him. Her eyes fluttered, then opened as she raised a hand to block out the harsh red light of the Mirrorlands and squint up at him.

"Did I miss anything?" Claire asked.

Alex grinned. "Nope. You're done?"

"I'm done," Claire confirmed. They both rose to their feet, then stood silently for a moment.

"Well?" Alex asked, arching an eyebrow. "Did you do it?"

"I did it. I've got a domain." Claire's lips pulled up into a small smile. Then she jerked her chin back in the direction of the portal they'd used to enter the Cracked Steps. "Shall we go?"

"You can't be serious. I thought we were done with secrets!" Alex exclaimed, striding after Claire as she set off toward the roots connecting their platform to the next one.

She just laughed in response. "This isn't a secret. I'm just not telling you the name of my domain yet. Knowing what it's called isn't going to help us in a fight — and I only have a vague idea of what it'll do anyway. The only thing getting hurt here is your curiosity."

"This feels targeted. Are you not telling me because I didn't tell you the name of mine until I got a chance to use it? I didn't have a chance, you know. You had me in a death battle with Orchid before I could say anything."

"Is that how it went?" Claire's sent him a flat, completely unreadable look. If he'd known her any worse, he would have assumed that she was dead serious. "I don't remember it that way at all. Unfortunately, we don't have anyone here to ask for clarity. I guess we'll just have to call it a moot point."

"Unfair," Alex grumbled. "I'm going to find the biggest flower monster I can and make you fight it so you have no choice but to use your domain."

"You're going to make me fight to get my own flowers?"

"Of course not. I'll pick them. You can just do the rest of the work."

"Now I know you're full of shit," Claire said with a snort. "You'd never give up the chance for a good challenge this many times in a row. I've already monopolized the last few fights. You can't expect me to believe you'd stand down against something that powerful."

Alex cleared his throat. She had him there. He was practically itching for a good fight. Going up against Zeal had been a reminder of just how powerful people could become… but Zeal hadn't really been trying to kill them.

At least, he was pretty sure the old man hadn't. It was a bit hard to tell. And, more importantly, he hadn't gotten any magical energy from the fight. The Outworlders weren't sitting around and twiddling their thumbs. He couldn't afford to, either.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

"You might have me there," Alex admitted. He nodded to the portal. "Shall we?"

Claire nodded. Then, as one, they stepped into it.

***

Alex knew something was wrong the very instant his foot hit the ground of the Mirrorlands. His stomach arrived pre-twisted like a pretzel. An intense sense of unease drove into his heart like a spike and froze the breath in his lungs.

A primal emotion tore free from within the deepest parts of him. And only an instant later did he realize what it was he felt.

Terror.

Claire went as stiff as a board beside him. She felt it as well. He could tell, but he couldn't even split enough of his attention away to form words. The emotion was like a pounding war drum. Fear drove into Alex relentlessly, trying to rip his mind apart from within —

And then it shattered.

Clarity spun back as Alex drew in a sharp breath as his senses refocused. He remembered this feeling. This terror.

Not even the Region Boss had managed to elicit such an intense response, had managed to rip free such a degree of horror from the deepest parts of his soul. There was only one monster that had ever caused him to feel this way. First seen on MV4LEMP|YR.

He didn't see it — but he didn't need to. The mere fact he could sense the creature's aura was enough to say it was close. Too close. There was no time to waste.

Alex grabbed Claire and spun her toward him. She was still completely stiff, frozen like a deer in the headlights. He grabbed the Dhampir and pulled her against himself, pushing her head down into his neck with a sharp shove. Her fangs pierced into his skin as she bit down, some instinctual part of himself not about to let a meal pass by.

I really hope she can control how much she takes.

Power prickled as it flowed out of Alex's body.

Claire swallowed once. Then she jerked back, pulling her head away from Alex as she spun, eyes darting around wildly.

"The monster from before," Claire said, any tremors in her voice dying by the time the second word had left her lips. All that remained was cold determination. "It's here."

"Yeah," Alex said grimly, summoning every single one of his monsters with a thought. He still remembered just how powerful this creature had been. "We need to move. Fast. I think it's a hell of a lot closer than it was last time. Are you in control of yourself?"

Claire gave him a sharp nod. "Yeah. Good thinking with the bite. It got me completely off guard. I bleeding hate these mental-effect abusing bastards. I want your title."

Glass shattered as Glint tore his way into reality. Princess and Spark followed just a few moments later, pouring out from the hollowed out section of the white trunk and readying themselves for a fight.

Alex's heart pounded in his chest in a mixture of fear and adrenaline. Even with his Title suppressing the monster's power, he could still feel it chewing at the corners of his mind. It didn't help that he had no idea where the damn thing was hiding.

"Let's run for the exit of the city. We're at a disadvantage with all this shit around us," Alex said in a terse tone. "Too many spots for it to hide."

Claire nodded in agreement.

They didn't say another word. The two of them burst off at a sprint —

A shadow tore through the air before them. Princess threw herself forward at Alex's mental command, moving before he'd even fully registered seeing anything.

Three loud cracks tore through the air. All of her masks shattered as Princess' entire upper body split apart, torn to shreds in an instant. Her power flowed into Alex in a rushing river as she melted into a puddle on the ground.

And, before them, shadows gathered. They rose up from the ground, winding together like a writhing nest of worms before turning smooth and translucent. A slender monster rose from the ground, looming easily twenty feet tall.

Segments of hardened shadow formed into armor, their edges indistinguishable from the shadows making up the rest of the monster. Its slender fingers sank down into the ground like the strings of a puppet master, vanishing from sight in the darkness at its feet.

Two crystal blue eyes like chunks of freezing glaciers bore into Alex's very soul as the featureless monster stared down at them, undisguisable malice burning within its piercing gaze. Worthless words twisted through the air above the huge creature to identify it.

Forsaken Revenant (???)

Shit. It's still so strong that we can't even tell what the hell its actual Stage is. What is it doing here? Did the damn thing follow us?

"It's fast," Claire whispered, her hands tightening at her sides. "We can't turn our back on it when it's this close. We have to fight."

Alex gathered his power and extended his hand, casting Armament Elegy. The sludge chainsword bubbled up in his hands.

"Already figured that bit out," Alex said, cracking his neck. There was one thing he knew for certain. There was no way in hell he'd be cut down while running away — and he was far from out of the fight. Deep within his soul, a gate shuddered. Then it slammed open. "Edict of the Shattered King."

Power exploded out from Alex as his domain released. Even though they were still in the Mirrorlands, the air around them warped as extra Riftwarped Energy swirled into being in a twenty foot circle centered on his position.

The Revenant's eyes both snapped to lock onto Alex. It vanished — and he teleported.

He reformed behind where the monster had been standing, just in time to see the ground where he'd been standing get minced by slicing shadows like it had gotten shoved through a mandolin.

A cold grin split Alex's lips. The Revenant had moved near instantly — but it wasn't anywhere near the speed of thought.

Claire lunged away from the monster, skidding across the ground as she spun to keep it in her line of sight. The monster turned — but it didn't even seem to notice Claire. Its piercing gaze landed straight on Alex again.

Seriously? What did I do?

"He's not the only one you're fighting, you know," Claire growled. She flicked her wrist and her thorned whip slithered out, slicing through the air with a crack. The sound didn't even catch the Revenant's attention for an instant.

Then Claire's eyes turned jet black.

The Revenant spun toward her.

"Careful!" Alex yelled. "You definitely reminded it that you're there!"

"That's what I'm counting on. Looks like you're getting your wish, Alex." Claire's lips pulled back into a snarl and she blew out a sharp breath, expelling all the air from her lungs. The darkness within her gaze seemed to magnify a hundredfold, transforming into a void that promised to swallow all within its gaze. She pulled her thorned whip taught, then yanked her left hand down along its length. The thorns tore into her palm as it passed, coating the dark vine crimson red with her blood.

"Partial Soul Manifestation," Claire said, her voice like the icy command of a betrayed queen. "Hollow Court."