Tristan was just barely able to raise his arms over his head before [Wind Cannon] struck.

Under the force of the Expert Air card, boosted by unknown Perks, all of his [Armor] above his waist shattered like glass. The force of it felt like some god had gripped a giant hammer in both hands and swung it right at his body.

Tristan flew backwards, coughing blood, the wind shrieking in his ears. Bones broke inside him, and he briefly blacked out before coming to again as his body bounced off the carpeted floor of the lobby once, twice, then went straight through the window of the shopping zone at the end of the floor.

He crashed through the glass and slammed into an emptied row of gondola shelving. Broken and falling unconscious again, he fell to the tiled floor with a cry.

Agony was too light a word for what he felt. Darkness loomed in his vision, and he knew if he just succumbed to it, he would be free of the pain.

No! He gasped and pulled[Earthen Concoction] with a mangled hand, using all three casts.

A rush of healing energy coursed through his body like a second [Wind Cannon]. Tristan screamed as his bones reknit, the sound of them snapping back together reverberating in his ears. His vision went dark.

The sound of running steps made him snap into awareness. Gasping with pain, the heal still working through his mangled body, he activated {Darklink}, pulled [Dark Kunai] and curve-cast it high in the air. He felt the card land on the back side of the shopping zone as Dennier leapt into the store.

He re-activated {Darklink}. He teleported and popped out in front of a row of what looked like refrigerator units, though these had also been picked clean by the pirates.

“You can’t hide from me, rat!” Dennier yelled, her voice echoing in the large space. “There’s nowhere you can hide!”

Finally, the heal settled. Tristan got to his feet, the phantom pains of his injuries lingering. He quickly assessed himself and saw that the sheer power behind that Attack had not only shattered his helmet, top, cloak, and gloves, but it had literally shredded them into pieces. They had reverted back into his [Binder], but now he was defenceless from the waist up.

But he was alive. He was shaken, terrified actually, but he was alive.

Tristan quietly crept through the shopping zone; he hadn’t had a chance to visit it with Eila before the pirates attacked, but it seemed like a typical department store / gift shop from back on Earth. He moved past the refrigerator units and ducked into a row of emptied shelves.

Dennier seemed to be moving quietly herself, as he couldn’t hear her steps anymore. A quick cast of Polter to scout through the walls revealed her bent down and headed towards the back of the store.

Tristan took this moment to create some space, heading back towards the entrance. He pulled out the shortcomm he kept as an [Item Card] in his back pocket to keep it safe and converted it. He cycled through the floors, unsure of where Eila was, until he heard her respond.

“Tristan?” came her voice. A dial on the side allowed him to adjust her volume low. “What’s happening?”

“I have her in the lobby,” he whispered, creeping towards the entrance. Through Polter, he saw that she had reached the refrigerator units and now spun around, growling. “Where are you?”

“Finishing up healing the injured,” Eila said. “We’re going to go gather the people we left behind in the dining room after and then take the pirate’s ship. Just keep her distracted, and join us afterwards. We have someone that can pilot it.”

It was a smart plan. Dennier likely kept only a few pirates aboard her ship, which could be easily commandeered by the remaining passengers. He didn’t need to kill her.

“I can’t,” Tristan said instead, running through the lobby. “I need to defeat her.”

“What?” Eila sounded angry. “Don’t be an idiot, Tristan! There’s no need to risk your life like this.”

Tristan hopped over into a receptionist desk and knelt down. Dennier had given up on secrecy and was running through the shopping zone, shouting at him to come out.

“If I can’t defeat a single Expert,” Tristan said, checking his casts, “how can I ever reach Divine? Eila, I know it’s stupid. But this is the path that I’m on, and she’s just the next obstacle in the way.” He paused. Sir Barrihald’s voice echoed in his mind. An obstacle only hinders a man, not halts him.

“No, it’s more than that,” he continued, getting angry. “She’s killed so many people, and she thinks she can just get away with it? The thought of her escaping without paying makes me sick. She has to die, Eila.”

On the other end, Eila was silent. Through Polter, Tristan saw the captain running for the entrance now, clearly realizing he was no longer there.

“Fine,” Eila said at last. “Kill that crazy bitch, Tristan, but don’t you dare die in the process. We have a deal, remember?”

Despite everything, he smiled. “I remember. Take over that ship and wait for me. It’ll be just a moment.”

He converted the item back into a card and put it back in his pocket.

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Then, he hopped back over the desk and stood out in the open. He had Polter follow her from underneath; strangely, as the shade passed beneath the floor, Tristan could see there was a whole other employee section here, complete with hallways, rooms, and what appeared to be a secondary crystal room. Some sort of back-up system?

He put that out of his mind for now. Soon, Dennier came to a stop in front of the doors leading out to the lobby. She backed up, did a running start, and leapt unnaturally far—at least, for normal Earth human standards. Clearly, she thought he’d laid a Trap there.

She landed, then brushed her hair over her shoulders.

“You know,” Dennier said, striding over to where he waited, “for a rat you’re pretty tough.”

“For a murdering old lady,” Tristan said, backing up, “you’re pretty spry.”

“Ah, childish insults. It takes me back to my youth. ‘Course, when I was your age, I knew not to antagonize my betters.”

Tristan gave a mirthless smile. “There’s nothing better about you, Dennier. You’re an Expert about to die to an Adept.”

“Come now, Tristan,” Dennier said, spreading her arms. He kept her a safe distance away. “Don’t insult me. We both know you’re no Adept. Well, maybe in rank, as I see from [Enforce: Reveal] that you have no Field cards. But in skill? Though you were a fool to focus on Zephyr so much, leaving yourself open to my [Wind Cannon],

I’m woman enough to admit you’re a talented cardbearer.”

“Gee, thanks. That means a lot coming from you.”

She came to a halt, suddenly serious. Tristan paused too. The two stood in the middle of the lobby, a cast’s throw away from each other.

“It should,” Dennier said. “I’ve been in this business a long while. You think you’re the first good samaritan who thought they could defeat me? They all die in the end. But you’re the first to last this long, to push me to this brink. You’re different. I want you to join my crew.”

Tristan stared at her, then laughed. “What crew, Dennier? Your men are all dead, and you’ll be joining them soon enough.”

She wagged her finger at him. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Your bloodthirst. You kill as easily as I do, admit it. You just wrap it up in the bow of heroism or whatever you think it is you’re doing right now. My men that you killed? They had families. They had loved ones, children, people who depend on them. Dead. All by your hand.”

He summoned his [Binder] and thrust it out in her direction. “The cards I took from your pirates? Full of the innocents they killed. You’ll have to excuse me for not shedding a tear.” He dismissed the [Binder], trying not to let it show how her words had shaken him a little. He would deal with the ramifications of killing other people later. Not now.

“You got me there,” Dennier admitted. “But still. It takes a certain type of person to be able to kill. Not many can. They think they can, but when the moment comes to cast, they hesitate. You’re not like that. I need men like you for what’s coming.”

He frowned. “What’s coming?”

“A war,” Dennier said. “A war of the gods. I don’t know the details, but it’s what I was tasked to do here with the Serenity. My dream of retiring was foolish now, I realize. An impossibility when the Transcendents are mobilizing, when Divinity is at stake. What happened today on this insignificant ship will be nothing, a mere blip in the pages of history with what’s coming.”

Tristan blinked at that. The word Transcendent seemed to blaze in his head. He opened his mouth to question her.

At that moment, Dennier struck. She pushed her hand forward and hand-casted a card straight from her deck.

He cursed himself for getting distracted and barely managed to roll out of the way of the coming [Furious Wind].

A card arced through the air and struck him on his exposed arm. A Novice [Command: Bolt]. He stumbled back, though with his enhanced physicality, the Attack was too weak to do more than leave behind a bruise.

Now, he thought to Polter. The shade popped out from the ground and cast [Chilling Breath] and [Ectoplasm] back-to-back, the status effects appearing over her cards. She pulled and used her last cast of [Eye of the Storm], negating them, before spinning around and using [Command: Spike] on Polter. The rune landed on its body and popped into a spike of energy that tore a hole through it, but it wasn’t enough to kill.

Tristan cursed again, realizing what she was gearing up to do. He ran at her, commanding Polter to duck beneath the floor. The shade flew down, but with the [Quickened]

buff on her cards, Dennier was able to whip out a too-quick [Command: Burst]. The Attack landed on its head as it phased through the floor, and the shade blew apart.

Tristan cast [Mountain’s Embrace] on himself before pulling and throwing [Predator’s Mark]. It landed on Dennier’s head, and he cast a follow-up [Midnight Javelin].

The Attack landed and popped the Mark, shattering her helmet. Two stacks of [Bleed] applied. He activated {Sanguination}, removing them, and pulled [Nightmare Cleave].

He cast it at her head, right as she cast her [Command: Rupture].

The two Attacks collided mid-air, his large crescent blade of Dark energy rippling with tendrils of blood from his Perk against her complex Order rune. For a moment, it seemed as if his empowered Attack would match up against the stronger Expert one.

Then, the rune broke through, splitting [Nightmare Cleave] in two halves that split off and cut deep into the floor on either side of Dennier. [Command: Rupture] continued forward and struck him on his shield; the Attack popped, but it had been weakened and was unable to break through.

But a card on her deck suddenly glowed.

Shit! Tristan cast a [Dark Kuani] at her exposed head, but Dennier managed to dodge out of the way.

She came to her feet and pulled the glowing card.

“Game over,” she spat, casting.

[Domain: Sequence] flew into the air and burst in an explosion of Order energy.

—🃁—

[Expert/Order/Field] — Domain: Sequence: Upon activation of this card, create a Field space. Within this space, enemies can only use the card type used to fulfill the casting condition while they remain in this Field’s zone. (CASTS: 1 | DURATION: 5 MINUTES | CONDITION: SUCCESSFULLY CAST AN UNBROKEN CHAIN OF NOVICE, APPRENTICE, ADEPT, AND EXPERT ORDER CARDS OF THE SAME TYPE.)