Reidar stopped a few meters away. A Sky-Hunter landed on a branch next to him, cleaning blood off its forelegs.

"You look like shit, Mr. Deacon," Reidar said.

"You think this is clever?" Drecht spat, his eyes darting to the Hydra, then back to Reidar. "Interfering with Church business? Silas is going to peel the skin off your face for this."

"He can try," Reidar said, watching the man. "But you're the one stuck here with a boss monster and me."

Drecht sneered, raising his staff. Purple energy began to gather at the tip. "I have enough for you."

"I don't think you do," Reidar said.

He didn't attack. He just pointed the baton at Drecht.

[VULNERABLE! Your Mark of Frailty applies -45% Physical Resistance to Deacon Cornelius Drecht.]

[STATUS APPLIED! Target Marked.]

The sigil burned into the air above Drecht's head.

The Hydra, having thrashed Lucius into the mud, lifted its heads. It quickly noticed Reidar and Drecht, who were by far the most interesting part of the meal.

Drecht went pale. He lowered his staff and channeled mana. But that made him more of a target than he was before. Then it noticed Reidar stepping back.

"You wouldn't," Drecht said, backing up until he hit a tree.

Reidar gave him a grin and got out of sight.

"Good luck!"

The Hydra roared and lunged, ignoring the tank, ignoring the healer, and driving straight for the Deacon.

Trees snapped like twigs, and the ground turned into a slurry. Drecht screamed, raising a barrier at the last second, but the impact sent him flying into the trunk of an oak with a bone-jarring crunch.

Reidar needed to secure the kill, but he doubted things would be as easy as they had started.

[Summon: Undying Legion]

[Summon: Spectral Quadraginta]

[Summon: Archon Rift-Lords]

[Summon: Apex Menagerie]

His mana bar plummeted. Thirty thousand points vanished in a second, a drain that would have killed another person instantly. But he had at least half his mana still available. Plus, it wasn't like he could play it safe with this thing and Drecht around.

Hundreds of Skeletal Fighters clawed their way out of the loamy soil as they formed a shield wall. Dozens of Spectral Warlords shimmered into existence, hundreds of Archon Rift-Lords burst forth from rifts, and finally, the Apex Menagerie prowled out of nothingness.

"Kill the Deacon," Reidar said. "Keep the Hydra busy. And isolate the rest of the zealots."

The battlefield exploded.

Drecht scrambled to his feet, blood leaking from his nose. He saw the army materialize, and his face twisted in horror.

"Heresy!" Drecht said, firing a mana Bolt at a group of skeletons. "Abomination!"

[Dead-Eye Marksman strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 1,200 Piercing Damage.]

[Dead-Eye Marksman strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 1,150 Piercing Damage.]

Arrows whistled through the air. The Dead-Eye Marksmen didn't care about cover; their Arrows phased right through the trees Drecht was hiding behind.

A sickening hiss cut through the air first, followed by the smell of melting iron as a torrent of acid reduced the phalanx's shields to smoking slag. The undead held the line through, standing firm beneath the thrashing of the Hydra, which had been thrown into a frenzy by the sudden arrival of new targets.

"Focus the zealots," Reidar said.

He directed the Apex Menagerie toward the other mutant humans.

At the same time, Lena was battling Lucius.

He was trying to stand. He was battered, his armor dented from the Hydra's and Lena's horrifying attacks, but he was still a tank, and a good one at that. He saw the monsters going for the zealots.

"Isadora!" Lucius said. "Form up!"

But Isadora was busy. Jake was on her.

The kid moved like a lightning bolt; the Boots of the Eternal Vanguard made him so fast that he was leaving afterimages as he slashed at the priestess. She was forced to turtle, casting a spell she made, which she had the audacity to call [Holy Nova] to push him back, but she couldn't heal Lucius, and neither could she help the other zealots.

Lena appeared behind the Captain.

"You should not get distracted," she said.

Lucius spun, blocking her dagger with his shield, but that left his back exposed, and a Razor-Mantis struck.

[CRITICAL! Razor-Mantis strikes Captain Lucius Grey for 2,400 Physical Damage.] [Triggered: Vorpal Scythe (Ignores Armor).]

The scythe-arm tore through the backplate of Lucius's armor like it was tin. Blood sprayed, and Lucius bellowed in pain; his [Fortress Stance] started flickering.

But he wasn't done. Not yet, at least. Though it became clear to Jake, Lena, and Reidar that this battle had already been won, or at least they would kill two important members of this settlement. The problem was that Drecht was still dangerous, and he was the main target of this whole fight. Reidar had to make sure he was not going to be the third victim.

Drecht was fighting for his life. He was powerful—Level 365—but he was a mage, not a tank, not a fast melee fighter like Jake. And he was sandwiched between a Hydra and Reidar's summons.

"Get off me!" Drecht said. He slammed his staff down, unleashing another devastating AoE attack.

The wave disintegrated a dozen Skeletal Fighters and knocked back a Spectral Knight.

[Summon Destroyed: Skeletal Fighter.]

[Summon Destroyed: Skeletal Fighter.]

But the Archon Rift-Lords didn't care, as they were far from the man, surely outside his range of attack.

Ten Fire Archon Rift-Lords unleashed Inferno Blast. Ten Wind Archon Rift-Lords cast Gale Force to fan the flames.

[Archon Rift-Lord (Fire) strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 475 Fire Damage.]

[Archon Rift-Lord (Wind) strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 285 Wind Damage.]

[Archon Rift-Lord (Fire) strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 430 Fire Damage.]

[Archon Rift-Lord (Wind) strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 320 Wind Damage.]

[Archon Rift-Lord (Fire) strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 465 Fire Damage.]

[Archon Rift-Lord (Wind) strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 295 Wind Damage.]

Drecht's barrier flared and shattered. He screamed as the fire licked his robes.

The Hydra saw the opening. One of its heads, the one that breathed toxins, lunged.

Drecht tried to dodge, but Reidar flicked his wrist, and 4 members of his Quadraginta went into a suicide maneuver. Suicide, because the hydra would kill them, but they would bring Drecht with them.

The four Spectral Warlords closed in. Their spectral forms shimmered as they surrounded Drecht, cutting off any escape route. One lunged forward, its blade phasing through the Deacon's hastily raised barrier. The moment the spectral steel passed through him, Drecht's entire body shuddered.

[STATUS APPLIED: Spectral Paralysis (Duration: 8 seconds)]

Drecht's eyes went wide. His mouth opened, but no sound came out. His legs locked mid-step, his staff frozen in his grip. The mana he'd been gathering to fuel his next spell flickered and died, snuffed out like a candle in a storm.

"No…" The word came out as a strangled wheeze.

He couldn't move. Couldn't cast. He Couldn't even fall.

The Hydra's jaws clamped around him.

[Swamp-Gorged Hydra strikes Deacon Cornelius Drecht for 4,500 Physical Damage.]

There was a wet tear. Drecht was ripped from the ground, shaken like a rag doll, and thrown into a tree. He hit the bark and didn't get up.

[Enemy Defeated: Deacon Cornelius Drecht (Level 365)]

But Reidar didn't receive C.L.A.S.P. or Survival points, because as things were now, Drecht was simply too weak for Reidar.

He could have killed everyone easily, but that was not the point. He needed the fights to last as long as possible because he needed to increase his proficiencies enough to face Silas, and Lena and Jake needed as many level-ups as possible because they were going to attack the city.

This was still training for him; this was still farming.

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