Several things went through Max's mind at once. Through multiple lives now, he'd always had the same feeling before fighting seriously. It was an acknowledgment of the fact he was making a decision, committing himself to see something through or die trying. In this case, the fight was not a duel; it was effectively a war. Over the last few days, he'd given it a great deal of thought and accepted that he would deal with the consequences when the time came. After confirming that there were demonic forces at play, now he had even less hesitation about his intended course of action.

  After all, when Max had been the Hero of Albion, Chasa de Milo, he might not have known about the Quartet system or other greater matters in the universe, but he'd been very familiar with demonic corruption. He doubted many people other people on Earth were–probably why the Lynch brothers weren’t even trying to hide it. Luckily, he'd already planned ahead for several possibilities, and this was one of them.

  Now he’d just need to survive and win this fight to see any of it through.

  Max drew Blackmist Incident and slashed the guard heading for him while simultaneously charging his sword and his body with mana. At the same time, he manifested Black Mist Incident's buckler in his other hand even as he triggered Bracelet of Bloody arrows. Pain bloomed in his forearm as the magic device carved furrows in his flesh, drawing ribbons of blood to orbit his wrist.

  The other two Victory Guild members paused, and were caught off guard as Max triggered a push of raw mana.

  Meanwhile, Max’s sword strike was true. In fact, the amount of power he'd used was maybe even a little overkill. Blackmist Incident cleaved all the way through the suit-wearing man's collarbone down to his waist, bisecting the enemy Challenger's body. As the strike penetrated, magical armor had started to form on the man’s body, but it hadn't done him much good.

  Even as the first man died, the other two men were blown backward by Max’s mana blast, one careening off the side of the building and the other smashing through the glass into the lobby beyond.

  Blood continued to siphon up into dense little arrows that orbited his wrist.

  Max glanced down at the body of the man he just killed and triggered his third eye briefly, just long enough to verify that lingering demonic energies still permeated the body. "Good enough," he thought. Then, he slashed Black Mist Incident in a horizontal strike, triggering a wave of destructive mana that smashed the remaining glass and demolished the doors at the front of the building.

  The arc of energy, although not sharpened through Max's will, was still a battering ram of raw power that turned one weak Challenger inside the doors into nothing but bloody spray and chunks of flesh. Max didn’t even get a good look at what the person had looked like before they were misted. Dozens of people inside were bowled over, some wounded, some not. Gunshots ricocheted wildly off the walls.

  By now, Max was clad in his new armor, courtesy of Daliko. A few bullets bounced of his armor. Five arrows made of dense, crystallized blood circled his wrist now. His body was already regenerating the blood he’d lost to the Bracelet of Bloody Arrows. Max leveled his hand and snapped off three blood projectiles, and each of them found their target. One hit a man in the throat. Another punched through a rifle-wielding woman’s chest. The last slammed into the center of a man’s face as he braced against the whirlwind of pressure and damage from Max’s mana wave.

  New gashes opened up on Max’s arm and fresh streams of blood began to flow, building replacement projectiles above his wrist. A burst of fire flashed past Max’s shoulder, but he wasn’t too worried. He’d caught the Victory guild completely unprepared. They obviously hadn’t expected anything like this reaction.

  They wouldn’t stay unorganized and shocked forever, though. A few beads tossed in the corners immediately started fires. They weren’t huge threats on their own, but they’d probably help buy a little bit of extra time.

  Time for the next phase. He made one quick look around the large room past the double doors before flying straight up the side of the building.

  Are you sure you want to do this? Lavinia murmured. I mean, it’s too late to go back now, but I mean, do you want to do it the way you’re planning?

  Yes, thought Max. This isn't a duel. This is war and extermination. If I didn’t have you and the other spirits, I might not have a choice, though. You can identify everyone with demonic energies, right?

  For the sixth time, that's right, she said. It's easy for us, easy for a spirit. The rest of my spirits won’t have a problem, either. Don’t worry.

  A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

  Cool.

  Max turned sideways, flying directly into the building with his shield held in front of him. He crashed through the window.

  What had been a hotel room was now being used as some sort of office space. Two people gaped at him in astonishment: one a middle-aged woman, the other a young man. They might have been surprised, but they were still Challengers.

  Both enemies began to circulate mana through their bodies, powering up and providing defense to themselves as Mana Swordsmen. Max could clearly see the movement of mana and how it was being utilized in familiar ways. However, both Challengers obviously had another Path as well. The woman raised her hand and a torrent of fire launched at Max, while at the same time, the man gestured and a filing cabinet flew across the room towards him.

  He could sense that neither one of them was very powerful, so Max just braced himself. As the flames from the woman splashed harmlessly off his armor and mana barrier, his hands snapped forward twice using a bit of Daliko’s power. Each choppy throw delivered a special bead at bullet speeds that he had created for this exact purpose. The enchanted projectiles were small, but the moment they hit an enemy, they expanded to the size of a golfball and increased in density for a split second. Both changes were temporary and didn’t last long, but existed long enough to open up terrible gaping holes in both enemies' chests. They collapsed with a look of shock on their faces.

  Max ran forward, kicking the door open to the hallway and tossing several explosive beads down both sides. He ducked back into the room before the explosions actually went off. As the first screams and yells warbled through the building, echoing strangely through the billows of smoke, he threw another handful of beads that detonated into clouds of poisonous vapor.

  Many of the doors and windows throughout the floor had already been destroyed, so the poison spread throughout the building quickly. Max quickly ate a bead that would give him several minutes of immunity to the poison. Then, he sprinted down the hallway to one of the stairwells. The door had already been blown off its hinges.

  “Lavinia, showtime," he said softly.

  "Got it."

  Then, one at a time, Max dropped explosive beads. Each was caught before it hit the ground by a sudden manifestation of a spider made of ectoplasm. The spiders, Lavinia’s spirits being shaped by Anansi’s will, were nightmarishly large, twice the size of a dinner plate. They scuttled up the walls and down the stairs with their payload of explosive beads. The spiders were fast, and almost all of Lavinia's spirits had already either gone up or down the building with their bead cargo before Lavinia whispered, "One of my spirits was just temporarily destroyed."

  "Got it."

  With an effort of will, Max snapped, and each one of his beads being carried by a spider detonated. Not only did the beads blow up through their own power, but each of them had been designed to also use ectoplasm as a catalyst. The stairwells were destroyed in thunderous explosions. Any door to the stairwell that had already been opened, the spiders had scuttled inside, too. If they'd had time, had placed themselves near groups of Victory guild members or any other targets that looked juicy.

  Immediately after the explosions rocked the building, Max repeated the process, but this time, instead of explosive beads, he dropped poisonous gas beads as well as a smokescreen bead. Then, just like before, Lavinia’s spirits in the shapes of spiders went up and down the walls, acting like wall-crawling smart bombs.

  The destruction and smoke from the previous explosions helped hide them and even served as camouflage since the smoke was very similar in color to the spiders’ ectoplasm.

  Max silently counted to fifteen in his head, only a few seconds after the last of Lavinia's spirits had left with their payload before he snapped and detonated gas and smoke beads all throughout one side of the building. Smoke and poison billowed up and down the stairwell and open hallways.

  Max tuned out the yelling, screaming, and attempts at order throughout the building.

  Okay, next phase, he thought. Max jumped up to a random floor and threw several more explosive beads down the open hallway. After that, he hit several more floors, both above and below, before returning to one of the floors he'd just attacked. He ran through the heavy smoke in the open doorway, pounding down the hallway. There was a body plastered against the wall. To make sure they were dead, Max skewered the body with Blackmist Incident.

  Then he skidded through a relatively intact doorway into what had been a hotel room in the past. He was ready for combat, but nobody was inside, and the space itself looked like some sort of mundane break room.

  Perfect, he thought. Then he rolled his way under a table and mentally said, Phase three, now. You ready, Lavinia?

  Yes.

  A moment later, Lavinia and a few of her spirits left the room to take positions around the entire building and on the outside. Max was tense. Slick and his other spirits were standing guard out in the hallway, ready to let him know if any Victory Guild searches were coming. Max knew that the element of surprise would only last another minute or two longer, maximum. He was trying to accomplish as much as he possibly could in that time frame. Luckily, Lavinia and her spirits were fast.

  Only seconds later, through his link with the former Summoner, he could hear Lavinia's voice and sense what she was saying through their link as well.

  Outside the building, her voice rang out through the vibration of her spirits’ artificial mouths.

  “This war does not include the Trifecta guild. It is a war between Max Cunningham, the originator of the Mana Swordsman Path, and the Victory guild who broke their oaths and have acted without honor.

  “However, Max wishes to minimize the loss of life. Ultimately, his complaint is with the Victory guild leaders. If you are a member of the Victory guild and value your life, leave the building, lay down your arms, and kneel.

  “Otherwise, you will die.”