“Do you mind tossing me a heal?”

  Thomas was just staring at me in shock. He shook his head and rubbed an eye, “Yeah.” He fumbled out. My HP was only 150 or so, which was incredibly low. Dying wasn’t pleasant at all and I definitely didn’t want to gamble I’d live through another ‘incident’.

  The flash of light came, but my HP didn’t move. The warmth, the pain relief, none of it came. HP potions, healing spells, they couldn’t heal me anymore? The HP potions were fine… healing spells were almost unacceptable.

  “Ah, what happened?” Thomas asked, looking as confused as I felt about why one of his biggest heals had absolutely no affect.

  “I… am not sure yet,” I confessed. “Let’s clean this up first.” My eyes traced over the remaining demons, there was the boss too who looked to be in terrible shape. “What happened to him?”

  “Whoops.” Jessica forced a half smile before coughing. It seems like she had gone a bit overboard on my account. Seeing her condition and our enemies still standing, truthfully it filled me rage.

  There was just enough MP in the tank to cast a round of my new Grimoire abilities. If that didn’t heal me anymore… well it was safe to say I was a walking dead man. I whispered the commands under my breath as my undead started to glow, a light green aura flowed off their bodies like steam on a cold night.

  The effects were immediate, and I felt myself grow a little stronger, a little faster, even a bit more clear-headed. There was something else there too, a bit of unpredictably, desperation even. The effect it had on me was completely different to that of just yesterday.

  My summoned troops were rabid, jumping over the tank line even and latching onto anything they could. Hands, teeth, fragments of bone—anything was a weapon. Their arrival turned the heads of everyone who knew me, all of them eying me no different than Thomas.

  Still, over countless battles we had developed a bit of discipline. Alan and Richard didn’t ask questions, just putting in even more effort to push forward. The sooner this was over, the sooner we could talk about what happened.

  Lucas and Bruce worked hand in hand, moving between our four tanks and finishing off any exposed enemy. Jessica was already out of the fight, but Evee, Maria and Anna had formed their own little ranged death squad and were carefully dispatching enemies from behind Marcus and Nicole.

  I even caught Rebekah trying to heal me in confusion. She couldn’t fathom why it didn’t work and gave up. Still, my health was actually climbing at a steady pace. My skeletons were unleashed, and almost outnumbered the remaining demons.

  Looking around with guilty relief that my friends were all accounted for, it seemed to be the case that just two people had perished to javelin tosses, both from the new group. The second must have happened sometime after my death. My guess was that Jessica had managed to blow the arm off the boss after that, and the boss was unable to use that attack.

  Our ranged classes quickly dispatched the remaining fodder while Richard and Alan rushed towards the Behemoth. By now, everyone was completely exhausted. “One last effort! Let’s finish it here and now!” Lucas yelled out.

  He was probably right, although there was the option of closing up the abode and taking a break. Our fortifications might take a heavy beating, but judging by the levels I received towards the abode so far, repairing it and even upgrading further wouldn’t be a problem.

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  “COME ON!” It was Alan who was yelling, and then he started to smash his shield like a war drum. His actions pre-empted any attempt I might have made at having a discussion, and it was just what everyone needed. With our new-found fervor, we were surrounding the badly damaged boss in just a dozen seconds.

  The boss’s worm-like face sagged, and only a single yellow eye remained between the two sockets. Mangled flesh was all that made up the right side of its body, and the thin stringy arm was nowhere to be seen. There was one good arm left, and in it the boss held a large bone sword.

  The Behemoth was missing a leg on one side, and so its maneuverability wasn’t good.

  “Watch out for sneak attacks,” I warned. “The mount can shoot bone spikes from anywhere on its body.” I moved my summoned soldiers to surround the boss after informing everyone of the one remaining attack I believed was still a threat.

  I expected Alan to ignore my warning and charge in face first, but instead we took a more cautious approach, at least the living did. My undead held nothing back as I sent them forward like rabid dogs. The odds were even worse for the boss than I originally anticipated.

  Between the layered AoE, the constant ranged firepower, and a dozen skeletons latching on all over the Behemoth’s body, there was no way for the boss to retaliate. It could neither retreat nor advance, and the flesh of its body grew even more mangled and destroyed.

  The Behemoth could only move forward in random spurts, mostly when the accumulated damage from attacks grew too painful to withstand. Still, with a missing leg and the sheer amount of blood loss, its charges were weak and never allowed the boss to get in range of anyone.

  Eventually, the Behemoth crashed to the ground on its belly. Spikes had flown only once, and the tanks in front deflected them without much issue. The boss seemed immobile, and from a glance even looked to be attached to the Behemoth like some sickening parasite.

  It was helpless there, and with just a dozen more seconds of unimpeded firepower the boss seemed to melt off the back of the behemoth in a lump of flesh, lifeless. Just like that, it was over. We had survived another demon wave, one that had been dozens – if not hundreds – of times more difficult than the previous.

  Everyone was exhausted beyond belief. Each finding a shoulder to rest on while we returned. The atmosphere behind the fortification was gloomy to say the least, most of it from the newcomers. Understandable after losing two of their own. Still, they had fought well enough to earn their spot.

  “Good job everyone.” It was Lucas who spoke first, “The boss is dead. We only need to loot the corpses and we’re free of this nightmare.” We were clumped just inside in a disorderly group. There was hollow congratulations and a few nods. Heals were exchanged to make sure everyone was okay, and then we started to clean up.

  Luis approached me, seeming a bit distraught. “Can we talk a moment?” I was hoping the conversation would come a bit later. Was he going to hold a grudge for his two lost comrades? Express goodwill and hope to earn my trust? There were still some things we needed to squash about their arrival.

  “Sure.” And just as I was turning to walk with him I felt something sharp against my spine—a blade.

  “Don’t move.” He said. And in what seemed like no time at all, Jessica, Lucas, Anna and myself all had a sharp edge against our skin. Anna was the first to scream, and we were suddenly in a standoff.

  My thoughts raced. Even if we could overpower one or two of them from this situation, there was a chance one of their hostages would die. Jessica couldn’t even fight back, and Anna, as a caster, was equally defenseless with a blade across her neck.

  “What do you want?” I asked.

  “The abode, Transfer ownership to me.” And my thoughts started to spin looking for an answer. I wasn’t aware of any way to transfer ownership, but then with the awkwardness of their arrival and situation—I had a decent hunch.

  “Just kill me for it.” I said. I understood suddenly what had happened. The abode couldn’t be taken by force, it had to be voluntary… and that was the reason why their story didn’t match up when they arrived. Despite the situation I laughed, knowing Luis didn’t have all the cards he needed for this move. “You can’t… right? You found that out the first time?”

  “I’ll kill you if you don’t, and then her next.” He eyed Jessica menacingly.

  His threat didn’t make me falter, because I knew for certain he wouldn’t kill me. Without the abode to protect them, they were all doomed. “You’re dead men walking.” I said to him. “Especially you.” I jerked my jaw towards the man cowering behind Jessica, who was holding a knife against her neck. There was a line of blood from his trembling hand.