I emerged from the shadows, thrusting my dagger forearm deep into the gaping hole of an errant Knight’s armor, feeling resistance as the blade slowed, then release as something severed. I should have been terrified, scared shitless, but there was no fear, no hesitation.

Gawain radiated rage. He seemed to understand what had happened—the betrayal of his men—but despite their poor judgment, Gawain himself walked the talk. As soon he realized they were targeting Nick, he dropped the duel to defend my friend, mowing down all who interfered. Judging from the carnage, the shorn-through armor that freely leaked smoke from fallen Knights, limiting magic usage for the duel might have saved Nick’s life.

A Knight wound up to swing his war hammer, more behind him turning by the moment.

I tried to influence him directly and nearly died for it, hammer smashing into the ground inches from my feet.

Intelligence is too high. Need to unbalance him.

Talia bit at the Knight’s boot, momentarily stopping his advance. Sir Kay broke from Gawain and Nick, bowing forward at the waist like a bull. He bowled into the war hammer Knight, knocking him a few steps forward. <Probability Cascade> fired, sending the Knight careening across the ground, the floor itself unnaturally slick.

If there was more breathing room, I might have taken a second to appreciate what just happened. <The Devil’s Share> had responded to my subconscious intentions, casting <Probability Cascade> on the marble ground the moment the thought had entered my mind. I’d need to watch the mana usage—even with the reduction, it’d be incredibly easy to tap myself out that way—but other than that, it was a hell of an upgrade.

I pirouetted out of the way of an errant blade, quick-drawing my crossbow and letting my abilities take over. I pulled the trigger and the pain-bolt rocketed forward, threading the needle of the stumbling Knight’s visor slit.

It wouldn’t do much beyond pissing him off and obscuring his vision, but that was fine. As far as I could tell, the Knights only had two weaknesses. One was in the upper left quadrant of their chests, the same location as a human heart. The second was the armor itself. When Pot and Kettle intentionally broke the contract, it had whisked their armor into my inventory, and the smoke that had filled the armor was violently pulled into the circling black ring that still enveloped us.

So far at least, they hadn’t reformed.

Unfortunately, a large contingent of the Knights didn’t seem to be in on it. Rather, they’d witnessed the duel turn into a melee, two of their own die, and taken it all rather personally. It was an unstated rule of the contract I’d been unaware of. As long as the terms weren’t being knowingly violated, the Knights’ armor remained their own.

Which meant I needed to get creative.

The war hammer Knight roared, bolt shaft and fletching still sticking out from his visor. He charged, pulling the hammer back, his run a half-stagger. I wedged the toe of my boot beneath a fallen spear and lobbed it toward him. He paid it no mind until the last second, when the spear tip continued its rotation, lining up perfectly with his throat. He flinched and ducked his head.

The spear tip bounced harmlessly off his helmet, spinning off to the side. By the time he looked up, I’d already repositioned. He swung the hammer at me, fully committing even as his footing betrayed him.

The hammer itself was on target. He was fast. Even a few days ago, it might have been enough to hit me. Bruisers were supposed to be slow, manageable so long as you didn’t get hit. But there’d been a line of exceptions to that rule. Thankfully, I had the experience of fighting Buzzcut to fall back on, and because the situation had forced my hand, my agility was reaching absurd levels.

I sidestepped, touching the hammer and correcting its course, watching with no small satisfaction as the war hammer Knight slammed into a cluster of his fellows, toppling several and obliterating one with a wild swing.

“Drop!” Nick roared over the chaos. He’d abandoned his place in the center and was racing toward me, slowing only momentarily to retrieve his shield from the ground. <Awareness> flared. I dropped to one knee immediately, bending low. Nick soared over my head, full plate and all, and I twisted to watch as he brandished his shield, absorbing a handful of clanging blows before he turned it sideways. It shone golden light as he swung it like a glaive, cutting several Knights off at the knees.

Others pressed in on him from the side, threatening to surround us. I grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back, firing a few more bolts, landing enough that they hesitated to pursue.

“Why the fuck are they still attacking?” Nick yelled over his shoulder at Gawain.

Gawain shook his head. His right arm was reduced to a smoking stump, and he was now managing almost entirely with his left. That he was still fighting so well regardless of the handicap was a testament of his skill. “When I said this place was coming unraveled, I wasn’t just talking about the ripple itself. Look at them.” He stared out at the Knights, swarming in the chaos, and cut one down who dared to press him. “Some retain their faculties, but many are further gone than I realized. There’s something else at work.”

“Well. That fucking sucks,” Nick groused.

“Stay your blades, men of the circle!” Gawain shouted.

There was a hesitation, a lull that felt entirely too temporary.

I reloaded my crossbow as quickly as I could, pushing bolts into the auto-loader one at a time, trying to stay on top of things despite how outnumbered we were. A single mistake here could be fatal. “Gawain, I get that you’re pumped to make a fatalistic stand here and all, but the rest of us need a plan. If this turns into a slugfest, we lose. Honor besmirched. Only a matter of time.”

He kept his blade trained on the advancing Knights and hesitated, visor turning toward the ring of shadow. “Find the Wizard. I sense his hand in this. He’s stoking their anger, suppressing their reason.”

There’s a fucking Wizard?

“Where?” I asked.

Gawain indicated the wreathe of shadows with his blade, grimly. “In the depths. Finish him with dignity, if you can. He was not always this way.”

Shit. The ring itself didn’t cover that much surface area, but it was entirely opaque. If I only had myself to worry about, I could probably find the target fairly easily. But it would take time and focus, meaning I’d be leaving Gawain and Nick entirely open, with only a handful of loyal Knights and Sir Kay to cover them.

I looked down at Talia. “Recovered yet?”

When she nodded she had, I checked my mana stores, swore, then asked Sir Kay a silent question. I’d gotten lucky that he was within the level-range for <Subjugation>, but if I kept relying on luck, I’d end up drained and vulnerable with nothing to show for it, if not worse. I needed Knights who were talented but inexperienced—if the ripple followed any logical order, they would be low-level enough that this would work.

Sir Kay pointed to two separate Knights. One wielded a halberd and seemed to champ at the bit, ready to charge us. The other was stiff, almost robotic, wielding a mace and shield.

I subjugated them one after another, nearly swooning as the mana drained away, leaving me with a fifth, if that.

Both Knights stiffened.

As with Sir Kay, prying into their minds after subjugating them was almost too easy.

You serve the round.

There was resistance. Gray tendrils that grasped their minds and pushed back. But it felt too lazy to be an organized defense. If the source of the resistance was the Wizard Gawain mentioned, managing every Knight on the battlefield had spread him too thin.

I slipped through the cracks, maneuvering until I reached the minds within.

Report to Sir Gawain, defend your guest. Do your duty.

My invisible enemy made a mistake. He seemed to find my command amusing, and I felt him laughing, somewhere behind us. When the time came, I had a place to look.

With a shudder, the Knights obeyed, pushing through the crowd and taking a defensive position next to Nick and Gawain. I was ready for Gawain to comment, but he said nothing, just shifted to the side, giving the newcomers space to position.

Nick gave me a worried glance but said nothing. Probably thinking about what we talked about earlier. Instead, he offered caution. “Remember. Tap me in if you need me. No hero shit.”

I smirked. Despite the gravity of the situation, Nick of all people warning me not to be a hero was too much. “The hero shit’s your job.”

Whatever time Gawain had bought us dwindled, and the Knights charged. Gawain readied himself with his men, Sir Kay, and Nick doing the same a moment later. With Talia sprinting ahead of me, purification magic emitting from her in a translucent sphere, I plunged back into the wreathe.

Not long after the shadows closed in behind us, a snarling voice emanated from the gloom.

“So… the Ordinator himself seeks an audience.”

A lance of gray energy cut through Talia’s shield and curved away from her directly toward my eye, too quick to track as anything other than a blur. <Awareness> sounded a warning that was entirely too late.