Flying Mouth was the only way to describe the monster. Its oblong body was about 2 feet long, split in half by an enormous mouth full of rows of short, squat teeth that reminded me of the maw of a chipper.

  Tiny hummingbird wings buzzed at the creature’s sides, way too small for its mass, and several small yellow eyes glowed with soft light. It honestly reminded me of a nightmare cousin to the green slime monster in Ghostbusters.

  Switchblade died and my graceful glide changed to a plummet. The weird little monster, its body a dull matte black, swallowed 50 pounds of steel as easily as I’d munch a biscuit.

  “Chew on this!” I shouted, summoning Soulrend and slashing at the monster, which was keeping pace in front of me, looking somehow smugly pleased with itself.

  It winked out of existence half a second before my blade tore through its giant head. At the same time, Eva identified it.

  “Voidmaw Devourer. Level 45. Rare. If hunger was given a physical form, this would be it. These insatiable beasts live to eat. Their teeth can rend stone and metal as easily as flesh and bone. Their short-range teleport ability allows them to pounce on unsuspecting prey and keep the feast going forever.”

  I did not want to be that thing’s next meal. I kicked off from Switchblade, using it to lunge sideways. A second later, the voidmaw devourer appeared again, chomping my bike’s seat in half. It would have ripped through my torso if I hadn’t jumped.

  I was too far away to use my blade again, so I summoned a polearm tipped with a scimitar head and slashed at the devourer. It disappeared again before my blow landed.

  I tossed the polearm into my inventory and drew Soulrend again. I was falling fast toward the water, but the teleporting terror was my only concern. It could chomp me to pieces long before I hit the water.

  Before I could figure out my next move, the Voidmaw Devourer appeared right next to me and bit down. Its huge maw enveloped my head and shoulders and its chipper-like teeth plunged down with the force to rip me in half.

  They bounced off.

  Blinding light enveloped me and knocked the monster back. The light coalesced into the shape of Bristleback, or at least his overly muscled upper half. I stared in shock as the ghostly apparition of the deadly hog-taur seized the Voidmaw Devourer by its jaws and heaved.

  The nightmare mouth monster ripped in half in a spray of bloody gore that splattered all over me. A message popped into the corner of my vision.

  “Last Chance ring auto triggered. Fatal blow defeated by the manifestation of the boss whose soul powered that charge.”

  I blinked in surprise, but the truth clicked into place half a heartbeat later. My Last Chance Ring must have activated when I defeated Bristleback. I’d totally forgotten the description during the fight.

  “Last Chance ring. Epic. Ring will activate once you defeat a boss monster. Will then auto trigger with one of those boss’s powers to counter an otherwise fatal attack. Cooldown: 7 days, plus another defeated boss.”

  I’d never imagined it would manifest Bristleback to not only negate the death bite but also kill the monster. That was awesome, but I lacked time to enjoy the moment.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! You have defeated Voidmaw Devourer, level 45. Bonus experience gained for defeating a higher-level enemy.”

  I triggered Soul Feed and Loot, then banished Switchblade just before the broken hover bike crashed into the waves. I’d follow in seconds, so I triggered another spell as a torrent of energy flooded into me and the Devourer dissolved into stinking black mist.

  Gale Flight!

  “Gale Flight. Spell. Uncommon. Fly with the speed of the wind. Mana cost: moderate. Uses Remaining: 1.”

  A tornado of wind formed around my feet and immense force hurled me forward. I shot skyward, laughing with the thrill of acceleration that would put a fighter jet to shame.

  I willed myself to turn, but nothing happened. The tornado of gale force pushed against my feet and nothing more. Okay, I could work with that.

  I bent my torso to see if I could use wind resistance to bank. The force of the air caught my shoulders and wrenched my head down so hard every muscle in my back strained. My flight turned into a somersaulting, out-of-control spin.

  Shouting in pain and disoriented confusion, I straightened my torso with trouble. The flight straightened out, but now I was hurtling toward the water so fast I’d explode when I hit.

  This was harder than I’d expected. Gritting my teeth, I made a slight movement, tipping back slightly. That was enough to catch the air and change my dive by degrees into a horizontal flight path. I tore through the sky at blistering speed, close enough to the water that some of the taller waves nearly swamped me.

  Carefully turning more, I banked higher. I was getting the hang of this. Another minute, and I’d be golden.

  Shrieks and roars and caws all around snapped my attention to my surroundings. I was about to fly right into the center of a dense swarm of flying monsters of all sizes and shapes.

  I caught sight of bird-like monsters, more wyverns, huge raptors, and less identifiable blobs, even one monster that looked like a single enormous wing with no body attached.

  I lacked time and skill to turn aside and only had time to tense and draw Soulrend and my steel-banded fighting stick before plunging into the swarm of monsters.

  The sky filled with birds of all shapes and sizes and colors. They flashed past so fast I barely registered each one. Razor-sharp beaks and deadly talons ripped and tore and snapped at me from every side.

  Energy Ward shuddered under the onslaught, deflecting more attacks than I could count, but even supercharged, it wasn’t enough. My mana plummeted under the onslaught and claws and beaks broke through on every side, ripping at my armor. Elemental attacks blasted into me from all sides, despite the protection of my cloak.

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  One long talon dug into my calf, just above my left boot and raked downward, ripping a gash down to my heel and slicing through my boot in the process. The wind ripped it free and it tumbled away.

  My amulet of Rebound helped distract some of the monsters as a fraction of their magical attacks hit back, but my health plummeted, despite my Tesla Coil bracelet pouring healing power into me.

  I turned and banked as best I could, slashing at every target I could reach, my weapons a blur of destruction. Again and again Soulrend cut into monster spirits while my stick cracked wings and broke heads, but the swarm never lessened and I flew past before I could finish any of them off. I fought with all my strength and skill, but it wasn’t enough.

  My Tesla Coil bracelet still grew warm against my skin as it drank in life force from the monsters I wounded, then the power flowed back out to heal the countless small wounds I was accumulating.

  I shook under the onslaught, my skin scorched, then chilled, then melted by clouds of acid while powerful blows pushed Energy Ward’s deflection to the max and threatened to bottom out my mana. Others slammed into me with brutal force. My armored jacket and cloak together protected my torso pretty well, but my legs and head were not so lucky.

  Gashed ripped into my thighs and calves, spraying blood and driving the monsters into blood frenzy. My pants were quickly shredded, and one monster, who plowed into my waist so hard it somersaulted me in the air and nearly sent me into an uncontrolled corkscrew into the water below pulled my pants away with it when I clubbed it off.

  Claws scraped my scalp and face as wings and talons battered me from every side, but I needed pants. Even though they didn’t really help, the thought of fighting through a swarm of monsters in my boxers made me cringe.

  So I mentally shoved the basic trousers I’d looted from Joseph’s body way back on day 1 onto my legs. They appeared, popping on and settling perfectly over my legs.

  “Now I figure it out?” I grumbled, but didn’t have time for more.

  The swarm suddenly parted as one giant raptor plunged through the pack, scattering the smaller monsters. A snatching talon closed around my torso like a death vice. I grunted and slashed up with Soulrend, severing one claw. It weakened, allowing me to squirm free and accelerate again.

  Right into the gaping beak of a second raptor.

  This one was like a flaming eagle, every feather burning with different colored fire. It spat a torrent of billowing flames right in my face.

  On pure reflex, I cast my new Immolation spell. Flames of my own erupted around me and clashed with the raptor’s fiery breath.

  Cyrus’s laughter cut through the din. “Ha! Good choice. Great synergy between those spells.”

  A message from Eva scrolled past, but I waved it away just as the maelstrom of churning fire enveloped me in a warm embrace. Then I plunged straight into the giant bird’s open maw.

  I slammed Soulrend up and my stick down as the bird’s beak slammed shut. My stick got stuck between the closing halves of the beak and for half a second, the sturdy wood resisted the immense pressure.

  Then it snapped and the beak shut with crushing force. Soulrend punched up through the roof of the raptor’s beak, but for a second I feared it wouldn’t help as crushing pressure threatened to grind me to paste. My Crash Test Dummy armor saved my life, protecting me just enough to withstand the initial bite.

  “Crushing impact. Remember, this jacket is dry-clean only,” the jacket said as my health plummeted and my Gale Flight spell sputtered.

  If I let that spell die, I would die with it. I focused on it, willing it back to life. I also slashed with Soulrend as far as I could while my chest was pinned and my ribs began to crack. With panic-fueled strength, I dragged the ethereal blade through the monster’s beak, despite heavy resistance.

  As I focused on the spell, I sensed a difference. With both Gale Flight and Immolation active, they had melded together to form something slightly different. I was surrounded by a rushing tornado of white-hot fire. It still tried to push me forward from below, but it also allowed me to direct it up around me, like dropping into the center of the tornado for a moment.

  That helped a ton, as I was able to keep the spell active more easily when I wasn’t moving much. My frantic slashing hit something important because the pressure lessened just a bit.

  The fiery wind raging around me and filling the raptor’s beak with blindingly bright fire drove me forward, sliding up the smooth inside of its beak.

  All the way, I slashed with Soulrend, cutting through the spirit of its beak. That made it open just a bit wider and I shot toward its gullet at the back of its throat. It was closed, like a wall I’d smash into and lose my momentum.

  If only I still had Ahab’s harpoon, that would have been an easy problem to solve. With no better option, I summoned a tier-1 mana crystal and popped it into my mouth. A flood of power surged through me and I focused it all on the strongest swing I could muster as I summoned my basic club that I’d fashioned from that tree on the first day.

  My club struck the wall of the gullet a split second before I did, driven by all my desperate strength and momentum. The impact rattled me all the way up to the shoulder and the club exploded.

  So did the gullet. I shot forward through the gap, calling forth Soulrend and my sabre-toothed dagger. As I slid down the giant bird’s throat, I spun, slashing with both weapons, carving a spiraling path of destruction through the monster’s long neck.

  The dagger didn’t inject poison and it didn’t cut as deep, but its razor-edged blade actually worked better in the tight confines of the bird’s throat. Blood and fire whirled around me as I erupted into the bird’s huge stomach.

  I puked. The stench was so foul, I couldn’t help it. Even with the flaming tornado surrounding me, the stench cut through to my nose. My flames illuminated the chamber, bubbling with acid and half-melted chunks of flesh.

  Thank god the synergized spell allowed me to fly more slowly, or Gale Flight probably would have winked out in that confined space.

  I still had to move, or I’d lose it anyway. I twisted to fly up to the ceiling as the acidic sludge churned all around. Acid seared exposed flesh of my face and arms and started melting through my pants, but most of my body was protected. It would eat through my armor too before long, though.

  I wouldn’t stay that long.

  I called on more speed, shooting along the ceiling of the stomach, slashing with both blades, leaving a cascading waterfall of blood behind. When I reached the back of the stomach, I avoided the dark tubes of intestines. No way I’d get trapped in there.

  Instead, I banked around, running along the spongy surface of the stomach wall for a second to help make the turn. My one bare foot burned from the acid. Then I spiraled around the top of the stomach, dagger ripping through flesh and ethereal sword slicing through spirit as my Tesla Coil bracelet pumped more healing energy into me to fight the effects of the burning acid.

  In seconds I circumnavigated the huge stomach 15 times, ripping and tearing deeper into the walls with every pass. Finally, the stomach ruptured and I blasted through, shooting into the dark innards of the bird. I continued spiraling, slashing, and tearing, looking for the heart.

  It was hot and humid and disgusting as I bounced off squelching organs, my hands slick with blood and unnamed fluids. I kept my mouth closed tight and tried not to breathe as filth and burning liquids poured over my face. Thankfully my goggles withstood the barrage.

  The bird might be immune to fire on the outside, and even in its mouth, but its guts weren’t. My fiery gale tornado crisped flesh and blackened organs, cauterizing wounds and searing the bird from the inside.

  Then I punched right through a flat, gray organ that had to be a lung. Inside, the air was blissfully clean. I managed a single gulp before plowing through the other side of the lung blades first.

  The heart came next, a huge, beating muscle that was unmistakable. I shot past, slashing Soulrend through the center of the heart while ripping my dagger through the main artery.

  Blood exploded out of the severed tube like a fire hose, slamming me sideways where I bounced off the thankfully soft second lung. And I finally got the notification I’d been hoping for.

  “Congratulations, Lucas! You have defeated the Crimson Kite, level 49. Bonus experience gained for defeating a higher level enemy.”

  Cyrus added, “Experience doubled for giving us such a show!”