Nate watched as a second wave of demons began charging down the hill, carelessly stomping over their fallen brethren. The processed mana that swirled in the air was miniscule, reduced just like The System Challenge had explained. Still, what little there was Nate drew to himself and into mana gems prepared for it. As the processed mana gems filled, Nate sensed Wulfgar and Frick join him atop the Rune Fort.

“What can we do?” asked Wulfgar, looking at the oncoming forces with worry written upon his face.

“You can hold the fort against the horde. Frick, keep the rune cannons charged. I’ll assist Kiri.”

Wulfgar nodded and Nate left Frick with a pile of processed and unprocessed mana gems before he painted a Gravity Control Rune into his robe and rose into the purple sky of this hellscape to join Kiri. Kiri was running through the sky, somehow forcing Reality to interpret her Enduring Gravity to mean that wherever her feet touched was solid ground. Nate could sense the Soul Energy being spent along with a small amount of Divine Energy to maintain the Ability. That said, it was hard to argue with the results as Kiri used her considerable strength to launch herself through the skies like a ping pong ball as she chased down her prey.

From the heart of the demon army, four more Lesser Divinities approached. A bird of prey demon, wreathed in bright-red flames led the pack. Behind it came a pair of twinned beings, cast in shades of black and white like mirrors of each other that floated, their wiry hair waving behind them like thin tentacles. Finally, bringing up the rear was what Nate would’ve considered to be a more classical demon, with hooves and bat-like wings.

Nate did a quick scan with Conceptual Sight. Fire and Fury were the mark of the Bird, while the Twins were Reflection and Resentment. The classical demon at the rear, that Nate decided to call Mini-Boss, was the strongest. According to Nate’s senses Mini-Boss followed what Nate suspected was a more traditional Path for the Demons of the Fifth Hell. Pure Wrath. Regardless, it wasn’t going to matter. Nate gauged that the four Lesser Divines were of similar strength to the assassin squads that had come after Kiri and himself before the World Reaping had begun.

Fire reached for him from across the space between them as the Bird made the first move. The dark red flames called to Nate as he sensed the Concept of Incinerate within them. Another small piece of the Conceptual tapestry of Reality was filed away with the obvious connection to Destruction. Nate didn’t bother to return fire yet, simply floating out of the way as he controlled Gravity’s grip upon him. With six Lesser Divines accounted for, that still meant there was another nineteen left amongst the demon army. And given that the waves had been increasing dramatically he suspected that the next wave would release seven to eight of them, with the following, and probably final wave, releasing the remainder.

His thoughts were moving so fast that the Incinerating Flames hadn’t yet reached his original position as he went through all the information he had. There were likely only two more waves, unless of course, the Greater Divine Demon leading the army was considered a wave. But then, he doubted the Greater Divine could attack them even if it was. With that in mind, he only needed to handle for certain their current enemies plus two more waves. Two more waves that would encompass over half of the demonic forces that had been arrayed against them.

He had hoped to refrain from using too much Divine Energy, and while he trusted Kiri to handle her fair share, his sister wasn’t built for taking on hordes of enemies. She would still probably win eventually but it would be a very drawn out battle. Enduring didn’t mean she had infinite stamina after all.

Nate focused as he split his mind and activated three Abilities simultaneously. Conceptual Sight made certain he could see what he was doing. Runic Reality let him begin reshaping the world. Art Imitates Life bought him time. Into all three he poured ten units of Divine Energy each.

Around Nate bloomed an army of elementals painted in a hundred different shades and shapes. Butterflies of Wind flew beside Water Fish swimming through the air. Tiny pixies of Fire zipped alongside hideous Bats made of Metal. The painted creations flew at the four Lesser Divines and Nate was given free reign to do as he pleased for another ten seconds.

On the ground below, runes began forming beneath the bloodstained dirt of the hill and beyond. Nate had picked up a few new Sigils, but the most interesting to him had been Cycle. The version supplied had only been Journeyman, but Nate had invested a small amount of Divine Energy in raising it to Grandmaster. The step to Divine for the Sigil was a qualitative leap with the expense to match so he’d held off on it. However, his Conceptual Sight Ability could temporarily raise a Grandmaster-tier Sigil to Divine and that was exactly what Nate had done. For four different Sigils, pumping extra Divine Energy into the Ability to account for the two Journeyman Sigils.

A runic formation was being forcefully created by Runic Reality as he carved his rune into the stone and dirt of the Fifth Hell. Divine Cycle joined Life, Empower, Soul, and Drain. Even Nate could acknowledge it was a horrible thing he was creating, but then, the demons of the Fifth Hell were horrible beings bent on mindless destruction. That, and he had a Challenge to win.

As he carved his rune into the world he could see the cannons of his Rune Fort below continuing to decimate the horde of Mythic demons. It would’ve held out for this wave he suspected, but even he could see that it would’ve crumbled under the next wave when the number of Mythics would have more than doubled. That wasn’t going to matter now.

In the distance the four Lesser Divine Demons were slowly whittling away his elementals. Already a quarter had been destroyed, though not without injuring the demons. Bird had multiple holes through its fiery wings and was dripping black blood far onto the battle below. The Twins both bore cuts along their arms and faces, still matching perfectly as though they were actually one being rather than two. Only Mini-Boss seemed uninjured but that didn’t mean he wasn’t being kept busy.

That was the difference between having thirty Divine Energy to throw around and not. Nate had basically used almost as much Divine Energy in a single action as a Seed of the Heartlands could hold within their Class Core. That usage had bought him enough time to complete his grand runic array.

Scooping up Frick, Wulfgar, and Jemima with his Gravity Control he raised them up high into the air and then activated the runic array. The first pulse halted the army as they looked around in confusion. With the second pulse the screams began. The Mythic demons had little defense against a rune made up of Divine Sigils, and found their soul energy being ripped from them and funnelled into the sky above and the rune itself below. With each Cycle the rune Empowered itself, Draining more soul energy. Another part of that rune converted some of the stolen soul energy, converting into Life and Soul empowerment which it directed into Kiri and to a lesser extent Frick.

If there had been mana present Nate would’ve included himself but as there wasn’t he didn’t bother, instead maintaining his connection to the runic array as it decimated not only the current wave of Mythics but the ones still standing with the army. Nate wielded his Intent like a scalpel, keeping the runic array from affecting the Greater Divine demon, but he didn’t spare the Lesser Divinities.

Those same Lesser Divinites began fighting back as Nate felt pulses of Divine Energy ripple through them but it was already too late for that. The rune, working in a cycle as the pulses steadily increased in tempo, empowered itself with the stolen soul energy of almost two thousand Mythic demons. Against that force the small amount of Divine Energy the Lesser Divines wielded was only able to buy them time.

Nate saw them all look to flee, both the group already fighting in the air and the ones that had been held in reserve for the final wave. But whatever agreement they had made with The System or the Demon Overlord kept them glued to the area of the System Challenge. Unable to flee they went on the attack, and weakened as they were, they died. Frick killed the first, finishing off Bird with a powerful blow to the skull. Kiri, empowered by the runic array eviscerated four Lesser Divinities in as many seconds as she flashed around the sky. Even Wulfgar was getting involved as Nate dropped him near the remaining pick of Lesser Divines. With their Divine Energy gone and the rune pulsing below them, killing them as it drew forth the very energy they required to exist, they were no threat to the old Bloodborne Executioner.

As the demonic army died, only Jemima remained nearby, and Nate could sense her eyes on him.

“What did you do?” she whispered as she joined him in watching Mythic-tier demons simply collapse in piles on the ground below.

“Does it matter?” he asked, not really wanting to answer her.

He sensed her mouth move as though she was going to say more before she stilled, perhaps reading his mood. Notifications flashed in the corner of his vision and he shot them a glance.

Wave Number 13: Six-hundred Mythics, seven Lesser Divines.
Wave Number 14: Fourteen-hundred Mythics, twelve Lesser Divines.

The entire time that the others finished off the remaining Lesser Divines, Nate simply hung in the air and waited. Divine Energy flowed from the fallen Lesser Divines, and Nate took his share which was enough to replenish two-thirds of what he had spent. Frick was hard at work collecting the Orbs from each fallen Lesser Divinity, which after they split them should cover the cost of what Nate had used.

The rune finally collapsed on itself a few seconds later, having run out of soul energy to continue its Cycle. The ground fractured as it broke and it was upon that craggy, corpse-ridden field that Nate landed. Fifty metres away, only the Greater Divine Demon Lord remained.

Kiri was the first to join him.

“Think the Challenge is over?” she asked, eyeing the Demon Lord.

Nate smiled sadly, “Yes and no.”

Wulfgar and Frick joined them at the moment, both covered in blood, if for very different reasons.

“Not thinking of fighting that thing are you?” asked Wulfgar, the question directed more at Kiri.

“Thinking about it,” replied Kiri with a tired grin.

“It’s a Greater Divine!” argued Wulfgar.

Kiri blatantly ignored the old man, pinning Nate with her stare, “What do you think?”

Nate sighed.

“I think we need to earn so many points that our victory in the World Reaping is beyond anyone's ability to dispute. You know what we’re here for. I think we have to.”

Kiri pumped her fist as Wulfgar looked apprehensive.

“You don’t need to be here for this,” Nate offered. “Break the token and you’re out of the System Challenge. We each got one so they should only take you out of the Challenge.”

“I told you, lad! I ain’t no coward,” grumbled Wulfgar, before adding quietly under his breath. “Though this is fucking insane…”

Nate looked at Jemima who shrunk back but didn’t say anything. He was disappointed that she didn’t use the opportunity to run, but he couldn’t make her leave. Well he could, but it was against his morals to do so. Instead he turned toward the Demon Lord.

“Are you the fifteenth wave?”

“I am Lord Hast’durin’koth, Keeper of the Endless Fury and Greater Divine of the Fifth Hell. And yes, for those foolish enough to risk my wrath, I am the fifteenth wave of this System Challenge. Though none have ever taken me up on the offer.”

Nate looked around at the thousands of dead demons that littered the landscape. The Lesser Divines had given up Orbs. The Mythics had not. Not a single one. Nate’s eyes narrowed.

“The System returns them to you, doesn’t it?” he demanded.

Demon Lord Hast just laughed, the obsidian skinned demon that stood over four metres tall letting the booming sound of his amusement wash over the corpses of his brethren.

“Of course. And then I shall have a decade during which I can rebuild my forces, fed on Mythic Orbs so that they grow up nice and juicy, ready for the next System Challenge. Then I shall give them this same offer, that if they can defeat the interlopers the System will reward them. But in truth, it is rare that any but my Disciples and I see much in the way of rewards. Even less this time. I will still be rewarded though, so go ahead, do what they all do and crack those little Challenge tokens and be on your way, unless of course you think you can defeat me…”

A new notification flashed in the corner of Nate’s vision, clearly mirrored in everyone else's by the way their eyes flicked away.

Begin 15th wave by challenging Greater Divine Demon Lord within thirty seconds or be ejected from the Challenge with your points based on defeating 14 Waves.

With one last glance at an eager Kiri and a hesitant Wulfgar, Nate nodded. He didn’t need to ask Frick as he could sense the little Spirit’s eagerness through the Familiar Contract. As for Jemima, well, he had told her she should leave. If she stayed, that was on her.

Kiri flashed a grin and launched herself at Demon Lord Hast. Less than a second later she was flying across the once-barren, now corpse-riddled, landscape to blast through the remains of Nate’s rune fort. Nate hadn’t even seen the Demon Lord move, but he sensed Divine Energy already being used.

Nate threw up a Barrier around Wulfgar, likely saving the old man's life as he too was launched away like a bug. Then the Demon Lord was on top of Nate and his own Divine Barrier saw him launched into the sky as the Demon Lord turned Jemima into paste below. Nate felt a torrent of emotions flow through him. Relief that Jemima was dead, a little self-hate for feeling relief at the horrid woman's death, fear for his sister and the old man. And finally, anger at not being more prepared. The anger was what he chose to focus on as above him a golden-blue rune began to form.