When a human being is in adrenaline-pumped mode, anything that is tossed at them is a potential threat. And that’s what the pouch was to Elya.
He slashed at it, and yellow powder burst out of it, coating him and the sage. I landed safely away and turned around. The two men now had strained expressions on their face.
“What … did … you do?” Elya muttered.
“A paralyzing spore,” I said. “That vampire you guys thought was useless found it for me.”
I rushed up to them. This is it, I thought. I was going to end it. Elya and Auron were going to die. They couldn’t move right now. There was no way they could get out of this.
Two Knights surged out of nowhere and rushed at me. “Damn it!” I yelled. My feet slid over the ground, and I changed directions, running away instead, with my enemies hot on my heels. Luna was in her corner, spinning her blade around while her foes stayed at a wary distance. Stan was running away, the same as me, and Valentine was behind Luna, protected.
“Valentine, agility boost!” I yelled, just as I reached her.
She thrust her hand up. “Wakeen!”
A white glow emerged around me, and my steps turned faster. I turned around, sliding to a stop, and faced the Knights. There was unease in their form. I could see it. “Now, Stan!” I yelled.
A blade pierced through the side of one man’s waist and he gasped out. His partner turned to him, and I attacked then. I was aiming for his throat, but he noticed me and flinched, so I stabbed him in the cheek on accident. The blade went through, and he collapsed to the floor. I pulled the dagger out and slashed at his neck before turning to the other, bent man, and slashed his neck, too.
The two of them collapsed to the floor, blood flowing from their throats. Stan stood over them with a short sword in his hand.
“You runt!” A sword came from my side. I swerved back, but a foot connected with my flank and I collapsed to the ground. My health went down to 60%, and I gasped out. Joseph stood over me. Two Knights rushed up to him, but he held his hand up. “This one is mine.”
I stared at his face, lifting myself up.
“I’ve always wanted to get back at you, trash.” He charged at me.
I dived to the side, avoiding his slash, but his foot kicked out once again and struck me right in the ribs. My bones cracked, and I collapsed to the ground, coughing up blood.
“Oh, sorry, did that hurt?” He spun his sword in his hands. “Well, then you should have just stayed in that pathetic home of yours.”
Fire and ice shot up my body, and the dark miasma around me intensified. “Shut up.” My voice was hoarse.
I shot toward Joseph, and appeared next to him in the blink of an eye.
He turned to me with his eyes wide. “How did you—”
I swung with the dagger, and stabbed him right in the throat. He gasped, eyes rolling back in his head. His mouth frothed with blood, and he collapsed at the floor, clawing at his neck.
“You want to get that out?” Rage filled me, and the sensations of flame and ice soared through my very existence. I hated this man. I loathed this man. I wanted him to die. I wanted him to suffer. “Let me help you.”
I pulled the blade out and slammed it down his temple. The blade went through flesh and bone, and Joseph’s thrashing body froze. I twisted the dagger, cracking his skull before pulling the weapon out.
The dark miasma around me increased in intensity, now surrounding me in a three-yard circle. Perfect.
Auron slowly stood, though his form still shivered. The paralysis was breaking up now. “Enrietta!” he yelled. The beam of darkness shot right at me, but I simply swerved out of the way. My movements were easier now, as though I were weightless.
“Do you just know that one move, old man?” I chuckled. “Not to be rude, but that’s pretty lame.”
Auron grit his teeth. “Beltair!” he shouted, and the darkness around the cave intensified.
You’re just helping me. I smiled. The dark miasma around me thickened now.
He moved his hand away from me. “Osulier!”
My eyes widened. I pulled my gaze off the old man, and looked at the person he was pointing at.
Stan stood fifteen yards away from me, trembling at the knees. The darkness got to him. I gritted my teeth.
Shadows swirled beneath his form. This is bad. The darkness shot up, surrounding him like prison walls, walls that were ready to consume him whole.
“Ojoulia!” Valentine yelled.
A sphere of bright light radiated around her, and in an instant, a bright beam of white shot toward the shadow-surrounded Stan.
And toward me as well.
“What the heck?!” I dived out of the way. The attack narrowly missed me and struck the ground. The other beam struck the shadows, forcing them to slither down to the ground. I rushed to Stan, grabbed him by the wrist, and dragged him to Valentine. She and Luna were together, still keeping the last four Knights occupied.
Auron still stood far away from us, with Elya by his side. The effect of the powder has probably disappeared completely now.
The Knight Captain stood like a statue, though. His face was scrunched, and I could almost see the conflict running in his mind. Should he obey orders, or should he protect the princess?
With my luck, he was going to choose the option that made things worse for me.
I grabbed Stan’s short sword and shot to the Knight right in front of me, the one attacking Luna.
“He’s coming!” a voice yelled.
The man turned, a Level 36 Knight, but it was too late. I swung down, and he threw his hands up, protecting his neck. I grinned and moved my hand, thrusting lower instead. The blade slashed into his waistline. He gasped out. I spun around, slashing his neck, then pulled the sword out. He dropped to the floor, coughing blood.
“Heliosa!” Valentine yelled. A ring of light surged out and struck the men, stunning them for a second. I took on the one to my immediate right and stabbed him in the neck. Luna took the other two and slashed through their bodies. If the gash in their sides didn’t kill them, then the force as they were crushed into the wall with definitely did.
I turned, and saw Elya closer to us, but still standing still, like a statue.
“Damn you idiots!” Auron yelled. “Elya, go get them.”
The Knight looked at the Sage, then at us. “I … I can’t do that.”
“Go get them, you stupid Knight!” Auron pushed him forward. “You want your aging parents to be taken care of, don’t you?!”
His eyes changed, and the conflicted expression on his face disappeared. He exhaled and stepped forward, sword at his side.
Fear rose up my spine. I focused on this man and activated my Analyze skill.
DING!
Race
Human
Level
51
Damn it. He’s strong. I clenched my fists, gripping my dagger tight. I waited for the Knight to strike first, but he just stood still.
I caught the sight behind him, for just a second—a sage holding his hand up, collecting a sphere of darkness within it. “No!’ I darted forward.
“Koheesa!” Auron yelled.
The sphere expanded, and a wall of darkness surged at us. I rushed out of the way and dived in front of Stan, the closest person to me. My dark miasma thickened, and I bore the attack. I went flying into the air, before collapsing to the ground, battered.
Rocks and debris fell from many parts of the ceiling, onto the floor.
Auron chuckled from ahead. “How interesting.”
I glanced around. Everyone was on the floor, including Elya. Auron hadn’t even bothered that he was striking down his own people. But everyone seemed alive, and that’s what mattered.
I stood up and pain shot through my side. The darkness around me had disappeared as well. I reflexively touched my neck. My eyes widened. The pendant was gone.
Auron scampered forward, to a corner of the cave. I looked at the spot he was running
to, and saw the pendant on the cavern floor, with the chain snapped. I picked myself up, rushing after him, and threw my short sword.
The blade cut into the side of his thighs, but he kept running.
“Get back here!” I yelled, stumbling as the pain in my side shot up and down.
He glanced back, a grin curled onto his face. “Friends are important, aren’t they?” He thrust his hand up, at the ceiling to the side. “Enrietta!” A beam of darkness shot out and hit the stalactites hanging down from the roof of the cavern.
And beneath those stalactites was a half-conscious Valentine.
My heart thumped, and anguish wrecked my mind. Two things were about to happen—tons of debris were going to crush Valentine, and Auron was going to go get the pendant.
I could only prevent one.
***
For ten years, I had wished to see that pendant. For ten years, I had wanted to grab it and put it around my neck.
And now, I had to choose between it and some girl I met a week ago.
I chose the girl I met a week ago.
My legs pumped as I sprinted toward Valentine. I grabbed her, tugging her away from danger. The debris fell to the ground just inches behind us, and we collapsed to the floor.
“Levi…” she mumbled, touching my face.
“How wonderful.” Auron stood ten yards ahead, with a smirk on his face. He had a red crystal in one hand—a teleportation gem. In the other, he had the pendant. He let it dangle from the broken chain. “It seems you searched for this for a long time, didn’t you?” He held the red crystal up, ready to smash it to the floor and activate its abilities.
I caught sight of a shadow, and a smile curled onto my lips. “You underestimate me.”
I gripped the kitchen knife, the only blade I had left. I jumped up and threw the knife in one solid motion. The attack struck the Sage in his hand, and he dropped the pendant to the ground.
“Now!” I yelled.
Luna stood at least fifty yards from me, with her massive double-sword spinning at top speed. She threw it up, and the blade struck the roof right above the sage. He thrust his hand up, but I picked up a rock, and threw it with all my might, clocking him in the face.
The debris thundered down on the dazed man and crushed his body. Auron’s screams echoed through the chamber, between the thumps of rock and stone shattering into the floor.
And then silence took over.
I stepped to the fallen pile of rocks and picked the chain up. I gripped it in my hand, and the sensation of fire and ice surged through me, numbing my pain. Dark miasma spread around me as I stared at the pile of rock that had crushed the Sage.
“You were right.” A laugh left my lips.
“The darkness doesn’t forgive.”
***
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
A flash of red light burst through Auron’s chambers.
The old Sage dropped to the floors of his own room, gasping for breath. Bruises covered his body. His health was at a measly 5%. He’d barely managed to get out of that cavern alive.
Anger coursed through his body. It was all that Ryder boy’s fault. Auron had planned so carefully, every last detail, and yet he had failed. He knew what the pendant was capable of. If he had it….
“Damn you, Ryder!” He slammed his fist against the ground.
Someone chuckled from ahead.
The old man froze. He stood up and his gaze slowly lifted to the man in front of him.
The man sat in his chair with one leg over the other and a stern expression on his face. He had dark black hair, the shade of obsidian shadows, and even darker eyes. He was easily in his late 30s, and was dressed in a shirt of rich white silk with a buttoned maroon vest over it.
“It seems you failed, Auron.” His voice slithered, as though the very words and tone were meant to wrap around their prey.
The Sage stepped back. He had never seen this man before in his entire life, and somehow, he had been keeping tabs on him? He was the one who kept tabs on people, not the other way around.
“You seem confused.” The man chuckled. “I simply came here to tell you there are more pressing things you must take care of.”
Auron stepped back. Unease filled him. He stared at the man. The face was familiar to him, and a second later, a name came to mind. He had seen this man in a few gatherings before.
“You are Lord Henway.”
The man stared at him. Then, he smiled. “You may call me Albion.”
***
“I’m surprised you saved me.”
Luna and I dropped an unconscious Elya back at the entrance to the cavern. I looked at Valentine. “Why are you surprised?”
“Luna was surprised, too!” The elf bounced.
“Me too,” Stan squeaked.
I sighed. “Well, it’s true, I do look like a guy who would abandon people without a second thought.” I looked at them all and smiled. “For some reason, it’s hard to do that with you guys.”
Valentine smiled. “Look at the murderer getting all chummy with us.”
I raised an eyebrow. “Really? Murderer?”
“It’s true.”
Luna nodded. “Singer-Lady is right. That’s why Luna called Death-Man ‘Death-Man’.”
“Yes, thank you for the literary analysis.”
She cocked her head. “Lit-erary … analysis?”
I chuckled. “Don’t worry about it.”
We dragged Elya a little further out, and I looked down either ends of the mountains. The Knights would have to come here. If they didn’t … well, Elya was going to have to find his own way back.
“Are you sure you’re fine with not taking him with us?” I looked at Valentine.
She nodded. “He’s a … staunch Knight. He’d probably charge you and even me on murdering Auron.”
“Assuming he saw it.”
She sighed. “I can’t believe that stupid sage turned out that way.”
“It’s funny where the villains lie, huh?”
She raised an eyebrow. “He didn’t really kill anyone, you know.”
“Not all deaths are physical.”
“I didn’t expect him to use the Dark Arts. That was … surprising.”
“He told me he was coming after Aegil to destroy it, but given he knew the Dark Arts, I have a feeling it was for something else entirely.” I held up the pendant in my hand. I hadn’t fixed the break in the chain yet, but I could always do it later. I just had to twist the metal a bit or something.
“What’s so great about that relic anyway?” Valentine asked. “Why did you want it so bad?”
“Because it changes everything.” I smiled. “Because it finally makes my world fair again.” I held the pendant out in my hand. Because it takes me closer to who I really am. I pulled out my kitchen knife and cut my palm. I gripped the relic tight, streaking it in my blood.
Fire and ice spurred from within me, and dark miasma rose from underneath my skin. The smoke shifted through the air, and a characteristic sound echoed out.
DING!
I looked at the screen, and a grin curled onto my face. I did it, I thought. After ten freaking years. I finally got it.
You have unlocked a special class!
Necromancer!
This class is perfect for you! (Considering your throat-slitting and murdering habits). Killing someone to solve a problem seems efficient. But then raising them from the dead makes it even better. The path of a necromancer is lonely and filled with death and blood. Do you wish to accept this class?
Accept
Decline
I smiled, and the dark miasma thickened around me. I waited ten years for this moment. I reached out and tapped the screen.
“I accept.”
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