Chapter 90: Fault

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A shadow looms over Laurel, and a demon puppet swings his sword towards her after jumping from his hideout. With her years of sharpened senses as a merchant, Laurel quickly blocks the sword and pushes the man away that planned the sneak attack. 

A sword with a light aura penetrates the chest of the demon puppet. The man lights up on fire, and blue flames consume his body rapidly until only ashes remain. 

A short but sinister giggle rings in the air, and Imogen faces towards the direction she was heading with Laurel. In front of them stands no one, but on the ground, a shadow of a woman. It lifts from the tunnel floors, forming its shapeless body into a human figure. Then, as if the shadow itself turns into a liquid, it melts down from the woman's body. 

Cynthia appears from the dark matter with a smile spread widely on her face. Imogen looks at her and frowns. She immediately starts searching for her surroundings.

'Where is her real body?'

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"Come out. I know you are there," Kyrie's voice rings in Sil's ears.

Sil spreads a smile upon hearing Kyrie's voice calling for him. He is not planning to hide either way. He walks out of the shadows with his men following behind. 

Kyrie eyes the ground where the enchantment circle was left by Saskia who trapped the town inside the dome and turned all inhabitants into ghouls. Right now, they have less than a day to break the enchantment and end the game. Despite Kyrie expecting Saskia to be the one receiving them, meeting Sil is not a surprise either. After all, they are all under the same fallen god. 

It would be a lie that Kyrie does not feel disappointed to see Sil. This probably means that his revelations to Erebus did not work to change the pain of dealing with the possibility of his descent. Erebus, in the end, does turn into a fallen god despite the warnings. 

[Maybe I should have been more direct with the message.]

Kyrie and Ian share a look with their blades prepared. 

Although it has been years that he has last seen Sil, Kyrie cannot look at him straight into his eyes. The betrayal has cut deeply into Kyrie's heart, making it difficult to forget. The betrayal has left him with fears that he did not know until he discovered the need to tell Ian what is in his mind, but his voice mutes whenever he wants to speak. 

He knows that he no longer possesses the resentment that he once had, but the lingering bitterness acts as a lock to his heart.

Seeing that Kyrie cannot even look at him, Sil purses his lips. 

"Kyrie…" His lips whisper the name that no one but himself can hear.

'Master…' The voice echoes in Sil's mind, 'You are on a mission.'

'I know, so stop reading my mind.'

The voice does not answer, but the presence that lingers over Sil weakens.

"Ian… Cover me since I am going for the enchantment circle," whispers Kyrie.

"Hmm," Ian replies while taking out his sword.

"Maya is gonna stay behind," Maya says out loud the words that Kyrie thought.

Kyrie pats Maya's head and walks forward with Ian. 

Sil's men propel towards them with their swords drawn before Sil joins them. Their body gets enveloped in dark purple mana. A demon puppet clashes his sword against Kyrie. The force of his swing cannot even budge Kyrie from his spot. He releases his light magic, and the demon puppet instantly bursts into fire, shocking Kyrie himself. His light magic has evolved from a golden aura into a silver one. 

[Did my mana change due to the essence reserves?]

Kyrie runs over to the enchantment circle, but a sense of uneasiness continues to linger.

He turns back to see that none other puppets came after him, even when being close to the enchantment circle. He looks at Sil appearing in front of him in a blink of an eye, shocking him from the speed. Kyrie steps back to put himself at a safe distance. He quickly turns towards Ian, who became overwhelmed with the rest of the demon puppets and evil spirits.

[Damn it!]

Kyrie turns to run towards Ian, but Sil intercepts his path once again. They clash swords again.

"Worried?" Sil asks, with his smile still hanging on his face.

Kyrie remains silent, but his eyes speak the words that Sil does not need to hear from Kyrie's lips.

"He is awfully weak in this loop… I cannot even sense a drop of the magic of darkness in him," Sil lifts his brows, "He is so weak that he would not last long with a great number of weak enemies."

Kyrie peeks over Sil's shoulder and sees that Ian is indeed struggling in terms of numbers. Although the hits that he lands on the enemy create extensive damage, his swordsmanship lacks experience. His intuition and direction are extremely underdeveloped. 

Ian's experience is far lower than Kyrie, who has gone to his academic tournaments, trained by professionals and Imogen, fought numerous times with his family knights, learned from the goddess Yue to control his mana and strength, and took upon himself all the dangers that came at them. Ian had only a bare minimum. 

[I-Is this my fault?]

Kyrie knows the answer to that question. Imogen has warned him about that so many times as well.

"He won't be able to protect you. Come back to me, Kyrie…"

Kyrie glares at Sil, "And be used again? Do you think I am stupid?"

"I admit I did wrong to you, and I will fix my mistakes."

"Sil. It is not happening. We are not even on the same side."

"I can change it… I just need some time."

"I don't believe it, Sil. I can't believe your words anymore."

"Why?"

"Because… Because you killed even your family… The people who loved and raised you."

"I d-... You don't know the full story…"

"Getting investigators to my house soon after your death? Even without, that is enough for me to know who you truly are!"

Kyrie breaks from their standstill with great difficulty. He gives a glance again to Ian and takes a deep breath. He releases his breath as he fully unlocks his mana. The silver mana gushes out violently. Everyone in the room feels his heavy presence rising. 

Sil's eyes widen in shock when feeling the mana emitting from Kyrie's body. The mana feels so pure and unfathomable that one could mistake it for essence.