Chapter 230: Karmic Reprise

Chapter 230: Karmic Reprise

Virs eyes struggled open as if waking from a thousand years of dreamless sleep.

Staring up, he found an unfamiliar ceiling. The ash-darkened skies Vir had grown accustomed to were nowhere to be found, and the same went for the ever-present lightning. Theyd been replaced by Vir couldnt tell. It looked almost like night, though there were no stars. Nor, of course, was there any moon. Vir had only seen that in the vision Ashani had shown him once.

Vir brought a hand to his face, expecting it to be blackened by soot, but to his surprise, they were clean.

Where in all the realms am I?

Sitting up, he found a grassy knoll, unblemished by even a speck of ash.

Vir simply stared at the beautiful green grass as it swayed gently in the light breeze. How long had it been since hed seen flora like this?

His fingers brushed the thin reeds, just to make sure it was real. It was. It reminded him of the hill hed once lounged on together with Maiya at Balindam, watching the sun rise.

Looking up, Vir stared at the pitch-black sky for a long moment before he realized he wasnt looking at a sky at all, but a cavern. Distant cavern walls curved slowly up to the roof. One so enormous, he could scarcely even see the ceilingonly its dim prana signature gave it away.

And yet, the land wasnt dark. It was lit as though it were a cloudy day outside, with soft shadows playing over the hills nearby despite the lack of any visible light source.

Is this really the Ashen Realm? What happened?

Massaging his head, Vir struggled to recall the events leading up to this moment.

We were fleeing from the Ash Beasts. Running. To the beacon. Thats right, the beacon!

Deep underground, Vir had seen a labyrinth of tunnels. Hed headed to the position where they came closest to the surface. And then

Nothing.

Everything after that was a blank. Had he somehow been captured and transported here? If so, why would they leave him such freedom?

Vir stood up shakily and took stock of his situation. He was alone. Or at least, Cirayus and Shan werent anywhere nearby. He did have his katar and chakrams, though, and he wasnt in any immediate danger.

Cirayus had been carrying their supplies, including their food and water, so Vir made it his top priority to locate them.

Guess Id better get a lay of the land, then.

The soft shadows made Dance of the Shadow Demon difficult to use, so Vir Leaped away.

Immediately, he noticed the relative lack of Ash Prana in the ground. The Leap that shouldve taken him a hundred paces only took him thirty, forcing him to triple the time he spent charging the ability.

The prana density surprised him; while still higher than anything in the Human Realm, it was far lower than hed ever seen in the Ash.

I suppose I should prepare myself for the worst But still, where is this place?

Vir Leaped again, this time activating Prana Current and sparing a full second to allow it to charge before blasting off.

Current not only helped attract the surrounding prana, it also prevented his bodys ultra-dense prana from leaking back out to the low-density atmosphere.

He sailed through the air and sailed right off of a cliff.

No. Not a cliff, Vir realized in horror as he plummeted.

The ground hed been on hadnt been the earth at all. Itd been a floating island. One of many, and hed just jumped off.

No wonder there wasnt much prana available There simply wasnt much ground to pull from. It didnt explain why the air was nearly devoid of it, though.

Wind rushed against his face, faster and faster. Vir had fallen many times, but never quite this far. The ground was so very distant it didnt feel real.

It was.

His stomach lurched and fear began to overtake him as the jagged, rocky magma landscape neared. The ground below was as far from the floating island as could be. Volcanoes belched rivers of molten hot lava that flowed across the land, forming pools where they met.

Lets just hope I dont land in one, Vir thought.

Leveraging the prana in his body, he activated Light Step, softening his landing.

He crashed hard. Obsidian rock split under his boots. He hadnt crashed into a magma pool, though it almost didnt matter, because the searing heat would cook him in just minutes if he didnt do something.

Vir reeled from the impact. His bones shuddered, but his prana-strengthened body absorbed the impact.

Would be really nice if I could fly, he thought, eyeing the rocky bottoms of the islands that floated high above. There were over a dozen, though even the lowest of them was far too high to Leap to.

Vir finally found the room, sinking into the shadow.

But the scene before him was not what hed expected.

There was an entity in the room. Full of Ash prana. With gangly limbs, Vir recognized the form immediatelyan Iksana ghael.

Whats one doing all the way out here?

The ghael brandished a katar menacingly, its attention focused on the other being.

Vir had almost missed her. Her prana signature was nonexistentit was as though she didnt exist at all.

But there was another reason his eyes hadnt noticed her earlier. In the darkness, hed seen her and hed seen right through her.

Shes translucent?

As though her body wasnt fully there. Incorporeal.

Then she turned, and the light shifted in just the right way that Vir finally saw her face and the color of her hair.

Maiya!?

Vir didnt think. He didnt need to. Maiya was here. He didnt know how, and at that moment, he didnt care. She was in danger. And anyone who threatened her was an enemy.

Exploding from the shadow, Vir surged for the ghael. Chakram Launch ripped out at the same time as Vir hurled the disk, sending a double wave of destruction at the gangly enemy.

Vir followed up with a Katar Launch and placed himself between Maiya and the demon.

The demon didnt retreat, opting instead to block the attacks, to Virs great relief. Few enemies could defend his full-powered attacks. Especially not when one of them was an Imperium Artifact chakram.

His magic flew to the demon and slammed into his outstretched palm.

Vir steeled himself for the gruesome spectacle that was about to come. He only wished Maiya didnt have to see it.

But there was no spectacle. Virs prana simply vanished upon contact with the ghael, and, unbelievably, the enemy plucked his chakram right out of the air. The weapon immediately shut down, and the demon grinned savagely.

How?

Nobody should be able to touch those blades and live. Not even Cirayus could manage such a feat. It was the only weapon that evened the odds in their duels.

It wasnt only the ghaels impossible feat that surprised him, though. Vir had never seen such pure malice coalesced so perfectly into a facial expression. He didnt think it possible for someone to bear that much hatred.

Vir? Maiya said, confused. W-whats going on? Where am I? How!?

Its alright, Maiya. Im here now. Nothings going to happen to you.

Would you like to bet on that? the demon asked.

What? Vir spat, giving the demon a disgusted look.

How about we make a wager? If you protect her, I shall concede.

Just who do you think you are to make demands of me? Vir rasped.

And if you fail well, Ill consume her.

A chill of dread trickled down Virs spine.

Whats that supposed to

To teach you. To force you to learn. Because you never have.

Vir froze. Who are you?

Me? The ghael said, brushing his gangly fingers against the V-shaped neckline of the black robe that covered his chest.

Vir stared, transfixed, as a brilliant white tattoo slowly came into view. He didnt need to wait for the demon to fully unveil it, for he knew exactly what it was. Hed seen it countless times, after all.

The world once called me the Reaper, for the thousands of lives I took. Reaper Ekanai.

With those words, Ekanai began to fade into the shadows.

Do not hate me. You, and only you, are to blame for what is to come.

Virs eyes remained glued to the spot where the demon disappeared. His hands were shaking.