Chapter 171: The Gift Given

Chapter 171: The Gift Given

Chapter 171

The Gift Given

The first to strike wasnt Sylas but rather some abomination from his rear. There was a muffled sound of thunder that was followed by a blast of spiked icicles stretching out in a straight line. Sylas spun around for a moment and, after a glance, ignored them, opting to instead jump on the woman. The latter, surprised and shocked, awkwardly stumbled backwards, using several well-armored, plated knights as the vanguard shield.

They welcomed him with shields raised, deflecting his probing strike. Using the force of the collision, Sylas somersaulted backward, over the incoming iced spikes, and landed back where he started from. Without wasting a moment, he sprinted left; by now, there were dozens of attacks heading his way, anything from the ice bolts to hidden daggers and shadow mists looking just about ready to poison him to death.

If there was one area of death that he still left largely unexplored, it was exactly that. Sylas still wasnt certain how his body would function while poisonedwhether it would easily defeat the poison or simply delay the effects. And while it would be a fun experiment, he mused, to figure it out, now wasnt the time. He simply wanted to see the extent of the deads forces and whether he alone would be enough to deal with it.

He had lied to Asha a bitthere was no reason to wipe out the dead or ensure they didnt send out their mercenaries. Most, if not all, castlefolk will leave on the trip south, once it begins. As such, the fears of invasion post-departure were mostly exaggerated. The primary reason for coming here was to test himself further, with the secondary being to see if he could learn a few new things. There was also the hidden one, curled about his soulanger.

While he had grown dulled and hollow, there was still a fire inside of him. He kept it burning and warm and part of the fuel were these things beyond the northern border. He had never liked them but was always too weak to do anything about it. The sanctimonious hypocrisy and whataboutism didnt impress him, even less so coming from the creatures selling their own kind as though they were slaves.

They were war profiteers, the same kind as back on Earth who would sing and exult that they had merely sold the weapons but never pulled the trigger. It was deflection of the highest order, though perhaps for vastly different reasons. In fact, there was no reason why the dead wouldnt broker deals. There was no bond there, no love lostit, for all intents and purposes, was a business. But just because in the technicalities it lived up to the moral opus didnt absolve them. Not for him, anyway.

Dancing around the numerous attacks, he suffered those he could easily heal and dodged those that appeared more dangerous, rushing toward the woman again. She seemed shocked, as did most others, and reacted too slowly to his strike. For the first time since coming, he imbued a faint wisp of energy into his strikeand easily obliterated her. Even he was faintly shocked, for a simple thrust that should have simply destroyed her heart caused her to balloon and implode into a shower of blood and gore, most of which washed over him.Visit no(v)eLb(i)n.com for the best novel reading experience

There was silence for a moment as everyone, including the girl watching from above, slowly processed what they had witnessed. In the meantime, Sylas felt exulted; his energy was far stronger than he expected. Then again, the Shadow did warp how he viewed himself. Comparing to the creature that lived longer than this Kingdom and fought against the Gods certainly doesnt procure the perfect image of strength. While he still had to use some tricks to kill the Shadow, there was no need for the tricks here.

By the time others recovered, he had already begun his rampageelecting to use his vast energy reserves, he began slashing with the enhanced blade, easily cutting through the armored knights and causing them to explode in similar fashion to the woman. Similarly, every time hed scrape a surface, hed leave behind a massive gash denoting the strike. Soon enough, buildings began to fall and crumble into dust and ash, and blood began to somehow lighten the obsidian stone.

you seem rather indifferent to the mayhem I caused, Sylas probed. Werent they your people?

Hmm. I suppose? the girl titled her head as her legs began to dance around in the water. Though calling what you did mayhem seems a bit generous, no? Now, what you are planning to do that will likely be considered mayhem. Perchance, some day in the distant future, it might just become a myth unto itself. The story nobody would believe, for how could one man never die, no matter how many times he is beheaded?

though the girl looked like she could see through him entirely, yet again, Sylas wasnt alarmed. If anything, he felt relaxed. Who are you? he asked.

Depends on who you ask, the girl replied coyly with a smile.

Im at a loss here. You seem to know a lot about me, and I am blind.

Nothing wrong with being blind, she said. In my experience, the happiest souls who have ever lived have all been blind. To know is to suffer.

You seem happy. Does that mean youre quite blind too?

No, she shook her head. Unlike most, though, I did have many lifetimes to learn to live with elan. You have turned out different from what I predicted. That doesnt happen often, she leaned forward slightly, resting her head on her hands and staring at him with a quaint smile. I have had grasp on human nature since before humans knew what kings and queens were. And its not often that Im surprised and blindsided.

When was the last time? Before me, I mean.

You read about him, I believe, a long time ago, she said. The man who stayed north, when his love called him south. I was beyond certain he would follow his heart. Well, he didthough not in a way I imagined.

you know? Sylas frowned deeply.

How could I not? the girl giggled strangely. After all, Im the one who gave you the gift of life, Sylas. Or, perhaps, is it a gift of death? Whatever she says, I suppose. Little ones are like that, always in want of being right.