Chapter 151: Whitefall VIII

Chapter 151: Whitefall VIII

I approached the forest, trying to keep the direction the woman fled in my mind. My thoughts wandered as I jogged towards the clearing. Demons were immune to the flame. Its only real practical use was to seal them after they were felled. The creatures of the sanctum lived in a mana-rich environment and maintained some resistance to magic.

My time in the enclave, and subsequently, the sanctum, had skewed my perspective on the demon flame. It was a harrowing weapon. Effective, but harrowing. Gaining a reputation as the prince who burned his enemies alive at the slightest provocation wouldnt win me any allies.

When there was more time, I needed to reconsider the best way to use my magic.

Something seized the strap that fastened my armor to my thigh, halting me mid-stride. Kerai stared up at me, his mouth full of leather.

Im coming back. I tried to reassure him.

Leather strap still clenched between his teeth, Kerai shook his head in a gesture that was almost human, urgency radiating through his golden eyes.

What I trailed off. Erebus clearly stated that abyssal panthers were intelligent. If Kerai was trying to stop me, there was a reason. I scanned the treeline, wary.

Nothing was visibly out of place. No ambushers lying in wait, no fallen trees or stirring in the mana threads. Whichnow that I thought about itfelt entirely wrong. The Everwood paled compared to the sanctum, but it was still a hotbed of magical activity where monsters thrived. I should have felt something.

Further down, there was a corpse. Something had sheared him in halfexpensive looking shoes and pants, and the remains of a silk shirt that was sodden with blood and entrails. And a top half that was nowhere to be seen.

Likely a noble that had attempted to flee the battle. If Kerai hadnt warned me, Id assume he had died in the chaos.

I drew closer and inspected the body. Whatever dealt the fatal blow was impossibly sharp. I immediately discounted the possibility a person had dealt this wound. Even a monstrously strong swordsman couldnt make a cut so clean, so perfectly symmetrical. My first thought was a monumentally powerful mage with an air affinitySaladius, for example, could use compressed, tightly focused arcs of air to slice through boulders and chunks of stone, though Id never come close to being able to recreate the feat myself.

Kerai was growling, hackles raised. I frowned. The forest was still clear, exterior trees not nearly thick enough to fully hide behind. But Kerai was acting as if the danger was imminent.

Unsure of what else to do, I picked up a small clump of earth and tossed it towards the tree line.

It disintegrated in mid-air with an audible sizzle.

Elphion.

That was why I wasnt feeling anything from the Everwood. There was a magical barrier. A nasty one. The maimed noble had likely run headfirst into it, dead before he hit the ground. And if Kerai hadnt stopped me, I would have followed in his footsteps and triggered another reset without the slightest clue of what finished me.

I backed away slowly. Follow current novels at novelhall.com)

Another barrier? Maya asked. Shed apparently noticed the detour and caught up to me, Eckor in tow.

What are you doing? Eckor shouted, his face twisted in horror.

Stay focused on keeping the breach open, I said calmly, giving him a smile I didnt feel. The spark disassembled muscle, then bone. Motes of violet light, each carrying a tiny blueprint, floated through the breach in the barrier to the other side.

The pain was exquisite, all-encompassing, as my hand slowly disassembled. My right arm followed. Then my left leg.

How delightful. A feast.

It was the same voice Id heard after Id taken Veldanis elixir, when I repaired the gate. I toppled over, no longer able to sit upright.

You bare your neck with hubris, kingspawn.

If it spoke, I could reason with it. I tried to talk evenly, but my voice warbled as the pain crescendoed. Surely you want something grander than a simple death.

I do not want. Nor do I intend anything more than the cessation of your damnable existence.

Do you know what I am?

I know all.

Then youre fully aware that my end means nothing. I lowered my voice to a whisper, careful not to inflict Eckor with the miasma that encompassed anyone who heard me speak of my previous lives or resurrections. If you want me gone definitively, youll need to get creative. Wait for an ideal moment to strike.

Hubris.

The fire sped up as more and more pieces of myself fell away, carried through the hole by motes of flame.

Either way, youre stuck here. Same as me. So go ahead. Stonewall me and accomplish nothing, or aid me so we can both move forward to what we truly desire.

It was a gamble. The only card I had. And if my gut was wrong, and the presence could harm me on a more permanent levelsuch as reopening the soul-wounds from beforeI was in a world of trouble. My vision blinked out, along with the pain. I brought to mind every time Id been reborn, the strange undoing of death in the void, and commanded the flame I could no longer see or feel to follow that same pattern.

The void called to me. My grip of the flame felt loose, intangible, so weak I wondered whether it was actually there. Fingers of doubt wrapped around my heart and squeezed. An infinite distance away, in the darkness, the silhouette of the black beast loomed over me. He drew closer, his presence heavy, all-encompassing. I clung to the loose tether of magic tightly, praying to Infaris that it wasnt already too late.

The beast spoke, his rumbling voice uncharacteristically irritable.

And so, the corruption finds you, yet again.