Chapter 1728 Cost of Time.

«The Heart of Kanakht... the Heart of Kanakht...»

Suffering unbearable pain, Jet continued to fight the Great Devil calmly. Her mind was cold and focused, methodically calculating every move and motion of the enemy. She was unable to destroy him, but the abomination could not bring her down, either — as the two of them fought, the harrowing fury of their battle boiling in eerie silence, time continued to flow.

She was drawing the clash as much as she could, callously luring the ancient fiend to his eventual end.

Once Effie and Kai arrived...

«How do we kill him then?»

Kai would be able to weaken the Great Devil with the power of his voice. Effie would be able to deal some damage to the abominable creature with the help of the Starlight Shard... but not enough damage, considering that it was merely an Ascended Memory of the Fifth Tier.

The white cloth could shine beautifully in the darkness, as well as imbue her weapons with a rare type of elemental damage — one that wasn't that useful, apart from being able to cut intangible things.

It was a bit ironic that the only way to fight the terrible wraith had been given to her for slaying the Lord of the Dead... if Jet remembered correctly, that was the name of the Fallen Tyrant Effie had killed on the Forgotten Shore.

Something moved in her mind.

«Still, none of it is enough to kill the Heart of Kanakht.»

The most useful thing Effie would be able to do in this battle was augmenting Jet with her Ascended Ability. However, Jet... was powerless against the Great Devil. Unless she could deliver him ten thousand cuts, the fiend would not go down.

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As Jet moved between the raging storm of screaming souls, slashing the whirling hurricane of sand with a blade made of mist, she felt a seed of an idea... or a revelation, maybe... bloom in her mind.

«What was I thinking about?»

The Heart of Kanakht...

The name was quite peculiar.

Jet did not know what Kanakht was, but she had a strange suspicion. That suspicion came from the name of another abomination, a Corrupted Monster Effie had killed soon after entering the city, and something she had read in a history book.

...It was a strange thing, really, Jet had never been that interested in history, only learning enough to understand the modern world, However, at some point, and for a reason that she remembered only vaguely, she developed a liking for it.

Perhaps it was because of meeting someone who was very enthusiastic about ancient cultures, and being secretly displeased at not having enough knowledge to sustain a conversation. She couldn't remember who it had been exactly, though...

Maybe one of the Army Command officers back in Antarctica? Or someone at the Academy, which she often visited to enjoy the food in the instructors' cafeteria?

In any case, Jet had read about a strange custom that ancient humans had here, in the Western Quadrant, once upon a time. They prepared their dead for burial in quite a peculiar way, removing all the organs from the bodies before placing them in opulent tombs. lіghtnоvelworld_c\о/m. There was even a legend about a god whose body had been cut apart, and then assembled back together, bringing him back to life.

Jet continued to retreat, buying time.

Some time later, she absorbed the third soul.

It belonged to a Great Beast she had slain in South America. Jet had had to cash in a favor that Saint Naeve of the House of Night owed her to make it across the ocean in time with his help.

She was starting to falter...

The fourth soul dissolved into a torrent of essence that watered her desolate soul.

The fourth soul had belonged to one of the Saints who had completed his Third Nightmare in the wake of Antarctica. The public did not know about him, because the man had gone mad soon after Transcending. The scars dealt to his psyche by the Chain of Nightmares were too deep, and his life ended in tragedy. lіghtnоvelworld~c/о/m. Of course, a much greater tragedy had been prevented by stopping him in time.

Jet let out a stifled hiss and staggered back, clutching at her chest. This time, the blow she had failed to evade was too vicious.

She consumed the fifth and final soul.

This one belonged to the Great Monster she had slain in Antarctica. She had gone there to find and kill that abominable thing, Winter Beast... but, to her dismay, it was already dead. In the absence of the powerful Titan, several dreadful Nightmare Creatures crossed the strait from East Antarctica to claim its land. Jet had recklessly fought one of them to satiate her smoldering anger.

«...Not good.»

There were no more souls to consume.

Well, there was one...

Her own.

Smiling, Jet regained her balance and raised her sword.

Her cold gaze fell on the approaching devil.

«Hey, Heart of Kanakht...»

Her voice was calm and full of dark amusement.

«I know your secret. Also... you took too long. It's too late now, bastard.»

A great dragon landed on the burning building to her left, and a giant foot encased in polished steel landed on the rubble to her right.

There would be no need to consume her own soul today.

...Her reinforcements had arrived.