Supreme Magus - Chapter 321

Chapter 321






"Indeed, but at this point of his evolution it's too early to tell . " Leegaain explained .

"Most of those traits are common in reptile Guardians . He may become a dragon, a basilisk, a leviathan, or maybe something new entirely . As for her, she hasn't undergone a single tribulation . What you see is a lost soul drove mad by pain .

"Her appearance means that her grudge is so deep not even death can stop it . That woman is likely to turn into an undead if her body isn't cleanly disposed of . "

***

Nalear tumbled on the floor with Jirni in hot pursuit . Her blade followed Nalear's major arteries' every movement, ready to strike as soon as she was close enough . Nalear suddenly Blinked, but Jirni was expecting such a move .

She sidestepped while executing a circle slash, putting her back against the wall and hitting the space 180° around her at the same time . Yet Nalear wasn't there .

She appeared in front of a stunned Orion, hitting him squarely on the jaw with the iron gauntlet . He didn't lose consciousness, but he would be incapacitated for a few seconds . More than enough to put an end to the fight .

She Blinked again, a split second before Lith could exploit the opening at her back . He cursed his lack of true dimensional magic which made him slower than Nalear while using a healing spell on Orion, hastening his recovery .

Nalear Blinked back to Jirni, a knife dripping poison in the left hand and the sword in the right one . Normally Lith would have admired her mastery of spirit magic, which allowed Nalear to move even better than when she was unscathed .





The burden on her body had to be enormous and so the pain, yet she endured it like it was nothing . The knife was all Lith needed to set his course of action .

He interrupted the healing and prepared the next spell as fast as he could .

Nalear clashed with Jirni for a split second, disappearing again just to reappear behind Phloria's back with her knife already lunging forward . Instead of Phloria's flesh, the knife bit Lith's stone gauntlet, making sparks but no damage .

Lith had Switched with Phloria at the last second, headbutting Nalear in the nose before she could recover from the surprise and Blink again . The nose broke, filling Nalear's eyes with tears and her mouth with blood, making it difficult for her to breathe .

 Lith slashed downwards while holding the Gatekeeper with both hands, aiming for her neck . She used her own blade to block, reinforcing her weakened arms with spirit magic . Lith followed suit .

The Gatekeeper was already infused with great elemental energies and now was boosted by Lith's enhanced body, fusion, and spirit magic, while Nalear's sword was at its weakest .

The blade shattered on impact, still exerting enough resistance to deflect the hit but not enough to prevent Lith to adjust the trajectory and cut Nalear's left arm . Before the glove could reach the ground and emit a metallic clang, Lith spun on himself to exploit his own momentum .


The Gatekeeper rose and fell again, this time chopping Nalear diagonally from the right shoulder to the left hip . Lith had the sword reduce its size, short enough to decapitate her and stab her heart in a single fluid motion .

The energies coursing through the blade consumed the corpse like fire burning dried grass until nothing remained .





***

"Does that qualify as 'clean disposal'?" Milea asked .

"It surely does . " Tyris nodded .

***

Nalear's death marked the end of the hostilities inside the White Griffon . Once the master ring lost her imprint, it turned to dust and so did all the slave items . It was one of Hatorne's safety features to leave behind no traces after the deed was done .

Lith fell on his knees . The rushed Switch and the use of spirit magic to overcome his limits had drained him of any strength . Phloria helped him to get up . His legs were too shaky to sustain Lith anymore .

The gauntlet disappeared . With Nalear's death, the bond was back to its usual strength . Solus went back being a ring, her core reverting to yellow just as Lith's turned from bright cyan to just cyan .

As he gasped for air, feeling his arms as heavy as lead, his mind was once again assaulted by the vision . This time the images didn't fade away . Every single one of them shattered like broken glass .

The academy burning, Phloria's death as well as Lith's family's slaughter . Everything crumbled, replaced by a blank slate . Lith and Solus instinctively knew it was because the threat was over . Lith's soul was finally at rest and the future unknown as it was supposed to be .

"What you did was crazy dangerous . " Phloria was still terrified .





"How did you know where she would reappear and the angle of the strike? One mistake and she would have stabbed you instead . "

"The vision . " Lith replied . "I replayed in my mind the part where you got stabbed so many times I could follow her blade with my eyes closed . "

It was far from a romantic phrase, yet Phloria felt her heart flutter .

"Where are the others?" Lith asked .

"They are safe . " Phloria chose her words carefully, trying to hide the pain gripping her voice the best that she could . Her heart sank as soon as the adrenaline from the battle started to fade away .

Phloria was ridden by guilt for her choice of putting her mother above her friend's life . Lith didn't miss her distress . The cheeks that were just turning red were now pale .

"What happened?" He asked . Orion could see his daughter struggling to find the words and stepped forward to take the burden off her shoulders .

"Don't . " Jirni stopped him . "I know that it's painful, but she has to live with it . The sooner she faces reality the better . We can't protect her forever . "

Orion held his wife's hand tight, nodding . He didn't like Lith one bit . Orion had read his personal file, watched all the recordings related to him and found his evaluation accurate .

Yet after all he did for Orion's little Flower during Balkor's attack, after seeing Lith in action, spitting blood to protect his family, Orion had come to respect Lith . He treated Phloria right and made her happy as Orion had never seen her before .

He couldn't ask for more, not without feeling a sadistic hypocrite .

Orion couldn't stand the thought that just after being reunited such a revelation could split them apart forever .

Phloria led Lith to a corner, making him sit before telling him the whole story . Her voice was shaky, the pain and regret palpable, yet she managed not to cry .

Lith said nothing . His mind believed her, Phloria would never pull such a cruel joke on him . His heart, however, was struck in denial .

"Can I see his body?" Lith had managed to prevent the vision from coming true, yet it felt a hollow victory to him .

"I'm sorry . I'm too weak to open a Warp Steps right now . " Phloria shook her head .

"I'm so sorry . I'm always so useless . " Tears started to streak from her eyes .

"No, you are not . " Lith forced himself to stand up, hugging her and letting Phloria bury her head on his shoulder .

"It's all my fault . " She sobbed, searching for his warmth .

"If that's true, then I'm as responsible for Yurial's death as you are . If only I cared for him a bit more, then maybe my vision would have shown us his fate too . Maybe, his father would have allowed him to stay home . "

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