Page 77 (1/2)
Chapter 76: Me froht, a very different scene was taking place
Marcus Aurelius closed his eyes and took a deep breath, his heart twisting in pain He exhaled slowly,coer throbbed within hiy
A ed in front of him One of Julia’s, his beautiful Spy in Blood Magic, with a focus on communication
He sighed Hewas so much easier when she was around
"Are their injuries healable, Damian? What’s the report?&8221; His voice spread out in the sant, if worn, red tent A large table was set in the center, with a fine and detailed ether A few chairs dotted the sides of the rooht sky outside giving little light
A crude rendition of his famous Map Roo
"No, Highlord&8221; Daed vampire, wrapped up completely in dark robes No part of his features was visible
"Probus has lost histools have the capability of bringing it back It seeic, one our healers have suggested is related to an inborn Ability the attacking Anomaly held&8221; His voice was cold and mechanical The best spies had few attachuilt fors
"And Trajan?&8221;
"His injuries were initially more severe, but we believe it was only because of the fallout froan, continuing,
"He will never see again&8221;
"He has, however, regained full use of his voice andat his heart His hand shook for the briefest instant before he brutally forced his feelings down He could not afford to allow hiht now
"And the remnants of the attack that were initially detected?&8221; He queried
"We were briefly able to detect traces of the energy, but they see on a way to remove said traces as soon as possible&8221; The spy replied
Marcus was quiet for a short moment
"No other troops wereto confirhlord&8221;
"Very well You are dismissed&8221; Marcus waved his hand out
Da out of the tent
Marcus looked down at the ers A small, metal cup of wine instantly appeared, one that he held in his hand casually
The defense had gone so well They’d successfully fended off multiple attacks, with no real losses
Until nohen two of his finest Reavers, with great potential, were crippled beyond repair
He studied thefrom planet to planet, world to world
CRINK
He stopped his study, looking at the wineglass in his right hand
The cup had cru caved in and destroyed fro the floor
He stared at the cup for ait as he turned around and left
Around him, a small town of tents spread out One of the tee to Pluical contracts or buildings that ht scar the environh the tent, his eyes calm and collected He slipped past several va, sharing jokes or tales with friends The mood in the ca, dreary existences, and often ed to find humor in even the darkest of times
Soon he arrived outside one of the er than average It was the one designated for the two injured Lord Class Vampires, Trajan and Probus
He paused at the entrance, catching a conversation at the edge of his hearing,
"But Trajan, I’ tha-&8221; Probus’ curt voice echoed forth, full of annoyance,
"Probus, look at the facts&8221; Trajan’s voice was full of cheer, belying his horrible injuries,
"I’ht?&8221;
"Yes&8221;
"And Justice is blind, right?&8221;
"Yes but-&8221;
"Therefore I am Justice&8221;
"That’s not how any of this works Traja-&8221;
"Enough of your rebellion, evildoer Bow to the alhty power of the Environment, Lord of Justice!&8221;
Marcus smiled, unable to help himself As he heard the resilient camaraderie and cheer in the room, he felt a small part of his heart break Veins throbbed in his forehead
He waved his hand once ent was tasked with following the Highlord around until his replacee passed to our friend with ten thousand clones&8221; His eyes were cold and still like a frozen sea
"Tell him we accept his offer, and wish to implement it immediately&8221;
Dorian sprinted after Arial, dodging and leaping over collapsed stone structures The inner city of Icicar was a giantstone houses or stores, most of them in a dilapidated state
As he leapt over one fallen pillar, he slipped on a long pool of ice covering as left of a street
WHOOSH
WHOOSH
Just as Dorian caught hiht where his head had been, stabbing into the ground They exploded intoout over the floor and then vanishing
‘It see spell’ He noted as he felt just a shtly sluggish They didn’t seeed
‘Thanks soul’ He gave his soul ahie it The attack hadn’t shown up in his innate sixth sense at all, probably because it wouldn’t do any da voice echoed out as she leapt over a s down a side street
Dorian turned, following her, and immediately realized why she yelled
A pair of un-transforreatswords on their back
"Grrrr&8221;
"GRGRRRRR!&8221;
The Grakons began to Expand, lunging towards the duo
Before they could attack, however, Dorian and Arial had sprinted past, avoiding the to?&8221; Dorian yelled out, his eyes focused on the fox girl
He had just met her, and didn’t trust her entirely yet He didn’t think she was an ene to take hi with her wasn’t a bad plan for now
But only if they had a destination
"I know somewhere we can hide from them at! It’s a place called the Ice Keep at the center of Icicar, near the Traveling Ice Waterfall&8221; She began
BOOM
A s out behind him as their pursuers wiped out the pair of Grakons they had passed
Above the Class fighters continued to echo forth, still providing them with a layer of cover At the h the air when chasing the lives?!&8221; Aristodemus the Coward, the ruler of Icicar City, was said to live in a fortress of frozen stone and ice, one that was setto Dorian’s research, was indeed next to the giant waterfall of Gworen Ice
"Yes, but he is out right now! If we make it inside, I knoe can lock the Shades up!&8221; She responded, her voice hurried
Dorian thought for a long ed He didn’t exactly see ht What do we need to do?&8221; According to his research, the Ice Keep was a dangerous area that was nigh on iate as long as I have a bit of time If ant to trap the Shades, however, I’ll need your help…&8221; She dropped back to run next to hi her plan quickly
Gerulf hunched down on the ground, running his fingers over the collapsed rubble A faint ie crater sround Nearby, the corpse of a Grakon lay still, its head incinerated
"This is where Jasper set off the warning signal&8221; He said aloud,behind him
"Mhm&8221; Mika, one of the other Shades responded, her voice cool
Four of the group of six were here, all having rushed to the location when Jasper set off the alert
The Shades had been spread out in key points in the city, constantly scanning and searching for the Lightsworn Fox that had escaped theet to the Ice Keep, and as long as they kept a stern watch, it should’ve been impossible for her to move anywhere undetected
They would’ve stayed by the Keep itself, but the danger of getting caught there, as well as the constant Grakon attacks drawing attention and foiling their atte
Who could’ve expected, however, that aClass warriors would take place, and throw their plans into chaos?
"Where’s Siegfried?&8221; He said aloud, looking around Only the four of the the fox&8221; One of the other Shades said, shrugging
"That or sleeping&8221;
Gerulf rubbed his forehead, looking around the scene Ru booms shook the air, and occasionally blasts of ould co to knock thereat, and he couldn’t rise into the air in a controlled ht, everyone on me Let’s just head for the Ice Keep and hope they went that way&8221; He swore, cursing their luck His team members were all elites, they would kno to pressure the target The Fox was tricky, but in a direct confrontation, they would win He would just have to pray Jasper and Siegfried had ed to successfully chase it down, or chase it towards the Ice Keep
The Red Portal found there was the only reason the da towards the center of Icicar City
"We made it!&8221; Arial’s voice trembled out as she and Dorian arrived near the center of the city
They had entered a large, open courtyard like area that stretched for several hundred s or ho waterfall of ice, and, set in the ground behind this waterfall, the entrance to what looked like an underground dungeon A large, stone opening at least 3 dozendoard, to a large gate
The waterfall was difficult to look straight at, for soerous just to be near
The ho of Icicar
This area was usually patrolled by Grakons However, with the exit of the Grakon King, uards had flooded out of the city,battle
Dorian and Arial had been forced to duck and dodge many of the patrols
The Shades behind thehts Most of this was Dorian and Arial’s fault, as they startled the Grakons and caused theet us inside, I’ll need to melt open the Ice Lock on the door, but you’ll need to make sure no one disturbsthe giant waterfall
A freezing aura washed off the oddly distorting ice waterfall as theysounds echoed out as the ice flowed doards, into a deep, fatho the waterfall, arriving in front of the entrance to the Ice Keep, when a loud thud caused Dorian to spin around
The figures of two Shades appeared, faint specks of darkness rising fro off a pure, clean Aura of white light, while the other glea off a heavy, metallic Aura
The one with the reen eyes and a small nose His weak chin made him seem, well, weak, but Dorian could sense a powerful, latent strength in the Shade
The other figure rapped up in white furs and robes, his features indistinct
&8211;
Species: Shade
Class &8211; Lord Class (Late)
Maxiy Level: 81,331
&8211;
&8211;
Species: Shade
Class &8211; Lord Class (Pseudo-King)
Maxiy Level: 103,266
&8211;
"Da
He couldn’t beat the as you can!&8221; Arial’s voice trembled out as she descended to stands next to the entrance to the Ice Keep On the door, aarray of syirl clapped her hands together, an Aura of pure, warly froht
She then held this sort up against the array of frozen sy out, and a burnt s into the Ice Keep
"Hain&8221; The Late Lord Class Shade spoke aloud, staring beyond Dorian towards Arial
It was at this point that Dorian recognized hiave him
It was the same Shade that had callously thrown the freshly dead corpse of that huhtered expedition
"Language Jasper That is what Gerulf would say, anyway&8221; The Pseudo-King Class Shade said aloud, wagging his fingers at his cofried&8221; The Shade returned A second later, the Shade’s body blurred, whiteit as a spell was secretly activated
In a literal instant, before Dorian could physically react, an enor
BOOM
Dorian’s vision wavered as he slaround stone walls that led down to the entrance of the Ice Keep He felt several of his bones creak, his entire back feeling as if it was on fire He coughed, blood spattering froround
"F-fast&8221; He ure of the Shade
He had actually ister the attack, with the powerful innate senses he’d gained a few days ago
His body, however, was far too slow to adapt to those senses, and he had been forced to take the attack before he could even h to take, huh?&8221; Jasper’s voice ca his head
"To think that this evil witch had a subordinate here in the city&8221; He shook his head a second time
"Don’t kill it, Jasper&8221; The other Shade appeared, his body blurring as he stopped down, standing next to Jasper
"We’ll capture both of thee-&8221;
"We have our orders, Jasper Do not question lare at his co fro from shock As he recovered, he felt hisShades, and then back at Arial, as desperately working to cut into the Ice Lock
He felt an odd sense of deja vu
It was happening, all over again
Just like he lost Will
He was going to lose again
To lose protecting someone he decided to protect
Perhaps it wasn’t someone he deeply cared for, or even someone that he really knew at all
But onceto have that taken fro
‘NO!’
Deep in the far recesses of Dorian’s mind, the tendrils of darkness that had started to spread a few days ago began to writhe, spreading even further in his soul and ht before he snapped, killing those hunters for torturing innocent creatures A punishment, when Dorian looked back, that felt far too pere
And now, as Dorian looked at the two Shades, those dark tendrils began to curl, spreading to every single corner of his mind
As they row stronger and stronger
"NO!&8221;
"I WILL NOT ALLOW IT&8221; Dorian yelled out loud, his voice boo the two Shades to turn and look at him in astonishment
Dorian’s eyes flashed as he took full control of his body, willing himself to transfor stronger and denser, splitting into two sets of arrew darker and denser His eyes took on a deep, reddish glow, and he emanated a sense of raw fury
‘Berserker Demon Evolution successful’ Ausra’s notification sounded off in a corner of his nored as he looked at the two Shades in front of hih him
At the same time, the tendrils of darkness in Dorian’s le part of his brain
The , Dorian’s mind shuddered
Abruptly, a flurry ofbattles, practice, and training, of thousands of duels and tens of thousands of fights Wars raging on unending, a hellish landscape of fire, a deluge ofto a warrior and Wizard, renowned as a genius above all geniuses
An ungodly prodigy obsessed with the concept of achieving perfection
A man named Yukeli Shorn
Dorian’s eyes flashed as he launched hi the Shades
Edit: For those who can’t reo reread Chapter 1 if you are curious about the first time we have heard the name Yukeli mentioned
Also corrected a minor typo where I called Dorian ‘Jack’ (whoops)If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible