Chapter 373 (2/2)

The blade cah the black spikes as if they were nothing but thened body, flooding every round, and a shockwave rippled outward fro the thirty-foot-tall spike that jutted up just behind Cadell

Screaing down the thousands of people seated there, sing several private boxes, and filling the coliseuled to regain his feet His ar with soulfire and Destruction He flailed desperately, like he could shake the purple flames away His body flickered in and out of incorporeality, but the Destruction clung to hi hi consumed

The Scythe's face was pale as he shi+vered, and the shadows clinging to him melted away as he returned to his normal form His scarlet eyes were full of fear, his usual snide face a h box, perhaps hoping the other Scythes or even the Sovereign would appear to save him

As I looked down on him, I felt only the cold acceptance of justice finally fulfilled "This is for Sylvia"

The violet flarew even h his chest and burst out of his back Destruction leapt across hi Cadell froore of internal organs spilling out, just the cleansing fla hiht, not quite like that The stain of Cadell's existence would always be on this world, visible by the holes he had left in it

"Sorry it took so long," I said, watching in my mind's eye as Sylvia's draconic eyes shi+ned with tears as a portal drewin uilt for what I couldn't do then lessened, but I kneould never leave me entirely

I pulled the sword fro off both horns Regis, sensingthe but the severed horns reis drifted out of the sword as it disappeared,back into my body near my core, his aether exhausted, no words necessary to express how either of us felt in this moment

I bent down to retrieve the horns and stowed theue settled over aze swept across the broken coliseues swar to pull survivors from the rubble The shi+elds, those still functional at all, were flickering in and out The rest of the audience was in shock, their eyes either followinginto the place where Cadell had been

There was h box—one of the only untouched spaces in the entire coliseueforward froht He earing a loose-fitting robe and a hungry sh to bend the heads and shoulders of every Alacryan in the stadiun, Kiros Vritra of Vechor

He was underwhel, compared to the likes of Aldir, Kordri, and Lord Indrath

I kept htly averted, not downcast or in a bow like the tens of thousands of Alacryans around me, but I didn'tclap that cahtHis sether faster and faster A confused andof applause followed fro!" Kiros said, his voice projecting effortlessly through the coliseu the weak applause "A beautiful display of power Such unexpected death! And delivered with—"

A pearlescent oval opened over the arena floor, twenty feet in front of the high box

Kiros frowned

Two figures stepped through

The first was someone I had never seen in person before, but I knew hih to sober rona's horns splayed out from his head like an elk's, the dozens of sharp black points orna, sharp features that reminded me uncomfortably of Sylvie

The second, I was less prepared for

Tessia looked exactly as she had when I'd last seen her, speaking to her people fro battlerobes, similar to the dress worn by Seris, except the individual "scales" were ereen and shaped like little leaves The battlerobes left her ar runes I'd noticed in ray hair draped down her back and over her shoulders, braids tucked behind her pointed ears, shi+ning teal eyes—she was immediately and unequivocally not Tessia

Tessia…

Tessia was a princess She'd grown up in the royal palace in Zestier, been tutored in the manners of custorace extended to the way she held herself, the resting expression of her face, the cadence of her walk…

But all that was gone now

Instead, this person ressive confidence—not the Cecilia ofwo's Tournament Whatever harm that experience had done to her h into this life, no doubt fostered by Agrona, just as Nico's ically, I understood what I was looking at

But the cold, distrustful look Cecilia gave h rona's appearance wasn't unexpected, necessarily, but Tessia—Cecilia…

I had buried her too deep, labeled her a problem that could only be resolved in the future when I'd had more time to consider…

Could Tessia even be saved? Was she still in there, so her acy?

I hadn't been ready to face these questions

I still wasn't

Regis tugged at erous, Art If we push ourselves much farther…'

I should have been afraid There was no way I could fight Agrona I wasn't even sure that I could fight Cecilia, knowing nothing about her powers in this world But I wasn't frightened If anything, Agrona's willingness to appear here in person sireatly for me

It meant there was only one path forward, that I was free of the burden of deciding what to do after the Victoriad

Kiros's voice boo the already unstable stadiurona Vritra!"

People fell on their faces to properly bow throughout the stands, their voices echoing back: "All hail Agrona Vritra!"

"I guess I finally got your attention," I said into the silence that followed

Agrona smirked He rested one hand on the small of Cecilia's back, and her ar happened in ht in the middle of me Cecilia's hands ide, and that pinprick expanded into an orb of white light that co away the dust and dirt Little eddies of wind and bursts of flame manifested around the outside of the sphere, with ainst it to drip down, like the outside of aon a dewy round in a square with me at the center The crystal had a liquid s just above e

Uncertain, I took hold of the bars They were cold as ice and vibrating with energy I pulled They didn't break

'It's soht with a sense of exhausted wonder

Though I couldn't sense the ht Cecilia had pulled all the mana out of the atmosphere, even out of le spell would have left in to wrapwas even possible

Agrona's smirk sharpened "Was this all done just for me? I'm flattered, Grey For a lesser, your over-inflated sense of self-i But you seeet rona's head cocked to the side a fraction of an inch, sending the tinkling of golden chains rustling through the deadly-silent coliseuer to see how your new abilities function I'll take great pleasure in dis you piece by piece to find out"

'We should go,' Regis thought

I glanced around the stadiuaze landed on Mayla, Seth, Deacon, and the others Though still bowing, Seth was staring at me, his eyes ith confusion and fear I wished suddenly that I had been kinder to him He had a warrior's heart, and didn't deserve the hand life had dealt him

I found Valen and Enola, their bloods' private boxes close to one another Though kneeling to their High Sovereign, both students were practically pressed against the transparent shi+elds protecting the down at me just like Seth

I was surprised to see Caera with one foot on the scorched dirt of the corona's appearance, whichout to check on h to watch aze as her lips moved in some silent prayer

Hopefully, she wouldn't hateher who I was, but even now I couldn't say what her reaction would have been It could be that she would have turned againsther instead

She had been a good friend to me, if a true friend could be based on a foundation of lies I could only hope aze properly expressed that senti around the coliseuh box and maneuvered around the arena floor to box hts carefully hidden Melzri had left Nico's side, and was staring at y writhed like wet tentacles around Viessa, though her gaze was on Agrona instead of oth, frowning down at the dark stain that had once been Cadell

One thing was consistent through all of their expressions, even Seris's—an edge of uncertainty undercutting their usually unshakable confidence

Before following Regis's advice, I againSon I had made a promise But I didn't even know if the woman to whorona waved for the Scythes to take htly disappointed I expected you'd have yet another trick up your sleeve Still, even if what I've witnessed from you so far is the extent of your abilities, I' you a useful distraction"

I had to decide It was tithat there would still be a chance to answer it in the future

Or I could try to take her with me, try and find so her back…

Or…

I grew slightly sick at the thought

But it was the clearest path forward, the rona couldn't use Tessia or Cecilia, that whatever power the Legacy had couldn't be controlled

I felt ivehout rily, and I struggled to focus on the co of aether and physical form required to use the Burst Step technique

Re to teach ht happen if I wasn't precise, or if e bars were unnaturally strong But h the in every direction Mid-step, I conjured the aether blade, drew it back, aimed for her core

Her teal eyes followed ress even when using Burst Step When the tip of ainst her sternureen veins spread out across her face beneath her skin and, for an instant, she looked…resigned as a strained sraced her painted lips

Her body tre not for the blade—not in defense—but toward my face A caress "Art, please…"

It was Tessia's voice

I released the aether blade She held reen veins receded, her eyes returned to their natural color, one hand went to the tear in her battlerobes where my sword had nearly pierced her Tess—Cecilia took a step back, giving

"Oh, that was close, wasn't it?" Agrona said, aht for a second you could do it, didn't you?" Agrona's arm snaked around Cecilia's shoulder and pulled her to his side "You're only cold-hearted and calculating when it's easy, Grey In reality, you're weak, emotional, and rather prone to attachment"

I looked down at rona's words

What should have been amy rona ordered The Scythes closed in

Agrona's confident smirk finally slipped away as I activated God Step He reached for ht of his intent 's Force feel amateurish in comparison

His look of astonish I saw as the aetheric pathways took me far away from the coliseum and the Victoriad