Chapter 146: A light that breaks through even the darkness of the deepest abyss (1)
A long scream of rage, pain, and despair rips from Itsu's lips.
Even his last defense — the skeletal armor formed by his Innatus — collapses beneath the relentless strikes of the dark spikes erupting without pause from the Avatar of the Primordial Shadow, Cassian Thalukvar.
He tries a desperate release: a massive surge of Sanguis energy mixed with Corrupted Flame. It does nothing. Born from the emissaries' dark power, the Corrupted Flame has lost the Sacred Flame's original properties and is utterly ineffective against Shadow Magic.
The tangle of anti-magic tentacles closing around him disintegrates on contact any particle of Sanguis energy Itsu releases, while it suffocates the fuchsia flames.
Only Hakuto and Shin keep pushing toward Cassian, but the dark spikes are too many. They attack from every direction, unpredictably, as if each one has a will of its own rather than being puppeteered directly by the Primordial Shadow's avatar. Fatigue becomes unbearable — their reserves drain fast.
—Shit... Itsu's down too! If we couldn't beat him together, now that we can no longer count on Itsu, Velshekar, and Chantal, the chance that my father and I can do this alone is zero... But I can't collapse. I won't let their sacrifice be in vain!— Hakuto thinks.
—SWING! SWING!—
They force their way through the maze of spikes, but it gets harder. The dark matrix thickens and hardens the closer they get to Cassian, and cutting through it becomes more difficult — both because attack numbers keep increasing and because exhaustion weakens their Sacred Flame.
Sharp, deadly thrusts rain down on them from every direction.
«Hakuto! Behind you! Hurry!» Shin shouts, using every ounce of his voice.
One of the dark spikes slips past Hakuto's vigilant but tired eyes — it aims straight to pierce Hakuto's heart from behind.
Despite Shin's desperate warning, Hakuto cannot avoid it. His sight is fully occupied by the immense, dense black tangle closing around him and Shin, and it's nearly impossible to pick out one tentacle among the hundred wrapping behind him.
It takes only an instant... and the tentacle pierces Hakuto.
A piercing scream of pain escapes his lips; blood gushes in rivers — no trace left of the pink regenerative fluid.
But it isn't the heart that's been pierced... it's his right thigh.
Now Hakuto is no longer submerged in those dark appendages; instead he hangs in midair. Something beneath his feet launched him up just before the spike could deliver the killing blow, leaving him with a severe, deep leg wound that, while grave, is not fatal like a heart strike.
Launched upward, Hakuto lowers his gaze slightly. Below him, a column of rock has risen from the ground — now completely perforated by dozens of sharp appendages.
—This column...— Hakuto thinks.
Hakuto lifts his head.
Clarissa — Velshekar's right hand — waves her arms frantically.
«Kill that bastard... I beg you! Avenge my boss... avenge him!» she cries in tears once she is sure Hakuto has noticed her.
«I will!» Hakuto shouts.
Clarissa smiles at him — a gentle smile of gratitude. Then she collapses violently face-first, unconscious, drained of even a scrap of energy.
—As badly as he hurt those I love, it is also thanks to Velshekar that we still have a sliver of a chance to kill Cassian. He will never earn my respect, but he has my gratitude. For that, I will avenge his death!— Hakuto thinks.
From above, Hakuto now has a better view and finally sees him — Cassian, less than ten meters away.
The dark avatar notices him too, and the tentacle movements shift accordingly, diverting almost entirely toward Hakuto, rising threateningly and aiming upward.
—Shit... from this angle it's impossible to dodge them all!— Hakuto thinks.
The sharp tentacles streak upward like a nest of dark serpents. The launch from the rock column has expired; Hakuto now falls, and countless spikes rush up to meet him fast.
Hakuto raises the flaming sword to the sky, ready to defend as best he can against an assault that leaves no way out...
—SLASH!—
In a single stroke, the countless tentacles are severed cleanly... but not by Hakuto. His eyes light with joy the moment they meet the completely void, absent gaze of Chantal — reduced to a pulp of blood and entrails pouring from the torn openings across her body, battered from head to toe, but still standing, white-flame sword clenched in her fist and a faint flare around her.
But that burst of energy is brief. The flames dissolve at once and she collapses, limp.
Other tentacles replace the severed ones, determined to kill the girl once and for all. Now Shin intervenes, forcing a path with the power of desperation and reaching Chantal's body. He is spent — a large wound on his right calf and one on his left flank bleed profusely — he knows he has no strength left to advance, but he absolutely refuses to let her die.
«I promised... I promised your father that nothing would ever happen to you, that I would keep you safe...» Shin pants, breath broken, blood running from the corners of his mouth and his nose.
—Little Chantal... I still remember the fights you and my son had as kids. Back then you would beat him to a pulp every time and he would cry like a madman when I told him 'this weekend Vincent Carreaux invited us to his villa by the sea in the Côte d'Azur.' He faked a fever just to avoid seeing you... and your reunion last year after six years was no different — you hit each other so hard you nearly leveled the woods near Kagura's villa in Ashiya. But now... you're ready to give your life for each other — what Vincent and I always dreamed for you two. Little Chantal... well, you're no longer little. You are a woman, and I'm truly proud of the woman you became! Even if it costs me my life, I will not let that bastard take another hair from your head!— Shin thinks, and then...
The ground trembles and a white blaze floods everything, sweeping across the battlefield. One last, extreme blast of Sacred Flame erupts from Shin's body, releasing energy he didn't even know he had left.
The dark tentacles within several meters of him are completely disintegrated, dissolved into black smoke.
A devastating release of energy opens a gap for Hakuto, who falls vertically right above Cassian, his sword of flames raised to the sky shining in the darkness that swallows everything.
The Primordial Shadow's Avatar lifts his gaze toward him — he extends his arm upward, aiming at Hakuto.
«My patience has reached its limit, insolent brat!» Cassian snarls. A pulsating globe of pure dark energy gathers around his hand. «Now no one will save you from this!»