Rune System: The Crimson Knight

CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE

“What are you doing?”

Valeria’s abrupt question carried the tone of panic as Draàl’s grip tightened around the blade with a new, unexpected burst of energy. He watched as the purple halo of Valeria’s rune aura faded rapidly from the sword, promptly replaced with the fiery-red of his own. Soon enough, the weapon burst into flames, creating a shockwave so powerful that Valeria was flung backwards.

She quickly rebounded to her feet and drew a second gladius from a hidden compartment in her shield. But, even as she poised for another battle, she could feel it: the suffocating heat that enveloped the arena, threatening to scorch every single thing in its path. She couldn’t see Draàl’s intimidating rune aura, but she didn’t need a glimpse to know he’d become the equivalent of a miniature supernova at the moment—an angry supernova, to be exact. For a fleeting second, she wondered what Lucas’s charts would say about the phenomenon before her.

Draàl extracted the gladius from his lower abdomen and held it out, keenly observing the yellow tongues of fire that danced along its blade. Meanwhile, every cut on his body healed swiftly, leaving no scars in their wake. Raising his new, blazing sword towards Valeria, a small, grim smile tugged on the corners of his lips as he asked, “Ready for round two?”

He charged at her without waiting for a response.

Hitching her breath in quick, short bursts, Valeria tensed her shoulders and arms as she held her shield up, preparing for the attack. A few feet away from her, the tip of Draàl’s sword produced sparks off the ground as he swung his arm upwards, creating a robust arc of fire that rushed forward. Valeria ducked as the blast crashed strongly onto her shield, the intense heat making her grit her teeth. She’d barely lowered the shield when she was struck with a more solid force—namely Draàl bringing his sword down on her with vicious strength.

“Shit!” she hissed as he struck her repeatedly, with the brutal heat of his blade causing the rim of the shield to melt and bend. “My strength is failing. I’ve used up so much rune aura that my body is beginning to crumble from exhaustion. Worst of all, he’s only starting to get stronger. How the hell do I keep up with this?”

Draàl seemingly answered her question by suddenly grabbing her shield and ripping it off her arm, which was still looped to the leather straps. Stunned by his feral strength, Valeria’s eyes broadened as she attempted to swing her sword in a last act of defense. Unfortunately, Draàl’s boot moved faster, slamming into her midriff and sending her tumbling another couple of meters backward.

By the time she staggered to her feet, her knees buckling weakly and threatening to collapse beneath her, she was met with a horrifying sight. Draàl had ignited her shield and hurled it at her like a burning discus, turning a defensive instrument into an offensive weapon. Valeria barely had the time to evade it—if it weren’t for her reflexes, the flaming disc would’ve cleaved through her like a chainsaw through meat. She swiveled and fell back as the shield sped past—just millimeters away from her face—and embedded itself firmly into the wall behind her.

When she straightened up, Draàl had zipped forward swiftly, angling his sword down in a vertical arc. With a frustrated yell, she countered with her own blade… and it immediately shattered on impact as Draàl’s blade cut deeply into her shoulder.

As explosive as the pain was, she wasn’t granted the opportunity to cry out. After hacking into her shoulder, Draàl bashed his fist into her face in quick succession. Then he pulled the sword out and swung horizontally at her abdomen, slicing far into her armor and flesh. With a hand over her bleeding gut, she finally dropped to her knees with a grunt, swaying slightly but still upright.

The tip of Draàl’s fiery sword sizzled against Valeria’s skin as he tilted her head upwards. Though pummeled and thoroughly beaten, her eyes stayed bright with a fresh layer of hate. But Draàl could see something else, too. Something that almost made him smile with satisfaction.

Fear. Not just in her eyes, but all over her being.

“Say it,” he snarled as he pressed the blade’s point against the surface of her neck, scorching her skin even further.

Courtesy of a broken nose, Valeria’s breath escaped laboriously through her parted mouth, with blood running along the corners of her lips. Her hand still clutched her slashed mid-section, and her butchered right shoulder seemed to be hanging on to a few tendons. But, somehow, she sounded surprisingly clear when she spoke.

“I was wrong, my lord. The Dark Queen made a sound choice. You are the Crimson Knight.”

Draàl continued glaring at her for a moment longer. Then he slowly lowered his hand, revealing the patch of burnt skin the sword left just below her jawline.

“Lord Draàl,” he corrected, maintaining his fierce gaze. “You will refer to me as Lord Draàl from now on. As for the arrangement tomorrow, cancel it.”

Confusion crept into Valeria’s eyes. “I don’t under—”

“I will leave for the museum tonight,” he interrupted curtly as he began to move toward the elevator. He flung the gladius away as it began to succumb to the profound heat, its blade and hilt melting into a puddle of molten steel. “There’s no need to push the mission forward anymore. Find a way to make it happen.”

“Yes, Lord Draàl,” Valeria muttered weakly. Once the elevator slid shut, she crumbled to the ground and passed out cold.

Back in the monitoring room, following the battle’s conclusion, a contented smile drew on Judgeman’s concealed features.

“The General is ready,” he proclaimed to himself. “No more doubts.”

His hologram vanished with a buzz, leaving behind the dazed specialists gawking at their screens.

“Uh, Andrea?” Lucas said, his eyes still widened to their limits. “You might want to send the medics down there. Mrs. Salazar doesn’t look good at all.”

“She’s a tougher nut than you think,” Andrea replied, also nursing some level of shock. “As long as she wasn’t killed, she’ll heal eventually. Now pay up, big guy. You lost the bet. Again.”