THE LAST BLOOD SOVEREIGN

CHAPTER 12: THE SHADOW EXECUTIONER

 

The black sword slid from its sheath with a chilling hiss.

A wave of dark energy spread through the shrine, extinguishing half of the crimson flames that lit the ancient chamber.

Varos stood motionless atop the broken stone pillar.

His silver mask concealed his face, but the murderous intent pouring from him was unmistakable.

Seraphine narrowed her golden eyes.

"You should not have been able to enter this place."

Varos laughed softly.

"The shrine's barrier only rejects the weak."

"I simply cut my way through."

He rested the black sword on his shoulder.

"The Emperor predicted the heir would eventually come here."

"He ordered me to wait."

Kael frowned.

"So you've been waiting all this time?"

"For eighteen years," Varos replied.

"I have killed every fool who accidentally discovered this valley."

"You are merely the last."

Kael's fists tightened.

"So many lives... because of me."

"No," Varos corrected.

"Because of your blood."

Without warning, he disappeared.

Kael's instincts screamed.

He threw himself sideways.

SLASH!

The black sword carved through the air where his neck had been a heartbeat earlier.

A stone pillar behind him split cleanly in two.

The upper half crashed to the floor.

Kael rolled to his feet.

"He's even faster than the assassins..."

Varos smiled beneath his mask.

"You've improved."

"But improvement is meaningless without experience."

He attacked again.

This time Kael reacted.

He raised his glowing palm.

"Crimson Pulse!"

A wave of scarlet energy burst forward.

The shockwave struck Varos squarely.

Dust exploded around him.

For a brief moment, Kael thought he had succeeded.

Then a black blur burst through the smoke.

Varos had taken the attack head-on.

Not a scratch marked his armor.

"Good technique," he admitted.

"Poor execution."

His fist slammed into Kael's stomach.

BOOM!

Kael was hurled across the shrine, crashing through an ancient altar.

Pain shot through every bone in his body.

Blood filled his mouth.

He struggled to stand.

Varos walked toward him at an unhurried pace.

"There is a difference between inherited power..."

"...and mastered power."

"You possess the first."

"I possess the second."

Kael wiped the blood from his lips.

"I won't lose."

Varos tilted his head.

"Then show me."

Kael took a deep breath.

Instead of charging recklessly, he closed his eyes.

He remembered the First Blood Sovereign's words.

"A Sovereign thinks before he strikes."

He listened.

Not with his ears.

With his blood.

The shrine suddenly felt different.

He could sense the flow of energy through the stone floor.

He could hear Varos's heartbeat.

Slow.

Steady.

Every movement produced a ripple in the surrounding energy.

Kael opened his eyes.

The world had slowed.

Varos attacked again.

This time...

Kael moved first.

He slipped past the black blade by the width of a finger.

His crimson-covered fist drove into Varos's ribs.

CRACK!

The masked warrior stumbled back.

For the first time...

He had been injured.

Varos looked down.

A small crack had appeared in his black armor.

Silence filled the shrine.

Then Varos laughed.

A genuine laugh.

"Excellent."

"So the Blood Sovereign's instincts are awakening."

He removed his silver mask.

Kael stared.

A long scar stretched across the right side of Varos's face.

His left eye glowed an unnatural violet.

"The Emperor gave me this eye."

"It sees every weakness."

He raised his sword.

Dark lightning gathered around its blade.

"I had hoped not to use this."

"But you have earned the honor."

The air became unbearably heavy.

Seraphine's expression changed.

"Kael!"

"Move!"

Varos lifted the sword toward the heavens.

"Imperial Secret Art..."

The shrine began to collapse.

Stone rained from the ceiling.

Black lightning spread like cracks across the air itself.

"...Shadow Judgment."

A massive blade of darkness descended toward Kael.

There was nowhere to run.

No pillar to hide behind.

No time to think.

Kael instinctively raised both hands.

The crimson mark on his palm blazed brighter than ever before.

Deep within his soul...

A second voice awakened.

Not the First Blood Sovereign.

Not Arkan.

Not Vorthrax.

A calm, powerful voice that felt as ancient as time itself.

"Release the blood..."

"...and let it become your shield."

A crimson barrier exploded outward from Kael's body.

Darkness and crimson collided.

The entire Eternal Blood Shrine disappeared beneath a blinding flash of light.

No one could see who was still standing.