----Page 25----
The air snapped like overstretched wire.
Agrath's scream tore through the ruins, raw, distorted, and no longer human. His armored body convulsed, the golden plates cracking as purple corruption writhed underneath like a living thing desperate to escape.
Princess Verline stepped in front of us instinctively, shield raised, sword angled low. Her voice dropped to a deadly whisper.
"Everyone. Brace yourselves."
The shackles binding Agrath strained, the glowing runes hissing as cracks spider webbed across them. Each pulse of corrupted energy made the ground tremble.
Pierro, still bound, stared in horror.
"Agrath! Stop! Stop it, you fool! You can't fight it. No human can!"
Tauren snorted.
"Human? He's barely that anymore."
Lysera glanced back at me, silver aura flaring.
"Master… what do we do?"
The Codex in my hand vibrated violently, pages flickering with unreadable symbols. It recognized this corruption. It feared it.
I swallowed hard.
"We hold the line. Don't let it reach Rubal and Kraust."
A wet, sickening crack split the air as Agrath's spine arched and twisted. His golden chestplate blew apart, shards flying like shrapnel.
A monstrous, sinewy arm burst free, twice the size of a human's, covered in purple black flesh etched with glowing veins.
Pierro screamed as Agrath's other arm broke loose, the last fragments of his armor falling away like shed skin.
His voice gurgled into a deep, monstrous snarl.
"Grrruuuu. AAAARGHHH!"
Princess Verline stepped forward, planting her shield into the ground. Her aura flared, a silver black radiance that made even Tauren blink in surprise.
"Kinon," she said without looking back.
"If you have any magic left, prepare it."
My throat tightened. Magic? The Codex wasn't exactly something I controlled. But I nodded anyway.
"Alright, I'll try.."
°°°°
Agrath's transformation completed with a final, explosive pulse of corruption that rippled outward, knocking dust and debris into the air.
He rose, no longer a man, but a towering abomination. Four glowing purple eyes opened across his twisted face. His jaw split unnaturally, lined with jagged bone.
Lysera gasped. Tauren's golden aura flickered, tail lashing.
"I knew there was something off about him. He's hiding more than we realized!"
Princess Verline's voice rang across the battlefield.
"Corrupted Knight of Seldene… I grant you mercy only once."
Agrath lunged. Not at her, but straight toward me.
"Master!!"
Lysera shouted. As she, moved like a lightning, blade igniting with silver light as she intercepted the monster. Their clash sent sparks scattering across the ruins.
But, Agrath was stronger, far stronger. The corrupted limb slammed into Lysera's blade, sending her skidding across the ground.
"Lysera!"
Tauren shot downward, golden aura blazing as he kicked Agrath's twisted head with enough force to dent steel.
Agrath barely flinched.
His massive claws swept outward and knocked Tauren clean out of the air like a broken doll.
Princess Verline surged forward, shield first. She slammed into the monster with earth shaking force.
"RAAAH!"
The impact cracked the ground beneath them, but even she slid back, boots carving trenches through the dirt.
This thing… This wasn't just corruption. It was controlled.
The Codex vibrated violently, a warning pulsing through my arm. I felt it. The presence. A shadow at the edge of the ruined village. Watching. Waiting. Feeding.
My breath hitched.
"No… another one…?"
Agrath roared and leapt at me again, mouth splitting wide.
Princess Verline caught him mid air, shield pressed against his jaws, sparks flying as teeth scraped against blackened metal.
"Kinon!" she shouted. "NOW!"
The Codex flared in my hand. I closed my eyes focused the mana flow towards the Chronicle.
Pages tore themselves open, glowing with violet and gold light.
My heartbeat drowned out everything.
I didn't know the spell. I didn't choose it. The Codex did.
Symbols spiraled up my arm as the magic built to a painful intensity.
Agrath's claws inches from my face.
Lysera screaming my name.
Tauren recovering mid air.
Princess Verline holding the monster back by sheer force of will.
The Codex's voice, ancient, cold, resonant, whispered through my mind.
"Invoke."
I raised my hand.
Light exploded.
And the entire battlefield froze.
The light wasn't warm.
It wasn't gentle.
It was sharp, like blades of brilliance slicing through the air, freezing every particle of dust mid fall. Even Agrath, mid lunge with his claws inches from my throat, halted as though time itself had been shackled.
My breath trembled.
"What… what is this…?" I whispered.
Princess Verline's eyes widened, the reflection of the spell glowing across her armor. Even she was stunned.
Lysera stared at me as though I had suddenly become a different person entirely.
"Master… what did you just…?"
But no one could finish a sentence.
Because the Codex wasn't done.
The pages flipped themselves violently, like they were caught in a stormwind, sigils swirling off the paper and forming a circular array beneath Agrath's warped feet.
Then, the monster screamed.
A guttural, distorted sound ripped from his throat as his body convulsed in place, frozen but writhing. Purple veins along his flesh ignited with burning light.
The Codex whispered again.
"Invoke: Purge."
A pillar of blinding light erupted upward, swallowing Agrath whole.
The scream tore into a howl. Then a shriek. Then something thinner, cracking… breaking apart.
Princess Verline shielded her eyes, teeth clenched. Lysera staggered back. Tauren stared, unblinking, aura flickering. And I… I felt the strain in every bone of my body.
The magic wasn't mine. I was just the vessel.
My knees buckled as the ground shook, the purifying light drilling upward like a lance tearing open the sky.
Finally, a boom! The pillar burst, shockwaves rippling outward. Agrath's monstrous frame shattered, dissolving into black dust that the wind swallowed whole.
Silence crashed down.
°°°°
A gust of faint, corrupted ash drifted across the ruined village.
It was over.
Agrath was gone.
The Codex closed itself with a soft thump, its glow fading.
I collapsed onto one knee, panting.
Lysera rushed to me instantly.
"Master! Are you alright?!"
"I… I'm fine…"
It was a lie. My vision flickered. My body felt like it had been crushed from the inside.
Tauren landed beside us, eyes narrowed at the place where Agrath had been.
"That… was no simple spell," he muttered.
"What exactly is that book carrying inside it?"
Princess Verline approached slowly, her black armor heavy but her steps measured. Her expression was unreadable, caught between admiration and calculation.
"That magic…" she murmured, gaze locked on the Codex.
"Even in Seldene, such a purification would require a divine artifact or a circle of royal mages."
I swallowed, wiping the sweat from my brow.
"It wasn't me." I said quietly.
"It acted on its own."
Verline shook her head slightly, blonde braid brushing her shoulder.
"No... Magic does not act without purpose. Artifacts only obey the will of those they find worthy. The Codex recognizes you as its bearer. That makes you… important."
Lysera's hand rested on my shoulder lightly, her silver aura flickering.
°°°°
Verline's gaze flicked toward the treeline where the masked figure had vanished.
"Important enough that the Tyrant's Hands are willing to sacrifice everything to control it, or destroy it."
Tauren growled low, golden eyes narrowing.
"Figures. You don't go through the trouble of turning a knight into a monster for fun. Someone's orchestrating this."
I clenched the Codex tighter, feeling the faint pulse inside it.
"I… I don't understand," I admitted.
"Why me? Why now? What do they want with the Codex?"
Princess Verline's expression darkened.
"The Codex is not just a book of knowledge. It's a key. A key to controlling, or even reshaping, the power of this world."
My heart thumped painfully.
"Reshaping… the world?"
"Yes."
She said, her voice low but steady.
"The Tyrant's Hands seek more than chaos. The corruption we saw… the mutated knight… it's just the beginning of their plan."
Lysera's hand tightened on her rapier.
"We can't let them succeed."
"No," Verline agreed.
"But this goes far beyond you, or even your Codex. This is an empire wide operation. And now."
Her eyes flicked toward Agrath and Pierro, still restrained by glowing shackles.
"We need answers. Fast."
Pierro gulped audibly, fear etched deep into his face.
"We… we can tell you… about the leader," he stammered.
"The one behind the Tyrant's Hands…"
Verline's silver eyes narrowed sharply.
"And why should I believe you? You betrayed your own knights and allowed this village to burn."
"We…" Pierro hesitated, shame and fear in his expression.
"We were… forced. Controlled. The one behind this… he has power… beyond anything you've seen."
Verline's jaw tightened.
"Explain. Now."
Pierro swallowed, then spoke faster.
"The Tyrant's Hands… they serve someone called the Shadow Regent. He… he manipulates corruption, binds knights, even twists artifacts. Agrath was a pawn. We… we were all pawns."
My stomach dropped.
"The Shadow Regent…" I muttered.
"And he's targeting the Codex?"
Verline's gaze sharpened.
"Yes. He believes the Codex can unlock something… something the world should never see."
Lysera stepped forward. "Then we stop him. No matter what."
Tauren's tail flicked, golden aura bristling. "Finally… something interesting."
I looked down at the Codex in my hands. "Alright," I said, taking a deep breath.
"Then we need a plan. Before the Shadow Regent, or whoever he is, comes back."
Verline's gaze softened fractionally.
"You have the Codex. You have skill, and allies. That will matter. But remember this: the Tyrant's Hands are only the first layer. The true threat… is something else entirely."
A low wind blew across the ruined village, carrying with it a faint, sinister whisper. I shivered.
I wasn't just holding a book anymore. I was holding the key to something bigger than any of us had faced.
Then Verline added, her tone sharpening with purpose:
"How about you come to Seldene yourself? We have a clever archivist there who might hold the answers to our questions."
Lysera's eyes lit up.
"That could be helpful. Someone who actually knows about the Codex… and the Tyrant's Hands."
Tauren's tail flicked.
"Finally… a lead that might make this interesting."
I nodded slowly, still feeling the weight of the Codex in my hands.
"Alright… Seldene it is. Let's find the answers, and make sure the Shadow Regent doesn't get there first."
°°°°
Pierro hesitated, trembling as Verline's gaze bore into him.
"There's… one more thing," he whispered.
"About the leader. About the Shadow Regent."
Verline's eyes narrowed.
"Speak."
Pierro shook visibly.
"They say the Shadow Regent… isn't human. He's one of the Nullscribes."
The word hit the air like a cold knife.
Lysera stiffened. Tauren's tail froze mid sway.
My heart skipped.
"Nullscribe…?" I repeated, almost disbelieving.
Pierro continued, voice cracking:
"They said Nullscribes were beings not from this world. They can bend lies… twist truth… even erase existence itself."
A chill ran up my spine.
Erase existence?
I leaned closer, unable to hide the tremor in my voice.
"Are you sure about this?"
Pierro shook his head frantically.
"Also, I heard that those Nullscribes suddenly began to be active again. Right after they heard about you."
"Me? But why?.."
I asked, curiously.
"Whispers and rumors ran through the underground faster than fire. The Chronicle of the Origin, the lost relic they had long sought, had finally appeared. And now, they would stop at nothing to take it from you"
"Are you certain about this Pierrro?"
Princess Verline said as her gaze fixed upon pierro.
"I… I don't! I don't know if it's true! It's just a rumor! Something whispered in the Assassin's Guild… nothing more!"
Verline frowned.
"The Assassin's Guild? Where is this guild located?"
Pierro's breathing quickened, panic taking hold.
"I don't know, Your Highness! They don't have a place, not a real one! They… they hide in different cities, shadows inside shadows… That's all I know, please!"
He dropped to his knees, shackles rattling violently as he bowed his head.
"Please protect me… Your Highness… I confessed everything… They'll kill me now. They'll kill me for speaking about the Regent. Please, I don't want to die!"
Silence hung thick.
Princess Verline stepped forward, expression unreadable. Her black armor glinted as she looked down at the trembling officer.
"You fear the Shadow Regent more than death," she said softly.
"That alone tells me your words carry some truth."
She turned slightly, gaze flicking to me and the Codex.
"And if the Shadow Regent truly is a Nullscribe… then this threat is far greater than we imagined."
Tauren clicked his tongue.
"Erase existence… bend lies… tch, troublesome freaks."
Lysera moved closer to me, grip tightening around her rapier.
"Kinon… if this is true… we're dealing with something beyond kingdoms."
I swallowed. My fingers tightened around the Codex, feeling the faint heartbeat like thrum inside it.
Verline faced Pierro again.
"You will not die," she said firmly.
"You spoke truthfully under duress, and Seldene protects those who aid its cause."
Pierro sobbed in relief, chest shaking.
"Yes. Yes, Your Highness. Thank you. Thank you…"
I exhaled slowly, heart still pounding.
A Nullscribe. Erase existence. And one of them… was hunting the Codex.
Verline turned to us decisively.
"This only strengthens my resolve. We must move quickly."
Her eyes landed on me.
"Kinon. You must come to Seldene. Our archivist may be the only scholar alive who can tell us what the Nullscribes truly are, and why the Codex chose you."
I nodded, throat dry.
"Then we go," I said.
"Before the Shadow Regent makes his next move."
Kraust and Rubal, both barely conscious but alive, were carefully lifted onto stretchers by Verline's soldiers.
We couldn't leave anyone behind, not now. They would come with us to Seldene.
Am I really prepared for this?